Lazard Asset Management has created a Chief Investment Officer role to bolster the cohesion, discipline and effectiveness of its global investment platform, appointing Eric Van Nostrand to the newly established position. In his capacity as CIO, Van Nostrand will oversee investment processes across equity, fixed-income and alternative strategies, partner with regional investment heads to standardize portfolio construction, deepen research rigor and enhance risk-management frameworks. He will chair platform-wide economic and investment debates, conduct ongoing reviews of strategy performance and coordinate systematic and discretionary teams. Portfolio managers report to him for process alignment, while retaining decision-making authority for their individual portfolios. Van Nostrand joins the CIO office after serving as Global Head of Markets and Chief Economist at LAM, and brings prior experience as Acting Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for Economic Policy (recipient of the Treasury’s Alexander Hamilton Award) and as a Managing Director at BlackRock, where he led multi-asset research and managed systematic equity funds.

Analysts note that Lazard’s advisory franchise, which generated approximately 60% of its revenue from private capital and restructuring engagements as of late 2025, currently trades at valuation multiples broadly in line with faster-growing premium peers yet ahead of typically more resilient mid-market advisors. Despite a rebound in mega-merger activity, Lazard has delivered revenue growth near 5% over the past year—lagging peer averages above 8%—driven by slower recovery in sponsor-driven mandates. However, a projected uptick in private equity sponsor deal flow and a stabilizing M&A environment underpin a credible path toward stronger advisory revenue growth in 2026. Investors will be watching whether enhanced cross-platform integration, coupled with the new CIO’s process improvements, can drive more consistent top-line and margin expansion in the advisory segment.