ClearBridge Investments, which two years ago announced it would expand into Europe, has promoted Ryan Virag to UK client portfolio manager.
The appointment is the first appointment in Europe for ClearBridge, which is a subsidiary of US asset management giant Legg Mason.
While twelve of the firm’s funds have been made available to European investors via the Ucits framework (nine of which are based in Ireland and three are in the UK), the firm had not established a physical presence in Europe until now.
Based in Legg Mason’s London office, Virag will serve as a local investment management resource for clients and help market ClearBridge to investors, investment consultants and financial advisers.
Virag has been with ClearBridge for four years and has 15 years of investment experience in total. Prior to joining the firm, he was investment strategist for global and international equity portfolios at Oppenheimer Funds, and an analyst in the merchant banking division of Goldman Sachs.
ClearBridge manages assets of around $103.9 billion (€95 billion).
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