Zenith was informed last week that the Portfolio Manager of the EQT Wholesale Mortgage Income Fund, John Terlikar has passed away suddenly after a short illness.
Terlikar was wholly responsible for the operational management of the Fund having taken over sole responsibility in 2012, replacing former Portfolio Manager Joe Aszodi who retired having run the fund for the proceeding 12 years. In the wake of the sudden loss of Terlikar, Aszodi has agreed to return to EQT on a provisional basis to resume his old role until a suitable replacement can be found.
Zenith’s View
Given his senior role, the untimely passing of John Terlikar obviously represents a critical event and the Fund is fortunate that it can call upon the services of Aszodi as a temporary replacement.
Zenith has interviewed Aszodi in the past and has holds very strong conviction in his abilities and that of the broader business in terms of running the Fund as a highly conservative operation.
Given the nature of mortgage portfolio management and the broader EQT business, Zenith does not anticipate any material short term impact to the Fund at this time.
However Aszodi’s return can only be provisional and we note that he will only be working on a part time basis. The calibre of the replacement Portfolio Manager will be paramount to the Fund’s long term success and while Zenith has elected to retain their rating on the Fund in the short term we will maintain a heightened watch on the Fund.
We have informed EQT that we intend to conduct a thorough review of the Fund once a permanent replacement is appointed to determine our ratings outlook going forward. In the meantime, while Zenith retains the Fund’s rating of RECOMMENDED we advise that investors may wish to consider not adding any new client monies to the Fund until the outcome of the succession plan is made clearer.
Zenith extends their sympathies to John’s family, friends and colleagues.