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Class I2 | Transamerica MLP & Energy Income
Transamerica MLP & Energy Income
Investment Objective:
Seeks long-term growth of capital while providing current income.
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
Class I2
Transamerica MLP & Energy Income
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
Class I2
Transamerica MLP & Energy Income
I2
Management fees 1.12%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees none
Other expenses 0.08%
Total annual fund operating expenses 1.20%
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 $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example
1 year
3 years
5 years
10 years
Class I2 | Transamerica MLP & Energy Income | I2 | USD ($) 122 381 660 1,455
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 20% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies:
Under normal circumstances, the fund’s sub-adviser, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P. (the “sub-adviser”), seeks to achieve the fund’s stated objective by investing at least 80% of the fund’s net assets (plus the amount of borrowings, if any, for investment purposes) in the equity and debt securities of energy master limited partnerships (“MLPs”), MLP-related entities, energy infrastructure companies and other issuers in the energy sector. The sub-adviser considers the “energy sector” to consist of companies involved in exploring, developing, producing, generating, transporting, transmitting, storing, gathering, processing, refining, distributing, mining or marketing of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, refined products, coal, electricity or renewable energy, such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal and biomass power (“energy-related assets”).

MLPs are publicly traded partnerships that principally own and operate assets used in energy logistics, including, but not limited to, assets used in transporting, storing, gathering, processing, distributing, or marketing of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil or refined products (“midstream assets”). MLPs may also include general partner MLPs whose assets consist of ownership interests of an affiliated MLP (which may include general partnership interests, incentive distribution rights, common units and subordinated units).

MLP-related entities include companies structured as MLPs that have elected to be taxed as corporations for federal income tax purposes. MLP-related entities are not treated as publicly traded partnerships for federal income tax purposes. Energy infrastructure companies are companies, other than MLPs, that own or operate midstream assets. This includes companies that (i) derive at least 50% of their revenues or operating income from midstream assets or (ii) have midstream assets that represent a majority of their assets. Energy infrastructure companies are not structured as MLPs and are taxed as corporations. Investments in other issuers in the energy sector will consist of companies that own, operate or provide services to energy-related assets.

MLP and MLP-related equity investments by the fund may include securities of any capitalization that are publicly traded on an exchange or in the over-the-counter market, including MLP and limited liability company common units; the equity securities issued by MLP-related entities, such as common shares of corporations that own, directly or indirectly, MLP general partner interests; and other investment companies that invest in MLPs and energy infrastructure companies.

The fund may invest in the debt securities of issuers in the energy sector, but not more than 10% of its total assets may be invested in debt securities that are rated below investment grade (commonly known as “junk bonds”), including defaulted securities.

The fund may directly invest up to, but not more than, 25% of its total assets in equity or debt securities of MLPs and other entities that are treated as qualified publicly traded partnerships for federal income tax purposes.

The fund may use short sales, arbitrage and other strategies to try to generate additional return, the maximum exposure to which may not exceed 20% of the fund’s net assets. As part of such strategies, the fund may (1) engage in paired long short trades in an attempt to arbitrage pricing disparities in securities held in the fund (e.g., establishing a long or short position in the equity of an MLP issuer while simultaneously establishing an opposite position in an affiliated MLP-related entity or other affiliated equity security); (2) trade call or put options; (3) enter into total return swaps or credit default contracts; or (4) sell securities short. The fund may also invest in foreign securities, but generally will not invest more than 10% of fund assets in foreign securities. The fund only invests in securities traded on U.S. and Canadian exchanges.

Options trading is not a core strategy of the fund, but may be used to monetize existing positions when price targets are reached, to generate income and to help hedge the fund. In addition, by taking both long and short positions, the fund seeks to provide some protection in down markets when compared to a fund that takes only long positions.

The fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in cash, cash equivalent securities or short-term debt securities, repurchase agreements and money market instruments to serve as collateral for the positions the fund takes, to earn income, and for cash management purposes.

The above investment restrictions apply at the time of purchase, and the fund will not be required to reduce a position due solely to market value fluctuations in order to comply with these restrictions.

