Legg Mason's Scholars Choice College Savings Program Earns Top Ranking From Savingforcollege.com

BALTIMORE, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Legg Mason, Inc., (NYSE: LM) today announced that the Scholars Choice College Savings Program that it manages for the State of Colorado was awarded the top ranking advisor-sold plan for its Class-A share performance, including sales charges, for the one year period ended June 30, 2010, by Savingforcollege.com, a well-known independent advisory firm owned by BankRate.  This is the third consecutive quarter the program achieved this distinction. The plan does not have similar ranking results for longer term time periods.  Bear in mind that past performance is no guarantee of future results.

"Legg Mason and the State of Colorado have partnered in meeting the needs of families who are saving for college for more than a decade.   We are honored that Savingforcollege.com, a well-known voice of independent analysis for 529 Plans nationwide, recognized Scholars Choice's top performance. We look forward to continuing to deliver innovative solutions to investors in this program," said Laura Zimmerman, Head of Product and Marketing for Legg Mason.

Joseph Hurley, founder and CEO of Savingforcollege.com said, "Investors and their advisers want to know how 529 plans stack up with regard to their performance, and our rankings provide an apples-to-apples comparison of past results."

The award was made in the advisor-sold category, based on composite rankings for Class A shares, including the sales charge.  Scholars Choice is one of the largest advisor-sold plans nationwide, with assets of $2.4 billion.  It is comprised of Legg Mason affiliate funds, including Batterymarch, Brandywine, ClearBridge, Legg Mason Capital Management, Royce and Western Asset, and one outside fund managed by Thornburg.  

Ranking Methodology

The ranking is based on the universe of 36 advisor-sold plans and is for the rolling 1 year period, for Class A-Share portfolio performance (including max sales charges), and for prior quarter rankings ending 12/31/09 and 3/31/10. Furthermore the program ranked 22nd for the 3-year, 22nd for the 5-year, out of 36 advisor sold plans (including max sales charges), and ranked 4th for the 1-year, 26th for the 3-year, 22nd for the 5-year, out of 36 advisor sold plans (excluding max sales charges) for the one year rolling period ending 6/30/10

The Savingforcollege.com Plan Composite Rankings are derived using the plans relevant portfolio performance in seven unique asset allocation categories. The asset allocation categories used are 100% Equity, 80% Equity, 60% Equity, 40% Equity, 20% Equity, 100% Fixed, and 100% Short Term. The plan composite ranking is determined by the average of its percentile ranking in seven categories. Within each category, portfolios are compared and ranked based on published investment returns. Separate rankings are produced for different performance periods (i.e. one year, three years, and five years). In addition, two versions of rankings for each performance period are produced, one based on performance without sales charges, and the other based on performance with maximum sales charges.  Please visit www.savingforcollege.com (please put full URL that will take you to the ranking information on the site) for more information about the ranking.  

For advisor-sold 529 plans, only the A-class units are used for purposes of the composite rankings. Additional share classes may exist, please refer to each plan's program disclosure statement for more information regarding their performance and fees and expenses.

For Scholars Choice's program disclosure statement, please visit, www.scholars-choice.com

About Legg Mason

Legg Mason is a global asset management firm with $656 billion in assets under management as of August 31, 2010. The Company provides active asset management in many major investment centers throughout the world. Legg Mason is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, and its common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: LM).

Important Information

The ranking is based on short term performance (rolling one year period)and the performance and ranking discussed  is inherently limited and should not indicative of longer term performance.. This information should not be the sole basis for any investment decision. Market volatility, interest rate changes and economic events among other factors can affect an investment's short term returns.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.  Current performance may be lower or higher than performance results used for this ranking, resulting in different rankings that may be lower than those shown.

An investor should consider the Program's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses associated with municipal fund securities before Investing . Investment options are subject to investment risks, including loss of principal amount invested. The program disclosure statement available at www.scholars-choice.com, which contains more information, should be read carefully before investing. If an investor or an investor's beneficiary is not a Colorado taxpayer, they should consider before investing whether their home states offer 529 Plans that provide state tax and other benefits only available to state taxpayers investing in such plans.

Investments in the Scholars Choice College Savings Program are not insured by the FDIC or any other government agency and are not deposits or other obligations of any depository institution.  Investments are not guaranteed by the State of Colorado, CollegeInvest, Legg Mason Global Asset Allocation, LLC, Legg Mason Investor Services, LLC, or Legg Mason, Inc. or its affiliates and are subject to investment risks, including loss of principal amount invested.

Legg Mason, Inc., its affiliates, and its employees are not in the business of providing tax or legal advice to taxpayers. These materials and any tax-related statements are not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used or relied upon, by any such taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties. Tax-related statements, if any, may have been written in connection with the "promotion or marketing" of the transaction(s) or matter(s) addressed by these materials, to the extent allowed by applicable law. Any such taxpayer should seek advice based on the taxpayer's particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor.

Scholars Choice is a registered service mark of CollegeInvest. CollegeInvest and the CollegeInvest logo are registered trademarks. Administered and issued by CollegeInvest, State of Colorado. Legg Mason Global Asset Allocation, LLC, Investment Manager. Legg Mason Investor Services, LLC is the primary distributor of interest in the Program; together they serve as Manager of the Program. Legg Mason Global Asset Allocation, LLC, ClearBridge Advisors, LLC, Legg Mason Capital Management, Inc., Batterymarch Financial Management, Inc., Brandywine Global Investment Mgt, LLC, Royce & Associates, LLC, Western Asset Management Company and Western Asset Management Company Limited, and Legg Mason Investor Services, LLC are Legg Mason, Inc. affiliates. Thornburg Investment Management, Inc. is not affiliated with Legg Mason Inc. and its affiliates.

SOURCE Legg Mason, Inc.