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I’m adding two funds that are off to strong starts.
Eventide Gilead
ETGLX
is a unique small/mid-
cap growth portfolio with about half of the portfolio
concentrated in the health-care and technology
sectors. The fund is the brainchild of lead manager
Finny Kuruvilla, who has a doctorate and M.D. from
Harvard and additional degrees from
MIT
and Caltech.
Comanager David Barksdale has a tech-sector back-
ground and handles portfolio construction. The
pair’s philosophy is to invest in companies whose
products and practices make the world a better place,
while avoiding those that do not. The managers
believe firms that create positive overall social value
for their customers and other stakeholders will
produce attractive and sustainable returns for share-
holders. Kuruvilla gravitates toward companies
whose pipelines and products he knows well and that
he believes are poised for wider adoption (or
FDA
approval in the case of the portfolio’s biotech names).
One beneficial side effect has been that the fund
often benefits from acquisitions. Although the fund’s
overall profile carries risk (smaller cap, aggressive
growth, sector concentration) and it wasn’t around for
a stress test in
2008
, its five-year downside-capture
ratio versus the mid-cap growth Morningstar Cate-
gory was only
88
.
1%
, and its upside capture ratio was
an impressive
112
.
7%
. Its three- and five-year trailing
returns are in the category’s top percentile.
The
5
-star
JOHCM International Select II
JOHAX
has produced brilliant performance since its launch in
2009
.
JO
Hambro Capital Management Limited is
something like Britain’s answer to Artisan Funds. It
hires seasoned managers and brings them over to run
a strategy for the firm. Sometimes, they lift out the
entire team and sometimes just a manager.
In this fund’s case, the firm brought out managers
Christopher Lees and Nudgem Richyal from Baring
Asset Management. The pair runs a foreign large-
growth strategy that blends macro and micro analysis.
The fund’s top-percentile three-year returns have
drawn investor notice as assets have grown to
$1
.
6
billion and fees are down to
1
.
29%
in the No Trans-
action Fee share class. More than half of assets are
in tech and health care in this aggressive fund.
Two Go Out
To make room, I am dropping the
1
-star
Franklin
Balance Sheet Investment
FRBSX
, which has
been dropped from coverage. I’m also dropping the
Neutral-rated
William Blair International
Growth
WBIGX
.
K
What is Morningstar
FundInvestor
500
?
The Morningstar FundInvestor
500
features the industry’s
best and most notable funds.
Use the list to get new in-
vestment ideas and track the
funds you already own.
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subscribers have
access to one-page monthly
reports on all 500 funds on
mfi.morningstar.com. Just
type in the name or ticker of
the fund in the search box.
Eventide Gilead Joins M500
Changes to the 500
|
Russel Kinnel
Summary of Changes
Add
Drop
JOHCM Int’l Select II
Franklin Balance Sheet Invt
Eventide Gilead
William Blair Int’l Growth
Rating Change
To
From
American Beacon Sm Cp Val Inv
´ ‰
FPA New Income
´ •
ASTON
/Montag & Caldwell Gr
´ •
T. Rowe Price Short-Term Bond
‰ •
Oppenheimer Global Opp A
‰ ´