___ this post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.

The following post-effective amendment to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N−1A only affects the Registration Statement of the series listed below:

As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved
these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is
a criminal offense.

The 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. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. The one-year example and the first year of the three-, five- and ten-years examples are based on net operating expenses, which reflect the expense limitation agreement by BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:


	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A (with or without redemption at end of period)	$761	$1,179	$1,621	$2,845
Class C (with redemption at end of period)	$372	$894	$1,542	$3,279
Class C (without redemption at end of period)	$272	$894	$1,542	$3,279
Class I (with or without redemption at end of period)	$151	$468	$808	$1,768
Class Y (with or without redemption at end of period)	$140	$437	$755	$1,657

The fund allocates its assets among the emerging market equity strategies described below that are separately employed by: (i) Mellon Investments Corporation (Mellon), the fund's subadviser, through its Active Equity portfolio management team (the Active Equity Strategy); (ii) Mellon through its Multi-Factor Equity portfolio management team (the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy); and (iii) BNY Mellon Global Emerging Markets Fund, an affiliated underlying fund, which is subadvised by Newton Investment Management Limited (the Newton Fund). The target percentages for allocating the fund's assets among the investment strategies and underlying funds, as of the date of this prospectus, were as follows:


Strategy/Underlying Fund	Target % of Fund's Total Assets
Active Equity Strategy	33.3%
Newton Fund	33.3%
Multi-Factor Equity Strategy	33.3%

Newton Fund. This underlying fund normally invests in common stocks and other equity securities (or derivative or other strategic instruments with similar economic characteristics) of companies organized or with their principal place of business, or majority of assets or business, in emerging market countries. The Newton Fund also may invest in equity securities of companies in developed and frontier markets. The Newton Fund's subadviser, Newton Investment Management Limited (Newton), an affiliate of BNYM Investment Adviser, employs a fundamental bottom-up investment process that emphasizes quality, return on capital employed and governance. The process of identifying investment ideas begins by identifying a core list of investment themes. These themes are based primarily on observable global economic, industrial, or social trends that Newton believes will positively affect certain sectors or industries and cause stocks within these sectors or industries to outperform others. Newton then identifies specific companies using these investment themes to help it focus on areas where thematic and strategic research indicates positive returns are likely to be achieved.

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the performance of the fund's Class I shares from year to year. Sales charges, if any, are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would have been less than those shown. The table compares the average annual total returns of the fund's shares to those of a broad measure of market performance. The fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. More recent performance information may be available at www. im.bnymellon.com.

The fund changed its investment strategy on January 31, 2014. Prior to that date, the fund invested in individual securities using a bottom-up investments approach which emphasized individual stock selection through the use of proprietary computer models and fundamental analysis. The fund did not use a "manager of managers" or "fund of funds" approach. Different investment strategies may lead to different performance results. The fund's performance for periods prior to January 31, 2014 reflects the investment strategy in effect prior to that date.

The fund's investment adviser is BNYM Investment Adviser. BNYM Investment Adviser has engaged its affiliate, Mellon, to serve as the fund's subadviser.

The day-to-day management of the portion of the fund's portfolio allocated to the Active Equity Strategy is the responsibility of the Active Equity portfolio management team at Mellon. The team member primarily responsible for managing this portion of the fund's portfolio is Julianne McHugh. Ms. McHugh has been a primary portfolio manager of the fund since November 2015, and is a managing director and a senior portfolio manager on the Active Equity team at Mellon.

The day-to-day management of the portion of the fund's portfolio allocated to the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy is the responsibility of the Multi-Factor Equity portfolio management team at Mellon. The team members who are jointly and primarily responsible for managing this portion of the fund's portfolio are Peter D. Goslin, CFA, Syed A. Zamil, CFA and Chris Yao, CFA. Messrs. Goslin, Zamil and Yao have been primary portfolio managers of the fund since January 2014, March 2017 and December 2019, respectively. Mr. Goslin is a director and senior portfolio manager at Mellon, where he leads the Multi-Factor Equity team. Mr. Zamil is a managing director and global investment strategist for the Multi-Factor Equity team at Mellon. Mr. Yao is a managing director and the head of Quantitative Equity Research at Mellon.

In general, for each share class, other than Class Y, the fund's minimum initial investment is $1,000 and the minimum subsequent investment is $100. For Class Y shares, the minimum initial investment generally is $1,000,000, with no minimum subsequent investment. You may sell (redeem) your shares on any business day by calling 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only) or by visiting www.im.bnymellon.com. If you invested in the fund through a third party, such as a bank, broker-dealer or financial adviser, or through a Retirement Plan (as defined below), you may mail your request to sell shares to BNY Mellon Institutional Department, P.O. Box 9882, Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8082. If you invested directly through the fund, you may mail your request to sell shares to BNY Mellon Shareholder Services, P.O. Box 9879, Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8079. If you are an Institutional Direct accountholder, please contact your BNY Mellon relationship manager for instructions.

Retirement Plans include qualified or non-qualified employee benefit plans, such as 401(k), 403(b)(7), Keogh, pension, profit-sharing and other deferred compensation plans, whether established by corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, non-profit entities, trade or labor unions, or state and local governments, but do not include IRAs (including, without limitation, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, IRA "Rollover Accounts" or IRAs set up under Simplified Employee Pension Plans (SEP-IRAs), Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension Plans (SARSEPs) or Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees (SIMPLE IRAs)).

The fund's distributions are taxable as ordinary income or capital gains, except when your investment is through an IRA, Retirement Plan or other U.S. tax-advantaged investment plan (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your investment from such account).

If you purchase shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund's distributor and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund shares and related services. To the extent that the intermediary may receive lesser or no payments in connection with the sale of other investments, the payments from the fund's distributor and its related companies may create a potential conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial representative to recommend the fund over the other investments. This potential conflict of interest may be addressed by policies, procedures or practices adopted by the financial intermediary. As there may be many different policies, procedures or practices adopted by different intermediaries to address the manner in which compensation is earned through the sale of investments or the provision of related services, the compensation rates and other payment arrangements that may apply to a financial intermediary and its representatives may vary by intermediary. Ask your financial representative or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.

The fund seeks long-term growth of capital. To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in equity securities (or other instruments with similar economic characteristics) of companies located, organized, or with a majority of assets or business in emerging market countries, including other investment companies (underlying funds) that invest in such securities. The fund's investment objective and policy with respect to the investment of at least 80% of its net assets may be changed by the fund's board, upon 60 days' prior notice to shareholders. The fund considers a company to be located in an emerging market country when the company's principal place of business is in an emerging market country. The fund considers emerging market countries to be all countries represented in the MSCI EM Index, the fund's benchmark index. The MSCI EM Index is a free float adjusted, market-capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the equity performance of emerging market countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

The fund is designed to provide exposure to various portfolio managers and investment strategies that focus on investing in equity securities of emerging market issuers. The fund may use a "fund of funds" approach by investing in one or more underlying funds and/or a "manager of managers" approach by selecting one or more experienced investment managers to serve as subadvisers to the fund. The fund normally allocates its assets among emerging market equity strategies employed by one or more underlying funds and/or subadvisers. Underlying funds may include other funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds and unaffiliated open-end funds, closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and subadvisers may be affiliated or unaffiliated with BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc. (BNYM Investment Adviser), the fund's investment adviser. The fund and the underlying funds also may invest in companies organized or with their principal place of business, or a majority of assets or business, in developed markets and pre-emerging markets, also known as frontier markets. The fund and the underlying funds may invest in equity securities of companies with any market capitalization. The fund and the underlying funds invest principally in common stocks, but their equity investments also may include preferred stocks, convertible securities, depositary receipts (such as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs)) and warrants, including those purchased in initial public offerings (IPOs) or shortly thereafter. Certain underlying funds also may invest in publicly-traded real estate investment trust securities (REITs) and ETFs. ADRs and GDRs represent indirect ownership interest in publicly traded securities of non-U.S. issuers. REITs are pooled investment vehicles that invest primarily in income-producing real estate of real estate-related loans or interests.

BNYM Investment Adviser determines the investment strategies in which to invest and sets the target allocations. BNYM Investment Adviser will allocate new inflows and outflows of fund assets to the Active Equity Strategy, the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy and the Newton Fund in accordance with the target weightings, and will rebalance the fund's portfolio at least quarterly if the amount allocated to a particular investment strategy varies from the normal targeted allocation by 10% or more because of market fluctuations.

The investment strategies and the target weightings have been selected for investment over longer time periods, but may be changed without shareholder approval or prior notice. The target weightings will deviate over the short term because of market movements and fund cash flows. The target weightings do not reflect the fund's working cash balance—a portion of the fund's portfolio may be held in cash due to purchase and redemption activity and other short term cash needs. Any changes to the investment strategies or the allocation weightings may be implemented over a reasonable period of time. BNYM Investment Adviser has the discretion to change the investment strategies in which the fund may invest, including whether to implement a strategy employed by BNYM Investment Adviser or its affiliates, an underlying fund or a subadviser, and the target allocations when BNYM Investment Adviser deems it appropriate.

The fund may hire, terminate or replace subadvisers and modify material terms and conditions of subadvisory arrangements without shareholder approval. A subadviser will have complete discretion to invest its allocated portion of the fund's assets as it deems appropriate, based on the particular investment process, philosophy, style and strategy it employs. While each subadviser is subject to the oversight of BNYM Investment Adviser, BNYM Investment Adviser does not attempt to coordinate or manage the day-to-day investments of any subadviser. From time to time, a significant portion of the fund's assets may be allocated to the securities of companies in the same sector, market capitalization and/or geographic categories.

As a result of the fund's overall investment program, including the allocation of the fund's assets to the different investment strategies, the fund's country, sector and industry weightings will vary at any given time from those of the MSCI EM Index.

Although not a principal investment strategy of the fund, the fund and certain underlying funds may, but are not required to, use derivatives or other strategic instruments as a substitute for investing directly in an underlying asset, to increase returns, to manage foreign currency risk, as part of a hedging strategy or for other purposes related to the management of the fund or underlying fund. The derivative instruments in which the fund or an underlying fund may invest include principally options, futures and options on futures (including those relating to stocks, indices and foreign currencies), forward contracts, swap agreements (including total return swap agreements), contracts for difference and other derivative instruments. To the extent such derivative instruments have similar economic characteristics to equity securities as described in the fund's policy with respect to the investment of at least 80% of its net assets, the market value of such instruments will be included in the 80% policy. Derivatives may be entered into on established exchanges or through privately negotiated transactions referred to as over-the-counter derivatives. A derivatives contract will obligate or entitle the fund or underlying fund to deliver or receive an asset or cash payment based on the change in value of the underlying asset. When the fund and certain underlying funds enter into derivatives transactions, they may be required to segregate liquid assets or enter into offsetting positions or otherwise cover its obligations, in accordance with applicable regulations, while the positions are open. The fund and certain underlying funds also may make forward commitments in which the fund or underlying fund agrees to buy or sell a security in the future at an agreed upon price.

Although not a principal investment strategy, the fund and certain underlying funds may lend their respective portfolio securities to brokers, dealers and other financial institutions needing to borrow securities to complete certain transactions. Loans of portfolio securities may not exceed 33-1/3% of the value of the fund's or an underlying fund's total assets.

Description of the Active Equity and Multi-Factor Equity Strategies and the Newton Fund

The following describes the investment strategies employed by the portfolio managers responsible for the Active Equity Strategy and the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy in choosing investments for the fund and by the Newton Fund.

Active Equity Strategy. The portfolio management team responsible for managing the portion of the fund's assets allocated to the Active Equity Strategy make both strategic and opportunistic investments. Strategic investments are recommended by a team of emerging market analysts supported by a global research platform. The analysts are organized into emerging market groupings based on their area of regional/industry expertise. These analysts utilize a fundamental, bottom-up research process to identify investments for the fund. Pursuant to the Active Equity Strategy, the fund's assets are invested in those companies in which the analysts have the highest degree of conviction or have identified a strong near-term catalyst for earnings growth or share price appreciation. The portfolio managers responsible for the Active Equity Strategy select opportunistic investments, coordinate country selection decisions and manage risk at the overall strategy level with respect to the portion of the fund's assets allocated to the Active Equity Strategy. Opportunistic investments typically include companies with special situations, a hidden catalyst for price appreciation, or investments selected for tactical positioning purposes. Opportunistic investments may be as much as 30% of the fund's assets allocated to the Active Equity Strategy and may include the equity securities of companies in both developed and frontier markets. The country allocation process is a function of relative valuation, combining top down qualitative and quantitative analysis with the bottom-up research process employed by the analysts. The portfolio managers responsible for the Active Equity Strategy use the sector and country weightings of the MSCI EM Index as a guide; however, the sector and country weightings with respect to the portion of the fund's assets allocated to the Active Equity Strategy may significantly vary from those of the index.

The portfolio managers responsible for managing the portion of the fund's assets allocated to the Active Equity Strategy generally will sell securities when they believe that there has been a negative change in the company's fundamentals, the company has lost favor in the current market or economic environment or a more attractive opportunity has been identified.

