The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities issued by small-cap U.S. growth companies. The fund considers a company to be a growth company if the company’s securities are represented in an appropriate third-party growth-oriented index. 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 defines a small-cap company as a company whose market capitalization falls below the maximum market capitalization in the Russell 2000® Index, MSCI USA Small Cap Index, or MSCI World Small Cap Index (after systematically removing any companies that cannot reasonably be considered a small-cap company from the high end of the range of each index). The market capitalizations of the companies in the indexes change over time and the indexes are periodically reconstituted to ensure that they continue to accurately reflect the small-cap equity market. As of December 31, 2025, the largest market capitalization represented across these indexes (after removing any outlier companies) was $30 billion.

The fund’s integrated approach to investing combines fundamental analysis and quantitative models to identify stocks that could be included in the portfolio. Stocks are selected based on a variety of metrics such as a company’s valuation, profitability, stability, earnings quality, management capital allocation actions, and indicators of near-term appreciation potential.

As part of the stock selection process, the adviser focuses primarily on companies that, in the adviser’s opinion, are capable of achieving and sustaining above-average, long-term earnings growth.

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