Each month we track changes to the management teams of actively managed, equity-oriented funds and ETFs. That excludes index funds and most fixed income funds. The index fund exclusion is pretty straightforward: in a passive fund, the managers are interchangeable cogs whose presence or absence is almost always inconsequential to the fund’s performance.
Similarly, most bond fund managers have a very limited ability to add value. Over the past 10 years, for instance, the top-performing Core Bond fund in the Lipper universe outperformed its peers by just 1% per year with a virtually identical Sharpe ratio (0.98 for the top returning fund, 0.97 for the average fund). The best global income and flexible income managers outperformed by 3.5 and 2.4%, respectively, which is comparable to the margin between the best large-core equity fund managers and the pack.
This month, over 42 funds saw changes in their management teams.
| Ticker | Fund | Out with the old | In with the new | Dt |
| BJBIX | Aberdeen International Sustainable Leaders Fund | Victoria MacLean will no longer serve as portfolio manager for the fund. | Dominic Byrne and Ella-Kara Brown joined Joanna McIntyre in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| BUFEX | Buffalo Large Cap | Alexander Hancock is no listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Ken Laudan will now serve as sole portfolio manager for the fund. | 4/21 |
| BUFSX | Buffalo Small Cap Fund | Alexander Hancock is no listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Robert Male and Jamie Cuellar continue to serve as co-portfolio managers of the fund. | 4/21 |
| CAEAX | Columbia Acorn European Fund | No one, but… | Stephen Kusmierczak and Sebastien Pigeon are running things. | 4/21 |
| CBSAX | Columbia Mid Cap Growth Fund | Matthew Litfin will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Daniel Cole joins Erika Maschmeyer and John Emerson in managing the fund. | 4/21 |
| EACOX | Eaton Vance Emerging and Frontier Countries Equity Fund | Eric Stein, recently elevated to CIO, is gone. | The remaining portfolio managers of the fund and portfolio are John R. Baur, Michael A. Cirami and Marshall L. Stocker. | 4/21 |
| FEDDX | Fidelity Emerging Markets Discovery Fund | Jane Wu no longer serves as a co-manager for the fund. | Takamitsu Nishikawa, Steven Kaye, and Priyanshu Bakshi join Xiaoting Zhao, Sam Polyak, and Greg Lee on the management team. | 4/21 |
| FCUTX | Fidelity Flex Small Cap Fund | Clint Lawrence no longer serves as lead portfolio manager of the fund. | Derek Janssen serves as lead portfolio manager of the fund. | 4/21 |
| FCPVX | Fidelity Small Cap Value Fund | Clint Lawrence no longer serves as lead portfolio manager of the fund. | Derek Janssen serves as lead portfolio manager of the fund. | 4/21 |
| FTEMX | Fidelity Total Emerging Markets Fund | Jane Wu no longer serves as a co-manager for the fund. | Takamitsu Nishikawa, Steven Kaye, and Priyanshu Bakshi join Timothy Gill, Di Chen, Nader Nazmi, William Pruett, Guillermo de las Casas, Xiaoting Zhao, Sam Polyak, and Greg Lee on the management team. | 4/21 |
| FEPFX | Franklin Equity Portfolio | May Tong will no longer serve as a portfolio manager. | Wylie Tollette and Berkeley Revenaugh will join Thomas Nelson in managing the fund. | 4/21 |
| FFIQX | Franklin Fixed Income Portfolio | May Tong will no longer serve as a portfolio manager. | Wylie Tollette and Berkeley Revenaugh will join Thomas Nelson in managing the fund. | 4/21 |
| GGIEX | Goldman Sachs Global Infrastructure Fund | Nora Creedon is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Abhinav Zutshi joins Kristin Kuney as a portfolio manager for the fund. | 4/21 |
| GARSX | Goldman Sachs Global Real Estate Securities Fund | Nora Creedon is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Kristin Kuney joins Frankie Chun Wah Lee in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| GREUX | Goldman Sachs Real Estate Securities Fund | Nora Creedon is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Kristin Kuney and Timothy Ryan will continue to manage for the fund. | 4/21 |
| FEVR | Inspire Faithward Large Cap Momentum ESG | Jay Peroni no longer serves as portfolio manager of the fund. | Matthew Melott joins Aubrey Carlisle, Darrell Jayroe, and Robert Netzly in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| GLRY | Inspire Faithward Mid Cap Momentum ESG | Jay Peroni no longer serves as portfolio manager of the fund. | Matthew Melott joins Aubrey Carlisle, Darrell Jayroe, and Robert Netzly in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| JSFBX | John Hancock Seaport Long/Short Fund | Effective September 1, 2021, Jean M. Hynes, CFA, will no longer serve on the fund’s investment management team. | The remaining seven members of the team will continue to manage for the fund. | 4/21 |
