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SEGALL BRYANT & HAMILL COLORADO TAX FREE FUND Retail Class: WTCOX; Institutional Class: WICOX |
| Summary Prospectus | April 29, 2024 |
Before you invest, you may want to review the Segall Bryant & Hamill Colorado Tax Free Fund’s (the “Fund”) prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus, reports to shareholders and other information about the Fund online at https://www.sbhfunds.com/literature/. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (800) 392-2673, or by contacting your financial intermediary. You may get this information at no cost by sending an email request to Fulfillment@ultimusfundsolutions.com. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, each dated April 29, 2024, along with the Fund’s most recent annual report dated December 31, 2023, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus and may be obtained, free of charge, at the website, phone number or email address noted above.
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks income exempt from both federal and Colorado state personal income taxes.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
| Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) | Retail Class | Institutional Class | ||
| Annual Account Maintenance Fee (for Retail Class accounts under $750) | $12.00 | — | ||
| Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) | ||||
| Management Fees | 0.35% | 0.35% | ||
| Distribution (12b-1) Fees | None | None | ||
| Other Expenses | 0.35% | 0.20% | ||
| Shareholder service fee(1) | 0.25% | 0.10% | ||
| All other expenses | 0.10% | 0.10% | ||
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.70% | 0.55% | ||
| Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements(2) | (0.05)% | (0.05)% | ||
| Total Annual Fund Operations Expenses | ||||
| After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements(2) | 0.65% | 0.50% | ||
| (1) | The Retail Class and the Institutional Class of the Fund may pay a fee at an annual rate of up to 0.25% and 0.10%, respectively, of average daily net assets to shareholder servicing agents. The amount listed represents the maximum fee that the Fund may pay. Refer to the “Shareholder Service Fee” section in the prospectus. |
| (2) | Segall Bryant & Hamill, LLC (“SBH” or the “Adviser”), the Fund’s investment adviser, has contractually agreed until at least April 30, 2025, to waive the investment advisory and/or administration fees and/or to reimburse other expenses (not including acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, redemption in kind processing fees, brokerage expenses, class action claim fees, tax reclaim fees, and extraordinary expenses), so that the ratio of expenses of average net assets as reported in the Fund’s Financial Highlights will be no more than 0.65% and 0.50% to the Fund’s Retail Class and Institutional Class, respectively, for such period. This agreement may not be terminated or modified by the Adviser prior to the termination date without the approval of the Board of Trustees. |
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SEGALL BRYANT & HAMILL COLORADO TAX FREE FUND
Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Retail Class shares or the Institutional Class shares of the Fund 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 Fund’s total annual operating expenses remain the same. This Example reflects the net operating expenses with expense waivers for the one-year contractual period and the total operating expenses without expense waivers for years two through ten.
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: |
One Year | Three Years | Five Years | Ten Years |
| Retail Class | $66 | $219 | $385 | $866 |
| Institutional Class | $51 | $171 | $302 | $684 |
Your expenses would be the same if you did not redeem your shares.
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. A higher turnover rate may also result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 48% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
| ● | The Fund focuses primarily on investment-grade quality municipal bonds that are rated in one of the three highest investment-grade categories at the time of purchase by one or more nationally recognized rating agencies such as Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s (“Rating Agencies”). |
| ● | Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least eighty percent (80%) of the value of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities, the income from which is exempt from both federal and Colorado state income tax. |
| ● | Under normal circumstances, a minimum of 80% of the portfolio will be rated investment-grade at the time of purchase. |
| ● | The Fund may invest up to twenty percent (20%) of its total assets in municipal bonds rated below investment grade. |
| ● | The Fund may invest in unrated bonds. The portfolio management team determines the comparable quality of such instruments to determine if they meet the Fund’s rating requirements. |
| ● | The team researches the financial condition of various counties, public projects, school districts, and taxing authorities to seek to fully understand the issuer’s ability to generate revenues or levy taxes in order to meet its obligations. |
| ● | Given the Fund’s tax-exempt focus, the team also strives to maintain a low portfolio turnover in an effort to minimize the Fund’s capital gain distributions. |
| ● | In addition, the team generally avoids investing in municipal bonds that are subject to the alternative minimum tax but may do so if they believe they provide sufficient relative value. |
| ● | The team seeks to purchase securities from many areas of Colorado to reduce the economic risk to the portfolio from any particular local economy within the state. |
| ● | SBH also utilizes an “integrated” approach to a company’s environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) practices within its investment process alongside other non-ESG factors. SBH believes ESG factors may be important drivers of value in conjunction with the underlying strength and potential of an issuer, however its consideration of these factors would not necessarily result in an issuer being included or excluded from the evaluation process but rather would contribute to the overall evaluation of that issuer. |
| ● | Securities may be sold when conditions have changed and the security’s prospects are no longer attractive, the security has achieved the team’s valuation target or better relative investment opportunities have been identified. However, an important consideration in all sell decisions is whether the sale would generate a possible realized capital gain. |
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SEGALL BRYANT & HAMILL COLORADO TAX FREE FUND
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
Risk is inherent in all investing and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. A summary description of certain principal risks of investing in the Fund is set forth below. Before you decide whether to invest in the Fund, carefully consider these risk factors associated with investing in the Fund, which may cause investors to lose money. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.
