N-CSR 1 fp0047495_ncsr.htm

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM N-CSR

CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT

INVESTMENT COMPANIES

INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT FILE NUMBER 811-6618

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

40 Wall Street

New York, NY 10005

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

Joseph I. Benedek

Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

Raritan Plaza I

Edison, NJ 08837-3620

(Name and address of agent for service)

REGISTRANT'S TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE:

1-212-858-8000

DATE OF FISCAL YEAR END: SEPTEMBER 30

DATE OF REPORTING PERIOD: SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Item 1. Reports to Stockholders

The annual report to stockholders follows

First Investors Funds

Income Funds

■ Floating Rate

■ Fund For Income

■ Government Cash Management

■ International Opportunities Bond

■ Investment Grade

■ Limited Duration Bond

■ Strategic Income

Equity Funds

■ Covered Call Strategy

■ Equity Income

■ Global

■ Growth & Income

■ Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities

■ International

■ Opportunity

■ Premium Income

■ Select Growth

■ Special Situations

■ Total Return

Beginning on or about June 1, 2021, copies of your Fund’s shareholder reports will not automatically be sent to you by mail. Please see inside the front cover for important information.

Annual Report

September 30, 2019

FOREWORD

This report is for the information of the shareholders of the Funds. It is the policy of each Fund described in this report to mail only one copy of a Fund’s prospectus, annual report, semi-annual report and proxy statements to all shareholders who share the same mailing address and share the same last name and have invested in a Fund covered by the same document. You are deemed to consent to this policy unless you specifically revoke this policy and request that separate copies of such documents be mailed to you. In such case, you will begin to receive your own copies within 30 days after our receipt of the revocation. You may request that separate copies of these disclosure documents be mailed to you by writing to us at: Foresters Investor Services, Inc., Raritan Plaza I, Edison, NJ 08837-3620 or calling us at 1-800-423-4026.

Beginning on or about June 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of your Fund’s shareholder reports will no longer be sent to you by mail, unless you specifically request them from the Fund or from your financial intermediary, such as a broker/dealer, bank, or insurance company. Instead, you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted on the website and provided with a link to access the report.

If you already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you do not need to take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically by signing up at delawarefunds.com/edelivery. If you own these shares through a financial intermediary, you may contact your financial intermediary.

You may elect to receive paper copies of all future shareholder reports free of charge. You can inform the Fund that you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports by contacting us at 1-800-423-4026. If you own these shares through a financial intermediary, you may contact your financial intermediary to elect to continue to receive paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all funds held with the Delaware Funds^® by Macquarie or your financial intermediary.

The views expressed in the portfolio manager letters reflect those views of the portfolio managers only through the end of the period covered. Any such views are subject to change at any time based upon market or other conditions and we disclaim any responsibility to update such views. These views may not be relied on as investment advice.

You may obtain a free prospectus for any of the Funds by contacting your representative, calling 1-800-423-4026, writing to us at the following address: Foresters Financial Services, Inc., 40 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005. You should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of a Fund carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund, and should be read carefully before investing.

An investment in a Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. Although the Government Cash Management Fund seeks to preserve a net asset value at $1.00 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in it, just as it is possible to lose money by investing in any of the other Funds. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. There is no guarantee that a Fund’s investment objective will be achieved.

Carefully consider the Funds’ investment objectives, risk factors, charges, and expenses before investing. This and other information can be found in the Funds’ prospectus and their summary prospectuses, which may be obtained by visiting delawarefunds.com/literature or calling 1-800-423-4026. Investors should read the prospectus and the summary prospectus carefully before investing.

A Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) for any of the Funds may also be obtained, without charge, upon request by calling 1-800-423-4026, writing to us at our address or by visiting our website listed above. The SAI contains more detailed information about the Funds, including information about its Trustees.

Other than Macquarie Bank Limited (“MBL”), none of the entities noted are authorized deposit-taking institutions for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959 (Commonwealth of Australia). The obligations of these entities do not represent deposits or other liabilities of MBL. MBL does not guarantee or otherwise provide assurance in respect of the obligations of these entities, unless noted otherwise. The funds are governed by U.S. laws and regulations

Foresters Financial^TM and Foresters^TM are the trade names and trademarks of The Independent Order of Foresters (Foresters), a fraternal benefit society, 789 Don Mills Road, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9 and its subsidiaries.

Understanding Your Fund’s Expenses (unaudited)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

As a mutual fund shareholder, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including a sales charge (load) on purchase payments (on Class A shares only) and a contingent deferred sales charge on redemptions (on Class B shares and, under certain circumstances when a Class A load was waived, on Class A shares); and (2) ongoing costs, including advisory fees; distribution and service fees (12b-1) (on Class A and Class B shares only); and other expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Funds and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

The examples are based on an investment of $1,000 in each Fund at the beginning of the period, April 1, 2019, and held for the entire six-month period ended September 30, 2019. The calculations assume that no shares were bought or sold during the period. Your actual costs may have been higher or lower, depending on the amount of your investment and the timing of any purchases or redemptions.

Actual Expenses Example:

These amounts help you to estimate the actual expenses that you paid over the period. The “Ending Account Value” shown is derived from a Fund’s actual return, and the “Expenses Paid During Period” shows the dollar amount that would have been paid by an investor who started with $1,000 in the Fund. You may use the information here, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period.

To estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period, simply divide your ending account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.60), then multiply the result by the number given for your Fund under the heading “Expenses Paid During Period”.

Hypothetical Expenses Example:

These amounts provide information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio for each class of shares of a Fund, and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight and help you compare your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transaction costs, such as front-end or contingent deferred sales charges (loads) or account fees that are charged to certain types of accounts, such as an annual custodial fee of $15 for certain IRA accounts and certain other retirement accounts or an annual custodial fee of $30 for 403(b) custodial accounts (subject to exceptions and certain waivers as described in the Funds’ Statement of Additional Information). Therefore, the hypothetical expenses example is useful in comparing ongoing costs only and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

Portfolio Manager’s Letter

FLOATING RATE FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Floating Rate Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 2.71% for Class A shares, 2.72% for Advisor Class shares and 3.21% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 38.5 cents per share on Class A shares, 40.6 cents per share on Advisor Class shares and 42.2 cents per share on Institutional Class shares.

The Markets

The Fund’s fiscal year through September 30, 2019 launched with a sharp turn into murkier waters. After an optimistic early 2018, starting in mid-October, risk assets experienced significant declines initially on Federal Reserve (“Fed”) tightening, but—by the end of the period— on weaker U.S. economic data which softened hawkish rate language from the Fed and caused markets to sharply reduce their view on rate increases for 2019. The constant, underlying source of market unease permeating the quarter, however, was political, with investors questioning the outcome of the U.S. elections and their impact on trade wars with China and on Congressional budgets. Even global political disarray, including failure of the U.K. government to hold a Brexit vote, ongoing budget wrangling between Italy and the European Central Bank, the election of populist leaders in Latin America, and rioting in Paris over increased fuel taxes, impacted domestic U.S. markets. Some of these issues would settle but others—particularly trade war headlines, Brexit uncertainty, and, increasingly—falling oil prices in an environment of lower global growth—would continue to cloud the investment horizon at intervals throughout the year even if, in the end, there were no real storms.

In this late 2018 environment, high yield declined, with more equity-like portions of the market—those rated CCC and below—declining most (and with actual equity markets declining by a multiple of the declines seen in high yield). Syndicated loans which comprise this portfolio managed to stay resilient for October and November as investors continued to worry about future rate increases, but capitulated to the general swoon in lower rated credit in December. Higher-rated fixed income performed as one might have expected with Treasurys attracting assets (and rallying in price) in a flight to quality and outperforming all other segments of the bond (or loan) market.

While the Fed had clearly telegraphed that it would raise rates at the December meeting, an equity market downdraft in early December and public remarks from President Trump pressing the Fed not to raise rates gave some investors the (false) impression the Fed might pause. While the Fed did raise in December, markets correctly interpreted that future Fed increases were off the table and that the Fed would face increasing pressure throughout 2019 to lower fast enough and far enough to support growth (and, by extension, asset prices) when corporate tax relief stimulus and quantitative easing were running out of steam. This shift in sentiment set all bond markets, but particularly interest rate-sensitive investment grade markets, off and running. While loan markets performed well to in the New Year, loan market flows had entered a period of outflows as investors no longer feared rate increases. Also, as loans had maintained their value better than similarly-rated high yield in the fourth quarter of 2018, they had just a little less “bounce” in them in the New Year. More significantly, in the absence of rate pressure, loans (and high yield bonds alike) lagged Treasurys and higher-rated, more U.S. Treasury-sensitive investment grade over 2019.

We note one interesting trend for the loan market vs. high yield bonds over the period; namely, returns were more evenly distributed across the loan market. High yield was particularly challenged by the performance of its energy related bonds as oil prices fell, even as OPEC worked credibly to limit supply in the face of softer global economic data. As in late 2014 and 2015, the energy sector saw an uptick in high yield defaults or anticipated restructuring processes. For better or worse, the U.S. loan market has just not included many energy company issuers—typically less than 2% of the market versus the 15% of the U.S. high yield market comprised of energy bonds.

The Fund

In fiscal year 2019, the Fund returned attractively, delivering gross performance higher than that of the benchmark. Net performance, after deduction of fees and expenses, was lower than the benchmark. The Fund gained most against the index through better preservation of capital in the fourth quarter of 2018 and the third quarter of 2019.

Through the period, the Fund’s positioning vs. market peers improved. While we had, before the period, expanded the investment target universe slightly to include the potential for lower-rated loans, we continued to focus on loans we perceived to be of generally higher credit quality. For example, in the fourth quarter, while we expanded exposure to B rated loans, we remained underweight in the market in lower rated CCC—a strategy which helped outperformance during the fourth quarter market downdraft, but disadvantaged the portfolio modestly during the first quarter’s market bounce and beyond. Starting in the second quarter, the market faced significant headwinds not from the market, but from a series of large redemptions that forced sales and moved much of the Fund to cash in a rising market. We overcame most—but not all—of this drag on performance through strong credit selection, as well as through strong performance of the small percentage of high yield bonds we continued to hold in the portfolio for performance and liquidity. From an industry perspective, we focused on judiciously reducing exposure to cyclicals over the year. An underweight in more speculative IT and retail sectors hurt the Fund relative to the market in the first quarter of 2019 snap back, but rewarded the Fund thereafter. The Fund also exhibited strong credit selection in metals and mining and financials. Healthcare, where we were overweight, helped relative performance early in the period, but became a headwind as the year aged, even as we reduced exposure.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we have appreciated the opportunity to serve your investment needs for the past decade.

Sincerely,

Bryan Petermann

Portfolio Manager

Muzinich & Co., Inc.

October 4, 2019

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

FLOATING RATE FUND

The examples below show the ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in your Fund and will help you in comparing these costs with costs of other mutual funds. Please refer to page 1 for a detailed explanation of the information presented in these examples.

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.10%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,024.49	$ 5.58
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.55	$ 5.57
Advisor Class Shares	0.90%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,023.54	$ 4.57
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,020.56	$ 4.56
Institutional Class Shares	0.76%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,027.36	$ 3.86
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,021.26	$ 3.85

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived and/or assumed.
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

TOP TEN SECTOR

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

FLOATING RATE FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Floating Rate Fund (Class A shares) and the Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index
One Year	2.71%	2.72%	3.21%	3.11%
Five Years	2.72%	2.90%	3.17%	4.11%
Since Inception^**	2.47%	2.67%	2.89%	4.12%

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	0.13%	2.72%	3.21%
Five Years	2.20%	2.90%	3.17%
Since Inception^**	2.03%	2.67%	2.89%
S.E.C. 30-Day Yield^***	3.88%	3.78%	4.28%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Floating Rate Fund (Class A shares) beginning 10/21/13 (commencement of operations) with a theoretical investment in the Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index (the “Index”). The Index is designed to mirror the investable universe of the U.S. dollar-denominated leveraged loan market. Loans included in the Index must be issued from companies in developed countries, rated below investment grade by at least one ratings provider, and be fully funded term loans with a remaining term of at least one year. It is not possible to invest directly in this Index. In addition, the Index does not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table it is assumed that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares performance will be

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited) (continued)

FLOATING RATE FUND

greater than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^* Average Annual Total Return figures (for the periods ended 9/30/19) include the reinvestment of all dividends and distributions. “N.A.V. Only” returns are calculated without sales charges. The Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are based on the current maximum sales charge of 2.50% and assume the current sales charge of 2.50% was in effect at the beginning of the stated periods (prior to 6/12/17, the maximum sales charge was 5.75%). The Advisor Class and Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are the same as the N.A.V. Only returns since these classes are sold without sales charges. During the periods shown, some of the expenses of the Fund were waived or assumed. If such expenses had been paid by the Fund, the Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for Five Years and Since Inception would have been 2.07% and 1.85%, respectively. The Advisor Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for Five Years and Since Inception would have been 2.86% and 2.61%, respectively. The Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been 3.18%, 3.08% and 2.74%, respectively, and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 4.26%. Results represent past performance and do not indicate future results. The graph and the returns shown do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on distributions or the redemption of fund shares. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Index figures are from Credit Suisse and all other figures are from Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

^** The Since Inception returns for Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the period beginning 10/21/13 (commencement of operations).

^*** The S.E.C. 30-Day Yield shown is for September 2019.

Portfolio of Investments

FLOATING RATE FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		LOAN PARTICIPATIONS^†—91.9%
		Aerospace/Defense—.9%
		TransDigm, Inc.:
$	497M	4.5435%, 8/22/2022	$	496,229
	497M	4.5435%, 5/30/2025		496,074
				992,303
		Automotive—2.1%
	1,250M	Panther BF Aggregator 2, LP, 3.5%, 4/30/2026 ^(a)		1,241,150
	247M	Superior Industries International, Inc., 6.0435%, 5/22/2024		236,849
	736M	Trico Group, LLC, 9.1043%, 2/2/2024		722,047
				2,200,046
		Building Materials—.6%
	741M	Yak Access, LLC, 7.0434%, 7/11/2025		681,266
		Chemicals—4.5%
		Flint Group:
	100M	5.2827%, 9/6/2021		85,121
	604M	5.2827%, 9/7/2021		514,907
	398M	MacDermid, Inc., 4.2935%, 1/30/2026		399,898
	1,194M	Messer Industries USA, Inc., 4.8298%, 3/2/2026		1,192,322
	1,493M	Perstorp Holding AB, 6.8543%, 4/6/2026		1,414,144
	365M	PQ Group Holdings, Inc., 4.7555%, 2/7/2025		366,665
	750M	Univar USA, Inc., 4.5435%, 7/1/2024		753,750
				4,726,807
		Consumer Durables—1.1%
	1,221M	TGP Holdings III, LLC, 6.2934%, 9/25/2024		1,171,829
		Consumer Non-Durables—1.9%
	777M	Energizer Holdings, Inc., 4.375%, 12/17/2025		776,962
	497M	frontdoor, inc., 4.5625%, 8/14/2025		495,622

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FLOATING RATE FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Consumer Non-Durables (continued)
		Safety Products:
$	617M	6.5434%, 6/29/2026	$	615,870
	75M	1%, 6/29/2026 ^(a)		75,294
				1,963,748
		Energy—.9%
	746M	Consolidated Energy Finance SA, 4.5472%, 5/7/2025		725,701
	247M	Triton Solar U.S Acquisition Co, 8.0434%, 10/29/2024		232,642
				958,343
		Financial Services—2.9%
	696M	Alliant Holdings Intermediate, LLC, 5.0536%, 5/9/2025		685,156
	995M	NFP Corp., 5.0434%, 1/8/2024		979,031
	700M	Teneo Holdings, LLC, 7.2886%, 7/14/2025		670,250
	744M	USI Holdings Corp., 5.1043%, 5/16/2024		732,899
				3,067,336
		Financials—7.4%
	1,244M	Acrisure, LLC, 5.8486%, 11/22/2023		1,229,711
	1,243M	AssuredPartners, Inc., 5.5435%, 10/22/2024		1,238,931
	497M	Paysafe, LLC, 5.2935%, 1/3/2025		496,853
		Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc.:
	497M	5.2935%, 12/31/2025		490,031
	499M	6.0435%, 8/10/2026		500,074
	675M	Sunshine Luxembourg VII Sarl., 6.3486%, 7/17/2026 ^(a)		678,655
	1,244M	TransUnion, LLC, 4.0435%, 6/19/2025		1,249,921
	1,250M	Travelport Finance Luxembourg, 7.1043%, 5/29/2026		1,134,375
	725M	VFH Parent, LLC, 6.0437%, 3/2/2026		727,041
				7,745,592
		Food/Beverage/Tobacco—3.7%
	360M	Chobani, LLC, 5.5434%, 10/9/2023		356,867
	247M	Dole Food Co., Inc., 4.795%, 4/6/2024		243,956
	1,244M	Hearthside Food Holdings, LLC, 5.731%, 5/23/2025		1,172,190

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Food/Beverage/Tobacco (continued)
$	746M	HLF Financing Sarl, LLC, 5.2935%, 8/18/2025	$	750,272
	250M	Refresco BV, 5.4081%, 1/22/2025		251,043
	497M	Sigma Bidco BV, 5.3198%, 7/2/2025		496,232
	575M	US Foods, Inc., 4.0435%, 8/17/2026		577,757
				3,848,317
		Food/Drug—.7%
	700M	Curium BidCo Sarl, 6.0996%, 6/26/2026		699,125
		Forest Products/Containers—2.0%
	1,247M	Berry Global, Inc., 4.549%, 7/1/2026		1,254,861
	825M	Liqui-Box Corp., 4.5%, 6/3/2026 ^(a)		818,813
				2,073,674
		Gaming/Leisure—6.4%
	697M	AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc., 5.23%, 4/22/2026		699,481
	923M	Boyd Gaming Corp., 4.1661%, 9/15/2023		926,990
	1,244M	Casablanca U.S. Holdings, Inc., 6.2555%, 3/29/2024		1,206,376
	748M	Caesars Entertainment Operating Co., LLC, 4.7935%, 12/23/2024		744,472
	250M	Diamond Sports Group, LLC, 5.3%, 8/24/2026		251,563
	1,000M	Dorna Sports SL, 5.1997%, 4/12/2024		995,625
	232M	Eldorado Resorts, Inc., 3.5351%, 4/17/2024		231,564
	248M	Lakeland Tours, 5.8951%, 12/16/2024		249,351
	499M	Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc., 4.05%, 4/17/2026		499,790
	692M	Stars Group Holdings BV, 5.6043%, 7/10/2025		695,953
	249M	Station Casinos, LLC, 4.55%, 6/8/2023		250,102
				6,751,267
		Health Care—10.6%
	1,244M	Air Methods Corp., 5.6043%, 4/22/2024		1,013,564
	449M	Auris Luxembourg III Sarl, 5.7934%, 2/23/2026		446,347
	1,244M	Envision Healthcare Corp., 5.7935%, 10/10/2025		1,016,753

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FLOATING RATE FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Health Care (continued)
		Heartland Dental, LLC:
$	913M	5.7935%, 4/30/2025	$	895,853
	21M	3.75%, 4/30/2025 ^(a)		20,136
	497M	Jordan Health, Inc., 7.0536%, 5/16/2025		417,884
		Mallinckrodt International Finance SA:
	1,792M	4.8543%, 9/24/2024		1,361,984
	129M	5.1752%, 2/24/2025		97,654
	1,250M	MPH Acquisition Holdings, LLC, 4.8543%, 6/7/2023		1,195,313
		NMN Holdings III Corp.:
	398M	5.7935%, 11/13/2025		388,190
	85M	3.75%, 11/13/2025 ^(a)		82,875
	1,031M	Parexel International Corp., 4.7934%, 9/27/2024		980,181
	998M	PetVet Care Centers, LLC, 4.7935%, 2/14/2025 ^(a)		972,667
	746M	RegionalCare Hospital Partners Holdings, Inc., 6.5536%, 11/17/2025		747,326
	399M	Sotera Health Holdings LLC, 5.5668%, 5/16/2022		398,501
	600M	U.S. Renal Care, 7.0625%, 6/15/2026		565,500
	498M	VVC Holdings Co., 6.681%, 2/11/2026		495,945
				11,096,673
		Information Technology—11.5%
	1,246M	Capri Acquisition BidCo, Ltd., 5.2555%, 11/1/2024		1,233,127
	1,020M	Change Healthcare Holdings, LLC, 4.5434%, 3/1/2024		1,016,542
	900M	Dcert Buyer Inc., 4%, 8/10/2026 ^(a)		898,313
	1,492M	DigiCert Holdings, Inc., 6.0434%, 10/31/2024		1,489,664
	1,244M	EagleView Technology Corp., 5.5435%, 8/14/2025		1,209,532
	499M	Inovalon Holdings, Inc., 5.5625%, 4/2/2025		502,272
	551M	MacDonald, Detwiler, Inc., 4.8535%, 10/4/2024		486,547
	459M	Microchip Technology, Inc., 4.05%, 5/29/2025		460,668
	587M	Plantronics, Inc., 4.5434%, 7/2/2025		586,098
	823M	SCS Holdings I, Inc., 6.3543%, 7/1/2026		826,542
	997M	SuperMoose Borrower, LLC, 5.7934%, 8/29/2025		937,166
	1,245M	VeriFone Systems, Inc., 6.1358%, 8/20/2025		1,194,145
	1,250M	Web.com Group, Inc., 5.7775%, 10/10/2025		1,230,475
				12,071,091

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Manufacturing—7.8%
$	1,242M	AI Alpine U.S. Bidco, Inc., 4.8365%, 10/24/2025	$	1,216,088
	746M	Altran Technologies SA, 4.4058%, 3/20/2025		749,477
	746M	AMG Advanced Metallurgical, 5.0435%, 2/3/2025		735,010
	1,244M	Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services, Inc., 6.5141%, 6/21/2024		1,220,321
	367M	Clark Equipment Co., 4.1043%, 5/17/2024		368,672
	1,129M	Columbus McKinnon Corp. of New York, 4.6043%, 1/31/2024		1,129,213
	249M	Duravant, Inc., 5.3543%, 7/19/2024		245,003
	479M	Filtration Group Corp., 5.0434%, 3/31/2025		480,780
	1,250M	GrafTech International, Ltd., 5.5435%, 2/12/2025		1,218,750
	398M	Hillman Group, Inc., 6.0435%, 6/2/2025		387,040
	495M	Minimax Viking GmbH, 5.112%, 7/25/2025		497,912
				8,248,266
		Media-Broadcasting—1.7%
	137M	Mission Broadcasting, Inc., 4.3502%, 1/17/2024		137,736
		Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.:
	690M	4.2934%, 1/17/2024		691,416
	250M	4.807%, 6/19/2026		251,408
	725M	Sinclair Television Group, Inc., 4.54%, 9/30/2026		728,625
				1,809,185
		Media-Cable TV—5.8%
	743M	Altice Financing SA, 4.7775%, 7/28/2025		723,943
	579M	Atlantic Broadband, LLC, 4.2935%, 1/3/2025		579,612
	1,192M	Cablevision, 4.2775%, 7/17/2025		1,193,765
	450M	Clear Channel Worldwide Holdings, 5.5435%, 8/10/2026		451,874
		Gray Television, Inc.:
	450M	4.5818%, 2/7/2024		450,844
	231M	4.8318%, 1/2/2026		231,920
	1,245M	SFR Group, LLC, 4.7934%, 7/31/2025		1,216,897
	1,250M	Ziggo Secured Finance Partnership, 4.5275%, 4/15/2025		1,247,656
				6,096,511

