Vanguard Primecap's Milias Relinquishes Portfolio Management Duties

Vanguard announced Tuesday that Mitch Milias, 71, a portfolio manager with the $34.6 billion Vanguard Primecap Fund (VPMCX) and co-founder of Primecap Management Co., will relinquish his portfolio management responsibilities at the end of 2013.

Milias is also giving up management of the $5.6 billion Vanguard Primecap Core Fund and the $554 million Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund’s Capital Growth Portfolio. The co-founder and chairman of Primecap Management, Milias will remain with the firm in a management and client relationship role. He has been a manager of Primecap Fund since 2002 and Primecap Core Fund since its inception in 2004.

The portions of the funds now managed by Milias will be allocated to the funds’ co-managers at Primecap Management, Joel Fried, Theo Kolokotrones, Alfred Mordecai and M. Mohsin Ansari, with 100 years of combined investment management experience. A portion also will be allocated to analysts in the firm’s research department.

“I speak on behalf of Vanguard and our investors in expressing our gratitude to Mitch Milias for his care and stewardship of client assets, and for providing superior returns over the long term,” said Vanguard Chairman and CEO Bill McNabb in a statement. “While this is a natural progression, Mitch has been an integral part of the Primecap team, and we will miss him. We have full confidence in the talented co-managers and analysts at Primecap who will oversee these funds going forward.”