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Policies Regarding Frequent Purchases
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Investment Goal
The investment goal of Baron Partners Fund® (the “Fund”) is capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you would pay if you bought and held shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fee |
Distribution (12b-1) Fee |
Other Expenses | Total Other Expenses |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
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Operating Expenses |
Interest Expense |
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BARON PARTNERS FUND |
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Retail Shares |
1.00% | 0.25% | 0.05% | 0.94% | 0.99% | 2.24% | ||||||||||||||||||
Institutional Shares |
1.00% | 0.00% | 0.04% | 0.95% | 0.99% | 1.99% | ||||||||||||||||||
R6 Shares |
1.00% | 0.00% | 0.05% | 0.94% | 0.99% | 1.99% |
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. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
YEAR | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||||||
BARON PARTNERS FUND |
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Retail Shares |
$ | 227 | $ | 700 | $ | 1,200 | $ | 2,575 | ||||||||
Institutional Shares |
$ | 202 | $ | 624 | $ | 1,073 | $ | 2,317 | ||||||||
R6 Shares |
$ | 202 | $ |
624 |
|
$ |
1,073 |
|
$ |
2,317 |
|
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 Fund shareholders. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating
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Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 5.19% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund is a non-diversified fund that invests for the long term primarily in equity securities in the form of common stock of U.S. growth companies of any market capitalization. BAMCO, Inc. (“BAMCO” or the “Adviser”) seeks to invest in businesses it believes have significant opportunities for growth, sustainable competitive advantages, exceptional management, and an attractive valuation. To take advantage of opportunities to invest, the Fund may borrow money from banks (leverage) in an amount up to one-third of its total assets, which include assets purchased with borrowed money.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
Non-Diversified Portfolio. The Fund is non-diversified, which means it will likely have a greater percentage of its assets in a single issuer than a diversified fund. As a result, a non-diversified fund will likely invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers, and the performance of those issuers may have a greater effect on the Fund’s performance compared to a diversified fund. Thus, a non-diversified fund is more likely to experience significant fluctuations in value, exposing the Fund to a greater risk of loss in any given period than a diversified fund. As of the date of this prospectus, about 28% of the Fund’s net assets are invested in Tesla (“Tesla”) stock due to dramatic upward market movements in Tesla’s share price. For so long as the Fund maintains its investment in Tesla, the Fund’s performance will be significantly affected by the performance of Tesla stock and any decline in the price of Tesla stock would materially and adversely affect your investment in the Fund. (Please see “Tesla” in the “Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund” section.)
Tesla. As of the date of this prospectus, about 28% of the Fund’s net assets are invested in Tesla stock. Therefore, the Fund is exposed to the risk that were Tesla stock to lose significant value, which could happen rapidly, the Fund’s performance would be adversely affected. Before investing in the Fund, investors should carefully consider publicly available information about Tesla. There can be no assurances that the Fund will maintain its investment in Tesla, as the Adviser maintains discretion to actively manage the Fund’s portfolio, including by decreasing or liquidating the Fund’s investment in Tesla at any time. However, for so long as the Fund maintains a substantial investment in Tesla, the Fund’s performance will be significantly affected
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by the performance of Tesla stock and any decline in the price of Tesla stock would materially and adversely affect your investment in the Fund.
Single Issuer. Single issuer risk is the possibility that factors specific to an issuer to which the Fund is exposed will affect the market prices of the issuer’s securities and therefore the net asset value of the Fund. Due to the size of the Fund’s investment in Tesla, about 28% of its net assets as of the date of this prospectus, the net asset value of the Fund will be materially impacted by the price of Tesla stock. (Please see “Tesla” in the “Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund” section.)
Common CEO Risk. The Fund may invest in different companies which have certain persons in common, including the Chief Executive Officer or other person or persons fundamental to the success of the company. As a result, the Fund may be exposed to risks associated with an individual which may be greater than would be the case if measured only by investments on a per company basis. Notably, the Fund has made investments in both Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Tesla, Inc., the Chief Executive Officer of each is Elon Musk. As such, the Fund may be considered to be exposed to the risk of success of Mr. Musk.
Industry Concentration. From time to time, market fluctuations in the value of the Fund’s investments, combined with the Fund’s non-diversified portfolio, may result in the Fund being concentrated in the securities of a single issuer or a small number of issuers, including in a particular industry. As a result, the Fund will be particularly exposed to the risks of that company or industry relative to the risk exposure of investment companies holding a diversified portfolio of securities or those that seek to maintain near-index weightings in their portfolio securities. Accordingly, in those cases, the Fund will be disproportionately exposed to the market conditions, interest rates, and economic, regulatory, or financial developments that significantly affect that company or industry. For example, due to the size of the Fund’s investment in Tesla, Inc., which represents about 28% of its net assets as of the date of this prospectus, the Fund will be adversely impacted by developments affecting the automotive and energy industries, as well as governmental environmental regulations. (Please see “Tesla” in the “Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund” section.)
Leverage. The Fund borrows money from banks to buy securities and pledge its assets in connection with the borrowing. If the interest expense of the borrowing is greater than the return on the securities bought, the use of leverage will decrease the return to shareholders in the Fund. Use of leverage also tends to magnify the volatility of the Fund’s returns. The greater the use of leverage by the Fund, the greater the risk of the volatility of the Fund’s returns.
Growth Investing. Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Growth stocks tend to be more expensive relative to their earnings or assets
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compared to other types of stocks. As a result, because growth stocks tend to be sensitive to changes in their earnings and to increasing interest rates and inflation, they tend to be more volatile than other types of stocks. In response, from time to time, growth investing as an investment style may go out of favor with investors.
Consumer Discretionary Sector. The consumer discretionary sector may be affected by changes in domestic and international economies, exchange and interest rates, inflation, competition, consumers’ disposable income, consumer preferences, social trends and marketing campaigns.
General Stock Market. Fund losses may be incurred due to declines in one or more markets in which Fund investments are made. These declines may be the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s). In addition, turbulence as has recently been experienced, caused, among other reasons, by increased inflation, tightening monetary policy and interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve or similar international bodies, and reduced liquidity in financial markets may continue to negatively affect many issuers, which could have an adverse effect on your Fund investment. Events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect one industry, such as the financial services industry, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems, may spread to other industries, and could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the world-wide response to it, have and may continue to adversely impact issuers and markets worldwide. The active and expanding conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas presents considerable market risks. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments or voluntarily imposed by private parties, including closing borders, restricting travel and imposing prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, as well as the closure of, or operational changes to, many retail and other businesses, have had negative impacts, and in many cases severe negative impacts, on markets worldwide. It is not known how long such impacts, or any future impacts of other significant events described above, will or would last, but there could be a prolonged period of global economic slowdown, which may impact your Fund investment. Raising the ceiling on U.S. government debt has become increasingly politicized. Any failure to increase the total amount that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow could lead to a default on U.S. government obligations, with unpredictable consequences for economies and markets in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Industrials Sector. The Fund’s investments are exposed to issuers conducting business in the Industrials Sector. The Industrials Sector includes manufacturers and
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distributors of capital goods such as aerospace and defense, building projects, electrical equipment and machinery and companies that offer construction and engineering services. It also includes providers of commercial and professional services including printing, environmental and facilities services, office services and supplies, security and alarm services, human resource and employment services, research and consulting services. It also includes companies that provide transportation services. The Fund is subject to the risk that the securities of such issuers will underperform the market as a whole due to legislative or regulatory changes, adverse market conditions and/or increased competition affecting the Industrials Sector. The prices of the securities of companies operating in the Industrials Sector may fluctuate due to the level and volatility of commodity prices, the exchange value of the dollar, import controls, worldwide competition, liability for environmental damage, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control devices.
Risks of Emphasizing a Sector or Industry. If the Fund has invested a higher percentage of its total assets in a particular sector or industry, changes affecting that sector or industry may have a significant impact on the performance of the Fund’s overall portfolio. The economies and financial markets of certain regions — such as Latin America, Asia, and Europe and the Mediterranean region — can be interdependent and may all decline at the same time.
Small- and Mid-Sized Companies. The Adviser believes there is more potential for capital appreciation in small- and mid-sized companies, but there also may be more risk. Securities of small- and mid-sized companies may not be well known to most investors, and the securities may be less actively traded than those of large businesses. The securities of small- and mid-sized companies may fluctuate in price more widely than the stock market generally, and they may be more difficult to sell during market downturns. Small- and mid-sized companies rely more on the skills of management and on their continued tenure. Investing in small- and mid-sized companies requires a long-term outlook and may require shareholders to assume more risk and to have more patience than investing in the securities of larger, more established companies.
Performance
Although Baron Partners Fund was registered as a mutual fund on April 30, 2003, it has been managed in the same style and by the same portfolio manager since the predecessor partnership’s inception on January 31, 1992, and since its conversion to a Delaware statutory trust structure on April 30, 2003. The Fund’s investment goals, policies, guidelines and restrictions are, in all material respects, equivalent to the predecessor partnership’s. The following information shows the Fund’s annual
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returns and long-term performance reflecting the actual fees and expenses that were charged when the Fund was a partnership and since it converted to a mutual fund. The predecessor partnership charged a 20% performance fee after it reached a certain performance benchmark. If the annual returns for the Fund did not reflect the performance fee for the years the partnership charged a performance fee, the returns would have been higher. The Fund does not charge a performance fee. From its inception on January 31, 1992 through April 30, 2003, the predecessor partnership was not subject to certain investment restrictions, diversification requirements and other restrictions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), which if they had been applicable, might have adversely affected its performance. The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund (Retail Shares) by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5, 10 years, and since inception compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.BaronFunds.com/performance or by calling 1-800-99BARON (1-800-992-2766).
Year by Year Total Return (%) as of December 31 of Each Year (Retail Shares)
Best Quarter: |
6/30/20: 49.36% |
Worst Quarter: |
6/30/22: (30.59)% |
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Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/23)
The following table shows the Fund’s Retail Shares’ annual returns and long-term performance (before and after taxes), which includes its predecessor partnership’s average annual returns, and the change in value of market indexes over various periods ended December 31, 2023. This table shows how the Fund’s performance compares to that of the Russell Midcap® Growth Index, which measures the performance of the mid-cap growth segment of the U.S. equity universe, in which the Fund invests, and the Russell 3000® Index, a broad-based securities index comprised of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies as determined by total market capitalization. The table also shows the average annual returns of the Fund’s Institutional Shares and R6 Shares, but it does not show after-tax returns.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest individual federal marginal income tax rate in effect at the time of each distribution and assumed sale, but they do not include the impact of state and local taxes. Because the predecessor partnership did not have a distribution policy prior to May 1, 2003, the Fund is unable to show after-tax returns prior to that date.
Your
actual after-tax returns depend on your own tax situation and may differ from
those shown. After-tax returns reflect past tax effects and are not predictive
of future tax effects. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold
their Fund shares in a tax-deferred account (including a
401(k) or IRA or
Coverdell account), or to investors that are tax-exempt.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods ended December 31, 2023
1 year | 5 years | 10 years | Since Inception |
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BARON PARTNERS FUND |
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Retail
Shares |
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Return before taxes |
43.10% | 31.23% | 18.80% | 15.03% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions |
43.10% | 30.29% | 18.36% | 14.73% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
25.52% | 26.19% | 16.22% | 13.91% | ||||||||||||
Institutional
Shares* |
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Return before taxes |
43.47% | 31.57% | 19.11% | 15.17% |
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1 year | 5 years | 10 years | Since Inception |
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R6
Shares* |
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Return before taxes |
43.46% | 31.57% | 19.11% | 15.16% | ||||||||||||
Russell Midcap® Growth Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
25.87% | 13.81% | 10.57% | 9.91% | ||||||||||||
Russell 3000® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
25.96% | 15.16% | 11.48% | 10.10% |
* | Performance for the Institutional Shares prior to May 29, 2009 is based on the performance of the Retail Shares. Performance for the R6 Shares prior to August 31, 2016 is based on the performance of the Institutional Shares, and prior to May 29, 2009 is based on the Retail Shares. The Retail Shares have a distribution fee, but Institutional Shares and R6 Shares do not. If the annual returns for the Institutional Shares and R6 Shares prior to May 29, 2009 did not reflect this fee, the returns would be higher. |
Management
Investment Adviser. BAMCO is the investment adviser of the Fund.
Portfolio Manager. Ronald Baron has been the Lead Portfolio Manager of the Fund since its inception on April 30, 2003. Prior to that, he was the portfolio manager of the predecessor partnership from its inception on January 31, 1992 to April 30, 2003. Michael Baron has been the co-manager of the Fund since August 28, 2018. Mr. Ronald Baron founded the Adviser in 1987. Mr. Michael Baron joined the Adviser as a research analyst in September of 2004.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Shares may be purchased only on days that the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading.
Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Retail Shares |
$2,000 | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Automatic Investment Plan |
$500 (with subsequent minimum investments of $50 per month until your investment has reached $2,000.) | No Minimum | No Maximum |
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Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
$2,000 | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
Institutional Shares |
$1,000,000 (Employees of the Adviser and its affiliates and Trustees of the Baron Funds® and employer sponsored retirement plans (qualified and nonqualified) are not subject to the eligibility requirements for Institutional Shares.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
R6 Shares |
$5,000,000 (There is no minimum initial investment for qualified retirement plans; however, the shares must be held through plan-level or omnibus accounts held on the books of the Fund.) | No Minimum | No Maximum |
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Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. |
You Can Purchase or Redeem Shares By:
1. | Mailing a request to Baron Funds®, P.O. Box 219946, Kansas City, MO 64121-9946 or by overnight mail to: Baron Funds®, 430 West 7th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105-1514; |
2. | Wire (Purchase Only); |
3. | Calling 1-800-442-3814; |
4. | Visiting the Baron Funds® website www.BaronFunds.com; or |
5. | Through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary that may charge you a fee. |
The Fund is not for short-term traders who intend to purchase and then sell their Fund shares within a 90 day period. If the Adviser reasonably believes that a person is not a long-term investor, it will attempt to prohibit that person from making additional investments in the Fund.
Tax Information
Distributions of the Fund’s net investment income (other than “qualified dividend income”) and distributions of net short-term capital gains will be taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund’s net long-term capital gains reported as capital gain dividends by the Fund will be taxable to you as long-term capital gains, regardless of the length of time you have held shares of the Fund. If you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, you may be subject to federal income tax on withdrawals from tax-deferred arrangement at a later date.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
If you purchase Retail or Institutional Shares of the Fund through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial adviser), the Fund, Baron Capital, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, BAMCO or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker, dealer or other financial intermediary, including your salesperson, to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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Investment Goal
The investment goal of Baron Focused Growth Fund® (the “Fund”) is capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you would pay if you bought and held shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fee |
Distribution (12b-1) Fee |
Other Expenses |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
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BARON FOCUSED GROWTH FUND |
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Retail Shares |
1.00% | 0.25% | 0.07% | 1.32% | ||||||||||||
Institutional Shares |
1.00% | 0.00% | 0.06% | 1.06% | ||||||||||||
R6 Shares |
1.00% | 0.00% | 0.06% | 1.06% |
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. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
YEAR | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||||||
BARON FOCUSED GROWTH FUND |
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Retail Shares |
$ | 134 | $ | 418 | $ | 723 | $ | 1,590 | ||||||||
Institutional Shares |
$ | 108 | $ | 337 | $ | 585 | $ | 1,294 | ||||||||
R6 Shares |
$ | 108 | $ | 337 | $ | 585 | $ | 1,294 |
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
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may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes for Fund shareholders. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 5.84% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund is a non-diversified fund that invests for the long term primarily in equity securities in the form of common stock of U.S. small- and mid-sized growth companies. The Adviser defines small- and mid-sized companies as those, at the time of purchase, with market capitalizations up to the largest market cap stock in the Russell Midcap Growth Index at reconstitution. The Adviser seeks to invest in businesses it believes have significant opportunities for growth, sustainable competitive advantages, exceptional management, and an attractive valuation. Because of its long-term approach, the Fund could have a significant percentage of its assets invested in securities that have appreciated beyond their original market cap ranges.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
Non-Diversified Portfolio. The Fund is non-diversified, which means it will likely have a greater percentage of its assets in a single issuer than a diversified fund. As a result, a non-diversified fund will likely invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers, and the performance of those issuers may have a greater effect on the Fund’s performance compared to a diversified fund. Thus, a non-diversified fund is more likely to experience significant fluctuations in value, exposing the Fund to a greater risk of loss in any given period than a diversified fund.
Growth Investing. Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Growth stocks tend to be more expensive relative to their earnings or assets compared to other types of stocks. As a result, because growth stocks tend to be sensitive to changes in their earnings and to increasing interest rates and inflation, they tend to be more volatile than other types of stocks. In response, from time to time, growth investing as an investment style may go out of favor with investors.
Consumer Discretionary Sector. The consumer discretionary sector may be affected by changes in domestic and international economies, exchange and interest rates, inflation, competition, consumers’ disposable income, consumer preferences, social trends and marketing campaigns.
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General Stock Market. Fund losses may be incurred due to declines in one or more markets in which Fund investments are made. These declines may be the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s). In addition, turbulence as has recently been experienced, caused, among other reasons, by increased inflation, tightening monetary policy and interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve or similar international bodies, and reduced liquidity in financial markets may continue to negatively affect many issuers, which could have an adverse effect on your Fund investment. Events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect one industry, such as the financial services industry, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems, may spread to other industries, and could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the world-wide response to it, have and may continue to adversely impact issuers and markets worldwide. The active and expanding conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas presents considerable market risks. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments or voluntarily imposed by private parties, including closing borders, restricting travel and imposing prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, as well as the closure of, or operational changes to, many retail and other businesses, have had negative impacts, and in many cases severe negative impacts, on markets worldwide. It is not known how long such impacts, or any future impacts of other significant events described above, will or would last, but there could be a prolonged period of global economic slowdown, which may impact your Fund investment. Raising the ceiling on U.S. government debt has become increasingly politicized. Any failure to increase the total amount that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow could lead to a default on U.S. government obligations, with unpredictable consequences for economies and markets in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Risks of Emphasizing a Sector or Industry. If the Fund has invested a higher percentage of its total assets in a particular sector or industry, changes affecting that sector or industry may have a significant impact on the performance of the Fund’s overall portfolio. The economies and financial markets of certain regions — such as Latin America, Asia, and Europe and the Mediterranean region — can be interdependent and may all decline at the same time.
Small-and Mid-Sized Companies. The Adviser believes there is more potential for capital appreciation in small-and mid-sized companies, but there also may be more risk. Securities of small-and mid-sized companies may not be well known to most investors, and the securities may be less actively traded than those of large
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businesses. The securities of small-and mid-sized companies may fluctuate in price more widely than the stock market generally, and they may be more difficult to sell during market downturns. Small-and mid-sized companies rely more on the skills of management and on their continued tenure. Investing in small-and mid-sized companies requires a long-term outlook and may require shareholders to assume more risk and to have more patience than investing in the securities of larger, more established companies.
Performance
Although Baron Focused Growth Fund was registered as a mutual fund on June 30, 2008, it has been managed in the same style and by the same portfolio manager since the predecessor partnership’s inception on May 31, 1996. The Fund was added as a series of Baron Select Funds, a Delaware statutory trust, on June 30, 2008. The Fund’s investment goals, policies, guidelines and restrictions are, in all material respects, equivalent to the predecessor partnership’s. The following information shows the Fund’s annual returns and long-term performance reflecting the actual fees and expenses that were charged when the Fund was a partnership and since it converted to a mutual fund. The predecessor partnership charged a 15% performance fee after it reached a certain performance benchmark. If the annual returns for the Fund did not reflect the performance fee for the years the partnership charged a performance fee, the returns would have been higher. The Fund does not charge a performance fee. From its inception on May 31, 1996 through June 30, 2008, the predecessor partnership was not subject to certain investment restrictions, diversification requirements and other restrictions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), which if they had been applicable, might have adversely affected its performance. The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund (Retail Shares) by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5, 10 years, and since inception compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.BaronFunds.com/performance or by calling 1-800-99BARON (1-800-992-2766).
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Year by Year Total Return (%) as of December 31 of Each Year (Retail Shares)
Best Quarter: |
9/30/20: 43.62% |
Worst Quarter: |
6/30/22: (19.97)% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/23)
The following table shows the Fund’s Retail Shares’ annual returns and long-term performance (before and after taxes), which includes its predecessor partnership’s average annual returns, and the change in value of market indexes over various periods ended December 31, 2023. This table shows how the Fund’s performance compares to that of the Russell 2500® Growth Index, which measures the performance of the small to mid-cap growth segment of the U.S. equity universe, in which the Fund invests, and the Russell 3000® Index, a broad-based securities index comprised of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies as determined by total market capitalization. The table also shows the average annual returns of the Fund’s Institutional Shares and R6 Shares, but it does not show after-tax returns.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest individual federal marginal income tax rate in effect at the time of each distribution and assumed sale, but they do not include the impact of state and local taxes. Because the predecessor partnership did not have a distribution policy prior to July 1, 2008, the Fund is unable to show after-tax returns prior to that date.
Your actual after-tax returns depend on your own tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns reflect past tax effects and are not predictive of future
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Baron Focused Growth Fund
tax
effects. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund
shares in a tax-deferred account (including a
401(k) or IRA or Coverdell
account), or to investors that are tax-exempt.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods ended December 31, 2023
1 year | 5 years | 10 years | Since Inception |
|||||||||||||
BARON FOCUSED GROWTH FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
27.40% | 25.69% | 15.25% | 13.20% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions |
27.40% | 23.92% | 14.03% | 12.69% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
16.22% | 21.19% | 12.64% | 11.94% | ||||||||||||
Institutional
Shares* |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
27.73% | 26.01% | 15.54% | 13.35% | ||||||||||||
R6
Shares* |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
27.75% | 26.01% | 15.55% | 13.35% | ||||||||||||
Russell 2500™ Growth Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
18.93% | 11.43% | 8.78% | 8.04% | ||||||||||||
Russell 3000® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
25.96% | 15.16% | 11.48% | 9.31% |
* | Performance for the Institutional Shares prior to May 29, 2009 is based on the performance of the Retail Shares. Performance for the R6 Shares prior to August 31, 2016 is based on the performance of the Institutional Shares, and prior to May 29, 2009 is based on the Retail Shares. The Retail Shares have a distribution fee, but Institutional Shares and R6 Shares do not. If the annual returns for the Institutional Shares and R6 Shares prior to May 29, 2009 did not reflect this fee, the returns would be higher. |
Management
Investment Adviser. BAMCO is the investment adviser of the Fund.
Portfolio Manager. Ronald Baron has been the Lead Portfolio Manager of the Fund since its inception on June 30, 2008. Prior to that, he was the portfolio manager of the predecessor partnership from its inception on May 31, 1996 to June 30, 2008. David Baron has been the co-manager of the Fund since August 28, 2018. Mr. Ronald Baron founded the Adviser in 1987. Mr. David Baron joined the Adviser as a research analyst in July of 2005.
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Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Shares may be purchased only on days that the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading.
Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Retail Shares |
$2,000 | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Automatic Investment Plan |
$500 (with subsequent minimum investments of $50 per month until your investment has reached $2,000.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
$2,000 | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
Institutional Shares |
$1,000,000 (Employees of the Adviser and its affiliates and Trustees of the Baron Funds® and employer sponsored retirement plans (qualified and nonqualified) are not subject to the eligibility requirements for Institutional Shares.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. |
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Baron Focused Growth Fund
Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
R6 Shares |
$5,000,000 (There is no minimum initial investment for qualified retirement plans; however, the shares must be held through plan-level or omnibus accounts held on the books of the Fund.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. |
You Can Purchase or Redeem Shares By:
1. | Mailing a request to Baron Funds®, P.O. Box 219946, Kansas City, MO 64121-9946 or by overnight mail to: Baron Funds®, 430 West 7th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105-1514; |
2. | Wire (Purchase Only); |
3. | Calling 1-800-442-3814; |
4. | Visiting the Baron Funds® website www.BaronFunds.com; or |
5. | Through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary that may charge you a fee. |
The Fund is not for short-term traders who intend to purchase and then sell their Fund shares within a 90 day period. If the Adviser reasonably believes that a person is not a long-term investor, it will attempt to prohibit that person from making additional investments in the Fund.
Tax Information
Distributions of the Fund’s net investment income (other than “qualified dividend income”) and distributions of net short-term capital gains will be taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund’s net long-term capital gains reported as capital gain dividends by the Fund will be taxable to you as long-term capital gains, regardless of the length of time you have held shares of the Fund. If you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, you may be subject to federal income tax on withdrawals from tax-deferred arrangement at a later date.
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Financial Intermediary Compensation
If you purchase Retail or Institutional Shares of the Fund through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial adviser), the Fund, Baron Capital, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, BAMCO or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker, dealer or other financial intermediary, including your salesperson, to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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Baron International Growth Fund
Investment Goal
The investment goal of Baron International Growth Fund® (the “Fund”) is capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you would pay if you bought and held shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fee |
Distribution (12b-1) Fee |
Other Expenses |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
Expense Reimbursements |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursements1 |
|||||||||||||||||||
BARON INTERNATIONAL GROWTH FUND |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
0.88% | 0.25% | 0.13% | 1.26% | (0.06 | )% | 1.20% | |||||||||||||||||
Institutional Shares |
0.88% | 0.00% | 0.10% | 0.98% | (0.03 | )% | 0.95% | |||||||||||||||||
R6 Shares |
0.88% | 0.00% | 0.10% | 0.98% | (0.03 | )% | 0.95% |
1 | BAMCO, Inc. (“BAMCO” or the “Adviser”) has agreed that, pursuant to a contract with an 11-year term terminating on August 29, 2034, it will reimburse certain expenses of the Fund, limiting net annual operating expenses (portfolio transaction costs, interest and dividend expense, acquired fund fees and expenses, fees and expenses related to filing foreign tax reclaims, and extraordinary expenses are not subject to the operating expense limitation) to 1.20% of average daily net assets of Retail Shares, 0.95% of average daily net assets of Institutional Shares, and 0.95% of average daily net assets of R6 Shares. Only the Board of Trustees of the Fund may terminate the expense reimbursement agreement prior to its termination date. |
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. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, giving effect to the
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expense reimbursement agreement described above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
YEAR | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||||||
BARON INTERNATIONAL GROWTH FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
$ | 122 | $ | 381 | $ | 660 | $ | 1,455 | ||||||||
Institutional Shares |
$ | 97 | $ | 303 | $ | 525 | $ | 1,166 | ||||||||
R6 Shares |
$ | 97 | $ | 303 | $ | 525 | $ | 1,166 |
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 Fund shareholders. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 32.76% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund is a diversified fund that invests for the long term primarily in equity securities in the form of common stock of non-U.S. growth companies. Non-U.S. securities include securities that the Adviser determines are “non-U.S.” based on the consideration of an issuer’s domicile, its principal place of business, its primary stock exchange listing, the source of its revenue or other factors. The Fund seeks to diversify its investments among several developed countries and developing countries throughout the world, although the Fund may only invest up to 35% of its net assets in developing countries. Developing countries include countries in the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index, countries in the MSCI Frontier Markets (FM) Index and other countries determined by the Adviser to be developing countries based on classifications made by the International Monetary Fund or on country characteristics similar to those of the countries in the EM and FM Indexes. The Fund may purchase securities of companies of any market capitalization. The Adviser seeks to invest in businesses it believes have significant opportunities for growth, sustainable competitive advantages, exceptional management, and an attractive valuation.
