| Industry | Investment Management |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1929 |
| Headquarters | Jersey City, New Jersey, USA |
| Key People | Robert S. Dow: Senior Partner Daria L. Foster: Managing Partner |
| Partners | 57* |
| Employees | Approximately 775* |
| Products | Mutual Funds, Institutional Portfolio Management, and Separately Managed Accounts (SMA) |
| Websites | Lord Abbett Lord Abbett Advisor Lord Abbett Institutional |
| Social Media | Lord Abbett on Twitter Lord Abbett on iTunes Lord Abbett on YouTube |
| * As of 6/2011 | |
Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC is an independent, privately held U.S. investment management firm that offers a broad array of equity and fixed-income strategies to individual and institutional investors. Lord Abbett’s strategies are available within separate and sub-advised accounts, commingled and mutual fund vehicles, and managed account platforms.
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The firm is a privately owned, limited liability company with 57 active partners. The firm is led by Senior Partner Robert S. Dow and Managing Partner Daria L. Foster who are responsible for setting strategic direction and business management. Robert I. Gerber, Partner and Chief Investment Officer, is responsible for the organization’s investment professionals. The firm focuses solely on long-only, actively managed investment portfolios (as of 6/30/11).[1][2]
On November 18, 1929, several weeks after the stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression, Andrew James Lord and his associates incorporated as Lord, Westerfield & Co., Inc., with headquarters at 68 William Street in lower Manhattan, a few blocks from the New York Stock Exchange. Mr. Lord believed that mutual funds, managed and sold by professionals, were better investments for most people than individual securities.
When the Westerfields resigned from the company in 1931, Leon Abbett,[3] a member of the founding group and the son of a former two-time New Jersey governor and state supreme court justice, provided the capital contribution that enabled the firm to continue. Two years later, the name of the company was changed to Lord, Abbett & Co.
In 1932, Mr. Lord organized his own investment trust - American Business Shares. Today, this trust is known as the Lord Abbett Income Fund. Two years later, the firm’s second longest-running fund - the Lord Abbett Affiliated Fund - was launched with a focus on the stocks of large cap companies.[4]
In 1946, Leon Abbett assumed leadership of the firm from Mr. Lord. In 1949, Mr. Abbett was succeeded by Harry I. Prankard II, an accountant whose firm had worked with Lord Abbett since its founding. During his 15 years at the helm, Mr. Prankard led the firm through a period of expansion for both the investment industry and for Lord Abbett.
In 1964, Mr. Prankard was (briefly) succeeded by Lord Abbett’s National Sales Manager, Albert R. Hughes, who died of a sudden illness three months after his appointment. Consequently, Robert S. Driscoll was chosen as Managing Partner.
During the 1970s, Lord Abbett expanded its mutual fund offerings, becoming one of the first firms to offer a high-yield bond fund.[5] The firm also launched its institutional business in 1976, with the introduction of a large cap value product for an institutional client.
In 1980, Alvin H. Berndt succeeded Mr. Driscoll as Managing Partner. Mr. Berndt joined Lord Abbett in 1949 as a Regional Manager on the West Coast. In the mid-1970s, he and Jack McCarthy, one of the firm’s senior investment professionals, began calling on major corporations with the objective of offering separately managed accounts (SMAs) for their pension assets. In 1983, Mr. Berndt was succeeded as Managing Partner three years later by Ronald P. Lynch, also a former Regional Manager. Mr. Lynch selected Jack McCarthy as the firm’s Chief Investment Officer and Co-Managing Partner.
In 1987, Lord Abbett moved its headquarters from Wall Street to the General Motors Building on Fifth Avenue in New York, a location the firm would occupy for the next decade. Under Mr. Lynch’s leadership, the firm expanded its equity and fixed-income mutual funds, developed its SMA business, and grew its presence as an institutional investment manager.
In 1996, the year the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 6,000 for the first time, Robert S. Dow succeeded Mr. Lynch as Managing Partner. Mr. Dow joined Lord Abbett in 1972 as a Research Analyst for the Lord Abbett Bond Debenture Fund, and was named manager of the fixed-income area in 1982.
To accommodate the firm’s growth Mr. Dow oversaw the relocation of Lord Abbett’s headquarters from Manhattan to Jersey City, New Jersey in 2000 and in 2002, Mr. Dow expanded the partnership by naming 26 new partners, bringing the total to 47.
