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, 48 funds saw management turnover. By far, the most eye-catching is the departure of Chuck Akre from the named management team on Akre Focus Fund (AKREX). Mr. Akre might legitimately be called “legendary” for his investment ability and for the loyalty of his investors. Happily, this particular change is mostly symbolic. Mr. Akre long-ago ceded day-to-day management to his two teammates, and he has no plans to slow down or alter the strategic role he’s had at the firm. We share a bit more detail in our article on the fund this month.
| Ticker | Fund | Out with the old | In with the new | Dt |
| TNXAX | 1290 DoubleLine Dynamic Allocation Fund | Effective immediately, R. Brendt Stallings of DoubleLine Capital LLP no longer serves as a member of the team that is responsible for the securities selection, research, and trading for the fund. | Jeffrey Sherman, Emidio Checcone, Kenneth Kozlowski, Jeffrey Gundlach, Alwi Chan, and Philip Barach will continue to manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| CADTX | Adaptive Hedged Income Fund | Matt Boden, Rick Nelson, and Chad Stephens of Buckhead Capital Investments, LLC will no longer serve as portfolio managers for the fund. | Scott Wetherington will now manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| AKREX | Akre Focus Fund | On December 20, 2020, Founder Charles Akre will step aside from day-to-day portfolio management for the fund. | John Neff and Chris Cerrone will continue as portfolio managers for the fund. | 10/20 |
| RGSAX | AllianzGI Global Small-Cap Fund | Steven Klopukh will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Jeffrey Parker has joined the portfolio management team. On November 5, Moritz Dufner and Mark Phanitsiri will join the portfolio management team for the fund. | 10/20 |
| RMDAX | AllianzGI Mid-Cap Fund | Steven Klopukh will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Jeffrey Parker and Raymond Cunha will join Timothy McCarthy in managing the fund. | 10/20 |
| PCVAX | AllianzGI Small-Cap Value Fund | No one, but… | On November 5, Jeffrey Parker, Moritz Dufner, and Mark Phanitsiri will join the portfolio management team for the fund. | 10/20 |
| MECAX | AMG GW&K International Small Cap Fund | Robert Ginsberg, Michael Skillman, Robert Fitzpatrick will no longer serve as portfolio managers for the fund. | Daniel Miller, Karl Kyriss, and Reid Galas will now serve as portfolio managers for the fund. | 10/20 |
| MCMFX | AMG GW&K Mid Cap Fund | Robert Fitzpatrick, Michael Skillman, and Robert Ginsberg will no longer serve as portfolio managers for the fund. | Daniel Miller and Jeffrey Thibault will now manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| MGSEX | AMG Managers Special Equity Fund | No one, but… | Benjamin Ebel will now serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | 10/20 |
| SSEIX | AMG SouthernSun U.S. Equity Fund | Elliot Cunningham and Andrew Willson will no longer serve as members of the investment team. | Michael Cook continues to manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| BWBFX | Baron WealthBuilder Fund | No one, but . . . | Michael Baron joins Ronald Baron in managing the fund. | 10/20 |
| BDAQX | BMO Disciplined International Equity A | Effective December 31, 2020, Dr. Ernesto Ramos will assume the role of U.S. Chief Investment Officer and relinquish his duties as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Jay Kaufman and David Rosenblatt continue to manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| DJWAX | BNY Mellon Japan Womenomics Fund | No one, but… | Masataka Horikawa will now join the four others on the portfolio management | 10/20 |
| CSEIX | Cohen & Steers Real Estate Securities Fund | Effective May 1, 2021, Thomas Bohjalian is retiring and will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Effective November 30, 2020, Mathew Kirschner will join Jason Yablon and Thomas Bohjalian as a portfolio manager for the fund. | 10/20 |
| REBAX | Columbia Emerging Markets Bond Fund | Manager Tim Jagger passed away suddenly in early October. | Adrian Hilton will now serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. Christopher Cooke continues to manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| CNMRX | Columbia Income Builder Fund | Effective March 1, 2021, Colin Lundgren is retiring and will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Gene Tannuzzo will continue to serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | 10/20 |
| CLPFX | EAVOL NASDAQ-100 Volatility Overlay Fund | Joseph Halpern will no longer serve as the portfolio manager for the fund. | Joseph Tigay, Brian Stutland, and Afshin Rahbari will now serve as portfolio managers for the fund. | 10/20 |
| FADAX | Fidelity Advisor Dividend Growth | Effective on or about December 31, 2020, Gordon Scott will transition off as portfolio manager for the fund. | Zachary Turner will assume sole portfolio manager responsibilities for the fund. | 10/20 |
| GPIGX | Guidepath Growth and Income Fund | Gary Cox will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Natalie Wolfsen, Davin Gibbins, Mike Cheng, and Zoë Brunson will continue as portfolio managers for the fund. | 10/20 |
| HHDVX | Hamlin High Dividend Equity Fund | No one, but… | Michael Tang will join Charles Garland and Christopher D’Anges as co-portfolio manager for the fund. | 10/20 |
| HIEEX | Harbor Emerging Markets Equity Fund | Frank Carroll and Janet Wang will no longer manage the fund. | Michael Godfrey and David Cull will now serve as portfolio managers for the fund. | 10/20 |
| ACCBX | Invesco Corporate Bond Fund | Scott Roberts will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Niklas Nordenfelt will join Todd Schomberg, Michael Hyman, Matthew Brill, and Charles Burge as portfolio managers for the fund. | 10/20 |
