XML 18 R3.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.3.1.900
(Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Fund)

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Fund's investment objective is long-term capital growth from investments in common stocks or other equity securities.

FUND FEES & EXPENSES

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

The Fund does not impose a sales charge, a redemption fee or an exchange fee.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

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

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - (Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Fund)
Institutional Class
Retail Class
Class N
Management fees 0.75% 0.75% 0.75%
Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees none 0.25% none
Other expenses 0.19% 0.19% 0.08%
Total annual fund operating expenses 0.94% 1.19% 0.83%
Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement [1] none none none
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement 0.94% 1.19% 0.83%
[1] Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. ("Loomis Sayles" or 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 1.00%, 1.25% and 0.95% of the Fund's average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares, Retail Class shares and Class N shares, respectively, exclusive of brokerage expenses, interest expense, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, organizational and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation and indemnification expenses. This undertaking is in effect through January 31, 2017 and may be terminated before then only with the consent of the Fund's Board of Trustees. The Adviser will be permitted to recover, on a class-by-class basis, management fees waived and/or expenses reimbursed to the extent that expenses in later periods fall below the applicable expense limitations for Institutional Class shares, Retail Class shares and Class N shares. The Fund will not be obligated to repay any such waived/reimbursed fees and expenses more than one year after the end of the fiscal year in which the fees or expenses were waived/reimbursed.

Example

The 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 the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - (Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Fund) - USD ($)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Institutional Class 96 300 520 1,155
Retail Class 121 378 654 1,443
Class N 85 265 460 1,025

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. During its most recently ended fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 78% of the average value of its portfolio.

INVESTMENTS, RISKS AND PERFORMANCE

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund normally will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings made for investment purposes) in the equity securities of "small-cap companies," including preferred stocks, warrants, securities convertible into common or preferred stocks and other equity-like interests in an entity. Currently, the Fund defines a small-cap company to be one whose market capitalization either falls within the capitalization range of the Russell 2000® Index, an index that tracks stocks of 2,000 of the smallest U.S. companies, or is $3 billion or less at the time of investment. The Fund may invest the rest of its assets in companies of any size, including large-capitalization companies.

In deciding which securities to buy and sell, Loomis Sayles typically seeks to identify companies that it believes have distinctive products, technologies, or services; dynamic earnings growth; prospects for high levels of profitability; and solid management. Loomis Sayles typically does not consider current income when making buy and sell decisions.

The Fund may invest any portion of its assets in securities of Canadian issuers and up to 20% of its assets in other foreign securities, including emerging markets securities. The Fund may also invest in securities issued pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933 ("Rule 144A securities").

The Fund may engage, for hedging and investment purposes, in foreign currency transactions, options and futures transactions.

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 is the risk that the issuer or guarantor of a fixed-income security in which the Fund invests, 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.

Currency Risk is the risk that the value of the Fund's investments will fall as a result of changes in exchange rates. Loomis Sayles may elect not to hedge currency risk or may hedge imperfectly, which may cause the Fund to incur losses that would not have been incurred had the risk been hedged.

Derivatives Risk is the risk that the value of the Fund's derivative investments such as forward currency contracts, options and futures transactions will fall, for example, because of changes in the value of the underlying reference instruments, pricing difficulties or lack of correlation with the underlying investments. The use of derivatives for other than hedging purposes may be considered a speculative activity, and involves greater risks than are involved in hedging. There is also the risk that the Fund may be unable to terminate or sell a derivatives position at an advantageous time or price. The Fund's derivative counterparties may experience financial difficulties or otherwise be unwilling or unable to honor their obligations, possibly resulting in losses to the Fund. This risk is greater for forward currency contracts and other over-the-counter traded derivatives. Investing in derivatives gives rise to other risks, such as leverage risk, liquidity risk, credit risk, counterparty risk, interest rate risk and market/issuer risk. The use of derivatives may cause the Fund to incur losses greater than those which would have occurred had derivatives not been used.

Emerging Markets Risk is the risk that the Fund's investments in emerging markets may face greater foreign securities risk. Emerging markets investments are subject to greater risks arising from political or economic instability, nationalization or confiscatory taxation, currency exchange restrictions and an issuer's unwillingness or inability to make principal or interest payments on its obligations. Emerging markets companies may be smaller and have shorter operating histories than companies in developed markets.

Equity Securities Risk is the risk that the value of a stock may decline for a number of reasons that relate directly to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer's goods and services, or the equity markets generally. 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 Loomis Sayles' assessment of the prospects for a company's growth is wrong, or if Loomis Sayles' 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 Loomis Sayles has placed on it. In the event an issuer is liquidated or declares bankruptcy, the claims of owners of the issuer's bonds generally take precedence over the claims of those who own preferred stock or common stock.

