New genesis for long-closed Neuberger fund

Neuberger Berman LLC has re-opened its flagship $6.9 billion Genesis Fund to new investors for the first time since December 17, 2001, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Neuberger Berman LLC has re-opened its flagship $6.9 billion Genesis Fund to new investors for the first time since December 17, 2001, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The Neuberger Berman Genesis Fund (NBGNX), which has a five-star rating from Chicago-based Morningstar Inc., was closed just over seven years ago after its managers felt it had reached capacity.
Average assets in the fund over past five years were $10.1 billion but dropped to $7.7 billion at the end of 2008 due to turmoil in the market, according to Judy Vale, portfolio manager at New York-based Neuberger Berman.
The decision to re-open Genesis to new investors began to be seriously discussed by the fund’s seven-member management team late last year due to buying opportunities of “mispriced businesses” and seeing a chance to offset redemptions, said Ms. Vale.
“The point of this is to take advantage of an opportunity set by a severe market sell-off resulting in very low valuations of good businesses,” said Ms. Vale, who co-manages the Genesis Fund with Bob D’Alelio.
New York-based Neuberger Berman will cap net inflows in the Genesis Fund at $2 billion and may close it earlier, she said.
Neuberger Berman was the asset management arm of New York-based Lehman brothers Holding Co. before the investment bank filed for bankruptcy in mid-September.
A group of Neuberger Berman managers and senior professionals then won control of the Lehman asset management business in an early-December New York federal bankruptcy court auction.