The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in equity securities (or corresponding American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”)) of U.S. and foreign companies, whose activities, business models, or products make a substantial contribution to mitigating climate change. The Fund invests in ADRs to gain exposure to foreign companies, which may include those based in both developed and emerging markets. The Fund may invest in exchange-traded ADRs only if they trade on a U.S. exchange contemporaneously with the Fund’s shares.

The Fund’s sub-adviser, Veridien Global Investors LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses proprietary industry research and a proprietary valuation analysis process to evaluate companies that are candidates for the Fund’s portfolio. The Sub-Adviser employs a multi-step investment process to construct the Fund’s portfolio.

The Fund’s initial universe of candidates includes over ten thousand micro-, small-, mid-, and large-capitalization companies. A micro-capitalization company has a total market capitalization of $300 million or less.

Step 1 (Eligibility for Climate Change Mitigation Objective): From this initial universe, the Sub-Adviser’s methodology requires that a target company is active in a business activity that contributes to mitigating climate change. Examples of such business activities include, but are not limited to, conservation forestry, restoration of wetlands, manufacture of renewable energy technologies, manufacture of low carbon technologies for transport, manufacture of batteries, electricity generation from renewable sources, installation and operation of electric heat pumps, infrastructure for rail transport, data-driven solutions for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions and professional services related to the energy performance of buildings. The Sub-Adviser also considers companies engaged in “enabling” activities that contribute indirectly to mitigating climate change. For example, the Sub-Adviser will include companies engaged in enabling activities relating to developing renewable energy systems, such as e companies that provide electrical equipment or industrial automation and management of electricity consumption supporting renewable energy sources.

To determine whether a company satisfies Step 1, the Sub-Adviser reviews the target companies’ business activities, and as part of this process uses the “EU Taxonomy,” a globally recognized environmental classification system, as a tool in conducting its analysis. See “Additional Information About the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies” in the statutory prospectus for more information about the EU Taxonomy.

As part of its Step 1 analysis, the Sub-Adviser reviews data and analysis from third-party vendors (e.g., Sustainalytics Morningstar EU Taxonomy Solutions, Bloomberg), which provides analysis on activities that contribute to mitigating climate change for over 10,500 public companies. The Sub-Adviser then supplements this third-party data with proprietary analysis and research to ensure company analysis reflects current company fundamentals and business activities. The Sub-Adviser analyses detailed product and service sales data to determine each product’s and service’s contribution to mitigating climate change. In instances where a company does not currently report key metrics, the Sub-Adviser analyses business lines, manufacturing processes, and financial statements to identify an industry peer or peer group as a proxy. See “Additional Information About the Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies” in the statutory prospectus for more information about the third-party data.

Step 2 (Substantial Contribution to Mitigating Climate Change): The Sub-Adviser assesses the financials of each company that passes Step 1 to determine the scope of its financial alignment to making a substantial contribution to mitigating climate change. In particular, the Sub-Adviser evaluates a company’s revenues, capital expenditures (CAPEX), and operating expenditures (OPEX).

Generally, a company is deemed to be making a “substantial contribution to mitigating climate change” and, thus, is eligible for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio, if:

To make this determination, the Sub-Adviser generally reviews company reporting and financial statements and may rely on data and analysis from third-party data vendors. The Sub-Adviser performs a financial analysis of the company’s product and service sales data, including CAPEX and OPEX data (broken down by category), and determines each product’s and service’s contribution to mitigating climate change. The determination of whether a company is making a substantial contribution to mitigating climate change is made in the context of a company’ size and business. For example, a small company with a limited product line may still be considered to be a significant contributor to mitigating climate change if it satisfies the revenue or CAPEX/OPEX tests described above, even though the company by itself may have a limited ability to impact global climate conditions. In addition, companies that are investing significantly in mitigation activities, by satisfying the revenue or CAPEX/OPEX test described above, may be eligible even though they may currently not be a low carbon emitter.

Step 3 (Fundamental Analysis): The Sub-Adviser next analyzes each remaining candidate based on various qualitative and financial metrics in a four-step process:

Step 4 (Derivation of Risk-Adjusted Target Price): For companies that have passed the initial steps, the Sub-Adviser engages in a deeper analysis of the potential target company and derives a Risk-Adjusted Target Price using a proprietary valuation analysis. The analysis may include, but is not limited to, a company’s target market prospects, its regulatory environment, its management quality, unexplained stock price movements, and other company-specific factors. The Risk-Adjusted Target Price represents the Sub-Adviser’s view of the intrinsic value of a stock.

Step 5 (Portfolio Construction): Under normal market conditions, the Fund’s portfolio will include the securities of companies that the Sub Adviser believes have a Risk-Adjusted Target Price that is significantly above the then-current market price of the security at the time of investment. The weight of the companies in the Fund’s portfolio will be determined by the Sub-Adviser’s view of the potential upside between the security’s current market price and its Risk-Adjusted Target Price. The Fund’s portfolio will typically hold the securities of between 35 and 50 companies.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund’s holdings of micro-cap stocks will represent less than 10% of the portfolio.

The Sub-Adviser evaluates the Fund’s portfolio on a continual basis and adjusts the respective weights of companies in the Fund’s portfolio based on the difference between the market price and Risk-Adjusted Target Price. Portfolio positions are added to and trimmed such that the position size of companies in the portfolio are weighted according to the Sub-Adviser’s adjusted view of the potential upside between the security’s current market price and its Risk-Adjusted Target Price.

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in companies making a substantial contribution to mitigating climate change. The Fund’s “80%” policy is non-fundamental and can be changed without shareholder approval. However, Fund shareholders would be given at least 60 days’ notice prior to any such change.