0000889188 2011-05-02 2012-05-01 0000889188 ff8:S000023205Member ff8:NoLoadMember 2011-05-02 2012-05-01 0000889188 ff8:S000023205Member ff8:ClassZSharesMember 2011-05-02 2012-05-01 0000889188 ff8:S000023205Member ff8:LoadMember 2011-05-02 2012-05-01 2012-05-01 Other 2011-12-31 Forward Funds 0000889188 false 2013-01-22 2013-01-22 FORWARD FUNDS Supplement dated January 18, 2013 to the Summary Prospectus for Investor Class and Institutional Class Shares of the Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund (No-Load Summary Prospectus), Forward Funds Investor Class and Institutional Class Prospectus (No-Load Prospectus), Forward Funds Class A, Class B, Class C and Class M Prospectus (Load Prospectus), and Forward Funds Class Z Prospectus (Class Z Prospectus) each dated May 1, 2012, as supplemented This supplement replaces the supplement filed on December 14, 2012. IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CHANGE IN INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND BENCHMARK INDEX The following information applies to the Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund (the Fund) only: At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Forward Funds (the Trust) held on December 12-13, 2012, the Trustees, including all of the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust (as that term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended), approved, on behalf of the Fund: (i) changes to the principal investment strategies and principal risks of the Fund, to be effective January 21, 2013; and (ii) a change of benchmark index for the Fund, to be effective January 21, 2013. Change to Principal Investment Strategies Effective January 21, 2013, the following replaces the first paragraph under the heading Principal Investment Strategies in the Funds Fund Summary section in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Under normal conditions, the Fund invests in synthetics or other instruments (i.e., swaps, structured notes, futures and options) (collectively, Structured Products) that have similar economic characteristics to common stocks of all capitalization issuers, such as those in the Funds benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index (the Benchmark). Forward Management, LLC (Forward Management or the Advisor) invests in Structured Products in place of investing directly in stocks to attempt to exceed the daily performance of the Benchmark, and the value of such Structured Products should closely track changes in the value of the Benchmark. However, the Structured Products may be purchased with a fraction of the assets that would be needed to purchase stocks directly, so that the remainder of the assets may be invested in fixed income instruments and Structured Products as further discussed below. Addition of Principal Risks Effective January 21, 2013, the following principal risks shall be added to the section titled Principal Risks in the Funds Fund Summary section in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Equity Securities: The risks associated with investing in equity securities of companies include the financial risk of selecting individual companies that do not perform as anticipated, the risk that the stock markets in which the Fund invests may experience periods of turbulence and instability, and the general risk that domestic and global economies may go through periods of decline and cyclical change. Small and Medium Capitalization Stocks: Investment in securities of smaller companies presents greater investment risks than investing in the securities of larger companies. These risks include greater price volatility, greater sensitivity to changing economic conditions, and less liquidity than the securities of larger, more mature companies. **** Change of Benchmark Index Effective January 21, 2013, the benchmark index for the Fund will be changed to the Russell 3000 Index. Accordingly, the following paragraph shall be added after the first paragraph under the heading Performance Information in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Effective January 21, 2013, the Russell 3000 Index replaced the Russell 2500 Index as the Funds benchmark index. Forward Management made this recommendation to the Funds Board because the new index more closely aligns to the Funds investment strategies. Information on both indexes will be shown below for at least a one-year transition period. In the future, however, only the Russell 3000 Index will be shown. **** Additionally, the Average Annual Total Returns table in the No-Load Summary Prospectus and the No-Load Prospectus is supplemented with the following information, for the period ended December 31, 2011: <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse"> <tr> <td width="68%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="2%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">1 YEAR</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">5 YEARS</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">10 YEARS</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">SINCE INCEPTION</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#cceeff"> <td valign="top" colspan="16" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund Institutional Class (Inception: 8/24/92)</td> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">       </td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">Russell 3000 Index</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">1.03</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">0.01</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">3.51</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">8.25</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#cceeff"> <td valign="top" colspan="16" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund Investor Class (Inception: 6/24/98)</td> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">       </td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">Russell 3000 