What are the Principal Risks of Investing in the Funds?
Equity Securities Risk. Each Fund will invest in equity securities. Equity securities (which generally include common stocks, preferred stocks, warrants, securities convertible into common or preferred stocks and similar securities) are generally more volatile and riskier than some other forms of investment. Equity securities of companies with relatively small market capitalizations may be more volatile than the securities of larger, more established companies and the broad equity market indices generally. This risk of loss is further elevated because the Funds may target businesses that may be experiencing or recently experienced financial distress, or may be in, entering, or emerging from, bankruptcy proceedings. Common stock and other equity securities may take the form of stock in corporations, partnership interests, interests in limited liability companies and other direct or indirect interests in business organizations. Common stock prices fluctuate based on changes in a company’s financial condition, on overall market and economic conditions, and on investors’ perception of a company’s well-being. Preferred stocks are typically subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a company’s capital structure in terms of priority to corporate income. As well as the risks associated with common stocks, preferred stocks will be subject to greater credit risk than the debt instruments to which they are subordinate. Convertible stock is subject to the risks of both debt securities and equity securities. The value of convertible stock tends to decline as interest rates rise and, due to the conversion feature, to vary with fluctuations in the market value of the underlying equity security.
Non-Diversification Risk. Each Fund is classified as a “non-diversified” investment company under the 1940 Act, which means that each Fund may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a “diversified” fund. To the extent a Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers, such Fund is subject to the risks of investing in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value of a Fund’s shares than would occur in a diversified fund.
Cash Position Risk. A Fund may hold cash or short-term instruments, such as interest-bearing savings accounts or demand deposit accounts at banks and investments in money market accounts for many reasons including, (i) as part of the Adviser’s strategy in order to take advantage of investment opportunities as they arise, (ii) when the portfolio managers believe that market conditions are unfavorable for profitable investing for the Fund, (iii) when the portfolio managers are otherwise unable to locate attractive investment opportunities for the Fund, (iv) as a temporary measure in order to meet redemption requests, or (v) as a defensive measure in response to adverse market or economic conditions. During periods when a Fund maintains exposure to cash or short-term instruments, it may not participate in market movements to the same extent that it would if the Fund was more fully invested in equity securities.
ADR Risk. Each Fund may invest in ADRs, which are certificates that evidence ownership of shares of a foreign issuer and are alternatives to purchasing directly underlying foreign securities in their national markets and currencies. However, ADRs may be subject to certain of the risks associated with direct investments in the securities of foreign companies. Moreover, ADRs may not track the price of the underlying foreign securities on which they are based, and their value may change materially at times when U.S. markets are not open for trading.
Cash-Sweep Program Risk. The Funds may invest in cash-sweep programs administered by the Funds’ custodian or another third party through which the Funds’ cash holdings are placed in interest-bearing savings accounts, demand deposit accounts at various banks, or money market instruments. All sweep vehicles, whether or not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), carry certain risks. For example, money market fund sweep vehicles are subject to market risks and are not subject to FDIC protection. Additionally, bank deposit sweep vehicles are subject to bank failure risk, but are eligible for FDIC protection up to a limit of $250,000 per account. The vehicle through which a Fund’s cash-sweep program is administered may include bank deposits that are not registered under the 1940 Act, in which case, a Fund, as an investor in the vehicle, would not be entitled to the protections afforded by the 1940 Act.
Consumer Staples Sector Risk. Consumer Staples companies can be significantly impacted by demographic and product trends, competitive pricing, food fads, marketing campaigns, environmental factors, government regulation, the performance of the overall domestic and global economy, interest rates, consumer confidence and spending, and changes in commodity prices. Consumer staples companies can be subject to government regulations that could affect prices.
