Neuberger Berman Long Short Fund Marks 3-Year Anniversary With 4-Star Rating And Category Outperformance

NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Neuberger Berman, one of the world's leading private, employee-owned investment managers, is pleased to mark the three-year anniversary of its Long Short Fund (tickers: NLSIX, NLSAX, NLSCX) (the Fund), which has outperformed the HFRI Equity Hedge Index and the Morningstar, Inc. long short equity category average over the three-year period ended December 31, 2014.

Launched on December 29, 2011 and led by veteran portfolio manager Charles Kantor, the Fund's objectives are to seek long-term capital appreciation with a secondary objective of principal preservation. Since inception, the Fund's Sharpe Ratio, which measures risk-adjusted performance, ranks in the top decile within the long short equity category average. The Fund has also exhibited lower volatility than its Morningstar peer group average, as measured by standard deviation. Upon reaching this anniversary, the Fund was awarded a 4-star rating by Morningstar, Inc. for the Institutional Class shares, out of 150 long short funds.

Responding to macro-economic events, investors are increasingly choosing strategies that seek to manage exposure to the full volatility of the markets while also enhancing portfolio diversification. Long short equity strategies seek to reduce directional market exposure, while also seeking to capture stock gains in long positions and price declines in short positions. The expanded opportunity set of a long short manager provides additional tools in an effort to generate returns and manage risk.

"As long short managers, we find that opportunity often emerges in transitions—changes in macro and liquidity conditions and in fundamentals among individual stocks. Today, we have plenty to work with, given a constructive U.S. economy coupled with increased market volatility and meaningful changes - both good and bad - at many companies," Kantor said.

"While dispersion among regions, market capitalizations and sectors created headwinds for many active managers in 2014, we believe it represents a favorable backdrop in 2015 for fundamental long short strategies that seek to achieve favorable risk-adjusted returns through rigorous bottom-up security analysis," he added.

The Neuberger Berman Long Short Fund is one of a suite of liquid alternatives funds which, when integrated into an asset allocation framework, may help improve an investor's risk/reward profile and pursue returns while also seeking to mitigate the impact of sharp market drops.

About Neuberger Berman

Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages equities, fixed income, private equity and hedge fund portfolios for institutions and advisors worldwide. With offices in 18 countries, Neuberger Berman's team is more than 2,100 professionals and the company was named by Pensions & Investments as a 2013 and 2014 Best Place to Work in Money Management. Tenured, stable and long-term in focus, the firm fosters an investment culture of fundamental research and independent thinking. It manages $250 billion in client assets as of December 31, 2014. For more information, please visit our website at www.nb.com.

An investor should consider the Neuberger Berman Long Short Fund's investment objectives, risks and fees and expenses carefully before investing. This and other important information can be found in the Fund's prospectus or summary prospectus, which you can obtain by calling 877.628.2583. Please read the prospectus or, if available, summary prospectus carefully before making an investment.

For each retail mutual fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive five stars, the next 22.5% receive four stars, the next 35% receive three stars, the next 22.5% receive two stars and the bottom 10% receive one star. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) The Overall Morningstar Rating for a retail mutual fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. Ratings are ©2015 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

Performance information above is not annualized.  Performance data quoted represent past performance, which is no guarantee of future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. For performance data current to the most recent month-end, please visit www.nb.com/performance.  Average Annual Total Returns with sales charge reflect deduction of current maximum initial sales charge of 5.75% for Class A shares and applicable contingent deferred sales charges (CDSC) for Class C shares. The maximum CDSC for Class C shares is 1%, which is reduced to 0% after 1 year.

^ The inception date for Neuberger Berman Long Short Fund Class A, C and Institutional shares is December 29, 2011.

1. Neuberger Berman Management LLC® ("NBM") currently caps the Class A, Class C and Institutional Class expenses and absorbs certain expenses of the Fund. Absent this arrangement, the Fund's returns would be lower. Shares of the Institutional Class may not be purchased directly from NBM; they may only be purchased through certain institutions that have entered into administrative services contracts with NBM. Results are shown on a "total return" basis and include reinvestment of all dividends and capital gains distributions.
2. The S&P 500 Index:  Consists of 500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group representation. It is a market value weighted index (stock price times number of shares outstanding), with each stock's weight in the Index proportionate to its market value. The "500" is one of the most widely used benchmarks of U.S. equity performance. As of September 16, 2005, S&P switched to a float-adjusted format, which weights only those shares that are available to investors, not all of a company's outstanding shares. The value of the index now reflects the value available in the public markets. HFRX Equity Hedge Index: Equity Hedge strategies maintain positions both long and short in primarily equity and equity derivative securities. A wide variety of investment processes can be employed to arrive at an investment decision, including both quantitative and fundamental techniques; strategies can be broadly diversified or narrowly focused on specific sectors and can range broadly in terms of levels of net exposure, leverage employed, holding period, concentrations of market capitalizations and valuation ranges of typical portfolios. Equity Hedge managers would typically maintain at least 50%, and may in some cases be substantially entirely invested in equities, both long and short. Please note that indices do not take into account any fees and expenses of investing in the individual securities that they track, and that individuals cannot invest directly in any index. Data about the performance of these indices are prepared or obtained by Neuberger Berman Management LLC. and include reinvestment of all dividends and capital gain distributions. The Fund may invest in many securities not included in the above-described index.

