Fund Description

The fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in equity securities of small-cap U.S. value companies, including common stocks, preferred stocks, and convertible securities. Under normal circumstances, it invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of small-cap value companies, with small cap as defined by the fund by reference to the largest market capitalization of any company included in the Russell 2000 Index, and value as defined by the fund using inclusion in third-party value indices, valuation metrics that are below an applicable equity market index average, or characteristics identified by the sub-adviser's proprietary valuation models as trading at a discount to intrinsic value. The sub-adviser uses a value-oriented screen for discounted P/E and P/CF multiples, favoring strong balance sheets and experienced management, and may sell when securities exceed intrinsic value, to generate tax losses, or to fund redemptions.