Nationwide Mellon Dynamic U.S. Core Fund

(formerly, Nationwide Dynamic U.S. Growth Fund)

Summary Prospectus February 28, 2020

Class/Ticker A NMFAX C GCGRX R GGFRX R6 MUIGX Institutional Service Class NGISX Eagle Class NWAEX

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains information about the Fund and its risks. The Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, each dated February 28, 2020 (as may be supplemented or revised), are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. For free paper or electronic copies of the Fund’s Prospectus and other information about the Fund, go to nationwide.com/mutualfundprospectuses, email a request to web_help@nationwide.com or call 800-848-0920, or ask any financial advisor, bank, or broker-dealer who offers shares of the Fund.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nationwide Mutual Funds will no longer mail paper copies of your Fund’s annual and semiannual reports, unless you specifically request paper copies of those reports. Instead, Nationwide Mutual Funds will post the reports on the Fund's website, nationwide.com/mutualfundprospectuses, and will mail you a notice of availability each time a report is posted and provide you with the website link to access the reports. 

If you already have elected to receive these reports electronically (known as eDelivery), you will not be affected by this change and you do not need to take any action. You may elect to receive reports and other fund documents via eDelivery by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, if you are a direct investor, by calling Shareholder Services at 800-848-0920.

You may elect to receive all future reports in paper via U.S. mail free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue to receive paper copies of your reports. If you invest directly in a Nationwide Mutual Fund, you can call Shareholder Services at 800-848-0920 to register your preference that you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your reports. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all Funds held in your account.

Objective

The Nationwide Mellon Dynamic U.S. Core Fund seeks long-term capital growth.

Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay when buying and holding shares of the Fund. 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 the Fund. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in “Investing with Nationwide Funds” commencing on page 94 of the Prospectus and in “Additional Information on Purchases and Sales” commencing on page 100 of the Statement of Additional Information. In addition, if you purchase shares through a specific intermediary, you may be subject to

SP-DYGR (2/20)

Summary Prospectus February 28, 2020 1 Nationwide Mellon Dynamic U.S. Core Fund

different sales charges including reductions in or waivers of such charges. More information about these intermediary-specific sales charge variations is available in Appendix A to the Fund’s Prospectus.

	Class A Shares	Class C Shares	Class R Shares	Class R6 Shares	Institutional Service Class Shares	Eagle Class Shares
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	5.75%	None	None	None	None	None
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	None	1.00%	None	None	None	None
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees(1)	0.45%	0.45%	0.45%	0.45%	0.45%	0.45%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees	0.25%	1.00%	0.50%	None	None	None
Other Expenses	0.31%	0.34%	0.51%	0.26%	0.39%	0.36%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.01%	1.79%	1.46%	0.71%	0.84%	0.81%
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement(2)	(0.21)%	(0.21)%	(0.21)%	(0.21)%	(0.21)%	(0.21)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	0.80%	1.58%	1.25%	0.50%	0.63%	0.60%

⁽¹⁾ “Management Fees” has been restated to reflect the reduction of contractual investment advisory fees as of August 5, 2019.

⁽²⁾ Nationwide Mutual Funds (the “Trust”) and Nationwide Fund Advisors (the “Adviser”) have entered into a written contract limiting annual fund operating expenses to 0.50% until at least February 28, 2022. Under the expense limitation agreement, the level to which operating expenses are limited applies to all share classes, excluding any taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, Rule 12b-1 fees, acquired fund fees and expenses, short-sale dividend expenses, administrative services fees, other expenses which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and expenses incurred by the Fund in connection with any merger or reorganization, and may exclude other nonroutine expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business. The expense limitation agreement may be changed or eliminated only with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Trust. The Adviser may request and receive reimbursement from the Fund for advisory fees waived or other expenses reimbursed by the Adviser pursuant to the expense limitation agreement at a date not to exceed three years from the date in which the corresponding waiver or reimbursement to the Fund was made. However, no reimbursement may be made unless: (i) the Fund’s assets exceed $100 million and (ii) the total annual expense ratio of the class making such reimbursement is no higher than the amount of the expense limitation that was in place at the time the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses and does not cause the expense ratio to exceed the current expense limitation. Reimbursement by the Fund of amounts previously waived or reimbursed by the Adviser is not permitted except as provided for in the expense limitation agreement.

Example

This Example is intended to help you to 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 sell all of your shares at the end of those time periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses, and any expense limitation or fee waivers that may apply for the periods indicated above under “Fees and Expenses.” Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A Shares	$652	$858	$1,082	$1,722
Class C Shares	261	543	950	2,088
Class R Shares	127	441	777	1,728
Class R6 Shares	51	206	374	863
Institutional Service Class Shares	64	247	445	1,018
Eagle Class Shares	61	238	429	982

You would pay the following expenses on the same investment if you did not sell your shares:

	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class C Shares	$161	$543	$950	$2,088

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its 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 4.49% of the average value of its portfolio.

