Legg Mason is planning to launch a UCITS version of its global high yield fund, managed by its US subsidiary Brandywine Global, reported Citywire Global this week.PARA_BREAK_SENTINEL_9f8e7d6c

Legg Mason is planning to launch a UCITS version of its global high yield fund, managed by its US subsidiary Brandywine Global, reported Citywire Global this week. Based in Philadelphia, Brandywine Global runs the Brandywine Global High Yield fund and it will soon by made available to European investors in a UCITS format, although exact timings are not yet known. Gerhardt Herbert, Brian Kloss and Regina Borromeo (pictured) will co-manage the new fund. A top-down approach combined macroeconomic and currency analysis will be used to construct a portfolio of between 50 and 100 global corporate high yield bonds, in addition to using quant screens. The largest exposure in the Brandywine fund is in the communications sector at 23 per cent, followed by energy at 15 per cent. Over three quarters (78 per cent) of the fund’s assets are invested in the US which has a much bigger, more developed corporate bond market than Europe. Only 14 per cent of assets are invested in Europe, and just 5.5 per cent in the UK.