497K 1 d497k.htm NATIXIS FUNDS TRUST II Natixis Funds Trust II
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Summary Prospectus

May 1, 2010

ASG Global Alternatives Fund

Ticker Symbol: Class A (GAFAX) and Class C (GAFCX)

 

 

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s Prospectus and other information about the Fund online at www.funds.natixis.com/funddocuments. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800-225-5478 or by sending an e-mail request to NatixisFunds@ga.natixis.com. The Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), each dated May 1, 2010 are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

Investment Goal

The Fund pursues an absolute return strategy that seeks to provide capital appreciation consistent with the return and risk characteristics of a diversified portfolio of hedge funds. The secondary goal of the Fund is to achieve these returns with less volatility than major equity indices.

Fund Fees & Expenses

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Natixis Fund Complex. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in the section “How Sales Charges Are Calculated” on page 31 of the Prospectus and on page 75 in the section “Reduced Sales Charges” of the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

 

Shareholder Fees

 

    

(fees paid directly from your investment)

   Class A     Class C  

Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)

   5.75   None   

Maximum deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of original purchase price or redemption proceeds, as applicable)

   None      1.00

Redemption fees

   None      None   

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

    

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

   Class A     Class C  

Management fees

   1.15   1.15

Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees

   0.25   1.00

Other expenses (other expenses have been restated to reflect current expenses)

   0.55   0.55

Total annual fund operating expenses

   1.95   2.70

Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement1

   0.34   0.34

Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

   1.61   2.36

 

1


Example

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, except that the example is based on Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement for the first year and on the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses for the remaining years. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

     Class A    Class C
          If shares are
redeemed
   If shares are
not redeemed

1 year

   $ 729    $ 339    $ 239

3 years

   $ 1,121    $ 806    $ 806

5 years

   $ 1,537    $ 1,400    $ 1,400

10 years

   $ 2,693    $ 3,007    $ 3,007

 

1 AlphaSimplex Group, LLC (the “Adviser”) has given a binding contractual undertaking to the Fund to limit the amount of the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses to 1.60% and 2.35% of the Fund’s average daily net assets for Class A and C shares, respectively, exclusive of certain expenses such as brokerage expenses, interest expense, taxes and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation and indemnification expenses. This undertaking is in effect through April 30, 2011 and may be terminated before then only with the consent of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. The Fund’s Adviser will be permitted to recover, on a class by class basis, management fees reduced and/or expenses reimbursed to the extent that expenses in later periods fall below 1.60% and 2.35% of the Fund’s average daily net assets for Class A and C shares, respectively. The Fund will not be obligated to repay any such reduced fees and expenses more than one year after the end of the fiscal year in which the fee/expense was reduced.

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 for you if your 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. Due to the short-term nature of the Fund’s investment portfolio, the Fund does not calculate a portfolio turnover rate. The Fund’s trading in derivatives is active and frequent. Active and frequent trading of derivatives, like active and frequent trading of securities, will result in transaction costs which reduce fund returns.

Investments, Risks and Performance

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund seeks to achieve long and short exposure to global equity, bond, currency and commodity markets through a wide range of derivative instruments and direct investments. Under normal market conditions, the Adviser typically will make extensive use of derivative instruments, in particular futures and forward contracts on global equity and fixed income securities, securities indices (including both broad- and narrow-based securities indices), currencies, commodities and other instruments. These investments are intended to provide the Fund with risk and return characteristics similar to those of a diversified portfolio of hedge funds.

The Fund seeks to generate absolute returns over time rather than track the performance of any particular index of hedge fund returns. In selecting investments for the Fund, the Adviser uses quantitative models to estimate the market exposures that drive the aggregate returns of a diverse set of hedge funds. These market exposures may include, for example, exposures to the returns of stocks, fixed income securities (including U.S. and non-U.S. government securities), currencies and commodities. The Adviser will have great flexibility to allocate the Fund’s derivatives exposure among various securities, indices, currencies, commodities and other instruments, and the amount of the Fund’s assets that may be allocated to derivative strategies and among these various instruments is expected to vary over time. The Fund will not invest directly in hedge funds.

