On July 27, 2017, Morningstar researchers confirmed what we’ve known for years: most manager changes are utterly inconsequential. Messrs. Hawkins and Cates have a combined 54 years at Longleaf Partners (LLPFX); the arrival of a young co-manager is unlikely to make a marked difference. Two interesting consequences that they did observe are that manager changes trigger fund outflows and that the outflows are greatest at large funds, perhaps because media coverage of those funds makes the changes more visible and portentous.
And yet there are times when we ought to note manager changes for entirely different reasons. This month Dowe Bynum, following the discovery of a brain tumor, stepped aside from management of The Cook & Bynum Fund (COBYX). Dowe is a good guy to talk with, funny and smart, a caring spouse and a dad with young children. We’re sanguine about the fund’s operation: there’s always been a contingency plan in place, they’ve recently added analytic support and they pursue a low turnover (9%) discipline. We know Dowe is receiving very good care and want to add our voice to the chorus of support and good wishes.
| Ticker | Fund | Out with the old | In with the new | Dt |
| ATWAX | AB Tax-Managed Wealth Appreciation Strategy | Daniel Loewy and Vadim Zlotnikov are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Ding Liu and Nelson Yu will now manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| AWAAX | AB Wealth Appreciation Strategy | Daniel Loewy and Vadim Zlotnikov are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Ding Liu and Nelson Yu will now manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| ADVWX | Advisory Research Global Value Fund | Bruce Zessar, Drew Edwards, James Langer, Marco Priani, and Matthew Swaim are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Adam Steffanus and Michael Valentinas will now manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| ADVIX | Advisory Research International Small Cap Value Fund | Drew Edwards and Marco Priani are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Stephen Evans and Kevin Ross are now managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| ADIAX | Alpine Small Cap Fund | No one, but . . . | Samuel Lieber and Stephen Lieber are joining Sarah Hunt on the management team, replacing Michael Smith who left in May. | 7/17 |
| AAIPX | American Beacon International Equity Fund | Cindy Sweeting has announced her intention to retire as of December 31, 2017. | On January 1, 2018 Matthew Nagle will join the other 18, or so, managers. | 7/17 |
| MDRFX | BlackRock 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. | 7/17 |
| BERCX | Chartwell Mid Cap Value Fund | Robert Killen will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | David Dalrymple will now manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| CAALX | Cornerstone Advisors Public Alternatives Fund | Arup Datta, Haijie Chen and Nicholas Tham no longer serve as portfolio managers of the fund. | Theodore Aronson, Stefani Cranston, Gina Marie Moore, Gregory Rogers and Christopher Whitehead now serve as portfolio managers of the fund, joining the rest of the team. | 7/17 |
| CAREX | Cornerstone Advisors Real Assets Fund | No one, but . . . | Christopher Allen joins the management team. | 7/17 |
| SFXAX | Deutsche Core Fixed Income Fund | No one, but . . . | Kelly Beam joins Gregory Staples and Thomas Farina in managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| SEKAX | Deutsche Emerging Markets Equity Fund | No one, but . . . | Sean Taylor and Andrew Beal are joined by Luiz Ribeiro and Marc Currat in managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| DEFAX | Deutsche Emerging Markets Frontier Fund | Andrew Beal in on temporary leave. | Sean Taylor will continue to manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| SZEAX | Deutsche Enhanced Emerging Markets Fixed Income Fund | Darwei Kund, John Ryan and Steven Zhou are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Rahmila Nadi is joined by Nicolas Schlotthauer in managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| SZGAX | Deutsche Enhanced Global Bond | Darwei Kund, John Ryan and Gary Russell are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Rahmila Nadi is joined by Dirk Aufderheide in managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| SDUAX | Deutsche Fixed Income Opportunities Fund | Rahmila Nadi is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | John Ryan and Roger Douglas are joined by Kevin Bliss and Thomas Sweeney in managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| TIPIX | Deutsche Global Inflation Fund | No one, but . . . | Rick Smith has been added as portfolio manager of the fund and, together with Darwei Kung, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund. | 7/17 |
| DDBAX | Dreyfus Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund | Javier Murcio has left the building. | Federico Garcia Zamora is the fund’s primary portfolio manager. | 7/17 |
