Mutual Fund Manager Changes
For the Twelve Months Ending July, 2009
[For manager changes more than twelve months old, see the Archive of Manager Changes]
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| * This index includes all changes posted on this page, plus all changes posted in the manager change archive. To loacate a change posted on this page, you can also use the "find on page" function that comes with your browser. You can search for funds by name, or you can search for changes posted in a particular month, using the format M/YY. For example, to find manager changes posted in June 2009, search for 6/09. |
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About this page
This page (and the accompanying archive) primarily cover manager changes at stock and balanced mutual funds since the inception of FundAlarm (July, 1996). Selected manager changes at bond funds are also reported. This page is updated once a month, on the first day of the month (the same update schedule as the rest of the FundAlarm site).
- Section One (immediately below) is a drop-down index, listing all funds affected by manager changes that are posted on this page or the archive.
- Section Two lists manager changes posted this month, in alphabetical order by fund name.
- Section Three lists manager changes posted in previous months, also in alphabetical order by fund name. The date in brackets is the issue of FundAlarm in which the notice was originally posted. Postings remain on this page for 12 months, after which they are transferred to the Archive.
- Section Four lists fund companies recently sold, or reported up for sale. This information is of interest, because such companies often experience manager turnover.
We are committed to keeping the information on this page as complete and accurate as possible. If you wish to suggest a correction or addition, please e-mail. We will respond promptly.
Section One:
Index of all manager changes posted on FundAlarm
If your fund is listed in the scroll box below, it has been affected by a manager change that is posted on this page or on the archive page. Exit the index and scroll down the page to locate the information on your fund, or return to the menu at the top. [Top]
Section Two:
Manager changes posted for this month (July 2009)
 Allianz OCC Renaissance: Oppenheimer Capital LLC ("OCC") is fired as day-to-day manager (subadvisor), and NFJ INvestment Group takes over. The NFJ management team is led by Paul Magnuson, and includes Benno Fischer and Morley Campbell. The fund also has been renamed -- you guessed it -- Allianz NFJ Renaissance. [7/09]
American Century LIVESTRONG Portfolio (all) : Jeff Tyler retires as lead manager, and Scott Wittman (a new hire from Munder) replaces him. Irina Torelli continues as the other half of the management team . [7/09]
American Century One Choice Portfolio (all) : See American Century LIVESTRONG Portfolio, above. [7/09]
American Century Strategic Allocation (Conservative/Moderate/Aggressive): Jeff Tyler retires as a member of this three-person management team. Continuing management team members Enrique Chang and Irina Torelli are joined by Scott Wittman, who has moved over from Munder (see below). [7/09]
Aston/MB Enhanced Equity Income: MB Investment Partners is replaced as day-to-day manager (subadvisor) by M.D. Sass Investors Services, and the fund will be renamed Aston/M.D. Sass Enhanced Equity. Ronald Altman was the lead manager before the change and he's still the lead manager after the change: In a relatively unusual move, Altman has apparently jumped firms (from MB to M.D. Sass), and the subadvisory contract has followed him. Martin Sass is now listed as comanager of the fund. [7/09]
Columbia funds (several): The departure of Thomas LaPointe, for Third Avenue, triggers several management team changes, as follows:
| Columbia fund | Old management team | New manager/management team
|
|---|
| Conservative High Yield | Kevin Cronk / Thomas LaPointe | Kevin Cronk
| | High Yield Opportunity | Kevin Cronk / Thomas LaPointe | Kevin Cronk
| | Income | Carl Pappo / Kevin Cronk / Thomas LaPointe | Carl Pappo / Kevin Cronk
| | Intermediate Bond | Carl Pappo / Kevin Cronk / Lee Reddin / Thomas LaPointe | Carl Pappo / Kevin Cronk / Lee Reddin
| | Strategic Income | Laura Ostrander / Thomas LaPointe / Kevin Cronk | Laura Ostrander / Kevin Cronk
| | Total Return Bond | Powers / Carlson / Pappo / Reddin / Cronk / LaPointe / Ostrander | Powers / Carlson / Pappo / Reddin / Cronk / Ostrander
| | [7/09]
|
Munder Energy: Michael Bryk and John Kreiter are out as managers. Brian Kozeliski and Peter Collins take over. [7/09]
Munder International Equity: Scott Wittman and Armando Lacayo leave this three-person management team (Wittman is headed for American Century, above). Brian Kozeliski continues as comanager, joined by Peter Collins. [7/09]
T. Rowe Price Media & Telecommunications: On October 1, 2009, Henry Ellenbogen will step down as manager to lead the New Horizons portfolio team. Daniel Martino will replace him.
[7/09]
T. Rowe Price New Horizons: Jack Laporte will step down as lead manager on March 1, 2010. According to an email from T. Rowe Price, "Henry Ellenbogen will join the New Horizons Fund portfolio team on October 1, 2009, and work closely with Mr. Laporte to implement a seamless transition of their responsibilities. Mr. Ellenbogen will take over as lead portfolio manager on March 1, 2010. Mr. Ellenbogen is currently the lead portfolio manager for the Media & Telecommunications Fund. He will be being handing off those duties on the same date he takes on his new role with the New Horizons Fund."
