Great-West Funds, Inc. 485BPOS

EMPOWER FUNDS, INC.

Empower Global Bond Fund
(formerly Great-West Global Bond Fund)
Institutional Class Ticker: MXZMX
Investor Class Ticker: MXGBX
(the “Fund”)

This Prospectus describes one of 45 funds of Empower Funds, Inc. (“Empower Funds”), an open-end management investment company. The Fund operates as a separate mutual fund and has its own investment objectives and strategies.

Fund shares are sold to insurance company separate accounts for certain variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies (“variable contracts”), to individual retirement account (“IRA”) custodians or trustees, to plan sponsors of qualified retirement plans (“retirement plans”), to college savings programs (collectively, “Permitted Accounts”), and to asset allocation funds that are series of Empower Funds. Therefore, you cannot purchase shares of the Fund directly; rather you must invest through a Permitted Account that makes the Fund available for investment.

This Prospectus contains important information about the Fund that you should consider before investing. Please read it carefully and save it for future reference.

This Prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell securities in any state or other jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such an offer in such state or other jurisdiction.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has not approved or disapproved
these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this Prospectus.
Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The date of this Prospectus is April 28, 2023

Table of Contents

Fund Summary	1
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares	6
Tax Information	6
Payments to Insurers, Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries	6
More Information About the Fund	6
Management and Organization	14
Shareholder Information	16
Financial Highlights	21
Additional Information	22

Fund Summary

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks current income with capital appreciation and growth of income.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. This table does not reflect the fees and expenses of any Permitted Account. If the fees and expenses imposed by a Permitted Account were reflected, the fees and expenses shown below would be higher.

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

	Institutional Class	Investor Class
Management Fees	0.57%	0.57%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees	0.00%	0.00%
Total Other Expenses	0.08%	0.56%
Shareholder Services Fees	0.00%	0.35%
Other Expenses	0.08%	0.21%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	0.65%	1.13%
Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement1	0.00%	0.13%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement	0.65%	1.00%

The investment adviser has contractually agreed to waive management fees or reimburse expenses if Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses of any Class exceed 0.65% of the Class's average daily net assets, excluding Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees, Shareholder Services Fees, brokerage expenses, taxes, dividend interest on short sales, interest expenses, and any extraordinary expenses, including litigation costs (the “Expense Limit”). The agreement’s current term ends on April 30, 2024 and automatically renews for one-year terms unless it is terminated upon termination of the investment advisory agreement or by Empower Funds or the investment adviser upon written notice within 90 days of the end of the current term. Under the agreement, the investment adviser may recoup, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors of Empower Funds, these waivers and reimbursements in future periods, not exceeding three years following the particular waiver/reimbursement, provided Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses of the Class plus such recoupment do not exceed the lesser of the Expense Limit that was in place at the time of the waiver/reimbursement or the Expense Limit in place at the time of recoupment.

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example does not reflect the fees and expenses of any Permitted Account. If the fees and expenses of any Permitted Account were reflected, the fees and expenses in the Example would be higher.

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of each period. The Example also assumes that the Expense Limit is in place for the first year, that your investment has a 5% return each year, that all dividends and capital gains are reinvested, and that the Fund’s operating expenses are the amount shown in the fee table and remain the same for the years shown. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Institutional Class	$66	$208	$362	$810
Investor Class	$102	$346	$610	$1,363

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 generally indicates higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s turnover rate was 176% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Below is a summary of the principal investment strategies of the Fund.

The Fund will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in bonds issued by companies, governments and government agencies located around the world. Bonds include fixed income securities of any maturity, such as mortgage-backed securities, U.S. government securities, asset-backed securities, floating rate loans (limited to up to 20% of the Fund’s net assets) and other floating rate securities, Eurodollar and yankee dollar instruments, to-be-announced (“TBA”) securities, notes (including structured notes), bills, and debentures.

The Fund focuses on investment grade securities but may invest up to 25% of its total assets in below investment grade securities (commonly known as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”). The Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and other pooled investment vehicles. The Fund may also invest in derivatives, including but not limited to futures contracts, forward foreign currency contracts, options on futures contracts, purchased and written options, purchased and written swaptions, credit default swaps, total return swaps and interest rate swaps.

The Fund is a “non-diversified” fund, which means it generally invests a greater portion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

Empower Capital Management, LLC (“ECM”) is the Fund’s investment adviser and, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors of Empower Funds (the “Board”), selects the Fund’s sub-advisers and monitors their performance on an ongoing basis. The Fund’s investment portfolio is managed by two sub-advisers: Insight North America LLC (“Insight”) and RBC Global Asset Management (UK) Limited (“RBC GAM UK”) (each, a “Sub-Adviser,” and collectively, the “Sub-Advisers”).

Insight focuses on identifying undervalued government bond markets, currencies, sectors and securities and looks for fixed income securities with the most potential for added value.

RBC GAM UK’s investment process combines a top-down focus on structural trends in policy and politics and impacts on global fixed income markets with a bottom-up relative value strategy for security and sector selection. RBC GAM UK also incorporates environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors as part of its investment process. Consideration of ESG factors and risks is only one component of RBC GAM UK’s assessment of eligible investments and may not be a determinative factor in its final decision on whether to invest in an issuer.

ECM maintains a strategic asset allocation of the Fund’s assets with each Sub-Adviser and reviews the asset allocations on a quarterly basis, or more frequently as deemed necessary. As of the date of this Prospectus, the target asset allocation is a 50% allocation of the Fund’s assets to Insight and a 50% allocation of the Fund’s assets to RBC GAM UK. Notwithstanding these target allocations, ECM may change the asset allocations at any time and without shareholder notice or approval.

Principal Investment Risks

Below is a summary of the principal investment risks of investing in the Fund. These risks are presented in an order that reflects ECM’s current assessment of relative importance, but this assessment could change over time as the Fund’s portfolio changes or in light of changes in the market or the economic environment, among other things. The Fund is not required to and will not update this Prospectus solely because its assessment of the relative importance of the principal risks of investing in the Fund changes.

Currency Risk - Adverse fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and other currencies may cause the Fund to lose money on investments denominated in foreign currencies.

Liquidity Risk - The Fund may not be able to sell a security at or near its perceived value in a timely manner because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, little or no active trading market for a specific type of security, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or a reduced number or capacity of market participants to make a market in such security. Extraordinary and sudden changes in interest rates could disrupt the market for fixed income securities and result in fluctuations in the Fund’s net asset value. Increased redemptions due to a rise in interest rates may require the Fund to liquidate its holdings at an unfavorable time and/or under adverse or disadvantageous conditions which may negatively affect the Fund. Investments in many, but not all, foreign securities tend to have greater exposure to liquidity risk than domestic securities because secondary trading markets for these securities may be smaller and less well-developed and the securities may trade less frequently.

Over-the-Counter Risk - Over-the-Counter (“OTC”) transactions involve risks in addition to those incurred by transactions in securities traded on exchanges. Securities and derivatives traded in OTC markets may trade less frequently and in limited volumes and thus exhibit more volatility and liquidity risk.

To-Be-Announced Securities Risk - TBA securities involve the risk that a security the Fund buys will lose value prior to its delivery. There is also risk that the security will not be issued or that the other party to the transaction will not meet its obligations. If this occurs, the Fund loses both the investment opportunity for the assets it set aside to pay for the security and any gain in the security’s price.

Call Risk - An issuer may redeem a fixed income security before maturity (a “call”) at a price below its current market value.

Floating Rate Loan Risk - Unlike publicly traded common stocks which trade on national exchanges, there is no central market or exchange for loans to trade. The lack of an active trading market for certain floating rate loans may impair the ability of the Fund to realize full value in the event of the need to sell a floating rate loan and may make it difficult to value such loans. The floating rate loans in which the Fund invests typically will be below investment grade quality and, like other below investment grade securities (commonly known as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”), are inherently speculative. As a result, the risks associated with such floating rate loans are similar to the risks of below investment grade securities, although senior loans are typically senior and secured in contrast to other below investment grade securities, which are often subordinated and unsecured.

Non-Diversification Risk - The Fund is classified as non-diversified, which means a relatively high percentage of its assets may be invested in securities of a limited number of issuers. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to the risks associated with these particular issuers or to a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence affecting these issuers.

Asset-Backed Securities Risk - Asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of assets, including consumer loans, auto loans, student loans, or receivables held in trust. The value of asset-backed securities may be affected by certain factors such as interest rate risk, the credit performance of the pool of underlying assets, the creditworthiness of the servicing agent or the originator of the underlying assets, the ability of the servicing agent to service the underlying collateral, and the availability of information concerning the pool of underlying assets and its structure. Asset-backed securities are also subject to the risk that borrowers will prepay the principal on their loans more quickly than expected (prepayment risk) in a declining interest rate environment or more slowly than expected (extension risk) in a rising interest rate environment.

of ESG factors may affect the Fund’s exposure to certain issuers or industries and may not work as intended. While ESG considerations may have the potential to contribute to the Fund’s long-term performance, there is no guarantee that such results will be achieved.