Multi-Factor Equity Strategy. The portfolio management team responsible for managing the portion of the fund's assets allocated to the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy applies a systematic, quantitative investment approach designed to identify and exploit relative misvaluations in equity securities of emerging market issuers. The Multi-Factor Equity

Strategy employs a proprietary valuation model that identifies and ranks stocks (Composite Alpha Ranking or CAR) based on:

• a long-term relative valuation model that utilizes forward looking estimates of risk and return;

• an Earnings Sustainability (ES) model that gauges how well earnings forecasts are likely to reflect changes in future cash flows. Measures of ES help stock selection strategy by tilting the fund's portfolio away from stocks with poor ES and tilting it towards stocks with strong ES; and

• a set of Behavioral Factors, including earnings revisions and share buybacks that provide the portfolio managers with information about potential misvaluations of stocks.

The portfolio managers responsible for the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy construct a portfolio through a systematic structured approach, focusing on stock selection as opposed to making proactive decisions as to industry or sector exposure. Within each sector and style subset, the portfolio managers responsible for the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy overweight the most attractive stocks and underweight or zero weight the stocks that have been ranked least attractive. This approach differs from conventional portfolio management in that, generally, the portfolio managers responsible for the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy will strictly adhere to underlying models in selecting portfolio securities for the fund. In unusual circumstances, the portfolio managers responsible for managing the portion of the fund's assets allocated to the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy may deviate from the models. The portfolio managers responsible for the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy may enhance the models from time to time, depending on its ongoing research efforts.

The portfolio managers responsible for managing the portion of the fund's assets allocated to the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy typically will consider selling a security if the company's relative attractiveness deteriorates or if valuation becomes excessive. These portfolio managers may sell a security if an event occurs that contradicts the portfolio managers' rationale for owning it, such as deterioration in the company's fundamentals, or if better investment opportunities emerge elsewhere. These sell decisions generally are based on the portfolio managers' adherence to the underlying models.

Newton Investment Management Limited (Newton), an affiliate of BNYM Investment Adviser, is the Newton Fund's subadviser. Newton employs a fundamental bottom-up investment process that emphasizes quality (i.e., stock fundamentals and strength of balance sheet), return on capital employed (i.e., stocks achieving a good return on capital through the market cycle) and governance (i.e., well-managed companies that prioritize shareholder interests). The process of identifying investment ideas begins by identifying a core list of investment themes. These themes are based primarily on observable global economic, industrial, or social trends that Newton believes will positively affect certain sectors or industries and cause stocks within these sectors or industries to outperform others. Such themes may include:

• key trends in economic variables, such as a country's gross domestic product, inflation and interest rates;

• demographic or social trends and their effects on companies, countries, markets and industries;

• the expected impact of technology and globalization on industries and brands;

Newton then identifies specific companies, through fundamental global sector and stock research, using investment themes to help focus the search on areas where the thematic and strategic research indicates positive returns are likely to be achieved. Newton conducts an initial screening of the universe of stocks by reviewing, among other factors, a company's price-to-earnings ratios, positive earnings momentum, earnings per share growth expectations, and earnings stability. Newton also utilizes a variety of valuation techniques, which include earnings, asset value, cash flow and cost of capital measurements, in conducting its fundamental analysis. The Newton Fund's portfolio managers then select the stocks believed to be most attractive based on this evaluation. Newton's culture encourages all investment professionals to contribute to the data as they observe trends they believe will have an influence on global markets.

Integrated into the investment process, Newton has a well-established approach to responsible investment. This process includes identifying and considering the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks, opportunities and issues

throughout the research process via Newton's proprietary quality reviews, in an effort to ensure that any material ESG issues are considered.

The Newton Fund's portfolio managers typically consider selling a security as a result of one or more of the following:

The Newton Fund may, but is not required to, use derivatives or other strategic instruments. Although not a principal investment strategy of the Newton Fund, this underlying fund also may invest in ETFs and lend its portfolio securities.

The Newton Fund is non-diversified, which means that a relatively high percentage of this underlying fund's assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers. Therefore, the Newton Fund's performance may be more vulnerable to changes in the market value of a single issuer or group of issuers and more susceptible to risks associated with a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence than a diversified fund.

An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit. It is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any other government agency. It is not a complete investment program. The value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, sometimes dramatically, which means you could lose money.

● Allocation risk. There can be no assurance that the allocation of the fund's assets among investment strategies, subadvisers and underlying funds will be effective in achieving the fund's investment goal.

● Manager of managers risk. Each subadviser makes investment decisions independently and it is possible that the investment styles of the subadvisers may not complement one another. As a result, the fund's exposure to a given stock, industry, sector, market capitalization, geographic area or investment style could unintentionally be more or less than it would have been if the fund had a single adviser or investment strategy. In addition, if one subadviser buys a security during a time frame when another subadviser sells it the fund will incur transaction costs and the fund's net position in the security may be approximately the same as it would have been with a single adviser and no such portfolio transactions. It is also possible that two or more subadvisers purchase the same security at the same time without aggregating their transactions, resulting in higher portfolio transaction expenses.

● Conflicts of interest risk. BNYM Investment Adviser or its affiliates may serve as investment adviser to one or more of the underlying funds, each of which pays advisory fees at different rates to BNYM Investment Adviser or its affiliates. The interests of the fund on the one hand, and those of an underlying fund on the other, will not always be the same. Therefore, conflicts may arise as BNYM Investment Adviser fulfills its fiduciary duty to the fund and the underlying funds. Moreover, a subadviser may have potential conflicts of interest which could interfere with its management of the fund's assets allocated to it. For example, a subadviser may manage other investment funds or have other clients that may be similar to, or overlap with, the investment objective and strategies of the fund, but which have different fee structures than those of the fund, creating potential conflicts of interest in investment decisions regarding investments that may be appropriate for the fund and the subadviser's other clients. In addition, the activities in which a subadviser and its affiliates may be involved may limit or preclude the flexibility that the fund may otherwise have to participate in certain investments. These situations are considered by the fund's board when it reviews the asset allocations for the fund.

● ETF and other investment company risk. To the extent the fund invests in pooled investment vehicles, such as ETFs and other investment companies, the fund will be affected by the investment policies, practices and performance of such entities in direct proportion to the amount of assets the fund has invested therein. The risks of investing in other investment companies, including ETFs, typically reflect the risks associated with the types of instruments in which the investment companies invest. When the fund invests in an ETF or other investment company, shareholders of the fund will bear indirectly their proportionate share of the expenses of the ETF or other investment company (including management fees) in addition to the expenses of the fund. ETFs are exchange-traded investment companies that are, in many cases, designed to provide investment results corresponding to an index. The value of the underlying securities can fluctuate in response to activities of individual companies or in response to general market and/or economic conditions. Additional risks of investments in ETFs include: (i) the market price of an ETF's shares may

trade at a discount to its net asset value; (ii) an active trading market for an ETF's shares may not develop or be maintained; or (iii) trading may be halted if the listing exchanges' officials deem such action appropriate, the shares are delisted from the exchange, or the activation of market-wide "circuit breakers" (which are tied to large decreases in stock prices) halts trading generally. The fund will incur brokerage costs when purchasing and selling shares of ETFs.

● Market risk. The value of the securities in which the fund invests may be affected by political, regulatory, economic and social developments, and developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the fund. Global economies and financial markets are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies world-wide. Recent examples include pandemic risks related to COVID-19 and aggressive measures taken world-wide in response by governments, including closing borders, restricting international and domestic travel, and the imposition of prolonged quarantines of large populations, and by businesses, including changes to operations and reducing staff. The effects of COVID-19 have contributed to increased volatility in global markets and will likely affect certain countries, companies, industries and market sectors more dramatically than others. The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and any other outbreak of an infectious disease or other serious public health concern could have, a significant negative impact on economic and market conditions and could trigger a prolonged period of global economic slowdown. To the extent the fund may overweight its investments in certain countries, companies, industries or market sectors, such positions will increase the fund's exposure to risk of loss from adverse developments affecting those countries, companies, industries or sectors.

The fund is subject to the same principal risks as the underlying fund(s) in which it invests. Risks associated with an investment in the fund as a result of its direct investments and its investment in underlying funds are described below. For more information regarding these and other risks of the underlying funds, see the prospectus for the specific underlying fund.

● Risks of stock investing. Stocks generally fluctuate more in value than bonds and may decline significantly over short time periods. There is the chance that stock prices overall will decline because stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and falling prices. The market value of a stock may decline due to general market conditions that are not related to the particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or adverse investor sentiment generally. A security's market value also may decline because of factors that affect the particular company, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the company's products or services, or factors that affect the company's industry, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry.

● Foreign investment risk. To the extent the fund invests in foreign securities, the fund's performance will be influenced by political, social and economic factors affecting investments in foreign issuers. Special risks associated with investments in foreign issuers include exposure to currency fluctuations, less liquidity, less developed or less efficient trading markets, lack of comprehensive company information, political and economic instability and differing auditing and legal standards. Investments denominated in foreign currencies are subject to the risk that such currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and affect the value of these investments held by the fund. To the extent the fund's investments are focused in a limited number of foreign countries, the fund's performance could be more volatile than that of more geographically diversified funds.

● Emerging market risk. The securities of issuers located or doing substantial business in emerging market countries tend to be more volatile and less liquid than the securities of issuers located in countries with more mature economies, potentially making prompt liquidation at an attractive price difficult. The economies of countries with emerging markets may be based predominantly on only a few industries, may be highly vulnerable to changes in local or global trade conditions, and may suffer from extreme debt burdens or volatile inflation rates. Transaction settlement and dividend collection procedures also may be less reliable in emerging markets than in developed markets. Emerging markets generally have less diverse and less mature economic structures and less stable political systems than those of developed countries. Investments in these countries may be subject to political, economic, legal, market and currency risks. The risks may include less protection of property rights and uncertain political and economic policies, the imposition of capital controls and/or foreign investment limitations by a country, nationalization of businesses and the imposition of sanctions by other countries, such as the United States.

● Frontier market risk. The risks associated with investments in frontier market countries include all the risks described above for investments in foreign securities and emerging markets, although the risks are magnified for frontier market countries. Because frontier markets are among the smallest, least mature and least liquid of the emerging markets, investments in frontier markets generally are subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in developed markets or

traditional emerging markets. Frontier market countries have smaller economies, less developed capital markets, greater market volatility, lower trading volume, more political and economic instability, greater risk of a market shutdown and more governmental limitations on foreign investments than typically found in more developed markets. Frontier markets are more prone to economic shocks associated with political and economic risks than are emerging markets generally. Many frontier market countries may be dependent on commodities, foreign trade or foreign aid. As a result, those risks traditionally associated with investments in emerging markets are more pronounced with respect to investments in frontier market economies.

● Foreign currency risk. Investments in foreign currencies are subject to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar or, in the case of hedged positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline relative to the currency being hedged. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. Foreign currencies, particularly the currencies of emerging market countries, are also subject to risks caused by inflation, interest rates, budget deficits and low savings rates, political factors and government intervention and controls.

● Growth and value stock risk. By investing in a mix of growth and value companies, the fund assumes the risks of both. Investors often expect growth companies to increase their earnings at a certain rate. If these expectations are not met, investors can punish the stocks inordinately, even if earnings do increase. In addition, growth stocks may lack the dividend yield that may cushion stock prices in market downturns. Value stocks involve the risk that they may never reach their expected full market value, either because the market fails to recognize the stock's intrinsic worth or the expected value was misgauged. They also may decline in price even though in theory they are already undervalued.

● Market capitalization risk (small-, mid- and large-cap stock risk). To the extent the fund emphasizes small-, mid- or large-cap stocks, it will assume the associated risks. At any given time, any of these market capitalizations may be out of favor with investors. Compared to small- and mid-cap companies, large-cap companies may be less responsive to changes and opportunities affecting their business. To the extent the fund invests in small- and mid-cap companies, it will be subject to additional risks because the operating histories of these companies tend to be more limited, their earnings and revenues less predictable (and some companies may be experiencing significant losses), and their share prices more volatile than those of larger, more established companies. The shares of smaller companies tend to trade less frequently than those of larger, more established companies, which can adversely affect the pricing of these securities and the fund's ability to sell these securities. Smaller companies may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources, or may depend on a limited management group. Some of the fund's investments will rise and fall based on investor perception rather than economic factors. Investments may be made in anticipation of future products, services or events whose delay or cancellation could cause the stock price to drop.

● Management risk. The investment process and techniques used by the fund's portfolio managers could fail to achieve the fund's investment goal, may cause your fund investment to lose value or may cause the fund to underperform other funds with similar investment goals.