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FLOATING RATE FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Media-Diversified—3.5%
$	1,393M	DiscoverOrg., LLC, 6.612%, 2/2/2026	$	1,390,395
	993M	E.W. Scripps Co., 4.7934%, 5/1/2026		995,026
	1,246M	R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., 7.0435%, 1/15/2024		1,248,833
				3,634,254
		Retail-General Merchandise—2.7%
	718M	Burger King, 4.2935%, 2/17/2024		721,661
	500M	Harbor Freight Tools USA, Inc., 4.5434%, 8/16/2023		486,879
	750M	Prestige Brands, Inc., 4.0435%, 1/26/2024		752,812
	946M	Varsity Brands, Inc., 2.7338%, 12/16/2024		912,147
				2,873,499
		Services—5.8%
	645M	Dawn Acquisition, LLC, 5.8543%, 12/31/2025		612,980
	497M	Empower Payments, Inc., 6.0435%, 10/6/2025		494,541
	798M	Gems Menasa Cayman, Ltd., 7.0435%, 7/30/2026		794,010
	995M	IQVIA, Inc., 3.8543%, 6/9/2025		996,519
	1,940M	Prime Security Services Borrower, LLC, 4.862%, 5/2/2022		1,942,992
	1,269M	Servpro Borrower, LLC, 7.5%, 4/13/2026		1,269,424
				6,110,466
		Telecommunication Services—1.1%
	1,189M	GCI Holdings, LLC, 4.6119%, 2/2/2022		1,171,075
		Utilities—3.4%
	995M	Calpine Corp., 4.61%, 1/15/2024		998,536
	943M	Edgewater Generation, LLC, 5.7935%, 12/12/2025		932,639
	650M	Heritage Power, LLC, 8.2048%, 7/8/2026		637,000
	995M	USIC Holdings, Inc., 5.2935%, 12/8/2023		987,595
				3,555,770

	Principal Amount		Security	Value
			Waste Management—2.0%
	$	995M	GFL Environmental, Inc., 5.0435%, 5/30/2025	$	988,331
		1,170M	Gopher Resource, LLC, 5.2935%, 3/6/2025		1,153,360
					2,141,691
			Wireless Communications—.9%
		497M	Sprint Communications, Inc., 4.5625%, 2/2/2024		494,340
		497M	Telesat Canada, 4.61%, 11/17/2023		499,654
					993,994
Total Value of Loan Participations (cost $97,983,696)					96,682,128
			CORPORATE BONDS—7.2%
			Energy—1.4%
		1,250M	CITGO Petroleum Corp., 6.25%, 8/15/2022 ^(b)		1,268,750
		175M	Range Resources Corp., 5%, 8/15/2022		164,937
					1,433,687
			Forest Products/Containers—.9%
		900M	BWAY Holding Co., 5.5%, 4/15/2024 ^(b)		928,080
			Health Care—.6%
		400M	Bausch Health Cos., Inc., 7%, 3/15/2024 ^(b)		421,384
		250M	Tenet Healthcare Corp., 5.125%, 5/1/2025		254,075
					675,459
			Metals/Mining—1.6%
		1,000M	Commercial Metals Co., 4.875%, 5/15/2023		1,042,500
		600M	First Quantum Minerals, Ltd., 7.25%, 5/15/2022 ^(b)		597,258
					1,639,758
			Utilities—1.6%
		650M	Calpine Corp., 5.375%, 1/15/2023		659,750
		1,000M	Targa Resources Partners, LP, 4.25%, 11/15/2023		1,011,250
					1,671,000

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FLOATING RATE FUND

September 30, 2019

	Principal Amount		Security	Value
			Wireless Communications—1.1%
	$	1,050M	Sprint Corp., 7.875%, 9/15/2023	$	1,156,008
Total Value of Corporate Bonds (cost $7,256,720)					7,503,992

Total Value of Investments (cost $105,240,416)	99.1	%		104,186,120
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	.9			989,313
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	105,175,433

(a)	A portion or all of the security purchased on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis (see Note 1G).

(b)	Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933 (see Note 4).

^†	Interest rates are determined and reset periodically. The interest rates above are the rates in effect at September 30, 2019.

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. These inputs may include quoted prices for the identical instrument on an inactive market, prices for similar instruments, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, yield curves, default rates and similar data.

Level 3 –

Unobservable inputs for the asset or liability, to the extent relevant observable inputs are not available, representing the Fund’s own assumption about the assumptions a market participant would use in valuing the asset or liability, and would be based on the best information available.

The inputs methodology used for valuing securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities. For example, U.S. Government securities are reflected as Level 2 because the inputs used to determine fair value may not always be quoted prices in an active market.

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Loan Participations	$	—	$	96,682,128	$	—	$	96,682,128
Corporate Bonds		—		7,503,992		—		7,503,992
Total Investments in Securities^*	$	—	$	104,186,120	$	—	$	104,186,120

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization of loan participations and corporate bonds.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

Portfolio Manager’s Letter

FUND FOR INCOME

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Fund For Income for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 5.80% for Class A shares, 5.13% for Advisor Class shares and 6.23% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 12.7 cents per share on Class A shares, 13.1 cents on Advisor Class shares and 13.7 cents on Institutional Class shares.

Markets

The Fund’s fiscal year through September 30, 2019 launched with a sharp turn into murkier waters. After an optimistic early 2018, starting in mid-October, risk assets experienced significant declines initially on Federal Reserve (Fed) tightening, but—by the end of the period— on weaker U.S. economic data which softened hawkish rate language from the Fed and caused markets to sharply reduce their view on rate increases for 2019. The constant, underlying source of market unease permeating the quarter, however, was political, with investors questioning the outcome of the U.S. elections and their impact on trade wars with China and on Congressional budgets. Even global political disarray, including failure of the U.K. government to hold a Brexit vote, ongoing budget wrangling between Italy and the European Central Bank, the election of populist leaders in Latin America, and rioting in Paris over increased fuel taxes, impacted domestic U.S. markets. Some of these issues would settle but others—particularly trade war headlines, Brexit uncertainty, and, increasingly—falling oil prices in an environment of lower global growth—would continue to cloud the investment horizon at intervals throughout the year even if, in the end, there were no real storms.

In this late 2018 environment, high yield declined, with more equity-like portions of the market—those rated CCC and below—declining most (and with actual equity markets declining by a multiple of the declines seen in high yield). Syndicated loans (typically a small inclusion in this portfolio) managed to stay resilient for October and November as investors continued to worry about future rate increases, but capitulated to the general swoon in lower rated credit in December. Higher-rated fixed income performed as one might have expected with Treasuries attracting assets (and rallying in price) in a flight to quality and outperforming all other segments of the bond market.

While the Fed had clearly telegraphed that it would raise rates at the December meeting, an equity market downdraft in early December and public remarks from President Trump pressing the Fed not to raise rates gave some investors the (false) impression the Fed might pause. While the Fed did raise in December, markets correctly interpreted that future Fed increases were off the table and that the Fed would face increasing pressure throughout 2019 to lower fast enough and far enough to support growth (and, by extension, asset prices) when corporate tax relief stimulus and quantitative easing were running out of steam. This shift in sentiment set all bond markets, but particularly interest rate-sensitive investment grade markets, off and running. High yield paused again only in May, largely under geopolitical pressure and concerns of global growth, and accompanied by a second inversion of the U.S. yield curve (which is often seen as a pre-cursor for inflation). This stress was short-lived however as a market bounce-back rewarded those who provided liquidity straight through September.

Overall, investment grade credit was the period’s outstanding performer. High yield outperformed equities, delivering a rare “coupon-like” return over the period. A closer look at high yield, however, reveals wide return disparity within the asset class as the BB and B rated bonds in this Fund’s benchmark delivered returns of nearly 8% even as lower rated, more speculative CCC bonds lost considerable ground, returning a -5.21% as they declined straight through the third quarter. Falling oil prices appeared largely to blame, even as OPEC worked credibly to limit supply in the face of softer global economic data. As in late 2014 and 2015, the energy sector saw an uptick in defaults or anticipated restructuring processes.

The Fund

In fiscal year 2019, the Fund returned attractively, but delivered gross asset performance between that of its higher quality benchmark and the full high yield market. A few credit stories—some of which we do not believe have played out—have accounted for much of the underperformance. Drug manufacturer Mallinckrodt has declined on opioid and other headlines and has sold off, we believe, below the bond’s eventual value. Similarly, mining company, Dominion Diamond, has seen its bond price drop with falling diamond prices, but we believe the company—which was taken private in 2017—is well-supported by its owner and positioned to recognize better operating margins.

The Fund has delivered strong credit selection compared to the market most notably in the energy, services, food/beverage/tobacco, diversified media, and diversified financial service sectors. While we spent a good part of the year cautiously building up toward the market’s weight in energy in the portfolio, we stayed away from key areas of the business we perceived as weak, especially oil field services. The performance story can also be viewed—and may be more important to view—from ratings and duration perspectives as well. In hindsight, we have been overweight credit in a market that continued to offer strong balance sheet fundamentals for most companies outside the energy sector, and underweight duration risk. Once December 2018 passed, duration has been king, with the markets confident that the Fed would keep lowering, sparking an ongoing rally in the most treasury-sensitive corporates. Loans, a small, tactical portion of this portfolio (under 10%), have lagged as investors found their floating rate structures less compelling in an era of declining Fed Funds rates.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we have appreciated the opportunity to serve your investment needs for the past decade.

Sincerely,

Clinton J. Comeaux
Portfolio Manager
Muzinich & Co, Inc.

October 4, 2019

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

FUND FOR INCOME

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.18%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,034.70	$ 6.02
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.15	$ 5.97
Advisor Class Shares	0.93%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,027.12	$ 4.73
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,020.41	$ 4.71
Institutional Class Shares	0.80%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,036.69	$ 4.08
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,021.06	$ 4.05

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived.
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

TOP TEN SECTORS

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

FUND FOR INCOME

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Fund For Income (Class A shares), the ICE BofAML BB-B U.S. Cash Pay High Yield Constrained Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	ICE BofAML BB-B U.S. Cash Pay High Yield Index
One Year	5.80%	5.13%	6.23%	7.87%
Five Years	4.05%	4.16%	4.52%	5.49%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	6.44%	4.07%	4.43%	7.62%^†

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	1.64%	5.13%	6.23%
Five Years	3.19%	4.16%	4.52%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	5.99%	4.07%	4.43%
S.E.C. 30-Day Yield^***	4.97%	5.85%	5.53%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Fund For Income (Class A shares) beginning 9/30/09 with a theoretical investment in the ICE BofAML BB-B U.S. Cash Pay High Yield Constrained Index (the “Index”). The Index contains all securities in the ICE BofAML U.S. Cash Pay High Yield Index rated BB1 through B3, based on an average of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch, but caps issuer exposure at 2%. It is not possible to invest directly in this Index. In addition, the Index does not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table it is assumed that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited) (continued)

FUND FOR INCOME

shares and Institutional Class shares performance may be greater than or less than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^* Average Annual Total Return figures (for the periods ended 9/30/19) include the reinvestment of all dividends and distributions. “N.A.V. Only” returns are calculated without sales charges. The Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are based on the current maximum sales charge of 4% and assume the current sales charge of 4% was in effect at the beginning of the stated periods (prior to 6/12/17, the maximum sales charge was 5.75%). The Advisor Class and Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are the same as the N.A.V. Only returns since these classes are sold without sales charges. During the periods shown, some of the expenses of the Fund were waived or assumed. If such expenses had been paid by the Fund, the Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Ten Years would have been 1.62%, 3.17% and 5.97%, respectively, and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 4.96%. The Advisor Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been 5.11%, 4.15% and 3.46%, respectively, and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 5.83%. The Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been 6.21%, 4.50% and 4.41%, respectively, and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 5.52%. Results represent past performance and do not indicate future results. The graph and the returns shown do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on distributions or the redemption of fund shares. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. The issuers of high yield bonds, in which the Fund primarily invests, pay higher interest rates because they have a greater likelihood of financial difficulty, which could result in their inability to repay the bonds fully when due. Prices of high yield bonds are also subject to greater fluctuations. Index figures are from ICE Data Services and all other figures are from Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

^** The Since Inception returns for Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the periods beginning 4/1/13 (commencement of operations for those classes).

^*** The S.E.C. 30-Day Yield shown is for September 2019.

^† The Index return is for ten years. The Index return since inception of the Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares is 5.41%.

Portfolio of Investments

FUND FOR INCOME

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		CORPORATE BONDS—92.9%
		Aerospace/Defense—2.0%
		Bombardier, Inc.:
$	1,300M	6%, 10/15/2022 ^(a)	$	1,304,875
	1,950M	7.5%, 12/1/2024 ^(a)		1,954,875
		TransDigm, Inc.:
	1,925M	6%, 7/15/2022		1,958,688
	1,550M	6.5%, 7/15/2024		1,604,250
	1,600M	6.25%, 3/15/2026 ^(a)		1,722,000
	2,050M	Triumph Group, Inc., 5.25%, 6/1/2022		2,049,180
				10,593,868
		Automotive—2.4%
	1,675M	Adient Global Holdings, Ltd., 4.875%, 8/15/2026 ^(a)		1,369,312
	2,625M	American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc., 6.25%, 4/1/2025		2,559,375
	700M	Asbury Automotive Group, Inc., 6%, 12/15/2024		728,000
	1,225M	Cooper Standard Automotive, Inc., 5.625%, 11/15/2026 ^(a)		1,122,406
	1,650M	Hertz Corp., 7.625%, 6/1/2022 ^(a)		1,720,125
	1,825M	J.B. Poindexter & Co., 7.125%, 4/15/2026 ^(a)		1,898,000
	1,538M	LKQ Corp., 4.75%, 5/15/2023		1,564,915
	1,950M	Panther BF Aggregator 2, LP, 8.5%, 5/15/2027 ^(a)		1,979,250
	275M	Tenneco, Inc., 5%, 7/15/2026		226,188
				13,167,571
		Building Materials—1.1%
	550M	Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc., 4.5%, 11/15/2026 ^(a)(b)		556,187
	2,425M	Building Materials Corp., 5.375%, 11/15/2024 ^(a)		2,506,844
	225M	Griffon Corp., 5.25%, 3/1/2022		227,813
	1,500M	New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., 6.25%, 3/15/2026 ^(a)		1,537,500
	1,300M	Standard Industries, Inc., 5%, 2/15/2027 ^(a)		1,349,140
				6,177,484
		Chemicals—2.5%
	1,375M	Avantor, Inc., 9%, 10/1/2025 ^(a)		1,543,437
	800M	Blue Cube Spinco, Inc., 10%, 10/15/2025		899,470

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FUND FOR INCOME

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Chemicals (continued)
$	2,425M	CF Industries, Inc., 4.95%, 6/1/2043	$	2,385,594
	1,425M	Chemours Co., 5.375%, 5/15/2027		1,236,230
	950M	CVR Partners, LP, 9.25%, 6/15/2023 ^(a)		993,937
	1,375M	Koppers, Inc., 6%, 2/15/2025 ^(a)		1,382,741
	1,525M	Kraton Polymers, LLC, 7%, 4/15/2025 ^(a)		1,597,438
	1,125M	Neon Holdings, Inc., 10.125%, 4/1/2026 ^(a)		1,136,250
	1,925M	Rain CII Carbon, LLC, 7.25%, 4/1/2025 ^(a)		1,848,000
	850M	Tronox, Inc., 6.5%, 4/15/2026 ^(a)		813,875
				13,836,972
		Consumer Non-Durables—.7%
		Energizer Holdings, Inc.:
	1,700M	5.5%, 6/15/2025 ^(a)		1,764,311
	850M	6.375%, 7/15/2026 ^(a)		912,594
	1,125M	KGA Escrow, LLC, 7.5%, 8/15/2023 ^(a)		1,182,656
				3,859,561
		Energy—13.3%
	1,450M	Antero Resources Corp., 5.625%, 6/1/2023		1,261,500
	1,650M	Apergy Corp., 6.375%, 5/1/2026		1,645,875
	236M	Baytex Energy Corp., 5.125%, 6/1/2021 ^(a)		231,870
	1,475M	Berry Petroleum Co., 7%, 2/15/2026 ^(a)		1,419,687
		Blue Racer Midstream, LLC:
	875M	6.125%, 11/15/2022 ^(a)		884,012
	850M	6.625%, 7/15/2026 ^(a)		843,625
		Buckeye Partners, LP:
	1,750M	3.95%, 12/1/2026		1,542,214
	1,000M	5.6%, 10/15/2044		807,302
	1,800M	Callon Petroleum Co., 6.375%, 7/1/2026		1,765,530
	600M	Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc., 8.25%, 7/15/2025		590,760
		Chesapeake Energy Corp.:
	975M	4.875%, 4/15/2022		792,187
	925M	7%, 10/1/2024		667,156
	1,175M	8%, 6/15/2027		805,110
	3,050M	CITGO Petroleum Corp., 6.25%, 8/15/2022 ^(a)		3,095,750

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Energy (continued)
$	2,425M	Consolidated Energy Finance SA, 5.8685%, 6/15/2022 ^(a)†	$	2,420,228
	1,675M	Covey Park Energy, LLC, 7.5%, 5/15/2025 ^(a)		1,348,375
		Crestwood Midstream Partners, LP:
	2,175M	6.25%, 4/1/2023		2,242,969
	1,375M	5.75%, 4/1/2025		1,419,687
	1,700M	CrownRock, LP, 5.625%, 10/15/2025 ^(a)		1,716,966
		DCP Midstream Operating, LP:
	1,100M	3.875%, 3/15/2023		1,115,125
	925M	5.125%, 5/15/2029		943,500
	1,775M	Delek Logistics Partners, LP, 6.75%, 5/15/2025		1,766,125
	225M	Diamondback Energy, Inc., 4.75%, 11/1/2024		230,906
		EnLink Midstream Partners, LP:
	2,325M	4.85%, 7/15/2026		2,217,469
	700M	5.45%, 6/1/2047		574,000
	2,267M	Exterran Partners, LP, 6%, 10/1/2022		2,298,171
	1,600M	Genesis Energy, LP, 6.5%, 10/1/2025		1,566,000
		Gulfport Energy Corp.:
	1,250M	6.625%, 5/1/2023		981,250
	1,150M	6.375%, 5/15/2025		822,250
	1,550M	6.375%, 1/15/2026		1,092,750
	1,750M	Ithaca Energy (North Sea), PLC, 9.375%, 7/15/2024 ^(a)		1,828,313
		Laredo Petroleum, Inc.:
	1,275M	5.625%, 1/15/2022		1,204,875
	1,550M	6.25%, 3/15/2023		1,367,875
	725M	Matador Resources Co., 5.875%, 9/15/2026		730,003
	1,425M	MEG Energy Corp., 6.375%, 1/30/2023 ^(a)		1,380,469
	1,219M	Murphy Oil Corp., 5.875%, 12/1/2042		1,078,815
	875M	Murphy Oil USA, Inc., 4.75%, 9/15/2029		896,875
	1,850M	Nabors Industries, Inc., 5.75%, 2/1/2025		1,378,250
	854M	Northern Oil and Gas, Inc., 8.5%, 5/15/2023		884,154
	1,125M	Oasis Petroleum, Inc., 6.25%, 5/1/2026 ^(a)		916,875
		Parkland Fuel Corp.:
	1,650M	6%, 4/1/2026 ^(a)		1,749,000
	1,175M	5.875%, 7/15/2027 ^(a)		1,235,877
	875M	Parsley Energy, LLC, 5.25%, 8/15/2025 ^(a)		892,246

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FUND FOR INCOME

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Energy (continued)
		Precision Drilling Corp.:
$	242M	6.5%, 12/15/2021	$	238,135
	950M	7.125%, 1/15/2026 ^(a)		881,125
		Range Resources Corp.:
	1,375M	5%, 8/15/2022		1,295,938
	900M	4.875%, 5/15/2025		747,000
	1,950M	SM Energy Co., 5%, 1/15/2024		1,759,875
		Southwestern Energy Co.:
	1,550M	6.7%, 1/23/2025		1,371,719
	600M	7.5%, 4/1/2026		526,500
		Suburban Propane Partners, LP:
	900M	5.5%, 6/1/2024		922,500
	2,425M	5.875%, 3/1/2027		2,490,524
	1,975M	Sunoco, LP, 4.875%, 1/15/2023		2,031,781
	935M	Transocean Pontus, Ltd., 6.125%, 8/1/2025 ^(a)		953,190
	1,550M	Tullow Oil, PLC, 6.25%, 4/15/2022 ^(a)		1,571,700
	1,125M	USA Compression Partners, LP, 6.875%, 9/1/2027 ^(a)		1,167,188
	2,450M	Whiting Petroleum Corp., 6.625%, 1/15/2026		1,666,000
				72,275,151
		Financial Services—.3%
	1,450M	GTCR (AP) Finance, Inc., 8%, 5/15/2027 ^(a)		1,493,500
		Financials—5.9%
	1,125M	Acrisure, LLC, 8.125%, 2/15/2024 ^(a)		1,214,297
	1,050M	Ally Financial, Inc., 8%, 11/1/2031		1,456,875
	1,525M	Credit Suisse Group AG, 7.5%, 12/11/2023 ^(a)		1,689,020
	1,250M	CSTN Merger Sub, Inc., 6.75%, 8/15/2024 ^(a)		1,160,575
		DAE Funding, LLC:
	1,125M	5.75%, 11/15/2023 ^(a)		1,185,019
	3,975M	5%, 8/1/2024 ^(a)		4,153,875
	1,600M	Dresdner Funding Trust I, 8.151%, 6/30/2031 ^(a)		2,164,600

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Financials (continued)
		Icahn Enterprises, LP:
$	2,225M	6.25%, 2/1/2022	$	2,288,413
	1,450M	6.75%, 2/1/2024		1,513,438
	2,075M	6.25%, 5/15/2026 ^(a)		2,181,344
	1,575M	Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, 5.017%, 6/26/2024 ^(a)		1,621,894
		Ladder Capital Finance Holdings, LLLP:
	1,350M	5.25%, 3/15/2022 ^(a)		1,408,523
	2,700M	5.25%, 10/1/2025 ^(a)		2,767,500
	1,250M	Navient Corp., 5.875%, 3/25/2021		1,299,219
		Springleaf Finance Corp.:
	1,450M	5.625%, 3/15/2023		1,547,875
	800M	6.125%, 3/15/2024		863,000
	600M	6.875%, 3/15/2025		662,625
	1,225M	7.125%, 3/15/2026		1,361,220
	1,475M	Wand Merger Corp., 8.125%, 7/15/2023 ^(a)		1,541,375
				32,080,687
		Food/Beverage/Tobacco—3.3%
	1,325M	HLF Financing Sarl, LLC, 7.25%, 8/15/2026 ^(a)		1,339,906
		JBS USA LUX SA:
	2,050M	6.75%, 2/15/2028 ^(a)		2,278,062
	3,475M	5.5%, 1/15/2030 ^(a)		3,692,118
	575M	JBS USA, LLC, 5.875%, 7/15/2024 ^(a)		593,357
	725M	Performance Food Group, Inc., 5.5%, 10/15/2027 ^(a)		766,688
	1,825M	Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., 5.875%, 9/30/2027 ^(a)		1,966,894
		Post Holdings, Inc.:
	1,150M	5.75%, 3/1/2027 ^(a)		1,224,980
	1,325M	5.5%, 12/15/2029 ^(a)		1,386,281
	3,575M	Sigma Holdco BV, 7.875%, 5/15/2026 ^(a)		3,583,938
	1,175M	Simmons Foods, Inc., 5.75%, 11/1/2024 ^(a)		1,151,500
				17,983,724