Portfolio Turnover Risk - High portfolio turnover rates generally result in higher transaction costs (which are borne directly by the Fund and indirectly by shareholders).

An investment in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank, is not insured, endorsed or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency, and is subject to the possible loss of your original investment.

Performance

The bar chart and table below provide an indication of the risk of investment in the Fund by showing changes in the performance of the Fund’s Investor Class shares for the last ten calendar years and by comparing the Fund's average annual total returns to the performance of a broad-based securities market index. The returns shown below are historical and are not an indication of future performance. Total return figures assume reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions and include the effect of the Fund’s recurring expenses, but do not include fees and expenses of any Permitted Account. If the fees and expenses of any Permitted Account were reflected, the performance shown would be lower.

On August 24, 2018, the Fund added another Sub-Adviser, Insight (formerly known as Mellon Investments Corporation), alongside the existing Sub-Adviser, Franklin Advisers, Inc. (“Franklin”). On July 9, 2021, the Fund replaced Franklin with RBC GAM UK (formerly known as BlueBay Asset Management LLP). Consequently, the Fund’s total returns shown below for the periods prior to these dates are not necessarily indicative of the performance of the Fund, as it is currently managed.

Updated performance information may be obtained at www.greatwestinvestments.com (the website does not form a part of this Prospectus).

Calendar Year Total Returns

	Quarter Ended	Total Return
Best Quarter	December 31, 2022	6.92%
Worst Quarter	June 30, 2022	-9.14%

Average Annual Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31, 2022

	One Year	Five Years	Ten Years	Since Inception	Inception Date
Institutional Class	-14.35%	-2.33%	N/A	-1.53%	5/1/2015
Investor Class	-14.65%	-2.68%	-1.22%	N/A
Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	-16.25%	-1.66%	-0.44%	-0.19%

Investment Adviser

ECM

Sub-Advisers

Insight and RBC GAM UK

Portfolio Managers

Name	Title	Portfolio Manager of Fund Since
Insight
Brendan J. Murphy, CFA	Head of Global Fixed Income, North America	2018
Nathaniel Hyde, CFA	Portfolio Manager	2022
RBC GAM UK
Mark Dowding	Chief Investment Officer and Senior Portfolio Manager	2021
Kaspar Hense, CFA	Senior Portfolio Manager	2021

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is not sold directly to the general public, but instead may be offered as an underlying investment for Permitted Accounts. Permitted Accounts may place orders on any business day to purchase and redeem shares of the Fund based on instructions received from owners of variable contracts or IRAs, or from participants of retirement plans or college savings programs. Please contact your registered representative, IRA custodian or trustee, retirement plan sponsor or administrator, or college savings program for information concerning the procedures for purchasing and redeeming shares of the Fund.

The Fund does not have any initial or subsequent investment minimums. However, Permitted Accounts may impose investment minimums.

Tax Information

Currently, Permitted Accounts generally are not subject to federal income tax on any Fund distributions. Owners of variable contracts, retirement plan participants, and IRA owners are also generally not subject to federal income tax on Fund distributions until such amounts are withdrawn from the variable contract, retirement plan, or IRA. Distributions from a college savings program generally are not taxed provided that they are used to pay for qualified higher education expenses. More information regarding federal taxation of Permitted Account owners may be found in the applicable prospectus and/or disclosure documents for that Permitted Account.

Payments to Insurers, Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

Companies related to the Fund may make payments to insurance companies, broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries for the sale of Fund shares and/or other services. These payments may be a factor that an insurance company, broker-dealer or other financial intermediary considers in including the Fund as an investment option in a Permitted Account. These payments also may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson, visit your financial intermediary’s website, or consult the variable contract prospectus for more information.

More Information About the Fund

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks current income with capital appreciation and growth of income.

Principal Investment Strategies

The principal investment strategies of the Fund are summarized in the “Fund Summary” section at the front of this Prospectus. More detailed descriptions of the principal investment strategies are described below. The Fund follows a distinct set of investment strategies. All percentage limitations relating to the Fund’s investment strategies are applied at the time the Fund acquires a security.

The Fund will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in bonds issued by companies, governments and government agencies located around the world. Bonds include fixed income securities of any maturity, such as mortgage-backed securities, U.S. government securities, asset-backed securities, floating rate loans (limited to up to 20% of the Fund’s net assets) and other floating rate securities, Eurodollar and yankee dollar instruments, TBA securities, notes (including structured notes), bills, and debentures.

•Foreign government securities generally consist of obligations issued or backed by national, state or provincial governments or similar political subdivisions or central banks in foreign countries. Foreign government securities also include debt obligations of supranational entities, which include international organizations designated or backed by governmental entities to promote economic reconstruction or development, international banking institutions and related government agencies.

•Corporate bonds are debt obligations issued by corporations or similar entities. As with other types of bonds, the issuer promises to repay the principal on a specific date and to make interest payments in the meantime.

•U.S. government securities are issued by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities. Certain U.S. government securities are guaranteed as to principal and interest and are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Other U.S. government securities are backed by the issuer’s right to borrow from the U.S. Treasury and some are backed only by the credit of the issuing organization. Securities of government-sponsored enterprises are not issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury and are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

•Mortgage-backed securities may be issued by government and non-government entities such as banks, mortgage lenders, or other financial institutions. A mortgage security is an obligation of the issuer backed by a mortgage or pool of mortgages or a direct interest in an underlying pool of mortgages. Mortgage-backed securities are based on different types of mortgages including those on commercial real estate or residential properties.

•Asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of consumer loans, auto loans, student loans, receivables, or other assets. Payment of interest and repayment of principal may be largely dependent upon the cash flows generated by the assets backing the securities and, in certain cases, supported by letters of credit, surety bonds, or other credit enhancements.

•Floating rate loans are debt instruments issued by companies or other entities with floating interest rates that reset periodically.

•Eurodollar instruments are bonds of foreign corporate and government issuers that pay interest and principal in U.S. dollars generally held in banks outside the U.S., primarily in Europe. Yankee dollar instruments are U.S. dollar-denominated bonds typically issued in the U.S. by foreign governments and their agencies and foreign banks and corporations.

•TBA securities are purchased or sold for a fixed price with the underlying securities to be announced at a future date. The seller does not specify the particular securities to be delivered, but instead the Fund agrees to accept any security that meets specified terms.

•Structured notes are derivative debt instruments with principal and/or interest payments linked to the value of a commodity, a foreign currency, an index of securities, an interest rate, or other financial indicators.

•A bill is a short-term debt instrument, usually with a maturity of two years or less.

•Debentures are unsecured debt securities. The holder of a debenture is protected only by the general creditworthiness of the issuer.

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 40% of its net assets in foreign securities. The Fund’s investments may be denominated in both the U.S. dollar and currencies of other developing and emerging market countries and the Fund may invest without limit in developing and emerging markets. Foreign fixed income securities are issued by entities organized outside the U.S., may be denominated in a foreign currency and are traded primarily in markets outside the U.S.

The Fund focuses on investment grade securities but may invest up to 25% of its total assets in below investment grade securities (commonly known as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”). Investment grade securities are those rated Baa3 or higher by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody's”) or BBB- or higher by Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings (“S&P”) or are of a comparable quality if unrated. If a security held by the Fund is downgraded below the minimum quality grade discussed above, the portfolio managers will re-evaluate the security, but will not be required to sell it. Below investment grade securities are those rated Ba1 or lower by Moody’s or BB+ or lower by S&P or are of a comparable quality if unrated.

The Fund may invest in ETFs and other pooled investment vehicles. ETFs are a type of investment company the shares of which are bought and sold on a securities exchange. ETFs are generally designed to replicate, as closely as possible before expenses, the performance of a particular market index but some ETFs are actively managed and instead of replicating a particular index they seek to outperform it or outperform a basket of securities or price of a commodity or currency.

The Fund may also invest in derivatives, including but not limited to futures contracts, forward foreign currency contracts, options on futures contracts, purchased and written options, purchased and written swaptions, credit default swaps, total return swaps and interest rate swaps. Derivatives are financial instruments designed to achieve a certain economic result when an underlying security, index, interest rate, currency, commodity, or other financial instrument moves in price. If the Fund enters into a derivatives contract, it would obligate or entitle the Fund to deliver or receive an asset or cash payment that is based on the change in value of the underlying financial instrument.

•A forward contract is an agreement that obligates one party to buy, and the other party to sell, a specific security, currency or other instrument for an agreed price at a future date. Forward contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and are not standardized or traded on exchanges.

•Futures contracts are standardized, exchange-traded contracts that require a purchaser to take delivery, and a seller to make delivery, of a specified amount of an asset at a specified future date and price. An option on a futures contract gives the purchaser the right, in exchange for a premium, to assume a position in a futures contract at a specified exercise price during the term of the option.

