Maybe we need to coin a new term for the industry. When an executive turns around a firm's trend of outflows and kicks up its earnings, that person has pulled a "Sullivan."

That's just what Legg Mason chief executive Joe Sullivan did.

Legg reported a 51 percent rise in profit, and a 61 percent boost in income, for the quarter ending June 30.

The firm's AUM hit $704.3 billion, up 9 percent from the same period a year ago.

The cheery earnings news garnered the attention of all the usual suspects, including Bloomberg; Yahoo Finance; Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal, among others.

During a conference call with analysts, Sullivan revealed some of the workings of his magic, including outreach with affiliates, turbocharged biz development and distribution. A full transcript of the earnings call can be found here at SeekingAlpha.

A recent Forbes article reported that Sullivan is working to shake up Legg's traditional affiliate structure, which involves full ownership of all investment shops. According to the article, Sullivan is looking to borrow a page from AMG's Sean Healey, and give boutiques some skin in the game.

Meanwhile, the Motley Fool recently penned a paean in praise of Sullivan's Way. 

Edited by: Tommy Fernandez


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