The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in stocks. The fund relies on MSCI Inc., a third-party provider of benchmark indexes and data services, or another unaffiliated data provider to determine the country assigned to a security. Any derivatives that provide exposure to the investment focus suggested by the fund’s name, or to one or more market risk factors associated with the investment focus suggested by the fund’s name, are counted (as applicable) toward compliance with the fund’s 80% investment policy.

The fund typically invests in at least five countries, including the U.S., and the amount of the fund’s assets invested outside the U.S. will vary depending on the adviser’s outlook for market conditions and opportunities overseas versus those in the U.S. However, the fund typically invests at least 25% of its net assets in securities of foreign issuers.

The fund seeks to be broadly diversified by investing in a variety of industries in developed and, to a lesser extent, emerging markets. While the fund has flexibility to purchase stocks of companies of any size, investments will typically focus on large- and mid-cap stocks. While the adviser invests with an awareness of the global economic backdrop and the adviser’s outlook for certain industries, sectors, and individual countries, the adviser’s decision-making process focuses on bottom-up stock selection. Country allocation is driven largely by stock selection, though the adviser may limit investments in markets or industries that appear to have poor overall prospects.

Security selection reflects a growth style. The adviser relies on a global team of investment analysts dedicated to in-depth fundamental research in an effort to identify high-quality companies capable of achieving and sustaining above-average, long-term earnings growth. The adviser seeks to purchase stocks of companies at reasonable prices in relation to present or anticipated earnings, cash flow, or book value.

In selecting investments the adviser generally favors companies with one or more of the following characteristics:

At times, the fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in the same economic sector, such as the information technology sector.