•An option is a contract between two parties for the purchase and sale of a financial instrument for a specified price (known as the “strike price” or “exercise price”) at any time during the option period. Unlike a futures contract, an option grants a right (not an obligation) to buy or sell a financial instrument.

•A swap is an agreement obligating two counterparties to exchange periodic payments at specific dates based on a pre-determined underlying investment or notional amount and to exchange collateral to secure the obligations of each counterparty. The notional amount is used to calculate the payment stream but is generally not exchanged.

ECM, subject to the approval of the Board, selects the Fund’s Sub-Advisers and monitors their performance on an ongoing basis. The Fund’s investment portfolio is managed by Insight and RBC GAM UK. ECM maintains a strategic asset allocation of the Fund’s assets with each Sub-Adviser and reviews the asset allocations on a quarterly basis, or more frequently as deemed necessary. As of the date of this Prospectus, the target asset allocation is a 50% allocation of the Fund’s assets to Insight and a 50% allocation of the Fund’s assets to RBC GAM UK. Notwithstanding these target allocations, ECM may change the asset allocations at any time and without shareholder notice or approval.

The Fund’s 80% policy described above is non-fundamental and can be changed by the Board without shareholder approval. The Fund will provide 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders of any change made to the policy.

How the Sub-Advisers Select Investments

Each Sub-Adviser independently conducts its own research, analysis, security selection and portfolio construction for the assets it manages.

Insight focuses on identifying undervalued government bond markets, currencies, sectors and securities and de-emphasizes the use of an interest rate forecasting strategy. Insight selects securities by using fundamental economic research and quantitative analysis to allocate assets among countries and currencies based on a comparative evaluation of interest and inflation rate trends, government fiscal and monetary policies, and the credit quality of government debt; and focusing on sectors and individual securities that appear to be relatively undervalued and actively trading among sectors.

RBC GAM UK’s investment process combines a top-down focus on structural trends in policy and politics and impacts on global fixed income markets with a bottom-up relative value strategy for security and sector selection. RBC GAM UK believes that these inefficiencies can be identified and exploited through active management based on proprietary research. RBC GAM UK operates a single investment process, supported by one deeply resourced team of high-quality investment specialists. RBC GAM UK’s specialists adopt a forensic approach to proprietary macro, credit and ESG research to help identify both long and short opportunities across the investment universe. Consideration of ESG factors and risks is only one component of RBC GAM UK’s assessment of eligible investments and may not be a determinative factor in its final decision on whether to invest in an issuer.

Temporary Investment Strategies

The Fund may hold cash or cash equivalents and, if deemed appropriate by the Sub-Advisers, may invest up to 100% of its assets in money market instruments for temporary defensive purposes to respond to adverse market, economic or political conditions. Should the Fund take this action, it may be inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective. Money market instruments include a variety of short-term fixed income securities, usually with a maturity of less than 13 months. Some common types of money market instruments include Treasury bills and notes, which are securities issued by the U.S. government, commercial paper, which is a promissory note issued by a company, bankers’ acceptances, which are credit instruments guaranteed by a bank, and negotiable certificates of deposit, which are issued by banks in large denominations.

Securities Lending

Although not considered a principal investment strategy, the Fund may lend its securities to broker-dealers and financial institutions to realize additional income. The Fund will not lend its securities or other assets if, as a result, more than 33 1∕3% of the Fund’s total assets would be lent to other parties. When the Fund loans its portfolio securities, it will receive collateral equal to at least 102% of the market value of domestic securities and 105% of the market value of foreign securities. Nevertheless, the Fund risks a delay in the recovery of the loaned securities, or even the loss of rights in the collateral deposited by the borrower if the borrower should fail financially.

Principal Investment Risks

The principal investment risks associated with investing in the Fund are summarized in the “Fund Summary” section at the front of this Prospectus. More detailed descriptions of the principal investment risks are set forth below. These risks are presented in an order that reflects ECM’s current assessment of relative importance, but this assessment could change over time as the Fund’s portfolio changes or in light of changes in the market or the economic environment, among other things. The Fund is not required to and will not update this Prospectus solely because its assessment of the relative importance of the principal risks of investing in the Fund changes.

Interest Rate Risk - The market value of a fixed income security is affected significantly by changes in interest rates. When interest rates rise, the market value of a fixed income security will generally decline and when interest rates decline, market values of such securities will generally rise. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a fixed income security, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. The maturity of a security is a measure of the time remaining until the final payment of the security is due. Duration is a measure of a portfolio’s price sensitivity to changes in prevailing interest rates. For example, if interest rates rise by 1%, a portfolio with a two-year effective duration would expect the value of its portfolio to decrease by 2% and a portfolio with a ten-year effective duration would expect the value of its portfolio to decrease by 10%, all other factors being equal. Recent and potential future changes in monetary policy by central banks may affect the level of interest rates. While interest rates were at or near historic lows, they have risen in recent periods which may have unpredictable effects on the markets and the Fund’s investments. Actions taken by the Federal Reserve Board or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize economic growth, such as increases or decreases in short-term interest rates, may adversely affect markets, which could, in turn, negatively impact the Fund’s performance.

Credit Risk - An issuer of a security may default on its obligations to pay principal and/or interest. A security’s value may be affected by changes in its credit quality rating or its issuer’s financial conditions. Changes in an issuer’s financial strength, the market’s perception of the issuer’s financial strength or in a security’s credit rating, which reflects a third party’s assessment of the credit risk presented by a particular issuer, may affect the security’s value.

Foreign Government Securities Risk - Foreign government securities may involve risks similar to those of foreign securities. They also may present additional risks, such as the ability of a foreign government or government-related issuer to make timely principal and interest payments on its external debt obligations. This ability to make payments may be influenced by the issuer’s balance of payments, its access to international credits and investments, fluctuations in foreign interest rates, as well as the government’s foreign currency reserves and currency devaluations.

Foreign Securities Risk - Foreign markets can be more volatile than the U.S. market due to increased risks of adverse issuer, political, regulatory, market, currency valuation or economic developments and can perform differently than the U.S. market. As a result, foreign securities may subject the Fund to greater risk of potential loss than U.S. securities. Foreign countries can prevent or delay the Fund from selling its investments and taking money out of the country. In addition, foreign securities may not be as liquid as U.S. securities which could result in the Fund being unable to sell its investments in a timely manner. Current sanctions or the threat of potential sanctions may also impair the value or liquidity of affected securities and negatively impact the Fund.

Emerging Markets Risk - Emerging market countries generally have economic structures that are less diverse and mature, and political systems that are less stable, than those of developed countries. The economies of countries with emerging markets may be based predominantly on only a few industries, may be highly vulnerable to changes in local or global trade conditions, and may suffer from limited reliable access to capital, extreme debt burdens or volatile inflation rates. The securities markets of emerging market countries may be subject to manipulation and have historically been extremely volatile and less liquid than more developed markets. These market conditions may continue or worsen. Investments in these countries may be subject to political, economic, legal, market and currency risks. The risks may include the lack of, or limitations on, regulatory oversight by U.S. or even local authorities; limited corporate governance standards; limited investor protections and less protection of property rights, including the limited availability of legal recourse; uncertain political and economic policies; the imposition by a country of foreign investment limitations and/or capital controls; and the nationalization of businesses. The imposition of sanctions, exchange controls (including repatriation restrictions), confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs) and other government restrictions by the U.S. and other governments, or from problems in share registration, settlement or custody, may also result in losses. The type and severity of sanctions and other similar measures, including counter sanctions and other retaliatory actions, that may be imposed could vary broadly in scope, and their impact is impossible to predict. Sanctions and other similar measures could limit or prevent the Fund from buying and selling securities (in the sanctioned country and other markets), significantly delay or prevent the settlement of securities transactions, and significantly impact the Fund’s liquidity and performance. Differences in regulatory, accounting, auditing and financial reporting and recordkeeping standards could impede the availability of reliable information to evaluate and monitor local companies and impact the Fund’s performance. There is also the risk of negative foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time.

Market Risk - The value of the Fund's investments may decrease, sometimes rapidly or unexpectedly, due to factors affecting specific issuers held by the Fund, particular industries represented in the Fund's portfolio, or the overall securities markets. A variety of factors can increase the volatility of the Fund's holdings and markets generally, including political or regulatory developments, recessions, inflation, rapid interest rate changes, war or acts of terrorism, sanctions, natural disasters, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, or adverse investor sentiment generally. Certain events may cause instability across global markets, including reduced liquidity and disruptions in trading markets, while some events may affect certain geographic regions, countries, sectors, and industries more significantly than others. These adverse developments may cause broad declines in an issuer’s value due to short-term market movements or for significantly longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. During such a general downturn in the markets, multiple asset classes may decline in value. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic, the large expansion of government deficits and debt as a result of government actions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the rise of inflation have resulted in extreme volatility in the global economy and financial markets. These events could be prolonged and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments and negatively impact the Fund’s performance.

