Spotlight on Pawel Wroblewski, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, ClearBridge Investments
Global Thought Leader Spotlight
Pawel Wroblewski, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, ClearBridge Investments
In my role as the Managing Director, Portfolio Manager at ClearBridge Investments, I am responsible for overseeing approximately US$17 billion in assets under management. My responsibilities cover all aspects of portfolio management, including stock selection and strategic positioning. In addition to managing the portfolio, I also cover the Technology, Industrials and Commodity sectors, providing insights into companies and broader industry trends.
While I bring deep sector expertise across these areas, I contribute to investment decisions across all sectors, helping to shape the overall portfolio and drive long-term growth.
AI-driven disruption and market leadership
Rapid advances in AI are reshaping leadership and creating the next generation of winners, while challenging incumbents (e.g. search challenged by generative AI). Unlike prior innovation cycles, the speed of adoption of AI and unprecedented progress, make this wave more disruptive.
The passive challenge
The rise of passive investing has amplified market concentration and volatility. However, as AI disruption accelerates and new winners emerge while incumbents falter, passive strategies face a growing challenge: indices are slow to reflect leadership changes. This creates risk for investors relying on static benchmarks and an opportunity for active managers who can identify new leaders early.
Elevated style volatility
Over the last five years (post COVID), style rotations have become more frequent and aggressive, challenging traditional growth and value frameworks.
High-octane growth strategies (concentrated, high tracking error) have delivered uneven and greater variability of outcomes. Meanwhile, a moderate growth approach (diversified, lower tracking error) has provided more consistent outcomes.
Growth is not one-size-fits-all
A diversified approach across a spectrum of growth can enhance returns and manage risk. Applying valuation discipline and sizing positions based on evidence, not hype, is essential. Further, flexibility across the spectrum of growth allows portfolios to adapt as cycles and market leadership change.
Implications for sophisticated investors
Navigating the AI-driven technology wave: For investors, the opportunity lies in capturing the AI revolution from early beneficiaries (such as data centre builders), companies implementing and monetising AI (such as AI-driven applications) to emerging innovative business models, across a spectrum of growth. Disruption is inevitable, but it can be managed. Importantly, valuation discipline remains critical to long term success.
Growth: A diversified, more disciplined approach: High octane growth investing has become riskier in an era of AI-driven disruption and heightened style volatility. A different approach to growth is needed - diversify across a spectrum of growth definitions, apply valuation discipline, and maintain flexibility to adapt as market leadership shifts.
Managing through disruption with a spectrum of growth: Our framework differentiates by defining growth across secular (steady compounders), structural (idiosyncratic opportunities), and emerging (strong upside potential), each with distinct risk and earnings profiles. This framework enables participation in innovation and growth cycles while mitigating drawdowns during leadership shifts.
Bottom line: Growth outperforms over the long term, but managing disruption and style volatility requires a differentiated approach anchored in growth definition, valuation disciplined and robust risk management.
Pawel will be presenting at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Equities Investment Forum, taking place on Wednesday, 10 September 2025 in Melbourne CBD, Victoria. To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zlatan@globalii.com.au.
Pawel Wroblewski, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, ClearBridge Investments
Pawel is a Portfolio Manager on the Global Growth Equity investment team and co-manages numerous international and global growth strategies at ClearBridge Investments. He joined ClearBridge in 2013 and has 29 years of investment industry experience.
Pawel joined ClearBridge as a Senior Portfolio Analyst and became a Portfolio Manager later that same year. Prior to joining ClearBridge, he was a Senior Research Analyst at Global Currents Investment Management, which became part of ClearBridge in 2013; Equity Research Analyst at Allianz Global Investors' Oppenheimer Capital division; Senior Research Analyst with CA-IB Securities; Research Associate with Credit Suisse First Boston; and an Auditor with Deloitte & Touche.
Pawel received an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and an M.A. in finance from the Warsaw School of Economics. He is also a member of the CFA Institute.
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