Due to the impending retirement of long-time manager and Mackenzie Investments chief global investment strategist Frederick Sturm, Ivy Funds [profile] is switching things up.

The Overland Park, Kansas-based firm previously saw Sturm as portfolio manager of the subadvised Ivy Global Natural Resources Fund. Going forward, the company will internalize the management of that fund and make a key portfolio manager change.

TheIvy Global Natural Resources Fund, which had $2.4 billion in AUM as of March 31, will be managed by David Ginther, who has been with the company since 1995, and manages the Ivy Energy Fund and the Waddell & Reed Advisors Energy Fund.

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Company Press Release

Ivy Funds Announces Portfolio Manager Changes

Long-time manager Sturm announces retirement Ginther named manager of Ivy Global Natural Resources Fund Prince-Fox takes over Ivy Dividend Opportunities Fund

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-- Ivy Funds announced today that, as a result of the planned retirement of Frederick Sturm as portfolio manager of the subadvised Ivy Global Natural Resources Fund, it will internalize the management of that fund and make the following portfolio manager changes, effective immediately: 

Ivy Global Natural Resources Fund will be managed by David Ginther, who also manages the Ivy Energy Fund and Waddell & Reed Advisors Energy Fund. Ginther has 18 years of investment industry experience and has been with the Waddell & Reed/Ivy Funds organization since 1995. 

Ivy Dividend Opportunities Fund and Waddell & Reed Advisors Dividend Opportunities Fund, previously managed by Ginther, will be managed by Cynthia Prince-Fox, a 30-year industry veteran who also manages Ivy Balanced Fund and Waddell & Reed Advisors Continental Income Fund. 

Sturm, 53, who had been portfolio manager of Ivy Global Natural Resources Fund since its inception in 1997, is also chief global investment strategist at Mackenzie Investments, subadvisor to the fund. With 32 years of experience, Sturm was a driving force behind the growth of Ivy Global Natural Resources over its history. The Fund had approximately $2.4 billion in total assets at March 31, 2013. 

Ivy Funds executives noted that the firm retains a strong and important relationship with Mackenzie Investments overall, as Mackenzie continues to subadvise Ivy Cundill Global Value Fund, and Ivy Investment Management Company is a subadvisor for Mackenzie across five different asset categories. 

 “Fred has been a tremendous steward of the Global Natural Resources Fund for many years, a great partner to the Ivy Funds, and we have benefitted from his commitment and insight. We wish him the very best in his retirement,” said Henry Herrmann, CEO of Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. “We will put the expertise we have internally, through David Ginther, to work on the Global Natural Resources Fund, while expanding Cynthia Prince-Fox’s role with the Dividend Opportunities Funds.” 

 Herrmann noted that Ginther is particularly well-suited to assume the reigns of Ivy Global Natural Resources Fund, having started his career as an energy analyst and having spent the last seven years as manager of the Ivy and Waddell & Reed Advisors Energy Funds. Prince-Fox’s three decades of experience, with a focus on large domestic high-quality companies that typically pay dividends, provides strong background for work with the Ivy and Waddell & Reed Advisors Dividend Opportunities Funds, he said. 

“Fred has been a great friend and advocate of the Ivy Funds since our early days together. He has left a strong legacy here as we maintain our key partnership with Mackenzie,” said Thomas W. Butch, president and CEO of Ivy Funds Distributor, Inc. “Today’s portfolio management changes keep our investors in very good hands and align well with our ongoing product initiatives.” 

 The above management changes also carry over to the related Global Natural Resources and Dividend Opportunities portfolios within the Ivy Funds Variable Insurance Portfolios family. The Ivy Funds offer a broad fund lineup covering all major asset categories, including international and domestic equity funds, asset allocation funds, sector funds, fixed-income funds and a money market fund. 

Both Ivy Funds Distributor, Inc. and Waddell & Reed, Inc. are affiliates of Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. (WDR). Ivy Funds are offered through the company’s wholesale channel, which includes national and regional broker/dealers, registered investment advisors and retirement platforms. The Waddell & Reed Advisors Funds are offered through Waddell & Reed financial advisors, the company’s network of personal financial planners with offices around the country. 

Ivy Funds Variable Insurance Portfolios are only available as investment options in variable life insurance policies and variable annuity contracts issued by participating insurance companies. They are not offered or made available directly to the general public.

 

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