Eaton Vance Richard Bernstein Equity Strategy Fund

Investment Objective

The Fund’s investment objective is to seek total return.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.  You may qualify for a reduced sales charge if you invest, or agree to invest over a 13-month period, at least $50,000 in Eaton Vance Funds.  More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial intermediary and in Sales Charges beginning on page 21 of this Prospectus and page 18 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.  

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees Eaton Vance Richard Bernstein Equity Strategy Fund	Class A	Class C	Class I
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering price)	5.75%	none	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the lower of net asset value at purchase or redemption)	none	1.00%	none

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses Eaton Vance Richard Bernstein Equity Strategy Fund	Class A	Class C	Class I
Management Fees	0.90%	0.90%	0.90%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees	0.25%	1.00%	none
Other Expenses	0.20%	0.20%	0.20%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses	0.03%	0.03%	0.03%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.38%	2.13%	1.13%

Example.  

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.  The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods.  The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the operating expenses remain the same.  Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example Eaton Vance Richard Bernstein Equity Strategy Fund (USD $)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A	707	987	1,287	2,137
Class C	316	667	1,144	2,462
Class I	115	359	622	1,375

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” the portfolio).  A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account.  These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 42 % of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities and derivative instruments that provide exposure to equity securities (the “80% Policy”). The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in fixed-income securities, including securities of any rating or that are unrated and/or in currencies. The Fund may invest an unlimited amount of its assets in foreign securities located in developed or emerging market countries, including securities trading in the form of depositary receipts. The Fund may invest in stocks of companies of any capitalization, real estate investment trusts, exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”) and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”, including commodity-related ETFs), and other pooled investment vehicles.

The Fund may engage in derivative transactions to seek return, to hedge against fluctuations in securities prices, interest rates or currency exchange rates, or as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities or currencies.  The Fund expects to use derivatives principally when seeking to gain exposure to equity securities using futures contracts on securities indices and/or when seeking to gain or reduce exposure to certain currencies by buying or selling forward foreign currency exchange contracts .  However, the Fund may also purchase or sell forwards or other types of futures contracts; options on futures contracts; exchange traded and over-the-counter options; equity collars; equity-linked securities and equity swap agreements. The Fund may also engage in covered short sales (on individual securities held or on an index or basket of securities whose constituents are held in whole or in part or for which liquid assets have been segregated).  There is no stated limit on the Fund’s use of derivatives.

The Fund is managed in a macro-driven, top-down style that emphasizes and de-emphasizes various global equity market segments at different times.  Leading exposures will vary among growth and value, small, mid and large cap, U.S. and non-U.S., and developed and emerging markets based on the sub-adviser’s assessment of a range of proprietary and non-proprietary quantitative indicators and the firm’s macro-economic analysis and judgment.  It is expected that the macro-economic factors and indicators will evolve over time and may include the following:  global equity market valuations; global yield curves; asset class, regional, and country correlations; profit cycle analyses and style and sector rotation; expected beta; estimate revisions and earnings surprises; investor sentiment and other factors. Individual stock selection will be based on quantitative screening and optimization to achieve desired market exposures while controlling stock-specific and other observable market risks.  The portfolio is monitored on an ongoing basis and rebalanced as necessary to seek to ensure that desired market exposures and risk controls are maintained.  Stocks may be sold if they exhibit performance that might counteract the desired exposures or to implement a revised allocation based on a modified top-down view.

The Fund will exercise a flexible strategy and is not limited by investment style or by an issuer’s location, size, market capitalization or industry sector.  The strategy may have none, some or all of its assets invested in a particular market segment at a given time, and across market segments in relative proportions that change over time.  At any time , up to 100% of the Fund’s assets may be invested in either U.S. or foreign securities, including issuers located in emerging market countries.

Principal Risks

Equity Investing Risk. The Fund’s shares may be sensitive to stock market volatility and the stocks in which the Fund invests may be more volatile than the stock market as a whole.  The value of equity investments and related instruments may decline in response to conditions affecting the general economy; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; and currency, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations, as well as issuer or sector specific events.  Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks.  If the stock market declines, the value of Fund shares will also likely decline and although stock values can rebound, there is no assurance that values will return to previous levels.