In addition to the principal risks described above, the fund, directly or through its investment in underlying funds, is subject to the following additional risks that are not anticipated to be principal risks of investing in the fund:

● Convertible securities risk. Convertible securities may be converted at either a stated price or stated rate into underlying shares of common stock. Convertible securities generally are subordinated to other similar but non-convertible securities of the same issuer. Although to a lesser extent than with fixed-income securities, the market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase. In addition, because of the conversion feature, the market value of convertible securities tends to vary with fluctuations in the market value of the underlying common stock. Although convertible securities provide for a stable stream of income, they are subject to the risk that their issuers may default on their obligations. Convertible securities also offer the potential for capital appreciation through the conversion feature, although there can be no assurance of capital appreciation because securities prices fluctuate. Convertible securities generally offer lower interest or dividend yields than non-convertible securities of similar quality because of the potential for capital appreciation.

dividends and on liquidation of the issuer. The market value of preferred stock generally decreases when interest rates rise and is also affected by the issuer's ability to make payments on the preferred stock.

● Depositary receipts risk. Depositary receipts may be subject to certain of the risks associated with direct investments in the securities of foreign companies, such as currency risk, political and economic risk and market risk, because their values depend on the performance of the non-dollar denominated underlying foreign securities. Certain countries may limit the ability to convert depositary receipts into the underlying foreign securities and vice versa, which may cause the securities of the foreign company to trade at a discount or premium to the market price of the related depositary receipt. The fund may invest in depositary receipts through an unsponsored facility where the depositary issues the depositary receipts without an agreement with the company that issues the underlying securities. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all the costs of such facilities, and the depositary of an unsponsored facility frequently is under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications received from the issuer of the deposited security or to pass through voting rights to the holders of the depositary receipts with respect to the deposited securities. As a result, available information concerning the issuer may not be as current as for sponsored depositary receipts, and the prices of unsponsored depositary receipts may be more volatile than if such instruments were sponsored by the issuer.

● Leverage risk. The use of leverage, such as lending portfolio securities, entering into contracts for difference, swap agreements, futures contracts or forward currency contracts and engaging in forward commitment transactions, may magnify the fund's gains or losses. Because many derivatives have a leverage component, adverse changes in the value or level of the underlying asset or reference rate can result in a loss substantially greater than the amount invested in the derivative itself.

● IPO risk. The prices of securities purchased in IPOs can be very volatile. The effect of IPOs on the fund's performance depends on a variety of factors, including the number of IPOs the fund invests in relative to the size of the fund and whether and to what extent a security purchased in an IPO appreciates or depreciates in value. As a fund's asset base increases, IPOs often have a diminished effect on such fund's performance.

● Warrants risk. Warrants are subject to the same market risk as stocks, but may be more volatile in price. An investment in warrants would not entitle the fund to receive dividends or exercise voting rights and will become worthless if the warrants cannot be profitably exercised before the expiration dates.

● REIT risk. Investments in REITs expose the fund to risks similar to investing directly in real estate. REITs are characterized as equity REITs, mortgage REITs and hybrid REITs, which combine the characteristics of both equity and mortgage REITs. Equity REITs, which may include operating or finance companies, own real estate directly and the value of, and income earned by, the REITs depends upon the income of the underlying properties and the rental income they earn. Equity REITs also can realize capital gains (or losses) by selling properties that have appreciated (or depreciated) in value. Mortgage REITs can make construction, development or long-term mortgage loans and are sensitive to the credit quality of the borrower. Mortgage REITs derive their income from interest payments on such loans. Hybrid REITs generally hold both ownership interests and mortgage interests in real estate. The value of securities issued by REITs is affected by tax and regulatory requirements and by perceptions of management skill. They also may be affected by general economic conditions and are subject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers or tenants, self-liquidation at an economically disadvantageous time, and the possibility of failing to qualify

for favorable tax treatment under applicable U.S. or foreign law and/or to maintain exempt status under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

● Forward commitments risk. The purchase or sale of securities on a forward commitment basis means delivery and payment take place at a future date at a predetermined price. When purchasing a security on a forward commitment basis, the fund would assume the risks of ownership of the security, including the risk of price fluctuations, and takes such fluctuations into account when determining its net asset value.

● Portfolio turnover risk. The fund may engage in short-term trading, which could produce higher transaction costs and taxable distributions, and lower the fund's after-tax performance.

● Securities lending risk. The fund may lend its portfolio securities to brokers, dealers and other financial institutions. In connection with such loans, the fund will receive collateral from the borrower equal to at least 100% of the value of the loaned securities. If the borrower of the securities fails financially, there could be delays in recovering the loaned securities or exercising rights to the collateral.

● Temporary investment risk. Under adverse market conditions, the fund could invest some or all of its assets in the securities of U.S. issuers, U.S. Treasury securities and money market securities or hold cash. Although the fund would do this for temporary defensive purposes, it could reduce the benefit from any upswing in the market. During such periods, the fund's investments may not be consistent with its principal investment strategies, and the fund may not achieve its investment objective.

The investment adviser for the fund is BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc., 240 Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10286. BNYM Investment Adviser manages approximately $280 billion in 132 mutual fund portfolios. The fund has agreed to pay BNYM Investment Adviser an investment advisory fee at the annual rate of 1.10% of the value of the fund's average daily net assets, other than assets allocated to investments in underlying funds; no investment advisory fee is applied to any portion of the fund's average daily net assets allocated to investments in underlying funds. For the past fiscal year, the fund paid BNYM Investment Adviser an investment advisory fee at the annual rate of .64% of the fund's average daily net assets. A discussion regarding the basis for the board's approving the fund's investment advisory agreement with BNYM Investment Adviser is available in the fund's semiannual report for the six-month period ended March 31, 2020. BNYM Investment Adviser is the primary mutual fund business of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon), a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries. BNY Mellon is a leading investment management and investment services company, uniquely focused to help clients manage and move their financial assets in the rapidly changing global marketplace. BNY Mellon has $38.6 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $2.0 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. BNY Mellon Investment Management is one of the world's leading investment management organizations, and one of the top U.S. wealth managers, encompassing BNY Mellon's affiliated investment management firms, wealth management services and global distribution companies. Additional information is available at www.im.bnymellon.com.

The asset management philosophy of BNYM Investment Adviser is based on the belief that discipline and consistency are important to investment success. For each fund, BNYM Investment Adviser seeks to establish clear guidelines for portfolio management and to be systematic in making decisions. This approach is designed to provide each fund with a distinct, stable identity.

BNYM Investment Adviser has engaged its affiliate, Mellon Investments Corporation, to serve as the fund's subadviser. Mellon, a registered investment adviser, is an indirect subsidiary of BNY Mellon with its principal office located at BNY Mellon Center, One Boston Place, Boston, MA 02108. Mellon is a global multi-specialist investment manager dedicated to serving its clients with a full spectrum of research-driven solutions. Mellon, subject to BNYM Investment Adviser's supervision and approval, provides investment advisory assistance and research and the day-to-day management of the portion of the fund's assets allocated to Mellon. Mellon had aggregate assets under management of approximately $614 billion, as of December 31, 2020. A discussion regarding the basis for the board's approving the sub-investment advisory agreement between BNYM Investment Adviser and Mellon is available in the fund's semiannual report for the six-month period ended March 31, 2020.

The day-to-day management of the portion of the fund's portfolio allocated to the Active Equity Strategy is the responsibility of the Active Equity portfolio management team at Mellon. The team member primarily responsible for managing the portion of the fund's portfolio allocated to the Active Equity Strategy is Julianne McHugh. Ms. McHugh has been a primary portfolio manager of the fund since November 2015, and is a managing director and a senior

portfolio manager on the Active Equity team at Mellon. She has been employed by Mellon or a predecessor company since 2004.

The day-to-day management of the portion of the fund's portfolio allocated to the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy is the responsibility of the Multi-Factor Equity portfolio management team at Mellon. The team members who are jointly and primarily responsible for managing this portion of the fund's portfolio are Peter D. Goslin, CFA, Syed A. Zamil, CFA and Chris Yao, CFA. Messrs. Goslin, Zamil and Yao have been primary portfolio managers of the fund since January 2014, March 2017 and December 2019, respectively. Mr. Goslin is a director and senior portfolio manager at Mellon, where he leads the Multi-Factor Equity team. He has been employed by Mellon or a predecessor company since 1999. Mr. Zamil is a managing director and global investment strategist for the Multi-Factor Equity team at Mellon. He has been employed by Mellon or a predecessor company since October 2015. Mr. Yao is a managing director and the head of Quantitative Equity research at Mellon. He has been employed by Mellon or a redecessor company since 2006.

The fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) provides additional portfolio manager information, including compensation, other accounts managed and ownership of fund shares.

BNYM Investment Adviser has obtained from the SEC an exemptive order, upon which the fund may rely, to use a manager of managers approach that permits BNYM Investment Adviser, subject to certain conditions and approval by the fund's board, to enter into and materially amend sub-investment advisory agreements with one or more subadvisers who are either unaffiliated or affiliated with BNYM Investment Adviser without obtaining shareholder approval. The exemptive order also relieves the fund from disclosing the sub-investment advisory fee paid by BNYM Investment Adviser to a subadviser in documents filed with the SEC and provided to shareholders. The fund is required to disclose (as a dollar amount and a percentage of the fund's assets) (i) the aggregate fees paid to BNYM Investment Adviser and any wholly-owned subadviser (as defined in the 1940 Act, as amended) and (ii) the aggregate fees paid to affiliated (i.e., less than wholly-owned) and unaffiliated subadvisers. BNYM Investment Adviser has ultimate responsibility (subject to oversight by the fund's board) to supervise any subadviser and recommend the hiring, termination, and replacement of any subadviser to the fund's board. Currently, the fund has selected Mellon, an indirect subsidiary of BNY Mellon, to manage the portion of the fund's assets allocated to the Active Equity Strategy and the Multi-Factor Equity Strategy. The fund's board, including a majority of the "non-interested" board members, must approve each new subadviser. In addition, the fund is required to provide shareholders with information about each new subadviser within 90 days of the hiring of any new subadviser.

BNY Mellon Securities Corporation (BNYMSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of BNYM Investment Adviser, serves as distributor of the fund and of the other funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds. Any Rule 12b-1 fees and shareholder services fees, as applicable, are paid to BNYMSC for financing the sale and distribution of fund shares and for providing shareholder account service and maintenance, respectively. BNYM Investment Adviser or BNYMSC may provide cash payments out of its own resources to financial intermediaries that sell shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds or provide other services. Such payments are separate from any sales charges, 12b-1 fees and/or shareholder services fees or other expenses that may be paid by a fund to those financial intermediaries. Because those payments are not made by fund shareholders or the fund, the fund's total expense ratio will not be affected by any such payments. These payments may be made to financial intermediaries, including affiliates, that provide shareholder servicing, sub-administration, recordkeeping and/or sub-transfer agency services, marketing support and/or access to sales meetings, sales representatives and management representatives of the financial intermediary. Cash compensation also may be paid from BNYM Investment Adviser's or BNYMSC's own resources to financial intermediaries for inclusion of a fund on a sales list, including a preferred or select sales list or in other sales programs. These payments sometimes are referred to as "revenue sharing." From time to time, BNYM Investment Adviser or BNYMSC also may provide cash or non-cash compensation to financial intermediaries or their representatives in the form of occasional gifts; occasional meals, tickets or other entertainment; support for due diligence trips; educational conference sponsorships; support for recognition programs; technology or infrastructure support; and other forms of cash or non-cash compensation permissible under broker-dealer regulations. In some cases, these payments or compensation may create an incentive for a financial intermediary or its employees to recommend or sell shares of the fund to you. This potential conflict of interest may be addressed by policies, procedures or practices that are adopted by the financial intermediary. As there may be many different policies, procedures or practices adopted by different intermediaries to address the manner in which compensation is earned through the sale of investments or the provision of related services, the compensation rates and other payment arrangements that may apply to a financial intermediary and its representatives may vary by intermediary. Please contact your financial representative for details about any payments they or their firm may receive in connection with the sale of fund shares or the provision of services to the fund.

The fund, BNYM Investment Adviser, Mellon and BNYMSC have each adopted a code of ethics that permits its personnel, subject to such code, to invest in securities, including securities that may be purchased or held by the fund. Each code of ethics restricts the personal securities transactions of employees, and requires portfolio managers and other investment personnel to comply with the code's preclearance and disclosure procedures. The primary purpose of the

respective codes is to ensure that personal trading by employees is done in a manner that does not disadvantage the fund or other client accounts.

The fund is designed primarily for people who are investing through third party intermediaries that have entered into selling agreements with the fund's distributor, such as banks, brokers, dealers or financial advisers (collectively, financial intermediaries), or in Retirement Plans. Financial intermediaries with whom you open a fund account may have different policies and procedures than those described in this prospectus or the SAI. Accordingly, the availability of certain share classes and/or shareholder privileges or services described in this prospectus or the SAI will depend on the policies, procedures and trading platforms of the financial intermediary or Retirement Plan recordkeeper. To be eligible for the share classes and/or shareholder privileges or services described in this prospectus or the SAI, you may need to open a fund account directly with the fund or a financial intermediary that offers such classes and/or privileges or services. Financial intermediaries purchasing fund shares on behalf of their clients determine the class of shares available for their clients. Consult a representative of your financial intermediary or Retirement Plan for further information.

Your financial intermediary may receive different compensation for selling one class of shares than for selling another class, and may impose its own account fees and methods for purchasing and selling fund shares, which may depend on, among other things, the type of investor account and the policies, procedures and practices adopted by your financial intermediary. You should review these arrangements with your financial representative before determining which class to invest in.

