Vanguard [profile] has added Stephens Investment Management Group, LLC as investment advisor to the $11.4-billion Vanguard Explorer Fund, which has used a multi-manager structure since 1990 [MFWire Stork and Reaper article]. The addition of Stephens Investment Management Group brings total number of investment advisors on the team to seven.

Richard E. Crane, chief investment officer of SIMG, will serve as a PM to the fund. Stephens will PM a modest portion of the fund's assets. According to Vanguard spokeswoman Emily White, they "expect the firm’s assets under management to grow a substantial percentage." Crane has had eighteen years of investment management experience, and SIMG has more than $1.5 billion in assets under management.

Bill Mcnabb, Vanguard Chairman and CEO, stated, "The firm brings a distinctive small-cap expertise to the fund, which will diversify the advisory team and the portfolio.”

Vanguard as employed a multi-manager approach in funds since 1987. The company finds that the various teams of multi-manager structure compliment each other, which also works to serve shareholders better.

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Company Press Release
VANGUARD EXPLORER FUND ADDS ADVISOR TO ROSTER

VALLEY FORGE, PA (August 12, 2013)—Vanguard today announced the addition of Stephens Investment Management Group, LLC, as an advisor to the $11.4 billion Vanguard Explorer™ Fund. This is the first Vanguard advisory mandate for Stephens, a Little Rock, Arkansas, and Houston, Texas-based investment advisory firm .more than $1.5 billion under management.

“We are pleased to welcome Stephens Investment Management as an advisor to the Explorer Fund, and to our roster of now 30 investment advisory firms from around the world,” said Vanguard Chairman and CEO Bill McNabb. “The firm brings a distinctive small-cap expertise to the fund, which will diversify the advisory team and the portfolio.”

Stephens employs a disciplined, bottom-up investment approach. The firm combines fundamental research with quantitative screening to identify companies that are poised for earnings growth.

Ryan E. Crane, chief investment officer of Stephens, serves as portfolio manager. Mr. Crane, who has 18 years of investment management experience, earned a B.S. from the University of Houston and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Stephens is initially managing a modest amount of the fund, with its portion expected to grow more substantial over time.

The Explorer Fund has employed a multi-manager structure since 1990 and now utilizes seven advisors. As reported in the fund’s April 30, 2013 semiannual report, the allocation of assets among the other advisors was: Wellington Management Company, LLP, 29%; Granahan Investment Management, Inc., 24%;  Kalmar Investment Advisers, 23%; Century Capital Management, 9%; Chartwell Investment Partners, 9%; and Vanguard Equity Investment Group, 4%; with the remaining 2% in cash.

Vanguard first adopted the multi-manager approach in 1987. Nineteen of its 32 actively managed U.S.-domiciled funds currently employ the approach.

 

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