The Fund’s investments in non-U.S. securities generally are traded in currencies other than U.S. dollars, so the Adviser buys and sells foreign currencies to facilitate transactions in portfolio securities. The Adviser usually does not hedge against possible fluctuations in exchange rates, but exposure to a particular currency that the Adviser believes is overvalued may be hedged if the Fund has a substantial position in securities traded in
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Baron International Growth Fund
that currency. The Fund may buy and sell currencies for cash at current exchange rates, or use an agreement to purchase or sell a specified currency at a specified future date or within a specified time period, at a price set at the time of the contract.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
Non-U.S. Securities. Investing in non-U.S. securities may involve additional risks to those inherent in investing in U.S. securities, including exchange rate fluctuations, political or economic instability, the imposition of exchange controls, expropriation, limited disclosure and illiquid markets.
Developing Countries. The Fund invests in developing countries, which include countries in the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index, countries in the MSCI Frontier Markets (FM) Index and other countries determined by the Adviser to be developing countries based on classifications made by the International Monetary Fund or on country characteristics similar to those of the countries in the EM and FM Indexes. Investments in developing countries are subject to all of the risks of non-U.S. investing generally, and have additional heightened risks due to a lack of established legal, political, business and social frameworks to support securities markets, including: delays in settling portfolio securities transactions; currency and capital controls; greater sensitivity to interest rate changes; pervasiveness of corruption and crime; currency exchange rate volatility; and inflation, deflation or currency devaluation. These risks are greater for countries in the FM Index.
Currency. This refers to a decline in the value of a foreign currency versus the U.S. dollar, which reduces the dollar value of securities denominated in that currency. The overall impact on the Fund’s holdings can be significant, unpredictable and long-lasting, depending on the currencies represented in the portfolio and how each one appreciates or depreciates in relation to the U.S. dollar and whether currency positions are hedged. Under normal conditions, the Fund does not engage in extensive foreign currency hedging programs. Further, because exchange rate movements are volatile, the Fund’s attempts at hedging could be unsuccessful, and it may not be possible to effectively hedge the currency risks of many developing countries.
Growth Investing. Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Growth stocks tend to be more expensive relative to their earnings or assets compared to other types of stocks. As a result, because growth stocks tend to be sensitive to changes in their earnings and to increasing interest rates and inflation, they tend to be more volatile than other types of stocks. In response, from time to time, growth investing as an investment style may go out of favor with investors.
General Stock Market. Fund losses may be incurred due to declines in one or more markets in which Fund investments are made. These declines may be the result of, among
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Baron International Growth Fund
other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s). In addition, turbulence as has recently been experienced, caused, among other reasons, by increased inflation, tightening monetary policy and interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve or similar international bodies, and reduced liquidity in financial markets may continue to negatively affect many issuers, which could have an adverse effect on your Fund investment. Events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect one industry, such as the financial services industry, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems, may spread to other industries, and could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the world-wide response to it, have and may continue to adversely impact issuers and markets worldwide. The active and expanding conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas presents considerable market risks. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments or voluntarily imposed by private parties, including closing borders, restricting travel and imposing prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, as well as the closure of, or operational changes to, many retail and other businesses, have had negative impacts, and in many cases severe negative impacts, on markets worldwide. It is not known how long such impacts, or any future impacts of other significant events described above, will or would last, but there could be a prolonged period of global economic slowdown, which may impact your Fund investment. Raising the ceiling on U.S. government debt has become increasingly politicized. Any failure to increase the total amount that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow could lead to a default on U.S. government obligations, with unpredictable consequences for economies and markets in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Risks Associated with China and Hong Kong. The Chinese government exercises significant control over China’s economy through its industrial policies, monetary policy, management of currency exchange rates, and management of the payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations. Changes in these policies could adversely impact affected industries or companies in China. China’s economy, particularly its export-oriented industries, may be adversely impacted by trade or political disputes with China’s major trading partners, including the U.S. The United States has imposed tariffs and other trade barriers on Chinese exports, has restricted sales of certain categories of goods to China, and has established barriers to investments in China. Trade disputes may adversely affect the economies of the United States and its trading partners, as well as companies directly or indirectly affected and financial markets generally. The United States government has prohibited U.S. persons from investing in Chinese companies designated as related to the Chinese military. These and possible future restrictions could limit the Fund’s opportunities for investment and require the
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Baron International Growth Fund
sale of securities at a loss or make them illiquid. Moreover, the Chinese government is involved in a longstanding dispute with Taiwan that has included threats of invasion. If the political climate between the United States and China does not improve or continues to deteriorate, if China were to attempt unification of Taiwan by force, or if other geopolitical conflicts develop or get worse, economies, markets and individual securities may be severely affected both regionally and globally, and the value of the Fund’s assets may go down. In addition, as its consumer class continues to grow, China’s domestically oriented industries may be especially sensitive to changes in government policy and investment cycles. If China were to exert its authority so as to alter the economic, political or legal structures or the existing social policy of Hong Kong, investor and business confidence in Hong Kong could be negatively affected and have an adverse effect on the Fund’s investments.
Risks Associated with Investing in Chinese Companies through Variable Interest Entities. The Fund may obtain exposure to companies based or operated in China by investing through legal structures known as variable interest entities (“VIEs”). Instead of directly owning the equity securities of a Chinese company, a VIE enters into service and other contracts with the Chinese company. Although the VIE has no equity ownership of the Chinese company, the contractual arrangements permit the VIE to consolidate the Chinese company into its financial statements. VIE investments are subject to the risk that any breach of these contractual arrangements will be subject to Chinese law and jurisdiction, that Chinese law may be interpreted or change in a way that affects the enforceability of the VIE’s arrangements, or that contracts between the Chinese company and the VIE may otherwise not be enforceable under Chinese law.
Small- and Mid-Sized Companies. The Adviser believes there is more potential for capital appreciation in small- and mid-sized companies, but there also may be more risk. Securities of small- and mid-sized companies may not be well known to most investors, and the securities may be less actively traded than those of large businesses. The securities of small- and mid-sized companies may fluctuate in price more widely than the stock market generally, and they may be more difficult to sell during market downturns. Small- and mid-sized companies rely more on the skills of management and on their continued tenure. Investing in small- and mid-sized companies requires a long-term outlook and may require shareholders to assume more risk and to have more patience than investing in the securities of larger, more established companies.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund (Retail Shares) by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5, 10 years, and since inception compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the
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Baron International Growth Fund
Fund
will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available
online at www.BaronFunds.com/performance or by calling
1-800-99BARON
(1-800-992-2766).
Year by Year Total Return (%) as of December 31 of Each Year (Retail Shares)
Best Quarter: |
6/30/20: 28.24% |
Worst Quarter: |
3/31/20: (21.51)% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/23)
The following table shows the Fund’s Retail Shares’ annual returns and long-term performance (before and after taxes) and the change in value of market indexes over various periods ended December 31, 2023. This table shows how the Fund’s performance compares to that of the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index, a broad-based securities index that captures large and mid cap representation across 22 of 23 Developed Markets (DM) countries (excluding the US) and 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries, and the MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI Growth Index, which captures large and mid cap securities exhibiting overall growth style characteristics across 22 Developed Markets (DM) countries and 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries, in which the Fund invests. The table also shows the average annual returns of the Fund’s Institutional Shares and R6 Shares, but it does not show after-tax returns.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest individual federal marginal income tax rate in effect at the time of each distribution and assumed sale, but they do not include the impact of state and local taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns depend on your own tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns reflect past tax effects and are not predictive of future
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Baron International Growth Fund
tax effects. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares in a tax-deferred account (including a 401(k) or IRA or Coverdell account), or to investors that are tax-exempt.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods ended December 31, 2023
1 year | 5 years | 10 years | Since Inception |
|||||||||||||
BARON INTERNATIONAL GROWTH FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
7.33% | 7.53% | 4.92% | 8.67% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions |
7.40% | 7.26% | 4.53% | 8.22% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
4.56% | 6.06% | 3.95% | 7.27% | ||||||||||||
Institutional
Shares* |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
7.60% | 7.79% | 5.18% | 8.94% | ||||||||||||
R6
Shares* |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
7.61% | 7.79% | 5.18% | 8.94% | ||||||||||||
MSCI ACWI ex USA Index (reflects no deduction for fees or expenses) |
15.62% | 7.08% | 3.83% | 6.74% | ||||||||||||
MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI Growth Index (reflects no deduction for fees or expenses) |
14.04% | 7.52% | 4.60% | 7.49% |
* | Performance for the Institutional Shares prior to May 29, 2009 is based on the performance of the Retail Shares. Performance for the R6 Shares prior to August 31, 2016 is based on the performance of the Institutional Shares, and prior to May 29, 2009 is based on the Retail Shares. The Retail Shares have a distribution fee, but Institutional Shares and R6 Shares do not. If the annual returns for the Institutional Shares and R6 Shares prior to May 29, 2009 did not reflect this fee, the returns would be higher. |
Management
Investment Adviser. BAMCO is the investment adviser of the Fund.
Portfolio Manager. Michael Kass has been the portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception on December 31, 2008. Mr. Kass has worked at the Adviser as an analyst since November of 2007.
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Baron International Growth Fund
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Shares may be purchased only on days that the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading.
Minimum Initial Investment | Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Retail Shares |
$2,000 | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Automatic Investment Plan |
$500 (with subsequent minimum investments of $50 per month until your investment has reached $2,000.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
$2,000 | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
Institutional Shares |
$1,000,000 (Employees of the Adviser and its affiliates and Trustees of the Baron Funds® and employer sponsored retirement plans (qualified and nonqualified) are not subject to the eligibility requirements for Institutional Shares.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. |
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Baron International Growth Fund
Minimum Initial Investment | Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
R6 Shares |
$5,000,000 (There is no minimum initial investment for qualified retirement plans; however, the shares must be held through plan-level or omnibus accounts held on the books of the Fund.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. |
You Can Purchase or Redeem Shares By:
1. | Mailing a request to Baron Funds®, P.O. Box 219946, Kansas City, MO 64121-9946 or by overnight mail to: Baron Funds®, 430 West 7th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105-1514; |
2. | Wire (Purchase Only); |
3. | Calling 1-800-442-3814; |
4. | Visiting the Baron Funds® website www.BaronFunds.com; or |
5. | Through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary that may charge you a fee. |
The Fund is not for short-term traders who intend to purchase and then sell their Fund shares within a 90 day period. If the Adviser reasonably believes that a person is not a long-term investor, it will attempt to prohibit that person from making additional investments in the Fund.
Tax Information
Distributions of the Fund’s net investment income (other than “qualified dividend income”) and distributions of net short-term capital gains will be taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund’s net long-term capital gains reported as capital gain dividends by the Fund will be taxable to you as long-term capital gains, regardless of the length of time you have held shares of the Fund. If you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, you may be subject to federal income tax on withdrawals from tax-deferred arrangement at a later date.
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Financial Intermediary Compensation
If you purchase Retail or Institutional Shares of the Fund through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial adviser), the Fund, Baron Capital, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, BAMCO or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker, dealer or other financial intermediary, including your salesperson, to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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Investment Goal
The investment goal of Baron Real Estate Fund® (the “Fund”) is capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you would pay if you bought and held shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fee |
Distribution (12b-1) Fee |
Other Expenses |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|||||||||||||
BARON REAL ESTATE FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
1.00% | 0.25% | 0.06% | 1.31% | ||||||||||||
Institutional Shares |
1.00% | 0.00% | 0.06% | 1.06% | ||||||||||||
R6 Shares |
1.00% | 0.00% | 0.06% | 1.06% |
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. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
YEAR | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||||||
BARON REAL ESTATE FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
$ | 133 | $ | 415 | $ | 718 | $ | 1,579 | ||||||||
Institutional Shares |
$ | 108 | $ | 337 | $ | 585 | $ | 1,294 | ||||||||
R6 Shares |
$ |
108 |
|
$ |
337 |
|
$ |
585 |
|
$ | 1,294 |
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 Fund
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Baron Real Estate Fund
shareholders. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 57.86% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund is a diversified fund that, under normal circumstances, invests 80% of its net assets for the long term in equity securities in the form of common stock of U.S. and non-U.S. real estate and real estate-related companies of any market capitalization, and in companies which, in the opinion of BAMCO, Inc. (“BAMCO” or the “Adviser”), own significant real estate assets at the time of investment (“real estate companies”), however, investments in non-U.S. securities are limited to 35% of the Fund’s total assets at the time of purchase. The Adviser seeks to invest in businesses it believes have significant opportunities for growth, sustainable competitive advantages, exceptional management, and an attractive valuation.
Real estate companies are companies that the Adviser determines are in the real estate industry based on their involvement in construction, ownership, management, operation, financing, refinancing, sales, leasing, development or rehabilitation of real estate or are in a real estate-related industry based on their provision of goods or services to the real estate industry.
