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U.S. Socially Responsible Fund
U.S. SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE FUND
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks to obtain growth of capital through investment, primarily in equity securities, in companies which meet the social criteria established for the Fund.
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. The Fund’s annual operating expenses do not reflect the separate account fees charged in the variable annuity or variable life insurance policy (“Variable Contracts”) in which the Fund is offered. If separate account fees were shown, the Fund’s annual operating expenses would be higher. Please see your Variable Contract prospectus for more details on the separate account fees.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
U.S. Socially Responsible Fund
U.S. Socially Responsible Fund
Management Fees 0.25%
Other Expenses 0.11% [1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.36%
[1] “Other Expenses” have been estimated because the Fund had not commenced operations as of the date of this Prospectus.
Expense 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. The Example does not reflect charges imposed by the Variable Contract. If the Variable Contract fees were reflected, the expenses would be higher. See the Variable Contract prospectus for information on such charges. Although your actual costs may be higher
 
or lower, based on these assumptions and the net expenses shown in the fee table, your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
U.S. Socially Responsible Fund | U.S. Socially Responsible Fund | USD ($) 37 116
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. The portfolio turnover rate is not available because the Fund had not commenced operations on the date of this Prospectus.
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in the equity securities of U.S. companies meeting the Fund’s social criteria. To determine which companies meet the Fund’s social criteria, the subadviser incorporates into its investment process industry classifications and research services from an independent social research service, MSCI ESG Research, LLC (MSCI ESG Research).
The subadviser conducts its own analysis of issuers and industries and creates a bespoke list of companies that do not represent strong environmental and social values and categorically excludes those companies as investment options for the Fund. The Fund does not invest in companies that are significantly engaged in:
 
   
the manufacture or distribution of civilian firearms, military weapons or weapons delivery systems;
 
   
the manufacture or distribution of alcoholic beverages or tobacco products;
 
   
the operation of gambling-related businesses; and
 
   
the production of nuclear energy.
The Fund also excludes companies with low environmental, social and governance controversy scores, as determined by the MSCI ESG Ratings provided by MSCI ESG Research. MSCI ESG Research uses a rules based methodology to rate issuers on key ESG issues, including: (1) environmental issues such as climate change, natural resources, pollution and waste, and environmental opportunities; (2) social issues such as human capital, product liability, stakeholder opposition and social opportunities; and (3) governance issues such as corporate governance and corporate behavior.
The Fund further does not invest in companies that:
 
   
have a history of poor labor-management relations;
 
   
engage in businesses or have products that have a severely negative impact on the environment;
 
   
have significant business operations in countries whose governments pose human rights concerns; operate businesses that have a significantly adverse impact on the communities in which they are located;
 
   
engage in businesses or have products that have a severely negative impact on their customers, which may include companies that have products that pose safety or health concerns, engage in practices that are anti-competitive or have marketing that is inappropriate or misleading; and
 