Currency Risk - Adverse fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and other currencies may cause the Fund to lose money on investments denominated in foreign currencies. The Fund accrues additional expenses when engaging in currency exchange transactions, and valuation of the Fund’s foreign securities may be subject to greater risk because both the currency (relative to the U.S. dollar) and the security must be considered. Currency risk is especially high in emerging markets.

Liquidity Risk - The Fund may not be able to sell a security at or near its perceived value in a timely manner because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, little or no active trading market for a specific type of security, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or a reduced number or capacity of market participants to make a market in such security. Difficulty in selling less liquid securities may result in sales at disadvantageous prices affecting the value of the Fund. Additionally, the sale of less liquid or illiquid investments may involve substantial delays (including delays in settlement) and additional costs and the Fund may be unable to sell such securities when necessary to meet its liquidity needs. Extraordinary and sudden changes in interest rates could disrupt the market for fixed income securities and result in fluctuations in the Fund’s net asset value. Increased redemptions due to a rise in interest rates may require the Fund to liquidate its holdings at an unfavorable time and/or under adverse or disadvantageous conditions which may negatively affect the Fund. Investments in many, but not all,

foreign securities tend to have greater exposure to liquidity risk than domestic securities because secondary trading markets for these securities may be smaller and less well-developed and the securities may trade less frequently.

Derivatives Risk - The use of derivative instruments, including but not limited to futures contracts, forward foreign currency contracts, options on futures contracts, purchased and written options, purchased and written swaptions, credit default swaps, total return swaps and interest rate swaps, may expose the Fund to additional risks that it would not be subject to if it invested directly in the securities underlying those derivatives. These risks include imperfect correlations with underlying investments or the Fund's other portfolio holdings, the risk that a derivative could expose the Fund to the risk of magnified losses resulting from leverage, the risk that a counterparty may be unwilling or unable to meet its obligations, high price volatility, liquidity risk, segregation risk, valuation risk and legal restrictions. A derivative contract would obligate or entitle the Fund to deliver or receive an asset or cash payment that is based on the change in value of one or more securities, currencies or indices. Even a small investment in derivative contracts could have a big impact on the Fund’s stock market, currency and interest rate exposure. Therefore, using derivatives can disproportionately increase losses and reduce opportunities for gains when security prices, currency rates or interest rates are changing. The Fund may not fully benefit from or may lose money on derivatives if changes in their value do not correspond accurately to changes in the value of the Fund’s holdings. The other parties to certain derivative contracts present the same types of credit risk as issuers of fixed income securities. Derivatives can also make a fund less liquid and harder to value, especially in declining markets, and may increase the Fund’s volatility. There can be no assurance that the Fund’s use of derivative contracts will work as intended, and it is possible for the Fund to lose more than its original investment.

•Forward Contracts Risk. The market for forward contracts is substantially unregulated and can experience lengthy periods of illiquidity, unusually high trading volume and other negative impacts, such as political intervention, which may result in volatility or disruptions in such markets. A relatively small price movement in a forward contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. Forward contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.

•Futures Contracts Risk. Certain futures contract markets are highly volatile, and futures contracts may be illiquid. Futures exchanges may limit fluctuations in futures contract prices by imposing a maximum permissible daily price movement. The Fund may be disadvantaged if it is prohibited from executing a trade outside the daily permissible price movement. At or prior to maturity of a futures contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in futures contract prices. The liquidity of the futures markets depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in futures trading, it is possible that the Fund may employ a high degree of leverage in the portfolio. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund, exceeding the amount of the margin paid. For certain types of futures contracts, losses are potentially unlimited. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s net asset value. Futures contracts executed (if any) on foreign exchanges may not provide the same protection as U.S. exchanges. Futures contracts can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.

•Options Risk. By investing in options, the Fund is exposed to the risk that it may be required to buy or sell the underlying reference asset at a disadvantageous price on or before the expiration date. Options may involve economic leverage, which could result in greater volatility in price movement. The Fund's losses could be significant, and are potentially unlimited for certain types of options. Options may be traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market. At or prior to maturity of an options contract, the Fund may enter into an offsetting contract and may incur a loss to the extent there has been adverse movement in options prices. Options can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying references and their attendant risks such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.

•Swaps Risk. Swaps may be difficult to value and may be illiquid. Swaps could result in Fund losses if the underlying asset or reference index does not perform as anticipated. Swaps create significant investment leverage such that a relatively small price movement in a swap may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund. The Fund may only close out a swap with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. Certain swaps, such as short swap transactions and total return swaps, have the potential for unlimited losses, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Swaps can increase the Fund’s risk exposure to underlying reference assets and their attendant risks, such as credit risk, market risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, while also exposing the Fund to correlation risk, counterparty risk, hedging risk, inflation risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, pricing risk and volatility risk.

Below Investment Grade Securities Risk - Below investment grade securities (commonly known as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”) are speculative, have a higher degree of credit risk and interest rate risk, and may be less liquid and subject to greater volatility in market value than investment grade securities. The lower a security’s quality, the more it is subject to credit risk and the more speculative it becomes with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal in accordance with the terms of its obligations. Changes in interest rates, the market's perception of the issuer, and the creditworthiness of the issuer may significantly affect the value of these bonds. Some of these securities may have a structure that makes their reaction to interest rates and other factors difficult to predict, causing their value to be highly volatile. The secondary market for high yield securities may be less liquid than the markets for higher quality securities, which may have an adverse effect on the market values of certain securities.

Over-the-Counter Risk - OTC transactions involve risks in addition to those incurred by transactions in securities traded on exchanges. Securities and derivatives traded in OTC markets may trade less frequently and in limited volumes and thus exhibit more volatility and liquidity risk. OTC-listed companies may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources. The Fund may experience difficulty in purchasing or selling these securities at a fair price.

Counterparty Risk - A counterparty to a transaction may be unwilling or unable to make timely interest, principal or settlement payments or otherwise honor its obligations. Counterparty risk may arise because of a counterparty’s financial condition (i.e., financial difficulties, bankruptcy, or insolvency), market activities and developments, or other reasons, whether foreseen or not. To the extent that a counterparty defaults on its obligations and the Fund is delayed or prevented from exercising its rights with respect to the investments in its portfolio, it may experience a decline in the value of its position, lose income and incur costs associated with asserting its rights.

To-Be-Announced Securities Risk - TBA securities involve the risk that a security the Fund buys will lose value prior to its delivery. The Fund is subject to this risk whether or not the Fund takes delivery of the securities on the settlement date for the transaction. There is also risk that the security will not be issued or that the other party to the transaction will not meet its obligations. If this occurs, the Fund loses both the investment opportunity for the assets it set aside to pay for the security and any gain in the security’s price. These transactions have a leveraging effect on the Fund because the Fund commits to purchase securities that it does not have to pay for until a later date. These investments therefore increase the Fund’s overall investment exposure and, as a result, its volatility.

Call Risk - An issuer may redeem a fixed income security before maturity (a “call”) at a price below its current market value. An increase in the likelihood of a call may reduce a security's price. If a fixed income security is called, the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in other securities with lower interest rates, higher credit risks or other less favorable characteristics. The Fund may also lose any premium it paid to purchase the securities.

Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk - Mortgage-backed securities represent interests in pools of commercial or residential mortgages that are subject to the risk that borrowers will prepay the principal on their loans more quickly than expected (prepayment risk) when mortgage rates fall or more slowly than expected (extension risk) when mortgage rates rise, which may affect the yield, average life and price of the securities. Because of prepayment risk and extension risk, mortgage-backed securities react differently to changes in interest rates than other fixed income securities. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain mortgage-backed securities. Mortgage-backed securities issued by a government agency are protected from principal loss through guarantees provided by the agency, while mortgage-backed securities issued by non-government issuers are not and therefore carry the additional risk of default should the credit performance of the underlying loans decline. This risk is mitigated through credit enhancements that cover losses in stressed scenarios, however, principal loss is possible should credit conditions deteriorate to a point where the enhancements prove to be insufficient.

Geographic Concentration Risk - Events negatively affecting the fiscal stability of a particular country or region in which the Fund focuses its investments may cause the value of its shares to decrease, perhaps significantly. When investing a substantial amount of assets in issuers located in a single country, a limited number of countries or a particular geographic region, there is a risk that economic, political and social conditions in those countries or that region will have a significant impact on the performance of the Fund’s investments. Investment performance may also be more volatile when the Fund concentrates its investments in certain countries, especially emerging markets countries or regions.

(commonly known as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”), are inherently speculative. As a result, the risks associated with such floating rate loans are similar to the risks of below investment grade securities, although senior loans are typically senior and secured in contrast to other below investment grade securities, which are often subordinated and unsecured. There may be less readily available, reliable information about certain floating rate loans than is the case for many other types of securities, and the Fund’s portfolio managers may be required to rely primarily on their own evaluation of a borrower's credit quality rather than on any available independent sources. The value of collateral, if any, securing a floating rate loan can decline and may be insufficient to meet the issuer's obligations in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal or may be difficult to readily liquidate. In the event of the bankruptcy of a borrower, the Fund could experience delays or limitations imposed by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws with respect to its ability to realize the benefits of the collateral securing a loan.

