497K 1 dunham-dynamic_macro.htm 497K GemCom, LLC
 (DUNHAM FUNDS LOGO)  
   
When Performance Counts Summary Prospectus
  February 27, 2015

 

Dunham Dynamic Macro Fund

Class A (DAAVX)

Class C (DCAVX)

Class N (DNAVX)

 

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. The Fund’s prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated February 27, 2015, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. You can obtain these documents and other information about the Fund online at www.dunham.com/prospectus/dynamicmacro.aspx. You can also obtain these documents at no cost by completing a document request form on our web-site, www.dunham.com or by calling (toll free) (888) 3DUNHAM (338-6426) or by sending an email request to fundinfo@dunham.com, or ask any financial advisor, bank or broker-dealer that offers shares of the Fund.

 

Investment Objective: The Fund seeks to maximize total return from capital appreciation and dividends, with capital preservation during market downturns as a secondary goal.

 

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 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 in How to Purchase Shares on page 88 of the Fund’s Prospectus and in How to Buy and Sell Shares on page 93 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

 

Shareholder Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment)
Class A Class C Class N
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) 5.75% None None
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of the original purchase price for purchases of $1 million or more) 0.75% None None
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions None None None
Redemption Fee None None None
Exchange Fee 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) 1.40% 1.40% 1.40%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees 0.25% 1.00% 0.00%
Other Expenses 0.90% 0.90% 0.90%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses(2) (3) 1.75% 1.75% 1.75%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses(2) 4.30% 5.05% 4.05%

 

(1)Management Fees have been restated to reflect a new contractual base Sub-Adviser fee. The management fees assume the Sub-Adviser’s base  fee. Actual Sub-Advisory fees may be higher or lower depending on Fund performance. The Sub-Advisory fee is a fulcrum fee with a base (or fulcrum) of 0.75% and can range from 0.40% to 1.10% depending on the effect of performance fees.

 

(2)Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies. The operating expenses in this fee table will  not correlate to the expense ratio in the Fund’s financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Fund, not the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies.

 

(3)The Fund’s principal investment strategy changed on November 12, 2014. Under the new strategy, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are expected to be approximately 0.11%.

 

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 Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based upon these assumptions your costs would be:

 

Class  1 Year  3 Years  5 Years  10 Years
Class A  $982  $1,804  $2,637  $4,772
Class C  $505  $1,514  $2,522  $5,037
Class N  $407  $1,232  $2,074  $4,248

 

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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 238% of the average value of its portfolio.

 

Principal Investment Strategies: The Fund’s Sub-Adviser seeks to achieve the total return portion of the Fund’s investment objective by using a dynamic macro asset allocation strategy. The Fund may invest in or seek exposure to a wide range of asset classes including, without limitation, (i) equity (of any market capitalization), (ii) fixed-income (including asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and other collateralized obligations and all grades and maturities of domestic and foreign (including emerging markets) credit, including high yield (junk bonds)), (iii) commodities, (iv) real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and (v) currencies. The Sub-Adviser’s strategy seeks long and short exposure in these various asset classes and currencies. The Fund may take long positions indirectly through exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”) and derivative instruments such as, but not limited to, futures, swaps, options and currency forward contracts. The Fund may take short positions indirectly through ETFs or ETNs, including inverse ETFs (funds that are designed to rise in price when stock prices are falling) or ETNs and derivative instruments (listed above) that are intended to provide inverse exposure to a particular asset class or currency. The Fund may also invest in leveraged ETFs. Long positions and short positions may be intended to enhance expected return, reduce expected risk or both. The Sub-Adviser expects the Fund’s net long exposure to typically be between 90% and 100%, but it may range from 0% to 225%.

 

Futures are typically based on, though are not limited to, equity indexes, government bonds, commodities and currencies. Swaps are typically on, though are not limited to, equity indexes, including custom equity indexes, equity index volatility/variance, government bonds, credit default indexes, inflation, commodities and commodity indexes. Options would typically be on, though are not limited to, equity indexes, equity index futures, government bonds, government bond futures and currencies.

