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Transamerica Arbitrage Strategy
TRANSAMERICA ARBITRAGE STRATEGY
Investment Objective:
Seeks to achieve capital growth by engaging in merger arbitrage.
Fees and Expenses:
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees
Transamerica Arbitrage Strategy
I2
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) none
Maximum deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of purchase price or redemption proceeds, whichever is lower) none
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Transamerica Arbitrage Strategy
I2
Management fees 1.01%rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees none
Other expenses 0.99%rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets
Dividend and interest expense on securities sold short [1] 0.70%rr_Component3OtherExpensesOverAssets
All other expenses 0.29%rr_Component2OtherExpensesOverAssets
Total annual fund operating expenses 2.00%rr_ExpensesOverAssets
Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement [2] 0.05%rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement 1.95%rr_NetExpensesOverAssets
[1] Dividend expense on securities sold short refers to paying the value of dividends to the securities' lenders. Interest expense on securities sold short arises from the use of short sale proceeds to invest more than 100% of the fund's net assets in long positions.
[2] Contractual arrangements have been made with the fund's investment adviser, Transamerica Asset Management, Inc. ("TAM"), through March 1, 2016 to waive fees and/or reimburse fund expenses to the extent that the fund's total operating expenses exceed 1.25%, excluding, as applicable, 12b-1 fees, acquired fund fees and expenses, interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, dividend and interest expenses on securities sold short, extraordinary expenses and other expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the fund's business. These arrangements cannot be terminated prior to March 1, 2016 without the Board of Trustees' consent. TAM is entitled to reimbursement by the fund of fees waived or expenses reduced during any of the previous 36 months if on any day or month the estimated annualized fund operating expenses are less than the cap.
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 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 (USD $)
1 year
3 years
5 years
10 years
Transamerica Arbitrage Strategy I2
198 623 1,073 2,323
~ http://www.transamericafunds.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemptionTransposedTransamericaArbitrageStrategy column period compact * ~
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 portfolio turnover rate for the fund was 683% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies:
In attempting to achieve the fund’s objective, Water Island Capital, LLC (the “sub-adviser”), the fund’s sub-adviser, plans to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the fund’s net assets (plus the amount of borrowings, if any, for investment purposes) in equity securities and other investments with similar economic characteristics of companies (both domestic and foreign) that are involved in publicly announced mergers, takeovers, tender offers, leveraged buyouts, spin-offs, liquidations and other corporate reorganizations. Equity securities include common and preferred stock and options.

Merger arbitrage is a highly specialized investment approach designed to profit from the successful completion of corporate reorganizations. The sub-adviser uses investment strategies designed to minimize market exposure including short selling and purchasing and selling options. The most common arbitrage activity, and the approach the fund generally will use, involves purchasing the shares of an announced acquisition target company at a discount to their expected value upon completion of the acquisition. The sub-adviser may engage in selling securities short when the terms of a proposed acquisition call for the exchange of common stock and/or other securities. In such a case, the common stock of the company to be acquired may be purchased and, at approximately the same time, an equivalent amount of the acquiring company’s common stock and/or other securities of the acquiring company may be sold short.

The fund may enter into equity swap agreements for the purpose of attempting to obtain a desired return on, or exposure to, certain equity securities or equity indices in an expedited manner or at a lower cost to the fund than if the fund had invested directly in such securities. The fund generally engages in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities to achieve its principal investment strategies. The fund will sell or cover a security when the securities of the companies involved in the transaction do not meet the fund’s expected return criteria when gauged by prevailing market prices and the relative risks of the situation.

The principal hedging strategies that the fund employs are short selling, engaging in put and call options, total return swaps, and currency forward contracts.

Short Sales: The sub-adviser may engage in selling securities short when the terms of a proposed acquisition call for the exchange of common stock and/or other securities. In such a case, the common stock of the company to be acquired may be purchased and, at approximately the same time, an equivalent amount of the acquiring company’s common stock and/or other securities of the acquiring company may be sold short. The fund will make these short sales with the intention of later closing out (or covering) the short position with the securities of the acquiring company received when the acquisition is consummated. The purpose of the short sale is to protect against a decline in the market value of the acquiring company’s securities prior to the acquisition’s completion.

