APP - ClearBridge Select Strategy Q1 2024 Portfolio Manager Commentary

2024-04-17 05:20:00 ET

Summary

• ClearBridge is a leading global asset manager committed to active management. Research-based stock selection guides our investment approach, with our strategies reflecting the highest-conviction ideas of our portfolio managers.
• Weakness in software holdings and a continued bid to mega cap names with limited exposure in the Strategy weighed on relative performance.
• We were encouraged by contributions outside of technology and communications, with standout results from names in retail, financials and industrials serving as evidence of the balance we have built into the portfolio over the last several years.
• With the Fed at the end of its tightening campaign, financial conditions should continue to loosen, removing a major headwind to both growthier and smaller cap stocks and jumpstarting IPO and M&A activity.

By Aram Green

Priming for Increasing Capital Markets Activity - Market Overview

The positive momentum of 2023 extended into the first quarter as a likely economic soft landing and being past the peak of monetary tightening sent stocks broadly higher. The S&P 500 Index ( SP500 , SPX ) advanced 10.56%, its best start since 2019, while the Russell 3000 Index gained 10.02%, boosted by solid corporate earnings and continued enthusiasm for generative artificial intelligence ((AI))....

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