Fifteen Years at the Helm: Final Chapter - What Cui Wei Left Behind for Oriental Fund is More Than @1200 Billion in Assets Under Management

How does AI · Cui Wei’s interdisciplinary background shape the governance culture of Eastern Fund?

Author: Qibai

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On March 20th, Eastern Fund Management Co., Ltd. announced a significant personnel change. Cui Wei, the chairman who led Eastern Fund for fifteen years, officially stepped down. General Manager Liu Hongpeng “took over” and assumed the responsibilities of chairman.

As a seasoned leader with a strong background in the central bank and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Cui Wei has been at the helm since 2011. Under his leadership, Eastern Fund has experienced key phases, from governance restructuring to moving toward high-quality development.

In its announcement, Eastern Fund stated that during Cui Wei’s tenure as chairman, he was diligent and dedicated, making important contributions to the company’s strategic development, governance improvement, and stable operation, laying a solid foundation for the company’s long-term healthy growth. The company expressed heartfelt gratitude!

**** Changing Leaders in the Hundred-Billion Club: “Old Leader” Retires, “Veteran” Takes Charge ****

It is understood that after stepping down as chairman, Cui Wei will continue to serve on the board of Eastern Fund, contributing his wisdom to the company’s future development.

According to Cailian Press, the average tenure of chairmen in the entire public mutual fund industry is about 5.8 years. Among current chairmen, only five have served more than ten years: Xiao Feng of Zhejiang Merchant Fund, Wang Zhulin of Yinhua Fund, Ren Kaiyu of Jinyuan Shun’an Fund, Ji Lu of Guojin Fund, and Dou Yuming of China Europe Fund.

With the rapid development of China’s public fund industry, management personnel changes are frequent. As the core decision-makers, the tenure of fund company chairmen also reflects the stability of corporate governance.

Eastern Fund has also announced its successor: Liu Hongpeng, who has served as general manager for nearly ten years, will take over as chairman. Data shows that Mr. Liu has extensive experience in securities and fund management, and has been with Eastern Fund for the same 15 years.

This personnel change at Eastern Fund can be seen as a smooth handover between “old leader” and “veteran.”

Looking at their backgrounds, both entered Eastern Fund almost simultaneously and have worked together for over ten years in the roles of chairman and general manager.

This long-term stable “partnership” is relatively rare in the public fund industry and provides a stable governance foundation for Eastern Fund’s continued development. Under their joint management, the fund’s size grew from 8.225 billion yuan at the end of 2011 to 126.819 billion yuan at the end of 2025, ranking 46th in the industry.

As a “veteran” who has worked alongside Cui Wei for over a decade, Liu Hongpeng has a deep understanding of Eastern Fund’s governance structure, investment philosophy, and corporate culture. His succession ensures maximum continuity and stability in strategic direction.

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In 2011, when Cui Wei took over Eastern Fund, it was a “hot potato.” At that time, Eastern Fund had just experienced internal turmoil, with a chaotic governance structure.

Performance-wise, by the end of 2011, the assets managed by Eastern Fund shrank to 8.225 billion yuan. The annual net profit turned from a profit of 30.08 million yuan the previous year to a loss of 11.84 million yuan, representing a typical “small fund company around a hundred billion yuan in size struggling to survive.”

Cui Wei’s background is quite unique. He previously worked at the People’s Bank of China, then transferred to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, gaining rich regulatory experience; he also taught at Jilin University Business School, with an academic research foundation. This cross between regulatory practice and academic research gives Cui Wei a multi-dimensional perspective on fund company governance.

More importantly, he always respects industry development laws and market principles, avoiding short-term administrative interventions, and instead focusing on building a self-sustaining institutional ecosystem.

Faced with internal and external challenges, Cui Wei’s first move was to “start from within the company.” He pushed for personnel changes, including senior management, and restructured basic systems in accordance with regulatory requirements, especially risk control and incentive mechanisms.

Meanwhile, Cui Wei also gradually built a stable and capable investment research team. At that time, Eastern Fund’s research team had only about 30 people. Although small, Cui Wei emphasized internal training and team atmosphere, advocating “unified investment philosophy and diversified investment styles.” While maintaining the fundamental direction of value investing, he allowed fund managers to develop their own characteristics. This relatively relaxed yet goal-oriented culture kept the team stable, with most core members having over ten years of experience, and high retention rates.

In the following years, Eastern Fund’s product line expanded from 8 funds in 2011 to over 60, with assets under management growing from over 8 billion yuan to more than 120 billion yuan, steadily improving its industry ranking. By the time Cui Wei stepped down, Eastern Fund had become a member of the “trillion-yuan club,” whereas when he first took over, the company was struggling to survive.

Additionally, Cui Wei paid attention to smooth team transitions. In 2016, Liu Hongpeng was promoted to general manager, gradually taking over daily operations. Since then, a management team centered around Liu has taken shape, ensuring leadership succession and strategic continuity.

**** Post-Cui Wei Era: Where Is Eastern Fund Heading? ****

Now, with Cui Wei stepping down and Liu Hongpeng taking over, Eastern Fund has entered a new development phase.

Unlike the chaotic situation fifteen years ago when Cui Wei took over, today’s Eastern Fund has established a more stable shareholder cooperation and management structure. The major shareholder, Northeast Securities, holds over 57% of the shares, with a clear and stable shareholder structure, providing important support for the company’s long-term strategy. As a veteran who has served for the same fifteen years, Liu Hongpeng deeply understands Eastern Fund’s culture and governance system. His succession minimizes the costs of management change and adjustment.

Strategically, Eastern Fund adheres to the core value of “steady investment creates lasting value,” exploring a professional and distinctive development path under compliant operations. Investment research remains a key focus. Recently, Eastern Fund has been building a “platform-based, integrated, multi-strategy” research system, emphasizing research-driven value creation in equity investments and transforming research results into investment performance. The culture of “unified investment philosophy and diversified investment styles” continues to be upheld.

In terms of product structure, the product line has grown from 8 in 2011 to over 70 today, covering equity, fixed income, index, FOF, and other categories.

In investor services, Eastern Fund is also continuously improving its service system. By 2025, it plans to hold over 1,100 offline training sessions, conduct investor education activities across multiple provinces and cities, and utilize live streaming and short videos to popularize investment knowledge, with over 240 live events annually.

Liu Hongpeng stated in his New Year’s address that Eastern Fund will continue to adhere to the “long-termism” development philosophy, continuously improving its product offerings such as active equity funds, index funds, and asset allocation products aligned with national strategies.

In the asset management industry, solid institutions and deep-rooted culture are the foundation of long-term success, even more so than individual leaders.

Now that Cui Wei has stepped down, the future of Eastern Fund naturally draws market attention.

Will the management team undergo a new round of adjustments? Can the strategic direction and management style shaped over the past fifteen years be maintained under the new leadership? Will the research system, risk control framework, and “profit for holders” culture built during Cui Wei’s tenure experience turbulence due to personnel changes?

These are key aspects that Eastern Fund will need to face and scrutinize in the coming period. For a company that has just crossed the trillion-yuan mark, the real test may have only just begun.