The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing all of its assets in the Portfolio, which has the same investment objective as the Fund. For simplicity purposes, this prospectus may use the term “Fund” to include the Portfolio. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in U.S. equity securities of small- and mid-cap companies that meet the Subadviser’s (as defined below) fundamental and environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) criteria described below (measured at the time of purchase). Small- and mid-cap companies generally are defined as those companies with market capitalizations within the range represented in the Russell 2500® Growth Index (as of December 31, 2023, between approximately $13 million and $20 billion), the Fund’s broad-based securities market index. The Fund may also invest in equity securities of larger, more established companies.

Radiant Global Investors LLC (formerly, RadiantESG Global Investors LLC), the Portfolio’s subadviser (“Radiant” or the “Subadviser”), uses proprietary models to evaluate companies along key fundamental characteristics as well as ESG criteria. In managing the Portfolio, Radiant seeks to identify and invest in companies with compelling fundamentals and attractive ESG profiles.

The Subadviser’s fundamental view of companies is primarily assessed using two proprietary models: Comprehensive Quality and Stock Sentiment.

The Subadviser uses its proprietary Positive Change Model to evaluate companies using ESG criteria. The Positive Change Model seeks to identify companies that are “ESG Leaders” (companies believed to have leading ESG positioning in their relevant industries/sectors), “ESG Evolvers” (companies believed to be improving their ESG positioning in their relevant industries/sectors) and “Impact Leaders” (companies with products and services believed to be aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“UNSDGs”)). The Positive Change Model assigns multiple “scores” to each company in the Portfolio’s investment universe based on these ESG and Impact criteria. Company-level E, S, and G scores and combined ESG scores, along with company-level Impact scores, are the primary criteria in Radiant’s assessment of a company’s ESG profile. The Subadviser believes that these scores convey material information on a company’s operational strengths and weaknesses as well as a company’s positioning with respect to systemic forces (including climate change) that Radiant believes will economically affect all companies. The Subadviser uses proprietary and third-party data to assess ESG and Impact exposure to specific criteria, including, for example, greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions, water use, diversity, human rights, corporate ethical behavior and board structure/independence. The importance and weighting of ESG and Impact criteria will vary by industry/sector. Radiant defines “Impact” as the percentage of net revenue aligned to the UNSDGs, a globally accepted standard for evaluating investment impact.

Radiant uses a “bottom-up” investment process in which stocks deemed to exhibit excessive tail risk (e.g., micro-cap companies, companies with excessive valuations or volatility, companies that operate in controversial business lines, and companies facing severe controversies) are first excluded from the Portfolio’s investment universe and not considered for investment. Companies that operate in controversial business lines are generally those that are directly engaged in and/or derive significant revenue from, business lines that are believed to be inconsistent with environmental and socially-aware investing, including:

* Please see the SAI for complete list of all business-line exclusions.

Companies facing severe controversies are generally those that are believed to be the worst offenders when it comes to unethical behavior, environmental damage, legal liability or violation of human rights and liberties.

After excluding stocks that are deemed to exhibit excessive tail risk, an initial portfolio is constructed from companies scoring highly along both fundamental and ESG criteria, subject to risk management criteria (e.g., industry/sector exposure and position size); then Radiant performs a qualitative review before constructing the final portfolio. After purchase, the Subadviser will sell a stock if the company no longer exhibits both compelling fundamentals and an attractive ESG profile.

The Subadviser believes that incorporating ESG criteria into its investment process is an important complement to its two fundamental models (Comprehensive Quality and Stock Sentiment). The Subadviser’s objective in evaluating ESG considerations is to identify threats faced by companies, including transition and regulatory risk, as well as investment opportunities associated with the more efficient use of natural resources, more effective use of human resources and better governance. The Subadviser also believes that attractive ESG characteristics will economically advantage companies relative to their peers, potentially characterized by superior earnings growth, fewer incidents of legal or regulatory action, greater talent attraction and retention, and fewer incidents of value-destroying ethical or governance malfeasance.

The Fund will invest primarily in U.S. common stocks, but may, to a limited extent, invest in other types of securities, such as non-U.S. securities listed on U.S. securities exchanges.