A Midwestern mutual fund entrepreneur and value investing guru is preparing to hand off his flagship mutual fund in what's being characterized by Morningstar as a "very well-planned" transition.

Wallace R. Weitz Weitz Investments Founder, Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Manager

Russell Hubbard of the Omaha World-Herald reports that at the end of 2015 Weitz Investments [profile] founder Wally Weitz, 66, will step down from PMing the $1.1-billion, three-star, silver-rated Weitz Value Fund, leaving it in the hands of current co-PMs Brad Hinton and Dave Perkins. Yet Weitz himself will continue to PM his Partners Value, Partners III Opportunity, and Hickory funds.

Weitz Investments has $6 billion in AUM: Morningstar estimates that as of May 31 it had $5.327 billion in its mutual funds, while BrightScope pegs Weitz' mutual fund AUM at $5.43 billion.

M* mutual fund analyst Kevin McDevitt tells the paper that the transition "has been very well-planned."

"Clients want a succession plan," Weitz tells the Herald. "There has always been a 'hit-by-a-bus' plan, but this reinforces the idea of a long-term succession plan."

Perhaps other fundsters will want to look to Weitz' transition example, given how well both the press and the raters are taking it so far. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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