Forethought Variable Insurance Trust

04/30/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/30/2024 11:58

Summary Prospectus by Investment Company - Form 497K

Global Atlantic Wellington Research Managed Risk Portfolio

Class II Shares

Summary Prospectus

May 1, 2024

Before you invest, you may want to review the Portfolio's prospectus, which contains more information about the Portfolio and its risks. The Portfolio's prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated May 1, 2024, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. You can obtain these documents and other information about the Portfolio online at http://connect.rightprospectus.com/globalatlanticportfolios. You can also obtain these documents at no cost by calling 1-877-355-1820 or by sending an email request to [email protected].

Global Atlantic Wellington Research Managed Risk Portfolio

Investment Objectives: The Portfolio seeks to provide capital appreciation and income while seeking to manage volatility.

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio: This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Portfolio. The table and the example do not include any fees or sales charges imposed by your variable annuity contract. If they were included, your costs would be higher. Please refer to your variable annuity prospectus for information on the separate account fees and expenses associated with your contract.

Shareholder Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment)
Class II
Shares
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)

None

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of redemption proceeds)

None

Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions

None

Redemption Fee (as a percentage of amount redeemed)

None

Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees

0.85

%

Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees

0.25

%

Other Expenses

0.13

%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses(1)​

0.01

%

Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses

1.24

%

Fee Waiver and/or Reimbursement(2)​

(0.04

)%

Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Reimbursement

1.20

%

(1) Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are the indirect cost of investing in other investment companies, the costs of which will not be included in the Portfolio's financial statements. The operating expenses in this fee table will not correlate to the expense ratio in the Portfolio's financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Portfolio.

(2) The Portfolio's investment adviser, Global Atlantic Investment Advisors, LLC (the "Adviser"), has contractually agreed to waive its fees and to reimburse expenses, at least until May 1, 2025, to ensure that total annual portfolio operating expenses after fee waiver and/or reimbursement (exclusive of any front-end or contingent deferred loads, brokerage fees and commissions, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, borrowing costs (such as interest and dividend expense on securities sold short), taxes and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation) will not exceed 1.19% of average daily net assets attributable to the Portfolio's shares. The expense reimbursement is subject to possible recoupment from the Portfolio in future years on a rolling three year basis (within the three years after the fees have been waived or reimbursed) if such recoupment, after giving effect to the recoupment amount, can be achieved within the lesser of the expense limits listed above and any expense limits applicable at the time of recoupment. The agreement may be terminated only by the Portfolio's Board of Trustees, on 60 days' written notice to the Adviser.

Example: This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. You would pay the same expenses if you did not redeem your shares. However, each variable annuity contract and separate account involves fees and expenses that are not included in the Example.


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If these fees and expenses were included in the Example, your overall expenses would be higher. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio's operating expenses remain the same (except that the Example reflects any applicable contractual fee waivers/expense reimbursement arrangements for only the first year). Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based upon these assumptions your costs would be:

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

$

122

$

389

$

677

$

1,496

Portfolio Turnover: The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or instruments (or "turns over" its portfolio). These costs, which are not reflected in annual portfolio operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio's performance. A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. During the most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 90% of the average value of its portfolio (114% including dollar roll transactions).

Principal Investment Strategies: The Adviser allocates a portion of the Portfolio to a capital appreciation and income component (the "Capital Appreciation and Income Component") managed by Wellington Management Company LLP ("Wellington Management" or a "Sub-Adviser") and a portion to a managed risk component (the "Managed Risk Component") managed by Milliman Financial Risk Management LLC ("Milliman" or a "Sub-Adviser"). Milliman manages the Managed Risk Component pursuant to a strategy that seeks to manage portfolio volatility and provide downside risk management.

The Adviser seeks to achieve the Portfolio's investment objective by allocating, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Portfolio's net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, to the Capital Appreciation and Income Component and up to 20% of the Portfolio's net assets to the Managed Risk Component. In managing the Capital Appreciation and Income Component, Wellington Management manages an equity strategy and a fixed-income strategy. Under normal circumstances, approximately 65% of the Capital Appreciation and Income Component will be allocated to the equity strategy, and approximately 35% of the Capital Appreciation and Income Component to the fixed-income strategy, although the Adviser may modify the target allocation from time to time.

The Portfolio's equity strategy seeks to provide long-term total returns by investing primarily in common stocks and other equity securities of U.S. large-capitalization companies and, to a lesser extent, U.S. small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies, and foreign companies. In managing the equity strategy, Wellington Management will allocate the Portfolio's assets across a variety of industries, selecting companies in each industry based on the research of Wellington Management's team of global industry analysts. The Portfolio will typically seek to maintain representation in each major industry represented in the S&P 500®​ Index. Wellington Management may invest up to 15% of the Portfolio's net assets allocated to the equity strategy in securities of foreign issuers and non-dollar securities.

