Fund Description

The fund normally invests at least 80% of total assets in equity securities of companies in emerging (less developed) markets and other investments tied economically to emerging markets, including common and preferred stock, depositary receipts, participation notes, warrants, equity-linked notes, and emerging-markets ETFs. The adviser uses a quantitative model analyzing stock-specific factors-valuation, growth, technical indicators, competitive strength, and corporate events-and top-down macroeconomic, currency, and country-sector factors; the valuation factor category receives the highest overall weight in the model. Fundamental analysts review certain outputs for special issues. It invests across ten or more emerging markets, with country weights generally within ??5 points of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, and may invest up to 10% in less developed markets outside the index. It generally targets companies with market capitalizations of $500 million or greater and may use futures for efficient cash management.