Ask AI · How can investors under current high valuations learn from the stable sleep strategy?

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The standard of comfort is not how much it will rise next, but whether it allows people to sleep peacefully.**

Author | Market Value Storm Fund Research Department

Editor | Xiao Bai

In 2025, the A-share market can be described as a world of new concepts and technology stocks.

While everyone is obsessed with chasing the wave of the times, opening the 2025 annual report of Zhongtai Asset Management fund manager Jiang Cheng, there’s a feeling that while others are surfing, he’s setting up a tea stall on the shore.

Outside, tech stocks are hotly traded, but in his hands, he still holds the same old teas of banks, construction, and real estate—calm and unhurried, occasionally taking a sip, watching the tides rise and fall.

The annual report is a summary of the fund manager’s past performance and a report on the future. Today, Fengyun will break down this straightforward and practical report card for everyone.

Behind lagging performance is the underlying tone of traditional value

From the performance data, Jiang Cheng did not run very fast in the past year.

As of March 30, 2026, Jiang Cheng’s representative fund Zhongtai Xingyuan Flexible Allocation Hybrid A (006567.OF) achieved a 9% return over the past year. This performance is jokingly called by many fund investors as “basically unrelated to a bull market.”

Because, in comparison, the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index rose nearly 15% during the same period, and the ChiNext Index surged nearly 54%.

(Source: Market Value Storm APP)

Faced with such a performance gap, Jiang Cheng candidly admitted in the 2025 annual report that due to overall market differentiation, the large-cap value style lagged significantly, and his portfolio was heavily exposed to this style, resulting in relatively poor performance.

Looking at the top ten holdings in Q4 2025, China State Construction, Sun Paper, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Merchants Bank, and Hualu Hengsheng are all on the list, with the top ten stocks accounting for nearly 69% of the portfolio.

(Source: Wind)

This preference for traditional cyclical and value industries has hardly changed since he has managed this fund for over seven years.

In Jiang Cheng’s view, these leading companies in traditional industries are like “egg-laying hens.” As long as they can produce stable eggs (profits and dividends) every day, even if the market thinks they lack growth potential, as long as the price is cheap enough, they are good assets.

An internal rate of return-driven passive trading system

Many are curious, how does Jiang Cheng operate in the face of market fluctuations? The answer is clearly written in his annual report: passive response.

Jiang Cheng’s investment framework does not focus on market hot spots but on how to weigh a company’s entire lifecycle. As long as the long-term weighing results do not change significantly, the daily ups and downs of stock prices are just arithmetic problems of internal rate of return in his eyes.

When a stock’s price rises, causing its potential internal rate of return to decline and its value-for-money to decrease, he will choose to sell; conversely, when the price falls and the value-for-money improves, he will buy.

(Source: Zhongtai Xingyuan Flexible Allocation A 2025 Annual Report)

Taking specific operations in 2025 as an example, he bought China State Construction when it fell, sold it when it rose to maintain dynamic balance, and also sold some stocks like Hualu Hengsheng and ICBC that performed well in 2025.

(Source: Market Value Storm APP)

This selling is not because he is pessimistic about these companies; it is more about passive adjustments based on valuation rebound and decreased value-for-money, i.e., “buy low, sell high.”

As he said in the annual report, this is how he did it in 2025, in previous years, and will continue to do so in the future.

This consistent “rigidity” of action and belief may also be his core weapon for controlling drawdowns and achieving long-term steady returns.

Golden opportunities are no longer everywhere; leaving cash to sleep peacefully

At the beginning of 2026, Jiang Cheng’s attitude toward the market has become cautious.

He explicitly pointed out in the outlook section of the annual report that at current valuation levels, it is no longer “gold everywhere.” For investors evaluating with internal rate of return, stock picking is becoming significantly more difficult.

(Source: Zhongtai Xingyuan Flexible Allocation A 2025 Annual Report)

This caution is also reflected in position control. By the end of 2025, the stock allocation of Zhongtai Xingyuan Flexible Allocation Hybrid A decreased from 87.18% in the previous period to 83.82%, and cash holdings increased moderately.

Jiang Cheng believes that as valuation levels rise, moderately increasing cash positions is not a loss. Instead of forcing trades and buying recklessly, it’s better to keep some liquidity and wait for better entry points.

The most interesting sentence appears at the end of the annual report, where he states that he strives to keep the portfolio in as comfortable a state as possible, and “the standard of comfort is not how much it will rise next, but whether it allows one to sleep peacefully.”

Fengyun believes that what reassures investors most about Jiang Cheng is his authenticity. Not only does he practice what he preaches in the annual report, but he also personally holds more than 1 million shares of the fund he manages.

(Source: Zhongtai Xingyuan Flexible Allocation A 2025 Annual Report)

In an era where everyone seeks quick gains, his approach of sticking to value and waiting patiently for the wind may seem somewhat “out of fashion,” but it also provides investors with a rare sense of reassurance.

(Source: Wind)

Note: Unless otherwise specified, all data is as of March 31, 2026.

Disclaimer: Funds carry risks; investment should be cautious. This report ( article ) is based on publicly available market information ( including but not limited to interim announcements, periodic reports, and official interactive platforms ) as an independent third-party research; Market Value Storm strives for objectivity and fairness in the content and views of the report ( article ) but does not guarantee accuracy, completeness, or timeliness; the information or opinions expressed in this report ( article ) are for reference only and do not constitute any investment advice. Market Value Storm is not responsible for any actions taken based on this report.

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