American Century Investments Acquires International Equity Value Portfolio Management Team From Lombardia Capital Partners

KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global asset management firm American Century Investments has acquired the portfolio management team responsible for Lombardia Capital Partners' International Equity Value Portfolio, a strategy seeking attractive long-term total returns through a value-focused investment process. The team of Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager Alvin Polit, CFA; Senior Investment Analyst Bert Whitson, CFA; and Senior Investment Analyst Jonathan Veiga, CFA joins American Century on April 10 to manage a strategy utilizing the same approach as the Lombardia strategy.

"Al and his team have generated competitive returns employing a bottom-up, fundamental, deep-value approach to investing in non-U.S. companies," said American Century Co-Chief Investment Officer Victor Zhang. "The addition of a differentiated non-U.S. value strategy to our well-established, high-quality U.S. value suite provides our clients with a full lineup of options. We're excited to welcome the team and look forward to leveraging this new capability for the benefit of our clients."

The Lombardia International Equity Value Portfolio is an actively managed, diversified portfolio of non-U.S. stocks. With a performance track record of 13 years, the Lombardia strategy has $454 million* in assets under management from institutional clients. The portfolio management team invests in stocks of non-U.S. companies that are trading at a significant discount to the team's conservative estimates of intrinsic value. Potential portfolio holdings consist largely of businesses experiencing temporary, company-specific or cyclical setbacks that are priced to be permanent.

"We gravitate toward companies that are out-of-favor, ignored or misunderstood," said Senior Portfolio Manager Alvin Polit. "By taking advantage of depressed valuations, we strive to achieve a favorable outcome for our clients -- the potential for significant long-term excess returns while paying attention to downside risk. We're honored to be joining American Century, a company that has distinguished itself through its investment management expertise and an operating model that results in a positive impact on society." 

Polit noted that American Century's unique ownership structure was one of the things that attracted him to the firm. Each year, more than 40 percent of American Century's dividends are distributed to a medical research organization focused on finding cures and treatments for cancer and other gene-based diseases.

The former Lombardia team joins American Century's U.S. Value Equity discipline, which is comprised of 24 investment professionals and is overseen by its Chief Investment Officer Phil Davidson, CFA. The discipline represents $44.1 billion¹ in assets under management. Earlier this year, Morningstar® named the portfolio management team responsible for American Century Value, Equity Income and Mid Cap Value a finalist for 2016 U.S. Domestic-Stock Fund Manager of the Year. This marks the second time within a three-year period that Morningstar has selected the team as a finalist.    

"Over the past 24 years, since the launch of our first U.S. value-oriented strategy, we have earned a reputation for achieving competitive risk-adjusted performance and aligning our interests with those of our clients," said Davidson. "Al and the team bring a strong track record to the firm and are a welcome addition to the U.S. Value Equity discipline."

Alvin Polit's investment management career spans nearly 30 years. He joined Lombardia in 2011 and has been responsible for managing the firm's International Equity Value strategy, as well as conducting company- and industry-specific research around the globe. Prior to joining Lombardia, Polit was chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Dean Chase Global Value LLC, where he directed the firm's global research efforts and managed international equity value and global value strategies. Polit also served as a portfolio manager and analyst at Brandes Investment Partners LP. He received a bachelor's degree from New York University and is a CFA charterholder.

Bert Whitson joined Lombardia in 2012 as a senior research analyst responsible for conducting fundamental equity research across all sectors for the International Equity Value strategy. Previously, he was a research analyst at Kiitos Capital Management, where he conducted equity research on companies across the globe. Prior to Kiitos, he was a research analyst at Riley Investment Management, focusing on small and micro-cap equity investments. He holds bachelor's degrees in finance and economics from California State University, Long Beach and received a master's degree in business administration from Columbia Business School. Whitson also is a CFA charterholder.

Jonathan Veiga, who joined Lombardia in 2008, has been serving as a research analyst for the International Equity Value strategy. Veiga has been responsible for conducting fundamental equity research across the globe. During his time at Lombardia, he served as an analyst for multiple strategies as both a generalist and sector specialist. Veiga graduated from the University of Southern California, earning a bachelor's degree in business administration. He is a CFA charterholder.

American Century Investments is a leading global asset manager focused on delivering investment results and building long-term client relationships while supporting research that can improve human health and save lives.  Founded in 1958, American Century Investments' 1,300 employees serve investment professionals, institutions, corporations and individual investors from offices in New York; London; Hong Kong; Mountain View, Calif.; and Kansas City, Mo. Jonathan S. Thomas is president and chief executive officer, and Victor Zhang and David MacEwen serve as co-chief investment officers.

Delivering investment results to clients enables American Century Investments to distribute over 40 percent of its dividends to the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, a 500-person, non-profit basic biomedical research organization. The Institute owns more than 40 percent of American Century Investments and has received dividend payments of nearly $1.3 billion since 2000. For more information about American Century Investments, visit www.americancentury.com. 

* Lombardia International Equity Value Portfolio assets as February 28, 2017

¹U.S. Value Equity Discipline assets as of February 28, 2017

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