Deals and People January 23, 2023

$12.1 Billion Eaton Vance Institutional Funds Change Leaders

The Eaton Vance co-head for emerging markets debt and a portfolio manager for 12.1 billion of fund assets will retire.

Reported by

Eaton Vance is plotting portfolio manager changes to funds with $12.1 billion in assets, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

John Baur, co-head of emerging markets debt and portfolio manager, will transition to senior adviser in July 2023 and retire on February 1, 2024, confirms a company spokesperson. Baur is the senior manager for the $1.8 billion Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Fund (EIGMX), having served as a portfolio manager for the fund since 2008.

“The emerging markets debt strategies will continue to be managed with no changes to their process and philosophy,” says the spokesperson.

Baur manages the following Eaton Vance funds, two of which include retirement share classes R and R6:

  • Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Fund
  • Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Advantage Fund
  • Eaton Vance Emerging Markets Local Income Fund
  • Eaton Vance Emerging Markets Debt Opportunities Fund
  • Eaton Vance Emerging Markets Debt Fund
  • Eaton Vance Emerging and Frontier Countries Equity Fund


Baur, who joined Eaton Vance as a portfolio manager for emerging markets in 2005, will retain his portfolio management and leadership responsibilities until June 30, 2023.

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Kyle Lee, managing director and portfolio manager for emerging markets with Morgan Stanley, was named co-head of emerging markets debt at Eaton Vance, alongside incumbent Marshall Stocker.

Lee will maintain his portfolio management and regional coverage responsibilities, according to the spokesperson. Lee has worked as a portfolio manager for the Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Fund (EIGMX) since 2021.

Both Lee and Stocker report to Eric Stein, CIO at Eaton Vance and co-head of fixed income for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, which purchased Eaton Vance Corp. for approximately $7 billion in 2020.

The other portfolio managers on the global macro absolute return fund are Patrick Campbell, portfolio since 2021; Federico Sequeda, since 2021; and Hussein Khattab, since 2022.

The Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Fund began in 1997, according to Eaton Vance. The fund includes R and R6 share classes, investment share classes for qualified retirement plans.

The second largest fund Baur is responsible for is the Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Advantage Fund, with $1.6 billion in assets. The fund also includes R and R6 retirement share classes for qualified retirement plans.

The Eaton Vance Emerging Markets Local Income Fund $896.0 million and Eaton Vance Emerging and Frontier Countries Equity Fund $185.2 million in assets both have an institutional share class, with $1 million investment minimums, according to the fund factsheets.  

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