Miller to step down as Legg Mason Capital Management CIO

Bill Miller, chairman and chief investment officer of Legg Mason Capital Management, is to step down and cede his multi-billion dollar Value Trust to Sam Peters.

Miller will step down as CIO in April next year. However, he will continue to run his Opportunities trust.

Peters, already co-manager of the $4.7bn Value Trust, will become sole manager of the fund and the group's new CIO. He will also become lead manager of the Value Equity strategy.

Miller, who has managed the Value trust for almost three decades since it launched in 1982, has worked closely with Peters since his arrival from Fidelity Investments five years ago.

Legg Mason first appointed Peters to the fund in November 2010.

Miller will remain in his role as chairman of Legg Mason Capital Management (LMCM).

The group said Mary Chris Gay will continue to serve as assistant portfolio manager for the Value trust and the Value Equity Strategy.

She will also remain lead on the Dublin-domiciled Legg Mason Capital Management Value fund and UK-domiciled Legg Mason US Equity fund.

Miller said, "We have had a long and thoughtful transition process going back more than six years. We recognised Sam as a potential portfolio manager for the Value trust when we hired him in 2005, then observed his steady hand during the 2008 financial crisis, and last year named him co-manager of the Value trust for the purpose of succeeding me as sole manager.

"April 2012 is the right time for Sam to take over. I have managed the fund for
30 years and have worked closely with Sam since 2005.

"Over the past year, Sam and I made important adjustments to the fund's portfolio construction and characteristics, and we are both very pleased with how it is positioned. Sam's passion for investing, his temperament, competitive nature, and his intellectual curiosity will serve our clients well."