A company is considered to own significant real estate assets if, in the opinion of the Adviser, the company has a substantial portion of its assets attributable to one or more of the following: (a) real estate owned or leased by the company as lessor or as lessee; or (b) the discounted value of the stream of fees or revenues derived from the management or operation of real estate.
Examples of companies that might qualify under one of these categories include:
∎ |
Real estate operating companies; |
∎ |
Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”); |
∎ |
Homebuilders; |
∎ |
Hotel, hotel management companies and gaming companies; |
∎ |
Real estate brokerage/services companies and/or management companies; |
∎ |
Financial institutions that make or service mortgage loans; |
∎ |
Manufacturers or distributors of construction materials and/or building supplies/products; |
∎ |
Home furnishing and home improvement retail companies; |
∎ |
Companies with significant real estate holdings such as supermarkets, restaurant chains and retail chains; |
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∎ |
Construction and engineering companies; and |
∎ |
Companies with infrastructure-related assets such as toll roads, bridges, tunnels, parking facilities, railroads, airports, broadcast and wireless towers, electric transmission and distribution lines, power generation facilities, hospitals and correctional facilities. |
The Fund will invest more than 25% of its net assets in the real estate industry.
The investment policy of the Fund relating to the types of securities in which 80% of the Fund’s assets must be invested may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon at least 60 days’ notice.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
Real Estate Industry. In addition to general market conditions, the value of the Fund will be affected by the strength of the real estate markets. Factors that could affect the value of the Fund’s holdings include the following: overbuilding and increased competition; increases in property taxes and operating expenses; declines in the value of real estate; lack of availability of equity and debt financing to refinance maturing debt; vacancies due to economic conditions and tenant bankruptcies; losses due to costs resulting from natural disasters and/or environmental contamination and its related clean-up; changes in interest rates; changes in zoning laws; casualty or condemnation losses; variations in rental income; changes in neighborhood values; and functional obsolescence and appeal of properties to tenants.
Concentration. The Fund’s strategy of concentrating in real estate and real estate-related companies means that its performance will be closely tied to the performance of a particular market segment. The Fund’s concentration in these companies may present more risks than if it were broadly diversified over numerous industries and sectors of the economy. A downturn in these companies would have a larger impact on the Fund than on a mutual fund that does not concentrate in such companies. At times, the performance of these companies will lag the performance of other industries or the broader market as a whole.
Growth Investing. Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Growth stocks tend to be more expensive relative to their earnings or assets compared to other types of stocks. As a result, because growth stocks tend to be sensitive to changes in their earnings and to increasing interest rates and inflation, they tend to be more volatile than other types of stocks. In response, from time to time, growth investing as an investment style may go out of favor with investors.
Consumer Discretionary Sector. The consumer discretionary sector may be affected by changes in domestic and international economies, exchange and interest
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rates, inflation, competition, consumers’ disposable income, consumer preferences, social trends and marketing campaigns.
General Stock Market. Fund losses may be incurred due to declines in one or more markets in which Fund investments are made. These declines may be the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s). In addition, turbulence as has recently been experienced, caused, among other reasons, by increased inflation, tightening monetary policy and interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve or similar international bodies, and reduced liquidity in financial markets may continue to negatively affect many issuers, which could have an adverse effect on your Fund investment. Events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect one industry, such as the financial services industry, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems, may spread to other industries, and could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the world-wide response to it, have and may continue to adversely impact issuers and markets worldwide. The active and expanding conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas presents considerable market risks. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments or voluntarily imposed by private parties, including closing borders, restricting travel and imposing prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, as well as the closure of, or operational changes to, many retail and other businesses, have had negative impacts, and in many cases severe negative impacts, on markets worldwide. It is not known how long such impacts, or any future impacts of other significant events described above, will or would last, but there could be a prolonged period of global economic slowdown, which may impact your Fund investment. Raising the ceiling on U.S. government debt has become increasingly politicized. Any failure to increase the total amount that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow could lead to a default on U.S. government obligations, with unpredictable consequences for economies and markets in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Non-U.S. Securities. Investing in non-U.S. securities may involve additional risks to those inherent in investing in U.S. securities, including exchange rate fluctuations, political or economic instability, the imposition of exchange controls, expropriation, limited disclosure and illiquid markets.
Small-and Mid-Sized Companies. The Adviser believes there is more potential for capital appreciation in small-and mid-sized companies, but there also may be more risk. Securities of small-and mid-sized companies may not be well known to most investors, and the securities may be less actively traded than those of large businesses. The securities of small-and mid-sized companies may fluctuate in price more widely than the
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stock market generally, and they may be more difficult to sell during market downturns. Small-and mid-sized companies rely more on the skills of management and on their continued tenure. Investing in small-and mid-sized companies requires a long-term outlook and may require shareholders to assume more risk and to have more patience than investing in the securities of larger, more established companies.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund (Retail Shares) by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5, 10 years, and since inception compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.BaronFunds.com/performance or by calling 1-800-99BARON (1-800-992-2766).
Year by Year Total Return (%) as of December 31 of Each Year (Retail Shares)
Best Quarter: |
6/30/20: 29.82% |
Worst Quarter: |
6/30/22: (20.70)% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/23)
The following table shows the Fund’s Retail Shares’ annual returns and long-term performance (before and after taxes) and the change in value of market indexes
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over various periods ended December 31, 2023. This table shows how the Fund’s performance compares to that of the MSCI USA IMI Extended Real Estate Index, which is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index based on the MSCI USA IMI, that consists of large, mid and small cap segments of the US equity market, in which the Fund invests, and the S&P 500 Index, a broad-based securities index that reflects the overall U.S. equity market. The table also shows the average annual returns of the Fund’s Institutional Shares and R6 Shares, but it does not show after-tax returns.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest individual federal marginal income tax rate in effect at the time of each distribution and assumed sale, but they do not include the impact of state and local taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns depend on your own tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns reflect past tax effects and are not predictive of future tax effects. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares in a tax-deferred account (including a 401(k) or IRA or Coverdell account), or to investors that are tax-exempt.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods ended December 31, 2023
1 year | 5 years | 10 years | Since Inception |
|||||||||||||
BARON REAL ESTATE FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
24.70% | 18.01% | 9.78% | 13.48% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions |
24.68% | 16.20% | 8.49% | 12.46% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
14.63% | 14.25% | 7.69% | 11.36% | ||||||||||||
Institutional
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
25.04% | 18.32% | 10.06% | 13.76% | ||||||||||||
R6
Shares* |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
25.04% | 18.32% | 10.07% | 13.77% | ||||||||||||
MSCI USA IMI Extended Real Estate Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
23.09% | 11.68% | 9.11% | 11.07% | ||||||||||||
S&P 500 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
26.29% | 15.69% | 12.03% | 13.12% |
* | Performance for the R6 Shares prior to January 29, 2016 is based on the performance of the Institutional Shares. |
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Management
Investment Adviser. BAMCO is the investment adviser of the Fund.
Portfolio Manager. Jeffrey A. Kolitch has been the portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception on December 31, 2009. Mr. Kolitch has worked at the Adviser as an analyst since September of 2005.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Shares may be purchased only on days that the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading.
Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Retail Shares |
$2,000 | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Automatic Investment Plan |
$500 (with subsequent minimum investments of $50 per month until your investment has reached $2,000.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
$2,000 | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
Institutional Shares |
$1,000,000 (Employees of the Adviser and its affiliates and Trustees of the Baron Funds® and employer sponsored retirement plans (qualified and nonqualified) are not subject to the eligibility requirements for Institutional Shares.) | No Minimum | No Maximum |
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Minimum Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
R6 Shares |
$5,000,000 (There is no minimum initial investment for qualified retirement plans; however, the shares must be held through plan-level or omnibus accounts held on the books of the Fund.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. |
You Can Purchase or Redeem Shares By:
1. | Mailing a request to Baron Funds®, P.O. Box 219946, Kansas City, MO 64121-9946 or by overnight mail to: Baron Funds®, 430 West 7th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105-1514; |
2. | Wire (Purchase Only); |
3. | Calling 1-800-442-3814; |
4. | Visiting the Baron Funds® website www.BaronFunds.com; or |
5. | Through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary that may charge you a fee. |
The Fund is not for short-term traders who intend to purchase and then sell their Fund shares within a 90 day period. If the Adviser reasonably believes that a person is not a long-term investor, it will attempt to prohibit that person from making additional investments in the Fund.
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Tax Information
Distributions of the Fund’s net investment income (other than “qualified dividend income”) and distributions of net short-term capital gains will be taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund’s net long-term capital gains reported as capital gain dividends by the Fund will be taxable to you as long-term capital gains, regardless of the length of time you have held shares of the Fund. If you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, you may be subject to federal income tax on withdrawals from tax-deferred arrangement at a later date.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
If you purchase Retail or Institutional Shares of the Fund through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial adviser), the Fund, Baron Capital, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, BAMCO or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker, dealer or other financial intermediary, including your salesperson, to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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Investment Goal
The investment goal of Baron Emerging Markets Fund® (the “Fund”) is capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you would pay if you bought and held shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fee |
Distribution (12b-1) Fee |
Other Expenses |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
|||||||||||||
BARON EMERGING MARKETS FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
1.00% | 0.25% | 0.12% | 1.37% | ||||||||||||
Institutional Shares |
1.00% | 0.00% | 0.11% | 1.11% | ||||||||||||
R6 Shares |
1.00% | 0.00% | 0.11% | 1.11% |
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. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
YEAR | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||||||
BARON EMERGING MARKETS FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
$ | 139 | $ | 434 | $ | 750 | $ | 1,646 | ||||||||
Institutional Shares |
$ | 113 | $ | 353 | $ | 612 | $ | 1,352 | ||||||||
R6 Shares |
$ |
113 |
|
$ |
353 |
|
$ | 612 | $ | 1,352 |
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
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Baron Emerging Markets Fund
may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes for Fund shareholders. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 33.37% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund is a diversified fund that, under normal circumstances, invests 80% of its net assets in equity securities in the form of common stock of growth companies domiciled, headquartered or whose primary business activities or principal trading markets are in developing countries. A developing country is a country included in the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index and other countries determined by the Adviser to be developing countries based on classifications made by the International Monetary Fund or on country characteristics similar to those of the countries in the EM Index. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in developed countries and in frontier countries as defined by the MSCI Frontier Markets (FM) Index. The Fund’s investments will be in at least three different countries. The Fund may purchase securities of companies of any market capitalization. The Adviser seeks to invest in businesses it believes have significant opportunities for growth, sustainable competitive advantages, exceptional management, and an attractive valuation.
The Fund’s investments in developing countries generally are traded in currencies other than U.S. dollars, so the Adviser buys and sells foreign currencies to facilitate transactions in portfolio securities. The Adviser usually does not hedge against possible fluctuations in exchange rates, but exposure to a particular currency that the Adviser believes is overvalued may be hedged if the Fund has a substantial position in securities traded in that currency. The Fund may buy and sell currencies for cash at current exchange rates, or using an agreement to purchase or sell a specified currency at a specified future date or within a specified time period, at a price set at the time of the contract.
The investment policy of the Fund relating to the types of securities in which 80% of the Fund’s assets must be invested may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon at least 60 days’ notice.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
Non-U.S. Securities. Investing in non-U.S. securities may involve additional risks to those inherent in investing in U.S. securities, including exchange rate fluctuations,
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Baron Emerging Markets Fund
political or economic instability, the imposition of exchange controls, expropriation, limited disclosure and illiquid markets.
Developing Countries. The Fund invests in developing countries, which include countries in the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index and other countries determined by the Adviser to be developing countries based on classifications made by the International Monetary Fund or on country characteristics similar to those of the countries in the EM Index. Investments in developing countries are subject to all of the risks of non-U.S. investing generally, and have additional heightened risks due to a lack of established legal, political, business and social frameworks to support securities markets, including: delays in settling portfolio securities transactions; currency and capital controls; greater sensitivity to interest rate changes; pervasiveness of corruption and crime; currency exchange rate volatility; and inflation, deflation or currency devaluation.
Currency. This refers to a decline in the value of a foreign currency versus the U.S. dollar, which reduces the dollar value of securities denominated in that currency. The overall impact on the Fund’s holdings can be significant, unpredictable and long-lasting, depending on the currencies represented in the portfolio and how each one appreciates or depreciates in relation to the U.S. dollar and whether currency positions are hedged. Under normal conditions, the Fund does not engage in extensive foreign currency hedging programs. Further, because exchange rate movements are volatile, the Fund’s attempts at hedging could be unsuccessful, and it may not be possible to effectively hedge the currency risks of many developing countries.
Risks Associated with China and Hong Kong. The Chinese government exercises significant control over China’s economy through its industrial policies, monetary policy, management of currency exchange rates, and management of the payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations. Changes in these policies could adversely impact affected industries or companies in China. China’s economy, particularly its export-oriented industries, may be adversely impacted by trade or political disputes with China’s major trading partners, including the U.S. The United States has imposed tariffs and other trade barriers on Chinese exports, has restricted sales of certain categories of goods to China, and has established barriers to investments in China. Trade disputes may adversely affect the economies of the United States and its trading partners, as well as companies directly or indirectly affected and financial markets generally. The United States government has prohibited U.S. persons from investing in Chinese companies designated as related to the Chinese military. These and possible future restrictions could limit the Fund’s opportunities for investment and require the sale of securities at a loss or make them illiquid. Moreover, the Chinese government is involved in a longstanding dispute with Taiwan that has included threats of invasion. If the political climate between the United States and China does not improve or continues to deteriorate, if China were to attempt
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Baron Emerging Markets Fund
unification of Taiwan by force, or if other geopolitical conflicts develop or get worse, economies, markets and individual securities may be severely affected both regionally and globally, and the value of the Fund’s assets may go down. In addition, as its consumer class continues to grow, China’s domestically oriented industries may be especially sensitive to changes in government policy and investment cycles. If China were to exert its authority so as to alter the economic, political or legal structures or the existing social policy of Hong Kong, investor and business confidence in Hong Kong could be negatively affected and have an adverse effect on the Fund’s investments.
