Fund Evaluator:

ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 Overview

ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 (LMPMX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Growth fund. Franklin Templeton Investments launched the fund in 2007.

The investment seeks long-term growth of capital. The fund normally invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of companies with small market capitalizations and related investments. The portfolio managers use a growth-oriented investment style that emphasizes small U.S. companies.

About ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 (LMPMX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 10.92 years: Aram Green (2007), Jeffrey Bailin, CFA (2023). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Russell 3000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Russell 2000 Growth TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 has 100 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 27.1% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 has 0.4% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 97.3%. There is 0.4% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 has 2.0% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $3 million in total assets, which is below the $454 million average for the Small Growth category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

LMPMX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Growth category. ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 has an expense ratio of 0.93%, which is 21% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 has a portfolio turnover rate of 20%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 76% for the Small Growth category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 returned 7.0%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Small Growth category had an average return of 6.5%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 0.07% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1 Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 20.1%, 2.0 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 28.2% over the past year (grade of D), 11.5% over the past three years (grade of D) and 1.2% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 12.2% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).

For more mutual fund grades, analysis and screening tools to help your investment discovery, join AAII for a $2, full-access trial. Learn more here: https://invest.aaii.com/membership.

Otherwise, for more information about ClearBridge Small Cap Growth 1, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.