SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
Lord Abbett Core Plus Bond Fund
APRIL 1, 2025
CLASS/TICKER
CLASS A ............
LAPLX
CLASS I...........
LAPIX
CLASS R5 .......
LAPVX
CLASS C............
LAPCX
CLASS R2 .......
N/A
CLASS R6 .......
LAPWX
CLASS F ............
LPLFX
CLASS R3 .......
LAPQX
CLASS F3 ..........
LOPLX
CLASS R4 .......
LAPUX
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional
information, which contain more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the
Fund’s prospectus, statement of additional information and other information about the Fund at
www.lordabbett.com/documentsandliterature. You can also get this information at no cost by
calling 888-522-2388 (Option #2) or by sending an email request to literature@lordabbett.com.
The current prospectus and statement of additional information dated April 1, 2025 as may be
supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.
SUMMARY – CORE PLUS BOND FUND
2
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund’s investment objective is to seek income and capital appreciation to
produce a high total return.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and
sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions
and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables
and examples below.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and certain
members of your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in
the Lord Abbett Family of Funds. More information about these and other discounts
is available from your financial intermediary and in “Sales Charge Reductions and
Waivers” on page 291 of the prospectus, Appendix A to the prospectus, titled
“Intermediary-Specific Sales Charge Reductions and Waivers,” and “Purchases,
Redemptions, Pricing, and Payments to Dealers” on page 9-1 of Part II of the
statement of additional information (“SAI”).
Shareholder Fees
(1)
(Fees paid directly from your investment)
Class
A
C
F, F3, I, R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases
(as a percentage of offering price)
2.25%
None
None
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load)
(as a percentage of offering price or redemption
proceeds, whichever is lower)
None
(2)
1.00%
(3)
None
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Class
A
C
F
F3
I
Management Fees
0.28%
0.28%
0.28%
0.28%
0.28%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees
0.20%
0.85%
(4)
0.10%
None
None
Other Expenses
0.15%
0.15%
0.15%
0.08%
0.15%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(5)
0.63%
1.28%
0.53%
0.36%
0.43%
SUMMARY – CORE PLUS BOND FUND
3
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(continued)
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Class
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
Management Fees
0.28%
0.28%
0.28%
0.28%
0.28%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees
0.60%
0.50%
0.25%
None
None
Other Expenses
0.15%
0.15%
0.15%
0.15%
0.08%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(5)
1.03%
0.93%
0.68%
0.43%
0.36%
(1)
A shareholder transacting in share classes without a front-end sales charge may be required to pay a commission to its
financial intermediary. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information about whether such a commission
may apply to your transaction.
(2)
A contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) of 1.00% may be assessed on certain Class A shares purchased or
acquired without a sales charge if they are redeemed before the first day of the month in which the one-year anniversary
of the purchase falls.
(3)
A CDSC of 1.00% may be assessed on Class C shares if they are redeemed before the first anniversary of their
purchase.
(4)
The 12b-1 fee the Fund will pay on Class C shares will be a blended rate calculated based on (i) 1.00% of the Fund’s
average daily net assets attributable to shares held for less than one year and (ii) 0.80% of the Fund’s average daily net
assets attributable to shares held for one year or more. All Class C shareholders of the Fund will bear 12b-1 fees at the
same rate.
(5)
For the period from April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026, Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC (“Lord Abbett”) has contractually
agreed to waive its fees and reimburse expenses to the extent necessary to limit total net annual operating expenses,
excluding any applicable 12b-1 fees, acquired fund fees and expenses, interest-related expenses, taxes, expenses
related to litigation and potential litigation, and extraordinary expenses, to an annual rate of 0.41% for each of Class F3
and R6 shares and to an annual rate of 0.48% for each other class. This agreement may be terminated only by the
Fund’s Board of Trustees.
Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest
$10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares
at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a
5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, giving
effect to the fee waiver and expense reimbursement arrangement described above.
