|
|
|
|
| |
|
Class
A |
Class
C |
Class
N |
Class
T* |
Class
Y |
AlphaSimplex
Global Alternatives Fund |
GAFAX |
GAFCX |
GAFNX |
GAFTX |
GAFYX |
AlphaSimplex
Managed Futures Strategy Fund |
AMFAX |
ASFCX |
AMFNX |
MFSTX |
ASFYX |
Gateway
Equity Call Premium Fund |
GCPAX |
GCPCX |
GCPNX |
GCPTX |
GCPYX |
Gateway
Fund |
GATEX |
GTECX |
GTENX |
GATTX |
GTEYX |
Mirova Global
Green Bond Fund |
MGGAX |
|
MGGNX |
|
MGGYX |
Mirova
Global Sustainable Equity Fund |
ESGMX |
ESGCX |
ESGNX |
ETSGX |
ESGYX |
Mirova
International Sustainable Equity Fund |
MRVAX |
|
MRVNX |
|
MRVYX |
Mirova
U.S. Sustainable Equity Fund |
MUSAX |
MUSCX |
MUSNX |
|
MUSYX |
Vaughan
Nelson Mid Cap Fund |
VNVAX |
VNVCX |
VNVNX |
VNVTX |
VNVYX |
Vaughan
Nelson Small Cap Value Fund |
NEFJX |
NEJCX |
VSCNX |
NEJTX |
NEJYX |
* |
Class
T shares of the Funds are not currently available for
purchase. |
The
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission have not approved or disapproved any Fund’s shares or
determined whether this Prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation
to the contrary is a crime.
| |
|
|
|
1 |
|
9 |
|
16 |
|
22 |
|
28 |
|
35 |
|
41 |
|
46 |
|
52 |
|
58 |
|
|
|
64 |
|
64 |
|
65 |
|
66 |
|
67 |
|
68 |
|
69 |
|
70 |
|
71 |
|
72 |
|
72 |
|
73 |
|
|
|
|
|
81 |
|
82 |
|
84 |
|
|
|
85 |
|
86 |
|
89 |
|
89 |
|
91 |
|
93 |
|
93 |
|
95 |
|
95 |
|
96 |
|
97 |
|
98 |
|
99 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Investment
Goal
The
Fund pursues an absolute return strategy that seeks to provide capital
appreciation consistent with the risk-return characteristics of a diversified
portfolio of hedge
funds. The secondary goal of the Fund is to achieve these returns with
less volatility than major equity
indices.
Fund
Fees & Expenses
The
following table describes the fees and expenses that 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 this table. You may qualify for
sales charge discounts if you and your family invest,
or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Natixis Funds
Complex. More information about these and other discounts is
available
from your financial professional and in the section “How Sales Charges Are
Calculated” on page 85 of
the Prospectus,
in Appendix A to the Prospectus
and on page 130 in
the section “Reduced Sales Charges” of the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”).
Shareholder
Fees
|
|
|
|
| |
(fees paid directly from
your investment) |
Class A |
Class C |
Class N |
Class T |
Class Y |
Maximum
sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering
price) |
5.75%
|
None
|
None
|
2.50%
|
None
|
Maximum
deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of original purchase price
or redemption
proceeds, as applicable) |
None
* |
1.00%
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
Redemption
fees |
None
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
* |
A
1.00% contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) may apply to certain
purchases of Class A shares of $1,000,000 or more that are redeemed within
eighteen months of the date of
purchase. |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
|
|
|
|
| |
(expenses that you pay
each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
Class A |
Class C |
Class N |
Class T |
Class Y |
Management
fees |
1.10%
|
1.10%
|
1.10%
|
1.10%
|
1.10%
|
Distribution
and/or service (12b-1) fees |
0.25%
|
1.00%
|
0.00%
|
0.25%
|
0.00%
|
Other
expenses |
0.29%
|
0.29%
|
0.22%
|
0.29%
1 |
0.29%
|
Total
annual fund operating expenses2 |
1.64%
|
2.39%
|
1.32%
|
1.64%
|
1.39%
|
Fee
waiver and/or expense reimbursement |
0.14%
|
0.14%
|
0.12%
|
0.14%
|
0.14%
|
Total
annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense
reimbursement3,4 |
1.50%
|
2.25%
|
1.20%
|
1.50%
|
1.25%
|
1 |
Other expenses for Class T shares are
estimated for the current fiscal
year. |
2 |
The expense
information shown in the table above includes acquired fund fees and
expenses of less than 0.01%; the ratios differ from the expense
information disclosed in the Fund’s financial
highlights table because the financial highlights table reflects the
operating expenses of the Fund and does not include acquired fund fees and
expenses. |
3 |
AlphaSimplex
Group, LLC (“AlphaSimplex” or the “Adviser”) has given a binding
contractual undertaking to the Fund to limit the amount of the Fund’s
total annual fund operating
expenses to 1.49%, 2.24%, 1.19%, 1.49% and 1.24% of the Fund’s
average daily net assets for Class A, Class C, Class N, Class T and
Class Y shares, respectively, exclusive
of brokerage expenses, interest expense, substitute dividend expenses on
securities sold short, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses,
organizational and extraordinary
expenses, such as litigation and indemnification expenses. This
undertaking is in effect through April 30, 2024 and may be
terminated before then only with the consent
of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. The Adviser will be permitted to recover,
on a class-by-class basis, management fees waived and/or expenses
reimbursed to the extent
that expenses in later periods fall below both (1) the class’ applicable
expense limitation at the time such amounts were waived/reimbursed and (2)
the class’ current applicable
expense limitation. The Fund will not be obligated to repay any such
waived/reimbursed fees and expenses more than one year after the end of
the fiscal year in which
the fees or expenses were waived/reimbursed.
|
4 |
Natixis
Advisors, LLC (“Natixis Advisors”) has given a binding contractual
undertaking to the Fund to reimburse any and all transfer agency expenses
for Class N shares. This undertaking
is in effect through April 30, 2024 and may be terminated before then only
with the consent of the Fund’s Board of Trustees.
|
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 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 (except where indicated). The
example
also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same,
except
that the example is
based
on the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense
Reimbursement assuming
that such waiver and/or reimbursement will only
be in place through the date noted above and on the Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses for the remaining periods.
The
example for Class C shares for the
ten-year period reflects the conversion to Class A shares after eight
years.
The
example does not take into account brokerage commissions and other fees
to
financial intermediaries that you may pay on your purchases and sales of shares
of the Fund. Although
your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these
assumptions your costs would be:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
If
shares are redeemed: |
1 year |
3 years |
5 years |
10 years |
Class
A |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Class
C |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Class
N |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Class
T |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Class
Y |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
If shares are not
redeemed: |
1 year |
3 years |
5 years |
10 years |
Class
C |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
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 for you if your 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
its most recently ended fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate
was 124% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Investments,
Risks and Performance
Principal
Investment Strategies
The
Fund seeks to achieve long and short exposure to global equity, bond, currency
and commodity markets through a wide range of derivative instruments
and
direct investments. Under normal market conditions, the Adviser typically will
make extensive use of derivative instruments, in particular futures, forward
contracts
and swaps on global equity and fixed-income securities, securities indices
(including both broad- and narrow-based securities indices), currencies,
commodities
and other instruments. These investments are intended to provide the Fund with
risk and return characteristics similar to those of a diversified portfolio
of hedge funds. The Fund may also make direct long and short investments in
equity and fixed-income securities.
The
Fund seeks to generate absolute returns over time rather than track the
performance of any particular index of hedge fund returns. In selecting
investments
for the Fund, the Adviser uses quantitative models to estimate the market
exposures that drive the aggregate returns of a diverse set of hedge
funds.
The Adviser seeks to capture these market exposures in the aggregate while
adding value through dynamic allocation among market exposures and volatility
management. These market exposures may include, for example, exposures to the
returns of stocks, fixed-income securities (including U.S. and non-U.S.
government securities, as well as corporate debt securities), currencies and
commodities. In estimating these market exposures, the Adviser may use
various
approaches, including analyses of the returns of hedge funds included in one or
more commercially available databases selected by the Adviser (for example,
the Lipper TASS hedge fund database) and regulatory filings. The Fund may also
directly employ various strategies commonly used by hedge funds that
seek to profit from underlying risk factors, such as merger arbitrage and
trend-following strategies. In a merger arbitrage strategy, the Adviser buys
shares
of target companies in corporate reorganizations and establishes short positions
in shares of the acquiring companies. Trend-following strategies analyze
markets over various time horizons to invest either long or short in assets
whose values are rising or falling,
respectively.
The
Adviser will have great flexibility to allocate the Fund’s exposure among
various securities, indices, currencies, commodities and other instruments; the
amount
of the Fund’s assets that may be allocated to various strategies and among
investments is expected to vary over time. When buying and selling securities
and other instruments for the Fund, the Adviser also may consider other factors,
such as: (i) the Fund’s obligations under its various derivative positions;
(ii) portfolio rebalancing; (iii) redemption requests; (iv) yield management;
(v) credit management; and (vi) volatility management. The Fund will not
invest
directly in hedge funds. The Fund may invest in non-U.S. securities and
instruments and securities and instruments traded outside the United States,
and
expects to engage in non-U.S. currency
transactions.
The
Adviser currently targets an annualized volatility level of 9% or less (as
measured by the standard deviation of the Fund’s returns). The Fund’s actual or
realized
volatility during certain periods or over time may materially exceed its target
volatility for various reasons, including changes in market levels of
volatility
and because the Fund’s portfolio may include instruments that are inherently
volatile. This would increase the risk of investing in the
Fund.
Under
normal market conditions, it is expected that no more than 25% of the Fund’s
total assets will be dedicated to initial and variation margin payments
relating
to the Fund’s derivative transactions. The gross notional value of the Fund’s
derivative investments, however, will generally exceed 25% of the Fund’s
assets,
and may significantly exceed the total value of the Fund’s assets. The Adviser
will invest a portion of the Fund’s assets, which may vary over time, in
short-term,
high-quality securities. Such investments will be used primarily to finance the
Fund’s investments in derivatives and, secondarily, to provide the Fund
with incremental income and liquidity, and may include: (i) short-term
obligations issued or guaranteed by the United States government, its agencies
or instrumentalities;
(ii) securities issued by foreign governments, their political subdivisions or
agencies or instrumentalities; (iii) certificates of deposit, time deposits
and bankers’ acceptances issued by domestic banks, foreign branches of domestic
banks, foreign subsidiaries of domestic banks, and domestic and foreign
branches of foreign banks; (iv) variable amount master demand notes; (v)
participation interests in loans extended by banks to companies; (vi)
commercial
paper or similar debt obligations; and (vii) repurchase agreements. The Adviser
will select such investments based on various factors, including the
security’s maturity and credit
rating.
