AGF Management Ltd. held a press conference today to unveil the new managers of AGF’s $10 billion. The new manager for the bulk AGF’s assets is Chicago’s Harris Associates LP.

Advisors and investors will be well rewarded by the new relationship, said Goldring. The firm is replacing departed Brandes Investment Partners. Harris is taking over the AGF International Value Fund, in RSP-eligible and non-RSP versions, with about $7.3 billion and $1.4 billion under management respectively. He conceded that AGF had lost some momentum with advisors as a result of the Brandes move. “Advisors don’t like uncertainty,” he said. But, he remains confident that the new managers will be well received.

AGF’s CEO Blake Goldring addressed the firm’s decision to hire one manager for his company’s big mandate. There had been some speculation in the industry that AGF would spread the mandate across several managers to avoid exposing itself to a repeat of the Brandes pullout. Goldring said that AGF decided to stick with a single manager to maintain the “integrity of the fund.” AGF’s contract with Harris has build-in protection against another Brandes episode by ensuring Harris exclusivity.

Harris Associates manages about US$32 billion, including US$12 billion in the well-regarded Oakmark Family of Funds.

Harris chairman, president and CIO, Robert Levy, explained that Harris is a rigorous value manager that follows three basic tenets to finding value. It looks at stocks as parts of a business and seeks companies that are 40% undervalued from their intrinsic value. It looks for firms that are growing their business value over time. And, finally, said Levy, his firm looks for firms where management think, act and are compensated as owners of the business.

While the bulk AGF’s $10 billion in assets is going to Harris, the remainder is moving to AGF International Advisors, AGF’s Dublin-based subsidiary. AGF International’s CIO and managing director, John Arnold, says that his team thinks of themselves as analysts more than fund managers, and that they will also pursue a rigorous value style with their share of the assets coming from the parent company.