Strategy. Principal Investment Strategies: Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in equity securities issued by large-cap or mid-cap companies. The Fund considers large capitalization companies to be those companies within the market capitalization range of the companies comprising the Russell 1000 Index (as of the indexs most recent reconstitution) and mid-capitalization companies to be those companies within the market capitalization range of companies comprising the Russell Midcap Index, a subset of the Russell 1000 Index. The Funds portfolio is principally composed of common stocks issued by companies domiciled in the United States, common stocks issued by non-U.S. companies that are principally traded in the United States and, to a lesser … Show more… Principal Investment Strategies: Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in equity securities issued by large-cap or mid-cap companies. The Fund considers large capitalization companies to be those companies within the market capitalization range of the companies comprising the Russell 1000 Index (as of the indexs most recent reconstitution) and mid-capitalization companies to be those companies within the market capitalization range of companies comprising the Russell Midcap Index, a subset of the Russell 1000 Index. The Funds portfolio is principally composed of common stocks issued by companies domiciled in the United States, common stocks issued by non-U.S. companies that are principally traded in the United States and, to a lesser extent, American Depositary Receipts, which are deemed as foreign securities. The Fund utilizes a multi-manager approach to provide exposure to an actively managed U.S. large-cap value strategy, an actively managed U.S. large-cap growth strategy, and an actively managed U.S. mid-cap core strategy. Each strategy reflects a separate sleeve of the Funds portfolio. Value strategies generally exhibit below market average valuations such as price-to-earnings ratio, growth strategies generally exhibit above market average earnings and revenue growth rates, and core strategies generally exhibit a balance of value and growth characteristics. The adviser, Sterling Capital Management LLC (the Adviser) oversees the investment sub-advisers, each of which provide investment recommendations generated by its respective model portfolio to the Adviser regarding the selection and allocation of the securities in the strategy under its management. The Adviser provides the day-to-day management of the Fund and determines each sub-advisers model portfolio weighting within the Fund through its asset allocation process. The Adviser selects the portfolio securities that the Fund buys and sells after reviewing each sub-advisers model recommendations. Included in the sub-adviser due diligence process is a consideration of how a sub-adviser incorporates Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors into its investment process. As such, the Advisers due diligence focuses on understanding and verifying a sub-advisers ESG philosophy, process and output. A well-defined approach as to how ESG analysis is incorporated into a sub-advisers investment process is preferred, but is not necessarily a prerequisite for a sub-adviser. A sub-adviser may not always use ESG screening when making recommendations to the Adviser. The Adviser does not engage in security-level ESG analysis as Fund holdings are driven by sub-adviser recommendations as communicated through the delivery of model portfolios. The Adviser has evaluated and selected investment sub-advisers that are majority diverse-owned (i.e., greater than 50 percent owned and/or controlled by persons of designated diverse backgrounds, including women, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, veterans, and disabled individuals). Boston Common Asset Management LLC (Boston Common) is the sub-adviser for the actively managed U.S. large-cap value strategy and is a majority women-owned firm. GQG Partners LLC (GQG) is the sub-adviser for the actively managed large-cap growth strategy and is a majority Asian-owned firm. EARNEST Partners LLC (EARNEST) is the sub-adviser for the actively managed U.S. mid-cap core strategy and a majority African-American owned firm. The Adviser is not diverse-owned. Boston Common integrates both financial and ESG analysis into the investment process to identify companies that have not taken on large amounts of debt, or have experienced volatile operating performance that casts doubt on their future profitability along with a strong commitment to ESG principles. Boston Common identifies not only individual companies that provide the most opportunity, but by extension the most attractive sectors and industries available in markets. Boston Common subscribes to statistical databases and information services to monitor market developments, reviews research reports from financial analysts to understand the markets expectations, and analyzes macroeconomic information, industry and company coverage and business news. Based on this array of sources, Boston Common forms an outlook for each company under consideration. GQG generates investment ideas from a variety of sources, ranging from institutional knowledge and industry contacts, to GQG's proprietary screening process that seeks to identify companies that have quality attributes such as stable financials, a solid balance sheet, and high levels of profitability. GQG engages in due diligence of each company identified to understand characteristics like its key drivers of success, barriers to entry, sustainability in the industry, effectiveness of management, regulatory risks and end-consumer behavior. GQG looks for companies whose shares are selling at a discount to GQGs calculation of its intrinsic value. EARNEST uses a screen called Return Pattern Recognition . Return Pattern Recognition identifies companies that exhibit financial characteristics that have historically been linked with positive excess returns versus the benchmark. EARNEST engages in due diligence of each company on the resulting list and the members of EARNESTs investment team votes on each candidate. Tactical allocations to each sub-advisers recommended model portfolio, including which securities in the model and the weightings to such securities, is determined by using the Advisers own quantitative models that are tested in-depth to identify factors that have been consistently predictive of historical asset class returns and to avoid emotional and cognitive biases. The Adviser considers its models one-year forward asset class return forecasts to determine tactical portfolio asset class weights with an emphasis on limiting any risk associated with significantly departing from each segments weighting within the benchmark. The Adviser makes asset allocation decisions depending on the attractiveness of the investment opportunity while seeking to limit such risk to reasonable levels. The Adviser typically makes tactical adjustments to the Funds asset allocation positioning on a quarterly basis. Show less