The Fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity securities of mid‑capitalization U.S. companies. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of mid‑capitalization companies. For purposes of this policy, mid‑capitalization companies are those that, at the time of investment, fall within the capitalization range between the smallest company in the Russell Midcap® Index and the greater of $50 billion or the market capitalization of the largest company in the Russell Midcap® Index.

Because the Fund’s definition of mid‑capitalization companies is dynamic, the lower and upper limits on market capitalization will change with the markets. As of December 31, 2023, the capitalization ranges of companies in the Russell Midcap® Index ranged from approximately $669.6 million to $73.3 billion.

The Fund invests in companies that are determined by the Adviser to be undervalued, using the Adviser’s fundamental value approach. In selecting securities for the Fund’s portfolio, the Adviser uses its fundamental and quantitative research to identify companies whose long-term earnings power is not reflected in the current market price of their securities.

In selecting securities for the Fund’s portfolio, the Adviser looks for companies with attractive valuation and compelling success factors. The Adviser then uses this information to calculate an expected return. Returns and rankings are updated on a daily basis. The rankings are used to determine prospective candidates for further fundamental research and, subsequently, possible addition to the portfolio.

The Adviser typically projects a company’s financial performance over a full economic cycle within the context of forecasts for real economic growth, inflation and interest rate changes. The Adviser focuses on the valuation implied by the current price, relative to the earnings the company will be generating five years from now, or “normalized” earnings, assuming average mid‑economic cycle growth for the fifth year.

The Fund’s management team and other senior investment professionals work in close collaboration to weigh each investment opportunity identified by the research staff relative to the entire portfolio and determine the timing and position size for purchases and sales. Analysts remain responsible for monitoring new developments that would affect the securities they cover. The team will generally sell a security when it no longer meets appropriate valuation criteria, although sales may be delayed when positive return trends are favorable. Typically, growth in the size of a company’s market capitalization relative to other domestically traded companies will not cause the Fund to dispose of the security.

The Adviser seeks to manage overall portfolio volatility relative to the Russell Midcap Value® Index by favoring promising securities that offer the best balance between return and targeted risk. At times, the Fund may favor or disfavor a particular sector compared to that universe of companies. The Fund may invest significantly in companies involved in certain sectors that constitute a material portion of the universe of mid‑capitalization companies, such as industrials and consumer services.

The Fund may enter into derivatives transactions, such as options, futures contracts, forwards, and swaps. The Fund may use options strategies involving the purchase and/or writing of various combinations of call and/or put options, including on individual securities and stock indices, futures contracts (including futures contracts on individual securities and stock indices) or shares of exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). These transactions may be used, for example, in an effort to earn extra income, to adjust exposure to individual securities or markets, or to protect all or a portion of the Fund’s portfolio from a decline in value, sometimes within certain ranges.

The Fund may invest in securities issued by non‑U.S. companies.

The Fund may, at times, invest in shares of ETFs in lieu of making direct investments in equity securities. ETFs may provide more efficient and economical exposure to the type of companies and geographic locations in which the Fund seeks to invest than direct investments.