China Life AMP Management Shake-Up: Equity Management & Regulatory Risks

Source: Visual China

Blue Whale News, June 29 (Reporter Qi Hezhong) Insurance-backed fund company China Life AMP has a new GM.

On June 23, the company announced that GM E Hua left due to work arrangements, and Liu Zhongjiang succeeded as GM. Liu previously served as GM of the major shareholder's direct investment department and fixed income investment department.

E Hua, who stepped down, had served as GM since January 2023, about 3 years and 5 months. Before that, he was GM of China Life's equity investment department.

On the company's homepage, the tagline reads: 'Stay true to 12 years of original intent, repay every trust.' However, the company's actual performance over the past three years has been less than satisfactory. As of Q1 this year, non-money market fund scale was 181.8 billion yuan, ranking 30th in the industry. Fund types are predominantly bond funds, with equity funds taking a small share: stock funds about 10 billion yuan, mixed funds about 5.6 billion yuan.

As former GM of China Life's equity department, during E Hua's 3-year 5-month tenure, equity fund scale overall did not rise but fell. Specifically, mixed fund scale dropped as much as 50%.

During E Hua's tenure, not only were equity fund performance and scale lackluster, but internal controls also exposed major loopholes.

In August 2025, according to Tianjin Securities Regulatory Bureau's penalty document, fund manager Li Dan was fined for 'insider trading'.

Earlier in December 2023, per Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau's penalty document, the company's private placement investment department GM Hu Wenbiao was fined 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 at China Life AMP, excessive meetings and documents are serious. In the company's assessment system, the requirement to make money for holders is not given due place, deviating significantly from the CSRC's high-quality development requirements.

Over the past three years, the major shareholder sent many people to the company, occupying important positions, while the heavy work mainly fell on market hires. This led to a significant reduction in marketization, with severely insufficient research and sales capabilities.

Before 2023, China Life AMP was not like this; back then, its marketization level was relatively high. The first GM Zuo Jiqing was more principled in maintaining corporate governance.

China Life AMP was established in October 2013, founded and built by China Life Asset Management's fixed income department GM Zuo Jiqing, and risk management & compliance deputy GM (presiding) Shen Mengyu, among others.

After establishment, China Life AMP took 10 years to grow from scratch to a medium-sized fund company. By end of 2022, non-money fund scale was 128.5 billion yuan, ranking 31st. Among them, stock funds about 7.6 billion yuan, mixed funds about 12.8 billion yuan.

At that time, professionalism was highly valued, with management primarily sourced from market selection, offering strong competitiveness.

However, after the company scaled up, some in the major shareholder began coveting important positions, demanding appointments. Zuo Jiqing was unwilling to comply, facing immense pressure.

In January 2023, GM Zuo Jiqing, Inspector Shen Mengyu, and Fixed Income Investment Director Dong Ruiqian resigned for 'personal reasons'. After Changning State-owned Assets took over Chunhou Fund, in January 2026, Zuo Jiqing and Shen Mengyu became GM and Deputy GM of Chunhou Fund respectively.

Over the past three years, China Life AMP's 'filter' shattered. E Hua and others realized their butterfly dream, while the founding generation like Zuo and Shen underwent phoenix rebirth.

In the Zhuangzi butterfly dream story, Zhuangzi dreamed he became a butterfly, enjoying himself. Upon waking, he found himself plainly Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi became a great wise man because he clearly knew he was Zhuangzi after waking, while the flying wings were borrowed from the butterfly.

In real life, some cannot distinguish dream from reality. Some SOE cadres, after years in enterprise positions, still cannot transform into competent business operators, living long in a butterfly dream, preferring to stay drunk than wake.

We sincerely hope China Life AMP earnestly learns and comprehends the essence of 'development is the hard truth', focuses on business performance, and does not fall into formalism with lazy actions. The company should quickly return to market-oriented and international development tracks, eliminate formalism, and not regress by deceiving superiors and subordinates, missing valuable development opportunities. Management should truly focus on work, preserve and increase the state-owned capital invested by the major shareholder, and help holders achieve good returns.