Put and Call Options: The sub-adviser may engage in purchasing and/or selling put and call options in an effort to reduce the risks associated with some of its investments. The market price of a put option normally will vary inversely with the market price of the underlying security. Consequently, by purchasing put options on securities the fund has purchased, it may be possible for the fund to partially offset any decline in the market value of these securities. The market price of the call, in most instances, will move in conjunction with the price of the underlying security.

The premium received by the fund for the sale of options may be used by the fund in an effort to reduce the risks associated with individual investments and to increase total investment return. To achieve this goal, the fund will typically sell covered puts and/or calls to generate additional income. From time to time, the fund may also choose to utilize the income generated from such sales to purchase additional options with the goal of providing downside protection should the price of the related securities drop. There is no guarantee this strategy will achieve its goal of enhancing returns and protecting against losses. Currently, the sub-adviser does not intend to commit greater than 25% of the fund’s net assets to option strategies.
Principal Risks:
Risk is inherent in all investing. Many factors affect the fund's performance. There is no assurance the fund will meet its investment objective. The value of your investment in the fund, as well as the amount of return you receive on your investment, may fluctuate significantly. You may lose part or all of your investment in the fund or your investment may not perform as well as other similar investments. The fund may take temporary defensive positions; in such a case, the fund will not be pursuing its principal investment strategies. The following is a summary description of principal risks (in alphabetical order) of investing in the fund. You may lose money if you invest in this fund.
  • Active Trading – The fund is actively managed and may purchase and sell securities without regard to the length of time held. Active trading may have a negative impact on performance by increasing transaction costs and may generate greater amounts of net short-term capital gains, which, for shareholders holding shares in taxable accounts, would be subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates upon distribution.
  • Aggressive Investment – The fund’s investment strategies, techniques and/or portfolio investments differ from those of many other mutual funds and may be considered aggressive. This approach to investing may expose the fund to additional risks, make the fund a more volatile investment than other mutual funds and cause the fund to perform less favorably than other mutual funds under similar market or economic conditions.
  • Arbitrage – Securities purchased pursuant to an arbitrage strategy intended to take advantage of a perceived relationship between the value of two or more securities may not perform as expected.
  • Counterparty – The fund will be subject to credit risk (that is, where changes in an issuer’s financial strength or credit rating may affect an instrument’s value) with respect to the amount it expects to receive from counterparties to derivatives, repurchase agreements and other financial contracts entered into by the fund or held by special purpose or structured vehicles. If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations due to financial difficulties, the value of your investment in the fund may decline.
  • Currency – The value of investments in securities denominated in foreign currencies increases or decreases as the rates of exchange between those currencies and the U.S. dollar change. Currency conversion costs and currency fluctuations could reduce or eliminate investment gains or add to investment losses. Currency exchange rates can be volatile, and are affected by factors such as general economic conditions, the actions of the U.S. and foreign governments or central banks, the imposition of currency controls, and speculation.
  • Currency Hedging – The fund may hedge its currency risk using currency futures, forwards or options. However, these instruments may not always work as intended, and a fund may be worse off than if it had not used a hedging instrument.
  • Derivatives – Using derivatives exposes the fund to additional risks and can increase fund losses and reduce opportunities for gains when market prices, interest rates or the derivatives themselves behave in a way not anticipated by the fund. Using derivatives also can have a leveraging effect and increase fund volatility. The fund may also have to sell assets at inopportune times to satisfy its obligations. Derivatives may be difficult to sell, unwind or value, and the counterparty may default on its obligations to the fund. The fund's investments in derivative instruments may involve a small investment relative to the amount of investment exposure assumed and may result in losses exceeding the amounts invested in those instruments. Certain derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment. The U.S. government is in the process of adopting and implementing regulations governing derivatives markets, including mandatory clearing of certain derivatives, margin and reporting requirements. The ultimate impact of the regulations remains unclear. Additional regulation of derivatives may make them more costly, may limit their availability, may disrupt markets or may otherwise adversely affect their value or performance.
