Brandon Clark, a Legg Mason product manager focused on ETF management, explained to CFRA that Legg Mason has traditionally offered mutual funds and separately managed accounts, but a natural extension for investor choice was to offer ETF versions. To see the video with Clark, watch https://newpublic.cfraresearch.com/legg_mason_actively_managed_etfs/.
Legg Mason now has 11 ETFs in CFRA’s database, including three actively managed equity products that came to market in May 2017. Clearbridge All Cap Growth (CACG) is one of them and holds a collection of stocks CFRA is favorable on from a valuation and risk perspective.
For years, the few actively managed ETFs were focused on fixed income strategies. PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Exchange Traded Fund (MINT) now has $8.4 billion in assets and is seven years old. CFRA’s positive rating reflects the favorably low duration attribute of the investment-grade portfolio as well as its tight bid/ask spread. The ETF has a 0.35% expense ratio.
Meanwhile, one of the newer actively managed bond ETFs is JPMorgan Global Bond Opportunities (JPGB), which launched in April 2017. As Jillian DelSignore, head of ETF Distribution for JPMorgan Asset Management explained to CFRA in this video — https://newpublic.cfraresearch.com/jpmorgan_fixed_income_etfs/ — JPGB is an unconstrained and more opportunistic debt strategy. The fund has exposure to both investment-grade and speculative-grade bonds in both developed and emerging markets.
Todd Rosenbluth is Director of ETF & Mutual Fund Research at CFRA.