"Catfish" Company Changes Leadership: The "Battlefield" and "Concerns" of the 50 Billion East Finance Fund

Always considered an industry “troublemaker,” Dongcai Fund is once again facing a personnel change at the top.

On February 28, Dongcai Fund announced that General Manager and Chief Financial Officer Sha Fugui has stepped down due to work arrangements; he has other assignments. Vice General Manager Gu Yong will assume the roles of General Manager and Chief Financial Officer.

With this, Sha Fugui, the longest-serving general manager since Dongcai Fund’s establishment, has stepped down from his leadership role, and Gu Yong will become the fourth general manager of Dongcai Fund.

Longest-serving General Manager Departs

Sha Fugui is the third general manager since Dongcai Fund (formerly Tibet Dongcai Fund, renamed in September 2025) was founded, and he has been the longest in the role, serving approximately four and a half years since 2021.

Prior to joining Dongcai Fund, Sha Fugui had no experience in fund management but had extensive experience in securities. He previously served as Financial Director at Xiangcai Securities, Deputy General Manager at Tianan Property Insurance Asset Management Center, Deputy General Manager at Oriental Fortune Securities, General Manager, Chairman, and Legal Representative of Tibet Oriental Fortune Investment Management Co., Ltd.

In March 2021, Sha Fugui was transferred from Deputy General Manager at Dongcai Securities to roles including Deputy General Manager at Tibet Dongcai Fund. By August 2021, he was appointed General Manager of Tibet Dongcai Fund.

Recent Industry Midstream Positioning

Looking back, as an “old hand” within the Oriental Fortune system (likely also following shareholder directives), Sha Fugui has made some achievements, bringing the company from the bottom of the industry to the midstream.

When Sha Fugui took over, Dongcai Fund was in a difficult period. After three years, the company remained a laggard in the industry, with assets under management around 3 billion yuan or less for a long time. His appointment was seen as a “crisis response.”

After taking office, the company underwent tough adjustments, obtained approvals, and finally launched a “surprise attack” in Q4 2024, establishing three ETFs in succession. Notably, the Dongcai CSI 1-3 Year Government Bond ETF surpassed 6 billion yuan in issuance, becoming the largest fund the company has launched since its founding, and helping push the company’s total assets beyond 20 billion yuan.

Subsequently, buoyed by strong bond performance, Dongcai Fund’s scale stabilized in the midstream, growing to over 55 billion yuan before Sha Fugui’s departure (according to Q1 2025 quarterly report).

Lack of Breakthroughs in Equity Products

However, from another perspective, the company’s main products have been bonds (accounting for 80% of assets at the end of last year), which poses clear challenges.

In terms of product categories, active equity investment capability is a core strength for a public fund company. Lacking sufficient scale hampers the development of such capabilities.

Financially, management fees from bond funds are relatively low. If a company focuses mainly on bonds with limited scale, reaching break-even becomes difficult.

Looking at specific product sizes, Dongcai RuiLi Bond Fund alone exceeds 35 billion yuan, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the company’s assets at the end of 2025. Such a product structure poses risks to balanced and stable operations.

Whether this has prompted shareholders to consider leadership changes remains to be seen.

History of Multiple General Manager Changes

As a fund company approved in September 2018 and launched in July 2019, achieving operational breakthroughs has been extremely challenging.

In less than seven years since its founding, Dongcai Fund has had four general managers, indicating how tough the job is.

The first general manager was Le Rong, who is not an unknown figure in asset management. Since 1994, Le Rong has held roles at Junan Securities Shanghai headquarters, Shanghai International Trust Securities Department, Pacific Insurance Group, Pacific Asset Management, and Tibet Oriental Fortune Securities, serving as fund manager, head of private wealth management, asset management department head, deputy general manager, etc.—a veteran in the investment industry.

But ultimately, after 1.5 years, in January 2020, Le Rong left for personal reasons.

His successor, Pan Shiyou, also served as general manager for a similar duration.

Pan Shiyou’s background is quite different, mainly in sales and marketing. He previously worked as Project Manager at Neusoft Group Shenzhen, E-commerce Manager at Penghua Fund Management, E-commerce Manager at Shanghai Tongtian Fund, E-commerce Director at Pudong Bank Ansheng Fund, Deputy General Manager and General Manager of Tiantian Fund Sales, and Head of Market Marketing at Tibet Dongcai Fund.

When Pan was General Manager of Tiantian Fund, he was highly regarded, seen as a key channel for Dongcai Fund to connect with its shareholder’s sales network. But after just over a year, he also left.

Then came Sha Fugui, who, after weathering market adjustments, seized the opportunity to grow the scale and completed the “handover” in February 2026.

Who is Gu Yong?

Replacing Sha Fugui, Gu Yong’s resume differs significantly from Sha’s, and in some ways resembles Tibet Dongcai Fund’s first general manager, Le Rong.

His background includes diverse asset management experience. He has served as Securities Analyst at Fullgoal Fund, Deputy General Manager of the Asset Management Department at China Dadi Property Insurance, Financial General Manager at Fosun High Technology Group, Party Committee Member, Director, Vice President, and CFO at Yong’an Property Insurance, Senior President Assistant and Head of Tech Finance at Deppon Securities, Vice President at Hua’an Securities, and in March 2025, he was appointed Deputy General Manager of Dongcai Fund. His career spans sell-side research, insurance asset management, finance, CFO roles, and vice presidency at a securities firm.

Gu Yong left Hua’an Securities Vice President role in March 2025. The company’s annual report for 2024 shows he earned 801,000 yuan, the highest among several vice presidents, indicating a significant position and high regard within Hua’an Securities.

His recruitment from Hua’an Securities appears to be part of shareholder-level personnel planning.

However, Gu Yong faces a major challenge: how to chart a sustainable development path for the well-known Dongcai Fund? How to break the “leadership change curse”? He has much to accomplish.

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