American Century value team is being considered for manager of the year

A team of mutual fund managers at Kansas City-based American Century Investments has been nominated for manager of the year by Morningstar Inc.

Morningstar tapped the value team of Phillip N. Davidson, Kevin Toney, Brian Woglom and Michael Liss along with teams or managers from four other fund groups for consideration. The winner will be named domestic stock fund manager of the year for 2014.

The American Century team’s nomination reflects the performance of three funds collectively holding $20 billion of customers’ money that it manages. Morningstar noted the managers’ disciplined approach to picking “higher-quality stocks that look cheap,” which is the hallmark of value investing in its simplest terms.

“They’re equally methodical sellers who aren’t afraid (to) trim or unload a stock when it shows more downside risk,” Morningstar said in an online announcement.

Gaining ground in an up year on Wall Street is common. Morningstar said each of the teams “did more than ride the prevailing market currents” to gain recognition.

“These are not one-hit wonders. The list of five includes some repeat nominees and winners, and all of the finalists have long-term records that are just as impressive as their 2014 results,” Morningstar said.

Winners will be announced Jan. 21.

This story was originally published January 5, 2015 at 11:56 AM with the headline "American Century value team is being considered for manager of the year."