Hi David,
I have a quick question for you. In your latest commentary you mention "my only concern is that Messrs. Samra and O’Keefe might choose to cash in their chips and retire to a nice chateau, as some other early Artisan managers have already chosen to do."
Do you think that Mr. Sertl and Mr. Satterwhite from Artisan Mid Cap Value just decided to cash their chips? I was wondering why these managers recently left.
I think that you mentioned in the past that you owned Artisan Mid Cap Value although it may have been after it merged with Artisan Small Cap Value.
Thank you for your help.
Elie
Comments
I was invested in Artisan Small Cap Value, virtually from the day it launched until the day it merged into Mid Cap Value. Many good years, some bad ones but I tend to stick with managers through thick and thin. (A recent Morningstar study looking at funds with great 15 year records concludes that many will trail their peers for 12 or 13 of those years.)
I don't know what the Artisan folks are up to. That's not a slight on them, it's just a report that we haven't talked. In general, I'm told that the senior Artisan partners had an equity stake in the firm and that stake became exceedingly valuable when the firm went public. One number bandied about, but not verified, from one of the most senior folks was $100 million.
Mr. Satterwhite left in 2016 after 32 years in the investment industry and 19 years at Artisan. He is, I believe, 60. I could easily imagine someone in those circumstances deciding that it was time to move to life's next adventure, whether as entrepreneur, philanthropist or vacationer.
For what that's worth,
David