| ATDAX | Invesco Endeavor | Mark Uptigrove and Clayton Zacharias are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Belinda Cavazos and Raymond Anello now manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| QVOPX | Invesco Fundamental Alternatives Fund | Michelle Elena Borré Massick and Timothy Mulvihill are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Chris Devine, Tarun Gupta, Scott Hixon, Jay Raol, and Scott Wolle will now manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| AWSAX | Invesco Global Core Equity | Erik Esselink, Jeff Everett, and Marty Steinik will no longer serve as portfolio managers of the Fund. | Michael Hatcher, Sunny Basi, and Marina Pomerantz will now serve as portfolio managers for the fund. | 10/20 |
| GTNDX | Invesco Global Low Volatility Equity Yield | Glen Murphy will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Daniel Tsai joins the portfolio management team. Sergey Protchenko, Tarun Gupta, Robert Nakouzi, and Nils Huter will continue to manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| IIBCX | Invesco International Core Equity | Jeff Everett and Bert van der Walt will no longer serve as portfolio managers of the fund. | Erik Esselink will continue to serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | 10/20 |
| SCNUX | Invesco Low Volatility Equity Yield Fund | Anthony Munchak, Glen Murphy, and Francis Orlando will no longer serve as portfolio managers of the Fund | Nils Huter and Daniel Tsai join Tarun Gupta and Jerry Sun as portfolio managers for the fund. | 10/20 |
| OMSOX | Invesco Main Street All Cap | Jeff Everett will no longer serve as the portfolio manager of the Fund. | Joy Budzinski and Magnus Krantz will manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| ATIAX | Invesco Select Companies Fund | Robert Mikalachki, Virginia Au, and Jason Whiting will no longer serve as portfolio managers of the fund. | Matthew Ziehl, Adam Weiner, Raymond Anello, Joy Budzinski, Magnus Krantz, Kristin Ketner Pak, and Raman Vardharaj will now serve as portfolio managers for the fund. | 10/20 |
| IECIX | Ivy Pictet Emerging Markets Local Currency Debt Fund | Scott Roberts will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Niklas Nordenfelt will join Todd Schomberg, Michael Hyman, Matthew Brill, and Charles Burge as portfolio managers for the fund. | 10/20 |
| JDVAX | JPMorgan Diversified Fund | Effective immediately, Morgan M. Moriarty is on primary caregiver leave and is expected to return on or about January 20, 2021. We wish her well those potentially exhaustive responsibilities. | Jeffrey Geller will continue to serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | 10/20 |
| JVAAX | JPMorgan Value Advantage Fund | No one, but… | Effective November 1, 2020, Graham Spence will join Lawrence Playford and Jonathan Simon as a portfolio manager to the fund. | 10/20 |
| SWMIX | Laudus International MarketMasters | Karen Wong and Richard Brown will no longer serve as portfolio managers for the fund. | The rest of the team will continue to manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| MFWTX | MFS Global Total Return Fund | Effective September 30, 2022, Vipin Narula will no longer be a portfolio manager of the fund. | Effective January 1, 2021, Johnathan Munko will join the portfolio management team. | 10/20 |
| NEOMX | Neiman Opportunities Fund | Harvey Neiman will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Daniel Neiman will now serve as the portfolio manager of the fund. | 10/20 |
| OASVX | Optimum Small-Mid Cap Value Fund | William Costello, Prashant Inamdar, and Grant Taber will no longer manage the fund. | Robert Fields, Eugene Fox, Robert Kirkpatrick, and Rachel Matthews will join the portfolio management team. | 10/20 |
| OIOAX | Orinda Income Opportunities Fund | Paul Gray will no longer serve as a portfolio manager. | Ian Goltra will remain as the sole portfolio manager. | 10/20 |
| EIVPX | Parametric Volatility Risk Premium – Defensive Fund | No one at the moment, but Jay Strohmaier is expected to leave the fund by April 1, 2021. | Thomas Lee and Thomas Seto will continue to manage the fund and will be joined by Alex Zweber on April 1, 2021. | 10/20 |
| REIFX | REMS International Real Estate Value-Opportunity Fund (which is becoming Third Avenue International RE Value) | Effective November 23, 2020, Edward Turville will no longer serve as a portfolio manager. | Quentin Velleley will continue to serve as a portfolio manager. | 10/20 |
| STFGX | State Farm Growth Fund | Paul Eckley will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Jon Wilson and Robert Stephan will now manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| PRMSX | T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock Fund | Effective December 31, 2021, Gonzalo Pangaro will step down as a portfolio manager after a splendid 12-year run. | Effective April 1, 2021, Eric Moffett and Malik Asif will join the portfolio management team. | 10/20 |
| THLSX | Thornburg Long/Short Equity Fund | Effective December 18, 2020, Robert McDonald will no longer serve as a co-portfolio manager for the fund. | Bimal Shah will continue to serve as a portfolio manager. | 10/20 |
| MLPPX | Tortoise MLP & Energy Infrastructure Fund | James Cunnane intends to resign as a portfolio manager in the fourth quarter of 2020. | Brian Kessens will join Quinn Kiley to serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | 10/20 |
| VTRIX | Vanguard International Value Fund | Sandy Nairn will no longer serve as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Arjun Kumar and Shirley Woo will join the portfolio management team. | 10/20 |
| VAAAX | Virtus Rampart Multi-Asset Trend Fund | Warun Kumar, Michael Davis, Brendan Finneran, and Robert Hofeman are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Peter Batchelar and Thomas Wagner will now manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| PWBAX | Virtus Rampart Sector Trend Fund | Warun Kumar, Michael Davis, Brendan Finneran, and Robert Hofeman are no longer listed as portfolio managers for the fund. | Peter Batchelar and Thomas Wagner will now manage the fund. | 10/20 |
| LEBOX | West Hills Tactical Core Fund (formerly Leigh Baldwin Total Return) | Leigh Baldwin is no longer listed as a portfolio manager for the fund. | Alan McClymonds is now managing the fund with a new strategy. See our Launch Alert for details! | 10/20 |
