Business Week Online – To manage a global mutual fund with an opportunistic bent, it can’t hurt to have an international upbringing and experience at a hedge fund. That’s the case with Anne Gudefin, lead portfolio manager of the $8.3 billion Mutual Discovery Fund/A (TEDIX ) since May, 2005. Raised in France and Switzerland, Gudefin studied in Paris and New York and worked for hedge fund Perry Capital before joining Franklin Templeton as an analyst in 2000. When longtime manager David Winters left the fund, Gudefin inherited his title, though she stresses that the departure hasn’t changed the fund’s strategy.
Now based in London, Gudefin runs the fund together with New York-based assistant portfolio manager David Segal. The team draws on research from 15 of the firm’s analysts, who include two specialists in merger arbitrage and four in distressed debt. The other analysts cover business sectors either on a global or regional basis, depending on industry.
Returns for the one-year period were 15.3% as of Dec. 31, 2005, compared with global equity peers’ 10.8% average return. For the last three years, the fund returned 21.6%, annualized, vs. the peers’ 19.1% average. Based on its risk-and-return profile, the fund has earned the highest rank of 5 Stars from Standard & Poor’s.
