Jane Trust
President and Chief Executive Officer at WESTERN ASSET GLOBAL CORPORATE OPPORTUNITY FUND
CEO
Executive
Board
About Jane Trust
Jane E. Trust, CFA, is Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Western Asset Global Corporate Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE: GDO) and has served in these roles since 2015; she is classified as an “interested” director due to her roles within Franklin Templeton/affiliates and was born in 1962 . She also serves as Senior Vice President, Fund Board Management at Franklin Templeton and President and CEO of Franklin Templeton Fund Adviser, LLC (FTFA), the Fund’s adviser, reflecting deep experience in investment management governance and risk oversight . During 2024 the Fund executed a strategic conversion plan to become a perpetual CEF (subject to a successful tender and minimum asset threshold), and management represented that the Fund had outperformed the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index since inception and over 1-, 5-, and 10-year periods as of 12/31/2023 (context for track record under current leadership) -.
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Templeton | Senior Vice President, Fund Board Management | Since 2020 | Governance leadership for U.S. Fund Boards within the adviser complex . |
| FTFA (Franklin Templeton Fund Adviser, LLC) | President and Chief Executive Officer | Since 2015 | Executive leadership at GDO’s adviser; oversight of advisory/administration to the Fund . |
| Legg Mason & Co., LLC | Senior Managing Director | 2018–2020 | Senior executive role at predecessor affiliate during integration period . |
| Legg Mason & Co., LLC | Managing Director | 2016–2018 | Executive leadership at predecessor affiliate . |
| FTFA | Senior Vice President | 2015 | Senior management at adviser coincident with start of GDO officer tenure . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| FTFA/affiliated funds | Officer and/or Trustee/Director of 114 funds | Since 2015 | Broad board/officer responsibilities across fund complex . |
| Putnam Family of Funds (105 portfolios) | Trustee | Not disclosed | Additional fund complex fiduciary role; underscores governance breadth . |
| Other public company directorships | None | — | “Other Directorships Held by Director: None” for Ms. Trust at GDO . |
Fixed Compensation
Officers receive no compensation from the Fund; Ms. Trust received no remuneration from GDO for FY 2024, as officer pay is borne by the adviser/affiliates (not the Fund) .
| Component | Period | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Aggregate compensation from GDO (Fund-level officer pay) | FY ended 10/31/2024 | $0 |
Note: The Compensation Committee at GDO sets compensation only for Independent Directors; it does not oversee executive officer pay programs at the adviser .
Performance Compensation
No executive incentive plan is disclosed at the Fund level (officers are compensated by FTFA/affiliates, not GDO; the Fund’s Compensation Committee’s scope is limited to Independent Director compensation) .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Metric | As-of Date | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beneficial ownership in GDO (dollar range) | 12/31/2024 | A (None) | Indicates no reportable Fund share ownership by Ms. Trust at GDO . |
| Aggregate dollar range across Family of Investment Companies | 12/31/2024 | E (Over $100,000) | Significant exposure across the adviser’s fund complex, not necessarily GDO . |
| Group ownership (all directors/officers as a group) | 02/07/2025 | <1% of GDO shares outstanding | Low insider ownership at GDO level . |
| Shares outstanding (GDO) | 02/07/2025 | 7,519,400 | Record date for 2025 annual meeting . |
| Pledging/Hedging | — | Not disclosed | No pledging/hedging disclosure specific to Ms. Trust in the proxy -. |
| Ownership guidelines (director/officer) | — | Not disclosed | No guideline compliance metrics disclosed for officers -. |
Employment Terms
| Item | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Employment start at GDO (officer/director) | Director, President & CEO since 2015 . |
| Contract term, expiration, auto-renewal | Not disclosed in GDO proxy for adviser-employed officers . |
| Severance, change-in-control, vesting acceleration | Not disclosed at Fund level (officers paid by FTFA/affiliates) . |
| Clawbacks, tax gross-ups, non-compete/non-solicit | Not disclosed in GDO proxy for officers . |
| Section 16 compliance | Fund reports all filing requirements met for FY 2024 . |
Board Governance
- Status and roles: Director (Interested Person under 1940 Act), President & CEO; serving since 2015 .
- Independence and committees: All standing committees (Audit; Nominating; Pricing & Valuation; Compensation) are composed entirely of Independent Directors and chaired by Independent Directors; Ms. Trust is not listed as a member of these committees -.
- Leadership structure: Independent Chair of the Board (Eileen A. Kamerick); Board has eight directors, seven independent; Independent Directors meet outside management .
