Strategy. The Fund invests, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes) in the securities of small and mid-capitalization companies and other instruments, such as certain investment companies (see below), that seek to track the performance of securities of small and mid-capitalization companies. The Fund defines small and mid-capitalization companies as companies whose market capitalizations at the time of purchase typically fall within the range of the Russell MidCap Index and the Russell 2000 Index (as of April 30, 2025, companies with capitalizations between approximately $119.4 million and $58.5 billion). The market capitalization of the companies included in the Russell MidCap Index and the Russell 2000 Index will change with … Show more… The Fund invests, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes) in the securities of small and mid-capitalization companies and other instruments, such as certain investment companies (see below), that seek to track the performance of securities of small and mid-capitalization companies. The Fund defines small and mid-capitalization companies as companies whose market capitalizations at the time of purchase typically fall within the range of the Russell MidCap Index and the Russell 2000 Index (as of April 30, 2025, companies with capitalizations between approximately $119.4 million and $58.5 billion). The market capitalization of the companies included in the Russell MidCap Index and the Russell 2000 Index will change with market conditions. While the Fund primarily invests in equity securities of small and mid-capitalization companies, it may also invest in securities of large capitalization companies. The Fund may invest in securities issued by U.S. and foreign entities. The Fund may invest in American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) or Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs). The Fund may also invest in other investment companies, including other open-end or closed-end investment companies and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that have characteristics that are consistent with the Funds investment objective. The Fund may also invest a portion of its assets in futures contracts, principally for cash equitization purposes. The Fund may also invest a portion of its assets in securities of real estate investment trusts (REITs), which are companies that own and/or manage real estate properties. The Fund may, from time to time, invest a significant portion of its total assets in securities of companies in certain sectors. As of September 30, 2025, the Fund had significant exposure to securities of companies in the healthcare, industrials and information technology sectors. The Fund follows an investing style that favors growth investments. The Funds portfolio is constructed by combining the investment styles and strategies of multiple sub-advisers that have been or will be retained by the Adviser (each a Sub-adviser). Each Sub-adviser may use both its own proprietary and external research and securities selection processes to manage its allocated portion of the Funds assets. Portfolio securities may be sold at any time. Sales may occur when a Sub-adviser seeks to take advantage of what a Sub-adviser considers to be a better investment opportunity, when a Sub-adviser believes the portfolio securities no longer represent relatively attractive investment opportunities, or when a Sub-adviser believes it would be appropriate to do so in order to readjust the asset allocation of its portion of the Funds investment portfolio. The Adviser is responsible for determining the amount of Fund assets to allocate to each Sub-adviser. The Adviser allocates Fund assets for each investment strategy to the following Sub-advisers: Artisan Partners Limited Partnership (Artisan Partners), BlackRock Investment Management, LLC (BlackRock), Champlain Investment Partners, LLC (Champlain), Driehaus Capital Management LLC (Driehaus), Eagle Asset Management, Inc. (Eagle), Stephens Investment Management Group, LLC (SIMG), and Victory Capital Management Inc. (Victory Capital). The Adviser may adjust allocations to the Sub-advisers at any time or make recommendations to the Board with respect to the hiring, termination, or replacement of the Sub-advisers. Below is a summary of each Sub-advisers principal investment strategies. Artisan Partners Principal Investment Strategies Artisan Partners investment team employs a fundamental investment process to construct a diversified portfolio of U.S. mid-capitalization growth companies. The team seeks to invest in companies that it believes possess franchise characteristics, are benefiting from an accelerating profit cycle and are trading at a discount to its estimate of private market value. The teams investment process focuses on two distinct elements security selection and capital allocation. The team overlays its investment process with broad knowledge of the global economy. BlackRocks Principal Investment Strategies BlackRock invests in equity securities with the objective of approximating as closely as practicable the capitalization weighted total rate of return of the segments of the United States market for publicly traded equity securities as represented by the Russell Midcap Growth Index, which tracks the performance of mid-capitalization companies, and the Russell 2000 Growth Index, which tracks the performance of small capitalization companies. Champlains Principal Investment Strategies Champlain principally invests in equity securities of mid-capitalization companies. Champlain seeks capital appreciation by investing in companies that it believes have strong long-term fundamentals, superior capital appreciation potential, and attractive valuations. Through the consistent execution of a fundamental bottom-up investment process, which focuses on an analysis of individual companies, Champlain expects to identify a diversified universe of mid-sized companies that trade at a discount to their estimated or intrinsic fair values. Driehaus Principal Investment Strategies Driehaus primarily invests in the equity securities of U.S. small capitalization and U.S. medium capitalization companies which will generally be, at the time of investment, within the capitalization range of those companies included in the Russell 2500 Growth Index without regard to the indexs float adjustment. Investment decisions are based on Driehaus belief that fundamentally strong companies are more likely to generate superior earnings growth on a sustained basis and are more likely to experience positive earnings revisions. These decisions involve evaluating a companys competitive position, evaluating industry dynamics, identifying potential growth catalysts and assessing the financial position of the company. An investment decision is also based on the evaluation by Driehaus of relative valuation, macroeconomic and behavioral factors affecting the company and its stock price. Driehaus sells holdings for a variety of reasons, including to take profits, changes to the fundamental investment thesis, changes in the risk/reward assessment of the holding, an assessment that the holding is efficiently priced, to make room for more attractive ideas or for other portfolio or risk management considerations. Driehaus frequently and actively trades its portfolio securities. Eagles Principal Investment Strategies During normal market conditions, Eagle primarily invests in the equity securities of small capitalization companies. When making investment decisions, Eagle generally focuses on investing in the securities of small capitalization companies that demonstrate growth potential at a price that does not appear to reflect the companys true underlying value. Eagle uses a three-pronged investment philosophy when evaluating potential additions to the portfolio quality, valuation, and balance. Eagle seeks quality by investing in companies with superior cash-flow generation, management teams with a successful record of business strategy execution, sustainable growth, and a defensive business model. It seeks attractive valuation using market fluctuations as opportunistic entry points. Finally, it attempts to balance the allocated portion of the Funds portfolio through sector-weight policies that provide diversification across major economic sectors. SIMGs Principal Investment Strategies SIMG evaluates and selects securities of both mid-capitalization and small capitalization companies. When making its investment decisions, SIMG employs a disciplined, bottom-up investment selection process that combines rigorous fundamental analysis with quantitative screening in an effort to identify companies that exhibit potential for superior earnings growth that is unrecognized by the markets. SIMG has two screensone for core growth stocks and one for catalyst stocks. Core growth stocks have strong growth franchises, recurring revenue, and above-average growth rates; catalyst stocks, in comparison, are experiencing change that could lead to accelerated earnings growth. Victory Capitals Principal Investment Strategies Victory Capital primarily invests in the equity securities of small capitalization companies. Victory Capital employs both fundamental analysis and quantitative screening in seeking to identify companies that it believes will produce sustainable earnings growth over a multi-year horizon. Valuation is an integral part of the growth investment process and purchase decisions are based on the teams expectation of the potential reward relative to risk of each security based in part on the investment teams proprietary earnings calculations. Victory Capital regularly reviews the investments held in Victory Capitals allocated portion of the Funds assets and will sell securities when the team believes the securities are no longer attractive because (1) of a deterioration in rank of the security in accordance with the teams process, (2) of price appreciation, (3) of a change in the fundamental outlook of the company or (4) other investments available are considered to be more attractive. Show less