At a publicly traded investment bank's $221-billion-AUM (as of November 30, 2022), New York City-based asset management arm, a $6.5-billion-AUM (as of September 30, 2022) team is rolling out a new mutual fund.

Arnaud Brillois Lazard Asset Management LLC Managing Director

Today, Arnaud Brillois, managing director at Lazard Asset Management LLC [profile] (LAM), unveils the launch of the Lazard U.S. Convertibles Portfolio. The fund is a series of the Lazard Funds, Inc., and it debuted on December 30, 2022 (the last market day of last year).

LAM serves as the new fund's investment advisor, while Lazard Asset Management Securities LLC serves as distributor. The PM team includes four portfolio managers and analysts from LAM's U.S. convertibles and global convertibles teams. Those four PMs are: senior vice president Zoe Chen, SVP Emmanuel Naar, director Andrew Raab, and Brillois himself. The fund is designed to primarily invest in convertible securities (which will mean that it will end with some equity holdings after such conversions happen).

The new fund comes in three flavors: institutional shares (CONIX) for 75 basis points (including a nine-bps fee waiver); open shares (CONOX) for 100 bps (including a nine-bps fee waiver); and R6 shares for 70 bps (including a 14-bps fee waiver). All three fee waivers are promised through December 30, 2024.

Brillois puts the fund's launch in the context of what he describes as recent "significant evolution in the convertibles asset classes and current structural dynamics."

"Over the past few years, there has been strong pressure on U.S. equities, particularly in growth-type sectors," Brillois states. "With valuations having meaningfully cheapened but uncertainty still quite high, U.S. convertibles offer the potiential to participate in rebounds in the equity market, with defense to the downside, thanks to their bond component."

The new, actively managed fund's other service providers include: Dechert LLP as counsel; Deloitte & Touche LLP as independent accounting firm; DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. as dividend disbursing agent and transfer agent; and State Street Bank and Trust Company as administrator and custodian. 

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