Thomas Mandia
About Thomas Mandia
Thomas C. Mandia (birth year: 1962) serves as Senior Vice President of Western Asset Global Corporate Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE: GDO) and has held officer roles in the fund complex since 2009, including Assistant Secretary prior to his promotion in 2022 . His core credentials are in fund legal and governance: Senior Associate General Counsel at Franklin Templeton since 2020, and long-standing secretary roles across FTFA/LMAS/LMFAM, following 15 years as Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel at Legg Mason & Co. (2005–2020) . Fund-level performance commentary notes GDO outperformed the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index since inception and over the 1-, 5-, and 10-year periods ended December 31, 2023 .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Asset Global Corporate Defined/Opportunity Fund Inc. (GDO) | Assistant Secretary | Listed “since 2009” in 2020/2021 proxies | Officer supporting fund governance and administration (per principal occupations listed) |
| Western Asset Global Corporate Opportunity Fund Inc. (GDO) | Senior Vice President | Since 2022 | Senior fund officer; legal/governance leadership (per principal occupations listed) |
| Legg Mason & Co. | Managing Director & Deputy General Counsel | 2005–2020 | Senior legal leadership at sponsor across fund complex |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Templeton | Senior Associate General Counsel | Since 2020 | Principal occupation; legal counsel across FT fund boards |
| Franklin Templeton Fund Adviser, LLC (FTFA; formerly LMPFA) | Secretary | Since 2006 | Long-standing officer role at adviser |
| LM Asset Services, LLC (LMAS) | Secretary | Since 2002 | Officer role across fund services entities |
| Legg Mason Fund Asset Management, Inc. (LMFAM) | Secretary | Since 2013 | Officer role at (formerly registered) adviser entity |
Fixed Compensation
- Officers of the Fund receive no compensation from GDO; they may be reimbursed for reasonable out-of-pocket travel expenses for attending Board meetings .
- The proxy discloses director compensation, but Mandia is an officer (not an independent director), and thus no Fund-paid salary/bonus/equity information is provided for him .
Performance Compensation
- No performance-based incentives (RSUs/PSUs/options), vesting schedules, or payout metrics are disclosed for Fund officers; GDO officers do not receive compensation from the Fund .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Metric | Mar 25, 2024 | Feb 7, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Outstanding shares (Common) | 14,949,168 | 7,519,400 |
| Officers and Directors beneficial ownership (group) | <1% of outstanding | <1% of outstanding |
- Dollar ranges of equity holdings are disclosed for directors (not officers); no individual beneficial ownership disclosure is provided for Mandia in the proxies .
- No pledging/hedging disclosures for Mandia appear in the Fund’s proxy materials .
Employment Terms
| Item | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Appointment & term | Fund executive officers are elected each year at a regular Board meeting and hold office until successors are duly elected and qualified . |
| Compensation from Fund | Officers receive no compensation from the Fund (expense reimbursement only for travel to Board meetings) . |
| Section 16(a) compliance | The Fund believes all applicable ownership filings were met for FY ended Oct 31, 2024 . |
| Severance / Change-of-control | No severance, change-of-control, accelerated vesting, or related employment contract terms are disclosed for Fund officers . |
| Clawbacks / gross-ups | No clawback provisions or tax gross-ups are disclosed for Fund officers . |
Additional Governance Footprints (proxy roles as named proxy)
- Mandia is listed among the named proxies designated by the Board in multiple proxy statements (special/annual), evidencing his ongoing senior officer involvement in shareholder meeting processes .
Investment Implications
- Alignment and selling pressure: With no Fund-paid equity awards or disclosed vesting schedules for officers, there is no scheduled vesting-driven selling pressure indicated in filings; individual ownership for Mandia is not disclosed, and group beneficial ownership is <1%, limiting “skin-in-the-game” visibility from Fund disclosures .
- Retention risk: Officers are elected annually and compensated by the sponsor (Franklin Templeton), not the Fund; retention/compensation levers reside at the sponsor level, and no Fund-specific severance or change-of-control economics are disclosed for officers, reducing Fund-level transition risk signals .
- Trading signals: Absence of option/RSU grants, vesting, pledging/hedging, or insider ownership detail for Mandia in Fund filings means typical pay-for-performance and insider-selling analytics are not available; monitoring external filings at the sponsor level would be required for deeper insight .
- Governance role: Consistent inclusion as named proxy and senior legal officer across years supports continuity of governance execution but does not provide performance-tied compensation signals for trading .