It’s really rare that the world’s largest investment firm stages a full-scale revolution, but the scope of BlackRock’s changes this month – including the dismissal of 30 investment professionals including seven lead managers and the shift of billions in assets to new quant-based disciplines – seems to have that feel. Not quite a whiff of desperation but certainly determination. And, oh yes, investing legend Mark Mobius has moved into the shadows and 70 other funds underwent less changes.
Because bond fund managers, traditionally, had made relatively modest impacts of their funds’ absolute returns, Manager Changes typically highlights changes in equity and hybrid funds.
| Ticker | Fund | Out with the old | In with the new | Dt |
| MQRAX | ACR Multi-Strategy Quality Return (MQR) Fund | No one, but . . . | Neel Shah and Mark Unferth have joined Tim Piechowski, Willem Schilpzand and Nicholas Tompras in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| NRFAX | AEW Real Estate Fund | John Garofalo will no longer serve as a manage to the fund | Matthew Troxell, Gina Szymanski and J. Hall Jones, Jr. will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| ALMAX | Alger SMid Cap Growth Fund | Daniel Chung is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Joshua Bennett, H. George Dai, and Matthew Weatherbie will now manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| BDSAX | BlackRock Advantage Small Cap Core Fund | No one, but . . . | Travis Cooke is joined by Raffaele Savi and Richard Mathieson in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| CSGEX | BlackRock Advantage Small Cap Growth Fund | No one, but . . . | Travis Cooke is joined by Raffaele Savi and Richard Mathieson in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| MDCPX | Blackrock Balanced Capital Fund | No one, but . . . | David Rogal and Todd Burnside join Philip Green, Rick Rieder, Bob Miller and Peter Stournaras | 3/17 |
| MDBAX | BlackRock Basic Value Fund | Bartlett Geer is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Carrie King is joined by Joseph Wolfe in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| BACHX | BlackRock Emerging Markets Dividend | Luiz Soares is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Erin Xie will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| BLSAX | BlackRock Emerging Markets Long/Short Equity Fund | Dan Blumhardt and Clint Newman are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Jeff Shen is joined by David Piazza, Gerardo Rodgriuez, and Richard Mathieson in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| BMCAX | BlackRock Flexible Equity Fund | No one, but . . . | Todd Burnside joins Peter Stournaras in managing the fund | 3/17 |
| BMCAX | BlackRock Flexible Equity Fund | Peter Stournaris will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Travis Cooke, Raffaele Savi and Richard Mathieson will manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| BROAX | BlackRock Global Opportunities | Thomas Callan, Ian Jamieson, and Simon McGeough are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Raffaele Savi, Kevin Franklin and Richard Mathieson will manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| MDGCX | BlackRock Global Small Cap | Murali Balaraman and John Coyle are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Raffaele Savi, Kevin Franklin and Richard Mathieson will manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| BREAX | BlackRock International Opportunities | Thomas Callan, Ian Jamieson, and Simon McGeough are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Raffaele Savi, Kevin Franklin and Richard Mathieson will manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| MDLRX | BlackRock Large Cap Core Fund | No one, but . . . | Peter Stournaras is joined by Todd Burnside in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| MDLHX | BlackRock Large Cap Growth Fund | No one, but . . . | Peter Stournaras is joined by Todd Burnside and Lawrence Kemp in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| MRLVX | BlackRock Large Cap Value Fund | No one, but . . . | Peter Stournaras is joined by Todd Burnside in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| BDRFX | BlackRock Mid Cap Value Opportunities Fund | Murali Balaraman and John Coyle are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Tony DeSprito, Franco Tapia, and David Zhao will manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| MDPCX | BlackRock Pacific | Oisin Crawley will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Andrew Swan will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| BGSAX | BlackRock Science & Technology Opportunities Portfolio | Thomas Callan is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Tony Kim will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| MDSWX | BlackRock Small Cap Growth Fund II | No one, but . . . | Travis Cooke is joined by Raffaele Savi and Richard Mathieson in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| BMEAX | BlackRock U.S. Opportunities Portfolio | No one, but . . . | Simon McGeough joins Thomas Callan and Ian Jamieson on the management team. | 3/17 |
| MILCX | BNY Mellon Large Cap Stock Fund | No one, but . . . | Syen Zamil joins C. Wesley Boggs, William Cazalet, Ronald Gala, Peter Goslin in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| MIMSX | BNY Mellon Mid Cap Multi-Strategy Fund | No one, but . . . | John Porter joined the management team of Todd Wakefield, Robert Zeuthen, David Daglio, James Boyd, Dale Dutile, Joseph Feeney, Thomas Murphy, Steven Pollack, Amy Croen, Michelle Picard, William Scott Priebe, William A. Priebe, and Caroline Lee Tsao. | 3/17 |
| MISCX | BNY Mellon Small Cap Multi-Strategy Fund | No one, but . . . | John Porter joined the management team of Todd Wakefield, Robert Zeuthen, David Daglio, James Boyd, Stephanie Brandaleone, Joseph Corrado, Dale Dutile, and Caroline Lee Tsao. | 3/17 |
| MMCIX | BNY Mellon Small/Mid Cap Multi-Strategy Fund | No one, but . . . | John Porter joined the management team of Todd Wakefield, Robert Zeuthen, David Daglio, James Boyd, Edward Walter, Stephanie Brandaleone, Joseph Corrado, Dale Dutile, and Caroline Lee Tsao. | 3/17 |
| CTRAX | Calamos Total Return Bond | Jeremy Hughes is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | John P. Calamos, R. Matthew Freund, John Hillenbrand, Eli Pars, Jon Vacko, and Chuck Carmody continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| BUYAX | Catalyst Buyback Strategy Fund | Choice Financial Partners, Inc. no longer serves as the adviser of the fund and Timothy McCann is no longer is the portfolio manager. | Michael Schoonover will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| SOPAX | Clearbridge Dividend Strategy Fund | No one, but . . . | Scott Glasser joins Michael Clarfeld, Harry Cohen and Peter Vanderlee in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| CHNAX | Clough China Fund | Francoise Vappereau is no longer serving as a co-manager | Brian Chen, who arrived 8/16, remains | 3/17 |
| GEFIX | CMG Mauldin Solutions Fund | Andrew Lo, Alexander Healy, Michael Hee, and Przemyslaw Grzywacz are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Stephen Blumenthal and John Mauldin will now manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| CAGAX | Columbia Acorn Emerging Markets Fund | Fritz Kaegi will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Stephen Kusmierczak, Louis Mendes, and Satoshi Matsunaga will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| ACRNX | Columbia Acorn Fund | Fritz Kaegi will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | P. Zachary Egan and Matthew Litfin will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| FSEAX | Fidelity Emerging Asia | Colin Chickles will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | John Dance will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| FCAAX | Frost Aggressive Allocation | Messrs. Thompson, Hopkins, Telling, Tarver, Bergeron, Mendez, Bambace and Duncan | Thomas Stringfellow with “appropriately trained analysts” is in charge | 3/17 |
| FDSFX | Frost Conservative Allocation | Messrs. Thompson, Hopkins, Telling, Tarver, Bergeron, Mendez, Bambace and Duncan | Thomas Stringfellow with “appropriately trained analysts” is in charge | 3/17 |
| FACEX | Frost Growth Equity Fund | AB Mendez and Tom Stringellow will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | John Lutz will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| FAKDX | Frost KempnerMulti-cap Deep Value Equity | Messrs. Thompson, Hopkins, Telling, Tarver, Bergeron, Mendez, Bambace and Duncan | Harris L. Kempner and M. Shawn Gault remain | 3/17 |
| FAKSX | Frost MidCap Equity | Messrs. Thompson, Hopkins, Telling, Tarver, Bergeron, Mendez, Bambace and Duncan | Thomas Stringfellow with “appropriately trained analysts” is in charge | 3/17 |
