How a popular toothpaste maker functions like a hedge fund

As the 3,000-odd A-share companies tally their equity trading accounts for 2016, Liuzhou Liangmianzhen, one of mainland China’s most popular toothpaste makers, emerged the winner after pocketing a handsome gain from selling its shares in Citic Securities to boost its bottom line. According to a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Liangmianzhen, based in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, sold 11.62 million shares of Citic Securities, the country’s largest brokerage, for a profit of 157.6 million yuan .