Under normal market conditions, it is expected that no more than 25% of the Fund’s total assets will be dedicated to initial and variation margin payments relating to the Fund’s derivative transactions. The notional value of the Fund’s derivative investments, however, will generally exceed 25% of the Fund’s assets. The Fund expects that under normal market conditions it will invest at least 75% of its total assets in money market and other short-term, high quality securities (the “Money Market Portion”) managed by Reich & Tang Asset Management, LLC (the “Subadviser”), although the Fund may invest less than this percentage. The assets allocated to the Money Market Portion will be used primarily to finance the Fund’s investments in derivatives and similar instruments and, secondarily, to provide the Fund with incremental income. Although the Fund will invest a significant portion of its assets in money market instruments, the Fund is not a “money market” fund and the value of the Money Market Portion as well as the value of the Fund’s shares may decrease.

 

2


Although the Fund does not intend to invest in physical commodities directly, the Fund expects to obtain investment exposure to commodity-related derivatives through a wholly-owned subsidiary organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands that will make commodity-related investments. Under normal market conditions, no more than 10% of the Fund’s total assets will be dedicated to initial and variation margin payments relating to these transactions.

The Fund will concentrate its investments in the financial services industry, which means it will normally invest at least 25% of its total assets in securities and other obligations (for example, bank certificates of deposit) of issuers in such industry.

The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of securities and other instruments. Effects of frequent trading may include high transaction costs, which may lower the Fund’s return, and realization of greater short-term capital gains, distributions of which are taxable to shareholders who are individuals as ordinary income. Trading costs and tax effects associated with frequent trading may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

The percentage limitations set forth in this Fund summary are not investment restrictions and the Fund may exceed these limits from time to time.

Principal Risks

The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. The Fund does not represent a complete investment program. You may lose money by investing in the Fund.

Credit/Counterparty Risk: Credit risk is the risk that the issuer or the guarantor of a fixed-income security, or the counterparty to a derivatives or other transaction, will be unable or unwilling to make timely payments of interest or principal or to otherwise honor its obligations. Below investment grade fixed-income securities are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the ability of the issuer to make timely principal and interest payments.

The Fund will be subject to credit risks with respect to the counterparties of its derivative transactions. Many of the protections afforded to participants on organized exchanges, such as the performance guarantee of an exchange clearing house, are not available in connection with over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivative transactions, such as foreign currency transactions. As a result, in instances when the Fund enters into OTC derivative transactions, the Fund will be subject to the risk that its direct counterparty will not perform its obligations under the transactions and that the Fund will sustain losses or be unable to realize gains.

Commodity Risk: This is the risk that exposure to the commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The value of physical commodities or commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity price volatility, changes in interest rates, currency fluctuations, or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs and international economic, political and regulatory developments.

Concentrated Investment Risk: The Fund is particularly vulnerable to events affecting companies in the financial services industry because the Fund concentrates its investments in securities and other obligations of issuers in such industry. Examples of risks affecting the financial services industry include changes in governmental regulation, issues relating to the availability and cost of capital, changes in interest rates and/or monetary policy and price competition. In addition, financial services companies are often more highly leveraged than other companies, making them inherently riskier. As a result, the Fund’s shares may rise and fall in value more rapidly and to a greater extent than shares of a fund that does not concentrate or focus in a particular industry or economic sector. The financial services industry has recently experienced high volatility and a number of issuer failures and the value of many of these securities has significantly declined. As a result, the risk associated with investing in the Fund may be increased as compared to a fund that does not concentrate in the financial services industry.

