XML 72 R63.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.0.8
Lazard Global Equity Select Portfolio
Lazard Global Equity Select Portfolio
Investment Objective

The Portfolio seeks long-term capital appreciation.

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 Equity Select Portfolio
Institutional Shares
Open Shares
R6 Shares
Maximum Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, on shares owned for 30 days or less) 1.00% 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 Equity Select Portfolio
Institutional Shares
Open Shares
R6 Shares
Management Fees 0.85% 0.85% 0.85%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees none 0.25% none
Other Expenses [1] 0.29% 0.34% 0.29%
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses 1.14% 1.44% 1.14%
Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement [2] 0.04% 0.04% 0.09%
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement [2] 1.10% 1.40% 1.05%
[1] "Other Expenses" are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.
[2] Reflects a contractual agreement by the Investment Manager to waive its fee and, if necessary, reimburse the Portfolio through December 31, 2015, to the extent Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses exceed 1.10%, 1.40% and 1.05% of the average daily net assets of the Portfolio's Institutional Shares, Open Shares and R6 Shares, respectively, exclusive of taxes, brokerage, interest on borrowings, fees and expenses of "Acquired Funds" and extraordinary expenses, and excluding shareholder redemption fees or other transaction fees. This agreement can only be amended by agreement of the Fund, upon approval by the Board, and the Investment Manager to lower the net amount shown and will terminate automatically in the event of termination of the Investment Management Agreement between the Investment Manager and the Fund, on behalf of the Portfolio.
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, giving effect to the fee waiver and expense reimbursement arrangement described above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example Lazard Global Equity Select Portfolio (USD $)
1 Year
3 Years
Institutional Shares
112 355
Open Shares
143 449
R6 Shares
107 347
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. Because the Portfolio did not have a full calendar year of performance as of the date of this Prospectus, no portfolio turnover information is presented.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Portfolio invests primarily in equity securities, principally common stocks, of companies that the Investment Manager believes have strong and/or improving financial productivity and are undervalued based on their earnings, cash flow or asset values. In managing the Portfolio, the Investment Manager utilizes a flexible investment approach and engages in bottom-up, fundamental security analysis and selection. The Portfolio may invest in securities across the capitalization spectrum.


Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities. In addition, 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 non-US companies. The Investment Manager will allocate the Portfolio’s assets among various regions and countries, including the United States (but in no less than three different countries). The Portfolio’s investments in non-US companies may include companies whose principal business activities are located in emerging market countries.


When the Investment Manager determines that adverse market conditions exist, the Portfolio may adopt a temporary defensive position and invest some or all of its assets in money market instruments. In pursuing a temporary defensive strategy, the Portfolio may forgo potentially more profitable investment strategies and, as a result, may not achieve its stated investment objective.


Although the Portfolio is classified as “diversified” under the 1940 Act, it may invest in a smaller number of issuers than other, more diversified investment portfolios.

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 or factors unrelated to the issuer’s value, such as investor perception.


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 less developed or less efficient trading markets, political instability, a lack of company information, differing auditing and legal standards, and, potentially, less liquidity.


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, capital markets worldwide have experienced unprecedented volatility in recent years, causing significant declines in valuation and liquidity in certain emerging markets. 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. The Portfolio’s investments could be adversely affected by delays in, or a refusal to grant, repatriation of funds or conversion of emerging market currencies.


Foreign Currency Risk. 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. The Investment Manager does not intend to actively hedge the Portfolio’s foreign currency exposure.


Non-Diversification Risk. The Portfolio’s NAV may be more vulnerable to changes in the market value of a single issuer or group of issuers and may be relatively more susceptible to adverse effects from any single corporate, industry, economic, market, political or regulatory occurrence than if the Portfolio’s investments consisted of securities issued by a larger number of issuers.


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.


Large Cap Companies Risk. The securities of large 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.


Small and Mid Cap Companies Risk. Small and mid cap companies carry additional risks because their earnings tend to be less predictable, their share prices more volatile and their securities less liquid than larger, 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.

Performance Bar Chart and Table

Because the Portfolio did not have a full calendar of performance as of the date of this Prospectus, no performance returns are presented. Annual performance returns provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio by showing changes in performance from year to year. Comparison of Portfolio performance to an appropriate index indicates how the Portfolio’s average annual returns compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. After the Portfolio commences investment operations, performance information will be 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.