RE:
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ADVISORS
SERIES TRUST (the “Trust”)
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(1)
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The
Trust acknowledges that in connection with the comments made by the Staff
on the Form N-1A registration statement, the Staff has not passed
generally on the accuracy or adequacy of the disclosure made in the
registration statement;
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(2)
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The
Trust acknowledges that Staff comments or changes to disclosure in
response to Staff comments in the filings reviewed by the Staff do not
foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the
filing; and
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(3)
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The
Trust represents that it will not assert the Staff’s review process as a
defense in any action by the Commission or any securities-related
litigation against the Trust.
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1.
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Staff
Comment: On the front cover, in the legend, consistent
with Rule 481(b)(1), please remove the words “United
States.”
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2.
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Staff
Comment: Please remove the reference to the Fund’s
Privacy Notice on the Table of Contents
page.
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3.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section – Fund Fees and Expenses
on page 1, please remove the first and third sentences of footnote 1, as
well as footnote 2 in its entirety, because the expense cap threshold is
not being met.
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4.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Fund Fees and Expenses
on page 1, in the “Example” subsection, since the expense cap threshold
was not met, please remove the parenthetical in the introductory paragraph
that states, “(taking into account all contractual expense
limitations).”
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5.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Fund Fees and Expenses
on page 1, please present the “Example” subsection and the “Portfolio
Turnover” subsection as subsets of the “Fund Fees and Expenses”
subsection.
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6.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Principal Investment
Strategies on page 2, please include a statement indicating how the
Fund decides to buy and sell
securities.
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7.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Principal Investment
Strategies on page 2, in the second full paragraph, please amend the
following disclosure to conform with the plain English requirement under
Rule 421 of the Securities Act of
1933:
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“In selecting Underlying
Funds, the Advisor uses a “top-down” approach, which begins with a
formulation of a general macroeconomic outlook. Then various
sections, asset classes, and fund categories are analyzed and selected for
investment by the Advisor. Finally, after an analysis of the
historical returns of a large number of mutual funds representing certain
sectors, asset classes, or fund categories believed to be attractive by
the Advisor, the Advisor selects individual funds that exhibit the
potential for superior growth based on historical long-term pricing.”
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8.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Principal Investment
Risks on page 2, please supplementally explain whether the Fund invests in
foreign securities to achieve its investment objectives, and if so, please
add disclosure related to “foreign investment
risk.”
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9.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Principal Investment
Strategies on page 2, please describe in the strategy that the
Fund/Adviser will engage in active, frequent
trading.
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10.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Principal Investment
Risks on page 3, please replace the word “concentrate” in the “Industry or
Sector Risk” bullet point, as this suggests a strategy to
concentrate.
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·
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Industry or Sector Emphasis
Risk. To the extent that an Underlying Fund concentrates its
investments a substantial portion
of its portfolio in a particular industry or sector, such
Underlying Fund’s shares may be more volatile and fluctuate more than
shares of a fund investing in a broader range of
securities.
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11.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Principal Investment
Risks on page 3, please disclose in the fourth bullet point related to
“Portfolio Turnover Risk” that frequent trading will result in the payment
of increased commissions.
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·
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Portfolio Turnover
Risk. A high portfolio turnover rate (100% or more) has
the potential to result in the realization by the Fund and distribution to
shareholders of a greater amount of capital gains than if the Fund had a
low portfolio turnover rate. This may mean that you would be
likely to have a higher tax liability. Distributions to
shareholders of short-term capital gains are taxed as ordinary income
under federal tax laws. When purchasing Fund
securities through a broker, high portfolio turnover generally involves
correspondingly greater brokerage commission expenses, which must be borne
directly by the Fund.
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12.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section – Principal Investment
Risks on page 3, please remove the section describing the various
investors for which the Fund may be
appropriate.
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13.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section – Principal Investment
Risks on page 2, please add the word “junk” to the fourth bullet point
which mentions the risks associated with investments in “high yield”
securities.
