The Continental Small Company Portfolio is a feeder portfolio that invests substantially all of its assets in the Continental Small Company Series. To achieve the Portfolio’s and the Series’ investment objectives, the Advisor implements an integrated investment approach that combines research, portfolio design, portfolio management, and trading functions. As further described below, the Series’ design emphasizes long-term drivers of expected returns identified by the Advisor’s research, while balancing risk through broad diversification across companies and sectors. The Advisor’s portfolio management and trading processes further balance those long-term drivers of expected returns with shorter-term drivers of expected returns and trading costs.

The Continental Small Company Series, using a market capitalization weighted approach, is designed to purchase a broad and diverse group of readily marketable securities of small companies associated with European countries designated by the Advisor as approved markets for investment. A company’s market capitalization is the number of its shares outstanding times its price per share. Under a market capitalization weighted approach, companies with higher market capitalizations generally represent a larger proportion of the Series than companies with relatively lower market capitalizations. The Series may emphasize certain stocks, including smaller capitalization companies, lower relative price stocks, and/or higher profitability stocks as compared to their representation in the small company segment of the region in which the Series is authorized to invest. An equity issuer is considered to have a low relative price (i.e., a value stock) primarily because it has a low price in relation to its book value. In assessing relative price, the Advisor may consider additional factors such as price to cash flow or price to earnings ratios. An equity issuer is considered to have high profitability because it has high earnings or profits from operations in relation to its book value or assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing relative price and profitability are subject to change from time to time.

As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Continental Small Company Series will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities of small companies located in continental Europe. The Advisor determines the maximum market capitalization of a small company with respect to each country or region in which the Series invests. Based on market capitalization data as of December 31, 2023, for the Series, the market capitalization of a small company in any country or region in which the Series invests would be below $9,385 million. This threshold will change due to market conditions. The Series also may invest up to 20% of its net assets in small companies associated with non-European countries that the Advisor has identified as approved markets for investment.

The Advisor may also increase or reduce the Continental Small Company Series’ exposure to an eligible company, or exclude a company, based on shorter-term considerations, such as a company’s price momentum, short-run reversals, and investment characteristics. In assessing a company’s investment characteristics, the Advisor considers ratios such as recent changes in assets divided by total assets. The criteria the Advisor uses for assessing a company’s investment characteristics are subject to change from time to time. In addition, the Advisor seeks to reduce trading costs using a flexible trading approach that looks for opportunities to participate in the available market liquidity, while managing turnover and explicit transaction costs.

The Continental Small Company Series may gain exposure to companies associated with approved markets by purchasing equity securities in the form of depositary receipts, which may be listed or traded outside the issuer’s domicile country. The Series and the Continental Small Company Portfolio each may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts for continental European equity securities and indices or other equity market securities and indices, including those of the United States, to increase or decrease equity market exposure based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Series or Portfolio. Because many of the Series’ and the Portfolio’s investments may be denominated in foreign currencies, the Series and the Portfolio may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions, including foreign currency forward contracts, in connection with the settlement of foreign securities or to transfer cash balances from one currency to another currency.

The Continental Small Company Series may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.