"Her Power" | Bank of China Fund's Li Nian: Upholding Integrity and Perseverance for Long-term Success

In traditional understanding, strength is often associated with rigidity and sharpness, but the capital markets are never short of sharpness. Female fund managers are redefining professional strength with a balance of firmness and gentleness. The current “her power” breaks this binary—firmness means adhering to principles and bottom lines, gentleness signifies wisdom and guidance. Together, they forge an investment path that combines strength and warmth, reflected in net value curves and long-term value.

“Using ‘staying true to the original’ to define my investment style: based on tracking targets, grounded in rules, aiming for clients’ long-term returns, avoiding gambling and drifting, standing from the perspective of ordinary investors, within compliance and discipline frameworks, and staying true to the fundamental value of index investing,” summarized Li Nian, manager of the Bank of China CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Internet Index Fund.

Li Nian, Manager of the Bank of China CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Internet Index Fund

She holds a master’s degree in Mathematical Finance from Boston University, with dual CFA and FRM certifications, and full qualifications in securities, funds, and futures. With 8 years of fund industry experience, she officially became a fund manager in March 2025, focusing on index research and index enhancement strategies. Currently managing strategy, industry, and thematic index products, she advocates long-termism and logical investing.

She believes her background in quantitative analysis and index construction enables her to start from fundamental logic, efficiently understanding index rules, constituent stock structures, and industry characteristics through data processing and event tracking. This allows her to develop some quantitative insights into index returns and risk points.

In her view, female investment researchers naturally possess patience, meticulousness, strong risk control awareness, and empathy. They are more sensitive to details, volatility, and risks, and better able to understand returns and safety from the perspective of holders. She believes short-term fluctuations are emotional and capital disturbances, while long-term investing is about value reversion and rule-based victory. The core of index investing is sharing the dividends of economic and industrial growth. Risk control runs through the entire portfolio management process—first safeguarding risk bottom lines, then seeking steady returns—always prioritizing compliance, discipline, and client interests.

Faced with a plethora of index funds in the current market, how to scientifically allocate, meticulously manage, and rationally select has become a focus for investors.

Li Nian systematically dissects suitable scenarios. First, broad-based index funds can serve as the “ballast” for asset allocation, holding long-term to share in economic growth dividends.

Next, sector index funds are suitable for those optimistic about specific industries; thematic index funds often involve cross-industry investments and are considered “offensive” allocations.

Strategy index funds highlight specific factor characteristics to meet differentiated preferences. These funds are suitable for investors with some investment knowledge who want to target specific stock features, such as those favoring long-term dividends and seeking steady appreciation—dividend strategy index funds are an option. For those optimistic about growth sectors but unwilling to overly focus on a single industry, growth strategy index funds are worth considering.

Finally, enhanced index funds aim to outperform the benchmark through active management.

In management, she controls tracking error through precise position management and optimized rebalancing strategies, utilizing algorithmic trading and batch rebalancing to smooth impact costs, ensuring the fund closely tracks the index.

Additionally, she emphasizes that investors should focus on three core metrics when selecting index funds: tracking error, fund size, and fee rates.

Words of Encouragement

Looking ahead, she hopes to maintain focus, diligence, and a long-term perspective. In investing, she remains committed to deepening her expertise in index and quantitative fields, continuously refining research and management skills, making each product more stable, transparent, and trustworthy. In life, she aims to stay true to her original intentions and passions, keep learning, immerse herself in research, and proceed steadily and confidently.

Her sincere message to holders: Thank you for your trust and companionship. Despite market fluctuations, I will manage every entrusted asset with meticulousness, risk control, and discipline, navigating cycles together and sharing long-term value. I will do my best not to let you down.

Text by Xu Nannan, Edited by Xu Nan

(Edited by Xu Nannan)

Keywords: