Fund Times: Another Manager Leaves Janus

Sohn, who joined Janus as an equity analyst in 1998 and quickly rose through ranks, ran Growth and Income for three years and Fundamental Equity for two years. During his short tenure, Sohn molded these funds into promising large-blend offerings. We named him one of four rising stars of the mutual fund world in a recent Fund Spy.

Marc Pinto, comanager of Janus Balanced (NASDAQ: - ), will succeed Sohn on Growth and Income. He has led the equity piece of Janus Balanced since 2005 and has been with the firm since 1994. Janus will seek shareholder and board approval to merge Fundamental Equity into the analyst-run Janus Research (NASDAQ: - ). In the interim, the firm's head of research, Jim Goff, will run Fundamental Equity with Janus' equity research team.

Janus' struggle to retain talent is troubling. Sohn's departure follows two other significant manager departures. Janus Fund's (NASDAQ: - ) veteran manager, David Corkins, resigned a week ago, and Janus Twenty's (NASDAQ: - ) longtime manager, Scott Schoelzel, said in August that he will leave at the end of this year. Also, Janus Global Technology's (NASDAQ: - ) Brad Slingerlend and Janus Global Life Science's (NASDAQ: - ) Tom Malley both left in May. Overall, Janus' bench of experienced managers is growing dangerously thin.

Aston Launches Five Subadvised Funds
Aston Asset Management recently added five funds--two international and three mid-cap stock--to its lineup: Aston/Barings International, Aston/SGA International Small-Mid Cap, Aston/Montag & Caldwell Mid Cap Growth, Aston/ClariVest Mid Cap Growth, and Aston/Cardinal Mid Cap Value. Aston/Barings International will be subadvised by Baring Asset Management, which will utilize a growth-at-a-reasonable-price approach. Aston/SGA International Small-Mid Cap will be subadvised by quant shop Strategic Global Advisors. Aston will also expand its existing relationship with Montag & Caldwell through the introduction of the fundamentally driven Aston/Montag & Caldwell Mid Cap Growth. ClariVest Asset Management will utilize a quantitative approach, and Cardinal Capital Management will use a fundamental approach. These latest additions bring Aston's fund lineup to 27.

Legg Mason Value to Expand Holdings
In his latest letter to shareholders, Legg Mason Value (NASDAQ: - ) guru Bill Miller says he will expand portfolio holdings for Legg Mason Value, the firm's flagship fund. Miller's reason behind this planned expansion is to reduce risk as valuations are relatively flat across industries. Although he did not indicate the degree of this expansion, he has written that the Value portfolio will "own more stocks, and in new industries." The veteran manager also plans to reduce weightings of the fund's top-10 holdings to lower security-specific risk and free up funding for new portfolio holdings.

Muni Manager Leaves Vanguard, Prompting Manager Shuffle
Christopher Ryon, manager of five Vanguard muni-bond funds, has left the firm to pursue other interests. Veteran muni manager Reid Smith has replaced him on Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt (NASDAQ: - ), Vanguard Long-Term Tax-Exempt (NASDAQ: - ), and the bond portion of Vanguard Tax-Managed Balanced (NASDAQ: - ). John Carbone has assumed management responsibilities for Vanguard New York Long-Term Tax-Exempt (NASDAQ: - ) and Vanguard Massachusetts Tax-Exempt (NASDAQ: - ). He currently manages six other Vanguard state muni funds.

Northern Trust Readies Its First ETFs
Northern Trust is seeking to get into the ETF marketplace. The Chicago-based firm recently filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission for 27 ETFs that will be branded as "NETS." Northern Trust filed for 20 country-specific funds, four REIT funds, and three global funds. It is unknown how these ETFs will compete costwise with those of the market's largest players, Barclays, State Street, Vanguard, and Bank of New York.

PowerShares Plans New "ETFs-of-ETFs"
PowerShares is breaking into new ETF territory. It recently filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission for three ETFs that will invest primarily in other ETFs. They'll be named PowerShares Autonomic Growth NFA Global Asset Portfolio, PowerShares Autonomic Balanced Growth NFA Global Asset Portfolio, and PowerShares Autonomic Balanced NFA Global Asset Portfolio. These funds will track New Frontier Global Dynamic indexes, which are composed of PowerShares funds investing in domestic stock, international stock, commodities, fixed income, and real estate. The costs of these ETFs have yet to be disclosed.

Capital Gains Distribution Announcements
It's that time of the year again: Funds are announcing their projected year-end income and capital gain distributions. Osterweis Fund (NASDAQ: - ), a mid-blend Analyst Pick, estimates that it will make a total distribution of $0.45 per share ($0.09 in ordinary income, $0.03 in short-term gains, and $0.33 in long-term gains) on Dec. 13 to investors of record as of Dec. 12. Osterweis Strategic Income (NASDAQ: - ) will make an estimated total distribution of $0.08 per share ($0.01 in ordinary income, $0.05 in short-term gains, and $0.02 in long-term gains) on Dec. 31 to investors of record as of Dec. 28. ETF-shop WisdomTree Asset Management said its WisdomTree Total Dividend (NYSEArca: - ) will pay an estimated $0.01 per share.

Regardless of whether shareholders reinvest all or part of their distributions, they'll still have to pay taxes on them in the spring. Income from bonds and short-term capital gain distributions are generally taxed at an investor's nominal tax rate. However, qualified dividends--income from corporate stock dividends--and long-term capital gain distributions are taxed at a lower rate of 15%.

Wenli Tan does not own shares in any of the securities mentioned above.