Products October 11, 2007

Lord Abbett Expands Share Class Offerings

Investment management firm Lord, Abbett&Co. LLC has introduced three new mutual fund share classes and renamed another to better serve the institutional and adviser marketplaces.
Reported by

The F, R2, and R3 share classes are being introduced to broaden the firm’s reach to an increased variety of investment platforms, including wrap programs and retirement plans, according to a press release. Class F shares will be offered in connection with fee-based and advisory programs, and Class R shares will be offered to certain retirement plans.

In addition, the firm announced its Class Y shares have been reclassified as Class I shares to reflect a common industry practice and to provide greater usability for the RIA market. The Class I shares will continue to be offered to the institutional market.

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Class R shares will be available for the following Lord Abbett funds:

  • Affiliated Fund,
  • All Value Fund,
  • Alpha Strategy Fund,
  • America’s Value Fund,
  • Balanced Strategy Fund,
  • Bond Debenture Fund,
  • Convertible Fund,
  • Core Fixed Income Fund,
  • Developing Growth Fund,
  • Developing Local Markets Fund,
  • Diversified Equity Strategy Fund,
  • Diversified Income Strategy Fund,
  • Growth and Income Strategy Fund,
  • Growth Opportunities Fund,
  • High Yield Fund,
  • International Core Equity Fund,
  • International Opportunities Fund,
  • Large Cap Core Fund,
  • Large Cap Growth Fund,
  • Total Return Fund, and
  • Value Opportunities Fund.

Class F shares will be available for all Lord Abbett mutual funds, except for the U.S. Government and Government Sponsored Enterprises Money Market Fund, Micro Cap Value Fund, Micro Cap Growth Fund, and some of the state-specific funds.

More information can be found at www.lordabbett.com.

Diversions October 10, 2007

Past Tense?

We frequently tell investors that the past is not a reliable portent of future performance – but it does have a bearing on how we worry.
Reported by
Scientists have known that on the whole, females of all ages tend to worry more and – and worry more intensely then men, according to LiveScience.com. Additionally, women also tend to perceive more risk in situations and grow more anxious than men, according to the report.
The reason? The researchers say that women are more likely than men to believe that past experiences accurately forecast the future.
The two new studies, involving both 3- to 6-year-olds and adults of both genders, tested the extent to which participants’ thought that worry can be caused by thinking that a past bad event could happen again in the future.
Study “Hauls’
For the first study, subjects listened to six stories that featured characters harmed by another person or animal in the story. Then, days later, that character felt worried or changed their behavior when confronted with the same wrongdoer who had hurt them before. (For example, if one little boy stole a toy from another, the child might be worried when he saw that boy again and hide the new toy he was playing with.)
In the second study, the scenario was repeated – except that the person or animal the character ran across later only looked similar to the one that had harmed them before. Then, at the end of each story, the participants were asked to explain why the character was worried or changed their behavior.
“Reaction’ Airing
Females, both children and adults, were more likely to use uncertainty to explain the character’s reaction – to explain the reaction in terms of events that might happen, rather than those that will happen. Women were also more likely than men to predict that the characters who encountered the new character who looked similar to the wrongdoer would feel worried because they thought the new character would also do them harm.
The studies, by Kristin Lagattuta of the University of California, Davis, were detailed in the September/October issue of the journal Child Development in the article, “Thinking About the Future Because of the Past: Young Children’s Knowledge About the Causes of Worry and Preventative Decisions.’

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