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CLEARBRIDGE VARIABLE APPRECIATION PORTFOLIO

 

Schedule of investments (unaudited)    March 31, 2024
(Percentages shown based on Portfolio net assets)   

 

SECURITY

   SHARES      VALUE  
COMMON STOCKS - 98.9%      
COMMUNICATION SERVICES - 9.6%      

Entertainment - 2.2%

     

Netflix Inc.

     17,320      $ 10,518,956

Walt Disney Co.

     116,197        14,217,865  
     

 

 

 

Total Entertainment

        24,736,821  
     

 

 

 

Interactive Media & Services - 5.9%

     

Alphabet Inc., Class A Shares

     142,353        21,485,338

Alphabet Inc., Class C Shares

     107,347        16,344,654

Meta Platforms Inc., Class A Shares

     56,105        27,243,466  
     

 

 

 

Total Interactive Media & Services

        65,073,458  
     

 

 

 

Media - 1.0%

     

Comcast Corp., Class A Shares

     252,908        10,963,562  
     

 

 

 

Wireless Telecommunication Services - 0.5%

     

T-Mobile US Inc.

     36,375        5,937,127  
     

 

 

 

TOTAL COMMUNICATION SERVICES

        106,710,968  
     

 

 

 
CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY - 6.5%      

Broadline Retail - 3.5%

     

Amazon.com Inc.

     217,767        39,280,812
     

 

 

 

Specialty Retail - 3.0%

     

Home Depot Inc.

     25,677        9,849,697  

TJX Cos. Inc.

     227,762        23,099,622  
     

 

 

 

Total Specialty Retail

        32,949,319  
     

 

 

 

TOTAL CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY

        72,230,131  
     

 

 

 
CONSUMER STAPLES - 6.3%      

Beverages - 1.9%

     

Coca-Cola Co.

     159,115        9,734,656  

PepsiCo Inc.

     64,113        11,220,416  
     

 

 

 

Total Beverages

        20,955,072  
     

 

 

 

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail - 2.1%

     

Walmart Inc.

     385,207        23,177,905  
     

 

 

 

Food Products - 1.1%

     

Mondelez International Inc., Class A Shares

     130,615        9,143,050  

Nestle SA, ADR

     26,394        2,803,043  
     

 

 

 

Total Food Products

        11,946,093  
     

 

 

 

Household Products - 1.2%

     

Procter & Gamble Co.

     84,411        13,695,685  
     

 

 

 

TOTAL CONSUMER STAPLES

        69,774,755  
     

 

 

 

 

See Notes to Schedule of Investments.

 

 

ClearBridge Variable Appreciation Portfolio 2024 Quarterly Report 

 

 

 

1


CLEARBRIDGE VARIABLE APPRECIATION PORTFOLIO

 

Schedule of investments (unaudited) (cont’d)    March 31, 2024
(Percentages shown based on Portfolio net assets)   

 

SECURITY

   SHARES      VALUE  
ENERGY - 5.3%      

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels - 5.3%

     

Chevron Corp.

     113,072      $ 17,835,977  

EQT Corp.

     130,299        4,830,184  

Exxon Mobil Corp.

     141,338        16,429,129  

Kinder Morgan Inc.

     313,100        5,742,254  

Pioneer Natural Resources Co.

     54,310        14,256,375  
     

 

 

 

TOTAL ENERGY

        59,093,919  
     

 

 

 
FINANCIALS - 17.4%      

Banks - 5.6%

     

Bank of America Corp.

     424,969        16,114,825  

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

     150,087        30,062,426  

US Bancorp

     373,690        16,703,943  
     

 

 

 

Total Banks

        62,881,194  
     

 

 

 

Capital Markets - 1.7%

     

CME Group Inc.

     42,341        9,115,594  

Intercontinental Exchange Inc.

     71,523        9,829,406  
     

 

 

 

Total Capital Markets

        18,945,000  
     

 

 

 

Financial Services - 6.5%

     

Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Class A Shares

     66        41,873,040

Visa Inc., Class A Shares

     110,024        30,705,498  
     

 

 

 

Total Financial Services

        72,578,538  
     

 

 

 

Insurance - 3.6%

     

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.

     63,686        6,562,842  

Progressive Corp.

     65,700        13,588,074  

Travelers Cos. Inc.

     86,536        19,915,395  
     

 

 

 

Total Insurance

        40,066,311  
     

 

 

 

TOTAL FINANCIALS

        194,471,043  
     

 

 

 
HEALTH CARE - 12.6%      

Biotechnology - 1.4%

     

AbbVie Inc.

