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Dec. 31, 2021
Federated Hermes Muni and Stock Advantage Fund
<span style="color:#000000;font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:14pt;margin-left:0%;">Fund Summary Information </span><span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;">Federated Hermes Muni and Stock Advantage Fund (the “Fund”)</span>
<span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;text-transform:uppercase;">RISK/RETURN SUMMARY: INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE</span>
The Fund’s primary investment objective is to provide tax-advantaged income with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Fund is not entirely a “tax-exempt” or “municipal” fund. Although a portion of the dividends paid by the Fund will consist of exempt-interest dividends that are exempt from regular federal income tax, some distributions will be subject to federal income tax. Additionally, most distributions will be subject to applicable state and local personal income tax.
<span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;text-transform:uppercase;">RISK/RETURN SUMMARY: FEES AND EXPENSES</span>
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell Class A Shares (A),Class B Shares (B),Class C Shares (C),Class F Shares (F) or Institutional Shares (IS) of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for certain sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the A class or $1,000,000 in the F class of Federated Hermes Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional, in the “What Do Shares Cost?” section of the Prospectus on page 23 and in “Appendix B” to this Prospectus.
<span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;">Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)</span>
<span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;">Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of </span><span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;">your investment)</span>
<span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;">Example</span>
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 for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. Expenses assuming no redemption are also shown. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that operating expenses (excluding any sales loads on reinvested dividends, fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements) are as shown in the table above and remain the same. The expenses used to calculate the Fund’s examples do not include fee waivers or expense reimbursements. Although your actual costs and returns may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
<span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;">Portfolio Turnover</span>
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 Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 48% of the average value of its portfolio.
<span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;text-transform:uppercase;">RISK/RETURN SUMMARY: INVESTMENTS, RISKS and PERFORMANCE </span><span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;">What are the Fund’s Main Investment Strategies?</span>
The Fund invests in a diversified portfolio that is allocated between tax-exempt securities and equity securities. In seeking to provide investors with a high level of tax advantaged income, the Fund will invest at least 50% of its total assets in tax-exempt securities; under current federal tax law, this strategy will enable interest earned on tax-exempt securities to retain its tax-exempt nature when paid to the Fund’s shareholders as dividends. The Fund normally will invest most of its remaining assets in domestic and foreign equity securities that the Fund’s investment adviser or subadviser (as applicable, “Adviser”) believes will be primarily income producing, with those dividends intended to be eligible for any reduced federal income tax rate that may be available with respect to qualified dividends. Shareholders should note that federal income tax laws with respect to qualified dividends may change, and any applicable reduced income tax rate may change or be eliminated for some or all individual taxpayers.The Fund intends that the income it receives from the portion of its portfolio invested in tax-exempt securities will be exempt from regular federal income tax when distributed to shareholders. The Fund will invest primarily in securities whose interest is not subject to (or not a specific preference item for purposes of) the federal alternative minimum income tax for individuals (AMT). While the Fund may invest in securities of any maturity, the Adviser generally seeks to manage the Fund so that at least a majority of the Fund’s tax-exempt portfolio will be invested in intermediate (i.e., securities with stated maturities of more than three years but less than 10 years)and/or long-term (i.e., securities with stated maturities of 10 or more years) tax-exempt securities. The allocation between intermediate and long-term securities generally will be driven by the Adviser’s assessment of income opportunities, as well as the Adviser’s expectations of likely price performance for different maturities along the yield curve. The Fund may invest in tax-exempt securities rated as low as “B” (including modifiers, sub-categories or gradations) by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO), or unrated securities of comparable quality. The presence of a ratings modifier, sub-category or gradation (for example, a (+) or (-)) is intended to show relative standing within the major rating categories and does not affect the security credit rating for purposes of the Fund’s investment parameters. Tax-exempt securities rated below “BBB” by an NRSRO, such as Standard and Poor’s, are considered noninvestment-grade securities, which are also known as junk bonds. In addition to the other risks described in this Prospectus that are applicable to tax-exempt securities, noninvestment-grade securities are subject to the risks of investing in noninvestment-grade securities as described in the Fund’s Prospectus.Regarding the equity securities portion of the Fund’s portfolio, the Fund will invest primarily in income producing, domestic and foreign common stocks and other securities, the dividends from which are intended to be eligible for any reduced federal income tax rate that may be available with respect to qualified dividends. In selecting specific equity securities for the Fund, the Adviser seeks to identify companies whose stock is trading at a price lower than the expected intrinsic value based on such companies’ business and product strength, earnings quality, competitive position, management expertise and the sustainability of current growth trends. Further, the Adviser seeks to identify companies with the fundamental strength to capitalize on change characteristics, both internally and externally, including management changes, restructuring or merger and acquisition activity, sales mix shifts, regulatory changes, marketplace shifts or technological advances. The Adviser’s focus on primarily dividend paying securities strives to create an equity portfolio whose income levels are higher than the yield of applicable general market indices, such as the S&P 500 Index.The securities in which the Fund may principally invest include tax-exempt securities, which may include, for example, general obligation bonds, special revenue bonds, private activity bonds, tax increment financing bonds, municipal leases, zero-coupon securities, inverse floaters, municipal mortgage-backed securities and planned amortization classes (or PACs, a form of municipal mortgage-backed security issued with a companion class or classes to control prepayment risks). Certain of the tax-exempt securities in which the Fund invests may be subject to credit enhancement. The equity securities in which the Fund may principally invest include, for example, common stocks, preferred stocks, foreign securities, American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and domestically traded securities of foreign issuers. The Fund also may invest principally in convertible securities and securities of other investment companies.The Fund also may principally invest in derivative contracts (such as, for example, futures contracts, option contracts and swap contracts) and hybrid instruments to implement elements of its investment strategies. For example, the Fund may use derivative contracts or hybrid instruments in an attempt to benefit from changes in the value of the underlying instrument(s), to gain exposure to the municipal bond sector, to increase or decrease the effective duration of the Fund’s portfolio or to hedge against potential losses. There can be no assurance that the Fund’s use of derivative contracts or hybrid instruments will work as intended. Derivative investments made by the Fund are included within the Fund’s 80% policy (as described below) and are calculated at market value.The Fund has fundamental investment policies under which the Fund will attempt: (a) to invest its assets so that the income derived from municipal securities (or tax-exempt securities) that it distributes will be exempt from federal income tax (including AMT), except when investing for “defensive” purposes; and (b) to invest so that dividends received for equity securities will qualify for federal income taxation at the 15% rate. For purposes of this policy, shareholders should note that federal income tax laws with respect to qualified dividends change, and any applicable reduced income tax rate may change or be eliminated for some or all individual taxpayers. For example, taxpayers earning above specified income levels will pay federal income tax rates on qualified dividends above 15%. At least 80% of the Fund’s assets will be invested in municipal bonds and equity securities at all times.
<span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;">What are the Main (or Principal) Risks of Investing in the Fund?</span>
All mutual funds take investment risks. Therefore, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund. The primary factors that may reduce the Fund’s returns include:■  Tax-Exempt Securities Risk. The amount of public information available about tax-exempt securities is generally less than for corporate equities or bonds. The secondary market for tax-exempt securities also tends to be less well-developed and less liquid than many other securities markets, which may limit the Fund’s ability to sell its tax-exempt securities at attractive prices. Special factors, such as legislative changes, and state and local economic and business developments, may adversely affect the yield and/or value of the Fund’s investments in tax-exempt securities. Tax-exempt issuers can and have defaulted on obligations, been downgraded or commenced insolvency proceedings. Like other issuers and securities, the likelihood that the credit risk associated with such issuers and such securities will increase is greater during times of economic stress and financial instability.■  Interest Rate Risk. Prices of fixed-income securities (including tax-exempt securities) generally fall when interest rates rise. The longer the duration of a fixed-income security, the more susceptible it is to interest rate risk. Recent and potential future changes in monetary policy made by central banks and/or their governments are likely to affect the level of interest rates.■  Issuer Credit Risk. It is possible that interest or principal on securities will not be paid when due. Noninvestment-grade securities generally have a higher default risk than investment-grade securities. Such non-payment or default may reduce the value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings, its share price and its performance.■  Counterparty Credit Risk. A party to a transaction involving the Fund may fail to meet its obligations. This could cause the Fund to lose money or to lose the benefit of the transaction or prevent the Fund from selling or buying other securities to implement its investment strategies.■  Liquidity Risk. Certain securities in which the Fund invests may be less readily marketable and may be subject to greater fluctuation in price than other securities. These features may make it more difficult to sell or buy a security at a favorable price or time. Noninvestment-grade securities generally have less liquidity than investment-grade securities. Liquidity risk also refers to the possibility that the Fund may not be able to sell a security or close out a derivative contract when it wants to. Over-the-counter derivative contracts generally carry greater liquidity risk than exchange-traded contracts.■  Tax Risk. In order to be tax-exempt, tax-exempt securities must meet certain legal requirements. Failure to meet such requirements may cause the interest received and distributed by the Fund to shareholders to be taxable. The federal income tax treatment of payments in respect of certain derivative contracts is unclear. Consequently, the Fund may receive payments, and make distributions, that are treated as ordinary income for federal income tax purposes.