BlackRock Chairman Tang Xiaodong's "New Trend": Wall Street Giant Castle Securities

Tang Xiaodong, a heavyweight figure in the Chinese fund industry.

He once demonstrated his skills on Wall Street, then returned to China as a talent introducer. He has also served as the head of public fund giant Huaxia Fund and briefly participated in the business of Hong Kong-based Chinese securities firms.

When the first wholly foreign-owned fund company, BlackRock, was about to land in China, he became the "spokesperson" for BlackRock in China and the first chairman of BlackRock Fund.

On July 31, Castle Securities officially announced that Tang Xiaodong has officially joined Castle Securities as the head of its China business.

Interestingly, as of the morning of July 31, BlackRock Fund had not yet announced the change of chairman. It will be interesting to see if Tang Xiaodong will serve as the chairman of BlackRock Fund in his capacity as the head of Castle Securities.

Joining the Most Profitable Hedge Fund Last Year

Public information shows that Tang Xiaodong has joined Castle Securities as the head of its China business, leading the team to strengthen cooperation with clients, business partners, and regulatory authorities in China, and driving business growth in the Chinese market.

Zhao Peng, CEO of Castle Securities, said when welcoming Tang Xiaodong to the company: "China has always been of great interest to international investors. As China opens up to more market participants, we see many opportunities that can have a positive impact on the domestic market."

He expects that Tang Xiaodong's experience in China and his deep understanding of the industry will help Castle Securities accelerate its business development in China and its international business growth in the next stage."

Castle Securities and Castle Investment are among the most profitable large overseas investment institutions in recent years, with American billionaire Ken Griffin as their ultimate controller.

Castle Investment made a total profit of $16 billion in 2022, setting a new record for annual profit of a single hedge fund overseas.

Rumors of Departure Shrouded in Mystery

Although the market has almost confirmed that Tang Xiaodong is leaving BlackRock, there has been no official announcement of his departure from BlackRock Fund.

On June 6 this year, there were rumors in the market that Tang Xiaodong was leaving BlackRock.

In response to the rumors, the then Asia-Pacific region of BlackRock responded: After assisting in establishing BlackRock's China business over the past four years, Tang Xiaodong expressed a desire to explore career opportunities outside of BlackRock.

Subsequently, Chen Huilan, a member of BlackRock's Global Executive Committee, will directly lead the company's onshore business in China, while also serving as the Deputy Head of the Asia-Pacific region and the Head of Greater China.

As of now, BlackRock Fund has not made any announcement to its fund holders regarding this personnel change.

Starting Career in the United States

Tang Xiaodong's resume is quite impressive.

In 1991, he graduated from the prestigious University of Science and Technology of China with a major in physics. He then went to the United States for further studies and obtained an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and dual master's degrees in physics and computer science from Drake University.

After graduation, Tang Xiaodong worked for international financial giants such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, ABN AMRO, and JPMorgan Chase in the United States. In 2009, regulatory agencies began recruiting overseas, and Tang Xiaodong returned to China in the capacity of an introduced talent, relying on his experience in risk management and financial derivative development.

Coming and Going

In 2014, Tang Xiaodong joined a large public fund institution, Huaxia Fund.

During Tang Xiaodong's tenure as the leader, Huaxia Fund began its "transformation," attempting to establish an ETF product line, intelligent investment advisory, risk-balanced strategies, FOF strategies, Smart Beta, etc., laying the foundation for Huaxia's subsequent development in passive investment.

In April 2018, Tang Xiaodong left Huaxia Fund for personal reasons. In May of the same year, he became the President of GF Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited.

However, in less than a year, Tang Xiaodong bid farewell to this Chinese securities firm, and the twists and turns behind it and the attribution of responsibility were once hot topics in the industry.

In April 2019, GF Securities announced that Tang Xiaodong had resigned from the position of Deputy General Manager for personal reasons.

In the same year, BlackRock announced Tang Xiaodong's formal joining and appointment as the head of the China region, responsible for managing and executing BlackRock's long-term business strategy in China.

In 2021, BlackRock obtained the license for public fund business and officially became the first foreign-funded institution approved to conduct sole proprietorship public fund business in China. At the same time, Tang Xiaodong became the first Chairman of BlackRock Fund.

In 2022-2023, affected by the market environment, several products of BlackRock Fund encountered "challenges."

In June 2023, news of Tang Xiaodong's departure spread.

In July 2023, Tang Xiaodong was selected to join Castle Securities, making it the fifth company he has joined since returning to China over a decade ago.