The fund is non-diversified.
Principal Risks:
Risk is inherent in all investing. Many factors and risks affect the fund's performance, including those described below. The value of your investment in the fund, as well as the amount of return you receive on your investment, may fluctuate significantly day to day and over time. 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 following is a summary description of principal risks (in alphabetical order after certain key risks) of investing in the fund. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. You may lose money if you invest in this fund.

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 overall economic trends or events, government actions or interventions, market disruptions caused by trade disputes or other factors, political factors or adverse investor sentiment. The market prices of securities also may go down due to events or conditions that affect particular sectors, industries or issuers. Adverse market conditions may be prolonged and may not have the same impact on all types of securities. If the market prices of the securities owned by the fund fall, the value of your investment will go down. The fund may experience a substantial or complete loss on any individual security.

Economies and financial markets throughout the world are increasingly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, terrorism, technology and data interruptions, natural disasters and other circumstances in one country or region could be highly disruptive to, and have profound impacts on, global economies or markets. During periods of market disruption, the fund's exposure to the risks described elsewhere in this summary will likely increase. As a result, whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries directly affected, the value and liquidity of the fund's investments may be negatively affected.

Energy Sector – Under normal circumstances, the fund concentrates its investments in industries in the energy sector. Investing in the energy sector involves a number of risks, including:
  • Supply and Demand. A decrease in the production of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, coal or other energy commodities, a decrease in the volume of such commodities available for transportation, mining, processing, storage or distribution or a sustained decline in demand for such commodities, may adversely impact the financial performance of energy companies.
  • Depletion and Exploration. Energy reserves naturally deplete as they are consumed over time. The financial performance of energy companies may be adversely affected if they, or the companies to whom they provide services, are unable to cost-effectively acquire additional energy deposits sufficient to replace the natural decline of existing reserves. Also, the quantities of reserves may be overstated, or deposits may not be produced in the time periods anticipated.
  • Reserve. Energy companies engaged in the production of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and other energy commodities are subject to the risk that the quantities of their reserves are overstated, or will not be produced in the time periods anticipated, for a variety of reasons.
  • Regulatory. Energy companies are subject to significant federal, state and local government regulation in virtually every aspect of their operations, including (i) how facilities are constructed, maintained and operated, (ii) how and where wells are drilled, (iii) how services are provided, (iv) environmental and safety controls, and (v) the prices they may charge for the products and services they provide.
  • Commodity Pricing. The operations and financial performance of energy companies may be directly affected by energy commodity prices, especially those energy companies which own the underlying energy commodity or receive payments for services that are based on commodity prices.
  • Acquisition. The ability of energy companies to grow operating cash flow and increase such company’s enterprise value can be highly dependent on their ability to make accretive acquisitions. In the event that energy companies are unable to make such acquisitions, whether because they are unable to identify attractive acquisition candidates and negotiate and close acceptable purchase contracts or to raise financing for such acquisitions on economically acceptable terms, or otherwise, their future growth may be limited.
  • Affiliated Party. Certain energy companies are dependent on their parents or sponsors for a majority of their revenues. Any failure by such company’s parents or sponsors to satisfy their payments or obligations would impact such company’s revenues and operating cash flows and ability to make interest payments and/or distributions.
  • Catastrophe. The operations of energy companies are subject to many hazards inherent in the exploring, developing, producing, generating, transporting, transmission, storing, gathering, processing, refining, distributing, mining or marketing of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, refined products, coal or electricity, including: damage to pipelines, storage tanks, plants or related equipment and surrounding properties caused by hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires and other natural disasters or by acts of terrorism; inadvertent damage from construction and farm equipment; well blowouts; leaks of such energy commodities; fires and explosions.
  • Terrorism/Market Disruption . Events in the Middle East and elsewhere could have significant adverse effects on the U.S. economy, financial and commodities markets.
  • Weather. Extreme weather conditions, such as hurricanes, (i) could result in substantial damage to the facilities of certain energy companies located in the affected areas, (ii) significantly increase the volatility in the supply of energy commodities and (iii) adversely affect the financial performance of energy companies, and could therefore adversely affect their securities. The damage done by extreme weather also may serve to increase many insurance premiums paid by energy companies and could adversely affect such companies’ financial condition.
  • Renewable Energy. Renewable energy infrastructure companies’ future growth may be highly dependent upon on government policies that support renewable power generation and enhance the economic viability of owning renewable electric generation assets. Such policies can include tax credits, accelerated cost-recovery systems of depreciation and renewable portfolio standard programs, which mandate that a specified percentage of electricity sales come from eligible sources of renewable energy. Furthermore, a portion of revenues from investments in renewable energy infrastructure assets is tied, either directly or indirectly, to the wholesale market price for electricity in the markets served. Wholesale market electricity prices are impacted by a number of factors including: the price of fuel (for example, natural gas) that is used to generate electricity; the cost of and management of generation and the amount of excess generating capacity relative to load in a particular market; and conditions (such as extremely hot or cold weather) that impact electrical system demand. In addition, there is uncertainty surrounding the trend in electricity demand growth, which is influenced by macroeconomic conditions; absolute and relative energy prices; and energy conservation and demand management. This volatility and uncertainty in power markets could have a material adverse effect on the assets, liabilities, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow of the companies in which the fund invests.
Industry Concentration – The fund concentrates its investments in a specific industry or industries. Concentration in a particular industry subjects the fund to the risks associated with that industry. As a result, the fund may be subject to greater price volatility and risk of loss as a result of adverse economic, business or other developments affecting that industry than funds investing in a broader range of industries.

