Lazard Asset Management Launches Three New Mutual Funds

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Lazard Asset Management LLC today announced the launch of three new mutual funds: the Lazard International Equity Advantage Portfolio IEAIX, the Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Advantage Portfolio LEAIX, and the Lazard Managed Equity Volatility Portfolio MEVIX.

The Lazard International Equity Advantage Portfolio and Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Advantage Portfolio are designed to offer investors core exposure to international or emerging market equities providing a consistent pattern of performance through various market cycles. Using a systematic, bottom-up security selection process, the funds seek to identify companies that have attractive risk-reward characteristics, while avoiding unintended exposures from tactical positions (e.g., style, sector, region, or market capitalization).

"By taking on active risk through bottom-up stock selection and diversification, these core equity funds seek to neutralize biases and deliver a stable return stream," said Charles Carroll, Deputy Chairman and Head of Global Marketing at Lazard Asset Management.

The Lazard Managed Equity Volatility Portfolio is designed to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns while reducing portfolio volatility. The fund seeks to achieve its objective by employing a systematic, investment process intended to identify high quality companies with sustainable operating performance. Each company is evaluated daily using a multi-factor approach according to a proprietary ranking system developed by a team of seasoned investment professionals.

"Using an active, systematic process driven by fundamental inputs, the Lazard Managed Equity Volatility Portfolio seeks to keep pace in rising markets, while offering a buffer in falling markets," Mr. Carroll added.

The funds are managed by members of the Lazard Equity Advantage team, portfolio manager/analysts Paul Moghtader, CFA, Taras Ivanenko, CFA, Ciprian Marin, Craig Scholl, CFA, and Susanne Willumsen. The team members have on average 22 years of industry experience, with more than half of those years spent working together. The team, located in Boston and London, draws on the experience and expertise of over 250 investment professionals worldwide.

About Lazard

Lazard, one of the world's preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms, operates from 43 cities across 27 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Central and South America. With origins dating to 1848, the firm provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic matters, restructuring and capital structure, capital raising and corporate finance, as well as asset management services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments, and individuals.

An indirect subsidiary of Lazard Ltd LAZ, Lazard Asset Management (LAM) offers a range of equity, fixed income, and alternative investment products worldwide. As of March 31, 2015, LAM and affiliated asset management companies in the Lazard Group managed $199 billion worth of client assets. For more information about LAM, please visit www.lazardnet.com.

Equity securities will fluctuate in price; the value of your investment will thus fluctuate, and this may result in a loss. Securities in certain non-domestic countries may be less liquid, more volatile, and less subject to governmental supervision than in one's home market. The values of these securities may be affected by changes in currency rates, application of a country's specific tax laws, changes in government administration, and economic and monetary policy. Emerging-market securities carry special risks, such as less developed or less efficient trading markets, a lack of company information, and differing auditing and legal standards. The securities markets of emerging-market countries can be extremely volatile; performance can also be influenced by political, social, and economic factors affecting companies in emerging-market countries. Small- and mid-capitalization companies may be subject to higher degrees of risk, their earnings may be less predictable, their prices more volatile, and their liquidity less than that of large-capitalization or more established companies. The shares of small and mid-cap companies tend to trade less frequently than those of larger companies, which can have an adverse effect on the pricing of these securities and on the ability to sell these securities when the Investment Manager deems it appropriate. Investments denominated in currencies other than US dollars may experience a decline in value, in US dollar terms, due solely to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Investments in ETFs are subject to the risks of such ETF's investments, as well as to the general risks of investing in ETFs. Shares of ETFs may trade at prices that vary from their NAVs, sometimes significantly. The performance of an ETF pursuing a passive index-based strategy may diverge from the performance of the index.

While the Investment Manager generally will seek to achieve, over a full market cycle, a particular level of volatility for the Lazard Managed Equity Volatility Portfolio, there can be no guarantee that this will be achieved; actual or realized volatility for any particular period may be materially higher or lower depending on market conditions. In addition, the Investment Manager's efforts to manage the Portfolio's volatility can be expected, in a period of generally positive equity market returns, to reduce the Portfolio's performance below what could be achieved without seeking to manage volatility and, thus, the Portfolio would generally be expected to underperform market indices that do not seek to achieve a specified level of volatility.

The success of the Portfolios' investment strategy depends largely upon the effectiveness of the Investment Manager's quantitative model. The Investment Manager's ability to monitor and, if necessary, adjust its quantitative model could be adversely affected by various factors including incorrect or outdated market and other data inputs. Factors that affect a security's value can change over time, and these changes may not be reflected in the quantitative model. In addition, factors used in quantitative analysis and the weight placed on those factors may not be predictive of a security's value.

Please consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing. For more complete information about The Lazard Funds, Inc. and current performance, you may obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus by calling 800-823-6300 or going to www.lazardnet.com. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before you invest. The prospectus and summary prospectus contain investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other information about the Portfolio and The Lazard Funds that may not be detailed in this document. The Lazard Funds are distributed by Lazard Asset Management Securities LLC.

Lazard Asset Management LLC
Judi Mackey, +1-212-632-1428
judi.mackey@lazard.com
or
Clare Pickett, +1-212-632-6963
clare.pickett@lazard.com

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