Although
the Fund does not intend to invest in physical commodities directly, the Fund
expects to obtain investment exposure to commodities and commodity-related
derivatives through a wholly-owned subsidiary organized under the laws of the
Cayman Islands that will make commodity-related investments (the “Commodity
Subsidiary”). The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Commodity
Subsidiary. Under normal market conditions, no more than 10% of
the Fund’s total assets will be dedicated to initial and variation margin
payments relating to these
transactions.
The
Fund will concentrate its investments in the financial services industry, which
means it will normally invest at least 25% of its total assets in securities
and
other obligations (for example, bank certificates of deposit) of issuers in such
industry. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of securities
and
other instruments. Effects of frequent trading may include high transaction
costs, which may lower the Fund’s return, and realization of greater short-term
capital
gains, distributions of which are taxable as ordinary income to taxable
shareholders. Trading costs and tax effects associated with frequent trading
may
adversely affect the Fund’s performance. The Fund’s trading in derivatives is
active and frequent. Active and frequent trading of derivatives, like active
and
frequent trading of securities, will result in transaction costs which reduce
fund returns.
The
percentage limitations set forth herein are not investment restrictions and the
Fund may exceed these limits from time to
time.
The
Fund's shareholders approved an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (the
"Agreement") which provides for the reorganization of the Fund with and into the
Virtus AlphaSimplex Global Alternatives Fund. It is expected that on or about
May 20, 2023 (the "Closing Date"), the Fund will transfer its assets and
liabilities to the Virtus AlphaSimplex Global Alternatives Fund, and the Fund
will subsequently liquidate. In connection with the reorganization, shareholders
of the Fund will receive shares of the Virtus AlphaSimplex Global Alternatives
Fund that are equal in aggregate net asset value to the shares of the Fund held
on the Closing Date. Additional information on the arrangements will be provided
in supplements or other documents provided to the shareholders if these events
do not occur substantially in accordance with the schedule outlined
above.
Principal
Investment Risks
The
principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. The Fund does not
represent a complete investment program. You may lose money
by investing in the
Fund.
Fund shares are not
bank deposits and are not guaranteed, endorsed or insured by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, and are subject to
investment risks, including possible loss of the principal
invested.
The
significance of any specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over
time, depending on the composition of the Fund’s portfolio, market conditions,
and
other factors. You should read all of the risk information presented below
carefully, because any one or more of these risks may result in losses to the
Fund.
Leverage Risk: Taking
short positions in securities results in a form of leverage. Leverage
is the risk associated with securities or investment practices (e.g.,
borrowing
and the use of certain derivatives) that multiply small index, market or
asset-price movements into larger changes in value. The use of leverage
increases
the impact of gains and losses on the Fund’s returns, and may lead to
significant losses if investments are not successful.
Derivatives Risk:
Derivative instruments (such
as those in which the Fund may invest, including futures, swaps, forward
contracts, and other foreign currency
transactions and commodity-linked derivatives) are subject to changes in the
value of the underlying assets or indices on which such instruments are
based.
There is no guarantee that the use of derivatives will be effective or that
suitable transactions will be available. Even a small investment in derivatives
may
give rise to leverage risk and can have a significant impact on the Fund’s
exposure to commodities
markets, securities market values, interest rates or currency
exchange rates. It is possible that the Fund’s liquid assets may be insufficient
to support its obligations under its derivatives positions. The use of
derivatives
for other than hedging purposes may be considered a speculative activity, and
involves greater risks than are involved in hedging. The use of derivatives
may cause the Fund to incur losses greater than those that would have
occurred had derivatives not been used. The Fund’s use of
derivatives
involves
other risks, such as credit/counterparty
risk relating to the other party to a derivative contract (which is greater for
forward currency contracts, uncleared
swaps and other over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives), the risk of difficulties
in pricing and valuation, the risk that changes in the value of a derivative
may not correlate as expected with changes in the value of relevant assets,
rates or indices, liquidity risk, allocation risk and the risk of losing more
than
the initial margin (if any) required to initiate derivatives positions. There is
also the risk that the Fund may be unable to terminate or sell a derivative
position
at an advantageous time or price. The Fund’s derivative counterparties may
experience financial difficulties or otherwise be unwilling or unable to
honor
their obligations, possibly resulting in losses to the Fund. There
is a risk that the Adviser’s use of derivatives, such as futures and forward
contracts, to manage
the Fund’s volatility may be ineffective or may exacerbate losses, for example,
if the derivative or the underlying assets decrease in value over
time.
Equity Securities Risk:
The value of the Fund’s investments in equity securities could be subject to
unpredictable declines in the value of individual securities
and periods of below-average performance in individual securities or in the
equity market as a whole. In the event an issuer is liquidated or
declares
bankruptcy, the claims of owners of the issuer’s bonds generally take precedence
over the claims of those who own preferred stock or common stock.
Short Exposure Risk: A
short exposure through a derivative or
short sale may present various risks, including credit/counterparty risk and
leverage risk. If the
value of the asset, asset class or index on which the Fund has obtained a short
investment exposure increases, the Fund will incur a loss. Unlike a direct
cash
investment such as a stock, bond or exchange-traded fund (“ETF”), where the
potential loss is limited to the purchase price, the potential risk of loss
from
a short exposure is theoretically unlimited. Moreover, there can be no assurance
that securities necessary to cover (repurchase in order to close) a short
position
will be available for purchase. The
Fund may be unable to borrow securities in connection with a short sale or to
enter into a short position at an advantageous
time or price, which could limit its ability to obtain the desired short
exposure.
Models and Data Risk:
The Adviser utilizes various proprietary quantitative models to identify
investment opportunities. There is a possibility that one or all of
the quantitative models may fail to identify profitable opportunities at any
time. Furthermore, the models may incorrectly identify opportunities and these
misidentified
opportunities may lead to substantial losses for the Fund. Models may be
predictive in nature and such models may result in an incorrect assessment
of future events. Data used in the construction of models may prove to be
inaccurate or stale, which may result in losses for the Fund.
Allocation Risk: This
is the risk that the Adviser’s judgments about, and allocations between, asset
classes and market exposures may adversely affect the Fund’s
performance. The
allocation,
as set forth above, may not be optimal in every market condition. You could lose
money on your investment in the Fund as
a
result of this allocation. This
risk can be increased by the use of derivatives to increase allocations to
various market exposures. This is because derivatives can
create investment leverage, which will magnify the impact to the Fund of its
investment in any underperforming market
exposure.
Commodity Risk:
This is the risk that exposure to the commodities markets may subject the Fund
to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities.
The value of physical commodities or commodity-linked derivative instruments may
be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity
price volatility, changes in interest rates, currency fluctuations, or factors
affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods,
weather,
livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs and international economic, political and
regulatory developments.
Commodity Subsidiary Risk:
Investing in the Commodity Subsidiary will indirectly expose the Fund to the
risks associated with the Commodity Subsidiary’s investments,
such as commodity risk. The Commodity Subsidiary is not registered under the
Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”) and is not subject
to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Changes in the laws of the
United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the
Commodity
Subsidiary, respectively, are organized, could negatively affect the Fund and
its shareholders.
Concentrated Investment Risk:
The Fund is particularly vulnerable to events affecting companies in the
financial services industry because the Fund concentrates
its investments in securities and other obligations of issuers in such industry.
Examples of risks affecting the financial services industry include changes
in governmental regulation, issues relating to the availability and cost of
capital, changes in interest rates and/or monetary policy and price competition.
In addition, financial services companies are often more highly leveraged than
other companies, making them inherently riskier. As a result, the Fund’s
shares may rise and fall in value more rapidly and to a greater extent than
shares of a fund that does not concentrate or focus in a particular industry
or
economic sector.
Credit/Counterparty Risk:
Credit/counterparty risk is the risk that the issuer or guarantor of a
fixed-income security, or the counterparty to a derivative or other
transaction, will be unable or unwilling to make timely payments of interest or
principal or to otherwise honor its obligations. As a result, the Fund may
sustain
losses or be unable or delayed in its ability to realize gains. The Fund will be
subject to credit/counterparty risk with respect to the counterparties to
its
derivatives transactions. This risk will be heightened to the extent the
Fund enters into derivative transactions with a single counterparty (or
affiliated counterparties
that are part of the same organization), causing the Fund to have significant
exposure to such counterparty. Many of the protections afforded
to
participants on organized exchanges and clearinghouses, such as the performance
guarantee given by a central clearinghouse, are not available in connection
with OTC
derivatives transactions, such as foreign currency transactions. For centrally
cleared derivatives, such as cleared swaps, futures and many
options, the primary credit/counterparty risk is the creditworthiness of the
Fund’s clearing broker and the central clearinghouse
itself.
Currency Risk:
Fluctuations in the exchange rates between different currencies may negatively
affect an investment. The Fund may be subject to currency risk
because it may invest a
significant portion of its assets in currency-related instruments and may invest
in securities
or other instruments denominated in, or
that generate income denominated in, foreign currencies. The
Fund may elect not to hedge currency risk, or may hedge such risk imperfectly,
which may cause
the Fund to incur losses that would not have been incurred had the risk been
hedged.
Cybersecurity and Technology Risk:
The Fund, its service providers, and
other market participants increasingly depend on complex information
technology
and communications systems, which are subject to a number of different threats
and risks that could adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders.
Cybersecurity and other operational and technology issues may result in
financial losses to the Fund and its
shareholders.
Foreign Securities Risk:
Investments in foreign securities may be subject to greater political, economic,
environmental, credit/counterparty and information risks.
The
Fund’s investments in foreign securities also are subject to foreign currency
fluctuations and other foreign currency-related risks. Foreign
securities may
be subject to higher volatility than U.S. securities, varying degrees of
regulation and limited
liquidity.
Hedge Fund Risk:
Hedge funds are typically unregulated private investment pools available only to
sophisticated investors. They are often illiquid and highly leveraged.
Although the Fund will not invest directly in hedge funds, because the Fund’s
investments are intended to provide exposure to the factors that drive
hedge fund returns, an investment in the Fund will be subject to many of the
same risks associated with an investment in a diversified portfolio of hedge
funds.
Therefore, the Fund’s performance may be lower than the returns of the broader
stock market and the Fund’s net asset value may fluctuate substantially
over time.
Index/Tracking Error Risk:
Although the Fund does not seek to track any particular index, the Fund seeks to
analyze the factors that drive hedge fund returns,
as determined by reference to one or more indices. These indices may not provide
an accurate representation of hedge fund returns generally, and the
Adviser’s strategy may not successfully identify or be able to replicate factors
that drive returns. There is a risk that hedge fund return data provided by
third
party hedge fund index providers may be inaccurate or may not accurately reflect
hedge fund returns due to survivorship bias, self-reporting bias or other
biases.
Interest Rate Risk:
Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the Fund’s investments will
fall if interest rates rise. Generally, the value of fixed-income securities
rises when prevailing interest rates fall and falls when interest rates rise.
