ck0001710607-20240831
January
1, 2025
Avantis
Investors®
By
American Century Investments®
Prospectus
Avantis®
Emerging Markets Equity Fund
Institutional
Class (AVEEX)
G
Class (AVENX)
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The
Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved
these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus.
Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. |
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Table
of Contents
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Fund
Summary |
2 |
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Investment
Objective |
2 |
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Fees
and Expenses |
2 |
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Principal
Investment Strategies |
2 |
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Principal
Risks |
3 |
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Fund
Performance |
5 |
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Portfolio
Management |
5 |
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Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares |
6 |
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Tax
Information |
6 |
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Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries |
6 |
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Objectives,
Strategies and Risks |
7 |
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Management |
10 |
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Investing
in the Fund |
12 |
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Additional
Policies Affecting Your Investment |
13 |
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Share
Price and Distributions |
17 |
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Taxes |
19 |
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Additional
Information |
21 |
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Financial
Highlights |
22 |
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©2025
American Century Proprietary Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
Fund
Summary
Investment
Objective
The
fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Fees and
Expenses
The
following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold,
and sell shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage
commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected
in the tables and examples below.
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Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
Institutional
Class |
G
Class |
Management
Fee |
0.33% |
0.33% |
Other
Expenses |
0.00% |
0.00% |
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
0.33% |
0.33% |
Fee
Waiver |
None |
0.33%¹ |
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Waiver |
0.33% |
0.00% |
1 The advisor has
agreed to waive the G Class’s management fee in its entirety. The advisor
expects this waiver to remain in effect permanently and cannot terminate it
without the approval of the Board of Trustees.
Example
The example below is intended to help you compare the costs of
investing in the fund with the costs of investing in other mutual
funds. 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 those periods, that you earn a 5% return
each year, and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same, except that
it reflects the rate and duration of any fee waivers noted in the table above.
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions
your costs would be:
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year |
3
years |
5
years |
10
years |
Institutional
Class |
$34 |
$106 |
$186 |
$419 |
G
Class |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The
fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was
10% of the average
value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment
Strategies
The
fund invests primarily in a diverse group of companies related to emerging
markets across market sectors, industry groups and countries. The fund may
invest in companies of all market capitalizations.
The
fund seeks securities of companies that it expects to have higher returns by
placing an enhanced emphasis on securities of companies with smaller market
capitalizations and securities of companies with higher profitability and value
characteristics. Conversely, the fund seeks to underweight or exclude securities
it expects to have lower returns, such as securities of larger companies with
lower levels of profitability and less attractive value characteristics. To
identify small capitalization companies with higher profitability and value
characteristics, the portfolio managers use reported and/or estimated company
financials and market data including, but not limited to, shares outstanding,
book value and its components, cash flows from operations, and accruals. The
portfolio managers define “value characteristics” mainly as adjusted book/price
ratio (though other price to fundamental ratios may be considered). The
portfolio managers define “profitability” mainly as adjusted cash from
operations to book value ratio (though other ratios may be considered). The
portfolio managers may also consider other factors when selecting a security,
including industry classification, the past performance of the security relative
to other securities, its liquidity, its float, and tax, governance or cost
considerations, among others. When portfolio managers identify securities with
the desired capitalization, profitability, value, and past performance
characteristics, they seek to include and emphasize these securities in the
broadly diversified portfolio. To determine the weight of a security within the
portfolio, the portfolio managers use the market capitalization of the security
relative to that of other eligible securities as a baseline, then overweight or
underweight the security based on the characteristics described above. The
portfolio managers may deemphasize or dispose of a security if it no longer has
the desired market capitalization, profitability, or
value
characteristics. When determining whether to deemphasize or dispose of a
security, the portfolio managers will also consider, among other things,
relative past performance, costs, and taxes. The portfolio managers review the
criteria for inclusion in the portfolio on a regular basis to maintain a focus
on the desired broad set of emerging markets companies.
Under
normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in
equity securities of companies related to emerging market
countries. The fund considers an emerging market country to be
any country other than a developed country. However, the fund generally intends
to focus its investments in a subset of the emerging markets countries that
comprise the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index. The countries comprising the index
will change from time to time, but as of September 30, 2024 include:
Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India,
Indonesia, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates.
To determine whether a company is related to an emerging market country, the
portfolio managers will consider various factors, including where the company is
headquartered, where the company’s principal operations are located, where a
majority of the company’s revenues are derived, where the principal trading
market is located, the country in which the company was legally organized, and
whether the company is in the fund’s benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI
Index. The weight given to each of these factors will vary depending on the
circumstances in a given case. The fund may invest in securities that are
denominated in foreign currencies and may also invest in foreign securities that
are represented in the U.S. and other securities markets by American Depositary
Receipts (ADRs), Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), and other similar depositary
arrangements.
The
fund also may invest in derivative instruments such as futures contracts,
currency forwards, and swap agreements. For example, the fund may use
futures on securities and U.S. indices to gain exposure to equities to manage
cash flows. The fund may also engage in securities lending and invest its
collateral in eligible securities.
The
portfolio managers continually analyze market and financial data to make buy,
sell, and hold decisions. When deciding whether to buy or sell a security, and
how and when to implement a trade, the portfolio managers may consider the
expected implementation costs and tax consequences of the trade in an attempt to
gain trading efficiencies, avoid unnecessary risk, minimize tax impact, and/or
enhance fund performance.
Principal
Risks
•Equity
Securities Risk — The
value of equity securities, may fluctuate due to changes in investor perception
of a specific issuer, changes in the general condition of the stock market, or
occurrences of political or economic events that affect equity issuers and the
market. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest
rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs
increase.
•Small-Cap
Stock Risk — Smaller
companies may have limited financial resources, product lines, markets and have
less publicly available information. These securities may trade less frequently
and in more limited volumes than larger companies’ securities, leading to higher
transaction costs. Smaller companies also may be more sensitive to changing
economic conditions, and investments in smaller foreign companies may experience
more price volatility.
•Currency
Risk — The
fund could experience gains or losses solely on changes in the exchange rate
between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar.
•Emerging
Markets Risk — Investing
in emerging market countries generally is riskier than investing in foreign
developed countries. Emerging market countries may have unstable governments,
economies that are subject to sudden change, and significant volatility in their
financial markets. These countries also may lack the legal, business and social
framework to support securities markets. Additionally, certain jurisdictions do
not provide the PCAOB with sufficient access to inspect audit work papers and
practices, or otherwise do not cooperate with U.S. regulators, potentially
exposing investors in U.S. capital markets to significant risks. As a result of
the foregoing risks, the fund is intended for aggressive investors seeking
significant gains through investments in foreign securities. Those investors
must be willing and able to accept the significantly greater risks associated
with the investment strategy that the fund will pursue. An investment in the
fund is not appropriate for individuals with limited investment resources or who
are unable to tolerate fluctuations in the value of their
investment.
•Foreign
Risk — Foreign
securities are generally riskier than U.S. securities. Political events (such as
civil unrest, national elections and imposition of exchange controls), social
and economic events (such as labor strikes and rising inflation), natural
disasters and public health emergencies occurring in a country where the fund
invests could cause the fund’s investments in that country to experience gains
or losses. Securities of foreign issuers may be less liquid, more volatile and
harder to value than U.S. securities.
•Greater
China Risk — Investing
in Chinese securities is riskier than investing in U.S. securities. Investing in
China involves risk of loss due to nationalization, expropriation, and
confiscation of assets and property. Losses may also occur due to new or
expanded restrictions on foreign investments or repatriation of capital. Due to
Chinese governmental restrictions on foreign ownership of companies in certain
industries, Chinese operating companies often use variable interest entity (VIE)
structures to raise capital from international investors. Shares of VIEs are not
equity ownership interests in Chinese operating companies. The Chinese
government never explicitly approved these structures and thus could determine
that the underlying contractual arrangements on which control of the VIE is
based violate Chinese law. Such determination from the Chinese government could
result
in a loss in the value of an investment in a U.S.-listed company that utilizes
the VIE structure. The Chinese market is subject to less regulation and
oversight than the U.S. market. U.S. regulators have limited ability to inspect
international auditing standards of U.S. companies operating in China, thus
there is substantially greater risk that disclosures will be incomplete or
misleading and, in the event of investor harm, substantially less access to
recourse.
