Investments in foreign securities generally, and emerging markets
in particular, involve risks that may differ from or at times exceed the risks
of U.S. investments for a variety of reasons such as, without limitation,
unstable international, regional, or national political and economic
conditions, diplomatic developments such as sanctions, embargoes, trade
tariffs, trade limitations or trade wars, currency fluctuations, foreign
controls on investment and currency exchange, foreign governmental control of
some issuers, potential confiscatory taxation or nationalization of companies
by foreign governments, sovereign solvency considerations, withholding taxes, a
lack of adequate company information, less liquid and more volatile exchanges
and/or markets, ineffective or detrimental government regulation, varying
accounting, auditing, disclosure, and reporting standards, political or
economic factors that may severely limit business activities, legal systems or
market practices that may permit inequitable treatment of minority and/or
non-domestic investors, immature economic structures, and less developed and
more thinly traded securities markets. In addition, the Fund and the stocks and
markets in which it invests are subject to other general risks that include
volatility and instability, periods of cyclical change and decline, that
investors may at times avoid investments in equity securities, and that the investment
adviser may select investments for the Fund that do not perform as anticipated.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Recent performance may have been negative.
1 Lipper ranks are based on total return. Lipper Inc., A Refinitiv Company, is a nationally recognized organization that measures the performance of mutual funds within a universe of funds that have similar investment objectives. Returns are historical with capital gains and dividends reinvested.
2 The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. ©Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.
a The Fund has adopted a Rule 12b-1 plan, as amended, (the
“Plan”) that authorizes payments by the Fund in connection with the
distribution and other fees and costs for the sale and distribution of its
shares and for services provided to shareholders at an annual rate, as
determined from time-to-time by the Board of Trustees, of up to 0.25% of the
Fund's average daily net assets. The Plan states that while the maximum 12b-1
Fee rate remains limited to 0.25% per annum of the Fund's average daily net
assets, the Fund may be charged a lower rate from time to time upon approval by
the Board of Trustees. Pursuant to the Plan, the Board of Trustees has
determined to cause the Fund to accrue 12b-1 Fees at a rate of 0.25% per annum
of the average daily net assets of the Fund until such time as the Board of
Trustees authorizes a different rate (not exceeding 0.25% per annum). As these
fees are paid out of the Fund's assets on an ongoing basis, over time these
fees will increase the cost of your investment and reduce your investment
returns.
b Restated to reflect an increase in transfer agent fees expected
to be incurred by the Fund in the current fiscal year. These expenses include
custodian, transfer agency and administration fees, certain payments to
financial services agents for non-distribution expenses, acquired fund fees and
expenses, and other customary mutual fund expenses. Acquired fund fees and
expenses are those expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund as a result of
acquiring investments in shares of one or more other investment companies, and would be stated in a separate line item in the
table if they exceeded 0.01% per annum.
c The Adviser has entered into a written expense
limitation and fee waiver agreement under which it has agreed to limit the
total expenses of the International Opportunities Fund (excluding taxes,
interest, acquired fund fees and expenses, litigation, extraordinary
expenses, and brokerage and other transaction expenses relating to the purchase or
sale of portfolio investments) to an annual rate of 1.50% of the Fund's average
net assets until January 31, 2021.
This expense limitation and fee waiver agreement may be terminated by the
Adviser at any time after January 31, 2021 upon 15 days prior notice to the Fund and its
administrator, provided that no such modification will be made in a manner
inconsistent with the terms of the current prospectus. The Adviser may recoup
from the Fund fees previously waived or expenses previously reimbursed by the
Adviser with respect to the Fund pursuant to this agreement (or a previous expense limitation agreement)
if: (1) such recoupment by the Adviser does not cause the Fund, at the time of
recoupment, to exceed the lesser of (a) the expense limitation in effect at the
time the relevant amount was waived and/or reimbursed, or (b) the expense
limitation in effect at the time of the proposed recoupment, and (2) the recoupment
is made within three years after the fiscal year end date as of which the
amount to be waived or reimbursed was determined and the waiver or
reimbursement occurred.
d Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses do not correlate to the
“ratio of expenses to average net assets” provided in the Financial Highlights.
The information in the Financial Highlights does not include the restatement of
the fees described above and reflected in the Other Expenses line item above
for the entire fiscal year, nor does it include Acquired Fund Fees and
Expenses, which are included in the Other Expenses line item above.