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FUND FOR INCOME

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Food/Drug—.6%
		Albertson’s Cos., LLC:
$	1,325M	5.75%, 3/15/2025	$	1,369,189
	625M	7.5%, 3/15/2026 ^(a)		698,437
	575M	5.875%, 2/15/2028 ^(a)		610,040
	675M	B & G Foods, Inc., 5.25%, 9/15/2027		691,099
				3,368,765
		Forest Products/Containers—1.7%
	1,400M	Ardagh Holdings USA, Inc., 4.625%, 5/15/2023 ^(a)		1,436,750
		Berry Global Escrow Corp.:
	1,325M	4.875%, 7/15/2026 ^(a)		1,372,899
	1,550M	5.625%, 7/15/2027 ^(a)		1,608,125
	1,675M	BWAY Holding Co., 5.5%, 4/15/2024 ^(a)		1,727,260
	1,075M	Crown Americas, LLC, 4.5%, 1/15/2023		1,131,437
	1,050M	Graphic Packaging International, LLC, 4.75%, 7/15/2027 ^(a)		1,105,125
	475M	Mercer International, Inc., 7.375%, 1/15/2025		495,948
	400M	Owens-Brockway Glass Container, 5.875%, 8/15/2023 ^(a)		426,000
				9,303,544
		Gaming/Leisure—7.1%
	1,150M	AMC Entertainment, Inc., 5.75%, 6/15/2025		1,100,435
		AMC Networks, Inc.:
	1,625M	5%, 4/1/2024		1,677,861
	775M	4.75%, 8/1/2025		802,125
	1,925M	Boyd Gaming Corp., 6.875%, 5/15/2023		2,004,406
	1,225M	Cedar Fair, LP, 5.375%, 6/1/2024		1,263,281
	6,425M	CRC Escrow Issuer, LLC, 5.25%, 10/15/2025 ^(a)		6,584,982
		Diamond Sports Group, LLC:
	1,425M	5.375%, 8/15/2026 ^(a)		1,482,000
	2,550M	6.625%, 8/15/2027 ^(a)		2,652,000
	1,025M	Golden Nugget, Inc., 8.75%, 10/1/2025 ^(a)		1,071,125
	3,975M	IRB Holding Corp., 6.75%, 2/15/2026 ^(a)		4,004,813
	2,425M	Jack Ohio Finance, LLC, 6.75%, 11/15/2021 ^(a)		2,482,594

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Gaming/Leisure (continued)
$	1,025M	Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., 5.875%, 11/1/2024 ^(a)	$	1,058,312
	500M	Marriott Ownership Resorts, Inc, 4.75%, 1/15/2028 ^(a)(b)		506,250
	1,200M	MGM Resorts International, 6%, 3/15/2023		1,325,040
	1,650M	National CineMedia, LLC, 6%, 4/15/2022		1,672,688
		Scientific Games International, Inc.:
	1,850M	5%, 10/15/2025 ^(a)		1,913,455
	1,250M	8.25%, 3/15/2026 ^(a)		1,329,188
	825M	Stars Group Holdings BV, 7%, 7/15/2026 ^(a)		880,688
		Viking Cruises, Ltd.:
	3,150M	6.25%, 5/15/2025 ^(a)		3,307,500
	1,150M	5.875%, 9/15/2027 ^(a)		1,221,415
				38,340,158
		Health Care—5.5%
	800M	AMN Healthcare, Inc, 5.125%, 10/1/2024 ^(a)		832,000
		Bausch Health Cos., Inc.:
	3,650M	7%, 3/15/2024 ^(a)		3,845,129
	3,575M	9%, 12/15/2025 ^(a)		4,026,344
	925M	8.5%, 1/31/2027 ^(a)		1,040,440
	650M	Cimpress NV, 7%, 6/15/2026 ^(a)		674,245
	4,525M	DaVita, Inc., 5.125%, 7/15/2024		4,609,844
	1,575M	Endo Finance, LLC, 6%, 7/15/2023 ^(a)		973,901
		HCA, Inc.:
	1,800M	5.875%, 5/1/2023		1,984,500
	2,075M	5.375%, 2/1/2025		2,272,125
	1,150M	HealthSouth Corp., 5.125%, 3/15/2023		1,175,875
		Mallinckrodt Finance SB:
	1,475M	5.75%, 8/1/2022 ^(a)		560,500
	1,025M	5.5%, 4/15/2025 ^(a)		307,807
	1,100M	MEDNAX, Inc., 6.25%, 1/15/2027 ^(a)		1,094,423
	775M	MPH Operating Partnership, LP, 7.125%, 6/1/2024 ^(a)		717,844
	1,050M	Par Pharmaceutical, Inc., 7.5%, 4/1/2027 ^(a)		964,688
	1,775M	Polaris Intermediate Corp., 8.5%, 12/1/2022 ^(a)		1,517,625
	2,564M	Syneos Health, Inc., 7.5%, 10/1/2024 ^(a)		2,656,945

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FUND FOR INCOME

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Health Care (continued)
$	625M	Tenet Healthcare Corp., 5.125%, 5/1/2025	$	635,188
				29,889,423
		Home-Building—1.5%
	1,625M	Brookfield Residential Properties, Inc., 6.25%, 9/15/2027 ^(a)		1,637,187
	1,300M	Century Communities, Inc., 6.75%, 6/1/2027 ^(a)		1,399,450
	925M	Taylor Morrison Communities, Inc., 5.75%, 1/15/2028 ^(a)		1,005,938
	1,050M	Toll Brothers Finance Corp., 3.8%, 11/1/2029		1,036,224
		William Lyon Homes, Inc.:
	1,650M	6%, 9/1/2023		1,724,250
	1,350M	6.625%, 7/15/2027 ^(a)		1,407,375
				8,210,424
		Information Technology—3.7%
	1,650M	Anixter, Inc., 6%, 12/1/2025		1,827,375
	650M	CommScope Finance, LLC, 6%, 3/1/2026 ^(a)		675,870
		Diamond 1 Finance Corp.:
	2,425M	5.875%, 6/15/2021 ^(a)		2,466,831
	1,150M	7.125%, 6/15/2024 ^(a)		1,213,537
	1,875M	J2 Cloud Services, LLC, 6%, 7/15/2025 ^(a)		1,986,750
	2,200M	Nielsen Finance, LLC, 5%, 4/15/2022 ^(a)		2,217,160
		Nuance Communications, Inc.:
	1,875M	6%, 7/1/2024		1,959,375
	1,200M	5.625%, 12/15/2026		1,272,000
	1,225M	Rackspace Hosting, Inc., 8.625%, 11/15/2024 ^(a)		1,133,003
	1,975M	Solera, LLC, 10.5%, 3/1/2024 ^(a)		2,097,687
	1,550M	Symantec Corp., 5%, 4/15/2025 ^(a)		1,568,186
	1,800M	Verscend Holding Corp., 9.75%, 8/15/2026 ^(a)		1,923,516
				20,341,290
		Manufacturing—3.3%
	1,625M	Amsted Industries, Inc., 5.625%, 7/1/2027 ^(a)		1,718,437
	2,525M	ATS Automation Tooling Systems, Inc., 6.5%, 6/15/2023 ^(a)		2,613,375

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Manufacturing (continued)
$	3,825M	Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services, Inc., 8.5%, 7/15/2025 (a)	$	3,633,750
	625M	Cloud Crane, LLC, 10.125%, 8/1/2024 ^(a)		670,312
	1,400M	Grinding Media, Inc., 7.375%, 12/15/2023 ^(a)		1,344,000
	2,050M	H&E Equipment Services, Inc., 5.625%, 9/1/2025		2,117,957
	950M	HAT Holdings I, LLC, 5.25%, 7/15/2024 ^(a)		1,001,063
	1,950M	Manitowoc Co., Inc., 9%, 4/1/2026 ^(a)		1,915,875
	375M	MTS Systems Corp, 5.75%, 8/15/2027 ^(a)		390,938
	1,300M	Park-Ohio Industries, Inc., 6.625%, 4/15/2027		1,248,000
	1,125M	Patrick Industries, Inc., 7.5%, 10/15/2027 ^(a)		1,161,675
				17,815,382
		Media-Broadcasting—3.2%
		Belo Corp.:
	1,250M	7.75%, 6/1/2027		1,446,875
	1,474M	7.25%, 9/15/2027		1,680,360
	3,600M	LIN Television Corp., 5.875%, 11/15/2022		3,690,000
	725M	Nexstar Escrow, Inc., 5.625%, 7/15/2027 ^(a)		761,250
		Sinclair Television Group, Inc.:
	1,325M	5.625%, 8/1/2024 ^(a)		1,366,406
	650M	5.875%, 3/15/2026 ^(a)		682,500
	1,400M	5.125%, 2/15/2027 ^(a)		1,414,000
	2,325M	Sirius XM Radio, Inc., 4.625%, 7/15/2024 ^(a)		2,416,442
	3,725M	TEGNA, Inc., 5%, 9/15/2029 ^(a)		3,781,322
				17,239,155
		Media-Cable TV—9.5%
		Altice Financing SA:
	2,675M	6.625%, 2/15/2023 ^(a)		2,751,906
	1,150M	7.5%, 5/15/2026 ^(a)		1,224,738
		Altice France SA:
	725M	6.25%, 5/15/2024 ^(a)		750,919
	2,075M	7.375%, 5/1/2026 ^(a)		2,230,023
	1,325M	8.125%, 2/1/2027 ^(a)		1,465,781

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FUND FOR INCOME

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Media-Cable TV (continued)
$	2,500M	Altice Luxembourg SA, 10.5%, 5/15/2027 ^(a)	$	2,823,750
		CCO Holdings, LLC:
	925M	5.75%, 9/1/2023		945,812
	3,675M	5.875%, 4/1/2024 ^(a)		3,843,903
	1,025M	5.5%, 5/1/2026 ^(a)		1,076,147
	1,550M	5.875%, 5/1/2027 ^(a)		1,643,000
	975M	5%, 2/1/2028 ^(a)		1,010,344
	625M	5.375%, 6/1/2029 ^(a)		667,187
	1,125M	4.75%, 3/1/2030 ^(a)(b)		1,144,924
		Clear Channel Worldwide Holdings, Inc.:
	1,511M	9.25%, 2/15/2024 ^(a)		1,663,853
	3,425M	5.125%, 8/15/2027 ^(a)		3,576,899
		CSC Holdings, LLC:
	3,225M	5.375%, 7/15/2023 ^(a)		3,317,719
	1,475M	6.625%, 10/15/2025 ^(a)		1,582,380
	1,425M	7.5%, 4/1/2028 ^(a)		1,611,889
	2,075M	5.75%, 1/15/2030 ^(a)(b)		2,171,218
		DISH DBS Corp.:
	1,650M	5%, 3/15/2023		1,673,182
	1,750M	5.875%, 11/15/2024		1,741,250
	2,300M	Midcontinent Communications & Finance Corp., 5.375%, 8/15/2027 (a)		2,426,500
	1,775M	Netflix, Inc., 4.875%, 4/15/2028		1,810,411
	7,850M	UPC Holding BV, 5.5%, 1/15/2028 ^(a)		8,164,000
				51,317,735
		Media-Diversified—.8%
	2,450M	iHeart Communications, 8.375%, 5/1/2027		2,658,985
	1,750M	Outdoor Americas Capital, LLC, 5.875%, 3/15/2025		1,811,250
				4,470,235
		Metals/Mining—4.1%
	2,480M	Allegheny Technologies, Inc., 7.875%, 8/15/2023		2,699,530
	1,375M	Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., 5.875%, 6/1/2027 ^(a)		1,305,700

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Metals/Mining (continued)
$	3,225M	Commercial Metals Co., 4.875%, 5/15/2023	$	3,362,062
	1,550M	Constellium NV, 5.75%, 5/15/2024 ^(a)		1,596,500
	550M	HudBay Minerals, Inc., 7.625%, 1/15/2025 ^(a)		560,312
	3,000M	Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc., 11%, 5/15/2022 ^(a)		3,172,500
	1,625M	Northwest Acquisitions, ULC, 7.125%, 11/1/2022 ^(a)		962,813
	1,977M	Novelis, Inc., 5.875%, 9/30/2026 ^(a)		2,078,222
	4,225M	SunCoke Energy Partners, LP, 7.5%, 6/15/2025 ^(a)		3,776,094
	2,850M	TMS International Corp., 7.25%, 8/15/2025 ^(a)		2,451,000
				21,964,733
		Real Estate—2.9%
		Geo Group, Inc.:
	400M	5.125%, 4/1/2023		355,000
	1,575M	6%, 4/15/2026		1,278,900
	2,150M	Greystar Real Estate Partners, 5.75%, 12/1/2025 ^(a)		2,217,188
	1,000M	Hilton Domestic Operating Co., LLC, 4.875%, 1/15/2030 ^(a)		1,058,350
	1,050M	Iron Mountain, Inc., 5.25%, 3/15/2028 ^(a)		1,090,656
	4,225M	iStar, Inc., 4.75%, 10/1/2024		4,309,838
	1,300M	MGM Growth Properties Operating Partnership, LP, 5.75%, 2/1/2027 ^(a)		1,461,265
	975M	MPT Operating Partnership, LP, 4.625%, 8/1/2029		1,006,078
	1,700M	Realogy Group, LLC, 9.375%, 4/1/2027 ^(a)(b)		1,587,834
	1,500M	Sabra Health Care, LP, 5.125%, 8/15/2026		1,604,721
				15,969,830
		Retail-General Merchandise—2.5%
		1011778 B.C., ULC:
	2,875M	4.625%, 1/15/2022 ^(a)		2,875,575
	1,750M	5%, 10/15/2025 ^(a)		1,813,962
	1,425M	3.875%, 1/15/2028 ^(a)		1,437,626
		AmeriGas Partners, LP:
	400M	5.625%, 5/20/2024		430,250
	1,575M	5.5%, 5/20/2025		1,699,031
	1,450M	J.C. Penney Co., Inc., 8.625%, 3/15/2025		913,616

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FUND FOR INCOME

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Retail-General Merchandise (continued)
$	2,050M	L Brands, Inc., 6.75%, 7/1/2036	$	1,749,368
	1,975M	SRS Distribution, Inc., 8.25%, 7/1/2026 ^(a)		2,019,438
	500M	Yum! Brands, Inc., 4.75%, 1/15/2030 ^(a)		517,580
				13,456,446
		Services—2.5%
	3,175M	ADT Corp., 3.5%, 7/15/2022		3,198,812
	1,400M	AECOM, 5.125%, 3/15/2027		1,474,900
	2,975M	GCI, Inc., 6.875%, 4/15/2025		3,146,062
	3,175M	GW Honos Security Corp., 8.75%, 5/15/2025 ^(a)		3,276,917
	2,150M	United Rentals, Inc., 5.5%, 5/15/2027		2,287,062
				13,383,753
		Telecommunication Services—2.6%
		Frontier Communications Corp.:
	825M	8.5%, 4/1/2026 ^(a)		826,980
	625M	8%, 4/1/2027 ^(a)		661,562
	1,875M	GCI, LLC, 6.625%, 6/15/2024 ^(a)		2,027,344
	1,575M	Qwest Corp., 7.25%, 9/15/2025		1,781,564
	1,425M	Telecom Italia Capital SA, 7.2%, 7/18/2036		1,667,264
	2,950M	Telesat Canada, 8.875%, 11/15/2024 ^(a)		3,168,300
		Zayo Group, LLC:
	2,350M	6.375%, 5/15/2025		2,428,843
	1,525M	5.75%, 1/15/2027 ^(a)		1,562,820
				14,124,677
		Transportation—1.8%
	2,650M	BCD Acquisition, Inc., 9.625%, 9/15/2023 ^(a)		2,716,250
		Fly Leasing, Ltd.:
	925M	6.375%, 10/15/2021		942,922
	1,625M	5.25%, 10/15/2024		1,681,875
	1,000M	Mobile Mini, Inc., 5.875%, 7/1/2024		1,032,500
	1,625M	VistaJet Malta Finance, PLC, 10.5%, 6/1/2024 ^(a)		1,580,313

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Transportation (continued)
$	1,705M	XPO Logistics, Inc., 6.125%, 9/1/2023 ^(a)	$	1,764,675
				9,718,535
		Utilities—3.6%
	1,800M	Calpine Corp., 5.25%, 6/1/2026 ^(a)		1,869,750
	1,350M	Cheniere Energy Partners, LP, 4.5%, 10/1/2029 ^(a)		1,385,437
	425M	Clearway Energy Operating, LLC, 5.75%, 10/15/2025 ^(a)		448,906
	1,850M	Drax Finco, PLC, 6.625%, 11/1/2025 ^(a)		1,933,250
		Global Partners, LP:
	1,325M	7%, 6/15/2023		1,369,719
	1,350M	7%, 8/1/2027 ^(a)		1,393,875
	152M	Indiantown Cogeneration Utilities, LP, 9.77%, 12/15/2020		158,163
	1,975M	Nextera Energy Operating Partners, 4.25%, 7/15/2024 ^(a)		2,039,188
	1,000M	NRG Yield Operating, LLC, 5%, 9/15/2026		1,027,500
	2,185M	NSG Holdings, LLC, 7.75%, 12/15/2025 ^(a)		2,354,380
		Talen Energy Supply, LLC:
	600M	7.25%, 5/15/2027 ^(a)		612,780
	875M	6.625%, 1/15/2028 ^(a)		864,063
	2,500M	Targa Resources Partners, LP, 4.25%, 11/15/2023		2,528,125
	1,675M	Terraform Power Operating, LLC, 5%, 1/31/2028 ^(a)		1,750,375
				19,735,511
		Waste Management—.6%
	475M	Clean Harbors, Inc., 4.875%, 7/15/2027 ^(a)		496,969
		GFL Environmental, Inc.:
	1,175M	5.625%, 5/1/2022 ^(a)		1,207,313
	1,325M	8.5%, 5/1/2027 ^(a)		1,472,406
				3,176,688
		Wireless Communications—3.9%
	1,650M	Consolidated Communications, Inc., 6.5%, 10/1/2022		1,534,500
	850M	Hughes Satellite Systems Corp., 6.625%, 8/1/2026		924,766
	1,525M	Intelsat Jackson Holdings SA, 8.5%, 10/15/2024 ^(a)		1,539,777

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FUND FOR INCOME

September 30, 2019

	Principal Amount		Security	Value
			Wireless Communications (continued)
			Level 3 Financing, Inc.:
	$	2,150M	5.125%, 5/1/2023	$	2,180,315
		1,475M	5.375%, 1/15/2024		1,507,966
		1,175M	Sprint Capital Corp., 8.75%, 3/15/2032		1,452,241
			Sprint Corp.:
		7,050M	7.875%, 9/15/2023		7,761,768
		650M	7.625%, 2/15/2025		716,625
		1,325M	7.625%, 3/1/2026		1,465,781
		1,875M	T-Mobile USA, Inc., 6%, 4/15/2024		1,950,000
					21,033,739
Total Value of Corporate Bonds (cost $498,028,825)					504,328,541
			LOAN PARTICIPATIONS^†—5.1%
			Chemicals—.5%
			Flint Group:
		453M	5.2827%, 9/6/2021		385,934
		2,739M	5.2827%, 9/7/2021		2,334,576
					2,720,510
			Financials—.4%
		1,990M	TransUnion, LLC, 4.0434%, 6/19/2025		1,999,874
			Food/Beverage/Tobacco—.3%
		1,539M	Chobani, LLC, 5.5435%, 10/9/2023		1,526,941
			Gaming/Leisure—.6%
		650M	Diamond Sports Group, LLC, 5.3%, 8/24/2026		654,063
		2,600M	Dorna Sports SL, 5.1997%, 4/12/2024		2,588,625
					3,242,688
			Health Care—.4%
		2,302M	Inovalon Holdings, Inc., 5.5625%, 4/2/2025		2,318,046
			Media-Cable TV—.2%
		975M	Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc., 4.807%, 6/19/2026		980,489

	Principal Amount		Security	Value
			Media-Diversified—.7%
	$	821M	DiscoverOrg., LLC, 6.612%, 2/2/2026	$	819,340
		2,750M	iHeart Communications, 4%, 5/1/2026		2,770,625
					3,589,965
			Metals/Mining—.5%
		3,000M	Zekelman Industries, Inc., 4.3036%, 6/14/2021		3,000,015
			Telecommunication Services—.3%
		1,820M	GCI Holdings, Inc., 4.612%, 2/2/2022		1,793,000
			Utilities—.3%
		1,479M	Edgewater Generation, 5.7935%, 12/12/2025		1,462,812
			Wireless Communication—.9%
		5,000M	Intelsat Jackson Holdings SA, 6.5536%, 1/2/2024		5,076,575
Total Value of Loan Participations (cost $27,898,571)					27,710,915

Total Value of Investments (cost $525,927,396)	98.0	%		532,039,456
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	2.0			10,711,553
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	542,751,009

(a)	Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933 (see Note 4).

(b)	A portion or all of the security purchased on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis (see Note 1G).

^†	Interest rates are determined and reset periodically. The interest rates above are the rates in effect at September 30, 2019.

Summary of Abbreviations:

LLLP	Limited Liability Limited Partnership

ULC	Unlimited Liability Corporation

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

FUND FOR INCOME

September 30, 2019

Level 3 –

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Corporate Bonds	$	—	$	504,328,541	$	—	$	504,328,541
Loan Participations		—		27,710,915		—		27,710,915
Total Investments in Securities^*	$	—	$	532,039,456	$	—	$	532,039,456

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization of corporate bonds and loan participations.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

Portfolio Composition (Unaudited)

FUND FOR INCOME

The dollar weighted average of credit ratings of all bonds held by the Fund during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019, computed on a monthly basis, are set forth below. This information reflects the average composition of the Fund’s assets during the 2019 fiscal year and is not necessarily representative of the Fund as of the end of its 2019 fiscal year, the current fiscal year or at any other time in the future.

	Rated by Moody’s	Comparable Quality of Unrated Securities to Bonds Rated by Moody’s
Baa1	0.04%	0.00%
Baa2	0.06	0.00
Baa3	0.60	0.00
Ba1	4.00	0.00
Ba2	9.30	0.00
Ba3	17.33	0.00
BB+	0.00	0.43
BB	0.00	0.29
BB-	0.00	0.01
B1	17.61	0.00
B2	17.72	0.00
B3	22.93	0.00
Caa1	5.90	0.00
Caa2	4.41	0.00

See notes to financial statements

Portfolio Manager’s Letter

GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Government Cash Management Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 1.73% for Class A shares and 1.76% for Institutional shares, including dividends of 1.7 cents per share for Class A shares and Institutional Class shares. The Fund maintained a $1.00 net asset value per share for each class of shares throughout the year.