[7/09]
Section Three:
Manager changes posted for the preceding eleven months (August 2008 through June 2009)
~A-E~
AIM funds (several)
| AIM fund | Old management team | New management team
|
|---|
| Basic Balanced | Stanley (lead) / Coleman II / Gau / Gilley / Seinsheimer / Simon | Stanley (lead) / Brien / Burge / Coleman II / Seinsheimer / Simon
| | Core Bond | Brendan Gau (lead) / Mark Gilley | Cynthia Brien / Chuck Burge
| | Income | Brendan Gau (lead) / Peter Ehret / Mark Gilley / Darren Hughes | Cynthia Brien / Chuck Burge / Peter Ehret / Darren Hughes
| | Limited Maturity Treasury | Brendan Gau (lead) / Scot Johnson | Scott Case / Brian Schneider
| | Short Term Bond | Brendan Gau (lead) / Mark Gilley | Cynthia Brien / Chuck Burge
| | U.S. Government | Brendan Gau (lead) / Scot Johnson | Clint Dudley / Brian Schneider
| | [2/09]
|
AllianceBernstein Small/Mid Cap Growth: According to documents on the AllianceBernstein Web site, five of the nine managers previously working on this fund are gone (unfortunately, it doesn't appear that AllianceBernstein has yet seen fit to notify the SEC about these changes). In case you are keeping score, or if you just want to update your Christmas list, the departing managers are James Russo, Catherine Wood, Amy Raskin, Thomas Zottner and Benjamin Ruegsegger. [5/09]
American Century Emerging Markets: Manager Mark On decides to Move On. On's former co-manager, Patricia Ribiero, now runs this fund solo, at least for a while. [1/09]
American Century Life Sciences: Steve Lurito leaves as manager, and leaves the firm. Joe Reiland replaces Lurito. But a shareholder vote on May 5, 2009 may make this change moot, since this fund is likely to be merged into American Century Growth later this month. [5/09]
American Century Life Sciences: The careers of co-managers Arnold Douville and Christy Turner have been taken off life support -- both leave the fund, and leave the firm. Steve Lurito is now in charge, until this fund is merged out of existence during 2009. [1/09]
American Century Real Estate: Kay Herr is gone as manager (she took over in April 2008, after another manager change). Steven Brown arrives from Neuberger Berman, probably glad to have a stable firm under him, and he's now in charge here. [1/09]
American Century Select: Steve Lurito leaves as a member of this fund's three-person management team, and leaves the firm. Former comanagers Kenneth Lee and Michael Li are now in charge. [5/09]
American Century Technology: See American Century Life Sciences [5/09], above. [5/09]
American Century Technology: Tom Telford leaves as manager, and also says goodbye to the firm. Steve Lurito will warm the manager's chair, until this fund can be merged out of existence, soon. [1/09]
American Century Ultra: See American Century Select, above. [5/09]
American Century Ultra: Tom Telford leaves as co-manager, and leaves the firm. Steve Lurito continues as manager, joined by Keith Lee and Michael Li. [1/09]
Aston/Fortis Global Real Estate: Nancy Holland is out as co-manager. The other half of the team (Jospeh Pavnica) is co-manager again, this time with James Hardman. [2/09]
Aston/Fortis Real Estate: Nancy Holland steps down as part of this four-person team. The other three members (Jospeh Pavnica, Menno Sloterdijk, and Matthew Hoult) continue. [2/09]
Bjurman, Barry Micro-Cap Growth: Sometime before April 30, 2009, this fund will (pending shareholder approval) be merged into GAMCO Westwood Mighty Mites, but Bjurman, Barry is gone as manager immediately. Teton Advisors has taken over; Teton also manages Mighty Mites, which makes this manager switcheroo Mighty Convenient. [12/08]
BlackRock High Income: Co-manager Kevin Booth leaves partner James Keenan behind. Going forward, Keenan is joined by new co-managers Mitchell Garfin and Derek Schoenhofen. [6/09]
BlackRock High Yield Bond: See BlackRock High Income, above. [6/09]
BlackRock Pacific: Manager Ben Moyer is gone, and a new two-person team takes over (Nicholas Scott and Robert Weatherston). [10/08]
Buffalo China: When Jayhawk Capital Management resigned as subadvisor of this fund in November 2008, John Kornitzer was named manager (or perhaps we should say, "named himself manager," since Kornitzer Capital Management runs this fund, as it does all the Buffalo funds). One might have expected a search for another subadvisor with experience in the Chinese market, and maybe that search took place, but we probably will never know. Now, we learn that the new managers of this fund are all in the family: William Kornitzer and Nicole Kornitzer have been put in charge, and neither sports a resume that is especially impressive for a specialized fund like this one: William has been co-manager of Buffalo Large Cap and Buffalo USA Global for a few years each, and Nicole has been an analyst with Kornitzer for about seven years, on and off. Oh, and Nicole's academic credentials include a B.A. in Biology and a Masters Degree in French Cultural Studies. [6/09]
Buffalo Micro Cap: Kent Gasaway and Robert Male leave this four-person management team. The remaining two managers, Grant Sarris and John Bichelmeyer, are now in charge. What's going on at this fund? Here's David Snowball's take, which sounds plausible to us, as originally posted on the FundAlarm Discussion Board: "Here's my guess on Buffalo Micro cap (BUFOX): The managers "removed" from the one-star Micro Cap fund (which has, by the way, had a very good 2009) are also the managers of the five-star Small Cap fund (BUFSX). At the same point that Buffalo/Kornitzer announced their departure from Micro-Cap, they announced their decision to keep Small Cap open indefinitely. (They had previously committed to reclosing the fund at $1.3 billion but argued that market volatility is such that the fund could move substantially above and below that threshold repeatedly throughout the year.) As of 3/31, Small Cap was sitting right around the $1.3 billion threshold but has likely climbed substantially since then. My guess is that Buffalo wants the "A" team to focus on Small Cap and is entrusting their tiny ($17 million) Micro Cap to two more-recent hires." [6/09]
