The Legg Mason Clearbridge Tactical Dividend Fund will aim to deliver a consistent level of income by investing in a range of sectors, with preference given to income producing equity securities.
US-exposed high dividend stocks, energy-orientated companies, Master Limited Partnerships and real estate investment trusts are of particular interest to the managers.
The fund will be managed by Mark McAllister and Peter Vanderlee, and closely aligned to an existing ClearBridge strategy which has $417m in total assets.
The new fund will also complement the UK domiciled Legg Mason US Equity Income Fund which is co-managed by Vanderlee.
Adam Gent, head of UK sales at Legg Mason, said: “While the US has become a popular hunting ground for equity income investors, with corporate America increasingly responding to the needs of an ageing population by paying and raising dividends, the extraordinary US renaissance in energy production has also begun to produce some interesting opportunities in the lesser-known MLP space; an area in which ClearBridge has strong knowledge and experience.
“The new fund will offer investors direct and indirect exposure to MLPs as well as to the best opportunities in traditional US equities and REITs, leveraging Mark McAllister’s significant US property market expertise. We believe investors will find the combination of these three main areas of focus very attractive in the current environment.”