•Depositary
Receipts Risk — Investment
in depositary receipts does not eliminate all the risks inherent in investing in
securities of non-U.S. issuers. The market value of depositary receipts is
dependent upon the market value of the underlying securities and fluctuations in
the relative value of the currencies in which the depositary receipts and the
underlying securities are quoted.
•Investment
Process Risk — Stocks
selected by the portfolio managers may perform differently than expected due to
the portfolio managers’ judgments regarding the factors used, the weight placed
on each factor, changes from the factors’ historical trends, and technical
issues with the construction and implementation of the investment process
(including, for example, data problems and/or software or other implementation
issues). There is no guarantee that the investment process will result in
effective investment decisions for the fund.
•Style
Risk — If
at any time the market is not favoring the fund’s investment style, the fund’s
gains may not be as big as, or its losses may be bigger than, those of other
equity funds using different investment styles.
•Market
Risk — The
value of the fund’s shares will go up and down based on the performance of the
companies whose securities it owns and other factors generally affecting the
securities market. Market risks, including political, regulatory, economic and
social developments, can affect the value of the fund’s investments. Natural
disasters, public health emergencies, war, terrorism and other unforeseeable
events may lead to increased market volatility and may have adverse long-term
effects on world economies and markets generally.
•Derivatives
Risk — The
use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater
than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other
traditional instruments. Derivatives are subject to a number of risks, including
liquidity, interest rate, market, credit, and correlation risk. Derivatives used
for hedging or risk management may not operate as intended, may expose the fund
to other risks, and may be insufficient to protect the fund from the risks they
were intended to hedge. Derivative transactions may expose the fund to the
effects of leverage, which could increase the fund’s exposure to the market and
magnify potential losses, particularly when derivatives are used to enhance
return rather than offset risk. Derivatives can also be highly illiquid and
difficult to unwind or value, and changes in the value of a derivative held by
the fund may not correlate with the value of the underlying instrument or the
fund’s other investments.
•Securities
Lending Risk — Securities
lending involves the risk of loss of rights in, or delay in recovery of, the
loaned securities if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes
insolvent.
•Price
Volatility Risk — The
value of the fund’s shares may fluctuate significantly in the short
term.
•Redemption
Risk — The
fund may need to sell securities at times it would not otherwise do so to meet
shareholder redemption requests. Selling securities to meet such redemptions may
cause the fund to experience a loss, increase the fund’s transaction costs
and/or have tax consequences. To the extent that a large shareholder (including
another account advised by the advisor, a fund of funds or 529 college savings
plan) invests in the fund, the fund may experience relatively large redemptions
as such shareholder reallocates its assets.
•Principal
Loss Risk — At
any given time your shares may be worth less than the price you paid for them.
In other words, it is possible to lose money by investing in the
fund.
An
investment in the fund is not a bank deposit, and it is not insured or
guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other
government agency.
Fund
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of
the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s
performance from year to year for Institutional Class shares. The table shows
how the fund’s average annual returns for the periods shown compared with those
of a broad measure of market performance. The
fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an
indication of how the fund will perform in the future. For
current performance information, please visit avantisinvestors.com.
Sales
charges and account fees, if applicable, are not reflected in the bar chart. If
those charges were included, returns would be less than those
shown.
Calendar Year Total
Returns
Highest
Performance Quarter (4Q 2020): 21.51% Lowest Performance
Quarter (1Q 2020): -26.98%
As
of September 30,
2024, the most recent calendar quarter end, the fund’s
year-to-date return was 16.00%.
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Average
Annual Total Returns
For
the calendar year ended December 31, 2023 |
1
year |
Since
Inception |
Inception
Date |
Institutional
Class Return
Before Taxes |
15.15% |
5.25% |
12/04/2019 |
Return
After Taxes on Distributions |
14.11% |
4.59% |
12/04/2019 |
Return
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund
Shares |
9.54% |
4.03% |
12/04/2019 |
G
Class
Return Before Taxes |
15.51% |
-2.47% |
01/20/2021 |
MSCI
Emerging Markets IMI Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
11.67% |
3.22% |
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The after-tax returns are shown only for Institutional Class
shares. After-tax returns for other share classes will vary.
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest
individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of
state and local taxes. Actual
after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from
those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their fund
shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or
IRAs.
Portfolio
Management
Investment
Advisor
American
Century Investment Management, Inc.
Portfolio
Managers
Eduardo
Repetto, Chief
Investment Officer of Avantis Investors, has been a member of the team that
manages the fund since its inception.
Mitchell
Firestein, Senior
Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since its
inception.
Daniel
Ong,
Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund
since its inception.
Ted
Randall, Senior
Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since its
inception.
Matthew
Dubin,
Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since
2021.
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
You
may purchase or redeem shares of the fund on any business day through a
financial intermediary. Shares may be purchased and redemption proceeds received
by electronic bank transfer, by check or by wire.
The
minimum initial investment amount for the Institutional Class is generally $5
million ($3 million for endowments and foundations), but the minimum may be
waived if you have an aggregate investment in the American Century family of
funds of $10 million or more ($5 million for endowments and foundations). This
includes accounts held directly with American Century and those held through a
financial intermediary.
Generally,
there is no minimum initial investment amount for certain employer-sponsored
retirement plans, however, financial intermediaries or plan recordkeepers may
require plans to meet different minimums. For purposes of fund minimums,
employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or
SARSEPs.
G
Class shares are available for purchase by other funds offered by American
Century Investments for which it charges a management fee. In its sole
discretion, American Century Investments may also make G Class shares available
for purchase by other institutional clients for which American Century
Investments provides investment management services for a fee pursuant to an
investment advisory agreement. Currently, eligible clients are limited to
commingled investment trusts or other pooled investment vehicles that utilize a
target date or other asset allocation investment strategy for which American
Century Investments provides asset allocation or glide path investment
management services for a fee. G Class shares do not have a minimum purchase
amount.
Tax
Information
Fund
distributions are generally taxable as ordinary income or capital gains, unless
you are investing through a tax-deferred account such as a 401(k) or individual
retirement account (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your
investment from such account).
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary
(such as a bank, insurance company, plan sponsor or financial professional), the
fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund
shares and related services in the Institutional Class. These payments 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 or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
Objectives,
Strategies and Risks
What
is the fund’s investment objective?
The
fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.
The
fund’s investment objective is a nonfundamental investment policy and may be
changed by the Board of Trustees without approval by shareholders.
What
are the fund’s principal investment strategies?
The
fund invests primarily in a diverse group of companies related to emerging
markets across market sectors, industry groups and countries. The fund may
invest in companies of all market capitalizations.
The
fund seeks securities of companies that it expects to have higher returns by
placing an enhanced emphasis on securities of companies with smaller market
capitalizations and securities of companies with higher profitability and value
characteristics. Conversely, the fund seeks to underweight or exclude securities
it expects to have lower returns, such as securities of larger companies with
lower levels of profitability and less attractive value characteristics. To
identify small capitalization companies with higher profitability and value
characteristics, the portfolio managers use reported and/or estimated company
financials and market data including, but not limited to, shares outstanding,
book value and its components, cash flows from operations, and accruals. The
portfolio managers define “value characteristics” mainly as adjusted book/price
ratio (though other price to fundamental ratios may be considered). The
portfolio managers define “profitability” mainly as adjusted cash from
operations to book value ratio (though other ratios may be considered). The
portfolio managers may also consider other factors when selecting a security,
including industry classification, the past performance of the security relative
to other securities, its liquidity, its float, and tax, governance or cost
considerations, among others. When portfolio managers identify securities with
the desired capitalization, profitability, value, and past performance
characteristics, they seek to include and emphasize these securities in the
broadly diversified portfolio. To determine the weight of a security within the
portfolio, the portfolio managers use the market capitalization of the security
relative to that of other eligible securities as a baseline, then overweight or
underweight the security based on the characteristics described above. The
portfolio managers may deemphasize or dispose of a security if it no longer has
the desired market capitalization, profitability, or value characteristics. When
determining whether to deemphasize or dispose of a security, the portfolio
managers will also consider, among other things, relative past performance,
costs, and taxes. The portfolio managers review the criteria for inclusion in
the portfolio on a regular basis to maintain a focus on the desired broad set of
emerging markets companies.
