One of TCW Group's four equity teams has signed on to stay with the firm, sources said.
Craig Blum, group managing director of U.S. equities and portfolio manager of TCW's Concentrated Core equity strategy, agreed to a new five-year contract in exchange for increasing his equity stake in the firm while also receiving smaller up-front cash compensation, the sources said. Mr. Blum's team will stay with him.
TCW officials continue to negotiate with leaders of the other three equities teams, sources said: Diane Jaffee a senior portfolio manager in charge of the money manager's value strategies; Brendt Stallings and Hazar Nazar, portfolio managers of the small-cap growth and smidcap growth strategies; and John Snider and Tom McKissick, managers of the TCW Large Cap Value Strategies.
Equities make up about $20 billion of TCW's assets, with Mr. Blum and Ms. Jaffe's team managing the bulk of the money, but a breakout for Mr. Blum's team could not be learned.
Earlier, fixed-income portfolio managers who run 90%, or more than $75 billion, of the firm's actively managed assets agreed to remain with the firm, accepting an increased equity ownership in the firm as part of a management buyout financed by The Carlyle Group that was announced in early August.
The 90% sign-on was agreed to by key members of TCW's fixed-income teams.
The equity team negotiations continue as Jeffrey Gundlach, founder of TCW rival DoubleLine Capital, said in a Sept. 12 company webcast that his firm was considering expanding into equities, fueling speculation the former TCW star money manager was looking to poach a team from his old firm.
“We're looking at a couple of equity teams to bring on board to diversify and to offer other funds ultimately as we move forward,” Mr. Gundlach said in the webcast.
TCW spokesman Peter Viles said in a statement to Pensions & Investments: “We are pleased that portfolio managers who represent roughly 90% of TCW's actively managed assets have entered into new long-term agreements to participate in the Carlyle transactions, “he said. “We continue to have productive discussions with other key TCW employees about participating in the transaction.”
The management buyout of TCW is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013. The firm managed a total of $130 billion as of Aug. 31.
