Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in investments of companies that have paid consistently rising dividends. The Fund

invests predominantly in equity securities, primarily common stock. Companies that have paid consistently rising dividends include those companies that currently pay dividends on their common stocks and have maintained or increased their dividend rate during the last four consecutive years.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 65% of its net assets in securities of companies that have:

·consistently increased dividends in at least 8 out of the last 10 years and have not decreased dividends during that time;

·increased dividends substantially (at least 100%) over the last 10 years;

·reinvested earnings, paying out less than 65% of current earnings in dividends (except for utility companies); and

·either long-term debt that is no more than 50% of total capitalization (except for utility companies) or senior debt that has been rated investment grade by at least one of the major bond rating organizations.

In addition to the criteria above, the investment manager utilizes a comprehensive suite of valuation tools in seeking investments which trade below the investment manager’s view of intrinsic value.

The Fund typically invests the rest of its assets in equity securities of companies that pay dividends but do not meet all of these criteria. The Fund may invest in companies of any size, across the entire market spectrum. Although the investment manager searches for investments that it believes to meet the criteria across all sectors, from time to time, based on economic conditions, the Fund may have significant positions in particular sectors.

The investment manager is a research driven, fundamental investor. As a "bottom-up" investor focusing primarily on individual securities, the investment manager looks for companies that it believes meet the criteria above and are fundamentally sound and attempts to acquire them at attractive prices. In following these criteria, the Fund does not necessarily focus on companies whose securities pay a high dividend rate but rather on companies that consistently increase their dividends.

The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in foreign securities.