| ● | State Specific Risk: The Fund is subject to the risk that it concentrates its investments in instruments issued by or on behalf of the state of Colorado. Due to the level of investment in municipal obligations issued by the state of Colorado and its political subdivisions, the performance of the Fund will be closely tied to the economic and political conditions in the state of Colorado. Therefore, an investment in the Fund may be riskier than an investment in other types of municipal bond funds, such as a national tax-exempt fund. |
| ● | Municipal Securities Risk: The Fund will be highly impacted by events tied to the overall municipal securities markets, which can be very volatile and significantly affected by unfavorable legislative or political developments and adverse changes in the financial conditions of municipal securities issuers and the economy. Certain sectors of the municipal bond market have special risks that can impact such sectors more significantly than the market as a whole. The securities in which the Fund invests may not be guaranteed by the United States government or supported by the full faith and credit of the United States. |
| ● | Credit Risk: An issuer may be unable to make principal and interest payments when due or that the price of the security changes due to a downgrade in the credit quality of the issuer. In such cases, the value of the Fund’s portfolio could fall. |
| ● | Fixed Income Securities Risk: Fixed income securities markets may, in response to governmental intervention, economic or market developments (including potentially a reduction in the number of broker-dealers willing to engage in market-making activity), or other factors, experience periods of increased volatility and reduced liquidity. Additionally, there is a possibility that the Fund’s income may decline due to a decrease in interest rates. |
| ● | Market Risk: As with any fund, the value of your investment will fluctuate over time in response to overall movements in the market. The value of a security or other asset may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or other asset, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Local, regional, or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infections, illness or other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments. During a general market downturn, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Changes in market conditions and interest rates generally do not have the same impact on all types of securities and instruments. |
| ● | Issuer Risk: The value of a security can be more volatile than the market as a whole and can perform differently from the value of the market as a whole. The value of an issuer’s security may deteriorate because of a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, disappointing earnings reports by the issuer, unsuccessful products or services, loss of major customers, major litigation against the issuer or changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or the competitive environment. |
| ● | Portfolio Management Risk: The Fund is also subject to the risk that particular types of securities held will underperform other securities and/or may decline in value. |
| ● | Tax Risks: The Fund may be adversely impacted by changes in tax rates, tax laws and tax policies. Distributions from the Fund may be taxable. The qualification of bonds owned by the Fund as tax-exempt may be challenged by the IRS or by a state taxing authority because of interpretations by taxing authorities or noncompliant conduct of a municipality, and/or may be adversely affected by future legislative, administrative or judicial activity. In addition, a portion of the Fund’s otherwise tax-exempt dividends may be taxable to shareholders that are subject to the alternative minimum tax. |
| ● | Non-Diversification Risk: The Fund is a non-diversified fund even though the portfolio management team generally limits investments in any one issuer to less than 5% at the time of purchase. This is because many Colorado municipal securities are guaranteed by the State of Colorado, and as such, must be considered as being backed by the same entity. Funds that are considered non-diversified under the Investment Company Act of 1940 may be considered a greater risk when compared to a diversified fund. |
| ● | Interest Rate Risk: A principal risk of investing in the Fund is that the value of a fixed-income portfolio will generally decrease when interest rates rise, which means the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) will likewise decrease. Generally, debt securities decrease in value if interest rates rise and increase in value if interest rates fall, with longer term securities being more sensitive than shorter-term securities. For example, the approximate percentage change in the price of a security with a two-year duration would be expected to drop by approximately 2% in response to a 1% increase in interest rates. |
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SEGALL BRYANT & HAMILL COLORADO TAX FREE FUND
| ● | Extension Risk: The Fund is also subject to the risk that an issuer will exercise its right to pay principal on an obligation held by the Fund (such as a mortgage- or asset-backed security) later than expected. This may happen when there is a rise in interest rates. These events may lengthen the duration and potentially reduce the value of these securities. |
| ● | Prepayment Risk: A general decline in interest rates may result in prepayments of certain obligations the Fund will acquire. These prepayments may require the Fund to reinvest at a lower rate of return. They may also reduce the Fund’s share price, because the value of those securities may depreciate or may not appreciate as rapidly as debt securities, which cannot be prepaid. |
