The fund invests primarily in common stocks of issuers in Europe and the Pacific Basin that the investment adviser believes have the potential for growth. Growth stocks are stocks that the investment adviser believes have the potential for above-average capital appreciation.

Normally the fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities of issuers in Europe and the Pacific Basin. A country will be considered part of Europe if it is part of the MSCI European indexes, and part of the Pacific Basin if any of its borders touches the Pacific Ocean. In determining the domicile of an issuer, the fund’s investment adviser will generally look to the domicile determination of a leading provider of global indexes, such as MSCI Inc. (MSCI) for equity securities and Bloomberg or J.P. Morgan for debt securities. However, the adviser in its discretion also may take into account additional factors such as where the issuer’s securities are listed, where the issuer is legally organized, maintains principal corporate offices, conducts its principal operations, generates revenues and/or has credit risk exposure, and, for issuers of debt securities, the countries to which such securities are tied economically. In determining whether a security is tied economically to a particular country, the fund's investment adviser will generally look to the country determination of a leading provider of global indexes, such as Bloomberg or J.P. Morgan. Where appropriate within the adviser's discretion, the adviser may also take into account additional factors such as those described above and the source of guarantees (if any) of a particular security. The fund may invest a portion of its assets in common stocks and other securities of companies in emerging markets.

The investment adviser uses a system of multiple portfolio managers in managing the fund’s assets. Under this approach, the portfolio of the fund is divided into segments managed by individual managers.

The fund relies on the professional judgment of its investment adviser to make decisions about the fund’s portfolio investments. The basic investment philosophy of the investment adviser is to seek to invest in attractively valued companies that, in its opinion, represent good, long-term investment opportunities. Securities may be sold when the investment adviser believes that they no longer represent relatively attractive investment opportunities.