Company Press Release

Lord Abbett Introduces Inflation Focused Fund

Designed for Investors Concerned about the "Silent Thief" of Inflation

JERSEY CITY, N.J., May 2, 2011—Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC ("Lord Abbett"), an independent, privately held investment management firm, today announced the launch of the Lord Abbett Inflation Focused Fund (LIFAX). Specifically designed for investors concerned about the impact of inflation on future purchasing power, the newest addition to Lord Abbett's taxable fixed income product line seeks to deliver a positive total return in an inflationary environment.

The Inflation Focused Fund's investment strategy utilizes a distinctive combination of short-term credit instruments and inflation-linked investments in an effort to deliver investment returns that exceed the rate of inflation over a full economic cycle.

"With inflation concerns increasingly on the minds of our clients and business partners, we wanted to provide a product that seeks to deliver positive returns in an inflationary environment while helping to guard investors during periods of rising interest rates," said Daria Foster, Lord Abbett Managing Partner. "We believe this is a competitive solution that provides a shorter duration, higher yield, and lower expenses compared to many of the other inflation-protected products currently available in the market."

The Fund will be managed by a seasoned group of Lord Abbett investment professionals. Robert A. Lee, Partner & Director of Taxable Fixed Income, will oversee the portfolio management team of Andrew H. O'Brien, Partner, and Kewjin Yuoh. In addition, the team will be supported by 21 investment professionals who have an average of 14 years of investment experience.

Lord Abbett has been managing taxable fixed-income products for more than 80 years. Since 2007, the firm has implemented several changes to its taxable fixed-income product lineup to better meet client needs, including the introduction of both a bank loan fund and an emerging markets currency fund; the repositioning of existing products; and the reduction of expense ratios and sales charges. As a result, the firm has experienced notable growth in taxable fixed income assets from $21.5 billion on December 31, 2007 to $45.0 billion today (as of March 31, 2011).

For more information on the Fund and Lord Abbett's taxable fixed-income strategies, please visit https://www.lordabbett.com/advisor/mutualfunds/inflationfocused

About Lord Abbett

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC is an independent, privately held firm with a singular focus on the management of money. As one of the oldest money management firms in the United States, Lord Abbett has consistently provided generations of clients and their financial advisors with a quality investment experience since 1929. Lord Abbett manages approximately $113.7 billion in assets (as of March 31, 2011) across a full range of mutual funds, institutional and separately managed accounts, including $3.3 billion for which Lord Abbett provides investment models to managed account sponsors.