Interest rate risk generally is greater for funds that invest in
fixed-income securities
with relatively longer durations than for funds that invest in fixed-income
securities with shorter durations. In addition, an economic downturn or
period
of rising interest rates could adversely affect the market for these securities
and reduce the Fund’s ability to sell them, negatively impacting the
performance
of the Fund. Potential future changes in government and/or central bank monetary
policy and action may also affect the level of interest rates. Recently,
there have been inflationary price movements, which have caused the fixed income
securities markets to experience heightened levels of interest volatility
and liquidity risk. The risks associated with rising interest rates may be
particularly acute because of recent monetary policy
measures.
Investments in Other Investment Companies
Risk:
The Fund will indirectly bear the management, service and other fees of any
other investment companies, including
ETFs, in
which it invests in addition to its own
expenses.
Large Investor Risk:
Ownership of shares of the Fund may be concentrated in one or a few large
investors. Such investors may redeem shares in large quantities
or on a frequent basis. Redemptions by a large investor can affect the
performance of the Fund, may increase realized capital gains, including
short-term
capital gains taxable as ordinary income, may accelerate the realization of
taxable income to shareholders and may increase transaction costs. These
transactions potentially limit the use of any capital loss carryforwards and
certain other losses to offset future realized capital gains (if any). Such
transactions
may also increase the Fund’s
expenses.
Liquidity Risk:
Liquidity risk is the risk that the Fund may be unable to find a buyer for its
investments when it seeks to sell them or to receive the price it expects.
Decreases in the number of financial institutions willing to make markets in the
Fund’s investments or in their capacity or willingness to transact may
increase
the Fund’s exposure to this risk. Events that may lead to increased redemptions,
such as market disruptions or increases in interest rates, may also negatively
impact the liquidity of the Fund’s investments when it needs to dispose of them.
If the Fund is forced to sell its investments at an unfavorable time
and/or
under adverse conditions in order to meet redemption requests, such sales could
negatively affect the Fund. During times of market turmoil, there may
be
no buyers or sellers for securities in certain asset classes. In other
circumstances, liquid investments may become illiquid. Derivatives,
and particularly OTC derivatives,
are generally subject to liquidity risk as well. Liquidity
issues may also make it difficult to value the Fund’s investments. The Fund may
invest in
liquid investments that become illiquid due to financial distress, or
geopolitical events such as sanctions, trading halts or
wars.
Management Risk:
A strategy used by the Fund’s portfolio
managers may fail to produce the intended
result.
Market/Issuer Risk:
The market value of the Fund’s investments will move up and down, sometimes
rapidly and unpredictably, based upon overall market and
economic conditions, as well as a number of reasons that directly relate to the
issuers of the Fund’s investments, such as management performance, financial
condition and demand for the issuers’ goods and services. The
Adviser will attempt to reduce this risk by implementing various volatility
management
strategies and techniques. However, there is no guarantee that such strategies
and techniques will produce the intended
result.
Portfolio Turnover Rate Risk:
The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities to
pursue its principal investment strategy. A high rate
of portfolio turnover may involve correspondingly greater expenses, which must
be borne by the Fund and its shareholders, and also may result in
short-term
capital gains or losses to
shareholders.
U.S. Government Securities Risk:
Investments in certain U.S. government securities may not be supported by the
full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
Accordingly, no assurance can be given that the U.S. government will provide
financial support to U.S. government agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored
enterprises if it is not obligated to do so by law. The maximum potential
liability of the issuers of some U.S. government securities held by the Fund
may
greatly exceed their current resources, and it is possible that these issuers
will not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future. In
such
a case, the Fund would have to look principally to the agency, instrumentality
or sponsored enterprise issuing or guaranteeing the security for ultimate
repayment,
and the Fund may not be able to assert a claim against the U.S. government
itself in the event the agency, instrumentality or sponsored enterprise
does
not meet its commitment. Concerns about the capacity or willingness of the U.S.
government to meet its obligations may raise the interest rates payable
on
its securities, negatively impacting the price of such securities already held
by the Fund.
Valuation Risk:
This is the risk that the Fund has valued certain securities or positions at a
higher price than the price at which they can be sold. This risk may
be especially pronounced for investments, such as derivatives, that may be
illiquid or may become
illiquid.
Risk/Return
Bar Chart and Table
The bar chart and
table shown below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund
by showing changes in
the Fund’s performance from year-to-year and by
showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for the one-year, five-year,
ten-year and life-of-class periods (as applicable) compare to those
of a broad measure of market
performance.
The Barclay Fund of Funds Index is a measure of the average return of all funds
of funds in the Barclay database. Performance
for Class C shares includes the automatic conversion to Class A shares after
eight years. The Fund’s past
performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily
indicate how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information is
available online at im.natixis.com and/or by calling
the Fund toll-free at 800-225-5478.
The
chart does not reflect any sales charge that you may be required to pay when you
buy or redeem the Fund’s shares. A sales charge will reduce your return.
Total Returns for Class Y
Shares
| |
|
Highest Quarterly
Return: First Quarter 2015,
5.96%
Lowest Quarterly
Return: First Quarter 2020,
-9.51% |
|
|
|
| |
Average Annual Total
Returns |
|
|
|
|
(for the periods ended
December 31, 2022) |
Past 1 Year |
Past 5 Years |
Past 10 Years |
Life of Class N (5/1/13) |
Class
Y - Return Before Taxes |
-0.53%
|
0.47%
|
2.49%
|
-
|
Return
After Taxes on Distributions |
-4.01%
|
-0.62%
|
1.33%
|
-
|
Return
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
-0.25%
|
-0.07%
|
1.52%
|
-
|
Class
A - Return Before Taxes |
-6.52%
|
-0.97%
|
1.62%
|
-
|
Class
C - Return Before Taxes |
-2.41%
|
-0.55%
|
1.61%
|
-
|
Class
N - Return Before Taxes |
-0.56%
|
0.49%
|
-
|
1.84%
|
Class
T - Return Before Taxes |
-3.31%
|
-0.30%
|
1.97%
|
-
|
Barclay
Fund of Funds Index |
-9.74%
|
1.10%
|
2.21%
|
1.86%
|
The
Fund did not have Class
T shares outstanding during the periods shown above. The returns of
Class
T shares would have been substantially similar to the returns
of the Fund’s other
share classes because they would have been invested in the same portfolio
of securities and would only differ to the extent the other
share classes did not have the same expenses. Performance
of Class T shares shown above is that of Class A shares, which have the same
expenses as Class
T shares, restated to reflect the different sales load applicable to Class T
shares.
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 shown are not relevant to investors who
hold their shares
through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans, qualified plans,
education savings accounts, such as 529 plans, or individual
retirement accounts.
The after-tax returns
are shown for only one class of the Fund.
After-tax returns for the other
classes of the Fund will vary.
Index
performance reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes,
but does reflect the
management fees and other expenses of both the funds of funds in the
index and the hedge funds in
which those funds of funds invest. The Return After
Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares for the 1-year
period
exceeds the Return
Before Taxes due to an assumed tax benefit from
losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement
period.
Management
Investment
Adviser
AlphaSimplex
Portfolio
Managers
Alexander
D. Healy, Chief Investment Officer of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio
manager of the Fund since 2014.
Kathryn
M. Kaminski, Chief Research Strategist of the Adviser, has served as
co-portfolio manager of the Fund since 2020.
Timothy
J. Kang, Research Scientist of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio manager
of the Fund since 2020.
Peter
A. Lee, Senior Research Scientist of the Adviser, has served as
co-portfolio manager of the Fund since 2010.
Philippe
P. Lüdi, CFA®, Senior
Research Scientist of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio manager of
the Fund since 2014.
Robert
S. Rickard, Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio manager
of the Fund since 2008.
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
Class
A and C Shares
The
following chart shows the investment minimums for various types of
accounts:
|
|
|
| |
Type of Account |
Minimum Initial Purchase |
Minimum Subsequent Purchase |
Any
account other than those listed below |
$ |
2,500
|
$ |
50
|
For
shareholders participating in Natixis Funds’ Investment Builder
Program |
$ |
1,000
|
$ |
50
|
For
Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Rollover IRA, SEP-IRA and Keogh plans using the
Natixis Funds’ prototype document (direct accounts,
not held through intermediary) |
$ |
1,000
|
$ |
50
|
Coverdell
Education Savings Accounts using the Natixis Funds’ prototype document
(direct accounts, not held through intermediary) |
$ |
500
|
$ |
50
|
There
is no initial or subsequent investment minimum for:
• |
Fee Based Programs
(such as wrap accounts) where an advisory fee is paid to the broker-dealer
or other financial intermediary. Please consult your financial
representative to determine if your fee based program is subject to
additional or different conditions or
fees. |
• |
Certain Retirement Plans.
Please consult your retirement plan administrator to determine if your
retirement plan is subject to additional or different conditions
or fees imposed by the plan
administrator. |
• |
Clients
of a Registered Investment Adviser
where the Registered Investment Adviser receives an advisory, management
or consulting fee. |
The
minimum investment requirements for Class A shares may be waived or lowered for
investments effected through certain financial intermediaries that have
entered into special arrangements with Natixis Distribution, LLC (the
“Distributor”). Consult your financial intermediary for additional information
regarding
the minimum investment requirement applicable to your investment.
Class
N Shares
Class
N shares of the Fund are subject to a $1,000,000 initial investment minimum.
This minimum applies to Fee Based Programs and accounts (such as wrap
accounts)
where an advisory fee is paid to the broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary. There is no subsequent investment minimum for these shares.
There
is no initial investment minimum for:
• |
Certain Retirement Plans.
Please consult your retirement plan administrator to determine if your
retirement plan is subject to additional or different conditions
or fees imposed by the plan
administrator. |
• |
Sub-accounts
held within an omnibus account, where the omnibus account has at least
$1,000,000. |
• |
Funds of funds
that are distributed by the
Distributor. |
In
its sole discretion, the Distributor may waive the investment minimum
requirement for accounts as to which the Distributor reasonably believes will
have enough
assets to exceed the investment minimum requirement within a relatively short
period of time following the establishment date of such accounts in Class
N. The Distributor and the Fund, at any time, reserve the right to liquidate
these accounts or any other account that does not meet the eligibility
requirements
of this class.
Class
T Shares
Class
T shares of the Fund are not currently available for purchase.
Class
T shares of the Fund may only be purchased by investors who are investing
through an authorized third party, such as a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary,
that has entered into a selling agreement with the
Distributor. Investors may not hold Class T shares directly with the Fund. Class
T shares are subject
to a minimum initial investment of $2,500 and a minimum subsequent investment of
$50. Not all financial intermediaries make Class T shares available
to their clients.
Class
Y Shares
Class
Y shares of the Fund are generally subject to a minimum initial investment of
$100,000 and a minimum subsequent investment of $50, except there is
no
minimum initial or subsequent investment for:
• |
Fee Based Programs
(such as wrap accounts) where an advisory fee is paid to the broker-dealer
or other financial intermediary. Please consult your financial
representative to determine if your fee based program is subject to
additional or different conditions or
fees. |
• |
Certain Retirement Plans.
