Funds

Driehaus Event Driven Fund

The Fund seeks to provide superior risk-adjusted returns with low correlations to major asset classes and lower volatility than the S&P 500 Index.


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Principal Risks

All investments, including those in mutual funds, have risks. No investment is suitable for all investors. The Fund is intended for investors who seek positive returns under a variety of market conditions and can accept the risks involved with its investments, and who can accept the fact that there will be principal fluctuation. Of course, there can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its objective. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the main risks of investing in the Fund:

Event Risk

Event-driven opportunities may not occur as anticipated, resulting in potentially reduced returns or losses to the Fund as it unwinds trades where those opportunities do not materialize as anticipated.

Market Risk

The Fund is subject to market risk, which is the possibility that securities prices overall, including both debt and equity securities, will decline over short or long periods. Securities markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices. These fluctuations are expected to have a substantial influence on the value of the Fund’s shares.

Main Risks of Equity Securities

The risks that could affect the value of the Fund’s shares and the total return on an investment in the Fund include the possibility that the equity securities held by the Fund (such as common stocks, preferred stocks, convertible securities, rights and warrants) will experience sudden, unpredictable drops in value or long periods of decline in value. This may occur because of factors that affect the securities markets generally, such as adverse changes in economic conditions, the general outlook for corporate earnings, interest rates or investor sentiment. Equity securities may also lose value because of factors affecting an entire industry or sector, or factors directly related to a specific company. In a company liquidation, the claims of secured and unsecured creditors and owners of bonds and preferred stocks take precedence over the claims of common stock shareholders.

Small- and Medium-Sized Company Risk

The Fund invests in companies that are smaller, less established, with limited operating histories and less liquid markets for their stock, and therefore may be riskier investments. While small- and medium-sized companies generally have the potential for rapid growth, the securities of these companies often involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies because small- and medium-sized companies may lack the management experience, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies. In addition, in many instances the securities of small- and medium-sized companies are traded only over-the-counter or on a regional securities exchange, and the frequency and volume of their trading is substantially less than is typical of larger companies. The value of securities of smaller, less well known issuers can be more volatile than that of larger issuers.

Micro-Cap Company Risk

The securities of micro-cap companies may be more volatile in price, have wider spreads between their bid and ask prices, and have significantly lower trading volumes than the securities of larger capitalization companies. As a result, the purchase or sale of more than a limited number of shares of the securities of a smaller company may affect its market price. The Fund may need a considerable amount of time to purchase or sell its positions in these securities. Some micro-cap companies are followed by few, if any, securities analysts, and there tends to be less publicly available information about such companies. Their securities generally have even more limited trading volumes and are subject to even more abrupt or erratic market price movements than are small-cap and mid-cap securities, and the Fund may be able to deal with only a few market-makers when purchasing and selling micro-cap securities. Such companies may also have limited markets, financial resources or product lines, may lack management depth, and may be more vulnerable to adverse business or market developments. These conditions, which create greater opportunities to find securities trading well below the Fund’s estimate of the company’s current worth, also involve increased risk.

Private Placement Securities Risk

Many private placement securities are issued by companies that are not required to file periodic financial reports, leading to challenges in evaluating the company’s overall business prospects and gauging how the investment is likely to perform over time. The more limited financial information and lack of publicly available prices require the fund to determine a fair value for such investments. The assignments of fair value prices to private placements consider a wide variety of factors and are reviewed on a regular basis and updated as additional information becomes available. However, the valuation involves a significant amount of judgment by the Fund’s independent pricing service and the fair value prices determined for the fund could differ from those of other market participants. Securities acquired through private placements are not registered for resale in the general securities market and may be classified as illiquid.