Under
normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in
equity securities of companies related to emerging market countries. The fund
considers an emerging market country to be any country other than a developed
country. However, the fund generally intends to focus its investments in a
subset of the emerging markets countries that comprise the MSCI Emerging Markets
IMI Index. The countries comprising the index will change from time to time, but
as of September 30, 2024 include: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia,
Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Kuwait,
Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa,
Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. To determine whether a
company is related to an emerging market country, the portfolio managers will
consider various factors, including where the company is headquartered, where
the company’s principal operations are located, where a majority of the
company’s revenues are derived, where the principal trading market is located,
the country in which the company was legally organized, and whether the company
is in the fund’s benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index. The weight
given to each of these factors will vary depending on the circumstances in a
given case. The fund may invest in securities that are denominated in foreign
currencies and may also invest in foreign securities that are represented in the
U.S. and other securities markets by American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), Global
Depositary Receipts (GDRs), and other similar depositary
arrangements.
Equity
securities in which the fund may invest include common stock, preferred stock,
equity-equivalent securities, such as convertible securities, and derivative
instruments that give exposure to equities, such as futures contracts, currency
forwards, and swap agreements. For example, the fund may use futures on
securities and U.S. indices to manage cash flows.
The
fund may also engage in securities lending. Collateral received by the fund in
connection with loaning its securities may consist of cash and U.S. government
securities. Cash collateral may be invested in eligible securities.
The
portfolio managers continually analyze market and financial data to make buy,
sell, and hold decisions. When deciding whether to buy or sell a security, and
how and when to implement a trade, the portfolio managers may consider the
expected implementation costs and tax consequences of the trade in an attempt to
gain trading efficiencies, avoid unnecessary risk, minimize tax impact, and/or
enhance fund performance.
In
the event of adverse market, economic, political, or other conditions, the fund
may take temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with the fund’s
principal investment strategies. To the extent the fund assumes a defensive
position, it may not achieve its investment objective.
A
description of the policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the
fund’s portfolio securities is available in the statement of additional
information.
What
are the principal risks of investing in the fund?
•Equity
Securities Risk — The
value of equity securities, may fluctuate due to changes in investor perception
of a specific issuer, changes in the general condition of the stock market, or
occurrences of political or economic events that affect equity issuers and the
market. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest
rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase.
•Small-Cap
Stock Risk — Smaller
companies may have limited financial resources, product lines, markets and have
less publicly available information. These securities may trade less frequently
and in more limited volumes than larger companies’ securities, leading to higher
transaction costs. Smaller companies also may be more sensitive to changing
economic conditions, and investments in smaller foreign companies may experience
more price volatility.
•Currency
Risk — The
fund could experience gains or losses solely on changes in the exchange rate
between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar.
•Emerging
Markets Risk — Investing
in emerging market countries generally is riskier than investing in foreign
developed countries. Emerging market countries may have unstable governments,
economies that are subject to sudden change, and significant volatility in their
financial markets. These countries also may lack the legal, business and social
framework to support securities markets. Additionally, certain jurisdictions do
not provide the PCAOB with sufficient access to inspect audit work papers and
practices, or otherwise do not cooperate with U.S. regulators, potentially
exposing investors in U.S. capital markets to significant risks. As a result of
the foregoing risks, the fund is intended for aggressive investors seeking
significant gains through investments in foreign securities. Those investors
must be willing and able to accept the significantly greater risks associated
with the investment strategy that the fund will pursue. An investment in the
fund is not appropriate for individuals with limited investment resources or who
are unable to tolerate fluctuations in the value of their
investment.
•Foreign
Risk — Foreign
securities are generally riskier than U.S. securities. Political events (such as
civil unrest, national elections and imposition of exchange controls), social
and economic events (such as labor strikes and rising inflation), natural
disasters and public health emergencies occurring in a country where the fund
invests could cause the fund’s investments in that country to experience gains
or losses. Securities of foreign issuers may be less liquid, more volatile and
harder to value than U.S. securities.
•Greater
China Risk — Investing
in Chinese securities is riskier than investing in U.S. securities. Investing in
China involves risk of loss due to nationalization, expropriation, and
confiscation of assets and property. Losses may also occur due to new or
expanded restrictions on foreign investments or repatriation of capital. Due to
Chinese governmental restrictions on foreign ownership of companies in certain
industries, Chinese operating companies often use variable interest entity (VIE)
structures to raise capital from international investors. Shares of VIEs are not
equity ownership interests in Chinese operating companies. The Chinese
government has never explicitly approved these structures and thus could
determine that the underlying contractual arrangements on which control of the
VIE is based violate Chinese law. Such determination from the Chinese government
could result in a loss in the value of an investment in a U.S.-listed company
that utilizes the VIE structure. The Chinese market is subject to less
regulation and oversight than the U.S market. U.S. regulators have limited
ability to inspect international auditing standards of U.S. companies operating
in China, thus there is substantially greater risk that disclosures will be
incomplete or misleading and, in the event of investor harm, substantially less
access to recourse.
•Depositary
Receipts Risk — Investment
in depositary receipts does not eliminate all the risks inherent in investing in
securities of non-U.S. issuers. The market value of depositary receipts is
dependent upon the market value of the underlying securities and fluctuations in
the relative value of the currencies in which the depositary receipts and the
underlying securities are quoted.
•Investment
Process Risk — Stocks
selected by the portfolio managers may perform differently than expected due to
the portfolio managers’ judgments regarding the factors used, the weight placed
on each factor, changes from the factors’ historical trends, and technical
issues with the construction and implementation of the investment process
(including, for example, data problems and/or software or other implementation
issues). There is no guarantee that the investment process will result in
effective investment decisions for the fund.
•Style
Risk — If
at any time the market is not favoring the fund’s investment style, the fund’s
gains may not be as big as, or its losses may be bigger than, those of other
equity funds using different investment styles.
•Market
Risk — The
value of the fund’s shares will go up and down based on the performance of the
companies whose securities it owns and other factors generally affecting the
securities market. Market risks, including political, regulatory, economic and
social developments, can affect the value of the fund’s investments. Natural
disasters, public health emergencies, war, terrorism and other unforeseeable
events may lead to increased market volatility and may have adverse long-term
effects on world economies and markets generally.
•Derivatives
Risk — The
use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater
than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other
traditional instruments. Derivatives are subject to a number of risks, including
liquidity, interest rate, market, credit, and correlation risk. Derivatives used
for hedging or risk management may not operate as intended, may expose the fund
to other risks, and may be insufficient to protect the fund from the risks they
were intended to
hedge.
Derivative transactions may expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which
could increase the fund’s exposure to the market and magnify potential losses,
particularly when derivatives are used to enhance return rather than offset
risk. Derivatives can also be highly illiquid and difficult to unwind or value,
and changes in the value of a derivative held by the fund may not correlate with
the value of the underlying instrument or the fund’s other
investments.
•Securities
Lending Risk — Securities
lending involves the risk of loss of rights in, or delay in recovery of, the
loaned securities if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes
insolvent. Any decline in the value of a security while the security is loaned
will adversely affect performance. These events could also result in adverse tax
consequences.
•Price
Volatility Risk — The
value of the fund’s shares may fluctuate significantly in the short
term.
