497K 1 d432327d497k.htm WILMINGTON GLOBAL ALPHA EQUITIES FUND Wilmington Global Alpha Equities Fund

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS - August 31, 2022, as revised January 3, 2023

WILMINGTON GLOBAL ALPHA EQUITIES FUND

 

 

Class/Ticker        A WRAAX        I WRAIX

 

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, which contain more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s Prospectus, Statement of Additional Information, and other information about the Fund online at www.wilmingtonfunds.com. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1.800.836.2211, by sending an email to funds@wilmingtontrust.com, or by asking any financial advisor, bank, or broker-dealer who offers shares of the Fund. The Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated August 31, 2022, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

Investment Goal

The Fund seeks to achieve long-term growth of capital with lower volatility than broader equity markets.

Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold the Fund’s Class A Shares and Class I Shares. “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” are expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund through its ownership of shares in other investment companies. They are not direct costs paid by Fund shareholders and are not used to calculate the Fund’s net asset value. They have no impact on the costs associated with fund operations. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are not included in the Fund’s financial statements, which provide a clearer picture of a fund’s actual operating costs. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Wilmington Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in the Fund’s prospectus in the section entitled “How are shares priced?”.

Shareholder Fees

(Fees paid directly from your investment)

 

     Class A      Class I  

Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases

(as a percentage of offering price)

     5.50%        None  
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load)      None        None  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends (and other Distributions)      None        None  
Redemption Fee      None        None  
Exchange Fee      None        None  

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

 

     Class A      Class I  
Management Fee      1.15%        1.15%  
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees      0.25%        None  
Other Expenses      0.55%        0.30%  
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses      0.01%        0.01%  
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses      1.96%        1.46%  
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements(1)      -0.46%        -0.21%  
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement      1.50%        1.25%  

 

(1)   The Fund’s Advisor, distributor and shareholder services provider have agreed to waive their fees and/or reimburse expenses so that total annual fund operating expenses paid by the Fund's Class A and Class I Shares will not exceed 1.49% and 1.24%, respectively, not including the effects of dividends or interest on short positions, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage commissions and interest. This waiver may be withdrawn after August 31, 2023, or with the agreement of the Fund's Board of Trustees.

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund’s Class A Shares and Class I Shares for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same and that the fee waivers/expense reimbursements remain in place for the contractual period. Although your actual costs and returns

 

 

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WILMINGTON GLOBAL ALPHA EQUITIES FUND

 

may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

    1 Year     3 Years     5 Years     10 Years  

Class A

       

Expenses assuming redemption

  $ 694     $ 1,089     $ 1,509     $ 2,675  

Class I

       

Expenses assuming redemption

  $ 127     $ 441     $ 777     $ 1,728  

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 44% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund

The Fund invests at least 80%, under normal circumstances, of the value of its net assets in equity securities. The Fund will invest in publicly-traded equity securities, including common stock, preferred stock and depositary receipts, of companies of all market capitalizations. The Fund may invest up to 70% of its assets in the equity securities of non-U.S. issuers, including companies that conduct their principal business activities in emerging markets or whose securities are traded principally on exchanges in emerging markets. The Fund may also invest in exchange-traded funds, futures contracts on broad-based equity indexes and other derivatives.

Wilmington Funds Management Corporation (“WFMC” or the “Advisor”) seeks to achieve the Fund’s investment goal by retaining Wellington Management Company LLP (“Wellington”), to manage the Fund’s assets. The Advisor also engages Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors, Inc. (“WTIA”) to oversee Wellington, to monitor portfolio risk and, on a discretionary basis, to develop strategic exposure objectives and risk parameters for the Fund based on considerations such as macroeconomic outlook, relative valuation levels and volatility in the markets, market flows and market liquidity, and information relating to business cycles, as well as input from Wellington.

Based on the strategic exposure objectives and risk parameters established by WTIA, Wellington constructs an actively managed, global and diversified portfolio of equity securities, and implements an index- based hedging strategy in an effort to reduce market exposure, moderate portfolio volatility and limit the severity of portfolio losses in times of market downturns.

Based on the objectives and parameters developed by WTIA, Wellington will allocate and reallocate the portfolio among a selection of independent equity management teams within Wellington. Each team pursues its own investment strategy or style, such as geography/region, growth/value, market capitalization, event-driven, economic sector, industry, or valuation measure.

In combining equity management teams and strategies, Wellington uses a number of proprietary analytical tools, including market environments analysis, extreme events analysis, stress testing, and simulation analysis. Through the strategy selection process, Wellington seeks to construct a Fund comprised of a diversified group of long-only equity strategies with differing investment approaches that provides an overall exposure, consistent with WTIA’s exposure objectives and risk parameters, comparable to the broader equity market and that reduces exposure to the risks typically associated with any single investment approach. The underlying Wellington equity management teams have complete discretion and responsibility for security selection and portfolio construction decisions within their respective portions of the Fund’s portfolio within the constraints of the Fund’s investment goal, strategies and restrictions. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading as part of its principal investment strategy.

