China's Harvest Fund chairman under investigation resigns

China's Harvest Fund chairman under investigation resigns

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Harvest Fund is seen at an exhibition in Beijing, China, September 1, 2005. China's mutual fund industry is pushing to develop investment products linked to local commodity futures, betting that plans to fight chronic oversupply in the country's mammoth resource sector will drive up prices for raw materials. Picture taken September 1, 2005. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Harvest Fund Management, one of China’s largest asset managers, said on Friday Chairman Zhao Xuejun had resigned and is cooperating with authorities regarding an investigation pertaining to “personal problems”, without elaborating.

Co-chairman An Guoyong will serve as acting chairman.

The probe has nothing to do with the company’s fund business, Harvest Fund said in a statement, adding that it was operating normally.

Zhao is among the longest serving fund management executives in China.

His departure comes after Beijing stepped up a crackdown on its financial sector, with Zhao the most senior fund executive at a top buy-side firm to be subject to investigation.

Reuters reported in July that two asset managers had asked their staff to return pay, acting under Beijing’s common prosperity drive aimed at addressing social and income inequality as economic growth slows.

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