Risks Associated with Investing in Chinese Companies through Variable Interest Entities. The Fund may obtain exposure to companies based or operated in China by investing through legal structures known as variable interest entities (“VIEs”). Instead of directly owning the equity securities of a Chinese company, a VIE enters into service and other contracts with the Chinese company. Although the VIE has no equity ownership of the Chinese company, the contractual arrangements permit the VIE to consolidate the Chinese company into its financial statements. VIE investments are subject to the risk that any breach of these contractual arrangements will be subject to Chinese law and jurisdiction, that Chinese law may be interpreted or change in a way that affects the enforceability of the VIE’s arrangements, or that contracts between the Chinese company and the VIE may otherwise not be enforceable under Chinese law.
Risks of Emphasizing a Region, Country, Sector or Industry. If the Fund has invested a higher percentage of its total assets in a particular region, country, sector or industry, changes affecting that region, country, sector or industry may have a significant impact on the performance of the Fund’s overall portfolio.
Frontier Countries. The Fund’s investments in frontier countries, which include countries in the MSCI Frontier Markets (FM) Index, are subject to all of the risks of non-U.S. investing generally and the risks of investing in developing countries, except that such risks are greater in frontier countries.
Growth Investing. Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Growth stocks tend to be more expensive relative to their earnings or assets compared to other types of stocks. As a result, because growth stocks tend to be sensitive to changes in their earnings and to increasing interest rates and inflation, they tend to be more volatile than other types of stocks. In response, from time to time, growth investing as an investment style may go out of favor with investors.
General Stock Market. Fund losses may be incurred due to declines in one or more markets in which Fund investments are made. These declines may be the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments
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affecting the relevant market(s). In addition, turbulence as has recently been experienced, caused, among other reasons, by increased inflation, tightening monetary policy and interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve or similar international bodies, and reduced liquidity in financial markets may continue to negatively affect many issuers, which could have an adverse effect on your Fund investment. Events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect one industry, such as the financial services industry, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems, may spread to other industries, and could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the world-wide response to it, have and may continue to adversely impact issuers and markets worldwide. The active and expanding conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas presents considerable market risks. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments or voluntarily imposed by private parties, including closing borders, restricting travel and imposing prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, as well as the closure of, or operational changes to, many retail and other businesses, have had negative impacts, and in many cases severe negative impacts, on markets worldwide. It is not known how long such impacts, or any future impacts of other significant events described above, will or would last, but there could be a prolonged period of global economic slowdown, which may impact your Fund investment. Raising the ceiling on U.S. government debt has become increasingly politicized. Any failure to increase the total amount that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow could lead to a default on U.S. government obligations, with unpredictable consequences for economies and markets in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Small- and Mid-Sized Companies. The Adviser believes there is more potential for capital appreciation in small- and mid-sized companies, but there also may be more risk. Securities of small- and mid-sized companies may not be well known to most investors, and the securities may be less actively traded than those of large businesses. The securities of small- and mid-sized companies may fluctuate in price more widely than the stock market generally, and they may be more difficult to sell during market downturns. Small- and mid-sized companies rely more on the skills of management and on their continued tenure. Investing in small- and mid-sized companies requires a long-term outlook and may require shareholders to assume more risk and to have more patience than investing in the securities of larger, more established companies.
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Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund (Retail Shares) by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5, 10 years, and since inception compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.BaronFunds.com/performance or by calling 1-800-99BARON (1-800-992-2766).
Year by Year Total Return (%) as of December 31 of Each Year (Retail Shares)
Best Quarter: |
6/30/20: 26.56% |
Worst Quarter: |
3/31/20: (25.07)% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/23)
The following table shows the Fund’s Retail Shares’ annual returns and long-term performance (before and after taxes) and the change in value of market indexes over various periods ended December 31, 2023. This table shows how the Fund’s performance compares to that of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, a broad-based securities index that captures large and mid cap representation across 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries, and the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Growth Index, which captures large and mid cap securities exhibiting overall growth style characteristics across 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries, in which the Fund invests. The table also shows the average annual returns of the Fund’s Institutional Shares and R6 Shares, but it does not show after-tax returns.
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After-tax returns are calculated using the highest individual federal marginal income tax rate in effect at the time of each distribution and assumed sale, but they do not include the impact of state and local taxes.
Your
actual after-tax returns depend on your own tax situation and may differ from
those shown. After-tax returns reflect past tax effects and are not predictive
of future tax effects. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold
their Fund shares in a tax-deferred account (including a
401(k) or IRA or
Coverdell account), or to investors that are tax-exempt.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods ended December 31, 2023
1 year | 5 years | 10 years | Since Inception |
|||||||||||||
BARON EMERGING MARKETS FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
7.95% | 2.72% | 2.21% | 2.92% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions |
8.11% | 2.68% | 2.22% | 2.90% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
5.05% | 2.18% | 1.82% | 2.37% | ||||||||||||
Institutional
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
8.29% | 2.99% | 2.48% | 3.18% | ||||||||||||
R6
Shares* |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
8.27% | 2.99% | 2.48% | 3.18% | ||||||||||||
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (reflects no deduction for fees or expenses) |
9.83% | 3.68% | 2.66% | 1.55% | ||||||||||||
MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Growth Index (reflects no deduction for fees or expenses) |
8.09% | 4.67% | 3.44% | 2.36% |
* | Performance for the R6 Shares prior to January 29, 2016 is based on the performance of the Institutional Shares. |
Management
Investment Adviser. BAMCO is the investment adviser of the Fund.
Portfolio Manager. Michael Kass has been the portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception on December 31, 2010. Mr. Kass has worked at the Adviser as an analyst since November of 2007.
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Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Shares may be purchased only on days that the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading.
Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Retail Shares |
$2,000 | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Automatic Investment Plan |
$500 (with subsequent minimum investments of $50 per month until your investment has reached $2,000.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
$2,000 | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
Institutional Shares |
$1,000,000 (Employees of the Adviser and its affiliates and Trustees of the Baron Funds® and employer sponsored retirement plans (qualified and nonqualified) are not subject to the eligibility requirements for Institutional Shares.) | No Minimum | No Maximum |
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Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
R6 Shares |
$5,000,000 (There is no minimum initial investment for qualified retirement plans; however, the shares must be held through plan-level or omnibus accounts held on the books of the Fund.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. |
You Can Purchase or Redeem Shares By:
1. | Mailing a request to Baron Funds®, P.O. Box 219946, Kansas City, MO 64121-9946 or by overnight mail to: Baron Funds®, 430 West 7th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105-1514; |
2. | Wire (Purchase Only); |
3. | Calling 1-800-442-3814; |
4. | Visiting the Baron Funds® website www.BaronFunds.com; or |
5. | Through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary that may charge you a fee. |
The Fund is not for short-term traders who intend to purchase and then sell their Fund shares within a 90 day period. If the Adviser reasonably believes that a person is not a long-term investor, it will attempt to prohibit that person from making additional investments in the Fund.
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Tax Information
Distributions of the Fund’s net investment income (other than “qualified dividend income”) and distributions of net short-term capital gains will be taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund’s net long-term capital gains reported as capital gain dividends by the Fund will be taxable to you as long-term capital gains, regardless of the length of time you have held shares of the Fund. If you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, you may be subject to federal income tax on withdrawals from tax-deferred arrangement at a later date.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
If you purchase Retail or Institutional Shares of the Fund through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial adviser), the Fund, Baron Capital, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, BAMCO or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker, dealer or other financial intermediary, including your salesperson, to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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Investment Goal
The investment goal of Baron Global Advantage Fund® (the “Fund”) is capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you would pay if you bought and held shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Manage- |
Distribu- |
Other Expenses |
Total |
Total |
Expense |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimburse- ments1 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oper- |
Interest Expense |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BARON GLOBAL ADVANTAGE FUND |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
0.85% | 0.25% | 0.10% | 0.01% | 0.11% | 1.21% | (0.05 | )% | 1.16% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Institutional Shares |
0.85% | 0.00% | 0.09% | 0.01% | 0.10% | 0.95% | (0.04 | )% | 0.91% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
R6 Shares |
0.85% | 0.00% | 0.09% | 0.01% | 0.10% | 0.95% | (0.04 | )% | 0.91% |
1 | BAMCO, Inc. (“BAMCO” or the “Adviser”) has agreed that, pursuant to a contract with an 11-year term terminating on August 29, 2034, it will reimburse certain expenses of the Fund, limiting net annual operating expenses (portfolio transaction costs, interest and dividend expense, acquired fund fees and expenses, fees and expenses related to filing foreign tax reclaims, and extraordinary expenses are not subject to the operating expense limitation) to 1.15% of average daily net assets of Retail Shares, 0.90% of average daily net assets of Institutional Shares, and 0.90% of average daily net assets of R6 Shares. Only the Board of Trustees of the Fund may terminate the expense reimbursement agreement prior to its termination date. |
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. The example also assumes that your investment has a
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5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
YEAR | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||||||
BARON GLOBAL ADVANTAGE FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
$ | 118 | $ | 368 | $ | 638 | $ | 1,409 | ||||||||
Institutional Shares |
$ | 93 | $ | 290 | $ | 504 | $ | 1,120 | ||||||||
R6 Shares |
$ | 93 | $ | 290 | $ | 504 | $ | 1,120 |
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 Fund shareholders. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 2.03% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund is a diversified fund that, under normal circumstances, invests primarily in equity securities in the form of common stock of established and emerging markets companies located throughout the world, with capitalizations within the range of companies included in the MSCI ACWI Index Net USD. At all times, the Fund will have investments in equity securities of companies in at least three countries outside of the U.S. Under normal conditions, at least 40% of the Fund’s net assets will be invested in stocks of companies outside the U.S. (at least 30% if foreign market conditions are not favorable). The Adviser seeks to invest in businesses it believes have significant opportunities for growth, sustainable competitive advantages, exceptional management, and an attractive valuation.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
Non-U.S. Securities. Investing in non-U.S. securities may involve additional risks to those inherent in investing in U.S. securities, including exchange rate fluctuations, political or economic instability, the imposition of exchange controls, expropriation, limited disclosure and illiquid markets.
Developing Countries. The Fund invests in developing countries, which include countries in the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index, countries in the MSCI Frontier
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Markets (FM) Index and other countries determined by the Adviser to be developing countries based on classifications made by the International Monetary Fund or on country characteristics similar to those of the countries in the EM and FM Indexes. Investments in developing countries are subject to all of the risks of non-U.S. investing generally, and have additional heightened risks due to a lack of established legal, political, business and social frameworks to support securities markets, including: delays in settling portfolio securities transactions; currency and capital controls; greater sensitivity to interest rate changes; pervasiveness of corruption and crime; currency exchange rate volatility; and inflation, deflation or currency devaluation. These risks are greater for countries in the FM Index.
Currency. This refers to a decline in the value of a foreign currency versus the U.S. dollar, which reduces the dollar value of securities denominated in that currency. The overall impact on the Fund’s holdings can be significant, unpredictable and long-lasting, depending on the currencies represented in the portfolio and how each one appreciates or depreciates in relation to the U.S. dollar and whether currency positions are hedged. Under normal conditions, the Fund does not engage in extensive foreign currency hedging programs. Further, because exchange rate movements are volatile, the Fund’s attempts at hedging could be unsuccessful, and it may not be possible to effectively hedge the currency risks of many developing countries.
Risks Associated with China and Hong Kong. The Chinese government exercises significant control over China’s economy through its industrial policies, monetary policy, management of currency exchange rates, and management of the payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations. Changes in these policies could adversely impact affected industries or companies in China. China’s economy, particularly its export-oriented industries, may be adversely impacted by trade or political disputes with China’s major trading partners, including the U.S. The United States has imposed tariffs and other trade barriers on Chinese exports, has restricted sales of certain categories of goods to China, and has established barriers to investments in China. Trade disputes may adversely affect the economies of the United States and its trading partners, as well as companies directly or indirectly affected and financial markets generally. The United States government has prohibited U.S. persons from investing in Chinese companies designated as related to the Chinese military. These and possible future restrictions could limit the Fund’s opportunities for investment and require the sale of securities at a loss or make them illiquid. Moreover, the Chinese government is involved in a longstanding dispute with Taiwan that has included threats of invasion. If the political climate between the United States and China does not improve or continues to deteriorate, if China were to attempt unification of Taiwan by force, or if other geopolitical conflicts develop or get worse, economies, markets and individual securities may be severely affected both regionally
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and globally, and the value of the Fund’s assets may go down. In addition, as its consumer class continues to grow, China’s domestically oriented industries may be especially sensitive to changes in government policy and investment cycles. If China were to exert its authority so as to alter the economic, political or legal structures or the existing social policy of Hong Kong, investor and business confidence in Hong Kong could be negatively affected and have an adverse effect on the Fund’s investments.
