which the supplemental analysis may not be completed prior to
investment include but are not limited to initial public offerings ("IPOs"), in-kind transfers, corporate actions, and/or certain short-term holdings.
The Investment Adviser may sell holdings for several
reasons, including, among others, changes in a company’s fundamentals or earnings, a company no longer meeting the Fund’s ESG criteria, or a company otherwise failing to conform to the Investment Adviser’s investment
philosophy.
The Fund may invest in the
aggregate up to 20% of its Net Assets in: (i) fixed income securities of private and government emerging country issuers; (ii) equity and fixed income securities, such as government, corporate and bank debt obligations, of developed country issuers;
and (iii) equity and fixed income securities of issuers that may not adhere to the Fund’s ESG criteria.
The Fund’s performance benchmark index is the
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (Net, USD, Unhedged); however the Fund uses the MSCI ACWI ESG Universal Index to seek to identify issuers that meet its ESG criteria.
Principal
Risks of the Fund |
Loss of
money is a risk of investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any government agency. The Fund should not be relied upon
as a complete investment program. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Investments in the Fund involve substantial risks which prospective investors should consider carefully before investing. The Fund's
principal risks are presented below in alphabetical order, and not in the order of importance or potential exposure.
ESG Standards Risk. The Fund’s adherence to its ESG criteria and the application of the Investment Adviser’s supplemental ESG analysis when selecting investments may affect the Fund’s exposure to
certain companies, sectors, regions, and countries and may affect the Fund’s performance depending on whether such investments are in or out of favor. For example, the Fund generally will not seek to invest in companies that the Investment
Adviser believes have adverse social or environmental impacts (i.e., gambling, alcohol, tobacco, coal or weapons companies). Adhering to the ESG criteria and applying the Investment Adviser’s supplemental ESG analysis may also affect the
Fund’s performance relative to similar funds that do not adhere to such criteria or apply such analysis. Additionally, the Fund’s adherence to the ESG criteria and the application of the supplemental ESG analysis in connection with
identifying and selecting equity investments in emerging country issuers often require subjective analysis and may be relatively more difficult than applying the ESG criteria or the supplemental ESG analysis to equity investments of all issuers
because data availability may be more limited with respect to emerging country issuers than developed country issuers. Certain investments may be dependent on U.S. and foreign government policies, including tax incentives and subsidies, which may
change without notice. The Fund’s ESG criteria and the application of the supplemental ESG analysis may be changed without shareholder approval.
Foreign and Emerging Countries Risk. Foreign securities may be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign government regulation; less public information; less stringent investor protections; less stringent accounting,
corporate governance, financial reporting and disclosure standards; and less economic, political and social stability in the countries in which the Fund invests. The imposition of exchange
controls (including repatriation restrictions), sanctions,
confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs) and other government restrictions by the United States and other governments, or from problems in share registration, settlement or custody, may also result in losses. Foreign risk also involves
the risk of negative foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value.
Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. These risks may be more pronounced in connection with the Fund’s investments in securities of issuers located in, or otherwise economically tied to, emerging
countries.
The Fund may invest heavily in
issuers located in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and therefore may be particularly exposed to the economies, industries, securities and currency markets of these five countries, which may be adversely affected by protectionist trade
policies, slow economic activity worldwide, political and social instability, environmental events and natural disasters, regional and global conflicts, terrorism and war, including actions that are contrary to the interests of the U.S.
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk. The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions, which may occur rapidly or
unexpectedly, may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund's net asset value ("NAV") and liquidity. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may
adversely affect the Fund's performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash or otherwise maintains a larger cash position than it ordinarily would. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable
income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund's current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base,
leading to an increase in the Fund's expense ratio.
Liquidity Risk. The Fund may make investments that are illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to
value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that the Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To
meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell securities at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions. These risks may be more pronounced in connection with the Fund’s investments in securities of issuers located in
emerging market countries. Redemptions by large shareholders may have a negative impact on the Fund’s liquidity.
Market Risk. The value of the securities in which the Fund invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors or governments and/or general economic conditions
throughout the world due to increasingly interconnected global economies and financial markets. Events such as war, acts of terrorism, social unrest, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health threats could also
significantly impact the Fund and its investments.
Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund focuses its investments in securities of issuers in one or more sectors (such as the financial services or telecommunications sectors), the Fund will be subject, to a
greater extent than if its investments were diversified across different sectors, to