Edward P Owens, CFA, is stepping down as portfolio manager of Vanguard Health Care Fund effective Dec. 31.
Owens, who is retiring, is a senior vice president and partner at Wellington Management Company LLP and has been portfolio manager of the Health Care Fund since its inception in 1984. He is Vanguard's longest-tenured external portfolio manager. The fund is the largest in the global health/biotech category at Vanguard with $22.4 billion in assets.
He was a finalist for Morningstar's Fund Manager of the Year in 2002 and was runner up for the award in 2004. Under his management the fund exceeded the S&P 500 Index and the Lipper Global Health/Biotech Funds average. Owens joined Wellington Management in 1974 and shortly after became the firm's pharmaceutical analyst.
Joan M. Hynes, CFA, associate portfolio manager of the fund, will succeed Owen. She is senior vice president and partner at Wellington Management. She joined the firm 1991 and served on the Health Care Fund management team for nearly 20 years.