Class C shares automatically convert to Class A shares after eight years. The
expense example for Class C shares for the ten-year period reflects the conversion to
Class A shares. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these
assumptions your costs would be:
SUMMARY – CORE PLUS BOND FUND
4
Class
If Shares Are Redeemed
If Shares Are Not Redeemed
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Class A Shares
$
288
$
422
$
568
$
994
$
288
$
422
$
568
$
994
Class C Shares
$
230
$
406
$
702
$
1,366
$
130
$
406
$
702
$
1,366
Class F Shares
$
54
$
170
$
296
$
665
$
54
$
170
$
296
$
665
Class F3 Shares
$
37
$
116
$
202
$
456
$
37
$
116
$
202
$
456
Class I Shares
$
44
$
138
$
241
$
542
$
44
$
138
$
241
$
542
Class R2 Shares
$
105
$
328
$
569
$
1,259
$
105
$
328
$
569
$
1,259
Class R3 Shares
$
95
$
296
$
515
$
1,143
$
95
$
296
$
515
$
1,143
Class R4 Shares
$
69
$
218
$
379
$
847
$
69
$
218
$
379
$
847
Class R5 Shares
$
44
$
138
$
241
$
542
$
44
$
138
$
241
$
542
Class R6 Shares
$
37
$
116
$
202
$
456
$
37
$
116
$
202
$
456
Portfolio Turnover.
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it
buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover
rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 377% of
the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
Under normal conditions, the Fund pursues its investment objective by investing at
least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment
purposes, in a variety of fixed income securities. The Fund invests in investment
grade debt securities, but also may invest up to 35% of its net assets in high-yield
debt securities (commonly referred to as “lower-rated” or “junk” bonds). High-yield
debt securities are debt securities that are rated BB/Ba or lower by an independent
rating agency, or are unrated but determined by Lord Abbett to be of comparable
quality. High-yield debt securities typically pay a higher yield than investment grade
debt securities, but present greater risks. The Fund may invest in debt securities
issued by non-U.S. entities but denominated in U.S. dollars, and securities issued by
non-U.S. entities and denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. The Fund
may invest up to 25% of its net assets in debt securities of non-U.S. issuers that are
denominated in non-U.S. currencies. The Fund’s investments in the securities of
foreign issuers may include investments in and/or tied economically to emerging
markets.
The Fund generally may invest in the following types of debt securities:
•
securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies and
instrumentalities;
•
corporate debt securities;
SUMMARY – CORE PLUS BOND FUND
5
•
mortgage-backed, mortgage-related, and other asset-backed securities, including
collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”), commercial mortgage-backed
securities (“CMBS”), mortgage dollar rolls, and stripped mortgage-backed
securities (“SMBS”);
•
inflation-linked investments;
•
structured securities and other hybrid instruments, including collateralized loan
obligations (“CLOs”); and
•
loans, including bridge loans, novations, assignments, and participations. The
Fund may invest up to 10% of its net assets in floating or adjustable rate loans.
The Fund may invest in Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (“TIPS”), which are
U.S. Government bonds whose principal automatically is adjusted for inflation as
measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”), and
other inflation-indexed securities issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
The Fund will not invest more than 25% of its total assets in any industry; however,
this limitation does not apply to mortgage-backed securities, privately issued
mortgage-related securities, or securities issued by the U.S. Government, its agencies
and instrumentalities.
The Fund seeks to manage interest rate risk through its management of the average
duration of the securities it holds in its portfolio. Under normal conditions, the Fund
will maintain its average duration range within two years of the bond market’s
duration as measured by the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (which was
approximately 6.10 years as of February 28, 2025). The duration of a security takes
into account the pattern of all expected payments of interest and principal on the
security over time, including how these payments are affected by changes in interest
rates.
The Fund may use derivatives to hedge against risk or to gain investment exposure.
Currently, the Fund expects to invest in derivatives consisting principally of futures,
forwards, options, and swaps. The Fund may use derivatives to seek to enhance
returns, to attempt to hedge some of its investment risk, to manage portfolio
duration, as a substitute for holding the underlying asset on which the derivative
instrument is based, or for cash management purposes. For example, the Fund may
invest in or sell short U.S. Treasury futures, securities index futures, other futures,
and/or currency forwards to adjust the Fund’s exposure to the direction of interest
rates, or for other portfolio management reasons.
The portfolio management team buys and sells securities using a relative value-
oriented investment process, meaning the portfolio management team generally
seeks more investment exposure to securities believed to be undervalued and less
investment exposure to securities believed to be overvalued. The portfolio
management team combines top-down and bottom-up analysis to construct its
portfolio, using a blend of quantitative and fundamental research. As part of its top-
down analysis, the portfolio management team evaluates global economic
SUMMARY – CORE PLUS BOND FUND
6
conditions, including monetary, fiscal, and regulatory policy, as well as the political
and geopolitical environment, in order to identify and assess opportunities and risks
across different segments of the fixed income market. The portfolio management
team employs bottom-up analysis to identify and select securities for investment by
the Fund based on in-depth company, industry, and market research and analysis.