Please consult your retirement plan administrator to determine if your
retirement plan is subject to additional or different conditions
or fees imposed by the plan
administrator. |
• |
Certain Individual Retirement
Accounts
if the amounts invested represent rollover distributions from investments
by any of the retirement plans invested
in the Fund. |
• |
Clients
of a Registered Investment Adviser
where the Registered Investment Adviser receives an advisory, management
or consulting fee. |
• |
Fund Trustees,
former Fund trustees, employees of affiliates of the Natixis Funds and
other individuals who are affiliated with any Natixis Fund (this also
|
|
applies
to any spouse, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren
and in-laws of those mentioned) and Natixis affiliate employee benefit
plans. |
At
the discretion of Natixis
Advisors, clients of Natixis Advisors and its affiliates may purchase Class Y
shares of the Fund below the stated minimums.
Due
to operational limitations at your financial intermediary, certain fee based
programs, retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and accounts of
registered
investment advisers may be subject to the investment minimums described
above.
The
Fund’s shares are available for purchase and are redeemable on any business day
through your investment dealer, directly from the Fund by writing to the
Fund
at Natixis Funds, P.O. Box 219579, Kansas City, MO 64121-9579, by exchange, by
wire, by internet at im.natixis.com (certain restrictions may apply),
through
the Automated Clearing House system, or, in the case of redemptions, by
telephone at 800-225-5478 or by the Systematic Withdrawal
Plan.
Tax
Information
Fund
distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains,
except for distributions to retirement plans and other investors that qualify
for
tax-advantaged treatment under U.S. federal income tax law generally.
Investments in such tax-advantaged plans will generally be taxed only upon
withdrawal
of monies from the tax-advantaged arrangement.
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may
pay the intermediary
for the sale of the Fund shares and related services. 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.
Investment
Goal
The
Fund pursues an absolute return strategy that seeks to provide capital
appreciation.
Fund
Fees & Expenses
The
following table describes the fees and expenses that 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 this table. You may qualify for
sales charge discounts if you and your family invest,
or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Natixis Funds
Complex. More information about these and other discounts is
available
from your financial professional and in the section “How Sales Charges Are
Calculated” on page 85 of
the Prospectus,
in Appendix A to the Prospectus
and on page 130 in
the section “Reduced Sales Charges” of the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”).
Shareholder
Fees
|
|
|
|
| |
(fees paid directly from
your investment) |
Class A |
Class C |
Class N |
Class T |
Class Y |
Maximum
sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering
price) |
5.75%
|
None
|
None
|
2.50%
|
None
|
Maximum
deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of original purchase price
or redemption
proceeds, as applicable) |
None
* |
1.00%
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
Redemption
fees |
None
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
* |
A
1.00% contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) may apply to certain
purchases of Class A shares of $1,000,000 or more that are redeemed within
eighteen months of the date of
purchase. |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
|
|
|
|
| |
(expenses that you pay
each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
Class A |
Class C |
Class N |
Class T |
Class Y |
Management
fees |
1.24%
|
1.24%
|
1.24%
|
1.24%
|
1.24%
|
Distribution
and/or service (12b-1) fees |
0.25%
|
1.00%
|
0.00%
|
0.25%
|
0.00%
|
Other
expenses |
0.21%
|
0.21%
|
0.09%
|
0.21%
1 |
0.21%
|
Total
annual fund operating expenses |
1.70%
|
2.45%
|
1.33%
|
1.70%
|
1.45%
|
Fee
waiver and/or expense reimbursement2 |
0.00%
|
0.00%
|
0.00%
|
0.00%
|
0.00%
|
Total
annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense
reimbursement |
1.70%
|
2.45%
|
1.33%
|
1.70%
|
1.45%
|
1 |
Other expenses for Class T shares are
estimated for the current fiscal
year. |
2 |
AlphaSimplex
Group, LLC (“AlphaSimplex” or the “Adviser”) has given a binding
contractual undertaking to the Fund to limit the amount of the Fund’s
total annual fund operating
expenses to 1.70%, 2.45%, 1.40%, 1.70% and 1.45% of the Fund’s
average daily net assets for Class A, Class C, Class N, Class T and
Class Y shares, respectively, exclusive
of brokerage expenses, interest expense, taxes, acquired fund fees and
expenses, organizational and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation
and indemnification expenses.
This undertaking is in effect through April 30, 2024 and may be
terminated before then only with the consent of the Fund’s Board of
Trustees. The Adviser will be permitted
to recover, on a class-by-class basis, management fees waived and/or
expenses reimbursed to the extent that expenses in later periods fall
below both (1) the class’ applicable
expense limitation at the time such amounts were waived/reimbursed and (2)
the class’ current applicable expense limitation. The Fund will not be
obligated to repay
any such waived/reimbursed fees and expenses more than one year after the
end of the fiscal year in which the fees or expenses were
waived/reimbursed. |
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 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 (except where indicated). The
example
also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same.
The
example for Class C shares
for the ten-year period reflects the conversion to Class A shares after eight
years.
The
example does not take into account brokerage commissions and other
fees to financial intermediaries that you may pay on your purchases and sales of
shares of the Fund. Although
your actual costs may be higher or lower, based
on these assumptions your costs would
be:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
If
shares are redeemed: |
1 year |
3 years |
5 years |
10 years |
Class
A |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Class
C |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
If shares are redeemed: |
1 year |
3 years |
5 years |
10 years |
Class
N |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Class
T |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Class
Y |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
If shares are not
redeemed: |
1 year |
3 years |
5 years |
10 years |
Class
C |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
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 for you if your 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.
Due
to the short-term nature of the Fund’s investment portfolio, the Fund
does
not calculate a portfolio turnover rate.
Investments,
Risks and Performance
Principal
Investment Strategies
The
Fund seeks to generate positive absolute returns over time. Under normal market
conditions, the Adviser typically will make extensive use of a variety
of derivative
instruments, including futures and forward contracts, to capture the
exposures suggested by its absolute return strategy while also seeking to
add value
through volatility management. These market exposures, which are expected to
change over time, may include, for example, exposures to the returns of
U.S.
and non-U.S. equity and fixed-income securities indices (including both
broad- and narrow-based securities indices), currencies and
commodities. The Adviser will
have great flexibility to allocate the Fund’s derivatives exposure among
various securities, indices, currencies, commodities and other instruments;
the amount of the Fund’s assets that may be allocated to derivative
strategies and among these various instruments is expected to vary over
time. The
Adviser uses proprietary quantitative models to identify price trends in equity,
fixed-income, currency and commodity instruments across time periods
of various lengths. The Adviser believes that asset prices may
show persistent trending behavior due to a number of behavioral biases among
market participants
as well as certain risk-management policies that will identify assets to
purchase in upward-trending markets and identify assets to sell in
downward-trending
markets. The Adviser believes that following trends across a
widely diversified set of assets, combined with active risk management,
may allow
it to earn a positive expected return over time. The Fund may have both “short”
and “long” exposures within an asset class based upon the Adviser’s
analysis of multiple time horizons to identify trends in a particular asset
class. A “short” exposure will benefit when the underlying asset class
decreases
in price. A “long” exposure will benefit when the underlying asset class
increases in price. The Adviser will scale the notional exposure
of the Fund’s
futures and currency forward positions with the objective of targeting
a relatively stable level of annualized volatility for the Fund’s overall
portfolio. The
Adviser currently targets an annualized volatility level of 17% or less (as
measured by the standard deviation of the Fund’s returns). The Fund’s
actual or realized
volatility during certain periods or over time may materially exceed its
target volatility for various reasons, including changes in market levels
of volatility
and because the Fund’s portfolio may include instruments that are
inherently volatile. This would increase the risk of investing in the
Fund.
Under
normal market conditions, it is expected that no more than 25% of the Fund’s
total assets will be dedicated to initial and variation margin payments
relating
to the Fund’s derivative transactions. The gross notional value of the Fund’s
derivative investments, however, will generally exceed 25% of the Fund’s
total
assets, and may significantly exceed the total value of the Fund’s assets. The
Fund expects that under normal market conditions it will invest at least
75%
of its total assets in money market and other short-term, high-quality
securities (such as bankers’ acceptances, certificates of deposit, commercial
paper, loan
participations, repurchase agreements and time deposits) (the “Money Market
Portion”), although the Fund may invest less than this percentage. The
Adviser will
determine the percentage of the Fund’s assets that will be invested in the Money
Market Portion at any time. The assets allocated to the Money Market
Portion will be used primarily to support the Fund’s investments in derivatives
and, secondarily, to provide the Fund with incremental income and liquidity.
Although the Fund will invest a significant portion of its assets in money
market instruments, the Fund is not a “money market” fund and the value of
the
Money Market Portion as well as the value of the Fund’s shares may decrease. The
Fund is not subject to the portfolio quality, maturity and net asset
value
requirements applicable to money market funds, and the Fund will not seek to
maintain a stable net asset value. The Fund will concentrate its investments
in the financial services industry, which means it will normally invest at least
25% of its total assets in securities and other obligations (for example,
bank certificates of deposit, repurchase agreements and time deposits) of
issuers in such industry.
The
Adviser will only invest the assets of the Money Market Portion in
high-quality securities which are denominated in U.S. dollars, and will select
securities for
investment based on various factors, including the security’s maturity and
rating. The Adviser will invest primarily in: (i) short-term
obligations issued or guaranteed
by the United States government, its agencies or instrumentalities (“U.S.
Government Obligations”); (ii) securities issued by foreign governments,
their
political subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities; (iii) certificates of
deposit, time deposits and bankers’ acceptances issued by domestic banks,
foreign
branches of domestic banks, foreign subsidiaries of domestic banks and domestic
and foreign branches of foreign banks; (iv) variable amount master demand
notes; (v) participation interests in loans extended by banks to companies; (vi)
commercial paper or similar debt obligations; and (vii) repurchase agreements.
Although
the Fund does not intend to invest in physical commodities directly, the Fund
expects to obtain investment exposure to commodities and commodity-related
derivatives by investing in a wholly-owned subsidiary organized under the laws
of the Cayman Islands that will make commodity-related investments (the
“Commodity Subsidiary”). The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in
the Commodity Subsidiary. Under normal market conditions, no more than
10%
of the Fund’s total assets will be dedicated to initial and variation margin
payments relating to these
transactions.
Although
the Fund seeks positive absolute returns over time, it is likely that the Fund’s
investment returns may be volatile over short periods of time. The Fund
may
outperform the overall securities market during periods of flat or negative
market performance and may underperform during periods of strong market
performance.
There can be no assurance that the Fund’s returns over time or during any period
will be positive or that the Fund will outperform the overall security
markets over time or during any particular
period.
The
Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of securities and other
instruments. Effects of frequent trading may include high transaction costs,
which may
lower the Fund’s return, and realization of greater short-term capital gains,
distributions of which are taxable as ordinary income to taxable shareholders.
