Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of
its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal securities with income exempt from U.S. federal and North Carolina state income taxes. Issuers of these securities can be located in North Carolina, Puerto Rico and other U.S.
territories and possessions. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in securities subject to the U.S. federal alternative minimum tax. The Fund may also invest a portion of its net assets in certain taxable debt securities.
In selecting investments for purchase and sale, the
Fund’s Subadviser, Seix Investment Advisors LLC (“Seix” or the “Subadviser”), tries to manage risk as much as possible. Based on the Subadviser’s analysis of municipalities, credit risk, market trends and
investment cycles, the Subadviser attempts to invest more of the Fund’s assets in undervalued market sectors and less in overvalued sectors taking into consideration maturity, sector, credit, state and supply and demand levels. There are no
limits on the Fund’s average-weighted maturity or on the remaining maturities of individual securities.
The Subadviser attempts to diversify the Fund’s holdings
within the State of North Carolina. The Subadviser also attempts to identify and invest in municipal issuers with improving credit and avoid those with deteriorating credit.
The Fund invests in securities rated investment grade by at
least one national securities rating agency or unrated securities that the Subadviser believes are of comparable quality. The Subadviser may retain securities if the rating of the security falls below investment grade and the Subadviser deems
retention of the security to be in the best interests of the Fund.
Principal Investment Risks
You may lose money if you invest in the Fund. A Fund share is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Debt Securities Risk: Debt
securities, such as bonds, involve credit risk. Credit risk is the risk that the borrower will not make timely payments of principal or interest or will default. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an
issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. The degree of credit risk depends on the issuer’s financial condition and on the terms of the securities.
Debt securities are also subject to interest rate risk, which
is the risk that the value of a debt security may fall when interest rates rise. In general, the market price of debt securities with longer maturities will go up or down more in response to changes in interest rates than the market price of shorter
term securities.
Municipal Securities Risk: Municipal securities can be significantly affected by litigation, political or economic events, as well as uncertainties in the municipal market related to taxation, legislative changes or the rights of municipal
security holders. Municipal securities backed by current or anticipated
revenues from specific projects or assets can be negatively affected by the
inability of the issuer to collect revenues for the projects or from the assets.
Non-Diversification Risk: The
risk that, because the Fund may invest a higher percentage of its assets in a small number of issuers, the Fund is more susceptible to any single economic, political or regulatory event affecting those issuers than is a diversified
fund.
State Concentration Risk: The Fund’s concentration of investments in securities of issuers located in the State of Georgia may subject the Fund to economic and government policies within the State.
Performance
The bar chart and the performance table that follow illustrate
the risks and volatility of an investment in the Fund. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. The Fund commenced operations on March 21, 2005. Performance between
January 8, 2004 and March 21, 2005 is that of the CCMI Tax-Exempt North Carolina Bond Fund, the Fund’s predecessor. The performance of the predecessor fund has not been adjusted to reflect the Fund’s A Share expenses. If
it had been, performance would have been lower. Updated performance information is available by contacting the RidgeWorth Funds at 1-888-784-3863 or by visiting www.ridgeworth.com.
The annual returns in the bar chart which follows are for the I
Shares without reflecting payment of any sales
charge; if they did reflect such payment of sales charges, annual returns would be lower.
This bar chart shows the changes in performance of the
Fund’s I Shares from year to year.*
Best
Quarter |
Worst
Quarter |
6.54%
|
-5.20%
|
(9/30/2009)
|
(12/31/2010)
|
*
|
The performance information
shown above is based on a calendar year. The Fund’s total return for the six months ended June 30, 2015 was -0.02%. |
The following table compares the Fund’s average annual
total returns for the periods indicated with those of a broad measure of market performance.