Investment objective & strategy
As of April 28, 2025 · prospectusObjective. The Portfolio seeks capital appreciation.
Strategy. The Portfolio seeks to achieve its investment objective over a full market cycle through a hedged strategy investing primarily in convertible fixed income and preferred securities (including those rated below investment grade (junk)). The strategy utilizes a relative value approach, focusing on convertible securities that are considered to have low volatility. It is expected that the Portfolio will invest primarily in small and mid cap companies. The Portfolio also will utilize selective strategy level and position level hedges, primarily through short selling and derivatives, seeking to minimize macro risk (equity and credit) and interest rate risk. The Portfolio may invest in convertible debt and preferred securities of any maturity and any quality. Convertible securities held in the Portfolio generally are … The Portfolio seeks to achieve its investment objective over a full market cycle through a hedged strategy investing primarily in convertible fixed income and preferred securities (including those rated below investment grade (junk)). The strategy utilizes a relative value approach, focusing on convertible securities that are considered to have low volatility. It is expected that the Portfolio will invest primarily in small and mid cap companies. The Portfolio also will utilize selective strategy level and position level hedges, primarily through short selling and derivatives, seeking to minimize macro risk (equity and credit) and interest rate risk. The Portfolio may invest in convertible debt and preferred securities of any maturity and any quality. Convertible securities held in the Portfolio generally are expected to have maturities between three and seven years at the time of investment, or between five and seven years if invested at issuance. Preferred securities generally are of perpetual maturities, callable at various points determined by the issuer. The Portfolio management team utilizes bottom up fundamental credit, equity and quantitative analysis in conjunction with top down macroeconomic analysis to identify individual securities believed to offer compelling value versus comparable risk return. The Portfolio will generally have short positions through selling securities short and through investments in derivative instruments, principally swap agreements on individual securities, and may use short positions to seek to increase returns or to reduce risk. A short sale involves the sale of a security that the Portfolio does not own in the expectation of purchasing the same security (or a security exchangeable therefor) at a later date and at a lower price and profiting from the price decline. Similarly, when taking short positions with respect to securities through investments in derivative instruments, the Investment Manager is expecting the value of such securities to fall during the period of the Portfolios investment exposure. Although the Portfolios investment focus is US companies, the Portfolio also may invest in non-US companies, including depositary receipts and shares. At certain times, based on the currently existing market environment, the Investment Manager may not believe it is able to find sufficient opportunities to invest in convertible fixed income and preferred securities and/or take short positions and may determine to tactically shift the Portfolio to invest substantially in money market instruments, such as short-term US Treasury securities and certificates of deposit. The Portfolio may invest in exchange-traded open-end management investment companies (ETFs), generally those that pursue a passive index-based strategy. In addition, the Portfolio may, but is not required to (1) enter into futures and forward currency contracts and equity, interest rate, credit default and currency swap agreements; and (2) write put and call options on securities (including shares of ETFs), indexes and currencies, in each case for hedging purposes or to seek to increase returns. It is expected that the Portfolio will buy and sell securities, and take short positions in securities, frequently in connection with implementing its investment strategy. The Portfolio is classified as non-diversified under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), which means that it may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers, when compared to a diversified fund.
Top holdings
As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| WESTERN DIGITAL CORP 3.0 11/15/28 CFD | — | $7.97M | 11.23% |
| LUMENTUM HOLDINGS INC SR UNSECURED 12/26 0.5 | — | $6.06M | 8.53% |
| SEAGATE HDD CAYMAN 06/28 3.5 CFD | — | $5.22M | 7.35% |
| U.S. Treasury Bills | 912797SX | $4.94M | 6.97% |
| WESTERN DIGITAL CORP 3.0 11/15/28 CFD | — | $4.23M | 5.96% |
| U.S. Treasury Bills | — | $4.13M | 5.82% |
| U.S. Treasury Bills | B | $4.09M | 5.76% |
| U.S. Treasury Bills | — | $3.78M | 5.33% |
| IREN LTD 3.5 12/15/29 IREN | — | $3.60M | 5.07% |
| LAZARD GOVT MNY MMKT INS | — | $3.57M | 5.04% |
Portfolio moves
Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.
Similar funds
Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight| Fund | Overlap | Net exp. |
|---|---|---|
| State Street SPDR Portfolio Ultra Short T-Bill ETF · SPTU | 18% | 0.05% |
| State Street(R) SPDR(R) Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF · BIL | 17% | 0.14% |
| VANGUARD 0-3 MONTH TREASURY BILL ETF · VBIL | 17% | 0.06% |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| Lazard Asset Management LLC | Adviser |
Footnotes
- Expense ratio as of June 25, 2025, from the fund's prospectus.
- Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
Machine-readable: JSON · Markdown. Programmatic access via the agent surface.