     84,136        15,321,166  
     

 

 

 

Health Care Equipment & Supplies - 1.2%

     

Stryker Corp.

     37,561        13,441,955  
     

 

 

 

Health Care Providers & Services - 1.7%

     

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

     38,251        18,922,770  
     

 

 

 

Life Sciences Tools & Services - 2.2%

     

ICON PLC

     21,510        7,226,284

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

     29,755        17,293,904  
     

 

 

 

Total Life Sciences Tools & Services

        24,520,188  
     

 

 

 

 

See Notes to Schedule of Investments.

 

 

 

2

 

 ClearBridge Variable Appreciation Portfolio 2024 Quarterly Report

 


CLEARBRIDGE VARIABLE APPRECIATION PORTFOLIO

 

Schedule of investments (unaudited) (cont’d)    March 31, 2024
(Percentages shown based on Portfolio net assets)   

 

SECURITY

   SHARES      VALUE  

Pharmaceuticals - 6.1%

     

Eli Lilly & Co.

     30,429      $ 23,672,545  

Johnson & Johnson

     114,503        18,113,229  

Merck & Co. Inc.

     201,378        26,571,827  
     

 

 

 

Total Pharmaceuticals

        68,357,601  
     

 

 

 

TOTAL HEALTH CARE

        140,563,680  
     

 

 

 
INDUSTRIALS - 11.1%      

Aerospace & Defense - 1.6%

     

Northrop Grumman Corp.

     9,417        4,507,541  

RTX Corp.

     137,278        13,388,723  
     

 

 

 

Total Aerospace & Defense

        17,896,264  
     

 

 

 

Air Freight & Logistics - 1.0%

     

United Parcel Service Inc., Class B Shares

     75,738        11,256,939  
     

 

 

 

Commercial Services & Supplies - 1.7%

     

Waste Management Inc.

     89,344        19,043,673  
     

 

 

 

Electrical Equipment - 2.3%

     

Eaton Corp. PLC

     47,525        14,860,117  

Emerson Electric Co.

     90,704        10,287,648  
     

 

 

 

Total Electrical Equipment

        25,147,765  
     

 

 

 

Ground Transportation - 1.2%

     

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd.

     83,610        7,371,894  

Union Pacific Corp.

     25,592        6,293,840  
     

 

 

 

Total Ground Transportation

        13,665,734  
     

 

 

 

Industrial Conglomerates - 1.8%

     

Honeywell International Inc.

     98,351        20,186,543  
     

 

 

 

Professional Services - 1.5%

     

Automatic Data Processing Inc.

     64,609        16,135,452  
     

 

 

 

TOTAL INDUSTRIALS

        123,332,370  
     

 

 

 
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - 23.0%      

Communications Equipment - 0.8%

     

Arista Networks Inc.

     31,429        9,113,782
     

 

 

 

Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment - 5.4%

     

ASML Holding NV, Registered Shares

     16,401        15,916,678  

Intel Corp.

     84,094        3,714,432  

Marvell Technology Inc.

     78,207        5,543,312  

NVIDIA Corp.

     38,319        34,623,516  
     

 

 

 

Total Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment

        59,797,938  
     

 

 

 

 

See Notes to Schedule of Investments.

 

 

ClearBridge Variable Appreciation Portfolio 2024 Quarterly Report 

 

 

 

3


CLEARBRIDGE VARIABLE APPRECIATION PORTFOLIO

 

Schedule of investments (unaudited) (cont’d)    March 31, 2024
(Percentages shown based on Portfolio net assets)   

 

SECURITY

   SHARES      VALUE  

Software - 12.0%

     

Adobe Inc.

     34,666      $ 17,492,464

Microsoft Corp.

     230,409        96,937,674  

Oracle Corp.

     113,086        14,204,732  

Synopsys Inc.

     9,687        5,536,121
     

 

 

 

Total Software

        134,170,991  
     

 

 

 

Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals - 4.8%

     

Apple Inc.

     309,465        53,067,058  
     

 

 

 

TOTAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

        256,149,769  
     

 

 

 
MATERIALS - 5.4%      

Chemicals - 3.1%

     

Ecolab Inc.

     37,945        8,761,501  

Linde PLC

     6,131        2,846,746  

PPG Industries Inc.

     93,278        13,515,982  

Sherwin-Williams Co.

     28,473        9,889,527  
     

 

 

 

Total Chemicals

        35,013,756  
     

 

 

 

Construction Materials - 1.0%

     

Vulcan Materials Co.

     42,047        11,475,467  
     

 

 

 

Containers & Packaging - 0.6%

     

Crown Holdings Inc.

