The Fund invests in a diversified portfolio of equity securities of large capitalization companies that the Adviser believes are undervalued. The Fund invests in companies that are determined by the Adviser to be undervalued using the fundamental value approach of the Adviser. The fundamental value approach seeks to identify a universe of securities that are considered to be undervalued because they are attractively priced relative to their future earnings power and dividend-paying capability.

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, including any borrowings for investment purposes, in equity securities of large capitalization companies. For these purposes, “large capitalization companies” are those that, at the time of investment, have market capitalizations within the range of market capitalizations of companies appearing in the Russell 1000® Value Index. While the market capitalization of companies in the Russell 1000® Value Index ranged from approximately $0.3 billion to $490 billion as of May 31, 2024, the Fund normally invests in equity securities of companies with market capitalizations of at least $5 billion at the time of purchase. The Fund invests primarily in U.S. companies but also invests in non-U.S. companies.

In selecting securities for the Fund’s portfolio, the Adviser uses its fundamental and quantitative research to identify companies whose long-term earnings power and dividend-paying capability are not fully reflected in the current market price of their securities.

The Adviser’s fundamental analysis depends heavily upon its internal research staff. The research staff of company and industry analysts covers a research universe that includes the majority of the capitalization of the Russell 1000® Value Index. The Adviser typically projects a company’s financial performance over a full economic cycle, including a trough and a peak, within the context of forecasts for real economic growth, inflation and interest rate changes. The research staff focuses on the valuation implied by the current price, relative to the earnings the company will be generating five years from now, or “normalized” earnings, assuming average mid-economic cycle growth for the fifth year.

The Fund’s management team and other senior investment professionals work in close collaboration to weigh each investment opportunity identified by the research staff relative to the entire portfolio and determine the timing and position size for purchases and sales. Analysts remain responsible for monitoring new developments that would affect the securities they cover.

The team will generally sell a security when it no longer meets appropriate valuation criteria, although sales may be delayed when positive return trends are favorable.

The Fund may enter into derivatives transactions, such as options, futures contracts, forwards, and swaps. The Fund may use options strategies involving the purchase and/or writing of various combinations of call and/or put options, including on individual securities and stock indices, futures contracts (including futures contracts on individual securities and stock indices) or shares of exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). These transactions may be used, for example, in an effort to earn extra income, to adjust exposure to individual securities or markets, or to protect all or a portion of the Fund’s portfolio from a decline in value, sometimes within certain ranges.

The Fund may, at times, invest in shares of ETFs in lieu of making direct investments in equity securities. ETFs may provide more efficient and economical exposure to the type of companies and geographic locations in which the Fund seeks to invest than direct investments.