U.S. bond market

The review period began with a continuation of financial market volatility. Rising interest rates, a prolonged trade war between U.S. and China, the midterm elections, and a strong U.S. dollar overshadowed strong economic fundamentals, causing a broad market selloff. The corporate bond market continued to underperform as credit spreads moved wider.

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) raised rates by 25 basis points in its December meeting, however, Fed policy moved from a tightening to a more accommodative policy. In fact, the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points twice following the rate hike in December. U.S. Treasuries rallied strongly across the yield curve in a risk-off environment. There is an inverse relationship between bond prices and yields. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note yield, which is very sensitive to changes in Fed policy, fell by 120 basis points to 1.62%. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield, which is controlled by other factors such as GDP, inflation and investor sentiment, fell by 140 basis points to 1.67%. The yield curve continued to flatten, with the spread between 2- and 10-year U.S. Treasury yields narrowing to just four basis points by the end of the period.

Credit spreads marched tighter as investors continued to support the corporate credit market in the search for yield. The positive performance of the corporate bond market during the review period was the result of longer duration and tighter credit spreads. Of note, corporate bonds with maturities greater than 10 years significantly outperformed shorter-maturity debt (i.e., one to three years) as U.S. Treasury yields moved lower across the curve. During the review period, Telecommunication and Utility sectors outperformed.

Amid volatility in commodity-driven sectors, the high yield bond market returned 6.30% during the review period. Municipal bonds benefited from favorable supply-demand dynamics and returned 7.93%.

The Fund

The Fund maintained a longer-than-average weighted average maturity during most of the review period as the direction of interest rates was not clear but biased lower. That said, the Fund maintained a weighted average maturity of fewer than 60 days during the review period in order to comply with current SEC rules designed to limit interest rate risk. Floating rate securities were successfully employed during the period for incremental yield.

Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc., the Fund’s Investment Adviser during the period, continued to waive certain expenses during the period.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,

Michael J. O’Keefe
Portfolio Manager,
Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

October 4, 2019

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	0.60%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,008.56	$ 3.02
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,022.06	$ 3.04
Institutional Class Shares	0.60%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,008.82	$ 3.02
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,022.06	$ 3.04

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived and/or assumed.
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

BY SECTOR

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

Portfolio of Investments

GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT FUND

September 30, 2019

	Principal Amount		Security	Interest Rate^*			Value
			U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY OBLIGATIONS—42.2%
			Federal Home Loan Bank:
	$	2,000M	10/3/2019		1.99	%	$	1,999,778
		8,000M	10/10/2019		1.97			7,996,051
		8,000M	10/15/2019		2.00			7,993,761
		10,000M	10/18/2019		1.99			9,990,581
		8,000M	10/30/2019		1.98			7,987,207
		6,000M	11/4/2019		1.96			5,988,881
		9,000M	11/7/2019		1.93			8,982,109
		6,000M	11/8/2019		1.96			5,987,573
		5,000M	11/13/2019		2.35			4,985,836
		5,000M	11/26/2019		1.93			4,985,021
		4,500M	12/10/2019		1.91			4,483,281
Total Value of U.S. Government Agency Obligations (cost $71,380,079)								71,380,079
			VARIABLE AND FLOATING RATE NOTES—30.8%
			Federal Farm Credit Bank:
		4,700M	11/14/2019		2.20			4,701,133
		2,000M	11/19/2019		2.00			1,999,894
		1,005M	2/10/2020		2.10			1,005,246
		5,060M	2/21/2020		2.10			5,061,532
		1,000M	6/1/2020		2.02			999,398
		7,000M	6/25/2020		2.02			6,999,712
		3,000M	7/30/2020		2.05			2,999,876
			Federal Home Loan Bank:
		12,150M	10/11/2019		2.08			12,149,793
		7,000M	11/29/2019		2.07			6,999,773
		2,100M	12/6/2019		2.01			2,099,865
		7,000M	12/19/2019		2.02			7,001,529
Total Value of Variable and Floating Rate Notes (cost $52,017,751)								52,017,751

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT FUND

September 30, 2019

	Principal Amount		Security	Interest Rate^*			Value
			SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—27.2%
			U.S. Treasury Bills:
	$	5,000M	10/17/2019		2.30	%	$	4,994,856
		4,000M	10/22/2019		2.00			3,995,331
		12,000M	10/22/2019		2.01			11,985,939
		2,000M	10/29/2019		1.99			1,996,905
		5,000M	10/31/2019		2.35			4,990,106
		8,000M	11/14/2019		2.24			7,977,905
		10,000M	12/19/2019		1.90			9,958,175
Total Value of Short-Term U.S. Government Obligations (cost $45,899,217)								45,899,217
Total Value of Investments (cost $169,297,047)^**					100.2	%		169,297,047
Excess of Liabilities Over Other Assets					(.2	)		(391,296	)
Net Assets					100.0	%	$	168,905,751

^*	The interest rates shown are the effective rates at the time of purchase by the Fund. The interest rates shown on floating rate notes are adjusted periodically; the rates shown are the rates in effect at September 30, 2019.

^**	Aggregate cost for federal income tax purposes is the same.

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
U.S. Government Agency Obligations	$	—	$	71,380,079	$	—	$	71,380,079
Variable and Floating Rate Notes:
U.S. Government Agency Obigations		—		52,017,751		—		52,017,751
Short-Term U.S. Government Obigations		—		45,899,217		—		45,899,217
Total Investments in Securities	$	—	$	169,297,047	$	—	$	169,297,047

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

Portfolio Managers’ Letter

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors International Opportunities Bond Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was -0.56% for Class A shares, -0.30% for Advisor Class shares and -0.25% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 15.7 cents per share on Class A shares, 15.9 cents per share for Advisor Class shares and 12.4 cents per share for Institutional Class shares.

The Market

A cascade of negative developments pounded investors during the third quarter. These included an escalation in the U.S.-China trade war, threats of a financial war, a U.S. congressional push for presidential impeachment, uncertainty heading into the 2020 U.S. elections, the Hong Kong riots, British political upheavals ahead of Brexit, the attack on Saudi oil production, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Powell’s milquetoast position on future rate cuts, and disruptions in the U.S. repo market. In the background, the persistent slowdown in the global economy was confirmed during the quarter by the announcement of negative guidance from the Fed. The share price of this global bellwether ended the quarter down almost 50% from its early 2018 peak, the starting point of the current global slump.

The bomblets of pessimism seemed to break the back of already dour global economic sentiment. Developed country sovereign bond yields collapsed during the quarter, leaving nearly $15 trillion of negative-yielding debt and an average yield on non-U.S. developed country sovereign debt only slightly above zero, at roughly 11 basis points (bps). Equity risk premiums rose steadily, and volatility spiked in July and August. Throughout the quarter, the U.S. dollar also rose, helping exacerbate dollar funding pressure and contributing to the increasingly deflationary global economic environment.

The Fund

The First Investors International Opportunities Bond Fund underperformed the 6.78% return for the FTSE World Government Bond Index (ex-U.S.). The Fund’s weak absolute performance during the third quarter was due almost entirely to currency contribution, however, bond positioning detracted significantly from relative performance. Duration provided positive absolute returns that came from holdings of EM bonds, with Mexican bonds powering the gains. Yields fell across the curve as the 10-year U.S. Treasury posted its largest quarterly decline in several years, and the 30-year bond yield hit a record low in August. This drop in global rates sent investors on a search for yield during the quarter, and EM debt generally rallied modestly. Mexico made rare back-to-back interest-rate cuts to offset declining inflation, and bonos rallied in response, delivering sizable gains to performance. Relative duration performance suffered, however, owing to an absence of holdings in Japanese government bonds and other low- or negative-yielding European debt, particularly Italian BTPs, U.K. gilts, and French OATs. Core and peripheral European sovereigns rallied against deteriorating economic growth and fresh stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB), with the yield on Germany’s 30-year sovereign turning negative for the first time. Despite their weightings in the benchmark and the possibility

of negative yields becoming more negative in the near term, we can find no logical case to justify thinking these developed market securities offer even a smidgen of value.

As for the substantial negative drag from currency contribution, your portfolio owns very few U.S. dollars, yet the dollar rose steadily throughout the quarter against almost all currencies. The sustainability of this trend is the key issue for positioning going forward. An underweight to the euro was a positive exception, but exposure to a basket of international currencies was detrimental amid the strong U.S. dollar environment. The Norwegian krone fell despite another rate increase by Norges Bank and a surge in oil prices following the attack on Saudi Arabia’s refining facilities while the export-sensitive Swedish krona sank against weak economic data, including softer demand from Europe and a contraction in manufacturing. The surrounding weakness in Europe also pulled the Polish zloty to multi-year lows. Commodity-sensitive currencies in Latin America, including the Mexican peso, Chilean peso, Colombian peso, and Brazilian real, also dragged on returns. Under pressure from the trade war, the Australian dollar tested 10-year lows.

Fund positioning

Very little changed in portfolio positioning during the third quarter. In terms of duration, the Fund continues to shun G-7 duration in favor of the emerging world, with particular emphasis on Mexican sovereign bonds. We have been believers that EM bonds offered tremendous value and were vindicated during the third quarter. Despite dollar strength and EM currency weakness, local-currency bonds across the emerging world continued to rally in step with developed country markets. The breadth of the rally attests to the deflationary forces at play in the global economy.

We think that the extraordinary gains in the dollar during the third quarter are not sustainable. Pressure is building, which we believe will materialize in a gradual decline in the dollar over the course of the next six to 12 months.

Our price discovery process continues to flag the U.S. dollar as an expensive currency. Correspondingly, real net exports have been weakening ever since the dollar surged in 2014. More recently, the collapse in the ISM Manufacturing Report on Business Exports to its lowest level since the GFC is a warning that the drag from trade on the rest of the economy has become more severe.

2.	In terms of the three critical variables that have reached make-or-break phases, improvement in these factors would be dollar bearish:

A rapprochement in the trade impasse would be constructive for world trade and global growth and would ease deflationary worries. These factors would be negative for the dollar.

An expansionist Fed would be dollar negative. The Fed’s focus on ending the dollar stringency caused by the balance sheet reduction could be particularly significant, depending on the details of the renewed expansion.

Portfolio Managers’ Letter (continued)

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND FUND

Economic stabilization in China would contribute significantly to global stability and growth, always a draw to capital, and would be negative for the dollar.

There is a small but growing possibility of some form of intervention in containing the dollar’s strength. President Trump has been critical of the Fed for helping support the dollar at a time when balance-of-payments factors argue that the euro is structurally very cheap. The weakness in the renminbi that largely corresponded in proportion to the increase in U.S. tariffs on China was not lost on the President either, as he declared China a currency manipulator. We are not sure what tactics the administration might consider to cap the rise in the greenback, but some form of intervention is on the radar.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.


Stephen S. Smith	David F. Hoffman, CFA
Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC	Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC
Managing Director & Portfolio Manager	Managing Director& Portfolio Manager


Jack P. McIntyre, CFA	Anujeet Sareen, CFA
Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC	Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC
Portfolio Manager	Portfolio Manager

October 4, 2019

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.28%
Actual		$1,000.00	$ 996.51	$ 6.41
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$ 1,018.65	$ 6.48
Advisor Class Shares	0.98%
Actual		$1,000.00	$ 997.71	$ 4.91
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$ 1,020.16	$ 4.96
Institutional Class Shares	0.86%
Actual		$1,000.00	$ 997.73	$ 4.31
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$ 1,020.76	$ 4.36

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived and/or assumed.
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

BY SECTOR

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors International Opportunities Bond Fund (Class A shares) and the FTSE World Government Bond Index (“WGBI”).

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	FTSE World Government Bond Index (WGBI)
One Year	-0.56%	-0.30%	-0.25%	6.78%
Five Years	-0.59%	-0.25%	-0.12%	1.28%
Since Inception^**	0.22%	-0.12%	0.04%	0.49%^†

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	-4.58%	-0.30%	-0.25%
Five Years	-1.39%	-0.25%	-0.12%
Since Inception^**	-0.36%	-0.12%	0.04%
S.E.C. 30-Day Yield^***	1.80%	2.06%	2.27%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors International Opportunities Bond Fund (Class A shares) beginning 8/20/12 (commencement of operations) with a theoretical investment in the FTSE World Government Bond Index (WGBI). The Index encompasses an all-inclusive universe of institutionally traded bonds, including all fixed-rate bonds with remaining maturities of one year or longer with amounts outstanding of at least the equivalent of $25 million. It is not possible to invest directly in this Index. In addition, the Index does not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table it is assumed that all dividends and

distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares performance will be greater than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^* Average Annual Total Return figures (for the periods ended 9/30/19) include the reinvestment of all dividends and distributions. “N.A.V. Only” returns are calculated without sales charges. The Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are based on the current maximum sales charge of 4% and assume the current sales charge of 4% was in effect at the beginning of the stated periods (prior to 6/12/17, the maximum sales charge was 5.75%). The Advisor Class and Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are the same as the N.A.V. Only returns since these classes are sold without sales charges. During the periods shown, some of the expenses of the Fund were waived or assumed. If such expenses had been paid by the Fund, the Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been -4.63%, -1.43% and -0.47%, respectively and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 1.65%. The Advisor Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been -0.33%, -0.26% and -0.78%, respectively and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 1.90%. The Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been -0.30%, -0.13% and 0.03%, respectively, and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 2.12%. Results represent past performance and do not indicate future results. The graph and the returns shown do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on distributions or the redemption of fund shares. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Index figures are from FTSE Russell and all other figures are from Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

^** The Since Inception returns for Class A shares are for the period beginning 8/17/12 (commencement of operations). The returns for Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the periods beginning 4/1/13 (commencement of operations for those classes).

^*** The S.E.C. 30-Day Yield shown is for September 2019.

^† The Index return is since the inception of Class A shares. The Index return since inception of the Advisor Class and Institutional Class shares is -.13%.

Portfolio of Investments

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount			Security	Value
			SOVEREIGN BONDS—58.8%
			Mexico—14.0%
			United Mexican States:
	145M	MXN	7.75%, 11/23/2034	$	776,993
	959M	MXN	7.75%, 11/13/2042		5,088,473
	371M	MXN	8%, 11/7/2047		2,024,257
	609M	MXN	8.5%, 5/31/2029		3,437,853
	650M	MXN	8.5%, 11/18/2038		3,712,187
					15,039,763
			United Kingdom—7.9%
	6,795M	GBP	United Kingdom Gilt, 2%, 7/22/2020		8,452,076
			Malaysia—6.8%
			Federation of Malaysia:
	10,095M	MYR	3.48%, 3/15/2023		2,435,629
	5,460M	MYR	3.882%, 3/10/2022		1,327,517
	5,255M	MYR	3.899%, 11/16/2027		1,291,070
	2,405M	MYR	3.955%, 9/15/2025		593,347
	6,540M	MYR	4.048%, 9/30/2021		1,590,434
					7,237,997
			Chile—5.9%
	4,400,000M	CLP	Bonos Tesoreria Pesos, 4.5%, 3/1/2021		6,289,982
			Poland—5.2%
	7,265M	PLN	Poland Government Bond, 2%, 4/25/2021		1,826,984
			Republic of Poland:
	8,550M	PLN	1.5%, 4/25/2020		2,136,338
	6,405M	PLN	5.25%, 10/25/2020		1,665,498
					5,628,820

	Principal Amount			Security	Value
				Indonesia—4.6%
				Republic of Indonesia:
		13,100,000M	IDR	8.375%, 3/15/2034	$	978,140
		50,400,000M	IDR	9%, 3/15/2029		3,939,615
						4,917,755
				Brazil—4.5%
				Nota Do Tesouro Nacional:
		8M	BRL	10%, 1/1/2021		1,993,458
		10M	BRL	10%, 1/1/2027		2,820,102
						4,813,560
				Colombia—4.2%
		14,130,000M	COP	Titulos De Tesoreria, 7.5%, 8/26/2026		4,520,170
				South Africa—4.0%
				Republic of South Africa:
		39,430M	ZAR	6.5%, 2/28/2041		1,831,952
		41,415M	ZAR	8.75%, 2/28/2048		2,419,043
						4,250,995
				Australia—1.7%
		2,655M	AUD	Commonwealth of Australia, 2.75%, 10/21/2019		1,793,755
Total Value of Sovereign Bonds (cost $75,007,774)						62,944,873
				U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—30.7%
				United States
				U.S. Treasury Notes:
		27,880M	USD	2.0532%, 4/30/2021 ^(a)		27,840,940
		5,045M	USD	2.1342%, 7/31/2021 ^(a)		5,041,504
Total Value of U.S. Government Obligations (cost $32,921,712)						32,882,444

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND FUND

September 30, 2019

	Principal Amount			Security	Value
				CORPORATE BONDS—4.6%
				United States
		3,230M	USD	Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., 2.8976%, 2/23/2023 ^(a)	$	3,229,247
		1,505M	USD	HP Enterprise Co., 6.35%, 10/15/2045		1,758,039
Total Value of Corporate Bonds (cost $4,718,001)						4,987,286
				GOVERNMENT REGIONAL AGENCY—3.8%
				Australia
		970M	AUD	New South Wales Treasury Corp., 4%, 4/8/2021		685,653
		2,650M	AUD	Queensland Treasury Corp., 5.5%, 6/21/2021		1,928,849
		2,150M	AUD	Western Australia Treasury Corp., 7%, 10/15/2019		1,454,761
Total Value of Government Regional Agency (cost $4,362,296)						4,069,263

Total Value of Investments (cost $117,009,783)	97.9	%		104,883,866
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	2.1			2,264,971
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	107,148,837

(a)	Interest rates are determined and reset periodically. The interest rates above are the rates in effect at September 30, 2019.

At September 30, 2019, the Fund has open foreign exchange contracts as described on next page.

The unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on the open contracts were as follows:

International Opportunities Bond Fund

Counterparty	Settlement Date		Foreign Currency		Receive (Deliver)			Asset		Liability		Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation)
CITI		10/11/19		PLN		2,610,000		$	650,857	$	689,018	$	(38,161	)
HSBC		10/18/19		SEK		44,500,000			4,520,497		4,771,862		(251,365	)
HSBC		10/18/19		SEK		12,200,000			1,239,327		1,283,002		(43,675	)
MS		10/24/19		AUD		4,710,000			3,179,017		3,329,716		(150,699	)
HSBC		10/28/19		NOK		8,600,000			945,299		956,416		(11,117	)
CITI		10/30/19		PLN		5,320,000			1,326,650		1,396,857		(70,207	)
HSBC		11/15/19		ZAR		(36,590,000	)		2,343,215		2,415,979		(72,764	)
CITI		11/19/19		MXN		(56,800,000	)		2,846,205		2,878,281		(32,076	)
MS		11/22/19		AUD		4,840,000			3,266,760		3,292,555		(25,795	)
GS		12/6/19		NOK		44,600,000			4,902,365		4,992,500		(90,135	)
HSBC		12/9/19		GBP		4,850,000			5,963,286		5,996,152		(32,866	)
HSBC		12/11/19		ZAR		(27,400,000	)		1,835,637		1,809,178		26,459
HSBC		1/17/20		NOK		10,400,000			1,143,152		1,161,881		(18,729	)
CITI		1/24/20		GBP		6,390,000			7,856,783		8,027,693		(170,910	)
Net unrealized depreciation on open foreign exchange contracts												$	(982,040	)

A summary of abbreviations for counterparties to foeign exchange contracts are as follows:

CITI	Citigroup Global Markets

GS	Goldman Sachs & Co.

HSBC	HSBC Bank USA N.A.

MS	Morgan Stanley

Summary of Abbreviations:

AUD	Australian Dollar

BRL	Brazillian Real

CLP	Chilean Peso

COP	Colombian Peso

GBP	British Pound

IDR	Indonesian Rupiah

MXN	Mexican Peso

MYR	Malaysian Ringgit

NOK	Norwegian Krone

PLN	Polish Zloty

SEK	Swedish Krona

USD	United States Dollar

ZAR	South African Rand

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND FUND

September 30, 2019

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2			Level 3		Total
Sovereign Bonds
Mexico	$	—	$	15,039,763		$	—	$	15,039,763
United Kingdom		—		8,452,076			—		8,452,076
Malaysia		—		7,237,997			—		7,237,997
Chile		—		6,289,982			—		6,289,982
Poland		—		5,628,820			—		5,628,820
Indonesia		—		4,917,755			—		4,917,755
Brazil		—		4,813,560			—		4,813,560
Colombia		—		4,520,170			—		4,520,170
South Africa		—		4,250,995			—		4,250,995
Australia		—		1,793,755			—		1,793,755
U.S. Government Obligations
United States		—		32,882,444			—		32,882,444
Corporate Bonds
United States		—		4,987,286			—		4,987,286
Government Regional Agency
Australia		—		4,069,263			—		4,069,263
Total Investments in Securities	$	—	$	104,883,866		$	—	$	104,883,866
Other Financial Instruments^*	$	—	$	(982,040	)	$	—	$	(982,040	)

^*	Other financial instruments are foreign exchange contracts and are considered derivative instruments, which are valued at the net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on the instrument.

During the year ended September 30, 2019, there were no transfers between Level 1 investments and Level 2 investments that had a material inpact to the Fund. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

Portfolio Manager’s Letter

INVESTMENT GRADE FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Investment Grade Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 12.00% for Class A shares, 12.37% for Advisor shares and 12.43% for Institutional shares, including dividends of 31.9 cents per share on Class A shares, 35.7 cents per share on Advisor shares and 35.8 cents per share on Institutional shares.

Bond market

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) raised rates by 25 basis points in its December meeting, however, Fed policy moved from a tightening to a more accommodative policy. In fact, the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points twice following the rate hike in December. U.S. Treasurys rallied strongly across the yield curve in a risk-off environment. There is an inverse relationship between bond prices and yields. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note yield, which is very sensitive to changes in Fed policy, fell by 120 basis points to 1.62%. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield, which is controlled by other factors such as GDP, inflation and investor sentiment, fell by 140 basis points to 1.67%. The yield curve continued to flatten, with the spread between 2- and 10-year U.S. Treasury yields narrowing to just four basis points by the end of the period.

Amid volatility in commodity-driven sectors, the high yield bond market returned 6.30% during the review period. Municipal bonds benefited from favorable supply-demand dynamics and returned 7.93%.

The Fund

The Fund invests in investment grade fixed income securities, with the majority of the Fund’s assets being invested in investment grade corporate bonds. The Fund also had as much as 5.0% of its assets invested in high yield securities and 3.0% invested in U.S. Treasurys.

