A star retiring portfolio manager at a Big Apple fund firm won a big award this week from a Windy City investment research firm. Yet another category of the award is on ice, or at least on break.

Yesterday, Tim Strauts, head of manager research in North America for Morningstar, and Todd Trubey, senior manager research analyst, revealed that Clare Hart, managing director at J.P. Morgan Asset Management [profile], is the winner of Morningstar's 2024 "Outstanding Portfolio Manager" award in the U.S. The award is part of the Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence, and this year Hart's award appears to be the only one being given out in the U.S.

Hart, a 32-year industry veteran and 25-year JPMAM veteran, serves as a portfolio manager to a $52.42-billion trio of funds: the $1.12-billion JPMorgan Active Value ETF (JAVA), the $5.69-billion JPMorgan U.S. Value Fund, and the $45.61-billion JPMorgan Equity Income Fund. She has PMed the latter two funds for 20 years, and M*'s recognition comes after JPMAM revealed eight months ago that Hart will retire from the asset manager in the fall of 2024.

In honoring Hart, the M* team zooms in on her work on one fund in particular.

"In Clare's two-decade tenure leading JPMorgan Equity Income, she has employed a prudent investment approach with investors' best interests in mind," states Trubey. "Clare built a fund that is easy to own and has navigated bear markets well. With her retirement this fall, she is leaving a legacy marked by exceptional stewardship for investors."

Hart's victory comes after the M* team revealed the three Outstanding Portfolio Manager nominees last week. The other two nominees were: Ford O'Neil, PM of the Fidelity Total Bond Fund; and the team powering the Natixis' Loomis Sayles Global Allocation Fund.

Meanwhile, there will be no winner this year of M*'s Investing Excellence firm-level award, for Exemplary Stewardship. Yet that doesn't mean that the stewardship award is gone for good.

"The Exemplary Stewardship award evaluates the actions of a firm over a number of years. In keeping with our commitment to a long evaluation period, we decided not to present the award this year," states Michael Claussen, an M* spokesperson. "Moving forward, Morningstar will continue to recognize firms that practice exemplary stewardship, adjusting the cadence to mirror the long-term nature of our assessment."

Hart's award was the sixth annual U.S. Outstanding Portfolio Manager" Award for Investing Excellence from M*. The M* team launched the Awards for Investing Excellence in 2019 as the three-category successor to another program, and in 2022 they narrowed the awards to two categories. 

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