Main Risks of Foreign Securities and Foreign Currencies

The Fund invests in foreign debt and equity securities. To the extent portfolio securities are issued by foreign issuers or denominated in foreign currencies, the Fund’s investment performance is affected by the strength or weakness of the U.S. dollar against these currencies. Investing outside the U.S. involves different risks than domestic investments. The following risks may be associated with foreign investments: less liquidity; greater volatility; political instability; restrictions on foreign investment and repatriation of capital; less complete and reliable information about foreign companies; reduced government supervision of some foreign securities markets; lower responsiveness of foreign management to shareholder concerns; economic issues or developments in foreign countries; fluctuation in exchange rates of foreign currencies and risks of devaluation; imposition of foreign withholding and other taxes; dependence of emerging market companies upon commodities which may be subject to economic cycles; and emerging market risk such as limited trading volume, expropriation, devaluation or other adverse political or social developments.

Main Risks of Debt Securities

Debt securities may be subject to credit risk, interest rate risk, prepayment and extension risk as well as call risk. Credit risk is the failure of an issuer or borrower to make timely interest or principal payments, or a decline or perception of a decline in the credit quality of a bond or creditworthiness of a borrower, which can cause the security’s price to fall, potentially lowering the Fund’s share price. Credit spread risk is the risk that economic and market conditions or any actual or perceived credit deterioration may lead to an increase in the credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between two securities of similar maturity but different credit quality) and a decline in price of the issuer’s securities. Prices of bonds and Senior Loans tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect bond and Senior Loan prices and, accordingly, the Fund’s share price. The longer a debt security’s effective maturity and duration, the more its price is likely to react to interest rates. Interest rate changes normally have different effects on variable or floating rate securities than they do on securities with fixed interest rates. When interest rates fall, debt securities may be repaid more quickly than expected and the Fund may be required to reinvest the proceeds at a lower interest rate. This is referred to as “prepayment risk.” When interest rates rise, debt securities may be repaid more slowly than expected and the value of the Fund’s holdings may fall sharply. This is referred to as “extension risk.” If an issuer “calls” its bond before its maturity date during a time of declining interest rates, the Fund might have to reinvest the proceeds in an investment offering a lower yield. Given that the Federal Reserve has begun to raise interest rates, the Fund may face a heightened level of interest rate risk.

Fixed-Income Market Risk

Economic and other market developments can adversely affect fixed-income securities markets in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. At times, participants in debt securities markets may develop concerns about the ability of certain issuers of debt securities to make timely principal and interest payments, or they may develop concerns about the ability of financial institutions that make markets in certain debt securities to facilitate an orderly market. Those concerns can cause increased volatility in those debt securities or debt securities markets and the related derivatives markets. Under some circumstances, those concerns could cause reduced liquidity in certain debt securities markets and the related derivative traded securities. A lack of liquidity or other adverse credit market conditions may hamper the Fund’s ability to sell the debt securities in which it invests or to find and purchase suitable debt instruments.

High Yield Risk

Low-rated and comparable unrated securities (“junk bonds”), while generally offering higher yields than investment grade securities with similar maturities, involve greater risks, including the possibility of default or bankruptcy. They are regarded as speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and to repay principal. The market values of certain of these securities tend to be more sensitive to individual corporate development and changes in economic conditions than higher quality bonds. In addition, junk bonds tend to be less marketable than higher-quality debt securities because the market for them is not as broad or active. The lack of a liquid secondary market may have an adverse effect on market price and the Fund’s ability to sell particular securities.

