Fund Evaluator:

Lazard International Equity Select Open Overview

Lazard International Equity Select Open (LZESX) is an actively managed International Equity Foreign Large Blend fund. Lazard launched the fund in 2001.

The investment seeks long-term capital appreciation. Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities. Equity security investments primarily include common stocks and also may include American Depositary Receipts, Global Depositary Receipts and European Depositary Receipts.

About Lazard International Equity Select Open (LZESX)

There are 6 members of the management team with an average tenure of 15.12 years: Michael Fry (2010), Paul Selvey-Clinton (2022), Giles Edwards (2019), Michael Bennett (2003), Michael Powers (2003), James Donald (2010). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 1 primary benchmark: MSCI ACWI Ex USA NR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Lazard International Equity Select Open has 83 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 29.8% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Lazard International Equity Select Open is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the International Equity fund group. Lazard International Equity Select Open has 95.5% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 3.0%. There is 95.5% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Lazard International Equity Select Open has 0.4% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $3 million in total assets, which is below the $2 billion average for the Foreign Large Blend category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

LZESX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Lazard International Equity Select Open expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Foreign Large Blend category. Lazard International Equity Select Open has an expense ratio of 1.15%, which is 22% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Lazard International Equity Select Open has a portfolio turnover rate of 39%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 62% for the Foreign Large Blend category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Lazard International Equity Select Open returned 0.7%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Foreign Large Blend category had an average return of 0.7%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Lazard International Equity Select Open has a trailing yield of 1.51%, which is below the 2.17% category average. The fund normally distributes its income semi-annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Lazard International Equity Select Open Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 14.2%, 2.6 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 25.4% over the past year (grade of C), 13.0% over the past three years (grade of F) and 6.3% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 6.5% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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