In 2026, as technology stocks continue their strong performance, mutual funds that remain committed to the traditional consumer sector are facing unprecedented challenges.

Guotai Haitong Consumer Opportunities Mixed Fund A (hereafter referred to as "GTHT Consumer A") is a representative example of such a product.

According to data from Tian Tian Fund, as of June 23rd, the fund's year-to-date net value growth rate has fallen to -30.82%, with its unit net asset value dropping to just 0.7305 yuan, officially becoming a "70-cent fund" and ranking second-to-last among its peers.

From a promising launch to a difficult position for investors, this publicly offered product managed by Guotai Haitong Securities Asset Management has, in less than two years, provided the market with a stark case study on the perils of "sticking to a sector" and "style mismatch."

Net Asset Value Halving on the Horizon, Ranking Near Bottom of Peer Group

GTHT Consumer A was established on September 19, 2023, with fund manager Fan Yang managing the product since its inception.

In 2024 and 2025, the fund recorded positive returns of 7.59% and 4.61% respectively, barely outperforming the overall consumer sector. However, the market tone shifted dramatically in 2026, with technology themes like AI computing power, robotics, and semiconductors surging, while "old sectors" like consumer staples, healthcare, agriculture, and traditional cyclicals collectively underperformed.

Data from Tian Tian Fund shows that as of June 23rd, GTHT Consumer A has fallen 30.82% year-to-date, ranking 5459 out of 5465 in its peer group, nearly at the very bottom. Its performance benchmark is the CSI All Share Main Consumption Index Return × 65% + CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Composite Index Return × 15% + ChinaBond Total Index Return × 20%, but the fund's actual performance has lagged far behind this benchmark. While the CSI 300 Index gained 6.25% over the same period and the benchmark returned -16.31%, the fund's decline was nearly double that of the benchmark, underperforming the CSI 300 by nearly 37 percentage points.

The fund's size is also a cause for concern.

As of the end of 2025, the fund's size had dwindled to just 8.6102 million yuan, held by 79 investors. Institutional investors held 98.23% of the fund, with retail investors accounting for only 1.77%. This extremely small size, combined with severe losses, has left the product in a marginalized state. Although, as a sponsor-initiated fund, it faces no liquidation risk for the first three years after its contract takes effect, the window for the fund manager to turn performance around is now less than one hundred days.

Heavy Bets on Travel Chain and Consumer Stocks Face Pressure

Looking at its first-quarter 2026 holdings, GTHT Consumer A's top ten holdings were Jinjiang Hotels, Great Wall Motor, Topchoice Medical, Anjoy Foods, China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp., 37 Interactive Entertainment, Tencent Holdings, Juneyao Health, Qianhe Condiments and Spices, and China Eastern Airlines. This portfolio nearly covers the entire "travel chain" described by the fund manager in the annual report—from accommodation to transportation, from shopping to dining—yet notably lacks the true market leaders of early 2026: computing power and technology stocks.

Fund manager Fan Yang stated in the 2025 annual report regarding the outlook for 2026: "Although a comprehensive recovery in consumption will still face many challenges, the probability of service consumption acting as the new engine for the domestic cycle is rapidly increasing. The travel chain is the most influential theme, covering the entire spectrum of entertainment, shopping, transportation, accommodation, dining, and apparel."

Reality, however, did not follow this script.

Since the start of 2026, the CSI Consumption 50 Index and the Food & Beverage Index rose early in the year but have since experienced sustained volatility and decline in the second quarter, with their overall trend shifting downward. Core travel chain stocks like Jinjiang Hotels and China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp. have seen significant share price declines year-to-date. Great Wall Motor and Anjoy Foods are under pressure from both expectations of consumption downgrading and intensified industry competition. While Hong Kong Stock Connect-listed Tencent Holdings has seen some rebounds at times, it has been insufficient to offset the overall weakness of the portfolio.

It is noteworthy that the fund's equity position was as high as 92.07% at the end of 2025, approaching a fully invested stance. This means that during the extreme market style shift of 2026, the fund manager made almost no attempt to mitigate systemic risk through position management. Maintaining a high equity allocation while sticking to the consumer sector essentially left the portfolio fully exposed to the adjustment pressures within that sector.

Extreme Divergence: Tech Frenzy vs. Consumer Slump

The predicament of GTHT Consumer A is not an isolated case.

Reports have indicated that the extreme divergence between AI computing power stocks and the consumer sector in the A-share market has spurred a wave of "consumer funds turning to tech," with some funds labeled as consumer-focused making significant shifts into hard technology stocks in an attempt to solve their net value woes. However, GTHT Consumer A chose a different path: to stay the course.

The cost of this commitment has been severe.

According to Wind data, as of June 18th, among funds with year-to-date losses exceeding 20%, sectors like consumer, healthcare, agriculture, traditional cyclicals, and value blue-chips have been the hardest hit. Guolian Brand Premium Fund A ranked at the very bottom with a return of -29.86%, followed closely by GTHT Consumer A at -29.34%. Other consumer-focused products like Caitong ZG Quality Consumption A and Orient Urban Consumption Theme A are also deeply mired.

From the perspective of the fund management company, multiple products under Guotai Haitong Asset Management, including Guotai Haitong Innovative Medicine, Guotai Haitong Quality Life, and Guotai Haitong Vision Value, have posted negative returns. This "collective decline" reflects a serious miscalculation by public fund managers regarding the pace of recovery in the traditional consumer sector.

Profile of the Fund Manager: A "Stay-the-Course" Proponent with a Research Background

Fan Yang's professional background is quite representative.

He previously worked as a researcher and chief researcher at Shanghai Shenyin Wanguo Securities Research Institute, UBS Securities, and Guotai Junan Securities. He joined Shanghai Guotai Junan Securities Asset Management Co., Ltd. in November 2020, serving as Deputy Head and Executive Deputy General Manager of the Equity Research Department. He is currently a fund manager in the Public Equity Investment Department. Fund managers with research backgrounds often possess deep industry understanding, but in extreme market conditions, this "deep research" can sometimes translate into path dependency.

Currently, Fan Yang manages four funds. Among them, Guotai Haitong Jundexin 2-Year Holding Mixed Fund A has delivered an impressive one-year return of 61.78%. In stark contrast, GTHT Consumer A has a one-year return of -21.92%, ranking at the bottom of its peer group. The vast performance difference between products managed by the same fund manager precisely illustrates that in the 2026 market, choosing the right sector has been more critical than the depth of research.

Institutional Perspective: When Will Consumer Strength Return?

Market analysts hold divergent views on the future of the consumer sector.

Some institutions point out that current consumer data shows no clear signs of a turning point, with household consumption willingness still constrained by both income expectations and asset prices. However, other views suggest that with continued policy support in the second half of the year and consumer sector valuations at historical lows, a window for left-side positioning is opening.

"From a long-cycle perspective, consumption is the foundation of the economy and will not disappear due to short-term style shifts. The question is whether investors can endure the pain of continued net value erosion," a public fund manager in Shanghai commented.

For GTHT Consumer A, a net asset value of 0.73 yuan represents a loss of nearly 30% since inception, testing not only the fund manager's stock-picking ability but also the patience of its remaining 79 investors.

As 2026 reaches its midpoint, the rally in technology stocks continues, while the "darkest hour" for consumer-focused funds seems far from over. The significance of the GTHT Consumer A case lies in this: when market styles undergo an extreme shift, staying the course requires courage, but even more so, precise timing. After all, in the face of the reality of a net value falling below 0.75 yuan, all industry logic and long-term outlooks appear somewhat inadequate.