The Fund underperformed the ICE BofAML Corporate Index during the review period. The relative underperformance was predominantly a function of the Fund’s underweight in corporate bonds with maturities greater than 10 years, which had the largest returns during the review period. The Fund benefitted from its overweight in the BBB rated bonds, which had the highest returns among different rating categories. Exposure to high yield detracted from fund

performance as the high yield market underperformed investment grade corporate bonds during the review period.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,

Rajeev Sharma
Portfolio Manager and
Director of Fixed Income,
Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

October 4, 2019

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

INVESTMENT GRADE FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.06%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,069.97	$ 5.50
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.76	$ 5.37
Advisor Class Shares	0.77%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,072.93	$ 4.00
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,021.21	$ 3.90
Institutional Class Shares	0.68%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,072.98	$ 3.53
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,021.66	$ 3.45

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived.
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

TOP TEN SECTORS

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

INVESTMENT GRADE FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Investment Grade Fund (Class A shares) and the ICE BofAML U.S. Corporate Master Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	ICE BofAML U.S. Corporate Master Index
One Year	12.00%	12.37%	12.43%	12.87%
Five Years	3.69%	4.04%	4.11%	4.65%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	4.89%	3.55%	3.69%	5.60%^†

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	7.55%	12.37%	12.43%
Five Years	2.85%	4.04%	4.11%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	4.46%	3.55%	3.69%
S.E.C. 30-Day Yield^***	1.95%	1.67%	2.38%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Investment Grade Fund (Class A shares) beginning 9/30/09 with a theoretical investment in the ICE BofAML U.S. Corporate Master Index (the “Index”). The Index includes publicly-issued, fixed rate, non-convertible investment grade dollar-denominated, S.E.C.-registered corporate debt having at least one year to maturity and an outstanding par value of at least $250 million. Bonds must be rated investment grade based on a composite of Moody’s and S&P. It is not possible to invest directly in this Index. In addition, the Index does not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited) (continued)

INVESTMENT GRADE FUND

deducted from the initial $10,000 investment in the Fund and all dividends and distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares performance may be greater than or less than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^* Average Annual Total Return figures (for the periods ended 9/30/19) include the reinvestment of all dividends and distributions. “N.A.V. Only” returns are calculated without sales charges. The Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are based on the current maximum sales charge of 4% and assume the current sales charge of 4% was in effect at the beginning of the stated periods (prior to 6/12/17, the maximum sales charge was 5.75%). The Advisor Class and Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are the same as the N.A.V. Only returns since these classes are sold without sales charges. During the periods shown, some of the expenses of the Fund were waived or assumed. If such expenses had been paid by the Fund, the Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Ten Years would have been 7.45%, 2.75% and 4.37%, respectively, and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 1.88%. The Advisor Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been 12.27%, 3.94% and 2.72%, respectively, and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 1.60%. The Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been 12.34%, 4.01% and 3.58%, respectively, and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 2.30%. Results represent past performance and do not indicate future results. The graph and the returns shown do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on distributions or the redemption of fund shares. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Index figures are from ICE Data Services and all other figures are from Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

^** The Since Inception returns for Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class share are for the periods beginning 4/1/13 (commencement of operations for those classes).

^*** The S.E.C. 30-day yield shown is for September 2019.

^† The Index return is for ten years. The Index return since inception of the Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares is 4.25%.

Portfolio of Investments

INVESTMENT GRADE FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		CORPORATE BONDS—94.1%
		Automotive—4.3%
$	6,200M	Ford Motor Credit Co., LLC, 8.125%, 1/15/2020	$	6,302,976
	4,000M	General Motors Financial Co., Inc., 5.25%, 3/1/2026		4,342,256
	3,600M	Lear Corp., 5.25%, 1/15/2025		3,718,782
	2,700M	Volkswagen Group America, 4%, 11/12/2021		2,791,303
				17,155,317
		Chemicals—2.3%
	4,500M	DowDuPont, Inc., 4.725%, 11/15/2028		5,151,424
	4,000M	Nutrien, Ltd., 3.375%, 3/15/2025		4,146,876
				9,298,300
		Energy—16.0%
	2,749M	Continental Resources, Inc., 5%, 9/15/2022		2,775,003
	4,000M	Enable Midstream Partners, LP, 4.4%, 3/15/2027		4,011,680
	5,000M	Enbridge Energy Partners, LP, 4.2%, 9/15/2021		5,151,260
		Enterprise Products Operating:
	4,031M	7.55%, 4/15/2038		5,950,639
	1,800M	4.8%, 2/1/2049		2,098,993
	5,000M	Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, LP, 3.45%, 2/15/2023		5,154,445
	4,750M	Kinder Morgan, Inc., 5.625%, 11/15/2023 ^(a)		5,274,353
		Magellan Midstream Partners, LP:
	5,000M	5%, 3/1/2026		5,616,615
	3,600M	4.85%, 2/1/2049		4,186,847
	4,000M	Midwest Connector Capital Co., LLC, 4.625%, 4/1/2029 ^(a)		4,398,020
	6,600M	MPLX, LP, 5.25%, 1/15/2025 ^(a)		6,968,867
	4,300M	Noble Energy, Inc., 3.85%, 1/15/2028		4,466,251
		Valero Energy Corp.:
	2,700M	4.35%, 6/1/2028		2,933,269
	3,500M	6.625%, 6/15/2037		4,535,045
				63,521,287
		Financial Services—7.5%
	6,750M	Brookfield Finance, Inc., 4.85%, 3/29/2029		7,645,630

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

INVESTMENT GRADE FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Financial Services (continued)
$	3,750M	ERAC USA Finance, LLC, 4.5%, 8/16/2021 ^(a)	$	3,903,956
	2,500M	GE Capital International Funding Services, Ltd., 4.418%, 11/15/2035		2,620,695
	6,400M	General Electric Capital Corp., 4.65%, 10/17/2021		6,659,392
		Protective Life Corp.:
	5,135M	7.375%, 10/15/2019		5,144,377
	3,600M	4.3%, 9/30/2028 ^(a)		3,937,000
				29,911,050
		Financials—18.0%
		Bank of America Corp.:
	2,000M	4%, 1/22/2025		2,125,092
	2,700M	3.559%, 4/23/2027		2,850,125
	4,725M	5.875%, 2/7/2042		6,551,567
	3,200M	Capital One Financial Corp., 3.75%, 4/24/2024		3,364,554
		Citigroup, Inc.:
	4,500M	4.3%, 11/20/2026		4,851,607
	2,900M	4.45%, 9/29/2027		3,166,794
		Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.:
	2,350M	3.85%, 7/8/2024		2,489,216
	8,450M	3.5%, 11/16/2026		8,785,042
		JPMorgan Chase & Co.:
	2,500M	4.452%, 12/5/2029		2,828,212
	8,600M	6.4%, 5/15/2038		12,326,767
		Morgan Stanley:
	4,000M	4.10%, 5/22/2023		4,214,988
	3,000M	4%, 7/23/2025		3,238,863
	3,000M	UBS Group Funding (Switzerland) AG, 4.253%, 3/23/2028 (a)		3,274,839
	3,250M	Wells Fargo & Co., 4.75%, 12/7/2046		3,842,420
		Wells Fargo Bank, NA:
	2,350M	5.85%, 2/1/2037		3,120,196
	3,250M	6.6%, 1/15/2038		4,640,896
				71,671,178

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Food/Beverage/Tobacco—2.6%
$	9,000M	Anheuser-Busch Cos., LLC, 4.7%, 2/1/2036	$	10,412,037
		Forest Products/Containers—1.0%
	4,000M	Packaging Corp. of America, 3.4%, 12/15/2027		4,154,444
		Health Care—3.5%
		CVS Health Corp.:
	4,000M	3.875%, 7/20/2025		4,235,524
	1,800M	4.3%, 3/25/2028		1,948,030
	3,000M	5.05%, 3/25/2048		3,410,148
	4,050M	Express Scripts Holding Co., 4.75%, 11/15/2021		4,257,652
				13,851,354
		Information Technology—3.0%
	2,000M	Apple, Inc., 2.2%, 9/11/2029		1,967,716
	4,000M	Corning, Inc., 7.25%, 8/15/2036		4,891,472
	4,500M	International Business Machines Corp., 4.25%, 5/15/2049		5,185,112
				12,044,300
		Manufacturing—2.9%
	4,000M	Crane Co., 4.2%, 3/15/2048		4,201,160
	2,250M	CRH America, Inc., 3.4%, 5/9/2027 ^(a)		2,325,958
	5,000M	Johnson Controls International, PLC, 5%, 3/30/2020		5,067,240
				11,594,358
		Media-Broadcasting—.9%
	1,325M	ABC, Inc., 8.75%, 8/15/2021		1,486,718
	1,800M	Fox Corp., 4.709%, 1/25/2029 ^(a)		2,057,652
				3,544,370
		Media-Cable TV—3.2%
		Comcast Corp.:
	5,800M	4.25%, 1/15/2033		6,675,974
	3,250M	4.2%, 8/15/2034		3,719,823

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

INVESTMENT GRADE FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Media-Cable TV (continued)
$	1,800M	4.7%, 10/15/2048	$	2,207,176
				12,602,973
		Metals/Mining—2.4%
	5,000M	Arconic, Inc., 6.15%, 8/15/2020		5,160,950
	4,200M	Newmont Mining Corp., 5.125%, 10/1/2019		4,200,000
				9,360,950
		Real Estate—11.1%
		Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.:
	4,600M	3.95%, 1/15/2028		4,964,090
	2,800M	4.85%, 4/15/2049		3,464,104
		Digital Realty Trust, LP:
	6,700M	4.75%, 10/1/2025		7,375,641
	3,750M	3.7%, 8/15/2027		3,938,512
		Duke Realty, LP:
	2,800M	3.25%, 6/30/2026		2,900,215
	3,700M	4%, 9/15/2028		4,036,467
	3,500M	Essex Portfolio, LP, 3.875%, 5/1/2024		3,693,557
	5,000M	Realty Income Corp., 3.875%, 4/15/2025		5,374,245
	1,800M	Simon Property Group, LP, 2.45%, 9/13/2029		1,763,366
	6,000M	STORE Capital Corp., 4.5%, 3/15/2028		6,480,684
				43,990,881
		Retail-General Merchandise—1.8%
	5,300M	Home Depot, Inc., 5.875%, 12/16/2036		7,338,799
		Telecommunication Services—7.8%
		AT&T, Inc.:
	4,000M	3.6%, 7/15/2025		4,215,984
	6,000M	4.85%, 3/1/2039		6,815,628
	4,500M	4.25%, 3/1/2027		4,900,014

	Principal Amount		Security	Value
			Telecommunication Services (continued)
			Verizon Communications, Inc.:
	$	6,100M	4.329%, 9/21/2028	$	6,921,749
		7,100M	4.272%, 1/15/2036		7,996,020
					30,849,395
			Transportation—3.7%
		4,250M	Air Lease Corp., 4.25%, 2/1/2024		4,503,079
		2,700M	Aviation Capital Group, LLC, 3.5%, 11/1/2027 ^(a)		2,694,174
			Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC:
		1,800M	5.75%, 5/1/2040		2,425,338
		4,000M	5.15%, 9/1/2043		5,126,344
					14,748,935
			Utilities—2.1%
		3,150M	Entergy Arkansas, Inc., 4.95%, 12/15/2044		3,402,769
		4,500M	ONEOK, Inc., 4.55%, 7/15/2028		4,876,110
					8,278,879
Total Value of Corporate Bonds (cost $347,888,768)					374,328,807
			PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES—1.1%
			Transportation
		4,256M	American Airlines 17-2 AA PTT, 3.35%, 10/15/2029 (cost $4,256,450)		4,389,187
			U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—1.0%
		3,500M	U.S. Treasury Bonds, 3%, 2/15/2049 (cost $3,612,271)		4,173,887

Total Value of Investments (cost $355,757,489)	96.2	%		382,891,881
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	3.8			15,074,838
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	397,966,719

(a)	Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933 (see Note 4).

Summary of Abbreviations:

PTT	Pass-Through Trust

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

INVESTMENT GRADE FUND

September 30, 2019

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Corporate Bonds	$	—	$	374,328,807	$	—	$	374,328,807
Pass-Through Certificates		—		4,389,187		—		4,389,187
U.S. Government Obligations		—		4,173,887		—		4,173,887
Total Investments in Securities^*	$	—	$	382,891,881	$	—	$	382,891,881

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization for corporate bonds and pass-through certificates.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

Portfolio Managers’ Letter

LIMITED DURATION BOND FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Limited Duration Bond Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 4.37% for Class A shares, 4.65% for Advisor Class shares and 4.83% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 25.5 cents per share on Class A shares, 28.2 cents per share on Advisor Class shares and 29.7 cents per share on Institutional Class shares.

Bond market

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) raised rates by 25 basis points in its December meeting, however, Fed policy moved from a tightening to a more accommodative policy. In fact, the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points twice following the rate hike in December. U.S. Treasurys rallied strongly across the yield curve in a risk-off environment. There is an inverse relationship between bond prices and yields. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note yield, which is very sensitive to changes in Fed policy, fell by 120 basis points to 1.62%. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield, which is controlled by other factors such as GDP, inflation and investor sentiment, fell by 140 basis points to 1.67%. The yield curve continued to flatten, with the spread between 2- and 10-year U.S. Treasury yields narrowing to just four basis points by the end of the period.

Amid volatility in commodity-driven sectors, the high yield bond market returned 6.30% during the review period. Municipal bonds benefited from favorable supply-demand dynamics and returned 7.93%.

The Fund

The Fund outperformed the Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Year US Government/Credit Index during the period under review. The Fund’s outperformance was driven by several factors. First, the Fund was overweight investment grade corporate bonds. Second, the Fund was overweight asset backed securities relative to the index. Third, the Fund had exposure to covered bond securities which was additive to its relative outperformance. Fourth, the Fund benefited from its exposure to agency CMBS as well as agency CMOs maturing between two and three years. Lastly, the Fund’s average duration was longer than its benchmark over the period under review. The longer relative duration helped the Fund’s performance as yields declined during the review period.

Portfolio Managers’ Letter (continued)

LIMITED DURATION BOND FUND

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,

Rodwell Chadehumbe
Portfolio Manager
Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

October 4, 2019

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

LIMITED DURATION BOND FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	0.79%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,021.12	$ 4.00
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,021.11	$ 4.00
Advisor Class Shares	0.51%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,023.65	$ 2.59
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,022.51	$ 2.59
Institutional Class Shares	0.36%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,023.32	$ 1.83
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,023.27	$ 1.83

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived and/or assumed.
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

TOP TEN SECTORS

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

LIMITED DURATION BOND FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Limited Duration Bond Fund (Class A shares), the Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Year U.S. Government/Credit Bond Index^† and the ICE BofAML 1–5 Year U.S. Broad Market Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Year U.S. Government/ Credit Bond Index	ICE BofAML 1-5 Year U.S. Broad Market Index
One Year	4.37%	4.65%	4.83%	4.64%	6.13%
Five Years	1.19%	1.49%	1.63%	1.59%	2.10%
Since Inception^**	1.00%	1.33%	1.49%	1.48%	1.98%

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	1.71%	4.65%	4.83%
Five Years	0.68%	1.49%	1.63%
Since Inception^**	0.52%	1.33%	1.49%
S.E.C. 30-Day Yield^***	1.42%	1.69%	1.72%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Limited Duration Bond Fund (Class A shares) beginning 5/19/14 (commencement of operations) with theoretical investments in the Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Year U.S. Government/Credit Bond Index and the ICE BofAML 1-5 Year U.S. Broad Market

Index (the “Indices”). The Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Year U.S. Government/Credit Bond Index is the one- to three-year component of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Government/Credit Bond Index that includes securities in the Government and Credit Indices. The Government Index includes Treasurys (that is, public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have remaining maturities of more than one year) and agencies (that is, publicly issued debt of U.S. government agencies, quasi-federal corporations, and corporate or foreign debt guaranteed by the U.S. government). The Credit Index includes publicly issued U.S. corporate and foreign debentures and secured notes that meet specified maturity, liquidity, and quality requirements. The ICE BofAML 1-5 Year U.S. Broad Market Index is a subset of the ICE BofAML U.S. Broad Market Index which tracks the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated investment grade debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market, including U.S. Treasury, quasi-government, corporate, securitized and collateralized securities. The Index includes all securities with a remaining term to final maturity or an average life less than 5 years. It is not possible to invest directly in these Indices. In addition, the Indices do not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table it is assumed that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class and Institutional Class shares performance will be greater than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^* Average Annual Total Return figures (for the periods ended 9/30/19) include the reinvestment of all dividends and distributions. “N.A.V. Only” returns are calculated without sales charges. The Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are based on the current maximum sales charge of 2.5% and assume the current sales charge of 2.5% was in effect at the beginning of the stated periods (prior to 6/12/17, the maximum sales charge was 5.75%). The Advisor Class and Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are the same as the N.A.V. Only returns since these classes are sold without sales charges. During the periods shown, some of the expenses of the Fund were waived or assumed. If such expenses had been paid by the Fund, the Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been 1.51%, 0.48% and -0.09%, respectively, and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 1.27%. The Advisor Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been 4.47%, 1.24% and 1.05%, respectively, and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 1.17%. The Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been 4.62%, 1.45% and 0.79%, respectively, and the S.E.C. 30-Day Yield for September 2019 would have been 1.50%. Results represent past performance and do not indicate future results. The graph and the returns shown do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on distributions or the redemption of fund shares. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Index figures are from Bloomberg and ICE Data Services and all other figures are from Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

^** The Since Inception returns for Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the period beginning 5/19/14 (commencement of operations).

^*** The S.E.C. 30-Day Yield shown is for September 2019.

^† During the fiscal year, the Fund changed its primary broad-based securities index to the Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Year U.S. Government/Credit Bond Index from the ICE BofAML 1–5 Year U.S. Broad Market Index since it more closely reflects the Fund’s investment strategies. After this fiscal year, we will not show a comparison to the ICE BofAML 1–5 Year U.S. Broad Market Index.

Portfolio of Investments

LIMITED DURATION BOND FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		CORPORATE BONDS—48.1%
		Automotive—6.7%
$	2,000M	Daimler Finance NA, LLC, 3.4%, 2/22/2022 ^(a)	$	2,046,728
		General Motors Financial Co., Inc.:
	1,900M	4.2%, 11/6/2021		1,960,733
	2,800M	3.55%, 7/8/2022		2,858,321
	5,130M	Harley Davidson Financial Services, 2.15%, 2/26/2020 ^(a)		5,120,992
	2,463M	Lear Corp., 5.25%, 1/15/2025		2,544,267
	2,000M	O’Reilly Automotive, Inc., 4.625%, 9/15/2021		2,080,778
		Volkswagen Group America:
	3,000M	3.875%, 11/13/2020 ^(a)		3,049,419
	1,900M	4%, 11/12/2021		1,964,250
				21,625,488
		Energy—2.7%
	2,934M	Continental Resources, Inc., 5%, 9/15/2022		2,961,753
	2,000M	Enterprise Products Operating, 5.2%, 9/1/2020		2,055,356
	3,700M	Midwest Connector Capital Co., LLC, 3.625%, 4/1/2022 ^(a)		3,796,770
				8,813,879
		Financial Services—5.6%
	1,000M	Compass Bank, 5.5%, 4/1/2020		1,015,649
	4,445M	International Lease Finance Corp., 8.25%, 12/15/2020		4,757,052
	3,000M	PNC Bank, NA, 2.7%, 11/1/2022		3,044,481
	1,500M	Protective Life Corp., 7.375%, 10/15/2019		1,502,739
		SunTrust Bank:
	4,900M	2.59%, 1/29/2021 ^†		4,904,459
	2,900M	2.8%, 5/17/2022		2,951,484
				18,175,864
		Financials—18.2%
	3,600M	Bank of America Corp., 2.369%, 7/21/2021 ^†		3,606,163
	900M	Bank of Montreal, 1.9%, 8/27/2021		898,936
	2,000M	Capital One Financial Corp., 3.05%, 3/9/2022		2,040,476
	2,100M	Capital One NA, 2.25%, 9/13/2021		2,100,962

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Financials (continued)
		Citigroup, Inc.:
$	1,000M	2.65%, 10/26/2020	$	1,006,297
	5,349M	2.9%, 12/8/2021		5,429,743
	1,000M	DNB Bank ASA, 2.375%, 6/2/2021 ^(a)		1,003,492
	4,500M	DNB Boligkreditt AS, 2.5%, 3/28/2022 ^(a)		4,570,425
	4,000M	Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., 5.75%, 1/24/2022		4,310,972
	2,700M	HSBC Holdings, PLC, 3.803%, 3/11/2025		2,815,036
	1,000M	ING Groep NV, 3.15%, 3/29/2022		1,022,885
	4,000M	JPMorgan Chase & Co., 4.5%, 1/24/2022		4,221,136
	1,000M	Lloyds Bank, PLC, 6.375%, 1/21/2021		1,053,285
		Lloyds Banking Group, PLC:
	800M	3%, 1/11/2022		808,485
	6,000M	3.9%, 3/12/2024		6,282,672
		Morgan Stanley:
	6,100M	5.5%, 7/28/2021		6,474,656
	4,500M	2.75%, 5/19/2022		4,566,955
	4,100M	Wells Fargo & Co., 3.45%, 2/13/2023		4,236,842
	2,800M	Wells Fargo Bank, NA, 2.6%, 1/15/2021		2,821,090
				59,270,508
		Food/Beverage/Tobacco—.9%
	1,000M	Ingredion, Inc., 4.625%, 11/1/2020		1,023,586
	2,000M	Keurig Dr Pepper, Inc., 3.551%, 5/25/2021		2,043,336
				3,066,922
		Forest Products/Containers—1.8%
	5,487M	Georgia-Pacific, LLC, 5.4%, 11/1/2020 ^(a)		5,676,806
		Health Care—1.2%
	2,400M	CVS Health Corp., 2.8%, 7/20/2020		2,411,042
	1,632M	Gilead Sciences, Inc., 2.55%, 9/1/2020		1,640,139
				4,051,181
		Information Technology—.9%
	2,800M	Diamond 1 Finance Corp., 4.42%, 6/15/2021 ^(a)		2,887,892

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

LIMITED DURATION BOND FUND

September 30, 2019

	Principal Amount		Security	Value
			Metals/Mining—1.9%
	$	5,000M	Glencore Finance Canada, Ltd., 4.95%, 11/15/2021 ^(a)	$	5,231,740
		900M	Viterra, Inc., 5.95%, 8/1/2020		925,248
					6,156,988
			Real Estate—1.5%
			Digital Realty Trust, LP:
		1,671M	3.95%, 7/1/2022		1,745,019
		1,825M	2.75%, 2/1/2023		1,844,597
		1,250M	Realty Income Corp., 3.25%, 10/15/2022		1,290,349
					4,879,965
			Transportation—1.6%
		3,600M	Aviation Capital Group, LLC, 7.125%, 10/15/2020 ^(a)		3,767,065
		1,000M	Heathrow Funding, Ltd., 4.875%, 7/15/2021 ^(a)		1,043,896
		500M	Penske Truck Leasing Co., LP, 3.65%, 7/29/2021 ^(a)		511,733
					5,322,694
			Utilities—5.1%
		3,000M	DTE Energy Co., 3.3%, 6/15/2022		3,075,300
			Energy Transfer Partners, LP:
		5,986M	7.5%, 10/15/2020		6,292,244
		2,000M	4.5%, 4/15/2024		2,133,218
		1,375M	Exelon Generation Co., LLC, 3.4%, 3/15/2022		1,410,376
		2,000M	NRG Energy, Inc., 3.75%, 6/15/2024 ^(a)		2,059,760
		1,500M	Sempra Energy, 1.625%, 10/7/2019		1,499,862
					16,470,760
Total Value of Corporate Bonds (cost $153,592,872)					156,398,947
			ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES—22.3%
			Fixed Autos—11.3%
		1,200M	AmeriCredit Automobile Receivables Trust, 3.13%, 2/18/2025		1,222,844
		900M	BMW Vehicle Lease Trust, 3.26%, 7/20/2021		910,576

