Lazard Asset Management has launched its first US-based open-end liquid alternative equity fund, the Lazard Fundamental Long/Short Portfolio.
The Lazard Fundamental Long/Short Portfolio uses a long/short equity strategy that seeks superior risk-adjusted returns.
The portfolio employs fundamental bottom-up stock selection, focusing primarily on US-listed securities. It seeks to take long positions in equities of companies believed to have strong and/or improving financial productivity that have attractive valuations, and short positions in companies with deteriorating fundamentals, unattractive valuations, or other qualities warranting a short position.
The portfolio is based on the existing Lazard Fundamental Long/Short strategy, which Lazard has managed for over three years.
The portfolio management team is led by Dmitri Batsev and Jerry Liu, who leverage a US equity investment team comprising 24 investment professionals who, on average, have spent 18 years in the industry and 12 years at LAM, as well as the firm’s broader research resources.
“By drawing on the unique insights of Lazard’s extensive global research resources, the strategy leverages Lazard’s key strength in fundamental stock picking,” says Batsev. “Expanding the US opportunity set to both longs and shorts allows us to create a differentiated portfolio of investments, seeking to provide investors with strong down-market protection, up-market participation, and lower volatility than the overall market.”
“Lazard has been managing Alternative Investment strategies on behalf of clients for more than 20 years,” says Charles Carroll, LAM deputy chairman and head of global marketing. “The addition of the Lazard Fundamental Long/Short Portfolio to our mutual fund family offers a solution for investors seeking uncorrelated sources of return as well as access to Lazard’s expertise, while providing accessibility, transparency, and daily liquidity.”
