The Portfolio will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in common stocks of companies whose stock market capitalizations fall within the range of capitalizations in the Russell 2000® Index. The market capitalization range of the Russell 2000® Index at September 30, 2023 was $159.5 million to $4.2 billion. The Russell 2000® Index is reconstituted annually at the midpoint of the calendar year. The Portfolio will also occasionally invest a portion of its assets in mid-cap stocks that are small relative to their industries that the Adviser believes have compelling valuations and fundamentals, and it will not immediately sell a security that was bought as a small-cap stock but through appreciation has become a mid-cap stock. In selecting securities for the Portfolio, the Adviser begins with a screening process that seeks to identify growing companies whose stocks sell at discounted price-to-earnings and price-to-cash flow multiples. The Adviser also attempts to discern situations where intrinsic asset values are not widely recognized. The Adviser favors such higher-quality companies that generate strong cash flow, provide above-average free cash flow yields and maintain sound balance sheets. Rigorous fundamental analysis, from both a quantitative and qualitative standpoint, is applied to all investment candidates. While the Adviser employs a disciplined “bottom-up” approach that attempts to identify undervalued stocks, it nonetheless is sensitive to emerging secular trends. The Adviser does not, however, rely on macroeconomic forecasts in its stock selection efforts and prefers to remain fully invested. Under adverse market conditions, the Portfolio may also make temporary investments in investment grade debt securities. Such investment strategies could result in the Portfolio not achieving its investment objective.