485BPOS 2012-05-31 0000737520 2012-10-01 Strategic Funds, Inc. false 2012-09-28 2012-10-01 The fund is non-diversified, which means that the fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. Therefore, the fund's performance may be more vulnerable to changes in the market value of a single issuer or group of issuers and more susceptible to risks associated with a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence than a diversified fund. <tt>The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells<br />securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may<br />indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund<br />shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in<br />annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund's performance.<br />During the most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was<br />107.62% of the average value of its portfolio.</tt> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/ExpenseExample_S000029388Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/BarChartData_S000029388Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <tt>The fund seeks capital appreciation.</tt> <tt>The Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund<br />with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you<br />invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all <br />of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your<br />investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses<br />remain the same. The one-year example and the first year of the three-, five-<br />and ten-years examples are based on net operating expenses, which reflect the<br />expense waiver/reimbursement by The Dreyfus Corporation. Although your actual<br />costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:</tt> reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes <tt>To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests at least 80% of its net <br />assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in the stocks of <br />small cap companies. The fund currently considers small cap companies <br />to be those companies with market capitalizations that fall within the <br />range of companies in the Russell 2000&#xAE; Growth Index at the time of <br />purchase. Because the fund may continue to hold a security whose market <br />capitalization increases or decreases, a substantial portion of the <br />fund's holdings can have market capitalizations outside the range of <br />the Russell 2000 Growth Index at any given time. The fund's portfolio <br />is constructed so as to have a growth tilt. The fund may invest up to<br />15% of its net assets in foreign securities.<br /> <br />The fund uses a "multi-manager" approach by selecting one or more <br />subadvisers to manage the fund's assets. The fund may hire, terminate <br />or replace subadvisers and modify material terms and conditions of <br />subadvisory arrangements without shareholder approval. The fund's assets <br />are currently allocated among five subadvisers, each of which acts <br />independently of the others and uses its own methodology to select <br />portfolio investments.<br /> <br />The fund is non-diversified, which means that a relatively high <br />percentage of the fund's assets may be invested in a limited number <br />of issuers.</tt> Fund Summary You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds. Example After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal tax rates, and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Investment Objective The fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of future results. The fund's share price fluctuates, sometimes dramatically, which means you could lose money. Principal Risks Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) 1.0762 Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown, and the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. Year-by-Year Total Returns as of 12/31 each year (%) -- Class A Sales charges, if any, are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would have been less than those shown. Performance 50000 The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. <tt>Best Quarter&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;<br />Q1, 2011: 11.18%<br />Worst Quarter&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;<br />Q3, 2011: -18.11%&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;<br /><br />The year-to-date total return of the fund's Class A shares as of&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;&#xA0;<br />6/30/12 was 9.01%.</tt> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) Average Annual Total Returns (as of 12/31/11) <tt>The bar chart shows the performance of the fund's Class A shares for its first <br />full calendar year of operations. Sales charges, if any, are not reflected in <br />the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would have been less <br />than those shown.</tt> Portfolio Turnover <tt>An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit. It is not insured or guaranteed by <br />the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. It <br />is not a complete investment program. The fund's share price fluctuates, sometimes <br />dramatically, which means you could lose money.<br /> <br />o Risks of stock investing. Stocks generally fluctuate more in value than bonds<br />and may decline significantly over short time periods. There is the chance that<br />stock prices overall will decline because stock markets tend to move in cycles,<br />with periods of rising prices and falling prices. The market value of a stock<br />may decline due to general weakness in the stock market or because of factors<br />that affect the company or its particular industry.<br /> <br />o Small and midsize company risk. Small and midsize companies carry additional<br />risks because the operating histories of these companies tend to be more<br />limited, their earnings and revenues less predictable (and some companies may be<br />experiencing significant losses), and their share prices more volatile than<br />those of larger, more established companies. The shares of smaller companies<br />tend to trade less frequently than those of larger, more established companies,<br />which can adversely affect the pricing of these securities and the fund's<br />ability to sell these securities.<br /> <br />o Growth stock risk. Investors often expect growth companies to increase their<br />earnings at a certain rate. If these expectations are not met, investors can<br />punish the stocks inordinately, even if earnings do increase. In addition,<br />growth stocks may lack the dividend yield that may cushion stock prices in<br />market downturns.<br /> <br />o Market sector risk. The fund may significantly overweight or underweight<br />certain companies, industries or market sectors, which may cause the fund's<br />performance to be more or less sensitive to developments affecting those<br />companies, industries or sectors.