David Dreman to step down as co-chief investment officer

David Dreman, the fund manager best known for against-the-grain bets on stocks he deems cheap, will step down as co-chief investment officer of Dreman Value Management LLC. E. Clifton Hoover, who joined the firm in 2006 as co-chief investment officer, co-director of research and managing director, will succeed Dreman, 74, the company said today in a statement. Dreman, who founded the Jersey City, New Jersey-based firm in 1977, will stay on as chairman and as a member of the investment committee. Hoover on Oct. 31 will take over as sole investment chief, with responsibility for $5 billion in assets. He joined the firm four years ago from NFJ Investment Group LP in Dallas, where he oversaw large and small-company stocks. “This succession plan has been several years in development,” Dreman said in today’s statement. Dreman will continue to manage the $77.5 million Dreman High Opportunity Fund and the $7.26 million Dreman Market Over- Reaction Fund. The High Opportunity Fund rose 30 percent in 2009, beating 81 percent of its peers, Bloomberg data show. The fund slumped 45 percent during the financial crisis of 2008, as bets on financial-company stocks backfired. Dreman is the author of several books on investing, including “Contrarian Investment Strategies: The New Generation” (Simon & Schuster, 1998).