WILLIAM BLAIR FUNDS

Global Leaders Fund

Class (Ticker): N (WGGNX) I (WGFIX) R6 (BGGIX)

March 5, 2026

This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus. It should be read in conjunction with the corresponding Prospectus dated March 5, 2026 for the Global Leaders Fund (the “Fund”). The audited financial statements for the Fund for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 and the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm thereon are incorporated by reference from the financial statements and other information filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on Form N-CSR (“Financial Statements and Other Information”) for the year ended December 31, 2025. The Prospectus and the Financial Statements and Other Information for the Fund may be obtained without charge by calling William Blair Funds (the “Trust”) at the number listed above and on the Fund’s website (https://im.williamblair.com/investments/resources-us#prospectuses-and-reports-tab ).

Investment Adviser. As stated in the Prospectus, William Blair Investment Management, LLC (“Adviser” or “WBIM”) is the investment adviser and manager for the Fund. Pursuant to a management agreement (the “Management Agreement”), the Adviser acts as the Fund’s adviser, manages its investments, administers its business affairs, furnishes office facilities and equipment, provides clerical, bookkeeping and administrative services, provides shareholder and information services and permits any of its partners or employees to serve without compensation as Trustees or Officers of the Fund if elected to such positions. In addition to the management fee, the Fund pays the expenses of its operations, including a portion of the Trust’s general administrative expenses, allocated on the basis of the Fund’s net assets. Expenses that will be borne directly by the Fund include, but are not limited to, the following: the fees and expenses of independent auditors, counsel, custodian and transfer agent, costs of reports and notices to shareholders, printing, postage, costs of calculating net asset value, brokerage commissions or transaction costs, taxes, registration fees, the fees and expenses of qualifying the Fund and its shares for distribution under federal and state securities laws and membership dues in the Investment Company Institute or any similar organization.

In rendering investment advisory services, the Adviser may use the portfolio management, research and other resources of William Blair International, Ltd. (U.K.) (“William Blair U.K.”), an affiliate of the Adviser. William Blair U.K. is not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. William Blair U.K. has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with the Adviser pursuant to which William Blair U.K. is considered a “participating affiliate” of the Adviser as that term is used in relief granted by the staff of the SEC allowing U.S. registered investment advisers to use portfolio management or research resources of advisory affiliates subject to the supervision of a registered adviser. Investment professionals from William Blair U.K. may render portfolio management, research and other services to the Fund under the MOU and are subject to supervision by the Adviser.

The Management Agreement continues in effect from year to year for the Fund for so long as its continuation is approved at least annually (a) by a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to such Management Agreement or interested persons of any such party except in their capacity as Trustees of the Trust and (b) by the shareholders of the Fund or the Board of Trustees. The Management Agreement may be terminated at any time upon 60 days’ notice by either party. The Fund may terminate the Management Agreement either by vote of the Board of Trustees or by majority vote of the outstanding shares of the Fund. The Management Agreement may also be terminated at any time either by vote of the Board of Trustees or by majority vote of the outstanding voting shares of the Fund if the Adviser were determined to have breached the Management Agreement. The Management Agreement will terminate automatically upon assignment. The Management Agreement provides that the Adviser shall not be liable for any error of judgment or of law, or for any loss suffered by the Fund in connection with the matters to which the Management Agreement relates, except a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Adviser in the performance of its obligations and duties, or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under the Management Agreement.

Upon termination of the Management Agreement and when so requested by the Adviser, the Trust or the Fund will refrain from using the name “William Blair” in its name or in its business in any form or combination.

WBIM and WBC are limited liability companies that are 100% owned by WBC Holdings, L.P., a limited partnership. The affairs of WBIM and WBC are controlled by the general partner of WBC Holdings, L.P., WBC GP L.L.C., which in turn, is controlled by the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is comprised of Cissie Citardi, Ryan J. DeVore, Brent W. Gledhill, Robert D. Kendall, Scott McLaughlin, Beth A. Satterfield, Steven R. Tole, Michael W. Trimberger and Matthew M. Zimmer.

Management Fees. For the services and facilities furnished by the Adviser under the Management Agreement, the Fund pays the Adviser a management fee, which is accrued daily and paid monthly the following month. The annual rate for the Fund expressed as a percentage of average daily net assets is 0.85%.

Expense Waivers. The Adviser has entered into a contractual agreement with the Fund to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses, if necessary, in order to limit the Fund’s operating expenses (excluding interest expenses, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend and interest expenses on short sales, other investment-related costs and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation and other expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business) to 1.15%, 0.90% and 0.85% of average daily net assets for Class N, Class I and Class R6 shares, respectively until March 5, 2027. The agreement may not be terminated prior to March 5, 2027 except with approval of the Board of Trustees, or the termination of the Management Agreement.

For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, the gross management fees incurred by the Fund, related management fee waivers, net management fees after management fee waivers and other expenses reimbursed by the Adviser were as follows:

The Fund’s portfolio managers may have responsibility for other accounts. As of December 31, 2025, unless otherwise stated, information on these other accounts is as follows:

Since the portfolio managers manage other accounts in addition to the Fund, conflicts of interest may arise in connection with the portfolio managers’ management of the Fund’s investments on the one hand and the investments of such other accounts on the other hand. However, the Adviser has adopted policies and procedures designed to address such conflicts, including, among others, policies and procedures relating to allocation of investment opportunities, soft dollars and aggregation of trades. For more information on the policies and procedures relating to allocation of investment opportunities, soft dollars and aggregation of trades, see the section entitled “Brokerage and Fund Transactions” in this Statement of Additional Information.

The compensation of the Adviser’s portfolio managers is based on the firm’s mission: “Empower Colleagues, Deliver Client Success and Engage in our Communities.” Mr. Scott-Gall is a Partner of the Adviser, and Mr. Khanna is an Associate of the Adviser. As of December 31, 2025, compensation for Partners of the Adviser consists of a fixed base salary, a share of the firm’s profits and, in most instances, a discretionary bonus, and compensation for Associates of the Adviser consists of a fixed base salary and a discretionary bonus. The discretionary bonus as well as any potential changes to the Partners’ ownership stakes are determined by the head of William Blair’s Investment Management Department and William Blair’s Executive Committee, and are based on both quantitative and qualitative factors, rather than a formula. The discretionary bonus rewards the specific accomplishments in the prior year, including short-term and long-term investment performance, quality

The following table sets forth, for each portfolio manager, the dollar range of shares owned in the Fund as of December 31, 2025, unless otherwise stated.

The Distribution Agreement continues in effect from year to year so long as such continuance is approved at least annually by a vote of the Board of Trustees of the Trust, including the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust and who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the Distribution Agreement. The Distribution Agreement may be terminated for the Fund at any time without penalty by the Fund or the Distributor. The Distribution Agreement may be terminated for the Fund by vote of a majority of the Board of Trustees, or a majority of the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust and who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the Distribution Agreement, or a “majority of the outstanding voting securities” of the Fund, as defined under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”). The Distribution Agreement may not be amended to increase the fee to be paid by the Fund without approval by a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund and all material amendments must in any event be approved by the Board of Trustees in the manner described above with respect to the continuation of the Distribution Agreement.

The Fund has also adopted a plan under Rule 12b-1 (“Distribution Plan”) that provides for fees for shareholder/distribution services for Class N shares. Because Rule 12b-1 fees are paid out of the assets of the Fund’s Class N shares on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of an investment in Class N shares and can cost more than other types of sales charges. For its services under the Distribution Plan, the Distributor receives a shareholder/distribution services fee from the Fund, payable monthly, at the annual rate of 0.25% of average daily net assets attributable to Class N shares of the Fund. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, the Distributor received $6,576 in shareholder/distribution services fees from Class N shares of the Fund.

