Brendan McDermid/Reuters
- The “Warren Buffett of Bonds” is stepping back from managing portfolios.
- Dan Fuss, the 87-year-old comanager of Loomis Sayles’ flagship $9.1 billion bond fund, will shift to a senior advisor role in March and remain a top executive at the firm.
- Buffett and Fuss are both known for their exhaustive analyses of potential investments, market-beating returns over several decades, and eagerness to seek out opportunities during crises.
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An 87-year-old investor nicknamed the “Warren Buffett of bonds” is taking a step back from managing portfolios. However, like his 90-year-old namesake, he isn’t ready to retire just yet.
Dan Fuss will celebrate his 45th year with Loomis Sayles next March. He will mark the milestone by ceasing to co-manage the investment firm’s flagship $9.1 billion bond fund or any of its mutual or offshore funds, Loomis Sayles announced on its website.
Fuss will remain a senior advisor, vice chairman, executive vice president, and board member at the firm.
There are several similarities between Fuss and Buffett beyond their ages. Buffett also hasn't retired as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO and chairman, but he has handed off much of the day-to-day supervision of the company's scores of businesses to two lieutenants, and hired two deputies to help him manage Berkshire's stock portfolio.
Both men also conduct in-depth, fundamental assessments of prospective investments. Fuss has compared his analysis of the credit risks of different bonds to stockpicking, according to Bloomberg.
The fixed-income guru has also delivered an 8.4% annualized return in Loomis Sayles' main bond fund since it launched in 1991, joining Buffett in outperfoming his peers over the long run.
Moreover, Fuss warned leveraged buyouts were a bubble a year before Lehman Brothers collapsed, Bloomberg said. He was also a calming influence during the 2008 financial crisis, urging traders to find opportunities in the mayhem, Loomis Sayles CEO Kevin Charleston told Bloomberg.
Similarly, Buffett has sounded the alarm on unsustainable valuations several times over the years. He also followed his own advice to "be greedy when others are fearful" during the financial crisis, investing billions into the likes of Goldman Sachs and General Electric on lucrative terms for Berkshire.
Fuss and Buffett may focus on different asset classes, but their shared passion for their work has kept them going long after most people in their generation have retired.