Star fund manager Liu Yanchun steps down as deputy GM at Invesco Great Wall to focus on investing

September 19 — Invesco Great Wall Fund Management has issued an announcement regarding a change in its senior management team. The announcement stated that Liu Yanchun stepped down from his role as Deputy General Manager of the company on September 18 due to work adjustments. Moving forward, Liu will focus exclusively on investment management.

Asset Management Scale

According to public data, as of June 30 this year, Liu managed assets totaling RMB 24.049 billion across six funds.

Career Background

Liu has 23 years of experience in the securities and fund industry, with over 17 years serving as a public mutual fund manager. Early in his career, he worked at institutions including:

• Hantang Securities
• CITIC Investment Research (Hong Kong)
• Bosera Funds

He joined Invesco Great Wall Fund Management in January 2015.

Performance and Rise

Liu's fund products have maintained a clear investment style, delivering outstanding performance during the bull market in core assets from 2020 to early 2021. At that time, his managed assets once exceeded RMB 100 billion. He was promoted to Deputy General Manager of the company in 2021.

Industry Context: "Promotion After Excellence"

During that period, as incentive mechanisms continued to improve, it became common for star fund managers to be promoted to executive roles based on strong performance. Besides Liu, other prominent public fund managers such as Zhang Kun, Zhang Qinghua, Liang Hao, and Feng Mingyuan also assumed management positions. This became an important strategy for fund companies to retain core talent.

After receiving executive-level administrative titles, well-known fund managers took on greater managerial responsibilities, including:

• Participating in key decision-making meetings
• Recruiting and training new staff
• Handling other complex administrative tasks

As one high-performing fund manager admitted: "After becoming an executive, I attend more meetings and handle many administrative duties," noting the difficulty of dedicating all energy solely to investment research.

Recent Shift: Returning to Investment

In recent years, the trend of "promotion after excellence" has shifted. Several renowned fund managers have relinquished their administrative roles after serving for some time, returning to focus on investment. Currently, star fund managers including Zhang Kun, Xiao Nan, Zhang Qinghua, and Feng Mingyuan have successively stepped down from executive positions at their respective firms.

Industry Perspective

Industry insiders believe that allowing top-tier fund managers to leave administrative posts and return to frontline investment helps them devote more energy to fund management and investment research. This aligns with the broader industry trend of "de-starring" and strengthening investor-return orientation.

Such adjustments are generally driven by multiple considerations:

1. Distinct career tracks — Investment and management require significant effort in different areas; allowing fund managers to focus on investment enhances performance stability.
2. Regulatory environment — Increasingly stringent regulatory and self-disciplinary guidelines encourage fund companies to prioritize returns, directing resources toward investment research and actual investor gains.