Author Archives: Chip

About Chip

Cheryl Welsch, MBA (Western Governors). Cofounder, technical director. Chip is the chief information officer and chief information security officer for the 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, and whittles away at the monthly typofest in our drafts.

Manager Changes, January 2020

By Chip

Every month we track changes to the management teams of equity, alternative and balanced funds, along with a handful of fixed-income ones. Why “a handful”? Because most fixed-income funds are such sedate creatures, with little performance difference between the top quartile funds and the bottom quartile, that the changes are not consequential. Even in the realms we normally cover, the rise of management committees dilutes the significance of any individual’s departure or arrival.

Chip tracked down 74 funds with manager changes this month. Most of the changes are Continue reading →

Manager Changes, November 2019

By Chip

Because the manager change at Elfun Diversified (ELDFX) made Chip’s brain itch (“I’m sorry. ‘Elf Fun,’ what on earth is that about?”) I wanted to take a moment to explain the distinctive moniker. The Elfun funds were originally part of the General Electric retirement system. Their names are a contraction of “Electric Funds.” In a remembrance of his recently-deceased father, Walt Thiessen wrote:

Elfun (short for “electric fund”) was originally a Continue reading →

Manager Changes, September 2019

By Chip

Every month we track changes to the management teams of equity, alternative and balanced funds, along with a handful of fixed-income ones. Why “a handful”? Because most fixed-income funds are such sedate creatures, with little performance difference between the top quartile funds and the bottom quartile, that the changes are not consequential. Even in the realms we normally cover, the rise of management committees dilutes the significance of any individual’s departure or arrival.

This is another of the months in which the number of funds making changes is relatively large – 55 – but the number making dramatic changes is minimal. Alger Emerging Market’s Continue reading →

Manager Changes, August 2019

By Chip

Every month we track changes to the management teams of equity, alternative and balanced funds, along with a handful of fixed-income ones. Why “a handful”? Because most fixed-income funds are such sedate creatures, with little performance difference between the top quartile funds and the bottom quartile, that the changes are not consequential. Even in the realms we normally cover, the rise of management committees dilutes the significance of any individual’s departure or arrival.

This is one of the months in which the number of funds making changes is relatively large – 60 – but the number making dramatic changes is Continue reading →

Manager changes, July 2019

By Chip

Every month we track changes to the management teams of equity, alternative and balanced funds, along with a handful of fixed-income ones. Why “a handful”? Because most fixed-income funds are such sedate creatures, with little performance difference between the top quartile funds and the bottom quartile, that the changes are not consequential. Even in the realms we normally cover, the rise of management committees dilutes the significance of any individual’s departure or arrival. This is one of the months in which the number of funds making changes is large – 82 – but the number making dramatic changes is minimal. A couple funds – DWS and Mass Mutual – lost their entire management teams and a couple of funds have announced the impending retirements of long-time managers. Other than that, mostly tweaks this month. Continue reading →

Manager changes, May and June 2019

By Chip

Each month, dozens of funds report manager changes to the SEC. The vast majority of those are inconsequential: one MBA-yielding member of a 12-person management team is popped out and another is popped in. This month’s compendium covers manager changes at 122 funds. That’s a larger-than-normal report mostly because we shared only a compressed list in our June issue, which reflected the competing time demands that Chip faced as she prepared for Ireland.

This month sees few blockbuster moves, though several “A” tier managers are Continue reading →

Manager changes, April 2019

By Chip

In the course of the average month, MFO chronicles partial or complete manager changes at 60 – 80 active equity, alternative or balanced mutual funds. We rarely report on changes at passive products or “vanilla” bond funds because, in about 99% of such instances, the changes are inconsequential to the fund’s performance.

This month, changes were reported at only 30 funds – a few low which largely parallels the lull in fund liquidations which we report in our “Dustbin of History” feature. Two of those changes are attendant to the unexpected death of Patrick Flynn, of Neuberger Berman. Mr. Flynn left behind a wife and several young children, for whom we mourn and to whom we Continue reading →

Manager changes, March 2019

By Chip

It’s been a quiet but consequential month on the manager change front. While Chip tracked down changes at just 28 funds, barely one-third of what we see in many months, a couple of the changes strike me as worth following.

The unexplained departures of Messrs Cipolloni and Saylor from Berywn Income (BERIX) is a game-changer, and a fund changer. The pair had been managing the fund together for a dozen years with a distinctive Continue reading →

Manager changes, February 2019

By Chip

In most months, most manager changes are pretty much inconsequential (except to the managers themselves, I guess). This month, there are a collection of fairly epochal changes.

A star manager, Henry Ellenbogen, is leaving T. Rowe Price and T. Rowe Price New Horizons. It’s really rare for folks to leave Price and rarer still for one of their few high-profile folks to do so. No word on his next stop.

The Bond King, Bill Gross, is giving Continue reading →

Manager changes, January 2019

By Chip

There were four notable stories among the 62 sets of manager changes this month. First, the estimable Jenny Jones has announced her plans to retire from Schroder Investment Management where she’s successfully shepherded small cap portfolios for 17 years. That run capped a distinguished 38 year investing career; her departure has led Morningstar to place her funds’ Silver rating “under review.” That’s a normal and healthy development. We wish her great joy in life’s next adventure. Second, Mark Oelschlager is departing Oak Associates on short notice after a stint as co-CIO and portfolio manager. He’s also the son of the firm’s founder, lead manager and CIO, James Oelschlager. The younger Mr. Oelschlager once seemed poised to be the firm’s next leader; now he’s “pursuing other opportunities.” The response when I reached out to the firm was … uh, terse. That seems odd and potentially troubling, given the younger Mr. O’s preference for a more risk-conscious style than his senior’s. Third, Mark Vaselkiv is stepping away from managing T. Rowe Price’s high-yield funds. In general, Price manages these transitions exceptionally well. Finally, Continue reading →