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ClearBridge Small Cap Growth Portfolios

As of 09/30/2025

Year to Date Returns (Net)

10.70%

 
 

Year to Date Returns (Pure Gross)

13.16%

 

Overview

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Investment Overview

The ClearBridge Small Cap Growth Portfolios (SCG) invest in U.S. companies with business models that offer the potential for long-term growth of capital. The portfolio management team seeks out quality growth companies with large and exploitable opportunities, employs a patient approach to security selection, and carefully manages risk at the security and portfolio levels.

Investment Objective

Seeks to:

Outperform the Russell 2000 Growth Index over a full market cycle.

Investment Philosophy

We believe that:

  • Small-caps represent a large, inefficient, under-covered universe where a lack of institutional focus and limited analyst coverage create mispricing opportunities for long-term investors.
  • Strong risk controls at the portfolio and security levels are required to help reduce the volatility inherent to small-cap investing.
  • Small-company stocks diversify and potentially enhance returns in the context of a broader portfolio.
Portfolio Positioning

Designed for investors seeking long-term capital appreciation through investments in quality small-capitalization companies with the potential for sustained long-term growth.

Key Differentiators

Find quality growth companies with large exploitable opportunities

  • Identify category leaders or those with leadership potential. Understand capital allocation discipline and ability to sustain long-term growth through successful reinvestment of cash flow.

Patient approach to security selection and position management, anchored by valuation

  • Seek multi-year opportunities, allowing for compounding effect of earnings; leads to lower turnover than Small Cap Growth peer group.
  • Take deliberate approach to understanding company fundamentals, key competitors, and industry structure. 
  • Focus on cash flow returns minimizes risk of chasing momentum driven-stocks. 
  • Use market volatility to manage position size advantageously.

Defined risk management at security level and portfolio level 

  • De-risk stock via understanding broad range of outcomes, including assumptions in downside case. 
  • Rigorous maintenance review of existing holdings to ensure fundamental and valuation case intact.
  • Explicit limits at position and sector level.
  • Diversification of business models and customer bases throughout portfolio.
  • Spectrum of growth rates among portfolio companies.

Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss.

Investment Process

Investment Process

Step 1 - Generate Ideas

  • Investment universe typically in the $500 million to $4 billion market cap range.
  • Focus on companies which are gaining market share due to innovative products and services.

Step 2 - Analyze Fundamentals

  • Specific evaluation of business model, financial structure and management. 
  • Work from a skeptical view to identify key risks and thoroughly understand opportunities and strategies.

Step 3 - Apply Key Valuation Measures

Invest in stocks with attractive valuation, based on using various measures.

Step 4 - Construct Portfolio and Manage Risk

  • Build a diversified portfolio of companies with a spectrum of growth, with a bias toward high barriers to entry and recurring/lower volatility of revenues. 
  • Manage risk, with careful attention to sector diversification and individual security weights. 
  • Active share typically above 90%; portfolios generally concentrated in 60-90 stocks.

Step 5 - Review and Monitor Portfolio Continuously

  • Review investment rationale, with continued active reweighting as appropriate.
  • Portfolio reviewed quarterly by independent ClearBridge Risk Committee.

The investment process may change over time. The characteristics set forth above are intended as a general illustration of some of the criteria the strategy team considers in selecting securities for client portfolios. There is no guarantee investment objectives will be achieved.

Meet Your Manager

ClearBridge Investments

ClearBridge Investments is a well-established global investment manager focusing on proprietary research and fundamental investing. With over 60 years of experience building portfolios for clients seeking income solutions, high active share or low-volatility, long-tenured portfolio managers provide strong leadership in a centralized investment structure.

Portfolio Managers

Aram Green

New York, United States

Managed Portfolio Since 2008

Jeffrey E Bailin, CFA®

New York, United States

Managed Portfolio Since 2015

Performance

Portfolio

Portfolio Holdings

Top Equity Issuers

As of 09/30/2025 Updated Quarterly

Chart

Bar chart with 10 bars.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying categories.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying values. Data ranges from 2.32533 to 3.6209.
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Portfolio
Bloom Energy Corp 3.62%
Casey's General Stores Inc 3.00%
RBC Bearings Inc 2.79%
Varonis Systems Inc 2.70%
Lattice Semiconductor Corp 2.64%
Construction Partners Inc 2.44%
Penumbra Inc 2.40%
Wix.com Ltd 2.39%
XPO Inc 2.36%
BWX Technologies Inc 2.33%

Documents

Product Documents

PDF Format

Factsheet

Public
PDF Format

Product Commentary

Public
PDF Format

Disclosure

Public
PDF Format

Pitchbook

Public

Risks

What Are the Risks?

All investments involve risks, including possible loss of principal. Small- and mid-cap stocks involve greater risks and volatility than large-cap stocks.