•Redemption
Risk — The
fund may need to sell securities at times it would not otherwise do so to meet
shareholder redemption requests. Selling securities to meet such redemptions may
cause the fund to experience a loss, increase the fund’s transaction costs
and/or have tax consequences. To the extent that a large shareholder (including
another account advised by the advisor, a fund of funds or 529 college savings
plan) invests in the fund, the fund may experience relatively large redemptions
as such shareholder reallocates its assets.
•Principal
Loss Risk — At
any given time your shares may be worth less than the price you paid for them.
In other words, it is possible to lose money by investing in the
fund.
An
investment in the fund is not a bank deposit, and it is not insured or
guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other
government agency.
Management
Who
manages the fund?
The
Board of Trustees, investment advisor and fund management team play key roles in
the management of the fund.
The
Board of Trustees
The
Board of Trustees is responsible for overseeing the advisor’s management and
operations of the fund pursuant to the management agreement. In performing their
duties, Board members receive detailed information about the fund and its
advisor regularly throughout the year and meet at least quarterly with
management of the advisor to review reports about fund operations. The trustees’
role is to provide oversight and not to provide day-to-day management. The
majority of the trustees are independent of the fund’s advisor. They are not
employees, directors or officers of, and have no financial interest in, the
advisor or any of its affiliated companies (other than as shareholders of
American Century Investments funds), and they do not have any other
affiliations, positions or relationships that would cause them to be considered
“interested persons” under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
The
Investment Advisor
The
fund’s investment advisor is American Century Investment Management,
Inc. (the advisor). The advisor has been managing investment companies
since 1958 and is headquartered at 4500 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri
64111. Avantis Investors is a division of American Century Investment
Management, Inc.
The
advisor is responsible for managing the investment portfolio of the fund and
directing the purchase and sale of its investment securities. The advisor also
arranges for transfer agency, custody and all other services necessary for the
fund to operate.
For
the services it provides to the Institutional Class of the fund, the advisor
receives a unified management fee based on a percentage of the daily net assets
of such class of shares of the fund. The amount of the fee is calculated daily
and paid monthly in arrears. The advisor pays all expenses of managing and
operating the fund, other than the management fee payable to the advisor,
brokerage and other transaction fees and expenses relating to the acquisition
and disposition of portfolio securities, acquired fund fees and expenses,
interest (including without limitation borrowing costs and overdraft charges),
taxes (including without limitation income, excise, transfer, and withholding
taxes), litigation expenses (including without limitation litigation counsel
fees and expenses), and extraordinary expenses. For the Institutional Class, the
advisor may pay unaffiliated third parties who provide recordkeeping and
administrative services that would otherwise be performed by an affiliate of the
advisor.
The
G Class is subject to a contractual management fee that the advisor waives in
its entirety. However, the advisor does receive a management fee from funds or
client advisory accounts that invest in the G Class.
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Management
Fees Paid by the Fund to the Advisor As a Percentage of Average
Net Assets for the Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2024 |
Institutional
Class |
G
Class |
Avantis
Emerging Markets Equity |
0.33% |
0.00% |
A
discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the fund’s
investment advisory agreement with the advisor is available on the fund’s
website and filed on the fund’s Form N-CSR for the fiscal period ended August
31, 2024.
The
Fund Management Team
Portfolio
managers work as a team to manage funds. Portfolio managers regularly review
portfolio holdings and potential purchase and sale activity. Team members buy
and sell securities for a fund as they see fit, guided by the fund’s investment
objective and strategy.
The
portfolio managers on the investment team who are jointly and primarily
responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund are identified
below.
Eduardo
Repetto
Mr.
Repetto, Chief Investment Officer of Avantis Investors, joined Avantis Investors
in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he served in investment management
roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2000 to 2017, including as
co-chief executive officer from 2010 to 2017, co-chief investment officer from
2014 to 2017 and chief investment officer from 2007 to 2014. He has a Diploma de
Honor in civil engineering from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, a master’s
degree in engineering from Brown University and a Ph.D. in aeronautics from the
California Institute of Technology.
Mitchell
Firestein
Mr.
Firestein, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to
joining Avantis Investors, he served in investment management roles at
Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2005 to 2019, including as a senior
portfolio manager and vice president in 2019 and as a portfolio manager from
2014 to 2018. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance and management from Tulane
University.
Daniel
Ong
Mr.
Ong, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to
joining Avantis Investors, he served as a senior portfolio manager and vice
president at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2005 to 2019. He has a
bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Irvine and an
MBA in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of
Business. He is a CFA charterholder.
Ted
Randall
Mr.
Randall, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to
joining Avantis Investors, he was president and founder of Pro-Value
Construction Services, Inc. from 2016 to 2018. From 2001 to 2015, he served in
investment management roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), including as a
portfolio manager and vice president from 2008 to 2015. He has a bachelor’s
degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from the
University of Southern California and a master’s degree in business
administration from the Anderson School of Management at the University of
California, Los Angeles.
Matthew
Dubin
Mr.
Dubin, Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2021. Prior to joining
Avantis Investors, he served in investment management roles at Dimensional Fund
Advisors from 2017 to 2021, including as an investment associate from 2020 to
2021 and as a portfolio management analyst from 2017 to 2020. He has a
bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance
from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
The
statement of additional information provides additional information about the
accounts managed by the portfolio managers, the structure of their compensation,
and their ownership of fund securities.
Fund
Performance
The
fund has the same management team and investment policies as the Avantis
Emerging Markets Equity ETF. The fees and expenses of the funds are similar, and
they are managed with substantially the same investment objective and
strategies. Notwithstanding these general similarities, the Avantis Emerging
Markets Equity Fund and the Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF are separate
funds that have different investment performance. Differences in cash flows into
the two funds, the size of their portfolios, and the specific investments held
by the two funds cause performance to differ. Please consult the ETF prospectus
for a description of the ETF, details on how the ETF is offered, and its
associated fees.
Fundamental
Investment Policies
Shareholders
must approve any change to the fundamental investment policies contained in the
statement of additional information. The Board of Trustees and/or the advisor
may change any other policies, including the fund’s investment objective, or
investment strategies described in this prospectus or otherwise used in the
operation of the fund at any time, subject to applicable notice
provisions.
Investing
in the Fund
The
fund may be purchased by participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans or
through financial
intermediaries
that provide various administrative and distribution services.
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Financial
intermediaries
include
banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies, plan sponsors and financial
professionals. |
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Institutional
Class
Institutional
Class shares are available for purchase without sales charges or commissions by
endowments, foundations, large institutional investors and financial
intermediaries and by participants in certain employer-sponsored retirement
plans. Institutional Class shares may be purchased or redeemed only through
employer-sponsored retirement plans where a financial intermediary provides
retirement recordkeeping services to plan participants.
Employer-Sponsored
Retirement Plans
Certain
group employer-sponsored retirement plans that hold a single account for all
plan participants with the fund, or that are part of a retirement plan or
platform offered by banks, broker-dealers, financial advisors or insurance
companies, or serviced by retirement recordkeepers are eligible to purchase the
fund. For more information regarding employer-sponsored retirement plan types,
please refer to Buying
and Selling Fund Shares
in the statement of additional information. American Century Investments does
not impose minimum initial investment amount, plan size or participant number
requirements by class for employer-sponsored retirement plans; however,
financial intermediaries or plan recordkeepers may require plans to meet
different requirements.
Moving
Between Share Classes and Accounts
You
may move your investment between share classes (within the same fund or between
different funds) in certain circumstances deemed appropriate by American Century
Investments. You also may move investments held in certain accounts to a
different type of account if you meet certain criteria. Please contact your
financial professional for more information about moving between share classes
or account types.
Buying
and Selling Shares Through a Financial Intermediary
Your
ability to purchase, exchange, redeem and transfer shares will be affected by
the policies of the financial intermediary through which you do business. Some
policy differences may include:
•minimum
investment requirements
•exchange
policies
•fund
choices
•cutoff
time for investments
•trading
restrictions
In
addition, your financial intermediary may charge a transaction fee for the
purchase or sale of fund shares. Those charges are retained by the financial
intermediary and are not shared with American Century Investments or the fund.
