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 ten 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, we noted just 36 funds with changes in their management teams.
The epochal changes are the departure of John Walthausen from the helm of the funds he launched and long-managed, and of Tad Rivelle, cofounder of MetWest and manager on at least 34 funds available to investors on several continents.
Mr. Rivelle has been on duty for 36 years and Mr. Walthausen for 37. As someone entering his 37th year as a professional in, admittedly, a different industry, I wish them well as they begin to pen their next chapters.
| Ticker | Fund | Out with the old | In with the new | Dt |
| SBFAX | 1919 Financial Services | Christopher Perry will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | The fund continues to be managed by Charles King and Mel Casey. | 8/21 |
| ATPYX | Aquila Three Peaks High Income | Effective on or before September 30, 2021, Three Peaks Capital Management, LLC will no longer serve as a sub-adviser to the fund. | Aquila Investment Management LLC will remain as investment adviser to the fund. | 8/21 |
| ATGAX | Aquila Three Peaks Opportunity Growth | Effective on or before September 30, 2021, Three Peaks Capital Management, LLC will no longer serve as a sub-adviser to the fund. | Aquila Investment Management LLC will remain as investment adviser to the fund. | 8/21 |
| DMVAX | BNY Mellon Select Managers Small Cap Value | John Walthausen will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | The rest of the team remains. | 8/21 |
| BBTBX | Bridge Builder Core Bond | Daniel A. Tranchita no longer serves as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Mary Stanek, Charles Groeschell, Warren Pierson, Jay Schwister, M. Sharon deGuzman, Meghan Dean, and Jeffrey Schrom will each continue to serve as portfolio managers of the fund. | 8/21 |
| BBIEX | Bridge Builder International Equity | David Cull is no longer listed as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Alex Duffy joins the management team. | 8/21 |
| EBSAX | Campbell Systematic Macro | No one, but… | Grace Lo and John Radle will join William Andrews and Kevin Cole as portfolio managers of the fund. | 8/21 |
| RPFCX | Davis Appreciation & Income | Effective September 1, 2021, Peter Sackmann will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Christopher Davis and Creston King will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| FSLEX | Fidelity Environment and Alternative Energy | Kevin Walenta is no longer listed as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Julia Pei will join Asher Anolic as a portfolio manager of the fund. | 8/21 |
| APSGX | Fiera Capital Small/Mid Cap Growth | Nitin Kumbhani no longer serves as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Sunil Reddy and Michael Kalbfleisch continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| GMAMX | Goldman Sachs Multi-Manager Alternatives | Ares Capital Management II LLC and Sirios Capital Management, L.P. will no longer be investment subadvisers for the fund. | Peter Seok and Jennifer Stack join Betsy Gorton as portfolio managers of the fund. | 8/21 |
| GNCFX | Goldman Sachs Multi-Manager Non-Core Fixed Income | BlueBay Asset Management USA LLC will now serve as a subadviser for the Fund | Ares Capital Management II LLC, BlueBay Asset Management LLP, BlueBay Asset Management USA LLC, Brigade Capital Management LP, Marathon Asset Management L.P., Nuveen Asset Management, LLC, River Canyon Fund Management LLC, and TCW Investment Management Company LLC are the investment subadvisers for the fund. | 8/21 |
| INCIX | James Alpha Hedged High Income | Concise Capital Management, LP, and Amundi Asset Management US, Inc. no longer serve as sub-advisers of the fund. Glenn Koach, Tom Krasner, and Jonathan Duensing will no longer serve as portfolio managers of the fund. | Akos Beleznay, Michael Cannon, Vincent Mistretta, and Salvatore Naro will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| JEMMX | John Hancock Emerging Markets Equity | No one, but… | Talib Saifee will join Philip Ehrmann and Kathryn Langridge in managing the fund. | 8/21 |