In analyzing a prospective investment for its equity strategy, Wellington Management utilizes what is sometimes referred to as a "bottom-up" approach, which is the use of fundamental analysis to identify specific securities for purchase or sale. Fundamental analysis of a company involves the assessment of such factors as its business environment, management quality, balance sheet, income statement, anticipated earnings, revenues and dividends, and other related measures or indicators of valuation and growth potential.

Wellington Management's fixed-income strategy seeks to provide long-term total returns by investing in a broad range of high-quality U.S. fixed-income securities. The investment universe primarily includes U.S. government and agency securities, mortgage and structured finance securities, asset-backed securities, and investment-grade U.S. dollar-denominated corporate and sovereign securities. The fixed-income strategy does not invest in below investment grade securities or securities denominated in foreign currencies. The restriction on below investment grade securities applies at the time of purchase. The fixed-income strategy may invest in fixed-income-related derivatives, including, but not limited to futures contracts, forward transactions and swap agreements.

In the Managed Risk Component, the Adviser seeks to manage return volatility by employing Milliman to execute a managed risk strategy, which consists of using hedge instruments to reduce the downside risk of the Portfolio's securities. Milliman may use hedge instruments to accomplish this goal, which may include: equity futures contracts, treasury futures contracts, currency futures contracts, and other hedge instruments judged by Milliman to be necessary to achieve the goals of the managed risk strategy. Milliman may also buy or sell hedge instruments based on one or more market indices in an attempt to maintain the Portfolio's volatility at the targeted level in an environment in which Milliman expects


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market volatility to decrease or increase, respectively. Milliman selects individual hedge instruments that it believes will have prices that are highly correlated to the Portfolio's positions. Milliman adjusts hedge instruments to manage overall net Portfolio risk exposure, in an attempt to stabilize the volatility of the Portfolio around a predetermined target level and reduce the potential for portfolio losses during periods of significant and sustained market decline. Milliman seeks to monitor and forecast volatility in the markets using a proprietary model, and adjust the Portfolio's hedge instruments accordingly. In addition, Milliman will monitor liquidity levels of relevant hedge instruments and transparency provided by exchanges or the counterparties in hedging transactions. Milliman adjusts futures positions to manage overall net Portfolio risk exposure. Milliman may, during periods of rising security prices, implement strategies to preserve gains on the Portfolio's positions. Milliman may, during periods of falling security prices, implement additional strategies to reduce losses in adverse market conditions. In these situations, Milliman's activity could significantly reduce the Portfolio's net economic exposure to equity securities. Following market declines, a downside rebalancing strategy will be used to decrease the amount of hedge instruments used to hedge the Portfolio. Milliman also adjusts hedge instruments to realign individual hedges when the Adviser rebalances the Portfolio's asset allocation profile.

Depending on market conditions, scenarios may occur where the Portfolio has no positions in any hedge instruments.

Principal Investment Risks:As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Portfolio. Many factors affect the Portfolio's net asset value and performance. The following is a summary description of principal risks of investing in the Portfolio.

Asset Allocation Risk: The Portfolio's percentage allocations among its investments could cause the Portfolio to underperform relative to relevant benchmarks and other mutual funds with similar investment objectives.

Conflicts of Interest Risk: The Portfolio's strategy is designed to reduce the Portfolio's return volatility and manage downside exposure during periods of significant market declines but may not work as intended. The Portfolio's strategy may also reduce the risks assumed by the insurance company that sponsors your variable annuity contract. This facilitates the insurance company's ability to provide certain guaranteed benefits but may result in periods of underperformance, reduce a contract holder's ability to fully participate in rising markets and may increase transaction costs at the Portfolio and/or Underlying Fund level. Although the interests of contract holders and the insurance company are generally aligned, the insurance company (and the Adviser due to its affiliation with the insurance company) may face potential conflicts of interest. Specifically, the Portfolio's strategy may have the effect of mitigating the financial risks to the insurance company when providing certain guaranteed benefits.

Derivatives Risk: The use of derivatives may increase costs, reduce the Portfolio's returns and/or increase volatility. The use of derivatives may also result in leverage, which can magnify the effects of changes in the value of investments, make such investments more volatile and expose the Portfolio to losses that exceed the initial amount invested. Many types of derivatives are also subject to the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligation. Derivatives are subject to risks arising from margin requirements. In addition, the fluctuations in the values of derivatives may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the overall securities markets. The possible lack of a liquid secondary market for derivatives and the resulting inability to sell or otherwise close-out a derivatives position at an advantageous time or price could expose the Portfolio to losses and could make derivatives more difficult to value accurately. Derivative investments are further subject to regulatory risks, from both U.S. and foreign regulators that may impact the availability, liquidity and costs associated with such investments and potentially limit the ability of mutual funds to invest in derivatives.

