Sam Peters, portfolio manager of Legg Mason Capital Management’s $1.2 billion midcap equity fund, will join Bill Miller as co-manager of the firm’s flagship $4.2 billion Value Trust fund and eventually succeed Mr. Miller as its lead portfolio manager, confirmed Legg Mason spokeswoman Mary Athridge.
Mr. Miller has no immediate plans to resign, and he and Mr. Peters will co-manage the strategy together “for a period of time, probably years,” she said.
In an e-mailed statement, Legg Mason Capital Management described the latest development as “another important step in the continuing evolution and improvement of our investment team.”
Mary Chris Gay will remain assistant portfolio manager on the Value Trust fund.
Mr. Miller’s high-conviction stock selection strategy for Value Trust, which enjoyed a 15-year run through 2005 when the fund outperformed its benchmark, has since found itself generally on the short end of market volatility. Value Trust turned in bottom-decile performance for each of the three years between 2006 and 2008, followed by a top-decile respite in 2009. Following the market’s recent swoon, Value Trust is sporting bottom-decile returns year to date.
