Peltz joins Legg Mason board as Trian buys stake

NEW YORK — Billionaire investor and activist shareholder Nelson Peltz is joining the board of directors of asset manager Legg Mason Inc.

Legg Mason, based in Baltimore, said Monday it was adding Peltz – known for his investments in consumer businesses like the Wendy's burger chain and foodmaker H.J. Heinz – after Peltz's company, Trian Fund Management LP, accumulated a 4.3 percent stake in Legg Mason.

Shares of Legg Mason jumped 76 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $32.66 in afternoon trading. Shares have traded between $10.35 and $33.70 during the past year.

Peltz is the CEO and a founding partner of Trian, which holds a stake in Wendy's. Peltz is on Heinz's board of directors.

He previously served as chairman and CEO of Triarc Cos., which owned Arby's Restaurant Group Inc. Triarc acquired Wendy's last year and the company was renamed Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. The company had previously also owned a stake in the Snapple Beverage Group as well.

Legg Mason said Peltz's addition is part of an agreement between itself and Trian. As part of the deal, Trian agreed not to acquire any more than a 9.9 percent stake in Legg Mason. Trian will also vote its shares in favor of Legg Mason's director nominees.

Trian holds about 6.9 million shares of Legg Mason's outstanding common stock.

The appointment expands the Legg Mason board to 14 directors, 13 of whom are independent.

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Legg Mason is one of the nation's largest mutual fund managers, handling $703 billion in assets. The firm was hit hard during the credit crisis last year and is now starting to rebound from steep losses taken on risky investments.

Legg Mason struggled in 2008 and into early 2009 with its exposure to exposure to risky structured investment vehicles.

An SIV is a fund that borrows money by issuing short-term securities at a low interest rate and then lends that money by purchasing long-term securities at higher interest. That process can make a profit for its investors from the difference.

However, SIVs began to struggle as demand dried up for short-term bonds during the ongoing credit crisis. As a result, the value of SIV holdings fell sharply, forcing financial firms that operated the off-balance sheet funds to provide the funds with financial support.

Legg Mason has been able to rebound in recent months, but is still struggling with customers withdrawing funds. Last week, Legg Mason said it earned $45.8 million, or 30 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, beating analysts' expectations. It was Legg Mason's second straight quarterly profit after five straight quarterly losses.

Assets under management at the end of the quarter were 17 percent less than at the same time last year.