When the
American Century Small Cap Dividend
fund launched in April 2022, co-managers Ryan Cope and Jeff John were its earliest shareholders. “Ryan was the first investor, because he was faster to run downstairs to our investor center,” John says.
A number of studies indicate that funds with heavy insider manager ownership outperform their peers. While it’s too soon to tell whether John’s fund (ticker: AMAEX) will be a long-term winner, he and Cope also run the top-performing
American Century Small Cap Value
(ASVIX), which is closed to new investors. John has over $1 million of his own money invested in that fund, and Cope between $50,000 and $100,000, according to Morningstar. John is building toward the $1 million mark in the new fund by investing in it at regular intervals—what is called dollar-cost averaging.