Gregory:

While I wish him many more years of good health and profitable work, isn't Mr. Barrow getting a little long in the tooth? (According to info on VG web site, he's been working in investing since 1963.  44 years is a long career.)  If a fund he manages is in a taxable account, and Mr. Barrow's successor isn't as skilled (shades of Peter Lynch) then the investor is in for a nasty surprise.

Good point.  My thoughts:

1. I don't own any mutual funds in taxable accounts, so I generally don't concern myself with such issues.  If an investor has tax issues, they would obviously have concerns which I do not have.
2. I monitor manager changes, etc. using Dan Wiener's newsletter.  If Barrow retires, I will reevaluate.

Petrocelli