| FASTX | Frost Moderate Allocation | Messrs. Thompson, Hopkins, Telling, Tarver, Bergeron, Mendez, Bambace and Duncan | Thomas Stringfellow with “appropriately trained analysts” is in charge | 3/17 |
| FADVX | Frost Value Equity Fund | Tom Bergeron and Tom Stringfellow are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Craig Leighton will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| HGGIX | Harbor Global Growth Fund, which is changing its name to Harbor Global Leaders Fund | Marsico Capital Management is no longer a subadvisor to the fund and Thomas Marsico is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Sunil Thakor will manage the fund and Sands Capital Management will be the subadvisor to the fund. | 3/17 |
| HTECX | Hennessy Technology Fund | Winsor Aylesworth and David Ellison will no longer serve as portfolio managers for the fund. | Daniel Hennessy, Ryan Kelley, and Brian Peery will now manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| JEVAX | John Hancock Emerging Markets Fund | No one, but . . . | Mary Phillips joins the team of Joseph Chi, Jed Fogdall, Allen Pu and Bhanu Singh in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| JISAX | John Hancock International Small Company Fund | Henry Gray will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Mary Phillips joins the team of Joseph Chi, Jed Fogdall, Arun Keswani and Bhanu Singh in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| JASOX | John Hancock New Opportunities Fund | Henry Gray will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Juliet Ellis, Juan Hartsfield, Joseph Chi, Jed Fogdall, Joseph Craigen, Daniel Miller, Joel Schneider, Justin Bennitt, Gregory Manley, and Davis Paddock will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| JGIAX | JPMorgan Income | Andrew Headley joins the fray | Andrew Norelli remains as co-manager | 3/17 |
| KACVX | Keeley All Cap Value Fund | Edwin Ciskowski will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Brian Keeley will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| GHCAX | Leland Currency Strategy Fund | FDO Partners, LLC is no longer managing any portion of the fund’s assets. | The changes to the management team are not yet clear. | 3/17 |
| MNILX | Litman Gregory Masters International | No one, but . . . | David Marcus, and Evermore Global Advisors, joins the management team of David Herro, Jeremy DeGroot, Howard Appleby, Jean-Francois Ducrest, James LaTorre, W. Vinson Walden, Mark Little, Rajat Jain, Benjamin Beneche, and Fabio Paolini. | 3/17 |
| LSBAX | Loomis Sayles Core Disciplined Alpha Bond | On June 1, 2017, William Stephens plans to retire. We wish him well. | Lynne Royers, heretofore co-manager, takes over | 3/17 |
| MYITX | Mainstay International Opportunities Fund | Gaurav Gupta is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Ping Wang joins Andrew Ver Planck and Jeremy Roethel on the management team for the fund. | 3/17 |
| EXITX | Manning & Napier International | No one, but . . . | Kasey Wopperer has joined Scott Shattuck and Jeffrey Donlon on the management team. | 3/17 |
| MFVAX | MassMutual Select Equity Opportunities | Messrs. Bierig, Coniaris and Hudson are out after two years | Scott Linehan of T. Rowe Price and Donald Kilbride of Wellington Management take the helm. | 3/17 |
| DVRAX | MFS Global Alternative Strategy | Jose Andres and Nathan Shetty are onboard | Ben Nastou and Natalie Shapiro remain, so the team moves to four | 3/17 |
| MNDAX | MFS New Discovery Fund | Effective October 1, 2017, Paul Gordon will no longer be listed as a portfolio manager to the fund. | Michael Grossman will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| NMEDX | Northern Multi-Manager Emerging Markets Debt Opportunity Fund | Lazard Asset Management will no longer subadvise the fund. | Ashmore Investment Management joins BlueBay Asset Management in subadvising the fund. | 3/17 |
| PLOWX | Perritt Low-Priced Stock | Brian Gillespie steps down after five years | Founding co-manager Michael Corbett becomes the sole manager | 3/17 |