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Fixed Autos (continued)
		CarMax Auto Owner Trust:
$	2,000M	2.68%, 3/15/2024	$	2,034,782
	1,850M	3.37%, 10/16/2023		1,902,612
	1,500M	Drive Auto Receivables Trust, 3.41%, 6/15/2023		1,517,221
		GM Financial Automobile Leasing Trust:
	3,250M	3.18%, 6/21/2021		3,272,571
	1,400M	3.31%, 4/20/2022		1,413,744
		Hertz Vehicle Financing Trust:
	2,500M	2.96%, 10/25/2021		2,520,542
	5,400M	3.29%, 2/25/2024 ^(a)		5,541,707
	3,000M	Nissan Auto Receivables Owner Trust, 2.5%, 11/15/2023		3,040,050
	2,700M	Santander Drive Auto Receivables Trust, 3.21%, 9/15/2023		2,732,130
	4,000M	Santander Retail Auto Lease Trust, 2.77%, 6/20/2022 ^(a)		4,065,772
	4,512M	Tesla Auto Lease Trust, 3.71%, 8/20/2021 ^(a)		4,585,682
	1,912M	Volkswagen Auto Loan Enhanced Trust, 3.05%, 8/20/2021		1,917,843
				36,678,076
		Fixed Communication Services—3.0%
		Verizon Owner Trust:
	3,679M	1.92%, 12/20/2021 ^(a)		3,675,576
	4,240M	2.93%, 9/20/2023		4,318,432
	1,670M	3.23%, 4/20/2023		1,702,909
				9,696,917
		Fixed Credit Cards—4.4%
	7,030M	Citibank Credit Card Issuance Trust, 2.49%, 1/20/2023		7,083,372
		Synchrony Credit Card Master Trust:
	5,100M	1.93%, 6/15/2023		5,092,702
	2,050M	2.38%, 9/15/2023		2,056,150
				14,232,224

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

LIMITED DURATION BOND FUND

September 30, 2019

	Principal Amount		Security	Value
			Fixed Manufacturing—3.6%
	$	8,000M	John Deere Owner Trust, 2.91%, 7/17/2023	$	8,146,312
		3,600M	Kubota Credit Owner Trust, 3.1%, 8/15/2022 ^(a)		3,645,173
					11,791,485
Total Value of Asset-Backed Securities (cost $71,270,662)					72,398,702
			U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—14.6%
			U.S. Treasury Notes:
		5,000M	1.5%, 8/31/2021		4,985,940
		5,000M	1.5%, 9/15/2022		4,991,115
		9,500M	2%, 5/31/2024		9,690,741
		15,000M	2.125%, 5/15/2022		15,198,930
		9,000M	2.25%, 4/30/2021		9,073,656
		2,570M	2.5%, 1/15/2022		2,620,195
		1,000M	2.5%, 1/31/2024		1,038,848
Total Value of U.S. Government Obligations (cost $47,180,284)					47,599,425
			COVERED BONDS—3.6%
			Financial Services
		4,750M	Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, 2.35%, 7/27/2022 ^(a)		4,819,046
		7,000M	Royal Bank of Canada, 2.3%, 3/22/2021		7,037,800
Total Value of Covered Bonds (cost $11,751,182)					11,856,846
			COLLATERALIZED MORTGAGE OBLIGATIONS—3.5%
			Fannie Mae:
		4,186M	4%, 2/25/2025		4,351,527
		6,964M	3%, 1/25/2034		7,162,329
Total Value of Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (cost $11,330,729)					11,513,856

	Principal Amount		Security	Value
			COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES—1.9%
			Fannie Mae—.9%
	$	2,697M	Fannie Mae, 2.995%, 11/1/2022	$	2,771,695
			Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation—1.0%
		2,983M	Multi-Family Structured Pass-Throughs, 3.139%, 6/25/2025		3,132,267
Total Value of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (cost $5,771,141)					5,903,962
			U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY OBLIGATIONS—1.6%
			Fannie Mae:
		3,500M	1.25%, 5/6/2021		3,473,960
		1,700M	1.375%, 2/26/2021		1,691,067
Total Value of U.S. Government Agency Obligations (cost $5,132,313)					5,165,027

Total Value of Investments (cost $306,029,183)	95.6	%		310,836,765
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	4.4			14,166,662
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	325,003,427

(a)	Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933 (see Note 4).

^†	Interest rates are determined and reset periodically. The interest rates above are the rates in effect at September 30, 2019.

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

LIMITED DURATION BOND FUND

September 30, 2019

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Corporate Bonds	$	—	$	156,398,947	$	—	$	156,398,947
Asset-Backed Securities		—		72,398,702		—		72,398,702
U.S. Government Obligations		—		47,599,425		—		47,599,425
Covered Bonds		—		11,856,846		—		11,856,846
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations		—		11,513,856		—		11,513,856
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities		—		5,903,962		—		5,903,962
U.S. Government Agency Obligations		—		5,165,027		—		5,165,027
Total Investments in Securities^*	$	—	$	310,836,765	$	—	$	310,836,765

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization for corporate bonds, asset-backed securities and covered bonds.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

Portfolio Managers’ Letter

STRATEGIC INCOME FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Strategic Income Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 4.67% for Class A shares and 5.11% for Advisor Class shares, including dividends of 30.1 cents per share on Class A shares and 32.9 cents per share on Advisor Class shares.

Bond market

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) raised rates by 25 basis points in its December meeting, however, Fed policy moved from a tightening to a more accommodative policy. In fact, the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points twice following the rate hike in December. U.S. Treasurys rallied strongly across the yield curve in a risk-off environment. There is an inverse relationship between bond prices and yields. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note yield, which is very sensitive to changes in Fed policy, fell by 120 basis points to 1.62%. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield, which is controlled by other factors such as GDP, inflation and investor sentiment, fell by 140 basis points to 1.67%. The yield curve continued to flatten, with the spread between 2- and 10-year U.S. Treasury yields narrowing to just four basis points by the end of the period.

Amid volatility in commodity-driven sectors, the high yield bond market returned 6.30% during the review period. Municipal bonds benefited from favorable supply-demand dynamics and returned 7.93%.

The Fund

The Fund can invest through institutional class shares in a number of First Investors Funds (Underlying Funds). The average allocations to Underlying Funds as a percentage of the Fund’s

Portfolio Managers’ Letter (continued)

STRATEGIC INCOME FUND

net assets, the total returns for the review period and the allocations as a percentage of net assets as of the end of the period are shown in the table below.

	Average allocations, Review period	Total return	Allocations, 9/30/19
Equity Income Fund	0.1%	2.18%	0.0%
Premium Income Fund	0.6%	2.90%	0.0%
Floating Rate Fund	15.8%	3.21%	0.0%
Fund For Income	23.1%	6.23%	24.8%
International Opportunities Bond Fund	9.5%	-.25%	9.8%
Investment Grade Fund	14.1%	12.43%	15.5%
Limited Duration Bond Fund	24.5%	4.83%	33.6%
Tax Exempt Income Fund	0.8%	7.36%	0.0%
Tax Exempt Opportunities Fund	2.5%	8.60%	4.9%
U.S. Government Agency Obligations	8.6%	N/A	8.5%
Cash	0.4%	N/A	2.9%

For the annual reporting period ended September 30, 2019, the Fund returned 4.67% for Class A shares, compared to a return of 10.55% for its benchmark, the ICE BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. Broad Market Index. The Fund underperformed its benchmark primarily because it had a large allocation to underlying funds that did not fully benefit from the substantial decline in interest rates during the review period, in particular the Limited Duration Bond Fund and the Floating Rate Fund. A secondary factor was the significant underperformance of the International Opportunities Bond Fund, one of the underlying funds, versus comparable funds.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,

Clark D. Wagner
Portfolio Manager and
Chief Investment Officer,
Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

October 4, 2019

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

STRATEGIC INCOME FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	0.46%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,029.68	$ 2.34
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,022.76	$ 2.33
Advisor Class Shares	0.09%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,032.02	$ 0.46
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,024.62	$ 0.46

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived.
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

BY SECTOR

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

STRATEGIC INCOME FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Strategic Income Fund (Class A shares) and the ICE BofAML U.S. Broad Market Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	ICE BofAML U.S. Broad Market Index
One Year	4.67%	5.11%	10.55%
Five Years	2.27%	2.69%	3.46%
Since Inception^**	2.30%	2.68%	2.98%

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class
One Year	0.51%	5.11%
Five Years	1.45%	2.69%
Since Inception^**	1.66%	2.68%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Strategic Income Fund (Class A shares) beginning 4/3/13 (commencement of operations) with a theoretical investment in the ICE BofAML U.S. Broad Market Index (the “Index”). The Index tracks the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated investment grade debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market, including U.S. Treasury, quasi-government, corporate, securitized and collateralized securities. It is not possible to invest directly in this Index. In addition, the Index does not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table it is assumed that all dividends and distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class shares performance will be greater than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^** The Since Inception returns for Class A shares and Advisor Class shares are for the period beginning 4/3/13 (commencement of operations).

Portfolio of Investments

STRATEGIC INCOME FUND

September 30, 2019

	Shares or Principal Amount		Security	Value
			MUTUAL FUNDS—90.6%
			Fixed Income Funds
		14,201,182	Fund For Income - Institutional Class Shares	$	34,934,908
		1,570,463	International Opportunities Bond Fund - Institutional Class Shares		13,772,958
		2,187,959	Investment Grade Fund - Institutional Class Shares		21,792,074
		5,065,805	Limited Duration Bond Fund - Institutional Class Shares		47,365,275
		411,527	Tax Exempt Opportunities Fund - Institutional Class Shares		6,888,970
Total Value of Mutual Funds (cost $129,375,448)					124,754,185
			RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES—4.8%
			Fannie Mae—4.4%
	$	2,672M	4%, 9/1/2048-12/1/2048		2,779,975
		3,098M	4.5%, 6/1/2048-1/1/2049		3,269,106
					6,049,081
			Freddie Mac—.4%
		573M	5%, 10/1/2048		614,278
Total Value of Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (cost $6,535,518)					6,663,359
			U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—2.8%
		3,600M	U.S. Treasury Notes, 2.375%, 5/15/2029 (cost $3,664,266)		3,823,592
			SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—1.1%
		1,500M	U.S. Treasury Bills, 1.78%, 10/22/2019 (cost $1,498,442)		1,498,435

Total Value of Investments (cost $141,073,674)	99.3	%		136,739,571
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	.7			981,612
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	137,721,183

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Mutual Funds
Fixed Income Funds	$	124,754,185	$	—	$	—	$	124,754,185
Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities				6,663,359		—		6,663,359
U.S. Government Obligations		—		3,823,592		—		3,823,592
Short-Term U.S. Government Obligations		—		1,498,435		—		1,498,435
Total Investments in Securities	$	124,754,185	$	11,985,386	$	—	$	136,739,571

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

Portfolio Managers’ Letter

COVERED CALL STRATEGY FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Covered Call Strategy Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 0.97% for Class A shares, 1.25% for Advisor Class shares and 1.42% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 12.4 cents per share for Class A shares, 15.6 cents per share for Advisor Class shares and 18.3 cents per share for Institutional Class shares.

Market Environment

Stocks produced modest returns during a volatile 12-month period that ended September 30, 2019. The S&P 500 returned 4.25% over the past year, but this return masks a peak to trough decline of -19.37% and subsequent rally of 30.20% during the period. Interest rates declined significantly, leading to strong returns in the bond market. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield began the period at 3.06%, but declined to 1.46% by September 2019, near its record low. As a result, the yield curve flattened significantly, with parts of it inverting, which we are closely monitoring. This change in the direction of long-term interest rates coincided with a marked shift in monetary policy, as the Federal Reserve switched from a tightening bias to an easing bias over the past twelve months. Developed market centrals banks have also adopted an easing bias for the most part, with negative interest rates across many maturities in a large number of these countries. A record $17 trillion worth of global bonds now have negative yields.

As of the most recent report, U.S. GDP grew 2.3% over the past 12 months, in-line with the current cycle average. Growth was supported by a healthy consumer, with rising wages and an unemployment rate that touched 3.6%, the lowest in 49 years. Trade concerns have waxed and waned over the past year, impacting market sentiment and stock returns. Since the beginning of the “trade war” nearly 18 months ago, most of the negative tariff impact in the U.S. has been offset by a stronger dollar and devaluation of the renminbi, which makes Chinese goods cheaper to U.S. purchasers.

Unlike the past five years, during which growth stocks significantly outperformed value stocks, there has been no clear winner over the past 12 months, as performance of the two styles has flipped multiple times. This change in the market has created an environment that is more favorable to stock picking. As a result, the actively managed stocks in the covered call strategy have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past year.

The Fund

The call options in the Fund outperformed the call options in the benchmark by 212 basis points (bps) over the past year, as the active options strategy of the Fund was able to adapt to changing market conditions and take advantage of the heightened volatility. For example, the volatility spike during December 2018 allowed the Fund to “lock-in” high call premiums on longer term options, which gradually decayed during 2019. In comparison, the rules-based CBOE S&P 500 Buy Write (“BXM”) Index is limited to one-month options, and as a result, cannot take advantage of volatility spikes by writing longer-term options. The Fund also tended to write further out-of-the-money options, particularly in the beginning of 2019, as valuations were

attractive and these options provide for more upside participation during market rallies versus the BXM’s at-the-money options, which limit upside capture. Lastly, the single stock call options in the Fund tend to provide higher premiums than the Index options of the benchmark— a consistent feature of the Fund relative to the BXM. The actively managed stocks in the Fund outperformed the S&P 500 by 123 bps during the year, as positive stock selection more than offset negative sector allocation. Allocation detracted from returns as the defensive, bond-proxy sectors (Utilities, Real Estate, and Consumer Staples) were the top three performing sectors, each of which the Fund was underweight in due to valuation concerns. Stock selection was strong overall, particularly for Technology, Health Care, and Consumer Discretionary.

Thank you for placing your trust in our covered call fund. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,


Wiley D. Angell	Sean C. Hughes, CFA
Portfolio Manager Zeigler Capital Management, LLC	Portfolio Manager Zeigler Capital Management, LLC

October 4, 2019

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

COVERED CALL STRATEGY FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.26%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,051.74	$ 6.48
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,018.75	$ 6.38
Advisor Class Shares	0.80%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,054.64	$ 4.12
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,021.06	$ 4.05
Institutional Class Shares	0.86%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,054.40	$ 4.43
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,020.76	$ 4.36

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived.
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

BY SECTOR

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

COVERED CALL STRATEGY FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Covered Call Strategy Fund (Class A shares) and the Cboe S&P 500 BuyWrite Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	Cboe S&P 500 BuyWrite Index
One Year	0.97%	1.25%	1.42%	-1.11%
Since Inception^**	5.94%	6.26%	6.42%	7.48%

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	-4.83%	1.25%	1.42%
Since Inception^**	4.16%	6.26%	6.42%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Covered Call Strategy Fund (Class A shares) beginning 4/1/16 (commencement of operations) with a theoretical investment in the Cboe S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (the “Index”). The Index is a benchmark index designed to track the performance of a hypothetical buy-write strategy on the S&P 500 Index. The Index is a passive total return index based on (1) buying an S&P 500 stock index portfolio, and (2) “writing” (or selling) the near-term S&P 500 Index (“SPX”) “covered” call option, generally on the third Friday of each month. The SPX call written will have about one month remaining to expiration, with an exercise price just above the prevailing index level (i.e., slightly out of the money). The SPX call is held until expiration and cash settled, at which time a new one-month, near-the-money call is written. It is not possible to invest directly in this Index. In addition, the Index does not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was deducted from the initial $10,000 investment in the Fund and all dividends and distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares performance may

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited) (continued)

COVERED CALL STRATEGY FUND

be greater than or less than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^** The Since Inception returns for Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the period beginning 4/1/16 (commencement of operations).

Portfolio of Investments

COVERED CALL STRATEGY FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			COMMON STOCKS—101.6%
			Communication Services—6.1%
	180,200		AT&T, Inc.	$	6,818,768
	92,700		CBS Corp. - Class “B”		3,742,299
	107,000		Verizon Communications, Inc.		6,458,520
					17,019,587
			Consumer Discretionary—9.5%
	43,500		Home Depot, Inc.		10,092,870
	68,500		Ross Stores, Inc.		7,524,725
	56,900		Whirlpool Corp.		9,010,684
					26,628,279
			Consumer Staples—10.4%
	23,000		Constellation Brands, Inc. - Class “A”		4,767,440
	36,900		Costco Wholesale Corp.		10,631,259
	80,800		General Mills, Inc.		4,453,696
	115,500		Mondelez International, Inc. - Class “A”		6,389,460
	37,200		Philip Morris International, Inc.		2,824,596
					29,066,451
			Energy—4.0%
	94,900		Chevron Corp.		11,255,140
			Financials—13.3%
	64,000		Allstate Corp.		6,955,520
	70,800		American Express Co.		8,374,224
	19,900		BlackRock, Inc.		8,868,236
	109,800		JPMorgan Chase & Co.		12,922,362
					37,120,342
			Health Care—10.3%
	39,100	^*	Celgene Corp.		3,882,630
	123,600		Medtronic, PLC		13,425,432
	80,300		Merck & Co., Inc.		6,759,654

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

COVERED CALL STRATEGY FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares		Security	Value
		Health Care (continued)
	16,500	Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.	$	4,805,955
				28,873,671
		Industrials—17.1%
	118,000	Delta Air Lines, Inc.		6,796,800
	73,800	Honeywell International, Inc.		12,486,960
	31,000	Lockheed Martin Corp.		12,091,860
	35,800	Raytheon Co.		7,023,602
	22,300	Union Pacific Corp.		3,612,154
	42,900	United Technologies Corp.		5,856,708
				47,868,084
		Information Technology—26.9%
	74,400	Apple, Inc.		16,663,368
	32,800	Broadcom, Inc.		9,055,096
	244,900	Cisco Systems, Inc.		12,100,509
	32,500	International Business Machines Corp.		4,726,150
	43,700	Mastercard, Inc. - Class “A”		11,867,609
	113,900	Microsoft Corp.		15,835,517
	90,900	Oracle Corp.		5,002,227
				75,250,476
		Materials—4.0%
	62,400	Dow, Inc.		2,973,360
	112,700	DuPont de Nemours, Inc.		8,036,637
				11,009,997

Total Value of Common Stocks (cost $225,887,741)	101.6	%		284,092,027
Excess of Liabilities Over Other Assets	(1.6	)		(4,586,850	)
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	279,505,177

^*	Non-income producing.

CALL OPTIONS WRITTEN—(4.9)%	Expiration Date		Exercise Price		Contracts			Value
Allstate Corp.		1/17/20	$	105.00		(640	)	$	(432,000	)
American Express Co.		1/17/20		125.00		(708	)		(180,186	)
Apple, Inc.		11/15/19		215.00		(409	)		(589,983	)
Apple, Inc.		12/20/19		215.00		(335	)		(548,562	)
AT&T, Inc.		1/17/20		38.00		(1,802	)		(254,983	)
BlackRock, Inc.		1/17/20		440.00		(199	)		(520,385	)
Broadcom, Inc.		10/18/19		290.00		(328	)		(60,680	)
CBS Corp. - Class “B”		12/20/19		45.00		(927	)		(62,109	)
Celgene Corp.		10/18/19		92.50		(391	)		(296,183	)
Chevron Corp.		11/15/19		120.00		(949	)		(267,618	)
Cisco Systems, Inc.		10/18/19		49.00		(2,449	)		(254,696	)
Constellation Brands, Inc. - Class “A”		1/17/20		205.00		(230	)		(325,450	)
Costco Wholesale Corp.		10/18/19		280.00		(369	)		(484,312	)
Delta Air Lines, Inc.		12/20/19		60.00		(1,180	)		(200,600	)
Dow, Inc.		12/20/19		45.00		(624	)		(268,320	)
DuPont de Nemours, Inc.		12/20/19		67.50		(1,127	)		(693,105	)
General Mills, Inc.		1/17/20		55.00		(808	)		(201,596	)
Home Depot, Inc.		1/17/20		225.00		(435	)		(640,538	)
Honeywell International, Inc.		12/20/19		175.00		(347	)		(114,510	)
Honeywell International, Inc.		12/20/19		170.00		(391	)		(219,937	)
International Business Machines Corp.		1/17/20		140.00		(325	)		(327,438	)
JPMorgan Chase & Co.		12/20/19		105.00		(1,098	)		(1,496,025	)
Lockheed Martin Corp.		1/17/20		410.00		(310	)		(251,100	)
Mastercard, Inc. - Class “A”		1/17/20		280.00		(437	)		(445,740	)
Medtronic, PLC		1/17/20		115.00		(1,236	)		(235,458	)
Merck & Co., Inc.		1/17/20		87.50		(803	)		(176,660	)
Microsoft Corp.		12/20/19		140.00		(1,139	)		(663,467	)
Mondelez International, Inc. - Class “A”		12/20/19		55.00		(1,155	)		(262,763	)
Oracle Corp.		12/20/19		55.00		(909	)		(220,887	)
Philip Morris International, Inc.		12/20/19		90.00		(372	)		(8,184	)
Raytheon Co.		1/17/20		185.00		(358	)		(615,760	)
Ross Stores, Inc.		11/15/19		105.00		(685	)		(517,175	)
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.		12/20/19		310.00		(165	)		(88,275	)
Union Pacific Corp.		1/17/20		175.00		(223	)		(81,952	)
United Technologies Corp.		1/17/20		130.00		(429	)		(474,045	)
Verizon Communications, Inc.		1/17/20		57.50		(1,070	)		(409,275	)

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

COVERED CALL STRATEGY FUND

September 30, 2019

CALL OPTIONS WRITTEN—(4.9)%	Expiration Date		Exercise Price		Contracts			Value
Whirlpool Corp.		12/20/19	$	150.00		(569	)	$	(842,120	)
Total Value of Call Options Written (premium received $10,468,889)								$	(13,732,077	)

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2			Level 3		Total
Assets
Common Stocks^*	$	284,092,027	$	—		$	—	$	284,092,027

Liabilities
Call Options Written	$	—	$	(13,732,077	)	$	—	$	(13,732,077	)

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization for common stocks.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

Portfolio Manager’s Letter

EQUITY INCOME FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Equity Income Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 1.83% for Class A shares, 1.97% for Advisor Class shares and 2.18% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 26.1 cents per share for Class A shares, 29.4 cents per share for Advisor Class shares and 32.9 cents per share for Institutional Class shares. In addition, the Fund distributed capital gains of $1.14 per share on each class of shares.

U.S. equity market

The U.S. stock market began the review period with a very weak quarter. The S&P 500 fell -9.0% in the month of December alone. The start of 2019 saw a meaningful reversal in the equity markets following the sharp sell-off in December. Quantitative tightening by the Fed, coupled with slowing earnings and increased trade disputes, sparked the sell-off. January started very strong with the S&P 500 posting a +8.0% total return, the best monthly showing since 1987. By the end of January, the S&P had erased most of the losses incurred during the month of December and sat 15% above its Christmas Eve low. The January rally was led by higher-beta, lower-quality and smaller-cap names. Fueled by a dovish Fed and more optimism about a potential trade deal, the S&P 500 posted its best quarterly return since 2009. The first quarter rally in small-cap stocks was the best since 1991.

