公募基金业绩比较基准新规亮剑！让基金回归“所见即所得”

Core Viewpoint - The public fund industry in China is undergoing a significant reform aimed at strengthening the role of performance benchmarks to address issues of style drift and misleading product names, with over 60% of active equity funds underperforming their benchmarks in the past three years [3][6]. Group 1: Reform Overview - On October 31, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Asset Management Association of China released draft guidelines and operational details for performance benchmarks, seeking public feedback [6][8]. - The guidelines emphasize the benchmark's role in defining product characteristics, constraining investment behavior, guiding performance assessments, and enhancing external supervision [6][7]. - A one-year transition period has been established to facilitate the adjustment of existing products to the new benchmarks, minimizing market disruption [7][8]. Group 2: Industry Response - As of October 31, at least 132 fund products have changed their performance benchmarks this year, surpassing the total for the previous year, indicating a strong signal for industry standardization [3][8]. - Many funds are shifting from broad indices like the CSI 300 to more relevant industry-specific indices to better align with their investment strategies [9][10]. - The changes reflect a growing recognition of the need for clearer product positioning and more accurate performance measurement in response to market diversification [9][10]. Group 3: Performance Assessment - Data shows that only 37% of active equity funds have outperformed their benchmarks over the past three years, highlighting a significant performance gap [10][12]. - Some funds with negative returns have still outperformed their benchmarks, while others with high returns have not achieved relative excess returns, indicating a long-standing issue with performance assessment [10][12]. - The new regulations aim to link fund manager compensation to benchmark performance, with stricter penalties for underperformance, thereby encouraging better alignment with investment objectives [12][11]. Group 4: Future Implications - The reforms are expected to lead to a more focused investment approach, reducing short-term trading and enhancing long-term stability in excess returns [12][11]. - By establishing benchmarks tailored to investment styles, the reforms aim to simplify investment goals and mitigate style drift, ultimately improving investor confidence in public funds [12][11].