Founded in 1899, Legg Mason is one of the world’s largest asset managers with assets under management of nearly $727 billion as of Dec 31, 2018. Legg Mason and its affiliates currently manage mutual funds across a wide range of categories, including both equity and fixed-income funds. It uses a multi-affiliate business model that allows each affiliate to operate with a high degree of autonomy utilizing its unique approach and processes. This Baltimore-based company serves both individual and institutional investors with around 3,300 employees in 39 offices throughout the globe.
Below we share with you three top-ranked Legg Mason mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of Legg Mason funds, their Zacks Rank and past performance.
ClearBridge Dividend Strategy IS LCBEX seeks appreciation of dividend income and long-term capital. The fund invests the majority of its assets in equity securities as well as other investments with similar economic characteristics. LCBEX may also invest half of its assets in equity securities of foreign companies. ClearBridge Dividend Strategy IS has three-year annualized returns of 13.9%.
As of December 2018, LCBEX held 68 issues with 3.65% of its assets invested in Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT).
ClearBridge Small Cap A LMSAX seeks growth of capital. LMSAX invests the lion's share of its assets in common stocks and other equity securities of small-cap companies and other investments, which are expected to have similar kind of economic characteristics. ClearBridge Small Cap A has three-year annualized returns of 18.4%.
Brian Lund is one of the fund managers of LMSAX since 2013.
ClearBridge Dividend Strategy A SOPAX invests a large portion of its assets in securities of companies that are expected to pay dividend. SOPAX may invest a maximum of half of its assets in equity securities of foreign issuers, either directly or through depositary receipts. The fund seeks capital growth over the long term through dividend income appreciation. ClearBridge Dividend Strategy A has a three-year annualized return of 13.5%.
SOPAXhas an expense ratio of 1.07% compared with the category average of 0.95%.
To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all Legg Mason mutual funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of Legg Mason mutual funds .
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Zacks Investment Research