As the second quarter progressed, the dominant themes were global trade war, the slowing global economy, and the Fed becoming more accommodative and starting to lower rates again. The S&P 500 gained 17% during the first six months of the year (its best performance since 1997). The market’s gains were predominantly built upon defensive sectors like Utilities, REITs and Consumer Staples. These sectors all made new highs along with the S&P 500, as lower global interest rates seemingly accelerated investors’ appetite for yield.

The start of the summer saw global economic data begin to weaken as the effect of the trade war began to manifest itself. The 2- to 10-year U.S. Treasury yield curve inverted for the first time since the Global Financial Crisis, raising recession concerns. The market continued to move on trade talk and the economy. In September, oil spiked with attacks on a Saudi processing plant and we saw a rotation from momentum stocks to value stocks for the first time. High-growth stocks came down off their highs and valuations in the private market began to correct as well. Nevertheless, the S&P 500 remained near its all-time highs posting a return of 20.55% on a year-to-date basis.

The Fund

The Fund underperformed its benchmark for the review period. The Fund’s underweight of the Consumer Discretionary sector and poor stock selection within that sector were the largest contributors to the underperformance. Designer Brands was down significantly off its highs after the company made an acquisition that was not well received by investors. Tractor Supply has underperformed after the Chinese have curtailed their agriculture purchases and mid-west flooding put tremendous pressure on their customers purchasing power. The current

Portfolio Manager’s Letter (continued)

EQUITY INCOME FUND

administration’s use of tariffs also had a negative impact on Tapestry, the parent company of Coach and Kate Spade, as higher tariffs on goods made in China will have a negative impact on margins.

The Fund’s underperformance in Energy was led by poor stock selection with Encana, a small-cap oil producer which sold off after surprising Wall Street analysts with a large acquisition. The Fund underperformed its peers in Healthcare due to poor stock selection and an underweight of medical technology names as result of the lack of dividend paying stocks in that sector. The Fund’s position in Phibro Animal Health, which provides vaccines and medicines for herd animals, was also hurt by the curtailing of herd animals purchases by the Chinese because of the current trade dispute.

With the Utilities sector having one of its best years in terms of performance, our underweighting of the sector has hurt our relative performance. The Fed has reversed it earlier tightening cycle and bond yields have begun to move lower; as yield move lower, investors searching for yield are forced to increase the exposure to the sector. We felt that most of the Utilities were close to fully valued, selling at multiples that are at all-time highs.

The Fund had a strong year in stock selection within the Industrial sector. Its two defense names, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, were up significantly this year as defense budgets were expanded and both companies picked up sizeable contract wins. Ingersoll Rand rose significantly because of strong demand in the core air conditioning markets and the selling of their lower margin industrial business. The Fund’s performance in the Telecommunication sector was led by Comcast and Verizon as both companies have grown earnings above expectations and, with their healthy dividend yields, are attractive opportunities for investors seeking yield. The Fund’s performance in the Consumer Staples sector was also strong, with both Coca-Cola and Pepsi having a strong performance year. Our largest position in this sector, Walmart, also has had a good year with improvement in their online retail sales.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,

Sean Reidy
Portfolio Manager and
Director of Equities,
Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

October 4, 2019

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

EQUITY INCOME FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.16%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,054.21	$ 5.97
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.25	$ 5.87
Advisor Class Shares	0.91%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,053.85	$ 4.69
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,020.51	$ 4.61
Institutional Class Shares	0.80%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,056.01	$ 4.12
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,021.06	$ 4.05

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period).
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

TOP TEN SECTORS

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

EQUITY INCOME FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Equity Income Fund (Class A shares), the MSCI USA Value Index^† and the Russell 1000^® Value Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	MSCI USA Value Index	Russell 1000 Value Index
One Year	1.83%	1.97%	2.18%	4.71%	4.00%
Five Years	6.71%	7.06%	7.13%	8.30%	7.79%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	9.66%	8.88%	8.99%	11.50%^††	11.46%^††

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	-4.06%	1.97%	2.18%
Five Years	5.45%	7.06%	7.13%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	9.01%	8.88%	8.99%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Equity Income Fund (Class A shares) beginning 9/30/09 with theoretical investments in the MSCI USA Value Index and the Russell 1000 Value Index (the “Indices”). The MSCI USA Value Index captures large and mid-cap U.S. securities exhibiting overall value characteristics. The value investment style characteristics for index constructions are defined using book value to price 12-month forward earnings to price and dividend yield. The Russell 1000 Value Index is an unmanaged index that measures the performance of the large-cap value segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes those Russell 1000 companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower expected growth values. It is not possible to invest directly in these Indices. In addition, the Indices do not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was deducted from the initial $10,000 investment in the Fund and all dividends and distributions were

reinvested. Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares performance may be greater than or less than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^** The Since Inception returns for Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the periods beginning 4/1/13 (commencement of operations for those classes).

^† During the fiscal year, the Fund changed its primary broad-based securities index to the MSCI USA Value Index from the Russell 1000 Value Index since it more closely reflects the Fund’s investment strategies. After this fiscal year, we will not show a comparison to the Russell 1000 Value Index.

^†† The Index return is for ten years. The MSCI USA Value Index return and the Russell 1000 Value Index return since inception of the Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are 10.41% and 9.96%, respectively.

Portfolio of Investments

EQUITY INCOME FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares		Security	Value
		COMMON STOCKS—95.3%
		Communication Services—7.0%
	238,230	AT&T, Inc.	$	9,014,623
	236,400	Comcast Corp. - Special Shares “A”		10,656,912
	183,200	Verizon Communications, Inc.		11,057,952
	15,750	Walt Disney Co.		2,052,540
				32,782,027
		Consumer Discretionary—3.0%
	28,350	Lowe’s Cos., Inc.		3,117,366
	21,900	McDonald’s Corp.		4,702,149
	23,750	Oxford Industries, Inc.		1,702,875
	51,600	Penske Automotive Group, Inc.		2,439,648
	25,850	Tractor Supply Co.		2,337,874
				14,299,912
		Consumer Staples—8.9%
	161,050	Coca-Cola Co.		8,767,562
	34,250	Kimberly-Clark Corp.		4,865,212
	57,150	PepsiCo, Inc.		7,835,265
	44,750	Philip Morris International, Inc.		3,397,868
	69,200	Procter & Gamble Co.		8,607,096
	73,550	Walmart, Inc.		8,728,914
				42,201,917
		Energy—9.1%
	138,707	BP, PLC (ADR)		5,269,479
	66,250	Chevron Corp.		7,857,250
	71,500	ConocoPhillips		4,074,070
	94,050	ExxonMobil Corp.		6,640,870
	178,950	Kinder Morgan, Inc.		3,688,159
	75,993	Marathon Petroleum Corp.		4,616,575
	158,850	PBF Energy, Inc. - Class “A”		4,319,132
	29,100	Royal Dutch Shell, PLC - Class “A” (ADR)		1,712,535

100

Shares			Security	Value
			Energy (continued)
	156,000		Suncor Energy, Inc.	$	4,926,480
					43,104,550
			Financials—22.7%
	125,300	^*	AllianceBernstein Holding, LP (MLP)		3,677,555
	29,200		American Express Co.		3,453,776
	285,250		Bank of America Corp.		8,320,742
	56,500		Bank of New York Mellon Corp.		2,554,365
	40,650	^*	Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. - Class “B”		8,456,013
	6,300		BlackRock, Inc.		2,807,532
	48,460		Chubb, Ltd.		7,823,382
	92,800		Citigroup, Inc.		6,410,624
	21,800		Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.		4,517,614
	99,845		Hamilton Lane, Inc. - Class “A”		5,687,171
	213,450		Investors Bancorp, Inc.		2,424,792
	119,200		iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index Fund (ETF)		4,473,576
	104,050		JPMorgan Chase & Co.		12,245,644
	64,100		MetLife, Inc.		3,022,956
	156,700		Old National Bancorp of Indiana		2,696,024
	24,700		PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.		3,461,952
	52,100		Popular, Inc.		2,817,568
	208,450		Regions Financial Corp.		3,297,679
	122,900		Sterling Bancorp		2,465,374
	45,700		Travelers Cos., Inc.		6,795,133
	97,900		Wells Fargo & Co.		4,938,076
	24,700		Willis Towers Watson, PLC		4,766,359
					107,113,907
			Health Care—11.6%
	62,850		Abbott Laboratories		5,258,659
	15,450		Anthem, Inc.		3,709,545
	72,050		Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.		3,653,655
	12,550		Eli Lilly & Co.		1,403,467
	108,450		GlaxoSmithKline, PLC (ADR)		4,628,646

101

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

EQUITY INCOME FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares		Security	Value
		Health Care (continued)
	39,700	Johnson & Johnson	$	5,136,386
	88,694	Medtronic, PLC		9,633,942
	85,261	Merck & Co., Inc.		7,177,271
	191,674	Pfizer, Inc.		6,886,847
	100,850	Smith & Nephew, PLC (ADR)		4,853,911
	10,900	UnitedHealth Group, Inc.		2,368,788
				54,711,117
		Industrials—10.1%
	55,250	Eaton Corp., PLC		4,594,038
	23,700	General Dynamics Corp.		4,330,701
	34,400	Honeywell International, Inc.		5,820,480
	39,550	Ingersoll-Rand, PLC		4,872,956
	38,150	Kansas City Southern, Inc.		5,074,331
	15,850	Lockheed Martin Corp.		6,182,451
	15,900	Northrop Grumman Corp.		5,959,161
	57,650	Republic Services, Inc.		4,989,608
	42,200	United Technologies Corp.		5,761,144
				47,584,870
		Information Technology—9.0%
	155,900	Cisco Systems, Inc.		7,703,019
	83,700	Corning, Inc.		2,387,124
	77,700	HP, Inc.		1,470,084
	153,700	Intel Corp.		7,920,161
	41,650	Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.		2,411,952
	78,150	Microsoft Corp.		10,865,195
	68,300	QUALCOMM, Inc.		5,209,924
	39,500	Teradyne, Inc.		2,287,445
	17,250	Texas Instruments, Inc.		2,229,390
				42,484,294
		Materials—3.8%
	27,500	Avery Dennison Corp.		3,123,175

102

	Shares		Security	Value
			Materials (continued)
		57,807	Dow, Inc.	$	2,754,504
		30,941	DuPont de Nemours, Inc.		2,206,403
		16,800	Eastman Chemical Co.		1,240,344
		27,900	FMC Corp.		2,446,272
		18,300	Linde, PLC		3,545,076
		27,150	LyondellBasell Industries NV - Class “A”		2,429,111
					17,744,885
			Real Estate—4.0%
		111,950	Americold Realty Trust (REIT)		4,149,986
		158,720	Brookfield Property Partners (REIT)		3,222,016
		49,500	CyrusOne, Inc. (REIT)		3,915,450
		85,600	Douglas Emmett, Inc. (REIT)		3,666,248
		27,800	Federal Realty Investment Trust (REIT)		3,784,692
					18,738,392
			Utilities—6.1%
		39,900	American Electric Power Co., Inc.		3,738,231
		113,100	CenterPoint Energy, Inc.		3,413,358
		50,000	Dominion Energy, Inc.		4,052,000
		35,000	Duke Energy Corp.		3,355,100
		65,450	Exelon Corp.		3,161,889
		72,250	FirstEnergy Corp.		3,484,617
		19,900	NextEra Energy, Inc.		4,636,501
		46,150	Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (ETF)		2,987,751
					28,829,447
Total Value of Common Stocks (cost $309,056,581)					449,595,318

103

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

EQUITY INCOME FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY OBLIGATIONS—2.1%
$	10,000M	Federal Home Loan Bank, 1.93%, 10/25/2019 (cost $9,987,125)	$	9,987,530
		SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—1.5%
	7,000M	U.S. Treasury Bills, 1.78%, 10/22/2019 (cost $6,992,731)		6,992,699

Total Value of Investments (cost $326,036,437)	98.9	%		466,575,547
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	1.1			5,254,565
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	471,830,112

^*	Non-income producing

Summary of Abbreviations:

ADR	American Depositary Receipts

ETF	Exchange Traded Fund

REIT	Real Estate Investment Trust

SPDR	Standard & Poor’s Depository Receipts

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

104

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Common Stocks	$	449,595,318	$	—	$	—	$	449,595,318
Short-Term U.S. Government Agency Obligations		—		9,987,530		—		9,987,530
Short-Term U.S. Government Obligations		—		6,992,699		—		6,992,699
Total Investments in Securities^*	$	449,595,318	$	16,980,229	$	—	$	466,575,547

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization for common stocks.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

105

Portfolio Manager’s Letter

GLOBAL FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Global Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was -1.48% for Class A shares, -1.20% for Advisor Class shares and -1.08% for Institutional Class shares. The Fund distributed capital gains of 99.7 cents per share on each class of shares.

International equities

Global equities, as measured by the MSCI All Country World Index (“ACWI”), advanced 1.95% during the trailing one year ending September 30, 2019. Despite this moderate rise, global equity markets exhibited extreme volatility during the year primarily driven by the Fed’s policy and the U.S. administration’s trade policy with China. The Fed’s desire to raise interest rates, while shrinking its balance sheet, brought significant losses across global financial markets in the fourth quarter of 2018. As measured by the ACWI, global stocks fell 13.1% in U. S. dollars during the last quarter of 2018.

After the turbulent decline in the fourth quarter, the U.S. administration appeared to change tack—the government moderated its position towards reaching an agreement with China, and the Fed reversed course and ceased tightening following their January 2019 meeting. This dramatic pivot away from the Fed’s December tightening policy decision collapsed bond yields and drove prices of global risk assets higher with the MSCI AC World Index rising 12.18%. Global equity markets continued their march higher in the second quarter of 2019 and the MSCI AC World Index rose 2.93%. Positive returns were driven by continued low interest rates and expectations that monetary policy was likely to remain accommodating.

Equity markets dropped slightly in the third quarter. The ACWI fell 0.53%, driven by weaker overseas markets, despite continued low interest rates and expectations that monetary policy was likely to remain accommodative. European markets sold off and remained susceptible to political news flow. U.K. headlines were dominated by negative stories around Brexit after Boris Johnson replaced Theresa May as prime minister. Additionally, because the European Union is sensitive to trade, economic uncertainty fueled by comments around further tariffs continued to weigh on industrial confidence and economic activity.

Overall, including all the volatility and drama during the 12-month period, markets collapsed and then rallied back, leaving the ACWI little changed with a small positive 1.95% U.S. dollar return for the trailing one-year period ended September 30, 2019.

The Fund

The Fund underperformed the ACWI for the trailing one-year period ended September 30, 2019. Underperformance was driven by both sector allocation and stock selection. The largest contributors to underperformance were the Energy, Financials, Healthcare, Information Technology and Real Estate sectors, with the Energy sector the largest contributor to the Fund’s underperformance due to the substantial decline in oil prices during the review period.

106

Conversely, Materials, Utilities, Industrials, Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples contributed to performance.

From a regional perspective, North America and Western Europe were the largest contributors to underperformance of the Fund, led by the U.S. and the U.K. In contrast, Asia Pacific and the Middle East were the largest contributors to regional returns, led by Japan and Israel.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,

Pedro V. Marcal
Portfolio Manager and
Director of International Equities,
Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

October 4, 2019

107

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

GLOBAL FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.42%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,047.49	$ 7.29
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,017.95	$ 7.18
Advisor Class Shares	1.10%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,048.78	$ 5.65
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.55	$ 5.57
Institutional Class Shares	1.03%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,049.80	$ 5.29
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.91	$ 5.22

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived.
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

TOP TEN SECTORS

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

108

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

GLOBAL FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Global Fund (Class A shares) and the Morgan Stanley Capital International (“MSCI”) All Country World Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	MSCI All Country World Index
One Year	-1.48%	-1.20%	-1.08%	1.95%
Five Years	6.59%	7.00%	7.06%	7.23%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	7.88%	8.52%	8.62%	8.93%^†

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	-7.17%	-1.20%	-1.08%
Five Years	5.33%	7.00%	7.06%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	7.25%	8.52%	8.62%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Global Fund (Class A shares) beginning 9/30/09 with a theoretical investment in the MSCI All Country World Index (the “Index”). The Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to measure the equity market performance of developed and emerging market country indices. The Index consists of 47 country indices including 23 developed and 24 emerging market country indices. It is not possible to invest directly in this Index. In addition, the Index does not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was deducted from the initial $10,000 investment in the Fund and all dividends and distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares

109

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited) (continued)

GLOBAL FUND

performance may be greater than or less than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^* Average Annual Total Return figures (for the periods ended 9/30/19) include the reinvestment of all dividends and distributions. “N.A.V. Only” returns are calculated without sales charges. The Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are based on the maximum sales charge of 5.75%. The Advisor Class and Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are the same as the N.A.V. Only returns since these classes are sold without sales charges. During the periods shown, some of the expenses of the Fund were waived or assumed. If such expenses had been paid by the Fund, the Class A “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Ten Years would have been -7.19%, 5.29% and 7.22%, respectively. The Advisor Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been -1.22%, 6.97% and 8.48%, respectively. The Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return for One Year, Five Years and Since Inception would have been -1.09%, 7.02% and 8.58%, respectively. Results represent past performance and do not indicate future results. The graph and the returns shown do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on distributions or the redemption of fund shares. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Index figures are from Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. and all other figures are from Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

^** The Since Inception returns for Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the periods beginning 4/1/13 (commencement of operations for those classes).

^† The Index return is for ten years. The Index return since inception of the Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares is 8.60%.

110

Portfolio of Investments

GLOBAL FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			COMMON STOCKS—95.5%
			United States—59.5%
	22,000		Abbott Laboratories	$	1,840,740
	28,000	^*	Adobe, Inc.		7,735,000
	15,000		Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.		3,327,900
	14,000	^*	Alphabet, Inc. - Class “A”		17,095,960
	4,000	^*	Alphabet, Inc. - Class “C”		4,876,000
	3,000	^*	Amazon.com, Inc.		5,207,730
	20,000	^*	Autodesk, Inc.		2,954,000
	48,000		Ball Corp.		3,494,880
	160,000		Bank of America Corp.		4,667,200
	21,000	^*	Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. - Class “B”		4,368,420
	57,000		Chevron Corp.		6,760,200
	10,000		Chubb, Ltd.		1,614,400
	70,000		CMS Energy Corp.		4,476,500
	75,000		Coca-Cola Co.		4,083,000
	28,000		ConocoPhillips		1,595,440
	114,000	^*	Cree, Inc.		5,586,000
	17,000		Eli Lilly & Co.		1,901,110
	16,000		EOG Resources, Inc.		1,187,520
	62,000	^*	Facebook, Inc.		11,040,960
	40,000		HDFC Bank, Ltd.		2,282,000
	3,000	^*	Illumina, Inc.		912,660
	117,000		Intel Corp.		6,029,010
	63,000		Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.		5,764,500
	42,000		JPMorgan Chase & Co.		4,942,980
	20,000		Kimberly-Clark Corp.		2,841,000
	20,000		KLA-Tencor Corp.		3,189,000
	13,000		Lockheed Martin Corp.		5,070,780
	15,000		Lowe’s Cos., Inc.		1,649,400
	20,000		McDonald’s Corp.		4,294,200
	19,000		Medtronic, PLC		2,063,780
	120,000		Merck & Co., Inc.		10,101,600
	72,000		Microsoft Corp.		10,010,160
	47,000		Noble Energy, Inc.		1,055,620

111

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

GLOBAL FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			United States (continued)
	28,000		Northrop Grumman Corp.	$	10,494,120
	30,000		NVIDIA Corp.		5,222,100
	47,000		PepsiCo, Inc.		6,443,700
	64,000		Procter & Gamble Co.		7,960,320
	78,000		QUALCOMM, Inc.		5,949,840
	18,000	^*	salesforce.com, inc.		2,671,920
	42,000	^*	Synopsys, Inc.		5,764,500
	39,000	^*	Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.		4,888,260
	5,000		Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.		1,456,350
	24,000		Union Pacific Corp.		3,887,520
	39,000		United Technologies Corp.		5,324,280
	19,000		UnitedHealth Group, Inc.		4,129,080
	140,000		Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (ETF)		9,063,600
	20,000		Valero Energy Corp.		1,704,800
	200,000		Verizon Communications, Inc.		12,072,000
	29,000		Visa, Inc. - Class “A”		4,988,290
	20,000		Vulcan Materials Co.		3,024,800
	36,000		Wells Fargo & Co.		1,815,840
					250,880,970
			Germany—7.9%
	13,000		Adidas AG		4,047,489
	520,000	^*	Aixtron SE		5,305,024
	24,000		Allianz AG		5,594,079
	64,000		Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co.		4,304,010
	18,000		Muenchener Rueckver AG		4,657,591
	40,000		Puma SE		3,095,469
	19,000		Siemens AG		2,034,671
	25,000		Stroeer SE & Co. KGaA		1,903,332
	14,000		Volkswagen AG Preferred Shares		2,381,375
					33,323,040
			Switzerland—5.0%
	1,000		Barry Callebaut AG		2,062,021
	8,000	^*	Lonza Group AG		2,704,474

112

Shares			Security	Value
			Switzerland (continued)
	94,000		Nestle SA	$	10,198,207
	72,000		Novartis AG		6,243,054
					21,207,756
			United Kingdom—5.0%
	150,000		Anglo American, PLC		3,451,083
	60,000		Ashtead Group, PLC		1,670,212
	740,000		BP, PLC		4,693,069
	45,000		Diageo, PLC		1,844,131
	220,000		Glaxosmithkline, PLC		4,719,135
	10,000	^*	GW Pharmaceuticals, PLC		1,150,300
	2,800,000		Lloyds Banking Group, PLC		1,863,201
	110,000	^*	Ocado Group, PLC		1,788,678
					21,179,809
			China—3.7%
	28,000	^*	Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd. (ADR)		4,682,440
	500,000		Citic Securities Co., Ltd.		936,499
	260,000		Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China, Ltd.		2,987,228
	170,000		Tencent Holdings, Ltd.		7,162,050
					15,768,217
			Japan—3.5%
	10,000		Daikin Industries, Ltd.		1,311,445
	200,000		Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.		1,014,382
	20,000		Nintendo Co., Ltd.		7,402,543
	85,000		Sony Corp.		4,989,549
					14,717,919
			France—2.2%
	70,000		AXA SA		1,787,633
	11,000		LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE		4,371,969
	20,000		Safran SA		3,148,877
					9,308,479

113

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

GLOBAL FUND

September 30, 2019

	Shares		Security	Value
			Netherlands—1.4%
		24,000	ASML Holdings NV	$	5,944,609
			Italy—1.4%
		410,000	Enel SpA		3,061,582
		240,000	UniCredit SpA		2,830,392
					5,891,974
			Taiwan—1.0%
		92,000	Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (ADR)		4,276,160
			Spain—1.0%
		400,000	Iberdrola SA		4,157,520
			Luxembourg—1.0%
		500,000	Aroundtown SA		4,089,507
			Poland—.9%
		60,000	CD Projekt SA		3,641,804
			Thailand—.7%
		4,500,000	Thai Beverage, PCL		2,881,381
			Australia—.6%
		40,000	Rio Tinto, Ltd.		2,501,907
			Hong Kong—.5%
		200,000	AIA Group, Ltd.		1,889,585
			Canada—.2%
		225,000	EnCana Corp.		1,035,000
Total Value of Common Stocks (cost $338,734,385)					402,695,637

114

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—2.4%
		United States
$	10,000M	U.S. Treasury Bills, 1.78%, 10/22/2019 (cost $9,989,616)	$	9,989,570

Total Value of Investments (cost $348,724,001)	97.9	%		412,685,207
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	2.1			8,930,269
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	421,615,476

^*	Non-income producing

Summary of Abbreviations:

ADR	American Depositary Receipts

ETF	Exchange Traded Funds

SPDR	Standard & Poor’s Depository Receipts

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

115

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

GLOBAL FUND

September 30, 2019

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Common Stocks
United States	$	250,880,970	$	—	$	—	$	250,880,970
Germany		33,323,040		—		—		33,323,040
Switzerland		21,207,756		—		—		21,207,756
United Kingdom		21,179,809		—		—		21,179,809
China		15,768,217		—		—		15,768,217
Japan		14,717,919		—		—		14,717,919
France		9,308,479		—		—		9,308,479
Netherlands		5,944,609		—		—		5,944,609
Italy		5,891,974		—		—		5,891,974
Taiwan		4,276,160		—		—		4,276,160
Spain		4,157,520		—		—		4,157,520
Luxembourg		4,089,507		—		—		4,089,507
Poland		3,641,804		—		—		3,641,804
Thailand		2,881,381		—		—		2,881,381
Australia		2,501,907		—		—		2,501,907
Hong Kong		1,889,585		—		—		1,889,585
Canada		1,035,000		—		—		1,035,000
Short-Term U.S. Government Obligations		—		9,989,570		—		9,989,570
Total Investments in Securities	$	402,695,637	$	9,989,570	$	—	$	412,685,207

During the year ended September 30, 2019, there were no transfers between Level 1 investments and Level 2 investments that had a material inpact to the Fund. This does not include transfers between Level 1 investments and Level 2 investments due to the Fund utilizing international fair value pricing during the year (see Note 1A). Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

116

Portfolio Manager’s Letter

GROWTH & INCOME FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Growth & Income Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 2.02% for Class A shares, 2.26% for Advisor Class shares and 2.34% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 27.4 cents per share for Class A shares, 47.2 cents per share for Advisor Class shares and 37.4 cents per share for Institutional Class shares. In addition, the Fund distributed capital gains of $4.02 per share on each class of shares.

