Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of small cap U.S. companies. The Investment Manager considers “small cap companies” to be those companies that, at the time of initial purchase by the Portfolio, have market capitalizations within the range of companies included in the Russell 2000® Index (ranging from approximately $4.4 million to $38.0 billion as of March 31, 2026). Equity security investments primarily include common stocks. The Portfolio considers a company or issuer to be a “U.S. company” if: (i) the

company/issuer is organized under the laws of or is domiciled in the U.S. or maintains its principal place of business in the U.S.; (ii) the security, or security of such company/issuer, is traded principally in the U.S.; or (iii) during the most recent fiscal year of the company/issuer, the company/issuer derived at least 50% of its revenues or profits from goods produced or sold, investments made, or services performed in the U.S. or that has at least 50% of its assets in the U.S.

The Investment Manager, through its bottom-up, fundamental research process, invests in companies it believes have strong and/or improving financial productivity and are undervalued based on their earnings, cash flow or asset values.

The Investment Manager focuses on relative value in seeking to construct a diversified portfolio of investments for the Portfolio that maintains sector and industry balance, using investment opportunities identified through bottom-up fundamental research conducted by the Investment Manager’s small cap and global research analysts.

The Portfolio may invest up to 20% of its assets in the securities of larger or smaller U.S. or non-U.S. companies.