Wellington will implement the hedging strategy by investing a portion of the Fund’s net assets in futures contracts on broad-based equity indexes, the constituents of which include the types of securities in which the Fund invests directly, and in cash, cash equivalents and short-term debt instruments to satisfy applicable margin and asset segregation requirements for the Fund’s derivatives positions. The net market exposure (sum of long and synthetic short positions including cash) of the Fund is expected to range generally between 35% to 45% of the net asset value of the Fund, depending on the WTIA’s analysis of prevailing market conditions, although the exposure may fall outside of this range. The Fund’s short exposure will be achieved through the use of equity index futures or other derivative exposures. Wellington may also invest in a variety of other derivative instruments, such as swaps, forwards, other futures contracts and options, in order to implement the hedging strategy, to hedge foreign currency risk, and to gain equity-like exposure in certain markets.

Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund

All mutual funds take investment risks. Therefore, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund. The primary factors that may reduce the Fund’s returns include:

 

    Active Trading Risk. The Fund may trade securities actively, which could increase its transaction costs (thereby lowering its performance and increasing the amount of taxes that you pay).

 

   

Asset Allocation Risk. The Subadvisor’s asset allocation decisions among various equity investment strategies

 

 

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    may not anticipate market trends successfully. The Subadvisor may make less than optimal or poor asset allocation decisions. The Subadvisor attempts to identify investment allocations that will provide consistent, quality performance for the Fund, but there is no guarantee that the allocation techniques will produce the desired results. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund as a result of these allocation decisions.

 

    Company Size Risk. The smaller companies in which the Fund may invest may have unproven track records, a limited product or service base, limited access to capital, and other attributes that can cause their share prices to fluctuate, and they may be more likely to fail than larger companies. Therefore, smaller companies may entail greater risks for investors than larger companies.

 

    Correlation Risk. The effectiveness of the Portfolio’s futures hedging program may be reduced if the Portfolio’s equity positions do not sufficiently correlate to the indices underlying its futures positions.

 

    Counterparty Risk. When the Fund invests in financial instruments that involve counterparties, the Fund is exposed to risks associated with the credit quality of the counterparty or the ability of the counterparty to pay the Fund. Such instruments can provide exposure to a particular group of securities, index or asset class without the Fund actually purchasing those securities or investments. The Fund’s use of such financial instruments, including swap agreements and structured notes, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, if a swap agreement counterparty defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, this default will cause the value of your investment in the Fund to decrease.

 

    Currency Risk. Securities denominated in foreign currencies may be adversely affected by changes in currency rates and by substantial currency conversion costs.

 

    Derivative Securities Risk. The risk that the Fund’s use of derivatives will cause losses (1) due to the unexpected effect of market movements on a derivative’s price; (2) because the derivatives do not perform as anticipated; (3) because the derivatives are not correlated with the performance of other investments which they are used to hedge; (4) if the Fund is unable to liquidate a position because of an illiquid secondary market or (5) because the other party to the derivative fails to make required payments (counterparty risk).

 

    Derivatives Tax Risk. Compared to other types of investments, derivatives may be harder to value and may also be less tax efficient. In addition, changes in government regulation of derivative instruments could affect the character, timing and amount of the Fund’s taxable income or gains, and may limit or prevent the Fund from using certain types of derivative instruments as a part of its investment strategy, which could make the
   

investment strategy more costly to implement or require the Fund to change its investment strategy. To the extent that the Fund uses derivatives for hedging or to gain or limit exposure to a particular market or market segment, there may be imperfect correlation between the value of the derivative instrument and the value of the instrument being hedged or the relevant market or market segment, in which case the Fund may not realize the intended benefits. There is also the risk that during adverse market conditions, an instrument which would usually operate as a hedge provides no hedging benefits at all. The Fund’s use of derivatives may be limited by the requirements for taxation of the Fund as a regulated investment company.

 

    Emerging Market Countries Risk. Emerging market securities typically present even greater exposure to the risks described under “Foreign Investing Risk” and may be particularly sensitive to certain economic changes. Emerging market securities are exposed to a number of risks that may make these investments volatile in price or difficult to trade. Companies in emerging market countries generally may be subject to less stringent financial reporting, accounting and auditing standards than companies in more developed countries. In addition, securities law and the enforcement of systems of taxation in many emerging market countries may change quickly and unpredictably, and the ability to bring and enforce actions may be limited.

 

    Event-Driven Trading Risk. Event-driven trading involves the risk that the special situation may not occur as anticipated, in which case the Fund may realize losses.

