Foreign public mutual fund company LLB Fund appoints new leadership: LLB Asia-Pacific CEO takes over as Chairman

The reporter from 《每日经济新闻》 learned that recently, foreign wholly-owned public offering asset management firm AB Li Peng Fund issued an announcement regarding executive changes. The former chairman, Ajai Mohan Kaul, has retired, and Michael Frazier Thompson, CEO for Asia-Pacific at AB Li Peng, has taken over as chairman.

AB Li Peng Fund opened in January 2024 and is the fifth foreign wholly-owned public offering fund management company approved to conduct business in China.

According to the announcement, Michael Frazier Thompson previously served as Head of PIMCO’s Asia Singapore business and wealth management business in Asia (excluding Japan); Head of the Asia region at PIMCO Aisia Limited (HongKong); Head of global financial institutions business and the Europe markets and client relations at Intermediate Capital Group; Head of global fixed income business development and product strategy at AB Li Peng; and Head of global institutional business. He is currently CEO for the Asia-Pacific region at AB Li Peng.

This personnel change is rare for AB Li Peng Fund since it began operations in 2024, and the arrangement of appointing a foreign executive to oversee a key management role at a foreign-invested public offering fund is not unique. Against the backdrop of a full relaxation of foreign ownership restrictions in the public offering sector, foreign executives taking the helm has become the norm for the development of foreign-invested public offering funds.

AB Li Peng Fund Gets a New Boss: Veteran Retires, Asia-Pacific Helmsman Takes Office

Recently, AB Li Peng Fund released an announcement. The former chairman, Ajai Mohan Kaul, stepped down on March 26 due to retirement. Starting on the same date, Michael Frazier Thompson officially assumed the role of chairman of the company. This change has been reviewed and approved by the company’s shareholders and board of directors, and has been filed with the regulatory authorities.

A reporter with 《每日经济新闻》 noted that at the end of 2025, Ajai Mohan Kaul retired from his position as CEO for Asia-Pacific at the company. Now, he has also retired from the concurrently held chairman position at AB Li Peng Fund.

The newly appointed chairman, Michael Frazier Thompson, holds dual citizenship in the United Kingdom and South Africa and has more than 30 years of experience in global asset management. He previously served as Head of PIMCO’s Asia Singapore business and wealth management business in Asia (excluding Japan), and Head of the Asia region at PIMCO Aisia Limited (HongKong). He also served as Head of global financial institutions business and Europe markets and client relations at Intermediate Capital Group; Head of global fixed income business development and product strategy at AB Li Peng; and Head of global institutional business, among other roles. Last August, he was appointed CEO for the Asia-Pacific region at AB Li Peng, responsible for business growth in the Asia-Pacific region, client distribution, and strategic planning. In this concurrent appointment as chairman of AB Li Peng Fund, he will coordinate the company’s overall strategy for the China market.

AB Li Peng Fund was established in September 2021. It is 100% controlled by AB Li Peng Hong Kong Co., Ltd., which is under the ownership of AB Li Peng Group, a U.S. asset management giant. In January 2024, it was officially approved to conduct business. It is the fifth newly established foreign wholly-owned public offering fund management company after BlackRock, Loomis, Fidelity, and Schroders.

According to Wind data, as of the end of the first quarter of this year, AB Li Peng Fund has already set up four public offering fund products (with share counts combined), including two hybrid funds, one bond fund, and one index-linked product. The funds are managed by five fund managers, and the latest assets under management total RMB 837 million.

Among them, the two hybrid funds—AB Li Peng Smart Selection Hybrid A and AB Li Peng Smart Far Hybrid A—were established in April 2024 and April 2025, respectively. As of March 30, the returns for these two products since the beginning of this year were -3.86% and -2.74%, respectively, both at the level of the bottom 30% of the industry.

Governance Changes in Foreign-Invested Public Offering Funds: Foreign Executives Taking the Helm Becomes Industry Norm

In fact, in recent years, with the implementation of the policy allowing foreign investors to hold 100% ownership in public offering funds, it has become a common industry phenomenon that many foreign-invested public offering funds have foreign shareholders appointing foreign individuals to serve as chairman or general manager.

For example, in 2023, Morgan Asset Management (China) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Morgan Fund) transitioned from a joint venture to being fully and wholly controlled by foreign investment. In the same year, both the company’s chairman and general manager were changed. The British chairman, Daniel Watkins (Chinese name: Wu Qingtian), formally took office in April 2023.

Public information shows that Daniel Watkins previously held multiple positions, including Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Morgan Asset Management’s European business, Chief Operating Officer for Morgan Asset Management’s European business, and Global Investment Management Operations Director. When he became chairman of Morgan Fund, he served as CEO of Morgan Asset Management’s Asia business, as a member of the Asset Management Operations Committee, and as a member of the group’s Asia-Pacific management team.

Another foreign wholly-owned fund company—Morgan Stanley Fund—also has a foreign individual as its chairman, Todd Coltman (Chinese name: Gao Jiewen).

Public information shows that Todd Coltman is a U.S. citizen and previously worked as a lawyer at multiple top law firms. He joined Morgan Stanley in 2004 and formally took over as chairman of Morgan Stanley Fund in September 2022.

At that time, the company said that Gao Jiewen’s taking the helm further reflected Morgan Stanley’s continued support for the company’s business development and its坚定ly optimistic long-term commitment to China’s capital markets. Gao Jiewen will continue to work closely with the company’s management team, increase investment in building local teams and improving business capabilities, and provide better services to investors in China as well as globally.

Some industry insiders have analyzed for reporters that in the early stage of the joint-venture public offering fund sector, according to the joint-venture agreements and industry practices, the chairman was generally appointed by the Chinese shareholder, while the foreign shareholder mainly participated in corporate management by appointing the general manager, heads of investment and research, and other roles, with less direct appointment to the chairman position. Since 2020, however, China has removed restrictions on foreign ownership proportions in public offering funds, allowing foreign investors to hold 100% ownership in public offering fund companies. After the policy was liberalized, international asset management giants such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and AB Li Peng established or acquired public offering fund licenses one after another, achieving full ownership and control.

Against this backdrop, foreign shareholders directly appoint key executives to oversee foreign-invested public offering funds; it has become industry norm for foreign nationals to serve as chairman and general manager. This not only aligns with foreign shareholders’ intention for a long-term layout in the China market, but also makes it easier to combine global asset management experience with China market practices, further driving China’s public offering fund industry to align with international standards in governance models, investment research frameworks, product innovation, and other areas.

Daily Economic News