The Fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity securities, including common stocks and other forms of equity investments (e.g., securities convertible into common stocks), of U.S. growth companies of all sizes that are expected to exhibit quality growth characteristics. The Fund invests primarily in equity securities issued by companies that typically have market capitalizations no smaller than the smallest capitalized company, and no larger than the largest capitalized company, included in the Russell 3000sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index at the time of the Fund’s investment. Securities of companies whose market capitalizations no longer meet this definition after purchase may continue to be held in the Fund. To a limited extent, the Fund may also purchase stocks of companies with business characteristics and growth prospects similar to companies in the Russell 3000sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index, but that may have market capitalizations outside the range of companies included in the index. div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: times new roman;"The Russell 3000sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index is a widely recognized, unmanaged index that measures the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies. The size of companies in the Russell 3000sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index may change with market conditions. In addition, changes to the composition of the Russell 3000sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index can change the market capitalization range of the companies in the index. As of March 31, 2026, the Russell 3000sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index included securities issued by companies that ranged in size between $4 million and $4.2 trillion. The Russell 3000sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Growth Index, the Fund’s performance benchmark, measures the performance of Russell 3000sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup companies with higher price‑to‑book ratios and higher forecasted growth values./div div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: times new roman;"In choosing investments, the Adviser performs fundamental company analysis and focuses on stock selection. The Adviser evaluates the extent to which a company meets the quality growth criteria set forth below. All of the criteria are evaluated relative to the valuation of the security. The weight given to a particular investment criterion will depend upon the circumstances, and Fund holdings may not meet all of the following criteria: (a) the company should be, or should have the expectation of becoming, a significant provider in the primary markets it serves, (b) the company should have some distinctive attribute relative to present or potential competitors (for example, this may take the form of proprietary products or processes, a unique distribution system, an entrenched brand name or an especially strong financial position relative to its competition), (c) the company should participate in an industry expected to grow rapidly due to economic factors or technological change or should grow through market share gains in its industry and (d) the company should have a strong management team./div