Manager changes, April 2014

By Chip

Because bond fund managers, traditionally, had made relatively modest impacts of their funds’ absolute returns, Manager Changes typically highlights changes in equity and hybrid funds.

Ticker Fund Out with the old In with the new Dt
SHKIX Aftershock Strategies Fund Michael Lebowitz is out. Daniel Cohen, David Wiedemer, and Robert Wiedemer remain. 4/14
RMDAX AllianzGI Mid-Cap Fund Louise Laufersweiler is out. Steven Klopukh and Timothy McCarthy remain. 4/14
RAGHX AllianzGI Wellness Fund Paul Wagner is gone. John Schroer and Michael Dauchot will carry on. 4/14
ADIAX Alpine Small Cap Fund In a major shakeup, founder and founding managers Stephen Lieber and Samuel Lieber are out, as the fund changes strategy in an attempt to reach economic viability after more than eight years. Michael Smith and Peter Belton will take over 4/14
ATBAX Ascendant Balanced Fund Todd Smurl James Lee 4/14
AEQAX Ascendant Deep Value Convertibles Fund Todd Smurl James Lee 4/14
NRGAX Ascendant Natural Resources Todd Smurl James Lee 4/14
BELAX Belvedere Alternative Income Fund Belvedere Asset Management will be stepping down as advisor to the fund The board has approved an interim advisory agreement with ES Capital 4/14
CVTRX Calamos Growth and Income Fund John Scudieri will leave on April 30th. The rest of the team remains on the fund. 4/14
LACAX Columbia Acorn Fund Charles McQuaid stepped down from his roles as the President and Chief Investment Officer of CWAM and the lead portfolio manager of the fund. He will remain in his role as lead manager on the Columbia Thermostat Fund (CTFAX) Robert Mohn and David Frank remain, with Mr. Mohn taking on the lead manager role. 4/14
CHDEX Cullen High Dividend Equity Fund John Gould died, unexpectedly. Jennifer Chang joins James Cullen as a portfolio manager 4/14
CVLVX Cullen Value Fund John Gould died, unexpectedly. Jennifer Chang joins James Cullen and Brooks Cullen as a portfolio manager 4/14
KDHAX DWS Equity Dividend Juergen Foerster and Johannes Prix are out Di Kumble takes over 4/14
EINFX Elfun Income Fund Vita Marie Pike is out. William Healey and Mark Johnson remain. 4/14
CAPAX Federated Capital Income Christopher Smith Jerome Conner joins the rest of the team. 4/14
FSTBX Federated Global Allocation Fund Christopher Smith Chengjun Wu joins Timothy Goodger, Philip Orlando, Ihab Salib, and Audrey Kaplan 4/14
FDRAX Federated Managed Risk Fund Christopher Smith Chengjun Wu joins James Gordon Jr., Stephen Gutch, Marc Halperin, John Nichol, and Philip Orlando 4/14
FAGAX Fidelity Advisor Growth Opportunities Fund No one, but . . . Gopal Reddy will become the lead manager and Steve Wymer will remain as a comanager. This change will be effective on January 1, 2015. 4/14
FNCMX Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index Fund James Francis Patrick Waddell, Louis Bottari, and Peter Matthew remain, with Mr. Waddell stepping up to the lead role. 4/14
FAOFX Fidelity Series Advisor Growth Opportunities Fund No one, but . . . Gopal Reddy will become the lead manager and Steve Wymer will remain as a comanager. This change will be effective on January 1, 2015. 4/14
FPEMX Fidelity Spartan Emerging Markets Index Fund James Francis Patrick Waddell, Louis Bottari, and Peter Matthew remain, with Mr. Waddell stepping up to the lead role. 4/14
FKGRX Franklin Growth Fund Jerry Palmieri, manager for nearly half a century, died at 85.  His investors missed a lot of the growth in the bull market of the 80s and 90s, but his caution served them well over the turbulent last decade of his tenure. Serena Vinton and Conrad Hermann will carry on, as planned. 4/14
FANTX Frost International Equity Fund William Fries and Lei Wang Wendy Trevisani, Tim Cunningham, and Greg Dunn remain. 4/14
GSCAX Goldman Sachs Commodity Strategy Fund Stephen Lucas is out Michael Johnson and Samuel Finkelstein remain 4/14
HFBAX Highland Fixed Income Fund Vita Marie Pike is out. William Healey and Mark Johnson remain. 4/14
HBAFX Huntington Balanced Allocation Fund No one, but . . . Robert “Chip” Hendon joins Randy Batemen as a comanager of the fund 4/14
HCAFX Huntington Conservative Allocation Fund No one, but . . . Robert “Chip” Hendon joins Randy Batemen as a comanager of the fund 4/14
