| Scorecard |
|---|
|
1 / 5 Stars
|
|
Lipper
1
1
3
5
3
|
|
Zacks Investment Research
2
(Buy)
|
|
Standard & Poor's
3 / 5 Stars
|
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TheStreet.com
D+
(Sell)
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#206 in Large Value
U.S. News evaluated 330 Large Value Funds. Our list highlights the top-rated funds for long-term investors based on the ratings of leading fund industry researchers.
Performance
The fund has returned 18.05 percent over the past year, 8.24 percent over the past three years, 1.94 percent over the past five years, and 6.33 percent over the past decade.
| Trailing Returns | Updated 04.30.2013 |
|---|---|
| Year to date | 13.1% |
| 1 Year | 18.0% |
| 3 Years (Annualized) | 8.2% |
| 5 Years (Annualized) | 1.9% |
| 10 Years (Annualized) | 6.3% |
Summary
In its search for value stocks, management at the Lord Abbett Affiliated Fund invests in undervalued firms and keeps the fund's sector weights and industry weights in line with its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index. Its picks have resulted in fairly consistent returns over time and average annualized returns of about 11 percent since its inception in 1950, though a new manager is currently proving his mettle.
As of May 03, 2013, the fund has assets totaling $6.80 billion. Its portfolio consists almost entirely of holdings in large-cap U.S. companies with a small amount in foreign companies.
Dan Frascarelli became manager of the fund in July 2009. Since taking over, he has guided the fund back toward its benchmark (the Russell 1000 Value Index) after the former manager "paid little heed" to it, according to Morningstar. Frascarelli has trimmed some of the fund's largest sector bets, but as of the end of the first quarter, about 25 percent of the fund's total assets were made up of financial companies, including J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs. In one of the fund's more recent filings, management says, "The portfolio continues to be positioned for a cyclical recovery in the economy." The fund has returned 18.05 percent over the past year and 8.24 percent over the past three years.
The previous manager was known to make huge sector bets. For example, management stayed away from financial companies during the worst of the downturn but in late 2008 upped their weight in the sector to 40 percent of the total portfolio, according to Morningstar. "We have similar philosophies, but I'm not willing to make as big of a bet as he is in individual names as well as in sector overweights or underweights," Frascarelli says. The fund has returned 1.94 percent over the past five years and 6.33 percent over the past decade.
Investment Strategy
The fund's prospectus says management will invest at least 80 percent of its assets in what it calls "large, seasoned U.S. and multinational companies" that are undervalued, while emphasizing value stocks that "may limit the fund's downside risk" because they "are believed to be underpriced, and large, seasoned company stocks tend to be issued by more established companies and less volatile than the stocks of smaller companies." Frascarelli describes the fund as a conservative equity fund.
Role in Portfolio
Morningstar assigns the fund a "core" role in the portfolio.
Management
Dan Frascarelli replaced Eli Salzmann as portfolio manger for the fund in July 2009. Frascarelli previously ran Lord Abbett Classic Stock Fund.
Risk
Although the fund concentrates on value stocks, in general stock funds are more susceptible to market volitility.
