RULE 497 DOCUMENT
The interactive data file included as an exhibit to this filing relates to the prospectus of The Lazard Funds, Inc. that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Rule 497(e) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, on April 30, 2013 (Accession No. 0000899681-13-000323), which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Lazard U.S. Municipal Portfolio | ||||||
| Lazard U.S. Municipal Portfolio | ||||||
THE LAZARD FUNDS, INC. Lazard US Municipal Portfolio Supplement to Summary Prospectus and Prospectus dated May 1, 2013 Effective June 28, 2013, the Board of Directors of The Lazard Funds, Inc. has approved, for Lazard US Municipal Portfolio (the "Portfolio"), subject to shareholder approvals as described below, changing the Portfolio's investment objective and investment strategy and policies (including the policy with respect to the investment of 80% of its assets (the "80% Policy")), as described below, and changing the name of the Portfolio to Lazard US Short Duration Fixed Income Portfolio. The proposed changes to the investment objective and the 80% Policy (the "Proposed Changes") require the approval of Portfolio shareholders, and a shareholder meeting to vote on the Proposed Changes will be called for June 14, 2013 for shareholders of record as of May 1, 2013. As of June 28, 2013, subject to shareholder approval of the Proposed Changes, it is anticipated that disclosure substantially in the form of the following disclosure will be used to describe the Portfolio's investment objective and principal investment strategies and investment risks in the identified sections of the Prospectus. Summary Prospectus and Prospectus Summary Section – Investment Objective The Portfolio seeks total return and preservation of capital. Summary Section – Principal Investment Strategies and Principal Investment Risks Principal Investment Strategies Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio invests at least 80% of its assets in fixed-income securities of US issuers, including US government securities, corporate securities, mortgage-related and asset-backed securities, convertible securities, municipal securities, structured products, preferred stocks and inflation-indexed-securities. These securities may have any type of interest rate payment terms, including fixed rate, adjustable rate or zero coupon features. Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio's investment portfolio can be expected to have an average effective duration of three years or less. Duration is a measure of the sensitivity of the price (the value of principal) of a fixed-income security to a change in interest rates, expressed as a number of years. Generally, the longer the duration, the higher the expected volatility. For example, the market price of a fixed-income security with a duration of three years would be expected to decline 3% if interest rates rose 1%. Conversely, the market price of the same security would be expected to increase 3% if interest rates fell 1%. The Portfolio invests primarily in securities that are rated investment grade by one or more nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (or, if unrated, determined by Lazard Asset Management LLC (the "Investment Manager") to be of comparable quality), although the Portfolio may invest in securities rated below investment grade ("junk bonds"). Securities are evaluated based on their fundamental and structural characteristics. Valuation analysis is tailored to the specific asset class, but may include credit research and analysis of features such as prepayment or call options, maturity, duration and coupon. The Portfolio may, but is not required to, purchase exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") and exchange-traded notes ("ETNs"). Principal Investment Risks The value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, which means you could lose money. Market Risk. Market risks, including political, regulatory, market and economic developments, and developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market, can affect the value of the Portfolio's investments. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed-income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Portfolio. Issuer Risk. The value of a security may decline for a number of reasons which directly relate to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer's goods or services, as well as the historical and prospective earnings of the issuer and the value of its assets. Fixed-Income Securities Risk. While fixed-income securities are designed to produce a stable stream of income, their prices move inversely with changes in interest rates. Interest rate risk is usually greater for fixed-income securities with longer maturities or effective durations. Other risk factors could have an effect on the Portfolio's performance, including:
Any investments in lower-rated, higher-yielding securities that are rated below investment grade ("junk bonds") are subject to greater credit risk than its higher rated investments. Below investment grade securities tend to be more volatile, less liquid and are considered speculative. Adjustable rate securities provide the Portfolio with a certain degree of protection against rises in interest rates, although the Portfolio will participate in any declines in interest rates as well. Certain adjustable rate securities, such as those with interest rates that fluctuate directly or indirectly based on multiples of a stated index, are designed to be highly sensitive to changes in interest rates and can subject the holders thereof to extreme reductions of yield and possibly loss of principal. Certain fixed income securities may be issued at a discount from their face value (such as zero coupon securities) or purchased at a price less than their stated face amount or at a price less than their issue price plus the portion of "original issue discount" previously accrued thereon, i.e., purchased at a "market discount." The amount of