Fund managers matter, sometimes more than others. As more teams adopt the mantra “we’re a team,” if only as window-dressing, more than more manager changes are reduced to “one cog out, one cog in.” Nonetheless, we know that losing funds with new managers tend to outperform losing funds that hold onto their teams, while the opposite is true for winning funds. Strong funds with stable teams and stable assets outperform strong funds facing instability (Bessler, et al, 2010). Because of the great volatility of their asset class, equity managers matter rather more than fixed-income investors.
This month, 50 funds saw management turnover, from the departure of some household-name managers from Touchstone funds to the decision by Leigh Baldwin to leave Leigh Baldwin Total Return.
| Ticker | Fund | Out with the old | In with the new | Dt |
| AFMCX | Acuitas US Microcap | James Bitzer and Michael Thomas are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | David Rose, Jennifer Pawloski, Gary Hatton, Jeffrey Harrison, Matthew Dhane, William Dezellem, and Andrew Beja join the remaining seven managers on the management team. | 9/20 |
| IMOM | Alpha Architect International Quantitative Momentum ETF | Tao Wang is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Brandon Koepke took over management at the end of June. | 9/20 |
| IVAL | Alpha Architect International Quantitative Value ETF | Tao Wang is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Brandon Koepke took over management at the end of June. | 9/20 |
| QMOM | Alpha Architect U.S. Quantitative Momentum ETF | Tao Wang is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Brandon Koepke took over management at the end of June. | 9/20 |
| QVAL | Alpha Architect U.S. Quantitative Value ETF | Tao Wang is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Brandon Koepke took over management at the end of June. | 9/20 |
| VMOT | Alpha Architect Value Momentum Trend ETF | Tao Wang is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Brandon Koepke took over management at the end of June. | 9/20 |
| AMADX | American Century Disciplined Core Value Fund | Claudia Musat is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Yulin Long joins Steven Rossi in managing the fund. | 9/20 |
| REDWX | Aspiration Redwood | Thomas Digenan is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Adam Jokich and Joseph Elegante will now run the fund. | 9/20 |
| DBOAX | BNY Mellon Balanced Opportunity | No one, but . . . | Matthew Jenkin and Leigh Todd join Torrey Zaches, Vassilis Dagioglu, James Lydotes, John Bailer, David Bowser, and Brian Ferguson on the management team. | 9/20 |
| FBSOX | Fidelity Select IT Services Portfolio | No one, but . . . | Becky Baker joins Zachary Turner in managing the fund. | 9/20 |
| HGHAX | Hartford Healthcare A | No one, but . . . | Rebecca Sykes joins Robert Deresiewicz, Ann Gallo, and Jean Hynes on the management team. | 9/20 |
| IENAX | Invesco Energy | No one, but . . . | Umang Khetan joins Kevin Holt in managing the fund. | 9/20 |
| LGILX | Laudus U.S. Large Cap Growth Fund | No one, but . . . | Phil Ruvinsky joins Lawrence Kemp in managing the fund. | 9/20 |
| LEBOX | Leigh Baldwin Total Return | Leigh Baldwin is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Brian Frank will now manage the fund. | 9/20 |
| ORDNX | North Square Oak Ridge Dividend Growth Fund | No one, but . . . | Brian King joins David Klaskin in managing the fund. | 9/20 |
| OILK | ProShares K-1 Free Crude Oil Strategy | Ryan Dofflemeyer no longer serves as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Alexander Ilyasov joins James Linneman in managing the fund. Mr. Ilyasov was previously listed as a portfolio manager to the fund from 9/2016 to 4/2019 | 9/20 |
| FUT | ProShares Managed Futures Strategy | Ryan Dofflemeyer no longer serves as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Alexander Ilyasov joins James Linneman in managing the fund. Mr. Ilyasov was previously listed as a portfolio manager to the fund from 9/2016 to 4/2020 | 9/20 |
| TLISX | TIAA-CREF Quant International Small-Cap Equity Fund | Antonio Ramos and Steven Rossiello are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Max Kozlov now manages the fund. | 9/20 |
| TDEYX | Touchstone Dynamic Equity | Megan Miller, Ryan Brown, Harindra de Silva, and Dennis Bein are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Guillaume Toison, Mara Maccagnan, Ayaaz Allymun, and Tarik Allouache will now manage the fund. | 9/20 |
| TACIX | Transamerica Asset Allocation Conservative | Michael Stout, Daniel McNeela, and Ricky Williamson are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Neil Nuttall and Christopher Lvoff will now manage the fund. | 9/20 |
| IAAAX | Transamerica Asset Allocation Growth | Michael Stout, Daniel McNeela, and Ricky Williamson are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Neil Nuttall and Christopher Lvoff will now manage the fund. | 9/20 |
| IMOAX | Transamerica Asset Allocation Moderate | Michael Stout, Daniel McNeela, and Ricky Williamson are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Neil Nuttall and Christopher Lvoff will now manage the fund. | 9/20 |
| IMLAX | Transamerica Asset Allocation Moderate Growth | Michael Stout, Daniel McNeela, and Ricky Williamson are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Neil Nuttall and Christopher Lvoff will now manage the fund. | 9/20 |
| BPEQX | UBS US Sustainable Equity | Thomas Digenan is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Adam Jokich and Joseph Elegante will now run the fund. | 9/20 |
| UNAVX | USA Mutuals Navigator | Steven Goldman will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Paul Strehle and Ben Warwick will now manage the fund. | 9/20 |
| VICEX | USA Mutuals Vitium Global | Jeffrey Helfrich and Charles Norton will no longer manage the fund. | Paul Strehle and Ben Warwick will now manage the fund. | 9/20 |
| USWGX | USAA World Growth Fund | No one, but . . . | Jeffrey Sullivan, Michael Reynal, Erick Maronak, Joseph Mainelli, Michael Koskuba, Scott Kefer, Robert Harris, Maria Freund, Tyler Dann, Jason Dahl, and Peter Carpenter join the existing team of six in managing the fund. | 9/20 |
| VAPIX | Virtus FORT Trend Fund | Warun Kumar, Michael Davis, Brendan Finneran, and Robert Hofeman are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Yves Balcer and Sanjiv Kumar will now manage the fund. | 9/20 |
| PDIAX | Virtus KAR Equity Income | Michael Davis, Warun Kumar, Brendan Finneran, and Robert Hofeman are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Richard Sherry will now manage the fund. | 9/20 |
| PDIAX | Virtus Rampart Enhanced Core Equity Fund | Michael Davis, Warun Kumar, Brendan Finneran, and Robert Hofeman are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Richard Sherry will now manage the fund. | 9/20 |
| WPOIX | Weitz Partners III Opportunity Fund | No one, but . . . | Andrew Weitz joins Wallace Weitz in managing the fund. | 9/20 |
| WPVLX | Weitz Partners Value Fund | No one, but . . . | Andrew Weitz joins Bradley Hinton and Wallace Weitz in managing the fund. | 9/20 |