Master Limited Partnerships – Investments in MLPs involve risks that differ from investments in corporate issuers, including risks related to limited control and limited rights to vote on matters affecting the MLP, risks related to potential conflicts of interest between the MLP and the MLP’s general partner, cash flow risks, dilution risks, certain tax risks, and risks related to the general partner’s right to require unitholders to sell their common units at an undesirable time or price. MLP entities are typically focused in the energy, natural resources and real estate sectors of the economy. A downturn in the energy, natural resources or real estate sectors of the economy could have an adverse impact on the fund. Energy and natural resources MLPs may be adversely affected by changes in and volatility of commodity prices. At times, the performance of securities of companies in the energy, natural resources and real estate sectors of the economy may lag the performance of other sectors or the broader market as a whole. The yields for equity and debt securities of MLPs and other issuers in the energy sector are susceptible in the short-term to fluctuations in interest rates and the value of the fund’s investments in such securities may decline if interest rates rise. The value of the fund’s investment in MLPs depends to a significant extent on the MLPs being treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If an MLP does not meet the legal requirements to maintain partnership status, it could be taxed as a corporation and there could be a material decrease in the value of its securities.

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 and the value of equity securities may go up or down sometimes rapidly and unpredictably. Equity securities may have greater price volatility than other asset classes, such as fixed income securities. The value of equity securities fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition, factors affecting a particular industry or industries, 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. If the fund holds equity securities in a company that becomes insolvent, the fund’s interests in the company will rank junior in priority to the interests of debtholders and general creditors of the company, and the fund may lose its entire investment in the company.

Non-Diversification – The fund is classified as “non-diversified,” which means it may invest a larger percentage of its assets in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. To the extent the fund invests its assets in a smaller number of issuers, the fund will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those issuers than a diversified fund.

Liquidity – The fund may make investments that are illiquid or that become illiquid after purchase. Illiquid investments can be difficult to value, may trade at a discount from comparable, more liquid investments, and may be subject to wide fluctuations in value. As a general matter, a reduction in the willingness or ability of dealers and other institutional investors to make markets in fixed income securities may result in even less liquidity in certain markets. 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. The fund may not receive its proceeds from the sale of less liquid or illiquid securities for an extended period (for example, several weeks or even longer), and such sale may involve additional costs. Liquidity of particular investments, or even an entire market segment, can deteriorate rapidly, particularly during times of market turmoil, and those investments may be difficult or impossible for the fund to sell. This may prevent the fund from limiting losses.