 

The Fund has no geographic or other limits on the allocation of its assets among asset classes. The Fund may also invest in individual stocks, preferred stock, publicly traded partnerships, royalty income trusts, repurchase agreements and other equity securities, fixed-income securities and currencies for the purpose of effecting macro strategies.

 

The Sub-Adviser seeks to achieve the capital preservation portion of the Fund’s investment objective during down markets by using risk management techniques including (1) allocation to investment grade fixed income securities and (2) allocation to cash equivalents.

 

The Sub-Adviser’s macro asset allocation strategy is based primarily on the fundamental investment valuations of various asset classes. The Sub-Adviser’s goal is to identify periodic discrepancies between fundamental values and market prices, actively shift between long or short positions, as well as allocations to cash and seek to capitalize on opportunities within and among the capital markets of the world.

 

The Sub-Adviser generally purchases a security when its model identifies that its market price is below the model’s valuation and that the risk-reward profile is relatively more attractive than other opportunities. The Sub-Adviser generally sells a security when its model identifies that the relative attractiveness deteriorates or its valuation becomes excessive or risk associated with the security increases significantly. In addition, the Sub-Adviser may sell a security if better investment opportunities emerge elsewhere. The Sub-Adviser evaluates currencies on a relative valuation basis and generally increases the Fund’s exposure to currencies that are undervalued and reduces exposure to currencies that are overvalued based on real interest rates and other proprietary measures.

 

Principal Investment Risks: As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. Although the Fund will strive to meet its investment objective, there is no assurance that it will do so. Many factors affect the Fund’s net asset value and performance.

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Asset Allocation Risk – In allocating the Fund’s assets, the Sub-Adviser may favor markets or asset classes that perform poorly relative to other markets and asset classes. The Sub-Adviser’s investment analysis, its selection of investments, and its assessment of the risk/return potential of asset classes and markets may not produce the intended results and/or can lead to an investment focus that results in the Fund underperforming other funds with similar investment strategies and/or underperforming the markets in which the Fund invests.

 

Changing Fixed Income Market Conditions Risk – During periods of sustained rising rates, fixed income risks will be amplified. If the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (“FOMC”) raises the federal funds interest rate target, interest rates across the U.S. financial system may rise. Rising rates tend to decrease liquidity, increase trading costs, and increase volatility, all of which make portfolio management more difficult and costly to the Fund and its shareholders.

 

Credit Risk – Issuers of debt securities may suffer from a reduced ability to repay their interest and principal obligations. They may even default on interest and/or principal payments due to the Fund. An increase in credit risk or a default will cause the value of Fund debt securities to decline. Issuers with lower credit quality are more susceptible to economic or industry downturns and are more likely to default.

 

Currency Risk – Adverse changes in currency exchange rates (relative to the U.S. dollar) may erode or reverse any potential gains from the Fund’s investments denominated in a foreign currency or may widen existing losses. Exchange rate movements are volatile and it may not be possible to effectively hedge the currency risks of many countries.

 

Derivatives Risk – Financial derivatives, such as futures, swaps, options and currency forward contracts, may not produce the desired investment results because they are not perfect substitutes for the underlying securities, indices or currencies from which they are derived. Derivatives may also create leverage which will amplify the effect on the Fund, which may produce significant losses. Over the counter derivatives, such as swaps, are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligation.

 

Emerging Markets Risk – Emerging market countries may have relatively unstable governments, weaker economies, and less-developed legal systems which do not protect securities holders. Emerging market economies may be based on only a few industries and security issuers may be more susceptible to economic weakness and more likely to default. Emerging market securities also tend to be less liquid.

 

ETF Risk – ETFs are subject to investment advisory and other expenses, which will be indirectly paid by the Fund. As a result, the cost of investing in the Fund will be higher than the cost of investing directly in ETFs and may be higher than other mutual funds that invest exclusively in common stocks. The ETFs in which the Fund invests will not be able to replicate exactly the performance of the indices they track and the market value of ETF shares may differ from their net asset value.

