It’s been a relatively unexciting month on the manager change front, perhaps with folks regrouping over the quiet summer months. Five of the departures were triggered by announced retirements, which is a bit higher than usual. FPA got bounced off the team at Litman Gregory Masters Smaller Companies (MSSFX). On the one hand, that’s not terribly surprising: the managers’ main charge, FPA Capital (FPPTX), has trailed 94% of its Morningstar peers over the decade that lead manager Dennis Bryan has been in place. On the other hand, it is surprising that they lasted so long: FPA has been managing a portion of the portfolio for a decade, while the average tenure of managers at MSSFX is two to three years. It’s worth pondering the implications of that turnover: Litman Gregory’s specialty is manager selection and they have a lot of resources to deploy in finding the best managers and still, within a very few years, the majority of them are no longer contributing enough to remain. It does highlight the challenge that the rest of us face.
| Ticker | Fund | Out with the old | In with the new | Dt |
| ACDJX | AC Alternatives Disciplined Long Short Fund | Scott Wittman will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Yulin Long will continue to manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| ALEVX | AC Alternatives Long Short Fund | Effective June 22, 2017, Passport Capital, LLC will no longer serve as a subadvisor for the fund. | Columbia Management Investment Advisers, Sirios Capital Management, Three Bridges Capital, and PWP remain. | 6/17 |
| AVMNX | Advantus Dynamic Managed Volatility Fund | No one, but . . . | Jeremy Gogos has joined David Kuplic and Craig Stapleton on the management team | 6/17 |
| AMENX | Advantus Managed Volatility Equity Fund | No one, but . . . | Jeremy Gogos has joined David Kuplic and Craig Stapleton on the management team | 6/17 |
| ACPVX | American Century Core Equity Plus Fund | Scott Wittman will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Claudia Musat and Steven Rossi will continue to manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| AECHX | American Century Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund | Anthony Han has departed. | The remaining managers are Patricia Ribeiro and Sherwin Soo, both of whom joined in 2016. | 6/17 |
| AGAEX | American Century Global Allocation Fund | Scott Wittman has announced his plans to leave American Century Investments. As a result, he will no longer manage the funds as of June 30, 2017. | Richard Weiss, Scott Wilson, Radu Gabudean, and G. David MacEwen will continue to manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| AGBVX | American Century Global Bond Fund | Edward Boyle is leaving after 4 years on the funds. | The remaining team members are John Lovito, Simon Chester, Robert Gahagan, and Abdelak Adjriou. | 6/17 |
| BEGBX | American Century International Bond Fund | Edward Boyle is leaving after 4 years on the funds. | John Lovito, Brian Howell, Simon Chester and Abdelak Adjriou will continue to manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| ACNKX | American Century NT Core Equity Plus | Scott Wittman will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Claudia Musat and Steven Rossi will continue to manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| Various | American Century One Choice Funds | Scott Wittman has announced his plans to leave American Century Investments. As a result, he will no longer manage the funds as of June 30, 2017. | The rest of the team remains, though Richard Weiss has been promoted to Chief Investment Officer. Congrats to Mr. Weiss. | 6/17 |
| BROAX | BlackRock Advantage International Fund | Simon McGeough, Ian Jamieson, and Thomas Callan are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Kevin Franklin, Richard Mathieson, and Raffaele Savi will now manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| MDLRX | BlackRock Advantage Large Cap Core Fund | Todd Burnside and Peter Stournaras are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Travis Cooke, Raffaele Savi and Richard Mathieson will manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| BMCAX | BlackRock Advantage Large Cap Growth Fund | Todd Burnside and Peter Stournaras are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Travis Cooke, Raffaele Savi and Richard Mathieson will manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| MDLVX | BlackRock Advantage Large Cap Value | Todd Burnside and Peter Stournaras are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Travis Cooke, Raffaele Savi and Richard Mathieson will manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| MDCPX | BlackRock Balanced Capital Fund | Todd Burnside, David Rogal, Bob Miller, Rick Rieder, Philip Green, and Peter Stournaras are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Travis Cooke, Raffaele Savi and Richard Mathieson will manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| MDEFX | BlackRock EuroFund | Zehrid Osmani is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Brian Hall joins Nigel Bolton in managing the fund. | 6/17 |
