Strategy. The Fund normally invests more than 80% of its net assets (including borrowings for investment, if any) in equity securities of small-cap U.S. companies. The Adviser defines small-cap companies as those companies with market capitalizations within the range of the Russell 2000 Index at the time of purchase. The market capitalization range of the Russell 2000 Index is expected to change frequently. As of June 30, 2024, the market capitalization range of the Russell 2000 Index was between approximately $8.0 million and $48.0 billion. The Fund may also invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs) that are a part of the Funds investable universe. The Adviser uses Fundametrics to select stocks for the Fund. Fundametrics is the Advisers proprietary, quantitative … Show more… The Fund normally invests more than 80% of its net assets (including borrowings for investment, if any) in equity securities of small-cap U.S. companies. The Adviser defines small-cap companies as those companies with market capitalizations within the range of the Russell 2000 Index at the time of purchase. The market capitalization range of the Russell 2000 Index is expected to change frequently. As of June 30, 2024, the market capitalization range of the Russell 2000 Index was between approximately $8.0 million and $48.0 billion. The Fund may also invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs) that are a part of the Funds investable universe. The Adviser uses Fundametrics to select stocks for the Fund. Fundametrics is the Advisers proprietary, quantitative research system. Fundametrics first evaluates all stocks in the Funds investable universe (U.S. domestic small-cap stocks) and groups companies with similar business models and characteristics into custom peer groups. Each peer group is then evaluated with respect to over 200 fundamental factors across all major styles (value, growth, growth at a reasonable price, price momentum, quality and risk) to find the optimized risk adjusted mix ( i.e. , to determine unbiasedly which blends of factors are best for each peer group). Overall, valuation generally maintains the highest weight and greatest importance within a peer group, but otherwise each peer group can have fundamental factor and style representation that is unique from the other peer groups. For example, the Software peer group generally has a higher representation of growth factors versus other peer groups, while the Banks peer group generally has a higher representation of value factors versus other peer groups. The Fundametrics Alpha Composite (Alpha Composite) is designed to identify alpha stocks, which are stocks considered to have the potential for returns in excess of the Funds benchmark over time ( i.e. , excess returns). It is comprised of two parts, the universe composite and the peer group composite. The universe composite ranks a company against all stocks in the Funds investable universe and helps to determine sector allocations to over or underweight, while the peer group composite ranks each stock amongst its peers for stronger stock selection. The Fundametrics Financial Warnings Overlay (Financial Warnings Overlay) is then applied to the Funds investable universe of stocks using a separate set of risk factors designed to identify stocks with risk levels that the Adviser believes will lead to underperformance. The Financial Warnings Overlay is designed to avoid high risk stocks that otherwise rank attractively in the Alpha Composite. The Fund typically buys stocks that score highly with respect to the Alpha Composite and pass the Financial Warnings Overlay and, as a final analysis, improve portfolio diversification. The Fund typically sells stocks that score low on the Alpha Composite or are flagged by the Financial Warnings Overlay as presenting unreasonable risk. A stock is determined to carry unreasonable risk when it accumulates multiple exceptions or warnings within the Financial Warnings Overlay. Warnings are customized by peer group. For example, the Banks peer group will have different risk factors tied to loan quality and capital levels that would not be relevant to Software peer group. Buy and sell decisions are determined by the rankings produced by the Alpha Composite and the Financial Warnings Overlay. All parameters set within Fundametrics , including the Alpha Composite and Financial Warnings Overlay, to generate the Funds portfolio are set at the full discretion of the Adviser based upon the Advisers beliefs regarding the proper approach to constructing a portfolio to meet the Funds investment objective. In addition, the Adviser, in its sole discretion, will continue to test, evaluate and modify these parameters over time. The Adviser selects securities from among approximately 1,950 issuers ranked according to fundamental factors using the Advisers Alpha Composite. Among other fundamental factors, the Alpha Composite model emphasizes the following three key fundamental factors when choosing equity securities with the potential for excess returns: relative valuation ( i.e. , a stocks valuation relative to its history); earnings growth rates, including the evaluation of both historic and forecasted rates over multiple time periods; and cash flow, including the evaluation of cash flow over historic, current and forecasted time periods. From time to time, the Fund may have an allocation of greater than 25% to companies in the same economic sector, including the financial sector. The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to brokers, dealers, and other financial organizations. These loans, if and when made, may not exceed 33 1/3% of the total asset value of the Fund (including the loan collateral). By lending its securities, the Fund may increase its income by receiving payments from the borrower. The Fund may, from time to time, take temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with the Funds principal investment strategies in an attempt to respond to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions. Show less