 

    Exchange Traded Funds (“ETFs”) Risk. An investment in an ETF generally presents the same primary risks as an investment in a conventional fund (i.e., one that is not exchange-traded) that has the same investment objectives, strategies, and policies. The price of an ETF can fluctuate up or down, and the Fund could lose money investing in an ETF if the prices of the securities owned by the ETF go down. In addition, ETFs may be subject to the following risks that do not apply to conventional funds: (i) the market price of an ETF’s shares may trade above or below their net asset value; (ii) an active trading market for an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained; or (iii) trading of an ETF’s shares may be halted if the listing exchange’s 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 stock trading generally.

 

    Foreign Investing Risk. Economic, political or regulatory conditions may be less favorable, and markets may be less liquid, less transparent and more volatile, in foreign countries, and in particular emerging markets, than in the United States. Currency fluctuations may reduce investment gains or add to investment losses.

 

   

Forward Currency Exchange Contract Risk. A forward foreign currency exchange contract is an agreement

 

 

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WILMINGTON GLOBAL ALPHA EQUITIES FUND

 

    to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date and at a price set at the time of the contract. When used for hedging purposes, forward foreign currency exchange contracts may reduce the risk of loss from a change in value of a currency, but they also limit any potential gains, do not protect against fluctuations in the value of the underlying position and are subject to counterparty risk.

 

    Growth Investing Risk. Due to their relatively high valuations, growth stocks are typically more volatile than value stocks.

 

    Information Risk. When the quantitative analytical tools (“Tools”) and information and data (“Data”) used in managing the Fund prove to be incorrect or incomplete, any investment decisions made in reliance on the Tools and Data may not produce the desired results and the Fund may realize losses.

 

    Leverage Risk. The risk associated with securities transactions or practices that multiply small market movements into larger changes in value. The Fund derives substantially all of its short exposure from its investment in derivatives and other financial instruments that provide leveraged exposure, such as futures contracts. The Fund’s investment in these instruments generally requires a small investment relative to the amount of investment exposure assumed. As a result, such investments may give rise to losses that exceed the amount invested in those instruments. Because such instruments are an integral part of the Fund’s investment strategy, the use of such instruments may expose the Fund to potentially dramatic losses or gains in the value of its portfolio. The cost of investing in such instruments generally increases as interest rates increase, which will lower the Fund’s return.

 

    Liquidity Risk. The risk that certain securities or other instruments, such as derivatives, may be difficult or impossible for the Fund to sell or dispose of at the price at which the Fund has valued the security.

 

    Market Risk. There is a risk that the value of the Fund’s investments may decrease in response to expected, real or perceived economic, political or financial events in the U.S. or global markets. The frequency and magnitude of such changes in value cannot be predicted. Certain securities and other investments held by the Fund may experience increased volatility, illiquidity, or other potentially adverse effects in response to changing market conditions, inflation, changes in interest rates, lack of liquidity in the bond or equity markets, volatility in the equity markets, market disruptions caused by local or regional events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness (including epidemics and pandemics) or other public health issues, recessions or other events or adverse investor sentiment or other political, regulatory, economic and social developments, and developments that impact specific economic sectors,
   

industries or segments of the 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 worldwide due to increasingly interconnected global economies and financial markets. Market risk includes the risk that a particular style of investing, such as growth or value, may underperform the market generally.

 

    Natural Resources Risk. Investments in companies that own or develop natural resources (e.g., exploring, mining, refining), or supply goods and services to such companies (e.g., drilling, processing, transporting, fabricating), expose the Fund to the greater volatility of the markets for these companies’ products, and to international economic, political and regulatory influences that frequently affect the operation of these companies.

 

    Options and Futures Risk. When options are purchased over the counter, the Fund bears the risk that the counterparty that wrote the option will be unable or unwilling to perform its obligations under the option contract. Such options may also be illiquid, and in such cases, the Fund may have difficulty closing out its position. The risks associated with futures include: the potential inability to terminate or sell a position, the lack of a liquid secondary market for the Fund’s position and the risk that the counterparty to the transaction will not meet its obligations.

 

    Over-the-Counter (“OTC”) Trading Risk. Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest, including swap agreements, may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the OTC market. While the OTC derivatives market is the primary trading venue for many derivatives, it is largely unregulated. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty risk with respect to such derivatives contracts.

 

    Preferred Stocks Risk. Unlike interest payments on debt securities, dividend payments on a preferred stock typically must be declared by the issuer’s board of directors. In addition, in the event an issuer of preferred stock experiences economic difficulties, the issuer’s preferred stock may lose substantial value due to the reduced likelihood that the issuer’s board of directors will declare a dividend and the fact that the preferred stock may be subordinated to other securities of the same issuer.

