497K 1 d75313d497k.htm 497K 497K

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

OCTOBER 1, 2020

VALIC COMPANY I SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FUND

(TICKER: VCSTX)

 


The Fund’s Statutory Prospectus, Statement of Additional Information, and the most recent shareholder reports are incorporated into and made part of each Summary Prospectus by reference. The Fund is offered only to registered and unregistered separate accounts of The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company and its affiliates and to qualifying retirement plans and IRAs and are not intended for use by other investors.

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Statutory Prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s Statutory Prospectus and the above-incorporated information online at https://www.valic.com/prospectus-and-reports/mutual-funds. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800-448-2542 or by sending an email request to VALICClientCommunicationsRequest@valic.com.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has not approved or disapproved these securities, nor has it determined that this Prospectus is accurate or complete. It is a criminal offense to state otherwise.

The following disclosure does not apply to investors who own fund shares beneficially through a variable insurance contract. Each applicable insurance company will provide information regarding delivery of fund shareholder reports to its contract owners.

Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Registrant’s shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports from the Registrant. Instead, the reports will be made available on a website, and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report. If you already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Registrant or VALIC Retirement Services Company (VRSCO), as your retirement plan recordkeeper, electronically by contacting us at 1-800-448-2542 or logging into your account at VALIC Online at www.valic.com.

You may elect to receive all future reports in paper free of charge. You can inform the Registrant or VRSCO that you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports by contacting 1-866-345-5954 or visiting FundReports.com and providing the 20-digit unique ID located above or below your mailing address. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all funds held within your employer-sponsored retirement plan account with VRSCO.

 

Investment Objective

 

The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

 

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. The Fund’s annual operating expenses do not reflect the separate account fees charged in the variable annuity or variable life insurance policy (“Variable Contracts”) in which the Fund is offered. If separate account fees were shown, the Fund’s annual operating expenses would be higher. Please see your Variable Contract prospectus for more details on the separate account fees.

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

 

Management Fees

     0.87

Other Expenses

     0.10

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

     0.97

Expense 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. The Example does not reflect charges imposed by the Variable Contract. If the Variable Contract fees were reflected, the expenses would be higher. See the Variable Contract prospectus for information on such charges. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions and the net expenses shown in the fee table, your costs would be:

 

1 Year     3 Years     5 Years     10 Years  
$ 99     $ 309     $ 536     $ 1,190  

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio).

 

 

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FUND SUMMARY: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FUND


 

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 98% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund

 

The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of net assets in the common stocks of companies that are expected to benefit from the development, advancement, and use of science and/or technology.

Investments may also include companies that should benefit from technological advances even if they are not directly involved in research and development. The Fund may invest in suitable technology companies through initial public offerings (“IPOs”), and a portion of the Fund’s returns may be attributable to the Fund’s investments in IPOs. There is no guarantee that as the Fund’s assets grow it will be able to experience significant improvement in performance by investing in IPOs.

The Fund may invest up to 50% of its total assets in foreign securities, which include non-dollar denominated securities traded outside the U.S. In addition, the Fund has the ability to invest up to 30% of its total assets in companies organized or headquartered in emerging market countries, but no more than 20% of its total assets may be invested in any one emerging market country. The Fund may also invest in privately placed securities.

The Subadvisers may engage in frequent and active trading of portfolio securities to achieve the Fund’s investment objective.

In order to generate additional income, the Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers and other financial institutions provided that the value of the loaned securities does not exceed 30% of the Fund’s total assets. These loans earn income for the Fund and are collateralized by cash and securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities. Investors will be given at least 60 days’ written notice in advance of any change to the Fund’s 80% investment policy set forth above.

Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund

 

As with any mutual fund, there can be no assurance that the Fund’s investment objective will be met or that the net return on an investment in the Fund will exceed what could have been obtained through other investment or savings vehicles. Shares of the Fund are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by any bank, government entity or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. If the value of the assets of the Fund goes down, you could lose money.

The following is a summary of the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Management Risk. The investment style or strategy used by the Subadviser may fail to produce the intended result. The Subadviser’s assessment of a particular security or company may prove incorrect, resulting in losses or underperformance.

Technology Sector Risk. Technology stocks historically have experienced unusually wide price swings. Earnings disappointments and intense competition for market share can result in sharp declines in the prices of technology stocks.

