(Yicai Global) July 3 -- Chinese funds are going through more management changes this year as bosses of small industry players grapple with the intense competition and performance reviews.

Some 182 fund executives were changed this year as of yesterday, up from 168 a year ago, according to statistics compiled by Yicai Global. The group includes 86 fund managers, over two-thirds of which are small and medium-sized firms each managing less than CNY100 billion (USD13.4 billion) worth of net assets.

Most of the updates were about deputy general managers as in the first half, 54 funds hired 84 new deputy GMs. Some 35 chairpersons were replaced and the same goes for 37 GM-level professionals at over 20 investment institutions.

The flow of high-quality talents is normal as the number of fund managers has increased in recent years, an industry professional in southern China said to Yicai Global. "It is the intense fund industry competition that is actually behind the executive changes."

For small and medium-sized firms, the main reason behind the reshuffle may be that stakeholders are gradually starting to put managers under tougher performance reviews, causing great pressures, the insider added.

From June 1 to July 2, some 37 executive roles were updated at firms including Galaxy Asset Management, Cib Fund Management, Fuanda Fund Management, and 22 other fund managers, according to data from Hithink RoyalFlush Information Network.

Even foreign investment giants have joined the group as New China Fund Management, a unit of BlackRock, as well as affiliates of JPMorgan Asset Management and others, have recently revealed new executive hires.

Editors: Shi Yi, Emmi Laine