International Women's Day Special | 1,110 female fund managers managing a total of 23.46 trillion yuan demonstrate women's strength

Text | Company Research Laboratory Fund Group, Author | Zhang Yang

Spring breezes bring warmth, and women pursue the light. On the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8th, we turn our attention to the shining “her power” in the public fund industry—female fund managers.

In recent years, the public fund industry has flourished, and the number of female fund managers has continued to grow, currently totaling 1,110, accounting for approximately 26.75% of all fund managers. They include seasoned industry veterans with over 20 years of experience and emerging talents just starting out, forming a stable yet dynamic professional team.

In terms of core strength, female fund managers have an average management tenure of 5.03 years, which is above the industry average, indicating that most have experienced complete bull and bear cycles, accumulating rich practical experience and mature risk management capabilities.

Regarding management scale, female fund managers oversee a total of 23.46 trillion yuan, representing a significant share of the total public fund management scale. On average, each manages about 21.1 billion yuan, actively engaging in equity, fixed income, and other sectors, demonstrating their strength and influence in the asset management field.

Today, we focus on several outstanding female fund managers who have performed well in active equity funds this year, exploring their secrets to success.

Shenwan Lingxin Miao Qi: Entering the cyclical track is a natural progression

According to publicly available information, Miao Qi studied at Harbin Institute of Technology during her undergraduate years, majoring in “Chemical Engineering and Technology (Electrochemical Direction).” With excellent academic performance, she was directly admitted to Shanghai Jiao Tong University for further studies, deepening her expertise in chemical engineering, laying a solid professional foundation for her subsequent research in related industries.

In 2017, Miao Qi graduated with a master’s degree and entered the financial industry, focusing on chemical research. She has worked at institutions such as Agricultural Bank of China Huijin Fund and Guotai Fund. In November 2021, she joined Shenwan Lingxin Fund, embarking on a new career journey two years later.

As of now, Miao Qi has an industry experience of 3.37 years as an investment manager, making her a relatively new fund manager. She currently manages two funds: Shenwan Lingxin Value Selection Hybrid Securities Investment Fund and Shenwan Lingxin Industry Rotation Stock Securities Investment Fund, with a combined management scale of 226 million yuan.

Performance-wise, as of March 4th, Miao Qi’s annualized return is 12.26%, with a year-to-date return of 20.91%, demonstrating strong investment ability.

Since April 10, 2023, Miao Qi has served as the fund manager of Shenwan Lingxin Industry Rotation A, with impressive performance during her tenure. In 2024 and 2025, the fund’s returns have both outperformed the benchmark, with a 2025 return reaching 74.52%, exceeding the benchmark by 57.71 percentage points.

For Miao Qi, focusing on the cyclical sector is not accidental but a choice deeply aligned with her professional background and industry experience.

When she entered the industry in 2017, it was during the recovery cycle following supply-side reforms. Miao Qi has admitted that she “caught a good time,” experiencing the full process of cyclical sectors’ prosperity. This experience fostered her strong affinity for cyclical sectors, and she says, “Once in the industry, I caught the tail end of the cyclical sector’s boom.”

Looking at her heavy holdings in Q4 2025, her investment layout is clearly focused on resource and cyclical stocks. The top ten holdings include Zijin Mining, Luoyang Molybdenum, Shandong Gold, Jincheng Gold, Chifeng Gold, China Tungsten High-tech, Enjie Shares, Juhua Shares, Tongling Nonferrous Metals, Zhaojin Gold, with a high concentration (about 52%) and a clear direction, reflecting her strong optimism for the cyclical sector.

Her specific investment logic includes clear judgments on various cyclical commodities:

For gold, she believes that with the Fed’s rate cut expectations rising, the weakening of the US dollar’s creditworthiness could further promote de-dollarization, potentially strengthening gold’s status as a strategic reserve asset and highlighting its long-term allocation value.

For copper, the largest industrial metal globally, she notes that copper’s financial attributes are gradually aligning with gold, becoming a “hard currency” that combines commodity properties (supporting industrial demand) and financial hedging functions. The explosive growth in demand from AI computing centers, new energy vehicles, and grid upgrades also provides solid support for copper prices.

Additionally, for strategic minor metals like rare earths, tungsten, and antimony, Miao Qi believes these resources are scarce and sensitive to geopolitical dynamics. As demand in hard tech fields like AI and commercial space continues to grow, these metals are expected to enter new cyclical phases with high investment potential.

E Yupei from China Europe Fund: 16 Years of Experience Using Cycle Logic to Capture Investment Opportunities

E Yupei from China Europe Fund is a seasoned industry veteran. Over her 16-year career in securities, she has accumulated experience as a chief cycle analyst at a securities firm for 8 years and has 8 years of practical experience in asset management industry cycle investing.

She specializes in deep research in industries such as cycles, manufacturing, and consumer sectors, and in assessing enterprise value. Her core investment logic involves accurately identifying intrinsic value from a full lifecycle perspective and selecting assets with the best risk-return profile across time and space, providing solid support for investment decisions.

Despite her extensive experience, Yupei has been a public fund manager for only 2.23 years. She currently manages three funds: China Europe Resources Selection, China Europe Industry Selection, and China Europe Jiayi One-Year Holding, with a total management scale of 2.905 billion yuan.

Performance-wise, as of March 4th, her annualized return is 32.27%, with a year-to-date return of 17.84%.

Among them, the China Europe Resources Selection Hybrid Fund, one of the “Four Little Dragons” of China Europe’s cyclical funds, focuses on high-quality investment opportunities related to natural resources within the context of social and economic development and industrial upgrading.

Established on January 21, 2025, the fund has performed remarkably, with a cumulative return of 120%, fully demonstrating her investment strength in the cyclical sector.

Looking at her holdings at the end of 2025, the top ten stocks include Zijin Mining, Luoyang Molybdenum, Aluminum Corporation of China (H-shares), Xiamen Tungsten, Jiangxi Copper (H-shares), Yunnan Aluminum, Ganfeng Lithium (H-shares), China Gold International (H-shares), Zangge Mining, Shenhuo Shares, Jiangxi Copper, and Aluminum Corporation of China.

Compared to Miao Qi’s holdings, her portfolio shows clear differences: she invests more in A and H shares, with a more diversified layout, especially in aluminum and lithium carbonate, whereas Miao Qi focuses more on resource stocks within A-shares, such as gold and copper.

Her investment logic is similar to Miao Qi’s: both favor scarce upstream resources and midstream materials, believing that their returns mainly come from two aspects: first, under the backdrop of excessive US dollar issuance, tangible scarce assets have strong anti-inflation properties and are likely to see continued price increases; second, the upgrading of downstream demand drives higher consumption of related assets, further releasing their value.

Regarding specific commodities, Yupei has clear judgments. For aluminum, she believes it offers a high risk-reward ratio: aluminum companies can sustain high dividends, providing stable returns, and demand has ample growth potential, especially with explosive growth in energy storage and AI infrastructure sectors.

For lithium carbonate, she expects prices to fluctuate within a certain range, with the price anchor mainly determined by global industry cost structures. In the first half of the year, due to peak industry activity, lithium carbonate is likely to perform relatively well.

Her investment style features a distinctive personal approach: focusing on industries at advantageous points in their cycles with high win rates and favorable odds, prioritizing high-quality companies with core competitiveness capable of generating alpha; she also actively seeks investment opportunities during industry downturns, market psychology swings, and misjudgments in corporate management cycles, aiming to achieve valuation and performance resonance for long-term, steady returns for fund holders.