Risks Associated with Investing in Chinese Companies through Variable Interest Entities. The Fund may obtain exposure to companies based or operated in China by investing through legal structures known as variable interest entities (“VIEs”). Instead of directly owning the equity securities of a Chinese company, a VIE enters into service and other contracts with the Chinese company. Although the VIE has no equity ownership of the Chinese company, the contractual arrangements permit the VIE to consolidate the Chinese company into its financial statements. VIE investments are subject to the risk that any breach of these contractual arrangements will be subject to Chinese law and jurisdiction, that Chinese law may be interpreted or change in a way that affects the enforceability of the VIE’s arrangements, or that contracts between the Chinese company and the VIE may otherwise not be enforceable under Chinese law.
Risks of Emphasizing a Region, Country, Sector or Industry. If the Fund has invested a higher percentage of its total assets in a particular region, country, sector or industry, changes affecting that region, country, sector or industry may have a significant impact on the performance of the Fund’s overall portfolio. The economies and financial markets of certain regions — such as Latin America, Asia, and Europe and the Mediterranean region — can be interdependent and may all decline at the same time.
Growth Investing. Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Growth stocks tend to be more expensive relative to their earnings or assets compared to other types of stocks. As a result, because growth stocks tend to be sensitive to changes in their earnings and to increasing interest rates and inflation, they tend to be more volatile than other types of stocks. In response, from time to time, growth investing as an investment style may go out of favor with investors.
Technology. Technology companies, including internet-related and information technology companies, as well as companies propelled by new technologies, may present the risk of rapid change and product obsolescence, and their successes may be difficult to predict for the long term. Some technology companies may be newly formed and have limited operating history and experience. Technology companies may also be adversely affected by changes in governmental policies, competitive
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pressures and changing demand. The securities of these companies may also experience significant price movements caused by disproportionate investor optimism or pessimism, with little or no basis in the companies’ fundamentals or economic conditions.
General Stock Market. Fund losses may be incurred due to declines in one or more markets in which Fund investments are made. These declines may be the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s). In addition, turbulence as has recently been experienced, caused, among other reasons, by increased inflation, tightening monetary policy and interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve or similar international bodies, and reduced liquidity in financial markets may continue to negatively affect many issuers, which could have an adverse effect on your Fund investment. Events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect one industry, such as the financial services industry, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems, may spread to other industries, and could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the world-wide response to it, have and may continue to adversely impact issuers and markets worldwide. The active and expanding conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas presents considerable market risks. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments or voluntarily imposed by private parties, including closing borders, restricting travel and imposing prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, as well as the closure of, or operational changes to, many retail and other businesses, have had negative impacts, and in many cases severe negative impacts, on markets worldwide. It is not known how long such impacts, or any future impacts of other significant events described above, will or would last, but there could be a prolonged period of global economic slowdown, which may impact your Fund investment. Raising the ceiling on U.S. government debt has become increasingly politicized. Any failure to increase the total amount that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow could lead to a default on U.S. government obligations, with unpredictable consequences for economies and markets in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Small-and Mid-Sized Companies. The Adviser believes there is more potential for capital appreciation in small-and mid-sized companies, but there also may be more risk. Securities of small-and mid-sized companies may not be well known to most investors, and the securities may be less actively traded than those of large businesses. The securities of small-and mid-sized companies may fluctuate in price more widely than the stock market generally, and they may be more difficult to sell during market
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downturns. Small-and mid-sized companies rely more on the skills of management and on their continued tenure. Investing in small-and mid-sized companies requires a long-term outlook and may require shareholders to assume more risk and to have more patience than investing in the securities of larger, more established companies.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund (Retail Shares) by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5, 10 years, and since inception compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.BaronFunds.com/performance or by calling 1-800-99BARON (1-800-992-2766).
Year by Year Total Return (%) as of December 31 of Each Year (Retail Shares)
Best Quarter: |
6/30/20: 46.30% |
Worst Quarter: |
6/30/22: (32.39)% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/23)
The following table shows the Fund’s Retail Shares’ annual returns and long-term performance (before and after taxes) and the change in value of market indexes over various periods ended December 31, 2023. This table shows how the Fund’s performance compares to that of the MSCI ACWI Index, a broad-based securities
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index that captures large and mid cap representation across 23 Developed Markets (DM) and 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries, and the MSCI ACWI Growth Index, which captures large and mid cap securities exhibiting overall growth style characteristics across 23 Developed Markets (DM) countries and 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries, in which the Fund invests. The table also shows the average annual returns of the Fund’s Institutional Shares and R6 Shares, but it does not show after-tax returns.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest individual federal marginal income tax rate in effect at the time of each distribution and assumed sale, but they do not include the impact of state and local taxes.
Your
actual after-tax returns depend on your own tax situation and may differ from
those shown. After-tax returns reflect past tax effects and are not predictive
of future tax effects. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold
their Fund shares in a tax-deferred account (including a
401(k) or IRA or
Coverdell account), or to investors that are tax-exempt.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods ended December 31, 2023
1 year | 5 years | 10 years | Since Inception |
|||||||||||||
BARON GLOBAL ADVANTAGE FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
25.26% | 9.60% | 8.79% | 10.30% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions |
25.26% | 9.51% | 8.74% | 10.25% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
14.95% | 7.60% | 7.21% | 8.63% | ||||||||||||
Institutional
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
25.56% | 9.88% | 9.04% | 10.55% | ||||||||||||
R6
Shares* |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
25.59% | 9.88% | 9.04% | 10.55% | ||||||||||||
MSCI ACWI Index (reflects no deduction for fees or expenses) |
22.20% | 11.72% | 7.93% | 9.11% | ||||||||||||
MSCI ACWI Growth Index (reflects no deduction for fees or expenses) |
33.22% | 14.58% | 10.06% | 10.85% |
* | Performance for the R6 Shares prior to August 31, 2016 is based on the performance of the Institutional Shares. |
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Management
Investment Adviser. BAMCO is the investment adviser of the Fund.
Portfolio Manager. Alex Umansky has been the portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception on April 30, 2012. Mr. Umansky has worked at the Adviser as a portfolio manager since November of 2011.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Shares may be purchased only on days that the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading.
Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Retail Shares |
$2,000 | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Automatic Investment Plan |
$500 (with subsequent minimum investments of $50 per month until your investment has reached $2,000.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
$2,000 | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
Institutional Shares |
$1,000,000 (Employees of the Adviser and its affiliates and Trustees of the Baron Funds® and employer sponsored retirement plans (qualified and nonqualified) are not subject to the eligibility requirements for Institutional Shares.) | No Minimum | No Maximum |
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Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
R6 Shares |
$5,000,000 (There is no minimum initial investment for qualified retirement plans; however, the shares must be held through plan-level or omnibus accounts held on the books of the Fund.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. |
You Can Purchase or Redeem Shares By:
1. | Mailing a request to Baron Funds®, P.O. Box 219946, Kansas City, MO 64121-9946 or by overnight mail to: Baron Funds®, 430 West 7th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105-1514; |
2. | Wire (Purchase Only); |
3. | Calling 1-800-442-3814; |
4. | Visiting the Baron Funds® website www.BaronFunds.com; or |
5. | Through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary that may charge you a fee. |
The Fund is not for short-term traders who intend to purchase and then sell their Fund shares within a 90 day period. If the Adviser reasonably believes that a person is not a long-term investor, it will attempt to prohibit that person from making additional investments in the Fund.
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Tax Information
Distributions of the Fund’s net investment income (other than “qualified dividend income”) and distributions of net short-term capital gains will be taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund’s net long-term capital gains reported as capital gain dividends by the Fund will be taxable to you as long-term capital gains, regardless of the length of time you have held shares of the Fund. If you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, you may be subject to federal income tax on withdrawals from tax-deferred arrangement at a later date.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
If you purchase Retail or Institutional Shares of the Fund through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial adviser), the Fund, Baron Capital, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, BAMCO or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker, dealer or other financial intermediary, including your salesperson, to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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Investment Goal
The investment goal of Baron Real Estate Income Fund® (the “Fund”) is a combination of capital appreciation and current income.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you would pay if you bought and held shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fee |
Distribution (12b-1) Fee |
Other Expenses |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
Expense Reimburse ments |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimburse ments1 |
|||||||||||||||||||
BARON REAL ESTATE INCOME FUND |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
0.75% | 0.25% | 0.32% | 1.32% | (0.27 | )% | 1.05% | |||||||||||||||||
Institutional Shares |
0.75% | 0.00% | 0.21% | 0.96% | (0.16 | )% | 0.80% | |||||||||||||||||
R6 Shares |
0.75% | 0.00% | 0.22% | 0.97% | (0.17 | )% | 0.80% |
1 | BAMCO, Inc. (“BAMCO” or the “Adviser”) has agreed that, pursuant to a contract with an 11-year term terminating on August 29, 2034, it will reimburse certain expenses of the Fund, limiting net annual operating expenses (portfolio transaction costs, interest and dividend expense, acquired fund fees and expenses, fees and expenses related to filing foreign tax reclaims, and extraordinary expenses are not subject to the operating expense limitation) to 1.05% of average daily net assets of Retail Shares, 0.80% of average daily net assets of Institutional Shares, and 0.80% of average daily net assets of R6 Shares. Only the Board of Trustees of the Fund may terminate the expense reimbursement agreement prior to its termination date. |
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. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, giving
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effect to the expense reimbursement agreement described above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
YEAR | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||||||
BARON REAL ESTATE INCOME FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
$ | 107 | $ | 334 | $ | 579 | $ | 1,283 | ||||||||
Institutional Shares |
$ | 82 | $ | 255 | $ | 444 | $ | 990 | ||||||||
R6 Shares |
$ | 82 | $ | 255 | $ | 444 | $ | 990 |
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 Fund shareholders. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 109.95% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund is a non-diversified fund that under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its net assets in real estate income-producing securities and other real estate securities of any market capitalization, including common stocks and equity securities, debt and preferred securities, non-U.S. real estate income-producing securities, and any other real estate-related yield securities, however, investments in non-U.S. securities are limited to 35% of the Fund’s total assets at the time of purchase. The Fund may invest in debt securities that have a rating of, or equivalent to, at least “BBB” by S&P Global Ratings or “Baa” by Moody’s Investors Services, Inc., or if unrated, are judged by the Adviser to be of comparable quality. The Fund may invest up to 35% of its total assets in such securities. Some debt securities purchased by the Fund may have very long maturities. The length of time remaining until maturity is one factor that the Adviser considers in purchasing a particular debt security.
The Fund is likely to maintain a significant portion of its assets in real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). REITs pool money to invest in properties (“equity REITs”) or mortgages (“mortgage REITs”), and their revenue primarily consists of rent derived from owned, income producing real estate properties, and capital gains from the sale of such properties. The Fund generally invests in equity REITs.
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The Adviser seeks to invest in businesses it believes have sustainable competitive advantages, exceptional management, opportunities for growth, and an attractive valuation.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
Real Estate Industry. In addition to general market conditions, the value of the Fund will be affected by the strength of the real estate markets. Factors that could affect the value of the Fund’s holdings include the following: overbuilding and increased competition; increases in property taxes and operating expenses; declines in the value of real estate; lack of availability of equity and debt financing to refinance maturing debt; vacancies due to economic conditions and tenant bankruptcies; losses due to costs resulting from natural disasters and/or environmental contamination and its related clean-up; changes in interest rates; changes in zoning laws; casualty or condemnation losses; variations in rental income; changes in neighborhood values; and functional obsolescence and appeal of properties to tenants.
REIT. REITs generally are dependent upon management skills and may not be diversified. REITs are also subject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers and self-liquidation. In addition, REITs could possibly fail to qualify for favorable tax treatment under applicable tax law. Various factors may also adversely affect a borrower’s or a lessee’s ability to meet its obligations to the REIT. In the event of a default by a borrower or lessee, the REIT may experience delays in enforcing its rights as a mortgagee or lessor and may incur substantial costs associated with protecting its investments.
Interest Rate. The Fund is subject to greater interest rate risk when compared to other stocks funds due to the chance that periods of rising interest rates may cause REIT stock prices to decline and the overall cost of borrowing to increase.
Credit and Interest Rate. The market value of debt securities is affected by changes in prevailing interest rates and the perceived credit quality of the issuer. When prevailing interest rates fall or perceived credit quality improves, the market value of the affected debt securities generally rises. Conversely, when interest rates rise or perceived credit quality weakens, the market value of the affected debt securities generally declines. The U.S. Federal Reserve has raised interest rates from historically low levels. It may continue to raise interest rates. In addition, changes in monetary policy may exacerbate the risks associated with changing interest rates. Any additional interest rate increases in the future could cause the value of the Fund’s holdings to decrease. The magnitude of these fluctuations will be greater when the maturity of the debt securities is longer.
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Concentration. The Fund’s strategy of concentrating in real estate income-producing and other real estate-related companies means that its performance will be closely tied to the performance of a particular market segment. The Fund’s concentration in these companies may present more risks than if it were broadly diversified over numerous industries and sectors of the economy. A downturn in these companies would have a larger impact on the Fund than on a mutual fund that does not concentrate in such companies. At times, the performance of these companies will lag the performance of other industries or the broader market as a whole.
Non-Diversified Portfolio. The Fund is non-diversified, which means it may have a greater percentage of its assets in a single issuer than a diversified fund. Because of this, a non-diversified fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers, and the performance of those issuers may have a greater effect on the performance of a non-diversified fund versus a diversified fund. Thus, a non-diversified fund is more likely to experience significant fluctuations in value, exposing the Fund to a greater risk of loss in any given period than a diversified fund.
Growth Investing. Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Growth stocks tend to be more expensive relative to their earnings or assets compared to other types of stocks. As a result, because growth stocks tend to be sensitive to changes in their earnings and to increasing interest rates and inflation, they tend to be more volatile than other types of stocks. In response, from time to time, growth investing as an investment style may go out of favor with investors.
