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 realizing more ordinary income and short-term
capital gain subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates than it would if it did not engage in
such transactions, which may adversely impact the Fund’s after-tax returns.
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.
Real Estate Securities Risk. The Fund’s investments in real estate securities, including REITs, are subject to the same risks as direct investments in real estate and mortgages,
and their value will depend on the value of the underlying real estate interests. These risks
include default, prepayments, changes in value resulting from changes in interest rates and demand for real and rental property, and the management skill and credit-worthiness of REIT issuers. The Fund will indirectly
bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management fees, paid by each REIT in which
it invests in addition to the expenses of the Fund.
Industry and Sector Focus Risk. At times, the Fund may increase the relative emphasis of its investments in a particular industry or sector. The prices of securities of
issuers in a particular industry or sector may be more susceptible to fluctuations due to changes
in economic or business conditions, government regulations, availability of basic resources or supplies, contagion risk within a particular industry or sector or to other industries or sectors, or other events that affect
that industry or sector more than securities of issuers in other industries and sectors. To the
extent that the Fund increases the relative emphasis of its investments in a particular industry or sector, the value of the Fund’s shares may fluctuate in response to events affecting that industry or sector.
Financials Sector Risk. Financial services companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation which may limit both the amounts and types of loans and other financial
commitments they can make, the interest rates and fees they can charge, the scope of their
activities, the prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. Profitability is largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital funds and can fluctuate significantly when interest rates
change or due to increased competition. In addition, deterioration of the credit
markets generally may cause an adverse
impact in a broad range of markets, including U.S. and international credit and interbank money
markets generally, thereby affecting a wide range of financial institutions and markets. Certain events in the financials sector may cause an unusually high degree of volatility in the financial markets, both domestic and
foreign, and cause certain financial services companies to incur large losses. Securities of
financial services companies may experience a dramatic decline in value when such companies experience substantial declines in the valuations of their assets, take action to raise capital (such as the issuance of
debt or equity securities), or cease operations. Credit losses resulting from financial
difficulties of borrowers and financial losses associated with investment activities can
negatively impact the sector. Insurance companies may be subject to severe price competition. Adverse economic, business or political developments could adversely affect financial institutions engaged in mortgage
finance or other lending or investing activities directly or indirectly connected to the value of
real estate.
Industrials Sector Risk. The industrials sector may be adversely affected by changes in the supply of and demand for products and services, product obsolescence, claims for environmental damage or product liability and general economic
conditions, among other factors.
Transactions Risk. The Fund could experience a loss and its liquidity may be negatively impacted when selling securities or liquidating other investments to meet
redemption requests. The risk of loss increases if the redemption requests are unusually large or
frequent or occur in times of overall market turmoil or declining prices. Similarly, large purchases of Fund shares may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and
is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Investments in the Fund are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the
FDIC, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency.
You could lose money investing in the
Fund.
The Fund’s Past
Performance
This section provides some indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund’s Class R2 Shares has varied from year to year for the past ten calendar years. The table shows the
average annual total returns over the past one year, five years and ten years. The table compares the Fund’s performance to the performance of the Russell 3000® Index and Russell Midcap® Value Index. The Russell 3000® Index serves as the Fund’s regulatory index and provides a broad measure of market performance. The
Russell Midcap® Value Index is the Fund’s additional index and is more representative of the Fund’s investment
universe than the regulatory index. The performance for Class R3 Shares is based on the performance of the Class A Shares (which are not offered in this prospectus) prior to their inception.
The performance for the Class R4 Shares is based on the performance of the Class I Shares (which
are not offered in this prospectus) prior to their inception. The performance for Class R5 and Class R6 Shares is based on the performance of the Class L Shares (which are not offered in this prospectus) prior to their
inception. The actual