The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in the equity securities (common stocks, preferred stocks and convertible securities) of small capitalization U.S. companies. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets (for the purpose of this requirement, net assets include net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies with small market capitalization. The Fund currently defines a small capitalization (small cap) company as one whose market capitalization, at the time of purchase, is no greater than the largest market capitalization of any company included in the Russell 2000 Index.

The Fund's sub-adviser, Bragg Financial Advisors, Inc., invests the Fund's assets by pursuing a value-oriented strategy. The sub-adviser's strategy begins with a screening process that seeks to identify small cap companies whose stocks sell at discounted price-to-earnings (P/E) and price-to-cash flow (P/CF) multiples. The sub-adviser favors companies that maintain strong balance sheets and have experienced management. Generally, the sub-adviser attempts to identify situations where stock prices are undervalued by the market. The sub-adviser generally sells securities when it believes they are trading for more than their intrinsic value, to generate tax losses to offset taxable gains, or if additional cash is needed to fund redemptions.