original issue discount and/or market discount on certain obligations may be significant, and accretion of market discount together with original issue discount will cause a Portfolio to realize income prior to the receipt of cash payments with respect to these securities. Mortgage-Related and Asset-Backed Securities Risk. Mortgage-related securities are complex instruments, subject to both credit and prepayment risk, and may be more volatile and less liquid, and more difficult to price accurately, than more traditional debt securities. Although certain mortgage-related securities are guaranteed by a third party (such as a US Government agency or instrumentality with respect to government-related mortgage-backed securities) or otherwise similarly secured, the market value of the security, which may fluctuate, is not secured. Mortgage-related securities generally are subject to credit risks associated with the performance of the underlying mortgage properties. Prepayment risk can lead to fluctuations in value of the mortgage-related security which may be pronounced. As with other interest-bearing securities, the prices of certain mortgage-related securities are inversely affected by changes in interest rates. However, although the value of a mortgage-related security may decline when interest rates rise, the converse is not necessarily true, since during periods of declining interest rates the mortgages underlying the security are more likely to be prepaid. The risks of asset-backed securities are similar to those of mortgage-related securities. However, asset-backed securities present certain risks that are not presented by mortgage-related securities. Primarily, these securities may provide a Portfolio with a less effective security interest in the related collateral than do mortgage-related securities. Structured Products Risk. Structured notes and other structured products are privately negotiated debt instruments where the principal and/or interest is determined by reference to a specified asset, market or rate, or the differential performance of two assets or markets. Structured products can have risks of both fixed-income securities and derivatives transactions. Derivatives transactions may reduce returns or increase volatility, perhaps substantially, and they are subject to many of the risks of, and can be highly sensitive to changes in the value of, the related reference assets, markets or rates. As such, a small investment could have a potentially large impact on the Portfolio's performance. Use of derivatives transactions may cause the Portfolio to experience losses greater than if the Portfolio had not engaged in such transactions. Dated: May 1, 2013 |
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Lazard U.S. Municipal Portfolio
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| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |||||||
| Supplement [Text Block] | cik0000874964_SupplementTextBlock | THE LAZARD FUNDS, INC. Lazard US Municipal Portfolio Supplement to Summary Prospectus and Prospectus dated May 1, 2013 Effective June 28, 2013, the Board of Directors of The Lazard Funds, Inc. has approved, for Lazard US Municipal Portfolio (the "Portfolio"), subject to shareholder approvals as described below, changing the Portfolio's investment objective and investment strategy and policies (including the policy with respect to the investment of 80% of its assets (the "80% Policy")), as described below, and changing the name of the Portfolio to Lazard US Short Duration Fixed Income Portfolio. The proposed changes to the investment objective and the 80% Policy (the "Proposed Changes") require the approval of Portfolio shareholders, and a shareholder meeting to vote on the Proposed Changes will be called for June 14, 2013 for shareholders of record as of May 1, 2013. As of June 28, 2013, subject to shareholder approval of the Proposed Changes, it is anticipated that disclosure substantially in the form of the following disclosure will be used to describe the Portfolio's investment objective and principal investment strategies and investment risks in the identified sections of the Prospectus. Summary Prospectus and Prospectus Summary Section – Investment Objective The Portfolio seeks total return and preservation of capital. Summary Section – Principal Investment Strategies and Principal Investment Risks Principal Investment Strategies Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio invests at least 80% of its assets in fixed-income securities of US issuers, including US government securities, corporate securities, mortgage-related and asset-backed securities, convertible securities, municipal securities, structured products, preferred stocks and inflation-indexed-securities. These securities may have any type of interest rate payment terms, including fixed rate, adjustable rate or zero coupon features. Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio's investment portfolio can be expected to have an average effective duration of three years or less. Duration is a measure of the sensitivity of the price (the value of principal) of a fixed-income security to a change in interest rates, expressed as a number of years. Generally, the longer the duration, the higher the expected volatility. For example, the market price of a fixed-income security with a duration of three years would be expected to decline 3% if interest rates rose 1%. Conversely, the market price of the same security would be expected to increase 3% if interest rates fell 1%. The Portfolio invests primarily in securities that are rated investment grade by one or more nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (or, if unrated, determined by Lazard Asset Management LLC (the "Investment Manager") to be of comparable quality), although the Portfolio may invest in securities rated below investment grade ("junk bonds"). Securities are evaluated based on their fundamental and structural characteristics. Valuation analysis is tailored to the specific asset class, but may include credit research and analysis of features such as prepayment or call options, maturity, duration and coupon. The Portfolio may, but is not required to, purchase exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") and exchange-traded notes ("ETNs"). Principal Investment Risks The value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, which means you could lose money. Market Risk. Market risks, including political, regulatory, market and economic developments, and developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market, can affect the value of the Portfolio's investments. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed-income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Portfolio. Issuer Risk. The value of a security may decline for a number of reasons which directly relate to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer's goods or services, as well as the historical and prospective earnings of the issuer and the value of its assets. Fixed-Income Securities Risk. While fixed-income securities are designed to produce a stable stream of income, their prices move inversely with changes in interest rates. Interest rate risk is usually greater for fixed-income securities with longer maturities or effective durations. Other risk factors could have an effect on the Portfolio's performance, including:
Any investments in lower-rated, higher-yielding securities that are rated below investment grade ("junk bonds") are subject to greater credit risk than its higher rated investments. Below investment grade securities tend to be more volatile, less liquid and are considered speculative. Adjustable rate securities provide the Portfolio with a certain degree of protection against rises in interest rates, although the Portfolio will participate in any declines in interest rates as well. Certain adjustable rate securities, such as those with interest rates that fluctuate directly or indirectly based on multiples of a stated index, are designed to be highly sensitive to changes in interest rates and can subject the holders thereof to extreme reductions of yield and possibly loss of principal. Certain fixed income securities may be issued at a discount from their face value (such as zero coupon securities) or purchased at a price less than their stated face amount or at a price less than their issue price plus the portion of "original issue discount" previously accrued thereon, i.e., purchased at a "market discount." The amount of original issue discount and/or market discount on certain obligations may be significant, and accretion of market discount together with original issue discount will cause a Portfolio to realize income prior to the receipt of cash payments with respect to these securities. Mortgage-Related and Asset-Backed Securities Risk. Mortgage-related securities are complex instruments, subject to both credit and prepayment risk, and may be more volatile and less liquid, and more difficult to price accurately, than more traditional debt securities. Although certain mortgage-related securities are guaranteed by a third party (such as a US Government agency or instrumentality with respect to government-related mortgage-backed securities) or otherwise similarly secured, the market value of the security, which may fluctuate, is not secured. Mortgage-related securities generally are subject to credit risks associated with the performance of the underlying mortgage properties. Prepayment risk can lead to fluctuations in value of the mortgage-related security which may be pronounced. As with other interest-bearing securities, the prices of certain mortgage-related securities are inversely affected by changes in interest rates. However, although the value of a mortgage-related security may decline when interest rates rise, the converse is not necessarily true, since during periods of declining interest rates the mortgages underlying the security are more likely to be prepaid. The risks of asset-backed securities are similar to those of mortgage-related securities. However, asset-backed securities present certain risks that are not presented by mortgage-related securities. Primarily, these securities may provide a Portfolio with a less effective security interest in the related collateral than do mortgage-related securities. Structured Products Risk. Structured notes and other structured products are privately negotiated debt instruments where the principal and/or interest is determined by reference to a specified asset, market or rate, or the differential performance of two assets or markets. Structured products can have risks of both fixed-income securities and derivatives transactions. Derivatives transactions may reduce returns or increase volatility, perhaps substantially, and they are subject to many of the risks of, and can be highly sensitive to changes in the value of, the related reference assets, markets or rates. As such, a small investment could have a potentially large impact on the Portfolio's performance. Use of derivatives transactions may cause the Portfolio to experience losses greater than if the Portfolio had not engaged in such transactions. Dated: May 1, 2013 |
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| Risk/Return [Heading] | rr_RiskReturnHeading | Lazard U.S. Municipal Portfolio |
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Document and Entity Information
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0 Months Ended |
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Apr. 30, 2013
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| Risk/Return: | |
| Document Type | 497 |
| Document Period End Date | Apr. 30, 2013 |
| Registrant Name | LAZARD FUNDS INC |
| Central Index Key | 0000874964 |
| Amendment Flag | false |
| Document Creation Date | Apr. 30, 2013 |
| Document Effective Date | Apr. 30, 2013 |
| Prospectus Date | May 01, 2013 |
| Label | Element | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Prospectus Date | rr_ProspectusDate | May 01, 2013 |