HEAD-TO-HEAD: Bluebay vs Legg Mason

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Manager review

The lead manager for the Bluebay fund is Mark Dowding, who took over at the beginning of 2017 from Geraud Charpin, who is now focusing on the firm’s Credit Alpha Long Short Hedge Fund. Dowding has been involved in the fund since 2011, which should provide continuity to the investment process, according to Dash.

Dowding is supported by co-managers Andrzej Skiba, who has been with the firm since 2005, and Vinit Patel, who joined the team as a trader in 2011.

The managers are supported by a stable 28 investment-grade team, which includes six dedicated credit analysts tasked with fundamental research and idea generation.

Although manager changes are among the key issues for Morningstar when evaluating a fund, Dash has no concerns with the current team.

“We know the team quite well, as well as their skillset,” he said, adding that the team has low turnover, with only one departure in the last seven years.

The Western Asset fund has been led by Kenneth Leech since 2013. Leech has also been the firm’s chief investment officer since 2014 and during another stint from 1998-2008.

He is backed by Prashant Chandran, who is Western’s head of derivatives. They are supported by a team of 45 analysts, which has an average experience of around 20 years.

Dash has no concerns over the Western Asset team given the experience of the fund managers as well as the support they are getting from analysts.

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