     76,824        6,089,070  
     

 

 

 

Metals & Mining - 0.7%

     

ArcelorMittal SA, Registered Shares

     262,603        7,242,591  
     

 

 

 

TOTAL MATERIALS

        59,820,884  
     

 

 

 
REAL ESTATE - 1.0%      

Specialized REITs - 1.0%

     

American Tower Corp.

     59,715        11,799,087  
     

 

 

 
UTILITIES - 0.7%      

Electric Utilities - 0.3%

     

NextEra Energy Inc.

     45,112        2,883,108  
     

 

 

 

Multi-Utilities - 0.4%

     

Sempra

     66,315        4,763,406  
     

 

 

 

TOTAL UTILITIES

        7,646,514  
     

 

 

 

TOTAL INVESTMENTS BEFORE SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS
(Cost - $362,914,606)

        1,101,593,120  
     

 

 

 

 

 

See Notes to Schedule of Investments.

 

 

 

4

 

 ClearBridge Variable Appreciation Portfolio 2024 Quarterly Report

 


CLEARBRIDGE VARIABLE APPRECIATION PORTFOLIO

 

Schedule of investments (unaudited) (cont’d)    March 31, 2024
(Percentages shown based on Portfolio net assets)   

 

SECURITY

   RATE     SHARES      VALUE  
SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS - 0.8%        

JPMorgan 100% U.S. Treasury Securities Money Market Fund, Institutional Class

     5.155     4,607,041      $ 4,607,041 (a) 

Western Asset Premier Institutional U.S. Treasury Reserves, Premium Shares

     5.242     4,607,041        4,607,041 (a)(b) 
       

 

 

 

TOTAL SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS
(Cost - $9,214,082)

          9,214,082  
       

 

 

 

TOTAL INVESTMENTS - 99.7%
(Cost - $372,128,688)

          1,110,807,202  

Other Assets in Excess of Liabilities - 0.3%

          3,355,371  
       

 

 

 

TOTAL NET ASSETS - 100.0%

        $ 1,114,162,573  
       

 

 

 

 

*

Non-income producing security.

 

(a)

Rate shown is one-day yield as of the end of the reporting period.

 

(b)

In this instance, as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, an “Affiliated Company” represents Portfolio ownership of at least 5% of the outstanding voting securities of an issuer, or a company which is under common ownership or control with the Portfolio. At March 31, 2024, the total market value of investments in Affiliated Companies was $4,607,041 and the cost was $4,607,041 (Note 2).

Abbreviation(s) used in this schedule:

 

ADR    — American Depositary Receipts

This Schedule of Investments is unaudited and is intended to provide information about the Portfolio’s investments as of the date of the schedule. Other information regarding the Portfolio is available in the Portfolio’s most recent annual or semi-annual shareholder report.

 

See Notes to Schedule of Investments.

 

 

ClearBridge Variable Appreciation Portfolio 2024 Quarterly Report 

 

 

 

5


Notes to Schedule of Investments (unaudited)

 

1. Organization and significant accounting policies

ClearBridge Variable Appreciation Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) is a separate diversified investment series of Legg Mason Partners Variable Equity Trust (the “Trust”). The Trust, a Maryland statutory trust, is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), as an open-end management investment company.

Shares of the Portfolio may only be purchased or redeemed through variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies offered by the separate accounts of participating insurance companies or through eligible pension or other qualified plans.

The Portfolio follows the accounting and reporting guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946, Financial Services – Investment Companies (“ASC 946”). The following are significant accounting policies consistently followed by the Portfolio and are in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), including, but not limited to, ASC 946.

(a) Investment valuation. Equity securities for which market quotations are available are valued at the last reported sales price or official closing price on the primary market or exchange on which they trade. The valuations for fixed income securities (which may include, but are not limited to, corporate, government, municipal, mortgage-backed, collateralized mortgage obligations and asset-backed securities) and certain derivative instruments are typically the prices supplied by independent third party pricing services, which may use market prices or broker/dealer quotations or a variety of valuation techniques and methodologies. The independent third party pricing services typically use inputs that are observable such as issuer details, interest rates, yield curves, prepayment speeds, credit risks/spreads, default rates and quoted prices for similar securities. Investments in open-end funds are valued at the closing net asset value per share of each fund on the day of valuation. When the Portfolio holds securities or other assets that are denominated in a foreign currency, the Portfolio will normally use the currency exchange rates as of 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). If independent third party pricing services are unable to supply prices for a portfolio investment, or if the prices supplied are deemed by the manager to be unreliable, the market price may be determined by the manager using quotations from one or more broker/dealers or at the transaction price if the security has recently been purchased and no value has yet been obtained from a pricing service or pricing broker. When reliable prices are not readily available, such as when the value of a security has been significantly affected by events after the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded, but before the Portfolio calculates its net asset value, the Portfolio values these securities as determined in accordance with procedures approved by the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees.