<br /> <br />o Liquidity risk. When there is little or no active trading market for specific<br />types of securities, it can become more difficult to sell the securities at or<br />near their perceived value. In such a market, the value of such securities and<br />the fund's share price may fall dramatically. Investments in foreign securities<br />tend to have greater exposure to liquidity risk than domestic securities.<br /> <br />o Foreign investment risk. Special risks associated with investments in foreign<br />issuers include exposure to currency fluctuations, less liquidity, less developed <br />or less efficient trading markets, lack of comprehensive company information, <br />political and economic instability and differing auditing and legal standards. <br />Investments denominated in foreign currencies are subject to the risk that such <br />currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and affect the <br />value of these investments held by the fund.<br /> <br />o Multi-manager risk. Each subadviser makes investment decisions independently,<br />and it is possible that the investment styles of the subadvisers may not<br />complement one another. As a result, the fund's exposure to a given stock,<br />industry or investment style could unintentionally be greater or smaller than it<br />would have been if the fund had a single adviser. In addition, if one subadviser<br />buys a security during a time frame when another subadviser sells it, the fund<br />will incur transaction costs and the fund's net position in the security may be<br />approximately the same as it would have been with a single adviser and no such<br />sale and purchase.<br /> <br />o Allocation risk. There can be no assurance that the allocation of the fund's<br />assets among the subadvisers will be effective in achieving the fund's<br />investment goal.<br /> <br />o Non-diversification risk. The fund is non-diversified, which means that the<br />fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number<br />of issuers. Therefore, the fund's performance may be more vulnerable to changes<br />in the market value of a single issuer or group of issuers and more susceptible<br />to risks associated with a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence<br />than a diversified fund.</tt> Fees and Expenses After-tax performance is shown only for Class A shares. After-tax performance of the fund's other share classes will vary. Principal Investment Strategy www.dreyfus.com <tt>The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of<br />investing in the fund. The table compares the average annual total returns <br />of the fund's shares to those of a broad measure of market performance. The <br />fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of future <br />results. More recent performance information may be available at www.dreyfus.com.</tt> <tt>This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold<br />shares of the fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your<br />family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain<br />funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds. More information about these and other<br />discounts is available from your financial professional and in the Shareholder<br />Guide section on page 11 of the Prospectus and in the How to Buy Shares section<br />and the Additional Information About How to Buy Shares section on page II-1 and<br />page III-1, respectively, of the fund's Statement of Additional Information.<br />Class A shares bought without an initial sales charge as part of an investment<br />of $1 million or more may be charged a deferred sales charge of 1% if redeemed<br />within one year.</tt> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/OperatingExpensesData_S000029388Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/PerformanceTableData_S000029388Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * column rr_PerformanceMeasureAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <tt>After-tax performance is shown only for Class A shares. After-tax performance <br />of the fund's other share classes will vary. After-tax returns are calculated <br />using the historical highest individual federal marginal tax rates, and do not <br />reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend <br />on the investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown, and the <br />after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares <br />through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement<br />accounts.</tt> An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit. It is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/ExpenseExampleNoRedemption_S000029388Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/ShareholderFeesData_S000029388Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> Russell 2000 Growth Index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes -0.0291 0.1807 Class A returns after taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares -0.0311 0.1374 2010-07-01 Class A returns after taxes on distributions -0.0478 0.1605 2010-07-01 DSGIX 0.0000 Class I returns before taxes 105 105 328 1259 569 0.0128 0.0013 0.0090 2013-10-01 1259 328 569 0.0000 0.0103 0.0103 0.2110 2010-07-01 0.0000 DSGCX 0.0000 Class C returns before taxes 318 218 675 -0.0001 2492 1158 -0.0069 0.0051 0.0090 2013-10-01 2492 675 1158 0.0075 0.0215 0.0216 0.1989 2010-07-01 0.0100 DSGAX Worst Quarter Best Quarter 0.0575 2012-06-30 Class A returns before taxes 709 2011-03-31 709 999 -0.1811 -0.0003 2187 1309 0.1118 -0.0478 0.0053 0.0090 2013-10-01 2011-09-30 2187 999 1309 year-to-date total return 0.0104 0.0000 0.0140 0.0143 0.1610 2010-07-01 0.0901 0.0000 0000737520 ck0000737520:SummaryS000029388Memberck0000737520:S000029388Memberck0000737520:C000090268Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000737520 ck0000737520:SummaryS000029388Memberck0000737520:S000029388Memberck0000737520:C000090269Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000737520 ck0000737520:SummaryS000029388Memberck0000737520:S000029388Memberck0000737520:C000090270Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000737520 ck0000737520:SummaryS000029388Memberck0000737520:S000029388Memberrr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMemberck0000737520:C000090268Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000737520 ck0000737520:SummaryS000029388Memberck0000737520:S000029388Memberrr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMemberck0000737520:C000090268Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000737520 ck0000737520:SummaryS000029388Memberck0000737520:S000029388Memberck0000737520:RRINDEX00001Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000737520 ck0000737520:SummaryS000029388Memberck0000737520:S000029388Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000737520 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 pure iso4217:USD The Dreyfus Corporation has contractually agreed, until at least October 1, 2013, to waive receipt of its fees and/or assume the expenses of the fund so that the expenses of none of the classes (excluding Rule 12b-1 fees, shareholder services fees, taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, commitment fees and extraordinary expenses) exceed 1.15%. On or after October 1, 2013, The Dreyfus Corporation may terminate the expense limitation at any time.