Fund Times: Value 'Guru' Greenwald to Join Eveillard at First Eagle

Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers has announced that renowned value-investing expert and academic Bruce Greenwald will join the ranks as the new director of research for its Global Value group. Greenwald will continue his role as professor of finance and asset management at Columbia's Graduate School of Business when he assumes his new duties here.

This change follows on the heels of Jean Marie Eveillard's return to his former role as portfolio manager of  First Eagle Global (SGENX),  First Eagle Overseas (SGOVX),  First Eagle U.S. Value (FEVAX), and  First Eagle Gold (SGGDX) after previous manager Charles de Vaulx resigned suddenly in March. Although Eveillard is expected to scale back his involvement with the funds gradually over the next five years, he indicated in the news release that he plans to "remain fully engaged" with the funds upon Greenwald's arrival.

Although Greenwald certainly has an impressive background, this news comes with the surprising announcement that former research director Charles de Lardemelle has left to pursue other interests. A veteran of the firm since 1996, de Lardemelle was named associate manager of the Global, Overseas, and U.S. Value funds when Eveillard returned in May. We had previously considered de Lardemelle, who had worked closely with Eveillard for more than a decade, to be a likely successor. Simon Fenwick, comanager of the Gold Fund, also has exited the firm. Fenwick became associate manager in 2005 and was promoted to comanager when de Vaulx left.

Stepping into de Lardemelle's vacated associate manager shoes is Abhay Deshpande, who has been with the firm since 2000 as a senior member of the value research team and portfolio manager for separate accounts.

New Funds, ETF Fees Cut at Vanguard
Vanguard has announced plans to launch three new mega-cap index funds. Fees on these funds will be characteristically miniscule: Expense ratios for the ETF, Institutional, and Investor shares are expected to be 0.13%, 0.08%, and 0.20%, respectively.

While index funds are par for the course here, more interesting was Vanguard's Thursday announcement that it would introduce a series of funds designed to provide retirees with an annuitylike stream of income. As we've written about elsewhere, this is part of a broader trend of products allowing people to convert their defined-contribution plan retirement savings into regular monthly payments. We'd expect the popularity of such products to grow as baby boomers continue to enter their retirement years. Vanguard will offer three separate "Managed Payout" funds-of-funds that offer different levels of income and capital preservation. The funds' estimated price tag is 0.34%.

Vanguard is also cutting costs on 10 sector ETFs, most dropping from 0.25% to 0.22%. This will be the second time fees have come down here since the ETFs were initially launched in 2004 with expense ratios of 0.28%.

Veteran Growth Managers Leave Van Kampen
Van Kampen has announced that it has replaced Gary Lewis, Dudley Brickhouse, and Janet Luby, long-time managers of  Van Kampen Aggressive Growth  and  Van Kampen Strategic Growth . These funds each gained more than 100% in 1999, only to follow these stunning results with staggering losses during the subsequent bear market. Lately, the team had been tweaking its strategy in an effort to turn these ailing funds around. While 1999's unusual showing buoyed the funds' long-term returns, Morningstar Investor Returns show that the average investor in these funds fared much worse than the fund itself, just breaking even over the past 10 years.

Dennis Lynch and crew of Morgan Stanley Investment Management are now calling the shots at these two funds. We see this as a positive development for shareholders. Lynch and his team built a stellar record with small- and mid-cap stocks at  Morgan Stanley Institutional Small Company Growth (MSSGX) and  Morgan Stanley Institutional Mid Cap Growth (MPEGX). Their track record with large caps isn't as lengthy, but it is promising

This is also a step in the right direction for Van Kampen's board of trustees as well, which along with the manager change has approved a series of mergers to further streamline Van Kampen's fund lineup and bring costs down. Subject to shareholder approval, Aggressive Growth and Strategic Growth are slated to merge into two other Lynch-run funds,  Van Kampen Mid Cap Growth  and  Van Kampen Pace , respectively. Van Kampen Select Growth (VSGAX) will merge into Van Kampen Equity Growth . Kristian Heugh and Alexander Umansky manage Equity Growth and are now managing Select Growth, too.

Scott Miller and Matthew Hart are staying on as managers of the more successful of Lewis' former charges, Van Kampen Small Cap Growth .

For a Limited Time Only
 Champlain Small Company (CIPSX) will be closing to new investors Oct. 15. We're fans of manager Scott Brayman, who has put together an impressive record here and at former charge  Sentinel Small Company (SAGWX). This is a prudent move for the fund's advisor, which has been vigilant about maintaining a manageable level of assets in this strategy from the start.

Etc.
Shareholders of several AFBA Five Star funds can start thinking about taxes early this year. AFBA Five Star Large Cap , USA Global ,  Small Cap , and Mid Cap Value  each submitted a request to the SEC to permit a capital gains distribution. This comes after AFBA replaced subadvisor Kornitzer Capital Management with new management in July, citing plans to grow the fund complex. Although the release did not indicate the size of the distributions, they will be made on Friday, Sept. 28 if the SEC permits.

Pax World Mutual Funds launched Pax World Value  Sept. 17. The fund will primarily invest in large caps and may hold as much as 45% of assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers. The fund is managed by Sujatha Avutu, formerly the lead manager of  Evergreen Equity Income . Its initial 1.49% and 1.25% expense ratios for the Individual Investor and Institutional share classes, respectively, are decidedly high for a no-load fund.