Agricultural Bank Huili General Manager Steps Down, Agricultural Bank Wealth Management's Sun Jiankun Poised to Take Over, Can Fixed Income Strength and Equity Weakness Be Resolved?

Cailian Press, March 15 — (Reporter Feng Qijuan) Agricultural Bank of China Asset Management will welcome its sixth general manager. Can this leadership change lead to a breakthrough in the new stage of public fund development?

According to the latest announcement from ABC Asset Management, General Manager Cheng Kun is unable to perform his duties due to recent intensive training. Starting March 13, the company’s board of directors has decided that Chairman Huang Tao will temporarily act as General Manager.

Industry sources indicate that Cheng Kun will return to the head office of ABC, and the position of General Manager at ABC Asset Management is expected to be filled by Sun Jiankun, Vice President of ABC Wealth Management.

Sun Jiankun is also a seasoned asset management professional cultivated within the ABC system. Public information shows that Sun was born in April 1982 and has spent his career within ABC. He previously served as Director of Strategy and Portfolio Management at the Asset Management Department of ABC. Since July 2019, Sun has been Vice President of ABC Wealth Management, a position he still holds.

According to public information, Sun Jiankun pointed out at the 2025 Asset Management Annual Conference that the top ten public fund companies have undergone dramatic changes over the past 30 years. Some fund companies began positioning in index-based scenarios a decade ago or even earlier, and have achieved significant gains in the past two years. This underscores the importance of forward-looking product layout capabilities for asset management firms.

Looking at new product launches, ABC Asset Management’s new products for 2025 have clearly tilted toward passive index funds. If Sun Jiankun takes over as expected, how this veteran in asset management, with his market-oriented experience in the wealth management subsidiary, will address the company’s shortfalls in equity and stagnation in scale rankings, and implement the concept of forward-looking product layout, will be a key focus for the market.

Founded 18 years ago, ABC Asset Management is about to welcome its sixth general manager.

After Sun Jiankun’s appointment, he will become the sixth general manager of ABC Asset Management.

Founded in March 2008, ABC Asset Management is jointly owned by Agricultural Bank of China (51.67%), Orient Asset Management (33.33%), and China Aluminum Capital (15%). Over its 18-year history, the company has seen five chairmen and five general managers, with an average tenure of about three years, reflecting typical banking system characteristics.

The first chairman was Yang Kun, the first general manager was Xu Hongbo, and the first inspector was Sun Changhai. In August and November 2012, Yang Kun and Sun Changhai left their posts, succeeded respectively by Diao Qinyi and Zhai Aidong as chairman and inspector.

In March 2014, Xu Hongbo stepped down, with Vice President Shi Wei acting as interim general manager. Five months later, Chen Xianming took over as the new general manager. After less than four months, Chen Xianming left, and Vice President Shi Wei again temporarily assumed the role.

In May 2015, Xu Jinchao became general manager. In September of the same year, Diao Qinyi resigned as chairman after a three-year tenure. At the same time, Yu Jin took over as chairman, also serving three years until his departure in December 2018, when Xu Jinchao succeeded him.

In March 2019, Xu Jinchao was reassigned as chairman and temporarily served as general manager. Two months later, Shi Wei, who had frequently served as acting general manager, was officially promoted to General Manager. In August of that year, Shi Wei also served as the company’s Chief Information Officer.

After two years, Shi Wei left in July 2021, with Chairman Xu Jinchao temporarily acting as general manager. In September of that year, Cheng Kun became General Manager of ABC Asset Management.

In September 2022, Xu Jinchao stepped down as chairman after a three-and-a-half-year tenure, and Huang Tao succeeded him as chairman.

Since its establishment, senior management at ABC Asset Management has mostly come from the ABC system. Data shows that Cheng Kun joined ABC in August 1997, serving in roles such as Deputy Director of the Foreign Exchange Investment Portfolio at the Financial Markets Department, and later as Deputy Director of Trading Risk Supervision, Self-Managed Risk Management, Investment Center’s Local Currency Investment Department, Research and Development Department, and Shanghai Branch. He was promoted to Vice President of Financial Markets Department before becoming chairman. Prior to his role at ABC Asset Management, Huang Tao served as Director of the Inspection Office of the State Council General Office and Vice Mayor of Guilin. In November 2015, Huang Tao joined ABC, serving as Director of the Party Committee Office, General Office, and Petition Office.

“Strong in fixed income, weak in equities”—can index strategies reverse the decline?

Beyond senior executives, several well-known equity fund managers at ABC Asset Management have left and moved to other public fund companies.

In 2022, Zhao Yi and Xu Tuo left ABC Asset Management and joined Quanguo Fund and Yongying Fund respectively. Before leaving, Zhao Yi was General Manager of the Investment Department at ABC Asset Management.

In June 2020, Investment Director Fu Juan left ABC Asset Management and later joined Shenwan Hongyuan Securities. Xu Zhibiao left in 2017 and subsequently joined Guotai Junan Fund.

The first Investment Director, Luan Jie, left ABC Asset Management in 2011 and joined Guotai Haitong Asset Management. Cao Jianfei succeeded as Investment Director. Three years later, Cao also left ABC Asset Management and joined China Europe Fund.

The ongoing turnover of core investment research personnel poses direct challenges to the stability of the company’s research system and the sustainability of its performance.

After years of development, ABC Asset Management still exhibits a clear “strong in fixed income, weak in equities” characteristic, making it difficult to support scale expansion and brand premium.

As of the end of last year, ABC Asset Management’s total assets under management were approximately 226.097 billion yuan, ranking 37th among 167 licensed public fund institutions. The fixed income and equity fund sizes were 190.768 billion yuan and 34.64 billion yuan respectively, accounting for 84.37% and 15.32%.

According to Wind data, since Q3 2021, ABC Asset Management’s total assets under management have consistently ranked outside the top 30 industry-wide. In Q1 2018, its total assets reached 215.504 billion yuan, ranking 15th among 124 licensed public fund companies, its highest historical ranking.

Notably, from September 2021 to March 13, 2023, Cheng Kun served as General Manager of ABC Asset Management.

In 2025, the company plans to launch a total of 8 new products, including 5 passive index funds, 1 index-enhanced fund, 1 equity hybrid fund, and 1 balanced hybrid fund. In 2024, 7 new products are planned: three medium- to long-term pure bond funds, two equity hybrid funds, one bond index fund, and one debt hybrid fund. In 2023, six new products are planned: one medium- to long-term pure bond fund, one balanced hybrid fund, one index-enhanced fund, one debt hybrid fund, one equity hybrid fund, and one Fund of Funds (FOF). In 2022, ten new products are planned: three equity hybrid funds, two secondary bond funds, and one each of short-term pure bond, debt hybrid, general equity, medium- to long-term pure bond, and FOF.

It is evident that compared to previous years, ABC Asset Management’s new product launches for 2025 are significantly tilted toward passive index funds.

On the active equity side, the company faces challenges such as the loss of core fund managers and relatively weak brand influence; in fixed income, it faces fierce competition from bank wealth management subsidiaries. Against this backdrop, index funds, with their advantages of low dependence on fund managers and ease of scaling, have become a key focus for the company’s strategic efforts.