| LDFVX | Lord Abbett Fundamental Equity | Eli Rabinowich is no longer listed as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Jeff Diamond and John Hardy will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| LAVLX | Lord Abbett Mid Cap Stock | Eli Rabinowich is no longer listed as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Jeff Diamond and John Hardy will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| LVOAX | Lord Abbett Value Opportunities | Eli Rabinowich is no longer listed as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Jeff Diamond and John Hardy will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| MSCFX | Mairs & Power Small Cap | No one, but Allen Steinkopf, lead portfolio manager of the fund, will be contributing to the management of the fund in a reduced capacity as he takes time to focus on health issues. Mr. Steinkopf will remain a co-manager of the fund during this period. | Andrew Adams, a co-manager of the fund, will re-assume the duties of the lead portfolio manager, and Christopher D. Strom will continue to serve as co-manager of the fund. | 8/21 |
| MKIEX | McKee International Equity Portfolio | No one, but… | Micahel P. Donnelly, Paul Frank, Brad Thompson, and Clayton Wilkin join Michael J. Donnelly in managing the fund. | 8/21 |
| MWATX | Metropolitan West AlphaTrak 500 | At the end of the year, Tad Rivelle will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Laird Landmann, Steve Kane, and Bryan Whalen will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| MWFSX | Metropolitan West Flexible Income | At the end of the year, Tad Rivelle will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Laird Landmann, Steve Kane, and Bryan Whalen will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| MWIMX | Metropolitan West Intermediate Bond | At the end of the year, Tad Rivelle will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Laird Landmann, Steve Kane, and Bryan Whalen will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| MWISX | Metropolitan West Investment Grade Credit | At the end of the year, Tad Rivelle will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Laird Landmann, Steve Kane, and Bryan Whalen will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| MWLDX | Metropolitan West Low Duration Bond | At the end of the year, Tad Rivelle will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Laird Landmann, Steve Kane, and Bryan Whalen will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| MWORX | Metropolitan West Opportunistic High Income Credit | At the end of the year, Tad Rivelle will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Laird Landmann, Steve Kane, and Bryan Whalen will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| MWSIX | Metropolitan West Strategic Income | At the end of the year, Tad Rivelle will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Laird Landmann, Steve Kane, and Bryan Whalen will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| MWTRX | Metropolitan West Total Return Bond | At the end of the year, Tad Rivelle will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Laird Landmann, Steve Kane, and Bryan Whalen will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| MWUIX | Metropolitan West Ultra Short Bond | At the end of the year, Tad Rivelle will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Laird Landmann, Steve Kane, and Bryan Whalen will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| MWCRX | Metropolitan West Unconstrained Bond | At the end of the year, Tad Rivelle will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Laird Landmann, Steve Kane, and Bryan Whalen will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| OVEAX | Sterling Capital Mid Value | No one, but… | Effective August 31, 2021, William Smith will join Patrick Rau and Lee House in managing for the fund. | 8/21 |
| SMDQX | Sterling Capital SMID Opportunities | No one, but… | Effective August 31, 2021, Lee Houser and James Curtis will join Joshua Haggerty and Adam Bergman as portfolio managers of the fund. | 8/21 |
| STRLX | Sterling Capital Stratton Mid Cap Value | No one, but… | Effective August 31, 2021, Andrew DiZio will join Shawn Gallagher as a portfolio manager of the fund. | 8/21 |
| STMDX | Sterling Capital Stratton Real Estate | No one, but… | Effective August 31, 2021, Shawn Gallagher will join Andrew DiZio as a portfolio manager of the fund. | 8/21 |
| TINGX | Thornburg International Growth | Effective December 31, 2021, Greg Dunn will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Sean Sunn will continue to manage the fund. | 8/21 |
| WSCVX | Walthausen Small Cap Value | Effective immediately John Walthausen is no longer a portfolio manager of the fund. | Gerard Heffernan and DeForest Hinman continue to serve as portfolio managers of the fund. | 8/21 |
| WMNIX | Westwood Alternative Income | Seth Gold is no longer listed as a portfolio manager of the fund. | Christopher Hartman joins Adrian Helfert as a portfolio manager of the fund. | 8/21 |