 

    Stock Market Risk. The value of equity securities in the Fund’s portfolio will fluctuate and, as a result, the Fund’s share price may decline suddenly or over a sustained period of time.

 

   

Swap Agreement Risk. With respect to an uncleared swap (i.e., negotiated bilaterally and traded OTC between the two parties), the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. Under certain market conditions,

 

 

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WILMINGTON GLOBAL ALPHA EQUITIES FUND

 

    swap agreements also may be considered to be illiquid. In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements that involve a limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties are willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment goal. In the case of a cleared swap (i.e., transacted through a futures commission merchant (an “FCM”) and cleared through a clearinghouse that serves as a central counterparty (e.g., certain credit default swaps)), there is also a risk of loss by the Fund of the margin deposits posted with the FCM in the event of the FCM’s bankruptcy.

 

    Valuation Risk. The risk that the Fund has valued certain of its securities at a higher price than it can sell them.

 

    Value Investing Risk. Due to their relatively low valuations, value stocks are typically less volatile than growth stocks and therefore may lag behind growth stocks in an up market.

As with any mutual fund investment, loss of money is a risk of investing. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency.

Performance Information

The returns presented for the Fund for periods prior to January 31, 2017 were achieved when the Fund had a different investment goal and different, though similar, investment strategy.

The bar chart and table immediately following show the variability of the Fund’s returns and are meant to provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year, with respect to its Class I Shares, and by showing how the Fund’s average annual total returns for 1, 5 and 10 years or the life of the Fund compare with 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. Updated performance information is available at www.wilmingtonfunds.com.

Annual Total Returns – Class I Shares

 

LOGO

 

Best Quarter

5.53%

3/31/2019

 

 

Worst Quarter

(9.71)%

3/31/2020

 

The Fund’s Class I Shares total return for the six-month period from January 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022 was (5.95)%. For Class A Shares, the average annual total returns in the table below include the maximum Class A sales charge of 5.50%, which is normally deducted when you purchase shares.

Average Annual Total Returns

(For the periods ended December 31, 2021)

 

    1 Year     5 Years     10 Years
or Life of
Fund*
 
       

Class I Shares

                       
       

Return Before Taxes

    6.52%       5.25%       3.55%  
       

Return After Taxes on Distributions**

    6.39%       4.91%       3.17%  
       

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares**

    3.95%       4.03%       2.69%  
       

Class A Shares

                       
       

Return Before Taxes

    0.39%       3.80%       2.70%  
       

HFRX Equity Hedge Index (reflects no deductions for taxes)

    12.14%       5.29%       3.99%  

 

*   Class I and A Shares Commenced operations on January 12, 2012.

 

**  

After-tax performance is presented only for Class I Shares of the Fund. The after-tax returns for other Fund classes will vary. Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown in the preceding table. When after-tax returns

 

 

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WILMINGTON GLOBAL ALPHA EQUITIES FUND

 

  are calculated, it is assumed that the shareholder was in the highest individual federal marginal income tax bracket at the time of each distribution of income or capital gains or upon redemption. State and local income taxes are not reflected in the calculations. Please note that after-tax returns are not relevant for a shareholder who holds Fund shares in a tax-advantaged account, such as an individual retirement account or a 401(k) plan.

Management of the Fund

Investment Advisor

Wilmington Funds Management Corporation

Investment Sub-Advisors

Principal Sub-Advisor - Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors, Inc. (“WTIA”)

Other Sub-Advisor - Wellington Management Company LLP (“Wellington”)

 

Portfolio Managers   Title   Service Date
(with the Fund)
Matthew D. Glaser   Executive Vice President and Head of Equity and Non-Traditional Investments at WTIA   2017
Jordan Strauss, CFA   Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager at WTIA   2015

Gregg R. Thomas, CFA

  Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of Investment Strategy at Wellington   2017

Tom S. Simon, CFA, FRM

  Senior Managing Director, Portfolio Manager at Wellington   2018

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Requests to purchase or redeem Fund Shares are processed on each day that the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) is open for business. You may purchase or redeem shares by contacting the Fund at 1-800-836-2211. If you invest

through a financial intermediary, please contact that intermediary regarding purchase and redemption procedures.

 

Minimum Initial Investment Amount (Class A):*    $ 1,000  
Minimum Initial Investment Amount (Class I):*    $ 100,000  
Minimum Subsequent Investment Amount (all classes):    $ 25  

 

*   Other restrictions may apply. See “Purchasing Shares” in the Prospectus for further information

The minimum initial and subsequent investment amounts may be waived or lowered from time to time.

Tax Information

The distributions you receive from the Fund are taxable and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

Additional Payments to Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies (such as the Advisor) may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your sales person or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

 

WT GAE 01.03.2023

 

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