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. Investors who purchase or redeem fund shares on days when the fund is holding fair-valued securities may receive fewer or more shares or lower or higher redemption proceeds than they would have received if the fund had not fair-valued securities or had used a different valuation methodology. The fund's ability to value its investments may be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by pricing services or other third party service providers.

Focused Investing – To the extent the fund invests in a limited number of countries, regions, sectors, industries or market segments, in a limited number of issuers, or in issuers in related businesses or that are subject to related operating risks, the fund will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those countries, regions, sectors, industries, segments or issuers, and the value of its shares may be more volatile than if it invested more widely. Local events, such as political upheaval, social unrest, wars and terror attacks, financial troubles, pandemics, epidemics and natural disasters may disrupt a country’s or region’s securities markets. Geographic risk is especially high in emerging and frontier markets.

Management – The value of your investment may go down if the investment manager’s or sub-adviser's judgments and decisions are incorrect or otherwise do not produce the desired results. You may also suffer losses if there are imperfections, errors or limitations in the quantitative, analytic or other tools, resources, information and data used, investment techniques applied, or the analyses employed or relied on, by the investment manager or sub-adviser, if such tools, resources, information or data are used incorrectly or otherwise do not work as intended, or if the investment manager’s or sub-adviser's investment style is out of favor or otherwise fails to produce the desired results. The fund’s investment strategies may not work as intended or otherwise fail to produce the desired results. Any of these things could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.

Active Trading – The fund 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 generally be subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates upon distribution. During periods of market volatility, active trading may be more pronounced.

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, and may result in reduced returns or losses for the fund.

Capital Markets – Energy companies may be unable to obtain new debt or equity financing on acceptable terms. If funding is not available when needed, or is available only on unfavorable terms, energy companies may not be able to meet their obligations as they come due. Moreover, without adequate funding, energy companies may be unable to execute their growth strategies, complete future acquisitions, take advantage of other business opportunities or respond to competitive pressures, any of which could have a material adverse effect on their revenues and results of operations.

Cash Flow – A substantial portion of the income received by the fund is expected to be derived from investments in equity securities of energy companies. The amount and tax characterization of cash that any such company has available for distribution depends on the amount of cash generated from such company’s operations. Cash from operations may vary widely from quarter to quarter and is largely dependent on factors affecting the company’s operations and factors affecting the energy industry in general. In addition, operating costs, capital expenditures, acquisition costs, construction costs, exploration costs, borrowing costs and other costs of expenditures may reduce the amount of cash that a company has available for distribution in a given period.

Counterparty – The fund will be subject to the risk that the counterparties to derivatives, repurchase agreements and other financial contracts entered into by the fund or held by special purpose or structured vehicles in which the fund invests will not fulfill their contractual obligations. Adverse changes to counterparties (including derivatives exchanges and clearinghouses) may cause the value of financial contracts to go down. If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations, the value of your investment in the fund may decline. In addition, the fund may incur costs and may be hindered or delayed in enforcing its rights against a counterparty.

Credit – If an issuer or other obligor (such as a party providing insurance or other credit enhancement) of a security held by the fund or a counterparty to a financial contract with the fund is unable or unwilling to meet its financial obligations or is downgraded, or is perceived to be less creditworthy, or if the value of any underlying assets declines, the value of your investment will typically decline. A decline may be significant, particularly in certain market environments. In addition, the fund may incur costs and may be hindered or delayed in enforcing its rights against an issuer, obligor or counterparty. The degree of credit risk of a security or financial contract depends upon, among other things, the financial condition of the issuer and the terms of the security or contract.

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. U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers may also be affected by currency risk, as the revenue earned by issuers of these securities may also be impacted by changes in the issuer’s local currency. Currency conversion costs and currency fluctuations could reduce or eliminate investment gains or add to investment losses. Currency exchange rates can be volatile and may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time, 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. A fund may be unable or may choose not to hedge its foreign currency exposure.

