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Re:
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AMCAP
Fund
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File
Nos. 811-01435 and
002-26516
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<PAGE>
[logo - American Funds /(R)/] The right choice for the long term/(R)/
AMCAP Fund/(R)/
CLASS A SHARES AMCPX CLASS 529-A SHARES CAFAX
CLASS B SHARES AMPBX CLASS 529-B SHARES CAFBX
CLASS C SHARES AMPCX CLASS 529-C SHARES CAFCX
CLASS F-1 SHARES AMPFX CLASS 529-E SHARES CAFEX
CLASS F-2 SHARES AMCFX CLASS 529-F-1 SHARES CAFFX
PROSPECTUS
May 1, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Investment objective
1 Fees and expenses of the fund
3 Portfolio turnover
3 Principal investment strategies
3 Principal risks
6 Investment adviser
7 Purchase and sale of fund shares
7 Tax information
7 Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries
8 Investment objective, strategies and risks
11 Management and organization
14 Shareholder information
15 Choosing a share class
18 Purchase, exchange and sale of shares
23 Sales charges
26 Sales charge reductions and waivers
30 Rollovers from retirement plans to IRAs
30 Plans of distribution
31 Other compensation to dealers
31 How to sell shares
33 Distributions and taxes
34 Financial highlights
THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION HAS NOT APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED OF
THESE SECURITIES. FURTHER, IT HAS NOT DETERMINED THAT THIS PROSPECTUS IS
ACCURATE OR COMPLETE. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL
OFFENSE.
<PAGE>
Investment objective
The fund's investment objective is to provide you with long-term growth of
capital.
Fees and expenses of the fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold
shares of the fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your
family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $25,000 in the
American Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available
from your financial professional and in the "Sales charge reductions and
waivers" section on page 26 of the fund's prospectus, and on page 46 of the
fund's statement of additional information.
SHAREHOLDER FEES (PAID DIRECTLY FROM YOUR INVESTMENT)
CLASS A CLASS B CLASS C CLASS 529-E CLASS F-1,
AND 529-A AND 529-B AND 529-C F-2 AND 529-F-1
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Maximum sales
charge (load) imposed 5.75% none none none none
on purchases (as a
percentage of
offering price)
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Maximum
deferred sales charge none/1/ 5.00% 1.00% none none
(load) (as a
percentage of the
amount redeemed)
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Maximum sales charge none none none none none
(load) imposed on
reinvested dividends
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Redemption or none none none none none
exchange fees
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Maximum annual $10 $10 $10 $10 $10
account fee (529 shares
only)
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A
PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
CLASS A CLASS B CLASS C CLASS F-1 CLASS F-2
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Management fees 0.33% 0.33% 0.33% 0.33% 0.33%
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Distribution and/or 0.23 1.00 1.00 0.25 none
service (12b-1) fees
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Other expenses 0.18 0.17 0.19 0.12 0.17/2/
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Total annual fund 0.74 1.50 1.52 0.70 0.50/2/
operating expenses
CLASS CLASS CLASS CLASS CLASS
529-A 529-B 529-C 529-E 529-F-1
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Management fees 0.33% 0.33% 0.33% 0.33% 0.33%
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Distribution and/or 0.20 1.00 1.00 0.50 0.00
service (12b-1) fees
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Other expenses 0.26 0.27 0.26 0.26 0.26
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Total annual fund 0.79 1.60 1.59 1.09 0.59
operating expenses
1
AMCAP Fund / Prospectus
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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 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 that all
dividends and capital gain distributions are reinvested, that you pay the
maximum initial or contingent deferred sales charge, and that the fund's
operating expenses remain the same. 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
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Class A $646 $798 $ 963 $1,441
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Class B 653 874 1,018 1,585
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Class C 255 480 829 1,813
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Class F-1 72 224 390 871
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Class F-2 51 160 280 628
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Class 529-A 671 852 1,047 1,601
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Class 529-B 682 944 1,128 1,784
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Class 529-C 281 541 923 1,989
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Class 529-E 131 386 659 1,431
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Class 529-F-1 80 229 388 844
For the share classes listed below you would pay the following if you did not
redeem your shares.
