Transamerica Premier Loses Another Top Fund Manager

For the second time in as many years, the Transamerica Premier Funds have lost a high-profile mutual fund manager.

Philip Treick, whom Smartmoney.com recently dubbed “the Mark McGwire of mutual funds,” has left Transamerica Investment Services to start his own investment firm.

The two funds Treick led--Transamerica Premier Aggressive Growth and Transamerica Premier Small Company--rank among the best in their investment categories.

Aggressive Growth, which buys medium-sized growth stocks, rose 37.1% in the 12-month period ended Friday, placing 26th of 352 aggressive growth funds tracked by Bloomberg Fund Performance. And Small Company surged 56% in the same period, ranking No. 6 of 606 small-company stock funds followed by Bloomberg.

Treick also co-managed the company’s flagship fund, Transamerica Premier Equity, along with Jeff Van Harte.

Treick’s departure comes a year after Glen Bickerstaff left Premier Equity to work for Los Angeles-based TCW Group.

After Bickerstaff’s departure, Van Harte and Treick took over Premier Equity and led the $370-million fund to a total return of 33.9% in 1998, more than 5 percentage points better than the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index of blue-chip stocks.

Transamerica said Christopher Bonavico will replace Treick as lead manager of Premier Aggressive Growth and Premier Small Company. Bonavico had been co-manager for both funds.

Treick, 35, plans to open San Francisco-based Aesop Capital Partners in October after working almost 11 years at Transamerica.

“I’m leaving the arms of a major financial corporation and trying to do it on my own,” he said.