HDEAX Huntington Disciplined Equity Fund No one, but . . . Robert “Chip” Hendon joins Peter Sorrentino as a comanager of the fund 4/14
HDCAX Huntington Dividend Capture Fund No one, but . . . Peter Sorrentino joins Kirk Mentzer as a comanager of the fund 4/14
HGSAX Huntington Global Select Markets No one, but . . . Martina Cheung joins Paul Attwood as a comanager of the fund 4/14
HGRFX Huntington Growth Allocation Fund No one, but . . . Robert “Chip” Hendon joins Randy Batemen as a comanager of the fund 4/14
HIEAX Huntington International Equity Fund No one, but . . . Martina Cheung joins Paul Attwood as a comanager of the fund 4/14
HRSAX Huntington Real Strategies Fund No one, but . . . Robert “Chip” Hendon joins Peter Sorrentino as a comanager of the fund 4/14
HSUAX Huntington Situs Fund No one, but . . . Kirk Mentzer joins Randy Batemen as a comanager of the fund 4/14
RGROX John Hancock Select Growth Fund (formerly known as John Hancock Rainier Growth Fund) Ranier Investment Management is out, along with James Margard, Mark Dawson and Michail Emery Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited is in, with Ian Tabberer at the helm 4/14
MSSFX Litman Gregory Masters Smaller Companies Fund Turner Investments is out (that seems to happen a lot) as a subadviser and Frank Sustersic is out as a manager Dennis Bryan, Kenneth Gregory, Richard Weiss, Jeremy DeGroot, and Jeffrey Bronchick remain 4/14
LEQAX LoCorr Long/Short Equity Fund No one, but . . . Billings Capital Management is added as a subadvisor, with Eric F. Billings, Eric P. Billings, Scott Billings, and Thomas Billings, joining the management team. 4/14
MAEQX Mutual of America Equity Index Benjamin Heben Jamie Zendel 4/14
MAMQX Mutual of America Mid Cap Equity Index Benjamin Heben Jamie Zendel 4/14
NCGFX New Covenant Growth Fund Robert Pharr is out The other sixteen managers remain on the fund. 4/14
PAEMX PIMCO Emerging Market Bond Fund Ramin Toloui has stepped down to serve as Deputy Under Secretary for International Finance in the U.S. Dept. of Treasury. Michael Gomez will remain 4/14
PGSAX PIMCO Global Advantage Strategy Bond Fund Ramin Toloui has stepped down to serve as Deputy Under Secretary for International Finance in the U.S. Dept. of Treasury. Michael Gomez will remain 4/14
EMSAX RPg Emerging Markets Sector Rotation Fund F-Squared Institutional Advisors no longer advise the fund, and Howard Present is no longer a fund manager. David Gatti and Jason McGinty remain. 4/14
SBMBX Saratoga Energy and Basic Materials Fund Greg McCullough is out David Cohen and Salil Sharma are in 4/14
SARNX Schroder Absolute Return EMD and Currency Fund No one, but . . . Abdallah Guezour takes over the lead manager role. Current lead manager, Geoff Blanning, remains on the fund, as do Guillermo Besaccia and Nick Brown, the other managers. 4/14
SIIEX Sentinel International Equity Fund Katherine Schapiro is gone Andrew Boczek will carry on. 4/14
TCOEX Tactical Offensive Equity Fund William Fries and Lei Wang The rest of the extensive team remains. 4/14
TPSAX Thrivent Partner Small Cap Growth Fund Peter Sustersic of Turner Investment Partners is out but Peter Niedland and Jason Schrotberger of Turner Investment Partners move in 4/14
TMCGX Turner Emerging Growth Fund Peter Sustersic Peter Niedland 4/14
TCGFX Turner Large Growth Fund No one, but . . . Christopher Baggini joins Robert Turner and becomes lead portfolio manager 4/14
VASVX Vanguard Selected Value Fund No one, but . . . Pzena Investment Management has been added as an advisor, with Richard Pzena, Eli Rabinowich, and Manoj Tandon, overseeing that portion of the portfolio 4/14
WRAAX Wilmington Multi-Manager Alternatives No one, but . . . Carl Loeb Advisory Partners becomes the 6th subadvisor to join the team. 4/14

 

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About Chip

Cheryl Welsch, MBA (Western Governors). Cofounder, technical director. Chip is the dean of curriculum and accreditation at Eastern Iowa Community Colleges. Chip is responsible for making the Observer actually happen; in cooperation with our graphic designer, she also controls how the Observer looks and acts. She also writes our monthly Manager Changes feature and whittles away at the typofest in our drafts.