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(Bloomberg) — One of China’s most prominent fund managers, Wang Yawei, is currently “not involved” in the asset management company he founded, the firm said, after a report last year that he had been detained.
Wang’s involvement in the operations of Qianhe Capital Management Co. is suspended because of personal reasons, the company said in a statement Saturday. It didn’t elaborate.
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Reuters in October reported that Wang was held by authorities in relation to a probe of Zhu Congjiu, the former vice chairman at the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Once known as the “Big Brother” of the nation’s mutual fund industry, Wang rose to fame in the early 2000s by producing stellar returns at China Asset Management Co., then China’s biggest mutual fund manager. He left the firm in 2012 to found his own investment firm.
Read more: Xi Vows ‘No Mercy’ as He Deepens Graft Fight in Key Sectors
Qianhe said its management team will ensure normal operations of the firm, and it has ample liquidity. The company has almost completed a redemption of funds, it said.
President Xi Jinping has been tightening his grip over China’s $61 trillion financial sector with sweeping crackdowns on corruption and wrongdoings. He vowed last month to deepen anti-corruption efforts in sectors from finance to energy and show “no mercy” in the fight, even after having claimed initial victory in mid-2022.
In China, the sudden absence of a boss has come to signal a government crackdown or investigation. In many cases, the person is said to be assisting with graft probes. Publicly listed companies typically report they have lost contact with the executive and need to make their own inquiries into what happened within the country’s opaque legal system.
On Friday, financial firm China Renaissance Holdings Ltd. said Bao Fan — the star Chinese banker whose disappearance shocked the business and investing community last year — resigned as chairman and chief executive officer. Bao founded China Renaissance in 2005, and the company said he stepped down for health and family reasons.
Bao disappeared in February 2023 and was later placed under detention for an unspecified investigation by Chinese authorities amid a broader graft crackdown on the financial sector.
—With assistance from Jing Li.
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