The Fund invests in a portfolio consisting primarily of common stocks of companies that are expected, over the long term, to have earnings growth that is faster than the growth of the U.S. economy and the U.S. stock market as a whole. Growth companies owned by the Fund may include both large established market leaders, as well as smaller, less seasoned companies. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in foreign securities issued by companies domiciled in developed or emerging market countries. As an alternative to holding foreign stocks directly, the Fund may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign companies that trade on U.S. exchanges or in the over-the-counter market (including depositary receipts, such as American Depositary Receipts, which are either sponsored or unsponsored and evidence ownership in underlying foreign stocks). The Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), a type of pooled investment vehicle, in order to manage cash positions or seek exposure to certain markets or market sectors. The Fund may also invest in publicly traded real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and may lend its securities. The Fund may at times invest 25% or more of its total assets in a particular sector. The Fund is “non-diversified”, which means it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer than a “diversified” fund.

Buy and sell decisions are made by balancing investment considerations and tax considerations, and taking into account the taxes payable by shareholders in connection with distributions of investment income and net realized gains.  The Fund seeks to minimize income distributions and distributions of realized short-term gains that are taxed as ordinary income, as well as distributions of realized long-term gains (taxed as long-term capital gains).  Investment decisions are made primarily on the basis of fundamental research. The portfolio manager utilizes information provided by, and the expertise of, the investment adviser’s research staff in making investment decisions. In selecting stocks, the portfolio manager considers (among other factors) a company’s earnings or cash flow capabilities, dividend prospects, financial strength, growth potential, the strength of the company’s business franchises and management team, sustainability of a company’s competitiveness, and estimates of the company’s net value. The portfolio manager may sell a security when the investment adviser’s price objective for the security is reached, the fundamentals of the company deteriorate, a security’s price falls below acquisition cost or to pursue more attractive investment options. The portfolio manager seeks to manage investment risk by maintaining broad industry exposure among the Fund’s holdings, and by conducting an analysis of the risk and return characteristics of securities (as described above) in which the Fund invests.

The Fund currently invests substantially all of its assets in the Portfolio, a separate registered investment company with the same investment objective and policies as the Fund.  References to the Fund’s investments include investments held indirectly through the Portfolio in which the Fund invests.