| BMEAX | BlackRock High Equity Income Fund | Simon McGeough, Ian Jamieson, and Thomas Callan are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Tony DeSiprito, Kyle McClements, Franco Tapia, and David Zhao will manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| BREAX | BlackRock International Dividend Fund | Simon McGeough, Ian Jamieson, and Thomas Callan are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Stuart Reeve and Andrew Wheatley-Hubbard will now manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| BPMAX | BP Capital TwinLine MLP Fund | No one, but . . . | Benton Cook joins Toby Loftin and Anthony Riley in managing the fund. | 6/17 |
| BBTBX | Bridge Builder Core Bond Fund | William Stevens has retired and will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | The other managers will remain on the fund. | 6/17 |
| DVFAX | Cohen & Steers Dividend Value Fund | Richard Helm intends to step down from portfolio management at the end of September and to retire at the end of the year. | Anatoliy Cherevach, Jamelah Leddy, and Christopher Rhine will continue to manage the fund, with Mssr. Rhine assuming lead manager responsibilities. | 6/17 |
| INDZX | Columbia Diversified Equity Income | Russell Bloomfield is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Hugh Mullin will continue to manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| EENAX | Columbia Global Energy and Natural Resources Fund | Jonathan Mogil is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Josh Kapp continues to manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| DEVDX | Driehaus Event Driven Fund | Effective May 25, 2017, Matthew Schoenfeld no longer serves as an assistant portfolio manager of the fund. | Thomas McCauley joins Michael Caldwell, K.C. Nelson, and Yoav Sharon in managing the fund. | 6/17 |
| FDSVX | Fidelity Growth Discovery Fund | No one, but . . . | Asher Anolic joins Jason Weiner in managing the fund. | 6/17 |
| FSMVX | Fidelity Mid Cap Value Fund | Court Dignan has left the building after a four year stint. | Keven Walenta will now manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| FPHAX | Fidelity Select Pharmaceuticals Portfolio | No one, but . . . | Karim Suwwan de Felipe has joined Asher Anolic in managing the fund. | 6/17 |
| FSLCX | Fidelity Small Cap Stock Fund | No one immediately, but Lionel Harris intends to step away from portfolio management in June 2018. | Kip Johann-Berkel joins Mr. Harris in managing the fund and will continue to manage the fund when Mr. Harris steps down. | 6/17 |
| FNSYX | Frontier Netols Small Cap Value Fund | Netols Asset Management will no longer subadvise the fund, due to the pending retirement of portfolio manager Jeffrey Netols. Michael Groblewski will also no longer manage the fund. | Phocas Financial Corporation will manage the fund as an interim subadvisor while the Board evaluates alternatives, which include a likely reorganization into the Phocas Fund. In the meantime, William Schaff and Steve Block will manage the fund, using the Phocas strategy. This could have a significant tax consequence for investors. | 6/17 |
| FADVX | Frost Value Equity Fund | Craig Leighton is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Tom Bergeron and Tom Stringfellow return to manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| GARTX | Goldman Sachs Absolute Return Tracker Fund | Alex Chung is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Oliver Bunn will join Gary Chropuvka and Stephan Kessler in managing the fund. | 6/17 |
| GMAMX | Goldman Sachs Multi-Manager Alternatives | Corsair Capital Management, L.P. will no longer be an investment subadvisor for the fund. | The other subadvisors remain. | 6/17 |
| RYSRX | Guggenheim Long Short Equity Fund | Ryan Harder and Michael Byrum are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Burak Harmeydan and Samir Sanghani will now manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| GGEZX | Guidestone Growth Equity Fund | Effective May 24, 2017, Jackson Square Partners was terminated as a sub-adviser. | ClearBridge Investments joined the subadvisory team, with Peter Bourbeau and Margaret Vitrano added as portfolio managers. | 6/17 |
| HFRAX | Highland Floating Rate Opportunities Fund | Chris Mawn will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Mark Okada and Jon Poglitsch will continue to manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| GTNDX | Invesco Global Low Volatility Equity Yield Fund | Jens Langewand will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Michael Abata, Uwe Draeger, Nils Huter, and Donna Chapman Wilson will continue to manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| MKNAX | Invesco Global Market Neutral Fund | Jens Langewand will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Michael Abata, Uwe Draeger, Nils Huter, and Donna Chapman Wilson will continue to manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| JAQAX | Janus Henderson Asia Equity Fund | Hiroshi Yoh is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Andrew Gillan and Mervyn Koh will now manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| JSVAX | Janus Henderson Contrarian Fund, formerly Janus Contrarian Fund. | Daniel Kozlowski is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Nick Schommer is now managing the fund. | 6/17 |
