In today's investment landscape in China, the largest team managing actively managed equity assets is not located in Shanghai or Shenzhen, but rather on the 17th floor of 17 Financial Street in Beijing. This is the office of China Life Asset Management and the decision-making hub of a private fund exceeding one billion yuan.

The core decision-making team here not only determines the investment direction of the Honghu Fund, which has surpassed one billion yuan across three phases, but also manages several heavyweight equity products under China Life Asset Management. This place serves as a "fortress" for value investing in China, a "stronghold" for dividend stocks, and the "command center" for practical large-scale fund investments. Recently, the key individuals in this command center have made some notable moves.

**Honghu Fund: A Rare Giant Holder** As a fund boasting over one billion yuan, the Honghu Fund has maintained the record for the largest single actively managed equity product in the industry for the past two years. However, the investment signals it has "exposed" are exceedingly rare. On one hand, backed by giants like China Life and Xinhua Insurance and deeply intertwined with the China Life Asset Management team, the Honghu Fund has been seen as a "ballast stone" for the expected long bull market in A-shares since its formal operation began in February 2024.

On the other hand, despite managing a gigantic fund, the Honghu Fund has remained remarkably "low-profile," appearing in the major shareholder lists of listed stocks only a few times. Thus far, it has been spotted among the major shareholders of large caps such as China Telecom, Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry, Yili Group, China Shenhua, China National Petroleum Corporation, and Daqin Railway, with individual stockholdings valued at no less than 1.8 billion yuan.

Having such a vast amount of capital yet refraining from aggressively accumulating positions in other stocks has raised "high attention" in the market.

**Core Operators on the Move** According to announcements collected by Zhitang, the core "operators" of the Honghu Fund have been very active in recent months, frequently conducting research on listed companies, perhaps preparing for the fund's future "offensive."

The Honghu Fund is managed by Guofeng Xinghua, which has 11 full-time employees, but its core positions are currently staffed by personnel dispatched from China Life Asset Management. Public information indicates that the legal representative of Guofeng Xinghua is Yang Lin, who also serves as the general manager of the Equity Investment Department at China Life Asset Management.

Yang Lin possesses extensive investment experience; born in August 1969, she holds a doctorate degree and joined China Life Trust Investment Company in 1994, serving in various departments including futures, market development, and investment banking. Since 2001, she has held management positions across multiple divisions at China Life, overseeing risk management, strategic planning, macro strategy, research, and equity investment. With such a solid background in direct investment and rich practical experience, Yang Lin is likely to be the key figure in the aforementioned equity investment team.

**Recent and Frequent Research Trips** Zhitang's analysis of publicly available information reveals that since June 2025, Yang Lin has conducted in-depth research on at least 11 A-share listed companies. This development is both logical and unexpected.

On one hand, as a direct manager of a large-cap fund, Yang Lin likely has substantial managerial duties that require her involvement. Yet, from another perspective, how can one make informed investment decisions without engaging with frontline realities?

In this light, Yang Lin's on-the-ground research not only makes sense but is also worth close attention, as it reflects the interests and thoughts of her "super funds" behind her.

**Diversity in Targets and Innovations** According to Zhitang's statistics, Yang Lin's research methodology includes both on-site visits and remote online meetings, interacting with the executive teams of the investigated companies. The specific companies include: 1. Nenghui Technology (a photovoltaic power station system integrator); 2. Xinlai Applied Materials (supplier of high-purity and ultra-high-purity application materials); 3. Meihua Medical (manufacturer of medical device components and products); 4. Dike Digital (provider of digital transformation services); 5. Kaili New Materials (high-tech enterprise in the new materials sector); 6. Huaming Equipment (electric power equipment manufacturer); 7. Yabenn Chemical (fine chemicals producer); 8. InSight Group (provider of intelligent driving technology solutions); 9. Sanyangma (logistics service provider); 10. Yingjie Electric (electric equipment manufacturer).

