Scott Schoelzel, who just celebrated his 10-year anniversary at the helm of the $10 billion Janus Twenty Fund, is leaving the company at the end of the year.

The news is a loss for Janus, which has benefited from his strong performance. At the Twenty Fund, he has delivered an average annual return of 8.5 percent over the last decade, putting him in the top 2 percent of his peer group, according to data from research firm Lipper.

"Very few times do you have an opportunity to go out on top," Schoelzel said in an interview.

Schoelzel, who also runs the Janus Adviser Forty Fund, the Janus Aspen Forty Portfolio and other products, has been with the Denver-based firm for 14 years.

His exit comes at a time Janus is dealing with significant turnover in its investment management ranks. Schoelzel will become the 12th portfolio manager to take off since early 2006.

He said he'll take time off before he figures out his next step, but has "not given one iota of thought" to opening his own money-management firm.

Janus Chief Investment Officer Jonathan Coleman said: "The legacy Scott leaves — words don't do it justice. As a stock picker, and as an observer of so many macro trends, distilled into individual stock selections. And in the dark days there was no bigger cheerleader for Janus. There still isn't."

Ron Sachs will take over the funds and step down as skipper of the Janus Orion Fund. Sachs will be replaced by John Eisinger, a research analyst who contributes to the Janus Research Fund.

Schoelzel, 49, said he wanted to stick around until the team did what "it takes to rebuild Janus' reputation and to re-establish Janus' stature in the investment community. It's virtually indisputable that has happened."

"I feel my bargain with the firm is now complete," he said.

He said later that "it would have been easy to leave Janus when we were having issues. We were not everyone's favorite mutual fund company at the time."

Janus founder Tom Bailey, who left the company several years ago and recently stepped down as a trustee of the Janus funds, is the one who hired Schoelzel.

"I'm a big Scott Schoelzel supporter," he said. "He was a great asset to Janus, and I think it's a loss for the shareholders. Although I do think his successor is a competent fund manager and I expect him to do a great job."

patonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2544