| Investment Objective: |
To pursue its goal, the Fund normally invests 80% of its net assets in securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies. For purposes of this policy, the Fund considers a company to be small or mid capitalization if it has a market capitalization within the market capitalization range of companies in the Russell 2000 Index or the Russell Midcap Index, at the time of initial purchase. At times, the Portfolio Managers may emphasize certain sectors that they believe will benefit from market or economic trends. Although the Fund invests primarily in domestic securities, it may also invest up to 10% of its assets in securities of foreign companies. The Portfolio Managers use bottom-up, fundamental security analysis to identify what they believe to be undervalued companies whose current market shares and balance sheets are strong. In addition, the Portfolio Managers tend to focus on companies whose financial strength is largely based on existing business lines rather than on projected growth. The Portfolio Managers seek to identify growing, financially strong small and mid-cap companies that they believe are mispriced due to a lack of analyst research coverage and the market's focus on short-term time horizons. |
