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Developing Growth Fund (LAGWX) - Class A

Fund Announcement
Fund Finder

What is the Developing Growth Fund?

Goal & Strategy

The goal of this Fund is long-term growth of capital through investing in stocks of small companies. This Fund seeks well-run companies that have above-average earnings growth and are gaining market share in their respective industries.

Fund Basics

 
Ticker LAGWX
CUSIP 544006109
Fund Number 14
Inception Date 10/10/1973
YTD Returns at NAV (as of 05/17/2013) 21.49%
Dividend Frequency Annually
Expense Ratio (as of 04/30/2013) 1.12%
Lipper Category Avg. 1.46%
Total Net Assets (as of 04/30/2013) $2.55 B
Number of Holdings (as of 04/30/2013) 121
Minimum Initial Investment $1,000
Maximum Offering Price (MOP) - Returns with sales charges reflect a maximum sales charge of 5.75%.
Price(as of 05/17/2013)
  Price ($) Change ($) Change (%)
NAV 24.20 0.33 1.38
MOP 25.68 0.35 1.38
52-Week High & Low at NAV ($)
High (05/17/2013) 24.20
Low (11/20/2012) 19.22

How has the Fund Performed?

Average Annual Returns

(as of 04/30/2013)
  YTD (%) 1-YR (%) 3-YR (%) 5-YR (%) 10-YR (%) Since
Inception (%)
NAV
Lipper Category Avg. 11.02 11.29 11.88 6.82 9.82    -
Index 12.47 15.67 12.94 7.81 10.53    -
MOP 6.05 5.19 12.31 7.69 11.41 10.24
Expense Ratio 1.12%
  YTD (%) 1-YR (%) 3-YR (%) 5-YR (%) 10-YR (%) Since
Inception (%)
NAV 13.50 11.71 15.85 10.68 13.04 10.45
Lipper Category Avg. 12.29 11.43 13.77 8.24 10.80    -
Index 13.21 14.52 14.75 9.04 11.61    -
MOP 6.95 5.31 13.58 9.38 12.37 10.28
Expense Ratio 1.12%
The performance quoted represents past performance, which is no indication of future results. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance data quoted. Returns shown include the reinvestment of all distributions. Returns shown at net asset value do not reflect the current maximum sales charge, had the sales charge been included, returns would have been lower. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that shares, on any given day or when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Therefore, there can be no assurance of future results.

Why This Fund?

Role in Portfolio

A supporting player that provides investors with a potential engine for growth through exposure to companies we believe are rapidly growing.

Key Advantages

Experience
Provides investors with exposure to an experienced investment team.

Research
Provides investors with exposure to small, rapidly-growing companies we believe are poised to become future industry leaders.

Seeks to capture the price appreciation that may be generated from an identified company’s period of exceptional growth.

The value of investments in equity securities will fluctuate in response to general economic conditions and to changes in the prospects of particular companies and/or sectors in the economy.

How is the Fund Currently Positioned?

(as of 03/29/2013)
  • As U.S. indexes near all-time highs, investors appear to be edging back into equity markets. The major question facing us now is whether this move will continue. If investors begin to feel comfortable enough with the environment to once again embrace equities, we could see further gains for the current bull market, which began in March 2009 and has recently passed its fourth-year anniversary.
  • We increased exposure to the industrials sector, which encompasses professional services and staffing companies; we expect these names to benefit from higher demand for temporary workers. We also added to the consumer discretionary sector, although within the sector we rotated away from specialty retail holdings (which have achieved full valuations) and toward media and Internet commerce providers.
  • We increased our exposure to the health care sector. The combination of higher demand for services driven by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and a more accommodative Food and Drug Administration has been positive for both medical technology and services.
  • We reduced our overweight in the information technology sector, notably among industrial technology applications. Although technology continues to be our most significant overweight relative to the benchmark Russell 2000™ Growth Index, we wanted to moderate exposure to certain fully valued segments. We also reduced our exposure to fully valued natural food names within the consumer staples sector.
The Fund's portfolio is actively managed and may change significantly over time.

RELATED CONTENT

Overall Morningstar Ratings


(as of 04/30/2013)
Category Small Growth
Load
Load Waived
Morningstar rated the Lord Abbett Developing Growth Fund Class A share (load) 3, 3 and 4 stars and (load waived) 4, 4 and 4 stars among 638, 563 and 369 Small Growth Funds for the overall rating and the 3, 5 and 10 year periods ended 04/30/2013, respectively.
How is the Fund Managed?
Team Leaders
F. Thomas O'Halloran, J.D., CFA
Partner
Years Experience:  27
Arthur K. Weise, CFA
Partner
Years Experience:  20
Supported By
3 Investment Professionals
20 Years Avg. Industry Experience
Years experience refers to industry experience.