Senior Loan Risk

Senior Loans are business loans made to borrowers that may be corporations, partnerships or other entities (each a “Borrower”). These Borrowers operate in a variety of industries and across geographic regions. Investing in Senior Loans involves investment risk and some Borrowers default on their Senior Loan repayments. The risks associated with Senior Loans are similar to the risks of junk bonds, although Senior Loans typically are senior and secured, whereas junk bonds often are subordinated and unsecured. Investments in Senior Loans typically are below investment grade and are considered speculative because of the credit risks of their Borrowers. Such Borrowers are more likely to default on their payments of interest and principal owed, and such defaults could reduce the Fund’s net asset value and income distributions. An economic downturn generally leads to a higher non-payment rate, and a Senior Loan may lose significant value before a default occurs. No active trading market may exist for certain Senior Loans, which may impair the ability of the Fund to realize full value in the event of the need to sell a Senior Loan and which may make it difficult to value Senior Loans. Adverse market conditions may impair the liquidity of some actively traded Senior Loans. To the extent that a secondary market does exist for certain Senior Loans, the market may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods. Senior Loans are subject to the risk that when sold, such sale may not settle in a timely manner, resulting in a settlement date that may be much later than the trade date. Delayed settlement interferes with a Fund’s ability to realize the proceeds of Senior Loan sales in a timely way. There is no assurance that the liquidation of the collateral would satisfy the claims of the Borrower’s obligations in the event of the non-payment of scheduled interest or principal, or that the collateral could be readily liquidated. Senior Loans may not be deemed to be securities and, in such case, may not be afforded the anti-fraud protections of the Federal securities laws in the event of fraud or misrepresentation by a Borrower.

Main Risks of Derivatives

Derivative instruments (such as swaps, options, futures and forwards) often have risks similar to their underlying currency, security or index, in addition to other risks. The use of derivatives also involves risks different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying assets. Derivatives can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and there is a risk of imperfect correlation between the value of the derivative and the underlying
instrument. Derivative instruments may give rise to leverage and losses on derivatives may substantially exceed the initial investment. When used for hedging, the change in value of the derivative may also not correlate specifically with the currency, security or other risk being hedged. Further, since the Fund may invest in derivatives for speculative purposes, losses from speculative positions in a derivative may be much greater than the derivative’s original cost and may be substantial. With over-the-counter derivatives, there is the risk that the other party to the transaction could default. Derivatives may be subject to pricing or “basis” risk, which exists when a particular derivative becomes extraordinarily expensive relative to historical prices or the prices of its corresponding instrument. Additionally, to the extent the Fund is required to segregate or “set aside” (often
referred to as “asset segregation”) liquid assets or otherwise cover open positions with respect to certain derivative instruments, the Fund may be required to sell portfolio instruments to meet these asset segregation requirements. There is a possibility that segregation involving a large percentage of the Fund’s assets could impede portfolio management or the Fund’s ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations.

Deliverable and Non-Deliverable Foreign Currency Forwards and Options Risk

Deliverable and non-deliverable foreign currency forward and options contracts involve the risk that anticipated currency movements will not be accurately predicted, which could result in losses on those contracts and additional transaction costs. The use of forward and options contracts could reduce performance if there are unanticipated changes in currency prices. Options on foreign currencies are affected by the factors that influence foreign exchange rates and investments generally. The Fund’s ability to establish and close out positions on foreign currency options is subject to the maintenance of a liquid secondary market, and there can be no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for a particular option at any specific time.

Options and Futures Contracts Risk

Participation in the options or futures markets involves investment risks and transaction costs to which the Fund would not be subject absent the use of these strategies. In particular, the loss from investing in futures contracts is potentially unlimited. If the Fund’s investment adviser’s prediction of movements in the underlying reference securities, interest rate or currency markets is inaccurate, the Fund could be in a worse position than if such strategies were not used. Risks inherent in the use of options, futures contracts and options on futures contracts include: (1) imperfect correlation between the price of options and futures contracts and options thereon and movements in the prices of the securities being
hedged; (2) the fact that skills needed to use these strategies are different from those needed to select portfolio securities; and (3) the possible absence of a liquid secondary market for any particular instrument at any time.

Swaps Risk

Swaps can involve greater risks than direct investment in securities, because swaps may be leveraged and are subject to counterparty risk (e.g., the risk of a counterparty’s defaulting on the agreement), credit risk and pricing risk (i.e., swaps may be difficult to value). In instances where an investment in a swap is meant to be correlated to an investment in the instrument or security underlying the swap, such correlation may not be perfect and/or may not result in the expected outcome due to these added risks. In addition, it may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate a swap position at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses. As a result of the Dodd-Frank Act, certain swap agreements are required to be cleared through a clearinghouse and traded on an exchange or swap execution facility. The regulation of swaps markets has increased over the last
few years, and future regulation of the swaps markets may make swaps more costly, may limit the availability of swaps, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of swaps. Any such adverse future developments could impair the effectiveness of the Fund’s swaps transactions and cause the Fund to lose value.

