24-year veteran Fu Youxing leaves GF Fund, industry accelerates moving away from "star fund manager dependency syndrome"

Everyday Economic News Reporter: Li Lei Editor: Zhao Yun

According to reports, another veteran public fund manager has announced his departure.

On March 13, GF Fund announced that fund manager Fu Youxing has resigned, and he has also stepped down from all the products he managed under the company.

Public information shows that Fu Youxing is a well-known fund manager in the industry, with nearly 24 years of securities industry experience. Before leaving, his latest managed assets totaled 10.276 billion yuan. The product he managed the longest is GF Steady Growth, which he has managed for over 11 years.

It is reported that after his departure, GF Steady Growth will be managed solely by Zhou Zhishuo, who previously co-managed it, and GF Ruyang Three-Year Fixed Open Fund will be managed solely by Wang Ruidong, who also previously co-managed it.

There are various rumors about where this veteran fund manager will go next. After multiple sources confirmed, his next move remains uncertain.

Veteran Public Fund Manager Resigns, Two Funds Complete Smooth Transition

On March 13, GF Fund announced changes in fund managers for GF Ruyang Three-Year Fixed Open Fund and GF Steady Growth, indicating that veteran and well-known fund manager Fu Youxing has left, citing his resignation as the reason.

Public information shows that Fu Youxing is a senior fund manager with nearly 24 years of securities industry experience. Before leaving, he managed assets worth 10.276 billion yuan. His longest-held product is GF Steady Growth, which is also his signature work, with over 11 years of management.

GF Steady Growth was established in 2004 and is a balanced fund of stocks and bonds. Thanks to proactive management by Fu Youxing and other fund managers over the years, as of March 11, 2026, the fund’s cumulative return since inception was 1271.15%, exceeding the benchmark by 953.19 percentage points, with an annualized return of 12.86% and an annualized volatility of 17.87%.

Another product managed by him, GF Ruyang Three-Year Fixed Open Fund, was established in January 2019. Fu Youxing’s return on this fund is 171.00%, with an annualized return of 15.03%, establishing a relatively stable performance record among similar products.

To ensure continuity in investment management, GF Fund proactively arranged for co-management. The fund announcement states that on August 28, 2025, GF Fund appointed Zhou Zhishuo to join the management team of GF Steady Growth; and on November 5, 2025, Wang Ruidong began co-managing GF Ruyang Three-Year Fixed Open Fund. During the several months of co-management, the risk characteristics, investment strategies, and styles of both funds remained stable, achieving a smooth transition in management.

Among the two mid-career fund managers taking over, Zhou Zhishuo holds a master’s degree from Tsinghua University, with 16.5 years of securities industry experience and 7.16 years of public fund investment experience. He is currently the General Manager of GF Fund’s Growth Strategy Department. Wang Ruidong also holds a master’s degree from Tsinghua University, with 13.5 years of securities experience and 5.79 years of public fund investment experience. He has been with GF Fund for over 10 years and is deeply influenced by Fu Youxing in stock selection and portfolio management. Industry analysts believe both managers possess strong active management capabilities, laying a solid foundation for future product management.

Fund Manager Turnover Becomes Normal, Platform-Based Development Continues to Deepen

Fu Youxing’s departure is not an isolated case. Since the first quarter of 2026, personnel adjustments among fund managers have become routine.

In February, Tianhong Fund’s core fixed income manager Jiang Xiaoli resigned and left, attracting industry attention.

At the end of February, Hu Jie, a veteran index investor and former “number one” at Hua Bao Fund with a management scale exceeding 100 billion yuan, joined Tianhong Fund.

On January 17, Hua An Fund announced that Jiang Qiu, manager of the “Double Ten” funds, resigned from all nine funds he managed due to personal reasons and will not take on other roles.

There are also well-known fund managers who have “completely exited” their positions. For example, Dong Li, a mid-career manager at Xingquan Fund, once managed funds worth hundreds of millions. After resigning from Xingquan Light Asset Hybrid (LOF) in January, he no longer manages any funds.

Overall, whether veteran managers with decades of experience or emerging young managers, personnel adjustments have become a normal part of the public fund industry’s development.

In the context of routine fund manager movement, the industry is accelerating away from dependence on star fund managers. Platformization and systematic development have become the core strategies of leading fund companies. For example, GF Fund has focused on talent reserves in recent years, establishing a “Fund Manager Academy,” setting up talent development cycles, and mentoring by top managers. By the end of 2025, GF Fund had over 130 equity research personnel, with an average of more than 14 years of industry experience and nearly 9 years of tenure.

Industry insiders analyze that the public fund industry is in a transitional phase from rapid growth to high-quality development. The movement of individual managers is a natural phenomenon, reflecting respect for personal development and humanistic care, as well as the industry’s vitality. To achieve high-quality growth, the industry must shift from “dependence on star fund managers” to “systematic empowerment.” This requires companies to have deep resource accumulation, strong supporting platforms, continuous innovation mechanisms, and long-term commitment.

Meanwhile, investors are becoming more mature and rational when facing fund manager departures. Increasingly, investors recognize that over the long term, “heroic individualism” is losing effectiveness; no single fund manager can be a perpetual winner. As a result, when selecting funds, investors are gradually shifting their focus from chasing hot products to evaluating the overall investment research strength, team stability, risk control systems, and long-term performance of fund companies.

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