New Manager Needn't Worry Investors at This Gold-Rated Fund

BlackRock Global Allocation, a large fund that usually doesn't make much news, made some recently. It named BlackRock's former global chief investment strategist and head of its model portfolio business, Russ Kosterich, to the fund’s management team. Manager changes usually are warning flags, but this one seems more evolutionary than seismic. 

Global Allocation's longtime managers Dennis Statman, Dan Chamby, and Aldo Roldan remain and still have significant investments in the fund. A deep and experienced team of nearly 30 analysts also still support them. It also doesn't look like the appointment is going to change the fund’s approach. Kosterich is going to help the team more systematically implement its top-down insights into its asset allocation decisions, a role for which he is suited given his background as a strategist. 

This fund has long tried to meld top-down and bottom-up research, so this looks like an effort to get better at what it does than to do something different. This Gold-rated fund should remain a broadly diversified, value-oriented, flexible, and long-term focused allocation fund that tries to deliver appreciation with less volatility over extended time horizons.