Columbia Large Cap Growth: This fund undergoes another manager molt, after a double manager molt last spring. Most recently, Paul Berlinguet has left this three-person management team. The remaining two managers (Roger Sullivan and John Wilson) will carry on, until they are molted, too. [2/09]
Columbia Small Cap Core: Allyn Seymour is out as co-manager. Remaining co-managers Peter Larson and Richard D'Auteuil will now run the show. Columbia had announced that Larson would be retiring on June 30, 2009, but that retirement has been postponed. Larson, who has been a manager of this fund since 1992, and (as of September 30, 2008) didn't own a single share of his own fund, will now have an additional opportunity to buy some shares. And maybe Larson can have a talk with D'Auteul, who has been a manager since 2005 and also doesn't own a single share of his own fund. Let's see: Two managers with 22 years on the job between them, and neither one sees fit to invest a penny of his own money in his fund? Could you tell me again why anyone else should be interested in this fund? [6/09]
Delaware Diversified Income: Philip Perkins leaves as co-manager, but six team members remain. [3/09]
Delaware muncipal bond funds (several): Robert Collins leaves as co-manager of 12 Delaware muni-bond funds, while his two former team members remain in place. The funds affected by Collins' departure are as follows:
Minnesota High-Yield Municipal Bond
National High-Yield Municipal Bond
Tax-Free Arizona
Tax-Free California
Tax-Free Colorado
Tax-Free Idaho
Tax-Free Minnesota
Tax-Free Minnesota Intermediate
Tax-Free New York
Tax-Free Pennsylvania
Tax-Free USA
Tax-Free USA Intermediate [3/09]
|
DWS Dreman High Return Equity: David Dreman and his firm, Dreman Value Management, are fired, effective June 1, 2009. DWS is the U.S. investment arm of Deutsche Bank, and management of this fund is essentially being brought in-house: a three-person team (based in Frankfurt, Germany), and working for Deutsche Investment Management Americas, will run the show. Also, the fund will be renamed DWS Strategic Value. [5/09]
DWS International Select Equity: Joseph Axtell is out as day-to-day manager, and the team of Robert Wang and Russell Shtern is now in charge. [3/09]
DWS Latin America Equity: Terrence Gray is gone as manager, and it takes a team of three to replace him: Tara Kenney, Stephen Russell, and Rainer Vermehren. Kenney previously served as co-manager of this fund from 1996 through 2006. [1/09]
DWS Micro Cap: Robert Janis is lead manager no longer. Joseph Axtell, who had worked on this fund with Janis, is joined by Jeffrey Saeger and Rafaelina Lee. [1/09]
DWS Mid Cap Growth: See DWS Micro Cap, above. [1/09]
DWS Small Cap Growth: See DWS Micro Cap, above. [1/09]
Evergreen Core Bond: The fund's investment adviser (Evergreen Investment Management) is proposing to fire Tattersall Advisory Group as subadvisor, and replace Tattersall with Wells Capital Management. According to a prospectus supplement, "this would occur either through the execution of a new sub-advisory agreement and/or through the reorganization of [this] Evergreen fund into a similarly managed Wells Fargo Advantage fund." [5/09]
Evergreen Core Plus Bond: See Evergreen Core Bond, above. [5/09]
Evergreen Short Intermediate Bond: See Evergreen Core Bond, above. [5/09]
~F-J~
Federated American Leaders: Kevin McCloskey is out as manager, and Walter Bean is now in charge. [10/08]
Federated Stock: See Federated American Leaders, above. [10/08]
Fidelity (several funds): If you're a mutual fund company, one good thing about a chaotic stock market is that it can help distract your customers from other types of chaos. Fidelity recently completed another extensive round of manager changes, and we're guessing there is more to come, as the market contnues to provide convenient cover.
| Fidelity fund | Old manager(s) | New manager
| | Advisor Diversified International | Penelope Dobkin | William Bower
| | Advisor Financial Services | See Select Financial Services, below
| | Advisor Latin America | See Latin America, below
| | Latin America | Brent Bottamini | Adam Kutas
| | New Jersey Municipal Income | Mark Sommer | Jamie Pagliocco
| | Select Financial Services | Richard Manuel | Benjamin Hesse
| | Select Home Finance | Richard Manuel | Christopher Lee
| | Select IT Services | Jane Liou | Kyle Weaver
| | Spartan Intermediate Treasury Bond Index | Bill Irving | Curt Hollingsworth
| | Spartan Long-Term Treasury Bond Index | Bill Irving | Curt Hollingsworth
| | Spartan Short-Term Treasury Bond Index | Bill Irving | Curt Hollingsworth
| | [3/09]
|
Fidelity Advisor Balanced: See Fidelity Balanced, below. [11/08]
Fidelity Advisor Dividend Growth: See Fidelity Dividend Growth, below. [11/08]
Fidelity Advisor Electronics: See Fidelity Select Electronics, below. [2/09]
Fidelity Advisor Equity Income: See Fidelity Equity-Income II, below. [2/09]
Fidelity Advisor Growth Opportunities: Manager John Porter III is gone, succeeded by Steven Wymer. [2/09]
Fidelity Advisor Health Care: See Fidelity Select Health Care, below. [4/09]
Fidelity Adviser Strategic Income: See Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income, below. [6/09]
Fidelity Adviser Telecommunications: See Fidelity Select Telecommunications, below. [Change effective 7/1/09, posted 6/09]
Fidelity Asset Manager funds (all) : Derek Young is gone as manager, and Geoffrey Stein is now in charge. [6/09]
Fidelity Balanced: Lawrence Rakers steps down as manager of this fund's equity portfolio, and the "Multi-Manager Group" takes over. The Multi-Manager Group (MMG) is sort of like Fidelity's in-house version of a Masters' fund (see below): eight managers, each with a specialty (in this case, it's a sector specialty, such as technology, energy, etc.), and all led by Robert Stansky. Stansky, as head of the MMG, also will oversee the fund's asset allocation decisions, as well as allocations among equity sectors. If you prefer, you can also think of the MMG as a nine-headed Rakers. [Change effective 9/08, posted 11/08]
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth: Jennifer Uhrig is out as manager, and Sonu Kalra takes over. [Change effective 7/1/09, posted 6/09]