Please contact your financial intermediary or plan sponsor for a complete
description of its policies. Copies of the fund’s annual report, semiannual
report and statement of additional information are available from your financial
intermediary or plan sponsor.
The
fund has authorized certain financial intermediaries to accept orders on the
fund’s behalf. American Century Investments has selling agreements with these
financial intermediaries requiring them to track the time investment orders are
received and to comply with procedures relating to the transmission of orders.
Orders must be received by the financial intermediary on the fund’s behalf
before the time the net asset value is determined in order to receive that day’s
share price. If those orders are transmitted to American Century Investments and
paid for in accordance with the selling agreement, they will be priced at the
net asset value next determined after your request is received in the form
required by the financial intermediary.
If
you submit a transaction request through a financial intermediary that does not
have a selling agreement with us, or if the financial intermediary’s selling
agreement does not cover the type of account or share class requested, we may
reject or cancel the transaction without prior notice to you or the
intermediary.
Institutional
Class shares may also be available on brokerage platforms of financial
intermediaries that have agreements with American Century Investments to offer
such shares solely when acting as an agent for the shareholder. A shareholder
transacting in Institutional Class shares in these programs may be required to
pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker.
See
Additional
Policies Affecting Your Investment
for more information about investing with us.
Additional
Policies Affecting Your Investment
Eligibility
for Institutional Class Shares
The
Institutional Class shares are made available for purchase by individuals and
large institutional shareholders such as bank trust departments, corporations,
endowments, foundations and financial advisors that meet the fund’s minimum
investment requirements and through employer-sponsored retirement plans where a
financial intermediary provides retirement recordkeeping services to plan
participants. For such plans to be eligible, plan level or omnibus accounts must
be held on the books of the fund.
Minimum
Initial Investment Amounts for Institutional Class
The
minimum initial investment amount is generally $5 million ($3 million for
endowments and foundations) per fund. If you invest with us through a financial
intermediary, this requirement may be met if your financial intermediary
aggregates your investments with those of other clients into a single group, or
omnibus, account that meets the minimum. The minimum investment requirement may
be waived if you have an aggregate investment in the American Century family of
funds of $10 million or more ($5 million for endowments and foundations). This
includes accounts held directly with American Century and those held through a
financial intermediary. American Century Investments also may waive the minimum
initial investment in other situations it deems appropriate.
In
addition, there is no minimum initial investment amount for employer-sponsored
retirement plans where a financial intermediary provides retirement
recordkeeping services to plan participants and where plan level or omnibus
accounts are held on the books of the fund. Financial intermediaries or plan
recordkeepers may require plans to meet certain other conditions, such as plan
size or a minimum level of assets per participant, to be eligible to purchase
Institutional Class shares.
American
Century Investments may permit an intermediary to waive the initial minimum per
shareholder as provided in Buying and Selling Fund Shares in the statement of
additional information.
Eligibility
and Minimum Initial Investment Amounts for G Class
G
Class shares are available for purchase by other funds offered by American
Century Investments for which it charges a management fee. In its sole
discretion, American Century Investments may also make G Class shares available
for purchase by other institutional clients for which American Century
Investments provides investment management services for a fee pursuant to an
investment advisory agreement. Currently, eligible clients are limited to
commingled investment trusts or other pooled investment vehicles that utilize a
target date or other asset allocation investment strategy for which American
Century Investments provides asset allocation or glide path investment
management services for a fee. G Class shares do not have a minimum purchase
amount.
Redemptions
Your
redemption proceeds will be calculated using the net asset value (NAV) next
determined after we receive your transaction request in good order. Generally,
we expect to remit your redemption proceeds to you one business day after we
process your transaction. However, we reserve the right to delay delivery of
redemption proceeds for up to seven days. For example, each time you make an
investment with American Century Investments, there is a seven-day holding
period before we will release redemption proceeds from those shares, unless you
provide us with satisfactory proof that your purchase funds have cleared.
Investments by wire generally require only a one-day holding period. If you
change your address, we may require that any redemption request made within
seven days be submitted in writing and be signed by all authorized signers with
their signatures guaranteed. We may also require a signature guarantee for
redemptions in other situations, as described below. If you change your bank
information, we may impose a seven-day holding period before we will transfer or
wire redemption proceeds to your bank. Please remember, if you request
redemptions by wire, $10 will be deducted from the amount redeemed. Your bank
also may charge a fee.
Additionally,
if you are age 65 or older, or if we have reason to believe you have a mental or
physical impairment that renders you unable to protect your own interest, we may
temporarily delay the disbursement of redemption proceeds from your account if
we believe that you have been the victim of actual or attempted financial
exploitation. This temporary delay will be for an initial period of no more than
15 business days while we conduct an internal review of the facts and
circumstances of the suspected financial exploitation. If our internal review
supports our belief that actual or attempted financial exploitation has occurred
or is occurring, we may extend the hold for up to 10 additional business days.
At the expiration of the additional hold time, if we have not confirmed that
exploitation has occurred, the proceeds will be released to you.
Under
normal market conditions, the fund generally meets redemption requests through
its holdings of cash or cash equivalents or by selling portfolio securities.
However, we reserve the right to honor certain redemptions with securities,
rather than cash, as described in the next section. Additionally, the fund may
consider interfund lending to meet redemption requests. The fund is more likely
to use these other methods to meet large redemption requests or during times of
market stress.
Special
Requirements for Large Redemptions
If,
during any 90-day period, you redeem fund shares worth more than $250,000 (or 1%
of the value of a fund’s assets if that amount is less than $250,000), we
reserve the right to pay part or all of the redemption proceeds in excess of
this amount in readily marketable securities instead of in cash. To the extent
practicable, these securities will represent your pro
rata
share of the fund’s securities.
We
will value these securities in the same manner as we do in computing the fund’s
net asset value. We may provide these securities in lieu of cash without prior
notice. Also, if payment is made in securities, you may have to pay brokerage or
other transaction costs to convert the securities to cash. These securities
remain subject to market risk until sold, and you may incur capital gains and/or
losses when you sell the securities.
If
your redemption would exceed this limit and you would like to avoid being paid
in securities, please provide us with an unconditional instruction to redeem at
least 15 days prior to the date on which the redemption transaction is to occur.
The instruction must specify the dollar amount or number of shares to be
redeemed and the date of the transaction. This minimizes the effect of the
redemption on a fund and its remaining investors.
Small
Distributions and Uncashed Distribution Checks
Generally,
dividends and distributions cannot be paid by check for an amount less than $50.
Any such amount will be automatically reinvested in additional shares. The fund
reserves the right to reinvest any dividend or distribution amount you elect to
receive by check if your check is returned as undeliverable or if you do not
cash your check within six months. Interest will not accrue on the amount of
your uncashed check. We will reinvest your check into your account at the NAV on
the day of reinvestment. When reinvested, those amounts are subject to the risk
of loss like any other fund investment. We also reserve the right to change your
election to receive dividends and distributions in cash after a check is
returned undeliverable or uncashed for the six month period, and we may
automatically reinvest all future dividends and distributions at the NAV on the
date of the payment.
Signature
Guarantees
A
signature guarantee-which is different from a notarized signature-is a warranty
that the signature presented is genuine. We may require a signature guarantee
for the following transactions:
•Your
redemption or distribution check or automatic redemption is made payable to
someone other than the account owners;
•Your
redemption proceeds or distribution amount is sent by EFT (ACH or wire) to a
destination other than your personal bank account;
•You
are transferring ownership of an account over $100,000;
•You
change your address and request a redemption over $100,000 within seven
days;
•You
request proceeds from redemptions, dividends, or distributions be sent to an
address or financial institution differing from those on record; or
•You
make a redemption or other transaction request via telephone, and we are unable
to verify your identity.
We
reserve the right to require a signature guarantee for other transactions, or we
may employ other security measures, such as signature comparison or notarized
signature, at our discretion.