Risks of Holding Cash or Similar Instruments

During periods when the Fund holds a substantial position in cash and money market instruments, the Fund will earn less income than it would if it invested in higher yielding securities. Holding a large cash position for an extended period of time may result in the Fund not achieving its investment objective. To the extent that the Fund invests in money market mutual funds for its cash position, the Fund will indirectly bear its pro rata portion of such funds’ management fees and operational expenses. These expenses are in addition to the expenses the Fund bears directly in connection with its own operations.

Short Sale Risk

Short sales expose the Fund to the risk that it will be required to buy the security sold short (also known as “covering” the short position) at a time when the security has appreciated in value, thus resulting in a loss to the Fund. The amount the Fund could lose on a short sale is theoretically unlimited (as compared to a long position, where the maximum loss is the amount invested). The use of short sales also may cause the Fund to have higher expenses than those of other funds due to the payment of dividends and interest, if any, in connection with the short positions as well as the cost to borrow the security.

Nondiversification

Because the Fund may invest a greater percentage of assets in a particular issuer or a small number of issuers, it may be subject to greater risks and larger losses than diversified funds. The value of the Fund may vary more as a result of changes in the financial condition or the market’s assessment of the issuers than a more diversified fund.

Allocation Risk

The Fund’s overall risk level will depend on the market sectors and countries in which the Fund is invested and the current interest rate, liquidity and credit quality of such sectors and countries. The Fund may overweight or underweight certain companies, industries, market sectors, or countries, which may cause the Fund’s performance to be more or less sensitive to developments affecting those companies, industries, sectors or countries. The Fund may have significant weightings in a particular issuer, country, sector or industry, which may subject the Fund to greater risks than less focused funds.

High Rates of Turnover

The Fund may experience high rates of portfolio turnover, which may result in payment by the Fund of above-average transaction costs and could result in the payment by shareholders of taxes on above-average amounts of realized investment gains, including net short-term capital gains, which are taxed as ordinary income for federal income tax purposes. To the extent the Fund engages in short sales (which are not included in calculating the portfolio turnover rate), the transaction costs incurred by the Fund are likely to be greater than the transaction costs incurred by a mutual fund that does not take short positions and has a similar portfolio turnover rate.

Manager Risk

How the investment adviser manages the Fund will impact the Fund’s performance. The Fund may lose money if the investment adviser’s investment strategy does not achieve the Fund’s objective or if the investment adviser does not implement the strategy successfully.

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Disclosures

The performance data shown represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Principal value and investment returns will fluctuate so that investors' shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance data represents the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). Average annual total return reflects annualized change. Since Fund performance is subject to change after the month-end, please call (800) 560-6111 or view our daily NAVs for more current performance information.

Please consider the investment objectives, risks, fees and expenses of the Fund carefully prior to investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other important information about the Fund. To obtain a copy of the prospectus/summary prospectus, please call (800) 560-6111. Please read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing.

Foreside Financial Services, LLC, Distributor

Represents the Annual Fund Operating Expenses as disclosed in the current prospectus dated April 30, 2023. It is important to understand that a decline in the Fund’s average net assets due to unprecedented market volatility or other factors could cause the Fund’s expense ratio for the current fiscal year to be higher than the expense information presented. A shareholder may be required to pay a commission to their financial intermediary.

* To view the Index definitions, see the Index Definitions.

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Daily Nav
$12.62
As of Mar 28, 2024
Ticker
DEVDX

Facts

Inception Date
Aug 26, 2013
Fund Assets as of 02/29/24
$213M
Minimum Initial Investment
$10,000
Minimum Subsequent Investment
$2,000
Minimum IRA Investment
$2,000
Minimum Subsequent Investment
$500
Dividends & Distributions
Annually
Gross Expense Ratio
1.71%
Net Expense Ratio
1.71%