The fund's two investment objectives are (1) to provide annual Total Return (with
income contributing a significant part) averaging 6% to 8% over a market cycle and
(2) to limit volatility and downside risk to less than 4% even during an adverse
month or quarter in the investment environment. Of course, there can be no assurance
that the fund will succeed in achieving these two key goals.
The Portfolio Managers analyze and allocate portions of the fund’s portfolio to
a wide range of income-oriented Asset Classes. Each decision must serve one or both
of the fund’s two goals: To enhance Total Return and/or to reduce volatility and
downside risk of the overall portfolio. The Strategic Income Fund is a “fund of
funds” that invests primarily in a wide variety of income-oriented asset classes
including domestic and foreign bonds, including high yield ( or “junk” bonds) along
with other bond types such as high-grade corporates, U.S. government bonds, floating
rate instruments, municipal bonds, and emerging market bonds. The fund does not
employ a passive ‘buy and hold’ strategy. Instead, the fund employs a tactical style
that seeks to limit volatility and downside risk as well as enhancing return through
income and capital appreciation.
The Sierra Core Fund pays a quarterly dividend. Shares are available through TD
Ameritrade, Charles Schwab & Co, Inc. and Fidelity and many other firms; please
see the "Where to Purchase" tab for a current list.
As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your
investment in the fund. During some months and some quarters, the NAV of the fund
will decline, and it is possible that some entire years will also have negative
results. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured
or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency. Although the fund will strive to meet its longer-term investment objectives,
there is no assurance that it will do so.
Management Style Risk: The share price of the fund changes daily
based on the performance of the Underlying Funds in which it invests. The ability
of the fund to meet its investment objective is directly related to the Adviser's
ability to identify Underlying Funds that have the potential to achieve positive
total return, and to create diversity within the total portfolio of the fund. The
Adviser's judgments about the attractiveness and potential appreciation of particular
investments in which the fund invests will in some cases prove to be incorrect,
and there is no guarantee that the Adviser's investment strategy will produce the
desired long-term results.
Risks Associated with Investing in Underlying Funds: The fund invests
in Underlying Funds, including mutual funds, closed-end funds and ETFs. As a result,
your overall cost of investing in the fund will be higher than the cost of investing
directly in Underlying Fund shares and may be higher than other mutual funds that
invest directly in stocks and bonds. You will indirectly bear fees and expenses
charged by the Underlying Funds in addition to the fund's direct fees and expenses.
- Investment Management Risk: When the fund invests in Underlying
Funds there is a risk that the investment advisers of those Underlying Funds may
make investment decisions that are detrimental to the performance of the fund.
- Additional Underlying Fund Risks: The strategy of investing in
Underlying Funds will affect the timing, amount and character of distributions to
you and thereby may increase the amount of income taxes you pay. In addition, certain
limitations on the acquisition of mutual fund shares by the fund may prevent the
fund from allocating its investments in the manner the Adviser considers optimal.
The fund will purchase some Underlying Funds that charge an early redemption fee,
and its subsequent sales of such Underlying Funds will cause the fund to incur those
fees.
Equity Market Risk: The net asset value of the fund will fluctuate
based on changes in the value of the Underlying Funds in which the fund invests.
The fund will invest in some Underlying Funds that invest in equity securities,
which are more volatile and carry more risk than some other forms of investment.
The price of equity securities may rise or fall because of fluctuations in the economy,
specific industries and investor sentiment. Stock prices in general will periodically
decline over short and even extended periods of time. Market prices of equity securities
in broad market segments may be adversely affected by a prominent issuer having
experienced losses or a decline in earnings or such an issuer’s failure to meet
the market’s expectations with respect to new products or services, or even by factors
wholly unrelated to the value or condition of the issuer, such as changes in interest
rates or investor attitudes, among other factors.
