New reporting rules appear to be providing all sorts of useful information, like predicting whether a fund manager is in for the long haul or ready to split. Russel Kinnel of Morningstar notes that based on a year’s worth of information reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the smaller the personal investment in a fund, the greater the likelihood the manager will either retire or move elsewhere. Kinnel – who is quick to point out that it may be too soon to call this a trend as the figures must be checked annually since manager ownership can change – cites three examples in which the manager of some pretty large funds had personal ownership of as little as $10,000, and eventually moved on. Kinnel does acknowledge cases where even big investors have also switched or retired, and suggests further study with more data is needed to draw stronger conclusions.
