Lazard : Asset Manangement Launches First Liquid Alternative Equity Fund

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LAZARD ASSET MANAGEMENT LAUNCHES FIRST LIQUID ALTERNATIVE EQUITY FUND

NEW YORK, May 13, 2014 - Lazard Asset Management LLC (LAM) today announced the launch of its first US-based open-end liquid alternative equity fund, the Lazard Fundamental Long/Short Portfolio (NASDAQ: Institutional: LLSIX; Open: LLSOX).
The Lazard Fundamental Long/Short Portfolio (the "Portfolio") utilizes 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 dedicated and highly experienced US equity investment team, comprising 24 investment professionals who, on average, have spent eighteen years in the industry and twelve 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," said Dmitri 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," added Jerry Liu.
"Lazard has been managing Alternative Investment strategies on behalf of clients for more than twenty years," said 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."
LAM offers a wide range of alternative investment strategies, including long/short equity, hedged credit, emerging markets, and fund-of-hedge funds, designed to meet the diverse needs of our clients. As of March 31, 2014, LAM managed more than $7.8 billion in alternative investments globally.

About Lazard

Lazard, one of the world's preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms, operates from 41 cities across 26 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America. With origins dating to 1848, the firm provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic matters, restructuring and capital structure, capital raising, and corporate finance, as well as asset management services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments, and individuals.
An indirect subsidiary of Lazard Ltd (NYSE: LAZ), LAM offers a range of equity, fixed-income, and alternative investment products worldwide. As of March 31, 2014, LAM and affiliated asset management companies in the Lazard Group managed $189 billion worth of client assets. For more information about LAM, please visit www.Lazardnet.com.

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The Portfolio may take short sale positions. Short selling can, in some circumstances, substantially increase the impact of adverse price movements on the Portfolio. A short sale creates the risk of a theoretically unlimited loss, in that the price of the underlying security could theoretically increase without limit, thus increasing the cost to the Portfolio of buying securities to cover the short position.

Equity securities will fluctuate in price; the value of your investment will thus fluctuate, and this may result in a loss. Securities in certain non-domestic countries may be less liquid, more volatile, and less subject to governmental supervision than in one's home market. The values of these securities may be affected by changes in currency rates, application of a country's specific tax laws, changes in government administration, and economic and monetary policy. Small- and mid-capitalization stocks may be subject to higher degrees of risk, their earnings may be less predictable, their prices more volatile, and their liquidity less than that of large-capitalization or more established companies' securities. Large cap securities may underperform because such companies may be less responsive to competitive challenges and opportunities and may be unable to attain high growth rates in times of market expansion.

The Portfolio invests in stocks believed by Lazard to be undervalued, but that may not realize their perceived value for extended periods of time or may never realize their perceived value. Swap agreements and other derivatives transactions, including those entered into for hedging purposes, may reduce returns or increase volatility, perhaps substantially. Over-the-counter swap agreements, forward currency contracts, over-the- counter options on securities (including options on ETFs), indexes and currencies and other over-the-counter derivatives transactions are subject to the risk of default by the counterparty and can be illiquid. Derivatives transactions are subject to many of the risks of, and can be highly sensitive to changes in the value of, the related security, index, commodity, interest rate, currency or other reference asset. As such, a small investment could have a potentially large impact on the Portfolio's performance. Use of derivatives transactions, 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.

The Portfolio is classified as non-diversified under the Investment Act of 1940. 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.

Please consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing. For more complete information about The Lazard Funds, Inc. and current performance, you may obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus by calling 800-823-6300 or going to www.LazardNet.com. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before you invest. The prospectus and summary prospectus contain investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other information about the Portfolio and The Lazard Funds that may not be detailed in this document. The Lazard Funds are distributed by Lazard Asset Management Securities LLC.