XML 53 R181.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT

Label

Element

Value

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

Lazard Global Listed Infrastructure Portfolio

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment Objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Portfolio seeks total return.

Expense [Heading]

rr_ExpenseHeading

Fees and Expenses

Expense Narrative [Text Block]

rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

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

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Operating Expenses Caption [Text]

rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio Turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

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 41% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

Expense Example [Heading]

rr_ExpenseExampleHeading

Example

Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

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 hold or 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:

Strategy [Heading]

rr_StrategyHeading

Principal Investment Strategies

Strategy Narrative [Text Block]

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

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 against movements relative 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.

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.

rr_RiskHeading

Principal Investment Risks

Risk Narrative [Text Block]

rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

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.

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, among other factors, regulation by various government authorities, including rate regulation and service interruption due to environmental, operational or other mishaps.

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 economies of countries with emerging markets may be based predominantly on only a few industries, may be highly vulnerable to changes in local or global trade conditions, and may suffer from extreme debt burdens or volatile inflation rates. The securities markets of emerging market countries have historically been extremely volatile. 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 and 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 Contracts 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.

Large Cap Companies Risk. Investments in large cap companies may underperform other segments of the market when such other segments are in favor or 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.

Focused Investing 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.

Risk Lose Money [Text]

rr_RiskLoseMoney

The value of your investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, which means you could lose money.

Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]

rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading

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

Performance Narrative [Text Block]

rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

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.

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]

rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns

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.

Performance Availability Phone [Text]

rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone

(800) 823-6300

Performance Availability Website Address [Text]

rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress

www.LazardNet.com

Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]

rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture

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 Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best Quarter:
9/30/10 12.17%

Worst Quarter:
9/30/11 -9.85%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best Quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2010

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst Quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2011

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

Performance Table Heading

rr_PerformanceTableHeading

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended December 31, 2014)

Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes [Text]

rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate

rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate

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.

Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred

rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred

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.

Performance Table One Class of after Tax Shown [Text]

rr_PerformanceTableOneClassOfAfterTaxShown

After-tax returns are shown only for Institutional Shares. After-tax returns of the Portfolio’s other share classes will vary.

Performance Table Narrative

rr_PerformanceTableNarrativeTextBlock

After-tax returns are shown only for Institutional Shares. After-tax returns of the Portfolio’s other share classes will vary. 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. Returns shown below for the Portfolio’s R6 Shares (which were not operational as of December 31, 2014) reflect the performance of the Portfolio’s Institutional Shares. R6 Shares would have had substantially similar returns as Institutional Shares because the share classes are invested in the same portfolio of securities, and the returns would differ only to the extent that the classes do not have the same expenses.

UBS Global 50/50 Infrastructure & Utilities® Index (Hedged) (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

Life of Portfolio

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

MSCI World Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

Life of Portfolio

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

Institutional Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Redemption Fee (as a percentage of Amount Redeemed)

rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption

Management Fees

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

none

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

Annual Return 2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

Annual Return 2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

Annual Return 2012

rr_AnnualReturn2012

Annual Return 2013

rr_AnnualReturn2013

Annual Return 2014

rr_AnnualReturn2014

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

Life of Portfolio

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 31, 2009

Institutional Shares | After Taxes on Distributions

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

Life of Portfolio

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

Institutional Shares | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

Life of Portfolio

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

Open Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Redemption Fee (as a percentage of Amount Redeemed)

rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption

Management Fees

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

Life of Portfolio

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 31, 2009

R6 Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Redemption Fee (as a percentage of Amount Redeemed)

rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption

Management Fees

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

none

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

^[1]

Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text]

rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates

“Other Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year, using “Other Expenses” for Institutional Shares from the last fiscal year.

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

Life of Portfolio

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

[1]	"Other Expenses" are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year, using "Other Expenses" for Institutional Shares from the last fiscal year.