Equity Risk: Common and preferred stock prices can fall rapidly in response to developments affecting a specific company or industry, or to changing economic, political or market conditions.

Fixed Income Risk: The value of bonds and other fixed-income securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in periods of volatility and rising interest rates may lead to increased redemptions and volatility and decreased liquidity in the fixed-income markets, making it more difficult to sell fixed-income holdings. In general, the market price of debt securities with longer maturities will increase or decrease more in response to changes in interest rates than shorter-term securities. Securities issued by U.S. government agencies or government-sponsored enterprises may not be guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury. Other risk factors include credit risk (the debtor may default), prepayment risk (the debtor may pay its obligations early, reducing the amount of interest payments), extension risk (repayments may occur more slowly if interest rates rise) and income risk (distributions to shareholders may decline where interest rates fall or defaults occur). These risks could affect the value of a particular investment, possibly causing the Portfolio's share price and total return to be reduced and fluctuate more than other types of investments.


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Foreign Investment Risk: Foreign investing involves risks not typically associated with U.S. investments, including adverse fluctuations in foreign currency values, adverse political, social and economic developments, less liquidity, greater volatility, restrictions on capital movements, less developed or less efficient trading markets, political instability, sanctions, and differing auditing and legal standards.

Large Cap Risk: Large cap companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology and consumer tastes, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.

Management Risk: The Portfolio's strategies may not produce the desired results, and may result in losses to the Portfolio.

Market Risk: Overall securities market risks may affect the value of individual securities. Factors such as foreign and domestic economic growth and market conditions, interest rate levels, and political events may adversely affect the securities markets. Local, regional or global events such as war, military conflict, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, natural disasters, recessions, inflation, rapid interest rate changes, supply chain disruptions, sanctions, increased government spending, social unrest or other events could also have a significant impact on the Portfolio and its investments.

Mid Cap Risk: The securities of mid cap companies generally trade in lower volumes and are generally subject to greater and less predictable price changes than the securities of larger capitalization companies. Medium capitalization companies may be more vulnerable than larger, more established organizations to adverse business or economic developments.

Mortgage- and Asset-Backed Securities Risk: Mortgage- and asset-backed securities differ from conventional debt securities because principal is paid back periodically over the life of the security rather than at maturity. An investor may receive unscheduled payments of principal due to voluntary prepayments, refinancings or foreclosures on the underlying loans. To the investor this means a loss of anticipated interest, and a portion of its principal investment represented by any premium the investor may have paid. Mortgage prepayments generally increase when interest rates fall. Mortgage-backed securities also are subject to extension risk. Rising interest rates could reduce the rate of prepayments on mortgage-backed securities and extend their life. This could cause the price of the mortgage-backed securities and the Portfolio's share price to fall and would make the mortgage-backed securities more sensitive to interest rate changes. Issuers of asset-backed securities may have limited ability to enforce the security interest in the underlying assets, and credit enhancements provided to support the securities, if any, may be inadequate to protect investors in the event of default. Like mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities are subject to prepayment and extension risks.

Mortgage Dollar Rolls Risk: In a mortgage dollar roll, the Portfolio takes the risk that: the market price of the mortgage-backed securities will drop below their future purchase price; the securities that it repurchases at a later date will have less favorable market characteristics; the other party to the agreement will not be able to perform; the roll adds leverage to the portfolio; and, it increases the Portfolio's sensitivity to interest rate changes. In addition, investment in mortgage dollar rolls may increase the turnover rate for the Portfolio.

Over-the-Counter Transactions Risk: The Portfolio engages in over-the-counter ("OTC") transactions, some of which trade in a dealer network, rather than on an exchange. In general, there is less governmental regulation and supervision of transactions in the OTC markets than transactions entered into on organized exchanges, with OTC transactions subject to the risk that a counterparty to the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations.

Short Positions Risk: Losses from short positions in derivatives contracts occur when the reference instrument increases in value. Losses from a short position in a derivatives contract could potentially be very large if the value of the underlying reference instrument rises dramatically in a short period of time, including the potential loss that exceeds the actual cost of the investment.

Small Cap Risk: Small capitalization companies may be more vulnerable than larger, more established organizations to adverse business or economic developments. In particular, small capitalization companies may have more limited product lines, markets and financial resources and may depend on a relatively small management group.

