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Ex-chief of Pioneer Management's value equity team brings similar investment philosophy, style across town
BOSTON - In Boston, it all depends on whom you know.
When Richard Mayo, a founding partner of Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co., said he was leaving to start a hedge fund, Jeremy Grantham, another founding partner and the company's chairman, called Richard Dahlberg. The two have known each other socially for at least 20 years and served together on the investment committee of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children for 12 years.
GMO executives have been talking to Mr. Dahlberg for years about joining their value-- oriented active equity team because Mr. Dahlberg's investment style is so similar.
"Dick Dahlberg is the closest of anyone I know to having the same investment philosophy and style as Dick Mayo," said Mr. Grantham.
Mr. Mayo's departure convinced Mr. Dahlberg to make the cross-town move from Pioneer Management Co., where he headed the value equity team and was portfolio manager of the $3.9 billion Pioneer Value Fund, said Scott Eston, GMO's chief operating officer.
Mr. Dahlberg will be a senior portfolio manager. But he's not a direct replacement for Richard Mayo. Mr. Mayo had passed some of the day-to-day responsibilities of the active U.S. equity division to Ed Choi, senior portfolio manager, but still was very active in portfolio management, said Mr. Eston.
Rather than name a single head of active equities, GMO is reorganizing the department to enable Messrs. Choi and Dahlberg to take a team approach. Mr. Eston said there would be no change in GMO's investment style as a result. Mr. Grantham said Messrs. Choi and Dahlberg already have had a few meetings and "get on like a house afire. Ed is very excited to be working with Dick."
Pioneer has named Andrew Acheson, a portfolio manager, as lead manager of the Pioneer Large Cap Value Fund, although the fund now will be team-managed, stressed Tara Pescatore, a spokeswoman.
Not a big impact
Consultants familiar with GMO, including Sheila Noonan, director of manager research at Capital...