中国基金业任期最长总经理赵学军出任嘉实基金董事长

　　中国基金公司任期最长总经理出任董事长|报道转载自FT旗下Ignites Asia

　　导语

　　嘉实基金发布公告，任职总经理时间达17年之久的赵学军出任公司董事长，原嘉实基金董事总经理、机构投资和固定收益业务首席投资官经雷接任总经理一职。日前，据FT旗下Ignites  Asia采访报道，中国基金公司由总经理出任董事长实属罕见，而在中国基金业任职总经理时间最长的赵学军出任董事长，预示嘉实的海外战略将更加坚定。

　　据报道，作为中国最早成立的十家基金公司之一，嘉实基金成立于1999年，发展至今已成为中国最大的资产管理公司。根据韦莱韬悦（Willis Towers Watson）排名统计，截至2016年底，嘉实以1362亿美元的资产管理规模位列亚太地区前20大资产管理机构的第12位。

　　以下报道转载自Ignites Aisa，记者Selena Li，报道时间：2018年3月29日

　　China‘s longest-serving fund CEO becomes chair at Deutsche JV

　　By Selena Li March 29， 2018

　　Zhao Xuejun has officially stepped down from his post as CEO at Harvest Fund Management after 17 years and has become a co-chairman of the company． Analysts believe his previous aggressive overseas expansion strategy will likely remain intact．

　　Zhao Xuejun， Harvest Fund Management

　　Zhao had been CEO at the Beijing-based fund house since 2000． Deutsche Asset Management originally took a 19.5% stake in Harvest in 2005 and then raised its ownership in the firm to 30% in 2008．

　　Jing Lei， Harvest Fund Management

　　Last week， the company appointed Jing Lei as its new CEO． Jing was previously chief investment officer of its fixed-income and institutional business．

　　“In China， whenever you mention Harvest， you will think of Zhao Xuejun，” a Shanghai-based senior fund analyst who asked not to be named tells Ignites Asia， adding that the name of the former CEO has become closely associated with the brand value of the firm．

　　Established in 1999 as one of the first 10 fund houses in China， Harvest grew to become the country’s largest asset manager and ranked number 12 among the top 20 for Asia Pacific as of end-2016， with US$136.2 billion in assets under management， according to the latest-available global AUM ranking by Willis Towers Watson．

　　Under Zhao’s leadership， the public fund house has branched out into independent financial advice， venture capital and private equity， but what’s noteworthy is its overseas footprint， says the analyst．

　　“Harvest is one of the first batch of Chinese fund houses to expand overseas， and with Zhao being the firm’s chairman and having a new CEO who has worked for foreign asset owners， the brand is expected to follow Zhao’s strategy and may give its overseas expansion a boost，” the analyst says．

　　Jing， who worked for AIG in New York in an investment research role from 1998 to 2008， subsequently returned to China to head AIA’s China asset management centre． He joined Harvest in 2013 as CIO and head of institutional business and fixed-income investment， according to a company statement．

　　Compared to its Chinese peers， Harvest has a wider business operation overseas， and despite the new leadership， the firm is most likely to stick to the strategy mapped out by Zhao， according to Hui Miao， a Singapore-based senior analyst covering China at Cerulli Associates．

　　Harvest was among the Chinese asset managers that ventured outside the mainland market through its global arm， Harvest Global Investments． HGI was originally a Hong Kong-based fund subsidiary established in 2008． It opened a New York office in 2012 and a London office three years later．

　　In March 2017， HGI launched its first Ucits mutual fund in Europe， the Harvest China Evolution Equity Fund， available to institutional and wholesale investors in Switzerland， the U.K．， Luxembourg and Finland． Four months later， it became the first asset management company to qualify two funds for the new Mutual Recognition of Funds scheme between Hong Kong and Switzerland， as reported．

　　In Australia， HGI is considering acquisitions of mid- to large-cap financial companies， according to the Australian Financial Review．

　　“Harvest will follow its long-term global strategy，” a Beijing-based spokeswoman tells Ignites Asia， adding that the firm is not yet ready to reveal details of its offshore operation under its new CEO．

　　“[Jing] has recorded outstanding performance in investment return and assets under management since he joined Harvest， with the institutional business [growing] by 124% in the recent three years to reach Rmb510 billion，” the company says in a statement．

　　“Rare case”

　　Zhao’s 17-year tenure seems exceptionally long when compared to the 3.85-year industry average for fund CEOs．

　　A CEO of a Chinese public fund house serves on average less than four years in that role before moving on， with more than 75% of China’s top asset management professionals staying less than five years， as reported．

　　“It’s very rare a CEO [is] reappointed as a fund house’s chairman in China， especially in the top-league fund houses，” the Shanghai analyst says． In China， most of the large fund houses have either a bank or brokerage shareholder， with strong influence on chairman appointments．

　　China Credit Trust， Harvest’s biggest shareholder， with a 40% stake in the firm， was able to appoint its own president as co-chairman to work side by side with Zhao．

　　In China， there was one similar case， in which Fan Yonghong， founding CEO of China Asset Management， one of China’s largest fund houses， stepped down from the CEO post and was appointed as vice chairman， but he left the company one year later．

　　According to the analyst， there are two possibilities why an outgoing CEO could land a leading role in the boardroom．

　　One is that a company’s shareholders may want to mitigate the negative impact of a well-known CEO’s departure and arrange a temporary post in the boardroom as a transition for leadership change．

　　The other is that the CEO is appreciated by shareholders and still wields an enormous influence on the company’s operation． In this case， being a chairman means the former CEO can map out strategy for his successor．

　　When asked by Ignites Asia if Zhao will leave the firm after a one- or two-year transition period， the company’s Beijing-based spokeswoman insists， “Zhao will not leave Harvest．” However， she did not give reasons for the leadership change or provide any further elaboration．

责任编辑：陶然