Main Street Makeover

Manind Govil brings 11 members of his RS team to OppenheimerFunds’ Main Street portfolios.

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Manind Govil, whose RS Large Cap Alpha Fund was in the top 1 percent of large-cap blended funds from August 2005 to the end of March 2009, left RS Investments, owned by Guardian Life Insurance Co., in March to take the reins of OppenheimerFunds’ Main Street portfolios.

The three funds have relied on a quantitative, or mathematical, approach to investing, but Govil, 39, will add fundamental analysis to the mix. He is bringing the 11 other members of his RS team with him to Oppenheimer, where they will run about $15 billion of the company’s $130 billion in assets. In a sign of the times, Oppenheimer is adding the fundamental screen to the funds in a bid to provide investors with more-consistent returns with less volatility. “In bull markets everyone is a genius,” Govil notes.

“But in a bear market, you see who made blunders and who is a true investor. The team we have built has been through both.”

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