The name of the individual or individuals who are employed by the advisor or subadvisor who are directly responsible for managing the fund’s portfolio, as taken directly from the fund's prospectus. Other terms that may appear in this column include the following:
Multiple Managers: This term appears when more than two persons are involved in the fund management, and they manage independently. Where this term is used, quite often the fund has divided net assets in set amounts among the individual managers. In most cases, multiple managers are employed at different subadvisors or investment firms.
Management Team: This is used when there are more than two persons involved in fund management, and they manage together, or when the fund strongly promotes its team-managed aspect.
Et al: This term only appears on printed reports. It indicates that while other persons are involved in fund management, the person listed acts as the leader and/or is recognized by the fund as being the principal management player.
No Manager: For some funds of funds, you may see a 'No Manager' designation. We currently have less than 20 funds of funds with this designation, but if you do run across it, it is because we do not list managers of underlying funds as managers of funds of funds unless the prospectus states that the managers also manage the fund of funds.
Origin
This information is taken directly from the fund prospectus, fund surveys, or official press releases, and is updated as needed by the fund contact person.
For the Pros
Another consideration in selecting a fund is whether an individual or a committee management structure is used. Some fund companies effectively employ a team approach, such as American Funds Family. However, sometimes when fund companies refuse to tell who manages the fund, the link between cause and effect is blurred, thereby denying shareholders information that is vital for proper evaluation of the fund. While some funds effectively employ team management strategies (especially those that have highly disciplined buy and sell rules) investors should be wary of any fund that refuses to report the names of its managers. That’s not the type of policy that indicates great concern for shareholder interests.