Chinese fund beats 97% of peers by buying Gen Z darlings Pop Mart, Laopu Gold

A 30-year-old Chinese fund manager is trouncing peers in 2025 with a portfolio stocked with Gen Z-favoured names like Labubu-maker Pop Mart International Group, betting that new-age shopping trends can help his fund overcome the country's economic sluggishness.

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BEIJING -

Mr Xie Tianyuan's Penghua Selected Return Flexible Allocation Mixed Fund has returned 24 per cent in 2025, ranking in the top 3 per cent among roughly 2,300 peers, data from fund tracker East Money Information showed. That is a turnaround from its recent past when holdings in traditional sectors like alcoholic beverages and farming dragged performance. A gauge for Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong has risen 20 per cent in 2025.

The Shenzhen-based fund manager, who took over in early 2024, wasted little time in replacing what was then the fund's top holding Kweichow Moutai, a baijiu distiller, with the maker of smash-hit Labubu dolls, Pop Mart.

His repositioning for the fund, which has about US$7 million (S$8.9 million) in assets under management, reflects how cultural shifts—brought on by digital influence and youth spending—are creating opportunities for Chinese investors navigating broader challenges in the world's second-largest economy.

His conviction strengthened after witnessing the popularity of the toy-maker's products in Thailand, which, he says, signalled "non-linear growth with every metric showing breakout potential".