Index</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">1.03</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">0.01</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">3.51</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">3.11</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td></tr> </table>   ****   In addition, the Average Annual Total Returns table in the Load Prospectus is supplemented with the following information, for the period ended December 31, 2011:   <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse"> <tr> <td width="76%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="2%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">1 YEAR</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">5 YEARS</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">SINCE INCEPTION</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#cceeff"> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> Russell 3000 Index</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">1.03</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">0.01</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">6.76</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td></tr> </table>   ****   Additionally, the Average Annual Total Returns table in the Class Z Prospectus is supplemented with the following information, for the period ended December 31, 2011:   <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse"> <tr> <td width="83%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="4%"></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">1 YEAR</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">SINCE INCEPTION</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#cceeff"> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">Russell 3000 Index</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">1.03</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">16.03</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td></tr> </table> FORWARD FUNDS Supplement dated January 18, 2013 to the Summary Prospectus for Investor Class and Institutional Class Shares of the Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund (No-Load Summary Prospectus), Forward Funds Investor Class and Institutional Class Prospectus (No-Load Prospectus), Forward Funds Class A, Class B, Class C and Class M Prospectus (Load Prospectus), and Forward Funds Class Z Prospectus (Class Z Prospectus) each dated May 1, 2012, as supplemented This supplement replaces the supplement filed on December 14, 2012. IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CHANGE IN INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND BENCHMARK INDEX The following information applies to the Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund (the Fund) only: At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Forward Funds (the Trust) held on December 12-13, 2012, the Trustees, including all of the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust (as that term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended), approved, on behalf of the Fund: (i) changes to the principal investment strategies and principal risks of the Fund, to be effective January 21, 2013; and (ii) a change of benchmark index for the Fund, to be effective January 21, 2013. Change to Principal Investment Strategies Effective January 21, 2013, the following replaces the first paragraph under the heading Principal Investment Strategies in the Funds Fund Summary section in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Under normal conditions, the Fund invests in synthetics or other instruments (i.e., swaps, structured notes, futures and options) (collectively, Structured Products) that have similar economic characteristics to common stocks of all capitalization issuers, such as those in the Funds benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index (the Benchmark). Forward Management, LLC (Forward Management or the Advisor) invests in Structured Products in place of investing directly in stocks to attempt to exceed the daily performance of the Benchmark, and the value of such Structured Products should closely track changes in the value of the Benchmark. However, the Structured Products may be purchased with a fraction of the assets that would be needed to purchase stocks directly, so that the remainder of the assets may be invested in fixed income instruments and Structured Products as further discussed below. Addition of Principal Risks Effective January 21, 2013, the following principal risks shall be added to the section titled Principal Risks in the Funds Fund Summary section in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Equity Securities: The risks associated with investing in equity securities of companies include the financial risk of selecting individual companies that do not perform as anticipated, the risk that the stock markets in which the Fund invests may experience periods of turbulence and instability, and the general risk that domestic and global economies may go through periods of decline and cyclical change. Small and Medium Capitalization Stocks: Investment in securities of smaller companies presents greater investment risks than investing in the securities of larger companies. These risks include greater price volatility, greater sensitivity to changing economic conditions, and less liquidity than the securities of larger, more mature companies. **** Change of Benchmark Index Effective January 21, 2013, the benchmark index for the Fund will be changed to the Russell 3000 Index. Accordingly, the following paragraph shall be added after the first paragraph under the heading Performance Information in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Effective January 21, 2013, the Russell 3000 Index replaced the Russell 2500 Index as the Funds benchmark index. Forward Management made this recommendation to the Funds Board because the new index more closely aligns to the Funds investment strategies. Information on both indexes will be shown below for at least a one-year transition period. In the future, however, only the Russell 3000 Index will be shown. **** Additionally, the Average Annual Total Returns table in the No-Load