Vanguard Morgan Growth adds two managers

The Vanguard Group Inc. of Malvern, Pa., has added Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC in Boston and Kalmar Investment Advisers in Wilmington, Del., to manage its Vanguard Morgan Growth Fund. The two replace Boston-based Franklin Portfolio Associates LLC in managing about 20% of the $6.4 billion fund. This will be the first Vanguard fund advisory assignment for Frontier, an investment management company that has about $4.8 billion in assets, according to a statement from Vanguard. The firm employs a “fundamental, research-intensive” approach that seeks stocks of mid-sized companies with a combination of growth potential and valuation. Frontier is owned jointly by its management team and Affiliated Managers Group Inc. of Prides Crossing, Mass. Kalmar manages more than $2.7 billion in assets and has served as an investment adviser to Vanguard Explorer Fund since 2005, according to the statement. “Morgan Growth Fund was one of the first Vanguard funds to adopt a multimanager approach, and shareholders have been well-served by the fund’s blending of the distinctive growth strategies of its advisors,” Vanguard chief executive F. William McNabb III said in the statement. “We are confident that the two new firms, with their emphasis on mid-cap stocks, will serve as great complements to the existing advisory team.”