Non-Diversification Risk - The Fund is classified as non-diversified, which means a relatively high percentage of its assets may be invested in securities of a limited number of issuers. Because a significant percentage of the Fund’s assets may be invested in a single issuer, the Fund’s performance could be closely tied to that one issuer and could be more volatile than the performance of more diversified funds. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to the risks associated with these particular issuers or to a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence affecting these issuers.

Management Risk - A strategy, investment decision, technique, analysis, or model used by the portfolio managers may fail to produce the intended results or imperfections, errors or limitations in the tools and data used by the portfolio managers may cause unintended results. If the portfolio managers are incorrect in their expectation of the timing or level of fluctuation in securities prices, interest rates, currency prices or other variables, this could result in losses. A lack of correlation between changes in the value of derivatives and the value of the portfolio assets (if any) being hedged could also result in losses. In addition, there is a risk that the performance of derivatives or other instruments used by the portfolio managers to replicate the performance of a particular asset class may not accurately track the performance of that asset class. Therefore, the Fund could underperform in comparison to other funds with similar objectives and investment strategies and may generate losses even in a favorable market.

Exchange-Traded Fund Risk - Shares in an ETF represent an interest in a portfolio of securities generally designed to track the performance of a particular market index. The Fund could purchase shares issued by an ETF to temporarily gain exposure to a portion of a foreign market, for example, while awaiting purchase of underlying securities. The risks associated with owning an ETF generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying securities it is designed to track, although ETFs have management fees that increase their costs. Fund shareholders indirectly bear their proportionate share of the expenses of the ETFs in which the Fund invests. An ETF may trade at a premium or discount; and as a result, the Fund may pay more than net asset value when purchasing shares and receive less than net asset value when selling shares. It is possible that an active trading market for an ETF will not be maintained, or that trading will be halted for reasons such as market-wide trading halts or an ETF no longer meeting the listing requirements of the exchange. For index ETFs, a number of factors may affect an ETF’s ability to achieve a high degree of correlation with its market index, including index exposure, market disruption or closure, regulatory restrictions or extreme market volatility. Lack of liquidity in an ETF could result in it being more volatile. There is no guarantee that an ETF will achieve a high degree of correlation to its market index.

Pooled Investment Vehicle Risk - The Fund faces the risk that a pooled investment vehicle in which it invests will not achieve its investment objective. The Fund also is subject to the risks of the underlying assets in which the pooled investment vehicles invest. As a shareholder in a pooled investment vehicle, the Fund will bear its ratable share of that vehicle’s expenses, and would remain subject to payment of any advisory and administrative fees with respect to assets so invested. Therefore, shareholders may be subject to duplicative expenses to the extent that the Fund invests in pooled investment vehicles. In addition, the Fund may incur brokerage costs when purchasing and selling shares of pooled investment vehicles. Further, certain pooled investment vehicles traded on exchanges may be thinly traded and experience large spreads between the “bid” price quoted by a seller and the “ask” price offered by a buyer. Certain pooled investment vehicles do not have the protections applicable to other types of investments under federal securities or commodities laws and may be subject to counterparty or credit risk. There may be no active market for shares of certain pooled investment vehicles and such shares may be highly illiquid.

Asset-Backed Securities Risk - Asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of assets, including consumer loans, auto loans, student loans, or receivables held in trust. The value of asset-backed securities may be affected by certain factors such as interest rate risk, the credit performance of the pool of underlying assets, the creditworthiness of the servicing agent or the originator of the underlying assets, the ability of the servicing agent to service the underlying collateral, and the availability of information concerning the pool of underlying assets and its structure. Certain asset-backed securities do not have the benefit of the same security interest in the underlying financial assets as do mortgage-backed securities, nor are they provided government guarantees of repayment. Accordingly, 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 asset-backed securities, if any, may be inadequate to protect investors in the event of default. Asset-backed securities are also subject to the risk that borrowers will prepay the principal on their

loans more quickly than expected (prepayment risk) in a declining interest rate environment or more slowly than expected (extension risk) in a rising interest rate environment.

Environmental, Social and Governance Considerations Risk - The Fund’s portfolio selection strategy is not solely based on ESG considerations, and therefore the issuers in which the Fund invests may not be considered ESG-focused companies. Consideration of ESG factors may affect the Fund’s exposure to certain issuers or industries and may not work as intended. The application of ESG criteria may result in the Fund (1) having exposure to certain securities or industry sectors that are significantly different than the composition of the Fund's benchmark index; and (2) performing differently than other funds and strategies in its peer group that do not take into account ESG criteria or the Fund's benchmark index. In addition, ESG considerations assessed as part of the Fund’s investment process may vary across types of eligible investments and issuers, and not every ESG factor may be identified or evaluated for every investment. While ESG considerations may have the potential to contribute to the Fund’s long-term performance, there is no guarantee that such results will be achieved.

Multi-Manager Risk - Because the Sub-Advisers make investment decisions independently, it is possible that the security selection processes of the Sub-Advisers may not complement one another and the Fund may have buy and sell transactions in the same security on the same day. As a result, the Fund’s exposure to a given security, industry sector or market capitalization could be smaller or larger than would be the case if the Fund was managed by a single sub-adviser. It is possible the Sub-Advisers may, at any time, take positions that are opposite of each other. In such cases, the Fund will incur higher expenses without accomplishing any net investment results. The Sub-Advisers may also be competing with one another for similar positions at the same time, which could have the result of increasing a security’s cost. The multi-manager approach could increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rates which may result in higher levels of realized capital gains or losses with respect to the Fund’s portfolio securities, and higher brokerage commissions and other transaction costs. A Sub-Adviser may underperform the market generally and may underperform other sub-advisers that ECM could have selected.

Portfolio Turnover Risk - High portfolio turnover rates generally result in higher transaction costs (which are borne directly by the Fund and indirectly by shareholders). These effects of higher than normal portfolio turnover may adversely affect Fund performance.

Underlying Fund Risk

Certain asset allocation funds that are series of Empower Funds are permitted to invest in the Fund. As a result, the Fund may have large inflows or outflows of cash from time to time. This could have adverse effects on the Fund's performance if the Fund is required to sell securities or invest cash at times when it otherwise would not do so. This activity could also increase the Fund's transaction costs.

A complete listing of the Fund’s investment limitations and more detailed information about its investment policies and practices are contained in the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Portfolio Holdings Disclosure

A description of the policies and procedures of Empower Funds with respect to the disclosure of the Fund's portfolio securities is available in the SAI. The back cover of this Prospectus explains how you can obtain a copy of the SAI.

Benchmark Index

The Fund’s benchmark index is the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index, which is a flagship measure of global investment grade debt from various local currency markets. This multi-currency benchmark includes treasury, government-related, corporate and securitized fixed rate bonds from both developed and emerging markets issuers.

Management and Organization

Investment Adviser

ECM, a Colorado limited liability company with its principal business address at 8515 East Orchard Road, Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111, is registered as an investment adviser pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”). ECM provides investment advisory, accounting and administrative services to Empower Funds, and is the investment adviser of the Fund. ECM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America (“Empower of America”) and an affiliate of Empower Retirement, LLC (“Empower”). As of December 31, 2022, ECM provided investment management services for mutual funds and other investment portfolios representing assets of $52.7 billion. ECM and its affiliates have been providing investment management services since 1969.

Advisory Fees

For its services, ECM is entitled to a fee, which is calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate of 0.57% of the Fund’s average daily net assets up to $1 billion dollars, 0.52% of the Fund’s average daily net assets over $1 billion and 0.47% of the

Fund’s average daily net assets over $2 billion. Pursuant to the investment advisory agreement, ECM is responsible for all of its fees and expenses incurred in performing the services set forth in the agreement. The Fund pays all other fees and expenses incurred in its operation, all of its general administrative expenses, all shareholder services fees (“Shareholder Services Fees”) with respect to Investor Class shares, and any extraordinary expenses, including litigation costs. ECM has contractually agreed to waive advisory fees or reimburse expenses if total annual Fund operating expenses of any Class exceed 0.65% of the Class's average daily net assets, excluding Shareholder Services Fees, brokerage expenses, taxes, dividend interest on short sales, interest expenses, and any extraordinary expenses, including litigation costs (the “Expense Limit”). The agreement’s current term ends on April 30, 2024 and automatically renews for one-year terms unless it is terminated upon termination of the investment advisory agreement or by Empower Funds or ECM upon written notice within 90 days of the end of the current term. Under the agreement, ECM may recoup, subject to Board approval, these waivers and reimbursements in future periods, not exceeding three years following the particular waiver/reimbursement, provided total annual Fund operating expenses of the Class plus such recoupment do not exceed the lesser of the Expense Limit that was in place at the time of the waiver/reimbursement or the Expense Limit in place at the time of recoupment.

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board approving the investment advisory agreement and sub-advisory agreements is available in the Fund’s Semi-Annual Report to shareholders for the period ended June 30, 2022, and will be available in the Fund’s Semi-Annual Report to shareholders for the period ending on June 30, 2023.

Sub-Advisers

Listed below are the Sub-Advisers and their respective portfolio managers who have responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

Insight, a New York limited liability company with its principal business address at 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York, 10166, is registered as an investment adviser pursuant to the Advisers Act. Insight is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, a global financial services organization that provides investment management and services worldwide.

•Brendan J. Murphy, CFA, Head of Global Fixed Income Strategies, North America, has served as portfolio manager of the Fund since 2018 and joined Insight in 2005.

•Nathaniel Hyde, CFA, Portfolio Manager, has served as portfolio manager of the Fund since 2022 and joined Insight in 2007.

RBC GAM UK, a corporation organized under the laws of England and Wales, with its principal business address at 77 Grosvenor Street, London, W1K3JR, is registered as an investment adviser pursuant to the Advisers Act. RBC GAM UK is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”) and part of the RBC asset management division, RBC Global Asset Management group of companies. RBC GAM UK was founded in 1998 and provides global investment management services and solutions to institutional, high net worth and individual investors.

•Mark Dowding, Partner, Chief Investment Officer and Senior Portfolio Manager, has served as portfolio manager of the Fund since 2021 and joined RBC GAM UK in 2010.

•Kaspar Hense, CFA, Partner, Senior Portfolio Manager, has served as portfolio manager of the Fund since 2021 and joined RBC GAM UK in 2014.

Please see the SAI for additional information about the portfolio managers’ compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers and the portfolio managers’ ownership of shares of the Fund.

The Sub-Advisers are responsible for the investment and reinvestment of the assets of the Fund and for making decisions to buy, sell, or hold any particular security. The Sub-Advisers bear all expenses in connection with the performance of their services, such as compensating and furnishing office space for their officers and employees connected with investment and economic research, trading and investment management of the Fund. ECM, in turn, pays sub-advisory fees to the Sub-Advisers for their services out of ECM’s advisory fee described above.

Empower Funds and ECM operate under a manager-of-managers structure under an order issued by the SEC. The current order permits ECM to enter into, terminate or materially amend sub-advisory agreements without shareholder approval, unless the sub-adviser is an affiliated person. This means ECM is responsible for monitoring each Sub-Adviser's performance through quantitative and qualitative analysis and will periodically report to the Board as to whether each Sub-Adviser's agreement should be renewed, terminated or modified. ECM will not enter into a sub-advisory agreement with any sub-adviser that is an affiliated

person, as defined in Section 2(a)(3) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), of Empower Funds or ECM other than by reason of serving as a sub-adviser to one or more funds without such agreement, including the compensation to be paid thereunder, being approved by the shareholders of the Fund. Empower Funds will furnish to shareholders of the Fund all information about a new sub-adviser or sub-advisory agreement that would be included in a proxy statement within 90 days after the addition of the new sub-adviser or the implementation of any material change in the sub-advisory agreement.

The Fund enters into contractual arrangements with various parties, including, among others, the Fund’s investment adviser, who provide services to the Fund. Shareholders are not parties to or intended (or “third-party”) beneficiaries of those contractual arrangements.

This Prospectus and the SAI provide information concerning the Fund that you should consider in determining whether to purchase shares of the Fund. The Fund may make changes to this information from time to time. Neither this Prospectus nor the SAI is intended to give rise to any contract rights or other rights in any shareholder, other than any rights conferred by federal or state securities laws.

Shareholder Information

Investing in the Fund

Shares of the Fund are not for sale directly to the public. Currently, Empower Funds may sell Fund shares to Permitted Accounts. For information concerning your rights and for information on how to purchase or redeem shares of the Fund offered as an investment option under a Permitted Account, please refer to the applicable prospectus and/or disclosure documents for that Permitted Account. The Fund may stop offering shares completely or may offer shares only on a limited basis, for a period of time or permanently. With certain exceptions, the Fund is generally available only to shareholders residing in the U.S. However, the Fund may not be offered in your state.

Pricing Shares

The transaction price for buying, selling, or exchanging the Fund’s shares is the net asset value of the Fund. The Fund’s net asset value is generally calculated as of the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) every day the NYSE is open. However, the time at which the Fund’s net asset value is calculated may be changed if trading on the NYSE is restricted, the NYSE closes at a different time (for example, a scheduled early closing), or as permitted by the SEC. To the extent that the Fund’s assets are traded in other markets on days when the NYSE is closed, the value of the Fund’s assets may be affected on days when Empower Funds is not open for business. In addition, trading in some of the Fund’s assets may not occur on days when Empower Funds is open for business. Your share price will be the next net asset value calculated after the order is received in “good order.” This means that the requests must be accompanied by proper payment and sufficient information, documentation and detail before the close of regular trading on the NYSE to enable the Fund to allocate assets properly.

A separate net asset value is calculated for each share class of the Fund. Net asset value is determined by dividing net assets of each of the Fund’s share classes (the total value of assets allocated to the class, minus liabilities allocated to that class) by the number of the Fund’s outstanding shares for the applicable share class.

The net asset value of the Fund is based on the market value of the securities in the Fund. Short-term securities with a maturity of 60 days or less are valued on the basis of amortized cost provided such amount approximates market value. The Fund values its assets at current market prices where current market prices are readily available. If current market prices are not readily available or if a security’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded (for example, a foreign exchange or market), assets will be valued at fair value as determined in good faith in accordance with procedures approved by the Board. The Board has designated ECM as the valuation designee pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act and delegated to ECM the responsibility of making fair value determinations, subject to the oversight of the Board. With respect to foreign securities, ECM utilizes a third-party fair valuation service daily to adjust closing prices. This process is performed in order to more accurately consider projected market movements related to the time lapse between when foreign exchanges or markets close and when the Fund computes its net asset value. Fair value determinations involve judgments that are inherently subjective. The effect of fair value pricing as described above is that securities may not be priced on the basis of quotations from the primary market in which they are traded, but rather may be priced by another method that ECM believes reflects fair value. This policy is intended to assure that the Fund’s net asset value fairly reflects security values at the time of pricing.

Exchanging Shares

Participants in, or owners of, Permitted Accounts that purchased shares of the Fund on their behalf may, in accordance with the applicable Permitted Account rules, exchange shares of the Fund.

The Fund may refuse exchange purchases by any person or group if, in ECM’s judgment, the Fund would be unable to invest the money effectively in accordance with its investment objective and policies or would otherwise potentially be adversely affected.

Redeeming Shares

The Fund will normally send redemption proceeds within one business day following the receipt of a redemption request that is in good order. The Fund may, however, delay payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days and may suspend redemptions and/or further postpone payment proceeds when the NYSE is closed (other than weekends or holidays) or when trading thereon is restricted or during emergency or other circumstances if it is not reasonably practicable for the Fund to liquidate its portfolio securities or fairly determine the value of its net assets, each as determined by the SEC, or as otherwise permitted by an order issued by the SEC. When a shareholder places a request to redeem shares for which the purchase money has not yet been collected, the request is not considered to be in good order until the purchase has been cleared. Following clearance, the request will be executed at the next determined net asset value.

Under normal conditions, the Fund typically expects to meet daily shareholder redemptions by monitoring the Fund’s portfolio and redemption activities and by holding a reserve of highly liquid assets, such as cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may use additional methods to meet shareholder redemptions, if they become necessary. These methods may include, but are not limited to, the sale of portfolio assets, the use of overdraft protection afforded by the Fund’s custodian bank or borrowing from a line of credit.

Dividends and Capital Gains Distributions

The Fund earns dividends, interest and other income from its investments, and ordinarily distributes this income (less expenses), if any, to shareholders as dividends semi-annually. The Fund also realizes capital gains from its investments, and distributes these gains (less any losses), if any, to shareholders as capital gains distributions at least once annually. Both dividends and capital gains distributions are reinvested in additional shares of the Fund at net asset value.

Frequent Purchases and Redemptions of Fund Shares

The Fund is not intended for the purpose of market timing or excessive trading activity. Market timing activity may dilute the interests of shareholders in the Fund. (As used in this section, “shareholders” include individual holders of variable contracts investing in the Fund through subaccount units, IRA owners, retirement plan participants, and college savings program participants.) Market timing generally involves frequent or unusually large trades that are intended to take advantage of short-term fluctuations in the value of the Fund’s securities and the reflection of that change in the Fund’s share price. In addition, frequent or unusually large trades may harm performance by increasing Fund expenses and disrupting Fund management strategies. For example, excessive trading may result in forced liquidations of Fund securities or cause the Fund to keep a relatively higher cash position, resulting in increased brokerage costs and lost investment opportunities.