  • Emerging Markets – Investments in the securities of issuers located in or principally doing business in emerging markets are subject to foreign investments risks. These risks are greater for investments in issuers in emerging market countries. Emerging market countries tend to have economic, political and legal systems that are less fully developed and are less stable than those of more developed countries. Emerging market securities are often particularly sensitive to market movements because their market prices tend to reflect speculative expectations. Low trading volumes may result in a lack of liquidity and in extreme price volatility.
  • Equity Securities – Equity securities represent an ownership interest in an issuer, rank junior in a company’s capital structure and consequently may entail greater risk of loss than debt securities. Equity securities include common and preferred stocks. Stock markets are volatile. The price of equity securities fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions. If the market prices of the equity securities owned by the fund fall, the value of your investment in the fund will decline.
  • Fixed-Income Securities – The market prices of fixed-income securities may go up or down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, due to general market conditions, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions, inflation, changes in interest rates, lack of liquidity in the bond markets or adverse investor sentiment. In addition, the market value of a fixed income security may decline if the issuer or other obligor of the security fails to pay principal and/or interest, otherwise defaults or has its credit rating downgraded or is perceived to be less creditworthy, or the credit quality or value of any underlying assets declines. When market prices fall, the value of your investment will go down. The value of your investment will generally go down when interest rates rise. Interest rates have been at historically low levels, so the fund faces a heightened risk that interest rates may rise. A rise in rates tends to have a greater impact on the prices of longer term or duration securities.
  • Focused Investing – To the extent the fund invests in one or more countries, regions, sectors or industries, or in a limited number of issuers, the fund will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those countries, regions, sectors, industries or issuers. Local events, such as political upheaval, financial troubles, or natural disasters may disrupt a country’s or region’s securities markets. Geographic risk is especially high in emerging markets.
  • Foreign Investments – Investing in securities of foreign issuers or issuers with significant exposure to foreign markets involves additional risk. Foreign countries in which the fund may invest may have markets that are less liquid, less regulated and more volatile than U.S. markets. The value of the fund’s investments may decline because of factors affecting the particular issuer as well as foreign markets and issuers generally, such as unfavorable government actions, political or financial instability or other adverse economic or political developments. Lack of information and weaker accounting standards also may affect the value of these securities.
  • High-Yield Debt Securities – High-yield debt securities, commonly referred to as “junk bonds,” are securities that are rated below “investment grade” (that is, securities rated below Baa/BBB) or, if unrated, determined to be below investment grade by the sub-adviser. Changes in interest rates, the market’s perception of the issuers and the creditworthiness of the issuers may significantly affect the value of these bonds. Junk bonds are considered speculative, have a higher risk of default, tend to be less liquid and may be more difficult to value than higher grade securities. Junk bonds tend to be volatile and more susceptible to adverse events and negative sentiments.
  • Leveraging – The value of your investment may be more volatile to the extent that the fund borrows or uses derivatives or other investments that have a leveraging effect on the fund. Other risks also will be compounded. This is because leverage generally magnifies the effect of a change in the value of an asset and creates a risk of loss of value on a larger pool of assets than the fund would otherwise have had. The use of leverage is considered to be a speculative investment practice and may result in the loss of a substantial amount, and possibly all, of the fund's assets. The fund also may have to sell assets at inopportune times to satisfy its obligations.
  • Liquidity – The fund may make investments that are illiquid or that become illiquid after purchase. The liquidity and value of investments can deteriorate rapidly and those investments may be difficult or impossible to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. These illiquid investments may also be difficult to value. If the fund is forced to sell an illiquid investment to meet redemption requests or other cash needs, the fund may be forced to sell at a loss.
  • Manager – The fund is subject to the risk that the sub-adviser’s judgments and investment decisions, as well as the methods, tools, resources, information and data, and the analyses employed or relied on by the sub-adviser to make those judgments and decisions may be incorrect or otherwise may not produce the desired results. This could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
