Concerning risk-taking and execution at Templeton Foreign TEMFX in recent years led to a Process Pillar rating downgrade from Above Average to Average and dropped the Morningstar Medalist Rating of the fund’s R6 shares to Neutral from Bronze.
Chris Peel, lead manager here since 2019, has good credentials and has been more willing than predecessors to look beyond classic value stocks to other types, such as undervalued quality, mispriced growth, discounted assets, and discounted cash flow. His daring approach that lets stock-picking drive country and sector allocations can be risky; the fund has been more volatile than most foreign large-value Morningstar category peers.
The portfolio’s concentration has increased over Peel’s tenure, falling from 50 to 70 companies’ shares in the early 2020s to 40 to 45 more recently. Peel’s style also leads to very different country and sector exposures than the average category peer and relevant indexes.
Recent performance has been lackluster and volatile, as some individual stock blowups detracted.
Key Morningstar Metrics for Templeton Foreign R6
Morningstar Medalist Rating: Neutral
Process Pillar: Average
People Pillar: Above Average
Parent Pillar: Average
Stock-Selection Woes
Decreased confidence in FMI International’s FMIYX stock-picking abilities contributed to a People Pillar downgrade to Average from Above Average and dropped its Morningstar Medalist Rating to Neutral from Bronze.
This fund has handled a gradual, and nearly complete, manager leadership transition well, but the management team’s overall experience is diminishing. Patrick English, a prominent investor at FMI for nearly four decades, will step down at the end of 2025. Jonathan Bloom, who took over as sole CIO in January 2024 after sharing the title with English since 2022, will remain, but only one team member will have more than 20 years of industry experience after English leaves. Stock selection has not been as consistent as it has been at the firm’s other strategies. Since the strategy’s 2011 start, poor stock selection mostly explains why it has lagged its MSCI EAFE 100% Hedged Index.
Key Morningstar Metrics for FMI International Institutional
Morningstar Medalist Rating: Neutral
Process Pillar: Average
People Pillar: Average
Parent Pillar: Above Average
Major Personnel Changes
Janus Henderson Mid Vap Value JDPNX halved its investment team in 2025, leading to a downgrade of its People Pillar to Average from Above Average and its Morningstar Medalist Rating to Neutral from Silver.
The team has shrunk from 10 members to just five in less than a year. In May 2025, Kevin Preloger, a comanager here since 2013, said he would retire at the end of the year. In June 2025, four analysts left, some voluntarily and others involuntarily, and probably won’t be replaced. Justin Tugman and Craig Kempler remain, who each have more than 20 years of experience and have comanaged here since 2009 and 2017, respectively, and the firm also promoted analyst Jeff Chen to associate manager earlier in the year. The remaining team members have much more on their plates, though.
Key Morningstar Metrics for Janus Henderson Mid Cap Value
Morningstar Medalist Rating: Neutral
Process Pillar: Above Average
People Pillar: Average
Parent Pillar: Average
