While VELA Investment Management has the backing of a proven leader, buy-in from employees, and a good investment pedigree, it is limited by slim resources. It earns an inaugural Average Parent rating.
This Ohio-based firm's roots lie within state lines at Diamond Hill Capital Management. Ric Dillon built Diamond Hill into a large and successful shop before retiring in 2018, but the closure of that firm's private wealth business spurred him back to action, and he co-founded VELA in late 2019. He didn't start from scratch; a group of tenured analysts and portfolio managers followed him from Diamond Hill to VELA shortly after its founding. Ownership of the firm is widely held among senior members and investors, supporting retention and the alignment of incentives. Its first mutual funds were launched in 2020 and have gotten off to a good start relative to their performance benchmarks.
VELA has strong prospects, but it is still in the early stages of growth with just under USD 500 million in assets under management as of December 2024. The investment team counts just over one dozen individuals, which is a decent start but lean relative to the firm's global equity and short-term fixed-income mandates. The equity analyst team is also light on experience relative to peers. Overall, VELA has a good foundation, but the lack of scale and resources limits its rating.
Note: This share class' Parent Pillar rating is analyst-driven, as its Branding Name, VELA Investment Management (Branding Name ID: BN00000MMM), is covered by Morningstar Manager Research.
United States