| JERAX | Janus Henderson Global Real Estate Fund | Patrick Brophy is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Guy Barnard and Tim Gibson will now manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| MASNX | Litman Gregory Masters Alternative Strategies Fund | No one, but . . . | DCI, LLC is added as a sub-advisor, and Stephen Kealhofer, Tim Kasta, Richard Donick, Paul Harrison, Bin Zeng and Adam Dwinells are added as portfolio managers. They join DoubleLine, First Pacific, Loomis Sayles, Passport Capital and Water Island Capital. | 6/17 |
| MSSFX | Litman Gregory Masters Smaller Companies Fund | First Pacific Advisors is being removed as a sub-advisor and Dennis Bryan and Arik Ahitov will be removed as the portfolio managers. | Segall Bryant & Hamill, is added as a sub-advisor, and Mark Dickherber and Shaun Nicholson are added as portfolio managers. The management teams will then represent Cove Street Capital, Segall Bryant & Hamill, and Wells Capital Management. | 6/17 |
| LSABX | Loomis Sayles Core Disciplined Alpha Bond Fund | Effective immediately, William Stevens no longer serves as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Lynne Royers, heretofore co-manager, takes over as planned. | 6/17 |
| MGCSX | Managed Account Series (BlackRock) Advantage Global SmallCap Fund | Murali Balaraman and John Coyle are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Kevin Franklin, Richard Mathieson, and Raffaele Savi will now manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| MMCVX | Managed Account Series Mid Cap Dividend 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. | 6/17 |
| MEAPX | Morgan Stanley Institutional Emerging Markets Fixed Income Opportunities | Jens Nystedt no longer serves as a portfolio manager to the fund. | Eric Baurmeister, Warren Mar and Sahil Tandon remain. | 6/17 |
| NABAX | Neuberger Berman Absolute Return Multi-Manager Fund | Effective immediately, GSA Capital Partners LLP will no longer act as a subadviser to the fund. | A cast of thousands, representing Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, Gamco Asset Management Levin Capital Strategies, Good Hill Partners, TPH Asset Management, Sound Point Capital Management, P/E Global LLC, Blue Jay Capital Management, and Portland Hill Asset Management remain to oversee this small, expensive underperformer. | 6/17 |
| FREAX | Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund | No one, but . . . | Sarah Wade is added as a portfolio manager, joining Jay Rosenberg and Scott Sedlak. | 6/17 |
| TQSMX | T. Rowe Price QM U.S. Small & Mid-Cap Core Equity Fund | Boyko Atanassov is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | The new management team is Vinit Agrawal, Prashant Jeyaganesh, and Sudhir Nanda. | 6/17 |
| TMPFX | Tactical Multi-Purpose Fund | No one, but . . . | Michael Hanson has been added as the fifth manager, joining Kenneth L. Fisher, Jeffery Silk, William Glaser, and Aaron Anderson. Ummm … the fund has just under $25,000 in assets. | 6/17 |
| TAAAX | Thrivent Aggressive Allocation Fund | Russell Swansen has announced his retirement from Thrivent Financial, effective June 30, 2017. | David Francis, Mark Simenstad, Darren Bagwell, and Stephen Lowe will continue to serve as portfolio managers of the fund. | 6/17 |
| THMAX | Thrivent Moderate Allocation Fund | Russell Swansen has announced his retirement from Thrivent Financial, effective June 30, 2017. | David Francis, Mark Simenstad, Darren Bagwell, and Stephen Lowe will continue to serve as portfolio managers of the fund. | 6/17 |
| TMAAX | Thrivent Moderately Aggressive Allocation Fund | Russell Swansen has announced his retirement from Thrivent Financial, effective June 30, 2017. | David Francis, Mark Simenstad, Darren Bagwell, and Stephen Lowe will continue to serve as portfolio managers of the fund. | 6/17 |
| TCAAX | Thrivent Moderately Conservative Allocation Fund | Russell Swansen has announced his retirement from Thrivent Financial, effective June 30, 2017. | David Francis, Mark Simenstad, Darren Bagwell, and Stephen Lowe will continue to serve as portfolio managers of the fund. | 6/17 |
| VAMGX | VALIC Company II Mid Cap Growth Fund | Michael Smith and Christopher Warner are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Philip Ruedi and Mark Whitaker will manage the fund. | 6/17 |
| EIVAX | Wells Fargo Intrinsic Value Fund | Jeffery Peck has announced his intention to retire from Wells Capital Management Incorporated by July 31, 2017. | Miguel Giaconi and Jean-Baptiste Nadal will continue as portfolio managers of the fund. | 6/17 |
| EWEAX | Wells Fargo Intrinsic World Equity Fund | Jeffery Peck has announced his intention to retire from Wells Capital Management Incorporated by July 31, 2017. | Jen Robertson and Amit Kumar have been added as portfolio managers. Jean-Baptiste Nadal will continue to be a portfolio manager of the fund. | 6/17 |
