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Brandywine Global Investment Management Review

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This review was produced by SmartAsset based on publicly available information. The named firm and its financial professionals have not reviewed, approved, or endorsed this review and are not responsible for its accuracy. Review content is produced by SmartAsset independently of any business relationships that might exist between SmartAsset and the named firm and its financial professionals, and firms and financial professionals having business relationships with SmartAsset receive no special treatment or consideration in SmartAsset’s reviews. This page contains links to SmartAsset’s financial advisor matching tool, which may or may not match you with the firm mentioned in this review or its financial professionals.

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.

 

Tips for Finding the Right Financial Advisor

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  • Meet with potential advisors face-to-face or at least talk to them on the phone. This gives you an opportunity to ask key questions about how they make their money and what they have to offer. You can also ask about any certifications. Advisors are not required to have any to work in the field. But certain designations may help them stand out from the pack. For instance, a certified financial planner (CFP) has a fiduciary duty to provide financial planning advice in your best interests at all times.

 

How Long $1mm Lasts in Retirement

SmartAsset's interactive map highlights places where $1 million will last the longest in retirement. Zoom between states and the national map to see the top spots in each region. Also, scroll over any city to learn about the cost of living in retirement for that location.

Least
Most
Rank City Housing Expenses Food Expenses Healthcare Expenses Utilities Expenses Transportation Expenses

Methodology We analyzed data on average expenditures for seniors, cost of living and investment returns to determine how many years of retirement a $1 million nest egg would cover in cities across America.

First, we looked at data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on the average annual expenditures of seniors. We then applied cost of living data from the Council for Community and Economic Research to adjust those national average spending levels based on the costs of each expense category (housing, food, healthcare, utilities, transportation and other) in each city. Using this data, SmartAsset calculated the average cost of living for retirees in the largest U.S. cities.

We assumed the $1 million would grow at a real return (interest minus inflation) of 2%. Then, we divided $1 million by the sum of each of those annual numbers to determine how long $1 million would cover retirement expenses in each of the cities in our study. Cities where $1 million lasted the longest ranked the highest in the study.

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Council for Community and Economic Research