In a statement issued this morning, Lazard said the firm has reduced the minimum investment requirements for its Australian Equity Fund, Select Australian Equity Fund, Australian Diversified Income Fund and Global Small Cap Fund.
Commenting on the decision, Lazard chief executive Susan Roberts said the move was in response to “increasing demand and enquiry from the ever growing self-directed and self-managed fund markets” in Australia.
“As awareness of both the performance of our funds and understanding of our active management-value investing approach has increased, we have seen heightened interest from private investors,” Ms Roberts said.
“This is a sign of the understanding of the benefits and rewards of a disciplined and intensive research-based approach to stock picking.
“Our approach to investing is based on bottom-up research focused on identifying under-valued companies and investing in them with a long-term time horizon,” she said.
Ms Roberts added that this approach is “resonating” with investors and is something the firm has been doing successfully for many years.
Active management, value investing approach, stock picking are all terms that basically imply buy low; sell high.
It is the holy grail of investing and justifies fund managers reason for charging management fees.
The question still remains does Lazard AM or any other active fund manager out-perform the index over the long term. The majority underperform the index but still receive management fees.