Watch her investment: The number of female private equity fund managers has increased to 1,045, with 241 women as actual controllers overseeing the overall situation.

Caixin March 8 News (Reporter Wu Yuqi) When International Women’s Day once again shifts industry focus to female professionals, the group of women fund managers in the private equity industry also deserves to be reevaluated within a more professional framework.

According to data from Private Equity Ranking Network, as of the end of February 2026, there are 1,787 female private fund practitioners, including 1,045 fund managers and 241 actual controllers.

Industry insiders note that in the past, when discussing women, people often associated them with risk control, operations, compliance, and other labels. Now, from macro hedging to quantitative strategies, from subjective long positions to global allocation, a large group of women private fund managers capable of managing portfolios and scale has formed. Because of this, when revisiting these figures at this point, the discussion is no longer just about “gender topics,” but about understanding the evolution of China’s private equity industry and changes in risk appetite through their growth paths and investment frameworks.

1045 female private fund managers, with 48 at the top

Let’s first look at fund managers. The 1,045 female fund managers indicate that women are deeply involved in the core positions of the private equity industry. Among leading private funds managing over 5 billion yuan, there are 48 female fund managers, accounting for 4.59% of all female fund managers. Overall, women are widely present in the private equity industry, but those who have entered top-tier platforms and face higher performance competition and resource allocation pressures remain relatively scarce.

Among these 48 top female fund managers, more are distributed in the quasi-billion yuan private funds of 5 to 10 billion yuan, with 31, and 17 are in billion-yuan funds.

In terms of distribution, Jinghua Shijia Private Equity has 3, Guangdong Dehui Investment, Bansha Investment, Junfu Investment, and Hengji Puyue each have 2. Women fund managers’ growth is not only concentrated in the most prominent large platforms but also in a significant number of core private funds where they have accumulated and risen.

Additionally, among the top female fund managers, six are also actual controllers, including Gao Lei of Yourui Holding Investment, Li Bei of Bansha Investment, Wang Qin of Junyang Private Fund, Xie Hongyan of Pengjin Zhongyang, Xu Li of Chongji Assets, and Zhou Xin of Xiyue Investment. They not only manage products but also participate directly in corporate governance, team building, and resource allocation.

Li Bei is a representative example. She is the founding partner and fund manager of Bansha Investment. She defines the company’s investment style as “classical macro,” focusing on “pure alpha strategies.” In risk control, the company emphasizes “concentration control”: no bets on a single asset class, a maximum of 30% in a single industry, and regular holdings in individual stocks not exceeding 5%.

In an interview this year, Li Bei stated that her view that “in a chaotic global asset environment, A-shares and Hong Kong stocks are small but certain happiness” remains unchanged. She expects a highly differentiated market similar to 2016-2017 in the next two years, but with core cyclically driven blue-chip stocks likely to outperform significantly. Regarding specific directions, she is optimistic about real estate opportunities that come once in ten years amid supply-side cleanup and cyclical recovery. Meanwhile, she has fully exited gold holdings, believing its long-term investment value has diminished and opportunity costs are high.

Besides the top figures who are also actual controllers, many highlights exist among the 42 top female fund managers who are not controllers. He Ruilin is one of them. She joined Bopu Asset Management in 2017, and the “Bopu Antai No. 2 A-shares” fund she co-manages with Yuan Hao has returned over nine times since inception, covering new energy, technology, high-end manufacturing, consumer sectors, and biomedicine.

241 female private fund controllers, with 19 having over 30 years of experience

From an institutional perspective, the 241 female controllers form the power layer of the private equity female group. Breaking down further, among mid-to-large private funds managing over 1 billion yuan, there are 33 female controllers, accounting for 13.69% of all female private fund controllers. Of these, 19 are in the 1-2 billion yuan range, and only two are in billion-yuan funds, namely Xu Yulian of Shanghai Lingren Private Equity and Zhou Xin of Xiyue Investment.

In terms of positions, most controllers also serve as fund managers—25 in total—including Party Kaiyu of Shenzhen Yitong Investment, Wang Qin of Bansha Private Fund, Xie Hongyan of Pengjin Zhongyang, and Liu Yan of Sapphire Fund. For example, Party Kaiyu has experience at China Merchants Securities, Nuoxin Fund, and Harvest Fund. Her market judgment is pragmatic, emphasizing that narratives ultimately need to be backed by performance, and future focus should be on anti-inflation and going global.

Regarding education and experience, among private funds managing over 500 million yuan, only 20 female practitioners hold a PhD, with 13 of them also serving as fund managers, mainly in the 1-5 billion yuan range. In billion-yuan funds, only Zhou Xin of Xiyue Investment and Chen Yan of Zhongke招商 are female fund managers. Women in private equity are moving toward more specialization and systematic development.

Li Nan is an example. She holds a PhD in Management Science and Engineering, joined Shuanglong Investment in 2017, focusing on strategy allocation and portfolio resilience research, and has participated in the strategic management of multiple products. She has long been engaged in strategy allocation and portfolio resilience research. The capabilities of female fund managers are increasingly extending into areas like CTA, which emphasize models and systematic approaches.

In terms of years of experience, 19 women have over 30 years in the industry, with 11 also serving as fund managers. Among the leading private funds, veterans include Jiang Tong of Jinglin Asset and Gao Lei of Yourui Holding Investment. The rest are in companies with scale between 5-50 billion yuan.

Jiang Tong is a representative figure. She is a senior fund manager and partner at Jinglin Asset, with previous roles at Harvest Fund, Southern Fund, and CCB Fund. This indicates that female private fund managers are not a recent phenomenon but include seasoned professionals who have transitioned from public funds and securities firms, providing long-term industry experience.

Overall, the significance of female private fund managers is not just in their increasing numbers but in their evolving roles within the industry. On one hand, those who have entered top institutions and can independently manage products and develop methodologies; on the other, those who serve as actual controllers and participate in governance and resource allocation. For an industry already in a stage of refined competition, this transformation is highly meaningful.