Smaller Company Equity Risk. The stocks of smaller, less seasoned companies are generally subject to greater price fluctuations, limited liquidity, higher transaction costs and higher investment risk.  Smaller companies may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources, may be dependent on a limited management group, and may lack substantial capital reserves or an established performance record.  There may be generally less publicly available information about such companies than for larger, more established companies.

Fixed Income Securit ies Risk.  If the Fund invests in fixed-income securities, the Fund’s shares may be sensitive to increases in prevailing interest rates and the creditworthiness of issuers. An imbalance in supply and demand in the income market may result in valuation uncertainties and greater volatility, less liquidity, widening credit spreads and a lack of price transparency in the market.  Investments rated below investment grade and comparable unrated securities have speculative characteristics because of the credit risk associated with their issuers. Changes in economic conditions or other circumstances typically have a greater effect on the ability of issuers of lower rated investments to make principal and interest payments than they do on issuers of higher rated investments. An economic downturn generally leads to a higher non-payment rate, and a lower rated investment may lose significant value before a default occurs. Lower rated investments generally are subject to greater price volatility and illiquidity than higher rated investments.

Foreign and Emerging Market Investment Risk. Because the Fund can invest a significant portion of its assets in foreign instruments, the value of Fund shares can be adversely affected by changes in currency exchange rates and political, economic and market developments abroad.  In emerging or less developed countries, these risks can be more significant.  Investment markets in emerging market countries are typically substantially smaller, less liquid and more volatile than the major markets in developed countries.  As a result, Fund share values may be more volatile than if the Fund invested only in developed markets.  Emerging market countries may have relatively unstable governments and economies.  Emerging market investments often are subject to speculative trading, which typically contributes to volatility.  Trading in foreign and emerging markets typically involves higher expense than trading in the United States. The Fund may have difficulties enforcing its legal or contractual rights in a foreign country. The value of investments denominated in foreign currencies can be adversely affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign securities, including political, economic and market risks.

Risks of Commodity-Related Investments.  The value of commodity investments will generally be affected by overall market movements and factors specific to a particular industry or commodity, which may include weather, embargoes, tariffs, and health, political, international and regulatory developments. Economic and other events (whether real or perceived) can reduce the demand for commodities, which may reduce market prices and cause the value of the Fund’s commodity investments to fall. The frequency and magnitude of such changes cannot be predicted. Exposure to commodities and commodity markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. No active trading market may exist for certain commodity investments, which may impair the ability of the Fund to sell or to realize the full value of such investments in the event of the need to liquidate such investments  and/or shares of an ETF that invests in such investments . In addition, adverse market conditions may impair the liquidity of actively traded commodity investments.  Certain types of commodity instruments (such as total return swaps and commodity-linked notes) are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the instrument will not perform or will be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument.

ETF Risk.  Investing in an ETF exposes the Fund to all of the risks of that ETF’s investments and subjects it to a pro rata portion of the ETF’s fees and expenses. As a result, the cost of investing in ETF shares may exceed the costs of investing directly in its underlying investments. ETF shares trade on an exchange at a market price which may vary from the ETF’s net asset value.  The Fund may purchase ETFs at prices that exceed the net asset value of their underlying investments and may sell ETF investments at prices below such net asset value. Because the market price of ETF shares depends on the demand in the market for them, the market price of an ETF may be more volatile than the underlying portfolio of securities the ETF is designed to track, and the Fund may not be able to liquidate ETF holdings at the time and price desired, which may impact Fund performance.

Derivatives Risk.  The use of derivatives can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the asset, index, rate or instrument underlying a derivative, due to failure of a counterparty or due to tax or regulatory constraints.  Derivatives may create economic leverage in the Fund, which magnifies the Fund’s exposure to the underlying investment. Derivatives risk may be more significant when derivatives are used to enhance return or as a substitute for a cash investment position, rather than solely to hedge the risk of a position held by the Fund.  When derivatives are used to gain or limit exposure to a particular market or market segment, their performance may not correlate as expected to the performance of such market thereby causing the Fund to fail to achieve its original purpose for using such derivatives. A decision as to whether, when and how to use derivatives involves the exercise of specialized skill and judgment, and a transaction may be unsuccessful in whole or in part because of market behavior or unexpected events.  Derivative instruments may be difficult to value, may be illiquid, and may be subject to wide swings in valuation caused by changes in the value of the underlying instrument.  If a derivative’s counterparty is unable to honor its commitments, the value of Fund shares may decline and the Fund could experience delays in the return of collateral or other assets held by the counterparty.  The loss on derivative transactions may substantially exceed the initial investment.