Trading
costs and tax effects associated with frequent trading may adversely affect the
Fund’s performance. Due to the short-term nature of the Fund’s investment
portfolio, the Fund does not calculate a portfolio turnover rate. The Fund’s
trading in derivatives is active and frequent. Active and frequent trading
of
derivatives, like active and frequent trading of securities, will result in
transaction costs which reduce fund
returns.
The
percentage limitations set forth herein are not investment restrictions and the
Fund may exceed these limits from time to
time.
The
Fund's shareholders approved an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (the
"Agreement") which provides for the reorganization of the Fund with and into the
Virtus AlphaSimplex Managed Futures Strategy Fund. It is expected that on or
about May 20, 2023 (the "Closing Date"), the Fund will transfer its assets and
liabilities to the Virtus AlphaSimplex Managed Futures Strategy Fund, and the
Fund will subsequently liquidate. In connection with the reorganization,
shareholders of the Fund will receive shares of the Virtus AlphaSimplex Managed
Futures Strategy Fund that are equal in aggregate net asset value to the shares
of the Fund held on the Closing Date. Additional information on the arrangements
will be provided in supplements or other documents provided to the shareholders
if these events do not occur substantially in accordance with the schedule
outlined above.
Principal
Investment Risks
The
principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. The Fund does not
represent a complete investment program. You may lose money
by investing in the
Fund.
Fund shares are not
bank deposits and are not guaranteed, endorsed or insured by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, and are subject to
investment risks, including possible loss of the principal
invested.
The
significance of any specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over
time, depending on the composition of the Fund’s portfolio, market conditions,
and
other factors. You should read all of the risk information presented below
carefully, because any one or more of these risks may result in losses to the
Fund.
Derivatives Risk:
Derivative instruments (such
as those in which the Fund may invest, including futures and forward contracts)
are subject to changes in the value
of the underlying assets or indices on which such instruments are based. There
is no guarantee that the use of derivatives will be effective or that
suitable
transactions will be available. Even a small investment in derivatives may give
rise to leverage risk and can have a significant impact on the Fund’s
exposure
to commodities
markets, securities market values, interest rates or currency exchange rates. It
is possible that the Fund’s liquid assets may be insufficient
to support its obligations under its derivatives positions. The use of
derivatives for other than hedging purposes may be considered a speculative
activity,
and involves greater risks than are involved in hedging. The use of derivatives
may cause the Fund to incur losses greater than those that would have
occurred
had derivatives not been used. The Fund’s use of derivatives
involves other risks, such as credit/counterparty
risk relating to the other party to a derivative
contract (which is greater for forward contracts and other over-the-counter
(“OTC”) derivatives), the risk of difficulties in pricing and valuation, the
risk
that changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate as expected with
changes in the value of relevant assets, rates or indices, liquidity risk,
allocation
risk and the risk of losing more than the initial margin (if any) required to
initiate derivatives positions. There is also the risk that the Fund may be
unable
to terminate or sell a derivative position at an advantageous time or
price. The Fund’s derivative counterparties may experience financial
difficulties or otherwise
be unwilling or unable to honor their obligations, possibly resulting in losses
to the Fund. There
is a risk that the Adviser’s use of derivatives, such as
futures and forward contracts, to manage the Fund’s volatility may be
ineffective or may exacerbate losses, for example, if the derivative or the
underlying assets
decrease in value over time.
Equity Securities Risk:
The value of the Fund’s investments in equity securities could be subject to
unpredictable declines in the value of individual securities
and periods of below-average performance in individual securities or in the
equity market as a whole. In the event an issuer is liquidated or
declares
bankruptcy, the claims of owners of the issuer’s bonds generally take precedence
over the claims of those who own preferred stock or common stock.
Interest Rate Risk:
Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the Fund’s investments will
fall if interest rates rise. Generally, the value of fixed-income securities
rises when prevailing interest rates fall and falls when interest rates rise.
Interest rate risk generally is greater for funds that invest in
fixed-income securities
with relatively longer durations than for funds that invest in fixed-income
securities with shorter durations. In addition, an economic downturn or
period
of rising interest rates could adversely affect the market for these securities
and reduce the Fund’s ability to sell them, negatively impacting the
performance
of the Fund. Potential future changes in government and/or central bank monetary
policy and action may also affect the level of interest rates. Recently,
there have been inflationary price movements, which have caused the fixed income
securities markets to experience heightened levels of interest volatility
and liquidity risk. The risks associated with rising interest rates may be
particularly acute because of recent monetary policy measures.
Currency Risk:
Fluctuations in the exchange rates between different currencies may negatively
affect an investment. The Fund may be subject to currency risk
because it may invest a
significant portion of its assets in currency-related instruments and may invest
in securities
or other instruments denominated in, or
that generate income denominated in, foreign currencies. The
Fund may elect not to hedge currency risk, or may hedge such risk imperfectly,
which may cause
the Fund to incur losses that would not have been incurred had the risk been
hedged.
Commodity Risk:
This is the risk that exposure to the commodities markets may subject the Fund
to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities.
The value of physical commodities or commodity-linked derivative instruments may
be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity
price volatility, changes in interest rates, currency fluctuations, or factors
affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods,
weather,
livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs and international economic, political and
regulatory developments.
Allocation Risk: This
is the risk that the Adviser’s judgments about, and allocations between, asset
classes and market exposures may adversely affect the Fund’s
performance. The
allocation,
as set forth above, may not be optimal in every market condition. You could lose
money on your investment in the Fund as a
result of this allocation. This
risk can be increased by the use of derivatives to increase allocations to
various market exposures. This is because derivatives can
create investment leverage, which will magnify the impact to the Fund of its
investment in any underperforming market
exposure.
Commodity Subsidiary Risk:
Investing in the Commodity Subsidiary will indirectly expose the Fund to the
risks associated with the Commodity Subsidiary’s investments,
such as commodity risk. The Commodity Subsidiary is not registered under the
Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”) and is not subject
to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Changes in the laws of the
United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the
Commodity
Subsidiary, respectively, are organized, could negatively affect the Fund and
its shareholders.
Concentrated Investment Risk:
The Fund is particularly vulnerable to events affecting companies in the
financial services industry because the Fund concentrates
its investments in securities and other obligations of issuers in such industry.
Examples of risks affecting the financial services industry include changes
in governmental regulation, issues relating to the availability and cost of
capital, changes in interest rates and/or monetary policy and price competition.
In addition, financial services companies are often more highly leveraged than
other companies, making them inherently riskier. As a result, the Fund’s
shares may rise and fall in value more rapidly and to a greater extent than
shares of a fund that does not concentrate or focus in a particular industry
or
economic sector.
Credit/Counterparty Risk:
Credit/counterparty risk is the risk that the issuer or guarantor of a
fixed-income security, or the counterparty to a derivative or other
transaction, will be unable or unwilling to make timely payments of interest or
principal or to otherwise honor its obligations. As a result, the Fund may
sustain
losses or be unable or delayed in its ability to realize gains. The Fund will be
subject to credit/counterparty risk with respect to the counterparties to
its
derivatives transactions. This risk will be heightened to the extent the
Fund enters into derivative transactions with a single counterparty (or
affiliated counterparties
that are part of the same organization), causing the Fund to have significant
exposure to such counterparty. Many of the protections afforded
to
participants on organized exchanges and clearinghouses, such as the performance
guarantee given by a central clearinghouse, are not available in connection
with OTC
derivatives transactions, such as foreign currency transactions. For centrally
cleared derivatives, such as cleared swaps, futures and many
options, the primary credit/counterparty risk is the creditworthiness of the
Fund’s clearing broker and the central clearinghouse
itself.
Cybersecurity and Technology Risk:
The Fund, its service providers, and
other market participants increasingly depend on complex information
technology
and communications systems, which are subject to a number of different threats
and risks that could adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders.
Cybersecurity and other operational and technology issues may result in
financial losses to the Fund and its
shareholders.
Foreign Securities Risk:
Investments in foreign securities may be subject to greater political, economic,
environmental, credit/counterparty and information risks.
The
Fund’s investments in foreign securities also are subject to foreign currency
fluctuations and other foreign currency-related risks. Foreign
securities may
be subject to higher volatility than U.S. securities, varying degrees of
regulation and limited
liquidity.
Leverage Risk: Taking
short positions in securities results in a form of leverage. Leverage
is the risk associated with securities or investment practices (e.g.,
borrowing
and the use of certain derivatives) that multiply small index, market or
asset-price movements into larger changes in value. The use of leverage
increases
the impact of gains and losses on the Fund’s returns, and may lead to
significant losses if investments are not
successful.
Liquidity Risk:
Liquidity risk is the risk that the Fund may be unable to find a buyer for its
investments when it seeks to sell them or to receive the price it expects.
Decreases in the number of financial institutions willing to make markets in the
Fund’s investments or in their capacity or willingness to transact may
increase
the Fund’s exposure to this risk. Events that may lead to increased redemptions,
such as market disruptions or increases in interest rates, may also negatively
impact the liquidity of the Fund’s investments when it needs to dispose of them.
If the Fund is forced to sell its investments at an unfavorable time
and/or
under adverse conditions in order to meet redemption requests, such sales could
negatively affect the Fund. During times of market turmoil, there may
be
no buyers or sellers for securities in certain asset classes. In other
circumstances, liquid investments may become illiquid. Derivatives,
and particularly OTC derivatives,
are generally subject to liquidity risk as well. Liquidity
issues may also make it difficult to value the Fund’s investments. The Fund may
invest in
liquid investments that become illiquid due to financial distress, or
geopolitical events such as sanctions, trading halts or
wars.
Management Risk:
A strategy used by the Fund’s portfolio
managers may fail to produce the intended
result.
Market/Issuer Risk:
The market value of the Fund’s investments will move up and down, sometimes
rapidly and unpredictably, based upon overall market and
economic conditions, as well as a number of reasons that directly relate to the
issuers of the Fund’s investments, such as management performance,
financial
condition and demand for the issuers’ goods and services. The
Adviser will attempt to reduce this risk by implementing various volatility
management
strategies and techniques. However, there is no guarantee that such strategies
and techniques will produce the intended
result.
Models and Data Risk:
The Adviser utilizes various proprietary quantitative models to identify
investment opportunities. There is a possibility that one or all of
the quantitative models may fail to identify profitable opportunities at any
time. Furthermore, the models may incorrectly identify opportunities and these
misidentified
opportunities may lead to substantial losses for the Fund. Models may be
predictive in nature and such models may result in an incorrect assessment
of future events. Data used in the construction of models may prove to be
inaccurate or stale, which may result in losses for the
Fund.
