There is no designated sector for global equity income funds, so most of these funds sit within the global growth sector, including the Lazard Global Equity Income Fund. The fund's objective is to generate substantial income as well as long-term capital growth through a portfolio of high-yielding equities.
Patrick Ryan has managed the fund since its launch in October 2007. He began working in the investment industry in 1989 and prior to joining Lazard in February 1994, was an equity analyst with Hutson Management.
The fund has an attractive yield of 5.4 per cent, ahead of its target yield of 5 per cent. While performance has suffered in the year to date, it is still well ahead of the sector average as well as the fund's benchmark, the MSCI World Index, and is still top quartile in its sector.
The fund contains high yielding ideas identified across Lazard investment teams - and its global mandate results in attractive industry and geographic diversification to investors. The fund's 'value' bias should also provide leverage to a recovery - the fund uses its broad global opportunity set to find pockets of resilience in specific companies and economies
Despite the murky global economic outlook, Mr Ryan is encouraged by the combination of discounted valuation and premium quality characteristics of the portfolio. He shares the consensus view that amid an uncertain economic environment, high yielding equities appear an attractive option as their robust, well-covered dividend payments will provide support should the global recover falter.
| LAZARD GLOBAL EQUITY INCOME RETAIL INC FUND | |||
| PRICE | 81.98p | SHARPE RATIO | 0.25 |
| IMA SECTOR | Global Growth | TRACKING ERROR | 5.94% |
| FUND TYPE | Oeic | 1-YEAR PERFORMANCE | -0.72% |
| FUND SIZE | £153m | 3-YEAR PERFORMANCE | 39.1% |
| No OF HOLDINGS | 77 | PERFORMANCE YEAR TO DATE | -5.08% |
| SET-UP DATE | 22-Oct-07 | TOTAL EXPENSE RATIO | 1.59% |
| MANAGER START DATE | 22-Oct-07 | YIELD | 5.40% |
| BETA | 0.98 | MINIMUM INVESTMENT | £2,000 |
| VOLATILITY | 20.0 | MORE DETAILS | lazardnet.com |
Source: Investors Chronicle Funds data, Lazard
Performance figures as at 15 November 2011
Top 10 holdings (as at 31 October 2011)
| Company | Percentage |
| AT&T | 4.10 |
| Telstra | 3.20 |
| Royal Dutch Shell | 3.10 |
| Total | 2.80 |
| Atlantia | 2.80 |
| Altria | 2.50 |
| Zurich Financial Services | 2.30 |
| Redecard | 2.20 |
| Merck | 2.20 |
| Sampo | 2.20 |
Sector Breakdown
| Financials | 25.2 |
| Telecommunication Services | 18.3 |
| Information Technology | 10.0 |
| Energy | 9.9 |
| Industrials | 7.8 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 7.0 |
| Consumer Staples | 5.4 |
| Materials | 4.9 |
| Healthcare | 4.3 |
| Utilities | 2.1 |
| Cash | 4.9 |