**            Neuberger Berman Management LLC ("NBM") contractually caps certain direct expenses of the Fund (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend expenses relating to short sales, and extraordinary expenses, if any; consequently, total (net) expenses may exceed the contractual cap) through 10/31/2017 for Class A at 2.06%, Class C at 2.81% and Institutional Class at 1.70% (each as a % of average net assets). As of the Fund's most recent prospectus, NBM was not required to waive or reimburse any expenses pursuant to this arrangement.  Absent such arrangements, which cannot be changed without Board approval, the returns may have been lower. Information as of the most recent prospectus dated 2/28/2014.

Beta and Volatility figures based on the monthly returns and Drawdown based on daily returns, all for the Institutional Class from inception of 12/29/11 through month end. Annualized volatility is the standard deviation of the daily returns adjusted to reflect the rate on an annual (yearly) basis. Standard Deviation is a statistical measure of the historical volatility of a mutual fund or portfolio.

Sharpe ratio - A ratio developed by Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe to measure risk-adjusted performance. The Sharpe ratio is calculated by subtracting the risk-free rate - such as that of the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond - from the rate of return for a portfolio and dividing the result by the standard deviation of the portfolio returns.

Beta is a measure of the market-related risk of a portfolio compared to that of the overall market, as represented by an index. The lower the beta the lower the sensitivity to the movements of the market, as represented by the index.

Small- and mid-capitalization stocks are more vulnerable to financial risks and other risks than stocks of larger companies. They also trade less frequently and in lower volume than larger company stocks, so their market prices tend to be more volatile. Large-cap stocks are subject to all the risks of stock market investing, including the risk that they may lose value.

Short sales involve selling a security the Fund does not own in anticipation that the security's price will decline. Short sales may help hedge against general market risk to the securities held in the portfolio but theoretically present unlimited risk on an individual stock basis, since the Fund may be required to buy the security sold short at a time when the security has appreciated in value. The Fund may not always be able to close out a short position at a favorable time and price. If the Fund covers its short sale at an unfavorable price, the cover transaction is likely to reduce or eliminate any gain, or cause a loss to the Fund, as a result of the short sale. There is no guarantee that the use of long and short positions will succeed in limiting the Fund's exposure to market movements, sector-swings or other risk factors.

Investing in foreign securities may involve greater risks than investing in securities of U.S. issuers, such as currency fluctuations, potential social, political or economic instability, restrictions on foreign investors, less stringent regulation and less market liquidity. Securities issued in emerging market countries may be more volatile and less liquid than securities issued in foreign countries with more developed economies or markets as such governments may be less stable and more likely to impose capital controls as well as impose additional taxes and liquidity restrictions.

Exchange rate exposure and currency fluctuations could erase or augment investment results. The Fund may hedge currency risks when available through the hedging instruments may not always perform as expected. Derivatives contracts on non-U.S. currencies are subject to exchange rate movements.

Shares in the Fund may fluctuate based on interest rates, market condition, credit quality and other factors. In a rising interest rate environment, the value of the Fund's fixed-income investments is likely to fall.

Derivatives may involve risks different from, or greater than, those associated with more traditional investments. Derivatives can be highly complex, can create investment leverage and may be highly volatile, and the Fund could lose more than the amount it invests. The Fund's investments in the futures markets also introduce the risk that its futures commission merchant ("FCM") would default on an obligation set forth in an agreement between the Fund and the FCM, including the FCM's obligation to return margin posted in connection with the Fund's futures contracts. The use of options involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. If the Fund's portfolio manager applies a strategy at an inappropriate time or judges market conditions or trends incorrectly, options may lower the Fund's return.

Derivative instruments and short sales may also have an effect similar to that of leverage and can result in losses to the Fund that exceed the amount originally invested in the derivative instruments. Leverage may amplify changes in the Fund's net asset value ("NAV").

ETFs are subject to tracking error and may be unable to sell poorly performing stocks that are included in their index. ETFs may trade in the secondary market at prices below the value of their underlying portfolios and may not be liquid. Through its investment in exchange traded funds, the Fund is subject to the risks of the ETF's investments, as well as to the ETF's expenses.

All information is as of December 31, 2014, unless otherwise indicated and is subject to change without notice. Firm data, including employee and assets under management figures, reflects collective data for the various affiliated investment advisers that are subsidiaries of Neuberger Berman Group LLC.  Firm history dates back to the 1939 founding of Neuberger & Berman (the predecessor to Neuberger Berman LLC). 

Employee ownership includes employees, recently retired employees and their permitted transferees.

The "Neuberger Berman" name and logo are registered service marks of Neuberger Berman Group LLC. "Neuberger Berman Management LLC" and the individual Fund name in this piece is either service mark or registered service mark of Neuberger Berman Management LLC. © 2015 Neuberger Berman Management LLC.

All rights reserved© 2015 Neuberger Berman Management LLC, distributor. Member FINRA.

Media Contact: Alex Samuelson, 212 476 5392, [email protected]

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