| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years |
Class J | $107 | $340 | $593 | $1,314 |
Class I | $84 | $268 | $468 | $1,046 |
Class Y | $82 | $262 | $458 | $1,023 |
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 generate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These transaction costs, and potentially higher taxes, which are not reflected in the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the fiscal year ended May 31, 2024, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 24.92% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund’s investment strategy seeks to identify companies the Adviser deems to be undervalued. To achieve its objective of long-term capital appreciation, the Fund invests in equity securities of companies that satisfy the investment criteria described below. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowing for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies meeting the criteria for “quality” and “mid-capitalization” as determined by the Adviser. The Adviser considers a company to be a “mid-capitalization” company if it is listed in the Russell Midcap® Index at the time that the Adviser creates the Fund’s investable universe. The Adviser considers a company to be a “quality” company if it possesses competitive advantages as evidenced by generating a return on equity of 15% or greater for at least ten consecutive fiscal years as determined by the Adviser.
The Adviser determines the companies that qualify for inclusion in the Fund’s investable universe on at least an annual basis. These companies are selected from a universe of publicly traded U.S. companies that, as determined by the Adviser, have produced long-term records of consistently high returns on shareholder equity. In order to qualify for this universe, each company must meet the Adviser’s definitions of “mid-capitalization” and “quality”, and may include companies with negative equity resulting from debt-financing of large share repurchases. These companies may have unique risk profiles depending on the amount of debt incurred relative to the company’s ability to repay that debt.
Equity securities in which the Fund may invest as a principal strategy consist primarily of common stocks of mid-cap U.S. companies.
The Fund’s investment strategy is based on applying fundamental analysis and valuation models to this select universe of companies in order to identify investment opportunities. Fundamental analysis includes assessment of the company’s industry, strategy, competitive advantages, business segments, geographic distribution, growth and profitability, financial statements (income statement, cash flow statement, balance sheet), and the company’s other financial reports. The valuation models are rooted in fundamentals-based investment principles and include discounted cash flow models (for example, determining the present value of expected future cash flows), relative valuation methods (for example, a company’s valuation relative to its own history, its industry peers, or the broader stock market), and ratio methods (for example, a company’s price-to-earnings ratios).
The Fund may sell all or part of its position in a company when the Adviser has determined that another qualifying security has a greater opportunity to achieve the Fund’s objective. In addition, the Fund generally sells its position in a company when the company no longer meets one or more of the Fund’s investment criteria described above for inclusion in the universe of companies in which the Fund may invest. In the event that the company no longer satisfies the investment criteria and the failure is due to an extraordinary situation that the Adviser believes will not have a material adverse impact on the company’s operating performance, the Fund may continue to hold and invest in the company. Examples of such extraordinary situations include a significant acquisition, divestiture, or accounting rule change that results in a significant change to a company’s equity balance and a non-meaningful return on equity number.
The Adviser expects to include in the Fund’s investment portfolio at any time securities of approximately 30 to 50 primarily domestic companies. The Fund must always own the securities of a minimum of 25 different companies in its portfolio. The Fund strives to be fully invested at all times in publicly traded common stocks and other eligible equity securities issued by companies that meet the investment criteria described in this Prospectus.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
Before investing in the Fund, you should carefully consider your own investment goals, the amount of time you are willing to leave your money invested, and the amount of risk you are willing to take. Remember, in addition to possibly not achieving your investment goals, you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The principal risks of investing in this Fund are:
+ Stock Market Risk
The market value of stocks held by the Fund may decline over a short, or even an extended period of time, resulting in a decrease in the value of a shareholder’s investment.
+ Management Risk
The investment process used by the Adviser, including the Adviser’s valuation models, to select securities for the Fund’s investment portfolio may not prove effective, and the Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential appreciation of the Fund’s investments may prove to be incorrect in that the investments chosen by the Adviser may not perform as anticipated. Certain risks are inherent in the ownership of any security, and there is no assurance that the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.
+ General Market Risk
Certain securities selected for the Fund’s portfolio may be worth less than the price originally paid for them, or less than they were worth at an earlier time.
+ Recent Market Events Risk
U.S. and international markets have experienced and may continue to experience significant periods of volatility in recent years and months due to a number of economic, political and global macro factors including uncertainty regarding inflation and central banks’ interest rates, the possibility of a national or global recession, trade tensions, political events, the war between Russia and Ukraine, armed conflict in the Middle East, and the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. The