PGIM Jennison Focused Growth Z SPFZX

Jennison Associates announced manager changes across its lineup on March 30, 2023. Firm veteran Rebecca Irwin has joined Jennison’s global equity team as a portfolio manager alongside the firm’s head of global equities Mark Baribeau and comanager Tom Davis. Irwin will relinquish her managerial duties on the firm’s U.S.-oriented strategies but retain her consumer-focused analytical responsibilities. Meanwhile, Jennison is making sure that key U.S.-focused investors Kathleen McCarragher, Blair Boyer, and Natasha Kuhlkin are added on any large-growth strategies in which they were not previously named. That means Irwin will be added to PGIM Jennison Global Opportunities’ PRJAX roster and removed from the firm’s 60-stock flagship, PGIM Jennison Growth, and its concentrated 30-stock sibling, PGIM Jennison Focused Growth, where she had been a named manager since 2017. Meanwhile, Boyer will be added to PGIM Jennison Focused Growth, with Kuhlkin continuing to run that strategy day-to-day. The core strengths of each management team remain intact. Jennison’s global and U.S. growth-equity teams’ cross pollination of ideas has been integral to their success. Irwin has made key contributions across the firm’s strategies over the years via her coverage of European consumer firms, such as luxury goods maker LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which has been a big winner for both the U.S.- and global-oriented portfolios recently. Overall, these changes are good step in the long-term succession planning at Jennison, as it provides additional leadership opportunities for key investors. The U.S.-growth and global teams remain talented, collaborative, and well-resourced overall. As a result, the strategies’ Morningstar Analyst Ratings remain intact.