| PNVAX | Putnam International Capital Opportunities Fund | Brett Risser and Robert Shoen are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Karan Sodhi, Spencer Morgan and Andrew Yoon will now manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| PNSAX | Putnam Small Cap Growth Fund | Pam Gao is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | William Monroe will now manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| PSLAX | Putnam Small Cap Value Fund | No one, but . . . | Eric Harthun has been joined by David Diamond in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| QTRAX | Quaker Global Tactical Allocation Fund | Robert Andres is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Paul Hoffmeister and Thomas Kirchner will now manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| RQSIX | RQSI Small Cap Hedged Equity Fund | Benjamin McMillan is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Jaideep Karnawat is now running the fund. | 3/17 |
| TDTFX | TD Target Return Fund | Anish Chopra and Jonathan Shui will no longer serve as managers to the fund. | Geoff Wilson and Anna Castro will now run the fund. | 3/17 |
| TCWAX | Templeton China World Fund | Mark Mobius is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Eddie Chow continues to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| TEDMX | Templeton Developing Markets Trust | Mark Mobius, Tom Wu, Dennis Lin, and Allan Lam are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Chetan Sehgal will now manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| TAEMX | Templeton Emerging Markets Balanced Fund | Mark Mobius, Allan Lam, Dennis Lim, and Tom Wu are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Michael Hasentab and Laura Burakreis remain and are joined by Chetan Sehgal. | 3/17 |
| TEMMX | Templeton Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund | Mark Mobius, Tom Wu, Dennis Lin, and Allan Lam are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Chetan Sehgal will now manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| TFMAX | Templeton Frontier Markets Fund | Allan Lam and Dennis Lim are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Mark Mobius and Tom Wu will remain as portfolio managers to the fund. | 3/17 |
| DVIBX | Transamerica Partners Balanced | Rick Perry is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Brian Westhoff, Doug Weih, Matthew Buchanan, Bradley Doyle, Tyler Knight, Steven Lee, Tim Snyder, and Raffaele Zingone will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| IIVAX | Transamerica Small/Mid Cap Value | Short-termers Brett Hawkins and Kevin McCreesh move on | Kenneth Burgess continues in a role his assumed in since 2011 | 3/17 |
| BNAAX | UBS Dynamic Alpha Fund | Andreas Koester and Jonathan Davies no longer serve as portfolio managers. | Nathan Shetty and José Ignacio Andrés will now manage the fund. | 3/17 |
| BNGLX | UBS Global Allocation Fund | Andreas Koester and Jonathan Davies no longer serve as portfolio managers. | Philip Brides will be joined by Gian Plebani on the management team. | 3/17 |
| PWTAX | UBS U.S. Allocation Fund | Andreas Koester is no longer a portfolio manager of the fund. | Gregor Hirt and Paul Lang will assume portfolio management responsibilities for the fund. | 3/17 |
| VEXPX | Vanguard Explorer Fund | Dana Walker and Jennifer Pawloski are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Brian Angerame, Derek Deutsch, Aram Green and Jeffrey Russell join the team of Binbin Guo, Brian Schaub, Chad Meade, Daniel Fitzpatrick, Ryan Edward Crane, James Stetler, Michael Roach, and Kenneth Abrams. | 3/17 |
| SRVEX | Victory Diversified Stock Fund | No one, immediately. However, effective May 12th, the existing team of Lawrence Babin, Paul Danes, Carolyn Rains, Martin Shagrin, and Thomas Uutala, will no longer manage the fund. | Michael Gura will manage the fund, effective May 12, 2017 | 3/17 |
| SAVAX | Virtus Bond Fund | Christopher Kelleher will retire, effective April 30, 2017 | Stephen Hooker will join David Albrycht in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| VCOAX | Virtus Credit Opportunities Fund | Edwin Tai is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Eric Hess joins the team of David Albrycht, Timothy Dias, and Patrick Fleming in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| HIMZX | Virtus Low Duration Income Fund | Christopher Kelleher will retire, effective April 30, 2018 | Lisa Baribault will join David Albrycht and Benjamin Caron in managing the fund. | 3/17 |
| IIBPX | Voya Balanced Portfolio | Christine Hurtsellers will no longer serve as portfolio manager for the fund. | Matthew Toms is being added as a portfolio manager, joining Chrostopher Corapi and Paul Zemsky. | 3/17 |
| INGBX | Voya Global Bond Fund | Christine Hurtsellers will no longer serve as portfolio manager for the fund. | Mustafa Chowdhury and Brian Timberlake will continue to manage the fund. | 3/17 |