Fidelity Dividend Growth: Charles Mangum is gone as manager, and Lawrence Rakers is now in charge. [Change effective 9/08, posted 11/08]
Fidelity Equity-Income II: C. Robert Chow is out as manager, and Stephen Petersen takes over. [2/09]
Fidelity Europe: Manager Trygve Toraasen is manager no longer. Melissa Reilly is now in charge. [12/08]
Fidelity Four-In-One Index: William Hall leaves as co-manager, making room for Christopher Sharpe. [6/09]
Fidelity Four-In-One Index: Managers Derek Young and Christopher Sharpe turn over the reins to Andrew Dierdorf and William Hall. [2/09]
Fidelity Global Balanced: Derek Young leaves as co-manager. Replacing Young is Geoffrey Stein. [Change effective 7/1/09, posted 6/09]
Fidelity Growth & Income: Timothy Cohen leaves as manager, making room for James Catudal. [2/09]
Fidelity Income Replacement funds (all) : Co-manager Christopher Sharpe moves on to other funds (see above and below), and he's replaced at this fund by Andrew Dierdorf. [6/09]
Fidelity International Small Cap Opportunities: Andrew Sassine is out as manager, and Jed Weiss takes over. [1/09]
Fidelity Japan Smaller Companies: Kenichi Mizushita leaves as manager, and Nicholas Price takes over, effective December 31, 2008. Until then, Mizushita and Price are (at least theoretically) co-managing. [11/08]
Fidelity Mega Cap: Richard Mace is gone as manager, and Matthew Fruhan is now calling the shots. [5/09]
Fidelity Mid Cap Growth: Patrick Venanzi says goodbye as manager, and Steven Calhoun says hello. Calhoun continues in charge of Fidelity Aggressive Growth. [2/09]
Fidelity Nordic: Ronald Port steps down as manager, and Melissa Reilly takes his place. [5/09]
Fidelity Nordic: Trygve Toraasen leaves as manager, and Ronald Port replaces him. [12/08]
Fidelity OTC Portfolio: Sonu Kalra steps down as manager (he's headed for Fidelity Blue Chip, above). Replacing Kalra is Gavin Baker. [Change effective 7/1/09, posted 6/09]
Fidelity Select funds (several)
| Fidelity fund | Old manager | New manager
|
|---|
| Select Automotive | Alton Miles | Michael Weaver
| | Select Environmental | Stavros Koutsantonis | Douglas Simmons
| | Select Health Care | Matthew Sabel
(comanager) | Edward Lee Yoon
| | Select Medical Delivery | Matthew Sabel | Andrew Hatem
| | Select Software and Computer Services | Mayank Tandon | Brian Lempel
| | Select Transportation | Anton An | John Mirshekari
| | [4/09]
|
Fidelity Select Air Transportation: Manager Maurice FitzMaurice heads out the revolving door, and John Mirshekari steps in. [5/09]
Fidelity Select Defense and Aerospace: Manager Maurice FitzMaurice is out, and John Sheehy takes over. Sheehy also manages Fidelity Select Paper and Forest Products; since there aren't many paper or wood products on the modern battlefield or in modern aviation, Sheehy might not seem particularly well-qualified to run a fund that specializes in defense and aerospace companies. On the other hand, he should be superbly well-qualified to analyze any company that makes paper airplanes or battering rams.
[5/09]
Fidelity Select Electronics: Managers Paul Jackson and Christopher Lee are replaced by the team of Stephen Barwikowski and Christopher Lin. [2/09]
Fidelity Select Telecommunications: Manager Gavin Baker moves to Fidelity OTC (above), which means that someone has to take over here. That someone would be Kristina Salen. [Change effective 7/1/09, posted 6/09]
Fidelity Select Transportation: Maurice FitzMaurice is out as manager, and Anton An replaces him. FitzMaurice hung around for almost exactly one year -- cheers for him! [11/08]
Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income: Derek Young is out as co-manager, and Christopher Sharpe replaces him. [6/09]
Fidelity Strategic Income: See Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income, above. [6/09]
Fidelity Strategic Real Return: See Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income, above. [6/09]
First Eagle Global: Manager Jean-Marie Eveillard is going to retire -- again. Eveillard plans to be an "active member of the portfolio management team" until March 2009, and then he will move to an advisory role through March 2012. Matthew McLennan is being brought over from the London office of Goldman Sachs Asset Management to work with Eveillard, starting in early September. McLennan has experience with private accounts, but no prior mutual fund performance record. [8/08]
First Eagle Overseas: See First Eagle Global, above. [8/08]
FPA Capital: Comanager Robert Rodriguez will start a one-year sabbatical on January 1, 2010; although Rodriguez plans to return to the fund's advisory firm (First Pacific Advisors), he does not plan to resume day-to-day management responsibilities. Running the show, starting in 2010, will be current comanagers Dennis Bryan and Rikard Ekstrand. FundAlarm comments: Assuming that Rodriguez isn't leaving for health reasons, and there's no suggestion that he is, this appears to be as case of "When the going gets tough, the tough leave." Public comments from Rodriguez lately have been notably testy and frustrated. Sure, he's pissed about the way the financial markets and the economy have turned out, but aren't we all? Rodriguez has made a personal fortune managing money for FPA and its clients. You'd think that he might have been able to suck it up for another year or two, and give those many people who made him so wealthy just a little more of his expertise, now that they (arguably) need him the most. Instead, he thanks us all by bailing out. [4/09]
FPA New Income: The same sabbatical that takes Robert Rodriguez away from FPA Capital (above) will take him away from this fund, effective January 1, 2010; although Rodriguez plans to return to the fund's advisory firm (First Pacific Advisors), he does not plan to resume day-to-day management responsibilities. Current comanager Thomas Atteberry will run this fund solo upon the departure of Rodriguez. [4/09]
Janus Adviser Perkins Small Company Value: Jakob Holm leaves as manager. He is replaced by the tried-and-true team that also managers Perkins Small Cap Value (Robert Perkins and Todd Perkins, joined here by Justin Tugman).
