There's a new lead portfolio manager running the Loomis Sayles Growth Fund. The Boston-based Natixis affiliate revealed that Aziz Hamzaogullari joined up yesterday as vice president and head of large cap growth strategies, which includes Loomis Sayles Growth. Three current large cap growth managers, meanwhile, are shifting positions at Loomis Sayles.
Hamzaogullari, who now reports to Lauriann Kloppenburg (Loomis Sayles' chief investment officer of equities), hails most recently from Evergreen Investments, where he served as senior portfolio manager for Evergreen Omega and Evergreen Large Company Growth. He previously worked at Manning & Napier as a portfolio manager and senior equity analyst.
As Hamzaogullari joins Loomis Sayles, current large cap growth portfolio managers Mark Baribeau, Pam Czekanski and Richard Skaggs are all moving to new roles at the company. Baribeau's new role will involve managing "existing opportunistic global equity strategies," Czekanski will shift to the institutional services group and relationship management team as client portfolio manager, and Skaggs' new role is "equity strategist."
Loomis Sayles also stressed that Hamzaogullari's strategy "will become the flagship growth strategy for Loomis Sayles."
"The company will build a team of dedicated large cap growth analysts with a philosophical investment approach consistent with Aziz's," a company statement reads.
Company Press Release
BOSTON - Loomis, Sayles & Company has announced that effective Wednesday, May 19th, Aziz Hamzaogullari, CFA, joined the company as vice president and lead portfolio manager of its large cap growth strategies, including the Loomis Sayles Growth Fund. Aziz joins Loomis Sayles from Evergreen Investments where he was the senior portfolio manager of the Evergreen Omega and Large Company Growth Funds. He will report to Lauriann Kloppenburg, chief investment officer of equities.
The addition of Aziz represents a strategic move by Loomis Sayles to broaden its equity product line-up and offer a domestic large cap growth strategy that appeals to a broad range of institutional and retail clients. Aziz's fundamental analytical orientation, relatively long-term investment time horizon and overall volatility profile should offer the market a compelling strategy in the important large cap growth asset class. He approaches valuation with an eye towards identifying companies with sustainable competitive advantages that are priced at a discount to intrinsic value. Aziz's process typically leads to companies with strong business franchises and structural advantages that are poised to capitalize on long-term secular trends. This new approach will aim to provide clients with excess return opportunities with a less volatile return pattern than the previous offering.
Simultaneously, the management team of the current large cap growth strategy will be realigned in other strategic positions focused on growing the company's global equity presence. Portfolio manager Mark Baribeau will dedicate his talents to managing existing opportunistic global equity strategies which have experienced growing market interest. These strategies are the beginning of what the company expects to be a range of global equity offerings. Portfolio manager Richard Skaggs will take on a new senior position at Loomis Sayles – equity strategist. Richard currently sits on the macro strategy team at the company level and will work closely with our equity investment teams on navigating the markets. Pam Czekanski becomes client portfolio manager within the Institutional Services group and relationship management team. Her expertise and history working with sophisticated institutional clients on both the fixed and equity sides of the business and her experience as both a fixed income and equity portfolio manager will be invaluable to our clients.
The large cap growth strategy managed by Aziz will become the flagship growth strategy for Loomis Sayles and the company will concentrate its resources and marketing efforts around the product in this highly competitive asset class. The company will build a team of dedicated large cap growth analysts with a philosophical investment approach consistent with Aziz's. His team will be supported by Loomis Sayles' deep research resources – including global sector analysts, the quantitative research and risk management team and a dedicated product management team.
Aziz joined Evergreen in 2001, and was promoted to director of research in 2003 and portfolio manager in 2006. He was head of Evergreen's Berkeley Street Growth Equity team and was the founder of the research and investment process before joining Loomis Sayles. Prior to joining Evergreen, Aziz was a senior equity analyst and portfolio manager for Manning & Napier Advisors. He received a BS from Bilkent University, Turkey, and an MBA from George Washington University. He has been working in the investment management industry since 1993.
About Loomis Sayles
Since 1926, Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. has served the investment needs of institutional and mutual fund clients. As performance-driven investors seeking exceptional opportunities, Loomis Sayles employs actively managed disciplines that combine fundamental research, systematic risk assessment and experienced portfolio management. This rich tradition has earned Loomis Sayles the trust and respect of clients worldwide, for whom it manages more than $145 billion in equity and fixed income assets as of March 31, 2010.
Before investing, consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. Please visit loomissayles.com or call 800-225-5478 for a prospectus and/or a summary prospectus containing this and other information. Read it carefully.
Natixis Distributors, L.P. (Fund Distributor) and Loomis Sayles are affiliated.
Natixis Distributors, L.P. 399 Boylston St. Boston, MA 02116
Subscribe to MFWire.com's News Alerts [click]
Email & Route 
Print 
Raw XML
