Jeanne Kelly
About Jeanne Kelly
Jeanne M. Kelly is Senior Vice President of Western Asset Mortgage Opportunity Fund Inc. (DMO) and has served in this officer role since 2010. She was born in 1951 and, within Franklin Templeton/Legg Mason affiliates, serves as U.S. Fund Board Team Manager at Franklin Templeton (since 2020) and President and Chief Executive Officer of LM Asset Services, LLC (LMAS) and Legg Mason Fund Asset Management, Inc. (LMFAM) (since 2015). The Fund discloses that its officers receive no compensation from the Fund (officers may be reimbursed for reasonable out‑of‑pocket travel expenses), and it reported full Section 16(a) compliance for FY2024 filings, limiting fund‑level insight into her compensation or trading patterns .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Templeton | U.S. Fund Board Team Manager | Since 2020 | Current principal occupation per DMO proxy |
| LM Asset Services, LLC (LMAS) | President & CEO | Since 2015 | Affiliate role disclosed in officer biography |
| Legg Mason Fund Asset Management, Inc. (LMFAM) | President & CEO | Since 2015 | Affiliate role disclosed in officer biography |
| Legg Mason & Co. | Managing Director | 2005–2020 | Former role |
| LMFAM | Senior Vice President | 2013–2015 | Former role |
| FTFA (Franklin Templeton Fund Adviser, LLC) | Senior Vice President | Since 2006 | Affiliate role |
| Funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or affiliates | Senior Vice President | Since 2007 | Affiliate role |
Fixed Compensation
- Officers of the Fund receive no compensation from the Fund; they may be reimbursed for reasonable out‑of‑pocket travel expenses for attending Board meetings .
- Individual base salary and bonus for Ms. Kelly are not disclosed at the Fund level because she is compensated by Franklin Templeton/affiliate entities, not by DMO .
Performance Compensation
- The Fund reports no officer compensation; therefore, no stock awards, option awards, incentive plan metrics, or payouts are disclosed at the Fund level for Ms. Kelly .
- No performance metric framework (e.g., revenue/EBITDA growth, TSR, ESG) tied to officer compensation is disclosed at the Fund level .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Individual officer beneficial ownership is not itemized in the proxy; as of August 29, 2025, nominees, Directors and officers of the Fund as a group owned less than 1% of outstanding Common Stock .
- Section 16(a) ownership filing compliance: based on its review, the Fund believes all such filing requirements were met for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 .
- The proxy provides no officer‑level disclosure on pledged shares, hedging, ownership guidelines, or compliance with such guidelines .
Employment Terms
| Term | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Appointment/Term | Executive officers are chosen each year by the Board to hold office until their successors are duly elected and qualified . |
| Compensation by Fund | None (officers receive no compensation from the Fund; reimbursement possible for Board‑meeting travel) . |
| Employment Contract | Not disclosed at the Fund level . |
| Severance / Change‑of‑Control | Not disclosed at the Fund level . |
| Non‑compete / Non‑solicit | Not disclosed at the Fund level . |
Investment Implications
- Fund‑level compensation does not create direct pay‑for‑performance alignment or vesting‑related selling pressure at DMO because officers, including Ms. Kelly, receive no compensation from the Fund; compensation and incentives (if any) sit at Franklin Templeton/affiliates and are not disclosed in the Fund proxy .
- Insider alignment and trading‑signal visibility are limited: officer‑level ownership is not itemized, and aggregate ownership by nominees, Directors and officers as a group is under 1%, while Section 16 compliance was reported as complete for FY2024 (suggesting no missed filings but offering little insight into individual insider activity) .
- Governance oversight is concentrated in a super‑majority‑independent Board with all‑independent Audit, Nominating, Compensation, and Pricing & Valuation Committees; however, the Compensation Committee sets director pay, and officer pay is outside Fund purview (reducing transparency into officer incentives that might influence Fund‑level decisions) .
Sources: DMO DEF 14A (Sept 16, 2025) – officer biography, compensation statement for officers, ownership and governance disclosures ; DMO DEF 14A (Sept 17, 2024) – consistent “officers receive no compensation” disclosure .