Legg Mason Value Trust: Bear Stearns effect not disastrous
Legg Mason is one of Bear Stearns' biggest shareholders, and the investment bank's collapse is another black eye for Legg money jockeys such as Bill Miller and Bruce Sherman. But Bear seems to be a relatively minor part of Legg's retail flagship mutual fund, the Legg Mason Value Trust. As of the latest filings, Value Trust owned Bear Stearns stock worth $200 million. That represented 1.2 percent of the portfolio. That's a significant amount, to be sure, and its virtual vaporization will be factored into Value Trust's net asset value when it gets marked at the close of today's trading. But that's nowhere near the size of Value Trust's exposure to, say, Amazon -- 7 percent.
Comments
It is truly strange to live in a world where a loss of $200 million is not seen as a necessarily bad thing. A gunshot wound to the leg is not a bad as one to the head...unless you are Sean Taylor.
Posted by: Maurice | March 17, 2008 11:46 AM
I used to work for Legg Mason from 1986-1999. we were taught the "value theory"of investing. Bruce Sherman seems to have thrown it out the window, and Bill Miller has so much money to worry about he's losing his grip. Sherman should be asked to move on.....he blew it.
Posted by: Thomas Monahan | March 18, 2008 8:09 PM