| ● | Municipal Securities Insurance Risk: Municipal securities insurance, which is usually purchased by the bond issuer from a private, nongovernmental insurance company, provides an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee that the insured bond’s principal and interest will be paid when due. Insurance does not guarantee the price of the bond or the share price of any fund. Although defaults on insured municipal bonds have been low to date and municipal bond insurers have met their claims, there is no assurance this will continue. |
| ● | ESG Risk: The Fund’s consideration of ESG factors as part of its investment strategy may limit the types and number of investment opportunities available to the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may underperform other funds that do not consider ESG factors. The Fund’s consideration of ESG factors may result in the Fund investing in securities or industry sectors that underperform the market as a whole, or forgoing opportunities to invest in securities that might otherwise be advantageous to buy. The Fund may also underperform other funds that apply different ESG standards. |
| ● | Cybersecurity Risk: With the increased use of technologies such as the Internet to conduct business, the Fund is susceptible to operational, information security, and related risks. Cyber incidents affecting the Fund or its service providers have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, impediments to trading, the inability of shareholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. |
Bar Chart and Performance Tables
The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risk of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s Retail Class performance from year to year, and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for one-, five-, and ten-years for both the Retail Class and the Institutional Class compared with those of an unmanaged index of securities. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how it will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available on www.sbhfunds.com or call toll-free (800) 392-2673.
Retail Class - Calendar Year Total Returns as of December 31 (%)
| Highest Quarterly Return: 12/31/2023 6.27% | Lowest Quarterly Return: 3/31/2022 (4.98)% |
The returns above are for the Retail Class of the Fund. The Institutional Class would have substantially similar annual returns to the Retail Class because the classes are invested in the same portfolio securities. The Institutional Class’ returns will be higher over the long-term when compared to the Retail Class’ returns to the extent that the Retail Class has higher expenses.
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SEGALL BRYANT & HAMILL COLORADO TAX FREE FUND
Average Annual Total Returns (for the Periods Ended December 31, 2023)
After-tax returns for the Retail Class 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. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.
| Segall Bryant & Hamill Colorado Tax Free Fund | 1 Year | 5 Years | 10 Years |
| Retail Class | |||
| Return Before Taxes | 5.02% | 1.39% | 2.27% |
| Return After Taxes on Distributions | 3.67% | 1.05% | 2.07% |
| Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | 2.94% | 1.40% | 2.22% |
| Institutional Class | |||
| Return Before Taxes | 5.16% | 1.53% | 2.38%* |
| Bloomberg U.S. 1-15 Year Municipal Bond Index | |||
| (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) | 5.26% | 2.17% | 2.58% |
| * | Institutional Class commenced operations on April 29, 2016. The ten-year performance figure for Institutional Class includes the performance for Retail Class for the periods prior to the start date of the Institutional Class. The Institutional Class performance has not been adjusted to reflect the lower fees and expenses of the Institutional Class because (1) the Retail Class represent interests in the same portfolio of securities; and (2) the fees and expenses of the Institutional Class are lower than the Retail Class. |
Management
Investment Adviser
Segall Bryant & Hamill, LLC
Portfolio Manager
| Name(s) of Portfolio Manager(s) and Title(s) | Date Began Managing the Fund |
| Nicholas J. Foley | |
| Senior Portfolio Manager – Segall Bryant & Hamill, LLC | |
| Portfolio Manager of the Fund | May 10, 2016 |
Other Important Information Regarding Fund Shares
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The minimum initial purchase is $2,500 for the Retail Class and $250,000 for the Institutional Class. The minimum subsequent purchase is $25 for the Retail Class (or $25 per month for automatic investment). There is no minimum subsequent purchase for the Institutional Class. You may redeem shares of the Fund on any business day through the Fund’s website at www.sbhfunds.com, by telephone at (800) 392-2673, or by a systematic withdrawal plan (must be multiples of $25, and can be accomplished monthly, quarterly, or annually). You may redeem shares of the Fund on any business day by regular mail at Segall Bryant & Hamill Funds, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, Ohio 45246-0707.
Tax Information
The Segall Bryant & Hamill Colorado Tax Free Fund intends to make distributions that will not be subject to federal or Colorado state income tax. However, some distributions may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gains except when your investment is held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. Distributions that are derived from interest paid on certain bonds may be an item of tax preference if you are subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, special tax rules will apply, and you may receive no additional tax benefits by investing in a tax-exempt mutual fund.
Financial Intermediary Compensation - Payments to Broker-Dealers and other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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