■  Leverage Risk. Leverage risk is created when an investment, which includes, for example, a derivative contract, exposes the Fund to a level of risk that exceeds the amount invested. Changes in the value of such an investment magnify the Fund’s risk of loss and potential for gain. Investments can have these same results if their returns are based on a multiple of a specified index, security or other benchmark.■  Call Risk. The Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by the possibility that an issuer of a security held by the Fund may redeem the security prior to maturity at a price below or above its current market value.■  Sector Risk. It is possible that a certain sector of the securities market may underperform other sectors or the market as a whole. As the Adviser allocates more of the Fund’s portfolio holdings to a particular sector, the Fund’s performance will be more susceptible to any economic, business, political or other developments which generally affect that sector.■  Prepayment and Extension Risk. When homeowners prepay their mortgages in response to lower interest rates, the Fund will be required to reinvest the proceeds at the lower interest rates available. Also, when interest rates fall, the price of municipal mortgage-backed securities may not rise to as great an extent as that of other fixed-income securities. When interest rates rise, homeowners are less likely to prepay their mortgages. A decreased rate of prepayments lengthens the expected maturity of a mortgage-backed security, and the price of mortgage-backed securities may decrease more than the price of other fixed income securities when interest rates rise.■  Credit Enhancement Risk. The securities in which the Fund invests may be subject to credit enhancement (for example, guarantees, letters of credit or bond insurance). If the credit quality of the credit enhancement provider (for example, a bank or bond insurer) is downgraded, the rating on a security credit enhanced by such credit enhancement provider also may be downgraded. Having multiple securities credit enhanced by the same enhancement provider will increase the adverse effects on the Fund that are likely to result from a downgrading of, or a default by, such an enhancement provider. Adverse developments in the banking or bond insurance industries also may negatively affect the Fund.■  Risk Associated with Noninvestment-Grade Securities. Securities rated below investment-grade may be subject to greater interest rate, credit and liquidity risks than investment-grade securities. These securities are considered speculative with respect to the issuer’s ability to pay interest and repay principal.■  Risk Related to the Economy. The value of the Fund’s portfolio may decline in tandem with a drop in the overall value of the markets in which the Fund invests and/or other markets. Economic, political and financial conditions, industry or economic trends and developments or public health risks, such as epidemics or pandemics, may, from time to time, and for varying periods of time, cause the Fund to experience volatility, illiquidity, shareholder redemptions or other potentially adverse effects. Among other investments, lower-grade bonds may be particularly sensitive to changes in the economy.■  Risk of Investing in Derivative Contracts and Hybrid Instruments. Derivative contracts and hybrid instruments involve risks different from, or possibly greater than, risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. Specific risk issues related to the use of such contracts and instruments include valuation and tax issues, increased potential for losses and/or costs to the Fund, and a potential reduction in gains to the Fund. Each of these issues is described in greater detail in this Prospectus. Derivative contracts and hybrid instruments may also involve other risks described in this Prospectus, such as stock market, interest rate, credit, currency, liquidity and leverage risks.■  Reinvestment Risk. Income from the Fund’s tax-exempt security portfolio will decline if and when the Fund invests the proceeds from matured, traded or called fixed-income securities (including tax-exempt securities) at market interest rates that are below the portfolio’s current earnings rate. A decline in income could affect the overall return of Shares.■  Risk of Foreign Investing. Because the Fund invests in securities issued by foreign companies, the Fund’s Share price may be more affected by foreign economic and political conditions, taxation policies and accounting and auditing standards than could otherwise be the case.■  Risk of Investing in ADRs and Domestically Traded Securities of Foreign Issuers. Because the Fund may invest in American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and other domestically traded securities of foreign companies, the Fund’s Share price may be more affected by foreign economic and political conditions, taxation policies and accounting and auditing standards than would otherwise be the case.■  Currency Risk. Exchange rates for currencies fluctuate daily. Accordingly, the Fund may experience increased volatility with respect to the value of its Shares and its return as a result of its exposure to foreign currencies through direct holding of such currencies or holding of non-U.S. dollardenominated securities.■  European Union and Eurozone Related Risk. A number of countries in the European Union (EU), including certain countries within the EU that have adopted the euro (Eurozone), have experienced, and may continue to experience, severe economic and financial difficulties. Additional countries within the EU may also fall subject to such difficulties. These events could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments in euro-denominated securities and derivatives contracts, securities of issuers located in the EU or with significant exposure to EU issuers or countries.■  Stock Market Risk. The value of equity securities in the Fund’s portfolio will fluctuate and, as a result, the Fund’s Share price may decline suddenly or over a sustained period of time. Information publicly available about a company, whether from the company’s financial statements or other disclosures or from third parties, or information available to some but not all market participants, can affect the price of a company’s shares in the market. Among other factors, equity securities may decline in value because of an increase in interest rates or changes in the stock market. Recent and potential future changes in industry and/or economic trends, as well as changes in monetary policy made by central banks and/or their governments, also can affect the level of interest rates and contribute to the development of or increase in volatility, illiquidity, shareholder redemptions and other adverse effects (such as a decline in a company’s stock price), which could negatively impact the Fund’s performance.