Shareholders approve changes on Martin Currie income vehicle

New objective and introduction of use of derivatives

Legg Mason has secured shareholder approval to make a number of changes to its Legg Mason IF Martin Currie Global Equity Income fund, including a new investment objective and flexibility to use derivatives.

Shareholders agreed to the proposals made at an EGM held on 28 October, to alter the fund's investment objective and to widen the instruments available to the manager and his investment team. From 2 November, the fund will no longer seek to provide an annual yield in excess of the MSCI World index, but will instead aim to achieve income with the potential for capital growth over the long term by investing in stocks listed globally. The fund is expected to continue to provide a higher level of income than the broader equity market, the group said. Manager Mark Whitehead (pictured),...