Financials Sector Risk. To the extent that a Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in the Financials sector, the Fund is susceptible to adverse economic or regulatory occurrences affecting that sector. The Financials sector has a number of inherent risks, such as: (i) regulatory risks, which significantly impact the highly regulated Financials sector because financial institutions face considerable costs for regulatory compliance and reporting, (ii) credit risks, as sudden freezes or a loss of credit can disrupt daily operations, (iii) liquidity risk when assets or investments lose value and collateral cannot be sold in time to prevent a loss and (iv) recoupment risk if financial institutions lose their ability to recover loans and/or investments made regarding assets that have lost their value. Financial institutions also face (i) operational risks due to speculation as to how the markets will react in the future, (ii) security risks (including cybersecurity risks), and (iii) business continuity risks. Finally, some financial institutions face diversification risk because they may be very concentrated in their business focus or exposed to single business lines.
Industrials Sector. Companies in the Industrials sector can be significantly affected by general economic trends, including such factors as employment and economic growth, interest rate changes, changes in consumer spending, legislative and government regulation, import controls, commodity prices and worldwide competition. Changes in the economy, fuel prices, labor agreements and insurance costs may result in occasional sharp price movements. In addition, companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by environmental damages, product liability claims and exchange rates.
Large-Capitalization Company Risk. The Clarkston Fund is expected to invest in large-capitalization companies. Large-capitalization companies may go in and out of favor based on market and economic conditions. Large companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion. Although the securities of larger companies may be less volatile than those of companies with smaller market capitalizations, returns on investments in securities of large capitalization companies could trail the returns on investments in securities of smaller companies.
Mid-Capitalization and Small-Capitalization Company Risk. The Clarkston Founders Fund is expected to invest in mid-capitalization companies and the Clarkston Partners Fund is expected to invest in small- and mid-capitalization companies. The securities of small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements and may have lower trading volumes or more erratic trading than securities of larger, more established companies or market averages in general. In addition, such companies typically are more likely to be adversely affected than large capitalization companies by changes in earnings results, business prospects, investor expectations or poor economic or market conditions.
Market Risk. The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as inflation, supply chain disruptions, real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions throughout the world, war or political unrest, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness, including COVID-19 and its variants, or other public issues or adverse investor sentiment generally. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry. The impact of any of these occurrences may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social, financial, and economic risks in certain countries or the market in general and may last for an extended period of time.
Sector Focus Risk. A Fund may invest a substantial portion of its assets within one or more economic sectors. To the extent a Fund focuses in one or more sectors, market or economic factors impacting those sectors could have a significant effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. Additionally, the Fund’s performance may be more volatile when the Fund’s investments are focused in a particular sector.
Shareholder Concentration Risk. When a small number of shareholders account for a disproportionate share of a Fund's assets, redemptions by large shareholders can harm remaining shareholders. If a large shareholder is an omnibus account that represents investments by multiple smaller accounts, when the underlying accounts tend to act in tandem, shareholder concentration risk will be present. Risk is minimized when the underlying accounts tend to act independently of one another.
What are the Non-Principal Risks of Investing in the Funds?
The inherent risks associated with the Funds that are less likely to have a material effect on each Fund’s investment portfolio as a whole are called “non-principal risks.” The non-principal risks of the Funds are further described below and in the SAI. It is important to read all the disclosure information provided and to understand that you may lose money by investing in a Fund.
Cybersecurity Risk. In connection with the increased use of technologies such as the Internet and the dependence on computer systems to perform necessary business functions, each Fund may be susceptible to operational, information security and related risks due to the possibility of cyber-attacks or other incidents. Cyber incidents may result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. Cyber-attacks include, but are not limited to, infection by computer viruses or other malicious software code, gaining unauthorized access to systems, networks or devices that are used to service a Fund’s operations through hacking or other means for the purpose of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data or causing operational disruption. Cyber-attacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as causing denial-of-service attacks (which can make a website unavailable) on the Funds’ website. In addition, authorized persons could inadvertently or intentionally release confidential or proprietary information stored on a Fund’s systems.
