CSCB Fund Manager Zhou Ziguang's Products Underperform Benchmarks Sharply Over Past Three Years

Author: Zheng Li Source: Unicorn Finance

In 2022, Zhou Ziguang, a fund manager at China Securities Co., Ltd. (CSC) Fund, made a name for himself by betting heavily on the new energy sector. His fund, CSC Low Carbon Growth A, ranked among the top 10 in the equity-biased hybrid fund category nationwide. Three years later, the same name appeared at the bottom of another ranking list.

According to Wind data as of September 18, the annualized returns of the three products managed by Zhou Ziguang outperformed the CSI 300 Index. However, his one-year, two-year, and three-year returns were all negative, at -15.31%, -2.03%, and -27.74%, respectively. Notably, CSC Wisdom Life A has consistently underperformed the CSI 300 and now ranks 4,993rd out of 5,003 similar funds.

CSC Low Carbon Growth A, once a star performer, has also seen its long-term returns decline sharply. Since its inception 4.8 years ago, its total return stands at -58.84%, with an annualized return of -16.98% — another product that has been "halved" in value.

From Top 10 Nationwide to the Bottom: How Did Former Star Manager Zhou Ziguang Get Here?

Zhou Ziguang's resume reads like a textbook case for the new energy track. He holds a master's degree in Microelectronics and Solid-State Electronics from Dalian University of Technology. After graduating in 2009, he spent nearly seven years as a sell-side researcher in power equipment and new energy at Jianghai Securities, Ping An Securities, and Founder Securities. He joined CSC Fund in March 2016 and currently serves as the head of the Research Department and a member of the Investment Decision Committee.

Zhou had his moment in the spotlight. In 2022, his assets under management (AUM) peaked at 3.5 billion yuan. At that time, CSC Wisdom Life also enjoyed a period of glory. Zhou accurately captured the main themes of consumption and new energy in 2022, achieving a peak return rate of 55.44% during his tenure. Its performance ranking broke into the top 10% nationwide, making it a star equity product under CSC Fund.

In 2022, CSC Low Carbon Growth A posted a return of 10.89%, ranking 8th out of 2,489 similar funds. According to Haitong Securities data as of June 30, 2022, the one-year net value growth rate of CSC Zhixin IoT A ranked in the top 1% of its category. The company capitalized on this by branding him as a "growth expert in emerging tracks," aggressively launching new funds and significantly boosting his visibility.

The turning point came quickly.

As the new energy sector peaked in the second half of 2021 and entered a multi-year correction, Zhou's product performance reversed course. All three products currently under his management have underperformed their performance benchmarks over the past three years. CSC Wisdom Life performed the worst, with its A and C shares underperforming by 76.05 and 76.6 percentage points, respectively. This was followed by CSC Low Carbon Growth A and C, which underperformed by approximately 58 and 58.77 percentage points. The relatively best performer, CSC Zhixin IoT A and C, despite achieving positive returns over the past three years, still underperformed their benchmarks by about 13.02 and 14.25 percentage points.

Overall, Zhou's products have significantly underperformed their benchmarks over the past three years, with negative excess returns. The more growth-oriented the fund's style — such as Wisdom Life and Low Carbon Growth — the more severe the underperformance.

The most critical period was 2026. As of September 18, the net value of CSC Wisdom Life C shares had fallen to 0.3753 yuan, while A shares hovered below 0.38 yuan. Since inception, cumulative losses have exceeded 62%, keeping the fund trapped in the "four-mao" category. So far this year, the product's net value has fallen another approximately 38%, underperforming its benchmark by nearly 40 percentage points.

On October 13, 2025, Zhou stepped down from managing CSC Technology Theme 6-Month Holding Mixed Fund. Launched on December 15, 2022, the fund posted a return of -43.45% under his management, ranking 3,253rd out of 3,261 similar funds.

Looking at the holdings of his managed products, the core reason for their significant underperformance over the past three years is a persistent mismatch between their positions and market trends.

Take CSC Wisdom Life A as an example. At the end of 2021, the fund's allocation to the power equipment and new energy sector was 44.02%. It maintained heavy positions in this sector for a long time until the end of the second quarter of 2025, when the allocation dropped to 10.11%. The CSI New Energy Index peaked historically in the second half of 2021 and then began a prolonged decline, hitting a historical low in April 2025. It subsequently rebounded with volatility, reaching a high of 3,333.93 on May 7, 2026, before weakening again and hitting a low of 2,191.71 on September 16 — a decline of approximately 34% from its peak.

In the first quarter of 2025, Wisdom Life made aggressive adjustments, replacing almost all of its top ten holdings with stocks in the low-altitude economy sector, including companies like Enpower Electric, Zongshen Power, Sichuan Jiuzhou, Sinan Navigation, CITIC Offshore Helicopter,莱斯信息, Wanfeng Auto, Zongheng Communications, and Sun Create Electronics. This significantly reduced its allocation to new energy, as well as liquor and beer.

