Fiera Capital Inc. (the “Subadvisor”) seeks to achieve the Fund’s investment objective by investing in a diversified portfolio of common stocks of companies believed to be small- and mid-cap growth-oriented companies that are selected for their long-term capital appreciation potential and which the Subadvisor expects to grow faster than the U.S. economy.

The Fund considers an issuer to be a small- or mid-capitalization issuer if it has a market capitalization, at the time of purchase, within the range of Russell 2500TM Growth Index (which as of December 31, 2023 ranged from $25 million to $22.2 billion) or the Russell Midcap® Growth Index (which as of December 31, 2023 ranged from $978 million to $73.3 billion). These ranges are subject to change over time due to changes in market and/or economic conditions. The Fund may also invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”).

The Fund may also invest in companies that are in the earlier stages of their growth cycle that the Subadvisor recognizes as “emerging growth” companies. The Subadvisor believes that emerging growth companies can typically exhibit more aggressive growth characteristics and may be experiencing a significant positive transformation or a favorable catalyst impacting their long-term earnings potential. Characteristics the Subadvisor considers in identifying emerging growth companies for the Fund include accelerating revenue growth, strong relative strength, company specific market advantage, or an introduction of a new product line with a large addressable marketplace.

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in common stocks of small- and mid-cap companies. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its assets in common stocks of foreign small- and mid-cap companies through the purchase of sponsored American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), sponsored Global Depositary Receipts and/or foreign companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges.

An issuer is considered to be U.S. or foreign based on the issuer’s “country of risk” (or similar designation) as determined by a third party such as Bloomberg.

The Fund may from time to time emphasize one or more sectors as defined by GICs classification in selecting its investments, including the information technology, health care and consumer staples sectors.

Investment Process:

In selecting investments for the Fund, the Subadvisor uses an approach that combines “top-down” secular/macro-economic trend analysis with “bottom-up” security selection. The “top-down” approach takes into consideration factors such as interest rates, inflation, fiscal and monetary policy, global demographic trends, the regulatory environment and other attractive global investment opportunities. In addition, the Subadvisor may make investments in companies that seek to benefit from secular growth trends.

Through this “top-down” view, the Subadvisor seeks to provide a framework for “bottom-up” research by identifying sectors, industries and companies that may benefit from the sustainability of the observed trends.

The Subadvisor then looks to fundamental “bottom-up” research for individual companies that it believes are exhibiting earnings growth potential at different stages of a company’s growth cycle and may benefit from the observed secular/macro trends. The core investments of the Fund typically include more established companies that the Subadvisor recognizes as “stable growth” companies, but the Fund may also invest in “emerging growth” companies. The Subadvisor believes that stable growth companies can typically provide more stability and consistency in volatile markets and are identified as exhibiting potential earnings acceleration, consistency of earnings, solid fundamentals (e.g., a strong balance sheet and the ability to generate free cash flow), franchise durability and reasonable valuations in the context of projected growth rates.

The Fund may sell securities and other investments when the Subadvisor believes that they have achieved full valuation, the Subadvisor identifies a more attractive investment, the Fund needs to maintain portfolio diversification, or an individual stock experiences declining fundamentals, negative earnings reports or similar adverse events or other relevant factors. In general, once the market capitalization of an investment exceeds the market capitalization ranges stated above, the Subadvisor expects to gradually liquidate the position.