The different classes of fund shares represent investments in the same portfolio of securities, but the classes are subject to different expenses and will likely have different share prices. When choosing a class, you should consider your investment amount, anticipated holding period, the potential costs over your holding period and whether you qualify for any reduction or waiver of the sales charge. It is important to remember that any contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) or Rule 12b-1 fees have the same purpose as the front-end sales charge: to compensate the distributor for concessions and expenses it pays to dealers and financial intermediaries in connection with the sale of fund shares. No front-end sales charge or CDSC is charged on fund shares acquired through the reinvestment of fund dividends or capital gains distributions. Because the Rule 12b-1 fee is paid out of the fund's assets on an ongoing basis, over time it will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. Information regarding sales charges is not made available separately at www.im.bnymellon.com because such information is fully contained in this prospectus and in the SAI in the How to Buy Shares section and the Additional Information About How to Buy Shares section beginning on page II-1 and page III-1, respectively.

When you invest in Class A shares, you pay the public offering price, which is the share price, or net asset value (NAV), plus the initial sales charge that may apply to your purchase. The amount of the initial sales charge is based on the size of your investment, as the following table shows. We also describe below how you may reduce or eliminate the initial sales charge (see "Sales Charge Reductions and Waivers"). Class A shares are subject to an annual shareholder services fee of .25% paid to the fund's distributor for shareholder account service and maintenance.

Since some of your investment goes to pay an up-front sales charge when you purchase Class A shares, you purchase fewer shares than you would with the same investment in Class C shares. Nevertheless, you are usually better off purchasing Class A shares, rather than Class C shares, and paying an up-front sales charge if you:

● plan to own the shares for an extended period of time, since the ongoing Rule 12b-1 fees on Class C shares may eventually exceed the cost of the up-front sales charge; and

If you invest $1 million or more (and are not eligible to purchase Class I or Y shares), Class A shares will always be the most advantageous choice.

^*No front-end sales load applies on investments of $1 million or more, but a CDSC of 1.00% may be imposed on certain redemptions of such shares within one year of the date of purchase. See "Additional Information About CDSCs" below.

To receive a reduction or waiver of your initial sales charge or CDSC, you must let your financial intermediary or the fund, as applicable, know at the time you purchase fund shares that you qualify for such a reduction or waiver. If you do not let your financial intermediary or the fund, as applicable, know that you are eligible for a reduction or waiver, you may not receive the reduction or waiver to which you are otherwise entitled. In order to receive a reduction or waiver, you may be required to provide your financial intermediary or the fund, as applicable, with evidence of your qualification for the reduction or waiver. You should consult a representative of your financial intermediary. Certain sales charge reductions and waivers are available only if you purchase your shares directly from the fund for accounts maintained with the fund; these sales charge reductions and waivers are described below. In addition, shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through certain financial intermediaries are eligible only for sales charge reductions and waivers made available by such financial intermediaries; these sales charge reductions and waivers are described in the Appendix to this prospectus.

If you purchase Class A shares directly from the fund or through a financial intermediary, other than those financial intermediaries as described in the Appendix to this prospectus, you can reduce your initial sales charge in the following ways:

● Rights of accumulation. You can count toward the amount of your investment your total account value in all shares of the fund and other funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds that are subject to a sales charge. For example, if you have $1 million invested in shares that are subject to a sales charge of other funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds, you can invest in Class A shares of the fund without an initial sales charge. For purposes of determining "your total account value", shares held will be valued at their current market value. We may terminate or change this privilege at any time on written notice.

● Letter of intent. You can sign a letter of intent, in which you agree to invest a certain amount (your goal) over a 13-month period in shares of the fund and other funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds that are subject to a sales charge, and your initial sales charge will be based on your goal. A 90-day back-dated period can also be used to count previous purchases toward your goal. Your goal must be at least $50,000, and your initial investment must be at least $5,000. Each purchase will be made at the public offering price applicable to a single transaction of the dollar amount specified in the letter of intent. The sales charge will be adjusted if you do not meet your goal. By signing a letter of intent, you authorize the fund's transfer agent to hold in escrow 5% of the amount indicated in the letter of intent and redeem Class A shares in your account to pay the additional sales charge if the letter of intent goal is not met prior to the expiration of the 13-month period. See "Additional Information About Shareholder Services" in the SAI.

● Combine with family members and other related purchasers. You can also count toward the amount of your investment all investments in shares that are subject to a sales charge of other funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds, by your spouse and your minor children (family members), including their rights of accumulation and goals under a letter of intent. In addition, (1) a trustee or other fiduciary purchasing securities for a single trust estate or a single fiduciary account although more than one beneficiary is involved and (2) a group of accounts established by or on behalf of the employees of an employer or affiliated employers pursuant to a Retirement Plan will each be permitted to combine their investments for purposes of reducing or eliminating sales charges. See "How to Buy Shares" in the SAI.

Class A shares may be purchased at NAV without payment of a sales charge by the following individuals and entities, if such shares are purchased directly from the fund or through a financial intermediary, other than those financial intermediaries as described in the Appendix to this prospectus:

● full-time or part-time employees, and their spouses or domestic partners and minor children, of BNYM Investment Adviser or any of its affiliates

● board members of BNYM Investment Adviser and board members of the BNY Mellon Family of Funds, and their spouses or domestic partners and minor children

● full-time employees, and their spouses and minor children, of financial intermediaries

● investors who participate in a self-directed investment brokerage account program offered by a financial intermediary that may or may not charge their customers a transaction fee

● Retirement Plans, provided that, if such Class A shares are purchased through a financial intermediary, the financial intermediary performs recordkeeping or other administrative services for the Retirement Plan

● shareholders in IRA rollover accounts sponsored by BNYM Investment Adviser or its affiliates funded with the distribution proceeds from Retirement Plans. Upon establishing the IRA rollover account sponsored by BNYM Investment Adviser or its affiliates in the fund, the shareholder becomes eligible to make subsequent purchases of Class A shares of the fund at NAV in such account

In addition, shareholders of the fund will receive Class A shares of the fund at NAV without payment of a sales charge upon the conversion of such shareholders' Class C shares of the fund in the month of or month following the eight-year anniversary date of the purchase of the Class C shares.

Class A shares may be purchased at NAV without payment of a sales charge by the following individuals and entities, if such shares are purchased directly from the fund for accounts maintained with the fund:

● investors who either (1) have, or whose spouse or minor children have, beneficially owned shares and continuously maintained an open account directly with a fund managed by BNYM Investment Adviser since on or before February 28, 2006, or (2) such purchase is for a self-directed investment account that may or may not be subject to a transaction fee

● qualified separate accounts maintained by an insurance company; any state, county or city or instrumentality thereof; and charitable organizations investing $50,000 or more in fund shares and charitable remainder trusts

Since you pay no initial sales charge, an investment of less than $1 million in Class C shares buys more shares than the same investment would in Class A shares. However, Class C shares are subject to an annual Rule 12b-1 fee of .75% paid to the fund's distributor in connection with the sale of Class C shares and an annual shareholder services fee of .25% paid to the fund's distributor for shareholder account service and maintenance. Because the Rule 12b-1 fees are paid out of the fund's assets attributable to Class C shares on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges, such as the initial sales charge on Class A shares. Class C shares redeemed within one year of purchase are subject to a 1% CDSC. See "Additional Information About CDSCs" below. Class C shares purchased directly from the fund or through a financial intermediary, except as otherwise disclosed in this prospectus, automatically convert to Class A shares in the month of or month following the eight-year anniversary date of the purchase of the Class C shares, based on the relative NAV of each such class without the imposition of any sales charge, fee or other charge.

Because Class A shares will always be a more favorable investment than Class C shares for investments of $1 million or more, the fund will generally not accept a purchase order for Class C shares in the amount of $1 million or more. While the fund will take reasonable steps to prevent investments of $1 million or more in Class C shares, it may not be able to identify such investments made through certain financial intermediaries or omnibus accounts.

Since you pay no initial sales charge, an investment of less than $1 million in Class I shares buys more shares than the same investment would in a class of shares subject to an initial sales charge. There is also no CDSC imposed on redemptions of Class I shares, and you do not pay any ongoing service or distribution fees.

● bank trust departments, trust companies and insurance companies that have entered into agreements with the fund's distributor to offer Class I shares to their clients

● institutional investors acting in a fiduciary, advisory, agency, custodial or similar capacity for Retirement Plans and SEP-IRAs that have entered into agreements with the fund's distributor to offer Class I shares to such plans and are not eligible to purchase Class Y shares

● foundations and endowments that make an initial investment in the fund of at least $1 million and are not eligible to purchase Class Y shares

● sponsors of college savings plans that qualify for tax-exempt treatment under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, that maintain an omnibus account with the fund and do not require shareholder tax reporting or 529 account support responsibilities from the fund's distributor

● advisory fee-based accounts offered through financial intermediaries who, depending on the structure of the selected advisory platform, make Class I shares available

● certain institutional clients of a BNY Mellon investment advisory subsidiary, provided that such clients are approved by BNYM Investment Adviser and are not eligible to purchase Class Y shares

● U.S.-based employees of BNY Mellon, board members of BNYM Investment Adviser and board members of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds, and the spouse, domestic partner or minor child of any of the foregoing, subject to certain conditions described in the SAI, and provided that such Class I shares are purchased directly from the fund

● clients of financial intermediaries that effect transactions in Class I shares through their brokerage platforms solely as a broker in an agency capacity for their clients and that have entered into an agreement with the fund's distributor. An investor purchasing Class I shares through the brokerage platform of such a financial intermediary will be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the financial intermediary

Institutions purchasing fund shares on behalf of their clients determine whether Class I shares will be available for their clients. Accordingly, the availability of Class I shares of the fund will depend on the policies, procedures and trading platforms of the institutional investor.

Class Y shares are not subject to an initial sales charge or any service or distribution fees. There also is no CDSC imposed on redemptions of Class Y shares. The fund, BNYM Investment Adviser or the fund's distributor or their affiliates will not make any shareholder servicing, sub-transfer agency, administrative or recordkeeping payments, nor will BNYM Investment Adviser or the fund's distributor or their affiliates provide any "revenue sharing" payments, except as otherwise provided below, with respect to Class Y shares.

● institutional investors, acting for themselves or on behalf of their clients, that make an initial investment in Class Y shares of the fund of at least $1 million

● Retirement Plans, or certain recordkeepers of Retirement Plan platforms that maintain plan level or super-omnibus accounts with the fund

● certain institutional clients of a BNY Mellon investment advisory subsidiary, provided that such clients are approved by BNYM Investment Adviser and make an initial investment in Class Y shares of the fund of at least $1 million

Generally, each institutional investor will be required to open and maintain a single master account with the fund for all purposes. With respect to recordkeepers of Retirement Plan platforms, the fund considers a super-omnibus account to be one single master account maintained by the Retirement Plan recordkeeper on behalf of multiple Retirement Plans. Certain holders of Class I shares of the fund who meet the eligibility requirements for the purchase of Class Y shares of the fund and who do not require the fund, BNYM Investment Adviser or the fund's distributor or their affiliates to make any shareholder servicing, sub-transfer agency, administrative or recordkeeping payments may have all of their Class I shares of the fund converted into Class Y shares of the fund. Investors holding Class Y shares who, in the opinion of BNYM Investment Adviser, do not meet the eligibility requirements for the purchase of Class Y shares will be asked to verify their eligibility or instruct the fund to convert their Class Y shares to a class of fund shares for which they are eligible to purchase. If after 30 days such an investor has not verified eligibility or provided instructions to convert their shares to another class of fund shares, their Class Y shares will be converted to Class A shares of the fund, based on the relative net asset value of each such class without the imposition of any sales charge, fee or other charge. BNYM Investment Adviser, the fund's distributor or their affiliates will not provide any "revenue sharing" payments with respect to Class I shares converted into Class Y shares. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the fund's distributor may make payments to financial intermediaries for services rendered in connection with technology and programming set-up, dealer platform development and maintenance or similar services.

Institutions purchasing fund shares on behalf of their clients determine whether Class Y shares will be available for their clients. Accordingly, the availability of Class Y shares of the fund will depend on the policies, procedures and trading platforms of the institutional investor.

The fund's CDSC is based on the lesser of the NAV of the shares at the time of redemption or the original offering price (which is the original NAV). In addition:

● No CDSC is charged on fund shares you acquired by reinvesting your fund dividends or capital gains distributions.

● No CDSC is charged on the per share appreciation of your fund account over the initial purchase price of the shares.

● To keep your CDSC as low as possible, each time you place a request to sell shares, the fund will first sell any shares in your account that do not carry a CDSC and then the shares in your account that have been held the longest.

The fund's CDSC on Class A and C shares may be waived for shares purchased directly from the fund or through a financial intermediary, other than those financial intermediaries as described in the Appendix to this prospectus, in the following cases:

● exchanges of shares, except if shares acquired by exchange are then redeemed within the period during which a CDSC would apply to the initial shares purchased

● redemptions made as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code

● redemptions made through the Automatic Withdrawal Plan, if such redemptions do not exceed 12% of the value of the account annually

● redemptions by Retirement Plans, provided that, if such shares were purchased through a financial intermediary, the financial intermediary performs recordkeeping or other administrative services for the Retirement Plan

BNYM Investment Adviser calculates fund NAVs as of the scheduled close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) (usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern time) on days the NYSE is scheduled to be open for regular business. Your order will be priced at the next NAV calculated after your order is received in proper form by the fund's transfer agent or other authorized entity. "Proper form" refers to completion of an account application (if applicable), satisfaction of requirements in this section (subject to "Shareholder Guide—General Policies") and any applicable conditions in "Additional Information About How to Redeem Shares" in the SAI. Authorized entities other than the fund's transfer agent may apply different conditions for the satisfaction of "proper form" requirements. For more information, consult a representative of your financial intermediary. When calculating NAVs, BNYM Investment Adviser values equity investments on the basis of market quotations or official closing prices. BNYM Investment Adviser generally values fixed-income investments based on values supplied by an independent pricing service approved by the fund's board. The pricing service's procedures are reviewed under the general supervision of the board. If market quotations or official closing prices or valuations from a pricing service are not readily available, or are determined not to reflect accurately fair value, the fund may value those investments at fair value as determined in accordance with procedures approved by the fund's board. Fair value of investments may be determined by the fund's board, its pricing committee or its valuation committee in good faith using such information as it deems appropriate under the circumstances. Under certain circumstances, the fair value of foreign equity securities will be provided by an independent pricing service. Using fair value to price investments may result in a value that is different from a security's most recent closing price and from the prices used by other mutual funds to calculate their NAVs. Over-the-counter derivative instruments generally will be valued based on values supplied by an independent pricing service approved by the fund's board. Futures contracts will be valued at the most recent settlement price. Forward currency contracts will be valued using the forward rate obtained from an independent pricing service approved by the fund's board. ETFs will be valued at their market price. Foreign securities held by the fund may trade on days when the fund does not calculate its NAV and thus may affect the fund's NAV on days when investors will not be able to purchase or sell (redeem) fund shares.

Investments in certain types of thinly traded securities may provide short-term traders arbitrage opportunities with respect to the fund's shares. For example, arbitrage opportunities may exist when trading in a portfolio security or securities is halted and does not resume, or the market on which such securities are traded closes before the fund calculates its NAV. If short-term investors in the fund were able to take advantage of these arbitrage opportunities, they could dilute the NAV of fund shares held by long-term investors. Portfolio valuation policies can serve to reduce arbitrage opportunities available to short-term traders, but there is no assurance that such valuation policies will prevent dilution of the fund's NAV by short-term traders. While the fund has a policy regarding frequent trading, it too may not

be completely effective to prevent short-term NAV arbitrage trading, particularly in regard to omnibus accounts. Please see "Shareholder Guide — General Policies" for further information about the fund's frequent trading policy.

Orders to buy and sell shares received by an authorized entity (such as a bank, broker-dealer or financial adviser, or Retirement Plan that has entered into an agreement with the fund's distributor) by the time as of which the fund calculates its NAV (usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern time) will be based on the NAV determined that day.

Regular Accounts. To open a regular account, complete an application and mail it, together with a check payable to The BNY Mellon Family of Funds, to the appropriate address below. To purchase additional shares in a regular account, mail a check payable to The BNY Mellon Family of Funds (with your account number on your check), together with an investment slip, to the appropriate address below.

IRA Accounts. To open an IRA account or make additional investments in an IRA account, be sure to specify the fund name and the year for which the contribution is being made. When opening a new account include a completed IRA application applicable to the type of IRA for which the investment is made, and when making additional investments include an investment slip. Make checks payable to The BNY Mellon Family of Funds, and mail to the appropriate address below.

BNY Mellon Shareholder Services
P.O. Box 9879
Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8079

If you are investing through a third party, such as a bank, broker-dealer or financial adviser, or in a Retirement Plan, mail to:

BNY Mellon Institutional Department
P.O. Box 9882
Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8082

If you are applying for an Institutional Direct account, please contact your BNY Mellon relationship manager for mailing instructions.

Electronic Check or Wire. To purchase shares by wire or electronic check, please call 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only) for more information.

Telephone or Online. To purchase additional shares by telephone or online, you can call 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only) or visit www.im.bnymellon.com to request your transaction. In order to do so, you must have elected the TeleTransfer Privilege on your account application or a Shareholder Services Form. See "Services for Fund Investors — Wire Redemption and TeleTransfer Privileges" for more information. Institutional Direct accounts are not eligible for online services.

Automatically. You may purchase additional shares by selecting one of the automatic investment services made available to the fund on your account application or service application. See "Services for Fund Investors – Automatic Services."

The minimum initial and subsequent investment (except as set forth below) is $1,000 and $100, respectively. For Class Y shares, the minimum initial investment generally is $1,000,000, with no minimum subsequent investment. The minimum initial investment for Retirement Plans or IRAs (other than Coverdell Education Savings Accounts) sponsored by BNYM Investment Adviser or its affiliates is $750, with no minimum subsequent investment. The minimum initial investment for Coverdell Education Savings Accounts sponsored by BNYM Investment Adviser or its affiliates is $500, with no minimum subsequent investment. Subsequent investments made through TeleTransfer are subject to a $100 minimum and a $150,000 maximum. All investments must be in U.S. dollars. Third-party checks, cash, travelers' checks or money orders will not be accepted. You may be charged a fee for any check that does not clear.

You may sell (redeem) shares at any time. Your shares will be sold at the next NAV calculated after your order is received in proper form by the fund's transfer agent or other authorized entity, less any applicable CDSC. Any certificates representing fund shares being sold must be returned with your redemption request. Your order will be processed promptly.

If you request the fund to transmit your redemption proceeds to you by check, the fund expects that your redemption proceeds normally will be sent within two business days after your request is received in proper form. If you request the fund to transmit your redemption proceeds to you by wire via the Wire Redemption Privilege ($1,000 minimum) or electronic check via the TeleTransfer Privilege ($500 minimum), and the fund has your bank account information on file, the fund expects that your redemption proceeds normally will be wired within one business day or sent by electronic check within two business days, as applicable, to your bank account after your request is received in proper form. See "Services for Fund Investors — Wire Redemption and TeleTransfer Privileges" for more information. Payment of redemption proceeds may take longer than the number of days the fund typically expects and may take up to seven days after your order is received in proper form by the fund's transfer agent or other authorized entity, particularly during periods of stressed market conditions or very large redemptions or excessive trading.

The processing of redemptions may be suspended, and the delivery of redemption proceeds may be delayed beyond seven days, depending on the circumstances, for any period: (i) during which the NYSE is closed (other than on holidays or weekends), or during which trading on the NYSE is restricted; (ii) when an emergency exists that makes the disposal of securities owned by the fund or the determination of the fair value of the fund's net assets not reasonably practicable; or (iii) as permitted by order of the Securities and Exchange Commission for the protection of fund shareholders. For these purposes, the Securities and Exchange Commission determines the conditions under which trading shall be deemed to be restricted and an emergency shall be deemed to exist.

Before selling shares recently purchased by check, TeleTransfer or Automatic Asset Builder, please note that:

● if you send a written request to sell such shares, the fund may delay sending the proceeds for up to eight business days following the purchase of those shares or until the fund receives verification of clearance of the funds used to purchase such shares, whichever is earlier

● the fund will not process wire, telephone, online or TeleTransfer redemption requests for up to eight business days following the purchase of those shares or until the fund receives verification of clearance of the funds used to purchase such shares, whichever is earlier

Under normal circumstances, the fund expects to meet redemption requests by using cash it holds in its portfolio or selling portfolio securities to generate cash. In addition, the fund, and certain other funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds, may draw upon an unsecured credit facility for temporary or emergency purposes to meet redemption requests. The fund also reserves the right to pay redemption proceeds in securities rather than cash (i.e., "redeem in-kind"), to the extent the composition of the fund's investment portfolio enables it to do so. Generally, a redemption in-kind may be made under the following circumstances: (1) BNYM Investment Adviser determines that a redemption in-kind (i) is more advantageous to the fund (e.g., due to advantageous tax consequences or lower transaction costs) than selling/purchasing portfolio securities, (ii) will not favor the redeeming shareholder to the detriment of any other shareholder or the fund and (iii) is in the best interests of the fund; (2) to manage liquidity risk (i.e., the risk that the fund could not meet redemption requests without significant dilution of remaining investors' interests in the fund); (3) in stressed market conditions; or (4) subject to the approval of the fund's board in other circumstances identified by BNYM Investment Adviser. Securities distributed in connection with any such redemption in-kind are expected to generally represent your pro rata portion of assets held by the fund immediately prior to the redemption, with adjustments as may be necessary in connection with, for example, certain derivatives, restricted securities, odd lots or fractional shares. Any securities distributed in-kind will remain exposed to market risk until sold, and you may incur transaction costs and taxable gain when selling the securities.

Regular Accounts. To redeem shares in a regular account by mail, send a letter of instruction that includes your name, your account number, the name of the fund, the share class, the dollar amount to be redeemed and how and where to send the proceeds. Mail your request to the appropriate address below.

IRA Accounts. To redeem shares in an IRA account by mail, send a letter of instruction that includes all of the same information for regular accounts and indicate whether the distribution is qualified or premature and whether the 10% TEFRA should be withheld. Mail your request to the appropriate address below.

BNY Mellon Shareholder Services
P.O. Box 9879
Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8079

If you invested through a third party, such as a bank, broker-dealer or financial adviser, or in a Retirement Plan, mail to:

BNY Mellon Institutional Department
P.O. Box 9882
Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8082

If you are an Institutional Direct accountholder, please contact your BNY Mellon relationship manager for mailing instructions.

A medallion signature guarantee is required for some written sell orders. These include:

● amounts of $10,000 or more on accounts whose address has been changed within the last 30 days

A medallion signature guarantee helps protect against fraud. You can obtain one from most banks or securities dealers, but not from a notary public. For joint accounts, each signature must be guaranteed. Please call to ensure that your medallion signature guarantee will be processed correctly.

Telephone or Online. To redeem shares by telephone or online, call 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only) or, for regular accounts, visit www.im.bnymellon.com to request your transaction. Institutional Direct accounts are not eligible for online services.

By calling 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only), you may speak to a BNY Mellon representative and request that redemption proceeds be paid by check and mailed to your address of record (maximum $250,000 per day). For redemption requests made online through www.im.bnymellon.com or through the Express voice-activated account access system, there is a $100,000 per day limit.

Automatically. You may sell shares in a regular account by completing an Automatic Withdrawal Form which you can obtain by calling 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only), visiting www.im.bnymellon.com or contacting your financial representative. For instructions on how to establish automatic withdrawals to sell shares in an IRA account, please call 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only) or contact your financial representative. See "Services for Fund Investors — Automatic Services."

The fund and the fund's transfer agent are authorized to act on telephone or online instructions from any person representing himself or herself to be you and reasonably believed by the fund or the transfer agent to be genuine. You may be responsible for any fraudulent telephone or online order as long as the fund or the fund's transfer agent (as applicable) takes reasonable measures to confirm that the instructions are genuine.

The fund reserves the right to reject any purchase or exchange request in whole or in part. All shareholder services and privileges offered to shareholders may be modified or terminated at any time, except as otherwise stated in the fund's SAI. Please see the fund's SAI for additional information on buying and selling shares, privileges and other shareholder services.

If you invest through a financial intermediary (rather than directly through the fund), the policies may be different than those described herein. For example, banks, brokers, Retirement Plans, financial advisers and financial supermarkets may charge transaction fees and may set different minimum investments or limitations on buying or selling shares. Please consult your financial representative.

The fund is designed for long-term investors. Frequent purchases, redemptions and exchanges may disrupt portfolio management strategies and harm fund performance by diluting the value of fund shares and increasing brokerage and administrative costs. As a result, BNYM Investment Adviser and the fund's board have adopted a policy of discouraging excessive trading, short-term market timing and other abusive trading practices (frequent trading) that could adversely affect the fund or its operations. BNYM Investment Adviser and the fund will not enter into arrangements with any person or group to permit frequent trading.

● refuse any purchase or exchange request, including those from any individual or group who, in BNYM Investment Adviser's view, is likely to engage in frequent trading

● change or discontinue fund exchanges, or temporarily suspend exchanges during unusual market conditions

More than four roundtrips within a rolling 12-month period generally is considered to be frequent trading. A roundtrip consists of an investment that is substantially liquidated within 60 days. Based on the facts and circumstances of the trades, the fund may also view as frequent trading a pattern of investments that are partially liquidated within 60 days.

Transactions made through the Automatic Withdrawal Plan, Auto-Exchange Privileges, automatic investment plans (including Automatic Asset Builder),automatic non-discretionary rebalancing programs and minimum required retirement distributions generally are not considered to be frequent trading. For Retirement Plans, generally only participant-initiated exchange transactions are subject to the roundtrip limit.