General Stock Market. Fund losses may be incurred due to declines in one or more markets in which Fund investments are made. These declines may be the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s). In addition, turbulence as has recently been experienced, caused, among other reasons, by increased inflation, tightening monetary policy and interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve or similar international bodies, and reduced liquidity in financial markets may continue to negatively affect many issuers, which could have an adverse effect on your Fund investment. Events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect one industry, such as the financial services industry, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems, may spread to other industries, and could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the world-wide response to it, have and may continue to adversely impact issuers and markets worldwide. The active and expanding conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas presents considerable market risks. The
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coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments or voluntarily imposed by private parties, including closing borders, restricting travel and imposing prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, as well as the closure of, or operational changes to, many retail and other businesses, have had negative impacts, and in many cases severe negative impacts, on markets worldwide. It is not known how long such impacts, or any future impacts of other significant events described above, will or would last, but there could be a prolonged period of global economic slowdown, which may impact your Fund investment. Raising the ceiling on U.S. government debt has become increasingly politicized. Any failure to increase the total amount that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow could lead to a default on U.S. government obligations, with unpredictable consequences for economies and markets in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Non-U.S. Securities. Investing in non-U.S. securities may involve additional risks to those inherent in investing in U.S. securities, including exchange rate fluctuations, political or economic instability, the imposition of exchange controls, expropriation, limited disclosure and illiquid markets.
Small- and Mid-Sized Companies. The Adviser believes there is more potential for capital appreciation in small- and mid-sized companies, but there also may be more risk. Securities of small- and mid-sized companies may not be well known to most investors, and the securities may be less actively traded than those of large businesses. The securities of small- and mid-sized companies may fluctuate in price more widely than the stock market generally, and they may be more difficult to sell during market downturns. Small- and mid-sized companies rely more on the skills of management and on their continued tenure. Investing in small- and mid-sized companies requires a long-term outlook and may require shareholders to assume more risk and to have more patience than investing in the securities of larger, more established companies.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund (Retail Shares) by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, and since inception compared with that of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.BaronFunds.com/performance or by calling 1-800-99BARON (1-800-992-2766).
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Total Return (%) for the year ended December 31 (Retail Shares)
Best Quarter: |
3/31/19: 17.86% |
Worst Quarter: |
6/30/22: (18.43)% |
Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/23)
The following table shows the Fund’s Retail Shares’ annual returns and long-term performance (before and after taxes) and the change in value of market indexes over various periods ended December 31, 2023. This table shows how the Fund’s performance compares to that of the MSCI US REIT Index, which is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is comprised of equity REITs, in which the Fund invests, and the S&P 500 Index, a broad-based securities index that reflects the overall U.S. equity market. The table also shows the average annual return of the Fund’s Institutional Shares and R6 Shares, but it does not show after-tax returns.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest individual federal marginal income tax rate in effect at the time of each distribution and assumed sale, but they do not include the impact of state and local taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns depend on your own tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns reflect past tax effects and are not predictive of future tax effects. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund’s shares in a tax-deferred account (including a 401(k) or IRA or Coverdell account), or to investors that are tax-exempt.
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Average Annual Total Returns for the periods ended December 31, 2023
1 year | 5 years | 10 years | Since Inception |
|||||||||||||
BARON REAL ESTATE INCOME FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
15.19% | 12.41% | N/A | 8.05% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions |
14.46% | 11.88% | N/A | 7.53% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
9.14% | 9.76% | N/A | 6.21% | ||||||||||||
Institutional
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
15.51% | 12.64% | N/A | 8.29% | ||||||||||||
R6
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
15.44% | 12.61% | N/A | 8.27% | ||||||||||||
MSCI US REIT Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
12.27% | 6.15% | N/A | 4.05% | ||||||||||||
S&P 500 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
26.29% | 15.69% | N/A | 12.07% |
Management
Investment Adviser. BAMCO is the investment adviser of the Fund.
Portfolio Manager. Jeffrey A. Kolitch has been the portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception on December 29, 2017. Mr. Kolitch has worked at the Adviser as an analyst since September of 2005.
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Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Shares may be purchased only on days that the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading.
Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Retail Shares |
$2,000 | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Automatic Investment Plan |
$500 (with subsequent minimum investments of $50 per month until your investment has reached $2,000.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
$2,000 | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
Institutional Shares |
$1,000,000 (Employees of the Adviser and its affiliates and Trustees of the Baron Funds® and employer sponsored retirement plans (qualified and nonqualified) are not subject to the eligibility requirements for Institutional Shares.) | No Minimum | No Maximum |
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Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
R6 Shares |
$5,000,000 (There is no minimum initial investment for qualified retirement plans; however, the shares must be held through plan-level or omnibus accounts held on the books of the Fund.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. |
You Can Purchase or Redeem Shares By:
1. | Mailing a request to Baron Funds®, P.O. Box 219946, Kansas City, MO 64121-9946 or by overnight mail to: Baron Funds®, 430 West 7th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105-1514; |
2. | Wire (Purchase Only); |
3. | Calling 1-800-442-3814; |
4. | Visiting the Baron Funds® website www.BaronFunds.com; or |
5. | Through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary that may charge you a fee. |
The Fund is not for short-term traders who intend to purchase and then sell their Fund shares within a 90 day period. If the Adviser reasonably believes that a person is not a long-term investor, it will attempt to prohibit that person from making additional investments in the Fund.
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Tax Information
Distributions of the Fund’s net investment income (other than “qualified dividend income”) and distributions of net short-term capital gains will be taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund’s net long-term capital gains reported as capital gain dividends by the Fund will be taxable to you as long-term capital gains, regardless of the length of time you have held shares of the Fund. If you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, you may be subject to federal income tax on withdrawals from tax-deferred arrangement at a later date.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
If you purchase Retail or Institutional Shares of the Fund through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial adviser), the Fund, Baron Capital, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, BAMCO or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker, dealer or other financial intermediary, including your salesperson, to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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Investment Goal
The investment goal of Baron Health Care Fund® (the “Fund”) is capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you would pay if you bought and held shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fee |
Distribution (12b-1) Fee |
Other Expenses |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
Expense Reimburse ments |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimburse ments1 |
|||||||||||||||||||
BARON HEALTH CARE FUND |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
0.75% | 0.25% | 0.20% | 1.20% | (0.10 | )% | 1.10% | |||||||||||||||||
Institutional Shares |
0.75% | 0.00% | 0.13% | 0.88% | (0.03 | )% | 0.85% | |||||||||||||||||
R6 Shares |
0.75% | 0.00% | 0.13% | 0.88% | (0.03 | )% | 0.85% |
1 | BAMCO, Inc. (“BAMCO” or the “Adviser”) has agreed that, pursuant to a contract with an 11-year term terminating on August 29, 2034, it will reimburse certain expenses of the Fund, limiting net annual operating expenses (portfolio transaction costs, interest and dividend expense, acquired fund fees and expenses, fees and expenses related to filing foreign tax reclaims, and extraordinary expenses are not subject to the operating expense limitation) to 1.10% of average daily net assets of Retail Shares, 0.85% of average daily net assets of Institutional Shares, and 0.85% of average daily net assets of R6 Shares. Only the Board of Trustees of the Fund may terminate the expense reimbursement agreement prior to its termination date. |
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. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, giving
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effect to the expense reimbursement agreement described above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
YEAR | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||||||
BARON HEALTH CARE FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
$ | 112 | $ | 350 | $ | 606 | $ | 1,340 | ||||||||
Institutional Shares |
$ | 87 | $ | 271 | $ | 471 | $ | 1,049 | ||||||||
R6 Shares |
$ | 87 | $ | 271 | $ | 471 | $ | 1,049 |
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 Fund shareholders. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 51.83% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund is a non-diversified fund that under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities in the form of common stock of companies engaged in the research, development, production, sale, delivery or distribution of products and services related to the health care industry. The Adviser uses various criteria to determine whether an issuer is engaged in activities related to the health care industry, including whether: (1) the issuer derives 50% or more of its revenues from activities in the health care industry; or (2) the issuer devotes 50% or more of its assets to producing sales from the health care industry. These companies may include, among others, pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, life sciences tools and services companies, health care equipment companies, health care supplies companies, managed health care companies, health care services companies, health care facilities, health care distributors, and health care technology companies. The Fund strives to invest in multiple subsectors of the health care industry. The Fund’s allocation among the different subsectors of the health care industry will vary depending upon the relative potential the Fund sees within each area. The Adviser seeks to invest in businesses it believes have significant growth opportunities, sustainable competitive advantages, exceptional management, and attractive valuations. The Fund may purchase securities of companies of any market
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capitalization and may invest in foreign stocks, however, investments in non-U.S. securities are limited to 35% of the Fund’s total assets at the time of purchase.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
Health Care Sector. Investments in health care companies are subject to a number of risks, including the adverse impact of legislative actions and government regulations. These actions and regulations can affect the approval process for patents, medical devices and drugs, the funding of research and medical care programs, and the operation and licensing of facilities and personnel. Biotechnology and related companies are affected by patent considerations, intense competition, rapid technology change and obsolescence, and regulatory requirements of various federal and state agencies. In addition, some of these companies are relatively small and have thinly traded securities, may not yet offer products or may offer a single product, and may have persistent losses during a new product’s transition from development to production, or erratic revenue patterns. The stock prices of these companies are very volatile, particularly when their products are up for regulatory approval and/or under regulatory scrutiny.
Concentration. The Fund’s strategy of concentrating in health care and related companies means that its performance will be closely tied to the performance of a particular market segment. The Fund’s concentration in these companies may present more risks than if it were broadly diversified over numerous industries and sectors of the economy. A downturn in these companies would have a larger impact on the Fund than on a mutual fund that does not concentrate in such companies. At times, the performance of these companies will lag the performance of other industries or the broader market as a whole.
Non-Diversified Portfolio. The Fund is non-diversified, which means it may have a greater percentage of its assets in a single issuer than a diversified fund. Because of this, a non-diversified fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers, and the performance of those issuers may have a greater effect on the performance of a non-diversified fund versus a diversified fund. Thus, a non-diversified fund is more likely to experience significant fluctuations in value, exposing the Fund to a greater risk of loss in any given period than a diversified fund.
Growth Investing. Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Growth stocks tend to be more expensive relative to their earnings or assets compared to other types of stocks. As a result, because growth stocks tend to be sensitive to changes in their earnings and to increasing interest rates and inflation, they tend to be more volatile than other types of stocks. In response, from time to time, growth investing as an investment style may go out of favor with investors.
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General Stock Market. Fund losses may be incurred due to declines in one or more markets in which Fund investments are made. These declines may be the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s). In addition, turbulence as has recently been experienced, caused, among other reasons, by increased inflation, tightening monetary policy and interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve or similar international bodies, and reduced liquidity in financial markets may continue to negatively affect many issuers, which could have an adverse effect on your Fund investment. Events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect one industry, such as the financial services industry, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems, may spread to other industries, and could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the world-wide response to it, have and may continue to adversely impact issuers and markets worldwide. The active and expanding conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas presents considerable market risks. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments or voluntarily imposed by private parties, including closing borders, restricting travel and imposing prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, as well as the closure of, or operational changes to, many retail and other businesses, have had negative impacts, and in many cases severe negative impacts, on markets worldwide. It is not known how long such impacts, or any future impacts of other significant events described above, will or would last, but there could be a prolonged period of global economic slowdown, which may impact your Fund investment. Raising the ceiling on U.S. government debt has become increasingly politicized. Any failure to increase the total amount that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow could lead to a default on U.S. government obligations, with unpredictable consequences for economies and markets in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Non-U.S. Securities. Investing in non-U.S. securities may involve additional risks to those inherent in investing in U.S. securities, including exchange rate fluctuations, political or economic instability, the imposition of exchange controls, expropriation, limited disclosure and illiquid markets.
Small-and Mid-Sized Companies. The Adviser believes there is more potential for capital appreciation in small-and mid-sized companies, but there also may be more risk. Securities of small-and mid-sized companies may not be well known to most investors, and the securities may be less actively traded than those of large businesses. The securities of small-and mid-sized companies may fluctuate in price more widely than the stock market generally, and they may be more difficult to sell during market
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downturns. Small-and mid-sized companies rely more on the skills of management and on their continued tenure. Investing in small-and mid-sized companies requires a long-term outlook and may require shareholders to assume more risk and to have more patience than investing in the securities of larger, more established companies.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund (Retail Shares) by showing the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, and since inception compared with that of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.BaronFunds.com/performance or by calling 1-800-99BARON (1-800-992-2766).
