XML 18 R1.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.21.4
Total
Empiric 2500 Fund
FUND SUMMARY
Investment Objective:

The Fund’s goal is to achieve capital appreciation.

 

Fees and Expenses of the Fund:

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts on purchases of Class A shares 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 is included in the sections of the Fund’s prospectus entitled How to Buy Shares on page 37 and Appendix A – Intermediary-Specific Sales Charge Reductions and Waivers, and in the sections of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information entitled Reduction of Up-Front Sales Charge on Class A Shares on page 36 and Waiver of Up-Front Sales Charge on Class A Shares on page 37.

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees - Empiric 2500 Fund
Empiric 2500 Fund Class A
Empiric 2500 Fund Class C
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) 5.75% none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of the lower of original purchase price or current market value) 1.00% none
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed  on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions none none
Redemption Fee none none
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses - Empiric 2500 Fund
Empiric 2500 Fund Class A
Empiric 2500 Fund Class C
Management Fees 1.00% 1.00%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees 0.25% 1.00%
Other Expenses 0.71% 0.71%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 1.96% 2.71%
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 $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then hold or redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example - Empiric 2500 Fund - USD ($)
1
3
5
10
Empiric 2500 Fund Class A 763 1,155 1,571 2,729
Empiric 2500 Fund Class C 274 841 1,435 3,041
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 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. The portfolio turnover rate of the Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2021 was 21% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies.

The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by primarily investing in the equity securities of domestic small and mid-capitalization growth companies. Small and mid-capitalization companies are defined as companies with between $30 million and $25 billion in market capitalization.

 

The Fund seeks capital appreciation by investing in companies that the Fund’s investment advisor, Empiric Advisors, Inc. (the “Advisor”), believes are undervalued and that have characteristics the Advisor deems will likely cause those stocks to appreciate in the near future. Decisions to buy or sell securities in the Fund’s portfolio are based on such characteristics including the sector or industry the company is in, certain ratios of the company such as return-on-equity or margins, the size of the company, past and future growth of the company, analysts’ expectations, earnings surprises and other characteristics the Advisor believes may impact the appreciation of stocks. The Advisor practices quantitative techniques in the selection of stocks using a computer screening process to assist it in finding investment opportunities. Qualitative factors are considered in investment selection, but their influence is usually minimal.

 

Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund.

As with any mutual fund, there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its objective. Investment markets are unpredictable and there will be certain market conditions where the Fund will not meet its investment objective and will lose money. The Fund’s net asset value and returns will vary and you could lose money on your investment in the Fund and those losses could be significant.

 

The following summarizes the principal risks of investing in the Fund. These risks could adversely affect the net asset value, total return and the value of the Fund and your investment.

 

Equity Securities Risk. Common stocks and other equity securities generally increase or decrease in value based on the earnings of a company and on general industry and market conditions, which tend to have greater fluctuations in share price than the Fund that invests a significant portion of its assets in fixed income securities.

 

Growth Stock Risk. Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market, and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. Growth stocks also tend to be more expensive relative to their earnings or assets compared to other types of stocks. As a result, growth stocks tend to be sensitive to changes in their earnings and more volatile in price than the stock market as a whole.

 

Management Risk. The portfolio managers’ judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential appreciation of particular stocks or other securities in which the Fund invests may prove to be incorrect and there is no guarantee that the portfolio managers’ judgment will produce the desired results.

 

Market Risk. Overall stock market risks may also affect the value of the Fund. Factors such as domestic economic growth and market conditions, interest rate levels and political events affect the securities markets.

 

Sector Risk. The Fund may be subject to the risk that its assets are invested in a particular sector or group of sectors in the economy and as a result, the value of the Fund may be adversely impacted by events or developments in a sector or group of sectors. These events or developments might include additional government regulation, resource shortages or surpluses, changes in consumer demands or improvements in technology that make products or services of a particular sector less desirable.

 

Medical Equipment and Devices Industry Risk. Many companies in the medical equipment and devices industry are affected by the expiration of patents, litigation based on product liability, industry competition, product obsolescence and regulatory approvals, among other factors.

 

Software Industry Risk. Software companies can be significantly affected by competitive pressures, aggressive pricing, technological developments, changing domestic demand, the ability to attract and retain skilled employees and availability and price of components. The market for products produced by software companies is characterized by rapidly changing technology, rapid product obsolescence, cyclical market patterns, evolving industry standards and frequent new product introductions.

 

Security Risk. The value of the Fund may decrease in response to the activities and financial prospects of an individual security in the Fund’s portfolio.

 

Small and Mid Capitalization Stock Risk. The earnings and prospects of smaller-sized companies are more volatile than larger companies and may experience higher failure rates than larger companies. Smaller-sized companies normally have a lower trading volume than larger companies, which may tend to make their market price fall more disproportionately than larger companies in response to selling pressures and may have limited markets, product lines, or financial resources and lack management experience.

 

Stock Market Risk. Overall stock market risks may affect the value of the Fund. Factors such as domestic economic growth and market conditions, interest rate levels and political events affect the securities markets.

Performance:

The bar chart and performance table below show the variability of the Fund’s returns, which is some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows performance of the Fund’s Class A shares for the last 10 years. The performance table compares the performance of the Fund’s Class A and Class C shares over time to the performance of a broad-based market index. The Fund was reorganized on April 5, 2013 from a series of the Empiric Funds, Inc., a Maryland corporation, (the “Predecessor Fund”) to a series of Mutual Fund Series Trust, an Ohio business trust (the “Reorganization”). The Fund is a continuation of the Predecessor Fund and, therefore, the performance information includes performance of the Predecessor Fund. You should be aware that the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) may not be an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Although Class C shares have similar annual returns to Class A shares because the classes are invested in the same portfolio of securities, the returns for Class C shares are different from Class A shares because Class C shares have different expenses than Class A shares. Updated performance information is available at www.empiricfunds.com or by calling 1-888-839-7424.

 

Annual Total Returns
Bar Chart

Figures do not reflect sales charges. If they did, returns would be lower. Returns for Class C shares, which are not shown, would be lower.

 

During the period shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a quarter was 30.96% (quarter ended June 30, 2020), and the lowest return for a quarter was (27.32)% (quarter ended March 31, 2020).

 

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended December 31, 2021)
Average Annual Total Returns - Empiric 2500 Fund
Label
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Empiric 2500 Fund Class A Return Before Taxes 9.41% 14.09% 12.16%
Empiric 2500 Fund Class A | Return After Taxes on Distributions   9.27% 13.68% 10.99%
Empiric 2500 Fund Class A | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares   5.66% 11.29% 9.49%
Empiric 2500 Fund Class C Return Before Taxes 15.21% 14.59% 11.98%
Bloomberg 2500 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)   18.63% 13.65% 14.33%

After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rate and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on a shareholder’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant for shareholders who hold Fund shares in tax-deferred accounts or shares held by non-taxable entities. After-tax returns are only shown for Class A shares. After-tax returns for Class C shares will vary.