[4/09]
Janus Global Opportunities: Jason Yee is out as manager (after being fired from Janus Worldwide, below, there is apparently no place left for him at the firm). Former comanager Gregory Korb now runs this fund solo. [5/09]
Janus Worldwide: Jason Yee is fired as manager -- finally -- and Laurent Saltiel takes over. Saltiel has been running two relatively new Janus Advisor funds -- International Equity and International Forty -- with some distinction, so this change at least gives Worldwide investors some hope. [5/09]
JHancock Mid Cap Equity: Alan Norton and Henry Mehlman are out as managers, replaced by Daniel Cole. [10/08]
JHancock Small Cap Equity: See JHancock Mid Cap Equity, above. [10/08]
~K-N~
Lazard U.S. Mid Cap Equity: Gary Buesser is gone as co-manager, and his three former compatriots will carry on without him. [3/09]
Lazard U.S. Strategic Equity: Gary Buesser and J. Richard Tutino leave as co-managers. Ronald Temple joins the three continuing co-managers. [3/09]
Lord Abbett Affiliated: The management team of Eli Salzmann and Kenneth Fuller steps down, and they are replaced by Daniel Frascarelli. [Change effective July 1, 2009, posted 6/09]
Lord Abbett Growth Opportunities: Frederick Ruvkun leaves as manager, and the team of Paul Volovich and David Linsen replaces him. [8/08]
Lord Abbett Large Cap Core: Paul Volovich leaves as co-manager (he's taking over at Lord Abbett Growth Opportunities, above). Continuing manager Daniel Frascarelli is joined by Randy Reynolds. [8/08]
Lord Abbett Large Cap Value: See Lord Abbett Affiliared, above. [Change effective July 1, 2009, posted 6/09]
Lord Abbett Mid-Cap Value: Howard Hansen steps down as co-manager. Robert Fetch takes over for Hansen (who himself took over in July 2008); Fetch will be assisted by Jeff Diamond, who remains from the previous regime (and has been with this fund only since June 2008). [3/09]
Lord Abbett Mid-Cap Value: Edward von der Linde leaves as manager, and leaves the firm. Howard Hansen takes over, assisted by Jeff Diamond. Hansen had been von der Linde's assistant since 1997. Two other "senior" members of von der Linde's management team (Eileen Banko and David Builder) are no longer listed in the fund's prospectus, so presumably they are gone, too. [8/08]
Managers Special Equity: Veredus Asset Management and Donald Smith & Co. are fired as two of the six subadivsors (outside managers) for this fund. Veredus and Smith are replaced by Ranger Invrstment Management and Federated MDTA. FundAlarm comments: What do you call a fund that is beyond sucky -- UltraSucky? UberSucky? SuckySupreme? How about "Managers Special Equity"? Think about this: Theoretically, this fund has all the managers in the world at its disposal, and it still can't put together a winning record. Our reaction to this most recent manager change is: Lipstick...pig. We'll let you connect the dots. [Change effective 9/08, posted 11/08]
Masters' Select Equity: Bill Miller (of Legg Mason) is fired as manager of about 20% of this portfolio. Clyde McGregor, of Harris Associates (sponsor of the Oakmark family of funds) takes over. The other managers remain unchanged. [11/08]
Masters' Select Value: See Masters' Select Equity, above. [11/08]
MFS Floating Rate High Income: Phillip Robbins is out as co-manager, and David Cobey is now in charge by himself. [12/08]
MFS Massachusetts Investors Growth Stock: Co-manager Maureen Pettirossi is fired, and Jeffrey Constantino will now run this fund solo. [12/08]
MFS Mid Cap Growth: Matthew Krummell and Eric Weigel are out as managers. Eric Fischman and David DeGroff take over. [12/08]
MFS Mid Cap Value: Jeffrey Sage is out as manager. The team of Brooks Taylor and Kevin Schmitz replaces him. [12/08]
MFS Strategic Value: Gregory Locraft is gone as manager, and Brooks Taylor takes over. [12/08]
MFS Total Return: Gregory Locraft is removed from this seven-person management team, and Joshua Marston steps in. Locraft was listed as "mid-cap value portfolio manager" and Marston is a "debt securities portfolio porfolio manager" (the third one on the team), so apparently another current team member will provide Locraft's mid-cap expertise. [12/08]
Morgan Stanley funds (several): The same move at Van Kampen (below), which sees veteran manager James Gilligan move to an "advisory" role, shakes up a couple of Morgan Stanly Institutional fund, as follows:
| Morgan Stanley Institutional fund | Old management team | New management team
|
|---|
| Large Cap Relative Value | James Gilligan / Thomas Bastian* | Thomas Bastian / Mary Jayne Maly*
| | U.S. Mid Cap Value | James Gilligan / Thomas Bastian / Thomas Copper* | Thomas Copper / John Mazanec / Thomas Bastian / Mary Jayne Maly*
| | * James Roeder, Mark Laskin, and Sergio Marcheli were members of the "old" management team, and continue on the "new" team [2/09]
|
Morgan Stanley Balanced: Steven Kreider steps down as one of three team members running the fixed-income portion of this fund's portflio, and Stefania Perrucci also appears to be gone. W. David Armstrong continues as manager, joined by Sanjay Verma. [1/09]
Morgan Stanley Global Dividend Growth: The team of Colin McQueen, Douglas McGraw, Martin Moorman, Stephen Walker and Alexander Vislykhis gone. A new team is now in charge: Nathalie Degans, Margaret Naylor, Arthur Pollock, Alistair Corden-Lloyd, and Jean Beaubois. [12/08]
