Mutual Disrespect

Money manager Donald Yacktman is in a fight for control of the board that oversees the two Chicago-based mutual funds he manages.

Four directors of the Yacktman Fund and the Yacktman Focused Fund voted last week to dismiss Yacktman and Ronald Ball from the funds’ board.

The vote occurred after Yacktman sought permission from the funds’ shareholders to remove the four directors from the board, according to a statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Yacktman said in the proxy that he wants to hold a shareholders meeting Nov. 24 to replace the four with new directors who have an allegiance to him.

Yacktman and Ball would remain on the board.

The move to oust Yacktman and Ball is being led by directors Jon D. Carlson and Stanislaw Maliszewski, according to the SEC filing. Carlson was a top marketing executive at Yacktman Asset Management until he was fired in June.

Carlson and Maliszewski wrote in a letter last week to SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt that they have concerns about the way Yacktman’s funds are being managed, raising “serious questions” about whether managers are adhering to the funds’ stated investing style, and alleging that the funds are being managed by some people whose names don’t appear in the funds’ prospectus.

Both medium-capitalization funds have struggled this year. They’re down more than 8% year- to-date, whereas the Standard & Poor’s mid-cap index is off 5.5%.