Updated with correction
Michael Grant will take over leadership of U.S. growth strategies at Calamos Investments, replacing co-Chief Investment Officer David Kalis who is no longer with the money manager, confirmed Jeffrey R. Kelley, senior vice president and head of marketing, in an email Tuesday.
Mr. Grant is a senior vice president with the firm.
Michael Roesler, who was co-lead portfolio manager on the $1.8 billion Calamos Growth Fund with Mr. Kalis, also has left the firm , Mr. Kelley said. Mr. Kelley would not discuss their departures.
“The change in leadership of the U.S. growth strategy demonstrates CEO John Koudounis' and CIO John Calamos' commitment to strengthening our existing capabilities and their continual focus on improving performance for our clients,” said Mr. Kelley in the email.
The Calamos Growth Fund, the largest fund in the $2.3 billion growth strategies group, has underperformed its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Growth index in the one-, three-, five- and 10-year periods. In the year ended Dec. 31, the fund returned -2.13% compared to the benchmark's 7.39%.
Messrs. Kalis and Roesler had been co-managers of the Calamos Growth Fund since 2014.
Mr. Grant joined Calamos in 2015 after his firm, Phineus Partners LP, was acquired by Calamos. He had run a long/short investment strategy that is now part of Calamos.
While Calamos is based in Naperville, Ill., Mr. Grant will continue to operate out of San Francisco.
Calamos, with $18.3 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, has seen its AUM decline over the last several years due to performance problems in various investment strategies. The company, which has reorganized its management several times in the past few years, is in the process of converting to a private company from a publicly traded firm.