BOSTON: Legg Mason Inc's Bill Miller, who snapped his 15-year market-beating streak in 2006, is back near the top of the fund manager rankings this year, betting the US economy will return to its old strength.

Miller's Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust rose 43 percent this year through Dec 24, beating 93 percent of similarly managed funds, according to data from Morningstar Inc in Chicago. The gain marks the first time since 2005 that Miller beat the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which rose 25 percent.

"We positioned the fund for a recovery," Miller said in an interview from his office in Baltimore. "Even when things were really bad last fall, it was pretty clear that there would be a cyclical bullish phase to the market."