A Foreign Small/Mid-Growth Fund That's Worth a Look
Andrew Daniels: Manning & Napier Rainier International Discovery has some positive attributes and is on our radar. Henrik Strabo, who serves as this fund's lead manager, has more than three decades of foreign-equity experience. He did a good job earlier in his career as the international CIO at American Century and as a manager of the firm's foreign small/mid-growth fund. Strabo, who is supported by two analysts here, favors strong growers that have superior competitive positions, strong financials, and good corporate governance, as well as attractive valuations. He readily invests in emerging-markets stocks that meet his standards, but also focuses further up the market-cap spectrum than many of his foreign small/mid-growth peers. Strabo has led the mutual fund to superior absolute and risk-adjusted results since its March 2012 inception. Finally, Manning & Napier's 2016 acquisition of a majority share in Rainier has not had an impact on the day-to-day management of the strategy. All told, this fund may be worth a look.