BNYM Investment Adviser monitors selected transactions to identify frequent trading. When its surveillance systems identify multiple roundtrips, BNYM Investment Adviser evaluates trading activity in the account for evidence of frequent trading. BNYM Investment Adviser considers the investor's trading history in other accounts under common ownership or control, in other funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds and BNY Mellon Funds Trust and, if known, in non-affiliated mutual funds and accounts under common control. These evaluations involve judgments that are inherently subjective, and while BNYM Investment Adviser seeks to apply the policy and procedures uniformly, it is possible that similar transactions may be treated differently. In all instances, BNYM Investment Adviser seeks to make these judgments to the best of its abilities in a manner that it believes is consistent with shareholder interests. If BNYM Investment Adviser concludes the account is likely to engage in frequent trading, BNYM Investment Adviser may cancel or revoke the purchase or exchange on the following business day. BNYM Investment Adviser may also temporarily or permanently bar such investor's future purchases into the fund in lieu of, or in addition to, canceling or revoking the trade. At its discretion, BNYM Investment Adviser may apply these restrictions across all accounts under common ownership, control or perceived affiliation.

Fund shares often are held through omnibus accounts maintained by financial intermediaries, such as brokers and Retirement Plan administrators, where the holdings of multiple shareholders, such as all the clients of a particular broker, are aggregated. BNYM Investment Adviser's ability to monitor the trading activity of investors whose shares are held in omnibus accounts is limited. However, the agreements between the distributor and financial intermediaries include obligations to comply with the terms of this prospectus and to provide BNYM Investment Adviser, upon request, with information concerning the trading activity of investors whose shares are held in omnibus accounts. If BNYM Investment Adviser determines that any such investor has engaged in frequent trading of fund shares, BNYM Investment Adviser may require the financial intermediary to restrict or prohibit future purchases or exchanges of fund shares by that investor.

Certain Retirement Plans and intermediaries that maintain omnibus accounts with the fund may have developed policies designed to control frequent trading that may differ from the fund's policy. At its sole discretion, the fund may permit such intermediaries to apply their own frequent trading policy. If you are investing in fund shares through a financial intermediary (or in the case of a Retirement Plan, your plan sponsor), please contact the financial intermediary for information on the frequent trading policies applicable to your account.

To the extent the fund significantly invests in foreign securities traded on markets that close before the fund calculates its NAV, events that influence the value of these foreign securities may occur after the close of the foreign markets and before the fund calculates its NAV. As a result, certain investors may seek to trade fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these foreign securities at the time the fund calculates its NAV (referred to as price arbitrage). This type of frequent trading may dilute the value of fund shares held by other shareholders. The fund has adopted procedures designed to adjust closing market prices of foreign equity securities under certain circumstances to reflect what it believes to be their fair value.

To the extent the fund significantly invests in thinly traded securities, certain investors may seek to trade fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities (referred to as price arbitrage). Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the fund's portfolio to a greater degree than funds that invest in highly liquid securities, in part because the fund may have difficulty selling these portfolio securities at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent redemption requests. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of fund shares held by other shareholders.

Although the fund's frequent trading and fair valuation policies and procedures are designed to discourage market timing and excessive trading, none of these tools alone, nor all of them together, completely eliminates the potential for frequent trading.

If your account falls below $500, the fund may ask you to increase your balance. If it is still below $500 after 30 days, the fund may close your account and send you the proceeds.

If your account is deemed "abandoned" or "unclaimed" under state law, the fund may be required to "escheat" or transfer the assets in your account to the applicable state's unclaimed property administration. The state may sell escheated shares and, if you subsequently seek to reclaim your proceeds of liquidation from the state, you may only be able to recover the amount received when the shares were sold. It is your responsibility to ensure that you maintain a correct address for your account, keep your account active by contacting the fund's transfer agent or distributor by mail or telephone or accessing your account through the fund's website at least once a year, and promptly cash all checks for dividends, capital gains and redemptions. The fund, the fund's transfer agent and BNYM Investment Adviser and its affiliates will not be liable to shareholders or their representatives for good faith compliance with state escheatment laws.

Each share class will generate a different dividend because each has different expenses. The fund earns dividends, interest and other income from its investments, and distributes this income (less expenses) to shareholders as dividends. The fund also realizes capital gains from its investments, and distributes these gains (less any losses) to shareholders as capital gain distributions. The fund normally pays dividends and capital gain distributions, if any, annually. Fund dividends and capital gain distributions will be reinvested in the fund unless you or your financial intermediary instruct the fund otherwise. There are no fees or sales charges imposed by the fund on reinvestments.

The fund's investments in foreign securities may be subject to foreign withholding or other foreign taxes, which would decrease the fund's return on such securities. Under certain circumstances, shareholders may be entitled to claim a credit or deduction with respect to foreign taxes paid by the fund. In addition, investments in foreign securities or foreign currencies may increase or accelerate the fund's recognition of ordinary income and may affect the timing or amount of the fund's distributions.

To the extent the fund invests its assets in shares of underlying funds, its distributable income and gains will normally consist of distributions from the underlying funds' income and gains and losses on the dispositions of shares of underlying funds. A portion of any qualified dividends received by the fund from an underlying fund may be designated as qualified dividend income as well, provided the fund meets the holding period and other requirements with respect to shares of the underlying fund.

High portfolio turnover and more volatile markets can result in significant taxable distributions to shareholders, regardless of whether their shares have increased in value. The tax status of any distribution generally is the same regardless of how long you have been in the fund and whether you reinvest your distributions or take them in cash.

If you buy shares of the fund when the fund has realized but not yet distributed income or capital gains, you will be "buying a dividend" by paying the full price for the shares and then receiving a portion back in the form of a taxable distribution.

Your sale of shares, including exchanges into other funds, may result in a capital gain or loss for tax purposes. A capital gain or loss on your investment in the fund generally is the difference between the cost of your shares and the amount you receive when you sell them.

The tax status of your distributions will be detailed in your annual tax statement from the fund. Because everyone's tax situation is unique, please consult your tax adviser before investing.

Annual year-end distribution estimates, if any, are expected to be available beginning in early October, and may be updated from time to time, at http://im.bnymellon.com/taxcenter or by calling 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only) or your financial representative.

The following services may be available to fund investors. If you purchase shares through a third party financial intermediary or in a Retirement Plan, the financial intermediary or Retirement Plan recordkeeper may impose different restrictions on these services and privileges, or may not make them available at all. Consult a representative of your financial intermediary or Retirement Plan for further information.

Buying or selling shares automatically is easy with the services described below. With each service, you select a schedule and amount, subject to certain restrictions. These services are not available for Class Y shares. For information, call 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only) or your financial representative.

Automatic Asset Builder permits you to purchase fund shares (minimum of $100 and maximum of $150,000 per transaction) at regular intervals selected by you. Fund shares are purchased by transferring funds from the bank account designated by you.

Payroll Savings Plan permits you to purchase fund shares (minimum of $100 per transaction) automatically through a payroll deduction.

Government Direct Deposit permits you to purchase fund shares (minimum of $100 and maximum of $50,000 per transaction) automatically from your federal employment, Social Security or other regular federal government check.

Dividend Sweep permits you to automatically reinvest dividends and distributions from the fund in shares of the same class, or another class in which you are eligible to invest, of another fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds. However, if you hold fund shares through financial intermediary brokerage platforms, you may invest automatically your dividends and distributions from the fund only in shares of the same class of another fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds. Shares held through a Coverdell Education Savings Account sponsored by BNYM Investment Adviser or its affiliates are not eligible for this privilege.

Auto-Exchange Privilege permits you to exchange at regular intervals your fund shares for shares of the same class, or another class in which you are eligible to invest, of another fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds. However, if you hold fund shares through financial intermediary brokerage platforms, you may only exchange fund shares for shares of the same class of another fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds.

Automatic Withdrawal Plan permits you to make withdrawals (minimum of $50) on a specific day each month, quarter or semiannual or annual period, provided your account balance is at least $5,000. Any CDSC will be waived, as long as the amount of any withdrawal does not exceed on an annual basis 12% of the greater of the account value at the time of the first withdrawal under the plan, or at the time of the subsequent withdrawal.

Generally, you can exchange shares worth $500 or more (no minimum for Retirement Plans and IRAs sponsored by BNYM Investment Adviser or its affiliates) into shares of the same class, or another class in which you are eligible to invest, of another fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds. However, if you hold fund shares through financial intermediary brokerage platforms, you may only exchange fund shares for shares of the same class of another fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds. You can request your exchange by calling 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only) or your financial representative. If you are an Institutional Direct accountholder, please contact your BNY Mellon relationship manager for instructions. Be sure to read the current prospectus for any fund into which you are exchanging before investing. Any new account established through an exchange generally will have the same privileges as your original account (as long as they are available). There is currently no fee for exchanges, although you may be charged a sales load when exchanging into any fund that has one.

Your exchange request will be processed on the same business day it is received in proper form, provided that each fund is open at the time of the request (i.e., the request is received by the latest time each fund calculates its NAV for that business day). If the exchange is accepted at a time of day after one or both of the funds is closed (i.e., at a time after the NAV for the fund has been calculated for that business day), the exchange will be processed on the next business day. See the SAI for more information regarding exchanges.

Shares of one class of the fund may be converted into shares of another class of the fund, provided you meet the eligibility requirements for investing in the new share class. Except as otherwise disclosed in this prospectus, shares subject to a CDSC at the time of the requested conversion are not eligible for conversion. The fund reserves the right to refuse any conversion request. Class C shares purchased directly from the fund or through a financial intermediary, except as otherwise disclosed in this prospectus, automatically convert to Class A shares in the month of or month

following the eight-year anniversary date of the purchase of the Class C shares, based on the relative NAV of each such class without the imposition of any sales charge, fee or other charge.

To redeem shares from your fund account with a phone call (for regular or IRA accounts) or online (for regular accounts only), use the Wire Redemption Privilege or the TeleTransfer Privilege. To purchase additional shares in your fund account with a phone call (for regular or IRA accounts) or online (for regular accounts only), use the TeleTransfer Privilege. You can set up the Wire Redemption Privilege and TeleTransfer Privilege on your account by providing bank account information and following the instructions on your application or, if your account has already been established, a Shareholder Services Form which you can obtain by calling 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only), visiting www.im.bnymellon.com or contacting your financial representative. Shares held in a Coverdell Education Savings Account may not be redeemed through the Wire Redemption or TeleTransfer Privileges. Institutional Direct accounts are not eligible for the Wire Redemption or TeleTransfer Privileges initiated online.

Every investor in a fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds automatically receives regular account statements. You will also be sent a yearly statement detailing the tax characteristics of any dividends and distributions you have received.

If you redeem Class A shares of the fund, you can reinvest in the same account of the fund up to the number of Class A shares you redeemed at the current share price without paying a sales charge. If you paid a CDSC, it will be credited back to your account. This privilege may be used only once and your reinvestment request must be received in writing by the fund within 45 days of the redemption.

You can check your account balances, get fund price and performance information, order documents and much more, by calling 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only) and using the Express voice-activated account access system. You may also be able to purchase fund shares and/or transfer money between your funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds using the Express voice-activated account access system. Certain requests require the services of a representative.

These financial highlights describe the performance of the fund's shares for the fiscal periods indicated. "Total return" shows how much your investment in the fund would have increased (or decreased) during each period, assuming you had reinvested all dividends and distributions. These financial highlights have been derived from the fund's financial statements, which have been audited by KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the fund's financial statements, is included in the annual report, which is available upon request.

APPENDIX
Sales Charge Reductions and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries

The availability of certain sales charge reductions and waivers will depend on whether you purchase fund shares directly from the fund or through a financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load reductions or waivers or CDSC waivers, which are described below. In all instances, it is the investor's responsibility to notify the fund or the investor's financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the investor for sales charge reductions or waivers. For reductions or waivers not available through a particular financial intermediary, investors will have to purchase fund shares directly from the fund or through another financial intermediary to receive these reductions or waivers.

Front-end sales charge waivers on Class A shares purchased through Ameriprise Financial
Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through an Ameriprise Financial platform or account are eligible only for the following sales charge waivers, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI. Such shareholders may purchase Class A shares at NAV without payment of a sales charge as follows:

● shares purchased by employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs

● shares of the fund purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions of the fund (but not any other fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds)

● shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the seven-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges

● shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates and their immediate family members

● shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise Financial advisor and/or the advisor's spouse, advisor's lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor's lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant

● shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions of shares of a fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC (i.e., Right of Reinstatement)

Clients of Edward Jones purchasing fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge reductions, which can differ from the sales charge reductions described elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI or through another financial intermediary. In all instances, it is the shareholder's responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of BNY Mellon Family of Funds or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge reductions or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance.

Front-end sales charge reductions on Class A shares purchased on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms can reduce their initial sales charge in the following ways:

● Rights of accumulation (ROA), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus, will be calculated based on the aggregated holdings of shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds (other than no-load money market funds) held by the purchaser or in an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing certain pricing considerations ("pricing groups") and includes all share classes of such funds held on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another platform. Shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such shares. For purposes of determining the value of a shareholder's aggregated holdings, eligible shares held will be valued at the higher of their cost or current market value.