The Distribution Plan is a compensation plan, which means that the Distributor is compensated regardless of its expenses, as opposed to a reimbursement plan that reimburses only for expenses incurred. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, the Distributor made the following payments in the amount of $5,551 to financial services firms who assist in distributing or promoting Class N shares of the Fund.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, brokers at the Distributor received $1,025 of the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 fees. The Distributor also paid other Fund distribution-related expenses, including advertising, printing and mailing prospectuses to potential investors and overhead expenses.

majority of the outstanding voting securities of Class N of the Fund. The Distribution Plan may be terminated for the Fund at any time without penalty by vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust and who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the Distribution Plan or by vote of a majority of the outstanding securities of Class N shares of the Fund. If the Distribution Plan is terminated in accordance with its terms for the Fund, the obligation of the Fund to make payments to the Distributor pursuant to the Distribution Plan will cease and the Fund will not be required to make any payments past the termination date. Thus, there is no legal obligation for the Fund to pay any expenses incurred by the Distributor in excess of its fees under the Distribution Plan, if for any reason the Plan is terminated in accordance with its terms. Future fees under the Distribution Plan may or may not be sufficient to compensate the Distributor for its expenses incurred. The Distribution Plan may not be amended to increase materially the fee to be paid by the Fund with respect to its Class N shares without approval by a majority of the outstanding voting securities of Class N shares of the Fund and all material amendments must in any event be approved by the Board of Trustees in the manner described above with respect to the continuation of the Distribution Plan.

The Distribution Plan may benefit the Fund and its shareholders, by stimulating sales of shares of the Fund and assisting in increasing the asset base of the Fund which may result in greater liquidity, more investment flexibility and achievement of greater economies of scale.

Other Payments to Third Parties and Affiliates. The Fund may reimburse William Blair for fees paid to intermediaries such as banks, broker-dealers, financial advisers or other financial institutions for sub-administration, sub-transfer agency and other services provided to shareholders whose shares are held of record in omnibus, other group accounts, retirement plans or accounts traded through registered securities clearing agents. Such payments and reimbursements are made only on behalf of Class N and Class I shares of the Fund and vary, but generally range up to 0.15% of the assets of the class serviced or maintained by the intermediary or $15 per sub-account maintained by the intermediary.

As described in the Prospectus, William Blair, out of its own resources and without additional cost to the Fund or its shareholders, provides additional cash payments to intermediaries for the provision of services. Such payments are in addition to Rule 12b-1 fees and/or record keeping/sub-transfer agency fees paid by the Fund. Such payments may be made on behalf of Class N, Class I or Class R6 shares of the Fund.

As of February 15, 2026, William Blair anticipates that the following firms may receive additional payments as described above:

In addition to the payments described above, William Blair may make payments to be a named sponsor of investment conferences at which the Fund is marketed. Such payments will be from William Blair’s own resources and will not result in any additional costs to the Fund or its shareholders.

William Blair pays WBC’s Private Wealth division (“Private Wealth”) in amounts that range from 0.10% to 0.35% of the assets of Private Wealth’s advisory clients invested in the Fund’s Class I and Class R6 shares. These revenue sharing payments are made in recognition of the fact that, unlike investments in nonproprietary funds, Private Wealth does not receive any 12b-1 or other sales or asset-based compensation for investments made by its clients into the Fund’s Class I and Class R6 shares. William Blair continues to pay the relevant 12b-1 fees to Private Wealth on any assets of Private Wealth’s brokerage clients invested in the Fund’s Class N shares. However, William Blair shall not make any revenue sharing payments to Private Wealth on any investments by Private Wealth clients in Class N shares.

The prospect of receiving, or the receipt of, additional compensation or promotional incentives described above by Private Wealth or intermediaries may provide Private Wealth or such intermediaries and/or their salespersons with an incentive to favor sales of shares of the Fund over sales of shares of other mutual funds (or non-mutual fund investments) with respect to which Private Wealth or the intermediary does not receive additional compensation or promotional incentives, or receives lower levels of additional compensation or promotional incentives. These payment arrangements, however, will not change the price that an investor pays for Fund shares or the amount that the Fund receives to invest on behalf of an investor. You may wish to take such payment arrangements into account when considering and evaluating any recommendations relating to Fund shares and discuss this matter with your investment dealer/intermediary.

Although the Fund may use an intermediary that sells shares of the Fund to its customers to effect portfolio transactions for the Fund, the Adviser does not consider sales of Fund shares as a factor in the selection of broker-dealers to execute those transactions.

Code of Ethics. The Trust, the Adviser and the Distributor have adopted a joint Code of Ethics (the “Code of Ethics”) in accordance with Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. The Code of Ethics allows access persons to purchase and sell securities for their own accounts, subject to reporting requirements and trading restrictions. The Code of Ethics requires that such persons, among other things, pre-clear their securities transactions, with certain limited exceptions. The Code of Ethics also bans investment personnel from acquiring any securities in an initial public offering. The Code of Ethics prohibits all persons subject to the Code of Ethics from purchasing or selling any security if such person knows or reasonably should know at the time of the transaction that the security was being purchased or sold or was being considered for such purchase or sale by the Fund. Finally, the Code of Ethics prohibits members of a portfolio management team from trading a security within seven calendar days prior to the Fund or an account managed by that portfolio management team trading in that same security. The foregoing description is qualified in its entirety by the Code of Ethics, a copy of which has been filed with the SEC.

Proxy Voting Policy. The Board of Trustees of the Trust has delegated proxy voting authority to the Adviser, who has agreed to vote the Fund’s proxies according to the Adviser’s proxy voting policies and procedures. The Adviser’s Proxy Voting Policy Statement and Procedures (the “Proxy Voting Policy”) provide that the Adviser will vote proxies solely in the best interest of its clients, including the Trust, in their capacity as shareholders of a company. The Proxy Voting Policy addresses, among other things, conflicts of interest that will likely arise between the interests of the Adviser and its affiliates and the interests of the Trust and sets forth the Adviser’s procedures for voting proxies.

In international markets where share blocking applies, the Adviser typically will not vote proxies due to liquidity constraints. Share blocking is the “freezing” of shares for trading purposes in order to vote proxies. Share blocking typically takes place between one and twenty days before a shareholder meeting, depending on the market. While shares are frozen, they may not be traded. Therefore, there is the potential for a pending trade to fail if trade settlement falls on a date during the blocking period or the Fund would not be able to sell a security if portfolio management believed it advisable if share blocking were in effect.

Information about how the Fund voted proxies during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 can be obtained by visiting the Trust’s website at https://im.williamblair.com/investments/resources-us#proxy-voting-tab or by visiting the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Trustees and Officers.^† The Trustees and Officers of the Trust, their year of birth, their principal occupations during the last five years, their affiliations, if any, with William Blair and other significant affiliations are set forth below. The address of each Trustee and Officer is 150 North Riverside Plaza, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

Board is currently comprised of seven trustees, six of whom are classified under the 1940 Act as “non-interested” persons of the Trust (“Independent Trustees”) and one of whom is classified as an “interested” person of the Trust (“Interested Trustee”). In light of the general characteristics of the Trust, including the number of funds, the nature of the Fund’s investments and the historical relationship between the Trust and the Adviser, the Board has developed a governance structure that fosters the type of meaningful dialogue between the Adviser and the Independent Trustees that results in an appropriate balance of cooperation with and oversight of the Adviser.

