that may apply for the periods indicated above
under “Fees and Expenses.” Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
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 9.46% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund is a “fund-of-funds” that invests primarily in affiliated mutual funds representing a variety of asset classes. The Fund aims to provide diversification across traditional asset classes—U.S. stocks, international stocks, and bonds—by investing primarily in mutual funds offered by Nationwide Variable Insurance Trust and unaffiliated exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) (each, an “Underlying Fund” or collectively, “Underlying Funds”).
Each Underlying Fund invests directly in equity or fixed-income securities, as appropriate to
its investment objective and strategies. Some Underlying Funds use futures, forwards, swaps and options, which are derivatives, either to hedge against investment risks, to obtain exposure to certain securities or groups of securities, to take short positions in certain securities, or otherwise to increase returns. Although the Fund seeks to provide diversification across major asset classes, the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in a small number of issuers (i.e., one or more Underlying Funds). However, the Fund may invest directly in securities and derivatives in addition to investing in Underlying Funds. Further, most of the Underlying Funds in which the Fund invests are diversified.
The Fund pursues its objective for a high level of total return through investments in both
equity and fixed income securities by investing approximately equal amounts of its assets in Underlying Funds that invest in equity securities, such as common stocks of U.S. and international companies (including smaller companies), that the investment adviser believes offer opportunities for capital growth, and fixed-income securities, such as bonds (including mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, and high-yield bonds, which are commonly known as “junk” bonds), in order to generate investment income. Under normal conditions, the Balanced Fund invests at least 25% of its net assets in senior fixed-income securities. Consistent with this investment strategy, as of February 29, 2024, the Fund allocated approximately 56% of its net assets in bonds, 30% in U.S. stocks and 14% in international (including emerging market) stocks. The investment adviser generally sells shares of Underlying Funds in order to meet target
allocations or shareholder redemption activity. The Fund is designed for investors who have a lower tolerance for risk than more aggressive investors and who are seeking both capital growth and income. The Fund is also designed for investors who are
willing to accept moderate short-term price fluctuations in exchange for potential longer-term returns.
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:
Management risk – the Fund is subject to the risk that the methods and analyses
employed by its investment adviser, or by the investment advisers or subadvisers to the Underlying Funds, will not produce the desired results. This could cause the Fund to lose value or its performance to lag those of relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
Market risk – the risk that one or more markets
in which an Underlying 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.