Chinese quant hedge fund Lingjun attracts $300m in overseas capital

Quantitative hedge fund Lingjun Investment has successfully raised over $300 million from overseas investors, Reuters reports. The Beijing-based firm, founded by Cai Meijie in 2014, resumes fundraising after a two-year hiatus due to regulatory sanctions. Lingjun's offshore division, Lingjun Capital, has already secured commitments from a US institutional investor and multiple Southeast Asian clients, with discussions underway for an additional $150 million allocation from a Southeast Asian sovereign wealth fund.

The firm, once a part of China's largest quant managers, saw its assets drop to around 50 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) following a regulatory crackdown in 2024. Lingjun temporarily suspended trading activities on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges due to rule violations. To address this, Cai implemented significant changes, doubling the risk management team, integrating new controls into trading systems, and establishing a five-member investment committee.

These measures have coincided with a recovery in performance. Lingjun's equity strategy returned over 70% in 2025, and gained more than 10% in the first nine months of 2026, outperforming China's CSI 300 index, which saw an 18% rise in 2025 but declined by 6% in the first nine months of 2026. Cai also credits the renewed interest to the emergence of AI developer DeepSeek, incubated by quantitative investment firm High-Flyer.

Lingjun recently restarted domestic fundraising and reopened its offshore strategies to international investors, marking a return to capital raising after the regulatory intervention.