This Example is
intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
This Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in Class
P Shares of the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Class P Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain
the same (except that the Example incorporates any applicable fee waiver and/or expense limitation arrangements for only the first year). Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
|
1
Year |
3
Years |
5
Years |
10
Years |
Class
P Shares |
$59
|
$483
|
$933
|
$2,183
|
The Fund pays
transaction costs when it buys and sells securities or instruments (i.e., “turns over” its portfolio). A high rate of portfolio turnover may result in increased transaction costs, including
brokerage commissions, which must be borne by the Fund and its shareholders, and is also likely to result in higher short-term capital gains for taxable shareholders. These costs are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the
expense example above, but are reflected in the Fund’s performance. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020 was 69% of the average value of its portfolio.
The Fund
invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes (measured at the time of purchase) (“Net Assets”) in equity investments in small-, mid- and large-cap issuers. Although the
Fund invests primarily in publicly traded U.S. securities, it may invest up to 25% of its Net Assets in foreign securities, including securities of issuers in countries with emerging markets or economies (“emerging countries”) and
securities quoted in foreign currencies. The Fund may also invest in privately held companies and companies that only recently began to trade publicly.
The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by
investing, under normal circumstances, in companies that are considered by the Investment Adviser to be positioned for long-term growth of capital. The Investment Adviser uses a combination of fundamental research and quantitative factors to achieve
its investment objective. The Fund’s fundamental equity growth investment process involves evaluating potential investments based on specific characteristics believed to identify high-quality businesses with sustainable growth prospects,
including strong business franchises, favorable long-term prospects, and excellent management. The Investment Adviser may integrate environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors with traditional fundamental factors as part of its
fundamental research process. No one factor or consideration is determinative in the stock selection process.
Investments will be further evaluated for their
exposures to quantitative factors, such as, for example, valuation, profitability and volatility, to seek to enhance the Fund’s risk adjusted returns. Risk management, portfolio construction and sizing of positions will be informed by
portfolio-level quantitative factor considerations. The Investment Adviser may decide to sell a position for various reasons, including when a company’s fundamental outlook deteriorates, because of
valuation and price considerations, for risk management purposes, or
when a company is deemed to be misallocating capital. In addition, the Investment Adviser may sell a position in order to meet shareholder redemptions.
The Fund may invest up to 20% of its Net Assets in
fixed income securities (including high yield fixed income securities), such as government, corporate and bank debt obligations.
The Fund’s benchmark index is the S&P 500® Index.
Principal
Risks of the Fund |
Loss of
money is a risk of investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any government agency. The Fund should not be relied upon
as a complete investment program. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Investments in the Fund involve substantial risks which prospective investors should consider carefully before investing. The Fund's
principal risks are presented below in alphabetical order, and not in the order of importance or potential exposure.
Foreign and Emerging Countries Risk. Foreign securities may be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign government regulation, less public information, less stringent investor protections and disclosure standards and
less economic, political and social stability in the countries in which the Fund invests. The imposition of exchange controls (including repatriation restrictions), sanctions, confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs) and other
government restrictions by the United States and other governments, or from problems in share registration, settlement or custody, may also result in losses. Foreign risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency exchange rate
fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over
short periods of time. These risks may be more pronounced in connection with the Fund’s investments in securities of issuers located in emerging countries.
Investment Style Risk. Different investment styles (e.g., “growth”, “value” or
“quantitative”) tend to shift in and out of favor depending upon market and economic conditions and investor sentiment. The Fund may outperform or underperform other funds that invest in similar asset classes but employ different
investment styles. Growth investing is an example of an investment style. Growth companies are often expected by investors to increase their earnings at a certain rate. When these expectations are not met, investors can punish the stocks
inordinately even if earnings showed an absolute increase.
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk. The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions, which may occur rapidly or
unexpectedly, may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund's net asset value (“NAV”) and liquidity. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may
adversely affect the Fund's performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash or otherwise maintains a larger cash position than it ordinarily would. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable
income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund's current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base,
leading to an increase in the Fund's expense ratio.