Morgan Stanley Institutional Global Franchise: See Van Kampen Global Franchise, below. [6/09]
Morgan Stanley Institutional Global Value Equity: See Van Kampen Global Value Equity, below. [6/09]
Morgan Stanley Limited Duration: Scott Richard leaves as lead manager, and leaves the firm. Richard is replaced by Virginia Keehan on this three-person team, and you can look for a new lead manager but you won't find one: "all team members are responsible for the execution of the overall strategy of the Fund." Or, as anyone who has ever worked on a team would say: "Yeah, sure, like there's no one really in charge." [1/09]
Morgan Stanley Natural Resource Development: A two-person team is out (Robert Rossetti and Mark Bavoso), and a new team takes over: Michael Nolan (lead), Helen Krause, Arthur Robb and Neil Chakraborty (it's the same "Quantitative and Structured Solutions" team that's now in charge of Morgan Stanley/Van Kampen Technology, below). [12/08]
Morgan Stanley Technology: David Walker is out as manager. A subadvisor has been hired (Morgan Stanley Investment Management Limited), and the subadvisor has appointed a four-person management team: Michael Nolan (lead), Helen Krause, Arthur Robb and Neil Chakraborty. [12/08]
Mutual Beacon: Michael Embler leaves as co-manager, and leaves the firm. Mandana Hormozi moves over from Mutual Global Discovery, and replaces Embler. [6/09]
Mutual Global Discovery: Mandana Hormozi leaves this three-person team, to take over Michael Embler's spot at Mutual Beacon (see above). It's now a two-person team (Anne Gudefin and Charles Lahr). [6/09]
Neuberger Berman International: Milu Komer leaves as co-manager, and also bails out of the not-so-stable Neuberger Berman ship. Benjamin Segal continues to run this fund, now on his own. [1/09]
Neuberger Berman Real Estate: Steven Brown leaves as co-manager. Steve Shigekawa will continue to manage this fund, joined by Brian Jones. [12/08]
~O-S~
Old Mutual Focused: Liberty Ridge will be fired as outside manager (subadvisor), effective March 31, 2009, but no replacement has yet been named. How motivated do you think Liberty Ridge will be in the meantime? [12/08]
Old Mutual Strategic Small Company: Liberty Ridge is fired as outside manager (subadvisor), and Ashfield Capital Partners takes over, subject to shareholder approval. [12/08]
Oppenheimer Core Bond: The management team of Gord/Caan/Bomfim/Swaney is out, and Krishna Memani takes over. [4/09]
Oppenheimer Limited Term Government: See Oppenheimer Core Bond, above. [4/09]
Oppenheimer Main Street: The three-person team in charge of this fund is gone, to make room for a couple of new arrivals from RS Investments. In other words: Reinganum/Zavanelli/Zhou are out, and Manind Govil and Benjamin Ram are now in charge. [6/09]
Oppenheimer Main Street Opportunity: The management team of Reinganum/Zavanelli/Zhou is out. Manind Govil and Anthony Gennaro, formerly of RS Investments, are now running the show. [6/09]
Oppenheimer Rochester Municipal funds: Lead manager Ronald Fielding, who appears to have had a hand in running all of the Oppenheimer Rochester municipal funds, retires this month. Daniel Loughran, a senior member of the seven-person management team, takes over for Fielding. [5/09]
Oppenheimer U.S. Government Trust: See Oppenheimer Core Bond, above. [4/09]
Paradigm Select: John Walthausen is gone as manager. The team of Jonathan Vyorst and Jason Ronovech takes over for Walthausen [change effective 8/07, posted 1/08; thanks to "RC" for his persistence in bringing this change to our attention]
Paradigm Value: See Paradigm Select, above.
PIMCO Convertible: Mark Hudoff leaves as manager, and leaves the firm. The ever-present Bill Gross takes over, probably temporarily. [6/09]
PIMCO Emerging Markets Bond: Michael Gomez is out as manager, and Curtis Mewbourne takes over. [5/09]
PIMCO High Yield: See PIMCO Convertible, above. [6/09]
PIMCO Income: Mark Hudoff leaves as co-manager. Daniel Ivascyn now runs this fund solo. [6/09]
PIMCO Municipal Bond: Manager Mark McCray is history, as John Cummings takes the helm. [1/09]
PIMCO New York Municipal Bond: See PIMCO Municipal Bond, above. [1/09]
PIMCO RealRetirement 2010/2020/2030/2040/2050: Short-timer Jamil Baz leaves as manager, and leaves the firm. Vineer Bhansali is now in charge. [8/08]
PIMCO Short Duration Municipal Income: See PIMCO Municipal Bond, above. [1/09]
Pioneer Growth Opportunities: Managers Diego Franzin and Peter Wiley are replaced by Brian Stack. [10/08]
Prudent Bear: Thanks to a mid-July acquisition, this is now the Federated Prudent Bear Fund. David Hoffman of Investment News reports that David Tice, current lead manager of Prudent Bear, is out as day-to-day manager. Federated says that the current management team (ex-Tice) will stay in place, which means that Tice associates Doug Noland, Chad Hudson and Gregg Jahnke (Who? Who? Who?) will now run the show. [8/08]
Putnam (several funds): Putnam gets out the shovel and the axe, as it merges a number of dismal funds out of existence, and fires (or reassigns) a bunch of managers. In general, Putnam has announced that it is doing away with team management, and henceforth it will have one (or two) named managers per fund. The goal, as always, is to boost performance by focusing responsibility. This being Putnam, that goal, as always, must be considered in doubt. Here are the old/new manager lineups at funds that remain in existence.
