Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% (and, typically, substantially all) of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in the equity securities of companies included in the Russell 2000 Index (“Index”), in weightings that approximate the relative composition of the securities contained in the Index, and in Russell 2000 Index futures contracts. The Index is a widely recognized, unmanaged index representative of common stocks of smaller capitalized U.S. companies. The companies in the Index are selected according to their total market capitalization. However, companies are not selected by Frank Russell Company for inclusion in the Index because they are expected to have superior stock price performance relative to the stock market in general or other stocks in particular. As of December 31, 2021, the market capitalization range of companies included in the Index was $31.57 million to $13.98 billion. If the securities represented in the Index were to become concentrated in any particular industry, the Fund’s investments would likewise be concentrated in securities of issuers in that industry; the Index is not currently concentrated in any single industry.

The Fund is passively managed, which means it tries to replicate the investment composition and performance of the Index by using computer programs and statistical procedures. The Fund’s subadviser, Northern Trust Investments, Inc. (“NTI”), will buy and sell securities in response to changes in the Index. The Fund may use Index futures contracts, a type of derivative, to gain exposure to the Index in lieu of investing in cash, or to reduce its exposure to the Index while it sells the securities in its portfolio. Use of Index futures contracts by the Fund may create investment leverage. Because the Fund, unlike the Index, is subject to fees and transaction expenses, the Fund’s returns are likely to be less than those of the Index. NTI expects that, under normal circumstances, the annual performance of the Fund, before fees and expenses, will track the performance of the Index within a 0.95 correlation coefficient.