Derivatives – Derivatives involve special risks and costs and may result in losses to the fund. Using derivatives exposes the fund to additional or heightened risks, including leverage risk, liquidity risk, valuation risk, market risk, counterparty risk and credit risk. Their usage can increase fund losses and reduce opportunities for gains when market prices or volatility, interest rates, currencies, or the derivatives themselves, behave in a way not anticipated. Using derivatives may have a leveraging effect, increase fund volatility and not produce the result intended. Certain derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Even a small investment in derivatives can have a disproportionate impact on the fund. Derivatives may be difficult to sell, unwind or value, and the counterparty (including, if applicable, the fund’s clearing broker, the derivatives exchange or the clearinghouse) may default on its obligations to the fund. In certain cases, the fund may incur costs and may be hindered or delayed in enforcing its rights against or closing out derivatives instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses. Derivatives are subject to additional risks such as operational risk, including settlement issues, and legal risk, including that underlying documentation is incomplete or ambiguous. Derivatives are also generally subject to the risks applicable to the assets, rates, indices or other indicators underlying the derivative, including market risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, management and valuation risk. Also, suitable derivative transactions may not be available in all circumstances. The value of a derivative may fluctuate more or less than, or otherwise not correlate well with, the underlying assets, rates, indices or other indicators to which it relates. The fund may be required to segregate or earmark liquid assets or otherwise cover its obligations under derivatives transactions and may have to liquidate positions before it is desirable in order to meet these segregation and coverage requirements. Use of derivatives may have different tax consequences for the fund than an investment in the underlying assets or indices, and those differences may affect the amount, timing and character of income distributed to shareholders.

Distressed or Defaulted Securities – Investments in defaulted securities and obligations of distressed issuers, including securities that are, or may be, involved in reorganizations or other financial restructurings, either out of court or in bankruptcy, involve substantial risks in addition to the risks of investing in high-yield debt securities, and are considered speculative. The fund may suffer significant losses if the reorganization or restructuring is not completed as anticipated. The fund will generally not receive interest payments on the distressed securities and may incur costs to protect its investment. Repayment of defaulted securities and obligations of distressed issuers is subject to significant uncertainties, and the fund could lose its entire investment.

Extension – When interest rates rise, repayments of fixed income securities, particularly asset- and mortgage-backed securities, may occur more slowly than anticipated, extending the effective duration of these fixed income securities at below market interest rates and causing their market prices to decline more than they would have declined due to the rise in interest rates alone. This may cause the fund’s share price to be more volatile or go down.

Fixed-Income Securities – Fixed-income securities are subject to risks including credit risk, interest rate risk, counterparty risk, prepayment risk, extension risk, valuation risk, and liquidity risk. The value 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, tariffs and trade disruptions, inflation, changes in interest rates, lack of liquidity in the bond markets or adverse investor sentiment. In addition, the 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. If the value of fixed-income securities owned by the fund falls, the value of your investment will go down. The prices of fixed-income securities will generally go down when interest rates rise. Interest rates in the U.S. and certain foreign markets have been low relative to historic levels, so the fund faces a 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.

Foreign Investments – Investing in securities of foreign issuers or issuers with significant exposure to foreign markets involves additional risks. Foreign markets can be less liquid, less regulated, less transparent and more volatile than U.S. markets. The value of the fund’s foreign investments may decline because of factors affecting the particular issuer as well as foreign markets and issuers generally, such as unfavorable or unsuccessful government actions, reduction of government or central bank support, tariffs and trade disruptions, political or financial instability, social unrest or other adverse economic or political developments. Lack of information and weaker legal systems and accounting standards also may affect the value of these securities. Foreign investments may have lower liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

High-Yield Debt Securities – High-yield debt securities, commonly referred to as “junk” bonds, are securities that are rated below “investment grade” or, if unrated, determined to be below investment grade by the sub-adviser. Issuers of junk bonds are typically in weaker financial health. Changes in interest rates, the market’s perception of the issuers, the creditworthiness of the issuers and negative perceptions of the junk bond market generally 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, and they may result in losses for the fund. Junk bonds tend to be volatile and more susceptible to adverse events, credit downgrades and negative sentiments.

