(ECNS) -- After rapid growth in the beginning, Alibaba's mutual fund Yu'ebao began to stall then drop over the past two years, with the latest data showing a 7-day annualized return of 2.482 percent, the National Business Daily reported.
But the number of subscribers to Yu'ebao has increased 13.5 percent since the end of last year, following two years of modest growth.
Tianhong Asset Management Co., which manages the Alibaba investment product, disclosed in a statement that the number of users reached 295 million by June 12 and the fund generated a total gain of 57.3 billion yuan ($8.7 billion) in the three years since it was established.
Yu'ebao garnered a lot of attention when it was first launched in 2013 during a time of financial stress as an innovative outlet for small investors. Users of Alibaba's third-party payment affiliate Alipay can easily put their money into the product, which then invests in funds.
Li Jun, a manager at Tianhong, said considering the overall market situation and Yu'ebao's investment field, falling returns are normal.
Zu Guoming, a manager at Alibaba's finance arm Ant Financial, said nearly 80 million users allowed Alipay to automatically transfer the money into Yu'ebao, which means "leftover treasure" in Chinese.
Zu, who appeared to be satisfied with the increasing popularity of Yu'ebao as an investment tool, said more services will be introduced through the technology of big data and cloud computing.
"We aim to turn Yu'ebao into a cash management tool that deeply penetrates into all sides of the user's life," he said.
An insider said Yu'ebao will achieve new growth if it provides a better user experience and applies the tool in the diverse consumption patterns of daily life.
