PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or 'turns over' its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 240% of the average value of its portfolio. The Fund's portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to cash instruments and most derivatives. If such instruments were included, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate might be significantly higher.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund employs as its investment strategy a program of investing in the common stock of companies that are generally within the capitalization range of the underlying index and derivative instruments, which primarily consist of equity index swaps, futures contracts, and options on securities, futures contracts, and stock indices. While the Fund may write (sell) and purchase swaps, it expects primarily to purchase swaps. Equity index swaps and futures and options contracts enable the Fund to pursue its investment objective without investing directly in the securities included in the underlying index or in the same proportion that those securities are represented in the underlying index. Certain of the Fund's derivatives investments may be traded in the over-the-counter ('OTC') market. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities of companies in the underlying index and derivatives and other instruments whose performance is expected to correspond to that of the underlying index.
Investments in derivative instruments, such as futures, options and swap agreements, have the economic effect of creating financial leverage in the Fund's portfolio because such investments may give rise to losses that exceed the amount the Fund has invested in those instruments. Financial leverage will magnify, sometimes significantly, the Fund's exposure to any increase or decrease in prices associated with a particular reference asset resulting in increased volatility in the value of the Fund's portfolio. The value of the Fund's portfolio is likely to experience greater volatility over short-term periods. While such financial leverage has the potential to produce greater gains, it also may result in greater losses, which in some cases may cause the Fund to liquidate other portfolio investments at a loss to comply with limits on leverage and asset segregation requirements imposed by the Investment Company Act of 1940 or to meet redemption requests.
The S&P 500 Pure Growth Index is composed of those constituents of the S&P 500® that exhibit the strongest growth characteristics as measured using three factors: sales growth, ratio of earnings change to price, and momentum. The S&P 500® Index is a capitalization-weighted index composed of 500 common stocks, which are chosen by the Standard & Poor's Corporation on a statistical basis, and which generally represent large-capitalization companies with capitalizations ranging from $5.8 billion to $2.3 trillion as of June 30, 2021. As of June 30, 2021, the S&P 500 Pure Growth Index included companies with capitalizations ranging from $12.9 billion to $2.3 trillion. To the extent the Fund's underlying index is concentrated in a particular industry the Fund will necessarily be concentrated in that industry. The industries in which the underlying index components, and thus the Fund's investments, may be concentrated will vary as the composition of the underlying index changes over time.While the Fund's sector exposure may vary over time, as of June 30, 2021, the Fund has significant exposure to the Consumer Discretionary Sector, Health Care Sector, and Information Technology Sector, as each sector is defined by the Global Industry Classification Standard, a widely recognized industry classification methodology developed by MSCI, Inc. and Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC.
On a day-to-day basis, the Fund may hold short-term U.S. government securities or cash equivalents to collateralize its derivatives positions. In an effort to ensure that the Fund is fully invested on a day-to-day basis, the Fund may conduct any necessary trading activity at or just prior to the close of the U.S. financial markets. The Fund is non-diversified and, therefore, may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a particular issuer in comparison to a diversified fund.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
As with all mutual funds, a shareholder is subject to the risk that his or her investment could lose money. In addition to this risk, the Fund is subject to the principal risks described below.
Counterparty Credit Risk-The Fund makes investments in financial instruments and OTC-traded derivatives involving counterparties to gain exposure to a particular group of securities, index, asset class or other reference asset without actually purchasing those securities or investments, to hedge a position, or for other investment