AAMA EQUITY FUND  -  AMFEX

 

The Fund seeks to generate long term capital appreciation. The Fund, under normal market circumstances, will invest at least 80% of its net assets (including the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of any size capitalization. This Fund invests primarily in common stocks and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), but may also invest in other types of equity securities including, preferred stock,investments in foreign equity securities through U.S. stock exchange listed American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), or mutual funds that invest in the types of securities in which the Fund would normally invest, and securities convertible into such securities.

 

In managing the Fund, the Adviser employs a multi-step process that combines research, valuation, and stock selection. The Adviser takes an in-depth look at economic sectors and compares their current valuation relative to their historical valuation, historical earnings growth rates, and forecasted growth rates. The research process results in a ranking of economic sectors by their relative attractiveness and ultimately their relative weighting within the Fund.

 

The Adviser then screens the companies within each sector for various financial factors that it believes are most important in the current market environment. These factors may include earnings growth, dividend yield, balance sheet quality, or other specific financial ratio analysis. The Adviser then buys and sells equity securities, ETFs, or mutual funds that, when combined, provide the targeted economic sector allocations and capitalization ranges. In general, the Adviser buys equity securities that are identified as most attractive for relative performance and sells such securities when they appear less attractive.

 

Although the Fund can invest in stocks of any economic sector (which is comprised of two or more industries), at times it may emphasize certain sectors, even investing more than 25% of total assets in any one sector.

 

The Fund may use derivatives, such as futures contracts and options on futures contracts for equity securities and indices, to gain market exposure on its uninvested cash pending investment in securities or to maintain liquidity to pay redemptions.

 

 

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS

All mutual funds carry risk. Accordingly, loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. The Fund’s shares are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed, endorsed or insured by any financial institution, government authority or the FDIC.

 

Among the principal risks of investing in the Fund, which may adversely affect the Fund’s performance and ability to meet its investment objective, are:

 

EQUITY SECURITIES RISK. Since it primarily purchases equity securities, the Fund is subject to the risk that events negatively affecting issuers, industries or financial markets in which the Fund invests will impact the value of the equity securities held by the Fund and thus, the value of the Fund’s shares over short or extended periods. A decline in value could result from, among other things, a negative development of the issuer of the security, an industry, a sector of the economy, or the overall securities market.

 

SMALL-CAP and MID-CAP COMPANY RISK. The small and mid-capitalization companies the Fund invests in may be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger, more established companies. In particular, these small and mid-capitalization companies may have limited product lines, markets and financial resources, and may depend upon relatively small management groups. Therefore, small and mid-capitalization stocks may be more volatile than those of larger companies.

 

VALUE STOCKS RISK. Value stocks tend to be inexpensive relative to their earnings or assets compared to other types of stocks, such as growth stocks. Value stocks can continue to be inexpensive for long periods of time, may not ever realize their potential value, and may go down in price.

 

GROWTH STOCKS RISK. Growth stocks, due to their relatively high market valuations, typically have been more volatile than value stocks. Growth stocks may not pay dividends, or may pay lower dividends, than value stocks and may be more adversely affected in a down market.

 

OTHER INVESTMENT COMPANY RISK. If the Fund invests in shares of another investment company, shareholders will indirectly bear fees and expenses charged by the underlying investment companies in which the fund invests in addition to the fund’s direct fees and expenses.

 

EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND RISK. ETFs generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying securities they hold, although lack of liquidity in ETF shares could result in the price of the ETF being more volatile. In addition, Fund shareholders indirectly bear the expenses of the ETFs.

 

FOREIGN INVESTING RISK. Foreign investing involves risks not typically associated with U.S. investments, including adverse fluctuations in foreign currency values and adverse political, social and economic developments affecting a foreign country. Prices of foreign securities may be more volatile than those of their domestic counterparts.

 

DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS RISK. The Fund may invest in securities of foreign issuers in the form of depositary receipts, such as American depositary receipts (ADRs), European depositary receipts (EDRs), and global depositary receipts (GDRs). Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted.

 

PREFERRED SECURITIES RISK. Preferred securities are subject to issuer-specific and market risks applicable generally to equity securities. The value of preferred stock also can be affected by prevailing interest rates. Preferred securities may pay fixed or adjustable rates of return. In addition, a company’s preferred securities generally pay dividends only after the company makes required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt. For this reason, preferred stock is also subject to the credit quality of the issuer.

 

CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES RISK. A convertible security is generally a debt obligation, preferred stock or other security that pays interest or dividends and may be converted by the holder within a specified period of time into common stock. The value of convertible securities may rise and fall with the market value of the underlying stock or, like a debt security, vary with changes in interest rates and the credit quality of the issuer. A convertible security tends to perform more like a stock when the underlying stock price is high relative to the conversion price (because more of the security’s value resides in the option to convert) and more like a debt security when the underlying stock price is low relative to the conversion price (because the option to convert is less valuable).

 

REAL ESTATE and REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITs) RISK. Investing in real estate securities (including REITs) is subject to the risks associated with the direct ownership and development of real estate. These risks include declines in real estate values, fluctuations in rental income (due in part to vacancies and rates), increases in operating costs and property taxes, increases in financing costs or inability to procure financing, potential environmental liabilities and changes in zoning laws and other regulations. REITs whose underlying properties are concentrated in a particular industry or geographic region are subject to risks affecting such industries and regions. The securities of REITs involve greater risks than those associated with larger, more established companies and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements because of interest rate changes, economic conditions and other factors. Securities of such issuers may lack sufficient market liquidity to enable the Fund to effect sales at an advantageous time or without a substantial drop in price.

 

FOCUS RISK. To the extent that a Fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance. For example, consumer goods companies could be hurt by a rise in unemployment or technology companies could be hurt by such factors as market saturation, price competition and rapid obsolescence.

 

DERIVATIVES RISK. Derivatives, such as futures, forwards, options and swaps, involve risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. Derivatives prices can be volatile and may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions. Some derivatives are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates. In addition, there may be imperfect correlation between the price of the derivatives contract and the price of the underlying securities. Other risks include the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions. Further, losses could result if the counterparty to a transaction does not perform as promised. Derivative instruments may be “leveraged”, which may magnify or otherwise increase investment losses.

 

REDEMPTION RISK. The Fund may need to sell securities at times it would not otherwise do so in order to meet shareholder redemption requests. The Fund could experience a loss when selling securities, particularly if the redemption requests are unusually large or frequent, occur in times of overall market turmoil or declining pricing for the securities sold or when the securities the Fund wishes to sell are illiquid. Selling securities to meet such redemption requests also may increase transaction costs.

 

 

 

Please consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. This and other important information about the fund can be found in the Prospectus.  Read the prospectus carefully before investing. More information can be found in the Statement of Additional Information.