During the most recent fiscal
year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 29% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund is managed to seek to track the performance of the
Index, which measures the stock performance of large- and mid-cap companies in developed countries outside the U.S.The Subadviser may endeavor to track the Index by purchasing every stock included in the Index, in the same proportions; or, in the
alternative, the Subadviser may invest in a sampling of Index stocks by utilizing a
statistical technique known as “optimization.” The goal of
optimization is to select stocks which ensure that various industry weightings,
market capitalizations, and fundamental characteristics, (e.g., price-to-book, price-to-earnings, debt-to-asset ratios and dividend yields) closely approximate those of the Index.
The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of net assets in stocks that are in
the Index. Although the Fund seeks to track the performance of the Index, the performance of the Fund will not match that of the Index exactly because, among other reasons,
the Fund incurs operating expenses and other investment overhead as part of its normal
operations.
The subadviser may use derivatives to seek to track the performance of the Index, including
futures and total return swaps.
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.
Equity Securities Risk. The Fund invests principally in equity securities and is therefore 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.
Index Risk. In attempting to track the performance of the index, the Fund may be more susceptible to adverse developments concerning a particular security, company or industry because the Fund generally
will not use any defensive strategies to mitigate its risk exposure.
Failure to Match Index Performance Risk. The ability of
the Fund to match the performance of the Index may be affected by, among other
things, changes in securities markets, the manner in which performance of the Index is calculated, changes in the composition of the Index, the amount and timing of cash flows into
and out of the Fund, commissions, portfolio expenses, and any differences in the
pricing of securities by the Fund and the Index. When the Fund employs an “optimization” strategy, the Fund is subject to an increased risk of tracking error, in that the securities selected in the
aggregate for the Fund may perform differently than the Index.
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.
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.
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.
Japan Exposure
Risk. The Japanese economy faces a number of long-term problems, including massive government debt, the aging and shrinking of the