1 YEAR 3 YEARS 5 YEARS 10 YEARS
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Class B $153 474 $818 $1,585
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Class C 155 480 829 1,813
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Class 529-B 182 544 928 1,784
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Class 529-C 181 541 923 1,989
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1 A contingent deferred sales charge of 1.00% applies on certain redemptions
made within one year following purchases of $1 million or more made without an
initial sales charge.
2 Based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.
2
AMCAP Fund / Prospectus
<PAGE>
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 and may result in higher taxes when fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund's performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 37%
of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal investment strategies
The fund invests primarily in stocks of issuers located in the U.S. with a
record of above-average long-term growth, but may invest in stocks or other
securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States to a limited extent.
The fund's investment adviser focuses primarily on companies with attributes
that are associated with long-term growth, such as strong management,
participation in a growing market and a history of above-average growth in
earnings, revenues, book value, cash flow and/or return on assets.
Principal risks
YOU MAY LOSE MONEY BY INVESTING IN THE FUND. THE LIKELIHOOD OF LOSS MAY BE
GREATER IF YOU INVEST FOR A SHORTER PERIOD OF TIME.
Investors in the fund should have a long-term perspective and, for example, be
able to tolerate potentially sharp, short-term declines in value.
The prices of securities held by the fund may decline in response to certain
events taking place around the world, including those directly involving the
companies whose securities are owned by the fund; conditions affecting the
general economy; overall market changes; local, regional or global political,
social or economic instability; and currency, interest rate and commodity price
fluctuations.
Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or
guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency, entity or person.
3
AMCAP Fund / Prospectus
<PAGE>
HISTORICAL INVESTMENT RESULTS
The bar chart below shows how the fund's investment results have varied from
year to year, and the Investment Results table on page 5 shows how the fund's
average annual total returns for various periods compare with different broad
measures of market performance. This information provides some indication of the
risks of investing in the fund. All fund results reflect the reinvestment of
dividends and capital gain distributions, if any. Unless otherwise noted, fund
results reflect any fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements in effect during
the period presented. Past results (before and after taxes) are not predictive
of future results.
CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS FOR CLASS A SHARES
(Results do not include a sales charge; if a sales charge were included,
results would be lower.)
[begin bar chart]
1999 21.78%
2000 7.50
2001 -5.01
2002 -18.66
2003 29.64
2004 9.80
2005 6.98
2006 8.63
2007 7.50
2008 -37.68
[end bar chart]
Highest/Lowest quarterly results during this time period were:
HIGHEST 15.62% (quarter ended June 30, 2003)
LOWEST -22.53% (quarter ended December 31, 2008)
The fund's total return for the three months ended March 31, 2009, was -5.05%.
Updated information on the fund's results can be obtained by visiting
americanfunds.com.
4
AMCAP Fund / Prospectus
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INVESTMENT RESULTS (WITH MAXIMUM SALES CHARGES)
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR PERIODS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2008:
1 YEAR 5 YEARS 10 YEARS LIFETIME
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CLASS A -- FIRST SOLD 5/1/67
Before taxes -41.26% -4.23% 0.55% 10.50%
After taxes on distributions -41.61 -4.73 -0.37 N/A
After taxes on distributions and sale -26.07 -3.31 0.43 N/A
of fund shares
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1 YEAR 5 YEARS LIFETIME
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CLASS B -- FIRST SOLD 3/15/00
Before taxes -41.12% -4.16% -1.80%
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CLASS C -- FIRST SOLD 3/15/01
Before taxes -38.76 -3.89 -1.94
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CLASS F-1 -- FIRST SOLD 3/16/01
Before taxes -37.64 -3.10 -0.94
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CLASS 529-A -- FIRST SOLD 2/15/02
Before taxes -41.27 -4.29 -1.81
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CLASS 529-B -- FIRST SOLD 2/19/02
Before taxes -41.15 -4.29 -1.57
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CLASS 529-C -- FIRST SOLD 2/19/02
Before taxes -38.76 -3.95 -1.55
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CLASS 529-E -- FIRST SOLD 3/7/02
Before taxes -37.85 -3.45 -1.85
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CLASS 529-F-1 -- FIRST SOLD 9/17/02
Before taxes -37.54 -3.03 1.95
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1 YEAR 5 YEARS 10 YEARS LIFETIME/2/
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INDEXES/1/ (BEFORE TAXES)
