Principal Investment Strategies
of the Fund
The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of issuers in the Asia Pacific region (except
Japanese companies), and in derivatives and other instruments that have economic characteristics similar to
such securities. The Fund uses various criteria to determine whether an issuer is in the Asia Pacific region, including whether (1) it is organized under the laws of a country in the Asia Pacific region, (2) it has a principal office in a country in the Asia Pacific
region, (3) it derives 50% or more of its total revenues from business in countries in the Asia Pacific region, (4) its securities are trading principally on a security exchange, or in an over-the-counter market, in a country in the Asia
Pacific region, or (5) its “country of risk” is a country in the Asia Pacific region as determined by a third party service provider.
The Fund invests primarily in equity securities, including common and preferred
stock, and depositary receipts. The Fund’s common stock investments also include China-A shares (shares of companies based in mainland China that trade on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange).
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 in the securities of issuers of all capitalization sizes and may invest a significant amount of its net assets in the securities of small- and mid-capitalization
issuers.
The Fund may invest up to 100% of its net assets in foreign
securities, including securities of issuers located in emerging markets 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; although 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, 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.
Asia Pacific Region Risk (ex-Japan). The level of development of
the economies of countries in the Asia Pacific region varies greatly. Furthermore, since the economies of
the countries in the region are largely intertwined, if an economic recession is experienced by any of these
countries, it will likely adversely impact the economic performance of other countries in the region.
Certain economies in the region may be adversely affected by increased competition, high inflation rates, undeveloped financial services sectors, currency fluctuations or restrictions, political and social instability and increased
economic volatility.
Investments in companies located or operating in Greater China
(normally considered to be the geographical area that includes mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan)
involve risks and considerations not typically associated with investments in the U.S. and other Western nations, such as greater government control over the economy; political, legal and regulatory uncertainty; nationalization,
expropriation, or confiscation of property; lack of willingness or ability of the Chinese government to support the economies and markets of the Greater China region; lack of publicly available information and difficulty in
obtaining information necessary for investigations into and/or litigation against Chinese companies, as well as in obtaining and/or enforcing judgments; limited legal remedies for shareholders; alteration or discontinuation of economic
reforms; military conflicts and the risk of war, either internal or with other countries; public health
emergencies resulting in market closures, travel restrictions, quarantines or other interventions; inflation, currency fluctuations and fluctuations in inflation and interest rates that may have negative effects on the economy and securities markets of
Greater China; and Greater China’s dependency on the economies of other Asian countries, many of which are developing countries. Events in any one country within Greater China may impact the other countries in the region or
Greater China as a whole. Export growth continues to be a major driver of China’s rapid economic growth. As a result, a reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, the institution of additional tariffs, sanctions,
capital controls, embargoes, trade wars, or other trade barriers (or the threat thereof), including as a result of trade tensions between China and the United States, or a downturn in any of