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Lazard Equity Franchise Portfolio
Lazard Equity Franchise Portfolio
Investment Objective

The Portfolio seeks total return consisting of appreciation and income.

Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Portfolio, a series of The Lazard Funds, Inc. (the “Fund”). Investors transacting in Institutional Shares through a financial intermediary acting as a broker in an agency capacity may be required to pay a commission directly to the broker.

Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses - Lazard Equity Franchise Portfolio
Institutional Shares
Open Shares
R6 Shares
Management Fees 0.80% 0.80% 0.80%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees none 0.25% none
Other Expenses [1] 0.20% 0.20% 0.20%
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses 1.00% 1.25% 1.00%
Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement [2] 0.05% 0.05% 0.10%
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement [2] 0.95% 1.20% 0.90%
[1] Other Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.
[2] Reflects a contractual agreement by Lazard Asset Management LLC (the "Investment Manager") to waive its fee and, if necessary, reimburse the Portfolio until September 29, 2019, to the extent Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses exceed .95%, 1.20% and .90% 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. This agreement can only be amended by agreement of the Fund, upon approval by the Fund's Board of Directors (the "Board"), and the Investment Manager to lower the net amount shown and will terminate automatically in the event of termination of the 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 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, 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 Equity Franchise Portfolio - USD ($)
1 Year
3 Years
Institutional Shares 97 313
Open Shares 122 381
R6 Shares 92 308
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 had not commenced investment operations prior to 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 US and non-US companies, including those in emerging markets. The Portfolio normally invests in equity securities listed on a national or other recognized securities exchange of companies that the Investment Manager considers have an “economic franchise,” meaning companies that have historically shown an ability to generate unleveraged returns, at or above their cost of capital, for long periods of time. The Investment Manager considers that strong business franchises are often able to accomplish this performance and status because of competitive advantages such as an established or recognized brand, proprietary intellectual property or other intangible assets or industry economics such as relatively high customer switching costs. Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities. The Portfolio may invest in the equity securities of any size company.


The Investment Manager may seek to hedge some or all foreign currency exposure in the Portfolio against movements relative to the US dollar by entering into foreign currency forward contracts, but the Investment Manager may determine not to hedge some or all of the Portfolio’s foreign currency exposure from time-to-time or at any time.


The Portfolio is classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), which means that it may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers, when compared to a diversified fund.

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.


Franchise Companies Risk. Changes in the worldwide economy, consumer spending, competition, demographics and consumer preferences, government regulation and economic conditions may adversely affect franchise companies individually or across an industry and may negatively impact the Portfolio to a greater extent than if the Portfolio’s assets were invested more broadly in a number of types of companies.


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. In addition, 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.


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.


Growth Investing Risk. The Portfolio invests in stocks believed by the Investment Manager to have the potential for growth, but that may not realize such perceived potential for extended periods of time or may never realize such perceived growth potential. Such stocks may be more volatile than other stocks because they can be more sensitive to investor perceptions of the issuing company’s growth potential. 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 increase volatility or reduce returns, perhaps substantially, particularly since most derivatives have a leverage component that provides investment exposure in excess of the amount invested. 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. Derivatives transactions incur costs, either explicitly or implicitly, which reduce return. Successful use of derivatives is subject to the Investment Manager’s ability to predict correctly movements in the direction of the relevant reference asset or market. 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.


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.


Non-Diversification Risk. The Portfolio’s net asset value (“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.


Securities Selection Risk. Securities and other investments selected by the Investment Manager for the Portfolio may not perform to expectations. This could result in the Portfolio’s underperformance compared to other funds with similar investment objectives or strategies.

Performance Bar Chart and Table

Because the Portfolio had not commenced investment operations prior to 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.