Summary Prospectus February 28, 2020 2 Nationwide Mellon Dynamic U.S. Core Fund

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund seeks to provide investors with long-term growth of capital by outperforming the S&P 500® Index over a full market cycle while maintaining a similar level of market risk as the index. To achieve this goal, the Fund’s subadviser seeks to identify and construct the most optimal portfolio that targets an equity-like level of volatility by allocating assets among equity securities, money market instruments, futures contracts the value of which are derived from the performance of equity and bond indexes, and options on equity index and bond futures contracts. Futures and options are derivatives and may expose the Fund to leverage.

Equity securities that the Fund buys primarily are common stocks of companies that are included in the S&P 500 Index. In order to achieve additional exposure to equity markets, the Fund also purchases futures contracts on the S&P 500 Index and call options on such S&P 500 Index futures contracts. Money market instruments are high-quality short-term debt securities issued by governments and corporations. Money market instruments serve primarily as cover for the Fund’s derivatives positions, although the subadviser also at times may allocate assets to money market instruments in order to hedge against equity market risk. The Fund obtains exposure to U.S. Treasury bonds by purchasing futures contracts on U.S. Treasury bonds included in the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Long Treasury Index. The Fund also may purchase options on U.S. Treasury bond futures contracts. The Fund may use Treasury bond futures and options to hedge against equity market risks. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of U.S. issuers or derivatives the value of which are linked to securities of U.S. issuers.

In determining what the subadviser believes to be the optimal allocation among equity exposures, Treasury bonds and money market instruments, the subadviser uses estimates of future returns and volatility. When the subadviser believes that equity markets appear favorable, it uses leverage generated by futures and options to increase the Fund’s equity exposure. When equity markets appear to be unfavorable, the subadviser reduces the Fund’s equity exposure by allocating assets to Treasury bond index futures and/or money market instruments. By combining equity securities, futures on stock and bond indexes, call options and money market instruments in varying amounts, the subadviser may adjust the Fund’s overall equity exposure within a range of 50%–150% of the Fund’s net assets. The subadviser regularly reviews the Fund's investments and will consider selling an investment when the subadviser believes such investment is no longer attractive as a result of price appreciation or a change in risk profile, or because other available investments are considered to be more attractive.

The Fund is designed for investors seeking growth of capital by investing in a portfolio of equity and debt securities, and derivatives with investment characteristics similar to equity

and debt securities, in order to achieve enhanced equity returns while maintaining a level of volatility risk that is similar to the S&P 500 Index. Investors in the Fund should have a long-term perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp declines in value.

Principal Risks

The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.

As with any fund, the value of the Fund’s investments—and therefore, the value of Fund shares—may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of:

Equity securities risk– stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.

Leverage risk – leverage risk is a direct risk of investing in the Fund. Leverage is investment exposure that exceeds the initial amount invested. Derivatives and other transactions that give rise to leverage may cause the Fund’s performance to be more volatile than if the Fund had not been leveraged. Leveraging also may require that the Fund liquidate portfolio securities when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet segregation requirements. The use of leverage may expose the Fund to losses in excess of the amounts invested or borrowed.

Derivatives risk – derivatives may be volatile and may involve significant risks. The underlying security, measure or other instrument on which a derivative is based, or the derivative itself, may not perform as expected. Futures contracts and options on futures contracts may involve leverage, which means that their use can significantly magnify the effect of price movements of the underlying securities or reference measures, disproportionately increasing the Fund’s losses and reducing the Fund’s opportunities for gains. Some of these derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, including a loss that may be greater than the amount invested. Certain futures contracts and related options may be illiquid, making it difficult to close out an unfavorable position.

    Futures – the prices of futures contracts typically are more volatile than those of stocks and bonds. Small movements in the values of the assets or measures of underlying futures contracts can cause disproportionately larger losses to the Fund. While futures may be more liquid than other types of derivatives, they may experience periods when they are less liquid than stocks, bonds or other investments.

    Options – purchasing and selling options are highly specialized activities and entail greater-than-ordinary investment risks. The ability to close out positions in exchange-traded options depends on the existence of a liquid market. Options that expire unexercised have no value.

Summary Prospectus February 28, 2020 3 Nationwide Mellon Dynamic U.S. Core Fund

Fixed-income securities risk – investments in fixed-income securities, such as bonds or other investments with debt-like characteristics (e.g., futures contracts the value of which are derived from the performance of bond indexes), subject the Fund to interest rate risk, credit risk and prepayment and call risk, which may affect the value of your investment. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of fixed-income securities will decline when interest rates rise. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in debt securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates are more likely to cause periods of increased volatility and redemptions, and may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly. Currently, interest rates are at or near historic lows, which may increase the Fund's exposure to the risks associated with rising interest rates. Recent and potential future changes in government policy may affect interest rates.

