"Despite the melding of previously separate entities into a unified brand, the firm continues to have a multiboutique feel to its asset-management complex."

So argue Gretchen Rupp (analyst, multiasset strategies) and Bridget Hughes (associate director of parent/stewardship) of Morningstar's manager research team in their recent "Fund Spy" profile of Ameriprise's asset management arm, Columbia Threadneedle [profile]. M* digs into the culture of Columbia Threadneedle, which earned a C in M*'s book.

The M* column is well worth the read for any Columbia Threadneedle watchers. The mutual fund ratings giant: overviews the last six years of Columbia Threadneedle's "complex history"; highlights how the "global diversification remains a key component to Columbia Threadneedle's growth plans," even as Columbia Threadneedle CEO Ted Truscott and chief investment officer Colin Moore guide the asset manager in "tailoring the brand for local presence"; revisits big changes last year at Columbia's Acorn and Wanger arms; and notes that equity PMs are not required to use the common research platform that Moore helped create and the "central quantitative and risk-management groups."

"We don't tell you what to do, but we make sure you do what you say," Moore says.

"The idea in all this is that Columbia funds should be consistently good, rather than occasionally great," M* writes. "That's a reasonable description of the lineup's recent performance." 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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