certain sectors than others, the
Fund’s performance may be more susceptible to any developments which affect those sectors
emphasized by the Fund.
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 significant
foreign operations may be subject to foreign investment risk. The Fund may hold foreign securities and cash with foreign banks, agents, and securities depositories appointed by the Fund’s
custodian (each, a “Foreign Custodian”), which involves the risk that some Foreign Custodians may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business. In some
countries, Foreign Custodians may be subject to little or no regulatory oversight
over or independent evaluation of their operations. Further, the laws of certain countries may place limitations on the Fund’s ability to recover its assets if a Foreign Custodian enters
bankruptcy.
Currency Risk. Because the Fund’s foreign investments are generally held in foreign currencies, the Fund could
experience gains or losses based solely on changes in the exchange rate between
foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. Such gains or losses may be substantial.
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 may be considered to be illiquid securities.
Geographic Risk. If the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in issuers located in a single country, a limited number of countries, or a
particular geographic region, it assumes the risk that economic, political and social conditions in those countries or that region may have a significant impact on its investment
performance.
Market Risk. The Fund’s share price can fall because of weakness in the broad market, a particular industry, or specific holdings or due to adverse
social, political or economic developments here or abroad, changes in investor
psychology, technological disruptions, or heavy institutional selling and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism, trade wars, disease/virus
outbreaks and epidemics). The prices of individual securities may fluctuate,
sometimes dramatically, from day to day. The prices of stocks and other equity securities tend to be more volatile than those of fixed-income securities.
Value Style Risk. Generally, “value” stocks are stocks of companies that are considered to be currently undervalued in the marketplace. The assessment
that a particular security is undervalued in relation to the company’s
fundamental economic value may prove incorrect, and the price of the company’s stock may fall or may not approach the value that has been attributed to it.
Securities Lending Risk. Engaging in securities lending could increase the market and credit risk for Fund investments. The Fund may lose money if it
does not recover borrowed securities, the value of the collateral falls, or the
value of investments made with cash collateral declines. The Fund’s loans will be collateralized by securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies and instrumentalities,
which subjects the Fund to the credit risk of the U.S. Government or the issuing
federal agency or instrumentality. If the value of either the cash collateral or the Fund’s investments of the cash collateral falls below the amount owed to a borrower, the Fund also may incur losses that
exceed the amount it earned on lending the security. Securities lending also
involves the risks of delay in receiving additional collateral or possible loss
of rights in the collateral if the borrower fails. Another risk of securities lending is the risk that the loaned portfolio securities may not be available to the Fund on a timely basis and the Fund
may therefore lose the opportunity to sell the securities at a desirable price.
The below bar chart and table illustrate the risks of
investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from
calendar year to calendar year and comparing the Fund’s average annual returns to those of the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index (net) (a broad-based securities market index) and MSCI EAFE Value
Index (net), which is relevant to the Fund because it has characteristics similar
to the Fund’s investment strategies. The Fund’s returns prior to April 29, 2024, as