Portfolio Turnover
The Portfolio 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
portfolio operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the
Portfolio’s portfolio turnover rate was 4% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies of the Portfolio
The Portfolio described in this Prospectus operates as a
“feeder fund” and attempts to achieve its investment goal by
investing all or substantially all of its assets in Class 1 shares of the American Funds Insurance Series® Growth Fund (the “Master Growth Fund”), a portfolio offered by American Funds Insurance
Series®, a registered open-end investment company. In turn, the Master Growth Fund seeks to make shareholders’
investments grow by investing primarily in common stocks and seeking to invest in
companies that appear to offer superior opportunities for growth of capital. The Master Growth Fund may invest up to 25% of its assets in common stocks and other securities outside the United States.
The Master Growth Fund is designed for investors seeking capital appreciation principally
through investment in stocks. Investors in the Portfolio should have a long-term
perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp, short-term declines in
value as the growth-oriented, equity-type securities generally purchased by the Master Growth Fund may involve large price swings and potential for loss.
Capital Research and Management Company (“Capital Research”), the investment adviser of the Master Growth Fund, may consider
environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors that, depending on the facts and circumstances, are material to the value of an issuer or instrument. ESG factors may
include, but are not limited to, environmental issues (e.g., water use, emission levels, waste, environmental remediation), social issues (e.g., human capital, health and safety,
changing customer behavior) or governance issues (e.g., board composition, executive
compensation, shareholder dilution).
Investment of the
Portfolio’s assets in the Master Growth Fund is not a fundamental policy of the Portfolio and a shareholder vote is not required for the Portfolio to withdraw its entire investment in the Master Growth
Fund.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Portfolio
As with any mutual fund, there can be no assurance that the Portfolio’s investment goal
will be met or that the net return on an investment in the Portfolio will exceed what could have been obtained through other investment or savings vehicles. Shares of the Portfolio are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by any bank, government entity or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. If the value of the assets of the Portfolio goes down, you could lose money.
The following is a summary of the principal risks of investing in the Portfolio.
Equity Securities Risk. The Portfolio invests primarily (through its investment in the Master Growth Fund) in equity securities. As with any equity fund, the value of your investment in the Portfolio may
fluctuate in response to stock market movements. You should be aware that the
performance of various types of equity stocks may rise or decline under varying
market conditions — for example, “value” stocks may perform well in circumstances under which “growth” stocks in general have fallen, or vice versa. In addition,
individual stocks selected for the Master Growth Fund may underperform the market generally, relevant indices or other funds with comparable investment objectives or strategies.
Risks of Investing in Growth Stocks. Growth stocks are historically volatile, which will affect the Master Growth Fund and the Portfolio. Growth
stocks can be volatile for several reasons. Since the issuers of growth stocks
usually reinvest a high portion of earnings in their own business, growth stocks
may lack the dividend yield associated with value stocks that can cushion total return in a bear market. Also, growth stocks normally carry a higher price/earnings ratio than many
other stocks. Consequently, if earnings expectations are not met, the market
price of growth stocks will often decline more than other stocks. However, the market frequently rewards growth stocks with price increases when expectations are met or exceeded.
Foreign Exposure Risk. The Master Growth Fund may invest in foreign securities. Investors in foreign countries are subject to a number of risks. A principal risk is that fluctuations in the exchange rates
between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies may negatively affect an
investment. In addition, there may be less publicly available information about a
foreign company and it may not be subject to the same uniform accounting, auditing
and financial reporting standards as U.S. companies.