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Under normal circumstances,
the Portfolio invests at least 80% of its assets in fixed-income securities of US issuers, including US government securities, corporate
securities, mortgage-related and asset-backed securities, municipal securities, structured products, preferred stocks and inflation-indexed-securities.
These securities may have any type of interest rate payment terms, including fixed rate, adjustable rate or zero coupon features. Under
normal circumstances, the Portfolio’s investment portfolio can be expected to have an average effective duration of three years
or less. Duration is an estimate of the sensitivity of the price (the value of principal) of a fixed-income security to a change in interest
rates. Generally, the longer the duration, the higher the expected volatility. For example, the market price of a fixed-income security
with a duration of three years would be expected to decline 3% if interest rates rose 1%. Conversely, the market price of the same security
would be expected to increase 3% if interest rates fell 1%.
The Portfolio invests
primarily in securities that are rated investment grade by one or more nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (or, if
unrated, determined by the Investment Manager to be of comparable quality).
Securities are evaluated
based on their fundamental and structural characteristics. Valuation analysis is tailored to the specific asset class, but may include
credit research and analysis of features such as prepayment or call options, maturity, duration and coupon.
The Portfolio may invest
up to 20% of its assets in other securities which need not be fixed-income securities of US issuers.
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Risk Table - Lazard US Short Duration Fixed Income Portfolio
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Risk [Text Block] |
| Risk Lose Money [Member] |
The value of your investment
in the Portfolio will fluctuate, which means you could lose money.
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| Market Risk |
Market
Risk: The
Portfolio may incur losses due to declines in one or more markets in which it invests. These declines may be the result of, among other
things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s). To the extent that such developments
impact specific industries, market sectors, countries or geographic regions, the Portfolio’s investments in such industries, market
sectors, countries and/or geographic regions can be expected to be particularly affected, especially if such investments are a significant
portion of its investment portfolio. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed
income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the Portfolio. Global economies and financial markets
are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers worldwide.
As a result, local, regional or global events such as war or military conflict, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or
other public health issues, social unrest, supply chain disruptions, government defaults, government shutdowns, the imposition of sanctions
and other similar measures, recessions or other events could have a significant negative impact on global economic and market conditions.
For example, a public health or other emergency and aggressive responses taken by many governments or voluntarily imposed by private parties,
including closing borders, restricting travel and imposing prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, as well as the closure of, or
operational changes to, many retail and other businesses, may have severe negative impacts on markets worldwide. Additionally, general
market conditions may affect the value of a Portfolio’s securities, including changes in interest rates, currency rates or monetary
policies.
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| Issuer Risk |
Issuer
Risk: The
value of a security may decline for a number of reasons which directly relate to the issuer, such as management performance, financial
leverage and reduced demand for the issuer’s goods or services, as well as the historical and prospective earnings of the issuer
and the value of its assets or factors unrelated to the issuer’s value, such as investor perception.
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| Fixed-Income and Debt Securities Risk |
Fixed-Income
and Debt Securities Risk:
The market value of a debt security may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company,
such as real or perceived adverse economic
conditions, changes in
the outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or adverse investor sentiment generally. The debt securities
market can be susceptible to increases in volatility and decreases in liquidity. Liquidity can decline unpredictably in response to overall
economic conditions or credit tightening.
Prices of bonds and other
debt securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Interest rate risk is usually greater for fixed-income securities
with longer maturities or durations. A rise in interest rates (or the expectation of a rise in interest rates) may result in periods of
volatility, decreased liquidity and increased redemptions, and, as a result, the Portfolio may have to liquidate portfolio securities
at disadvantageous prices. The Portfolio may be subject to heightened interest rate risk because the Federal Reserve has raised, and may
continue to raise, interest rates.
The Portfolio’s
investments in lower-rated, higher-yielding securities (“junk bonds”) are subject to greater credit risk than its higher rated
investments. Credit risk is the risk that the issuer will not make interest or principal payments, or will not make payments on a timely
basis. Non-investment grade securities tend to be more volatile, less liquid and are considered speculative. If there is a decline, or
perceived decline, in the credit quality of a debt security (or any guarantor of payment on such security), the security’s value
could fall, potentially lowering the Portfolio’s share price. The prices of non-investment grade securities, unlike investment grade
debt securities, may fluctuate unpredictably and not necessarily inversely with changes in interest rates. The market for these securities
may be less liquid and therefore these securities may be harder to value or sell at an acceptable price, especially during times of market
volatility or decline.
Adjustable
rate securities provide the Portfolio with a certain degree of protection against rises in interest rates, although adjustable rate securities
will participate in any declines in interest rates. Certain adjustable rate securities, such as those with interest rates that fluctuate
directly or indirectly based on multiples of a stated index, are designed to be highly sensitive to changes in interest rates and can
subject the holders thereof to extreme reductions of yield and possibly loss of principal. Certain fixed-income securities may be issued
at a discount from their face value (such as zero coupon securities) or purchased at a price less than their stated face amount or at
a price less than their issue price plus the portion of “original issue discount” previously accrued thereon, i.e.,
purchased at a “market discount.” The amount of original issue discount and/or market discount on certain obligations may
be significant, and accretion of market discount together with original issue discount will cause the Portfolio to realize income prior
to the receipt of cash payments with respect to these securities.