Generally, the Board acts by majority vote of all the Trustees, including a majority vote of the Independent Trustees if required by applicable law. The Board has established three standing committees, the Audit Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Compliance Committee, each comprised entirely of the Independent Trustees, to which it has delegated certain responsibilities as described below. Each of the three standing Committees reports its activities to the Board on a regular basis. The Board and its committees meet regularly throughout the year to oversee the Trust’s activities, including reviewing at one or more meetings, the Trust’s arrangements with the Adviser and other service providers, the operation of the Trust’s investment policies, compliance and regulatory matters and the Fund’s investment performance. The Independent Trustees are represented by independent legal counsel at Board and committee meetings. As part of its general oversight of the Trust, the Board is involved in the risk oversight of the Trust directly and through its committees. The Board reviews the investment performance of the Fund with the Adviser, including meeting regularly with portfolio managers, at its regularly scheduled quarterly Board meetings. In addition, the Board must approve any material changes to the Fund’s investment policies or restrictions. With respect to compliance matters, the Board is involved in compliance oversight directly and through its Compliance Committee. The Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer provides the annual compliance report required by Rule 38a-1 under the 1940 Act. With respect to valuation, the Board and its Audit Committee oversee the Adviser’s performance of its duties as the Fund’s “valuation designee” responsible for performing fair value determinations for the Fund. The Audit Committee is responsible for monitoring the Trust’s accounting policies, financial reporting and internal control systems, as well as the work of the independent auditors. On a quarterly basis, the Audit Committee also reviews a report from the Chief Compliance Officer and the pricing committee on valuation and pricing matters. The Compliance Committee is primarily responsible for overseeing the administration and operation of the compliance policies and procedures of the Trust and its service providers and assisting the Board in fulfilling its responsibility to oversee regulatory and compliance matters involving the Trust. The Compliance Committee receives a quarterly report from the Chief Compliance Officer regarding the operation of the Trust’s compliance policies and procedures, including any material compliance issues that arose during the quarter and meets in executive session with the Chief Compliance Officer at its quarterly meetings. The Nominating and Governance Committee is primarily responsible for the selection of individuals who would qualify to serve as Independent Trustees and the nomination of Trustees for Board membership and for overseeing the administration of the Trust’s Governance Guidelines and Procedures.

The members of the Audit Committee, all of whom are Independent Trustees, are Mr. Zenz (Chair), Ms. Barr, Ms. Borré Massick, Ms. McWhorter and Messrs. Avedisian and Leib. The Audit Committee held four meetings in 2025.

The members of the Compliance Committee, all of whom are Independent Trustees, are Ms. McWhorter (Chair), Ms. Barr, Ms. Borré Massick and Messrs. Avedisian, Leib and Zenz. The Compliance Committee held four meetings in 2025.

The members of the Nominating and Governance Committee, all of whom are Independent Trustees, are Mr. Leib (Chair), Ms. Barr, Ms. Borré Massick, Ms. McWhorter and Messrs. Avedisian and Zenz. Pursuant to the Trust’s Governance Guidelines and Procedures, shareholders may submit suggestions for Board candidates by sending a resume of a candidate to the Secretary of the Trust for the attention of the Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee. The Nominating and Governance Committee held four meetings in 2025.

The Board considered Dorri McWhorter’s executive, audit, and risk management experience that she gained over the course of her career. The Board considered Ms. McWhorter’s professional experience as a certified public accountant and auditor, including her experience as a partner at Crowe LLP, where she was responsible for risk consulting, and her experience as Director of Internal Audit for a public company. The Board likewise considered Ms. McWhorter’s executive experience, including her current position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Executives’ Club of Chicago and prior positions as Chief Executive Officer of YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago and YWCA Metropolitan Chicago. Further, the Board considered Ms. McWhorter’s service as a board member for various organizations.

The following table sets forth the compensation earned by the Independent Trustees from the Fund and the Trust for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025:

Trustees’ and Officers’ Holdings of Fund Shares. The following table sets forth, for each Trustee, the dollar range of shares owned in the Fund as of December 31, 2025, as well as the aggregate dollar range of shares owned in the Trust as of the same date.

As of December 31, 2025, the Trustees and Officers, as a group, owned (or held or shared investment or voting power with respect to) more than 1% of the outstanding shares of the Fund as shown in the table below. Shareholders who have the power to vote a large percentage of shares (at least 25%) of the Fund can control the Fund and could determine the outcome of a shareholders meeting.

Trustees’ Holdings in Certain Affiliates of the Adviser. In addition to investing in the Fund, Independent Trustees may from time to time invest in limited partnerships that are managed by the Adviser or an affiliate of the Adviser. The Independent Trustees may also from time to time, invest in third-party investment ventures in which affiliates and employees of the Adviser also invest. In addition, Mr. Avedisian employs the Adviser to manage assets that they control.

Principal Shareholders. The following table provides certain information as of February 6, 2026 with respect to persons known to the Trust to be record holders of 5% or more of a class of shares of the Fund. Shareholders who have the power to vote a large percentage of shares (at least 25%) of the Fund can control the Fund and could determine the outcome of a shareholders’ meeting.

Portfolio transactions may increase or decrease the return of the Fund depending upon the Adviser’s ability to efficiently execute such transactions. A portfolio turnover rate for any year is determined by dividing the lesser of sales or purchases (excluding in either case cash equivalents, such as short-term corporate notes) by the portfolio’s monthly average net assets and multiplying by 100 (with all securities with maturities and expirations of one year or less excluded from the computation). The Fund’s turnover rate will vary from year to year due to, among other things, a fluctuating volume of shareholder purchase and redemption orders, market conditions, and/or changes in the Adviser’s investment outlook.

During the fiscal years or period, as applicable, ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, the Fund paid total brokerage fees in the amounts shown in the table below. None of the brokerage fees paid by the Fund were paid to a broker that was an affiliated person of the Trust or to a broker of which an affiliated person was an affiliated person of the Trust or of the Adviser.

The brokerage commissions paid expressed in dollars or in percentage terms may vary from year to year depending on market conditions, changes in the Fund’s assets, or other factors.

The Adviser does not use the Fund’s brokerage commissions to pay for non-research items. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, $4,559 of brokerage commissions for the Fund were used to pay third parties for third-party research.

Generally, the investment decisions for the Fund are the same as the investment decisions for all of the Adviser’s accounts within the same investment strategy. However, investment decisions for the Fund may be reached independently from those for other accounts managed by the Adviser. In addition, some other accounts may make investments in the same type of instruments or securities as the Fund at the same time as the Fund. Such other accounts may include private investment funds operated by the Adviser that compete directly with the Fund for securities—particularly those sold in private placements or initial public offerings. The Adviser and its personnel may stand to benefit more personally from good investment performance by these private investment funds than by equivalent performance of the Fund. In those instances where the Fund and another client of the Adviser trade in the same type of instrument at the same time, the Adviser has established trade order aggregation and trade allocation procedures to allocate such trades among its various clients and the Fund equitably. In some cases this procedure may affect the size or price of the position obtainable for the Fund.

Although the Adviser may execute portfolio transactions for the Fund under conditions set forth in applicable rules of the SEC and in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees, the Adviser or any affiliated broker-dealer of the Adviser is not compensated for executing portfolio transactions for the Fund. The Fund may purchase securities from other members of an underwriting syndicate of which the Adviser or an affiliated broker-dealer is a participant, but only under conditions set forth in applicable rules of the SEC and in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees.

The Fund is required to identify any securities of their “regular brokers or dealers” (as defined in the 1940 Act) that the Fund has acquired during the most recent fiscal year. The Fund held no such securities during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings. The Fund does not disseminate nonpublic information about portfolio holdings except in accordance with the Trust’s policies and procedures. The Trust’s policies and procedures governing disclosure of portfolio holdings permit nonpublic portfolio holdings information to be shared with the Trust’s service providers and others who generally need access to such information in the performance of their duties and responsibilities, such as the Adviser and the Trust’s custodian and fund accounting service provider, pricing services, independent public accountants, attorneys, Trustees and Officers. In addition, the Fund’s portfolio holdings may be discussed with third parties (e.g., broker/dealers) for the purpose of analyzing or trading such securities. Portfolio holdings information may be disclosed to other individuals or entities, including clients, prospects, intermediaries through which Fund shares are sold, affiliated persons of the Fund (that are not service providers), rating agencies and companies that collect and maintain information about mutual funds only after its public disclosure.

