Top-Performing PBHG New Opportunities Fund Is Losing Its Manager

Frank "Quint" Slattery, whose (PBNOX Quote)PBHG New Opportunities is the top-returning mutual fund of the past 12 months, is leaving Wayne, Pa.-based PBHG.

The 27-year-old portfolio manager declined to comment on his future plans when reached late Monday. There has been a rash of departures lately by technology fund portfolio managers. Many of them left to go to hedge funds where the potential financial rewards are greater.

Slattery joined PBHG a little more than two years ago as an analyst.

A team led by PBHG chief investment officer Gary Pilgrim, who runs the (PBHGX Quote)PBHG Growth fund, will take over New Opportunities as well as another fund, (PBHEX Quote)Select Equity, which Slattery had run since November.

The $355 million New Opportunities fund, which Slattery piloted since its inception in February 1999, has returned 487% over the past 12 months. In early March, before the recent technology selloff, it was returning a staggering 830% on a 12-month basis.

Though the $1.7 billion Select Equity fund, like New Opportunities, suffered some big losses in the recent technology rout, it continues to show a healthy one-year record, up 120%.

Not surprisingly, those fat returns were achieved mainly through picking technology winners, such as JDS Uniphase (JDSU Quote) and InfoSpace.com(INSP Quote). Those stocks are up 39.4% and 51.1% year to date, respectively, and they're the top holdings of both of Slattery's funds.

New Opportunities has been closed to new investors since last fall.