During the most recent fiscal
year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 112% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80%
of net assets in securities of mid-cap value companies.For purposes of the Fund’s 80%
investment policy, a company is considered to be a value company if it: (i)
issues securities that are represented in a third-party value-style index or that are classified as a value company by a third-party vendor; or (ii) meets a relevant equity market measurement in at least one
“value metric” similar to those commonly used by third-party index providers or third-party vendors in value classifications, such as earnings growth, price-to-earnings or
sales growth, among others. Generally, mid-cap companies will include companies
whose market capitalizations, at the time of purchase, range from the market capitalization of the smallest company included in the Russell Midcap® Index to the market capitalization of
the largest company in the Russell Midcap® Index during the most recent 12-month period. As of August 31, 2026, the median stock by market capitalization in the Index was approximately $13.370 million, and the largest stock was
approximately $114.575 billion. The size of the companies in the Index changes
with market conditions and the composition of the Index.
The Fund invests primarily in equity securities. The subadvisers use value-oriented investment
approaches to identify companies in which to invest the Fund’s assets.
Within the universe of value companies, the subadvisers generally select stocks
that they believe meet one or more of the following criteria: (1) are undervalued relative to other securities in the same industry or market, (2) exhibit good or improving fundamentals,
or (3) exhibit an identifiable catalyst (e.g., an event or company report that
significantly affects the price of a security, such as an earnings report, new
product launch, new legislation, or lawsuit) that could close the gap between market value and
fair value over the next one to two years.
The Fund may
invest up to 20% of its total assets in foreign securities. The Fund may also invest in depositary receipts, which are instruments issued by a bank that represent an interest in a foreign issuer’s
securities.
In order to generate additional income, the
Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers and other financial
institutions provided that the value of the loaned securities does not exceed 30%
of the Fund’s total assets. These loans earn income for the Fund and are collateralized by cash and securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or
instrumentalities.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with any mutual fund, there can be no assurance that the Fund’s investment objective
will be met or that the net return on an investment in the Fund will exceed what could have been obtained through other investment or savings vehicles. Shares of the Fund are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by any bank, government entity or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. If the value of the assets of the Fund goes down, you could lose money.
The following is a summary of the principal risks of investing in the Fund.
Management Risk. The investment style or strategy used by the Fund may fail to produce the intended result. A subadviser’s assessment of a particular security or company may prove incorrect,
resulting in losses or underperformance.
Depositary Receipts Risk.Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. Depositary receipts may or
may not be jointly sponsored by the underlying issuer. The issuers of unsponsored
depositary receipts are not obligated to disclose information that is considered material in the United States. Therefore, there may be less information available regarding the issuers and
there may not be a correlation between such information and the market value of
the depositary receipts. Certain depositary receipts are not listed on an exchange and therefore are subject to illiquidity risk.
Equity Securities Risk. The Fund’s investments in equity securities are subject to the risk that stock prices will fall and may underperform other
asset classes. Individual stock prices fluctuate from day-to-day and may decline
significantly. The prices of individual stocks may be negatively affected by poor
company results or other factors affecting individual prices, as well as industry and/or economic trends and developments affecting industries or the securities market as a whole.
Foreign Investment Risk. Investment in foreign securities involves risks due to several factors, such as illiquidity, the lack of public information, changes in the exchange rates between foreign
currencies and the U.S. dollar, unfavorable political, social and legal
developments, or economic and financial instability. Foreign companies are not
subject to the U.S. accounting and financial reporting standards and may have riskier settlement procedures. U.S. investments that are denominated in foreign currencies or that are
traded in foreign markets, or securities of U.S. companies that have