FTF ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Income

This is a high yielding listed infrastructure fund managed by a team of sector specialists. The fund combines regulated utilities with demand-based infrastructure such as railways and roads. The fund is designed to provide a good income with stable growth and some inflation protection. The fund targets a yield of greater than 5%.

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Our Opinion
Fund Manager
Key Facts
Fund Performance
Risk
Company Description
Investment process
ESG

Our Opinion

This fund has an excellent yield, great performance and is managed by an experienced team. The fund has delivered for investors since its launch and you would be hard pressed to find a more experienced team of infrastructure specialists. We particularly like the fund's track record of dividend growth on top of an already generous yield.

Fund Manager

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Fund Manager

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Daniel Chu, Fund manager There are four managers of the global infrastructure income strategy; Daniel Chu CFA, Charles Hamieh, Shane Hurst and Nick Langley.Daniel Chu was previously an infrastructure adviser at KPMG and an infrastructure analyst at ANZ. Daniel joined the team in 2012.Charles Hamieh has managed listed infrastructure for most of his career at various firms. He has 27 years’ experience and joined the team in 2010.Shane Hurst was previously a portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners and a director of infrastructure securities at Hastings Fund Management. He has 27 years’ experience and also joined the team in 2010.Nick Langley has held a number of roles throughout his career and was previously principal of infrastructure fund management at AMP Capital. In 2006, he co-founded RARE which subsequently integrated with ClearBridge. Nick has been with the team since 2006 and has 30 years’ experience.

Daniel Chu, Fund manager There are four managers of the global infrastructure income strategy; Daniel Chu CFA, Charles Hamieh, Shane Hurst and Nick Langley.Daniel Chu was previously an infrastructure adviser at KPMG and an infrastructure analyst at ANZ. Daniel joined the team in 2012.Charles Hamieh has managed listed infrastructure for most of his career at various firms. He has 27 years’ experience and joined the team in 2010.Shane Hurst was previously a portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners and a director of infrastructure securities at Hastings Fund Management. He has 27 years’ experience and also joined the team in 2010.Nick Langley has held a number of roles throughout his career and was previously principal of infrastructure fund management at AMP Capital. In 2006, he co-founded RARE which subsequently integrated with ClearBridge. Nick has been with the team since 2006 and has 30 years’ experience.

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Key Facts

Asset type Alternatives

Annual Income (Historic) -

Sector Infrastructure

Gearing-

Fund Size-

Fund Manager Start Date 01 July 2016

Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF) -

Payment Date(s) Feb, May, Aug, Nov

Annual Management Charge (AMC) -

Fund Performance

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Risk

The fund is limited to less than 5% in cash and is usually close to fully invested. The fund invests globally although exposure to developing markets is limited to a maximum of 20%. Exposure to any one stock, region or sector is limited to manage risk. The fund generally has a bias to more predictable regulated cash flows. The infrastructure sector tends to be less volatile than the wider market.

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Risk: 6

Company Description

ClearBridge is 100% owned by Franklin Resources, Inc., a global asset management firm. The company provides active asset management in many major investment centers throughout the world. Franklin Resources, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.ClearBridge traces its roots back over 60 years. In 2005, the firm was acquired by Legg Mason and renamed ClearBridge. This fund was originally part of specialist infrastructure manager RARE. Legg Mason acquired a majority equity stake of RARE in 2015 before RARE was integrated with ClearBridge in 2019.In 2020 Legg Mason was acquired by Franklin Resources. Franklin Resources has preserved the autonomy of ClearBridge and it maintains investment independence. ClearBridge is a global equity manager with approximately $185bn under management.

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Fund Performance

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Risk

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The fund is limited to less than 5% in cash and is usually close to fully invested. The fund invests globally although exposure to developing markets is limited to a maximum of 20%. Exposure to any one stock, region or sector is limited to manage risk. The fund generally has a bias to more predictable regulated cash flows. The infrastructure sector tends to be less volatile than the wider market.

Company Description

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ClearBridge is 100% owned by Franklin Resources, Inc., a global asset management firm. The company provides active asset management in many major investment centers throughout the world. Franklin Resources, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.ClearBridge traces its roots back over 60 years. In 2005, the firm was acquired by Legg Mason and renamed ClearBridge. This fund was originally part of specialist infrastructure manager RARE. Legg Mason acquired a majority equity stake of RARE in 2015 before RARE was integrated with ClearBridge in 2019.In 2020 Legg Mason was acquired by Franklin Resources. Franklin Resources has preserved the autonomy of ClearBridge and it maintains investment independence. ClearBridge is a global equity manager with approximately $185bn under management.

Investment process

The fund’s philosophy is to take a very long-term approach with a focus on absolute rather than relative returns. The focus is on long-term cash flow generation and regulatory dynamics. The team seek to exploit the short-term focus of others to find asset mispricing. The process ignores any benchmarks and aims to provide long-term inflation-linked capital growth with a reliable income. The fundamental belief behind the fund is that infrastructure is fundamentally a less risky asset class compared to equities because it is providing essential services but can still deliver excellent returns.

Infrastructure sub sectors include gas and electricity; renewables and water utilities; toll-roads; airports; ports; rail; and communications.

The fund combines regulated utilities with demand-based assets such as railways or toll-roads. The investment process is predominantly bottom-up with investments made across the world. However, the process is sufficiently flexible so as to incorporate the macroeconomic environment into the portfolio construction process. Companies must also have a dividend of at least 2.5% and sufficient liquidity.

The final portfolio has about 40 holdings.

Risk

The fund is limited to less than 5% in cash and is usually close to fully invested. The fund invests globally although exposure to developing markets is limited to a maximum of 20%. Exposure to any one stock, region or sector is limited to manage risk. The fund generally has a bias to more predictable regulated cash flows. The infrastructure sector tends to be less volatile than the wider market.

ESG

ESG - Integrated

The team believes net zero targets provide opportunities for infrastructure investors. ESG is fully incorporated into the fundamental research process. Sustainability analysis increases or decreases the real required return on investments. The firm incorporates third-party ESG research alongside its own internal research. The firm promotes sustainability during company meetings and has over 1,000 of these engagements with companies every year. Research analyst compensation incorporates the assessment of ESG factors and company best practices.

Related Insights

The information, data, analyses, and opinions contained herein (1) include the proprietary information of FundCalibre, (2) may not be copied or redistributed without prior permission, (3) do not constitute investment advice offered by FundCalibre, (4) are provided solely for informational purposes and therefore are not an offer to buy or sell a fund, and (5) are not warranted to be correct, complete, or accurate. FundCalibre shall not be responsible for any trading decisions, damages, or other losses resulting from, or related to, this information, data, analyses, or opinions or their use. The Elite Fund rating is subjective in nature and reflects FundCalibre’s current expectations of future events/behaviour as they relate to a particular fund. Because such events/behaviour may turn out to be different than expected, FundCalibre does not guarantee that a fund will perform in line with its FundCalibre benchmark. Likewise, the Elite Fund rating should not be seen as any sort of guarantee or assessment of the creditworthiness of a fund nor of its underlying securities and should not be used as the sole basis for making any investment decision. FundCalibre disclaims any responsibility for trading decisions, damages or other losses resulting from any use of the Elite Fund rating. All performance data, as well as fund size, OCF, AMC, annual income (historic), share price discount or premium, is sourced directly from FE Analytics, and will change periodically.