The portfolio management team may actively rotate sector exposure based on its
assessment of relative value. The investment team may also consider the risks and
return potential presented by environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors
in investment decisions. The Fund engages in active and frequent trading of its
portfolio securities.
The Fund may sell a security when the Fund believes the security is less likely to
benefit from the current market and economic environment, or shows signs of
deteriorating fundamentals, among other reasons. The Fund may deviate from the
investment strategy described above for temporary defensive purposes. The Fund
may miss certain investment opportunities if defensive strategies are used and thus
may not achieve its investment objective.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
As with any investment in a mutual fund, investing in the Fund involves risk,
including the risk that you may receive little or no return on your investment. When
you redeem your shares, they may be worth more or less than what you paid for
them, which means that you may lose a portion or all of the money you invested in
the Fund. The principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect
its performance, include:
•
Portfolio Management Risk:
If the strategies used and investments selected by
the Fund’s portfolio management team fail to produce the intended result, the
Fund may suffer losses or underperform other funds with the same investment
objective or strategies, even in a favorable market.
•
Market Risk:
The market values of securities will fluctuate, sometimes sharply
and unpredictably, based on overall economic conditions, governmental actions
or intervention, market disruptions caused by trade disputes, tariffs or other
factors, political developments, and other factors. Prices of equity securities tend
to rise and fall more dramatically than those of debt securities.
•
Fixed Income Securities Risk:
The Fund is subject to the general risks and
considerations associated with investing in debt securities, including the risk
that issuers will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest or default
altogether. Lower-rated securities in which the Fund may invest may be more
volatile and may decline more in price in response to negative issuer
developments or general economic news due to their increased credit risk
relative to other fixed-income investments. In addition, as interest rates rise, the
Fund’s investments typically will lose value.
SUMMARY – CORE PLUS BOND FUND
7
•
High Yield Securities Risk:
High yield securities (commonly referred to as
“junk” bonds) typically pay a higher yield than investment grade securities, but
may have greater price fluctuations and have a higher risk of default than
investment grade securities. The market for high yield securities may be less
liquid due to such factors as interest rate sensitivity, negative perceptions of the
junk bond markets generally, and less secondary market liquidity. This may
make such securities more difficult to sell at an acceptable price, especially
during periods of financial distress, increased market volatility, or significant
market decline.
•
Credit Risk:
Debt securities are subject to the risk that the issuer or guarantor
of a security may not make interest and principal payments as they become due
or may default altogether. In addition, if the market perceives a deterioration in
the creditworthiness of an issuer, the value and liquidity of securities issued by
that issuer may decline. To the extent that the Fund holds below investment
grade securities, these risks may be heightened. Insured debt securities have the
credit risk of the insurer in addition to the credit risk of the underlying
investment being insured.
•
Interest Rate Risk:
As interest rates rise, prices of bonds (including tax-exempt
bonds) generally fall, typically causing the Fund’s investments to lose value.
Additionally, rising interest rates or lack of market participants may lead to
decreased liquidity in fixed income markets. Interest rate changes generally
have a more pronounced effect on the market value of fixed-rate instruments,
such as corporate bonds, than they have on floating rate instruments, and
typically have a greater effect on the price of fixed income securities with longer
durations. A wide variety of market factors can cause interest rates to rise,
including central bank monetary policy, rising inflation, and changes in general
economic conditions.
•
Liquidity/Redemption Risk:
The Fund may lose money when selling securities
at inopportune times to fulfill shareholder redemption requests. The risk of loss
may increase depending on the size and frequency of redemption requests,
whether the redemption requests occur in times of overall market turmoil or
declining prices, and whether the securities the Fund intends to sell have
decreased in value or are illiquid. The Fund may be less able to sell illiquid
securities at its desired time or price. It may be more difficult for the Fund to
value its investments in illiquid securities than more liquid securities.
•
Government Securities Risk:
The Fund invests in securities issued or
guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies and instrumentalities (such
as the Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”), the Federal
National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), or the Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”)). Different types of U.S. government
securities are subject to different levels of credit risk, including the risk of
default, depending on the nature of the particular government support for that
security. Unlike Ginnie Mae securities, securities issued or guaranteed by U.S.