in mainland China that trade on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the
Shenzhen Stock Exchange).
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.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund will provide exposure to investments that are economically tied to at least three different countries outside of the U.S. The Fund may also
invest up to 40% of its net assets in securities of issuers located in emerging market countries, i.e., those that are generally in the early stages of their industrial cycles.
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 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 to identify 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price changes such that they believe it has become too expensive, (2) the original investment thesis for the company is no longer valid, or (3) a more compelling investment opportunity is identified.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.
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 governmental limitations on foreign investment than more developed
markets. In addition, companies operating in emerging markets may be subject to lower trading volume and
greater price fluctuations than companies in more developed markets. Such countries’ economies may be
more dependent on relatively few industries or investors that may be highly vulnerable to local and global
changes. Companies in emerging market countries generally may be subject to less stringent regulatory, disclosure, financial reporting, accounting, auditing and recordkeeping standards than companies in more developed countries. As a
result, information, including financial information, about such companies may be less available and
reliable, which can impede the Fund’s ability to evaluate such companies. Securities law and the
enforcement of systems of taxation in many emerging market countries may change quickly and unpredictably, and the ability to bring and enforce actions (including bankruptcy, confiscatory taxation, expropriation, nationalization of a
company’s assets, restrictions on foreign ownership of local companies, restrictions on withdrawing assets from the country, protectionist measures and practices such as share blocking), or to obtain information needed to
pursue or enforce such actions, may be limited. In addition, the ability of foreign entities to participate
in privatization programs of certain developing or emerging market countries may be limited by local law. Investments in emerging