Short Exposure Risk: A
short exposure through a derivative may
present various risks, including credit/counterparty risk and leverage risk. If
the value of the
asset, asset class or index on which the Fund has obtained a short investment
exposure increases, the Fund will incur a loss. Unlike a direct cash
investment
such as a stock, bond or exchange-traded fund (“ETF”), where the potential loss
is limited to the purchase price, the potential risk of loss from a short
exposure is theoretically unlimited. Moreover, there can be no assurance that
securities necessary to cover (repurchase in order to close) a short
position
will be available for
purchase.
U.S. Government Securities Risk:
Investments in certain U.S. government securities may not be supported by the
full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
Accordingly, no assurance can be given that the U.S. government will provide
financial support to U.S. government agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored
enterprises if it is not obligated to do so by law. The maximum potential
liability of the issuers of some U.S. government securities held by the Fund
may
greatly exceed their current resources, and it is possible that these issuers
will not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future. In
such
a case, the Fund would have to look principally to the agency, instrumentality
or sponsored enterprise issuing or guaranteeing the security for ultimate
repayment,
and the Fund may not be able to assert a claim against the U.S. government
itself in the event the agency, instrumentality or sponsored enterprise
does
not meet its commitment. Concerns about the capacity or willingness of the U.S.
government to meet its obligations may raise the interest rates payable
on
its securities, negatively impacting the price of such securities already held
by the Fund.
Valuation Risk:
This is the risk that the Fund has valued certain securities or positions at a
higher price than the price at which they can be sold. This risk may
be especially pronounced for investments, such as derivatives, that may be
illiquid or may become
illiquid.
Risk/Return
Bar Chart and Table
The bar chart and
table shown below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund
by showing changes in
the Fund’s performance from year-to-year and by
showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for the one-year, five-year,
ten-year and life-of-class periods (as applicable) compare to those
of two broad measures of market
performance.
The SG Trend Index is equal-weighted, reconstituted and rebalanced annually. The
index calculates the net daily
rate of return for a pool of Commodity Trading Advisors selected from the larger
managers that are open to new investment. AlphaSimplex Group, LLC is
part
of this Index. Performance
for Class C shares includes the automatic conversion to Class A shares after
eight years. The Fund’s past
performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the
Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance
information is available online at im.natixis.com and/or by calling
the Fund toll-free
at 800-225-5478.
The
chart does not reflect any sales charge that you may be required to pay when you
buy or redeem the Fund’s shares. A sales charge will reduce your return.
Total Returns for Class Y
Shares
| |
|
Highest Quarterly
Return: First Quarter 2022,
18.13%
Lowest Quarterly
Return: Second Quarter 2015,
-10.57% |
|
|
|
| |
Average Annual Total
Returns |
|
|
|
|
(for the periods ended
December 31, 2022) |
Past 1 Year |
Past 5 Years |
Past 10 Years |
Life of Class N (5/1/17) |
Class
Y - Return Before Taxes |
35.65%
|
8.66%
|
7.57%
|
-
|
Return
After Taxes on Distributions |
24.63%
|
5.54%
|
5.36%
|
-
|
Return
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
23.68%
|
5.60%
|
5.18%
|
-
|
Class
A - Return Before Taxes |
27.54%
|
7.14%
|
6.67%
|
-
|
|
|
|
| |
Average Annual Total
Returns |
|
|
|
|
(for
the periods ended December 31, 2022) |
Past 1 Year |
Past 5 Years |
Past 10 Years |
Life of Class N (5/1/17) |
Class
C - Return Before Taxes |
33.28%
|
7.60%
|
6.66%
|
-
|
Class
N - Return Before Taxes |
35.93%
|
8.81%
|
-
|
8.98%
|
Class
T - Return Before Taxes |
32.05%
|
7.85%
|
7.04%
|
-
|
Credit
Suisse Managed Futures Liquid Index |
22.13%
|
4.05%
|
4.82%
|
4.17%
|
SG
Trend Index |
27.35%
|
8.18%
|
5.74%
|
7.99%
|
The
Fund did not have Class
T shares outstanding during the periods shown above. The returns of
Class
T shares would have been substantially similar to the returns
of the Fund’s other
share classes because they would have been invested in the same portfolio
of securities and would only differ to the extent the other
share classes did not have the same expenses. Performance
of Class T shares shown above is that of Class A shares, which have the same
expenses as Class
T shares, restated to reflect the different sales load applicable to Class T
shares.
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 shown are not relevant to investors who
hold their shares
through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans, qualified plans,
education savings accounts, such as 529 plans, or individual
retirement accounts.
The after-tax returns
are shown for only one class of the Fund.
After-tax returns for the other
classes of the Fund will vary. Index
performance reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes.
Management
Investment
Adviser
AlphaSimplex
Portfolio
Managers
Alexander
D. Healy, Chief Investment Officer of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio
manager of the Fund since 2014.
Kathryn
M. Kaminski, Chief Research Strategist of the Adviser, has served as
co-portfolio manager of the Fund since 2018.
Philippe
P. Lüdi, CFA®,
Senior Research Scientist of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio
manager of the Fund since 2014.
John
C. Perry, Senior Research Scientist of the Adviser, has served as
co-portfolio manager of the Fund since 2017.
Robert
S. Rickard, Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio manager
of the Fund since 2010.
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
Class
A and C Shares
The
following chart shows the investment minimums for various types of
accounts:
|
|
|
| |
Type of Account |
Minimum Initial Purchase |
Minimum Subsequent Purchase |
Any
account other than those listed below |
$ |
2,500
|
$ |
50
|
For
shareholders participating in Natixis Funds’ Investment Builder
Program |
$ |
1,000
|
$ |
50
|
For
Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Rollover IRA, SEP-IRA and Keogh plans using the
Natixis Funds’ prototype document (direct accounts,
not held through intermediary) |
$ |
1,000
|
$ |
50
|
Coverdell
Education Savings Accounts using the Natixis Funds’ prototype document
(direct accounts, not held through intermediary) |
$ |
500
|
$ |
50
|
There
is no initial or subsequent investment minimum for:
• |
Fee Based Programs
(such as wrap accounts) where an advisory fee is paid to the broker-dealer
or other financial intermediary. Please consult your financial
representative to determine if your fee based program is subject to
additional or different conditions or
fees. |
• |
Certain Retirement Plans.
Please consult your retirement plan administrator to determine if your
retirement plan is subject to additional or different conditions
or fees imposed by the plan
administrator. |
• |
Clients
of a Registered Investment Adviser
where the Registered Investment Adviser receives an advisory, management
or consulting fee. |
The
minimum investment requirements for Class A shares may be waived or lowered for
investments effected through certain financial intermediaries that have
entered into special arrangements with Natixis Distribution, LLC (the
“Distributor”). Consult your financial intermediary for additional information
regarding
the minimum investment requirement applicable to your
investment.
Class
N Shares
Class
N shares of the Fund are subject to a $1,000,000 initial investment minimum.
This minimum applies to Fee Based Programs and accounts (such as wrap
accounts)
where an advisory fee is paid to the broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary. There is no subsequent investment minimum for these shares.
There
is no initial investment minimum for:
• |
Certain Retirement Plans.
Please consult your retirement plan administrator to determine if your
retirement plan is subject to additional or different conditions
or fees imposed by the plan
administrator. |
• |
Sub-accounts
held within an omnibus account, where the omnibus account has at least
$1,000,000. |
• |
Funds of funds
that are distributed by the
Distributor. |
In
its sole discretion, the Distributor may waive the investment minimum
requirement for accounts as to which the Distributor reasonably believes will
have enough
assets to exceed the investment minimum requirement within a relatively short
period of time following the establishment date of such accounts in Class
N. The Distributor and the Fund, at any time, reserve the right to liquidate
these accounts or any other account that does not meet the eligibility
requirements
of this class.
Class
T Shares
Class
T shares of the Fund are not currently available for purchase.
Class
T shares of the Fund may only be purchased by investors who are investing
through an authorized third party, such as a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary,
that has entered into a selling agreement with the
Distributor. Investors may not hold Class T shares directly with the Fund. Class
T shares are subject
to a minimum initial investment of $2,500 and a minimum subsequent investment of
$50. Not all financial intermediaries make Class T shares available
to their clients.
Class
Y Shares
Class
Y shares of the Fund are generally subject to a minimum initial investment of
$100,000 and a minimum subsequent investment of $50, except there is
no
minimum initial or subsequent investment for:
• |
Fee Based Programs
(such as wrap accounts) where an advisory fee is paid to the broker-dealer
or other financial intermediary. Please consult your financial
representative to determine if your fee based program is subject to
additional or different conditions or
fees. |
• |
Certain Retirement Plans.
Please consult your retirement plan administrator to determine if your
retirement plan is subject to additional or different conditions
or fees imposed by the plan
administrator. |
• |
Certain Individual Retirement
Accounts
if the amounts invested represent rollover distributions from investments
by any of the retirement plans invested
in the Fund. |
• |
Clients
of a Registered Investment Adviser
where the Registered Investment Adviser receives an advisory, management
or consulting fee. |
• |
Fund Trustees,
former Fund trustees, employees of affiliates of the Natixis Funds and
other individuals who are affiliated with any Natixis Fund (this also
applies
to any spouse, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren
and in-laws of those mentioned) and Natixis affiliate employee benefit
plans. |
At
the discretion of Natixis
Advisors, clients of Natixis Advisors and its affiliates may purchase Class Y
shares of the Fund below the stated minimums.
Due
to operational limitations at your financial intermediary, certain fee based
programs, retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and accounts of
registered
investment advisers may be subject to the investment minimums described
above.
The
Fund’s shares are available for purchase and are redeemable on any business day
through your investment dealer, directly from the Fund by writing to the
Fund
at Natixis Funds, P.O. Box 219579, Kansas City, MO 64121-9579, by exchange, by
wire, by internet at im.natixis.com (certain restrictions may apply),
through
the Automated Clearing House system, or, in the case of redemptions, by
telephone at 800-225-5478 or by the Systematic Withdrawal
Plan.
Tax
Information
Fund
distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains,
except for distributions to retirement plans and other investors that qualify
for
tax-advantaged treatment under U.S. federal income tax law generally.
Investments in such tax-advantaged plans will generally be taxed only upon
withdrawal
of monies from the tax-advantaged arrangement.
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may
pay the intermediary
for the sale of the Fund shares and related services. 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.
Investment
Goal
The
Fund seeks total return with less risk than U.S. equity markets.
Fund
Fees & Expenses
The
following table describes the fees and expenses that 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 this table. You
may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your
family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000
in the Natixis Funds Complex. More information about these and other discounts
is available
from your financial professional and in the section “How Sales Charges Are
Calculated” on page 85 of
the Prospectus,
in Appendix A to the Prospectus
and on page 130 in
the section “Reduced Sales Charges” of the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”).