S&P 500 -36.99% -2.19% -1.38% 9.01%
Lipper Multi-Cap Core Funds Index -39.45 -2.29 -0.47 8.60
Lipper Growth Funds Index -42.24 -4.25 -3.08 7.80
Consumer Price Index 0.09 2.67 2.52 4.54
1 The S&P 500 reflects the market sectors in which the fund primarily invests.
The Lipper Multi-Cap Core Funds Index includes the fund. Both Lipper indexes
include mutual funds which disclose investment objectives that are reasonably
comparable to those of the fund. The Consumer Price Index provides a comparison
of the fund's results to inflation. See pages 9-10 of this prospectus for more
information on the indexes listed above.
2 Lifetime results for the index(es) shown are measured from the date Class A
shares were first sold.
After-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares; after-tax returns for other
share classes will vary. After-tax returns are calculated using the highest
individual federal income tax rates in effect during each year of the periods
shown and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual
after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation and likely will differ
from the results shown above. In addition, after-tax returns may not be relevant
if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a
401(k) plan, individual retirement account (IRA) or 529 college savings plan.
5
AMCAP Fund / Prospectus
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Investment adviser
Capital Research and Management Company serves as investment adviser to the
fund. Capital Research and Management Company uses a system of multiple
portfolio counselors in managing mutual fund assets. The primary individual
portfolio counselors for AMCAP Fund are:
PORTFOLIO
PORTFOLIO COUNSELOR/ COUNSELOR PRIMARY TITLE WITH
FUND TITLE EXPERIENCE INVESTMENT ADVISER
(IF APPLICABLE) IN THIS FUND (OR AFFILIATE)
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R. MICHAEL SHANAHAN 22 years Chairman Emeritus and Director,
Vice Chairman of the Capital Research and Management
Board Company
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CLAUDIA P. HUNTINGTON 12 years Senior Vice President - Capital
President and Research Global Investors
Director
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TIMOTHY D. ARMOUR 12 years Senior Vice President - Capital
Senior Vice President Research Global Investors
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BARRY S. CROSTHWAITE 3 years Senior Vice President - Capital
Vice President Research Global Investors
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ERIC S. RICHTER 1 year Vice President - Capital Research
Vice President Global Investors
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C. ROSS SAPPENFIELD 9 years Senior Vice President - Capital
Vice President Research Global Investors
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6
AMCAP Fund / Prospectus
<PAGE>
Purchase and sale of fund shares
PURCHASE MINIMUMS AND MAXIMUMS
PURCHASE MINIMUMS FOR ALL CLASSES OF SHARES
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To establish an account (including retirement plan and 529 $ 250
accounts)
For a payroll deduction retirement plan account, payroll
deduction 25
savings plan account or employer-sponsored 529 account
To add to an account 50
For a payroll deduction retirement plan account, payroll 25
deduction
savings plan account or employer-sponsored 529 account
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PURCHASE MAXIMUM PER TRANSACTION FOR CLASS C SHARES 500,000
You may sell (redeem) shares through your dealer or financial adviser, by
writing to American Funds Service Company, telephoning or faxing American Funds
Service Company or on our website (americanfunds.com).
Tax information
Dividends and capital gain distributions you receive from the fund will be
subject to federal income tax and may also be subject to state or local taxes --
unless you are exempt from taxation.
Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries
If you purchase shares of 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.
7
AMCAP Fund / Prospectus