The Fund’s complete portfolio holdings as of the end of each calendar month are posted on the Trust’s website, https://im.williamblair.com/investments/mutual-funds, on or about fifteen days after the month-end. This posted information generally remains accessible for thirty days, until the Trust posts the information for the next calendar month to the Trust’s website. The Fund’s specific portfolio holdings may be disclosed sooner than fifteen days, as applicable, after the month-end if they are publicly disseminated.

Any disclosure of portfolio holdings or characteristics not addressed by the Trust’s policies and procedures must be submitted to the Chief Compliance Officer for review before dissemination. Prior to such disclosure, the Chief Compliance Officer must make a good faith determination in light of the facts then known that the Fund has a legitimate business purpose for providing the information, that the disclosure is in the best interest of the Fund and that the recipient assents or otherwise has a duty to keep the information confidential and agrees in writing not to disclose, trade or make any investment recommendation based on the information received.

As part of this determination, the Chief Compliance Officer will consider any possible conflicts between the interests of the Fund and its shareholders, on the one hand, and those of William Blair and/or any affiliated person of the Fund or William Blair, on the other. Neither the Fund nor William Blair may receive compensation or other consideration in connection with the disclosure of nonpublic portfolio holdings information.

On a periodic basis, the Chief Compliance Officer of the Fund or his/her designee monitors marketing and sales practices and other communications with respect to the Fund to determine compliance with the Trust’s policies and procedures governing disclosure of portfolio holdings.

The Chief Compliance Officer provides the Board of Trustees or the Compliance Committee thereof with reports of any potential exceptions to, or violations of, such policies and procedures when deemed to constitute a material compliance matter. The Fund discloses its portfolio holdings to the extent required by law.

The Adviser manages other accounts such as separately managed accounts, other pooled investment vehicles, and funds sponsored by companies other than the Adviser. These other accounts may be managed in a similar fashion to the Fund and thus may have similar portfolio holdings. Such accounts may be subject to different portfolio holdings disclosure policies that permit public disclosure of portfolio holdings information in different forms and at different times than the Fund’s policies. These clients are not subject to the Fund’s portfolio holdings disclosure policies described herein and do not owe the Adviser or the Fund a duty of confidentiality with respect to disclosure of their portfolio holdings.

The Trust has adopted certain fundamental investment restrictions for the Fund that, along with the Fund’s investment objective, cannot be changed without approval by holders of a “majority of the outstanding voting securities” of the Fund, which is defined in the 1940 Act to mean the lesser of (a) 67% of the shares of the Fund

at a meeting where more than 50% of the outstanding voting shares of the Fund are present in person or by proxy; or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding voting shares of the Fund. The Fund has each elected to be classified as a non-diversified series of an open-end management investment company. As a non-diversified series of an open-end management investment company, the Fund is permitted to invest a larger percentage of its assets in one or more issuers or in fewer issuers than diversified mutual funds. All percentage restrictions on investments apply at the time the investment is made and shall not be considered to violate the applicable limitation unless, immediately after or as a result of the investment, a violation of the restriction occurs. There can be no assurance that the Fund will meet its investment objective.

Except as otherwise noted, the following fundamental investment restrictions apply to the Fund:

Concentration. The Fund:

This restriction also does not limit the Fund from investing in instruments, such as repurchase agreements, secured by obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities.

The SEC staff currently interprets concentration to mean investing more than 25% of the Fund’s net assets in a particular industry or group of industries.

Senior Securities and Borrowing. The Fund may not borrow money or issue senior securities, except as the 1940 Act, any rule or order thereunder, or SEC staff interpretation thereof, may permit.

Underwriting. The Fund may not underwrite the securities of other issuers, except that the Fund may engage in transactions involving the acquisition, disposition or resale of its portfolio securities under circumstances where it may be considered to be an underwriter under the Securities Act of 1933.

Real Estate. The Fund may not purchase or sell real estate unless the real estate is acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments; and provided that this restriction does not prevent the Fund from investing in issuers that invest, deal or otherwise engage in transactions in real estate or interests therein, or investing in securities that are secured by real estate or interest therein.

Commodities. The Fund:

may not purchase or sell physical commodities unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments; however, this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from engaging in transactions involving futures contracts, options or other derivative instruments or investing in securities that are secured by physical commodities.

Lending. The Fund may not make loans, provided that this restriction does not prevent the Fund from purchasing debt obligations, entering into repurchase agreements, loaning its assets to broker/dealers or institutional investors, and investing in loans, including assignments and participation interests.

The following are the Fund’s non-fundamental operating policies, which may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval.

The Fund may not:

The Fund may not:

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in a portfolio of equity securities, including common stock and other forms of equity investment (e.g., securities convertible into common stocks), issued by companies of all sizes worldwide that the Adviser believes have above-average growth, profitability and quality characteristics.

The Fund will provide shareholders with at least 60 days’ prior notice of any change in its 80% investment policy.

For liquidity purposes, up to 20% of the Fund’s assets may be held in cash (U.S. dollars and foreign currencies) or in short-term securities and domestic and foreign money market instruments, such as government obligations, certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, time deposits, commercial paper and short-term corporate debt securities. The Fund does not have specific rating requirements for its short-term securities.

The Prospectus describes the Fund’s investment objective as well as certain investment policies and investment techniques that the Fund may employ in pursuing its investment objective. The following discussion supplements the discussion contained in the Prospectus, including the Investment Glossary at the end of the Prospectus.

Borrowings. The Fund may borrow money from banks and make other investments or engage in other transactions permissible under the 1940 Act that may be considered a borrowing (such as mortgage dollar rolls and reverse repurchase agreements).

Business Development Companies (“BDCs”). Consistent with its investment objective and policies and subject to the limitations of the 1940 Act, the Fund may invest in BDCs. BDCs are a type of closed-end fund regulated under the 1940 Act, which typically invest in and lend to small-and medium-sized private companies that may lack access to public equity markets for capital raising. Under the 1940 Act, BDCs must invest at least 70% of the value of their total assets in certain asset types, which are typically the securities of private U.S. businesses. Additionally, BDCs must make available significant managerial assistance to the issuers of such securities. BDCs are not taxed on income distributed to shareholders provided they qualify as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any management and other expenses charged by the BDCs in which they invest.

The convertible securities in which the Fund may invest are either fixed income or zero-coupon debt securities that may be converted or exchanged at a stated or determinable exchange ratio into underlying shares of common stock. The exchange ratio for any particular convertible security may be adjusted from time to time due to stock splits, dividends, spin-offs, other corporate distributions or scheduled changes in the exchange ratio. Convertible debt securities and convertible preferred stocks, until converted, have general characteristics similar to both debt and equity securities. Although to a lesser extent than with debt securities generally, the market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase and, conversely, tends to increase as interest rates decline. In addition, because of the conversion or exchange feature, the market value of convertible securities typically changes as the market value of the underlying common stock changes, and, therefore, also tends to follow movements in the general market for equity securities. A unique feature of convertible securities is that as the market price of the underlying common stock declines, convertible securities tend to trade increasingly on a yield basis, and so may not experience market value declines to the same extent as the underlying common stock. When the market price of the underlying common stock increases, the prices of the convertible securities tend to rise as a reflection of the value of the underlying common stock, although typically not as much as the underlying common stock. While no securities investments are without risk, investments in convertible securities generally entail less risk than investments in common stock of the same issuer.

Derivative Instruments. In General. The Fund may use derivative instruments for the purpose of bona fide hedging or risk management as well as to equitize cash in situations involving large cash inflows or anticipated large redemptions.

