We are excited to announce Timothy Fidler,co-portfolio manager of Ariel Focus Fund, will be joining John W. Rogers, Jr. and Matthew F. Sauer as a portfolio manager on Ariel Appreciation Fund. John will remain the lead portfolio manager and final decision-maker.

Tim is one of our strongest independent thinkers, proven in a very meaningful way in the extremely difficult market environment that just occurred. His calm demeanor, clear head, and unwavering commitment to the importance of value versus price were simply extraordinary. Famed investor Warren Buffett has been known to say, “Value investing is like an inoculation—it either takes or it doesn’t.” Tim’s inoculation clearly took. During the market panic, John found himself bringing Tim into the fold for his counsel and expertise related to mid-cap companies.

Adding Tim as a portfolio manager formalizes that role and ensures we are fully leveraging his expertise for our shareholders. We think the addition of Tim to the Rogers/Sauer team is a formidable one—with each individual bringing specific strengths and complementary skill sets that should only make us better!

 

Prior to joining Ariel in 1999, he worked at Morgan Stanley in the asset management area of the firm as a research analyst and then a portfolio manager. Tim received a BA from Northwestern University and earned his MBA from the University of Chicago.