   
have a history of poor business ethics, which may include companies that have incidents of bribery or fraud, or poor governance structures.
The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in the securities of other types of companies meeting the social criteria, including foreign securities, preferred stock and convertible securities. The Fund does not invest in the securities of companies that do not meet the social criteria.
In order to generate additional income, the Fund may lend portfolio securities to broker-dealers and other financial institutions provided that the value of the loaned securities does not exceed 30% of the Fund’s total assets. These loans earn income for the Fund and are collateralized by cash and securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities.
Investors will be given at least 60 days’ written notice in advance of any change to the Fund’s 80% investment policy set forth above.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with any mutual fund, there can be no assurance that the Fund’s investment objective will be met or that the net return on an investment in the Fund will exceed what could have been obtained through other investment or savings vehicles. Shares of the Fund are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by any bank, government entity or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. If the value of the assets of the Fund goes down, you could lose money.
The following is a summary of the principal risks of investing in the Fund.
Convertible Securities Risk
.
Convertible security values may be affected by market interest rates, issuer defaults and underlying common stock values; security values may fall if market interest rates rise and rise if market interest rates fall. Additionally, an issuer may have the right to buy back the securities at a time unfavorable to the Fund.
Equity Securities Risk
.
The Fund’s investments in equity securities are subject to the risk that stock prices will fall and may underperform other asset classes. Individual stock prices fluctuate from
day-to-day
and may decline significantly. The prices of individual stocks may be negatively affected by poor company results or other factors affecting individual prices, as well as industry and/or economic trends and developments affecting industries or the securities market as a whole.
Foreign Investment Risk
.
Investment in foreign securities involves risks due to several factors, such as illiquidity, the lack of public information, changes in the exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar, unfavorable political, social and legal developments, or economic and financial instability. Foreign companies are not subject to the U.S. accounting and financial reporting standards and may have riskier settlement procedures. U.S. investments that are denominated in foreign currencies or that are traded in foreign markets, or securities of U.S. companies that have significant foreign operations may be subject to foreign investment risk.
Market Risk.
The Fund’s share price can fall because of weakness in the broad market, a particular industry, or specific holdings or due to adverse political or economic developments here or abroad, changes in investor psychology, or heavy institutional selling and other conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war, terrorism, disease/virus, outbreaks and epidemics). The prices of individual securities may fluctuate, sometimes dramatically, from day to day. The prices of stocks and other equity securities tend to be more volatile than those of fixed-income securities.
The coronavirus pandemic and the related governmental and public responses have had and may continue to have an impact on the Fund’s investments and net asset value and have led and may continue to lead to increased market volatility and the potential for illiquidity in certain classes of securities and sectors of the market. Preventative or protective actions that governments may take in respect of pandemic or epidemic diseases may result in periods of business disruption, business closures, inability to obtain raw materials, supplies and component parts, and reduced or disrupted operations for the issuers in which the Fund invests. Government intervention in markets may impact interest rates, market volatility and security pricing. The occurrence, reoccurrence and pendency of such diseases could adversely affect the economies (including through changes in business activity and increased unemployment) and financial markets either in specific countries or worldwide.
Preferred Stock Risk.
Unlike common stock, preferred stock generally pays a fixed dividend from a company’s earnings and may have a preference over common stock on the distribution of a company’s assets in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation. Preferred stockholders’ liquidation rights are subordinate to the company’s debt holders and creditors. If interest rates rise, the fixed dividend on preferred stocks may be less attractive and the price of preferred stocks may decline. Preferred stockholders typically do not have voting rights.
Securities Lending Risk
.
Engaging in securities lending could increase the market and credit risk for Fund investments. The Fund may lose money if it does not recover borrowed securities, the value of the collateral falls, or the value of investments made with cash collateral declines. The Fund’s loans will be collateralized by securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies and instrumentalities, which subjects the Fund to the credit risk of the U.S. Government or the issuing federal agency or instrumentality. If the value of either the cash collateral or the Fund’s investments of the cash
collateral falls below the amount owed to a borrower, the Fund also may incur losses that exceed the amount it earned on lending the security. Securities lending also involves the risks of delay in receiving additional collateral or possible loss of rights in the collateral if the borrower fails. Another risk of securities lending is the risk that the loaned portfolio securities may not be available to the Fund on a timely basis and the Fund may therefore lose the opportunity to sell the securities at a desirable price.
Social Criteria Risk
.
Social criteria screening limits the availability of investment opportunities for the Fund. If the Fund changes its social criteria or a company stops meeting the Fund’s social criteria, the Fund will sell the affected investments even if this means the Fund loses money. Therefore, adhering to the social criteria screening may affect the Fund’s performance relative to similar funds that do not adhere to such criteria.
Performance Information
As of the date of this Prospectus, the Fund has not commenced operations, and no performance is available. Updated performance information can be obtained by visiting https://my.valic.com/ARO/FundPerformance/Index.aspx or can be obtained by phone at
1-800-448-2542.