Top China hedge fund High Flyer Quant suspends co-founder, cites reputational hit from family matter
The Hangzhou-based quantitative fund his actions “caused negative public opinion and had a negative impact on company reputation,” according to a statement published on its official WeChat account on Thursday. The fund did not specify what Xu had done, his role in the company or the duration of his suspension.
High-Flyer Quant did not immediately reply to an email request for comment. Xu could not be immediately reached for comment and did not respond to a message sent on his LinkedIn account.
High-Flyer Quant owns two asset management units overseeing more than 40 billion yuan (US$5.47 billion) of assets, according to media reports. The fund manager said in the WeChat post the decision on Xu will not affect the operations of the underlying funds.
Xu has a doctorate in ‘signal and processing’ from Zhejiang University, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is listed as the legal representative of High-Flyer Asset Management (Zhejiang) and CEO of High-Flyer Quant Investment Management (Ningbo), according to the Asset Management Association of China.
High-Flyer, established in 2015, said on its website it relies on mathematics and artificial intelligence for quantitative investments.
A flagship multi-strategy quant fund managed by Xu has declined 0.46 per cent so far this year, according to data provider Shenzhen PaiPaiWang Investment & Management. Still, it has returned an annualised 20.4 per cent to investors since its launch in 2017.
