To construct the portfolio,
the portfolio managers leverage the adviser’s Large Cap Growth and Growth Advantage strategies, which are currently used for other accounts managed by the adviser. The Fund’s portfolio managers each
manage one of these other strategies and will draw on the insights from the other strategies in
managing the Fund. While the Fund’s portfolio holdings will overlap with those strategies, the Fund’s strategy is unique and its holdings and performance will differ from an investment in each of those other two
strategies.
As part of its investment process, the adviser seeks to
assess the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors on many issuers in the
universe in which the Fund may invest. The adviser’s assessment is based on an analysis of key opportunities and risks across industries to seek to identify financially material issues with respect to the
Fund’s investments in issuers and ascertain key issues that merit engagement with issuers.
These assessments may not be conclusive, and securities of issuers that may be negatively impacted by such factors may be purchased and retained by the Fund while the Fund may divest or not invest in securities
of issuers that may be positively impacted by such factors.
The adviser may sell a security for several reasons. A security may be sold
due to a change in the company’s fundamentals or if the adviser believes the security is no longer attractively valued. Investments may also be sold if the adviser identifies a stock that it believes offers a better
investment opportunity.
The Fund’s Main
Investment Risks
The Fund is subject to management risk and may
not achieve its objective if the adviser’s expectations regarding particular instruments or
markets are not met.
An investment in this Fund or any
other fund may not provide a complete investment program. The suitability of an investment in the Fund should be considered based on the investment objective,
strategies and risks described in this prospectus, considered in light of all of the other investments in your portfolio, as well as your risk tolerance, financial goals and time
horizons. You may want to consult with a financial advisor to determine if this Fund is suitable for you.
The Fund is subject to the main risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), market price, performance and ability to meet its
investment objective.
Equity Market Risk. The price of equity securities may rise or fall because of changes in the broad market or changes in a
company’s financial condition, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. These price movements
may result from factors affecting individual companies, sectors or industries selected for the
Fund’s portfolio or the securities market as a whole, such as changes in economic or
political conditions. When the value of the Fund’s securities goes down, your investment in the Fund decreases in value.
General Market Risk. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or
conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries
or regions. Securities in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to securities in general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes due
to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), deflation (or expectations for deflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products
or resources, market instability, financial system instability, debt crises and downgrades,
embargoes, tariffs, trade wars, retaliatory trade measures, sanctions and other trade barriers, supply chain disruptions, regulatory events, other governmental trade or market control programs and related geopolitical
events. In addition, the value of the Fund’s investments may be negatively affected by the
occurrence of global events such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters or events, country instability, and infectious disease epidemics or pandemics or the threat or potential of one or more
such factors and occurrences.
Growth Investing Risk. Because growth investing attempts to identify companies that the adviser believes will experience rapid earnings growth relative to value or other
types of stocks, growth stocks may trade at higher multiples of current earnings compared to
value or other stocks, leading to inflated prices and thus potentially greater declines in value.
Large Cap Company Risk. Because the Fund invests in large cap company securities, it may underperform other funds during periods when the Fund’s large cap securities are out of favor.
Smaller Company Risk. Investments in securities of smaller companies (mid cap and small cap companies) may be riskier, less liquid, more volatile and more vulnerable to
economic, market and industry changes than securities of larger, more established companies. The
securities of smaller companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes than securities
of larger companies. As a result, changes in the price of securities issued by such companies may
be more sudden or erratic than the prices of securities of larger companies, especially over the
short term. These risks are higher for small cap companies.
Derivatives Risk. Derivatives, including futures contracts, may be riskier than other types of investments and may increase the volatility of the Fund. Derivatives may be
sensitive to changes in economic and market conditions and may create leverage, which could
result in losses that significantly exceed the Fund’s original investment. The Fund may be more volatile than if the Fund had not been leveraged because the leverage tends to exaggerate any effect on the value of the
Fund’s portfolio securities. Certain derivatives expose the Fund to counterparty risk,
which is the risk that the derivative counterparty will not fulfill its contractual obligations (and includes credit risk associated with the counterparty). Certain derivatives are synthetic instruments that attempt to replicate the
performance of certain reference assets. With regard to such derivatives, the Fund does not have
a claim on the reference assets and is subject to enhanced counterparty risk. Derivatives may not
perform as expected, so the Fund may not realize the intended benefits. When used for hedging,
the change in value of a derivative may not correlate as expected with the security or other risk
being hedged. In addition, given their complexity, derivatives expose the Fund to risks of mispricing or improper valuation. Derivatives also can expose the Fund to derivative liquidity risk, which includes risks involving
the liquidity demands that derivatives can create to make payments of margin, collateral, or
settlement payments to counterparties, legal risk, which includes the risk of loss resulting from insufficient or unenforceable contractual documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of the Fund’s
counterparty and operational