 

ETFs are subject to specific risks, depending on the nature of the fund. For instance, investing in inverse ETFs is similar to holding various short positions, or using a combination of advanced investment strategies to profit from falling prices. When the value of ETFs held by the Fund decline, the value of your investment in the Fund declines.

 

ETN Risk – ETNs are securities that combine aspects of a bond and an ETF. ETN returns are based upon the performance of a market index or other reference asset less fees, and can be held to maturity as a debt security. ETNs are traded on a securities exchange. Their value is based on their reference index or strategy and the credit quality of the issuer. Because ETNs are debt instruments of the issuer of the ETN, they are subject to the credit risk of the issuer. ETNs are also subject to the risk that they may trade at a premium or discount to value attributable to their reference index. When the Fund invests in an ETN, shareholders of the Fund bear their proportionate share of the ETN’s fees and expenses, as well as their share of the Fund’s fees and expenses. There may also not be an active trading market available for some ETNs. Additionally, trading of ETNs may be halted and ETNs may be delisted by the listing exchange.

 

Foreign Investing Risk – Investments in foreign countries are subject to currency risk and country-specific risks such as political, diplomatic, regional conflicts, terrorism, war, social and economic instability and policies that have the effect of decreasing the value of foreign securities. Foreign countries may be subject to different trading settlement practices, less government supervision, less publicly available information, limited trading markets and greater volatility than U.S. investments.

 

Interest Rate Risk – In general, the price of a debt security falls when interest rates rise. Debt securities have varying levels of sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Securities with longer maturities may be more sensitive to interest rate changes.

 

Inverse ETF Risk – Investments in inverse ETFs will prevent the Fund from participating in market-wide or sector-wide gains and may not prove to be an effective hedge. During periods of increased volatility, inverse ETFs may not perform in the manner they are designed.

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Leveraging Risk – Using derivatives can create leverage, which can magnify the Fund’s potential for gain or loss and, therefore, amplify the effects of market volatility on the Fund’s share price.

 

Liquidity Risk – Some securities may have few market-makers and low trading volume, which tend to increase transaction costs and may make it impossible for the Fund to dispose of a security position at all or at a price which represents current or fair market value.

 

Lower-Rated Securities Risk – Securities rated below investment-grade, sometimes called “high-yield” or “junk” bonds, are speculative investments that generally have more credit risk than higher-rated securities. Companies issuing high-yield fixed-income securities are not as strong financially as those issuing securities with higher credit ratings and are more likely to encounter financial difficulties. Lower rated issuers are more likely to default and their securities could become worthless.

 

Management Risk – The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed investment portfolio. The Sub-Adviser will apply its investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, but there is no guarantee that its decisions will produce the intended result. The successful use of hedging and risk management techniques may be adversely affected by imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the hedging vehicles and the securities being hedged. The successful use of hedging and risk management techniques may be adversely affected by imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the hedging vehicles and the securities being hedged.

 

Portfolio Turnover Risk – A higher portfolio turnover will result in higher transactional and brokerage costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account.

 

Real Estate Investment Trust Risk – A REIT’s performance depends on the types and locations of the rental properties it owns and on how well it manages those properties. A decline in rental income may occur because of extended vacancies, increased competition from other properties, tenants’ failure to pay rent, or poor management.

 

Small and Medium Capitalization Risk – The Fund’s investments in smaller and medium-sized companies carry more risks than investments in larger companies. Companies with small and medium size market capitalization often have narrower markets, fewer products or services to offer and more limited managerial and financial resources than do larger, more established companies. Investing in lesser-known, small and medium capitalization companies involves greater risk of volatility of the Fund’s net asset value than is customarily associated with larger, more established companies. Often smaller and medium capitalization companies and the industries in which they are focused are still evolving and, while this may offer better growth potential than larger, more established companies, it also may make them more sensitive to changing market conditions.

 

Stock Market Risk – Stock markets can be volatile. In other words, the prices of stocks can fall rapidly in response to developments affecting a specific company or industry,or to changing economic, political or market conditions. The Fund’s investments may decline in value if the stock markets perform poorly.