Canceling
a Transaction
American
Century Investments will use its best efforts to honor your request to revoke a
transaction instruction if your revocation request is received prior to the
close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) (generally 4 p.m. Eastern
time) on the trade date of the transaction. Once processing has begun, or
the NYSE has closed on the trade date, the transaction can no longer be
canceled. Each fund reserves the right to suspend the offering of shares
for a period of time and to reject any specific investment (including a purchase
by exchange). Additionally, we may refuse a purchase if, in our judgment, it is
of a size that would disrupt the management of a fund.
Frequent
Trading Practices
Frequent
trading and other abusive trading practices may disrupt portfolio management
strategies and harm fund performance. If the cumulative amount of frequent
trading activity is significant relative to a fund’s net assets, the fund may
incur trading costs that are higher than necessary as securities are first
purchased then quickly sold to meet the redemption request. In such case, the
fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by the increased trading costs
created by frequent trading if the additional trading costs are
significant.
Because
of the potentially harmful effects of abusive trading practices, the fund’s
Board of Trustees has approved American Century Investments’ abusive trading
policies and procedures, which are designed to reduce the frequency and effect
of these activities in our funds. These policies and procedures include
monitoring trading activity, imposing trading restrictions on certain accounts,
and using fair value pricing when current market prices are not readily
available. Although these efforts are designed to discourage abusive
trading
practices, they cannot eliminate the possibility that such activity will occur.
American Century Investments seeks to exercise its judgment in implementing
these tools to the best of its ability in a manner that it believes is
consistent with shareholder interests.
American
Century Investments uses a variety of techniques to monitor for and detect
frequent trading practices. These techniques may vary depending on the type of
fund, the class of shares or whether the shares are held directly or indirectly
with American Century Investments. They may change from time to time as
determined by American Century Investments in its sole discretion. To minimize
harm to the funds and their shareholders, we reserve the right to reject any
purchase order (including exchanges) from any shareholder we believe has a
history of frequent trading or whose trading, in our judgment, has been or may
be disruptive to the funds. In making this judgment, we may consider trading
done in multiple accounts under common ownership or control.
Currently,
for shares held directly with American Century Investments, we may deem the sale
of all or a substantial portion of a shareholder’s purchase of fund shares to be
frequent trading if the sale is made:
•within
seven days of the purchase, or
•within
30 days of the purchase, if it happens more than once per year.
To
the extent practicable, we try to use the same approach for defining frequent
trading for shares held through financial intermediaries. American Century
Investments reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to identify other
trading practices as abusive and to modify its monitoring and other practices as
necessary to deal with novel or unique abusive trading practices.
The
frequent trading limitations do not apply to the following types of
transactions:
•purchases
of shares through reinvested distributions (dividends and capital
gains);
•redemption
of shares to pay fund or account fees;
•CheckWriting
redemptions;
•redemptions
requested following the death of a registered shareholder;
•transactions
through automatic purchase or redemption plans;
•transfers
and re-registrations of shares within the same fund;
•shares
exchanged from one share class to another within the same fund;
•transactions
by 529 college savings plans and funds of funds (however shareholders of
American Century’s funds of funds are subject to the limitations);
and
•reallocation
or rebalancing transactions in broker-dealer sponsored fee-based wrap and
advisory programs.
For
shares held in employer-sponsored retirement plans, generally only
participant-directed exchange transactions are subject to the frequent trading
restrictions. For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not
include SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, or SARSEPs.
In
addition, American Century Investments reserves the right to accept purchases
and exchanges in excess of the trading restrictions discussed above if it
believes that such transactions would not be inconsistent with the best
interests of fund shareholders or this policy.
American
Century Investments’ policies do not permit us to enter into arrangements with
fund shareholders that permit such shareholders to engage in frequent purchases
and redemptions of fund shares. Due to the complexity and subjectivity involved
in identifying abusive trading activity and the volume of shareholder
transactions American Century Investments handles, there can be no assurance
that American Century Investments’ efforts will identify all trades or trading
practices that may be considered abusive.
American
Century Investments monitors aggregate trades placed in omnibus accounts and
works with financial intermediaries to identify shareholders engaging in abusive
trading practices and impose restrictions to discourage such practices. Because
American Century Investments relies on financial intermediaries to provide
information and impose restrictions, our ability to monitor and discourage
abusive trading practices in omnibus accounts may be dependent on the
intermediaries’ timely performance of such duties and restrictions may not be
applied uniformly in all cases.
Your
Responsibility for Unauthorized Transactions
American
Century Investments and its affiliated companies use procedures reasonably
designed to confirm that telephone, electronic and other instructions are
genuine. These procedures include recording telephone calls, requesting
additional identifying information, requiring personalized security codes or
other information online, and sending confirmation of transactions. If we follow
these procedures, we are not responsible for any losses that may occur due to
unauthorized instructions. For transactions conducted over the Internet, we
recommend the use of a secure Internet browser. In addition, you should verify
the accuracy of your confirmation statements immediately after you receive
them.
A
Note About Mailings to Shareholders
To
reduce the amount of mail you receive from us, we generally deliver a single
copy of fund documents (like shareholder reports, proxies and prospectuses) to
investors who share an address, even if their accounts are registered under
different names. Investors who share an address may also receive
account-specific documents (like statements) in a single envelope. If you prefer
to receive your documents addressed individually, please call us or your
financial professional. For American Century Investments brokerage accounts,
please call 1-888-345-2071.
Right
to Change Policies
We
reserve the right to change any stated investment requirement, including those
that relate to purchases, exchanges and redemptions. In accordance with
applicable law, we also may alter, add or discontinue any service or privilege.
Changes may affect all investors or only those in certain classes or groups. In
addition, from time to time we may waive a policy on a case-by-case basis, as
the advisor deems appropriate.
Share
Price and Distributions
Share
Price
American
Century Investments will price the fund shares you purchase, exchange or redeem
based on the net
asset value
(NAV) next determined after your order is received in good order by the fund’s
transfer agent, or other financial intermediary with the authority to accept
orders on the fund’s behalf. We determine the NAV of the fund as of the close of
regular trading (usually 4 p.m. Eastern time) on the New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE) on each day the NYSE is open. On days when the NYSE is closed (including
certain U.S. national holidays), we do not calculate the NAV.
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The
net
asset value,
or NAV, of the fund is the current value of the fund’s assets, minus any
liabilities, divided by the number of shares of the fund
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The
value of the securities and other assets and liabilities held by the fund are
determined by the advisor, as the valuation designee, pursuant to its valuation
policies and procedures. The fund’s Board of Trustees oversees the valuation
designee and at least annually reviews its valuation policies and procedures.
Valuations are determined in accordance with applicable federal securities laws
and accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
Portfolio
securities for which market quotations are readily available are valued at their
market price. Equity securities and other equity instruments for which market
quotations are readily available are valued at the last reported official
closing price or sale price as of the time the NAV is determined. Portfolio
securities primarily traded on foreign securities exchanges that are generally
open later than the NYSE are valued at the last sale price reported at the time
the NAV is determined.
If
the valuation designee determines that the market price for a portfolio security
is not readily available or is believed by the valuation designee to be
unreliable, such security is valued at fair value as determined in good faith by
the valuation designee, in accordance with its policies and procedures.
Circumstances that may cause the fund to determine that market quotations are
not available or reliable include, but are not limited to:
•when
there is a significant event subsequent to the market quotation;
•trading
in a security has been halted during the trading day; or
•trading
in a security is insufficient or did not take place due to a closure or
holiday.
If
such circumstances occur, the valuation designee will fair value the security if
the fair valuation would materially impact the fund’s NAV. While fair value
determinations involve judgments that are inherently subjective, these
determinations are made in good faith in accordance with the valuation
designee’s valuation policies and procedures.
The
effect of using fair value determinations is that the fund’s NAV will be based,
to some degree, on security valuations that the valuation designee reasonably
believes are fair rather than being solely determined by the
market.
