Strategy. Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of ESG Companies, as defined below. The Fund's investments in equity securities will primarily consist of common stocks. The Fund focuses its investments in dividend paying equity securities issued by larger-capitalization (larger cap) companies. The Fund generally considers a company to be a larger cap company if it has a market capitalization, at the time of purchase, over $5 billion. The Adviser begins with a screen of approximately 1,000 larger cap companies. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses, the Adviser further reduces the larger cap universe to approximately 250 companies, which it believes have stable … Show more… Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of ESG Companies, as defined below. The Fund's investments in equity securities will primarily consist of common stocks. The Fund focuses its investments in dividend paying equity securities issued by larger-capitalization (larger cap) companies. The Fund generally considers a company to be a larger cap company if it has a market capitalization, at the time of purchase, over $5 billion. The Adviser begins with a screen of approximately 1,000 larger cap companies. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses, the Adviser further reduces the larger cap universe to approximately 250 companies, which it believes have stable and predictable growth in earnings, revenues, and dividends. These approximately 250 companies are further screened to evaluate those prospective portfolio companies based on the promotion and following of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) best practices. As part of this analysis, the Adviser uses an exclusionary overlay to remove companies in the tobacco, firearms, alcohol, military weapons, gambling, and mining industries. The Advisers evaluation of a particular companys adherence to ESG best practices utilizes a proprietary quantitative process complemented with in-depth qualitative analysis. Industry-specific, material ESG value drivers are identified for each company based on the internally derived criteria and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) framework. Material ESG drivers are the most relevant and financially important ESG aspects of the companys business model. These drivers can have a significant short- or long-term impact on the company's environmental, social, and governance profile. For example, for health-care companies a material ESG value driver is improving access to health care for more people; however, for a manufacturing company, a material ESG value driver might be revenue derived from environmentally friendly products. The Advisers methodology determines what it believes the impact each of the drivers has on financial metrics such as revenue, margins, and returns. These drivers serve as a tool to quantify a companys ESG performance. The Adviser will review corporate sustainability reports, Carbon Disclosure Project scores, government databases, Bloomberg ESG analytics, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) scores and will conduct engagement with company management. The final step of the process incorporates a multi-factor scoring methodology and incorporates metrics from company financial filings, corporate responsibility reports and proxy disclosures. Specific environmental factors to be evaluated by the Adviser include a companys policy towards climate change, carbon emissions, air/water pollution and energy efficiency. From a social perspective, the Adviser reviews company labor standards, its community relations and its human rights record and policies. In terms of governance, the Adviser incorporates an analysis of the companys board composition, long-term sustainability incentives and transparency in disclosure. The Adviser analyzes these factors with a preference for positive and improving trends when considering individual stocks for purchase in the portfolio. The Adviser may supplement the internal research with data from third-party databases. Each third-party database will have its own custom ESG scoring methodology, but some examples of environmental factors tracked by third-party databases include energy intensity, greenhouse gas intensity and water intensity. Examples of social and governance factors tracked by third-party databases include female representation on company boards, board director independence and improving ESG information disclosures. The Adviser may supplement the internal research with data from third-party databases. Both the quantitative and the qualitative processes focus on identifying and tracking the most relevant and/or material ESG factors for each industry and company. The result is an investable universe of companies that satisfy our financial criteria and demonstrate a strong and/or improving commitment to ESG best practices (ESG Companies). Key characteristics are summarized below: ESG driven securities in the portfolio have strong ESG characteristics; Stability low variability in earnings, revenues, and financial strength; Growth absolute and relative growth in earnings, revenues, and dividends; Profitability the ability to consistently generate revenues in excess of expenses and to minimize capital investment; Quality balance sheet strength, management depth, integrity, and the ability to skillfully execute strategic objectives; and Shareholder focus transparency of financial s and operational strategy, capital allocation preferences, including dividends, buybacks, and acquisitions. It is at this point that the Adviser utilizes a conservative, bottom-up approach, constructing and applying a dividend discount model to identify companies within this universe that possess reasonable valuations for inclusion in the Funds investment portfolio. As an important component of its investment strategy, the Adviser also meets regularly with management of its portfolio and prospective portfolio companies, as well as their competitors, customers, and suppliers. Engagement and proactive dialogue on key ESG issues are also important aspects of the research process. The Advisers portfolio construction process focuses on risk control and protecting principal in down markets, while capturing most of the upside performance. The Fund is generally comprised of approximately 25 to 35 equity securities chosen because: They meet the Advisers earnings and stability criteria, dividend and cash flow growth, and ESG practices; The Adviser has established comfort with the long-term qualitative aspects of the investments; The Adviser has talked with relevant management, competitors, customers and suppliers; The Advisers dividend discount model reflects valuations that are compelling based on the expected rate of return estimates of the securities in the portfolio; and The Adviser objectively identifies and monitors material operating metrics, financial metrics, and sustainability metrics, which include stewardship and responsible use of resources to further social, economic and environmental good, that it expects the companies to maintain or achieve at specific points in time. In addition to investing in equity securities issued by larger cap companies, the Fund, in order to reduce cash balances and increase the Funds exposure to larger cap companies, may invest in other investment companies, including ETFs, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act. The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its total assets in foreign securities, including American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). Temporary Strategies; Cash or Similar Investments . At the Advisers discretion, the Funds may invest in high-quality, short-term debt securities and money market instruments for (i) temporary defensive purposes in response to adverse market, economic, or political conditions and (ii) retaining flexibility in meeting redemptions, paying expenses, and identifying and assessing investment opportunities. These short-term debt securities and money market instruments include cash, shares of other mutual funds, commercial paper, certificates of deposit, bankers acceptances, U.S. government securities, and repurchase agreements. To the extent that the Fund invests in money market mutual funds for their cash position, there will be some duplication of expenses because the Fund will bear its pro rata portion of such money market funds management fees and operational expenses. When investing for temporary defensive purposes, the Adviser may invest up to 100% of the Funds total assets in such instruments. Taking a temporary defensive position may result in the Fund not achieving their investment objective. Show less