- At the end of September last year, Franklin Templeton aligned the Martin Currie UK equity team under ClearBridge Investments. The FTF ClearBridge UK Equity Income Fund is managed by ClearBridge’s large-cap team: Ben Russon, Joanne Rands and Will Bradwell. Russon began his tenure with the UK equity team in 2013. Prior to this, he was a fund manager at Newton Investment Management. Rands, who started her investment career in 2001, joined the firm in 2021 from Rathbones Brothers. Bradwell, who joined in 2018 also from Rathbones Brothers, started in the investment industry in 2011.
- Working closely with the small and mid-cap teams at ClearBridge, Russon said that collectively across the teams involved on the strategy there is over 120 years of combined equity experience.
- “It’s a very collaborative, collegiate approach,” he said. “While as teams we are all looking at the UK market, we differentiate ourselves by market cap, with myself Jo and Will focused on the large caps. We all work closely together to share and cross fertilise ideas and draw together our experiences and knowledge.”
- He added: “As a team we have worked through a variety of investment cycles, with myself starting with the TMT boom and bust, through to the global financial crisis, the European debt crisis and then Covid. While all these cycles are different, they offer a blueprint for dealing with the next one.”
Ben Russon Portfolio manager and co-head of UK equities (Large Cap)
Jo Rands Portfolio manager and research analyst
Will Bradwell Portfolio manager and research analyst
