Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in stocks of small capitalized (“small cap”) and medium capitalized (“mid cap”) companies. 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 small cap and mid cap U.S. growth companies that are expected to exhibit quality growth characteristics. For purposes of the Fund, the Adviser considers a company to be a small cap or mid cap company if it has a market capitalization no larger than the largest capitalized company included in the Russell Midcapsup 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 small cap and mid cap companies, but that may have market capitalizations above the market capitalization of the largest member of the Russell Midcapsup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index.div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: times new roman;"The Russell Midcapsup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index measures the performance of the 800 companies with the lowest market capitalizations in the Russell 1000sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index. The size of companies in the Russell Midcapsup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index may change with market conditions. In addition, changes to the composition of the Russell Midcapsup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index can change the market capitalization range of companies included in the index. As of March 31, 2026, the Russell Midcapsup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index included securities issued by companies that ranged in size between $907 million and $116.8 billion. The Russell 2500sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"TM/sup Growth Index, the Fund’s performance benchmark, measures the performance of those Russell 2500sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"TM/sup companies with higher price‑to‑book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. The Russell 2500sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"TM/sup Index measures the performance of the 2,500 smallest companies in the Russell 3000sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;"®/sup Index with a weighted average market capitalization of approximately $11.6 billion, median capitalization of $1.5 billion and market capitalization of the largest company at $97.5 billion as of March 31, 2026./divdiv 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