  • Market – The market prices of the fund's securities may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions, inflation, changes in interest rates or currency rates, lack of liquidity in the markets or adverse investor sentiment. Adverse market conditions may be prolonged and may not have the same impact on all types of securities. Market prices of securities also may go down due to events or conditions that affect particular sectors, industries or issuers. When market prices fall, the value of your investment will go down. The fund may experience a substantial or complete loss on any individual security. Financial markets in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere have experienced increased volatility and decreased liquidity since the global financial crisis began in 2008. Governmental and non-governmental issuers defaulted on, or were forced to restructure, their debts. These market conditions may continue, worsen or spread. The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve, as well as certain foreign governments and their central banks have taken steps to support financial markets, including keeping interest rates at historically low levels. More recently, the Federal Reserve has reduced its market support activities. Further reduction or withdrawal of this support, or other related efforts in response to the crisis could negatively affect financial markets generally and increase market volatility as well as result in higher interest rates and reduce the value and liquidity of certain securities. This environment could make identifying investment risks and opportunities especially difficult for the sub-adviser. Whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to countries experiencing economic and financial difficulties, the value and liquidity of the fund's investments may be negatively affected. In addition, policy and legislative changes in the United States and in other countries are affecting many aspects of financial regulation, and in some instances may contribute to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the financial markets.
  • Portfolio Selection – The value of your investment may decrease if the sub-adviser’s judgment about the quality, relative yield, value or market trends affecting a particular security or issuer, industry, sector, region or market segment, or about the economy or interest rates is incorrect.
  • Preferred Stock – Preferred stock’s right to dividends and liquidation proceeds is junior to the rights of a company’s debt securities. The value of preferred stock may be subject to factors that affect fixed income and equity securities, including changes in interest rates and in a company’s creditworthiness. The value of preferred stock tends to vary more with fluctuations in the underlying common stock and less with fluctuations in interest rates and tends to exhibit greater volatility. Shareholders of preferred stock may suffer a loss of value if dividends are not paid and have limited voting rights.
  • Short Sales – A short sale may be effected by selling a security that the fund does not own. If the price of the security sold short increases, the fund would incur a loss; conversely, if the price declines, the fund will realize a gain. Although the gain is limited by the price at which the security was sold short, the loss is potentially unlimited. The fund may also pay transaction costs and borrowing fees in connection with short sales.
  • Valuation – The sales price the fund could receive for any particular portfolio investment may differ from the fund's valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade in thin or volatile markets, that are priced based upon valuations provided by third-party pricing services that use matrix or evaluated pricing systems, or that are valued using a fair value methodology.
Performance:
The bar chart and the table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows how the fund’s performance has varied from year to year. The table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for different periods compare to the returns of a broad measure of market performance.Absent any limitation of the fund’s expenses, total returns would be lower. Index returns are since the inception of the oldest share class.

As with all mutual funds, past performance (before and after taxes) is not a prediction of future results. Updated performance information is available on our website at www.transamerica.com/individual/products/mutual-funds/performance/index.html or by calling 1-888-233-4339.
Annual Total Returns (calendar years ended December 31) - Class I2
Bar Chart
 Quarter EndedReturn
Best Quarter:06/30/20141.29%
Worst Quarter:06/30/2012-1.07%
Average Annual Total Returns (periods ended December 31, 2014)
Average Annual Total Returns Transamerica Arbitrage Strategy
1 Year
Since Inception
Inception Date
Class I2
0.29% 1.22% May 01, 2011
Class I2 Return after taxes on distributions
(0.79%) 0.61% May 01, 2011
Class I2 Return after taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares
0.37% 0.74% May 01, 2011
BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. Dollar 3-Month LIBOR Constant Maturity Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
0.24% 0.33%  
The after-tax returns are calculated using the historic highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns may depend on the investor’s individual tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns may not be relevant if the investment is made through a tax-exempt or tax-deferred account, such as a 401(k) plan.