Firm Description
LIM is a Massachusetts limited liability company (LLC) that was founded in May 1986 by two colleagues who
formerly managed the corporate cash and pension assets for Polaroid Corporation. The Firm initially managed
Merger Arbitrage and Short Duration fixed income strategies, and over the years, expanded its fixed income and
absolute return offerings based on client demand. LIM now manages a broad range of fixed income, equity, and
absolute return strategies across the maturity and quality spectrums for clients. In 2005, the ownership structure
of the Firm changed from a limited partnership to an LLC to facilitate our goal of distributing ownership to existing
employees. LIM became 100% employee-owned and remains so with a total of 18 principals. LIM is registered
with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers
Act”). Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
As of December 31, 2023, Barbara McKenna is the only person who owns 25% or more of LIM.
LIM is a majority women-owned firm. In June 2010, it was first certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise by the
Center for Women & Enterprise, a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National
Council.
In November 2014, LIM became a signatory to the U.N. Principles of Responsible Investing (PRI). LIM believes that
the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) behaviors into the fixed income credit research
process is consistent with the Firm’s core philosophy of reducing downside risk and principal preservation.
Types of Advisory Services
LIM is an independent registered investment advisor that specializes in customized fixed income, equity, absolute
return, and alternative investment strategies primarily for institutional clients in the United States. LIM provides
discretionary portfolio management services for separately managed client portfolios tailored to those client’s
individual needs. The Firm has authority to invest directly without obtaining client consent for each transaction.
Each client portfolio is invested as specified in the client’s portfolio investment guidelines. Clients can impose
restrictions on investing in certain securities or types of securities. As needed, LIM assists clients in determining
risk and return objectives, defining portfolio guideline parameters that are consistent with those objectives,
developing investment guidelines, and identifying an appropriate benchmark against which to compare portfolio
performance. All accounts are managed to deliver a custom-tailored client experience. LIM’s current separate
account advisory services cover the management of fixed income, equity, and absolute return strategies.
Wrap Fee Program
LIM provides fixed income portfolio management services as sub-adviser to a wrap fee program. The Firm does
not manage wrap fee accounts differently from non-wrap fee accounts. LIM does not act as a sponsor to the wrap
fee program. LIM receives a portion of the clients’ wrap fees as an investment management fee for its sub-
advisory services. Clients that participate in wrap fee programs typically pay a bundled fee that covers services
including investment management, custodial, client service, accounting, and trading/brokerage fees. Clients that
participate in a wrap fee
program should carefully review their individual contracts and disclosure documents
provided by the wrap fee program sponsor for further details.
When LIM provides portfolio management services as sub-adviser to a wrap fee program, it contracts with the
wrap fee program sponsor and will contract separately with clients participating in the wrap fee program. The
contracts outline the investment management fee which LIM is paid for their portfolio management services. LIM
does not deduct investment management fees for its sub-advisory services but is paid by the wrap fee program
sponsor. Each client’s fees are further outlined in their agreements with the wrap fee program sponsor.
As with any client account, LIM is subject to the same fiduciary duty to seek best execution when transacting on
behalf of the wrap fee program accounts. LIM will direct trades to the wrap fee program sponsor consistent with
its duty to seek best execution. Due to the nature of LIM’s investment strategy and the nature of investing in fixed
income securities, the securities LIM targets for inclusion in client portfolios can often only be sourced by a limited
number of brokers at any given time. Typically, the wrap fee program sponsor is unable to source these securities
and LIM “trades away,” meaning that it purchases the securities from other brokers that are not associated with
the wrap fee program sponsor. “Trading away” is also sometimes referred to as a “step out” trade. In some
instances, the wrap fee program sponsor may be able to source the securities but does not offer them at prices
and quantities that allow LIM to purchase the securities from the wrap program sponsor consistent with its best
execution duties. In these cases, LIM would also “trade away.” Any time that LIM “trades away,” a wrap fee
program client may not receive all the benefits of the wrap fee program. LIM currently provides trading statistics
to wrap fee program sponsors upon request and can provide those statistics to clients. Clients may wish to use
this to assess the benefits of a wrap fee program.
Model Portfolio Delivery
LIM offers non-discretionary recommendations in the form of equity model portfolios. The equity model
portfolios are managed by LIM’s equity team in a similar fashion to the equity strategy’s separately managed
accounts, however deviations may occur from time-to-time based on a separately managed account(s) or model
portfolio(s) requirements. Model portfolio delivery is available to unaffiliated investment advisors (the “Advisor”)
via a Model Portfolio Provider Agreement whereby LIM provides non-discretionary investment advisory services
to the Advisor in the form of access to a model portfolio. The Advisor retains the sole responsibility of
implementing the investment program and determining from time-to-time what securities will be purchased,
retained, or sold, as well as the portion of the assets belonging to the Advisor’s underlying clients.
Client Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, LIM had $17,000,577,298 in assets under management (AUM), all of which was
managed on a discretionary basis. In instances where LIM has no discretion to affect trades and no supervisory
responsibility over the assets through model delivery, LIM does not include these accounts in the total AUM but
categorizes them as assets under advisement (AUA).