Martin Currie, head-quartered in Edinburgh, has £5.7bn under management as of 30 June.
As part of the transaction Legg Mason Australian Equities with £1.5bn AUM will become part of Martin Currie. The team is an active Australian equities manager of 14 and is led by Reece Birtles, offering strategies that include small cap, property and infrastructure, income and large cap value. The funds will continue to be managed by the same team.
“Martin Currie is a perfect strategic fit for our growing equity business in Australia, where we see meaningful opportunity. We believe that, over time, our global retail distribution platform will be able to meaningfully leverage Martin Currie’s broad based investment capabilities,” Joe Sullivan, president and CEO of Legg Mason said.
Willie Watt, Martin Currie chief executive, commented: “Most importantly for our clients, the partnership gives us investment and operational autonomy, and this means our client proposition remains unchanged.”
Martin Currie will become a core independent investment affiliate of Legg Mason, along with Brandywine Global, ClearBridge Investments, The Permal Group, QS Investors, Royce & Associates and Western Asset Management.
