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Lazard Global Listed Infrastructure Portfolio
Lazard Global Listed Infrastructure Portfolio
Investment Objective

The Portfolio seeks total return.

Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Portfolio.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees Lazard Global Listed Infrastructure Portfolio
Institutional Shares
Open Shares
Maximum Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, on shares owned for 30 days or less) 1.00% 1.00%
Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses Lazard Global Listed Infrastructure Portfolio
Institutional Shares
Open Shares
Management Fees 0.90% 0.90%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees none 0.25%
Other Expenses 0.24% 0.35%
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses 1.14% 1.50%
Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.


The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example Lazard Global Listed Infrastructure Portfolio (USD $)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Institutional Shares
116 362 628 1,386
Open Shares
153 474 818 1,791
Portfolio Turnover

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Portfolio shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual portfolio operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio’s portfolio turnover rate was 26% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Portfolio invests primarily in equity securities, principally common stocks, of infrastructure companies and concentrates its investments in industries represented by infrastructure companies. The Investment Manager focuses on companies with a minimum market capitalization of $250 million that own physical infrastructure and which the Investment Manager believes are undervalued.


Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of infrastructure companies, which consist of utilities, pipelines, toll roads, airports, railroads, ports, telecommunications and other infrastructure companies, with securities listed on a national or other recognized securities exchange.


Under normal market conditions, the Portfolio invests significantly (at least 40%—unless market conditions are not deemed favorable by the Investment Manager, in which case the Portfolio would invest at least 30%) in infrastructure companies organized or located outside the US or doing a substantial amount of business outside the US. The Investment Manager allocates the Portfolio’s assets among various regions and countries, including the United States (but in no less than three different countries). The Portfolio may invest in equity securities of companies with some business activities located in emerging market countries.


The Investment Manager generally seeks to substantially hedge foreign currency exposure in the Portfolio back to the US dollar by entering into foreign currency forward contracts, although the Portfolio’s total foreign currency exposure may not be fully hedged at all times.

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.


Infrastructure Companies Risk. Securities and instruments of infrastructure companies are more susceptible to adverse economic or regulatory occurrences affecting their industries. Infrastructure companies may be subject to a variety of factors that may adversely affect their business or operations, including high interest costs in connection with capital construction programs, high leverage, costs associated with environmental and other regulations, the effects of economic slowdown, surplus capacity, increased competition from other providers of services, uncertainties concerning the availability of fuel at reasonable prices, the effects of energy conservation policies and other factors. Infrastructure companies also may be affected by or subject to:


 

 

 

 

regulation by various government authorities, including rate regulation;

 

 

 

 

service interruption due to environmental, operational or other mishaps;

 

 

 

 

the imposition of special tariffs and changes in tax laws, regulatory policies and accounting standards; and

 

 

 

 

general changes in market sentiment towards infrastructure and utilities assets.


Non-US Securities Risk. The Portfolio’s performance will be influenced by political, social and economic factors affecting the non-US countries and companies in which the Portfolio invests. Non-US securities carry special risks, such as exposure to currency fluctuations, less developed or less efficient trading markets, political instability, a lack of company information, differing auditing and legal standards, and, potentially, less liquidity. In addition, investments denominated in currencies other than US dollars carry the risk that such currencies will decline in value relative to the US dollar and affect the value of these investments held in the Portfolio.


Emerging Market Risk. Emerging market countries can generally have economic structures that are less diverse and mature, and political systems that are less stable, than those of developed countries. The securities markets of emerging market countries have historically been extremely volatile. However, the capital markets in the US and internationally have experienced unprecedented volatility in recent years, causing significant declines in the value and liquidity of many securities. These market conditions may continue or worsen. Significant devaluation of emerging market currencies against the US dollar may occur subsequent to acquisition of investments denominated in emerging market currencies.


Value Investing Risk. The Portfolio invests in stocks believed by the Investment Manager to be undervalued, but that may not realize their perceived value for extended periods of time or may never realize their perceived value. The stocks in which the Portfolio invests may respond differently to market and other developments than other types of stocks.


Foreign Currency Hedging Risk. Irrespective of any foreign currency exposure hedging, the Portfolio may experience a decline in the value of its portfolio securities, in US dollar terms, due solely to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. The Investment Manager may not be able to accurately predict movements in exchange rates and there may be imperfect correlations between movements in exchange rates that could cause the Portfolio to incur significant losses. Currency investments could be adversely affected by delays in, or a refusal to grant, repatriation of funds or conversion of emerging market currencies.


Forward Currency Contract Risk. Forward currency contracts may reduce returns or increase volatility, perhaps substantially. Forward currency contracts are subject to the risk of default by the counterparty to the contracts and can be illiquid. These contracts are subject to many of the risks of, and can be highly sensitive to changes in the value of, the related currency. As such, a small investment could have a potentially large impact on the Portfolio’s performance. Use of forward currency contracts, even when entered into for hedging purposes, may cause the Portfolio to experience losses greater than if the Portfolio had not engaged in such transactions.


Larger Cap Companies Risk. The securities of large market cap companies may underperform other segments of the market because such companies may be less responsive to competitive challenges and opportunities and may be unable to attain high growth rates during periods of economic expansion.

Performance Bar Chart and Table Total Returns for Institutional Shares As of 12/31

The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in Lazard Global Listed Infrastructure Portfolio by showing the Portfolio’s year-by-year performance and its average annual performance compared to that of broad measures of market performance. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Portfolio’s Institutional Shares has varied from year to year. Updated performance information is available at www.LazardNet.com or by calling (800) 823-6300. The Portfolio’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Portfolio will perform in the future.

Bar Chart


Best Quarter:

9/30/10 12.17%

Worst Quarter:

9/30/11 -9.85%

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended December 31, 2012)

After-tax returns for the Open Shares vary from those of Institutional Shares. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

Average Annual Returns Lazard Global Listed Infrastructure Portfolio
1 Year
Life of Portfolio
Inception Date
Institutional Shares
18.05% 7.40% Dec. 31, 2009
Open Shares
17.54% 6.99% Dec. 31, 2009
After Taxes on Distributions Institutional Shares
17.62% 6.96%  
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares Institutional Shares
13.33% 6.50%  
UBS Global 50/50 Infrastructure & Utilities® Index (Hedged) (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
12.38% 5.10%  
Morgan Stanley Capital International® World Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
15.83% 6.93%