Real Estate Investment Trust Risk.  Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) are subject to special risks associated with real estate.  Securities of companies in the real estate industry are sensitive to factors such as changes in real estate values, property taxes, interest rates, cash flow of underlying real estate assets, occupancy rates, government regulations affecting zoning, land use, and rents, and the management skill and creditworthiness of the issuer.  Companies in the real estate industry may also be subject to liabilities under environmental and hazardous waste laws, among others.  Changes in underlying real estate values may have an exaggerated effect to the extent that REITs concentrate investments in particular geographic regions or property types.

Risks Associated with Active and Quantitative Management.  The Fund is an actively managed portfolio and its success depends upon the ability of the sub-adviser to develop and effectively implement strategies to achieve the Fund’s investment objective.  Subjective decisions may cause the Fund to incur losses or to miss profit opportunities on which it may otherwise have capitalized.  The sub-adviser uses quantitative investment techniques and analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, for which there can be no assurance that the desired results will be achieved.

General Fund Investing Risks.  The Fund is not a complete investment program and you may lose money by investing in the Fund.  All investments carry a certain amount of risk and there is no guarantee that the Fund will be able to achieve its investment objective.  Annual Fund Operating Expenses expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets may change as Fund assets increase and decrease, and Annual Fund Operating Expenses may differ in the future.  Purchase and redemption activities by Fund shareholders may impact the management of the Fund and its ability to achieve its investment objective.   In addition, the redemption by one or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders of their holdings in the Fund could have an adverse impact on the remaining shareholders in the Fund.   Investors in the Fund should have a long-term investment perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp declines in value. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, entity or person .  Mutual funds, investment advisers, other market participants and many securities markets are subject to rules and regulations and the jurisdiction of one or more regulators.  Changes to applicable rules and regulations could have an adverse affect on securities markets and market participants, as well as on the Fund’s ability to execute its investment strategy .

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average annual total returns over time compare with those of a broad-based securities market index.  The return in the bar chart is for Class A shares and does not reflect a sales charge.  If the sales charge was reflected, the return would be lower.  Past performance (both before and after taxes) is no guarantee of future results.  Updated Fund performance information can be obtained by visiting www.eatonvance.com.

During the period from December 31, 2010 through December 31, 2011, the highest quarterly total return for Class A was 6.57% for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, and the lowest quarterly return was -14.75% for the quarter ended September 30, 2011.  The year-to-date return through the end of the most recent calendar quarter (December 31, 2011 to September 30, 2012) was 12.21%.   

Average Annual Total Returns Eaton Vance Richard Bernstein Equity Strategy Fund	1 Year	Life of Fund
Class A	(11.79%)	(4.99%)
Class A After Taxes on Distributions	(11.86%)	(5.06%)
Class A After Taxes on Distributions and Sales	(7.56%)	(4.24%)
Class C	(7.99%)	(1.07%)
Class I	(6.16%)	(0.05%)
MSCI All Country World Index	(7.35%)	(1.35%)

These returns reflect the maximum sales charge for Class A (5.75%) and any applicable contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) for Class C. Class A, Class C and Class I shares commenced operations on October 12, 2010.  Investors cannot invest directly in an Index.  (Source for MSCI All Country World Index: MSCI)  MSCI data may not be reproduced or used for any other purpose.  MSCI provides no warranties, has not prepared or approved this data and has no liability hereunder.  

After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes.  Actual after-tax returns depend on a shareholder’s tax situation and the actual characterization of distributions, and may differ from those shown.  After-tax returns are not relevant to shareholders who hold shares in tax-deferred accounts or to shares held by non-taxable entities.  After-tax returns for other Classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Class A shares.  Return After Taxes on Distributions for a period may be the same as Return Before Taxes for that period because no taxable distributions were made during that period.  Also, Return After Taxes on Distributions and the Sale of Fund Shares for a period may be greater than or equal to Return After Taxes on Distributions for the same period because of losses realized on the sale of Fund shares.