Interest Rate – Interest rates in the U.S. and certain foreign markets have been low relative to historic levels. The fund faces a risk that interest rates may rise. The value of fixed income securities generally goes down when interest rates rise, and therefore the value of your investment in the fund may also go down. Debt securities have varying levels of sensitivity to changes in interest rates. A rise in rates tends to have a greater impact on the prices of longer term or duration securities. A significant or rapid rise in rates may result in losses. Changes in interest rates may affect the liquidity and value of the fund’s investments. A general rise in interest rates may cause investors to move out of fixed income securities on a large scale, which could adversely affect the price and liquidity of fixed income securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. If the fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the value of the fund’s shares. The yields for equity securities of MLPs and certain midstream companies (companies that own and operate midstream assets, which are used in energy logistics, including, assets used in transporting, storing, gathering, processing, distributing, or marketing of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil or refined products) are susceptible in the short-term to fluctuations in interest rates and the prices of such equity securities may decline when interest rates rise. This is also true for investments in debt instruments of energy companies. Rising interest rates can adversely impact the financial performance of energy companies by increasing the cost of capital. This may reduce such companies’ ability to execute acquisitions or expansion projects in a cost-effective manner.

Investments by Affiliated Funds and Unaffiliated Funds – A significant portion of the fund’s shares may be owned by other funds sponsored by Transamerica and/or parties not affiliated with Transamerica. Transactions by these funds may be disruptive to the management of the fund. For example, the fund may experience large redemptions and could be required to sell securities at a time when it may not otherwise desire to do so. Such transactions may increase the fund’s brokerage and/or other transaction costs and could also accelerate the realization of taxable capital gains in the fund. In addition, sizeable redemptions could cause the fund’s total expenses to increase.

IPOs – Initial public offerings (“IPOs”) are subject to specific risks which include, among others:
  • high volatility;
  • no track record and limited issuer information for consideration;
  • securities may be illiquid; and
  • earnings are less predictable.
Large Capitalization Companies – The fund’s investments in large capitalization companies may underperform other segments of the market because they may be less responsive to competitive challenges and opportunities and unable to attain high growth rates during periods of economic expansion. As a result, the fund’s value may not rise as much as, or may fall more than, the value of funds that focus on companies with smaller market capitalizations.

Leveraging – The value of your investment may be more volatile to the extent that the fund borrows or uses derivatives or other investments, such as ETFs, that have embedded leverage. Other risks also will be compounded 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. 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 or meet segregation or coverage requirements.

Prepayment or Call – Many issuers have a right to prepay their fixed income securities. Issuers may be more likely to prepay their securities if interest rates fall. If this happens, the fund will not benefit from the rise in the market price of the securities that normally accompanies a decline in interest rates and will be forced to reinvest prepayment proceeds at a time when yields on securities available in the market are lower than the yield on prepaid securities. The fund may also lose any premium it paid on prepaid securities.

Privately Held Companies - Privately held companies are not subject to SEC reporting requirements, are not required to maintain their accounting records in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and are not required to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting. As a result, the sub-adviser may not have timely or accurate information about the business, financial condition and results of operations of the privately held companies in which the fund invests. Investments in privately held companies may be illiquid and difficult to value. These securities may be more difficult to value than publicly-traded securities.

Repurchase Agreements – In a repurchase agreement, the fund purchases securities from a broker-dealer or a bank, called the counterparty, upon the agreement of the counterparty to repurchase the securities from the fund at a later date, and at a specified price, which is typically higher than the purchase price paid by the fund. The securities purchased serve as the fund's collateral for the obligation of the counterparty to repurchase the securities. If the counterparty does not repurchase the securities, the fund is entitled to sell the securities, but the fund may not be able to sell them for the price at which they were purchased, thus causing a loss. If the counterparty becomes insolvent, there is some risk that the fund will not have a right to the securities, or the immediate right to sell the securities.

