"Our retail business now generates half of our total revenues."

Joe Sullivan, chairman, CEO and president of Legg Mason [profile], shared that tidbit and more recently on the mutual fund shop's second quarter fiscal 2015 earnings calls with analysts [see Seeking Alpha's transcript of the call]. Legg reported adjusted fiscal Q2 2015 (ended 9/30/2014) diluted earnings per share of $0.35, beating estimates by six percent but falling 59 percent year-over-year [see the earnings release]. Assets under management reached $707.8 billion on September 30, 2014, up 0.5 percent from June 30, 2014 and up 7.9 percent from September 30, 2013.

On the call, Sullivan told analysts that three-quarters of Legg's new retail sales positions in the U.S. are now filled.

"We have demonstrable momentum in Global Distribution," Sullivan stated on the call.

"We'll continue to invest in Global Distribution," Sullivan said later on the call in response to question from BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Michael Carrier," but we think we are well positioned today, and we are singularly focused on growth."

Though Sullivan and his team never mentioned the recent turmoil at fixed income giant Pimco, he did address what he called "an unusual and important moment with significant opportunity in fixed income for global managers with deep expertise, scale, the right products and strategies and compelling investment performance," managers like Legg's Western Asset Management Company (Wamco) and Brandywine. And analysts like Citigroup's Bill Katz didn't hesitate to talk about the Pimco fallout.

"The level of activity in RFps, in conversations with consultants and distribution partners has increased dramatically in the last 30 days," i.e. since Bill Gross left Pimco, Sullivan said on the call. He added that much of the fixed income opportunity "is the ongoing sort of normal course os business opportunity."

To dig deeper into Legg Mason's results, read the earnings report and Seeking Alpha's transcript of the earnings call. 

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