Model-derived
fair value factors may be applied to adjust the market quotation of certain
foreign equity securities whose last closing price was before the time the NAV
is determined. These factors are based on observable market data and are
generally provided by an independent pricing service. Such factors are designed
to estimate the price of the foreign equity security that would have prevailed
at the time the NAV is determined.
Equity
securities with no current day last sale or official close price may be priced
at the mean of the bid and ask market quotations obtained from a listing
exchange or an independent broker who is an established market maker in the
security. The valuation designee may use third party pricing services to assist
in the determination of fair value.
With
respect to any portion of the fund’s assets that are invested in other mutual
funds, the fund’s NAV will be calculated based upon the NAVs of such mutual
funds. These mutual funds are required to explain the circumstances under which
they will use fair value pricing and the effects of using fair value pricing in
their prospectuses.
The
value of any security or other asset denominated in a currency other than U.S.
dollars is converted to U.S. dollars at the prevailing foreign exchange rate at
the time the fund’s NAV is determined. Trading of securities in foreign markets
may not take place every day the NYSE is open. Also, trading in some foreign
markets and on some electronic trading networks may take place on weekends or
holidays when the fund’s NAV is not calculated. So, the value of the fund’s
portfolio may be affected on days when you will not be able to purchase,
exchange or redeem fund shares.
Distributions
Federal
tax laws require the fund to make distributions to its shareholders in order to
qualify as a regulated investment company. Qualification as a regulated
investment company means the fund should not be subject to state or federal
income tax on amounts distributed. The distributions generally consist of
dividends and interest received by the fund, as well as capital
gains
realized by the fund on the sale of its investment securities. The fund
generally expects to pay distributions from net income and capital gains, if
any, once a year in December. The fund may make more frequent distributions, if
necessary, to comply with Internal Revenue Code provisions.
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Capital
gains
are
increases in the values of capital assets, such as stocks or bonds, from
the time the assets are purchased. |
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You
will participate in fund distributions when they are declared, starting the next
business day after your purchase is effective. For example, if you purchase
shares on a day that a distribution is declared, you will not receive that
distribution. If you redeem shares, you will receive any distribution declared
on the day you redeem. If you redeem all shares, we will include any
distributions received with your redemption proceeds.
Generally,
participants in tax-deferred retirement plans reinvest all distributions. For
investors investing through taxable accounts, we will reinvest distributions
unless you elect to have dividends and/or capital gains sent to another American
Century Investments account, to your bank electronically, or to your home
address or to another person or address by check.
Taxes
Some
of the tax consequences of owning shares of a fund will vary depending on
whether you own them through a taxable or tax-deferred account. Distributions by
a fund of dividend and interest income, capital gains and other income it has
generated through its investment activities will generally be taxable to
shareholders who hold shares in a taxable account. Tax consequences also may
result when investors sell fund shares after the net asset value has increased
or decreased.
Tax-Deferred
Accounts
If
you purchase fund shares through a tax-deferred account, such as an IRA or
employer-sponsored retirement plan, income and capital gains distributions
usually will not be subject to current taxation but will accumulate in your
account under the plan on a tax-deferred basis. Likewise, moving from one fund
to another fund within a plan or tax-deferred account generally will not cause
you to be taxed. For information about the tax consequences of making purchases
or withdrawals through a tax-deferred account, please consult your plan
administrator, your summary plan description or a tax advisor.
Taxable
Accounts
If
you own fund shares through a taxable account, you may be taxed on your
investments if the fund makes distributions or if you sell your fund shares. If
you invest through a taxable account, you may be able to claim a foreign tax
credit for any foreign income taxes paid by the fund. In order to qualify for
this tax credit, certain requirements must be satisfied. Please consult the
statement of additional information for a more complete discussion of the tax
consequences of owning shares of the fund.
Taxability
of Distributions
Fund
distributions may consist of income, such as dividends and interest earned by a
fund from its investments, or capital gains generated by a fund from the sale of
investment securities. Distributions of income are taxed as ordinary income,
unless they are designated as qualified
dividend income
and you meet a minimum required holding period with respect to your shares of
the fund, in which case distributions of income are taxed at the same rates as
long-term capital gains.
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Qualified
dividend income
is
a dividend received by a fund from the stock of a domestic or qualifying
foreign corporation, provided that the fund has held the stock for a
required holding period and the stock was not on loan at the time of the
dividend. |
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The
tax character of any distributions from capital gains is determined by how long
the fund held the underlying security that was sold, not by how long you have
been invested in the fund or whether you reinvest your distributions or take
them in cash. Short-term (one year or less) capital gains are taxable as
ordinary income. Gains on securities held for more than one year are taxed at
the lower rates applicable to long-term capital gains.
If
the fund’s distributions exceed current and accumulated earnings and profits,
such excess will generally be considered a return of capital. A return of
capital distribution is generally not subject to tax, but will reduce your cost
basis in the fund and result in higher realized capital gains (or lower realized
capital losses) upon the sale of fund shares.
For
taxable accounts, American Century Investments or your financial intermediary
will inform you of the tax character of fund distributions for each calendar
year in an annual tax mailing.
If
you meet specified income levels, you will also be subject to a 3.8% Medicare
contribution tax which is imposed on net investment income, including interest,
dividends and capital gains. Distributions also may be subject to state and
local taxes. Because everyone’s tax situation is unique, you may want to consult
your tax professional about federal, state and local tax
consequences.
Taxes
on Transactions
Your
redemptions - including exchanges to other American Century Investments funds -
are subject to capital gains tax. Short-term capital gains are gains on fund
shares you held for 12 months or less. Long-term capital gains are gains on fund
shares you held for more than 12 months. If your shares decrease in value, their
sale or exchange will result in a long-term or short-term capital loss. However,
you should note that loss realized upon the sale or exchange of shares held for
six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of
any distribution of long-term capital gain to you with respect to those shares.
If a loss is realized on the redemption of fund shares, the reinvestment in
additional fund shares within 30 days before or after the redemption may be
subject to the wash sale rules of the Internal Revenue Code. This may result in
a postponement of the recognition of such loss for federal income tax
purposes.
If
you have not certified to us that your Social Security number or tax
identification number is correct and that you are not subject to withholding, we
are required to withhold and pay to the IRS the applicable federal withholding
tax rate on taxable dividends, capital gains distributions and redemption
proceeds.
Buying
a Dividend
Purchasing
fund shares in a taxable account shortly before a distribution is sometimes
known as buying a dividend. In taxable accounts, you must pay income taxes on
the distribution whether you reinvest the distribution or take it in cash. In
addition, you will have to pay taxes on the distribution whether the value of
your investment decreased, increased or remained the same after you bought the
fund shares.
The
risk in buying a dividend is that a fund’s portfolio may build up taxable income
and gains throughout the period covered by a distribution, as income is earned
and securities are sold at a profit. The fund distributes the income and gains
to you, after subtracting any losses, even if you did not own the shares when
the income was earned or the gains occurred.
If
you buy a dividend, you incur the full tax liability of the distribution period,
but you may not enjoy the full benefit of the income earned or the gains
realized in the fund’s portfolio.
Additional
Information
Multiple
Class Information
The
fund offers multiple classes of shares. The classes have different fees,
expenses, eligibility requirements and/or minimum investment requirements.
Different fees and expenses will affect performance.
Except
as described below, all classes of shares of the fund have identical voting,
dividend, liquidation and other rights, preferences, terms and conditions. The
only differences among the classes are (a) each class may be subject to
different expenses specific to that class; (b) each class has a different
identifying designation or name; (c) each class has exclusive voting rights with
respect to matters solely affecting such class; and (d) each class may have
different exchange privileges.