The Fund can also maintain short positions in forward currency exchange transactions, in which the Fund agrees to exchange currency that it does not own at that time for another currency at a future date and specified price in anticipation of a decline in the value of the currency sold short relative to the currency that the Fund has contracted to receive in the exchange.

Hedging. The Fund may use derivative instruments to protect against possible adverse changes in the market value of securities held in, or are anticipated to be held in, its portfolio. Derivatives may also be used to “lock-in” realized but unrecognized gains in the value of its portfolio securities. Hedging strategies, if successful, can reduce the risk of loss by wholly or partially offsetting the negative effect of unfavorable price movements in the investments being hedged. However, hedging strategies can also reduce the opportunity for gain by offsetting the positive effect of favorable price movements in the hedged investments. To the extent that a hedge matures prior to or after the disposition of the investment subject to the hedge, any gain or loss on the hedge will be realized earlier or later than any offsetting gain or loss on the hedged investment.

Managing Risk. The Fund may also use derivative instruments to manage the risks of its portfolio. Risk management strategies include, but are not limited to, facilitating the sale of portfolio securities, managing the effective maturity or duration of debt obligations in its portfolio, establishing a position in the derivatives markets as a substitute for buying or selling certain securities, or creating or altering exposure to certain asset classes, such as equity, debt or foreign securities. The use of derivative instruments may provide a less expensive, more expedient or more specifically focused way to invest than “traditional” securities (i.e., stocks or bonds) would.

Exchange and OTC Derivatives. Derivative instruments may be exchange-traded or traded in OTC transactions between private parties. Exchange-traded derivatives are standardized derivatives contracts traded on a regulated exchange. Exchange contracts are generally very liquid. The exchange clearinghouse is the counterparty of every contract. Thus, each holder of an exchange contract bears the credit risk of the clearinghouse (and has the benefit of its financial strength) rather than that of a particular counterparty. OTC transactions are subject to additional risks, such as the credit risk of the counterparty to the instrument and are less liquid than exchange-traded derivatives since they often can only be closed out with the other party to the transaction.

(1) Market Risk. The primary risk of derivatives is the same as the risk of the underlying assets, namely that the value of the underlying asset may go up or down. Adverse movements in the value of an underlying asset can expose the Fund to losses. Derivative instruments may include elements of leverage and, accordingly, the fluctuation of the value of the derivative instrument in relation to the underlying asset may be magnified. The successful use of derivative instruments depends upon a variety of factors, particularly the ability to predict movements of the securities, currencies and commodity markets, which requires different skills than predicting changes in the prices of individual securities. There can be no assurance that any particular strategy adopted will succeed.

(2) Counterparty Risk. The Fund will be subject to the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the failure of a counterparty to comply with the terms of a derivative instrument. The counterparty risk for exchange-traded derivative instruments is generally less than for privately negotiated or OTC derivative instruments, since generally a clearing agency, which is the issuer or counterparty to each exchange-traded instrument, provides a guarantee of performance. For privately negotiated instruments, there is no similar clearing agency guarantee. In all transactions, the Fund will bear the risk that the counterparty will default, and this could result in a loss of the expected benefit of the derivative transaction and possibly other losses.

(3) Contractual Default and Cross-Default Risk. A default by the Fund under a contract with any single counterparty (or the subsequent termination of such contract), in addition to triggering rights and remedies in favor of the counterparty, may result in or constitute a default by the Fund under other contracts with that counterparty (or any of its affiliates) and/or with other counterparties. Any default by the Fund under one of its contracts and any action taken by one or more counterparties following the Fund’s default could adversely affect the Fund and its investing activities.

(5) Liquidity Risk. Derivatives are also subject to liquidity risk. Liquidity risk is the risk that a derivative instrument cannot be sold, closed out or replaced quickly at or very close to its fundamental value. Generally, exchange-traded derivatives are very liquid because the exchange clearinghouse is the counterparty of every contract. OTC derivatives are less liquid than exchange-traded derivatives since they often can be closed out only with the other party to the transaction. The Fund might be required to make margin payments when they take positions in derivative instruments involving obligations to third parties (i.e., instruments other than purchased options). If the Fund was unable to close out its positions in such instruments, they might be required to continue to maintain such accounts or make such payments until the position expired, matured or was closed out. The requirements might impair the Fund’s ability to sell a portfolio security or make an investment at a time when it would otherwise be favorable to do so, or require that the Fund sells a portfolio security at a disadvantageous time. The Fund’s ability to sell or close out a position in an instrument prior to expiration or maturity depends on the existence of a liquid secondary market or, in the absence of such a market, the ability and willingness of the counterparty to enter into a transaction closing out the position. Therefore, there is no assurance that any derivatives position can be sold or closed out at a time and price that is favorable to the Fund. In addition, if the

Fund has insufficient cash to meet daily variation margin or payment requirements, it may have to sell securities from its portfolio at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.

(7) Systemic or “Interconnection” Risk. Interconnection risk is the risk that a disruption in the financial markets will cause difficulties for all market participants. In other words, a disruption in one market will spill over into other markets, perhaps creating a chain reaction. Much of the OTC derivatives market takes place among the OTC dealers themselves, thus creating a large, interconnected web of financial obligations. This interconnectedness raises the possibility that a default by one large dealer could create losses at other dealers and destabilize the entire market for OTC derivative instruments.

(8) Regulatory Risk. It is possible that government regulation of the use of derivatives by mutual funds or of various types of derivative instruments, including futures, options and swap agreements, may limit or prevent the Fund from using derivatives as a part of its investment strategies. Limits or restrictions applicable to the counterparties with which the Fund engages in derivative transactions could also prevent the Fund from using certain derivatives.

In particular, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) was signed into law on July 21, 2010. The Dodd-Frank Act changed the way in which the U.S. financial system is supervised and regulated. Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act sets forth a legislative framework for OTC derivatives, including financial instruments, such as swaps, in which the Fund may invest. Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act made broad changes to the OTC derivatives market, grants significant authority to the SEC, the CFTC and other federal regulators to regulate OTC derivatives and market participants, and requires clearing and exchange trading of many OTC derivatives transactions. The CFTC and the SEC finalized the definition of “swap” and “security-based swap” and provided parameters around which contracts will be subject to further regulation under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act include new capital and margin requirements and the mandatory use of clearinghouse mechanisms for many OTC derivative transactions. The CFTC, SEC and other federal regulators have adopted rules and regulations enacting provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. Some requirements may directly impact the Fund, including, for example, the CFTC’s rules that apply an aggregation standard for position limit purposes. Other requirements, even if not directly application to the Fund (for example, limits or requirements imposed on the fund’s transaction counterparties), may increase the cost of the fund’s investments and cost of doing business, which could adversely affect investors.

General Limitations on Derivatives. The use of derivative instruments is subject to applicable regulations of the SEC, the several options and futures exchanges upon which they may be traded, the CFTC and various state regulatory authorities. In addition, the Fund’s ability to use derivative instruments may be limited by certain tax considerations. Current CFTC requirements subject registered investment companies and advisers to regulation by the CFTC if the Fund invests more than a prescribed level of its liquidation value in CFTC-regulated futures, options and swaps, or if the fund markets itself as providing investment exposure to such instruments. To the extent the Fund uses CFTC-regulated futures, options and swaps, they intend to do so below such prescribed levels and will not market themselves as “commodity pools” or vehicles for trading such instruments. Accordingly, the Adviser has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” with respect to the Fund under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) pursuant to Rule 4.5 under the CEA. The Adviser is not, therefore, subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” with respect to the Fund under the CEA.

Certain derivatives transactions expose the Fund to an obligation to make future payments to third parties. Examples of these types of transactions, include, but are not limited to, derivatives such as swaps, futures, forwards, and options.

