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Zhang Shidong

China’s largest fund manager has doubled down on consumer stocks, betting on a rebound in spending as early signs of stabilisation emerge in the property and catering sectors.
Zhang Kun, who oversees US$6.9 billion at Guangzhou-based E Fund Management, increased exposure to leading baijiu makers and e-commerce platforms in his flagship mutual fund during the first quarter, according to a quarterly filing released on Thursday.
The combined assets of the four funds he manages remain the largest among mainland peers.
As part of a portfolio reshuffle at the 26.9 billion yuan (US$3.9 billion) E Fund Blue Chip Selected Mixed Fund, Zhang added 60,045 shares of Shanxi Xinghuacun Fen Wine Factory and bought 400,000 Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba Group Holding between January and March. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
The move puts him at odds with many fund managers who remain wary of China’s consumer sector after years of weakness tied to the property downturn and a soft jobs market.
Official data showed retail sales grew at a single-digit pace in March, while a consumer-discretionary gauge on the mainland benchmark index fell more than 9 per cent in the first quarter. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares also dropped 17 per cent over the period.

“Do we still believe that every generation in China will live better than the last?” Zhang said in the report. “If the answer is yes, then the current hardship is cyclical rather than structural. The difficulty will pass, and linear extrapolation does not make sense.”
He pointed to tentative signs of recovery in domestic demand, noting that pre-owned home prices in tier-one cities had stopped falling and same-store sales at major restaurant chains returned to growth in the first quarter.
“That means consumer confidence is beginning to recover, albeit gradually,” Zhang said. “The direction is clear, even if the pace is slow. It also reflects the resilience of China’s economy after a period of stress.”
By the end of March, Kweichow Moutai remained the fund’s largest holding, accounting for 9.91 per cent of net asset value. Peers Wuliangye Yibin and Luzhou Laojiao ranked second and third, with the three liquor makers accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the portfolio.
Shanxi Fen Wine was the seventh-largest holding at 9.27 per cent, followed closely by Alibaba at 9.22 per cent.
Looking ahead, consumer stocks could present opportunities in the second half of the year if improving confidence translated into stronger household spending, according to BNP Paribas. While Chinese households had slowed the pace of bank deposits, this had yet to meaningfully lift consumption, the bank said in a recent report.
Zhang’s flagship fund fell 5.2 per cent in the first quarter, underperforming declines of 3.9 per cent in the CSI 300 Index and 3.3 per cent in the Hang Seng Index. It allocated 12.3 billion yuan, or 46 per cent of its assets, to Hong Kong-listed equities via the Stock Connect programme, the quarterly report said.


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Zhang Kun ramps up exposure to liquor makers and e-commerce, backing a gradual recovery in consumption despite weak retail data


Zhang Kun ramps up exposure to liquor makers and e-commerce, backing a gradual recovery in consumption despite weak retail data.


Baijiu bet: China’s top fund manager doubles down on consumers amid signs of recovery

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Zhang Kun ramps up exposure to liquor makers and e-commerce, backing a gradual recovery in consumption despite weak retail data

Zhang Kun ramps up exposure to liquor makers and e-commerce, backing a gradual recovery in consumption despite weak retail data