Service,
Distribution and Administrative Fees
Certain
financial intermediaries perform recordkeeping and administrative services for
their clients that would otherwise be performed by American Century Investments’
transfer agent. In some circumstances, the advisor will pay such service
providers a fee for performing those services. Also, the advisor and the fund’s
distributor may make payments to intermediaries for various additional services,
other expenses and/or the intermediaries’ distribution of the fund out of their
profits or other available sources. Such payments may be made for one or more of
the following: (1) distribution, which may include expenses incurred by
intermediaries for their sales activities with respect to the fund, such as
preparing, printing and distributing sales literature and advertising materials
and compensating registered representatives or other employees of such financial
intermediaries for their sales activities, as well as the opportunity for the
fund to be made available by such intermediaries; (2) shareholder services, such
as providing individual and custom investment advisory services to clients of
the financial intermediaries; and (3) marketing and promotional services,
including business planning assistance, educating personnel about the fund, and
sponsorship of sales meetings, which may include covering costs of providing
speakers, meals and other entertainment. The distributor may pay partnership
and/or sponsorship fees to support seminars, conferences, and other programs
designed to educate intermediaries about the fund and may cover the expenses
associated with attendance at such meetings, including travel costs. The
distributor may also pay fees related to obtaining data regarding intermediary
or financial advisor activities to assist American Century Investments with
sales reporting, business intelligence and training and education opportunities.
These payments and activities are intended to provide an incentive to
intermediaries to sell the fund by educating them about the fund and helping
defray the costs associated with offering the fund. These payments may create a
conflict of interest by influencing the intermediary to recommend the fund over
another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s
website for more information. The amount of any payments described by this
paragraph is determined by the advisor or the distributor, and all such amounts
are paid out of their available assets, and not paid by you or the fund. As a
result, the total expense ratio of the fund will not be affected by any such
payments.
American
Century Investments does not pay any fees to financial intermediaries on G Class
shares.
Financial
Highlights
Understanding
the Financial Highlights
The
table on the next page itemizes what contributed to the changes in share price
during the most recently ended fiscal year. It also shows the changes in share
price for this period in comparison to changes over the last five fiscal years
(or a shorter period if the fund is not five years old).
On
a per-share basis, the table includes as appropriate
•share
price at the beginning of the period
•investment
income and capital gains or losses
•distributions
of income and capital gains paid to investors
•share
price at the end of the period
The
table also includes some key statistics for the period as
appropriate
•Total
Return — the
overall percentage of return of the fund, assuming the reinvestment of all
distributions
•Expense
Ratio — the
operating expenses of the fund as a percentage of average net
assets
•Net
Income Ratio — the
net investment income of the fund as a percentage of average net
assets
•Portfolio
Turnover — the
percentage of the fund’s investment portfolio that is replaced during the
period
The
Financial Highlights have been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, independent
registered public accounting firm. The Report of Independent Registered Public
Accounting Firm and the financial statements are included in the fund’s Form
N-CSR, which is available upon request.
Avantis
Emerging Markets Equity Fund
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For
a Share Outstanding Throughout the Years Ended August 31 (except as
noted) |
Per-Share
Data |
Ratios
and Supplemental Data |
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From Investment Operations*: |
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Ratio
to Average Net Assets of†: |
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| Net
Asset Value, Beginning of Period |
Net
Investment
Income
(Loss)(1) |
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain
(Loss) |
Total
From Investment Operations |
Distributions From
Net Investment Income |
Net
Asset Value, End of Period |
Total
Return(2) |
Operating Expenses |
Operating Expenses (before expense waiver) |
Net Investment Income (Loss) |
Net Investment Income (Loss) (before expense waiver) |
Portfolio Turnover Rate |
Net Assets, End
of Period (in thousands) |
Institutional
Class |
2024 |
$10.72 |
0.32 |
1.55 |
1.87 |
(0.39) |
$12.20 |
18.01% |
0.33% |
0.33% |
2.83% |
2.83% |
10% |
$474,544 |
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2023 |
$10.35 |
0.35 |
0.37 |
0.72 |
(0.35) |
$10.72 |
7.19% |
0.34% |
0.34% |
3.36% |
3.36% |
13% |
$301,211 |
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2022 |
$13.35 |
0.44 |
(3.20) |
(2.76) |
(0.24) |
$10.35 |
(20.98)% |
0.33% |
0.33% |
3.84% |
3.84% |
4% |
$238,858 |
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2021 |
$10.32 |
0.29 |
2.93 |
3.22 |
(0.19) |
$13.35 |
31.29% |
0.33% |
0.33% |
2.29% |
2.29% |
9% |
$118,866 |
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2020(3) |
$10.00 |
0.23 |
0.12 |
0.35 |
(0.03) |
$10.32 |
3.57% |
0.33% |
0.33% |
3.26% |
3.26% |
4% |
$36,539 |
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G
Class |
2024 |
$10.75 |
0.36 |
1.54 |
1.90 |
(0.42) |
$12.23 |
18.36% |
0.00% |
0.33% |
3.16% |
2.83% |
10% |
$7,239 |
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2023 |
$10.38 |
0.39 |
0.36 |
0.75 |
(0.38) |
$10.75 |
7.53% |
0.01% |
0.34% |
3.69% |
3.36% |
13% |
$4,505 |
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2022 |
$13.38 |
0.53 |
(3.25) |
(2.72) |
(0.28) |
$10.38 |
(20.69)% |
0.00% |
0.33% |
4.17% |
3.84% |
4% |
$2,757 |
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2021(4) |
$13.16 |
0.31 |
(0.09) |
0.22 |
— |
$13.38 |
1.67% |
0.00% |
0.33% |
3.75% |
3.42% |
9%(5) |
$189 |
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Notes
to Financial Highlights |
(1)Computed
using average shares outstanding throughout the period.
(2)Total
returns are calculated based on the net asset value of the last business day.
Total returns for periods less than one year are not annualized.
(3)December
4, 2019 (fund inception) through August 31, 2020.
(4)January
20, 2021 (commencement of sale) through August 31, 2021.
(5)Portfolio
turnover is calculated at the fund level. Percentage indicated was calculated
for the year ended August 31, 2021.
*
The amount shown for a share outstanding throughout the period may not correlate
with the Statement(s) of Operations or precisely reflect the class expense
differentials due to the timing of transactions in shares of a fund in relation
to income earned and/or fluctuations in the fair value of a fund's
investments.
†
Ratios for periods less than one year are annualized. Zero balances may reflect
amounts less than 0.005%.
Notes
Notes
Notes
Where
to Find More Information
Annual
and Semiannual Reports
Additional
information about the fund’s investments is available in the fund’s annual and
semiannual reports to shareholders and in Form N-CSR. In the fund’s annual
report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment
strategies that significantly affected the fund’s performance during its last
fiscal year. In Form N-CSR, you will find the fund’s annual and semiannual
financial statements. This prospectus incorporates by reference the Report of
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm and the financial statements
included in the fund’s Form
N-CSR
for the fiscal period ended August 31, 2024.
Statement
of Additional Information (SAI)
The
SAI contains a more detailed legal description of the fund’s operations,
investment restrictions, policies and practices. The SAI
is incorporated by reference into this prospectus. This means that it is legally
part of this prospectus, even if you don’t request a copy.
You
may obtain a free copy of the SAI, annual and semiannual reports, and other
information such as fund financial statements, and you may ask questions about
the fund or your accounts, online at avantisinvestors.com, by contacting Avantis
Investors at the addresses or telephone numbers listed below or by contacting
your financial intermediary.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Reports
and other information about the fund are available on the EDGAR database on the
SEC’s website at sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after
paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following email address:
[email protected].
This
prospectus shall not constitute an offer to sell securities of the fund in any
state, territory, or other jurisdiction where the fund’s shares have not been
registered or qualified for sale, unless such registration or qualification is
not required, or under any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation
would be unlawful.
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Avantis
Investors by American Century Investments
avantisinvestors.com
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Individual
Investors P.O. Box 419200 Kansas City, Missouri
64141-6200 833-9AVANTIS |
Financial
Professionals P.O. Box 419385 Kansas City, Missouri
64141-6385 833-9AVANTIS |
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Investment
Company Act File No. 811-23305
CL-PRS-95489
2501 |
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