Options. An option is a contract in which the “holder” (the buyer) pays a certain amount (“premium”) to the “writer” (the seller) to obtain the right, but not the obligation, to buy from the writer (in a “call”) or sell to the writer (in a “put”) a specific asset at an agreed upon price (“strike price” or “exercise price”) at or before a certain time (“expiration date”). The holder pays the premium at inception and has no further financial obligation. The holder of an option will benefit from favorable movements in the price of the underlying asset but is not exposed to corresponding losses due to adverse movements in the value of the underlying asset. The writer of an option will receive fees or premiums but is exposed to losses due to changes in the value of the underlying asset. The Fund may buy or write (sell) put and call options on assets, such as securities, currencies, futures, commodities, commodities indices and indices of debt and equity securities and enter into closing transactions with respect to such options to terminate an existing position. Options used by the Fund may include European, American and Bermuda style options. If an option is exercisable only at maturity, it is a “European” option; if it is also exercisable prior to maturity, it is an “American” option. If it is exercisable only at certain times, it is a “Bermuda” option.

The purchase of a call option serves as a long position, and the purchase of a put option serves as a short position. Writing put or call options can enable the Fund to enhance income by reason of the premiums paid by the purchaser of such options. If the Fund uses options for hedging purposes, writing call options may serve as a limited short hedge because declines in the value of the hedged investment would be offset to the extent of the premium received for writing the option. However, if the security appreciates to a price higher than the exercise price of the call option, it can be expected that the option will be exercised and the Fund will be obligated to sell the security at less than its market value or will be obligated to purchase the security at a price greater than that at which the security must be sold under the option. Writing put options may serve as a limited long hedge because decreases in the value of the hedged investment would be offset to the extent of the premium received for writing the option. However, if the security depreciates to a price lower than the exercise price of the put option, it can be expected that the put option will be exercised and the Fund will be obligated to purchase the security at more than its market value.

The Fund may effectively terminate a right or obligation under an option by entering into a closing transaction. For example, the Fund may terminate an obligation under a call or put option that they had written by purchasing an identical call or put option; this is known as a closing purchase transaction. Conversely, the Fund may terminate a position in a put or call option they had purchased by writing an identical put or call option; this is

known as a closing sale transaction. Closing transactions permit the Fund to realize the profit or limit the loss on an option position prior to its exercise or expiration.

The Fund may purchase or write both exchange-traded and OTC options. Exchange-traded options are issued by a clearing organization affiliated with the exchange on which the option is listed that, in effect, guarantees completion of every exchange-traded option transaction. In contrast, OTC options are contracts between the Fund and the other party to the transaction (“counterparty”) (usually a securities dealer or a bank) with no clearing organization guarantee. Thus, when the Fund purchases or writes an OTC option, it relies on the counterparty to make or take delivery of the underlying investment upon exercise of the option. Failure by the counterparty to do so would result in the loss of any premium paid by the Fund as well as the loss of any expected benefit of the transaction.

The Fund’s ability to establish and close out positions in exchange-listed options depends on the existence of a liquid market. The Fund intends to purchase or write only those exchange-traded options for which there appears to be a liquid secondary market. However, there can be no assurance that such a market will exist at any particular time. Closing transactions can be made for OTC options only by negotiating directly with the counterparty, or by a transaction in the secondary market if any such market exists. Although the Fund will enter into OTC options only with counterparties that are expected to be capable of entering into closing transactions with the Fund, there is no assurance that the Fund will in fact be able to close out an OTC option at a favorable price prior to expiration. In the event of insolvency of the counterparty, the Fund might be unable to close out an OTC option position at any time prior to its expiration. If the Fund was unable to effect a closing transaction for an option it had purchased, it would have to exercise the option to realize any profit.

The Fund also may engage in options transactions as described above on securities indices and other financial or commodities indices and, in so doing, can achieve many of the same objectives they would achieve through the sale or purchase of options on individual securities or other instruments. Options on securities indices and other financial or commodities indices are similar to options on a security or other instrument except that, rather than settling by physical delivery of the underlying instrument, they settle by cash settlement, i.e., an option on an index gives the holder the right to receive, upon exercise of the option, an amount of cash if the closing level of the index upon which the option is based exceeds, in the case of a call, or is less than, in the case of a put, the exercise price of the option (except if, in the case of an OTC option, physical delivery is specified). This amount of cash is equal to the excess of the closing price of the index over the exercise price of the option, which also may be multiplied by a formula value. The seller of the option is obligated, in return for the premium received, to make delivery of this amount. The gain or loss on an option on an index depends on price movements in the instruments making up the market, market segment, industry or other composite on which the underlying index is based, rather than price movements in individual securities, as is the case with respect to options on securities.

Futures Contracts. The Fund may enter into contracts for the purchase or sale for future delivery of equity or fixed income securities, foreign currencies and contracts based on financial indices, including indices of U.S. Government securities or equity or foreign government securities, or commodities. The Fund may also purchase put and call options, and write covered put and call options, on futures in which they are allowed to invest. If the Fund uses futures for hedging purposes, the purchase of futures or call options thereon may serve as a long hedge, and the sale of futures or the purchase of put options thereon may serve as a short hedge. Writing covered call options on futures contracts can serve as a limited short hedge, and writing covered put options on futures contracts can serve as a limited long hedge, using a strategy similar to that used for writing covered options in securities. The Fund may also write put options on futures contracts while at the same time purchasing call options on the same futures contracts in order to create synthetically a long futures contract position. Such options would have the same strike prices and expiration dates.

The Fund uses futures contracts primarily for the purpose of bona fide hedging or risk management. The Fund may, however, use futures contracts to equitize cash as well, particularly in situations involving large cash inflows or anticipated large redemptions. The Fund’s primary purpose in entering into futures contracts is to protect that the Fund from fluctuations in the value of securities or interest rates without actually buying or selling the underlying debt or equity security. For example, if the Fund anticipates an increase in the price of stocks, and it intends to purchase stocks at a later time, the Fund could enter into a futures contract based upon a stock index as a temporary substitute for stock purchases. If an increase in the market occurs that influences the stock index, as anticipated, the value of the futures contracts will increase, thereby serving as a hedge against the Fund not participating in a market advance. Conversely, if the Fund holds stocks and seeks to protect itself from a decrease in stock prices, the Fund might sell stock index futures contracts, thereby hoping to offset the potential decline in the value of its portfolio securities by a corresponding increase in the value of the futures contract position. The Fund could protect against a decline in stock prices by selling portfolio securities and investing in money market instruments, but the use of futures contracts enables it to maintain a defensive position without having to sell portfolio securities. Although techniques other than sales and purchases of futures contracts could be used to reduce the Fund’s exposure to market or interest rate fluctuations, the Fund may be able to hedge its exposure more effectively and perhaps at a lower cost through the use of futures contracts.

A futures contract provides for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified amount of a specific financial instrument, index, security or commodity for a specified price at a designated date, time and place. An index futures contract is an agreement pursuant to which the parties agree to take or make delivery of an amount of cash equal to the difference between the value of the index at the close of the last trading day of the contract and the price at which the index futures contract was originally written. Transaction costs are incurred when a futures contract is bought or sold and margin deposits must be maintained. A futures contract may be satisfied by delivery or purchase, as the case may be, of the instrument, security or commodity or by payment of the change in the cash value of the index. More commonly, futures contracts are closed out prior to delivery by entering into an offsetting transaction in a matching futures contract. Although the value of an index might be a function of the value of certain specified securities, no physical delivery of those securities is made. If the offsetting purchase price is less than the original sale price, the Fund realizes a gain; if it is more, the Fund realizes a loss. Conversely, if the offsetting sale price is more than the original purchase price, the Fund realizes a gain; if it is less, the Fund realizes a loss. The transaction costs must also be included in these calculations. There can be no assurance, however, that the Fund will be able to enter into an offsetting transaction with respect to a particular futures contract at a particular time. If the Fund is not able to enter into an offsetting transaction, the Fund will continue to be required to maintain the margin deposits on the futures contract.