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| Mortgage-Related and Asset-Backed Securities Risk |
Mortgage-Related
and Asset-Backed Securities Risk:
Mortgage-related securities are complex instruments, subject to both credit and prepayment risk, and may be more volatile and less liquid,
and more difficult to price accurately, than more traditional debt securities. Mortgage-related securities generally are subject to credit
risks associated with the performance of the underlying mortgage properties. Prepayment risk can lead to fluctuations in value of the
mortgage-related security which may be pronounced. As with other interest-bearing securities, the prices of certain mortgage-related securities
are inversely affected by changes in interest rates. However, although the value of a mortgage-related security may decline when interest
rates rise, the converse is not necessarily true, since during periods of declining interest rates the mortgages underlying the security
are more likely to be prepaid.
The risks of asset-backed
securities are similar to those of mortgage-related securities. However, asset-backed securities present certain risks that are not presented
by mortgage-related securities. Primarily, these securities may provide the Portfolio with a less effective security interest in the related
collateral than do mortgage-related securities.
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| Structured Products Risk |
Structured
Products Risk:
Structured notes and other structured products are privately negotiated debt instruments where the principal and/or interest is determined
by reference to a specified asset, market or rate, or the differential performance of two assets or markets. Structured products can have
risks of both fixed-income securities and derivatives transactions. Derivatives transactions may increase volatility or reduce returns,
perhaps
substantially, particularly
since most derivatives have a leverage component that provides investment exposure in excess of the amount invested, and they are subject
to many of the risks of, and can be highly sensitive to changes in the value of, the related reference asset, market or rate. As such,
a small investment could have a potentially large impact on the Portfolio’s performance. Use of derivatives transactions may cause
the Portfolio to experience losses greater than if the Portfolio had not engaged in such transactions.
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| Preferred Securities Risk |
Preferred
Securities Risk:
There are various risks associated with investing in preferred securities. In addition, unlike common stock, participation in the growth
of an issuer may be limited.
· Credit
risk is the risk that a security held by the Portfolio will decline in price or the issuer of the security will fail to make dividend,
interest or principal payments when due because the issuer experiences a decline in its financial status.
· Interest
rate risk is the risk that securities will decline in value because of changes in market interest rates. When market interest rates rise,
the market value of such securities generally will fall.
· Preferred
securities may include provisions that permit the issuer, at its discretion, to defer or omit distributions for a stated period without
any adverse consequences to the issuer.
· Preferred
securities are generally subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in an issuer’s capital structure in terms of having priority
to corporate income, claims to corporate assets and liquidation payments, and therefore will be subject to greater credit risk than more
senior debt instruments.
· During
periods of declining interest rates, an issuer may be able to exercise an option to call, or redeem its issue at par earlier than the
scheduled maturity. If this occurs during a time of lower or declining interest rates, the Portfolio may have to reinvest the proceeds
in lower yielding securities (and the Portfolio may not benefit from any increase in the value of its portfolio holdings as a result of
declining interest rates).
· Certain
preferred securities may be substantially less liquid than many other securities, such as common stocks or US government securities. Illiquid
securities involve the risk that the securities will not be able to be sold at the time desired by the Portfolio or at prices approximating
the value at which the Portfolio is carrying the securities on its books.
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| High Portfolio Turnover Risk |
High
Portfolio Turnover Risk:
The Portfolio’s investment strategy may involve high portfolio turnover (such as 100% or more). A portfolio turnover rate of 100%,
for example, is equivalent to the Portfolio buying and selling all of its securities once during the course of the year. A high portfolio
turnover rate could result in high transaction costs and an increase in taxable capital gains distributions to the Portfolio’s shareholders,
which will reduce returns to shareholders.
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| Non-US Securities Risk |
Non-US
Securities Risk:
The Portfolio’s performance will be influenced by political, social and economic factors affecting the non-US countries and companies
in which the Portfolio invests. Non-US securities carry special risks, such as less developed or less efficient trading markets, political
instability, a lack of company information, differing auditing and legal standards, and, potentially, less liquidity. Non-US securities
may be subject to economic sanctions or other similar governmental actions or developments, which could, among other things, effectively
restrict or eliminate the Portfolio’s ability to purchase or sell certain foreign securities. To the extent the Portfolio holds
securities subject to such actions, the securities may become difficult to value and/or less liquid (or illiquid). In some cases, the
securities may become worthless. In addition, investments denominated in currencies other than US dollars may experience decline in value,
in US dollar terms, due solely to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Emerging market countries can generally have economic structures
that are less diverse and mature, and political systems that are less stable, than those of developed countries.
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| Government Securities Risk |
Government
Securities Risk:
Not all obligations of the US government, its agencies and instrumentalities are backed by the full faith and credit of the US Treasury.
Some obligations are backed only by the credit of the issuing agency or instrumentality, and in some cases there may be some risk of default
by the issuer. Any
guarantee by the US government
or its agencies or instrumentalities of a security held by the Portfolio does not apply to the market value of such security or to shares
of the Portfolio itself. A security backed by the US Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States is guaranteed only as
to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity.
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