SEMR - ClearBridge Small Cap Growth Strategy Portfolio Manager Commentary Q1 2021

• 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.
• An accelerating rotation into value stocks in the small cap universe and the negative impact of a rapidly steepening yield curve on high-growth businesses contributed to the Strategy’s modest underperformance.
• We established seven new positions during the quarter, largely financed through trims or sells of existing holdings whose market values have risen meaningfully.
• Beyond the near-term boost from present fiscal spending, tightening monetary conditions (due to higher interest rates) and eventual tax increases bear watching, as both are eventually contractionary and could cap equity returns until policy arcs are better defined.

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