However, the commercialization of the low-altitude economy fell short of expectations, and the sector's overall performance was mediocre. The product suffered from both the deep correction in the new energy sector since 2021 and the lackluster performance of the low-altitude economy sector — a classic case of missing both boats.

By the first half of 2026, Wisdom Life significantly reduced its positions in the low-altitude economy in the second quarter and increased its allocation to the commercial aerospace sector. Its top ten holdings included Enpower Electric, Western Superconducting, China Aerospace Engineering Corporation, Suzhou Cheersson, and Aerospace Electronics, most of which were new additions for the quarter.

However, the strongest sector in the A-share market in 2026 was AI. The semi-annual report also noted that the technology sector performed well driven by AI. This meant the fund's positions were still concentrated in the low-altitude economy and commercial aerospace during the AI rally, causing it to miss the AI bull market.

Looking at the top ten holdings of Low Carbon Growth, the fund primarily bet on photovoltaic (PV), energy storage, and lithium batteries, and historically built positions at sector peaks multiple times. Over the past three years, rapid capacity expansion in PV and lithium batteries, supply-demand imbalances, and continuous price declines have pressured corporate earnings, pushing the industry into a deep adjustment. Similarly, in the AI-dominated market of 2026, this led to significant net value drawdowns.

The situation may change following the implementation of the Asset Management Association of China's "Guidelines for Performance Appraisal Management of Fund Management Companies." Under the new rules, if actively managed equity products have underperformed their benchmarks by more than 10 percentage points over the past three years and have negative fund profit margins, performance-based compensation must be reduced by at least 30%. By this measure, Zhou's managed products have triggered the red line.

Crossing the 100 Billion Yuan Threshold Again, REITs Scale Exceeds 11.5 Billion Yuan

Zhou Ziguang's predicament is a microcosm of the product-side challenges facing CSC Fund.

CSC Fund is a 13-year-old securities firm-affiliated public fund with a registered capital of 450 million yuan, wholly owned by CSC Financial Co., Ltd. As of the first half of 2026, the company's AUM exceeded 100 billion yuan, reaching 103.575 billion yuan, an increase of 5.2 billion yuan from the end of 2025.

This is not the company's first time crossing the 100 billion yuan threshold. At the end of 2025, its AUM exceeded 100 billion yuan, reaching a historical high of 107.342 billion yuan. After a decline in the first quarter of 2026, it returned to the 100 billion yuan level in the first half of the year.

Source: Wind

Looking at the product structure, money market funds accounted for 53.615 billion yuan, or 51.8% of total AUM. Bond funds accounted for 31.384 billion yuan, or 30.3%. Hybrid funds totaled 6.024 billion yuan, and equity funds totaled 681 million yuan. Equity products accounted for less than 7% of total AUM, hitting a new low since mid-2023.

Source: Wind

It is relatively rare in the industry for a public fund company backed by a top-tier securities firm with access to investment banking and research resources to see its equity product line shrink to this extent.

The explosive growth of money market funds is particularly noteworthy. At the end of the third quarter of 2025, money market funds had fallen to 19.472 billion yuan. By the end of the year, they surged to 52.163 billion yuan — an increase of over 30 billion yuan in a single quarter. In the first half of 2026, they stabilized and grew to 53.615 billion yuan. However, such funds have low stability and extremely low fee rates, contributing very little to profits.

Because the product line is dominated by fixed-income products, the scale growth has also compressed profitability. At the end of 2025, CSC Fund reported operating revenue of 373 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.19%, and net profit of 70 million yuan. A 100-billion-yuan AUM generated only a little over 300 million yuan in revenue. In the first half of 2026, the company's revenue was 244 million yuan, up 48.78% year-on-year, and net profit was 57 million yuan, up 50% year-on-year. The core driver was a breakthrough in REITs.

As of the end of the first half of 2026, the company managed four REITs products with a total scale exceeding 11.5 billion yuan, up 26% from 9.105 billion yuan at the beginning of the year. This is uncommon among small and mid-sized public funds and is seen by the industry as an attempt at differentiated growth. Additionally, the company has also made arrangements in FOF and Beijing Stock Exchange-themed product lines.

One glaring metric is the holder experience. The 2026 semi-annual fund report shows that the proportion of profitable holders of CSC Beijing Stock Exchange Select Two-Year Fixed-Term Open-Ended Hybrid Fund over the past year was zero. During the statistical period, the fund was in its closed period, preventing holders from redeeming or stopping losses independently. Although the fund's medium-to-long-term returns are impressive, the label of having 0% profitable investors is itself a challenge to the design of products with lock-up periods.

For CSC Fund, backed by a top domestic securities firm and standing at the 100-billion-yuan scale, money market funds prop up half of its business. It cultivated a star fund manager who ranked in the top 10 nationwide, only to see the same products fall to the bottom within a few years. Whether CSC Fund can consolidate its differentiated advantages in REITs while addressing its equity weaknesses, and whether it can take substantive action on performance accountability, will determine whether the company continues to be "bloated" in scale or truly maximizes benefits for its fund holders.

Editor-in-Charge: Yang Hongbo