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·
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High-Yield Securities
Risk. The fixed-income securities held by Underlying
Funds that are rated below investment grade (i.e., “junk bonds”)
are subject to additional risk factors such as increased possibility of
default, illiquidity of the security, and changes in value based on public
perception of the issuer.
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14.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section – Principal Investment
Risks on page 3, in the section describing which investors may be
appropriate for the Fund, please remove the phrase “absolute stability of
principal” from the fifth bullet
point.
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15.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Performance on page 3,
with regard to the first paragraph, please conform to the exact language
provided in Form N-1A.
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16.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Performance on page 4,
with regard to the Average Annual Total Returns table, please
eliminate/remove two of the broad-based indices provided in the
table.
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17.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Performance on page 4,
please amend footnote 2 to provide the specific reason why the “Return
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares” is higher than the
other returns. The current disclosure only provides a reason
why it may be
higher.
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(2)
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The
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares may be is higher than
other return figures when a capital loss occurs upon the redemption of
Fund shares.
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18.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section on page 4, please
present the disclosure with respect to the Investment Advisor and the
Portfolio Manager as sub-headings under a “Management”
heading.
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19.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Purchase and Sale of
Fund Shares on page 4, the first two sentences are substantially
similar. Please amend this disclosure to reflect only one
sentence that includes all of the required
information.
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20.
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Staff
Comment: In the Summary Section—Payments to
Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries on page 4, please
conform to the exact language provided in Form
N-1A.
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21.
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Staff
Comment: In the Investment Objective, Principal
Investment Strategies, Related Risks and Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings
section on page 5, in the second paragraph under the subheading titled
“Investment Strategies,” please be consistent with the use of the terms
“above average” and “superior.”
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22.
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Staff
Comment: In the Investment Objective, Principal
Investment Strategies, Related Risks and Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings
section on page 6, in the third full paragraph under the subheading titled
“Investment Strategies,” please note that the arrangement described with
respect to Rule 12b-1 payments is not clear. Please restate the
arrangement in a clear fashion using plain English
standards.
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23.
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Staff
Comment: Regarding the section titled “Borrowings” on
page 8, if the Fund’s “borrowings” for leveraging purposes to increase its
portfolio holdings are or will be significant, then please disclose this
in the Principal Investment Strategies sections of the
Prospectus.
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24.
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Staff
Comment: Regarding the section titled “Fundamental
Investment Limitations” on page 14, please supplementally explain the
Fund’s 80% threshold as it relates to industry concentration, as 25% is
typically considered the threshold for industry
concentration.
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SHAREHOLDER
FEES
(fees
paid directly from your investment)
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Maximum
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases
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NONE
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Maximum
Deferred Sales Charge (Load)
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NONE
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Redemption
Fee (as a percentage of amount redeemed)
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NONE
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ANNUAL FUND OPERATING
EXPENSES
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
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Management
Fees
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1.50%
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Distribution
(Rule 12b-1) Fees
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0.25%
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Other
Expenses
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0.59%
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Subtotal
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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2.34%
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Acquired
Fund Fees and Expenses (“AFFE”)(1)
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0.63%
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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2.97%
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(1)
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The
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses for the Fund do not correlate to the
Ratio of Expenses to Average Net Assets Before Expense
Reimbursement/Recoupment provided in the Financial Highlights section of
the statutory prospectus, which reflects the operating expenses of the
Fund and does not include AFFE.
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1
Year
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3
Years
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5
Years
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10
Years
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$300
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$918
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$1,562
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$3,290
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·
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Management Risk. The
risk that investment strategies employed by the Advisor in selecting the
Underlying Funds and those used by the Underlying Funds in selecting
investments may not result in an increase in the value of your investment
equal to other investments or may cause your investment to lose
value.
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·
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Stock Market
Risk. The value of the Fund’s shares will fluctuate
based on the performance of the Underlying Funds of which the Fund owns
shares and other factors affecting the securities markets
generally.
