The Fund will concentrate its
investments in the securities of issuers engaged primarily in technology-related industries. The Fund considers an issuer to be doing business in technology-related industries if it meets at least one of the following tests:
(1) at least 50% of its gross income or its net sales come from activities in technology-related industries; (2) at least 50% of its total assets are devoted to producing revenues in technology-related industries; or (3) based on other
available information, the Fund’s portfolio manager determines that its primary business is within
technology-related industries. Such other available information may include industry classifications from
any one or more third-party providers, such as the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®), the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) or the Bloomberg Industry Classification System (BICS).
Issuers in technology-related industries include, but are not limited to, those involved in the design, manufacture, distribution, licensing, or provision of various applied technologies,
hardware, software, semiconductors, telecommunications equipment and telecommunications/media distribution
services, medical technology, biotechnology, as well as service-related companies in the information
technology industry.
The Fund invests primarily in securities that are considered by the Fund’s
portfolio manager to have potential for earnings or revenue growth. While the portfolio manager may invest in securities of issuers of any market capitalization, the portfolio manager tends to favor the securities of mid- and large-capitalization
issuers.
The Fund may invest up to 50% of its net assets in securities of foreign issuers,
which may include securities of issuers located in emerging market countries, i.e., those that are generally in the early stages of their industrial cycles. The Fund may invest in depositary receipts or local shares to gain exposure to foreign companies.
The Fund can invest in derivative instruments, including options and futures contracts.
The Fund can use options, including call options, for hedging and investment
purposes.
The Fund can use futures contracts, including index futures,
to gain exposure to the broad market by equitizing cash and as a hedge against downside risk.
The Fund is non-diversified, which means it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in a small group of issuers or any one issuer than a diversified fund can.
In selecting investments for the Fund, the portfolio manager looks for companies using a “bottom-up” stock selection process. The “bottom-up” approach focuses on
fundamental analysis of individual issuers before considering the impact of overall economic, market or industry trends. This approach includes analysis of a company’s financial statements and management structure and consideration of the
company’s operations, product development, and its industry position. The portfolio manager currently
focuses on companies that the portfolio manager believes are characterized by industry leadership, market share growth, high caliber management teams, sustainable competitive advantages, and strong growth themes or new innovative products or services.
The portfolio manager monitors individual issuers for changes in the factors above, which may trigger a
decision to sell a security, but does not require a decision to do so. The factors considered by the portfolio manager may vary in particular cases and may change over time.
In attempting to meet its investment objective or to manage subscription and
redemption requests, the Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities.
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, economic crisis 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.
Technology Sector
Risk. Technology companies are subject to intense competition, rapid obsolescence of their products, issues with obtaining financing or regulatory approvals,
product incompatibility, changing consumer preferences, increased government scrutiny, high required
corporate capital expenditure for research and development or infrastructure and development of new products, each of which make the prices of securities issued by these companies more volatile. Technology companies are also heavily dependent on patent
and other intellectual property rights, and the loss or impairment of these rights may adversely affect the
company's profitability.
Growth Investing
Risk. If a growth company’s earnings or stock price fails to increase as anticipated, or if its business plans do not produce the expected results, the value of its
securities may decline sharply. Growth companies may be newer or smaller companies that may experience
greater stock price fluctuations and risks of loss than larger, more established companies. Newer growth
companies tend to retain a large part of their earnings for research, development or investments in capital assets. Therefore, they may not pay any dividends for some time. Growth investing has gone in and out of favor during past
market cycles and is likely to continue to do so. During periods when growth investing is out of favor or
when markets are unstable, it may be more difficult to sell growth company securities at an acceptable
price and the securities of growth companies may underperform the securities of value companies or the overall stock market. Growth stocks may also be more volatile than other securities because of investor speculation.
Small- and Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in securities of
small- and mid-capitalization companies involves greater risk than customarily is associated with investing in larger, more established