Investment Objective
The Fund seeks high current income and competitive total return through investment primarily in dividend paying large-cap U.S. common stocks, in accordance with the Fund's corporate responsibility standards and strategies.
Investment Strategy
The Fund offers opportunities for high current income and competitive total return through investment primarily in dividend-paying, large-cap U.S. common stocks that the portfolio manager believes are undervalued. The Fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities, but may also invest up to 20% in debt securities. The equity securities held by the Fund will consist primarily of dividend-paying common stocks of large U.S. companies, but may also include preferred stock, trust preferred securities, convertible securities, and foreign securities. The Advisor seeks to identify common stocks of companies it believes are significantly undervalued compared to their perceived worth or prospects, historical valuations or the general market level of valuation. The Advisor primarily uses a bottom-up approach focused on fundamental analysis of issuers in a number of different sectors and industries, in light of the issuers' current financial condition and industry position, as well as market, economic, political and regulatory conditions. The Fund has threshold responsibility standards with respect to tobacco, weapons and human rights, which it applies in determining whether a security qualifies for investment.
Investment Risk
Investment in mutual funds involves risk, including possible loss of principal invested. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund or the Fund could underperform because of the following risks: the market prices of stocks held by the Fund may fall; individual investments of the Fund may not perform as expected; and/or the Fund’s portfolio management practices may not achieve the desired result. The Fund's emphasis on dividend-paying stocks involves the risk that such stocks may fall out of favor with investors and underperform the market. Also, a company may reduce or eliminate its dividend, which may adversely affect the Fund’s ability to generate income. The Fund's value-oriented investing approach may fall out of favor with investors from time to time, during which the Fund may underperform other funds using different investment approaches. In addition, large-cap companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges such as changes in technology, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion
