Milwaukee-based investment firm Artisan Partners plans to split its global value team as of October 1, the company announced Monday. Several employees are being promoted as part of the restructure.
Artisan announced Monday that its global value team will “evolve” into two separate groups: one will become its international value team — which invests outside of U.S. markets — the other its global value team, which can access U.S. assets.
“By separating into two distinct teams, each investment strategy will have a larger opportunity set for investment, and we expect execution to be more efficient,” said Daniel O’Keefe, head of the firm’s global value portfolios, in a statement.
Creating two separate investment teams will broaden the client base and make execution more efficient, according to a letter written by O’Keefe and David Samra, lead portfolio manager for the non-U.S. value portfolios, and provided to Institutional Investor by a spokesperson for Artisan. The move aims to make Artisan more nimble, the letter said.
Samra will work as lead portfolio manager for the non-U.S. international value portfolios, according to Artisan’s announcement. Ian McGonigle and Joseph Vari will work as co-portfolio managers. Meanwhile, O’Keefe will remain the lead portfolio manager for the global value portfolios. Justin Bandy and Michael McKinnon will join O’Keefe as co-portfolio managers for those funds. According to the announcement, those taking on the co-portfolio manager role will have “increased research oversight responsibilities,” but final decisions will be approved by O’Keefe and Samra.
“These steps are the result of thoughtful planning and consideration between the investment team and the firm’s senior management,” said Artisan chief executive officer Eric Colson in a statement. “They are a natural reflection of the team’s commitment to optimizing talent and investment flexibility for the benefit of clients.”
Investment philosophy and process will remain the same on each team, according to the firm, although the two funds will be distinct beyond the inclusion of U.S. assets.
The global value fund has between 30 and 50 holdings in companies with market capitalizations of $2 billion or more. Position size is generally capped at 5 percent and exposure to emerging markets limited to 30 percent, firm documents showed.
Meanwhile, the international value fund has between 40 and 60 holdings, a maximum of 35 percent of the portfolio allocated to any one country, and a maximum of 30 percent invested in emerging markets.
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According to Artisan’s website, the firm managed a total of $117.1 billion on July 31. Of that, the global value team managed $42.2 billion, according to a spokesperson for the firm.
“The tenure and experience of our senior investment talent creates the opportunity to manage two investment teams with the direct results of increasing investment flexibility and better serving clients and shareholders over the long term,” Samra said in a statement. “By separating into two distinct teams, each investment strategy will have a larger opportunity set for investment, and we expect execution to be more efficient.”
