Portfolio Manager Change for Certain Wells Fargo Advantage Municipal Income Funds
Portfolio manager Julio Bonilla will be leaving Wells Capital Management to pursue other opportunities. Effective March 10, 2010, Mr. Bonilla will no longer serve as co-portfolio manager for the Wells Fargo Advantage Minnesota Tax-Free Fund and the Wells Fargo Advantage Ultra Short-Term Municipal Income Fund. Wells Capital Management is the subadvisor for these Funds.Lyle Fitterer, CFA, CPA, and Wendy Casetta will continue to serve as portfolio managers for the Ultra Short-Term Municipal Income Fund. Mr. Fitterer also serves as the managing director and head of Municipal and Customized Fixed-Income teams at Wells Capital Management. Adrian Van Poppel and Wendy Casetta will continue to serve as portfolio managers for the Minnesota Tax-Free Fund. We believe that the continued service of Mr. Fitterer, Ms. Casetta, and Mr. Van Poppel will result in continuity of the investment process for these products. With the depth of resources available for portfolio management, we do not anticipate any significant disruption to the day-to-day management of the Funds. In 2009, Wells Capital Management increased the depth of its Municipal Fixed-Income teams, aligning resources efficiently and effectively by combining the investment talent from Wells Capital Management and Evergreen InvestmentsSM.
The following questions and answers provide details about the investment teams that support these Funds.
Can you tell me more about Lyle Fitterer, Wendy Casetta, and Adrian Van Poppel?
Portfolio managers Lyle Fitterer, CFA, CPA; Wendy Casetta, and Adrian Van Poppel have an average of 17 years of industry experience (and 50 years of combined experience). Mr. Fitterer has managed the Ultra Short-Term Municipal Income Fund since 2000. Ms. Casetta has managed the Ultra Short-Term Municipal Income Fund since 2005 and the Minnesota Tax-Free Fund since 2008. Mr. Van Poppel has managed the Minnesota Tax-Free Fund since 2005. Going forward, Mr. Fitterer, Ms. Casetta, and Mr. Van Poppel will continue to be responsible for all day-to-day management of the respective Funds’ portfolios.
Following are the biographies for Mr. Fitterer, Ms. Casetta, and Mr. Van Poppel:
- Lyle Fitterer is head of the Tax-Exempt Fixed-Income team at Wells Capital Management, where he manages portfolio teams focused on municipal fixed-income strategies. Mr. Fitterer began his investment industry career in 1989 and joined Wells Capital Management in 2005 after the acquisition of Strong Capital Management. At Strong, he was the director of the municipal fixed-income team beginning in 2000. Previously, he was managing director of Strong’s institutional client services team where he was responsible for overseeing the institutional and intermediary sales organizations. Prior to this, Mr. Fitterer was a member of the Strong taxable fixed-income team for six years, initially as an analyst and trader and then as a portfolio manager specializing in mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. Mr. Fitterer earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of North Dakota. He is a Certified Public Accountant, has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation, and is a member of the CFA Institute.
- Wendy Casetta is a senior research analyst and portfolio manager for the Wells Capital Management Municipal Credit Research team. She joined Wells Capital Management following the acquisition of Strong Capital Management where she held a similar position. Prior to joining Strong, Ms. Casetta was a fixed-income trader and investment associate at Barnett Capital Advisors in Jacksonville, Florida. She began her investment industry career in 1993 as a registered representative at the Nicholas Company in Milwaukee. Ms. Casetta earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of North Florida, Jacksonville.
- Adrian Van Poppel is a portfolio manager for the Wells Capital Management Fixed-Income team, where he manages California, Colorado, Minnesota, and Arizona tax-exempt funds and separate accounts. He joined the firm in 1997, and was responsible for trading cash positions of repurchase agreements and sweeps for mutual funds. Mr. Van Poppel began his investment industry career in 1996. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics from Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California. He is a member of the California Society of Municipal Analysts and the Municipal Bond Club of San Francisco.
Which mutual funds do Mr. Fitterer, Ms. Casetta, and Mr. Van Poppel manage?
Lyle Fitterer- Evergreen Municipal Bond Fund
- Evergreen Short-Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage Intermediate Tax/AMT-Free Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage Municipal Bond Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage Short-Term Municipal Bond Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage Ultra Short-Term Municipal Bond Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage Wisconsin Tax-Free Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage Minnesota Tax-Free Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage Short-Term Municipal Bond Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage Ultra Short-Term Municipal Income Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage California Limited-Term Tax-Free Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage California Tax-Free Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage Colorado Tax-Free Fund
- Wells Fargo Advantage Minnesota Tax-Free Fund
Can you discuss the investment resources of this team?
The Municipal Income team at Wells Capital Management has 21 team members located in San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Charlotte, North Carolina. This is a highly experienced team with the depth of investment experience and industry specialization to effectively execute its investment process. The team includes seven portfolio managers and 14 research analysts.
Will the departure of Mr. Bonilla result in any strategy changes for the Funds?
No. We do not anticipate any changes to the team’s investment philosophy and process. The team is built on a foundation of open and collaborative research, and we expect that principle to continue to drive the team’s process going forward.
In a previous Product Alert, Julio Bonilla was named as the potential portfolio manager for the Wells Fargo Advantage Strategic Municipal Bond Fund (currently the Evergreen Strategic Municipal Bond Fund) after its anticipated reorganization in the third quarter of this year. Who will manage the Fund now?
Pending shareholder approval and the reorganization of the Fund as the Wells Fargo Advantage Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, it is anticipated that Lyle Fitterer and Mathew Kiselak will serve as its portfolio managers. Any further information about the proposed reorganization is expected to be available later in March following the filing of the Fund’s definitive prospectus/proxy statement.
Mathew Kiselak is a portfolio manager at Evergreen Investments and Wells Capital Management. He joined Evergreen Investment Management Company in 2000 and currently serves as a director and senior portfolio manager. He currently is a portfolio manager for 12 Evergreen and six Wells Fargo Advantage municipal fixed-income and money market funds. Previously, Mr. Kiselak was a senior portfolio manager at NationsFunds. Mr. Kiselak has been in the investment management field since 1987. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Pace University.:
Carefully consider a fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. For a current prospectus, containing this and other information, visit www.evergreeninvestments.com for Evergreen Funds. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.
Bond fund values fluctuate in response to the financial condition of individual issuers, general market and economic conditions, and changes in interest rates. In general, when interest rates rise, bond fund values fall and investors may lose principal value. The use of derivatives may reduce returns and/or increase volatility. Active trading results in increased turnover and trading expenses and may generate higher short-term capital gains. Certain investment strategies tend to increase the total risk of an investment (relative to the broader market). The Funds are exposed to municipal securities risk, high-yield securities risk, and nondiversification risk. Consult a Fund's prospectus for additional information on these and other risks. A portion of a Fund's income may be subject to federal, state, and/or local income taxes or the alternative minimum tax (AMT). Any capital gains distributions may be taxable.