Legg Mason’s fund ‘highly recommended’



Lonsec has rewarded a ‘highly recommended’ rating to the Legg Mason Brandywine Global Opportunistic Fixed Income Fund for fourth consecutive year.
The research house said it had a high degree of conviction in the lead portfolio managers, Stephen Smith and David Hoffman, due to their vast investment experience, knowledge and complementary skill sets.
The company was also praised for its expertise and skill in researching and developing top down macroeconomic themes and translating these themes into portfolio positioning.
“The excess return target of two per cent per annum against the aforementioned global government bond index is notable for a fixed income product and indicative of the relatively higher risks of the strategy given the manager’s desire for currency management to be a meaningful contributor to the trust’s relative returns,” Lonsec said.
Legg Mason Australia’s head and managing director, Andy Sowerby stressed that the fund was designed to deliver meaningful outperformance of the market.
“It is pleasing that the fund has delivered strong relative and absolute returns for our clients and continues to be so highly rated by the research houses,” he said.
The Legg Mason Brandywine Global Opportunistic Fixed Income Fund, which raised $650 million, also received the Xenith rating of ‘highly recommended’ and Morningstar ‘silver’ rating.
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