- Attendance: In FY ended 10/31/2024, the Board held 4 regular and 1 special meeting; each Director attended at least 75% of eligible meetings .
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Board size / independence | 8 directors; 7 Independent Directors . |
| Chair | Eileen A. Kamerick (Independent) . |
| Committees (chairs) | Audit (Nisha Kumar), Nominating (Hillary A. Sale), Pricing & Valuation (Carol L. Colman), Compensation (Peter Mason) -. |
| Ms. Trust committee roles | None (Independent-only committees) -. |
| Independence status | Interested Person (officer of FTFA/affiliates) . |
| Meeting attendance | ≥75% for all directors; 4 regular + 1 special in FY 2024 . |
Dual-role implications:
- Ms. Trust’s dual role as CEO/President and Director presents potential independence concerns but is mitigated by an Independent Chair, a super-majority independent board, and independent-only committees with executive sessions . Under the 1940 Act, her “interested person” status is explicitly disclosed due to advisory affiliations .
Director Compensation (for Jane Trust at GDO)
| Year | Cash Retainer | Committee/Chair Fees | Equity (DSUs/Stock) | Total from GDO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2024 | N/A | N/A | N/A | $0 (no remuneration to Ms. Trust from the Fund) |
Note: Independent Directors’ compensation is disclosed separately; Ms. Trust, as an interested officer/director, is not paid by GDO .
Performance & Track Record
- Fund-level performance context: Management reported the Fund outperformed the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index since inception and over 1-, 5-, and 10-year periods to 12/31/2023; the Fund pursued a strategic conversion from a term fund to a perpetual structure with a 100% NAV tender and $50mm post-tender asset threshold, reflecting governance and market positioning actions during this period -.
- Governance actions: If approved/effective, the conversion included a two-year, 10 bps management fee waiver by FTFA to partially mitigate adviser conflicts and offset proxy/tender costs, indicating sensitivity to alignment and expense optics .
Compensation Committee Analysis
- Scope: Recommends Independent Director compensation only; did not address executive officer compensation (paid by FTFA/affiliates) .
- Composition and process: All Independent Directors; chaired by Peter Mason; met once in FY 2024; charter available on the Fund’s website .
Say-on-Pay & Shareholder Feedback
No advisory say-on-pay votes are disclosed for GDO (closed-end funds typically do not hold say-on-pay at the fund level); shareholder engagement details pertain to structural proposals (e.g., conversion to perpetual) rather than executive compensation -.
Related Party Transactions / Red Flags
- Independence/affiliation: Ms. Trust is affiliated with the adviser (interested person), disclosed as a governance consideration; Independent Chair and committees mitigate influence -.
- Section 16 compliance: The Fund states all reporting requirements were met for FY 2024 .
- Hedging/pledging, loans, or related party transactions specific to Ms. Trust: Not disclosed in the GDO proxy -.
Equity Ownership & Trading Signals (Form 4s)
- Insider ownership at the Fund level is minimal: Ms. Trust reported “A (None)” for GDO dollar-range ownership as of 12/31/2024; directors/officers as a group owned <1% as of 2/7/2025, limiting direct alignment and reducing predictive value from insider selling pressure at the Fund level .
- The proxy confirms timely Section 16 filings; specific Form 4 transactions for Ms. Trust are not disclosed in the proxy and were not available in the documents reviewed .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance transparency: Executive compensation for Ms. Trust is set and paid by FTFA/affiliates, not the Fund, so GDO-level pay metrics, vesting schedules, and severance/CIC economics are not disclosed—limiting direct pay-performance analysis at the Fund level .
- Alignment: Ms. Trust shows no reportable direct ownership in GDO; aggregate ownership across the broader fund family is >$100k, which may align her with the adviser’s complex rather than this specific Fund; insider ownership at GDO overall is <1% .
- Governance risk mitigation: Independent Chair, super-majority independent board, and independent-only committees with executive sessions provide checks against potential conflicts arising from her interested director status and dual executive/director role -.
- Trading signals: With no Fund-level holdings by Ms. Trust and no disclosed Form 4 activity in the proxy, insider trading signals appear limited at GDO; Section 16 compliance indicates regular reporting but does not, by itself, indicate directional signals .
- Execution track record: The 2024–2025 period focused on structural actions (term-to-perpetual conversion with a full NAV tender and a fee waiver), indicating a shareholder-choice framework and expense sensitivity; management asserted multi-period benchmark outperformance through 12/31/2023, which supports the case for continued operation but should be independently validated against subsequent shareholder reports -.