In 2007, Mr. Dow assumed the newly created role of Senior Partner, and was succeeded by Daria L. Foster as the firm’s ninth Managing Partner.[6]
Ms. Foster joined Lord Abbett in 1990, and led the expansion of the firm’s institutional business. She became a partner in 1996 and, in 2005, was named Director of Global Client Services responsible for integrating the firm’s retail and institutional sales and marketing efforts. Mr. Dow retains his title as Chairman of the Board of the Lord Abbett Mutual Funds, and Ms. Foster serves as President and Director of the Lord Abbett Mutual Funds.[7]
Ms. Foster’s first act as Managing Partner was to name Robert I. Gerber as Chief Investment Officer. Mr. Gerber joined Lord Abbett in 1997, and was leading the investment-grade taxable fixed-income group at the time of his appointment to CIO.[7]
Under Ms. Foster's leadership, Lord Abbett has undertaken a variety of strategic initiatives including the introduction of new investment products, an evaluation of the international distribution and retirement business strategies and the launch of a more aggressive interactive and social media strategy.
During 2007, the firm began a thorough review of the fund offerings in all asset classes. Such offerings are made available through a prospectus, which describes the investment objective, strategies, and risks associated with the particular fund. Prospectuses are made available to prospective investors directly from Lord Abbett Distributor LLC or financial advisors. As a result of this review, the firm expanded its taxable fixed-income line-up with the launch of a new mutual fund focusing on bank loans (Lord Abbett Floating Rate Fund) and re-launched several funds with new names and investment strategies (Lord Abbett Developing Local Markets Fund, focusing on emerging market currencies, Lord Abbett Income Fund, a diversified fixed-income fund focusing on corporate bonds, and Lord Abbett Short Duration Fund, a diversified short term fixed-income fund).
Like many other asset management firms during the market turmoil of 2007 - 2010, Lord Abbett experienced a decline in assets under management. Despite the unsettling market conditions, Lord Abbett was able to successfully navigate this crisis. In 2009, taxable fixed-income assets grew 65% from $17.7 billion to $29.2 billion. Tax-exempt assets grew approximately 51%, from $8.4 billion to $12.7 billion.
During 2008 and 2009, Lord Abbett expanded its international equity offerings with the addition of the Lord Abbett International Dividend Income Fund and expanded its tax free fixed-income suite with the launch of a short duration mutual fund (Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free Fund).
During mid-2009, as part of the firm’s goal of providing properly positioned and priced products, four of its domestic large cap equity mutual funds were renamed to help investors better understand the underlying companies purchased as part of the investment process. As part of an ongoing effort to provide competitively priced mutual funds, Lord Abbett lowered the expense ratios for select funds including the Lord Abbett Classic Stock Fund, the Lord Abbett High Yield Fund, the Lord Abbett International Core Equity Fund, and the Lord Abbett International Dividend Income Fund.
As a result of a strategic reassessment of non-US based mutual fund activities, Lord Abbett closed its London office and off-shore mutual funds in mid-2009 and reiterated its commitment to its joint venture in China and the expansion of its institutional offerings in Japan.
in September 2009, Lord Abbett strategically realigned its retirement business to focus on the defined contribution investment only marketplace (DCIO). As a result, the firm exited the bundled small-plan 401(k) business and entered into a strategic alliance with Hartford Retirement Services, LLC to manage the transition of approximately 8,000 plans, 59,000 participants and over $1.2 billion in assets.[8] Lord Abbett was one of the top 50 managers of defined contribution assets, ranked 46th at the end of 2009.[9][10]
In November 2009, Lord Abbett launched a new Web site[11] targeted at financial advisors. The site is intended to complement advisors’ interactions with the Lord Abbett brand and sales force to provide easy access to economic commentary and product information, interactive and business building tools, video and audio content and the firm’s first foray into social media with a presence on Twitter.[12][13]
In 2009, as a result of a strategic reassessment of non-U.S. based mutual fund activities, Lord Abbett closed its London office and off-shore mutual funds and reiterated its commitment to its joint venture in China and the expansion of its institutional offerings in Japan.
As of June 30, 2011, the firm managed $114.3 billion in assets across a full range of separate and sub-advised accounts, commingled and mutual fund vehicles, and managed account platforms, including $3.2 billion for which Lord Abbett provided investment models to managed account sponsors.
Since its inception in 1929, Lord Abbett has provided its investment products and services to both individual and institutional investors. The firm has focused on servicing individual investors through financial advisors at wirehouses, global and regional banks, insurance companies, registered investment advisors (RIAs), and independent advisors. The firm's institutional business includes Fortune 500 companies, as well as Taft-Hartley unions, pensions, endowments, universities, insurance companies, hospitals and healthcare organizations, religious organizations, and international organizations.
As of June 2011, Lord Abbett had 57 partners led by Senior Partner Robert S. Dow and Managing Partner Daria L. Foster. Mr. Dow and Ms. Foster serve as Directors and Chairman and President, respectively, of the Lord Abbett Family of Funds. In addition, the Boards of Directors for the Lord Abbett Family of Funds consist of seven independent directors, including:
Thayer Bigelow[14][15]
Robert B. Calhoun, Jr.[16]
Evelyn E. Guernsey
Julie A. Hill [17]
Franklin W. Hobbs [18]
Thomas J. Neff [19][20]
James L.L. Tullis [21][22]