The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objectives of long-term capital appreciation and income generation by purchasing small capitalization equities of international companies with a proven track record of consistent dividend growth.

The Fund is primarily composed of common stocks, American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) of international companies or entities, Master Limited Partnerships (“MLPs”) and cash equivalents. ADRs are investments issued by an American bank or trust company evidencing ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign company. International companies or entities are those that trade on non-U.S. exchanges or that derive the majority of their revenue from non-U.S. sources.

As an international fund, the Fund invests, under normal market conditions, in at least three different foreign countries, and at least 40% of its assets outside of the U.S. The Fund plans to invest primarily in developed markets, and to a lesser degree in emerging markets, throughout the world. Emerging markets include all markets that are not considered to be developed markets by the MSCI World Ex USA Small Cap Index. The Fund may seek to reduce currency fluctuations by hedging its foreign currency exposure.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including borrowings for investment purposes) in securities that pay a dividend and also have increased their dividend in the past 12 months or that the adviser expects to raise the dividend in the next 12 months. Up to 20% of the Fund’s net assets may be invested in stocks that do not meet these dividend criteria. The adviser sells securities when they no longer meet its fundamental dividend growth criteria. The adviser may engage in active and frequent trading to meet the Fund’s investment objectives.

In addition, under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including borrowings for investment purposes) in small capitalization companies. The Fund’s adviser considers “small capitalization” companies to include companies with market capitalizations, at the time of purchase, within the market capitalization range of any stock in the MSCI World Ex USA Small Cap Index. This capitalization range fluctuates and was $0 million to $10.17 billion as of February 29, 2024.