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Lazard International Quality Growth Portfolio
Lazard International Quality Growth 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, hold and sell shares of the Portfolio, a series of The Lazard Funds, Inc. (the “Fund”). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example below.

Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses - Lazard International Quality Growth Portfolio
Institutional
Open
R6
Management Fees 0.75% 0.75% 0.75%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees none 0.25% none
Other Expenses 0.30% 1.81% 0.30% [1]
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses 1.05% 2.81% 1.05%
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement [2] 0.20% 1.71% 0.25%
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement 0.85% 1.10% 0.80%
[1] Based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year, using amounts for Institutional Shares from the last 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 May 1, 2024 for Institutional Shares and R6 Shares, and until May 1, 2033 for Open Shares, to the extent Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses exceed .85%, 1.10% and .80% 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,” fees and expenses related to filing foreign tax reclaims and extraordinary expenses. This expense limitation agreement can only be amended by agreement of the Fund, upon approval by the Fund’s Board of Directors, 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 expense limitation agreement described above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - Lazard International Quality Growth Portfolio - USD ($)
Institutional
Open
R6
1 Year $ 87 $ 112 $ 82
3 Years 314 350 309
5 Years 560 606 555
10 Years $ 1,265 $ 1,340 $ 1,260
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 43% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Portfolio invests primarily in equity securities of non-US companies, including those whose principal business activities are located in emerging market countries.

The Investment Manager seeks to realize the Portfolio’s investment objective primarily by investing in companies that the Investment Manager considers to be quality growth businesses. By “quality” the Investment Manager means businesses that it believes can generate, and sustain, high levels of financial productivity (i.e., return on equity, return on capital and cash flow return on investment). The Investment Manager considers, among other factors deemed appropriate and relevant to a particular company, whether the company has a competitive advantage in its industry and if the Investment Manager believes the company can sustain its competitive advantage. The Investment Manager also looks for “growth” businesses that it believes can grow profits and cash flows by investing back into their business at similarly high rates of financial productivity.

The Portfolio may invest in securities of companies across the capitalization spectrum, but generally focuses on companies with a market capitalization of $3 billion or more.

Although the Portfolio is classified as “diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, 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. The Portfolio may incur losses due to declines in one or more markets in which it invests. These declines may be the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s). To the extent that such developments impact specific industries, market sectors, countries or geographic regions, the Portfolio’s investments in such industries, market sectors, countries and/or geographic regions can be expected to be particularly affected, especially if such investments are a significant portion of its investment portfolio. 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. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers worldwide. As a result, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, recessions or other events could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments or voluntarily imposed by private parties, including closing borders, restricting travel and imposing prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, as well as the closure of, or operational changes to, many retail and other businesses, has had negative impacts, and in many cases severe negative impacts, on markets worldwide. It is not known how long the effects of such impacts, or any future impacts of other significant events described above, will or would last, but there could be a prolonged period of global economic slowdown, which may be expected to impact the Portfolio and its investments.

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. Non-US securities may be subject to economic sanctions or other similar governmental actions or developments, which could, among other things, effectively restrict or eliminate the Portfolio’s ability to purchase or sell certain foreign securities. To the extent the

Portfolio holds securities subject to such actions, the securities may become difficult to value and/or less liquid (or illiquid). In some cases, the securities may become worthless.

Emerging Market Risk. Emerging market countries 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 and less liquid than more developed markets. These market conditions may continue or worsen. Investments in these countries may be subject to political, economic, legal, market and currency risks. Significant devaluation of emerging market currencies against the US dollar may occur subsequent to acquisition of investments denominated in 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 Portfolio’s investments denominated in such currencies (particularly currencies of emerging markets countries), as well as any investments in currencies themselves, could be adversely affected by delays in, or a refusal to grant, repatriation of funds or conversion of currencies. 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 does not intend to actively hedge the Portfolio’s foreign currency exposure.

Growth Investing Risk. Growth investments are believed by the Investment Manager to have the potential for growth, but may not realize such perceived potential for extended periods of time or may never realize such perceived growth potential. Such securities may be more volatile than other securities because they can be more sensitive to investor perceptions of the issuing company’s growth potential. These securities may respond differently to market and other developments than other types of securities.

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.

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 net asset value 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

The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in Lazard International Quality Growth Portfolio by showing the Portfolio’s year-by-year performance and its average annual performance compared to that of a broad measure 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.lazardassetmanagement.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.

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

Best Quarter:

 

2020, Q2

18.32%

 

 

Worst Quarter:

 

2020, Q1

-18.28%

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended December 31, 2022)

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, 2022) 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.

The Portfolio’s primary benchmark index is the MSCI ACWI ex-US Index. Effective as of May 1, 2023, the MSCI ACWI ex-US Growth Index was added as the Portfolio’s secondary index. The Investment Manager believes the additional comparison to a growth index will provide helpful context for performance evaluation.

Average Annual Total Returns - Lazard International Quality Growth Portfolio
Label
1 Year
Since Inception
Inception Date
Institutional   (20.10%) 9.10% Dec. 31, 2018
Institutional | After Taxes on Distributions   (20.20%) 8.73%  
Institutional | After Taxes on Distributions and Sales   (11.65%) 7.20%  
Open   (20.31%) 8.80% Dec. 31, 2018
R6   (20.10%) 9.10%  
MSCI All Country World ex-US Index MSCI All Country World ex-US Index (16.00%) 5.05%  
MSCI All Country World ex-US Growth Index MSCI All Country World ex-US Growth Index (23.05%) 5.91%