Following a prolonged period of review, Square Mile has taken the decision to remove the A rating of the Legg Mason ClearBridge US Aggressive Growth fund.

This fund follows a very distinct investment style and whilst we acknowledge the approach employed has been somewhat out of favour over the past few of years, it has fallen considerably short of its stated investment objective. A feature of this strategy is its large sector deviations relative to its benchmark, however, more recently stock selection within the team’s areas of expertise (i.e. healthcare), has been particularly weak. Given the fund’s biases, it may take some time to repair the underperformance and be in a position where we have conviction that the strategy can deliver over the long term.

Therefore, for the time being, we feel we can no longer recommend this fund to our clients.