Keeley Beefs Up Its Portfolio Management Ranks

 Keeley Small Cap Value ,  Keeley Small-Mid Cap Value (KSMVX), and Keeley Alternative Value  have gained a new comanager. As of Dec. 31, 2013, Kevin Chin is working alongside comanager Brian Keeley and longtime lead manager John Keeley. Chin joined Keeley Asset Management Corp. earlier this year and was named a comanager of Keeley Mid Cap Value  in June.

John Keeley, who developed the firm's distinctive strategy of investing in companies undergoing corporate restructuring, has paid increasing attention in recent years to key-man risk and succession planning. Chin's hiring was the culmination of an extensive search for a portfolio manager with a value-oriented investment background who would complement the Keeley approach. He came from Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, where he was part of teams running CRM Small Cap Value (CRISX) and CRM All Cap Value (CRIEX).

PIMCO Alum Joins Hotchkis & Wiley High Yield Fund
Bronze-rated  Hotchkis & Wiley High Yield (HWHAX) added Richard Mak as a portfolio manager on Jan. 1, 2014. He joins Patrick Meegan (on the fund since August 2012) and PIMCO-veteran lead managers Mark Hudoff and Ray Kennedy, the latter of whom launched the fund in 2009.

Kennedy and Hudoff had previously planned to add a new trader to their team at some point after the strategy's asset base grew beyond $1 billion. After turning to Mak as a candidate, however, the pair determined that his skill set would also make him well suited to join the team as a manager. Hotchkis notes that in his new role, Mak will play an integral role in the investment process, while also coordinating day-to-day management of all the firm’s high-yield bond portfolios. Like Kennedy and Hudoff, meanwhile, Mak also comes to Hotchkis & Wiley with a PIMCO pedigree. While there, he worked in multiple roles ranging from credit analyst to high-yield portfolio manager, and was primarily focused on internal high-yield funds. And as with much of the analyst team that supports this portfolio, Mak also has experience as an equity analyst, having covered telecom and related technology stocks during a prior stint with Epoch Partners.

Federated Kaufmann Funds Further Emphasize Their Team-Based Approach
In December 2013, the trio of Federated Kaufmann funds, including flagship all-cap  Federated Kaufmann (KAUFX), began listing additional team members on their portfolio manager rosters. For example, Neutral-rated Federated Kaufmann added John Ettinger and Barbara Miller as comanagers. The two join Lawrence Auriana and Hans Utsch, who have managed this fund since its 1986 inception; they continued to lead the fund after its acquisition by Federated in 2001. While Auriana and Utsch have managed Federated Kaufmann, Federated Kaufmann Small Cap (FKKSX), and Federated Kaufmann Large Cap (KLCKX) since their respective inception dates, the management of the funds has become increasingly team-focused in recent years. As of December 2013, eight managers and three senior analysts are listed as participating in the day-to-day management of the funds' portfolios.

Senior fund analysts Eric Jacobson, Laura Lallos, and Kathryn Spica, and fund analyst Robert Goldsborough contributed to this report.