Baltimore-based asset manager Legg Mason has rebranded substantially all the US mutual funds it acquired in the Citigroup transaction into t...

Baltimore-based asset manager Legg Mason has rebranded substantially all the US mutual funds it acquired in the Citigroup transaction into the Legg Mason Partners funds family, including most Smith Barney and Salomon Brothers mutual funds, with effect from 20 November 2006. This is one of the final steps in the year-long rebranding effort to create LMP as a unified and cohesive fund family. At the same time, Legg Mason implemented a new pricing structure across all LMP funds to create uniformity across all equity and fixed-income mutual funds. This will allow full exchangeability across LMP funds for clients of most distribution partners. Full exchangeability for Smith Barney clients will take place in January 2007. Legg Mason established the LMP brand in April 2006 and began the renaming process with the former Smith Barney Mutual Funds. In July 2006, Legg Mason and the fund boards announced proposals to streamline its mutual fund offering from approximately 170 funds to 119, to reduce its fund boards and realign the board structure and to implement other measures designed to simplify administration of the fund family. Those proposals are currently being voted on by shareholders; if approved, the proposals will be implemented in the first quarter of 2007.