| DIBAX | Dreyfus International Bond Fund | Raman Srivastava is on the road again. | David Leduc and Brendan Murphy will continue to manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| DSTAX | Dreyfus Opportunistic Fixed Income Fund | Raman Srivastava and David M. Horsfall are … uhh, pursuing other opportunities. | David Leduc and Brendan Murphy will continue to manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| DBNAX | Dreyfus Select Managers Long/Short Fund | Pine River Capital Management will no longer be a subadvisor to the fund and Joseph Bishop will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | John Brennan, Jeffrey Brozek, Christopher Crerend, Eugene Salamon, Jay Abramson, Ethan Johnson, Kristopher Kristynik, and James Rosenwalk will continue to manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| DHGAX | Dreyfus/Standish Global Fixed Income Fund | Raman Srivastava is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | David Leduc and Brendan Murphy will continue to manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| FSTBX | Federated Global Allocation Fund | Philip Orlando is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | John Sherman joins Timothy Goodger, Ihab Salib, Chengjun Wu, Steven Chiavarone, and Randy O’Toole will continue to manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| FFMVX | Fidelity Flex Mid Cap Value Fund | Court Dignan has left the fund after only three months. | Justin Bennett, Katherine Buck, Matthew Friedman, John Mirshekari, Laurie Mundt, and Shadman Riaz now manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| FFIDX | Fidelity Fund | John Avery will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Jean Park is now managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| FMCSX | Fidelity Mid-Cap Stock Fund | No one, but . . . | John Roth is joined by Nicola Stafford in running the fund. | 7/17 |
| FMVAX | Franklin Mid Cap Value Fund | Donald Taylor, Samuel Kerner, and Jakov Stipanov are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Christopher Meeker and Steven Raineri will now manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| GMOFX | GMO Foreign Fund Class III | Drew Spangler is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Neil Constable will now run the fund. | 7/17 |
| GMFSX | GMO Foreign Small Companies Fund Class III | Drew Spangler is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Neil Constable will now run the fund. | 7/17 |
| GMISX | GMO International Small Companies Fund Class III | Drew Spangler is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Neil Constable will now run the fund. | 7/17 |
| GSMYX | Goldman Sachs Small/Mid Cap Growth Fund | No one, but . . . | Steven Barry and Daniel Zimmerman are joined by Micheal DeSantis in running the fund. | 7/17 |
| IBNAX | Ivy Balanced | No one, but . . . | Rick Perry joins Matthew Hekman in managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| HGRAX | Janus Henderson U.S. Growth Opportunities Fund | No one, but . . . | Kristi Guay joins Derek Pawlak and William Scott Priebe in managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| URTAX | JPMorgan Realty Income Fund | No one, but . . . | Jason Ko is joined by Scott Blasdell on the management team. | 7/17 |
| JILSX | JPMorgan U.S. Dynamic Plus Fund | Shudong Huang is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Dennis Ruhl is joined by Jason Alonzo and Pavel Vaynshtok in managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| LLPFX | Longleaf Partners Fund | No one, but . . . | Ross Glotzbach joins O. Mason Hawkins and G. Staley Cates in managing the fund. Mssrs. Hawkins and Cates have a combined 54 years’ experience managing this fund. | 7/17 |
| LLINX | Longleaf Partners International | T. Scott Cobb will step down from his role as co-portfolio manager to focus on leading Southeastern’s European research efforts. | Josh Shores will join Ken Siazon, G. Staley Cates, and O. Mason Hawkins on the management team. | 7/17 |
| LICAX | Lord Abbett Global Core Equity Fund | Didier Rosenfeld and Frederick Ruvkun will no longer manage the fund. | Yarek Aranowicz will now manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| LMGAX | Lord Abbett Growth Opportunities Fund | Paul Volovich and Anthony Hipple are out. | David Linsen will manage the fund until Jeffrey Rabinowitz takes on the job on August 7, 2017. | 7/17 |
| MIOFX | Marsico International Opportunities Fund | Munish Malhotra will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Thomas Marsico and Robert Susman are now managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| SIEYX | Saratoga Advantage International Equity Portfolio | Regina Chi will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Marc Miller is now managing the fund. | 7/17 |
| FLAUX | Strategic Advisers Core Multi-Manager Fund | Phillip Marriott will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | John Stone, Colin Morris, Kurt Feuerman, Matthew Fruhan, Anthony Nappo, George Ross, David Small, and Niall Devitt will continue to manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| COBYX | The Cook & Bynum Fund | J. Dowe Bynum is on medical leave and plans to return to his portfolio management role as soon as he is fully able. | Richard Cook assumed sole responsibility for the day-to-day portfolio management of the fund. | 7/17 |
| IMUAX | Transamerica Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Portfolio | Rishi Goel, James Schaeffer, and Timothy Galbraith are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Raymond Chan, Christopher Lvoff, and Lucy Xin will now manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| SCCTX | Virtus Conservative Allocation Strategy Fund | Alan Gayle is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Peter Batchelar and Thomas Wagner are now running the fund. | 7/17 |
| SGIAX | Virtus Growth Allocation Strategy Fund | Alan Gayle is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Peter Batchelar and Thomas Wagner are now running the fund. | 7/17 |
| WALTX | Wells Fargo Alternative Strategies Fund | Raj Iyer and George Jikovski are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Torrey Zaches, James Stavena, Joseph Bishop, Robert Kinderman, Ronald van der Wouden, Gregg Thomas, Kent Stahl, Kenneth LaPlace, Sudhir Krishnamurthi, Vassilis Dagioglu, Richard Chilton, John Burbank, and John Brennan will continue to manage the fund. | 7/17 |
| Various | Wells Fargo Target Date Series | Rodney Alldredge, James Lauder, and Paul Torregrosa are out. | Kandarp Acharya, Petros Bocray, and Christian Chan are in. | 7/17 |
