Legg Mason Inc's Bill Miller to run mutual fund under family name

By Nicel Jane Avellana

Dec 16, 2013 08:40 PM EST

Bill Miller, the fund manager known for outperforming the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index for 15 straight years, will be starting a mutual fund together with his son under the Miller family name, Bloomberg reported. He has managed money for three decades in behalf of Legg Mason Inc.

Last week, the Miller Income Opportunity Trust filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to be able to sell shares to the public. The December 13 filing showed that the fund will try to look for opportunities that are wrongly-priced from a "wide array of sources" so it can produce a high level of income, the report said.

Bill Miller will be managing the fund which will be overseen by investment company LMM LLC which is equally owned by the Millers and Legg Mason. His son will serve as the assistant portfolio manager. Although he had a 15-year winning streak, the recession left him with subpar returns. However, in the past two years, he has experienced a renaissance through a "go-anywhere" fund which is similar to his newly-established Miller Income Opportunity Trust, the report said.

He currently oversees the Legg Mason Opportunity Trust worth $1.78 billion which has bested the benchmark S&P500 index with a 60% return. S&P500 only gained 28% in the same period. Bloomberg data also showed that the fund has posted an average yearly gain of 25% in the past five years, putting it among the top 3% among similarly-mandated peers, the report said.

The report added that Miller's new fund will concentrate on income and will invest in "cash-distributing" equities, derivatives, fixed-income securities and other financial instruments of global issuers in normal market conditions. The report quoted the December 13 filing which said, "The ability to tactically move across asset classes and up and own the capital structure is intended to allow the fund to access the greatest yield and valuation opportunities." 

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