China Life AMP Fund Governance and Performance Reflection: Three Years of Shattered Illusions
Image source: Visual China
Blue Whale News, June 29 (Reporter Qi Hezhong) The general manager of insurance-backed fund company China Life AMP Fund has changed.
On June 23, the company announced that General Manager E Hua left due to work arrangements, and Liu Zhongjiang succeeded him as General Manager. Liu Zhongjiang previously served as General Manager of the Direct Investment Department and General Manager of the Fixed Income Investment Department of the major shareholder China Life.
E Hua, who stepped down as General Manager this time, had held the position since January 2023, for about three years and five months. Before becoming General Manager of China Life AMP, he was General Manager of China Life's Equity Investment Department.
On the company's official website homepage, the slogan reads: 'Adhering to the 12-year original intention to repay every trust.' However, the company's actual operating performance over the past three years has been less than satisfactory. As of the end of the first quarter of this year, the company's non-money market fund scale was 181.8 billion yuan, ranking 30th in the industry. However, the fund types are dominated by bond funds, with a very small proportion of equity funds. Among them, stock funds are about 10 billion yuan, and hybrid funds are about 5.6 billion yuan.
As the former General Manager of China Life's Equity Department, during E Hua's tenure as General Manager of the company for three years and five months, the overall equity fund scale not only did not rise but actually fell. Among them, hybrid fund scale decreased by as much as 50%.
During E Hua's tenure as General Manager, not only were the performance and scale of China Life AMP's equity funds lackluster, but the company's internal control also revealed significant vulnerabilities.
In August 2025, according to an administrative penalty document from the Tianjin Securities Regulatory Bureau, the company's fund manager Li Dan was penalized for 'rat trading'.
Earlier, in December 2023, according to an administrative penalty document from the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau, the company's Special Account Investment Department General Manager Hu Wenbiao was penalized for illegal stock trading and market manipulation.
Despite these issues, it did not affect E Hua's return to the major shareholder for further promotion. It is reported that in the daily work of China Life AMP, there is a serious problem of excessive meetings and documents. In the company's assessment system, the requirement to make money for fund holders has not been given its due place, which deviates significantly from the China Securities Regulatory Commission's requirements for high-quality development.
Over the past three years, the major shareholder of China Life AMP has sent many people to the company, occupying important positions, while the heavy lifting is mainly done by those recruited from the market. This has led to a significant reduction in the company's marketization level, resulting in a serious shortage of investment research and sales capabilities.
Before 2023, China Life AMP was not like this; at that time, the company's marketization level was relatively high. The company's first General Manager, Zuo Jiqing, was more assertive in upholding principles and maintaining corporate governance.
China Life AMP was established in October 2013, founded and built by Zuo Jiqing, former General Manager of China Life Asset Management's Fixed Income Department, and Shen Mengyu, former Deputy General Manager (presiding) of Risk Management and Compliance Department.
After the company was established, China Life AMP took 10 years to grow from scratch into a medium-sized fund company. By the end of 2022, the company's non-money market fund scale was 128.5 billion yuan, ranking 31st in the industry. Among them, stock funds were about 7.6 billion yuan, and hybrid funds were about 12.8 billion yuan.
At that time, the company had relatively high requirements for specialization, and the management was mainly recruited from the market with strong competitiveness.
However, after the company grew its asset scale, some people from the major shareholder began to covet certain important positions in the company and demanded arrangements through appointment. Zuo Jiqing was unwilling to comply with these unreasonable demands, once enduring enormous pressure.
In January 2023, the company's General Manager Zuo Jiqing, Inspector Shen Mengyu, and Fixed Income Investment Director Dong Ruiqian resigned for 'personal reasons'. After Changning State-owned Capital took over Chunhou Fund, in January 2026, Zuo Jiqing and Shen Mengyu became General Manager and Deputy General Manager of Chunhou Fund respectively.
Over the past three years, the illusions of China Life AMP have shattered one after another. E Hua and others have fulfilled their butterfly dreams, while the first-generation founders like Zuo Jiqing and Shen Mengyu have undergone a phoenix nirvana.
In the story of Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he became a butterfly, carefree! Upon waking, he found himself clearly to be Zhuang Zhou again. Zhuang Zhou became a great wise man because he could clearly recognize himself as Zhuang Zhou after waking, while the wings in his dream were borrowed from the butterfly.
In real life, some people cannot distinguish between dreams and reality. Some state-owned enterprise cadres work in the company for many years but still cannot transform into competent business operators, living in a butterfly dream for a long time, preferring to be drunk rather than awake.
We sincerely hope that China Life AMP can earnestly study and comprehend the connotation and essence of 'development is the hard truth', pay close attention to the company's operations, and speak with business performance. Do not fall into the quagmire of formalism, being lazy despite a glib tongue. The company should quickly return to the track of marketization and international development, eliminate formalism, and not reverse course by deceiving superiors and subordinates, missing precious development opportunities. The company's management should truly focus their minds on work, so that the state-owned capital invested by the major shareholder can maintain and increase value, and help fund holders achieve good returns.
