(Yicai) Aug. 1 -- The deputy general managers of Chinese investment firms CICC Fund and Hwabao WP Fund as well as the China arm of the US' BlackRock resigned yesterday as heavy losses by a number of public funds put senior executives under great pressure.

Qiu Yanbing left his post on July 29 due to personal reasons, CICC Fund said. Qiu managed 15 fund products during his time at the Beijing-based firm, but since June 2021 he has been withdrawing from their management one by one.

Qiu also stepped down from overseeing three one-year products on July 12, namely Ruihe A, Hengyou A, and Xinrui, all of which were loss making. During his time at the helm, these funds logged returns of minus 17.5 percent, minus 13 percent and minus 33.5 percent respectively, according to data from financial information platform Wind.

Lu Wenjie is stepping down for work adjustment reasons, BlackRock’s China division said. Lu, who is also chief investment officer, will no longer be involved in the running of BlackRock’s Hong Kong Stock Connect Vision Mixed A, which had a cumulative return of minus 31.1 percent as of July 31, and Advanced Manufacturing A, which has slumped by 16.1 percent since Lu joined its management.

"In the past two years, the market has fluctuated greatly due to the lower fees for public offerings and other factors, so executives at public fund managers are under great pressure, which may be one of the reasons for the recent resignations,” an investment firm in South China said.

As funds continue to underperform, forty-three executives at public fund companies changed their positions in July, a monthly high for 2024. And so far this year, more than 200 executives have switched jobs, involving 90 fund management firms, according to Wind data.

Editor: Kim Taylor