■  Large-Cap Company Risk. The Fund may invest in large capitalization (or “large-cap”) companies. Large-cap companies may have fewer opportunities to expand the market for their products or services, may focus their competitive efforts on maintaining or expanding their market share, and may be less capable of responding quickly to competitive challenges. These factors could result in the share price of large companies not keeping pace with the overall stock market or growth in the general economy, and could have a negative effect on the Fund’s portfolio, performance and Share price.■  Mid-Cap Company Risk. The Fund may invest in mid-capitalization (or “mid-cap”) companies. Mid-cap companies often have narrower markets, limited managerial and financial resources, more volatile performance and greater risk of failure, compared to larger, more established companies. These factors could increase the volatility of the Fund’s portfolio, performance and Share price.■  Risk Related to Investing for Value. Due to their relatively low valuations, value stocks are typically less volatile than growth stocks. For instance, the price of a value stock may experience a smaller increase on a forecast of higher earnings, a positive fundamental development, or positive market development. Further, value stocks tend to have higher dividends than growth stocks. This means they depend less on price changes for returns and may lag behind growth stocks in certain up markets. There is no guarantee that the issuers of the stocks held by the Fund will declare dividends in the future or that, if dividends are declared, they will remain at their current levels or increase over time. The value approach to stock selection also carries the risk that the market will not recognize a security’s intrinsic value for a long time (if ever), or that a stock judged to be undervalued may actually be appropriately priced.■  Strategy Risk. Securities and investment strategies with different characteristics tend to shift in and out of favor depending upon market and economic conditions as well as investor sentiment. A fund may outperform or underperform other funds that employ a different style or strategy. The Fund may employ a combination of styles that impact its risk characteristics.■  Custodial Services and Related Investment Costs. Custodial services and other costs relating to investment in international securities markets generally are more expensive than in the United States. Such markets have settlement and clearance procedures that differ from those in the United States. In certain markets there have been times when settlements have been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct such transactions. The inability of the Fund to make intended securities purchases due to settlement problems could cause the Fund to miss attractive investment opportunities. Inability to dispose of a portfolio security caused by settlement problems could result in losses to the Fund due to a subsequent decline in value of the portfolio security. In addition, security settlement and clearance procedures in some emerging countries may not fully protect the Fund against loss of its assets.■  Technology Risk. The Adviser uses various technologies in managing the Fund, consistent with its investment objective(s) and strategy described in this Prospectus. For example, proprietary and third-party data and systems are utilized to support decision making for the Fund. Data imprecision, software or other technology malfunctions, programming inaccuracies and similar circumstances may impair the performance of these systems, which may negatively affect Fund performance.The Shares offered by this Prospectus are not deposits or obligations of any bank, are not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. government, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency.
<span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;text-transform:uppercase;">Performance: Bar Chart and Table </span><span style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;">Risk/Return Bar Chart</span>
The bar chart and performance table below reflect historical performance data for the Fund and are intended to help you analyze the Fund’s investment risks in light of its historical returns. The bar chart shows the variability of the Fund’s A class total returns on a calendar year-by-year basis. The Average Annual Total Return Table shows returns for each class averaged over the stated periods, and includes comparative performance information.The Fund’s performance will fluctuate, and past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of future results.Updated performance information for the Fund is available under the “Products” section at FederatedInvestors.com or by calling 1-800-341-7400.
Federated Muni and Stock Advantage Fund – A Class
The total returns shown in the bar chart do not reflect the payment of any sales charges or recurring shareholder account fees. If these charges or fees had been included, the returns shown would have been lower.The Fund’s A class total return for the nine-month period from January 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021, was 6.84%.Within the periods shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s A class highest quarterly return was 8.68% (quarter ended June 30, 2020). Its lowest quarterly return was (11.02)% (quarter ended March 31, 2020).
<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;margin-left:0%;">Average Annual Total Return Table</span>
In addition to Return Before Taxes, Return After Taxes is shown for the Fund’s A class to illustrate the effect of federal taxes on Fund returns. After-tax returns are shown only for A class, and after-tax returns for B, C, F and IS classes will differ from those shown for A class. Actual after-tax returns depend on each investor’s personal tax situation, and are likely to differ from those shown. After-tax returns are calculated using a standard set of assumptions. The stated returns assume the highest historical federal income and capital gains tax rates. These after-tax returns do not reflect the effect of any applicable state and local taxes.After-tax returns are not relevant to investors holding Shares through tax-deferred programs, such as a 401(k) plan, an Individual Retirement Account or other tax-advantaged investment plan.(For the Period Ended December 31, 2020)