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.

Small and Medium Capitalization Companies – The fund will be exposed to additional risks as a result of its investments in the securities of small or medium capitalization companies. Small or medium capitalization companies may be more at risk than large capitalization companies because, among other things, they may have limited product lines, operating history, market or financial resources, or because they may depend on a limited management group. The prices of securities of small and medium capitalization companies generally are more volatile than those of large capitalization companies and are more likely to be adversely affected than large capitalization companies by changes in earnings results and investor expectations or poor economic or market conditions. Securities of small and medium capitalization companies may underperform large capitalization companies, may be harder to sell at times and at prices the portfolio managers believe appropriate and may offer greater potential for losses.

Tax – In order to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”), the fund must meet certain requirements regarding the composition of its income, the diversification of its assets, and the amounts of its distributions. If the fund were to fail to meet any of these requirements, the fund might not be eligible for treatment as a RIC, in which case it would be subject to federal income tax on its net income at regular corporate rates (without reduction for distributions to shareholders). When distributed, that income would generally be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividend income to the extent attributable to the fund’s earnings and profits. If the fund were to fail to qualify as a RIC, shareholders of the fund could realize significantly diminished returns from their investment in the fund. In the alternative, the fund may be able to preserve its RIC qualification under those circumstances by meeting certain conditions, in which case it may be subject to certain additional taxes.

The fund may invest no more than 25% of its total assets in the securities of MLPs and other entities treated as qualified publicly traded partnerships for federal income tax purposes. An MLP is an entity treated as a partnership under the Internal Revenue Code, the partnership interests of which are traded on securities exchanges like shares of corporate stock. To qualify as an MLP, an entity must receive at least 90% of its income from qualifying sources such as interest, dividends, income and gain from mineral or natural resources activities, income and gain from the transportation or storage of certain fuels, and, in certain circumstances, income and gain from commodities or futures, forwards and options with respect to commodities. For this purpose, mineral or natural resources activities include exploration, development, production, mining, refining, marketing and transportation (including pipelines) of oil and gas, minerals, geothermal energy, fertilizer, timber or industrial source carbon dioxide. If it does not so qualify, it will generally be subject to tax as a corporation and there could be a material decrease in the value of its securities.

Depreciation or other cost recovery deductions passed through to the fund from investments in MLPs in a given year will generally reduce the fund’s taxable income, but those deductions may be recaptured in the fund’s income in one or more subsequent years. When recognized and distributed, recapture income will generally be taxable to shareholders at the time of the distribution at ordinary income tax rates, even though those shareholders might not have held shares in the fund at the time the deductions were taken by the fund, and even though those shareholders may not have corresponding economic gain on their shares at the time of the recapture. In order to distribute recapture income or to fund redemption requests, the fund may need to liquidate investments, which may lead to additional recapture income.

Changes in tax laws or regulations, or interpretations thereof in the future, could adversely affect the fund or the issuers in which the fund invests. Any such changes could negatively impact the value of the fund’s investments and the amount and tax characterization of distributions paid by the fund.
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, as well as comparison to one or more secondary indices.

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/ or by calling 1-888-233-4339.
Annual Total Returns (calendar years ended December 31) - Class I2
Bar Chart
  Quarter Ended Return
Best Quarter: 3/31/2019 19.18%
Worst Quarter: 9/30/2015 -26.38%
Average Annual Total Returns (periods ended December 31, 2019)
Average Annual Total Returns - Class I2 - Transamerica MLP & Energy Income
1 Year
5 Years
Since Inception
Inception Date
Class I2 15.80% (4.23%) (1.56%) Apr. 30, 2013
Class I2 | Return after taxes on distributions 15.25% (4.99%) (2.40%) Apr. 30, 2013
Class I2 | Return after taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares 9.45% (3.33%) (1.38%) Apr. 30, 2013
S&P 500® (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) 31.49% 11.70% 13.49%  
Alerian MLP Total Return Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) 6.56% (7.00%) (3.83%)  
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.