Shareholder
Fees
|
|
|
|
| |
(fees
paid directly from your investment) |
Class A |
Class C |
Class N |
Class T |
Class Y |
Maximum
sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering
price) |
5.75%
|
None
|
None
|
2.50%
|
None
|
Maximum
deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of original purchase price
or redemption
proceeds, as applicable) |
None
* |
1.00%
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
Redemption
fees |
None
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
* |
A
1.00% contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) may apply to certain
purchases of Class A shares of $1,000,000 or more that are redeemed within
eighteen months of the date
of purchase. |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
|
|
|
|
| |
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
Class A |
Class C |
Class N |
Class T |
Class Y |
Management
fees |
0.58%
|
0.58%
|
0.58%
|
0.58%
|
0.58%
|
Distribution
and/or service (12b-1) fees |
0.25%
|
1.00%
|
0.00%
|
0.25%
|
0.00%
|
Other
expenses |
0.33%
|
0.33%
|
0.65%
|
0.33%
1 |
0.33%
|
Total
annual fund operating expenses |
1.16%
|
1.91%
|
1.23%
|
1.16%
|
0.91%
|
Fee
waiver and/or expense reimbursement2,3 |
0.23%
|
0.23%
|
0.60%
|
0.23%
|
0.23%
|
Total
annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense
reimbursement |
0.93%
|
1.68%
|
0.63%
|
0.93%
|
0.68%
|
1 |
Other
expenses for Class T shares are estimated for the current fiscal
year. |
2 |
Gateway
Investment Advisers, LLC (“Gateway” or the “Adviser”) has given a binding
contractual undertaking to the Fund to limit the amount of the Fund’s
total annual fund operating
expenses to 0.93%, 1.68%, 0.63%, 0.93% and 0.68% of the Fund’s
average daily net assets for Class A, Class C, Class N, Class T and
Class Y shares, respectively, exclusive
of brokerage expenses, interest expense, taxes, acquired fund fees and
expenses, organizational and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation
and indemnification expenses.
This undertaking is in effect through April 30, 2024 and may be terminated
before then only with the consent of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. The
Adviser will be permitted
to recover, on a class-by-class basis, management fees waived and/or
expenses reimbursed to the extent that expenses in later periods fall
below both (1) the class’ applicable
expense limitation at the time such amounts were waived/reimbursed and (2)
the class’ current applicable expense limitation. The Fund will not be
obligated to repay
any such waived/reimbursed fees and expenses more than one year after the
end of the fiscal year in which the fees or expenses were
waived/reimbursed. |
3 |
Natixis
Advisors, LLC (“Natixis Advisors”) has given a binding contractual
undertaking to the Fund to reimburse any and all transfer agency expenses
for Class N shares. This undertaking
is in effect through April 30, 2024 and may be terminated before then only
with the consent of the Fund’s Board of
Trustees. |
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 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 (except where indicated). The
example
also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same,
except
that the example is
based
on the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense
Reimbursement assuming
that such waiver and/or reimbursement will only
be in place through the date noted above and on the Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses for the remaining periods.
The
example for Class C shares for the
ten-year period reflects the conversion to Class A shares after eight
years.
The
example does not take into account brokerage commissions and other fees
to
financial intermediaries that you may pay on your purchases and sales of shares
of the Fund. Although
your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these
assumptions your costs would be:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
If shares are redeemed: |
1 year |
3 years |
5 years |
10 years |
Class
A |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Class
C |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
If shares are redeemed: |
1 year |
3 years |
5 years |
10 years |
Class
N |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Class
T |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Class
Y |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
If shares are not
redeemed: |
1 year |
3 years |
5 years |
10 years |
Class
C |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
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 for you if your 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
its most recently ended fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate
was 11%
of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments,
Risks and Performance
Principal
Investment Strategies
Under
normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus
any borrowings made for investment purposes) in equity securities. Equity
securities purchased by the Fund may include the following U.S. exchange-listed
securities: common stocks; American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), which
are securities issued by a U.S. bank that represent interests in foreign equity
securities; and interests in real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). The
Fund
ordinarily invests in a broadly diversified equity portfolio, while also writing
(selling) index call options with an aggregate notional value approximately
equal
to the market value of the equity portfolio. Writing index call options is
intended to reduce the Fund’s volatility and provide steady cash flow. Cash flow
from
call option writing is intended to be an important source of the Fund’s return,
although the Fund’s option writing activity reduces the Fund’s ability to
profit
from increases in the value of its equity portfolio. The combination of a
diversified stock portfolio and the steady cash flow from the sale of index call
options
is intended to moderate the volatility of returns relative to an all-equity
portfolio. The Fund may invest in companies with small, medium or large
market
capitalizations.
The
Fund’s combination of a broadly diversified portfolio of common stocks and
written index call options is similar to the components of the Cboe S&P
500 BuyWrite
Index (the “BXMSM”).
The BXMSM
is a passive total return index based on (1) buying an S&P 500®
stock index portfolio, and (2) writing (selling) the near-term
S&P 500®
Index “covered” call option. The Fund’s more flexible, active option management
approach creates the potential for it to achieve higher long-term
returns than the BXMSM
while exhibiting a similar level of volatility, as defined by standard deviation
of returns. The similarities between the BXMSM
and the Fund’s equity investment strategy are expected to result in the Fund
exhibiting a positive correlation to the broad U.S. equity markets similar
to
that exhibited by the BXMSM.
With
its core investment in equities, the Fund is intended to be significantly less
vulnerable to fluctuations in value caused by interest rate volatility, a risk
factor
present in both fixed-income investments and “hybrid investments” (blends of
equity and fixed-income securities). Through the use of index options,
the
Fund intends that its risk management strategy will reduce the volatility
inherent in equity investments while also allowing for more participation in
equity returns
than hybrid investments. Thus, the Fund seeks to provide an efficient trade-off
between risk and reward, where risk is characterized by volatility or
fluctuations
in value over time.
Purchasing Stocks
The
Fund invests in a diversified stock portfolio, generally consisting of
approximately 200 to 400 stocks (including ADRs and REITs), designed to support
the Fund’s
index option-based risk management strategy as efficiently as possible while
seeking to enhance the Fund’s after-tax total return. The Adviser uses a
multifactor
quantitative model to construct the stock portfolio. The model evaluates
U.S.-exchange-traded equities that meet the criteria and constraints
established
by the Adviser. Generally, the Adviser tries to minimize the difference between
the performance of the Fund’s stock portfolio and the performance of
the index or indices underlying the Fund’s option strategies while also
considering other factors, such as predicted dividend yield. The Adviser
monitors this difference
and other factors, and rebalances and adjusts the stock portfolio from time to
time, by purchasing and selling stocks. To the extent consistent with
the
Fund’s investment goal, the Adviser may also sell stocks to realize capital
losses in an effort to minimize any required capital gain distributions. The
Adviser
expects the portfolio to generally represent the broad U.S. equity
market.
Writing Index Call Options
The
Fund continuously writes index call options, typically on broad-based securities
market indices, with an aggregate notional value approximately equal to
the
market value of its broadly diversified stock portfolio. As the seller of the
index call option, the Fund receives cash (the “premium”) from the purchaser.
The
purchaser of an index call option has the right to any appreciation in the value
of the index over a fixed price (the “exercise price”) on a certain date in the
future
(the “expiration date”). If the purchaser does not exercise the option, the Fund
retains the premium. If the purchaser exercises the option, the Fund pays
the
purchaser the difference between the value of the index and the exercise price
of the option. The premium, the exercise price and the value of the index
determine
the gain or loss realized by the Fund as the seller of the index call option.
The Fund can also repurchase the call option prior to the expiration date,
ending
its obligation. In such a case, the difference between the cost of repurchasing
the option and the premium received will determine the gain or loss realized
by the Fund.
Other Investments
The
Fund may invest in foreign securities traded in U.S. markets (through ADRs or
stocks traded in U.S. dollars). The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements
and/or hold cash and cash equivalents.
Principal
Investment Risks
The
principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. The Fund does not
represent a complete investment program. You may lose money by investing
in the Fund.
Fund
shares are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed, endorsed or insured by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency,
and are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal
invested.
The
significance of any specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over
time, depending on the composition of the Fund’s portfolio, market conditions,
and
other factors. You should read all of the risk information presented below
carefully, because any one or more of these risks may result in losses to the
Fund.
Management Risk:
A strategy used by the Fund’s portfolio
managers may fail to produce the intended result.
Call Options Risk:
The value of the Fund’s positions in index options will fluctuate in response to
changes in the value of the underlying index. Writing index
call options limits the opportunity to profit from an increase in the market
value of stocks in exchange for up-front cash at the time of selling the call
option.
Unusual market conditions or the lack of a ready market for any particular
option at a specific time may reduce the effectiveness of the Fund’s
option-based
risk management strategy, and for these and other reasons the Fund’s option
strategy may not reduce the Fund’s volatility to the extent
desired.
Equity Securities Risk:
The value of the Fund’s investments in equity securities could be subject to
unpredictable declines in the value of individual securities
and periods of below-average performance in individual securities or in the
equity market as a whole. In the event an issuer is liquidated or
declares
bankruptcy, the claims of owners of the issuer’s bonds generally take precedence
over the claims of those who own preferred stock or common stock.
Securities
of real estate-related companies and REITs
in which the Fund may invest may be considered equity securities, thus
subjecting the Fund to the
risks of investing in equity securities generally.Small-
and mid-capitalization and emerging growth companies may be subject to more
abrupt price movements,
limited markets and less liquidity than larger, more established companies,
which could adversely affect the value of the Fund’s equity
portfolio.
Correlation Risk:
The Fund’s ability to manage the volatility of its equity portfolio by writing
index options depends on the correlation between the returns of the
equity portfolio and those of the index on which the Fund’s index options are
written. Accordingly, the effectiveness of the Fund’s index option-based risk
management
strategy may be reduced to
the extent the performance of the Fund’s equity portfolio does not correlate to
that of the indices underlying its option
positions.
Market/Issuer Risk:
The market value of the Fund’s investments will move up and down, sometimes
rapidly and unpredictably, based upon overall market and
economic conditions, as well as a number of reasons that directly relate to the
issuers of the Fund’s investments, such as management performance, financial
condition and demand for the issuers’ goods and services.
Cybersecurity and Technology Risk:
The Fund, its service providers, and
other market participants increasingly depend on complex information
technology
and communications systems, which are subject to a number of different threats
and risks that could adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders.
Cybersecurity and other operational and technology issues may result in
financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders.
Foreign Securities Risk:
Investments in foreign securities may be subject to greater political, economic,
environmental, credit/counterparty and information risks.
The
Fund’s investments in foreign securities also are subject to foreign currency
fluctuations and other foreign currency-related risks. Foreign
securities may
be subject to higher volatility than U.S. securities, varying degrees of
regulation and limited liquidity.
Large Investor Risk:
Ownership of shares of the Fund may be concentrated in one or a few large
investors. Such investors may redeem shares in large quantities
or on a frequent basis. Redemptions by a large investor can affect the
performance of the Fund, may increase realized capital gains, including
short-term
capital gains taxable as ordinary income, may accelerate the realization of
taxable income to shareholders and may increase transaction costs. These
transactions potentially limit the use of any capital loss carryforwards and
certain other losses to offset future realized capital gains (if any). Such
transactions
may also increase the Fund’s expenses.
REITs Risk: Investments
in the real estate industry, including REITs, are particularly sensitive to
economic downturns and are sensitive to factors such as changes
in real estate values, property taxes and tax laws, interest rates, cash flow of
underlying real estate assets, occupancy rates, government regulations
affecting
zoning, land use and rents and the management skill and creditworthiness of the
issuer. Companies in the real estate industry also may be subject to
liabilities under environmental and hazardous waste laws. In addition, the value
of a REIT is affected by changes in the value of the properties owned by
the
REIT or mortgage loans held by the REIT. REITs are also subject to default and
prepayment risk. Many REITs are highly leveraged, increasing their risk. The
Fund
will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management
fees, paid by each REIT in which it invests in addition to the expenses of
the
Fund.
Risk/Return
Bar Chart and Table
The
bar chart and table shown below provide some indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund by showing
changes in the Fund’s performance from year-to-year
and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for the one-year,
five-year, life-of-fund and life-of-class periods (as applicable) compare to
those
of two broad measures of market performance.The
S&P 500®
Index is a widely recognized measure of U.S. stock market performance. It is an
unmanaged
index of 500 common stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group
representation, among other factors. It also measures the performance
of the large cap segment of the US equities market.
Performance
for Class C shares includes the automatic conversion to Class A shares after
eight years. The
Fund’s past
performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund
will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available
online
at im.natixis.com and/or by calling the Fund toll-free at 800-225-5478.
The
chart does not reflect any sales charge that you may be required to pay when you
buy or redeem the Fund’s shares. A sales charge will reduce your return.
Total Returns for Class Y
Shares
| |
|
Highest
Quarterly Return: Second
Quarter 2020, 11.74%
Lowest
Quarterly Return: First
Quarter 2020, -15.92% |
|
|
|
| |
Average Annual Total
Returns |
|
|
|
|
(for
the periods ended December 31, 2022) |
Past 1 Year |
Past 5 Years |
Life of Fund (9/30/14) |
Life of Class N (5/1/17) |
Class
Y - Return Before Taxes |
-11.48%
|
4.81%
|
5.82%
|
-
|
Return
After Taxes on Distributions |
-11.68%
|
4.58%
|
5.55%
|
-
|
Return
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
-6.65%
|
3.73%
|
4.58%
|
-
|
Class
A - Return Before Taxes |
-16.86%
|
3.32%
|
4.79%
|
-
|
Class
C - Return Before Taxes |
-13.24%
|
3.78%
|
4.79%
|
-
|
Class
N - Return Before Taxes |
-11.51%
|
4.84%
|
-
|
5.59%
|
Class
T - Return Before Taxes |
-13.99%
|
4.03%
|
5.22%
|
-
|
CBOE
S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (BXM) |
-11.37%
|
2.73%
|
4.56%
|
3.73%
|
S&P
500® Index |
-18.11%
|
9.42%
|
10.44%
|
10.67%
|
The
Fund did not have Class
T shares outstanding during the periods shown above. The returns of
Class
T shares would have been substantially similar to the returns
of the Fund’s other
share classes because they would have been invested in the same portfolio
of securities and would only differ to the extent the other
share classes did not have the same expenses. Performance
of Class T shares shown above is that of Class A shares, which have the same
expenses as Class
T shares, restated to reflect the different sales load applicable to Class T
shares.
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 shown are not relevant to investors who
hold
their shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans,
qualified plans, education savings accounts, such as 529 plans, or individual
retirement
accounts. The
after-tax returns are shown for only one class of the Fund.
After-tax
returns for the other classes of the Fund will vary.
Index performance
reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. The
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares for the 1-year
period
exceeds the
Return Before Taxes due to an
assumed tax benefit from losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the
measurement period.
Management
Investment
Adviser
Gateway
Portfolio
Managers
Daniel
M. Ashcraft, CFA®,
Vice President and Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio
manager of the Fund since 2014.
Michael
T. Buckius, CFA®,
President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the Adviser,
has served as co-portfolio manager of the Fund since
2014.
Kenneth
H. Toft, CFA®,
Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, has served as
co-portfolio manager of the Fund since 2014.
Mitchell
J. Trotta, CFA®,
Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, has served as co-portfolio manager of the Fund
since 2021.
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
Class
A and C Shares
The
following chart shows the investment minimums for various types of
accounts:
|
|
|
| |
Type of Account |
Minimum Initial Purchase |
Minimum Subsequent Purchase |
Any
account other than those listed below |
$ |
2,500
|
$ |
50
|
For
shareholders participating in Natixis Funds’ Investment Builder
Program |
$ |
1,000
|
$ |
50
|
For
Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Rollover IRA, SEP-IRA and Keogh plans using the
Natixis Funds’ prototype document (direct accounts,
not held through intermediary) |
$ |
1,000
|
$ |
50
|
Coverdell
Education Savings Accounts using the Natixis Funds’ prototype document
(direct accounts, not held through intermediary) |
$ |
500
|
$ |
50
|
There
is no initial or subsequent investment minimum for:
• |
Fee Based Programs
(such as wrap accounts) where an advisory fee is paid to the broker-dealer
or other financial intermediary. Please consult your financial
representative to determine if your fee based program is subject to
additional or different conditions or
fees. |
• |
Certain Retirement Plans.
Please consult your retirement plan administrator to determine if your
retirement plan is subject to additional or different conditions
or fees imposed by the plan
administrator. |
• |
Clients
of a Registered Investment Adviser
where the Registered Investment Adviser receives an advisory, management
or consulting fee. |
The
minimum investment requirements for Class A shares may be waived or lowered for
investments effected through certain financial intermediaries that have
entered into special arrangements with Natixis Distribution, LLC (the
“Distributor”). Consult your financial intermediary for additional information
regarding
the minimum investment requirement applicable to your investment.
Class
N Shares
Class
N shares of the Fund are subject to a $1,000,000 initial investment minimum.
This minimum applies to Fee Based Programs and accounts (such as wrap
accounts)
where an advisory fee is paid to the broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary. There is no subsequent investment minimum for these shares.
There
is no initial investment minimum for:
• |
Certain Retirement Plans.
Please consult your retirement plan administrator to determine if your
retirement plan is subject to additional or different conditions
or fees imposed by the plan
administrator. |
• |
Sub-accounts
held within an omnibus account, where the omnibus account has at least
$1,000,000. |
• |
Funds of funds
that are distributed by the
Distributor. |
In
its sole discretion, the Distributor may waive the investment minimum
requirement for accounts as to which the Distributor reasonably believes will
have enough
assets to exceed the investment minimum requirement within a relatively short
period of time following the establishment date of such accounts in Class
N. The Distributor and the Fund, at any time, reserve the right to liquidate
these accounts or any other account that does not meet the eligibility
requirements
of this class.
Class
T Shares
Class
T shares of the Fund are not currently available for purchase.
Class
T shares of the Fund may only be purchased by investors who are investing
through an authorized third party, such as a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary,
that has entered into a selling agreement with the
Distributor. Investors may not hold Class T shares directly with the Fund. Class
T shares are subject
to a minimum initial investment of $2,500 and a minimum subsequent investment of
$50. Not all financial intermediaries make Class T shares available
to their clients.
Class
Y Shares
Class
Y shares of the Fund are generally subject to a minimum initial investment of
$100,000 and a minimum subsequent investment of $50, except there is
no
minimum initial or subsequent investment for:
• |
Fee Based Programs
(such as wrap accounts) where an advisory fee is paid to the broker-dealer
or other financial intermediary. Please consult your financial
representative to determine if your fee based program is subject to
additional or different conditions or
fees. |
• |
Certain Retirement Plans.
Please consult your retirement plan administrator to determine if your
retirement plan is subject to additional or different conditions
or fees imposed by the plan
administrator. |
• |
Certain Individual Retirement
Accounts
if the amounts invested represent rollover distributions from investments
by any of the retirement plans invested
in the Fund. |
• |
Clients
of a Registered Investment Adviser
where the Registered Investment Adviser receives an advisory, management
or consulting fee. |
• |
Fund Trustees,
former Fund trustees, employees of affiliates of the Natixis Funds and
other individuals who are affiliated with any Natixis Fund (this also
applies
to any spouse, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren
and in-laws of those mentioned) and Natixis affiliate employee benefit
plans. |
At
the discretion of Natixis
Advisors, clients of Natixis Advisors and its affiliates may purchase Class Y
shares of the Fund below the stated minimums.
Due
to operational limitations at your financial intermediary, certain fee based
programs, retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and accounts of
registered
investment advisers may be subject to the investment minimums described
above.
The
Fund’s shares are available for purchase and are redeemable on any business day
through your investment dealer, directly from the Fund by writing to the
Fund
at Natixis Funds, P.O. Box 219579, Kansas City, MO 64121-9579, by exchange, by
wire, by internet at im.natixis.com (certain restrictions may apply),
through
the Automated Clearing House system, or, in the case of redemptions, by
telephone at 800-225-5478 or by the Systematic Withdrawal
Plan.
Tax
Information
Fund
distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains,
except for distributions to retirement plans and other investors that qualify
for
tax-advantaged treatment under U.S. federal income tax law generally.
Investments in such tax-advantaged plans will generally be taxed only upon
withdrawal
of monies from the tax-advantaged arrangement.
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial
intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may
pay the intermediary
for the sale of the Fund shares and related services. 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.
Investment
Goal
The
Fund seeks to capture the majority of the returns associated with equity market
investments, while exposing investors to less risk than other equity
investments.
Fund
Fees & Expenses
The
following table describes the fees and expenses that 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 this table. You
may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your
family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000
in the Natixis Funds Complex. More information about these and other discounts
is available
from your financial professional and in the section “How Sales Charges Are
Calculated” on page 85 of
the Prospectus,
in Appendix A to the Prospectus
and on page 130 in
the section “Reduced Sales Charges” of the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”).
Shareholder
Fees
|
|
|
|
| |
(fees
paid directly from your investment) |
Class A |
Class C |
Class N |
Class T |
Class Y |
Maximum
sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering
price) |
5.75%
|
None
|
None
|
2.50%
|
None
|
Maximum
deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of original purchase price
or redemption
proceeds, as applicable) |
None
* |
1.00%
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
Redemption
fees |
None
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
None
|
* |
A
1.00% contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) may apply to certain
purchases of Class A shares of $1,000,000 or more that are redeemed within
eighteen months of the date
of purchase. |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
|
|
|
|
| |
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
Class A |
Class C |
Class N |
Class T |
Class Y |
Management
fees |
0.58%
|
0.58%
|
0.58%
|
0.58%
|
0.58%
|
Distribution
and/or service (12b-1) fees |
0.25%
|
1.00%
|
0.00%
|
0.25%
|
0.00%
|
Other
expenses |
0.13%
|
< |