Brandywine Global Investment Management is an investment advisory firm that works primarily with institutional clients. An independent affiliate of Legg Mason, Brandywine Global is based in Philadelphia with offices also in London, Montreal, Singapore and Toronto.
While the firm works with individuals who have high net worths, it does not offer financial planning. To find a financial advisor who offers a complete suite of financial services to individuals at your investing level, use our pro matching tool. It recommends up to three advisors in your area based on answers to questions about your goals.
Read on to learn more about Brandywine Global.
Brandywine Global Investment Management Background
Brandywine Global launched in 1986. Today, it exists as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. The firm specializes in managing equity, fixed income and balanced portfolios that invest in securities across the global markets.
The team at Brandywine Global features chartered financial analysts (CFAs), chartered alternative investment analysts (CAIAs) and a certified public accountant (CPA).
Brandywine Global Investment Management Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Brandywine Global works with the following types of clients:
- Corporate pension and profit-sharing plans
- Trusts
- Corporations
- Endowments and foundations
- Public retirement plans
- Governments
- Insurance companies
- High-net-worth investors
- Multi-employer retirement plans
- Financial institutions
- Intermediaries
- Registered and unregistered pooled
- Investment vehicles
Brandywine Global’s minimum account requirements depend on the type of service and the investment strategy. These minimums range from $5 million to $75 million.
Services Offered by Brandywine Global Investment Management
Brandywine Global provides its clients with discretionary investment advisory services. The firm also serves as a sub-advisor to pooled investment vehicles such as mutual funds and UCITS funds. In addition, Brandywine Global also functions as a sub-advisor to different wrap-fee programs under unaffiliated sponsors.
Brandywine Global Investment Management Investment Philosophy
Brandywine Global’s investment philosophy depends on the core strategy, of which it has six. We provide overviews below:
Fundamental Equity Mandates - seek competitive risk-adjusted long-term returns relative to a particular index by using mainly bottom-up stock selection. Offerings cover full market capitalizations, domestic and global.
Diversified Equity Mandates - seeks to limit risk by creating widely diversified portfolios of the common stocks of companies with low value-based ratios. Methods of analysis are either a blend of fundamental and quantitative analyses or quantitative alone.
Fixed Income Mandates - aim for competitive risk-adjusted total returns relative to certain indices throughout rolling five-year periods. Strategies are value-driven and active.
Balanced Mandates - invest in set percentages of equities and fixed income based on the firm’s analysis of market conditions, business cycles, fiscal policies and other economic factors
Alternative Mandates - may take long and short positions based on the firm’s analysis of an opportunity’s upside and downside potential
Socially Responsible Investing - generally avoids investing in companies producing products and services deemed dangerous or those that can’t meet fair employment and environmental standards. These strategies can be tailored to a client’s particular investment requirements.
Fees Under Brandywine Global Investment Management
Brandywine Global charges management fees as a percentage of client assets under management (AUM). The percentage depends on the asset class and account size, generally ranging from 0.025% to 1.25%.
What to Watch Out For
Brandywine Global reported one disciplinary event in its latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It involved parent company Legg Mason and an SEC finding of a violation related to the managing of assets of Libyan governmental entities. Legg Mason agreed to a cease-and-desist order and paid disgorgement and prejudgment interest totaling $34,502,944 to the SEC and a penalty of $32,625,000 to the Department of Justice, which also found violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The related investments were terminated by 2012 and the involved employees are no longer at the company.
Brandywone’s main line of business is providing investment management services to institutional clients. So it doesn’t typically work with non-high-net-worth individuals. If you’re seeking customized portfolio help or advice on financial planning topics like debt management, retirement savings or estate planning, you may want to look elsewhere.
Opening an Account With Brandywine Global Investment Management
To contact Brandywine Global, call (800) 348-2499. Alternately, you can send a message via its website.
All information was accurate as of the writing of this article.
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