Legg Mason Names Successor to Bill Miller

Legg Mason has named a successor to  Legg Mason Capital Management Value's (LMVTX) Bill Miller, though the famed manager may still be a long way from retirement. The firm has begun informing clients that Sam Peters will be the next portfolio manager of the fund Miller has managed or comanaged for nearly 30 years.

The firm hasn't yet said exactly when Peters will take the reins. It's likely Peters will share portfolio-management duties with Miller for a while before taking over as sole manager. That's the same path Miller followed; before he took over the fund in 1990, he comanaged it for eight years with Ernest Kiehne.

Miller and Value are best known for beating the S&P 500 in 15 straight calendar years through 2005. But the fund endured a poor period from 2006-08. As a result, its 10-year trailing return has sunk to the category's bottom. But its 15-year record remains in the category's top quintile. And since Miller took sole control of the fund in 1990, it has gained an annualized 9.8%, topping the S&P 500's 8.8% return and the category's 7.7% gain over that period.

Peters joined the firm from Fidelity in 2005 as an analyst and currently runs  Legg Mason Capital Management Special Investment (LMASX), which has a performance pattern similar to Value's. He served as comanager for a short time alongside Miller before being named sole manager in early 2006. Peters will remain at the helm of Special Investment.

Legg Mason hasn't addressed succession plans for another Miller-run fund:  Legg Mason Capital Management Opportunity (LMOPX).

Two T. Rowe Price Funds--Including One Analyst Pick--Close Their Doors
 T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth (RPMGX) and Analyst Pick  T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Value (TRMCX) will close to new investors on May 28, 2010. Mid-Cap Growth, managed by Brian Berghuis, Morningstar's 2004 Domestic Stock Fund Manager of the Year, is the largest fund in its category, while Mid-Cap Value is among the largest. T. Rowe Price says the velocity of flows led to the closures.

Both funds have been closed before, Mid-Cap Growth from 2003 through the end of 2008, and Mid-Cap Value from 2005 through May 2009. From the end of 2008 through April 30, 2010, inflows and the stock market's rally pushed total net assets up by 80% at Mid-Cap Growth and by 48% at Mid-Cap Value, according to Morningstar data.

Both managers say the increasing popularity of T. Rowe's target-date lineup, which invests in the funds, was not a driving force behind the closures.

Loomis Sayles Taps New Lead Large-Cap Growth Manager
The buttoned-up Loomis Sayles equity team is shaking things up. Aziz Hamzaogullari replaced Mark Baribeau on May 19 as lead portfolio manager of Loomis' large-cap growth strategies, including the  Loomis Sayles Growth (LGRRX) fund.

Baribeau had managed Loomis Sayles Growth since 1999, though it has struggled in recent years. Baribeau will remain at Loomis Sayles and assist in managing its global equity strategies.

Hamzaogullari joins Loomis Sayles from  Wells Fargo's (WFC) Evergreen Investments, where he had been lead manager of  Evergreen Omega (EKOAX) and Evergreen Large Company Growth (EKJAX) since June 30, 2006. He is expected to run Loomis Sayles Growth similar to the way he did Evergreen Large Company Growth.

Hamzaogullari's departure is a loss for Wells Fargo. During his tenure, he displayed a real talent for picking high-quality stocks and put up impressive results during a particularly tumultuous period in the equity markets. Since Hamzaogullari took the helm at Evergreen Omega through May 19, 2010, the fund had an annualized return just shy of 5%, while Evergreen Large Company Growth returned 4.2%. That beats an average gain of 0.9% for the Russell 1000 Growth Index and a near 1% loss for the typical large-cap growth fund during that period.

Perkins to Launch Balanced Fund
Janus recently filed to launch a balanced fund, Perkins Value Plus Income. Management will be divided between Janus and the family's Perkins subsidiary. The preliminary prospectus just covers A and C shares. Expense ratios weren't disclosed.