Pursuant to policies adopted by the Board of Trustees, the Portfolio’s manager has been designated as the valuation designee and is responsible for the oversight of the daily valuation process. The Portfolio’s manager is assisted by the Global Fund Valuation Committee (the “Valuation Committee”). The Valuation Committee is responsible for making

 

 

 

6

   


Notes to Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued)

 

fair value determinations, evaluating the effectiveness of the Portfolio’s pricing policies, and reporting to the Portfolio’s manager and the Board of Trustees. When determining the reliability of third party pricing information for investments owned by the Portfolio, the Valuation Committee, among other things, conducts due diligence reviews of pricing vendors, monitors the daily change in prices and reviews transactions among market participants.

The Valuation Committee will consider pricing methodologies it deems relevant and appropriate when making fair value determinations. Examples of possible methodologies include, but are not limited to, multiple of earnings; discount from market of a similar freely traded security; discounted cash-flow analysis; book value or a multiple thereof; risk premium/yield analysis; yield to maturity; and/or fundamental investment analysis. The Valuation Committee will also consider factors it deems relevant and appropriate in light of the facts and circumstances. Examples of possible factors include, but are not limited to, the type of security; the issuer’s financial statements; the purchase price of the security; the discount from market value of unrestricted securities of the same class at the time of purchase; analysts’ research and observations from financial institutions; information regarding any transactions or offers with respect to the security; the existence of merger proposals or tender offers affecting the security; the price and extent of public trading in similar securities of the issuer or comparable companies; and the existence of a shelf registration for restricted securities.

For each portfolio security that has been fair valued pursuant to the policies adopted by the Board of Trustees, the fair value price is compared against the last available and next available market quotations. The Valuation Committee reviews the results of such back testing monthly and fair valuation occurrences are reported to the Board of Trustees quarterly.

The Portfolio uses valuation techniques to measure fair value that are consistent with the market approach and/or income approach, depending on the type of security and the particular circumstance. The market approach uses prices and other relevant information generated by market transactions involving identical or comparable securities. The income approach uses valuation techniques to discount estimated future cash flows to present value.

 

   

 

 

7


Notes to Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued)

 

GAAP establishes a disclosure hierarchy that categorizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to value assets and liabilities at measurement date. These inputs are summarized in the three broad levels listed below:

 

   

Level 1 – unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical investments

 

   

Level 2 – other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.)

 

   

Level 3 – significant unobservable inputs (including the Portfolio’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments)

The inputs or methodologies used to value securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities.

The following is a summary of the inputs used in valuing the Portfolio’s assets carried at fair value:

 

ASSETS

 

DESCRIPTION

   QUOTED PRICES
(LEVEL 1)
     OTHER SIGNIFICANT
OBSERVABLE INPUTS
(LEVEL 2)
     SIGNIFICANT
UNOBSERVABLE
INPUTS

(LEVEL 3)
     TOTAL  

Common Stocks†

   $ 1,101,593,120        —         —       $ 1,101,593,120  

Short-Term Investments†

     9,214,082        —         —         9,214,082  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Investments

   $ 1,110,807,202        —         —       $ 1,110,807,202  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

See Schedule of Investments for additional detailed categorizations.

2. Transactions with affiliated company

As defined by the 1940 Act, an affiliated company is one in which the Portfolio owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common ownership or control with the Portfolio. The following company was considered an affiliated company for all or some portion of the period ended March 31, 2024. The following transactions were effected in such company for the period ended March 31, 2024.

 

    

Affiliate
Value at

December 31,

     Purchased      Sold  
     2023      Cost      Shares      Proceeds      Shares  
Western Asset Premier Institutional U.S. Treasury Reserves, Premium Shares    $ 7,894,572      $ 16,742,574        16,742,574      $ 20,030,105        20,030,105  

 

 

 

8

   


Notes to Schedule of Investments (unaudited) (continued)

 

(cont’d)

     Realized
Gain (Loss)
       Dividend
Income
       Net Increase
(Decrease) in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
       Affiliate
Value at
March 31,
2024
 
Western Asset Premier Institutional U.S. Treasury Reserves, Premium Shares
       —         $ 91,909          —         $ 4,607,041  

 

   

 

 

9