Foreign Securities Risk is the risk that the value of the Fund's foreign investments will fall as a result of foreign political, social, economic, environmental, credit, informational or currency changes or other issues relating to foreign investing generally. Foreign securities may be subject to higher volatility than U.S. securities, varying degrees of regulation and limited liquidity. The Fund's investments in foreign securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes, which would decrease the yield on those securities.

Leverage Risk 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, market or asset price 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 gains generated by the derivative should be substantially offset by losses 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 is the risk that the Fund may be unable to find a buyer for its investments when it seeks to sell them or to receive the price it expects. Events that may lead to increased redemptions, such as market disruptions or increases in interest rates, may also negatively impact the liquidity of the Fund's investments when it needs to dispose of them. If the Fund is forced to sell its investments at an unfavorable time and/or under adverse conditions in order to meet redemption requests, such sales could negatively affect the Fund. Securities acquired in a private placement, such as Rule 144A securities, are generally subject to significant liquidity risk because they are subject to strict restrictions on resale and there may be no liquid secondary market or ready purchaser for such securities. Liquidity issues may also make it difficult to value the Fund's investments.

Management Risk is the risk that Loomis Sayles' investment techniques will be unsuccessful and cause the Fund to incur losses.

Market/Issuer Risk is the risk that the market value of the Fund's investments will move up and down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, based upon overall market and economic conditions, as well as, a number of reasons that directly relate to the issuers of the Fund's investments, such as management performance, financial condition and demand for the issuers' goods and services.

Small-Capitalization Companies Risk is the risk that the Fund's investments may be subject to more abrupt price movements, limited markets, increased volatility and less liquidity than investments in larger, more established companies, which could adversely affect the value of the portfolio.

Risk/Return Bar Chart and Table

The following bar chart and table give an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual returns for the one-year, five-year, ten-year and life-of-class periods (as applicable) compare to 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.loomissayles.com and/or by calling the Fund toll-free at 800-633-3330.

Total Returns for Institutional Class Shares

Bar Chart

Highest Quarterly Return: Fourth Quarter 2010, 18.10%

Lowest Quarterly Return: Fourth Quarter 2008, -26.86%

Average Annual Total Returns

(for the periods ended December 31, 2015)

Average Annual Total Returns - (Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Fund)
Past 1 Year
Past 5 Years
Past 10 Years
Life of Class N
Inception Date
Institutional Class 1.11% 11.43% 9.80%    
Institutional Class | Return After Taxes on Distributions (0.64%) 9.97% 9.07%    
Institutional Class | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 2.09% 9.11% 8.09%    
Retail Class 0.85% 11.11% 9.50%    
Class N 1.19%     12.54% Feb. 01, 2013
Russell 2000®Growth Index (1.38%) 10.67% 7.95% 11.91% Feb. 01, 2013

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 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 the Institutional Class of the Fund. The Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares for the one-year period exceeds the Return Before Taxes due to an assumed tax benefit from losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement period. After-tax returns for the other classes of the Fund will vary. Index performance reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes.

(Loomis Sayles Small/Mid Cap Growth Fund)

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Fund's investment objective is long-term capital growth from investments in common stocks or other equity securities.

FUND FEES & EXPENSES

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

The Fund does not impose a sales charge, a redemption fee or an exchange fee.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

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

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - (Loomis Sayles Small/Mid Cap Growth Fund)
Institutional Class
Management fees 0.75%
Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees none
Other expenses 2.09% [1]
Total annual fund operating expenses 2.84%
Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement 1.99% [2]
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement 0.85%
[1] (estimated for current fiscal year end)
[2] Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. ("Loomis Sayles" or 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 0.85% of the Fund's average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares, exclusive of brokerage expenses, interest expense, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, organizational and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation and indemnification expenses. This undertaking is in effect through January 31, 2017 and may be terminated before then only with the consent of the Fund's Board of Trustees. The Adviser will be permitted to recover, on a class-by-class basis, management fees waived and/or expenses reimbursed to the extent that expenses in later periods fall below the applicable expense limitation for Institutional Class shares. The Fund will not be obligated to repay any such waived/reimbursed fees and expenses more than one year after the end of the fiscal year in which the fees or expenses were waived/reimbursed.

Example

The 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 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:

Expense Example - (Loomis Sayles Small/Mid Cap Growth Fund)
1 Year
3 Years
Institutional Class | USD ($) 87 691

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. During its most recently ended fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 14% of the average value of its portfolio.

INVESTMENTS, RISKS AND PERFORMANCE

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund normally will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings made for investment purposes) in the equity securities of "small/mid-cap companies," including preferred stocks, warrants and securities convertible into common or preferred stocks. Currently, the Fund defines a small/mid-cap company to be one whose market capitalization either falls within the capitalization range of the Russell 2500® Index, an index that tracks some or all of the stocks of the 2,500 of the smallest U.S. companies, or is $7 billion or less at the time of investment. The Fund may invest the rest of its assets in companies of any size, including large-capitalization companies.

