SHLS - ClearBridge Sustainability Leaders Strategy Q2 2024 Commentary

2024-07-10 08:50:00 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.
• U.S. equities rose in a challenging quarter for diversified portfolios as market leadership remained concentrated in a few mega cap companies perceived to be the biggest winners in the growing AI market.
• Multiyear engagements have coincided with improvements in labor relations, environmental stewardship and innovation at Amazon, with advances in benefits and wages, reducing packaging materials and commitments to responsible AI and data privacy among tangible highlights.
• Eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials and regenerating nature are three basic principles at the heart of the circular economy that align with ClearBridge’s fundamental ESG framework.

By Derek Deutsch, CFA, & Mary Jane McQuillen

The Circular Economy Is a Growth Business

Market Overview

U.S. equities rose in a challenging quarter for diversified portfolios as market leadership remained concentrated in a few mega cap companies perceived to be the biggest winners in the growing AI market. The benchmark Russell 3000 Index returned 3.22%, largely thanks to growth stocks as the Russell 3000 Growth Index (7.80%) outpaced its value counterpart by over 1,000 basis points. Small caps, which are more sensitive to elevated Treasury yields, were also weaker compared to large caps....

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