Capitalization Risk. Large cap companies as a group could fall out of favor with the market, causing the Fund to underperform investments that focus on small or mid-cap companies. Investments in small and mid-cap companies may involve more risk than investing in larger more established companies. Small and mid-cap companies may have limited product lines or markets. They may be less financially secure than larger, more established companies. They may depend on a small number of key personnel. Should a product fail, or if management changes, or if there are other adverse developments, the Fund’s investment in a small or mid-cap company may lose substantial value. In addition, small and mid-cap companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.
Active Management Risk. The Fund is subject to active management risk because it is an actively managed investment portfolio. The Advisor invests in securities that may not necessarily be included in the Fund’s benchmark. The Advisor may misjudge the risk and/or return potential of a security. This misjudgment can result in a loss or a significant performance deviation relative to its benchmark. The Advisor does not seek to replicate the performance of any index.
Financials Sector Risk. The Fund will not concentrate its investments (i.e. invest more than 25% of the value of its total assets) in securities of issuers in any industry or group of industries. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in companies in the financials sector, and therefore the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. This sector can be significantly affected by changes in interest rates, the rate of corporate and consumer debt defaults, the availability and cost of borrowing and raising capital, reduced credit market liquidity, regulatory changes, price competition, bank failures and other financial crises, and general economic and market conditions. Changing interest rates could reduce the profitability of certain types of companies in the financials sector. Financial companies may have concentrated portfolios, such as a high level of loans to one or more industries or sectors, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect such industries or sectors. Significant events may have a negative impact on economies and financial markets worldwide, resulting in higher debt defaults, loan write-offs, and government intervention, and potentially the failure of some financial institutions, each of which would reduce investment performance of financials sector companies held by the Fund.
Security Selection Risk. The Advisor may misjudge the risk and/or return potential of a security. This misjudgment can result in a loss or a significant performance deviation relative to its benchmark.
Issuer Risk. The value of a security may decline for a number of reasons which directly relate to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer’s goods or services.
Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investment Risk. The Fund invests in foreign (non-U.S.) securities and may experience more rapid and extreme changes in value than a fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S. companies. The securities markets of many foreign countries are relatively small, with a limited number of companies representing a small number of industries. Additionally, issuers of foreign securities are usually not subject to the same degree of regulation as U.S. issuers and may suffer from increased foreign government action, including nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, currency blockage, or political changes or
diplomatic developments. Investments in securities of foreign issuers may be subject to foreign withholding and other taxes. To the extent that the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in a specific geographic region or country, the Fund will have more exposure to the investment risks associated with that region or country, although the Advisor does not intend to focus on a specific geographic region or country. Foreign securities can be less liquid and more difficult to value than other securities.
Adverse political, economic or social developments, as well as U.S. and foreign government actions such as the imposition of tariffs, economic and trade sanctions or embargoes, could undermine the value of the Fund’s investments, prevent the Fund from realizing the full value of its investments or prevent the Fund from selling securities it holds.
Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the U.S. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than U.S. markets. To the extent that the Fund invests in non-U.S. dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the U.S. dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities.
European Investments Risk. Exposure to investments in European countries may expose the Fund to the economic and political risks associated with Europe in general and the specific European countries in which it invests. The economies and markets of European countries are often closely connected and interdependent, and events in one European country can have an adverse impact on other European countries.
Emerging Market Risk. Foreign (non-U.S.) investment risk may be particularly high to the extent that the Fund invests in emerging market securities. These securities may present market, credit, currency, liquidity, legal, political and other risks different from, or greater than, the risks of investing in developed foreign countries. In addition to the risks of foreign securities in general, countries in emerging markets are generally more volatile and can have relatively unstable governments, social and legal systems that do not protect shareholders, economies based on only a few industries and securities markets that trade a small number of issues. Taxation, restrictions on foreign investment and on currency convertibility and repatriation, currency fluctuations and other developments in laws and regulations of emerging markets could result in loss to the Fund. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had, and may continue to have, negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain emerging market countries. In addition, when investing in emerging market countries, there may be differences in auditing and financial reporting standards, which may result in unavailability of material information about issuers. Emerging securities markets may have different clearance and settlement procedures, which may be unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions or otherwise make it difficult to engage in such transactions.
Currency Risk. If the Fund invests directly in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities that trade in, and receive revenues in, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, or in derivatives that provide exposure to foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, it will be subject to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar, or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged. As a result, the Fund’s investments in foreign currency-denominated securities may reduce the Fund’s returns.