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(WFA Specialty Funds - Institutional Class) | (Wells Fargo Specialized Technology Fund)

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses

These tables are intended to help you understand the various costs and expenses you will pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - (Wells Fargo Specialized Technology Fund)
Institutional Class
­
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) none
Maximum deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of offering price) none

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - (Wells Fargo Specialized Technology Fund)
Institutional Class
­
Management Fees 0.90%
Distribution (12b-1) Fees none
Other Expenses 0.21%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.01%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 1.12%
Fee Waiver (0.03%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver 1.09% [1]
[1] The Manager has contractually committed through July 31, 2018, to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses to the extent necessary to cap the Fund's Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver at 1.08% for Institutional Class. Brokerage commissions, stamp duty fees, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, and extraordinary expenses are excluded from the cap. After this time, the cap may be increased or the commitment to maintain the cap may be terminated only with the approval of the Board of Trustees.

Example of Expenses

The example below is intended to help you compare the costs of investing in the Fund with the costs of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes a $10,000 initial investment, 5% annual total return, and that fees and expenses remain the same as in the tables above. To the extent that the Manager is waiving fees or reimbursing expenses, the example assumes that such waiver or reimbursement will only be in place through the date noted above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - (Wells Fargo Specialized Technology Fund)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Institutional Class | ­ | USD ($) 111 353 614 1,360

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 153% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, we invest:

  • at least 80% of the Fund's net assets in equity securities of technology companies;

  • up to 50% of the Fund's total assets in equity securities of foreign issuers, including up to 15% of the Fund's total assets in equity securities of emerging markets issuers, directly or through ADRs and similar investments;

  • up to 25% of the Fund's total assets in any one foreign country, although investments in Japan may exceed this limitation; and

  • we may invest up to 15% of the Fund's total assets in equity securities of issuers with market capitalizations below $100 million at the time of purchase.

We invest principally in equity securities of global technology companies across all market capitalizations including common stocks and preferred stocks, warrants, convertible debt securities, ADRs (and similar investments), shares of other mutual funds, and shares of foreign companies traded and settled on U.S. exchanges and over-the-counter markets.

We define technology companies as those with revenues primarily generated by technology products and services, such as computer, software, communications equipment and services, semi-conductor, health care, biotechnology, defense and aerospace, energy equipment and services, nanotechnology, electric manufacturing services and others. We concentrate the Fund's investments in the technology sector, and because we retain the flexibility to invest in a relatively small number of stocks, the Fund is also considered to be non-diversified.

We evaluate the fundamental value and prospects for growth of individual companies and focus on technology companies that we expect will have higher than average rates of growth and strong potential for capital appreciation. We develop forecasts of economic growth, inflation, and interest rates that we use to identify regions and individual countries that are likely to offer the best investment opportunities. We may reduce or eliminate exposure to a stock when we identify a more attractive investment opportunity and/or when a company's fundamentals change.

Principal Investment Risks

An investment in the Fund may lose money, is not a deposit of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. or its affiliates, is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, and is primarily subject to the risks briefly summarized below.

Convertible Securities Risk. A convertible security has characteristics of both equity and debt securities and, as a result, is exposed to risks that are typically associated with both types of securities. The market value of a convertible security tends to decline as interest rates increase but also tends to reflect changes in the market price of the common stock of the issuing company.

Emerging Markets Risk. Emerging market securities typically present even greater exposure to the risks described under "Foreign Investment Risk" and may be particularly sensitive to global economic conditions. Emerging market securities are also typically less liquid than securities of developed countries and could be difficult to sell, particularly during a market downturn.

Foreign Investment Risk. Foreign investments may be subject to lower liquidity, greater price volatility and risks related to adverse political, regulatory, market or economic developments. Foreign investments may involve exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and may be subject to higher withholding and other taxes.

Geographic Emphasis Risk. A Fund that invests a significant portion of its assets in one country or geographic region will be more vulnerable than a fund that invests its assets more broadly to the economic, financial, political or other developments affecting that country or region. Such developments may have a significant impact on the Fund's investment performance causing such performance to be more volatile than the investment performance of a more geographically diversified fund.

Industry Concentration Risk. A Fund that concentrates its investments in an industry or group of industries is more vulnerable to adverse market, economic, regulatory, political or other developments affecting such industry or group of industries than a fund that invests its assets more broadly.

Investment Style Risk. Securities of a particular investment style, such as a growth style or value style, tend to perform differently and shift into and out of favor with investors depending on changes in market and economic sentiment and conditions.

Management Risk. Investment decisions, techniques, analyses or models implemented by a Fund's manager or sub-adviser in seeking to achieve the Fund's investment objective may not produce the returns expected, may cause the Fund's shares to lose value or may cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives.

Market Risk. The values of, and/or the income generated by, securities held by a Fund may decline due to general market conditions or other factors, including those directly involving the issuers of such securities. Security markets are volatile and may decline significantly in response to adverse issuer, regulatory, political, or economic developments. Different sectors of the market and different security types may react differently to such developments.

Non-Diversification Risk. A Fund that is considered "non-diversified" under the 1940 Act is more vulnerable to market or economic events impacting issuers of individual portfolio securities than a "diversified" fund. Default by the issuer of an individual security in such a Fund's portfolio may have a greater negative effect on the Fund's return or net asset value than it would on the return or net asset value of a "diversified" fund.

Smaller Company Securities Risk. Securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations tend to be more volatile and less liquid than those of larger companies.

Performance

The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The Fund's average annual total returns are compared to the performance of one or more indices. Past performance before and after taxes is no guarantee of future results. Current month-end performance is available on the Fund's website at wellsfargofunds.com.

Bar Chart

Highest Quarter: 2nd Quarter 2009

+21.82%

Lowest Quarter: 4th Quarter 2008

-23.69%

Year-to-date total return as of 9/30/2016 is +7.73%

Average Annual Total Returns for the periods ended 12/31/2015

[1]
Average Annual Total Returns - (Wells Fargo Specialized Technology Fund) - ­
Inception Date of Share Class
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Institutional Class Nov. 01, 2016 5.10% 11.44% 10.04%
Institutional Class | (after taxes on distributions) Nov. 01, 2016 2.14% 9.52% 9.09%
Institutional Class | (after taxes on distributions and the sale of Fund Shares) Nov. 01, 2016 5.29% 8.83% 8.16%
S&P North American Technology TR Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)   9.91% 14.26% 9.97%
S&P 500 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)   1.38% 12.57% 7.31%

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state, local or foreign taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) Plans or Individual Retirement Accounts.

[1] Historical performance shown for the Institutional Class shares prior to their inception reflects the performance of the Administrator Class shares, and is not adjusted to reflect Institutional Class expenses. If these expenses had been included, returns for Institutional Class would be higher. The Administrator Class annual returns are substantially similar to what the Institutional Class annual returns would be because the Administrator and Institutional Class shares are invested in the same portfolio and their returns differ only to the extent that they do not have the same expenses.