Cybersecurity failures or breaches by a Fund’s third-party service providers (including, but not limited to, the adviser, distributor, custodian, transfer agent and financial intermediaries) may cause disruptions and impact the service providers’ and a Fund’s business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, the inability of Fund shareholders to transact business and the mutual funds to process transactions, inability to calculate a Fund’s net asset value, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs and/or additional compliance costs. Each Fund and its shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result of successful cyber-attacks against, or security breakdowns of, a Fund or its third-party service providers.
A Fund may incur substantial costs to prevent or address cyber incidents in the future. In addition, there is a possibility that certain risks have not been adequately identified or prepared for. Furthermore, a Fund cannot directly control any cybersecurity plans and systems put in place by third party service providers. Cybersecurity risks are also present for issuers of securities in which a Fund invests, which could result in material adverse consequences for such issuers, and may cause a Fund’s investment in such securities to lose value.
Derivatives Risk. The Funds may invest in derivative securities for bona fide hedging purposes. A derivative security is a financial contract whose value is based on (or “derived from”) a traditional security (such as a bond) or a market index. The use of futures, options, repurchase agreements and other derivatives involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments, and include leverage, volatility, liquidity, credit and tracking risks. In addition, long options positions may expire worthless.
Exchange-Traded Fund (“ETF”) and Other Investment Company Risk. As a non-principal investment strategy, each Fund may invest in ETFs and other investment companies. ETFs are funds whose shares are traded on a national exchange. ETFs may be based on underlying equity or fixed income securities, as well as commodities or currencies. ETFs do not sell individual shares directly to investors and only issue their shares in large blocks known as “creation units.” The investor purchasing a creation unit then sells the individual shares on a secondary market. Although similar diversification benefits may be achieved through an investment in another investment company, ETFs generally offer greater liquidity and lower expenses. Because an ETF incurs its own fees and expenses, shareholders of the Fund investing in an ETF will indirectly bear those costs. Such Fund will also incur brokerage commissions and related charges when purchasing or selling shares of an ETF. Unlike typical investment company shares, which are valued once daily, shares in an ETF may be purchased or sold on a securities exchange throughout the trading day at market prices that are generally close to the NAV of the ETF.
The Funds may also invest in investment companies that are corporations, trusts, or partnerships that invest pooled shareholder dollars in securities appropriate to the organization’s objective. Mutual funds, closed-end funds, unit investment trusts and ETFs are examples of investment companies. By investing in another investment company, the Funds will indirectly bear any asset-based fees and expenses charged by the underlying investment company in which the Funds invest. Investments in securities of other investment companies are subject to statutory limitations prescribed by the 1940 Act. Absent an available exemption, the Funds may not: (i) acquire more than 3% of the voting securities of any other investment company; (ii) invest more than 5% of their total assets in securities of any one investment company; or (iii) invest more than 10% of their total assets in securities of all investment companies.
Foreign Security Risk. The Funds may invest in foreign securities indirectly through ADRs. Foreign securities are generally riskier than U.S. securities. As a result, the Funds are subject to foreign risk, meaning that political events (such as civil unrest, national elections and imposition of exchange controls), social and economic events (such as labor strikes and rising inflation), and natural disasters occurring in a country where a Fund invests could cause the Fund’s investments in that country to experience gains or losses. Securities of foreign issuers may be less liquid, more volatile and harder to value than U.S. securities.
Investment Focus Risk. To the extent that a Fund focuses its investments in particular industries, 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 will have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance. The Funds will not concentrate their investments, as defined under the 1940 Act.
Liquidity Risk. From time to time, the trading market for a particular security or type of security in which the Funds invest may become less liquid or even illiquid. Reduced liquidity will have an adverse impact on the Funds’ ability to sell such securities when necessary to meet the Funds’ liquidity needs or in response to a specific economic event. Market quotations for such securities may be volatile.
Managed Portfolio Risk. The Adviser’s investment strategies or choice of specific securities may be unsuccessful and may cause a Fund to incur losses.