Legg Mason Global Asset Management has launched a high income fund invested in a number of sectors, but focused on income-producing equity and equity-related securities.

The Legg Mason ClearBridge Tactical Dividend Income Fund will gain exposure to the US energy sector through direct or indirect investment in master limited partnerships, high-yielding publicly-traded limited partnerships offering infrastructure support services - including pipelines, storage facilities and processing plants - and real estate investment trusts.

Mark McAllister and Peter Vanderlee will manage the fund, which will be closely aligned to an existing US-based ClearBridge strategy which has $417 million in total assets.

The fund will complement the UK-domiciled Legg Mason US Equity Income Fund and will be managed by the firm's equity subsidiary ClearBridge Investments.

The annual management charge for the retail A share class will be 1.5 per cent.

“Yield-starved investors continue to seek alternatives to traditional sources of income as central banks keep rates at historically low levels. While the US has become a popular hunting ground for equity income investors, with corporate America increasingly responding to the needs of an ageing population by paying and raising dividends, the extraordinary US renaissance in energy production has also begun to produce some interesting opportunities in the lesser-known in master limited partnership space," said Adam Gent, head of UK sales at Legg Mason.