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·
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Bond Market
Risk. These risks apply to the extent the Underlying
Funds hold fixed-income securities. Interest rate risk is the
risk that interest rates may go up resulting in a decrease in the value of
the securities held by the Underlying Funds. Credit risk is the
risk that an issuer will not make timely payments of principal and
interest.
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·
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High-Yield Securities
Risk. The fixed-income securities held by Underlying
Funds that are rated below investment grade (i.e., “junk bonds”)
are subject to additional risk factors such as increased possibility of
default, illiquidity of the security, and changes in value based on public
perception of the issuer.
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·
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Small and Medium
Capitalization Companies Risk. Securities of smaller
companies in which the Underlying Funds may invest involve greater risk
than securities of larger companies because they can be subject to more
abrupt or erratic share price changes than securities of larger, more
established companies.
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·
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Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that
compared with diversified funds, the Fund may invest a greater percentage
of its assets in a particular Underlying
Fund.
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·
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Industry or Sector Emphasis
Risk. To the extent that an Underlying Fund
invests a substantial portion of its portfolio in a particular
industry or sector, such Underlying Fund’s shares may be more volatile and
fluctuate more than shares of a fund investing in a broader range of
securities.
|
·
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Underlying Funds Expense Risk.
The Underlying Funds, which may include exchange-traded funds
(“ETFs”), are either open-end or closed-end investment
companies. ETFs are investment companies that are bought and
sold on a national securities exchange. All Underlying Funds
have management fees that are part of their costs. To the extent that the
Fund invests in Underlying Funds, there will be some duplication of
expenses because the Fund would bear its pro rata portion of such funds’
management fees and operational
expenses.
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·
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Portfolio Turnover
Risk. A high portfolio turnover rate (100% or more) has
the potential to result in the realization by the Fund and distribution to
shareholders of a greater amount of capital gains than if the Fund had a
low portfolio turnover rate. This may mean that you would be
likely to have a higher tax liability. Distributions to
shareholders of short-term capital gains are taxed as ordinary income
under federal tax laws. When purchasing Fund securities
through a broker, high portfolio turnover generally involves
correspondingly greater brokerage commission expenses, which must be borne
directly by the Fund.
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·
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seeking
capital appreciation and income consistent with the assumption of an
average level of market risk;
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·
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willing
to leave their money invested in the Fund for at least five
years;
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·
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able
to tolerate a risk that they may experience share price fluctuations or
lose money on their investment;
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·
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able
to tolerate the risks associated with investments in high-yield
securities;
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·
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not
seeking regular income; or
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·
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not
pursuing short-term goals.
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The
Teberg Fund
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One
Year
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Five
Years
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Since
Inception
(4/01/2002)
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Return
Before Taxes
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-27.30%
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-2.29%
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0.41%
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Return
After Taxes on Distributions(1)
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-28.44%
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-3.60%
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-0.62%
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Return
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
(1)
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-15.81% (2)
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-2.06% (2)
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0.24%
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S&P
500®
Index
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)
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-37.00%
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-2.19%
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-1.62%
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Dow
Jones Industrial Average
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)
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-31.93%
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-1.12%
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-0.11%
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NASDAQ
Composite®
Index
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)
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-39.56%
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-4.12%
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-2.08%
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(1)
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After-tax
returns are calculated using the historically highest individual federal
marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and
may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns are not relevant to
investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements
such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts.
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(2)
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The
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares is
higher than other return figures when a capital loss occurs upon the
redemption of Fund shares.
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Minimum Investments
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To
Open
Your Account
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To
Add to
Your Account
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Regular
Accounts
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$5,000
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$100
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Individual
Retirement Accounts (Traditional, Roth, SEP, and SIMPLE
IRAs)
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$4,000
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$100
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Coverdell
Education Savings Accounts
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$4,000
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$100
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Uniform
Gifts/Transfers to Minors Act Accounts
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$5,000
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$100
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