Waddell & Reed Financial, and its affiliate Ivy Funds named two veteran managers to its Asset Strategy portfolios, which include mutual funds and institutional accounts.
The two new portfolio managers join Michael Avery in leading the Asset Strategy team, now numbering eight people.
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- Cynthia Prince-Fox, senior vice president and portfolio manager, joins the Asset Strategy team. Prince-Fox joined the firm in 1983 and has 31years of industry experience. At June 30, 2014, she managed approximately $5.3 billion across Ivy Balanced Fund, Ivy Funds VIP Balanced, Ivy Dividend Opportunities Fund, Ivy Funds VIP Dividend Opportunities, Waddell & Reed Advisors Continental Income Fund and Waddell & Reed Advisors Dividend Opportunities Fund.
- Chace Brundige, CFA, senior vice president and portfolio manager, joins the Asset Strategy team. Brundige joined the firm in 1996 and has 21 years of industry experience. At June 30, 2014, he managed approximately $1.6 billion in assets across Ivy International Growth Fund, Ivy Funds VIP International Growth and Waddell & Reed Advisors International Growth Fund.
"The addition of Cynthia and Chace brings a great deal of experience, flexibility and knowledge to the Asset Strategy team. They are very successful and proven portfolio managers, are familiar with our process and are ideally suited to step in and add value to the Asset Strategy portfolios," said Avery, president of Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc., and portfolio manager of the Asset Strategy portfolios.
"Cynthia brings expertise in multiple asset classes, primarily domestic equity and fixed income; Chace brings deep knowledge of international markets, both developed and emerging. Their addition to the team keeps the portfolios in very good hands moving forward."
Avery joined Waddell & Reed in 1981 and has served as co-portfolio manager of the Asset Strategy portfolios since 1997. With the addition of Prince-Fox and Brundige, the Asset Strategy team now includes three portfolio managers, two assistant portfolio managers, two investment analysts and a client portfolio manager, plus support and interaction from the entire investment management organization.
At June 30, 2014, the Asset Strategy portfolios had approximately $44.7 billion in assets under management, including: $35.6 billion in Ivy Asset Strategy Fund; $3.7 billion in Waddell & Reed Advisors Asset Strategy Fund; $1.7 billion in Ivy Funds VIP Asset Strategy; and $3.7 billion in institutional accounts.
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By GlobalDataConcurrently, the firm announced related management changes to other funds in its lineup:
- Matthew A. Hekman, vice president, takes over for Prince-Fox as portfolio manager of Ivy Balanced Fund, Ivy Funds VIP Balanced and Waddell & Reed Advisors Continental Income Fund. Hekman has 16 years of industry experience and has been with the firm for 11 years, bringing strong equity management experience to the Balanced portfolios. He has been a member of the large-cap investment strategy team for more than five years, and an assistant portfolio manager on the large-cap value team for three years. He will be supported by the same equity and fixed-income analyst team that worked in the past with Prince-Fox on the Balanced portfolios.
- Sarah C. Ross, CFA, vice president and portfolio manager, becomes portfolio manager of Ivy International Growth Fund, Ivy Funds VIP International Growth and Waddell & Reed Advisors International Growth, taking over from Brundige. Ross has 18 years of industry experience and is an 11-year veteran at the firm. It is contemplated that these portfolios will be refocused as global growth portfolios in the future. She has been portfolio manager of Ivy Tax-Managed Equity Fund and Waddell
& Reed Advisors Tax-Managed Equity Fund for five years, managing approximately $360 million across those portfolios, as well as a member of the firm’s large-cap growth strategy team for eight years. - Christopher J. Parker, CFA, vice president, is named manager of the Dividend Opportunities portfolios, taking over from Prince-Fox, including Ivy Dividend Opportunities Fund, Ivy Funds VIP Dividend Opportunities, and Waddell & Reed Advisors Dividend Opportunities Fund. Parker has 19 years of industry experience and is a six-year veteran of the firm. For
the last three years, Parker has managed the Ivy Small Cap Value Fund and Ivy Funds VIP Small Cap Value, encompassing approximately $606 million in assets. - Kenneth G. Gau, vice president, is named portfolio manager of Ivy Small Cap Value Fund and Ivy Funds VIP Small Cap Value. Gau has 20 years of industry experience, is an eight-year veteran of the small cap growth team and has been an assistant portfolio manager on the team since 2011.
- Bradley M. Klapmeyer, CFA, vice president, becomes portfolio manager of the Ivy Tax-Managed Equity Fund and Waddell & Reed Advisors Tax-Managed Equity Fund, taking over for Ross. Klapmeyer has 15 years of industry experience and has been with the firm for seven years. He has been an assistant portfolio manager on the large-cap growth strategy team for
three years.
Through its subsidiaries, Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. provides investment management and financial planning services to clients throughout the U.S. The firm had approximately $136 billion in total assets under management at June 30, 2014. Waddell & Reed Investment Management Company serves as investment advisor to the Waddell & Reed Advisors Group of Mutual Funds, Ivy Funds Variable Insurance Portfolios and InvestEd Portfolios, while Ivy Investment Management Company serves as investment advisor to the Ivy Funds.
Waddell & Reed, Inc. serves as principal underwriter and distributor to the Waddell & Reed Advisors Group of Mutual Funds, Ivy Funds Variable Insurance Portfolios, and InvestEd Portfolios, while Ivy Funds Distributor, Inc. serves as principal underwriter and distributor to the Ivy Funds.