Notably, Dike Digital appeared twice on Yang Lin's research list.

Overall, these companies are primarily technology innovation enterprises, mostly small to mid-cap companies listed on the ChiNext and Sci-Tech Innovation Board, diverging from the traditionally perceived preference of insurance capital for larger stocks.

**Mapping Industry Chains?** According to industry insiders, buy-side institutions' research on listed companies extends far beyond merely seeking buying signals. For large institutions like the Honghu Fund, researching both upstream and downstream companies within the industry can cross-validate industry prosperity and accurately locate crucial segments. This "industry chain map" can help them identify potential investment opportunities ahead of time.

In other words, institutional investigations of listed companies involve more than just "stock selection"; they are systematically "mapping" to pinpoint each company's value coordinates.

Pursuing the logic outlined above, we can glean a certain "pattern" from Yang Lin's research records associated with the Honghu Fund.

Firstly, from Nenghui Technology in the photovoltaic sector to Yingjie Electric's charging pile business and Huaming Equipment's electric power apparatus, Yang Lin's research on the renewable energy industry chain spans generation, transmission, and consumption, indicating the fund's long-term optimism about the renewable energy sector and highlighting an inclination towards assets with strong long-term certainty.

Secondly, this private equity firm shows a preference for high-end manufacturing enterprises in the "materials + technology" domain, including Xinlai Applied Materials, Kaili New Materials, and Yabenn Chemical, all of which possess technological barriers in their respective segments and can reflect the "hard technology" investment opportunities.

Understanding the dynamics of these upstream companies reveals a key logic: in the context of a self-reliant industry chain strategy, those who control core materials and processes hold the high ground in the value chain.

Thirdly, investment opportunities emerging from artificial intelligence are naturally under scrutiny by the Honghu Fund, with Yang Lin researching Dike Digital and InSight Group, both of which are involved in the practical application of AI technologies. Such firms that transform cutting-edge technologies into actual productivity become key focuses of long-term capital research.

**The Investment Edge of a Billion-Yuan Private Fund** From the above discussion, we can deduce that the Honghu Fund exhibits a relatively strong interest in three types of growth investment opportunities: renewable energy, high-end manufacturing, and artificial intelligence.

We can find corroborating information in announcements from China Life and Xinhua Insurance. In mid-October, both entities disclosed earnings forecast reports exceeding expectations for the first three quarters and conducted performance analyses. For instance, China Life pointed out: "The company is actively promoting medium- and long-term capital entering the market, strategically laying out new productivity sectors while continuously optimizing asset allocation structures, leading to a substantial year-on-year increase in investment returns."

Xinhua Insurance indicated: "In response to the call for insurance capital entering the market, we continuously optimize asset allocation structures, increasing allocations to high-quality core assets that can withstand the challenges of low interest rates."

Notably, China Life specifically referenced "new productivity," which aligns closely with Yang Lin's research trajectory and provides a clear "footnote" for the potential layout of the Honghu Fund.

In addition to the articulated "cross-information," another piece of evidence is the investment trends of "China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. - Traditional - Ordinary Insurance Products - 005L." This investment has covered small to mid-cap enterprises for many years. Given its massive scale and investment visibility, it is generally believed that this account represents an "asset pool" for premium income under China Life, appearing prominently among the list of major shareholders in the A-share market. By the end of June 2025, it had been listed as a major shareholder in 144 publicly traded companies.

Furthermore, Yang Lin has personally worked in the asset management department of China Life, suggesting that her investment philosophy is closely aligned with her former employer. Further investigation reveals that the previously mentioned companies, such as Meihua Medical and Yingjie Electric, are indeed major holdings of that insurance product.

These intricate connections may signal that even though the Honghu Fund has not yet "revealed" its holdings in small to mid-cap stocks in the top ten shareholder lists, the team behind it has long kept a keen interest in companies within the renewable energy, high-end manufacturing, and artificial intelligence sectors.