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SIGNATURE JOSEPH VAN DAKE
TITLE ASSISTANT TREASURER
<PAGE>
January 6, 1997
Board of Directors
Lord Abbett Research Fund, Inc., Large-Cap Series and Small-Cap Series
767 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10153
Dear Sirs:
We have audited, in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, the
statements of net assets of Lord Abbett Research Fund, Inc., Large-Cap Series
and Small-Cap Series ("the Company") as of November 30, 1996, the related
statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial
highlights for each of the respective periods presented, and have issued our
report thereon dated January 6, 1997.
Although our audit was not directed primarily toward obtaining knowledge of
noncompliance with investment restrictions, nothing came to our attention that
caused us to believe that during the year ended November 30, 1996 the Company:
(1) sold short any securities, or purchased any securities or evidences of
interest therein on margin,
(2) wrote, purchased or sold any put, call, straddle, spread options, or
combinations thereof,
(3) borrowed money,
(4) acted as underwriter of securities issued by other persons,
(5) loaned money or securities to any person (the purchase of debt securities
is not deemed to be making of a loan), except repurchase agreeements, time
or demand deposits and purchases of commercial paper and by lending its
portfolio securities to registered broker-dealers,
(6) pledged its assets,
(7) purchased or sold real estate,
(8) purchased securities issued by any other open-end investment company,
(9) issued senior securities to the extent such issuance would violate
applicable law.
In addition, our audit did not disclose that as of November 30 1996, the Company
had concentrated more than 25 percent of its assets in any one industry
classification used for investment purposes.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of the Board of
Directors of Lord Abbett Research Fund, Inc., Large-Cap Series and Small-Cap
Series and should not be used for any other purpose.
Yours truly,
/S/ DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
<PAGE>
Board of Directors and Shareholders
Lord Abbett Research Fund, Inc. Mid-Cap Series :
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of Lord Abbett
Research Fund, Inc.Mid-Cap Series ("Fund") for the year ended November 30, 1996,
we considered its internal control structure, including procedures for
safeguarding securities, in order to determine our auditing procedures for the
purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements and to comply with
the requirements of Form N-SAR, not to provide assurance on the internal control
structure.
The management of the Fund is responsible for establishing and maintaining an
internal control structure. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and
judgments by management are required to assess the expected benefits and related
costs of internal control structure policies and procedures. Two of the
objectives of an internal control structure are to provide management with
reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that assets are safeguarded against loss
from unauthorized use or disposition and that transactions are executed in
accordance with management's authorization and recorded properly to permit
preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles.
Because of inherent limitations in any internal control structure, errors or
irregularities may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any evaluation
of the structure to future periods is subject to the risk that it may become
inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the effectiveness of the
design and operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of the internal control structure would not necessarily
disclose all matters in the internal control structure that might be material
weaknesses under standards established by the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants. A material weakness is a condition in which the design or
operation of the specific internal control structure elements does not reduce to
a relatively low level the risk that errors or irregularities in amounts that
would be material in relation to the financial statements being audited may
occur and not be detected within a timely period by employees in the normal
course of performing their assigned functions. However, we noted no matters
involving the internal control structure, including procedures for safeguarding
securities, that we consider to be material weaknesses as defined above as of
November 30, 1996.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of management and the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
January 6, 1997
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