Lazard Asset Management’s flagship Select Australian Equity Fund has retained its ‘highly recommended’ status from independent research house Lonsec, following a recent review.
The Lazard Select Australian Equity Fund, which is a high conviction, benchmark unaware Fund, was established in 2002 and has outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 since inception. This Fund was also upgraded to ‘highly recommended’ by research house Zenith earlier in 2015.
The seven-member Lazard Australian equities team is headed up by Rob Osborn and Dr Philipp Hofflin, who have worked together for more than 20 years.
Rob Osborn, Australian Equity Portfolio Manager/Analyst, said: “We take a long-term view and build portfolios that can be quite different than those of our competitors and the index. For over a decade, our process of identifying intrinsic value has remained relatively unchanged and over time, we believe this has provided our clients with a compelling rate of return.”
Meanwhile, the Lazard Australian Diversified Income Fund has been upgraded to ‘recommended’ by Lonsec. The Fund is designed to provide regular, tax effective income that grows over time. It sources income by investing in Australian companies which it believes have sustainable dividends, or by investing in cash, or a combination of the two, depending on where Lazard believes the best opportunities exist.
Susan Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of Lazard Asset Management Pacific Co said: “The feedback that we are receiving from financial advisors, as well as our wholesale clients, is that investors are looking for high conviction, concentrated strategies that are different from the benchmark. This has been Lazard Asset Management’s specialty for decades, across domestic, emerging and global portfolios.”
The team has also been recognised through the researchers’ awards over the last two-years. The team won the 2014 Lonsec Australian Equities (Broad Cap) Fund Manager of the Year Award and also was a finalist in the Zenith Investment Partners/Professional Planner 2015 Fund Awards for the Australian Equities – Large cap category.
Lazard Asset Management offers a range of equity, fixed-income, and alternative investment products worldwide. As of 30 September 2015, Lazard Asset Management and its affiliated asset management companies in the Lazard Group managed A$234 billion of client assets.