Lingjun draws $300M from overseas investors as capital returns to China quants
What's the deal? Lingjun Capital, the offshore arm of Beijing-based quant fund Lingjun InvestmentDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, has secured more than $300 million from overseas investors. The commitments came from a US institutional investor and several Southeast Asian clients, chairwoman and founder Cai Meijie told Reuters.
Why now? The raise ends a two-year pause. Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges barred Lingjun from trading for three days in early 2024 for breaking rules, part of a broader Chinese crackdown on quantitative funds blamed for worsening a market selloff.
The firm resumed onshore fundraising in March and only recently restarted overseas efforts. "We wanted to see whether our reforms were truly effective," Cai said.
What's the endgame? Lingjun managed US$13.8B at its peak before the crackdown, ranking among China's top four quant funds; its assets later fell to roughly US$6.88B. Since then it has doubled its risk-management team, embedded risk checks into trading systems, and formed a five-member investment committee to standardise decisions.
The firm is also in advanced talks for a $150 million allocation from a Southeast Asian sovereign wealth fund, and is marketing its strategies to Middle East investors. That mandate is not yet secured.
What could go wrong? Prospective returns are not assured, and the sovereign allocation remains under negotiation. Mounting competition may also make excess returns harder to sustain.
The signal: Lingjun's raise is a test of whether international capital will back Chinese systematic strategies after a difficult stretch. The timing tracks a sector boom — industry assets reportedly topped US$357.5B, and rival Ubiquant raised US$357.5M in under two hours in May. Cai credits AI startup DeepSeek, incubated by quant fund High-FlyerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with re-rating Chinese assets: "People are looking at Chinese quant funds from a new angle."
Read more: theledger.asia
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