Lord Abbett

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC
Private
Industry Investment management
Founded 1929
Headquarters Jersey City, New Jersey[1], United States
Key people
 Daria L. Foster (Managing Partner)
Products
Website www.lordabbett.com

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC is an independent, privately held U.S. investment management firm. The firm 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.

Ownership

The firm is a privately owned, limited liability company with 65 active partners. The firm is led by Managing Partner Daria L. Foster, who is 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 09/30/14).[2][3]

History

1929–1945

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,[4] 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.[5]

1946–1986

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.[6] 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 by co-Managing Partners Jack McCarthy, the firm's Chief Investment Officer and Ronald P. Lynch, a former Regional Manager.

1987–2007

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. McCarthy and 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.[7]

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.

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.[8]

New Products

Since 2007, the firm has completed a thorough review of its fund offerings across all asset classes. Such offerings are made available through a prospectus, which discloses 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.) Lord Abbett has continued to expand its equity and fixed income line-up with the launch and repositioning of several strategies, including bank loans, currencies, corporates, municipals, inflation-linked, international dividend, and multi cap growth.

Strategic Review

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 addition, Lord Abbett reiterated its commitment to the advisor community and strategically realigned its retirement business to focus on the Defined Contribution Investment Only (DCIO) marketplace.

Social Media

Under Ms. Foster’s leadership, Lord Abbett continues to expand its presence within social media outlets including LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, iTunes® and iBooks® to provide investors with up-to-date market and investment information.

Assets Under Management

As of September 30, 2014, the firm managed $138 billion in assets across a full range of separate and sub-advised accounts, commingled and mutual fund vehicles, and managed account platforms, including $1.4 billion for which Lord Abbett provided investment models to managed account sponsors.

Board Members

As of September 30, 2014, Lord Abbett has 64 partners led by Managing Partner Daria L. Foster. Ms. Foster, serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Lord Abbett Family of Funds. In addition, the Boards of Directors for the Lord Abbett Family of Funds consist of eight independent directors, including:

Thayer Bigelow[9][10]
Robert B. Calhoun, Jr.[11]
Evelyn E. Guernsey
Julie A. Hill [12]
Franklin W. Hobbs [13]
James L.L. Tullis [14][15]
James M. McTaggart [16]

Business Focus

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. Within the Separately Managed Account (SMA) business, Lord Abbett commands a market share, spanning domestic and international equity and taxable and tax-exempt fixed income, including $1.4 billion for which Lord Abbett provides investment models to managed account sponsors (as of 09/30/14).

External links

References/Data

  1. ↑ "Contact Us". Lord Abbett. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Lord Abbett advisor web site, Key Executives
  3. ↑ Business Week Profile. Retrieved 2010-2-11.
  4. ↑ "LEON ABBETT IS DEAD." New York Times. Retrieved 2010-2-11.
  5. ↑ "Lord Abbett Affiliated A." Morningstar. Retrieved 2010-2-11.
  6. ↑ "Lord Abbett Bond-Debenture A." Morningstar. Retrieved 2010-2-11.
  7. ↑ "10 people to watch in 2010." NJ.com. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  8. ↑ "EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT APPOINTMENTS AT LORD ABBETT." Lord Abbett Press Release. 2007-09-17. Retrieved 2010-2-11.
  9. ↑ "E. Thayer Bigelow." Forbes.com. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  10. ↑ Lord Abbett key management. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  11. ↑ "Robert B. Calhoun." Monitor Clipper Partners. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  12. ↑ "Julie A. Hill." Forbes.com. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  13. ↑ "Franklin W. Hobbs." Forbes.com. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  14. ↑ "James L.L. Tullis." Forbes.com. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  15. ↑ "Jim Tullis." Tullis Health Investors. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  16. ↑