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@David_Snowball Yes, curious....to the point of odd. After finishing the read yesterday, that was the first question to pop into my consciousness, before my mind even started to process the note's information. Sometimes, Artisan's choices for proceeding forward into new territory (in this case, "pretend" new territory) simply baffle me.
I was actually wondering if they might not be looking for talent to run their current e.m. fund? A fair asset base ($250M) but performance that was never better than index-like (2006-early 2010) and noticeably worse of late. It's also the only fund that didn't have a retail version at launch.
@David_Snowball The past several years have been so challenging/treacherous for EM managers. I don't expect their predicament to improve any time soon. It makes it difficult to assess the relative performance of any of the new offerings in this space (there is only one fund I am watching closely). But, as you point out, and my impression of the Artisan offering is the same--- I think they could do better.
In that vein, some of the reasons for recent PM challenges in the EM space were just adumbrated by Andrew Foster yesterday, in his Qtr4 commentary. As usual, and as we've come to expect from him, he provides some concise detail on the "forces of contention" swirling in the world, as well as some specific suggestions to what he thinks we, as investors, should pay most attention. [and, yes, I suspect you will finish his essay and sigh, "now, was that so hard to do? when will other PMs come to Jesus on this?]
Seafarer turns three this month (Feb. 15) and will receive a star rating (and, I suppose, an Owl Assessment) in March. I'm hopeful of having Andrew join us for a conference call in April so that we can catch up with developments and outlook.
A new artisan fund has been an automatic buy for me. However given I actually have SFGIX and MAPIX(ira) and have pointedly stayed away from Artisan's EM fund.
In some areas, even good managers/teams cannot excel, and they do realize that sometimes. Anyone remember Oakmark Small Cap? They finally realized they don't have skill picking small cap stocks and closed the fund. I guess Artisan realized they don't have skills and are looking for outside talent. Let's see who they hire, then one can decide whether to give them a chance.
Comments
Curious, as well,
David
In that vein, some of the reasons for recent PM challenges in the EM space were just adumbrated by Andrew Foster yesterday, in his Qtr4 commentary. As usual, and as we've come to expect from him, he provides some concise detail on the "forces of contention" swirling in the world, as well as some specific suggestions to what he thinks we, as investors, should pay most attention. [and, yes, I suspect you will finish his essay and sigh, "now, was that so hard to do? when will other PMs come to Jesus on this?]
http://updates.seafarerfunds.com/t/r-l-qphhyk-nhulltujr-b/
He's really good, in many senses of the word.
David
In some areas, even good managers/teams cannot excel, and they do realize that sometimes. Anyone remember Oakmark Small Cap? They finally realized they don't have skill picking small cap stocks and closed the fund. I guess Artisan realized they don't have skills and are looking for outside talent. Let's see who they hire, then one can decide whether to give them a chance.