v3.26.3
Oct. 28, 2026
The Emerging Markets Portfolio | The Emerging Markets Portfolio
Investment Objective

The investment objective of The Emerging Markets Portfolio is to provide maximum total return, primarily through capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses

The fee and expense tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Portfolio.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Maximum Sales Charges

None

Maximum Redemption Fee

None

Annual Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees (based on asset allocations
among Specialist Managers as of June 30,
2026, see “Advisory Services – Specialist
Managers”)

0.24%

Other Expenses

0.18%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

0.21%

Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses*

0.63%

*

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses have been restated to reflect current expenses as of June 30, 2026.

Example:

  This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s Total Annual Operating Expenses remain the same. Although your actual cost may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your cost would be:

1 Year

$64

3 Years

$202

5 Years

$351

10 Years

$786

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” investments in its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Portfolio shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Total Annual Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio’s turnover was 14% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily (i.e., at least 80% of its net assets) in securities of issuers domiciled or, in the view of the Specialist Manager, deemed to be doing material amounts of business (for example, deriving at least 50% of their revenue) in countries determined by the Specialist Manager to have a developing or emerging economy or securities market. In the unlikely event that a change in this investment policy is adopted by the Board of Trustees, shareholders will receive at least 60 days prior written notice before such change is implemented. Typically 80% of the Portfolio’s net assets will be invested in equity securities, equity swaps, structured equity notes, equity linked notes and depositary receipts of issuers domiciled or, in the view of the Specialist Manager, deemed to be doing material amounts of business in emerging market countries. The Portfolio, a diversified investment company, invests primarily in the Morgan Stanley Capital International® Emerging Markets Index (“MSCI EM Index”) countries. As the MSCI EM Index introduces new emerging market countries, the Portfolio may include those countries among the countries in which it may invest. In determining securities in which to invest, the Portfolio’s management team will evaluate the countries’ economic and political climates with prospects for sustained macro and micro economic growth. The Portfolio may invest more in China than certain other emerging markets countries. The Portfolio’s management team will take into account traditional securities valuation methods, including (but not limited to) an analysis of price in relation to assets, earnings, cash flows, projected earnings growth, inflation and interest rates. Liquidity and transaction costs will also be considered. The Portfolio may also invest in companies of any market capitalization. The Portfolio may invest in securities issued by other investment companies, including ETFs, that invest in securities issued by companies domiciled or deemed to be doing material amounts of business

in countries that have a developing or emerging economy or securities market. The Portfolio may be managed using an “active” investment approach and/or a “passive” investment approach designed to approximate as closely as practicable, before expenses, the performance of either the Portfolio’s benchmark index or, from time to time, one or more identifiable subsets or other portions of that index. The relative weighting of these two approaches may vary anywhere from 0% to 100% of the Portfolio’s assets at any given time.

The Portfolio is authorized to operate on a multi-manager basis. This means that a single Portfolio may be managed by more than one Specialist Manager. The multi-manager structure is generally designed to provide investors access to broadly diversified investment styles. The Trust seeks to engage skilled Specialist Managers to provide a broad exposure to the relevant asset class and returns in excess of the Portfolio’s benchmark over time.

Consistent with their respective investment styles, the Portfolio’s Specialist Managers may use instruments such as option or futures contracts in order to hedge against investment risks, seek to efficiently obtain or adjust exposure to certain securities or groups of securities, or otherwise to increase returns. The Portfolio may also write (sell) call options and put options, in order to receive premiums, on individual securities, stock market indexes, and/or on substitutes for such indexes, which may include futures contracts or ETFs. The Portfolio normally writes covered call and put options which have an initial maturity of up to nine months and that are “out of the money” at the time of initiation such that the call options sold generally will be above the current price level of the index when written and the exercise price of put options sold generally will be below the current price level of the index when written. In accordance with applicable interpretations of the SEC, certain derivative instruments may be counted as equity securities for purposes of the Portfolio’s policies regarding investments in equity securities, to the extent that such derivative instruments have economic characteristics similar to those of equity securities.

Performance Bar Chart and Table

Performance. The chart and table below show how The Emerging Markets Portfolio has performed, and how its performance has varied, from year to year. The bar chart shows returns on a before-tax basis and gives some indication of risk by showing changes in the Portfolio’s yearly performance for each of the last ten full calendar years. The table accompanying the bar chart compares the Portfolio’s performance over time on a before and after-tax basis to that of a broad based market index. Of course, past performance, before and after taxes, does not indicate how the Portfolio will perform in the future.

Year-by-Year Total Returns as of 12/31*

* Results shown on a calendar year basis; the Portfolio’s fiscal year, however, is June 30.

The Portfolio’s before-tax return for the period from January 1, 2026 through September 30, 2026 (non-annualized) was 20.76%.

 

Best quarter:

 

2nd Qtr. 2020

18.11%

 

 

Worst quarter:

 

1st Qtr. 2020

‑23.62%

 

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended 12/31/25)

 

 

One Year

 

 

Five Year

 

Ten Year

The Emerging Markets Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

–
Before Taxes

 

33.73

%

 

4.48

%

 

7.92

%

–
After Taxes on Distributions

 

31.67

%

 

3.65

%

 

7.29

%

–
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Portfolio Shares

 

20.64

%

 

3.33

%

 

6.38

%

MSCI Emerging Markets Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

34.36

%

 

4.67

%

 

8.86

%

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual Federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold Portfolio shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as qualified retirement plans.