TheStreet.com Ratings: Betting On a New Manager

The two municipal bond funds fared better; the (ETNYX Quote)Eaton Vance New York Muni Fund (ETNYX) handily outdistanced the Lehman Brothers Muni index for the period, while the performance of the (PCMBX Quote)PIMCO California Intermediate Muni Bond Fund (PCMBX) fell just short of this gauge.

While this class hasn't had much success to date, there's still a revolving door for fund managers. The table below lists management changes between November 2006 and January 2007 for funds that were in "sell" territory, as measured by their TSC Ratings grades, at the time of the changes.

Starting With a Clean State Funds with recent manager changes
FUND	TICKER	MANAGER START DATE	PREV. TSC GRADE*	2/28/2007 TSC GRADE	YEAR- TO-DATE RET'N (%)**
Tocqueville Small Cap Val Fund	TSCVX	1/1/2007	E-	E-	2.30
STI Classic Lrg Cap Quant Eqty A	SQEAX	12/4/2006	D+	D+	1.25
Northern Trust US Govt	NOUGX	11/1/2006	D-	D-	1.12
Northern Trust Short-Int U.S. Govt	NSIUX	11/1/2006	D	D+	1.01
Northern Trust Midcap Growth	NOMCX	11/1/2006	D-	D	3.62
Northern Instl Mid Cap Growth A	BMGRX	11/6/2006	D-	D	3.52
Legg Mason Prt Social Awareness A	SSIAX	12/28/2006	D-	D-	-0.77
Gartmore Glbl Health Sci A	GLSAX	11/6/2006	D-	E+	1.18
Fidelity Fifty Fund	FFTYX	11/9/2006	D	C-	2.07
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth	FBGRX	11/9/2006	D	D	-0.97
Fidelity Adv Equity Growth A	EPGAX	11/9/2006	D-	E	0.39
Columbia Core Bond Fund A	LQPAX	11/27/2006	E-	E-	1.43
Columbia Asset Allocation Fund A	LAAAX	11/1/2006	D+	D+	0.89
American Century CA Lg Term T/F	BCLTX	1/1/2007	D	C+	1.14
COMPARATIVE INDICES
Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond					1.50
Russell 2000 Index (Small Cap)					0.87
S&P 500 Composite Total Return					-0.47
S&P 400 Midcap Total Return					4.39
* TheStreet.com Ratings grade at time of manager change. ** Through 2/28/2007. Source: TheStreet.com Ratings

While it may be too early to draw any conclusions, the early indications from the newer crop of managers are encouraging. All but two of the equity funds have outperformed the S&P 500 so far this year. In fact, (FFTYX Quote)Fidelity Fifty Fund's (FFTYX) Peter Saperstone has edged his fund from a "D" when he took the helm to a "C-minus" that equates with a "hold" recommendation.

But the best performance so far by a relief pitcher is Christopher Guinther's; he's added 3.52% to the value of the (BMGRX Quote)Northern Institutional Mid Cap Growth Fund (BMGRX) during the opening stretch of 2007.

And while none of the four bond funds has matched the performance of the performance of the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index, Dave MacEwen of the (BCLTX Quote)American Century California Long-Term Tax Free Bond Fund (BCLTX) has elevated his fund to a "C-plus" grade, which elevates it to "hold" status.