The Golden China Fund of Greenwoods Asset Management Ltd, which oversees $1.3 billion in assets, has outperformed peers this year by betting on independent power producers and natural-gas distributors.

The $500 million flagship fund, managed by Greenwoods founder George Jiang, returned 10 percent this year through August, said Joseph Zeng, Hong Kong office head of the Shanghai-based company.

The $22.5 million China Alpha Fund, which began in January 2010 and can borrow more money and make more concentrated investments, gained 28 percent.

Stock pickers who rely on company fundamentals have underperformed in the last two years as markets have been driven by government policies to contain the European debt crisis, avert a global economic slowdown and curb inflation.