The Fund invests to varying degrees in securities that trade infrequently or may be more difficult to value, such as lower-rated securities, and which may be susceptible to trading by short-term traders who seek to exploit perceived price inefficiencies in the Fund’s investments. In addition, the market for lower-rated securities may at times show “market momentum,” in which positive or negative performance may continue from one day to the next for reasons unrelated to the fundamentals of the issuer. Short-term traders may seek to capture this momentum by trading frequently in the Fund’s shares, which will reduce the Fund’s performance and may dilute the interests of other shareholders. Because lower-rated securities may be less liquid than higher-rated debt, the Fund may also be unable to buy or sell these securities at desirable prices when the need arises (for example, in response to volatile cash flows caused by short-term trading). Similar risks may apply if the Fund holds other types of less liquid securities.

When the Fund invests in foreign securities, its performance may be adversely impacted and the interests of longer-term shareholders may be diluted as a result of time-zone arbitrage, a short-term trading practice that seeks to exploit changes in the value of the Fund’s investments that result from events occurring after the close of the foreign markets on which the investments trade, but prior to the later close of trading on the NYSE, the time as of which the Fund determines its net asset value. If an arbitrageur is successful, he or she may dilute the interests of other shareholders by trading shares at prices that do not fully reflect their fair value.

Empower Funds maintains policies and procedures, approved by the Board, which are designed to discourage market timing and excessive trading activity by shareholders. As part of the procedures, all transaction requests (received in “good order,” as described above under Pricing Shares) will be processed at the Fund’s next determined net asset value. In all cases, if the order is received from the shareholder before the close of regular trading on the NYSE, generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, it is processed with that day’s trade date at that day’s net asset value.

It is Empower Funds’ practice and policy to identify any shareholder who initiates a transfer into the Fund, then initiates a transfer out of the Fund within a 30 day calendar period (a “round trip”) and to notify such shareholder that a second round trip within the Fund will result in the shareholder being restricted from initiating a transfer of any portion of the shareholder’s assets (not

including purchases into the Fund made with new assets contributed or rolled into the shareholder’s account) into the Fund for a 30 day period. In addition, if the Fund identifies a shareholder that has been subject to the purchase restriction more than once because of repeated frequent trading, the Fund may provide written direction to the shareholder’s financial intermediary to implement special restrictions on such shareholder.

Empower Funds has also adopted pricing procedures and guidelines, including procedures for fair value pricing of Fund securities to reflect significant market events occurring after the close of a foreign or domestic exchange on which securities held by the Fund are traded, or which otherwise may not be reflected in the market price of a foreign or domestic security. One of the objectives of Empower Funds’ fair value pricing procedures is to minimize the possibilities of the type of market timing described above. The procedures are designed to limit dilution to the Fund that may be caused by market timing activities following a significant market event that occurs prior to the Fund's pricing time.

Empower Funds has entered into agreements with financial intermediaries, including insurance companies, that are designees of Permitted Accounts (“record keepers”) that require the record keepers to monitor trading and/or provide certain information to help identify frequent trading activity and to prohibit further purchases or exchanges by a shareholder identified as having engaged in frequent trades. Empower Funds will rely on the record keepers to identify and notify shareholders who have engaged in frequent or excessive trading. The application of frequent or excessive trading limitations may vary among record keepers. There are no assurances that record keepers will properly administer frequent-trading limitations. If you invest with Empower Funds through record keepers, please read that firm’s materials carefully to learn of any other rules or fees that may apply.

The practices and policies described above are intended to deter and curtail market timing and excessive trading in the Fund. However, there can be no assurance that these policies, individually or collectively, will be totally effective in this regard because of various factors. In particular, it may not be possible to identify market timing or excessive trading activity until a trading pattern is established. Shareholders seeking to engage in market timing or excessive trading practices may deploy a variety of strategies to avoid detection, and there is no guarantee that the Fund or its agents will be able to identify such shareholders or curtail their trading practices. The ability of the Fund and its agents to detect and curtail market timing or excessive trading practices may also be limited by operational systems and technological limitations. Further, all Fund purchase, redemption and exchange orders are received through omnibus accounts. Omnibus accounts, in which shares are held in the name of an intermediary on behalf of multiple beneficial owners, are a common form of holding shares among Permitted Accounts. The Fund typically is not able to identify trading by a particular beneficial owner through an omnibus account, which may make it difficult or impossible to determine if a particular account is engaged in market timing prior to completion of a specific Fund trade. Also, certain Permitted Accounts have different policies regarding monitoring and restricting market timing in the underlying beneficial owner accounts maintained through an omnibus account, that may be more or less restrictive than Empower Funds’ practices discussed above. To the extent the Fund does not detect market timing and/or excessive trading, it is possible that a market timer may be able to make market timing and/or excessive trading transactions with the result that management of the Fund may be disrupted and shareholders may suffer detrimental effects such as increased costs, reduced performance, and dilution of their interests in the Fund.

Empower Funds endeavors to ensure that its procedures are uniformly and consistently applied to all shareholders, and it does not exempt any persons from these procedures. In addition, Empower Funds does not enter into agreements with shareholders whereby it permits market timing or excessive trading. However, because of the discretionary nature of the restrictions and given that Empower Funds reserves the right to reject orders, the possibility exists that some shareholders may engage in market timing before restrictions are imposed. Empower Funds may revise its market timing and excessive trading policy and related procedures at the sole discretion of the Board, at any time and without prior notice, as it deems necessary or appropriate to comply with state or federal regulatory requirements or to impose additional or alternative restrictions on shareholders engaging in market timing or excessive trading.

Voting Procedures for Variable Contract Owners

Shares attributable to the Fund held in variable contracts will be voted by insurance company separate accounts based on instructions received from owners of variable contracts. The number of votes that an owner of a variable contract has the right to cast will be determined by applying his/her percentage interest in the Fund (held through a variable contract) to the total number of votes attributable to the Fund. In determining the number of votes, fractional shares will be recognized. Shares held in the variable contracts for which the Fund does not receive instructions, and shares owned by ECM, which provided initial capital to the Fund, will be voted in the same proportion as shares for which the Fund has received instructions. As a result of such proportionate voting a small number of variable contracts owners may determine the outcome of the shareholder vote(s).

Federal Income Tax Consequences

The Fund intends to qualify as a “regulated investment company” under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). The Fund intends to qualify under the Code with respect to diversification requirements related to variable

contracts. The Fund intends to distribute all of its net investment income and capital gains to shareholders and, therefore, will not be required to pay any federal income tax.

If the Fund does not meet the Code requirements and does not satisfy the cure provisions and becomes a taxable entity, the Fund would be required to pay federal income tax on its income and capital gains. This would affect your investment because your return would be reduced by the taxes paid by the Fund. In addition, if the Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company, owners of variable contracts who have indirectly invested in the Fund through their variable contracts may be taxed currently on the investment earnings under their contracts and thereby lose the benefit of tax deferral.

The tax consequences of your investment in the Fund depend on the provisions of the Permitted Account through which you invest in the Fund. For more information, please refer to the applicable prospectus and/or disclosure documents for the Permitted Account.

Effect of Foreign Taxes

Dividends and interest received by the Fund on foreign securities may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by foreign governments. These taxes will generally reduce the Fund’s return on such foreign securities.

Share Classes

The Fund has two classes of shares, Institutional Class and Investor Class shares. Each class is identical except that Investor Class shares have a Shareholder Services Fee which is described below.

Shareholder Services Agreement

Empower Funds entered into a Shareholder Services Agreement with Empower, an affiliate of ECM and a subsidiary of Empower of America. Pursuant to the Shareholder Services Agreement, Empower provides various recordkeeping, administrative and shareholder services (“Shareholder Services”) to shareholders that invest in the Fund through Permitted Accounts. The Shareholder Services provided by Empower include but are not limited to (1) executing purchase and redemption instructions received from shareholders (2) recording the ownership interest of each shareholder and maintaining a record of the number of shares issued to each shareholder; (3) maintaining a call center and investigating all inquiries from shareholders; (4) distributing annual prospectus updates, supplements to the prospectus and SAI, and annual and semi-annual shareholder reports to shareholders; (5) preparing and delivering quarterly statements to shareholders; and (6) preparing and delivering confirmations for each purchase, redemption or exchange transaction of a shareholder. The Shareholder Services provided by Empower are not in the capacity of a sub-transfer agent for the Fund. Pursuant to the Shareholder Services Agreement, Empower receives a fee equal to 0.35% of the average daily net asset value of the Investor Class shares of the Fund (“Shareholder Services Fee”). To the extent the Fund is offered on other platforms and other entities provide the Shareholder Services, Empower or its affiliates enter into a separate agreement with such entity and pay the Shareholder Services Fee to that entity.