Currency Risk: Fluctuations in the exchange rates between the different currencies may negatively affect an investment. The Fund may hedge its exposure to foreign currencies and may invest in foreign currencies as an asset class.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are subject to changes in the underlying securities or indices on which such transactions are based. There is no guarantee that the use of derivatives will be effective or that suitable transactions will be available. Even a small investment in derivatives may give rise to leverage risk and can have a significant impact on the Fund’s exposure to securities markets values, interest rates or currency exchange rates. Investments in derivatives are also subject to credit/counterparty risk, liquidity risk, allocation risk and correlation risk, the risk of difficulties in pricing and valuation risk and the risk that the Fund’s liquid assets may be insufficient to support its obligations under its derivatives positions. Although the Fund’s adviser monitors the creditworthiness of the Fund’s counterparties, there can be no assurance that the Fund’s derivative counterparties will not experience financial difficulties, possibly resulting in losses to the Fund.

Equity Securities Risk: The value of the Fund’s investments in equity securities could be subject to unpredictable declines in the value of individual securities and periods of below-average performance in individual securities or in the equity market as a whole. Rule 144A securities may be less liquid than other equity securities. Equity securities may include common stocks, preferred stocks, warrants, securities convertible into common and preferred stocks and other equity-like interests in an entity. Growth stocks are generally more

 

3


sensitive to market movements than other types of stocks primarily because their stock prices are based heavily on future expectations. If the adviser’s assessment of the prospects for a company’s growth is wrong, or if the adviser’s judgment of how other investors will value the company’s growth is wrong, then the price of the company’s stock may fall or not approach the value that the adviser has placed on it. Value stocks can perform differently from the market as a whole and from other types of stocks. Value stocks also present the risk that their lower valuations fairly reflect their business prospects and that investors will not agree that the stocks represent favorable investment opportunities, and they may fall out of favor with investors and underperform growth stocks during any given period. In the event an issuer is liquidated or declares bankruptcy, the claims of owners of the issuer’s bonds and preferred stock generally take precedence over the claims of those who own common stock.

Foreign Securities Risk: The Fund’s investments in foreign securities are subject to foreign currency fluctuations. Foreign securities may be subject to higher volatility than U.S. securities, varying degrees of regulation and limited liquidity. Greater political, economic, credit and information risks are also associated with foreign securities.

Hedge Fund Risk: Hedge funds are typically unregulated private investment pools available only to sophisticated investors. They are often illiquid and highly leveraged. Although the Fund will not invest directly in hedge funds, because the Fund’s investments are intended to provide exposure to the factors that drive hedge fund returns, an investment in the Fund will be subject to many of the same risks associated with an investment in a diversified portfolio of hedge funds. Therefore, the Fund’s performance may be lower than the returns of the broader stock market and the Fund’s net asset value may fluctuate substantially over time.

Index Tracking/Error Risk: Although the Fund does not seek to track any particular index, the Fund seeks to analyze the factors that drive hedge fund returns, as determined by reference to one or more indices. These indices may not provide an accurate representation of hedge fund returns generally, and the Adviser’s strategy may not successfully identify or be able to replicate factors that drive returns. There is a risk that hedge fund return data provided by third party hedge fund index providers may be inaccurate or may not accurately reflect hedge fund returns due to survivorship bias, self-reporting bias or other biases.

Interest Rate Risk: Changes in interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decrease. Generally, the value of fixed-income securities rises when prevailing interest rates fall and falls when interest rates rise. A period of low interest rates may cause the Fund to have a low or negative yield, potentially reducing the value of your investment.

Issuer Risk: The value of the Fund’s investments may decline for a number of reasons which directly relate to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer’s goods and services.

Leverage Risk: This is the risk associated with securities or practices (e.g., borrowing and the use of certain derivatives) and investment in certain types of derivatives that multiply small index or market movements into larger changes in value. Use of derivative instruments may involve leverage. When a derivative is used as a hedge against an offsetting position that the Fund also holds, any loss generated by the derivative should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged instrument, and vice versa. To the extent that the Fund uses a derivative for purposes other than as a hedge, or if the Fund hedges imperfectly, the Fund is directly exposed to the risks of that derivative and any loss generated by the derivative will not be offset by a gain. Futures and forward currency contracts are derivatives and may be subject to this type of risk.

