Schwab Investment Management has formed a new sub-advisory relationship with Mondrian Investment Partners Limited, a London-based firm which traditionally manges money for governments, large institutions and high net worth individuals, serving some of the largest pension funds and endowments in the U.S. The two new funds which will be launched under the Laudus/Mondrian name are the Laudus Mondrian Emerging Markets Fund and the Laudus Mondrian International Fixed Income Fund.

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. announced today that it has expanded its Laudus Funds line-up by entering into a new sub-advisory relationship with Mondrian Investment Partners Limited, the London-based international investment house which offers investment management services to institutional investors. The newly created Laudus Mondrian fund offering will include the Laudus Mondrian Emerging Markets Fund and the Laudus Mondrian International Fixed Income Fund.

These two new mutual funds provide independent advisors and individual investors with new access to the international investment expertise of Mondrian Investment Partners Limited, which has primarily been available to large institutional investors. "Laudus Funds is committed to providing RIAs and individual investors with access to leading institutional investment managers. This new relationship allows us to expand our ability to do that. We are excited to add a manager of Mondrian's caliber to our fund line-up and are particularly pleased to provide investors with direct access to a premier international specialist," said Randy Merk, Executive Vice President, Investment Management Services for Charles Schwab.

Mondrian Investment Partners Limited follows a strict value-oriented, defensive investment philosophy, and specializes in managing international investments for major U.S. institutional investors. The firm was founded in 1990 and has more than $60 billion in assets under management(1). Mondrian is currently one of five sub-advisors to the Laudus International MarketMasters Fund.

The new Laudus Mondrian Emerging Markets Fund (LEMSX) will invest primarily in large-cap equities in emerging market countries, seeking to provide investors with exposure to the high growth and performance potential of those markets, while seeking to control downside risk. The fund will be diversified across both countries and sectors.

"Mondrian's ability to manage risk is one of the big draws. We understand that there are inherent risks in investing in emerging markets, and we appreciate that Mondrian's value approach focuses on lower risk companies and countries thereby reducing volatility," added Merk.

The Laudus Mondrian International Fixed Income Fund (LIFSX) will invest primarily in high quality, non-U.S. debt securities of governments and government agencies in developed countries, and will also have the ability to hold a limited amount of high quality international corporate debt.

Lee Giannone, senior vice president of Mondrian Investment Partners (US), said the international fixed income fund manager is searching for fundamental long-term value in virtually any developed country outside the United States that issues sovereign debt. Says Giannone, "One of the advantages of our relationship with Schwab is that investment advisors and individuals will now have access to an investment management team and sophisticated techniques and analysis previously available only to large institutions." See http://www.laudus.com/ for further information. About Laudus Funds The Laudus Group was formed by Charles Schwab Investment Management in 2003 to provide Registered Investment Advisors and sophisticated individual investors with greater access to leading institutional portfolio managers. The Laudus Funds consist of three groups of funds. The Laudus Rosenberg Funds are sub-advised by AXA Rosenberg, while the Laudus MarketMasters Funds are a series of multi-manager, "best-in-class" funds. The Laudus Mondrian Funds, our newest offering, are sub-advised by Mondrian Investment Partners Limited. About Charles Schwab Investment Management Founded in 1991, Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc., (CSIM) a subsidiary of the Charles Schwab Corporation, is one of the nation's largest asset management companies with over $219 billion in assets under management(1). It is among the country's largest money market fund managers and is the third-largest provider of retail index funds. In addition to managing Schwab proprietary funds, CSIM provides oversight for the institutional-style, sub-advised Laudus Fund family. CSIM currently manages 70 mutual funds, including 33 actively-managed funds, and five separate account model portfolios. About Charles Schwab The Charles Schwab Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services, with more than 306 offices and 6.9 million client brokerage accounts, 1.2 million corporate retirement plan participants, 212,000 banking accounts, and $1.4 trillion in client assets. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of securities brokerage, banking, money management and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, http://www.sipc.org/), and affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through its Schwab Institutional division. The Charles Schwab Bank, N.A. (member FDIC) provides banking and mortgage services and products. CyberTrader(R), Inc. (member SIPC, http://www.sipc.org/) is an electronic trading technology and brokerage firm providing services to highly active, online traders. More information is available at http://www.schwab.com/. About Mondrian Investment Partners Limited Mondrian Investment Partners Limited is a London-based international investment specialist, who manages over $60 billion worldwide(1). They apply a consistent value-oriented, defensive philosophy across all of their strategies, and manage a significant proportion of their assets for U.S. based investors. Traditionally, Mondrian has made its investment management services available to Governments, large institutions and high net worth individuals, serving some of the largest pension funds and endowments in the U.S.

Edited by: Erin Kello

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE