Alternatives Fund Manager of the Year
Robert T. Jones and Ali Motamed, Boston Partners Long/Short Equity. Jones took the reins at Boston Partners Long/Short Equity in 2004, and Motamed has been with the fund since 2003 and was named a portfolio manager in 2013. Morningstar recently upgraded the fund’s analyst rating to silver from bronze, with positive ratings for four of the five pillars. The fund has shown solid long-term performance, and its alpha generation, or outperformance relative to its level of market risk as measured by beta, was particularly attractive from 2008 through 2014, Morningstar says.
Allocation Fund Manager of the Year
Anne Lester and team, JPMorgan SmartRetirement Target-date Series. Lester has led the JPMorgan SmartRetirement team since the series’ inception in 2006, and all of the fund’s managers have spent their investment careers at J.P. Morgan. The series’ glide path has a more conservative bent and is more diversified than many of its peers. With a silver Morningstar analyst rating, the series also has positive ratings for all five pillars.