Lazard UK Growth portfolio closed as group concentrates on promoting Alpha fund range

Lazard Asset Management closed its £58m UK Growth fund last week and will focus solely on marketing its flagship Alpha fund range. The closure of the UK Growth fund, at one time managed by Tim Russell, was prompted by the portfolio's major shareholder opting to move to a segregated mandate. Although Lazards has retained this money, which constituted around 90% of the fund's assets, it would have left the remainder as economically unviable. Investors were given the option of free switches into the group's UK Alpha and offshore UK Equity funds, or the offshore Millbank Global Growth an...