Dividend-paying Stocks Risk. There is no guarantee that the issuers of the stocks held by the Fund will declare dividends in the future or that, if dividends are declared, they will remain at their current levels or increase over time. Dividend-paying stocks may not participate in a broad market advance to the same degree as other stocks, and a sharp rise in interest rates or economic downturn could cause a company to unexpectedly reduce or eliminate its dividend.

Equity Securities Risk. The Fund invests principally in equity securities and is therefore subject to the risk that stock prices will fall and may underperform other asset classes. Individual stock prices fluctuate from day-to-day and may decline significantly. The prices of individual stocks may be negatively affected by poor company results or other factors affecting individual prices, as well as industry and/or economic trends and developments affecting industries or the securities market as a whole.

Emerging Markets Risk. In addition to the risks associated with investments in foreign securities, emerging market securities are subject to additional risks, which cause these securities generally to be more volatile than securities of issuers located in developed countries.

Currency Risk. Because the Fund’s foreign investments are generally held in foreign currencies, the Fund could experience gains or losses based solely on changes in the exchange rate between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. Such gains or losses may be substantial.

Foreign Investment Risk. Investment in foreign securities involves risks due to several factors, such as illiquidity, the lack of public information, changes in the exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar, unfavorable political, social and legal developments, or economic and financial instability. Foreign companies are not subject to the U.S. accounting and financial reporting standards and may have riskier settlement procedures. U.S. investments that are denominated in foreign currencies or that are traded in foreign markets, or securities of U.S. companies that have significant foreign operations may be subject to foreign investment risk.

Geographic Risk. If the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in issuers located in a single country, a limited number of countries, or a particular geographic region, it assumes the risk that economic, political and social conditions in those countries or that region may have a significant impact on its investment performance.

 

 

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FUND SUMMARY: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FUND


 

IPO Risk. Share prices of newly-public companies may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time.

Market Risk. The Fund’s share price can fall because of weakness in the broad market, a particular industry, or specific holdings or due to adverse political or economic developments here or abroad, changes in investor psychology, or heavy institutional selling and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus, outbreaks and epidemics). The prices of individual securities may fluctuate, sometimes dramatically, from day to day. The prices of stocks and other equity securities tend to be more volatile than those of fixed-income securities.

The coronavirus pandemic and the related governmental and public responses have had and may continue to have an impact on the Fund’s investments and net asset value and have led and may continue to lead to increased market volatility and the potential for illiquidity in certain classes of securities and sectors of the market. Preventative or protective actions that governments may take in respect of pandemic or epidemic diseases may result in periods of business disruption, business closures, inability to obtain raw materials, supplies and component parts, and reduced or disrupted operations for the issuers in which the Fund invests. Government intervention in markets may impact interest rates, market volatility and security pricing. The occurrence, reoccurrence and pendency of such diseases could adversely affect the economies (including through changes in business activity and increased unemployment) and financial markets either in specific countries or worldwide.

Sector Risk. Companies with similar characteristics may be grouped together in broad categories called sectors. Sector risk is the risk that securities of companies within specific sectors of the economy can perform differently than the overall market. This may be due to changes in such things as the regulatory or competitive environment or to changes in investor perceptions regarding a sector. Because the Fund may allocate relatively more assets to certain sectors than others, the Fund’s performance may be more susceptible to any developments which affect those sectors emphasized by the Fund.

Securities Lending Risk. Engaging in securities lending could increase the market and credit risk for Fund investments. The Fund may lose money if it does not recover borrowed securities, the value of the collateral falls, or the value of investments made with cash collateral declines. If the value of either the cash collateral or the Fund’s investments of the cash collateral falls below the amount owed to a borrower, the Fund also may incur losses that exceed the amount it earned on lending the security. Securities lending also involves the risks of delay in receiving additional collateral or possible loss of rights in the collateral if the borrower fails. Another risk of securities lending is the risk that the loaned portfolio securities may not be available to the Fund on a timely basis and the Fund may therefore lose the opportunity to sell the securities at a desirable price.

Privately Placed Securities Risk. The Fund’s investments may also include privately placed securities, which are subject to resale restrictions. These securities will have the effect of increasing the level of Fund illiquidity to the extent the Fund may be unable to sell or transfer these securities due to restrictions on transfers or on the ability to find buyers interested in purchasing the securities. The illiquidity of the market, as well as the lack of publicly available information regarding these securities, may also adversely affect the ability to arrive at a fair value for certain securities at certain times and could make it difficult for the Fund to sell certain securities.