Liquidity Risk: Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are difficult to purchase or sell, possibly preventing the Fund from selling these illiquid securities at an advantageous price or at the time desired. A lack of liquidity may also cause the value of investments to decline. Illiquid investments may also be difficult to value.

Management Risk: A strategy used by the Fund’s portfolio managers may fail to produce the intended result.

Market Risk: The market value of a security will move up and down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, based upon a change in an issuer’s financial condition, as well as overall market and economic conditions.

Valuation Risk: This is the risk that the Fund has valued certain securities at a higher price than the price at which they can be sold. This risk may be especially pronounced for investments, such as derivatives, which may be illiquid or which may become illiquid.

Risk/Return Bar Chart and Table

The table shown below provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for the one-year and life-of-fund periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.funds.natixis.com and/or by calling the Fund toll-free at 800-225-5478.

The bar chart does not reflect any sales charge that you may be required to pay when you buy or redeem the Fund’s shares. A sales charge will reduce your return.

 

4


Total Returns for Class A

LOGO

 

Average Annual Total Returns

(for the periods ended December 31, 2009)

   Past 1 Year     Life of
Fund
(9/30/08)
 

ASG Global Alternatives Fund

Class A – Return Before Taxes

   2.70   -0.09

Return After Taxes on Distributions

   2.18   -0.60

Return After Taxes on Distributions & Sales of Fund Shares

   1.80   -0.35

Class C – Return Before Taxes

   7.09   3.95

HFRI Fund of Funds Composite Index (Calculated from October 1, 2008)

   11.15   -0.02

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans, qualified plans, education savings accounts, such as 529 plans, or individual retirement accounts. The after-tax returns are shown for only one class of the Fund. After-tax returns for the other classes of the Fund will vary.

Management

Investment Adviser

AlphaSimplex Group, LLC

Investment Subadviser

Reich & Tang Asset Management, LLC

Portfolio Managers

Andrew W. Lo, Chief Investment Strategist of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio manager of the Fund since September 2008.

Jeremiah H. Chafkin, President of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio manager of the Fund since September 2008.

Peter A. Lee, Research Scientist for hedge fund beta replication of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio manager of the Fund since May 2010.

Robert S. Rickard, Senior Vice President and head of Portfolio Management and Trading of the Subadviser, has served as co-portfolio manager of the Fund since September 2008.

 

5


Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The following chart shows the investment minimums for various types of accounts:

 

Type of Account

   Minimum Initial
Purchase
   Minimum
Subsequent
Purchase

Any account other than those listed below

   $ 2,500    $ 100

For shareholders participating in Natixis Funds’ Investment Builder Program

   $ 1,000    $ 50

For Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Rollover IRA, SEP-IRA and Keogh plans using the Natixis Funds’ prototype document (direct accounts, not held through intermediary)

   $ 1,000    $ 100

Coverdell Education Savings Accounts

   $ 500    $ 100

The Fund’s shares are available for purchase through your investment dealer, directly from the Fund by writing to the Funds at Natixis Funds, P.O. Box 219579, Kansas City, MO 64121-9579, by exchange, by wire or through the Automated Clearing House system. The Fund’s shares are redeemable on any business day through your investment dealer, directly from the Fund by writing to the Funds at Natixis Funds, P.O. Box 219579, Kansas City, MO 64121-9579, by exchange, by wire, through the Automated Clearing House system, by telephone at 800-225-5478 or by the Systematic Withdrawal Plan.

Tax Information

Fund distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gain unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Special rules apply to investments through such retirement plans. If your investment is through such a plan, you should consult your tax adviser to determine the suitability of the Funds as an investment through your plan and the tax treatment of distributions to you (including distributions of amounts attributable to an investment in the Fund) from the plan.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of the Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

UAGA77-0510

 

6


LOGO   Summary Prospectus
  May 1, 2010

ASG Global Alternatives Fund

Ticker Symbol: Class Y (GAFYX)

 

 

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s Prospectus and other information about the Fund online at www.funds.natixis.com/funddocuments. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800-225-5478 or by sending an e-mail request to NatixisFunds@ga.natixis.com. The Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), each dated May 1, 2010 are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

Investment Goal

The Fund pursues an absolute return strategy that seeks to provide capital appreciation consistent with the return and risk characteristics of a diversified portfolio of hedge funds. The secondary goal of the Fund is to achieve these returns with less volatility than major equity indices.

Fund Fees & Expenses

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.

 

Shareholder Fees   

(fees paid directly from your investment)

   Class Y  

Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)

   None   

Maximum deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of original purchase price or redemption proceeds, as applicable)

   None   

Redemption fees

   None   
Annual Fund Operating Expenses   

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

   Class Y  

Management fees

   1.15

Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees

   0.00

Other expenses (other expenses have been restated to reflect current expenses)

   0.55

Total annual fund operating expenses

   1.70

Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement1

   0.34

Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

   1.36

 

1


Example

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, except that the example is based on Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement for the first year and on the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses for the remaining years. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

     Class Y

1 year

   $ 138

3 years

   $ 503

5 years

   $ 891

10 years

   $ 1,980

 

1 AlphaSimplex Group, LLC (the “Adviser”) has given a binding contractual undertaking to the Fund to limit the amount of the Fund’s total annual fund operating expenses to 1.35% of the Fund’s average daily net assets for Class Y shares, exclusive of certain expenses such as brokerage expenses, interest expense, taxes and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation and indemnification expenses. This undertaking is in effect through April 30, 2011 and may be terminated before then only with the consent of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. The Fund’s Adviser will be permitted to recover, on a class by class basis, management fees reduced and/or expenses reimbursed to the extent that expenses in later periods fall below 1.35% of the Fund’s average daily net assets for Class Y shares. The Fund will not be obligated to repay any such reduced fees and expenses more than one year after the end of the fiscal year in which the fee/expense was reduced.

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 for you if your 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. Due to the short-term nature of the Fund’s investment portfolio, the Fund does not calculate a portfolio turnover rate. The Fund’s trading in derivatives is active and frequent. Active and frequent trading of derivatives, like active and frequent trading of securities, will result in transaction costs which reduce fund returns.

Investments, Risks and Performance

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund seeks to achieve long and short exposure to global equity, bond, currency and commodity markets through a wide range of derivative instruments and direct investments. Under normal market conditions, the Adviser typically will make extensive use of derivative instruments, in particular futures and forward contracts on global equity and fixed income securities, securities indices (including both broad- and narrow-based securities indices), currencies, commodities and other instruments. These investments are intended to provide the Fund with risk and return characteristics similar to those of a diversified portfolio of hedge funds.

The Fund seeks to generate absolute returns over time rather than track the performance of any particular index of hedge fund returns. In selecting investments for the Fund, the Adviser uses quantitative models to estimate the market exposures that drive the aggregate returns of a diverse set of hedge funds. These market exposures may include, for example, exposures to the returns of stocks, fixed income securities (including U.S. and non-U.S. government securities), currencies and commodities. The Adviser will have great flexibility to allocate the Fund’s derivatives exposure among various securities, indices, currencies, commodities and other instruments, and the amount of the Fund’s assets that may be allocated to derivative strategies and among these various instruments is expected to vary over time. The Fund will not invest directly in hedge funds.

Under normal market conditions, it is expected that no more than 25% of the Fund’s total assets will be dedicated to initial and variation margin payments relating to the Fund’s derivative transactions. The notional value of the Fund’s derivative investments, however, will generally exceed 25% of the Fund’s assets. The Fund expects that under normal market conditions it will invest at least 75% of its total assets in money market and other short-term, high quality securities (the “Money Market Portion”) managed by Reich & Tang Asset Management, LLC (the “Subadviser”), although the Fund may invest less than this percentage. The assets allocated to the Money Market Portion will be used primarily to finance the Fund’s investments in derivatives and similar instruments and, secondarily, to provide the Fund with incremental income. Although the Fund will invest a significant portion of its assets in money market instruments, the Fund is not a “money market” fund and the value of the Money Market Portion as well as the value of the Fund’s shares may decrease.

Although the Fund does not intend to invest in physical commodities directly, the Fund expects to obtain investment exposure to commodity-related derivatives through a wholly-owned subsidiary organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands that will make commodity-related investments. Under normal market conditions, no more than 10% of the Fund’s total assets will be dedicated to initial and variation margin payments relating to these transactions.

The Fund will concentrate its investments in the financial services industry, which means it will normally invest at least 25% of its total assets in securities and other obligations (for example, bank certificates of deposit) of issuers in such industry.

The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of securities and other instruments. Effects of frequent trading may include high transaction costs, which may lower the Fund’s return, and realization of greater short-term capital gains, distributions of which are taxable to shareholders who are individuals as ordinary income. Trading costs and tax effects associated with frequent trading may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

 

2


The percentage limitations set forth in this Fund summary are not investment restrictions and the Fund may exceed these limits from time to time.

Principal Risks

The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. The Fund does not represent a complete investment program. You may lose money by investing in the Fund.

Credit/Counterparty Risk: Credit risk is the risk that the issuer or the guarantor of a fixed-income security, or the counterparty to a derivatives or other transaction, will be unable or unwilling to make timely payments of interest or principal or to otherwise honor its obligations. Below investment grade fixed-income securities are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the ability of the issuer to make timely principal and interest payments.

The Fund will be subject to credit risks with respect to the counterparties of its derivative transactions. Many of the protections afforded to participants on organized exchanges, such as the performance guarantee of an exchange clearing house, are not available in connection with over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivative transactions, such as foreign currency transactions. As a result, in instances when the Fund enters into OTC derivative transactions, the Fund will be subject to the risk that its direct counterparty will not perform its obligations under the transactions and that the Fund will sustain losses or be unable to realize gains.

Commodity Risk: This is the risk that exposure to the commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The value of physical commodities or commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity price volatility, changes in interest rates, currency fluctuations, or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs and international economic, political and regulatory developments.

Concentrated Investment Risk: The Fund is particularly vulnerable to events affecting companies in the financial services industry because the Fund concentrates its investments in securities and other obligations of issuers in such industry. Examples of risks affecting the financial services industry include changes in governmental regulation, issues relating to the availability and cost of capital, changes in interest rates and/or monetary policy and price competition. In addition, financial services companies are often more highly leveraged than other companies, making them inherently riskier. As a result, the Fund’s shares may rise and fall in value more rapidly and to a greater extent than shares of a fund that does not concentrate or focus in a particular industry or economic sector. The financial services industry has recently experienced high volatility and a number of issuer failures and the value of many of these securities has significantly declined. As a result, the risk associated with investing in the Fund may be increased as compared to a fund that does not concentrate in the financial services industry.

Currency Risk: Fluctuations in the exchange rates between the different currencies may negatively affect an investment. The Fund may hedge its exposure to foreign currencies and may invest in foreign currencies as an asset class.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are subject to changes in the underlying securities or indices on which such transactions are based. There is no guarantee that the use of derivatives will be effective or that suitable transactions will be available. Even a small investment in derivatives may give rise to leverage risk and can have a significant impact on the Fund’s exposure to securities markets values, interest rates or currency exchange rates. Investments in derivatives are also subject to credit/counterparty risk, liquidity risk, allocation risk and correlation risk, the risk of difficulties in pricing and valuation risk and the risk that the Fund’s liquid assets may be insufficient to support its obligations under its derivatives positions. Although the Fund’s adviser monitors the creditworthiness of the Fund’s counterparties, there can be no assurance that the Fund’s derivative counterparties will not experience financial difficulties, possibly resulting in losses to the Fund.

Equity Securities Risk: The value of the Fund’s investments in equity securities could be subject to unpredictable declines in the value of individual securities and periods of below-average performance in individual securities or in the equity market as a whole. Rule 144A securities may be less liquid than other equity securities. Equity securities may include common stocks, preferred stocks, warrants, securities convertible into common and preferred stocks and other equity-like interests in an entity. Growth stocks are generally more sensitive to market movements than other types of stocks primarily because their stock prices are based heavily on future expectations. If the adviser’s assessment of the prospects for a company’s growth is wrong, or if the adviser’s judgment of how other investors will value the company’s growth is wrong, then the price of the company’s stock may fall or not approach the value that the adviser has placed on it. Value stocks can perform differently from the market as a whole and from other types of stocks. Value stocks also present the risk that their lower valuations fairly reflect their business prospects and that investors will not agree that the stocks represent favorable investment opportunities, and they may fall out of favor with investors and underperform growth stocks during any given period. In the event an issuer is liquidated or declares bankruptcy, the claims of owners of the issuer’s bonds and preferred stock generally take precedence over the claims of those who own common stock.

Foreign Securities Risk: The Fund’s investments in foreign securities are subject to foreign currency fluctuations. Foreign securities may be subject to higher volatility than U.S. securities, varying degrees of regulation and limited liquidity. Greater political, economic, credit and information risks are also associated with foreign securities.

 

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Hedge Fund Risk: Hedge funds are typically unregulated private investment pools available only to sophisticated investors. They are often illiquid and highly leveraged. Although the Fund will not invest directly in hedge funds, because the Fund’s investments are intended to provide exposure to the factors that drive hedge fund returns, an investment in the Fund will be subject to many of the same risks associated with an investment in a diversified portfolio of hedge funds. Therefore, the Fund’s performance may be lower than the returns of the broader stock market and the Fund’s net asset value may fluctuate substantially over time.

Index Tracking/Error Risk: Although the Fund does not seek to track any particular index, the Fund seeks to analyze the factors that drive hedge fund returns, as determined by reference to one or more indices. These indices may not provide an accurate representation of hedge fund returns generally, and the Adviser’s strategy may not successfully identify or be able to replicate factors that drive returns. There is a risk that hedge fund return data provided by third party hedge fund index providers may be inaccurate or may not accurately reflect hedge fund returns due to survivorship bias, self-reporting bias or other biases.

Interest Rate Risk: Changes in interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decrease. Generally, the value of fixed-income securities rises when prevailing interest rates fall and falls when interest rates rise. A period of low interest rates may cause the Fund to have a low or negative yield, potentially reducing the value of your investment.

Issuer Risk: The value of the Fund’s investments may decline for a number of reasons which directly relate to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer’s goods and services.

Leverage Risk: This is the risk associated with securities or practices (e.g., borrowing and the use of certain derivatives) and investment in certain types of derivatives that multiply small index or market movements into larger changes in value. Use of derivative instruments may involve leverage. When a derivative is used as a hedge against an offsetting position that the Fund also holds, any loss generated by the derivative should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged instrument, and vice versa. To the extent that the Fund uses a derivative for purposes other than as a hedge, or if the Fund hedges imperfectly, the Fund is directly exposed to the risks of that derivative and any loss generated by the derivative will not be offset by a gain. Futures and forward currency contracts are derivatives and may be subject to this type of risk.

Liquidity Risk: Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are difficult to purchase or sell, possibly preventing the Fund from selling these illiquid securities at an advantageous price or at the time desired. A lack of liquidity may also cause the value of investments to decline. Illiquid investments may also be difficult to value.

Management Risk: A strategy used by the Fund’s portfolio managers may fail to produce the intended result.

Market Risk: The market value of a security will move up and down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, based upon a change in an issuer’s financial condition, as well as overall market and economic conditions.

Valuation Risk: This is the risk that the Fund has valued certain securities at a higher price than the price at which they can be sold. This risk may be especially pronounced for investments, such as derivatives, which may be illiquid or which may become illiquid.

Risk/Return Bar Chart and Table

The table shown below provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for the one-year and life-of-fund periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.funds.natixis.com and/or by calling the Fund toll-free at 800-225-5478.

 

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Total Returns for Class Y

LOGO

 

Average Annual Total Returns

(for the periods ended December 31, 2009)

   Past 1 Year     Life of
Fund
(9/30/08)
 

ASG Global Alternatives Fund

Class Y – Return Before Taxes

   9.10   4.97

Return After Taxes on Distributions

   8.54   4.42

Return After Taxes on Distributions & Sales of Fund Shares

   5.97   3.93

HFRI Fund of Funds Composite Index (Calculated from October 1, 2008)

   11.15   -0.02

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans, qualified plans, education savings accounts such as 529 plans or individual retirement accounts.

Management

Investment Adviser

AlphaSimplex Group, LLC

Investment Subadviser

Reich & Tang Asset Management, LLC

Portfolio Managers

Andrew W. Lo, Chief Investment Strategist of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio manager of the Fund since September 2008.

Jeremiah H. Chafkin, President of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio manager of the Fund since September 2008.

Peter A. Lee, Research Scientist for hedge fund beta replication of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio manager of the Fund since May 2010.

Robert S. Rickard, Senior Vice President and head of Portfolio Management and Trading of the Subadviser, has served as co-portfolio manager of the Fund since September 2008.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Class Y shares of the Fund may be purchased by the following entities at the following investment minimums.

A minimum initial investment of $100,000 and the minimum subsequent investment of $100 for:

 

   

Other mutual funds, endowments, foundations, bank trust departments or trust companies.

There is no initial or subsequent investment minimum for:

 

   

Wrap Fee Programs of certain broker-dealers, the Advisers or Natixis Distributors, L.P. (the “Distributor”). Such wrap fee programs may be subject to additional or different conditions, including a wrap account fee. Each broker-dealer is responsible for transmitting to its customer a schedule of fees and other information regarding any such conditions.

 

   

Retirement Plans such as 401(a), 401(k) or 457 plans.

 

   

Certain Individual Retirement Accounts if the amounts invested represent rollover distributions from investments by any of the retirement plans invested in the Fund as set forth above.

 

   

Registered Investment Advisers investing on behalf of clients in exchange for an advisory, management or consulting fee.

 

   

Insurance Company Accounts of New England Financial, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (“MetLife”) or their affiliates.

 

   

Deferred Compensation Plan Accounts of New England Life Insurance Company (“NELICO”), MetLife or their affiliates (“Deferred Compensation Accounts”).

 

   

Separate Accounts of New England Financial, MetLife or their affiliates.

Due to operational limitations at your financial intermediary, certain wrap fee programs, retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and accounts of registered investment advisers may be subject to the investment minimums described above. Please consult your financial representative for more information.

 

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At the discretion of Natixis Asset Management Advisors, L.P. (“Natixis Advisors”), clients of Natixis Advisors and its affiliates may purchase Class Y shares of the Fund below the stated minimums.

The Fund’s shares are available for purchase through your investment dealer, directly from the Fund by writing to the Fund at Natixis Funds, P.O. Box 219579, Kansas City, MO 64121-9579, by exchange, by wire or through the Automated Clearing House system. The Fund’s shares are redeemable on any business day through your investment dealer, directly from the Fund by writing to the Fund at Natixis Funds, P.O. Box 219579, Kansas City, MO 64121-9579, by exchange, by wire, through the Automated Clearing House system, by telephone at 800-225-5478 or by the Systematic Withdrawal Plan.

Tax Information

Fund distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gain unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Special rules apply to investments through such retirement plans. If your investment is through such a plan, you should consult your tax adviser to determine the suitability of the Funds as an investment through your plan and the tax treatment of distributions to you (including distributions of amounts attributable to an investment in the Fund) from the plan.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of the Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

YUAGA77-0510

 

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