The Fund invests primarily in equity securities of a limited number of large, carefully selected, high-quality U.S. companies. The Fund invests primarily in the domestic equity securities of companies selected by the Fund’s Adviser for their growth potential within various market sectors. The Fund emphasizes investments in large, seasoned companies. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in common stocks of large-capitalization companies. 

For these purposes, “large-capitalization companies” are those that, at the time of investment, have market capitalizations within the range of market capitalizations of companies appearing in the Russell 1000® Growth Index. While the market capitalizations of companies in the Russell 1000® Growth Index ranged from approximately $0.3 billion to $2.2 trillion as of June 30, 2022, the Fund normally will invest in common stocks of companies with market capitalizations of at least $5 billion at the time of purchase. 

The Adviser expects that normally the Fund’s portfolio will tend to emphasize investments in securities issued by U.S. companies, although it may invest in foreign securities. 

The investment team allocates the Fund’s investments among broad sector groups based on the fundamental company research conducted by the Adviser’s internal research staff, assessing the current and forecasted investment opportunities and conditions, as well as diversification and risk considerations. The investment team may vary the percentage allocations among market sectors and may change the market sectors in which the Fund invests as companies’ potential for growth within a sector matures and new trends for growth emerge. 

The Adviser’s research focus is in companies with high sustainable growth prospects, high or improving return on invested capital, transparent business models, and strong and lasting competitive advantages. 

The Fund may, at times, invest in shares of exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) in lieu of making direct investments in securities. ETFs may provide more efficient and economical exposure to the types of companies and geographic locations in which the Fund seeks to invest than direct investments. 

The Fund may enter into derivatives transactions, such as options, futures contracts, forwards and swaps. The Fund may use options strategies involving the purchase and/or writing of various combinations of call and/or put options, including on individual securities and stock indices, futures contracts (including futures contracts on individual securities and stock indices) or shares of ETFs. These transactions may be used, for example, in an effort to earn extra income, to adjust exposure to individual securities or markets, or to protect all or a portion of the Fund’s portfolio from a decline in value, sometimes within certain ranges.