WEA - Western Asset Premier Bond Fund

What this means for you

Sit Investment is known for pushing closed-end funds to narrow the gap between price and value. For now it has told the regulator it is not seeking changes. One other large investor owns more than 5% of this fund and has said the same; that is common for banks, brokers and index funds that hold shares for their clients.

Nothing is required of you. If an investor changes its mind, it must file a new notice within days, and it will show up here.

Email me if this changes

What happened, and when

1. May 12, 2026

   Morgan Stanley raised its stake to 17.8% (from 15.6%), as a passive investor.

   Original document →

2. Oct 31, 2025

   First Trust Portfolios L.P. sold down below 5% and stopped reporting.

   Original document →

3. Aug 7, 2025

   Morgan Stanley raised its stake to 15.6% (from 14.4%), as a passive investor.

   Original document →

4. July 11, 2025

   Allspring Global Investments Holdings, LLC sold down below 5% and stopped reporting.

   Original document →

5. May 7, 2025

   Morgan Stanley raised its stake to 14.4% (from 13%), as a passive investor.

   Original document →

About this fund

• Run by Western Asset Management Company, LLC. Part of the FRANKLIN TEMPLETON fund family. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
• Size: about $134 million of holdings, as of June 30, 2026. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• Borrowing: the fund borrows about 33% on top of its own money, as of June 30, 2026. Borrowed money makes gains and losses bigger. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• Costs: 0.6% a year in management fees; 3.6% a year in total, including interest on borrowed money. Fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
  Among the 90 funds we follow that invest in bonds, 8 charge a lower management fee and 53 charge less in total, at their last yearly reports. Both numbers are measured against the fund's own money, not the money it borrows on top, so a fund that borrows more shows higher costs on both counts.
• Payouts: last fiscal year (ended Dec 31, 2025) the fund paid $0.84 a share. $0.76 of that was income; $0.08 was your own money back, not income. Most funds announce their monthly or quarterly payout on their own website, not in a filing with the regulator, so a cut or a raise there does not show up here until the next yearly report. A few funds do file a notice about a fixed payout; those appear under What happened, and when. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Value of holdings per share at the last fiscal year end (Dec 31, 2025): $11.49. The shares traded at $11.03, about 4% below that. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
• How the holdings did: up 2.7% over the last three months we have (April-June 2026), before the share price is taken into account. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• First reported to the regulator in 2001.

How this has changed

• Payouts per share: $0.84 in the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025; $0.84 in the year ended Dec 31, 2024; $0.80 in the year ended Dec 31, 2023.As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Of that, your own money back rather than income: $0.08 in the year ended Dec 31, 2025; none in the year ended Dec 31, 2024; none in the year ended Dec 31, 2023.As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Costs, including interest on borrowed money: 3.55% a year in the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025; 3.71% a year in the year ended Dec 31, 2024; 3.29% a year in the year ended Dec 31, 2023.As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Size of the holdings: about $136 million at Dec 31, 2025; $132 million at Dec 31, 2024; $136 million at Dec 29, 2023. From the fund's quarterly holdings reports. Original documents: Dec 31, 2025 →, Dec 31, 2024 →, Dec 29, 2023 →.
• Borrowing: about 33% on top of its own money at Dec 31, 2025; 35% at Dec 31, 2024; 26% at Dec 29, 2023. From the fund's quarterly holdings reports. Original documents: Dec 31, 2025 →, Dec 31, 2024 →, Dec 29, 2023 →.
• The fund had about 11.8 million shares at Dec 31, 2025, about the same as at Dec 31, 2023.As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →

What these lines mean: a payout that is your own money back, what a fund costs, borrowing.

What a holder made

• The year ended Dec 31, 2025: the shares returned +10.5%, counting payouts; the holdings +10.9%. The holdings figure is what the fund's investments earned, before the share price is taken into account. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Dec 31, 2024: the shares returned +7.7%, counting payouts; the holdings +4.8%. As of Dec 31, 2024, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Dec 31, 2023: the shares returned +9.6%, counting payouts; the holdings +9.8%. As of Dec 31, 2023, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Dec 31, 2022: the shares returned -20.3%, counting payouts; the holdings -16.2%. As of Dec 31, 2022, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Dec 31, 2021: the shares returned +6.9%, counting payouts; the holdings +1.8%. As of Dec 31, 2021, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Those five years together: the shares returned +11.1%. $10,000 of shares bought at the start (Jan 1, 2021) would have become about $11,100 by Dec 31, 2025, with every payout counted, before tax. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The holdings over the last twelve months we have, to June 30, 2026: +6%. The quarterly reports carry no share price, so this is the holdings alone. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• Of the 75 funds that invest in bonds with a fiscal year ending within six months of this one, 22 reported a higher share return for that year and 52 a lower one. As of Dec 31, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• A past year says nothing about the next one. All figures are the fund's own, from its reports to the regulator.

Why the shares and the holdings can differ: the gap between price and value. Why payouts count: a payout that is your own money back.

What the fund holds

Mostly bonds (87%), the rest asset-backed bonds, loans and cash and short-term holdings. About 69% issued in the U.S.

1. First Quantum Minerals, Fmcn 8 03/01/33 144A - 2%
2. Goldman Sachs Group, Gs V2.64 02/24/28 - 1.8%
3. Aercap Ireland Capital Dac / Aercap Global Aviation Trust, Aer 3.4 10/29/33 - 1.7%
4. Citadel Securities LP, Citadel Enterprise Term Loan B 200 2033-05-30 - 1.6%
5. Charles Schwab, Schw V4 Perp H - 1.4%
6. Michaels Companies, Mik 11 03/15/34 144A - 1.4%
7. Pfizer Investment Enterprises Pte, Pfe 4.75 05/19/33 - 1.3%
8. Pm General Purchaser LLC, Amgene 9.5 10/01/28 144A - 1.3%
9. Permian Resources Operating LLC, PR 6.25 02/01/33 144A - 1.3%
10. Verizon Communications, Vz 3.875 02/08/29 - 1.2%

As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →