EX-99.(P)(16) 17 lordabbettcodeofethics.htm EX-99.(P)(16) CODE OF ETHICS OF LORD ABBETT Lord Abbett Code of Ethics
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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CODE OF BUSINESS PRINCIPLES
July 2018
APPLIES TO:
Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC and its affiliates
At Lord Abbett, we aspire to be the most respected asset manager in the world, admired for our People,
Performance, Relationships and Agility. To realize this vision, we will draw on the strength of our people,
values, and commitment to the greater gain of those we serve.
In an effort to inform and guide the actions of our Partners and employees, we will uphold the
following principles:
Place the interests of our clients first.
Treat everyone with respect and dignity.
Use sound judgment, communicate appropriately and always give our best.
Respect the trust our clients have placed in us and keep client and personal information
confidential unless disclosure is otherwise permitted or required.
Avoid conflicts of interest or ensure they are appropriately managed.
Act responsibly and avoid taking inappropriate advantage of your position with Lord Abbett
or a Lord Abbett mutual fund.
Comply with the laws and regulations that govern us.
Follow the policies and procedures of the firm.
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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PERSONAL TRADING POLICY
May 2024
APPLIES TO:
Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC
Lord Abbett Family of Funds
Lord Abbett Alternatives Funds
Lord Abbett Distributor LLC
RISKS ADDRESSED BY THIS POLICY
Client accounts are harmed due to fraudulent and/or deceptive employee personal trading
RELEVANT LAW AND OTHER SOURCES
Rule 17j-1 under the Investment Company Act
Section 204A of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940
Rule 204A under the Investment Advisers Act
RELATED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Insider Trading Policy
At Lord Abbett, we aspire to be the most respected asset manager in the world, admired for our
People, Performance, Relationships and Agility. To realize our vision, it is essential that we remain
committed to upholding high ethical and professional standards, and to acting with honesty and
integrity -- values that have been part of our culture since 1929 and will continue to guide our
efforts for years to come.
This Personal Trading Policy is designed to guide us in our personal investments and to ensure
we honor our obligations to our clients, regulators, and the markets we serve. As trusted stewards
of our clients’ assets, each Partner and employee must be transparent about their personal
investment accounts, as well as those of family members or dependents.
In creating this Policy, we want to provide the tools and flexibility you need to make personal
investments and pursue your financial goals, while upholding the values of the firm. This Policy
applies to all Partners and employees of Lord Abbett and its affiliates, as well as the Independent
Board Members of the Lord Abbett Family of Funds and the Lord Abbett Alternatives Funds
(referred to herein collectively as the “Lord Abbett Funds” Funds to the extent described under
“Special Rules for Independent Board Members.” This Policy also applies to consultants and
temporary employees of Lord Abbett that have achieved their 3-month anniversary of hire and
whose duties include access to Lord Abbett’s trading information.
If you have questions about how this Policy applies to any aspect of your personal trading, please
contact: personaltrading@lordabbett.com.
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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Scope
This Policy applies to all of your personal investment accounts other than your Lord Abbett-
sponsored health savings investment account, and includes brokerage accounts, 401(k)s that can
hold securities other than open-end mutual funds, IRAs, any other retirement accounts, and
college savings accounts. The Policy also applies to accounts of your spouse or domestic partner,
your children, other dependents living in your home, and any other accounts that you may have
control over (e.g., an account of an elderly parent) or beneficially own.
These personal trading rules are intended as a guide for you to avoid conflicts of interest between
firm trading and trading for your own accounts. You should not engage in any activity that would
be in contravention to the spirit of the guidelines set forth below.
NOTE: While a fully discretionary account is subject to the Policy (see below), it is not subject to
most of the prohibited investment or pre-approval requirements.
Fully Discretionary Accounts
A “fully discretionary account” meets the following requirements:
You have no direct or indirect influence or control over purchase or sale decisions;
You have delegated all investment discretion to an independent third party or fiduciary; and
You do not share or retain any discretion over purchase or sale decisions.
If you have a fully discretionary account, you will need to:
Certify in writing that the account is fully discretionary (when opening a new account or
reporting an existing account when starting employment at Lord Abbett);
Provide an updated certification each year as part of the annual compliance certification
process; and
Obtain a similar written certification (initially and annually) from the third party or fiduciary
that has discretion over the account.
Brokerage Accounts
In an effort to simplify administration for you and Global Compliance, we have pre-approved a
number of brokerage firms that can provide us with electronic reporting and holdings information
directly; therefore, we ask that you maintain your brokerage accounts with one of these firms.
Approved Brokerage Firms
Bank of America
Met life
Citi
Morgan Stanley
Edward Jones
Raymond James
E*Trade
Schwab
Fidelity
Stifel Nicolaus
Goldman Sachs
TD Ameritrade
JP Morgan
UBS
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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LPL
Vanguard
Merrill Lynch
Wells Fargo
If your preferred brokerage firm is not included on this list, it may still be possible to have an
account with another firm. Please contact Global Compliance for more information. To ensure
transparency and meet our regulatory obligations, please contact Global Compliance any time
you open a new brokerage account, including the self-directed brokerage account option available
through your Lord Abbett 401(k) Plan Retirement account. You may begin trading in your new
account once your account is disclosed in the Code of Ethics system and set up for automatic
brokerage feeds.
Note to New Employees
Please report any existing brokerage accounts to Global Compliance within 10 days of your start
date. If your account is not with one of the approved brokerage firms, please contact our Global
Compliance within 30 days of your start date to find out if you can continue to maintain the
account.
If your account is approved, be sure to direct your brokerage firm(s) to send copies of all trade
confirmations and monthly/quarterly statements (paper or electronic) to Global Compliance.
If your account is not approved or you choose to transition to an account of an approved broker,
you will need to close the old account within 60 days. You will also need to obtain pre-approval
for the sale of any securities related to closing the account if required below.
Investments and Transactions
As a firm that is committed to putting the interests of our clients first, we must ensure that our
personal trading is done in a professional manner -- avoiding conflicts of interest and complying
with our legal and regulatory obligations. As a result, you may not trade on material non-public
information (commonly known as “inside information”), including information about the Lord
Abbett Funds or other mutual funds advised by Lord Abbett.
In addition, our Personal Trading Policy prohibits certain types of investments and requires that
other transactions be pre-approved. For a complete list of permitted and prohibited investments
and related pre-approval requirements, see Appendix A. When determining if pre-approval is
necessary, the pre-approval requirements apply across ALL of your brokerage accounts in the
aggregate. For example, if you wish to trade 250 shares of a stock listed on the NYSE in each of
two or more brokerage accounts on a single trading day, you would be required to obtain prior
approval on the second transaction as the aggregate share amount is 500 shares and exceeds
the de minimis exception set forth in Appendix A.
Pre-approval Requests
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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Before making any investment, please submit any pre-approval requests to Global Compliance
through the Code of Ethics tile via VantagePoint. If the security you would like to purchase is not
listed in the system, you should contact Global Compliance for assistance.
NOTE: There are special pre-approval rules for the receipt and exercise of options
by a spouse or domestic partner who is a director, employee, or consultant of the
company issuing the options. These rules are outlined at the end of this Policy; if
you have any questions, please contact personaltrading@lordabbett.com
While you are permitted to make as many requests for pre-approval and trade as often as you
like, we expect you to make sure your personal trading does not interfere with your job
performance. Global Compliance monitors personal trading activity, and we may need to restrict
your trading activity if it is excessive or interferes with our commitment to our Clients. There may
be times, such as during business emergencies, when we have to suspend the ability to request
pre-approval.
Please be aware that your pre-approval lasts until the end of the second business day after the
date of approval.
For example, if you receive pre-approval on Monday, you can trade on that approval
until Wednesday.
However, your pre-approval ends immediately if you learn that we are considering
transacting in the same security for a client.
If the effectiveness of an approval lapses for any reason, you must submit a new request and
receive another approval before you purchase or sell the security.
Special Rule for New Employees
The Chief Legal Officer or Global Chief Compliance Officer may permit new Lord Abbett
employees to sell any securities (within an appropriate period of time) held prior to starting at the
firm. Please contact Global Compliance for more information.
Special Rules for Investment Department Personnel
If you work in Investments, you should be aware that there are two blackout periods that apply to
you.
1.You cannot hold or trade securities of a company for six months if:
You participated in non-public investor meetings (for example, earnings
meetings/calls, analyst meetings, etc.) with company management; or
You otherwise “cover” or “follow” a company, industry or sector (e.g., Equity
Investment Personnel assigned to a Global Equity mandate should not transact
in equity securities)
Please note: The six-month period runs from the date of the most recent investor meeting or
termination of coverage of that company. Web events and other broad forums with company
management that are open to buy- and sell-side firms do NOT restrict you.
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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2.You may not trade in any security that requires pre-approval within 7 calendar days
before or after we trade in that same security for any client. The Chief Legal Officer or
Global Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) may exempt any transaction that will not have a
material effect on and/or will not benefit from the client transaction.
We calculate holding periods based on a “first-in, first-out” methodology. If you do engage in one
of these transactions, any profits you realize will be forfeited to the relevant client(s) or as
otherwise determined by Global Compliance.
Short-term Trading Profits
Please note that you may not profit from the purchase and sale, or the sale and purchase, of the
same (or equivalent) securities, within a 30-calendar day period. This restriction does not apply
to the following transactions:
Open-end mutual funds
ETFs (except for single-stock ETF)
U.S. government and agency securities
Money market instruments
We calculate holding periods based on a “first-in, first-out” methodology. If you do engage in one
of these short-term transactions, any profits you realize will be forfeited to the relevant client(s) or
as otherwise determined by Global Compliance.
Holding Periods
You are required to hold shares in all Lord Abbett Funds (other than a Lord Abbett money market
fund or the Lord Abbett Ultra Short Bond Fund) and any funds that are advised or sub-advised by
Lord Abbett for a minimum of 30 days after purchase. We calculate holding periods on a “first-in,
first-out” basis.
Please note that there are two exceptions to this holding period requirement:
The minimum 30-day holding period does not apply to shares of a Lord Abbett Fund that you
exchange for shares of a newly-offered Lord Abbett Fund for a period of up to 90 days after
the newly-offered Fund first accepts investments; and
Regular, recurring/automatic contributions (such as in your 401(k)) are exempt from the 30-
day holding period calculation.
Reports and Certifications
We collect reports of your portfolio holdings at the start of your employment and annually
thereafter, as well as quarterly transaction reports and annual certifications.
You are required to submit two types of reports:
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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an annual report of holdings after the end of each year, and
a quarterly report of transactions at the end of each quarter
Every year, you will be asked to certify certain items, stating:
You have received, read, and understand this Policy,
You recognize you are subject to this Policy,
You have complied with the requirements of this Policy, and
You have reported all transactions required to be reported.
You can submit the quarterly/annual reports and certifications through the Code of Ethics tile via
VantagePoint prior to the deadlines. To simplify compliance, the system will send an email to
remind you to file (and follow-up reminders, if necessary). You will need to submit these reports,
even if you did not have any reportable transactions.
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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Due Dates for Reports and Certifications
Report
Filing Due Date
Information Current
As Of
Initial Holdings Report
No later than 10 days after becoming
a Lord Abbett employee
No more than 45 days prior to
becoming a Lord Abbett
employee
Annual Holdings Report
January 31st
Calendar Year End
Quarterly Transaction
Report
No later than 30 days after
calendar quarter
Calendar Quarter
Annual Certification
January 31st
N/A
VIOLATIONS AND SANCTIONS
As a firm committed to upholding the highest standards, our goal is to work with everyone to have
100% compliance with this Policy. However, we recognize the potential for human error and
understand that mistakes will happen from time to time. With this in mind:
We treat mistakes as learning opportunities.
We want to make sure you understand why there was a mistake and want to
minimize the chances of a repeat mistake in the future.
We also use these mistakes to guide us on future training opportunities.
If you do make an error and violate this Policy, we expect you to act in a professional manner and
report it promptly to Global Compliance. Please note that Global Compliance monitors your
personal trading and may identify violations of the Policy.
While we want to be fair, you should be aware that serious mistakes, repeated violations, or
mistakes that are intentionally made or concealed may require us to take more drastic measures.
On occasion, a mistake might be so egregious or frequent that we may impose a financial sanction
or suspend or terminate employment.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE POLICY
Administration and Enforcement
The CCO is responsible for administering and enforcing this Policy.
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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Global Compliance is responsible for reviewing transaction and holdings reports, and
certifications, as well as for processing pre-approval requests. In addition, the CCO will determine
appropriate procedures for conducting oversight of the Policy.
All personal transactions, holdings reports and pre-approval requests submitted by the CCO will
be reviewed by the Chief Legal Officer.
Board Reporting
The CCO provides a report each year to each Board of the Lord Abbett Funds. The CCO also will
ensure the Board is aware of any other matters under this Policy that require the Board’s attention.
Exemptions
In light of the possible situations where exceptions should be made, this Policy authorizes our
Chief Legal Officer or CCO, and others they designate, to make any exception to this Policy that
they believe is consistent with our legal and regulatory obligations and the purposes that underlie
the Policy.
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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APPENDIX A - TRANSACTION REQUIREMENTS MATRIX
Reporting
Required?
Preapproval
Required?
Subject to 30- Day
Short-Term Trading
Profits Restriction?
Funds
Mutual Funds (open-end) not advised or sub-
advised by Lord Abbett
No
No
No
Mutual Funds (open-end) advised or sub-advised
by Lord Abbett
Yes
No
No (however subject
to 30-Day holding
period)
Closed-End Funds *(EXCEPT the Lord Abbett
Interval Funds which do NOT require pre-
clearance)
Yes
Yes*
Yes
Unit Investment Trusts
Yes
No
No
Exchange Traded Funds *(EXCEPT single-stock
ETFs which require pre-clearance and are subject
tothe30-dayShort-TermTradingProfits
Restriction)
Yes
No*
No*
Other
Yes
Yes
Yes
Equities*
Common Stock/ADRs: 300* shares or fewer of
the following:
Yes
No
Yes
- an S&P 500 Index Company;
- a company listed on the NASDAQ; and
- a company listed on the NYSE
*You must aggregate all shares of the same security across ALL of your brokerage accounts when determining if
you meet this exception. For example, if you wish to trade 275 shares of ABC stock in 1 account, and 50 shares of
ABC stock in another account, pre-clearance would be required as you seek to exceed 300 shares in a single
trading day.
NOTE: This pre-clearance exception is not intended for consecutively trading less than 300 shares to build
larger positions. This activity is monitored and could be deemed a violation of this Policy.
Common Stock/ADRs: more than 300* shares of
the following:
Yes
Yes
Yes
- an S&P 500 Index Company;
- a company listed on the NASDAQ; and
- a company listed on the NYSE
*You must aggregate all shares of the same security across ALL of your brokerage accounts when determining
total shares traded. For example, if you wish to trade 275 shares of ABC stock in 1 account, and 50 shares of ABC
stock in another account, pre-clearance would be required as you seek to exceed 300 shares in a single trading
day.
Common Stock/ADRs other than shares of the
following:
Yes
Yes
Yes
- an S&P 500 Index Company;
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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- a company listed on the NASDAQ; and
- a company listed on the NYSE
Reporting
Required?
Preapproval
Required?
Subject to 30-Day
Short-Term Trading
Profits Restriction?
