The Adviser seeks to meet the Fund’s investment objective of growth of capital by employing a value investment strategy to its selection of predominantly Large Cap and Mid Cap common stocks for the portfolio. The Adviser considers Large Cap companies to be those with market capitalizations in excess of $10 billion at the time of purchase (“Large Cap”). The Adviser considers Mid Cap companies to be those with market capitalizations between $1 billion and $10 billion at the time of purchase (“Mid Cap”). The Fund may, from time to time, have significant exposure to one or more sectors of the market. As of December 31, 2023, the Fund had invested 20.9% in the Health Care sector. The investment strategy is built upon three components:

Disciplined Approach — Since the Fund’s inception in 1985, the Adviser has consistently applied its value-oriented investment philosophy and process. This process is driven by strict valuation screening, rigorous company specific research, and stock selection. The Adviser strives to be at or near fully invested.

Risk Aversion — The Adviser’s focus and emphasis on companies selling at low absolute and relative P/E valuations provides risk control. The portfolio is oriented toward financially sound companies that have underperformed and have lost Wall Street’s attention due to low expectations. The Adviser analyzes risk on a company-by-company basis and establishes maximum position constraints in portfolio construction. The Adviser also considers governance as well as environmental and social factors as appropriate. While valuation, governance, environmental and social factors are analyzed, the evaluation of all key investment considerations is industry-and company-specific. Consequently, no one issue necessarily disqualifies a company from investment and no individual characteristic must be present prior to investment.

Long-Term Orientation — The Adviser’s bottom-up, stock by stock process generally incorporates a 12-36 month investment time horizon while resisting fads, themes and market timing.

While most of the Fund’s assets will be invested in domestic common stock, the Fund may also invest in U.S. traded Large Cap and Mid Cap securities issued by companies organized outside the United States including American Depositary Receipts.