Margin must be deposited when entering into a futures contract or writing a call or put option on a futures contract, in accordance with applicable exchange rules. Unlike margin in securities transactions, initial margin on futures contracts does not represent a borrowing, but rather is in the nature of a performance bond or good-faith deposit that is returned to the Fund at the termination of the transaction if all contractual obligations have been satisfied. Under certain circumstances, such as periods of high volatility, the Fund may be required by an exchange to increase the level of its initial margin payment, and initial margin requirements might be increased generally in the future by regulatory action.

Subsequent “variation margin” payments are made to and from the futures broker daily as the value of the futures position varies, a process known as “marking to market.” Variation margin does not involve borrowing, but rather represents a daily settlement of the Fund’s obligations to or from a futures broker. When the Fund purchases an option on a future, the premium paid plus transaction costs is all that is at risk. In contrast, when the Fund purchases or sells a futures contract or writes a call or put option thereon, it is subject to daily variation margin calls that could be substantial in the event of adverse price movements. If the Fund has insufficient cash to meet daily variation margin requirements, it might need to sell securities at a time when such sales are disadvantageous. Purchasers and sellers of futures positions and options on futures can enter into offsetting closing transactions by selling or purchasing, respectively, an instrument identical to the instrument held or written. Positions in futures and options on futures may be closed only on an exchange or board of trade that

provides a secondary market. The Fund intends to enter into futures transactions only on exchanges or boards of trade where there appears to be a liquid secondary market. However, there can be no assurance that such a market will exist for a particular contract at a particular time.

If the Fund was unable to liquidate a futures or option on a futures contract position due to the absence of a liquid secondary market or the imposition of price limits, they could incur substantial losses. The Fund would continue to be subject to market risk with respect to the position. In addition, except in the case of purchased options, the Fund would continue to be required to make daily variation margin payments and might be required to maintain the position being hedged by the future or option.

Swap Agreements. Swap agreements include total return, interest rate, securities index, commodity, security, currency exchange rate, credit default, variance and volatility swaps and related caps, floors and collars. The Fund will use such instruments solely for the purpose of bona fide hedging or risk management, such as for the purpose of attempting to obtain or preserve a particular desired return or spread at a lower cost to the Fund than if the Fund had invested directly in an instrument that yielded that desired return or spread. The Fund also may enter into swaps in order to protect against an increase in the price of, or the currency exchange rate applicable to, securities that the Fund anticipates purchasing at a later date. Cleared swaps are transacted through futures commission merchants that are members of central clearinghouses with the clearinghouse serving as a central counterparty similar to transactions in futures contracts (see additional disclosure below regarding requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act for the clearing of swaps). In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined investments or instruments. The gross returns to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties are calculated with respect to a “notional amount” (e.g., the change in the value of a particular dollar amount invested at a particular interest rate, in a particular foreign currency, or in a “basket” of securities representing a particular index). Swap agreements may include caps, under which, in return for a premium, one party agrees to make payments to the other to the extent that a specified index exceeds a specified rate or amount, or “cap”; floors, under which, in return for a premium, one party agrees to make payments to the other to the extent that a specified index falls below a specified level, or “floor”; and collars, under which a party sells a cap and purchases a floor, or vice versa, in an attempt to protect itself against movements in interest or values exceeding given minimum or maximum levels. The amount of the Fund’s potential gain or loss on any swap transaction is not subject to any fixed limit. Nor is there any fixed limit on the Fund’s potential loss if it sells a cap or collar. If the Fund buys a cap, floor or collar, however, the Fund’s potential loss is limited to the amount of the fee that it has paid. When measured against the initial amount of cash required to initiate the transaction, which is typically

The “notional amount” of a swap agreement is the agreed upon basis for calculating the obligations that the parties to a swap agreement have agreed to exchange. Under most swap agreements entered into by the Fund, the obligations of the parties would be exchanged on a “net basis.” Consequently, the Fund’s obligation (or rights) under a swap agreement will generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement based on the relative values of the positions held by each party to the agreement. The Fund’s obligation under a swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against amounts owed to the Fund).

Whether the Fund’s use of swap agreements will be successful depends, in part, on the Adviser’s ability to predict correctly whether certain types of investments are likely to produce greater returns than other investments. Moreover, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. The Fund will enter into swap agreements only with counterparties that the Adviser reasonably believes are capable of performing under the swap agreements. If there is a default by the other party to such a transaction, the Fund will have to rely on its contractual remedies (which may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency or similar laws) pursuant to the agreements related to the transaction. Certain restrictions imposed on the Fund by the Code also may limit the Fund’s ability to use swap agreements.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires certain OTC derivatives, such as swaps and security-based swaps (referred to collectively as “swaps”), in which the Fund may be authorized to invest to be executed on registered exchanges or through swap execution facilities, cleared through a regulated clearinghouse and publicly reported. The statutory requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act are being implemented primarily through rules and regulations adopted by the SEC, the CFTC, and/or the prudential regulators (as described below). The CFTC is responsible for the regulation of most swaps, and has completed most of its rules implementing the Dodd-Frank Act swap regulations. The SEC has jurisdiction over a small segment of the market referred to as “security-based swaps,” which includes swaps on single securities or credits, or narrow-based indices of securities or credits. Other federal regulators, including the US Federal Reserve Bank, the US Office of the Comptroller of Currency, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the US Farm Credit Administration and the US Federal Housing Finance Authority (collectively, “prudential regulators”) are responsible for adopting rules establishing capital and margin requirements for swap dealers and major swap participants for which there exists an applicable prudential regulator.

As of the date of this SAI, central clearing is required only for certain market participants trading certain swaps, although central clearing for additional swaps is expected to be implemented by the CFTC until the majority of the swaps market is ultimately subject to central clearing. In addition, uncleared OTC swaps will be subject to regulatory collateral requirements that could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to enter into swaps in the OTC market. The CFTC, the prudential regulators and the SEC have each completed rulemakings under the Dodd-Frank Act on margin for uncleared OTC swaps (and option agreements that qualify as swaps). The CFTC and prudential regulator variation margin requirements went into effect for the largest swap entities in September 2016, and went into effect for financial end users in March 2017. The CFTC and prudential regulator initial margin requirements, and the SEC variation and initial margin requirements went into effect in full in 2022.

Under these regulations, swap dealers (such as sell-side counterparties to swaps), major swap participants, and financial end users (such as buy-side counterparties to swaps who are not physical traders) are required in most instances, to post and collect initial and variation margin for their OTC swaps, depending on the regulatory classification and swap positions of their counterparty. As a result of these requirements, additional capital will be required to be committed to the margin accounts to support transactions involving uncleared OTC swaps and, consequently, these transactions may become more expensive. These developments could adversely impact the profitability (if any) to the Fund from entering into these transactions.

Until the mandated rulemaking and regulations are implemented completely, it will not be possible to determine the complete impact of the Dodd-Frank Act and related regulations on the Fund, and the establishment of a centralized exchange or market for swap transactions may not result in swaps being easier to value or trade.

However, it is expected that swap dealers, major market participants and swap counterparties will experience other new and/or additional regulations, requirements, compliance burdens and associated costs. Future legislation and rules may exert a negative effect on the Fund, either through limits or requirements imposed on the Fund or its counterparties. The swap market could be disrupted or limited as a result of the legislation, and the new requirements may increase the cost of the Fund’s investments and of doing business, which could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to buy or sell OTC derivatives.

Additional information about certain swap agreements that the Fund may be authorized to utilize is provided below.

