Lord Abbett & Co. is a 91-year-old firm headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It offers services such as portfolio management and investment advisory services.
Lord Abbett Background
Founded in 1929, Lord Abbett is an independent and privately held company. It is owned solely by current and former senior professionals of the firm (or by their estate or members of their family) and is not publicly traded. No individual or company owns more than 25% of Lord Abbett.
The firm's investment and operations staff are primarily located in its office in Jersey City.
Lord Abbett Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Lord Abbett advises the following types of clients:
- Individuals
- High-net-worth individuals
- Registered investment companies
- Foreign pooled investment vehicles
- Pension and profit-sharing plans
- Charitable organizations
- State or municipal government entities
- Other investment advisors
- Insurance companies
- Proprietary accounts
- Other corporations or businesses
For institutional clients, the firm usually requires an account size ranging from $10 million to $100 million, depending on the particular strategy being used for that account. Managed Accounts - one of the firm's wrap fee investment advisory programs - generally have a minimum of $100,000, with certain exceptions.
Services Offered by Lord Abbett
While Lord Abbett does not offer financial planning services, it does offer both discretionary and nondiscretionary investment management services to its many types of clients, including (but not limited to) individuals, small businesses, retirement and benefit plans, endowments, unions, insurance companies, family trusts, registered investment companies and foreign pooled investment vehicles.
Additionally, the firm has two types of managed account or wrap fee programs, called Managed Accounts and Model Portfolios.
Lord Abbett Investing Philosophy
The firm manages a wide range of asset classes - equity, fixed-income, and multi-asset class portfolios - by using a wide range of investment strategies. The method of analysis that its advisors use varies based on the strategy they deem best for the client.
Lord Abbett's portfolio management teams employ a rigorous investment approach and the firm’s investment processes are supported by a strong internal focus on fundamental and quantitative research. Generally, each investment team uses the resources of analysts who are organized by investment style to conduct company research, attend management meetings and use expert networks. These analysts share information across investment teams so as to supplement each other's findings and apply them to various investment strategies.
Fees Under Lord Abbett
Lord Abbett typically charges investment advisory fees based on the value of the client’s account, or based on the client's assets under management. Fees are determined based on the investment strategy as well as the type and level of services provided. As such, the firm does not have a uniform fee schedule across all its various investment strategies.
With regards to institutional client accounts, fees are normally billed and payable in arrears (i.e. money that is still owed) based on assets at the end of the month or quarter.
It is important to note that occasionally, Lord Abbett agrees upon a performance-based fee structure with a qualified client. The firm has policies and procedures in place to ensure that it mitigates all potential conflicts of interest that may arise from such a fee structure.
Learn more about advisors' typical costs here.
What to Watch Out For
Within the past 10 years, Lord Abbett has not undergone any disciplinary or legal action deemed material to a client’s evaluation of its business integrity. You can view its latest Form ADV on the official website of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
Again, the firm does charge both performance-based fees as well as asset-based fees. In its Form ADV filed with the SEC, the firm acknowledges that each of these fee structures has the potential to cause a conflict of interest: Performance-based fees create an incentive to favor those accounts in order to generate greater revenue for the firm and asset-based fees create an incentive to manage client accounts that pay a higher asset-based fee or that contain assets owned by the firm. However, Lord Abbet has adopted securities allocation policies and procedures to mitigate these potential conflicts. The firm also works to ensure that these policies are regularly monitored.
It is also important to note that advisors at Lord Abbett may also be broker-dealers. Employees acting in these non-advisor roles generally receive transaction-based fees, which can be a potential conflict of interest. That said, as an SEC-registered investment advisor, the firm is legally obligated to uphold its fiduciary duty and work in clients’ best interests at all times.
Opening an Account With Lord Abbett
To open an account with Lord Abbett, you can visit the firm's website or call (888) 522-2388.
All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.
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