companies in the index ranged from $5.62
million to $85.78 billion. “Assets” means net assets, plus the amount of borrowings
for investment purposes.
Derivatives, which are instruments that have a value based on another instrument, exchange rate or index, may
be used as substitutes for securities in which the Fund can invest. To the extent the Fund uses
derivatives, the Fund will primarily use futures contracts to more effectively gain targeted equity
exposure from its cash positions.
Investment Process: In managing the Fund, the adviser employs a fundamental bottom-up investment process. The adviser seeks to invest in attractively valued companies with
leading competitive positions and predictable and durable business models. It also seeks
companies whose management has a successful track record of prudent capital allocation.
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.
Smaller Company Risk. Investments in smaller companies may be riskier, less liquid, more volatile and more vulnerable to economic, market and industry changes than
investments in 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, the share price changes may be more sudden or erratic than the prices of securities of larger companies, especially over the
short term.
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 risk, which includes documentation or settlement issues, system
failures, inadequate controls and human error. Certain of the Fund’s transactions in
foreign currency derivatives and other derivatives could also affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders which may result in the Fund