Anywhere from 40%-60% of assets will be in equities, with the managers focusing on large- and mid-cap firms with competitive advantages, quality balance sheets, and solid management at attractive prices relative to earnings, cash flows, and assets. The remainder of assets will be in fixed-income, including government, corporate, mortgage-backed, and zero-coupon bonds, as well as convertibles. At least half of the fixed-income sleeve will be in investment-grade securities.

Jeffrey R. Kautz and Theodore M. Thome of Perkins will be comanagers of the equity portion of the fund, while Gibson Smith and Darrell Watters of Janus will run the fixed-income side.

Allianz Combines Subadvisors
Three of Allianz's subadvisors--Nicholas-Applegate, NFJ Investment Management, and Oppenheimer Capital--have joined to form Allianz Global Investors Capital LLC. The three will retain their independent investment processes, but the back-office functions will be streamlined. Fund names will be affected: The Nicholas-Applegate and Oppenheimer Capital names will disappear, and those funds will be rebranded with the Allianz Global Investors Capital name. The NFJ brand will remain, so those fund names won't be affected. Another Allianz subadvisor, RCM, will remain separate, mostly because it has strong brand recognition in Europe. Allianz's PIMCO unit remains completely separate.

Earlier this month, Allianz announced that Cadence Capital Management, the only one of its subadvisors it doesn't own, will become part of Managers Group effective Aug. 1, 2010.

All changes are pending shareholder approval.

AllianceBernstein Preps Two Market-Neutral Funds
AllianceBernstein (AB) is launching new domestic and global market-neutral funds. The A shares of AllianceBernstein Market Neutral Strategy U.S. will have an expense ratio of 1.55%, while the A shares of AllianceBernstein Market Neutral Strategy Global will have an expense ratio of 1.60%. The latter will allocate at least 40% of assets in non-U.S. companies. It will invest in eight global sleeves: the U.S., Canada, Japan, Asia ex-Japan, the United Kingdom, Europe ex-U.K., Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), and emerging markets.

Both funds will be managed by Vadim Zlotnikov, CIO of Growth Analytics, and Yun Chen, who have run institutional versions of these portfolios since last year. The funds, part of the firm's broader push toward curbing volatility, should launch in early August.

Etc.
UniCredit has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to advise the Italian bank on its options as it looks to unload its Pioneer asset-management group, according to news reports.

The Hartford mutual fund board recently approved a plan to merge Select Small Cap Value  into Mid Cap Value (HMVAX). The merger didn't require shareholder approval.

Putnam Investments announced that, starting in early June, it will begin breaking out all fees for its retirement-plan sponsors. Fees will be expressed as both a percentage and a dollar amount.

Todd White, comanager of  RiverSource Diversified Bond ,  RiverSource Short Duration US Government , and RiverSource US Government Mortgage (AUGAX), has been named head of alternative and absolute-return investments, and will no longer manage the bond funds. Colin Lundgren, new CIO of fixed-income, will assume White's management responsibilities until a permanent replacement is found.

Scott Schroepfer, manager of  RiverSource High Yield Bond (INEAX) and comanager of RiverSource Diversified Bond, is retiring. His responsibilities will be covered by Jennifer Ponce de Leon, the high-yield sector leader, and Brian Lavin. Ponce de Leon and Lavin have managed a high-yield separate account (alongside Schroepfer) since 1999, and a core-plus separate account since 2004.

The board of directors for James Equity  has decided to liquidate the fund by June 26, 2010.

Darryl Oliver replaced David Powell as lead portfolio manager of Brown Advisory Opportunity . Brown Advisory Core International  will liquidate all assets by June 21, 2010.

Effective June 11, 2010, Virtus Small-Cap Core (PKSAX) will no longer offer class B shares.

Metropolitan West Capital Management will replace Wells Capital Management as the subadvisor for Wells Fargo Advantage Small Cap Disciplined , effective June 1, 2010

Mutual fund analysts Katie Rushkewicz, Greg Brown, Harry Milling, and David Falkof contributed to this report.