remain the same. Although your actual costs may be
higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
| 1 Year
| 3 Years
| 5 Years
| 10 Years
|
| $361
| $622
| $903
| $1,702
|
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 may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a
taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio
turnover rate was 26% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment
Strategies
Main investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in large US companies that are similar in size to the
companies in the Russell 1000® Growth Index (generally the 1,000 largest publicly traded companies in the United States). The fund’s equity investments are mainly common stocks, but may also include other types of
equities such as preferred stocks or convertible securities. The fund may also invest up to 20% of its assets in stocks and other securities of companies not publicly traded in the United States. The fund normally
expects to invest in a portfolio consisting of approximately 40 issuers, although this number can vary depending on market conditions.
Management process. Portfolio management aims to add value through stock selection. In choosing securities, portfolio management employs a risk-balanced bottom-up selection process to identify companies it
believes are well-positioned and that have above average and sustainable growth potential.
Portfolio management utilizes a
proprietary investment process designed to identify attractive investments by utilizing proprietary research conducted by in-house analysts. The investment process also takes into consideration various valuation
metrics to assess the attractiveness of stocks and assists portfolio management in devising allocations among investable securities.
All investment decisions are made
within risk parameters set by portfolio management. Portfolio management may favor different types of securities from different industries and companies at different times.
Portfolio management will
normally sell a stock when its price fully reflects portfolio management’s estimate of its fundamental value, its fundamentals have deteriorated, other investments offer better opportunities or in the course of
adjusting the fund’s exposure to a given sector.
Portfolio management may consider
information about Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues in its fundamental research process and when making investment decisions.
Securities lending. The fund may lend securities (up to one-third of total assets) to approved institutions, such as registered broker-dealers, banks and pooled investment vehicles.
Main Risks
There are several risk factors
that could hurt the fund’s performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund’s performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to
be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.
Stock market risk. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Stock prices can be hurt by poor management on the part of the stock’s issuer, shrinking
product demand and other business risks. These may affect single companies as well as groups of companies. The market as a whole may not favor the types of investments the fund makes, which could adversely affect a
stock’s price, regardless of how well the company performs, or the fund’s ability to sell a stock at an attractive price. There is a chance that stock prices overall will decline because stock markets tend
to move in cycles, with periods of rising and falling prices. Events in the US and global financial markets, including actions taken by the US Federal Reserve or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize
economic growth, may at times result in unusually high market volatility which could negatively affect performance. Further, geopolitical and other events, including war, terrorism, economic uncertainty, trade
disputes and related geopolitical events have led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility, which may disrupt securities markets and have adverse long-term effects on US and world
economies and markets. To the extent that the fund invests in a particular geographic region, capitalization or sector, the fund’s performance may be affected by the general performance of that region,
capitalization or sector.
Growth investing risk. As a category, growth stocks may underperform value stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. Because the prices of growth stocks are based largely on the
expectation of future earnings, growth stock prices can decline rapidly and significantly in reaction to negative news about such factors as earnings, the economy, political developments, or other news.
Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory