MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication
an InvestmentWires' Publication
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MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication |
|
Tuesday, July 16, 2013 Can Marsico Right Itself? So, Marsico Capital [profile] has lost another subadvisor mandate, for an AST growth fund, which had been handed over to Loomis, Sayles [profile]. The news follows a spat of other sub advisor mandate losses, including another AST mandate earlier this month, a large cap growth mandate for Delaware Investments in June, as well as a mandate for Harbor Funds in May. Can this once-mighty equity shop, which boasted $110 billion AUM at its peak and now has less than $20 billion, right itself? Can founder, chief executive and chief investment officer Thomas Marsico turn his company's tides? It's going to be tough, according to Morningstar senior mutual fund analyst Karin Anderson. During an interview with MFWire, Anderson said that Marsico "has really struggled." "The financial future of this company has been questionable at times," she said. One key challenge: Marsico is still dogged by turnover issues over two years old. Anderson, who chronicled the recent troubles of the firm in this article, said that Marsico lost many of their key PMs and many of their originnal analysts between 2010 and 2011. Up to 75 percent of the investment team is now "very new" to the firm. "When your investment team goes through such major shifts and changes, that gets attention," she said. " Marsico's staff has actually been stable for over 18-months, but Anderson says that "we don't have a lot of proof yet that this is going to be a solid and stable team." It also didn't help that when Marsico bought back his company, he used a lot of leverage and has since had to refinance his debt twice, according to Anderson. He was also hurt by not having any fixed income offerings. Now, what subadvisor mandates does Marsico have left? According to Morningstar, they include the following funds: Columbia Marsico 21st Century A Columbia Marsico Flexible Capital A Columbia Marsico Focused Eq A Columbia Marsico Global A Columbia Marsico Growth A Columbia Marsico Intl Opp A Consulting Group International Eq Invst Cornerstone Advisors Glbl Public Eq Inst FDP Ser Marsico Growth FDP Inv A GuideStone Funds Growth Equity GS2 Harbor Global Growth Instl ING Marsico Growth Port S Litman Gregory Masters Intl Instl State Farm International Equity A Legacy SunAmerica Focused Alpha Growth A SunAmerica Focused Alpha Large-Cap A Of course, Marsico's growth and focus funds remain standouts in their respective niches, but the others not-so-much. And subadvisor mandates have always been important to the firm, according to Anderson. Investors' changing appetite back towards stocks might help the firm. "Maybe they'll get some help as investors regain their appetite for equities," she said. Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=44960 Copyright 2013, InvestmentWires, Inc. All Rights Reserved |