Summary Prospectus and the No-Load Prospectus is supplemented with the following information, for the period ended December 31, 2011: <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse"> <tr> <td width="68%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="2%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">1 YEAR</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">5 YEARS</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">10 YEARS</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">SINCE INCEPTION</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#cceeff"> <td valign="top" colspan="16" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund Institutional Class (Inception: 8/24/92)</td> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">       </td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">Russell 3000 Index</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">1.03</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">0.01</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">3.51</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">8.25</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#cceeff"> <td valign="top" colspan="16" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund Investor Class (Inception: 6/24/98)</td> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">       </td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">Russell 3000 Index</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">1.03</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">0.01</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">3.51</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">3.11</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td></tr> </table>   **** FORWARD FUNDS Supplement dated January 18, 2013 to the Summary Prospectus for Investor Class and Institutional Class Shares of the Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund (No-Load Summary Prospectus), Forward Funds Investor Class and Institutional Class Prospectus (No-Load Prospectus), Forward Funds Class A, Class B, Class C and Class M Prospectus (Load Prospectus), and Forward Funds Class Z Prospectus (Class Z Prospectus) each dated May 1, 2012, as supplemented This supplement replaces the supplement filed on December 14, 2012. IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CHANGE IN INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND BENCHMARK INDEX The following information applies to the Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund (the Fund) only: At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Forward Funds (the Trust) held on December 12-13, 2012, the Trustees, including all of the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust (as that term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended), approved, on behalf of the Fund: (i) changes to the principal investment strategies and principal risks of the Fund, to be effective January 21, 2013; and (ii) a change of benchmark index for the Fund, to be effective January 21, 2013. Change to Principal Investment Strategies Effective January 21, 2013, the following replaces the first paragraph under the heading Principal Investment Strategies in the Funds Fund Summary section in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Under normal conditions, the Fund invests in synthetics or other instruments (i.e., swaps, structured notes, futures and options) (collectively, Structured Products) that have similar economic characteristics to common stocks of all capitalization issuers, such as those in the Funds benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index (the Benchmark). Forward Management, LLC (Forward Management or the Advisor) invests in Structured Products in place of investing directly in stocks to attempt to exceed the daily performance of the Benchmark, and the value of such Structured Products should closely track changes in the value of the Benchmark. However, the Structured Products may be purchased with a fraction of the assets that would be needed to purchase stocks directly, so that the remainder of the assets may be invested in fixed income instruments and Structured Products as further discussed below. Addition of Principal Risks Effective January 21, 2013, the following principal risks shall be added to the section titled Principal Risks in the Funds Fund Summary section in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Equity Securities: The risks associated with investing in equity securities of companies include the financial risk of selecting individual companies that do not perform as anticipated, the risk that the stock markets in which the Fund invests may experience periods of turbulence and instability, and the general risk that domestic and global economies may go through periods of decline and cyclical change. Small and Medium Capitalization Stocks: Investment in securities of smaller companies presents greater investment risks than investing in the securities of larger companies. These risks include greater price volatility, greater sensitivity to changing economic conditions, and less liquidity than the securities of larger, more mature companies. **** Change of Benchmark Index Effective January 21, 2013, the benchmark index for the Fund will be changed to the Russell 3000 Index. Accordingly, the following paragraph shall be added after the first paragraph under the heading Performance Information in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Effective January 21, 2013, the Russell 3000 Index replaced the Russell 2500 Index as the Funds benchmark index. Forward Management made this recommendation to the Funds Board because the new index more closely aligns to the Funds investment strategies. Information on both indexes will be shown below for at least a one-year transition period. In the future, however, only the Russell 3000 Index will be shown. **** Additionally, the Average Annual Total Returns table in the Class Z Prospectus is supplemented with the following information, for the period ended December 31, 2011:   <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse"> <tr> <td width="83%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="4%"></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">1 YEAR</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">SINCE INCEPTION</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#cceeff"> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">Russell 3000 Index</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">1.03</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">16.03</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td></tr> </table> FORWARD FUNDS Supplement dated January 18, 2013 to the Summary Prospectus for Investor Class and Institutional Class Shares of the Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund (No-Load Summary Prospectus), Forward Funds Investor Class and Institutional Class Prospectus (No-Load Prospectus), Forward Funds Class A, Class B, Class C and Class M Prospectus (Load Prospectus), and Forward Funds Class Z Prospectus (Class Z Prospectus) each dated May 1, 2012, as supplemented This supplement replaces the supplement filed on December 14, 2012. IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CHANGE IN INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND BENCHMARK INDEX The following information applies to the Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund (the Fund) only: At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Forward Funds (the Trust) held on December 12-13, 2012, the Trustees, including all of the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust (as that term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended), approved, on behalf of the Fund: (i) changes to the principal investment strategies and principal risks of the Fund, to be effective January 21, 2013; and (ii) a change of benchmark index for the Fund, to be effective January 21, 2013. Change to Principal Investment Strategies Effective January 21, 2013, the following replaces the first paragraph under the heading Principal Investment Strategies in the Funds Fund Summary section in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Under normal conditions, the Fund invests in synthetics or other instruments (i.e., swaps, structured notes, futures and options) (collectively, Structured Products) that have similar economic characteristics to common stocks of all capitalization issuers, such as those in the Funds benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index (the Benchmark). Forward Management, LLC (Forward Management or the Advisor) invests in Structured Products in place of investing directly in stocks to attempt to exceed the daily performance of the Benchmark, and the value of such Structured Products should closely track changes in the value of the Benchmark. However, the Structured Products may be purchased with a fraction of the assets that would be needed to purchase stocks directly, so that the remainder of the assets may be invested in fixed income instruments and Structured Products as further discussed below. Addition of Principal Risks Effective January 21, 2013, the following principal risks shall be added to the section titled Principal Risks in the Funds Fund Summary section in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Equity Securities: The risks associated with investing in equity securities of companies include the financial risk of selecting individual companies that do not perform as anticipated, the risk that the stock markets in which the Fund invests may experience periods of turbulence and instability, and the general risk that domestic and global economies may go through periods of decline and cyclical change. Small and Medium Capitalization Stocks: Investment in securities of smaller companies presents greater investment risks than investing in the securities of larger companies. These risks include greater price volatility, greater sensitivity to changing economic conditions, and less liquidity than the securities of larger, more mature companies. **** Change of Benchmark Index Effective January 21, 2013, the benchmark index for the Fund will be changed to the Russell 3000 Index. Accordingly, the following paragraph shall be added after the first paragraph under the heading Performance Information in the No-Load Summary Prospectus, the No-Load Prospectus, the Load Prospectus and the Class Z Prospectus: Effective January 21, 2013, the Russell 3000 Index replaced the Russell 2500 Index as the Funds benchmark index. Forward Management made this recommendation to the Funds Board because the new index more closely aligns to the Funds investment strategies. Information on both indexes will be shown below for at least a one-year transition period. In the future, however, only the Russell 3000 Index will be shown. ****   In addition, the Average Annual Total Returns table in the Load Prospectus is supplemented with the following information, for the period ended December 31, 2011:   <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse"> <tr> <td width="76%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="2%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td valign="bottom" width="3%"></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">1 YEAR</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">5 YEARS</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">  </td> <td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999">SINCE INCEPTION</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:2px solid #999999"> </td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#cceeff"> <td valign="top" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> Russell 3000 Index</td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">1.03</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">0.01</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000">  </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000"> </td> <td valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000" align="right">6.76</td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap">% </td></tr> </table>   ****