HEAD-TO-HEAD: Blackrock versus Capital Group

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MANAGER REVIEW

Both funds are led by experienced managers with access to vast resources.

“But, we’ve noticed that staff turnover has been elevated at the helm of Blackrock GF Global Dynamic in recent years,” said Wolfsetter.

Blackrock GF Global Dynamic is run by the firm’s global allocation investment team, carved out of its flagship global allocation strategy. In April 2019, Blackrock appointed Rick Rieder as lead of the team, and he has strong fixed income credentials and an impressive track record running unconstrained bond strategies, according to Wolfstetter.

The global allocation team consists of around 20 investment professionals, sports a number of long-tenured members and each of the comanagers is strongly aligned with investors through co-investment, she said.

“However, we would like to see the team stabilise as the fund experienced multiple manager changes in recent years,” she warned.

For instance, Dan Chamby, a named co-manager since 2011, retired in March 2020, not long after the retirement in 2017 of Dennis Stattman, the strategy’s co-founder and co-manager since 2006. The fund is now run by and Russ Koesterich.

Capital Group follows a multimanager approach, with the portfolio’s individual sleeves being run by independent managers.

“in contrast to the Blackrock product, the management team’s stability notable,” said Wolfstetter.

Five of the strategy’s seven managers have served together since December 2005. Lead manager Rob Lovelace’s tenure spans two decades and all managers are seasoned, each having been in the industry for at least two decades.

“They also draw on the expertise of more than 100 analysts across Capital Group’s equity subsidiaries,” said Wolfstetter.

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