Western Asset Management Company, LLC was founded in October 1971 by United California Bank (which later became First Interstate), and became an SEC-registered investment adviser in December of that year.

In December 1986, Western Asset was acquired by Legg Mason, Inc. (Legg Mason) and continued to operate as an autonomous investment management company.

In February 1996, in order to broaden Western Asset's global capabilities, Legg Mason acquired Lehman Brothers Global Asset Management, based in London, and renamed it Western Asset Management Company Limited.

In September 2000, Western Asset Management Company Pte. Ltd. was established in Singapore. In December 2003, the office was expanded when Legg Mason acquired Rothschild Asset Management (Singapore) Limited and merged it into the existing Singapore operation.

In December 2005, in order to further enhance Western Asset's capabilities and global presence, Legg Mason acquired a substantial part of Citigroup’s asset management business in exchange for its brokerage and capital markets business. As part of this transaction, the Firm gained new offices in Melbourne, New York, Sao Paulo and Tokyo, as well as related staff and assets.

In February 2019, Western Asset established a presence in Zurich, Switzerland to enhance the Firm’s client service and marketing presence in Europe.

In July 2020, Western Asset was acquired by Franklin Resources, Inc., a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton. Western Asset continues to operate as an autonomous investment management company.

Western Asset's team approach allows for all of the Firm's investment professionals to contribute to the management of client portfolios, thereby leveraging the collective experience and judgment of the entire investment management team to the benefit of each client. Western Asset manages portfolios that involve every sector of the global bond markets. Teams are made up of investment professionals with both sector and product responsibilities, who work together as a single unit from the Firm's offices. The Firm strives to maintain a culture of investment excellence, centered on teamwork and facilitated by an environment that encourages an open exchange of ideas and frequent communication among all the members of the investment management team.

All Western Asset products, as well as all portfolios within a particular product area, are affected by the Firm's overall investment process. This process relies heavily on the input of sector specialists in the formation of the general strategy that applies to any given product at any point in time. The best ideas from each of the sector teams get implemented across portfolios. This approach seeks to leverage the broad and detailed knowledge of the sector specialists rather than rely on individual portfolio managers or smaller generalist teams to master all sectors of the bond market. There is evidence that sector performance varies dramatically and that non-government sectors have outperformed over longer periods of time in most time periods. Over the long term, Western Asset has enhanced returns by rotating among and within sectors of the bond markets and has demonstrated that a focus on sector, sub-sector and issue selection can add significant value to portfolios.

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