Credit risk is the risk that the issuer of a bond may default if it is unable to pay interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund may lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perceptions of an issuer’s creditworthiness also may affect the value of a bond. Prepayment and call risk is the risk that certain debt securities will be paid off by the issuer more quickly than anticipated. If this occurs, the Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields.

Cash position risk – the Fund may hold significant positions in cash or money market instruments. A larger amount of such holdings could cause the Fund to miss investment opportunities presented during periods of rising market prices.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Strategy risk – the subadviser’s strategy may cause the Fund to experience above-average short-term volatility. Accordingly, the Fund may be appropriate for investors who have a long investment time horizon and who seek long-term capital growth while accepting the possibility of significant short-term, or even long-term, losses.

Liquidity risk – when there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities or instruments, it can become more difficult to sell the securities or instruments at or near their perceived value. An inability to sell a portfolio position can adversely affect the Fund's value or prevent the Fund from being able to take advantage of other investment opportunities. Liquidity risk also includes the risk that the Fund

will experience significant net redemptions of its shares at a time when it cannot find willing buyers for its portfolio securities or instruments or can sell its portfolio securities or instruments only at a material loss. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell other securities or instruments that are more liquid, but at unfavorable times and conditions.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

Performance

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. The table compares the Fund’s average annual total returns to the returns of a broad-based securities index. Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

The Fund’s performance prior to July 16, 2018, reflects returns pursuant to different principal investment strategies and a different subadviser. If the Fund’s current strategies and subadviser had been in place for the prior period, the performance information shown may have been different.

Annual Total Returns – Class R6 Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Highest Quarter:	17.35%	–	1st qtr. of 2012
Lowest Quarter:	-15.61%	–	4th qtr. of 2018

After-tax returns are shown in the table for Class R6 shares only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax return depends on your personal tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax

Summary Prospectus February 28, 2020 4 Nationwide Mellon Dynamic U.S. Core Fund

returns are not relevant to investors in tax-advantaged arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

The inception date for Institutional Service Class shares is November 30, 2011. Pre-inception historical performance for Institutional Service Class shares is based on the previous performance of Class R6 shares. Performance for Institutional Service Class shares has not been adjusted to reflect a higher level of expenses than for Class R6 shares. Performance returns for Class R6 shares reflect a front-end sales charge of 4.50% through July 31, 2012. This front-end sales charge was eliminated as of August 1, 2012. The inception date for Eagle Class shares is September 28, 2018. Pre-inception historical performance for Eagle Class shares is based on the previous performance of Institutional Service Class shares. Performance for Eagle Class shares has not been adjusted to reflect that share class’s lower expenses than those of Institutional Service Class shares.

Average Annual Total Returns
(For the Periods Ended December 31, 2019)

	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
Class A Shares – Before Taxes	29.32%	11.67%	13.28%
Class C Shares – Before Taxes	35.03%	12.09%	13.07%
Class R Shares – Before Taxes	36.58%	12.69%	13.60%
Class R6 Shares – Before Taxes	37.56%	13.35%	13.76%
Class R6 Shares – After Taxes on Distributions	34.48%	9.68%	10.95%
Class R6 Shares – After Taxes on Distributions and Sales of Shares	23.37%	9.59%	10.50%
Institutional Service Class Shares – Before Taxes	37.17%	13.13%	14.12%
Eagle Class Shares – Before Taxes	37.35%	13.16%	14.13%
S&P 500® Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)	31.49%	11.70%	13.56%

Portfolio Management

Investment Adviser

Nationwide Fund Advisors

Subadviser

Mellon Investments Corporation

Portfolio Managers

Portfolio Manager	Title	Length of Service with Fund
Vassilis Dagioglu	Managing Director, Head of Asset Allocation Portfolio Management	Since 2018
James H. Stavena	Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager	Since 2018
Joseph Miletich, CFA	Managing Director, Global Investment Strategist	Since 2018

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Minimum Initial Investment
Class A, Class C: $2,000
Class R: no minimum
Class R6: $1,000,000
Institutional Service Class and Eagle Class: $50,000
Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A, Class C): $0*
* Provided each monthly purchase is at least $50

Minimum Additional Investment
Class A, Class C: $100
Class R, Class R6, Institutional Service Class, Eagle Class: no minimum
Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A, Class C): $50

In general, you can buy or sell (redeem) shares of the Fund through your broker-dealer or financial intermediary, or by mail or phone on any business day. You can generally pay for shares by check or wire.

To Purchase and Sell (Redeem) Fund Shares
Mail: Nationwide Funds P.O. Box 701 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0701	Overnight: Nationwide Funds 615 East Michigan Street Third Floor Milwaukee, WI 53202	Website: nationwide.com/ mutualfunds
Phone: 800-848-0920 (toll free). Representatives are available 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions are taxable, and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

Summary Prospectus February 28, 2020 5 Nationwide Mellon Dynamic U.S. Core Fund

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

Summary Prospectus February 28, 2020 6 Nationwide Mellon Dynamic U.S. Core Fund