● Letter of intent (LOI), which allows for breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus, based on anticipated purchases of shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds purchased over a 13-month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. Eligible shares purchased pursuant to a LOI will be valued at the higher of their cost or current market value for purposes of determining the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts with respect to such share purchases. Each purchase a shareholder makes pursuant to a LOI during the 13-month period will receive the front-end sales charge and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount indicated in the LOI. Shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds may be included in the LOI calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such shares at the time of calculation. Shares purchased before the LOI is received by Edward Jones are not covered under the LOI and will not reduce the sales charge previously paid by the shareholder. The sales charge will be adjusted if the shareholder does not meet the goal indicated in the LOI.

Front-end sales charge waivers on Class A shares purchased on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms may purchase Class A shares at NAV without payment of a sales charge as follows:

● shares purchased by associates of Edward Jones or its affiliates and their family members who are in the same pricing group (as determined by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for the remainder of the associate's life if the associate retires from Edward Jones in good-standing

● shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions of the fund

● shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions of shares of a fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 60 days following the redemption, and (2) the redemption and purchase are made in the same share class and the same account (i.e., Right of Reinstatement)

● shares exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any CDSC due, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus

● exchanges from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally, in the 84^th month following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of Edward Jones

CDSC waivers on Class A and C shares purchased on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms

The fund's CDSC on Class A and C shares may be waived for shares purchased on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms in the following cases:

● redemptions made through a systematic withdrawal plan, if such redemptions do not exceed 10% of the value of the account annually

● redemptions made in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account

● redemptions made as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations

● redemptions made to pay Edward Jones fees or costs, but only if the redemption is initiated by Edward Jones

Other important information for clients of Edward Jones who purchase fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms

● Edward Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in this policy:

o An account with an active systematic investment plan or letter of intent (LOI)

● At any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a shareholder's holdings in a fund to Class A shares. Edward Jones is responsible for any CDSC due, if applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus.

Shareholders purchasing fund shares through a Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (Janney) brokerage account are eligible only for the following sales charge reductions and waivers, which can differ from the sales charge reductions and waivers described elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI or through another financial intermediary. In all instances, it is the shareholder's responsibility to inform Janney at the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of BNY Mellon Family of Funds or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge reductions or waivers.

Front-end sales charge reductions on Class A shares purchased through a Janney brokerage account

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through a Janney brokerage account can reduce their initial sales charge in the following ways:

● Rights of accumulation (ROA), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holdings of shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds held in accounts of the purchaser and the purchaser's household members at Janney. Shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds not held in Janney accounts of the purchaser or the purchaser's household members may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such shares.

● Letter of intent, which allows for breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus, based on anticipated purchases of shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds purchased over a 13-month period. Shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds not held in Janney accounts of the purchaser or the purchaser's household members may be included in the letter of intent calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such shares.

Front-end sales charge waivers on Class A shares purchased through a Janney brokerage account

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through a Janney brokerage account may purchase Class A shares at NAV without payment of a sales charge as follows:

● shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions of the fund (but not of any other fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds)

● shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney

● shares purchased by employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, 403(b) plans, profit-sharing and money purchase pension plans and deferred benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP-IRAs, SARSEPs, SIMPLE IRAs or Keogh plans

● Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney's policies and procedures

CDSC waivers on Class A and C shares purchased through a Janney brokerage account

The fund's CDSC on Class A and C shares may be waived for shares purchased through a Janney brokerage account in the following cases:

● redemptions made through the Automatic Withdrawal Plan as described in this prospectus

● redemptions made in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account

● redemptions made as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code

● redemptions made to pay Janney fees, but only if the redemption is initiated by Janney

● exchanges of shares for shares of the same class of a different fund, except if shares acquired by exchange are then redeemed within the period during which a CDSC would apply to the initial shares purchased

Front-end sales charge reductions on Class A shares purchased through Merrill Lynch

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through an omnibus account maintained with Merrill Lynch are eligible only for the following sales charge reductions, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI. Such shareholders can reduce their initial sales charge in the following ways:

● Rights of accumulation (ROA), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holdings (including 529 plan holdings) of shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds held in accounts of the purchaser and the purchaser's household members at Merrill Lynch. Shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds not held in accounts of the purchaser's household members at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such shares.

Front-end sales charge waivers on Class A shares purchased through Merrill Lynch

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through an omnibus account maintained with Merrill Lynch are eligible only for the following sales charge waivers, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI. Such shareholders may purchase Class A shares at NAV without payment of a sales charge as follows:

● shares purchased by employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and the shares are held for the benefit of the plan

● shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch-affiliated investment advisory program

● shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch's platform

● shares of the fund purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions of the fund (but not any other fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds)

● shares acquired through an exchange (i.e., conversion) of Class C shares of the fund that are no longer subject to a CDSC pursuant to Merrill Lynch's policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers

● shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members

● shares purchased by board members of the fund and employees of BNYM Investment Adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus

● shares purchased from the proceeds of a redemption of shares of a fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC (i.e., Right of Reinstatement)

● shares acquired through an exchange (i.e., conversion) from another share class of the fund as a result of the shareholder's holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch's policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. Merrill Lynch is responsible for any CDSC due, if applicable. Any future purchases of Class A are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed in this prospectus

Fund shares purchased through an omnibus account maintained with Merrill Lynch are eligible only for the following CDSC waivers, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI:

● redemptions made through the Automatic Withdrawal Plan, if such redemptions do not exceed 12% of the value of the account annually

● redemptions made in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account

● redemptions made as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code

● redemptions made to pay Merrill Lynch fees, but only if the redemption is initiated by Merrill Lynch

● redemptions of fund shares held in a retirement brokerage account that are exchanged for shares of a lower cost share class in connection with the transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms

● shares acquired through an exchange as a result of the shareholder's holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch's policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers. Merrill Lynch is responsible for any CDSC due, if applicable

Front-end sales charge waivers on Class A shares purchased through Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account are eligible only for the following sales charge waivers, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI. Such shareholders may purchase Class A shares at NAV without payment of a sales charge as follows:

● shares purchased by Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley's account linking rules

● shares of the fund purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions of the fund

● Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management's share class conversion program

● shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from a fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC

Front-end sales charge reductions on Class A shares purchased through an OPCO platform or account

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through an OPCO platform or account can reduce their initial sales charge in the following ways:

● Rights of accumulation (ROA), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holdings of shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds held by accounts within the purchaser's household at OPCO. Shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds not held at OPCO may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.

Front-end sales charge waivers on Class A shares purchased through an OPCO platform or account

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through an OPCO platform or account may purchase Class A shares at NAV without payment of a sales charge as follows:

● shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the fund (but not of any other fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds)

● a shareholder in the fund's Class C shares will have their shares converted at NAV to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of OPCO

● shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of OPCO or its affiliates and their family members

● board members of the fund, and employees of the fund's investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus

CDSC waivers on Class A and C shares purchased through an OPCO platform or account

The fund's CDSC on Class A and C shares may be waived for shares purchased through an OPCO platform or account in the following cases:

● redemptions made through the Automatic Withdrawal Plan as described in this prospectus

● redemptions made in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account

● redemptions made as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code

● redemptions made to pay OPCO fees, but only if the redemption is initiated by OPCO

Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services or Raymond James affiliates (Raymond James)

Front-end sales charge reductions on Class A shares purchased through Raymond James

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance and/or custody services, are eligible only for the following sales charge reductions, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI. Such shareholders can reduce their initial sales charge in the following ways:

● Rights of accumulation (ROA), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holdings of shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds held in accounts of the purchaser and the purchaser's household members at Raymond James. Shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds not held in accounts of the purchaser's household members at Raymond James may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such shares.

● Letter of intent, which allows for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within the BNY Mellon Family of Funds over a 13-month time period. Shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such shares.

Front-end sales charge waivers on Class A shares purchased through Raymond James

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance and/or custody services, are eligible only for the following sales charge waivers, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI. Such shareholders may purchase Class A shares at NAV without payment of a sales charge as follows:

● shares purchased within the BNY Mellon Family of Funds, including shares of the fund, through a systematic reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions of the fund

● shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Raymond James and their family members as designated by Raymond James

● Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Raymond James' share class conversion policies and procedures

Fund shares purchased through a Raymond James platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution, clearance and/or custody services, are eligible only for the following CDSC waivers, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI:

● redemptions made through the Automatic Withdrawal Plan, if such redemptions do not exceed 12% of the value of the account annually

● redemptions made in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account

● redemptions made as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code

● redemptions made to pay Raymond James fees, but only if the redemption is initiated by Raymond James

● exchanges of shares, except if shares acquired by exchange are then redeemed within the period during which a CDSC would apply to the initial shares purchased

Front-end sales charge reductions on Class A shares purchased through a Baird platform or account

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through a Baird platform or account can reduce their initial sales charge in the following ways:

● Rights of accumulation (ROA), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in this prospectus, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holdings of shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds held in accounts of the purchaser and the purchaser's household members at Baird. Shares of funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds not held in Baird accounts of the purchaser or the purchaser's household members may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such shares.

Front-end sales charge waivers on Class A shares purchased through a Baird platform or account

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through a Baird platform or account may purchase Class A shares at NAV without payment of a sales charge as follows:

● shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the fund (but not of any other fund in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds)

● shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird

● shares purchased by employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs

● Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Baird's policies and procedures

The fund's CDSC on Class A shares may be waived for shares purchased through a Baird platform or account in the following cases:

● redemptions made through the Automatic Withdrawal Plan as described in this prospectus

● redemptions made in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account

● redemptions made as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code

● redemptions made to pay Baird fees, but only if the redemption is initiated by Baird

Shareholders purchasing Class A shares of the fund through a Stifel platform or account may purchase Class A shares at NAV without payment of a sales charge as follows:

● Class C shares that are no longer subject to a CDSC and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Stifel's policies and procedures.

BNY Mellon Diversified Emerging Markets Fund
A series of BNY Mellon Investment Funds I

More information on this fund is available free upon request, including the following:

The fund's annual and semiannual reports describe the fund's performance, list portfolio holdings and contain a letter from the fund's manager discussing recent market conditions, economic trends and fund strategies that significantly affected the fund's performance during the period covered by the report. The fund's most recent annual and semiannual reports are available at www.im.bnymellon.com.

The SAI provides more details about the fund and its policies. A current SAI is available at www.im.bnymellon.com and is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SAI, as amended or supplemented from time to time, is incorporated by reference (and is legally considered part of this prospectus).

Funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds (except Dreyfus money market funds) generally disclose, at www.im.bnymellon.com, (1) complete portfolio holdings as of each month-end with a one month lag and as of each calendar quarter end with a 15-day lag; (2) top 10 holdings as of each month-end with a 10-day lag; and (3) from time to time, certain security-specific performance attribution data as of a month-end, with a 10-day lag. From time to time a fund may make available certain portfolio characteristics, such as allocations, performance- and risk-related statistics, portfolio-level statistics and non-security specific attribution analyses, on request. For funds in the BNY Mellon Family of Funds (except Dreyfus money market funds), portfolio holdings will remain on the website for a period of six months and any security-specific performance attribution data will remain on the website for varying periods up to six months, provided that portfolio holdings will remain until the fund files its Form N-PORT or Form N-CSR for the period that includes the dates of the posted holdings. Dreyfus money market funds generally disclose, at www.dreyfus.com, their complete schedule of holdings daily. Each Dreyfus money market fund's daily posting of its complete portfolio holdings will remain available on the website for five months.

A complete description of the fund's policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the fund's portfolio securities is available in the fund's SAI and at www.im.bnymellon.com.

By mail.
The BNY Mellon Family of Funds
144 Glenn Curtiss Boulevard
Uniondale, NY 11556-0144

On the Internet. Certain fund documents can be viewed online or downloaded from:

This prospectus does not constitute an offer or solicitation in any state or jurisdiction in which, or to any person to whom, such offering or solicitation may not lawfully be made.

For the fund's Class Y shares, periods prior to the inception date reflect the performance of the fund's Class I shares. Such performance figures have not been adjusted to reflect applicable class expenses. Each share class is invested in the same portfolio of securities, and the annual returns would have differed only to the extent that the classes have different expenses.


Average Annual Total Returns (as of 12/31/20)
Class (Inception Date)	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
Class I returns before taxes	13.89%	6.67%	5.38%
Class I returns after taxes on distributions	13.70%	6.40%	5.06%
Class I returns after taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares	8.73%	5.35%	4.40%
Class A returns before taxes	7.04%	5.14%	4.46%
Class C returns before taxes	11.73%	5.58%	4.27%
Class Y (7/1/13) returns before taxes	13.87%	6.70%	5.41%
MSCI EAFE Index reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes	7.82%	7.45%	5.51%

The fund's investment adviser is BNYM Investment Adviser. BNYM Investment Adviser has engaged is affiliate, Newton, to serve as the fund's subadviser.

