Few prodigal sons have been welcomed back home with the same enthusiasm as equity manager James Harries. He is returning to Newton Investment Management a year after joining Veritas, a boutique led by Newton's founders who sold to Mellon Financial Corporation in the 1990s

Several Newton managers have defected to Veritas and other groups in recent years, leaving consultants to fret that its strong performance numbers could be affected. Their particular worry is that Mellon can be hard-nosed in its pursuit of profit.