Cash and Non-Cash Incentive Arrangements

Empower of America, Empower Financial Services, Inc., Empower Funds’ principal underwriter and distributor (the “Distributor”), and/or their affiliates (for purposes of this section only, “Empower of America affiliates”), out of their own resources and without additional cost to the Fund, may contribute to various cash and non-cash incentive arrangements to promote the sale of shares of the Fund. These arrangements will be made available, and applied uniformly, to registered representatives associated with the Distributor. The Empower of America affiliates may sponsor various contests and promotions subject to applicable Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and SEC regulations in which registered representatives may receive prizes such as travel awards, merchandise and cash. Subject to applicable FINRA and SEC regulations, the Empower of America affiliates may also pay for the travel expenses, meals, lodging and entertainment of salespersons in connection with educational and sales promotional programs and sponsor speakers, educational seminars and charitable events.

Cash incentive arrangements may vary depending on the arrangement in place at any particular time. Currently, registered representatives associated with the Distributor are eligible to receive additional cash incentive compensation when retirement plans invest in certain Empower of America affiliated products, including Empower Funds. Other cash incentives payable to participating registered representatives may be based on certain performance measurements, including a percentage of the net amount invested in the Fund attributable to certain Permitted Accounts. These types of arrangements could be viewed as creating conflicts of interest. In some cases, the payment of incentive-based compensation may create a financial incentive for a registered representative to recommend or sell shares of the Fund instead of other funds where payments are not received. Similarly, the receipt of such payments could create an incentive for a registered representative to recommend certain Permitted Accounts or investment options under the Permitted Accounts instead of other Permitted Accounts or investment options. You should ask your registered representative or retirement plan sponsor for details about any compensation received in connection with the sale of shares of the Fund.

Other Payments to Financial Intermediaries

Empower of America and/or its affiliates (collectively, the “Empower of America Funds Group” or “EAFG”) may make payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries, including insurance companies, for providing marketing support services, networking, shareholder services, and/or administrative or recordkeeping support services with respect to the Fund. The existence or level of such payments may be based on factors that include, without limitation, differing levels or types of services provided by the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the expected level of assets or sales of shares, the placing of the Fund on a recommended or preferred list, and/or access to an intermediary’s personnel and other factors. Such payments are paid from EAFG’s legitimate profits and other financial resources (not from the Fund). To the extent permitted by SEC and FINRA rules and other applicable laws and regulations, EAFG may pay or allow other promotional incentives or payments to dealers and other financial intermediaries.

Sale of Fund shares, and/or shares of other mutual funds affiliated with Empower Funds, is not considered a factor in the selection of broker-dealers to execute the Fund's portfolio transactions. Accordingly, the allocation of portfolio transactions for execution by broker-dealers that sell Empower Funds is not considered marketing support payments to such broker-dealers.

EAFG’s payments to financial intermediaries could be significant to the intermediary and may provide the intermediary with an incentive to favor the Fund or affiliated funds. Your financial intermediary may charge you additional fees or commissions other than those disclosed in this Prospectus. Contact your financial intermediary for information about any payments it receives from EAFG and any services it provides, as well as about fees and/or commissions it charges.

Partner Payments to Empower

Empower may receive payments from registered investment advisers and/or their affiliates (“Partner(s)”), including current and potential sub-advisers to Empower Funds, as applicable, for providing services to Partners and Partner products offered through Empower’s retirement platforms. Program services include but are not limited to: (1) consideration for inclusion in Empower products developed for some segments of the retirement and IRA market, (2) inclusion on the Empower Select investment platform, which is available in the small plan recordkeeping market, (3) a waiver of the connectivity fee, (4) enhanced marketing opportunities, (5) additional reporting capabilities, (6) collaboration in thought leadership opportunities, (7) access to meetings with Empower leadership, Empower staff, and the third-party advisory and brokerage firms through which Empower distributes its services, and (8) access to conferences put on by Empower. The level of payments made by Partners may be based on differing levels or types of services provided by Empower, among other considerations.

Annual and Semi-Annual Shareholder Reports

The fiscal year of the Fund ends on December 31 of each year. Twice a year, a report containing a summary of the Fund's performance and other information will be made available to shareholders of the Fund. Annual and semi-annual shareholder reports for the Fund may be accessed at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Empower Funds’ website at www.greatwestinvestments.com.

Financial Highlights

The financial highlights table presented below is intended to help you understand the financial performance of the Fund’s Institutional Class and Investor Class shares for the past five years, or, if shorter, the period of such class’s operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. Total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). Total returns do not include expenses associated with Permitted Accounts. If such expenses were included, total returns would be lower. The information has been derived from financial statements audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund's Annual Report, which is available upon request.

Selected data for a share of capital stock of the Fund throughout the periods indicated.

		Income (Loss) from Investment Operations:			Less Distributions:
	Net asset value, beginning of year	Net investment income(a)	Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	Total from investment operations	From return of capital	From net investment income	From net realized gains	Total Distributions	Net asset value, end of year	Total Return (b)(c)
Investor Class
12/31/2022	$7.88	0.10	(1.26)	(1.16)	(0.03)	(0.02)	(0.03)	(0.08)	$6.64	(14.65%)
12/31/2021	$8.43	0.03	(0.57)	(0.54)	-	(0.01)	-	(0.01)	$7.88	(6.46%)
12/31/2020	$8.09	0.10	0.33	0.43	(0.02)	(0.07)	-	(0.09)	$8.43	5.33%
12/31/2019	$8.07	0.20	0.13	0.33	-	(0.31)	-	(0.31)	$8.09	4.07%
12/31/2018	$8.34	0.30	(0.32)	(0.02)	-	(0.22)	(0.03)	(0.25)	$8.07	(0.27%)
Institutional Class
12/31/2022	$8.75	0.14	(1.40)	(1.26)	(0.03)	(0.03)	(0.03)	(0.09)	$7.40	(14.35%)
12/31/2021	$9.33	0.07	(0.63)	(0.56)	-	(0.02)	-	(0.02)	$8.75	(6.03%)
12/31/2020	$8.95	0.16	0.35	0.51	(0.02)	(0.11)	-	(0.13)	$9.33	5.72%
12/31/2019	$8.91	0.25	0.14	0.39	-	(0.35)	-	(0.35)	$8.95	4.39%
12/31/2018	$9.20	0.35	(0.35)	0.00	-	(0.26)	(0.03)	(0.29)	$8.91	0.06%

	Net assets, end of year (000)	Ratio of expenses to average net assets (before reimbursement and/or waiver, if applicable)	Ratio of expenses to average net assets (after reimbursement and/or waiver, if applicable)	Ratio of net investment income to average net assets (after reimbursement and/or waiver, if applicable)	Portfolio turnover rate(d)(e)
Supplemental Data and Ratios
Investor Class
12/31/2022	$20,801	1.13%	1.00%	1.48%	176%
12/31/2021	$25,775	1.09%	1.01%	0.32%	184%
12/31/2020	$29,333	1.10%	1.01%	1.25%	104%
12/31/2019	$38,388	1.07%	1.01%	2.46%	73%
12/31/2018	$41,754	1.12%	1.01%	3.60%	123%
Institutional Class
12/31/2022	$421,489	0.65%	0.65%	1.83%	176%
12/31/2021	$513,789	0.64%	0.64%	0.74%	184%
12/31/2020	$460,046	0.66%	0.66%	1.76%	104%
12/31/2019	$470,867	0.65%	0.65%	2.79%	73%
12/31/2018	$409,355	0.70%	0.66%	3.80%	123%

(a)	Per share amounts are based upon average shares outstanding.
(b)	Total return does not include any fees or expenses of variable insurance contracts, if applicable. If such fees or expenses were included, the return shown would have been lower.
(c)	Total return shown net of expenses reimbursed and/or waived, if applicable. Without the expense reimbursement and/or waiver, the return shown would have been lower.
(d)	Portfolio turnover is calculated at the Fund level.
(e)	Portfolio turnover includes purchases and sales from mortgage dollar roll transactions which occurred during the period, if any. Excluding these transactions, the portfolio turnover would have been 96% and 138% for the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.

Additional Information

The SAI contains more details about the investment policies, practices and limitations of the Fund. A current SAI is on file with the SEC and is incorporated by reference into this Prospectus as a matter of law, which means that it is legally considered a part of this Prospectus even though it is not physically contained within this Prospectus.

Additional information about the Fund's investments is available in the Fund's Annual and Semi-Annual Reports to shareholders. In the Fund's Annual Report you will find audited financial statements and a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund's performance during its last fiscal year. Semi-Annual Reports for the Fund include unaudited financial statements.

For a free copy of the SAI, Annual, or Semi-Annual Reports; to request other information; or to ask questions about the Fund, contact your financial intermediary or call (866) 831-7129. Empower Funds’ website is www.greatwestinvestments.com. The SAI, Annual, and Semi-Annual Reports are available on the website free of charge.

The SAI and the Annual and Semi-Annual Reports are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet website at www.sec.gov. You can also obtain copies of this information, upon paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: [email protected].

INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940, FILE NUMBER 811-03364.

This Prospectus should be read
and retained for future reference.