limited management experience or depth, limited ability to generate or borrow capital needed for growth, and limited products or services, or operate in markets that have not yet been established. Accordingly, mid-sized company securities tend to be more sensitive to changing economic, market and industry conditions. Mid-sized companies also may fall out of favor relative to larger companies in certain market cycles, causing the Fund to incur losses or underperform.
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Market Risk. The chief risk that you assume when investing in the Fund is market risk, which is the possibility that the securities in a certain market will decline in value because of factors such as economic conditions. Market risk may affect a single issuer, an industry, a sector of the economy, or the market as a whole.
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Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities represent ownership in a corporation and their prices fluctuate for a number of reasons including issuer-specific events, market perceptions and general movements in the equity markets. The resulting fluctuation in the price of equity securities may take the form of a drastic movement or a sustained trend. If an issuer is liquidated or declares bankruptcy, the claims of owners of bonds will take precedence over the claims of owners of common stocks. Historically, the prices of equity securities have fluctuated more than bond prices.
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Ranking System Risk. The Adviser’s use of the results of the Ranking Systems in managing the Fund involves the risk that the Ranking Systems may not have the predictive qualities anticipated by the Adviser or that over certain periods of time the price of securities not covered by the Ranking Systems, or lower ranked securities, may appreciate to a greater extent than those securities in the Fund’s portfolio.
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Active Management Risk. Because the Fund is actively managed, its investment return depends on the ability of the Adviser to manage its portfolio successfully. There can be no guarantee that the Adviser’s investment strategies will produce the desired results.
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Cyber Security Risk. As the use of technology becomes more prevalent in the course of business, the Fund becomes more susceptible to operational, financial and information security risks resulting from cyber-attacks and/or technological malfunctions. Successful cyber-attacks and/or technological malfunctions affecting the Fund or its service providers can result in, among other things, financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, the inability to process transactions with shareholders or other parties and the release of private shareholder information or confidential Fund information. While measures have been developed which are designed to reduce the risks associated with cyber security, there are inherent limitations in such measures and there is no guarantee those measures will be effective, particularly since the Fund does not directly control the cyber security measures of its service providers, financial intermediaries or companies in which it invests or with which it does business.
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Liquidity Risk. In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commision (the “SEC”) adopted Rule 22e-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), which mandates certain liquidity risk management practices for open-end funds, including the Fund, by 2018. The precise impact the rule will have on the Fund and on the open-end fund industry has not yet been determined, but any related changes