Total Return (%) for the year ended December 31 (Retail Shares)
Best Quarter: |
6/30/20: 24.64% |
Worst Quarter: |
3/31/22: (10.03)% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/2023)
The following table shows the Fund’s Retail Shares’ annual returns and long-term performance (before and after taxes) and the change in value of market indexes over various periods ended December 31, 2023. This table shows how the Fund’s performance compares to that of the Russell 3000® Health Care Index, which
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features companies involved in medical services or health care in the Russell 3000® Index, in which the Fund invests, and the Russell 3000® Index, a broad-based securities index comprised of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies as determined by total market capitalization. The table also shows the average annual return of the Fund’s Institutional Shares and R6 Shares, but it does not show after-tax returns.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest individual federal marginal income tax rate in effect at the time of each distribution and assumed sale, but they do not include the impact of state and local taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns depend on your own tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns reflect past tax effects and are not predictive of future tax effects. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund’s shares in a tax-deferred account (including a 401(k) or IRA or Coverdell account), or to investors that are tax-exempt.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods ended December 31, 2023
1 year | 5 years | 10 years | Since Inception |
|||||||||||||
BARON HEALTH CARE FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
6.16% | 15.16% | N/A | 12.26% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions |
6.16% | 14.97% | N/A | 12.08% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
3.65% | 12.19% | N/A | 9.82% | ||||||||||||
Institutional
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
6.37% | 15.43% | N/A | 12.54% | ||||||||||||
R6
Shares |
||||||||||||||||
Return before taxes |
6.42% | 15.46% | N/A | 12.54% | ||||||||||||
Russell 3000 Health Care Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
2.87% | 10.79% | N/A | 10.38% | ||||||||||||
Russell 3000® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
25.96% | 15.16% | N/A | 12.25% |
Management
Investment Adviser. BAMCO is the investment adviser of the Fund.
Portfolio Manager. Neal Kaufman has been the portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception on April 30, 2018. Mr. Kaufman has worked at the Adviser as an analyst since March of 2005.
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Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Shares may be purchased only on days that the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading.
Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
Retail Shares |
$2,000 | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Automatic Investment Plan |
$500 (with subsequent minimum investments of $50 per month until your investment has reached $2,000.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
$2,000 | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. | |||
Institutional Shares |
$1,000,000 (Employees of the Adviser and its affiliates and Trustees of the Baron Funds® and employer sponsored retirement plans (qualified and nonqualified) are not subject to the eligibility requirements for Institutional Shares.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. |
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Minimum
Initial Investment |
Minimum Subsequent Investment |
Maximum Subsequent Investment | ||||
R6 Shares |
$5,000,000 (There is no minimum initial investment for qualified retirement plans; however, the shares must be held through plan-level or omnibus accounts held on the books of the Fund.) | No Minimum | No Maximum | |||
Baron Funds® website purchases |
You may not make an initial purchase through the Baron Funds® website. | $10 | $7,000 for retirement accounts ($8,000 for individuals 50 or older) and $250,000 for non-retirement accounts. |
You Can Purchase or Redeem Shares By:
1. | Mailing a request to Baron Funds®, P.O. Box 219946, Kansas City, MO 64121-9946 or by overnight mail to: Baron Funds®, 430 West 7th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105-1514; |
2. | Wire (Purchase Only); |
3. | Calling 1-800-442-3814; |
4. | Visiting the Baron Funds® website www.BaronFunds.com; or |
5. | Through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary that may charge you a fee. |
The Fund is not for short-term traders who intend to purchase and then sell their Fund shares within a 90 day period. If the Adviser reasonably believes that a person is not a long-term investor, it will attempt to prohibit that person from making additional investments in the Fund.
Tax Information
Distributions of the Fund’s net investment income (other than “qualified dividend income”) and distributions of net short-term capital gains will be taxable to you as ordinary income. Distributions of the Fund’s net long-term capital gains reported as capital gain dividends by the Fund will be taxable to you as long-term capital gains, regardless of the length of time you have held shares of the Fund. If you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, you may be subject to federal income tax on withdrawals from tax-deferred arrangement at a later date.
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Financial Intermediary Compensation
If you purchase Retail or Institutional Shares of the Fund through a broker, dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial adviser), the Fund, Baron Capital, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, BAMCO or their affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker, dealer or other financial intermediary, including your salesperson, to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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Investment Goal
The investment goal of Baron FinTech Fund® (the “Fund”) is capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you would pay if you bought and held shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fee |
Distribution (12b-1) Fee |
Other Expenses |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
Expense Reimbursements |
Total Annual
Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursements1 |
|||||||||||||||||||
BARON FINTECH FUND |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
0.80% | 0.25% | 0.61% | 1.66% | (0.46 | )% | 1.20% | |||||||||||||||||
Institutional Shares |
0.80% | 0.00% | 0.41% | 1.21% | (0.26 | )% | 0.95% | |||||||||||||||||
R6 Shares |
0.80% | 0.00% | 0.38% | 1.18% | (0.23 | )% | 0.95% |
1 | BAMCO (“BAMCO” or the “Adviser”) has agreed that, pursuant to a contract with an 11-year term terminating on August 29, 2034, it will reimburse certain expenses of the Fund, limiting net annual operating expenses (portfolio transaction costs, interest and dividend expense, acquired fund fees and expenses, fees and expenses related to filing foreign tax reclaims, and extraordinary expenses are not subject to the operating expense limitation) to 1.20% of average daily net assets of Retail Shares, average daily net assets of Retail Shares, 0.95% of average daily net assets of Institutional Shares and 0.95% of average daily net assets of R6 shares. Only the Board of Trustees of the Fund may terminate the expense reimbursement agreement prior to its termination date. |
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. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, giving
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effect to the expense reimbursement agreement described above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
YEAR | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||||||
BARON FINTECH FUND |
||||||||||||||||
Retail Shares |
$ | 122 | $ | 381 | $ | 660 | $ | 1,455 | ||||||||
Institutional Shares |
$ | 97 | $ | 303 | $ | 525 | $ | 1,166 | ||||||||
R6 Shares |
$ | 97 | $ | 303 | $ | 525 | $ | 1,166 |
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 Fund shareholders. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 16.31% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund is a non-diversified fund that, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of companies that develop, use, or rely on innovative technologies or services, in a significant way, for banking, lending, capital markets, financial data analytics, insurance, payments, asset management, or wealth management. The Fund may purchase securities of companies of any market capitalization and may invest in foreign stocks, including emerging market securities, however, investments in non-U.S. securities are limited to 35% of the Fund’s total assets at the time of purchase.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
FinTech Companies. FinTech Companies may be adversely impacted by government regulations, economic conditions and deterioration in credit markets. These companies may have significant exposure to consumers and businesses (especially small businesses) in the form of loans and other financial products or services. FinTech Companies typically face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. In addition, many FinTech Companies store sensitive consumer information and could be the target of cybersecurity attacks and other types of theft, which could have a negative impact on these companies. Many FinTech Companies
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currently operate under less regulatory scrutiny than traditional financial services companies and banks, but there is significant risk that regulatory oversight could increase in the future. Higher levels of regulation could increase costs and adversely impact the current business models of some FinTech Companies. These companies could be negatively impacted by disruptions in service caused by hardware or software failure, or by interruptions or delays in service by third-party data center hosting facilities and maintenance providers. FinTech Companies involved in alternative currencies may face slow adoption rates and be subject to higher levels of regulatory scrutiny in the future, which could severely impact the viability of these companies. FinTech Companies, especially smaller companies, tend to be more volatile than companies that do not rely heavily on technology. The customers and/or suppliers of FinTech Companies may be concentrated in a particular country, region or industry. Any adverse event affecting one of these countries, regions or industries could have a negative impact on FinTech Companies. Companies across a wide variety of industries are exploring the possible applications of fintech technologies. The extent of such technologies versatility has not yet been fully explored. Consequently, the Fund’s holdings may include equity securities of operating companies that focus on or have exposure to a wide variety of industries and the economic fortunes of certain companies held by the Fund may not be significantly tied to such fintech technologies. Such technologies ultimately may not have a material affect on the economic returns of the companies in which the Fund invests.
Information Technology Sector. Companies in the information technology sector are subject to rapid changes in technology product cycles; rapid product obsolescence; government regulation; and increased competition, both domestically and internationally, including competition from foreign competitors with lower production costs. Information technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technology tend to be more volatile than the overall market and also are heavily dependent on patent and intellectual property rights. In addition, information technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel.
IT Services Industry. The IT services industry can be significantly affected by competitive pressures, such as technological developments, fixed-rate pricing, and the ability to attract and retain skilled employees, and the success of companies in the industry is subject to continued demand for IT services.
Financials Sector. The financials industries are subject to extensive government regulation, can be subject to relatively rapid change due to increasingly blurred distinctions between service segments, and can be significantly affected by availability and cost of capital funds, changes in interest rates, the rate of corporate and consumer debt defaults, and price competition. Uncertainty in the banking and financial systems can result in significant and widespread deterioration in market and
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economic conditions by disrupting access to capital and other financial services, which could adversely affect the performance of the Fund.
Non-Diversified Portfolio. The Fund is non-diversified, which means it may have a greater percentage of its assets in a single issuer than a diversified fund. Because of this, a non-diversified fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers, and the performance of those issuers may have a greater effect on the performance of a non-diversified fund versus a diversified fund. Thus, a non-diversified fund is more likely to experience significant fluctuations in value, exposing the Fund to a greater risk of loss in any given period than a diversified fund.
Concentration. The Fund’s strategy of concentrating in financials companies means that its performance will be closely tied to the performance of a particular market segment. The Fund’s concentration in these companies may present more risks than if it were broadly diversified over numerous industries and sectors of the economy. A downturn in these companies would have a larger impact on the Fund than on a mutual fund that does not concentrate in such companies. At times, the performance of these companies will lag the performance of other industries or the broader market as a whole.
Growth Investing. Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Growth stocks tend to be more expensive relative to their earnings or assets compared to other types of stocks. As a result, because growth stocks tend to be sensitive to changes in their earnings and to increasing interest rates and inflation, they tend to be more volatile than other types of stocks. In response, from time to time, growth investing as an investment style may go out of favor with investors.
General Stock Market. Fund losses may be incurred due to declines in one or more markets in which Fund investments are made. These declines may be the result of, among other things, political, regulatory, market, economic or social developments affecting the relevant market(s). In addition, turbulence as has recently been experienced, caused, among other reasons, by increased inflation, tightening monetary policy and interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve or similar international bodies, and reduced liquidity in financial markets may continue to negatively affect many issuers, which could have an adverse effect on your Fund investment. Events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect one industry, such as the financial services industry, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems, may spread to other industries, and could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
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in February 2022 and the world-wide response to it, have and may continue to adversely impact issuers and markets worldwide. The active and expanding conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas presents considerable market risks. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments or voluntarily imposed by private parties, including closing borders, restricting travel and imposing prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, as well as the closure of, or operational changes to, many retail and other businesses, have had negative impacts, and in many cases severe negative impacts, on markets worldwide. It is not known how long such impacts, or any future impacts of other significant events described above, will or would last, but there could be a prolonged period of global economic slowdown, which may impact your Fund investment. Raising the ceiling on U.S. government debt has become increasingly politicized. Any failure to increase the total amount that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow could lead to a default on U.S. government obligations, with unpredictable consequences for economies and markets in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Non-U.S. Securities. Investing in non-U.S. securities may involve additional risks to those inherent in investing in U.S. securities, including exchange rate fluctuations, political or economic instability, the imposition of exchange controls, expropriation, limited disclosure and illiquid markets.
Developing Countries. The Fund invests in developing countries, which include countries in the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index and other countries determined by the Adviser to be developing countries based on classifications made by the International Monetary Fund or on country characteristics similar to those of the countries in the EM Index. Investments in developing countries are subject to all of the risks of non-U.S. investing generally, and have additional heightened risks due to a lack of established legal, political, business and social frameworks to support securities markets, including: delays in settling portfolio securities transactions; currency and capital controls; greater sensitivity to interest rate changes; pervasiveness of corruption and crime; currency exchange rate volatility; and inflation, deflation or currency devaluation.
Small- and Mid-Sized Companies. The Adviser believes there is more potential for capital appreciation in small- and mid-sized companies, but there also may be more risk. Securities of small- and mid-sized companies may not be well known to most investors, and the securities may be less actively traded than those of large businesses. The securities of small- and mid-sized companies may fluctuate in price more widely than the stock market generally, and they may be more difficult to sell during market downturns. Small- and mid-sized companies rely more on the skills of management and on their continued tenure. Investing in small- and mid-sized companies requires a long-term outlook and may require shareholders to assume more risk and to have more patience than investing in the securities of larger, more established companies.
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Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund (Retail Shares) by showing the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s annual returns for 1 year and since inception compared with that of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.BaronFunds.com/performance or by calling 1-800-99BARON (1-800-992-2766).
Total Return (%) for the year ended December 31 (Retail Shares)
Best Quarter: |
6/30/20: 31.89% |
Worst Quarter: |
6/30/22: (22.51)% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/2023)
The following table shows the Fund’s Retail Shares’ annual and since inception return (before and after taxes) and the change in value of market indexes over various periods ended December 31, 2023. This table shows how the Fund’s performance compares to that of the FactSet Global FinTech Index, which measures and tracks the performance of companies engaged in Financial Technologies, primarily in the areas of software and consulting, data and analytics, digital payment processing, money transfer, and payment transaction-related hardware, in which the Fund invests; the S&P 500 Index, a broad-based securities index that reflects the overall market; and the MSCI ACWI Index, a broad-based securities index that captures large and mid cap representation across 23 Developed Markets (DM) and 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries. The
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table also shows the average annual return of the Fund’s Institutional Shares and R6 Shares, but it does not show after-tax returns.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest individual federal marginal income tax rate in effect at the time of each distribution and assumed sale, but they do not include the impact of state and local taxes.
Your actual after-tax returns depend on your own tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns reflect past tax effects and are not predictive of future tax effects. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund’s shares in a tax-deferred account (including a 401(k) or IRA or Coverdell account), or to investors that are tax-exempt.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods ended December 31, 2023
1 year | 5 years | 10 years | Since Inception |
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BARON FINTECH FUND |
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Retail
Shares |
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Return before taxes |
26.96% | N/A | N/A | 9.31% | ||||||||||||
Return after taxes on distributions |
26.96% |