Mid-Cap Company Risk. Investing in mid-cap companies carries the risk that due to current market conditions these companies may be out of favor with investors. Stocks of mid-cap companies may be more volatile than those of larger companies due to, among other reasons, narrower product lines, more limited financial resources and fewer experienced managers.

Small-Cap Company Risk. Investing in small-cap companies carries the risk that due to current market conditions these companies may be out of favor with investors. Small companies often are in the early stages of development with limited product lines, markets, or financial resources and managements lacking depth and experience, which may cause their stock prices to be more volatile than those of larger companies. Small company stocks may be less liquid yet subject to abrupt or erratic price movements. It may take a substantial period of time before the Fund realizes a gain on an investment in a small-cap company, if it realizes any gain at all.

Active Trading Risk. High portfolio turnover rates that are associated with active trading may result in higher transaction costs, which can adversely affect the Fund’s performance. Active trading tends to be more pronounced during periods of increased market volatility.

Performance Information

 

The following Risk/Return Bar Chart and Table illustrate the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from calendar year to calendar year and comparing the Fund’s average annual returns to those of the S&P® North American Technology Sector Index. Fees and expenses incurred at the contract level are not reflected in the bar chart or table. If these amounts were reflected, returns would be less than those shown. Of course, past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.

 

 

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FUND SUMMARY: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FUND


 

The percentage of the Fund’s assets that each subadviser manages may, at the adviser’s discretion, change from time to time.

 

LOGO

During the 10-year period shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a quarter was 22.23% (quarter ended March 31, 2019) and the lowest return for a quarter was -17.13% (quarter ended December 31, 2018). The year-to-date calendar return as of June 30, 2020 was 18.00%.

Average Annual Total Returns (For the periods ended December 31, 2019)

 

    

1
Year

    

5
Years

    

10
Years

 

Fund

     39.47      17.59      16.78

S&P® North American Technology Sector Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

     42.68      20.34      17.55

Investment Adviser

 

The Fund’s investment adviser is The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company.

The Fund is subadvised by Allianz Global Investors, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and Wellington Management Company LLP.

Portfolio Managers

 

Name and Title

 

Portfolio
Manager of the
Fund Since

 

AllianzGI

 

Walter C. Price, Jr., CFA
Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, Co-Lead Manager

    2005  

Huachen Chen, CFA
Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, Co-Lead Manager

    2005  

Michael A. Seidenberg
Director, Portfolio Manager

    2018  

Name and Title

 

Portfolio
Manager of the
Fund Since

 

 

T. Rowe Price

 

Kennard W. Allen
Vice President and Portfolio Manager

    2009  

Wellington Management

 

John F. Averill, CFA
Senior Managing Director and Global Industry Analyst

    2007  

Bruce L. Glazer
Senior Managing Director and Global Industry Analyst

    2007  

Eunhak Bae
Senior Managing Director and Global Industry Analyst

    2019  

Brian Barbetta
Senior Managing Director and Global Industry Analyst

    2017  

Jeffrey S. Wantman
Senior Managing Director and Global Industry Analyst

    2019  

Purchases and Sales of Fund Shares

 

Shares of the Funds may only be purchased or redeemed through Variable Contracts offered by the separate accounts of VALIC or other participating life insurance companies and through qualifying retirement plans (“Plans”) and IRAs. Shares of each Funds may be purchased and redeemed each day the New York Stock Exchange is open, at the Fund’s net asset value determined after receipt of a request in good order.

The Funds do not have any initial or subsequent investment minimums. However, your insurance company may impose investment or account value minimums. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your Variable Contract contains additional information about purchases and redemptions of the Funds’ shares.

Tax Information

 

A Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax so long as it qualifies as a regulated investment company and distributes its income and gains each year to its shareholders. However, contractholders may be subject to federal income tax (and a federal Medicare tax of 3.8% that applies to net income, including taxable annuity payments, if applicable) upon withdrawal from a Variable Contract. Contractholders should consult the prospectus (or other offering document) for the Variable Contract for additional information regarding taxation.

 

 

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FUND SUMMARY: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FUND


 

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

 

The Funds are not sold directly to the general public but instead are offered to registered and unregistered separate accounts of VALIC and its affiliates and to Plans and IRAs. The Funds and their related companies may make payments to the sponsoring insurance company or its affiliates for recordkeeping and distribution. These payments may create a conflict of interest as they may be a factor that the insurance company considers in including the Funds as underlying investment options in a variable contract. Visit your sponsoring insurance company’s website for more information.

    

 

 

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