Sovereign Debt Risk: Sovereign debt instruments are subject to the risk that a governmental entity may delay or refuse to pay interest or repay principal on its sovereign debt.


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To Be Announced ("TBA") Securities Risk: TBA securities are standardized contracts for future delivery of fixed-rate mortgage pass-through securities in which the exact mortgage pools to be delivered are not specified until shortly before settlement. TBA securities include when-issued and delayed delivery securities and forward commitments. TBA securities involve the risk that the security the Portfolio buys will lose value prior to its delivery. There also is the risk that the security will not be issued or that the other party to the transaction will not meet its obligation.

Underlying Fund Risk: Underlying Funds are subject to investment advisory and other expenses, which will be indirectly paid by the Portfolio. As a result, your cost of investing in the Portfolio will be higher than the cost of investing directly in an Underlying Fund and may be higher than other mutual funds that invest directly in stocks and bonds. Because the Portfolio's investments include shares of the Underlying Funds, the Portfolio's risks include the risks of each Underlying Fund.

U.S. Government Securities Risk: The U.S. government may not provide financial support to U.S. government agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored enterprises if it is not obligated to do so by law. It is possible that issuers of U.S. government securities will not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future.

Performance: The bar chart and performance table below show the variability of the Portfolio's returns, which is some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The bar chart shows performance of the Portfolio's Class II shares for each full calendar year since the Portfolio's inception and the table shows how the average annual total returns of the Portfolio's Class II shares compared with the returns of two indexes. Effective as of May 1, 2024, the MSCI World Index replaced the S&P Global Managed Risk LargeMidCap Index - Conservative as the Portfolio's broad-based securities market index. The MSCI World Index was selected in connection with certain regulatory requirements to provide a broad measure of market performance. The performance in the bar chart and the table does not include the effect of variable contract charges. If variable contract charges had been included, performance would have been lower. You should be aware that the Portfolio's past performance may not be an indication of how the Portfolio will perform in the future.

Class II Annual Total Return by Calendar Year

Highest Quarter

4th Quarter 2023

9.31

%

Lowest Quarter

4th Quarter 2018

-9.20

%


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Performance Table
Average Annual Total Returns
(For periods ended December 31, 2023)

One Year

Five Years

Ten Years

Class II shares return before taxes

14.27

%

7.13

%

5.82

%

S&P 500 Managed Risk Index - Moderate Conservative
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

15.10

%

7.84

%

6.73

%

MSCI World Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses
or taxes)

23.79

%

12.80

%

8.60

%

Management: The Portfolio's Adviser is Global Atlantic Investment Advisors, LLC. The Portfolio's Sub-Advisers are Wellington Management Company LLP and Milliman Financial Risk Management, LLC.

Portfolio Manager

Title

Involved with Portfolio Since

Mary L. Pryshlak, CFA

Senior Managing Director, Partner
and Head of Investment Research of
Wellington Management
April 27, 2018
Jonathan G. White, CFA

Managing Director and Director,
Research Portfolios of
Wellington Management
April 27, 2018
Loren L. Moran, CFA

Senior Managing Director and
Fixed Income Portfolio Manager of
Wellington Management
April 27, 2018

Adam Schenck, CFA, FRM

Head of Fund Services of Milliman

October 31, 2013

Maria Schiopu, ASA, MAAA
Head of Portfolio Management
of Milliman
May 1, 2019

Purchase and Sale of Portfolio Shares: Shares of the Portfolio are intended to be sold to certain separate accounts of Forethought Life Insurance Company ("FLIC"). You and other purchasers of variable annuity contracts will not own shares of the Portfolio directly. Rather, all shares will be held by a separate account for your benefit and the benefit of other purchasers. You may purchase and redeem shares of the Portfolio on any day that the New York Stock Exchange is open, or as permitted under your variable annuity contract.

Tax Information: It is the Portfolio's intention to distribute income and gains to the separate accounts. Generally, owners of variable annuity contracts are not taxed currently on income or gains realized by the separate accounts with respect to such contracts. However, some distributions from such contracts may be taxable at ordinary income tax rates. In addition, distributions made to a contract owner who is younger than 59 1/2 may be subject to a 10% penalty tax. Investors should ask their own tax advisors for more information on their own tax situation, including possible state or local taxes. Please refer to your variable annuity contract prospectus for additional information on taxes.

Payments to Other Financial Intermediaries: The Portfolio or the Adviser may pay FLIC for the sale of Portfolio shares and/or other services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing FLIC and your salesperson to recommend a variable contract and the Portfolio over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.


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