They may be two of the biggest names in US fund management but Western Asset Management and its parent, Legg Mason Investments, keep a low profile in Europe.

In the US, Western, a fixed-income specialist, regularly trades blows with Pimco, its larger west coast neighbour. However, it has resisted singing its own praises on the other side of the Atlantic. It is not that it lacks size, with 20% of its $148bn (€121bn) of assets in non-US and global mandates, but it prefers to do things quietly. Why change, when assets have doubled since 2000?