 

Performance: The following bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the performance of Class N Shares of the Fund from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s Class A, Class C and Class N average annual returns compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Class A sales charge is reflected in the average annual total return table. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how a Fund will perform in the future. During the period for which the Fund’s performance is presented, the Fund’s principal investment strategies were substantially different from those presently employed by the Fund. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.dunham.com or by calling toll free (888) 3DUNHAM (338-6426).

 

Class N Shares Annual Total Return for Years Ended December 31

 

(BAR GRAPH)

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During the period shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a quarter was 5.35% (quarter ended December 31, 2011) and the lowest return for a quarter was -7.12% (quarter ended September 30, 2011).

 

Dunham Dynamic Macro Fund

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURN

 

For the periods ended December 31, 2014  
Class N Shares 1 Year Life of Fund*
return before taxes 3.71%  1.84%
return after taxes on distributions 3.43% 0.93%
return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares 2.28% 1.06%
Class C Shares    
return before taxes 2.77% 0.85%
Class A Shares    
return before taxes 3.57% 1.58%
IQ Hedge Global Macro Beta Index** (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 2.78% 2.58%^
IQ Hedge Long/Short Beta Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 3.56% 6.21%^

 

*Inception date is April 30, 2010. On November 12, 2014, the Fund’s principal investment strategies were substantially changed. Therefore, the performance prior to that date may have been different had the current principal investment strategies been in place.

 

**Change in benchmark reflects changes in the Fund’s strategy. As a result, the Fund’s performance is compared to both indexes in the table above.

 

^As of April 30, 2010.

 

After-tax returns are estimated, and are based on the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates, and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes; actual after-tax returns depend on an individual investor’s tax situation and are likely to differ from those shown. If you own shares of the Fund in a tax-deferred account, such as an individual retirement account or a 401(k) plan, this information is not applicable to your investment, because such accounts are only subject to taxes upon distribution. In certain cases, after-tax returns may be higher than the other return figures for the same period. After tax returns for Class C and Class A shares, which are not shown, will vary from those of Class N shares.

 

Investment Adviser: Dunham & Associates Investment Counsel, Inc. (the “Adviser”).

 

Sub-Adviser: Mellon Capital Management Corporation (the “Sub-Adviser”).

 

Sub-Adviser Portfolio Managers: Investment decisions for the Fund are made by the Global Asset Allocation Team of the Sub-Adviser, consisting of Vassilis Dagioglu, James Stavena, and Torrey Zaches, each of whom serves as a primary portfolio manager of the Fund. Messrs. Dagioglu and Stavena are Managing Directors and have served at the Sub-Adviser since 1999 and 1998, respectively. Mr. Zaches is a Director and has served at the Sub-Adviser since 1998.

 

PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES 

 

You may purchase and redeem shares of the Fund on any day that the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading. For Class A shares and Class C share, the initial minimum investment amount in the Fund for regular accounts is $5,000, and for tax-deferred accounts and certain tax efficient accounts is $2,000. The minimum subsequent investment is $100. For Class N shares, the minimum initial investment per Fund is $100,000 for taxable accounts and $50,000 for tax-deferred accounts. There is no minimum subsequent investment amount for Class N shares.

 

Purchases and redemptions may be made by mailing an application or redemption request to the addresses indicated below, by calling toll free (888) 3DUNHAM (338-6426) or by visiting the Fund’s website www.dunham.com. You also may purchase and redeem shares through a financial intermediary.

 

via Regular Mail via Overnight Mail
Dunham Funds Dunham Funds
c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC
P.O. Box 541150 17605 Wright Street, Suite 2
Omaha, NE 68154 Omaha, NE 68130

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TAX INFORMATION 

 

Dividends and capital gain distributions you receive from the Fund, whether you reinvest your distributions in additional Fund shares or receive them in cash, are taxable to you at either ordinary income or capital gains tax rates unless you are investing through a tax-deferred plan such as an IRA or 401(k) plan. However, these dividend and capital gain distributions may be taxable upon their eventual withdrawal from tax-deferred plans.

 

FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY COMPENSATION 

 

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.

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