Legg Mason made its first foray into ETFs in December, spokeswoman Mary Athridge wrote in an e-mail. The firm launched four smart beta funds, which deploy strategies that track indexes based on factors other than market capitalization.

Legg Mason, in its third-quarter earnings release Friday, said it took an impairment charge of $371 million against Permal, which it acquired in 2005. Legg Mason said the move reflected a reduction in assets under management and a shift of business to institutional investors.

The company reported a loss of $138.6 million, or $1.31 a share, compared with net income of $77 million, or 67 cents, a year earlier. Legg Mason said it experienced net redemptions of $2.4 billion in the quarter, as outflows from equity products outpaced contributions into fixed-income funds.

Permal had $17.6 billion in assets as of December 2015. Legg Mason does not break out its alternative assets as a separate category. Overall the firm managed $671.5 billion as of Dec. 31.

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