The hedge fund industry is entering a new phase in 2026, characterized by quantitative leadership, concentration among top players, and the emergence of new prominent firms. Currently, 124 domestic managers have assets under management exceeding 10 billion yuan. Against the backdrop of quantitative investing sweeping the A-share market, Blackwing Assets, as one of China's early quantitative hedge funds established in 2014, has consistently focused on quantitative strategies and now manages over 40 billion yuan.
The firm was founded by two Stanford University alumni who have worked together for more than 14 years. Chen Zehao holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Peking University and a PhD in statistics from Stanford University, with previous experience at Lehman Brothers and Bosera Funds. Zou Yitian earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford and also worked at Barclays and Bosera Funds. Following the 2008 global financial crisis, both returned to China, collaborated at Bosera Funds, and subsequently co-founded Blackwing Assets.
Blackwing Assets completed its registration as a private fund manager in August 2014. Latest data shows that by the end of 2025, the firm's AUM had surpassed 40 billion yuan. Corporately, Wang Lei serves as the legal representative, while Yu Li acts as the risk control director and compliance officer.
Notably, Blackwing employs a relatively rare dual-control structure in the industry, with Zou Yitian and Chen Zehao each holding 26% equity. This ownership model helps balance decision-making power between technical approaches and investment strategies within the quantitative field. The company is registered in Chongming District, Shanghai, with its office located on the 35th floor of Times Financial Center at 68 Yincheng Middle Road, Pudong New Area. Both registered and paid-in capital stand at 10 million yuan.
Quantitative competition fundamentally revolves around talent. Public data indicates the firm currently employs over 90 full-time staff, with an exceptionally high proportion holding fund qualification certificates. The research and investment team constitutes approximately 70% of total employees, boasting an average industry experience exceeding 10 years. Particularly impressive is that over 60% of team members hold doctoral degrees, with most graduates from prestigious institutions including Stanford, Peking University, Tsinghua University, and MIT.
Public records show the company continues active recruitment. Its September 2025 campus recruitment drive included not only fundamental positions like quantitative strategy researchers, quantitative development engineers, and machine learning researchers, but also planned hires for AI interdisciplinary researchers, deep learning algorithm researchers, and deep learning system engineers.
Specifically, deep learning algorithm researchers are tasked with studying cutting-edge AI and large model technologies, designing and implementing end-to-end AI solutions to create innovative quantitative strategies. AI interdisciplinary researchers are required to utilize macro and micro multi-source data, employing multimodal large models to construct quantitative decision-making processes that integrate cross-domain data supporting intelligent trading decisions. Positions are available in Chengdu, Beijing, and Shanghai, targeting master's and doctoral graduates from renowned domestic and international institutions.
Regarding investment strategy, Blackwing maintains a dual-core驱动 model combining quantitative equity and CTA strategies, using low-correlation multi-strategy portfolios to smooth volatility and achieve stable returns. Typical asset allocation approximates 80% equity strategies and 20% CTA strategies. Equity strategies encompass quantitative stock selection, index enhancement, and market neutral approaches, while CTA strategies comprehensively cover short, medium, and long-term trend following and arbitrage strategies.
Zou Yitian indicated that the company established consensus from its founding to emphasize both equity and CTA strategies equally, describing this framework as resembling DNA's "double helix structure" where the two complement each other. The internal composition of both strategy types demonstrates diversification and differentiation: CTA focuses on full coverage across time horizons with trend following supplemented by intraday reversal and cross-product arbitrage; equity strategies build upon traditional fundamental and quantitative factors while increasing investment in machine learning factor development and iteration.
In factor development, Blackwing has created and continuously refined three "pillar factors" - fundamental, quantitative, and machine learning - over eight years, successfully navigating multiple market cycles. This quantitative factor system now dynamically determines factor weights through mathematical optimization methods, selecting portfolios most likely to outperform the market.
For risk management, Blackwing integrates risk control throughout corporate strategic management. Zou Yitian cited how many teams in 2014 viewed small-cap factors as generating long-term alpha in A-shares, but Blackwing questioned their medium-to-long-term effectiveness, believing reliance on style exposure carried risks and wasn't sustainable. Consequently, the firm avoided overexposure to small-cap factors. When quantitative alpha experienced broad retreats in late 2014, Blackwing's performance remained relatively stable without significant impact from style reversals.
From Zou's perspective, strategy iteration and risk control represent causes, while scale growth and performance stability represent effects. The underlying philosophy balances returns and risks across both strategy and risk management. He has stated that compared to peers, while pursuing absolute returns, stability constitutes Blackwing's greatest competitive differentiation. Investing resembles driving where steady progress proves crucial.
Through past market fluctuations, Blackwing's products have demonstrated strong long-term performance. Blackwing Fengxing No. 2 (established May 2017), among the firm's earlier products, achieved cumulative returns of 478.36% with one-year returns reaching 65.90%. Blackwing CSI 500 Index Enhanced Exclusive No. 1 (established December 2018) gained 302.10% cumulatively; Blackwing Strategy Selected No. 2 (established August 2019) returned 208.41%; Blackwing Fengxing No. 3 CSI 300 Index Enhanced (established December 2017) achieved 143.48% cumulative returns.
Throughout 2025, all Blackwing private fund products recorded positive returns, with the lowest at 13.37% and highest at 69.61%. Products covering various strategies showed annualized returns ranging from 11.57% to 38.03%.
Regarding management consensus during market changes, Zou Yitian noted that fundamentally both he and Chen Zehao share steady personalities, avoiding short-term gains or reckless advancement. Their investment careers have encompassed the 2007 overseas quantitative crisis and witnessed strategy evolution across market cycles, creating deep recognition that quant isn't a tool for quick profits. Long-term corporate development relies on systematic research strength and efficient collaborative culture.
From the late-2014 large/small-cap style shift, through mid-2015 bull-bear transition hedging cost crises, to early-2024 quantitative liquidity crises, their immediate response during strategy adjustments has always been examining whether long-term logic changed. This默契 stems from years of collaboration and shared review积累的信任, where each understands the other's judgment basis enabling rapid alignment.
Zou believes China's quantitative industry retains substantial long-term development potential. Although quantitative alpha will inevitably decline with market institutionalization, continuous capital market expansion, growing public wealth management needs, plus strategy and technological evolution will persistently drive the industry forward.
Based on public information analysis, AI large models view Blackwing as a distinctive top-tier quantitative私募. Strengths include over 11 years of operation, Stanford-background dual-control founders with 14+ years collaboration ensuring team stability, commitment to equity+CTA dual-drive strategy emphasizing multi-strategy/multi-factor diversification, and early AI quant application deployment.
Areas requiring attention include 2025 product returns ranging 13%-70% showing significant dispersion; as a billion-dollar quant firm, ongoing market focus remains on strategy capacity challenges from scale growth; overall, Blackwing belongs to the quant industry's first tier with lengthy track records and relatively complete product lines, though strategy effectiveness and risk control capabilities require continuous validation across different market cycles.