Stock Dividends and Dividend Reinvestment
Plans
Yes
No
No
Warrants/Rights
Yes
Yes
Yes
Preferred Stock
Yes
Yes
Yes
IPOs and Secondaries
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
Other
Yes
Yes
Yes
Fixed Income
Municipal Bonds
Yes
Yes
Yes
Corporate Bonds
Yes
Yes
Yes
High Yield Bonds
Yes
Yes
Yes
Convertible Bonds
Yes
Yes
Yes
Exchange-Traded Notes
Yes
No
No
Foreign Government issued securities
Yes
Yes
Yes
U.S. Treasuries
No
No
No
Money Market instruments
No
No
No
Other
Yes
Yes
Yes
Options and Futures
Futures or Exchange-Traded Call or Put Options on:
- Currencies, Commodities or ETFs
*Writing of Options is only permitted on broad-
based ETFs
Yes
No
No
Futures or Exchange-Traded Call or Put Options
on:
- Equity or Fixed Income Securities
*Writing of Options is only permitted on broad-
based ETFs
NOTE: The 30-day short-term trading profits rule
may affect your ability to close an option position
at a profit.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Other
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
Other Transaction Activity
Short-sales or Purchases on margin
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
Private Placements
Yes
Yes
Yes
Initial Coin Offerings
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
Securities connected to activity prohibited by
federal law
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
Securities you are aware are trading/being
considered for clients
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
PROHIBITED
Securities received via bankruptcy/
insolvency/involuntary corporate action
Yes
No
No
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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SPECIAL RULES FOR INDEPENDENT BOARD MEMBERS
The Independent Board Members of the Lord Abbett Family of Funds and the Lord Abbett
Alternatives Funds (the “Independent Board Members”) are not subject to this Policy except to
the extent specified in these special rules set forth below. The Lord Abbett Family of Funds and
the Lord Abbett Alternatives Funds are referred to herein each as a “Fund” and collectively as the
“Funds”).
PRE-APPROVAL AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
General
We try to ensure that the Independent Board Members do not receive information that will subject
their personal securities transactions to the requirements of the Policy; therefore, Independent
Board Members generally are not required to obtain pre-approval to purchase or sell securities,
or to submit holdings and transaction reports.
However, no Independent Board Member shall in connection with the purchase or sale, directly
or indirectly, of a security held or to be acquired by one of the Funds:
employ any device, scheme or artifice to defraud the Fund;
make any untrue statement of a material fact to the Fund or omit to state a material fact
necessary in order to make the statements made to the Fund, in light of the circumstances
under which they are made, not misleading;
engage in any act, practice or course of business that operates or would operate
as a fraud or deceit on the Fund; or
engage in any manipulative practice with respect to the Fund.
Exception Where Pre-approval is Required
If, at a meeting or otherwise, an Independent Board Member learns of Lord Abbett’s or a Fund’s
current or contemplated investment transaction in any company, then the Independent Board
Member must:
Promptly report this information to our CCO.
Obtain preapproval from Global Compliance in accordance with the Policy for any
personal securities transactions in that company during the 30-day period after learning
such information.
Exception Where Quarterly Transaction Reporting is Required
We require Independent Board Members to submit a quarterly transaction report to the
Compliance Department when they know or reasonably should have known at the time of a
transaction in a particular security that a Fund was transacting or considering a transaction in that
security during the 15-day period immediately before or after the date of the transaction (i.e., a
total of 30 days). If the Independent Board Member enters into that transaction, he/she must
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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report all securities transactions effected during the quarter for his or her account or for any
account that would be in scope under the Policy.
Other Board Positions
Prior to becoming a director of any public company, Independent Board Members must inform
Lord Abbett’s Managing Partner and discuss whether accepting such appointment will create any
conflict of interest or other issues.
Annual Certifications
Independent Board Members are required to submit annual certifications.
This policy is proprietary and may not be distributed to, or shared with, any third-parties, unless required by applicable law or approved by Lord Abbett
Global Compliance.
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SPECIAL PRE-APPROVAL RULES FOR SPOUSES OR DOMESTIC PARTNERS OF LORD
ABBETT PERSONNEL
Stock Options
The following rules apply to stock options received or exercised by a spouse or domestic partner
who is a director or employee of, or a consultant to, a company providing those options:
Preapproval and Quarterly Transaction
Reporting REQUIRED
Preapproval and Quarterly Transaction
Reporting NOT REQUIRED
Sale of underlying securities in connection
with “cashless” exercise of options by
spouse/domestic partner
Receipt of options by spouse/domestic partner
Sale of underlying securities after initial “cash
exercise” of options by spouse/domestic
partner
Exercise of Options without sale of underlying
securities (i.e., “cashless exercise” of options) by
spouse/domestic partner