| Putnam fund | Old manager(s) | New manager(s)
|
|---|
| Capital Opportunities | Joseph Joseph/Randy Farina/John Ferry*/Franz Valencia | Joseph Joseph
| | Convertible Income-Growth | David King*/Robert Salvin | Eric Harthun/Robert Salvin
| | George Putnam Fund of Boston | Jeanne Mockard* (lead)/Geoffrey Kelley*/Jeffrey Knight/Raman Srivastava | David Calabro/Raman Srivastava
| | Global Equity | Shigeki Makino/Bradford Greenleaf* | Shigeki Makino
| | International Capital Opportunities | Joseph Joseph/Randy Farina/John Ferry*/Franz Valencia | Joseph Joseph
| | International Equity | Joshua Byrne/Simon Davis/Alan McCormack/Michael Scafati* | Joshua Byrne
| | Investors | James Wiess*/Gerard Sullivan/Richard Cervone/Richard Brookby | Gerard
Sullivan/Richard Brookby
| | New Opportunities | Kevin Divney*/Raymond Haddad/Gerald Moore/Brian DeChristopher*/Richard Weed* | Gerald Moore
| | Small Cap Growth | Richard Weed*/Anthony Sutton | Anthony Sutton
| | Vista | Kevin Divney*/Raymond Haddad/Brian DeChristopher* | Raymond Haddad
| | [12/08]
|
* Leaving the firm
Quaker Small-Cap Growth Tactical Allocation: Day-to-day manager (i.e., subadvisor) Bjurman, Barry & Associates has gone belly-up, so Quaker has replaced Bjurman with Century Management. [5/09]
RiverSource funds (several): Nick Thakore and Bob Ewing bail out for Putnam (good luck!), and their departure reverberates through several RiverSource funds, as follows:
| RiverSource fund | Old manager(s) | New manager(s)
|
|---|
| 130/30 | Nick Thakore/Robert Ewing | John Schonberg*
| | Balanced | Thakore/Ewing/many others | New team led by Warren Spitz
| | Global Technology | Nick Thakore/Robert Ewing | Richard Parower/Paul Wick/Reema Shah/Ajay Diwan/Benjamin Lu
| | Growth | Nick Thakore | Erik Voss
| | Large Cap Equity | Nick Thakore/Robert Ewing | Dimitris Bertsimas/Gina Mourtzinou
| | Large Cap Value | Robert Ewing | Warren Spitz/Steve Schroll
| | [12/08]
|
* But who cares, because the fund is being liquidated
RiverSource Balanced: Jamie Jackson leaves the fixed-income side of this fund -- specifically, the "liquid assets [i.e, U.S. Treasury securities] sector" -- and Todd White takes his place. [4/09]
RiverSource Diversified Bond: Jamie Jackson leaves as head of this fund's "liquid assets sector" (i.e, U.S. Treasury securities] and Todd White, formerly in charge of the "structured assets sector" (i.e., mortgage-backed securities) takes Jackson's place. [4/09]
RiverSource Inflation Protected: Jamie Jackson leaves as manager, and Todd White takes over. [4/09]
RiverSource Limited Duration Bond: See RiverSource Diversified Bond, above. [4/09]
RiverSource Short Duration U.S. Government: Jamie Jackson leaves as comanager. Todd White will continue running this fund, joined by John McColley. [4/09]
RiverSource Strategic Allocation: See RiverSource Diversified Bond, above.
RS Growth: John Seabern leaves as manager, and leaves the firm. The "RS Growth Team" takes over (which would be Stephen Bishop, Melissa Chadwick-Dunn, Allison Thacker and D. Scott Tracy). [6/09]
RS Large Cap Alpha: Manager Manind Govil leaves the fund, and leaves the firm. As far as we know, Govil filled only two shoes, but RS is trumpeting the fact that 26 shoes (i.e., the "13-member RS Value Team") are taking over for him. [4/09; Update @ 6/09: Govil and several former colleagues from RS have landed at Oppenheimer]
RS Mid Cap Growth (formerly RS Mid Cap Opportunities): John Seabern leaves the five-person team managing this fund, and now it's down to a team of four: Stephen Bishop, Melissa Chadwick-Dunn, Allison Thacker and D. Scott Tracy. [Change effective 3/31/09, posted 6/09]
RS Select Growth: See RS Small Cap Growth, above. [Change effective 3/31/09, posted 6/09]
RS Small Cap Equity (formerly RS Small Cap Core Equity): Matthew Ziehl leaves as manager, and leaves the firm. The "RS Growth Team" takes over (see RS Growth, above). [6/09]
RS Small Cap Growth (formerly RS Emerging Growth): James Callinan leaves the five-person team managing this fund, and now it's down to a team of four growth mavens: Stephen Bishop, Melissa Chadwick-Dunn, Allison Thacker and D. Scott Tracy. [Change effective 3/31/09, posted 6/09]
Sentinel Mid Cap Growth: Paul Kandel is out as manager. The team of Charles Schwartz and Betsy Pecor is now in charge. [1/09]
Sit funds (all): CEO and Chief Investment Officer Eugene Sit died on June 24, 2008. He has been replaced by his son, Roger, and all of the Sit fund management teams have been reshuffled, as follows:
| Sit Fund | Old management team | New management team
| | Balanced | Eugene Sit (CIO) / Peter Mitchelson (PM) / Bryce Doty (PM) | Roger Sit (CIO) / Bryce Doty (PM)
| | Developing Markets Growth | Eugene Sit (CIO) / Roger Sit (PM) / Raymond Sit (PM) | Roger Sit (CIO) / Raymond Sit (PM)
| | Dividend Growth | Eugene Sit (CIO) / Kent Johnson (PM) / Roger Sit (PM) / Michael Stellmacher (PM) | Roger Sit (CIO) / Kent Johnson (PM) / Michael Stellmacher (PM)
| | International Growth | Eugene Sit (CIO) / Janet Kinzler (PM) / Tasha Murdoff (PM) / Roger Sit (PM) | Roger Sit (CIO) / Janet Kinzler (PM) / Tasha Murdoff (PM)
| | Large Cap Growth | Eugene Sit (CIO) / Peter Mitchelson (PM) / Roger Sit (PM) / Ronald Sit (PM) | Roger Sit (CIO) / Ronald Sit (PM) / Michael Stellmacher (PM)
| | Mid Cap Growth | Eugene Sit (CIO) / Kent Johnson (PM) / Matthew Loucks (PM) / Roger Sit (PM) | Roger Sit (CIO) / Kent Johnson (PM) / Matthew Loucks (PM) / Robert Sit (PM)
| | Small Cap Growth | Eugene Sit (CIO) / Kent Johnson (PM) / Matthew Loucks (PM) / Robert Sit (PM) / Michael Stellmacher (PM) | Roger Sit (CIO) / Kent Johnson (PM) / Matthew Loucks (PM) / Robert Sit (PM) / Michael Stellmacher (PM)
| | 8/08
|
CIO = Chief Investment Officer
PM = Portfolio Manager
~T-Z~
T. Rowe Price Africa & Middle East: Christopher Alderson will leave as lead manager, and Joseph Rohm will take over, effective March 31, 2009. Alderson will remain on the fund's management team, but presumably he'll be quite busy as the new CEO of T. Rowe Price International. [11/08]
