PEOPLE - Great Combination

Patience pays.

Patience pays. Just ask Mark Fetting, a friend of Raymond (Chip) Mason’s since the 1980s, when, as a Greenwich Associates consultant, he advised the Legg Mason founder on an acquisition strategy that helped grow the Baltimore money manager to nearly $1 trillion in assets. After Mason hired him from Prudential Financial Group as head of asset management in 2000, Fetting was seen as Mason’s successor. However, in July 2006, Mason tapped fixed-income chief James Hirschmann, as COO and heir apparent. But, citing family reasons, Hirschmann opted out of Legg corporate management to remain as CEO of subsidiary Western Asset Management. Instead, Fetting, 53, became CEO on January 28 and will work closely with Mason, who stays as nonexecutive chairman, to improve the dismal performance of several funds, grow Legg’s capital base and pick acquisition targets. “This is going to be a great combination for the firm,” says Fetting.

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