On June 6, 2026, ABC-CA Fund Management—the asset management arm of the Agricultural Bank of China—announced a pivotal leadership change. Sun Jiankun has officially stepped in as General Manager, succeeding Cheng Kun at a time when the firm is grappling with stagnant growth and a troubling imbalance in its product portfolio. This transition highlights the deepening crisis for bank-affiliated fund managers in China, who often struggle to translate their massive distribution networks into sustainable equity performance.
During Cheng Kun’s four-year tenure, the firm’s assets under management (AUM) grew to 234.4 billion yuan, yet this figure remains a far cry from its 2021 peak of nearly 268 billion yuan. When compared to its peers among the big four state banks, the gap is even more glaring. Giants like ICBC Credit Suisse and CCB Fund have long since entered the 'trillion-yuan club,' while ABC-CA remains mired in the middle of the pack, failing to leverage the parent bank’s immense footprint to keep pace with industry leaders.
The firm’s fundamental weakness lies in its structural dependency on fixed-income products. As of the first quarter of 2026, bond and money market funds accounted for more than 86% of its total AUM. This reliance on low-margin, safe-haven assets has eroded profitability, with net profits in 2025 plummeting by over 57% compared to the 2021 high. While fixed-income provides a floor for AUM, it lacks the revenue-generating power and prestige of a robust equity division.
ABC-CA’s brief flirtation with market stardom occurred in 2020, driven almost entirely by the performance of celebrity manager Zhao Yi, who swept the top four spots in national fund performance. However, his departure in 2022 exposed the fragility of the firm's 'star-driven' model. Without a deep bench of research talent to back up the hype, mixed-equity funds at the firm have seen their value collapse by over 60% in just four years, as investors followed the talent rather than the institution.
Incoming manager Sun Jiankun inherits an equity team that appears bereft of leadership. Senior managers like Zhang Feng and Chen Fuquan have struggled to produce alpha, with many of their products significantly underperforming the broader indices over the last five years. While a few rising stars like Xing Junliang have shown promise in technology and AI sectors, their strategies are high-volatility and have yet to prove they can stabilize the firm’s broader equity outflows.