p id="xdx_A87_eoef--StrategyNarrativeTextBlock_zcnlHAXqnF0h" style="font: 11pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; text-align: left; margin-left: 0pt; text-indent: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt"The Fund uses a growth style of investment in equity securities, including common stocks and other equity securities of issuers. Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes) in the equity securities of U.S. small-capitalization (“small-cap”) companies. For purposes of the Fund, the investment adviser considers a company to be a small cap company if it is within the same market capitalization range at the time of investment as those included in the Russell 2000sup®/sup Growth Index. For the avoidance of doubt, while the reference index is “float-adjusted,” meaning it excludes closely held and other shares unavailable to investors, the investment adviser does not consider a float-adjustment when determining the market capitalization of a company. As of March 31, 2026, approximately 86% of the Russell 2000sup®/sup Growth Index consisted of companies with a market capitalization of less than $10 billion. The market capitalizations of companies included in the Russell 2000sup®/sup Growth Index will change with market conditions. Securities of companies whose market capitalization no longer meets this definition after purchase may continue to be held by the Fund. In addition, while the Fund will invest primarily in the equity securities of U.S. small-cap companies, /p p style="font: 11pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; text-align: left; margin-left: 0pt; text-indent: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt"the Fund may also from time to time invest up to a maximum of 20% of its assets in the equity securities of non-U.S. companies that trade in the U.S. (such as American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) or substantially similar instruments that are based on foreign securities) or in securities of companies above the capitalization range of the Russell 2000sup®/sup Growth Index. The Fund may invest in companies with limited or no operating histories. The Fund frequently and actively trades its portfolio securities. /p p style="font: 11pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: center" /p p style="font: 11pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; text-align: left; margin-left: 0pt; text-indent: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt"Investment decisions for the Fund’s growth style of investing are based on the belief that fundamentally strong companies are more likely to generate superior earnings growth on a sustained basis and are more likely to experience positive earnings revisions. These decisions involve evaluating a company’s competitive position, evaluating industry dynamics, identifying potential growth catalysts and assessing the financial position of the company. The decision is also informed by the evaluation of relative valuation, macroeconomic and behavioral factors affecting the company and its stock price. The Fund sells holdings for a variety of reasons, including to take profits, changes to the fundamental investment thesis, changes in the risk/reward assessment of the holding, an assessment that the holding is efficiently priced, to make room for more attractive ideas or for other portfolio or risk management considerations. /p