Legg Mason's Miller Favors Large Cap U.S. Stocks

Bill Miller, whose $19 billion Legg Mason Value Trust has beaten the Standard & Poor's 500 index for 15 straight years, said in a recent Bloomberg article the biggest U.S. companies are ripe for investment because they have slumped over five years. Miller, 56, said he recently bought shares of American International Group Inc. (AIG), the world's biggest insurer, and General Electric (GE), the world's No. two company by market value. He's also bought shares in Citigroup (C), the largest U.S. bank, and Home Depot (HD), the world's largest home improvement retailer.

"You look and see what has done worst over the past five years, and the worst has been megacaps,'' Miller said yesterday in an interview at the Fund Forum conference in Monaco. "We know it's mathematically impossible for them not to outperform at some stage.''

Shares in General Electric, AIG and Home Depot have all fallen at least 20 percent in the past five years while Citigroup's stock gained 4.3 percent. Over the same period, the S&P 500 Index rose 7 percent and the Russell 2000 Index of smaller U.S. companies surged 49 percent. Those companies have an average market value of $204 billion while the average for the S&P 500 Index is $23.5 billion.

Miller didn't give exact dates for when he bought the shares.