In deciding which securities to buy and sell, Loomis Sayles typically seeks to identify companies that it believes have distinctive products, technologies, or services; dynamic earnings growth; prospects for high levels of profitability; and solid management. Loomis Sayles typically does not consider current income when making buy and sell decisions.

The Fund may invest any portion of its assets in securities of Canadian issuers and up to 20% of its assets in other foreign securities, including emerging markets securities. The Fund may also invest in securities issued pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933 ("Rule 144A securities").

The Fund may engage, for hedging and investment purposes, in foreign currency transactions, options and futures transactions.

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 is the risk that the issuer or guarantor of a fixed-income security in which the Fund invests, 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.

Currency Risk is the risk that the value of the Fund's investments will fall as a result of changes in exchange rates. Loomis Sayles may elect not to hedge currency risk or may hedge imperfectly, which may cause the Fund to incur losses that would not have been incurred had the risk been hedged.

Derivatives Risk is the risk that the value of the Fund's derivative investments such as forward currency contracts, options and futures transactions will fall, for example, because of changes in the value of the underlying reference instruments, pricing difficulties or lack of correlation with the underlying investments. The use of derivatives for other than hedging purposes may be considered a speculative activity, and involves greater risks than are involved in hedging. There is also the risk that the Fund may be unable to terminate or sell a derivatives position at an advantageous time or price. The Fund's derivative counterparties may experience financial difficulties or otherwise be unwilling or unable to honor their obligations, possibly resulting in losses to the Fund. This risk is greater for forward currency contracts and other over-the-counter traded derivatives. Investing in derivatives gives rise to other risks, such as leverage risk, liquidity risk, credit risk, counterparty risk, interest rate risk and market/issuer risk. The use of derivatives may cause the Fund to incur losses greater than those which would have occurred had derivatives not been used.

Emerging Markets Risk is the risk that the Fund's investments in emerging markets may face greater foreign securities risk. Emerging markets investments are subject to greater risks arising from political or economic instability, nationalization or confiscatory taxation, currency exchange restrictions and an issuer's unwillingness or inability to make principal or interest payments on its obligations. Emerging markets companies may be smaller and have shorter operating histories than companies in developed markets.

Equity Securities Risk is the risk that the value of a stock may decline for a number of reasons that relate directly to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer's goods and services, or the equity markets generally. 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 Loomis Sayles' assessment of the prospects for a company's growth is wrong, or if Loomis Sayles' 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 Loomis Sayles has placed on it. In the event an issuer is liquidated or declares bankruptcy, the claims of owners of the issuer's bonds generally take precedence over the claims of those who own preferred stock or common stock.

Foreign Securities Risk is the risk that the value of the Fund's foreign investments will fall as a result of foreign political, social, economic, environmental, credit, informational or currency changes or other issues relating to foreign investing generally. Foreign securities may be subject to higher volatility than U.S. securities, varying degrees of regulation and limited liquidity. The Fund's investments in foreign securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes, which would decrease the yield on those securities.

Large Investor Risk is the risk associated with ownership of shares of the Fund that may be concentrated in one or a few large investors. Such investors may redeem shares in large quantities or on a frequent basis. Redemptions by a large investor can affect the performance of the Fund, may increase realized capital gains, may accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders and may increase transaction costs. These transactions potentially limit the use of any capital loss carryforwards and certain other losses to offset future realized capital gains (if any). Such transactions may also increase the Fund's expenses.

Leverage Risk 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, market or asset price 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 gains generated by the derivative should be substantially offset by losses 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 is the risk that the Fund may be unable to find a buyer for its investments when it seeks to sell them or to receive the price it expects. Events that may lead to increased redemptions, such as market disruptions or increases in interest rates, may also negatively impact the liquidity of the Fund's investments when it needs to dispose of them. If the Fund is forced to sell its investments at an unfavorable time and/or under adverse conditions in order to meet redemption requests, such sales could negatively affect the Fund. Securities acquired in a private placement, such as Rule 144A securities, are generally subject to significant liquidity risk because they are subject to strict restrictions on resale and there may be no liquid secondary market or ready purchaser for such securities. Liquidity issues may also make it difficult to value the Fund's investments.

Management Risk is the risk that Loomis Sayles' investment techniques will be unsuccessful and cause the Fund to incur losses.

Market/Issuer Risk is the risk that the market value of the Fund's investments will move up and down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, based upon overall market and economic conditions, as well as, a number of reasons that directly relate to the issuers of the Fund's investments, such as management performance, financial condition and demand for the issuers' goods and services.

Small/Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk is the risk that the Fund's investments may be subject to more abrupt price movements, limited markets, increased volatility and less liquidity than investments in larger, more established companies, which could adversely affect the value of the portfolio.

Risk/Return Bar Chart and Table

Because the Fund has not yet completed a full calendar year, information related to Fund performance, including a bar chart showing annual returns, has not been included in this Prospectus. The performance information provided by the Fund in the future will give some indication of the risks of an investment in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual returns compare against those of a broad measure of market performance.