- Emerging Markets Securities Risk: Some of the Underlying Funds
invest in securities of issuers located in emerging countries. Emerging countries
may have relatively unstable governments, economies based on less diversified industrial
bases and securities markets that trade a smaller number of securities. Companies
in emerging markets are often smaller, less seasoned and more recently organized
than many U.S. companies.
- Issuer-Specific Risks: In some cases, the value of an Underlying
Fund will be more volatile than the U.S. stock market as a whole, and in order to
seek the risk-reducing benefits of diversification, many of the Underlying Funds
will in fact be chosen because they tend to perform differently from the U.S. stock
market as a whole.
The value of securities of smaller issuers can be more volatile than that of larger
issuers. The value of certain types of securities can be more volatile due to increased
sensitivity to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, market, investor sentiment
and economic developments.
- Small and Mid-Capitalization Securities Risks: Investments in Underlying
Funds that own small- and mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable than
larger, more established organizations to adverse business or economic developments.
In particular, small capitalization companies may have limited product lines, markets,
and financial resources and may be dependent upon a relatively small management
group. These securities may trade over-the-counter or on a listed exchange and may
or may not pay dividends.
Fixed Income Risks: When the fund invests in fixed income Underlying
Funds, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate with changes in interest
rates. Typically, a rise in interest rates causes a decline in the value of the
Underlying Funds owned by the fund. 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.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Other risk factors impacting fixed-income securities include credit risk, maturity
risk, market risk, extension risk, illiquid security risks, foreign securities risk,
prepayment risk and investment-grade securities risk. These risks could affect the
value of a particular investment by the fund possibly causing the fund’s share price
and total return to be reduced and fluctuate more than other types of investments.
In addition, some of the Underlying Funds in which the fund will invest from time
to time invest in what are sometimes referred to as "high yield" or "junk" bonds.
Such securities are considered speculative investments that carry greater risk of
default and are more susceptible to real or perceived adverse economic and competitive
industry conditions than higher quality debt securities.
Foreign Risk: The fund will make frequent use of Underlying Funds
that invest in foreign securities in order to seek diversification. Investments
in Underlying Funds that invest in foreign equity and debt securities could subject
the fund to greater risks because the fund’s performance may depend on issues other
than the performance of a particular company or U.S. market sector. Changes in foreign
economies and political climates are more likely to affect the fund than a mutual
fund that invests exclusively in U.S. securities. The values of foreign securities
are also affected by the value of the local currency relative to the U.S. dollar.
There may also be less government supervision of foreign markets, resulting in non-uniform
accounting practices and less publicly available information. The values of foreign
investments may be affected by changes in exchange control regulations, application
of foreign tax laws (including withholding tax), changes in governmental administration
or economic or monetary policy (in this country or abroad) or changed circumstances
in dealings between nations. In addition, foreign brokerage commissions, custody
fees and other costs of investing in foreign securities are generally higher than
in the United States. Investments in foreign issues could be affected by other factors
not present in the United States, including expropriation, armed conflict, confiscatory
taxation, and potential difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations and foreign
securities may be more illiquid that domestic securities.
Illiquid Securities and Derivatives Risks: Some of the Underlying
Funds invest in illiquid securities as well as in derivatives such as stock index
futures, currency futures and commodity futures. Derivatives are financial contracts
whose value depend on, or are derived from, the value of an underlying index. Some
of these investments involve higher risk and some of them may on occasion subject
those Underlying Funds to higher price volatility.
Portfolio Turnover Risks: Portfolio turnover refers to the rate
at which the Underlying Funds held by the fund are bought and sold. The higher the
rate, the higher the transactional and brokerage costs associated with turnover,
which may reduce the fund’s returns, unless the securities traded can be bought
and sold without significant transaction or commission costs or redemption fees.
Because the fund will seldom hold an Underlying Fund for 12 months or more, investors
who own the fund in taxable accounts will be subject to federal income tax at short-term
rates.
Please refer to the section in the Prospectus entitled "Additional Information about
the fund's Investments and Risks" for more details regarding the fund's investments
and risks that you should consider before investing.