Interest Rate Swaps. Interest rate swaps involve a commitment between parties to pay either a fixed interest rate or a floating interest rate based on a notional amount of principal. The parties make payments at predetermined intervals throughout the life of the swap. As a payer, the Fund would make the fixed payment and receive the floating payment. As a receiver, the Fund would make the floating payment and receive the fixed payment.

Additional Derivative Instruments and Strategies. In addition to the derivative instruments and strategies described above and in the Prospectus, the Adviser expects additional derivative instruments and other hedging or risk management techniques to develop from time to time. The Adviser may utilize these new derivative instruments and techniques to the extent that they are consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and permitted by the Fund’s investment limitations, operating policies and applicable regulatory authorities.

Dividend-Paying Investments Risk. The Fund’s investments in dividend-paying securities could cause the Fund to underperform other funds that invest in similar asset classes but employ a different investment style. Securities that pay dividends, as a group, can fall out of favor with the market, causing such securities to underperform securities that do not pay dividends. Additionally, depending upon certain market and economic conditions, dividend-paying securities that meet the Fund’s investment criteria may not be widely available and/or may be highly concentrated in only a few market sectors. A sharp rise in interest rates or an economic downturn may cause issuers that have paid regular dividends or distributions to shareholders to abruptly reduce or eliminate its dividend. To the extent that dividend-paying securities are concentrated in only a few market sectors, the Fund may be subject to the risks of volatile economic cycles and/or conditions or developments that may be particular to a sector to a greater extent than if its investments were diversified across different sectors. This may limit the ability of the Fund to produce current income.

Interest rate risk is the risk that a fixed income security will lose value because of changes in interest rates. An increase in interest rates may lower the Fund’s value and the overall return on your investment as high interest rates could drive down the prices of bonds and other fixed income securities. A wide variety of market factors can cause interest rates to rise, including central bank monetary policy, rising inflation and changes in general economic conditions. Actions taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve (“Fed”) or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize economic growth, such as decreases or increases in interest rates, may adversely affect markets, which could, in turn, negatively impact Fund performance. Changing interest rates may have unpredictable effects on markets, may result in heightened market volatility and may detract from the Fund’s performance. To the extent the Fund has a bank deposit or holds a debt instrument with a negative interest rate to maturity, the Fund would generate a negative return on that investment. Rising interest rates may lead to decreased liquidity in the bond markets, making it more difficult for the Fund to value or sell some or all of its bond holdings at any given time.

Foreign Securities. The Fund may invest in foreign securities. Most of the foreign securities held by the Fund will not be registered with the SEC, nor will the foreign issuers be subject to the SEC’s reporting requirements. Accordingly, there may be less publicly available information concerning foreign issuers of securities held by the Fund than is available concerning U.S. companies. Disclosure and regulatory standards in many respects are less stringent in emerging market countries than in the U.S. and other major markets. There also may be a lower level of monitoring and regulation of emerging markets and the activities of investors in such markets and enforcement of existing regulations may be extremely limited. Foreign companies and, in particular, companies in smaller and emerging markets are not generally subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, or to other regulatory requirements comparable to those applicable to U.S. companies. Financial or accounting information with respect to issuers located in these countries may not reflect the issuer’s financial position in the same way as it would be reflected if the financial and accounting information had been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. As a result, it may be difficult to assess the value or prospects of an investment in such issuers. It may also be more difficult for shareholders to bring derivative litigation. Moreover, the legal remedies for investors in emerging markets may be more limited than the remedies available in the United States, and the ability of U.S. authorities (e.g., the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice) to bring actions against bad actors may be limited. In addition, emerging countries may have less established accounting and financial reporting systems than those in more developed markets.

The costs attributable to foreign investing that the Fund must bear frequently are higher than those attributable to domestic investing; this is particularly true with respect to emerging markets. For example, the costs of maintaining custody of foreign securities exceeds custodian costs for domestic securities and transaction and settlement costs of foreign investing also frequently are higher than those attributable to domestic investing. Costs associated with the exchange of currencies also make foreign investing more expensive than domestic investing. Investment income and capital gains from certain foreign securities in which the Fund may invest may be subject to foreign withholding or other taxes that could reduce the return of these securities. Tax treaties between the United States and foreign countries, however, may reduce or eliminate the amount of foreign tax to which the Fund would be subject. In addition, the Fund may invest in passive foreign investment companies, which are subject to additional federal income tax considerations, as described further in the “General Trust Information—Federal Income Tax Matters” section.

Investments in companies domiciled in developing countries may be subject to potentially higher risks than investments in developed countries. These risks include: (i) less social, political and economic stability; (ii) the small current size of the markets for such securities and the currently low or nonexistent volume of trading, which result in a lack of liquidity and in greater price volatility; (iii) certain national policies that may restrict the Fund’s investment opportunities, including restrictions on investment in issuers or industries deemed sensitive to national interests; (iv) the absence of developed legal structures governing private or foreign investment or allowing for judicial redress for injury to private property; (v) the absence of a capital market structure or market-oriented economy; and (vi) the possibility that favorable economic developments may be slowed or reversed by unanticipated economic, political or social events in such countries.

In addition, many countries in which the Fund may invest have experienced substantial, and in some periods extremely high, rates of inflation in the past. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had and may continue to have negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain countries.

The imposition of sanctions, trade restrictions (including tariffs and other trade barriers) and other government restrictions by the United States or other governments could, among other things, (i) restrict or eliminate the Fund’s ability to purchase, sell or value foreign securities issued by the sanctioned country or companies located in or economically tied to the sanctioned country, (ii) significantly delay or prevent the settlement of certain foreign securities transactions, and (iii) force the Fund to sell or otherwise dispose of foreign securities at inopportune times or prices.

Investments in some foreign countries may involve risks of nationalization, expropriation and confiscatory taxation. The Communist governments of a number of countries expropriated large amounts of private property in the past, in many cases without adequate compensation, and there can be no assurance that such expropriation will not occur in the future. In the event of expropriation, the Fund could lose a substantial portion of any investments it has made in the affected countries. Finally, even though certain currencies may be convertible into U.S. dollars, the conversion rates may be artificial to the actual market values and may be adverse to portfolio shareholders. Further, no accounting standards exist in certain foreign countries.

The Fund endeavors to buy and sell foreign currencies on as favorable a basis as practicable. Some price spread in currency exchange (to cover service charges) will be incurred, particularly when the Fund changes investments

from one country to another or when proceeds of the sale of shares in U.S. dollars are used for the purchase of securities in foreign countries. Also, some countries may adopt policies that would prevent the Fund from transferring cash out of the country or withhold portions of interest and dividends at the source. There is the possibility of cessation of trading on national exchanges, withholding and other foreign taxes on income or other amounts, foreign exchange controls (which may include suspension of the ability to transfer currency from a given country), default in foreign government securities, political or social instability, or diplomatic developments that could affect investments in securities of issuers in foreign nations.

Foreign markets also have different clearance and settlement procedures and in certain markets there have been times when settlements have failed to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct such transactions. The inability of the Fund to make intended security purchases due to settlement problems could cause the Fund to miss investment opportunities. Inability to dispose of a portfolio security due to settlement problems either could result in losses to the Fund due to subsequent declines in the value of such portfolio security or, if the Fund has entered into a contract to sell the security, could result in possible liability to the purchaser.

The system of share registration and custody in some emerging market countries may create certain risks of loss (including in some cases the risk of total loss) and the Fund may be required to establish special custodial or other arrangements before making investments in these countries. There is an increased risk of uninsured loss due to lost, stolen or counterfeit stock certificates or unauthorized trading, or other fraudulent activity.

The Fund that has exposure to certain countries can be expected to be impacted by the political (including geopolitical) and economic conditions within such countries.