The fund invests primarily in a diverse group of U.S. small cap companies across market sectors and industry groups. The fund seeks to achieve higher expected returns by selecting securities of companies with higher profitability and value characteristics, as well as smaller market capitalizations relative to others within the fund's small cap investment universe. To identify the desired market capitalization companies with higher profitability and value characteristics, the portfolio managers use reported and/or estimated company financials and market data including, but not limited to, shares outstanding, book value and its components, cash flows from operations, and accruals.