Natixis Turns Away New Investors from Small-Cap Value Offering

The fund was launched on December 31, 1996, and currently has $463 million in assets under management, although Vaughan Nelson Investment Management advises nearly $2.4 billion in this same discipline in total, according to the announcement. The fund will remain open to existing shareholders.

“The best interests of shareholders are central to our decision to close the Vaughan Nelson Small Cap Value Fund to new investors,” said Lee Lahourcade, president and chief executive officer of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management. “Closing the Fund will allow its managers to continue identifying undervalued stocks within the confines of the small-cap universe without creating inefficiencies within the investment management process.”

Fund Management

The fund invests in a diversified portfolio of small-cap stocks managed with Vaughan Nelson focusing on absolute return objectives. It is co-managed by Chris Wallis and Scott Weber of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management, both of whom were named to the fund in 2004, according to the announcement.

Co-managed by Wallis, Weber and colleague Dennis Alff, the Vaughan Nelson Value Opportunity Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by focusing on securities the portfolio managers feel are positioned to deliver attractive absolute returns, according to the firm. Launched in October 2008, the Value Opportunity Fund pursues a bottom-up investment strategy focused on identifying undervalued stocks in the market-capitalization range of $1 billion to $20 billion. Vaughan Nelson advises $700 million in this same discipline in total, according to the announcement.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. The firm has approximately $6.0 billion in assets under management (as of March 31, 2009). An affiliate of Natixis Global Asset Management, Vaughan Nelson manages equity, fixed-income, and balanced portfolios for institutions and high-net-worth clients.