Legg Mason’s fund hits $100m
Legg Mason’s recently launched global bond fund for Australian investors, the Western Asset Global Bond Fund, has surpassed A$100 million in funds under management (FUM).
The fund offered exposure to an actively managed global bond fund, benchmarked to the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index.
It delivered a net return of 5.34 per cent over the six months to the end of August, the firm said.
Lonsec, which awarded it a ‘recommended’ rating, cited the fund’s “stable and experienced investment team, with long tenure and low turnover, as well as access to the wider Western Asset expertise and infrastructure”.
Legg Mason Australia’s managing director, Andy Sowerby, said: “We believe that there are very few high calibre global funds available and it is for this reason that we brought this proven capability to the market.
“The strategy has a long history of attractive risk adjusted returns and as more investors understand the proposition we would expect continued strong growth.”
According to Legg Mason, currently 94.8 per cent of the securities in the portfolio are investment grade, with government bonds making up 58.5 per cent of sector allocation, investment grade corporate debt 17.7 per cent, emerging markets 11.9 per cent, mortgage backed securities 7.7 per cent, high yield 1.4 per cent and cash 2.8 per cent.
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