Eaton Vance's Equity CIO Duncan Richardson to Retire

Duncan Richardson, Eaton Vance's chief equity investment officer since 2001, is retiring on Oct. 31, 2013. Richardson has managed Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth (CAPEX), the flagship of the firm's extensive line of tax-managed funds, since 1990. He's also managed Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Equity Asset Allocation (EAEAX) since its 2002 inception, and he previously ran Bronze-rated  Eaton Vance Large-Cap Value (EHSTX) from 1994-2000 and Eaton Vance Large-Cap Growth (EALCX) from 2002-2009.

Thomas Faust, Eaton Vance's CEO and chairman, will take over Richardson's CIO role while the firm looks for a successor. At Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth, the remaining team of Lewis Piantedosi, Michael Allison, and Yana Barton will continue to run the fund. (Richardson had ceded day-to-day management of the portfolio several years ago.) The firm will name a new manager for Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Equity Asset Allocation before Richardson departs.

Manager Changes at Matthews Funds
Jesper Madsen has given up his lead manager position on Gold-rated  Matthews Asia Dividend (MAPIX). Yu Zhang and Robert Horrocks have taken over as lead managers on the fund. Madsen remains a comanager on the fund, as well as on Bronze-rated  Matthews China Dividend (MCDFX), and will remain in those roles until Oct. 31, 2013, to help smooth the transition, after which he will retire.

Zhang has been a comanager on the fund since March 2011. He started as a comanager on Matthews China Dividend in April 2012 and was promoted to lead manager of that fund in April 2013, when Madsen went from lead manager to comanager on that fund. Zhang joined Matthews in 2007 and has worked on Matthews Asia Dividend and Matthews China Dividend during his tenure. The funds have significant overlap in portfolio and strategy.

Horrocks, who also serves as the CIO of Matthews, has been the sole lead manager of Silver-rated  Matthews Asian Growth & Income (MACSX) since April 2012. Previously he served as a co-lead manager and comanager on the fund. The fund has strategic similarities and portfolio overlap with Matthews Asia Dividend. The two funds currently have 19 names in common out of roughly 65 holdings each. 

Fidelity to Close Fidelity Ultra-Short Bond
Fidelity will close Fidelity Ultra-Short Bond  to most new investors on Aug. 2, 2013. The fund suffered extremely poor performance from 2007 through 2009, and its asset base diminished considerably. The fund currently holds $397 million in assets under management.

Management Shuffles on Invesco's Large-Cap Growth Team
On July 22, Ryan Amerman stepped down as comanager of Neutral-rated  Invesco Summit (SMMIX). Amerman has joined the firm's international growth team, leading the domestic U.S. equity sleeve of the firm's global funds. He was replaced by Ido Cohen, currently the comanager on Neutral-rated  Invesco American Franchise (VAFAX). Both funds have been in flux in recent years, with changes at the helm and among the analyst team. Erik Voss, lead manager on both funds, joined Invesco from J&W Seligman in 2010--as did Cohen--and has replaced two members of his analyst team since he came on board. The team also added an analyst to cover the industrials sector (Amerman's former sector) and materials sector and is in search of a replacement for an analyst to cover the energy sector.

Former Goldman Sachs PM Donald Mulvihill Dies of Leukemia at 56
Longtime Goldman Sachs portfolio manager and executive Donald J. Mulvihill Jr. died on July 19 in the Chicago area at age 56 after a 15-month battle with leukemia.

Mulvihill retired from Goldman Sachs in early June after more than 32 years with the firm, most recently serving as the co-chief investment officer of the Quantitative Investment Strategies Group within Goldman's Investment Management Division. Since 2010, Mulvihill had been responsible for the Customized Beta Strategies group, which relaxes or eliminates market-cap-weighting schemes and instead attempts to engineer portfolios to specific client requirements, including altering risk, yield, taxation, industry focus, and other parameters. He had joined the Quantitative Investment Strategies Group in 1999.

Mulvihill joined Goldman Sachs in 1980 in its Chicago office, working with bank trust departments to manage excess liquidity. He moved to New York in 1985 to manage money market and fixed-income portfolios for institutional clients. He moved to London in 1991 to start international investment management activities and then relocated again to Japan in 1992 to become president of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Japan. He later returned to the U.S. and became a managing director in 1997.

Until his retirement, Mulvihill had been dividing his workweek between Goldman's New York City office and its Chicago office. He also had been managing several Goldman Sachs funds, including Goldman Sachs Structured International Tax-Managed Equity (GATMX), Goldman Sachs Structured Tax-Managed Equity (GCTAX), Goldman Sachs Retirement Portfolio Completion , Goldman Sachs U.S. Equity Dividend and Premium (GSPAX), Goldman Sachs International Equity Dividend & Premium (GIDAX), and Negative-rated  Goldman Sachs Absolute Return Tracker (GARTX).

New Manager on Goldman Sachs Small/Mid Cap Growth
On July 19, Craig Glassner joined the management team of Goldman Sachs Small/Mid Cap Growth (GSMAX). He joined Steven Barry and Jeffrey Rabinowitz as managers of the fund.

New Managers on RS Bond Fund
On July 18, Leslie Barbi and John Gargana joined Howard Chin and Robert J. Crimmins Jr. as managers of RS Low Duration Bond (RLDAX).

2 Executive Moves at Janus
On July 25,  Janus  announced some high-ranking executive changes, including a new chief financial officer.

The firm promoted its longtime CFO, Bruce Koepfgen, to a newly created role, as president of Janus. According to a news release, Koepfgen's new role will involve "business leadership." The firm's CEO, Richard Weil, noted in the release that Koepfgen would become "more deeply involved in driving our global business forward."

Janus also promoted the firm's senior vice president and treasurer, Jennifer J. McPeek, to CFO. She joined Janus in 2009 after overseeing strategic planning at ING Investment Management--Americas Region. Both assignments are effective Aug. 1.

Senior fund analysts Greg Carlson and William Samuel Rocco, fund analysts Robert Goldsborough, Kailin Liu, and Kathryn Spica, and fund analysis intern Noah Braendel contributed to this report.