Harris Associates L.P., adviser to the Oakmark Funds and an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, announced portfolio manager changes to the Oakmark Equity and Income Fund, Oakmark Global Fund, Oakmark Global Select Fund, Oakmark Fund, and Oakmark Select Fund.
Effective December 31, 2023, Clyde McGregor will be transitioning his portfolio management duties and stepping off the Oakmark Equity and Income Fund and the Oakmark Global Fund. Mr. McGregor will remain with Harris Associates as an investment leader and portfolio manager in the firm’s Private Wealth Management business.
As part of Mr. McGregor’s upcoming portfolio transition, Harris Associates is pleased to announce the appointment of the following individuals to co-portfolio manager roles for the Oakmark Funds, effective August 1, 2022.
Michael Nicolas and Alex Fitch will join Clyde McGregor, Colin Hudson and Adam Abbas as co-portfolio managers of the Oakmark Equity and Income Fund. Mr. Nicolas joined Harris Associates in 2013. He has been a co-portfolio manager of the Oakmark Fund since 2020. Mr. Fitch joined Harris Associates in 2011 and is the director of U.S. research.
Colin Hudson and John Sitarz will be named co-portfolio managers of the Oakmark Global Fund with David Herro, Tony Coniaris, Clyde McGregor and Jason Long. Mr. Hudson joined Harris Associates in 2005. He has been a co-portfolio manager of the Oakmark Bond Fund since 2020 and the Oakmark Equity and Income Fund since 2013 and has served on the institutional Global and Global Concentrated Strategy teams since 2012. He is also the co-head of fixed income at Harris Associates. Mr. Sitarz joined Harris Associates in 2013 and has served as a U.S. research analyst.
“First, I’d like to thank Clyde for his immense contribution to the Oakmark Funds,” said Tony Coniaris, chairman and portfolio manager. “Good succession planning requires a plan and a deep bench. In this case, Harris Associates and the Oakmark Funds have the luxury of both. We believe these manager additions strengthen our team and best position our clients for success over the next decade and beyond.”
Harris Associates is also pleased to announce the following manager appointments: Colin Hudson and John Sitarz will be named co-portfolio managers of the Oakmark Global Select Fund with David Herro, Bill Nygren, Tony Coniaris and Eric Liu.
Robert Bierig will be added as a co-portfolio manager to the Oakmark Fund with Bill Nygren and Michael Nicolas. Mr. Bierig joined Harris Associates in 2012 and is a portfolio manager for several of Harris Associates’ investment strategies.
Robert Bierig and Alex Fitch will become co-portfolio managers of the Oakmark Select Fund alongside Bill Nygren and Tony Coniaris.
“The Oakmark Funds’ strong performance track records have been primarily due to the strength of our teams—and these additions make the teams stronger than ever,” said Bill Nygren, chief investment officer-U.S. equities and portfolio manager. “These individuals, as research analysts, have been contributing to our success for years, and our expectation is that their skill will continue benefitting our shareholders for many years to come.”
The new appointments better align portfolio management teams across the business. To that end, Bill Nygren will be transitioning his global portfolio management responsibilities to focus on domestic portfolios. As a result, he will be stepping off the Oakmark Global Select Fund, effective at the end of 2023. Mr. Nygren will continue as chief investment officer-U.S. equities and co-portfolio manager of the Oakmark Fund and the Oakmark Select Fund.
Tony Coniaris will provide continuity on global portfolios alongside David Herro and the global team. Mr. Coniaris will remain a co-portfolio manager of the Oakmark Global Fund and the Oakmark Global Select Fund. In light of these responsibilities, he will be stepping off the Oakmark Select Fund, effective at the end of 2023.
The Oakmark, Oakmark Equity and Income and Oakmark Global Funds’ portfolios tend to be invested in a relatively small number of stocks. As a result, the appreciation or depreciation of any one security held by the Fund will have a greater impact on the Funds’ net asset value than it would if the Fund invested in a larger number of securities. Although that strategy has the potential to generate attractive returns over time, it also increases the Funds’ volatility.
Because the Oakmark Select Fund and Oakmark Global Select Fund are non-diversified, the performance of each holding will have a greater impact on the fund’s total return, and may make the fund’s returns more volatile than a more diversified fund.
Oakmark Select Fund: The stocks of medium-sized companies tend to be more volatile than those of large companies and have underperformed the stocks of small and large companies during some periods.
The Oakmark Equity and Income Fund invests in medium- and lower-quality debt securities that have higher yield potential but present greater investment and credit risk than higher-quality securities. These risks may result in greater share price volatility. An economic downturn could severely disrupt the market in medium or lower grade debt securities and adversely affect the value of outstanding bonds and the ability of the issuers to repay principal and interest.
Oakmark Equity and Income Fund: The stocks of medium-sized companies tend to be more volatile than those of large companies and have underperformed the stocks of small and large companies during some periods.
Investing in foreign securities presents risks that in some ways may be greater than U.S. investments. Those risks include: currency fluctuation; different regulation, accounting standards, trading practices and levels of available information; generally higher transaction costs; and political risks.
Investing in value stocks presents the risk that value stocks may fall out of favor with investors and underperform growth stocks during given periods.
Before investing in any Oakmark Fund, you should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, management fees and other expenses. This and other important information is contained in a Fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus. Please read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing. For more information, please call 1-800-OAKMARK (625-6275).
