The Fund considers an issuer to be a small-capitalization issuer if it has a market capitalization, at the time of purchase, no larger than the largest capitalized issuer included in the Russell
2000® Index during the most recent 11-month period (based on month-end data) plus the most recent data during the current month.
The Fund invests primarily in equity securities and depositary receipts. The principal types of equity securities in which the Fund invests are common and preferred stock.
The Fund
invests primarily in securities of issuers that are considered by the Fund’s portfolio managers to have potential for earnings or revenue growth.
The
Fund may invest up to 35% of its net assets in securities of European issuers located in emerging market countries, i.e., those that are generally in the early stages of their industrial cycles.
The Fund can invest in derivative instruments, including forward foreign currency contracts and futures contracts.
The Fund can use forward foreign currency contracts to hedge against adverse
movements in the foreign currencies in which portfolio securities are denominated; though the Fund has not historically used these instruments.
The Fund can use futures contracts to gain exposure to the broad market in connection with managing cash balances or to hedge against downside risk.
The portfolio managers’ strategy primarily focuses on identifying issuers
that they believe have a strong “EQV” profile. The portfolio managers’ EQV investment
approach focuses on Earnings, demonstrated by sustainable earnings growth; Quality, demonstrated by efficient capital allocation; and Valuation, demonstrated by attractive prices.
The portfolio managers employ a disciplined investment strategy that emphasizes
fundamental research. The fundamental research primarily focuses on identifying quality growth companies and is supported by quantitative analysis, portfolio construction and risk management. Investments for the portfolio are selected bottom-up
on a security-by-security basis. The focus is on the strengths of individual issuers, rather than sector or
country trends.
The Fund’s portfolio managers may consider
selling a security for several reasons, including when (1) its price changes such that they believe it
has become too expensive, (2) the original investment thesis for the company is no longer valid, or (3) a more compelling investment opportunity is identified.
Principal Risks
of Investing in the Fund
As with any mutual fund investment, loss of money is a risk of investing. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation or any other governmental agency. The risks associated with an investment in the Fund can increase during times of significant market volatility. The principal risks of investing in the Fund
are:
Market Risk. The market values of the Fund’s investments, and therefore the value of the Fund’s shares, will go up and
down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Market risk may affect a single issuer, industry or section of
the economy, or it may affect the market as a whole. The value of the Fund’s investments may go up or down due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to the particular issuer, such as real or perceived adverse economic
conditions, changes in the general outlook for revenues or corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, regional or global instability, natural or environmental disasters, widespread disease or other public health
issues, war, military conflict, acts of terrorism or adverse investor sentiment generally. During a general
downturn in the financial markets, multiple asset classes may decline in value. When markets perform well,
there can be no assurance that specific investments held by the Fund will rise in value.
Investing in Stocks Risk. The value of the Fund’s portfolio may be affected by changes in the stock markets. Stock markets may experience
significant short-term volatility and may fall or rise sharply at times. Adverse events in any part of the equity or fixed-income markets may have unexpected negative effects on other market segments.
Different stock markets may behave differently from each other and U.S. stock markets may move in the
opposite direction from one or more foreign stock markets.
The prices of individual
stocks generally do not all move in the same direction at the same time. However, individual stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of certain other types of investments, such as bonds. A variety of factors can
negatively affect the price of a particular company’s stock. These factors may include, but are not
limited to: poor earnings reports, a loss of customers, litigation against the company, general unfavorable
performance of the company’s sector or industry, or changes in government regulations affecting the company or its industry. To the extent that securities of a particular type are emphasized (for example foreign stocks, stocks of
small- or mid-cap companies, growth or value stocks, or stocks of companies in a particular industry), fund share values may fluctuate more in response to events affecting the market for those types of securities.
Foreign Securities Risk. The Fund's foreign investments may be adversely affected by political and social instability, changes in economic or
taxation policies, difficulty in enforcing obligations, decreased liquidity or increased volatility.
Foreign investments also involve the risk of the possible seizure, nationalization or expropriation of the issuer or foreign deposits (in which the Fund could lose its entire investments in a certain market) and the possible adoption of foreign governmental
restrictions such as exchange controls. Foreign companies generally may be subject to less stringent
regulations than U.S. companies, including financial reporting requirements and auditing and accounting
controls, and may therefore be more susceptible to fraud or corruption. There may be less public information
available about foreign companies than U.S. companies, making it difficult to evaluate those foreign
companies. Unless the Fund has hedged its foreign currency exposure, foreign securities risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency 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. Currency hedging
strategies, if used, are not always successful.
European Investment Risk. The Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union (the “EU”) requires compliance with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits, interest
rates, debt levels and fiscal and monetary controls, each of which may significantly affect every country in Europe. Decreasing imports or exports, changes in governmental or EU regulations on trade, changes in the exchange rate of the euro, the
default or threat of default by an EU member country on its sovereign debt, and recessions in an EU member
country may have a significant adverse effect on the economies of EU member countries. Responses to financial problems by EU countries may not produce the desired results, may limit future growth and economic recovery, or may result in social unrest or have
other unintended consequences. Further defaults or restructurings by governments and other entities of
their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets, and asset valuations around the world. A number of countries in Eastern Europe remain relatively undeveloped and can be particularly sensitive to political and economic
developments. Separately, the EU faces issues involving its membership, structure, procedures and policies.
The exit of one or more member states from the EU, such as the recent departure of the United Kingdom (known as “Brexit”), would place its currency and banking system in jeopardy. The exit by the United Kingdom or other member states will likely result in
increased volatility, illiquidity and potentially lower economic growth in the affected markets, which will
adversely affect the Fund’s investments.
Emerging Market Securities Risk. Emerging markets (also referred to as developing markets) are generally subject to greater market volatility, political, social and economic instability,
uncertain trading markets and more