| GBOAX | JPMorgan Global Bond Opportunities | Diana Kiluta is gone after less than a year. | Bob Michele, Iain T. Stealey, Lisa Coleman, Andrew Headley and Jeff Hutz remain on the management team. | 4/21 |
| MITTX | Massachusetts Investors Trust | Effective May 1, 2023, Ted Maloney will no longer be a portfolio manager of the fund. That’s quite a long glidepath. | Effective June 30, 2021, Jude Jason will join Kevin Beatty and Alison Mackey to manage for the fund. | 4/21 |
| MICGX | Mirae Emerging Markets | Wei Wei Chua will no longer serve as a co-portfolio manager of the fund | Phil Lee will join Sol Ahn, William Dorson, and Joohee An in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| NBPIX | Neuberger Berman Large Cap Value Fund | No one, but… | David Levine joins Eli Salzmann as an associate portfolio manager of the fund. | 4/21 |
| NBRAX | Neuberger Berman Mid Cap Intrinsic Value Fund | No one, but… | Effective May 1, 2021, Benjamin Nahum, James McAree, Amit Solomon and Rand Gesing will join Michael Greene in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| OCIEX | Optimum International | It is currently anticipated that Baillie will replace EARNEST Partners LLC as a sub-advisor to this Fund in late-April 2021. | The Board of Trustees of the Fund has approved the appointment of Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited as a sub-advisor to the fund. | 4/21 |
| PFM Multi-Manager International Equity Fund | J O Hambro Capital Management Limited will no longer serve as a sub-adviser to the fund. | Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management, LLC will now serve as sub-advisor for the fund. | 4/21 | |
| PGEIX | Polen Global Emerging Markets Growth Fund | No one but… | Dafydd Lewis joins Damian Bird in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| PBIIX | Polen International Small Company Growth | No one but… | Troy Renauld joins Rob Forker as a portfolio manager for the fund. | 4/21 |
| RYPNX | Royce Opportunity Fund | William Hench, Robert Kosowsky, and Suzanne Franks have decamped to First Eagle and will no longer manage for the fund. | Boniface Zaino, James Stoeffel, James Harvey, and Brendan Hartman will now manage for the fund. | 4/21 |
| FFIRX | Salient Global Real Estate Fund | Joel Beam will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | John Palmer remains as the sole portfolio manager for the fund. | 4/21 |
| KIFCX | Salient Select Income Fund | Joel Beam will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | John Palmer remains as the sole portfolio manager for the fund. | 4/21 |
| QQC | Simplify Nasdaq 100 PLUS Convexity | No one but… | Michael Green will join Paul Kim and David Berns in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| QQD | Simplify Nasdaq 100 PLUS Downside Convexity | No one but… | Michael Green will join Paul Kim and David Berns in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| SPYC | Simplify US Equity PLUS Convexity | No one but… | Michael Green will join Paul Kim and David Berns in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| SPD | Simplify US Equity PLUS Downside Convexity | No one but… | Michael Green will join Paul Kim and David Berns in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| SPUC | Simplify US Equity PLUS Upside Convexity | No one but… | Michael Green will join Paul Kim and David Berns in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| SIVIX | State Street Institutional Small-Cap Equity Fund | Dennis Santos will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Carrie Peluso joins Shawn McKay, Scott Brayman, Robert Anslow, Frank Latuda, Jr., Marc Shapiro, and Michael Cook in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| TRULX | T. Rowe Price U.S. Large-Cap Core Fund | Effective April 1, 2022, Jeff Rottinghaus will step down as portfolio manager of the fund and Chair of the fund’s Investment Advisory Committee. | Shawn T. Driscoll will succeed Mr. Rottinghaus as portfolio manager of the fund. | 4/21 |
| TAINX | Transamerica International Stock | Gashi iZengeni joins David Vaughn and Alex Turner in managing for the fund. | 4/21 | |
| PORTX | Trillium ESG Global Equity Fund | Effective April 15, 2021, James Madden no longer serves as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Laura McGonagle and John Quealy join Matthew Patsky in managing for the fund. | 4/21 |
| AFGFX | Virtus AllianzGI Focused Growth Fund | Karen Hiatt will no longer serve as portfolio manager for the fund. | Nina Gupta joins Raphael Edelman in managing the fund. | 4/21 |
| AGEAX | Water Island Event-Driven Fund | Curtis Watkins is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | John Orrico, Todd Munn, Gregory Loprete, and Roger Foltynowisz will continue to manage the fund. | 4/21 |
| ATQFX | Water Island Long/Short Fund | Curtis Watkins is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | John Orrico, Todd Munn, Gregory Loprete, and Roger Foltynowisz will continue to manage the fund. | 4/21 |
