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. These costs, which are not reflected in 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 71.45% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities issued by companies that are tied economically to emerging market countries. The Fund considers a company to be tied economically to emerging market countries
if it is headquartered, trades on an exchange or maintains at least 50% of its net assets in, or derives at least 50% of its revenues from, emerging market countries. Emerging
market countries are typically developing and low- or middle-income countries, and may be found in regions such as Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Some emerging market countries are considered to be “frontier market” countries, although the Fund will not invest more than 20% of its net assets in securities of frontier market issuers. Frontier market countries are those emerging market countries that are considered to be among the smallest, least mature and least liquid. The Fund typically maintains investments in at least six countries at all times. The Fund may invest in companies of any size, including smaller companies. The Fund also may invest without limit in
initial public offerings (“IPOs”) of issuers to seek to capitalize on the opportunity for growth, although such IPOs may not be available for investment by the Fund and the impact of any such IPO would be uncertain. Many securities in which the Fund
invests are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
The Fund’s subadviser combines bottom-up fundamental stock selection with industry,
sector and regional analyses. The subadviser’s investment process seeks to capture returns from identifying the inefficiencies that result from the failure of markets to price in the impact of economic liquidity (especially monetary conditions), the under-appreciated impact of structural change, and the underpricing of companies’ sustainable competitive advantages. The subadviser therefore generally buys stocks of
companies in countries that exhibit these traits and are generating high and improving returns on invested capital, and generally sells stocks of companies that may not meet these criteria.
The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.
As with any fund, the value of the Fund’s investments—and therefore, the value of Fund shares—may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of:
Equity securities risk– stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security
fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.
Market risk – the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the
markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. This occurs due to numerous factors, including interest rates, the outlook for corporate profits, the health of the national and world economies, and the fluctuation of other securities markets around the
world. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the global economy.
Selection risk – the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadvisers will underperform the markets, the relevant
indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.
Foreign securities risk – foreign securities often are more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities. The prices of
foreign securities may be further affected by other factors, such as changes in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the securities are traded.
Foreign currencies – foreign securities may be denominated or quoted in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Changes in foreign
currency exchange rates affect the value of the Fund’s portfolio. Generally, when the U.S. dollar rises in value against a foreign currency, a security denominated in that
currency loses value because the currency is worth fewer U.S. dollars. Conversely, when the U.S. dollar decreases in value against a foreign currency, a security denominated in
that currency gains value because the currency is worth more U.S. dollars.
Emerging markets risk – emerging markets are
riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets are considered speculative. Emerging markets
are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many