T. Rowe Price Latin America: Gonzalo Pangaro is out as manager, and Jose Costa Buck takes over (effective December 31, 2008). Pangaro is moving over to be co-manager of T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock, joining Christopher Alderson, who is also being promoted to CEO of T. Rowe Price International. Our guess is that Pangaro will carry most of the weight here. [11/08]
T. Rowe Price New Asia: Manager Frances Dydasco will retire on August 1, 2009. Effective immediately, Dydasco is joined by Anh Lu, who will initially co-manage the fund, and then run it solo when Dydasco departs. [5/09]
Thompson Plumb Bond: See Thompson Plumb Growth, below. [4/09]
Thompson Plumb Growth: Back in January, comanager John C. Thompson took a leave of absence from this fund, leaving his father, John W. Thompson, in charge. Now, it appears that the leave of absence has become a permanent absence, and John W. has been joined by comanagers James Evans and Jason Stephens. [4/09]
Thornburg International Growth: Brian Summers leaves as co-manager, and leaves the firm. Alex Motola is now the sole name on the marquee. [10/08]
Transamerica Partners Institutional Large Value: See Transamerica Partners Large Value, below. [4/09]
Transamerica Partners International Equity: LSV Asset Management and Wellington Management Company are fired as this fund's day-to-day managers (subadvisors). Thornburg Investment Management now calls the shots. [Change effective 12/31/08; posted 4/09]
Transamerica Partners Large Value: Alliance Berstein and TCW are fired as this fund's day-to-day managers (subadvisors). The firm of Aronson+Johnson+Ortiz is now in charge, + they will try to do a better job. [Change effective 12/31/08; posted 4/09]
Vanguard Growth Equity: Turner Investment Partners is fired as one of this fund's two outside managers. Jennison Associates (represented by day-to-day manager Kathleen McCarragher) takes over Turner's half of the fund. [2/09]
Vanguard Morgan Growth: Franklin Portfolio Associates is fired as one of this fund's subadvisors. Franklin's slice of this fund's portfolio will be divided between Frontier Capital Management and Kalmar Investment Advisers, both new to this fund. [12/08]
Van Kampen funds (several): Twenty-year manager James Gilligan is moving on to an "advisory" role within the firm, a move that triggers a minor shake-up at all of his funds, as follows:
| Van Kampen fund | Old management team | New management team
|
|---|
| American Value | Thomas Copper / John Mazanec / James Gilligan / Thomas Bastian / Mary Jayne Maly* | Same, except for Gilligan
| | Equity and Income | James Gilligan / Steven Kreider / Thomas Bastian* | Thomas Bastian / Mary Jayne Maly / Sanjay Verma*
| | Growth and Income | James Gilligan / Thomas Bastian* | Thomas Bastian / Mary Jayne Maly*
| | * James Roeder, Mark Laskin, and Sergio Marcheli were members of the "old" management team, and continue on the "new" team [2/09]
|
Van Kampen American Franchise: The entire management team, led by Hassan Elmasry, bails out (Elmasry is reportedly starting his own firm, and his teammates are joining him). Elmasry and team are replaced by the Growth team of Van Kampen Asset Management, led by Dennis Lynch. [6/09]
Van Kampen Enterprise: Feng Chang and Hooman Yaghoobi are out as managers, and a six-person team takes over: Dennis Lynch, David Cohen, Sam Chainani, Alexander Norton, Jaon Yeung, and Armistead Nash. [12/08]
Van Kampen Equity and Income: Steven Kreider leaves as manager on the fixed-income side of this fund, and Sanjay Verma replaces him. [1/09]
Van Kampen Global Franchise: The entire management team, led by Hassan Elmasry, bails out. Elmasry and team are replaced by a new five-person "International Equity" team, consisting of portfolio managers from Morgan Stanley Investment Management Limited and Morgan Stanley Investment Management Company. [6/09]
Van Kampen Global Value Equity: See Van Kampen Global Value Franchise, above. [6/09]
Van Kampen Senior Loan: Christina Jamieson "transitions" her lead manager role to Philip Yarrow, effective August 1, 2008, and she will retire from the firm in October of this year. Between August and October, she will "assist in the overall transition" of the fund's management. Hoever, given the recent grim record of this fund under her leadership, requests for "assistance" may be few and far between. Howard Tiffen will continue to act as a "senior adviser" to the fund; his best advice would be: "When you print the annual report, try to make the past year's track record disappear." [8/08]
Van Kampen Technology: See Morgan Stanley Technology, above. [12/08]
Van Wagoner funds (several): Three truly awful Van Wagoner funds are in line for new managers, and three other funds that many thought (hoped?) were being liquidated are -- surprise! -- getting ready to welcome new leaders. All of the following changes are subject to shareholder approval.
| Van Wagoner fund | Current management | New day-to-day management
|
|---|
| Emerging Growth | Van Wagoner Capital Management | Husic Capital Management
| | Growth Opportunities | Van Wagoner Capital Management | Husic Capital Management
| | Mid-Cap Growth | None
(in "liquidation") | Van Wagoner Capital Management
| | Post-Venture | None
(in "liquidation") | Husic Capital Management
| | Small Cap Growth | Van Wagoner Capital Management | Husic Capital Management
| | Technology | None
(in "liquidation") | Husic Capital Management
| | [9/08]
|
Mid Cap Growth will be reconstituted as a fund-of-funds.
Also, Growth Opportunities is slated to merge into Emerging Growth.
Waddell & Reed Advisors funds (several):
| Waddell & Reed Advisors fund | Old manager | New manager
|
|---|
| International Growth | Thomas Mengel | F. Chace Brundage
| | Retirement Shares | Charles Hooper, Jr. | Cynthia Prince-Fox
| | Tax-Managed Equity | F. Chace Brundage | Sarah Ross
| | [2/09]
|
Wasatch International Growth: Laura Hoffman leaves as co-manager, and leaves the firm. Roger Edgly now runs this fund solo. [12/08]
Wasatch Ultra Growth: Co-manager Neal Dihora is out the door, and Ajay Krishnan continues by himself. [12/08]
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