Strategy. The Fund seeks to provide capital appreciation through participation in the broad equity markets while hedging overall market exposure relative to traditional long-only equity strategies. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its Assets in equity securities. Assets means net assets plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes. The Fund invests in equity securities, which primarily consist of common stocks of large cap U.S. companies. The Fund will also systematically purchase and sell exchange traded put options and sell exchange traded call options, employing an option overlay known as a Put/Spread Collar strategy. The options may be based on the S&P 500 Index or on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that replicate the S&P 500 Index (S&P 500 … Show more… The Fund seeks to provide capital appreciation through participation in the broad equity markets while hedging overall market exposure relative to traditional long-only equity strategies. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its Assets in equity securities. Assets means net assets plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes. The Fund invests in equity securities, which primarily consist of common stocks of large cap U.S. companies. The Fund will also systematically purchase and sell exchange traded put options and sell exchange traded call options, employing an option overlay known as a Put/Spread Collar strategy. The options may be based on the S&P 500 Index or on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that replicate the S&P 500 Index (S&P 500 ETFs). The Fund typically constructs the Put/Spread Collar by buying a put option on S&P 500 Index exposure. The combination of the diversified portfolio of equity securities, the downside protection from index put options and the income from the index call options is intended to provide the Fund with a portion of the returns associated with equity market investments while exposing investors to less risk than traditional long-only equity strategies. Specifically, the Fund seeks to provide a competitive risk adjusted return over a full market cycle (defined as three to five years) relative to the S&P 500 Index, the Funds benchmark (the Benchmark), with lower volatility than traditional long-only equity strategies. The Fund typically holds options for three month periods (each, an hedge period) for the purpose of seeking to provide more predictable returns in any market cycle during the applicable hedge period. The put option spread is generally maintained at a level intended to reduce the Funds exposure to a market decline by offsetting losses resulting from a decrease in the market. As a result of writing call options to offset the costs associated with the put option spread, some upside may be foregone in certain market environments. The quarterly hedge periods are based on returns from the first business day of February through the last business day of April; the first business day of May through the last business day of July; the first business day of August through the last business day of October; and the first business day of November through the last business day of January of the following calendar year. The Funds investments in equity securities will be primarily in common stocks of U.S. companies with market capitalizations similar to those within the universe of the Benchmark. As of the reconstitution of the S&P 500 Index on September 30, 2025, the market capitalizations of the companies in the index ranged from $4.30 billion to $4.55 trillion. The Fund may also invest in equity securities of U.S. mid cap companies. The advisers process focuses on stock selection and tends to maintain sector weightings comparable to those of the broad U.S. large cap market. Sector by sector, the Funds weightings are similar to those of the broad U.S. large cap market. Within each sector, however, the Fund modestly overweights equity securities that it considers undervalued or fairly valued while modestly underweighting or not holding equity securities that appear overvalued. The Fund constructs a Put/Spread Collar by buying a put option on the S&P 500 Index at a higher strike price and writing (or selling) a put option on the same index at a relatively lower strike price, resulting in what is known as a put option spread, while simultaneously selling a S&P 500 Index call option. The Fund may need to construct additional Put/Spread Collars if the size of the Fund increases, either through purchases or appreciation. The Funds options overlay strategy is intended to provide the Fund with downside protection, while foregoing some upside potential. A put option spread seeks to protect the Fund against a decline in price, but only to the extent of the difference between the strike prices of the put option purchased and the put option sold. Entering into put option spreads is typically less expensive than a strategy of only purchasing put options and may benefit the Fund in a flat to upwardly moving market by reducing the cost of the downside protection; the downside protection of the put option spread, however, is limited as compared to just owning a put option. The premiums received from writing index call options are intended to provide income which substantially offsets the cost of the put option spread, but writing the options also reduces the Funds ability to profit from increases in the value of its equity portfolio because in rising markets the call option will be exercised once the market price rises to the options strike price. While the Fund typically constructs the Put/Spread Collar utilizing index options, it may also construct the Put/Spread Collar utilizing options on S&P 500 ETFs. The Funds investment strategies may not always provide greater market protection than other equity investments, particularly in rising equity markets when the Fund is expected to underperform traditional long-only equity strategies. In addition, as a result of selling call options to offset the costs associated with the options overlay strategy, some upside may be foregone in certain market environments. While the Fund will not generally invest directly in ETFs, there may be times when it will purchase shares or receive shares of S&P 500 ETFs in order to settle its options positions. The adviser will not normally maintain such positions for an extended period. Options positions are marked to market daily. The value of options is affected by changes in the value and dividend rates of the securities represented in the S&P 500 Index underlying the option, changes in interest rates, changes in the actual or perceived volatility of the S&P 500 Index and the remaining time to the options expiration, as well as trading conditions in the options market. In addition to the use of the Put/Spread Collar strategy described above, the Fund may use future contracts, primarily futures on indexes, to more effectively gain targeted equity exposure from its cash positions and to hedge the Funds portfolio if it is unable to purchase or write the necessary options for its overlay strategy. The Fund is also permitted to use other derivatives such as futures, options (including options on futures) and swaps in order to hedge various investments and for risk management. Under certain market conditions, the Funds use of other derivatives for cash management or other investment management purposes could be significant. Investment Process Equity Portfolio: With respect to the investment of the equity portfolio, the adviser employs a three-step process that combines research, valuation and stock selection. The adviser takes an in-depth look at company prospects over a period as long as five years, which is designed to provide insight into a companys real growth potential. The research findings allow the adviser to rank the companies in each sector group according to their relative value. As part of its investment process, the adviser seeks to assess the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors on many issuers in the universe in which the Fund may invest. The advisers assessment is based on an analysis of key opportunities and risks across industries to seek to identify financially material issues with respect to the Funds investments in securities and ascertain key issues that merit engagement with issuers. These assessments may not be conclusive and securities of issuers that may be negatively impacted by such factors may be purchased and retained by the Fund while the Fund may divest or not invest in securities of issuers that may be positively impacted by such factors. On behalf of the Fund, the adviser then buys and sells equity securities, using the research and valuation rankings as a basis. In general, the adviser buys equity securities that are identified as attractive and considers selling them when they appear less attractive based on the Funds process. Along with attractive valuation, the adviser often considers a number of other criteria: ? Catalysts, such as improving company fundamentals, that could trigger a rise in a stocks price ? impact on the overall risk of the portfolio relative to the S&P 500 Index ? high perceived potential reward compared to perceived potential risk ? possible temporary mispricings caused by apparent market overreactions. Investment Process Options Overlay Strategy: To implement the Put/Spread Collar strategy, the adviser utilizes exchange traded equity options based either on the S&P 500 Index or on S&P 500 ETFs. The Put/Spread Collar is constructed by buying a put option at a higher strike price while writing a put option at a relatively lower strike price and simultaneously selling a call option that substantially offsets the cost of the put option spread. The Put/Spread Collar strategy is an actively managed process and is designed to provide a continuous market hedge for the portfolio. The put option spread is generally maintained at a level intended to protect the Fund from a decrease in the market of 5% to 20%, with potential upside generally capped at 3.5-5.5%. The upside cap could be more or less depending on market conditions. The options are systematically reset on at least a quarterly basis to better capitalize on current market conditions and opportunities while seeking to provide predictable returns in all market cycles. Show less