from business in countries in Europe; (4) its
securities are trading principally on a security exchange, or in an over-the-counter market, in a country in
Europe; or (5) its “country of risk” is a country in Europe as determined by a third party
service provider.
The Fund invests primarily in equity securities and depositary
receipts. The principal type of equity security in which the Fund invests is common 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 100% of its assets in foreign securities, including up to
35% of its net assets in securities of European issuers located in emerging markets countries, i.e., those that are generally in the early stages of their industrial cycles.
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 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.
European Investment Risk.
The Economic and Monetary Union (the “EMU”) 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
significant adverse effects 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, 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 departure of the United Kingdom (the “UK”),
referred to as “Brexit”, could place the departing member's currency and banking system under
severe stress or even in jeopardy. An exit by 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.
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