Bruce Wasserstein | Thinking of Hiring Lazard? | About Lazard | In the News | Press Releases

You're Fired! More about how, when and why Lazard was fired by some clients.

All of the excerpts below are from Money Management Letter, available online with subscription.

Florida Plan Replaces Lazard
"The $1.1 billion Tallahassee (Fla.) Pension Plan has hired AllianceBernstein for a $50 million international value equity mandate. The firm replaces Lazard Asset Management, which was terminated for poor performance, said Deputy Treasurer James Cooke. Lazard's international equity strategy returned 19.3 percent gross of fees for the year ended Sept. 30, against 24.9 percent for the MSCI EAFE Index ... "
--Jan. 8, 2008

Lazard Terminated in Allentown
"Allentown Police Pension Fund terminated Lazard Asset Management from a U.S. Active Equity mandate."
--Dec. 14, 2007

Lazard Fired in Massachusetts
"Massachusetts Pension Reveres Investment Management Board terminated Lazard Asset Management from a U.S. Active Equity mandate for 'under performance.'"
--Aug. 11, 2006

Maryland Plan Considers Terminating Lazard
"The $1.3 billion Anne Arundel County (Md.) Retirement System may terminate its $70 million small-cap mandate with Lazard Asset Management due to style drift. Leroy Wilkison, trustee, said Lazard was hired three or four years ago for small-cap value, then the mandate migrated toward core and now it's moving toward growth. The plan only wants small-cap growth and value managers, not core, which "doesn't fit into our asset allocation model."
--May, 19, 2006

Seattle City Employees Retirement System Fires Lazard
"The $1.8 billion Seattle City Employees Retirement System will soon issue an RFP for at least one international equity manager. Mel Robertson, assistant executive director, said the mandate or mandates would be funded from a passive equity allocation that includes assets from recently terminated international equity managers MFS Investment Management and Lazard Asset Management. They were let go because they underperformed the MSCI EAFE Index each year for the past three years … "
--Feb. 24, 2006

Lazard Replaced in Vermont
"The Vermont Pension and Investment Committee, which oversees $2.7 billion in combined assets for the State Teachers' Retirement System of Vermont, the Vermont State Employees' Retirement System and the Vermont Municipal Employees' Retirement System, …is also considering terminating Lazard Asset Management's small-cap account, according to minutes from a board meeting in August. These managers have been underperforming…"
--Oct. 21, 2005

Vermont State Employee Retirement System terminated Lazard Asset Management from an International Active Equity mandate.
--Oct. 17, 2005

Lazard Canned in Kansas City
Kansas City Employees' Retirement System terminated Lazard Asset Management from an International Active Equity mandate.
--Nov. 5, 2004