Paul Markham and Jeff Munroe are the fund's primary portfolio managers, positions they have held since the fund's inception and October 2012, respectively. Mr. Markham, the fund's lead portfolio manager, is an investment manager for global equities and a member of the global model group, as well as chairing the global equity ex-U.S. model group, at Newton. Mr. Munroe is also an investment manager of global equities and a member of the global and global ex-U.S. model groups. He is a member of Newton's investment oversight committee.

proprietorships, non-profit entities, trade or labor unions, or state and local governments, but do not include IRAs (including, without limitation, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, IRA ″Rollover Accounts″ or IRAs set up under Simplified Employee Pension Plans (SEP-IRAs), Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension Plans (SARSEPs) or Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees (SIMPLE IRAs)).

The fund seeks long-term growth of capital. To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in common stocks or securities convertible into common stocks (such as convertible preferred stocks, warrants and convertible bonds) of foreign companies and depositary receipts evidencing ownership in such securities. The fund's investment objective and policy with respect to the investment of at least 80% of its net assets may be changed by the fund's board, upon 60 days' prior notice to shareholders. At least 75% of the fund's net assets will be invested in countries represented in the MSCI EAFE Index, the fund's benchmark. The fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in stocks of companies located in countries (other than the United States) not represented in the MSCI EAFE Index, including up to 20% in emerging market countries. The MSCI EAFE Index, a free-float adjusted market capitalization index, measures the equity market performance of developed markets, excluding the U.S. and Canada. As of December 31, 2020, the MSCI EAFE Index consisted of the following developed market country indices: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Newton is the fund's sub-investment adviser. Newton is an active investment manager that selects stocks within a global framework. The core of Newton's investment philosophy is the belief that no company, market or economy can be considered in isolation; each must be understood within a global context. Newton believes that a global comparison of companies is the most effective method of stock analysis, and Newton's global analysts research investment opportunities by global sector rather than by region.

The process of identifying investment ideas begins by identifying a core list of investment themes. These themes are based primarily on observable economic, industrial, or social trends, typically though not exclusively global, that Newton believes will positively or negatively affect certain sectors or industries and cause stocks within these sectors or industries to outperform or underperform others. Such themes may include:

● key trends in economic variables, such as a country's gross domestic product, inflation and interest rates;

● demographic or social trends and their effects on companies, countries, markets and industries;

● the expected impact of technology and globalization on industries and brands;

Newton then identifies specific companies, through fundamental global sector and stock research, using investment themes to help it focus on areas where the thematic and strategic research indicates superior returns are likely to be achieved.

Newton conducts fundamental analysis of investment opportunities on a global basis and uses cross comparisons of companies all over the world to identify securities Newton believes will outperform globally. In conducting its fundamental analysis, Newton's analysts search for attractively priced companies with good products and strong management that they perceive to possess a sustainable competitive advantage. Newton conducts an initial screening of the universe of stocks by reviewing, among other factors, a company's price-to-earnings ratios, positive earnings momentum, earnings per share growth expectations, and earnings stability. Newton also utilizes a variety of valuation techniques, which include earnings, asset value, cash flow and cost of capital measurements, in conducting its fundamental analysis. Integrated into the investment process, Newton has a well-established approach to responsible investment. This process includes identifying and considering the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks, opportunities and issues throughout the research process via Newton's proprietary quality reviews, in an effort to ensure that any material ESG issues are considered.

Sell decisions for individual stocks will typically be a result of one or more of the following:

Newton's culture encourages all investment professionals to contribute to the data as they observe trends they believe will have an influence on global markets. The close interaction among Newton's global sector analysts, regional specialists and global portfolio managers is designed to capture their best ideas and to reflect them effectively and consistently for the fund's portfolio.

The fund may, but is not required to, use derivative instruments as a substitute for investing directly in an underlying asset or currency, to increase returns, to manage currency risk, or as part of a hedging strategy. The derivative instruments in which the fund may invest include principally options, futures and options on futures (including those relating to securities, indexes and foreign currencies) and forward contracts. To the extent such derivative instruments have similar economic characteristics to common stocks and other securities of foreign companies as described in the fund's policy with respect to the investment of at least 80% of its net assets, the market value of such instruments will be included in the 80% policy. Derivatives may be entered into on established exchanges or through privately negotiated transactions referred to as over-the-counter derivatives. A derivatives contract will obligate or entitle the fund to deliver or receive an asset or cash payment based on the change in value of the underlying asset. When the fund enters into derivatives transactions, it may be required to segregate liquid assets or enter into offsetting positions or otherwise cover its obligations, in accordance with applicable regulations while the positions are open. In the case of futures contracts, options, forward contracts and other derivative instruments that provide for full payment of the value of the underlying asset, in cash or by physical delivery, at the settlement date, for example, the fund may be required to set aside liquid assets equal to the full notional amount of the instrument (generally, the total numerical value of the asset underlying the derivatives contract) while the positions are open, to the extent there is not an offsetting position. However, with respect to certain futures contracts, options, forward contracts and other derivative instruments that require periodic cash settlement during the term of the transaction or cash payment of the gain or loss under the transaction at the settlement date, the fund may segregate liquid assets in an amount equal to the fund's daily marked-to-market net obligations (i.e., the fund's daily net liability) under the instrument, if any, rather than its full notional amount. By setting aside assets equal to only the fund's net obligations under the instrument, the fund will have the ability to employ leverage to a greater extent than if the fund were required to segregate liquid assets equal to the full notional value of such instruments.

Although not a principal investment strategy, the fund also may invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Although not a principal investment strategy, the fund may lend its portfolio securities to brokers, dealers and other financial institutions needing to borrow securities to complete certain transactions. Loans of portfolio securities may not exceed 33-1/3% of the value of the fund's total assets.

trading markets, lack of comprehensive company information, political and economic instability and differing auditing and legal standards. Investments denominated in foreign currencies are subject to the risk that such currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and affect the value of these investments held by the fund. To the extent the fund's investments are focused in a limited number of foreign countries, the fund's performance could be more volatile than that of more geographically diversified funds.

● Derivatives risk. A small investment in derivatives could have a potentially large impact on the fund's performance. The use of derivatives involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying assets, and the fund's use of derivatives may result in losses to the fund and increased portfolio volatility. Derivatives in which the fund may invest can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and there is the risk that changes in the value of a derivative held by the fund will not correlate with the underlying assets or the fund's other investments in the manner intended. Derivative instruments, such as forward contracts and other over-the-counter transactions, also involve the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the failure of the counterparty to the derivative instruments to make required payments or otherwise comply with the derivative instruments' terms. Many of the regulatory protections afforded participants on organized exchanges for futures contracts and exchange-traded options, such as the performance guarantee of an exchange clearing house, are not available in connection with over-the-counter derivative transactions. Certain derivatives, such as written call options, have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment, and involve greater risks than the underlying assets because, in addition to general market risks, they are subject to liquidity risk, credit and counterparty risk (failure of the counterparty to the derivatives transaction to honor its obligation) and pricing risk (risk that the derivative cannot or will not be accurately valued). If a derivative transaction is particularly large or if the relevant market is illiquid (as is the case with many privately-negotiated derivatives), it may not be possible to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently adopted Rule 18f-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (1940 Act), which will regulate the use of derivatives for certain funds registered under the 1940 Act. Unless the fund qualifies as a "limited derivatives user" as defined in Rule 18f-4, the rule would, among other things, require the fund to establish a comprehensive derivatives risk management program, to comply with certain value-at-risk based leverage limits, to appoint a derivatives risk manager and to provide additional disclosure both publicly and to the SEC regarding its derivatives positions. If the fund qualifies as a limited derivatives user, Rule 18f-4 would require the fund to have policies and procedures to manage its aggregate derivatives risk. These requirements could have an impact on the fund, including a potential increase in cost to enter into derivatives transactions and may require the fund to alter, perhaps materially, its use of derivatives.

In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the fund. Global economies and financial markets are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies world-wide. Recent examples include pandemic risks related to COVID-19 and aggressive measures taken world-wide in response by governments, including closing borders, restricting international and domestic travel, and the imposition of prolonged quarantines of large populations, and by businesses, including changes to operations and reducing staff. The effects of COVID-19 have contributed to increased volatility in global markets and will likely affect certain countries, companies, industries and market sectors more dramatically than others. The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and any other outbreak of an infectious disease or other serious public health concern could have, a significant negative impact on economic and market conditions and could trigger a prolonged period of global economic slowdown. To the extent the fund may overweight its investments in certain countries, companies, industries or market sectors, such positions will increase the fund's exposure to risk of loss from adverse developments affecting those countries, companies, industries or sectors.

In addition to the principal risks described above, the fund is subject to the following additional risks that are not anticipated to be principal risks of investing in the fund:

● Preferred stock risk. Preferred stock is a class of a capital stock that typically pays dividends at a specified rate. Preferred stock is generally senior to common stock, but subordinate to debt securities, with respect to the payment of dividends and on liquidation of the issuer. The market value of preferred stock generally decreases when interest rates rise and is also affected by the issuer's ability to make payments on the preferred stock.

● Country, industry and market sector risk. The fund may be overweighted or underweighted, relative to the MSCI EAFE Index, in certain countries, companies, industries or market sectors, which may cause the fund's performance to be more or less sensitive to positive or negative developments affecting those countries, companies, industries or sectors. In addition, the fund may, from time to time, invest a significant portion (more than 25%) of its total assets in securities of companies located in particular countries, such as the United Kingdom and Japan, depending on such country's representation within the MSCI EAFE Index.

● Leverage risk. The use of leverage, such as lending portfolio securities and entering into futures contracts or forward currency contracts, may magnify the fund's gains or losses. Because many derivatives have a leverage component, adverse changes in the value or level of the underlying asset or reference rate can result in a loss substantially greater than the amount invested in the derivative itself.

● Portfolio turnover risk. The fund may engage in short-term trading, which could produce higher transaction costs and taxable distributions, and lower the fund's after-tax performance.

● Temporary investment risk. Under adverse market conditions, the fund may invest more than 20% of its assets in the securities of U.S. issuers and could invest some or all of its assets in U.S. Treasury securities and money market securities. Although the fund would do this for temporary defensive purposes, it could reduce the benefit from any upswing in the market. During such periods, the fund's investments may not be consistent with its principal investment strategy, and the fund may not achieve its investment objective.

The investment adviser for the fund is BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc., 240 Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10286. BNYM Investment Adviser manages approximately $280 billion in 132 mutual fund portfolios. For the past fiscal year, the fund paid BNYM Investment Adviser an investment advisory fee at the annual rate of 0.75% of the value of the fund's average daily net assets. A discussion regarding the basis for the board's approving the fund's investment advisory agreement with BNYM Investment Adviser is available in the fund's semiannual report for the six-month period ended March 31, 2020. BNYM Investment Adviser is the primary mutual fund business of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon), a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries. BNY Mellon is a leading investment management and investment services company, uniquely focused to help clients manage and move their financial assets in the rapidly changing global marketplace. BNY Mellon has $38.6 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $2.0 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. BNY Mellon Investment Management is one of the world's leading investment management organizations, and one of the top U.S. wealth managers, encompassing BNY Mellon's affiliated investment management firms, wealth management services and global distribution companies. Additional information is available at www.im.bnymellon.com.

portfolio management and to be systematic in making decisions. This approach is designed to provide each fund with a distinct, stable identity.

BNYM Investment Adviser has engaged its affiliate, Newton Investment Management Limited, to serve as the fund's sub-investment adviser. Newton, located at 160 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V, 4LA, England, provides investment advisory assistance and research and the day-to-day management of the fund's investments, subject to BNYM Investment Adviser's supervision and approval. Newton was formed in 1978 and, as of December 31, 2020, together with its affiliates that comprise the Newton group of companies, managed approximately $63 billion in discretionary separate accounts and other investment accounts. Newton is an indirect subsidiary of BNY Mellon. A discussion regarding the basis for the board's approving the sub-investment advisory agreement between BNYM Investment Adviser and Newton is available in the fund's semiannual report for the six-month period ended March 31, 2020.

The fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) provides additional portfolio manager information, including compensation, other accounts managed and ownership of fund shares.

The fund, BNYM Investment Adviser, Newton and BNYMSC have each adopted a code of ethics that permits its personnel, subject to such code, to invest in securities, including securities that may be purchased or held by the fund. Each code of ethics restricts the personal securities transactions of employees, and requires portfolio managers and other investment personnel to comply with the code's preclearance and disclosure procedures. The primary purpose of the respective codes is to ensure that personal trading by employees is done in a manner that does not disadvantage the fund or other client accounts.

● plan to own the shares for an extended period of time, since the ongoing Rule 12b-1 fees on Class C shares may eventually exceed the cost of the up-front sales charge; and

If you invest $1 million or more (and are not eligible to purchase Class I or Y shares), Class A shares will always be the most advantageous choice.

^*No front-end sales load applies on investments of $1 million or more, but a CDSC of 1% may be imposed on certain redemptions of such shares within one year of the date of purchase. See "Additional Information About CDSCs" below.