U.S. equity market

The U.S. stock market began the review period with a very weak quarter. The S&P 500 fell -9.0% in the month of December alone. Quantitative tightening by the Fed, coupled with slowing earnings and increased trade disputes, sparked the sell-off. The start of 2019 saw a meaningful reversal in the equity markets following the sharp sell-off in December. January started very strong with the S&P 500 posting a +8.0% total return, the best monthly showing since 1987. By the end of January, the S&P had erased most of the losses incurred during the month of December and sat 15% above its Christmas Eve low. The January rally was led by higher-beta, lower-quality and smaller-cap names. Fueled by a dovish Fed and more optimism about a potential trade deal, the S&P 500 posted its best quarterly return since 2009. The first quarter rally in small-cap stocks was the best since 1991.

The Fund

The Fund’s total return for the period underperformed that of both the Russell 1000^® Value index and the MSCI USA Value Index. Significantly contributing to this underperformance was the Fund’s underweight positioning in Real Estate and Utilities sectors, both of which meaningfully outperformed the broader market amidst general anxiety around the direction of global growth and falling government bond yields. Although the Fund did benefit from positive overall stock selection within individual sectors, pockets of negative selection did detract from performance.

117

Portfolio Manager’s Letter (continued)

GROWTH & INCOME FUND

Negative stock selection within the Communications Services segment was driven by the company’s media investments, which suffered increased investor concerns over advertising trends and changing consumer viewing habits; CBS Corporation (-29%) also announced a poorly-received (re)combination with Viacom, whereas Fox Corporation (-15%) unveiled disappointing spending guidance. The Fund also suffered negative stock selection within the Consumer Discretionary sector; Tapestry (-38%), the parent company of Coach and Kate Spade, faced headwinds of higher tariff heads on imported goods from China, while also seeing disappointing traction in its new product launches. Negative stock selection extended into the Healthcare sector; managed care provider Centene Corporation (-40%) saw increased investor concern over the fate of the Affordable Care Act (due to the ruling of a federal judge in Texas) and the loss of a Medicaid contract in Louisiana.

On the positive side, the Fund enjoyed strong stock selection in the Industrial and Materials sectors. Two of the Fund’s defense investments, Lockheed Martin (+16%) and Northrup Grumman (+29%), benefited as defense budgets were expanded and both companies picked up sizeable contract wins. Ingersoll Rand (+23%) benefited from strong demand in its core air conditioning market and saw investor approval of its planned divestiture of lower-margin industrial businesses. Agricultural chemical provider FMC Corporation (+18%) also benefited from strong global demand for its products, more than offsetting flood-related challenges it its North American business.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,

Sean Reidy
Portfolio Manager and
Director of Equities,
Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

October 4, 2019

118

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

GROWTH & INCOME FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.11%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,065.73	$ 5.75
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.50	$ 5.62
Advisor Class Shares	0.83%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,066.16	$ 4.30
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,020.91	$ 4.20
Institutional Class Shares	0.74%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,067.13	$ 3.83
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,021.36	$ 3.75

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period).
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

TOP TEN SECTORS

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

119

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

GROWTH & INCOME FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Growth & Income Fund (Class A shares), the MSCI USA Value Index^† and the Russell 1000 Value Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	MSCI USA Value Index	Russell 1000 Value Index
One Year	2.02%	2.26%	2.34%	4.71%	4.00%
Five Years	6.24%	6.61%	6.65%	8.30%	7.79%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	10.85%	9.25%	9.31%	11.50%^††	11.46%^††

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	-3.85%	2.26%	2.34%
Five Years	4.98%	6.61%	6.65%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	10.19%	9.25%	9.31%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Growth & Income Fund (Class A shares) beginning 9/30/09 with theoretical investments in the MSCI USA Value Index and the Russell 1000 Value Index (the “Indices”). The MSCI USA Value Index captures large and mid-cap U.S. securities exhibiting overall value characteristics. The value investment style characteristics for index constructions are defined using book value to price 12-month forward earnings to price and dividend yield. The Russell 1000 Value Index is an unmanaged index that measures the performance of the large-cap value segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes those Russell 1000 companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower expected growth values. It is not possible to invest directly in these Indices. In addition, the Indices do not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was deducted from the initial $10,000 investment in the Fund and all dividends and distributions were

120

^** The Since Inception returns for Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the periods beginning 4/1/13 (commencement of operations for those classes).

121

Portfolio of Investments

GROWTH & INCOME FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			COMMON STOCKS—96.4%
			Communication Services—9.4%
	10,200	^*	Alphabet, Inc. - Class “A”	$	12,455,628
	721,600		AT&T, Inc.		27,305,344
	210,500		CBS Corp. - Class “B”		8,497,885
	670,400		Comcast Corp. - Special Shares “A”		30,221,632
	331,116		Fox Corp. - Class “B”		10,443,399
	99,600	^*	Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.		12,483,864
	493,750		Verizon Communications, Inc.		29,802,750
	63,988		Walt Disney Co.		8,338,916
					139,549,418
			Consumer Discretionary—3.9%
	67,550		Aptiv, PLC		5,905,221
	5,650	^*	Booking Holdings, Inc.		11,088,746
	15,850	^*	Burlington Stores, Inc.		3,167,147
	56,250		Home Depot, Inc.		13,051,125
	87,000		Lowe’s Cos., Inc.		9,566,520
	49,750		McDonald’s Corp.		10,681,823
	38,450		Ross Stores, Inc.		4,223,733
					57,684,315
			Consumer Staples—8.3%
	411,700		Coca-Cola Co.		22,412,948
	221,204		Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV (ADR)		5,532,312
	248,400		Mondelez International, Inc. - Class “A”		13,741,488
	148,300		PepsiCo, Inc.		20,331,930
	172,400		Philip Morris International, Inc.		13,090,332
	200,600		Procter & Gamble Co.		24,950,628
	201,900		Walmart, Inc.		23,961,492
					124,021,130
			Energy—8.5%
	449,786		BP, PLC (ADR)		17,087,370
	224,350		Chevron Corp.		26,607,910

122

Shares			Security	Value
			Energy (continued)
	180,300		ConocoPhillips	$	10,273,494
	346,250		ExxonMobil Corp.		24,448,712
	119,050		Hess Corp.		7,200,144
	261,480		Marathon Petroleum Corp.		15,884,910
	381,950		Suncor Energy, Inc.		12,061,981
	154,950		Valero Energy Corp.		13,207,938
					126,772,459
			Financials—20.2%
	105,800		American Express Co.		12,514,024
	158,100		American International Group, Inc.		8,806,170
	959,300		Bank of America Corp.		27,982,781
	281,850		Bank of New York Mellon Corp.		12,742,438
	108,400	^*	Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. - Class “B”		22,549,368
	189,600		Chubb, Ltd.		30,609,024
	317,950		Citigroup, Inc.		21,963,986
	355,500		Citizens Financial Group, Inc.		12,574,035
	99,450		Discover Financial Services		8,064,400
	61,950		Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.		12,837,898
	307,080		JPMorgan Chase & Co.		36,140,245
	173,750		MetLife, Inc.		8,194,050
	189,400		Morgan Stanley		8,081,698
	117,400		PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.		16,454,784
	71,500		Travelers Cos., Inc.		10,631,335
	377,950		U.S. Bancorp		20,915,753
	590,200		Wells Fargo & Co.		29,769,688
					300,831,677
			Health Care—13.4%
	154,500		Abbott Laboratories		12,927,015
	29,416		Anthem, Inc.		7,062,782
	148,650	^*	Centene Corp.		6,430,599
	68,650		Eli Lilly & Co.		7,677,130
	150,100		Gilead Sciences, Inc.		9,513,338

123

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

GROWTH & INCOME FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			Health Care (continued)
	109,500		Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc.	$	11,522,685
	125,225		Johnson & Johnson		16,201,610
	185,500		Koninklijke Philips NV (ADR)		8,557,115
	224,400		Medtronic, PLC		24,374,328
	292,300		Merck & Co., Inc.		24,605,814
	579,601		Pfizer, Inc.		20,825,064
	154,799		Smith & Nephew, PLC (ADR)		7,450,476
	50,650		Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.		14,752,826
	22,801		UnitedHealth Group, Inc.		4,955,113
	120,800		Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.		16,582,216
	53,450		Zoetis, Inc.		6,659,336
					200,097,447
			Industrials—10.2%
	87,197		Eaton Corp., PLC		7,250,431
	201,000	^*	Gardner Denver Holdings, Inc.		5,686,290
	106,926		Honeywell International, Inc.		18,091,879
	109,550		Ingersoll-Rand, PLC		13,497,656
	186,300		Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.		17,046,450
	46,107		Lockheed Martin Corp.		17,984,496
	236,350		Masco Corp.		9,851,068
	51,450		Northrop Grumman Corp.		19,282,946
	28,163		Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.		4,067,019
	104,600		Union Pacific Corp.		16,943,108
	168,450		United Technologies Corp.		22,996,794
					152,698,137
			Information Technology—12.2%
	237,200	^*	Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.		6,876,428
	249,013		Applied Materials, Inc.		12,425,749
	40,713		ASML Holdings NV		10,113,923
	548,300		Cisco Systems, Inc.		27,091,503
	444,650		Corning, Inc.		12,681,418
	276,250		eBay, Inc.		10,768,225

124

Shares			Security	Value
			Information Technology (continued)
	18,900	^*	FleetCor Technologies, Inc.	$	5,420,142
	286,225		Intel Corp.		14,749,174
	187,350		Microsoft Corp.		26,047,271
	186,450		Oracle Corp.		10,260,344
	238,250		QUALCOMM, Inc.		18,173,710
	94,500	^*	Synopsys, Inc.		12,970,125
	102,050		TE Connectivity, Ltd.		9,509,019
	34,400		Texas Instruments, Inc.		4,445,856
					181,532,887
			Materials—2.5%
	74,250		Celanese Corp.		9,080,032
	98,850		DuPont de Nemours, Inc.		7,048,993
	50,980		FMC Corp.		4,469,926
	44,800		Linde, PLC		8,678,656
	98,200		LyondellBasell Industries NV - Class “A”		8,785,954
					38,063,561
			Real Estate—2.6%
	36,050		American Tower Corp. (REIT)		7,971,737
	84,750		Crown Castle International Corp. (REIT)		11,781,098
	43,950		Federal Realty Investment Trust (REIT)		5,983,353
	147,086		iShares U.S. Real Estate (ETF)		13,758,424
					39,494,612
			Utilities—5.2%
	95,550		American Electric Power Co., Inc.		8,952,079
	129,361		CMS Energy Corp.		8,272,636
	77,230		Entergy Corp.		9,063,713
	171,500		Exelon Corp.		8,285,165
	182,005		FirstEnergy Corp.		8,778,101
	44,800		NextEra Energy, Inc.		10,437,952
	125,650		Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (ETF)		8,134,581

125

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

GROWTH & INCOME FUND

September 30, 2019

	Shares or Principal Amounts		Security	Value
			Utilities (continued)
		82,350	WEC Energy Group, Inc.	$	7,831,485
		116,857	Xcel Energy, Inc.		7,582,851
					77,338,563
Total Value of Common Stocks (cost $971,866,334)					1,438,084,206
			SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—3.0%
	$	45,000M	U.S. Treasury Bills, 1.78%, 10/22/2019 (cost $44,953,273)		44,953,065

Total Value of Investments (cost $1,016,819,607)	99.4	%		1,483,037,271
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	.6			8,549,375
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	1,491,586,646

^*	Non-income producing

Summary of Abbreviations:

ADR	American Depositary Receipts

ETF	Exchange Traded Fund

REIT	Real Estate Investment Trust

SPDR	Standard & Poor’s Depository Receipts

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

126

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Common Stocks	$	1,438,084,206	$	—	$	—	$	1,438,084,206
Short-Term U.S. Government Obligations		—		44,953,065		—		44,953,065
Total Investments in Securities^*	$	1,438,084,206	$	44,953,065	$	—	$	1,483,037,271

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization for common stocks.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

127

Portfolio Managers’ Letter

HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 5.92% for Class A shares, 6.14% for Advisor Class shares and 6.39% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 0.03 cents per share for Advisor Class shares and 0.12 cents per share for Institutional Class shares. The Fund distributed capital gains of 20.8 cents per share on each class of shares

The Market

Markets ended 2018 on a weak note and U.S. equities suffered their largest quarterly loss since 2011. Volatility was elevated as markets contended with a confluence of moderating growth, tighter liquidity and monetary policy, trade uncertainty, swelling fiscal deficits, and political turmoil.

U.S. equities rebounded at the beginning of 2019 buoyed by a dovish shift in Federal Reserve (Fed) policy and guidance, optimism for a U.S.-China trade deal, relatively strong fourth-quarter earnings, and corporate buybacks. However, unresolved U.S. trade frictions with China, Mexico, Japan and the European Union unsettled markets and escalated concerns about the potential risks to U.S. economic growth from increasing cost pressures, supply chain disruptions, and waning business confidence and investment plans. Specifically, tensions between the U.S. and China were particularly volatile, with negotiations abruptly breaking down in May prior to the two countries agreeing to halt incremental tariffs and resume trade negotiations when they met at the G20 conference in June. U.S.-China trade relations continued to deteriorate in the absence of meaningful compromises on key structural issues, and expectations for a protracted trade war and the potential for a longer-term decoupling of the world’s two largest economies has eroded consumer and business confidence and curtailed capital spending. Tensions between the two countries eased in September ahead of high-level trade negotiations scheduled for October.

On the monetary policy front, as expected, the Fed raised short-term interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) in December 2018, but indicated that rising economic headwinds and expectations for slower domestic growth have created significant uncertainty about the path of interest rates in 2019. While the Fed left its benchmark interest rate unchanged during the first half of 2019, it has noted that increasing uncertainties to its outlook have strengthened the case for additional policy accommodation. The Fed ultimately lowered its benchmark interest rate in July and September by a combined 50 bps in an effort to sustain economic expansion and mitigate the risks of moderating growth and trade frictions.

The Fund

The Fund outperformed its custom benchmark (70% Russell 3000, 30% ICE BofA Merrill Lynch US 3-Month Treasury Bill Index) for the period. Within the equity strategies, security selection contributed to results. Strong selection, particularly within the health care, industrials, and consumer discretionary sectors contributed to relative performance, but was partially offset by weaker selection in the communication services, energy, and consumer staples sectors. Sector

128

allocation, a residual of our bottom-up stock selection process, also contributed to performance, driven mainly by an underweight to energy and overweight to real estate, but was partially offset by an underweight allocation to the information technology sector.

American Tower (Real Estate) was the largest relative contributor. American Tower is a real estate investment trust which owns, operates, and develops multitenant communications real estate. At the end of the second fiscal quarter, American Tower reported results that beat high expectations across the board, backed by strong growth in data usage and the subsequent investment by data carriers. U.S. organic growth remains strong, and international growth has picked up as well, due to carrier consolidation in India stabilizing and American Tower’s recent expansion into the fast-growing African market. American Tower continues to invest in its innovation platform as a means of better capturing the impacts of 5G. We believe that the company’s low maintenance capex business model, solid balance sheet that is not heavily debt financed, and strong management team with an excellent capital allocation track record should help to generate high cash flow and powerful dividend growth.

Our underweight position in Microsoft (Information Technology) was the biggest relative detractor during the quarter. Microsoft engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. The stock price rose after the company reported better that expected fiscal earning for the third quarter of 2019 within all three major units: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and Personal Computing. We maintained our positioning in the stock but continued to be underweight relative to the benchmark as of the end of the period.

The hedging strategy contributed to results. The beta hedge, which is designed to reduce the Fund’s equity exposure by selling futures on U.S. indices, contributed to results. The beta hedging strategy was particularly additive during the fourth quarter of 2018 when the U.S. markets experienced negative performance. The Fund’s tail risk management strategy, which is designed to mitigate capital losses in periods when equities experience a sharp decline, detracted during the period due to rising U.S. markets.

Macro challenges continue to weigh on markets, however, we remain confident that opportunities to generate alpha exist. In particular, unresolved trade tensions, slowing global growth, and growing policy uncertainty have dampened investor risk appetite and impacted corporate fundamentals for companies and industries most exposed to these risks. We believe that this provides ample opportunity for alpha generation from security selection by fundamental managers with deep insights into companies. Further, we believe that a multi-strategy factor-diversified approach to capital allocation can help manage risk amidst uncertainty and reduce excess drawdowns in the event of market shocks.

129

Portfolio Managers’ Letter (continued)

HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,


Gregg R. Thomas, CFA	Roberto J. Isch, CFA
Portfolio Manager	Portfolio Manager
Wellington Management Company LLP	Wellington Management Company LLP

October 4, 2019

130

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.75%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,060.03	$ 9.04
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,016.30	$ 8.85
Advisor Class Shares	1.42%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,061.22	$ 7.34
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,017.95	$ 7.18
Institutional Class Shares	1.31%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,061.87	$ 6.77
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,018.50	$ 6.63

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived.
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

TOP TEN SECTORS

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

131

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund (Class A shares), the Russell 3000^® Index and the ICE BofAML U.S. T-Bill 0-3 Month Index

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	Russell 3000	ICE BofAML T-Bill 0-3 Month Index
One Year	5.92%	6.14%	6.39%	2.92%	2.39%
Since Inception^**	7.59%	7.92%	8.06%	12.25%	1.48%

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	-0.20%	6.14%	6.39%
Since Inception^**	5.60%	7.92%	8.06%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund (Class A shares) beginning 8/1/16 (commencement of operations) with theoretical investments in the Russell 3000 Index and the ICE BofAML U.S. T-Bill 0-3 Month Index (the “Indices”). The Russell 3000 Index is a market capitalization weighted equity index that provides exposure to the entire U.S. stock market. The Index tracks the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S.-traded stocks which represent about 98% of all U.S incorporated equity securities. The ICE BofAML U.S. T-Bill 0-3 Month Index tracks the performance of the U.S. dollar denominated U.S. Treasury Bills publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market with a remaining term to final maturity of less than 3 months. It is not possible to invest directly in these Indices. In addition, the Indices do not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was deducted from the initial $10,000 investment in the Fund

132

and all dividends and distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares performance may be greater than or less than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^** The Since Inception returns for Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the period beginning 8/1/16 (commencement of operations).

133

Portfolio of Investments

HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			COMMON STOCKS—90.3%
			Communication Services—2.9%
	150	^*	Alphabet, Inc. - Class “A”	$	183,171
	27,308		AT&T, Inc.		1,033,335
	3,506		CBS Corp. - Class “B”		141,537
	426	^*	Charter Communications, Inc.		175,563
	9,609		Cinemark Holdings, Inc.		371,292
	12,362		Comcast Corp. - Special Shares “A”		557,279
	1,429	^*	T-Mobile U.S., Inc.		112,562
	3,463	^*	TripAdvisor, Inc.		133,949
	6,262		Verizon Communications, Inc.		377,974
	3,842		Walt Disney Co.		500,689
					3,587,351
			Consumer Discretionary—11.6%
	723	^*	Amazon.com, Inc.		1,255,063
	517		Autoliv, Inc.		40,781
	1,180	^*	Burlington Stores, Inc.		235,788
	3,915	^*	CarMax, Inc.		344,520
	3,429		Carter’s, Inc.		312,759
	4,728		Choice Hotels International, Inc.		420,603
	15,879		Compass Group, PLC (United Kingdom)		408,636
	4,868		Expedia, Inc.		654,308
	1,459	^*	Five Below, Inc.		183,980
	4,558	^*	Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc.		233,142
	5,383		General Motors Corp.		201,755
	3,472		Genuine Parts Co.		345,776
	2,034	^*	Grand Canyon Education, Inc.		199,739
	5,542		Home Depot, Inc.		1,285,855
	1,497		Lowe’s Cos., Inc.		164,610
	1,271		Marriott International, Inc. - Class “A”		158,074
	2,169		Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp.		224,730
	5,445		McDonald’s Corp.		1,169,096
	1,880	^*	Netflix, Inc.		503,126
	12,323		NIKE, Inc. - Class “B”		1,157,376

134

Shares			Security	Value
			Consumer Discretionary (continued)
	180	^*	NVR, Inc.	$	669,123
	4,645	^*	Ocean Outdoors, Ltd. (Virgin Islands)		35,999
	4,400	^*	Peloton Interactive, Inc.		110,440
	24,216	^*	Pinterest, Inc. - Class “A”		640,513
	2,433	^*	Planet Fitness, Inc. - Class “A”		140,798
	6,412		Ross Stores, Inc.		704,358
	2,771		Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.		300,182
	15,678		Steve Madden, Ltd.		561,116
	15,365		TJX Cos., Inc.		856,445
	3,120		Tractor Supply Co.		282,173
	10,627	^*	Under Armour, Inc. - Class “A”		211,902
	734		Vail Resorts, Inc.		167,029
	481	^*	Veoneer, Inc.		7,210
	363		Whirlpool Corp.		57,485
	1,216		Wyndham Destinations, Inc.		55,960
	1,216		Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc.		62,916
					14,363,366
			Consumer Staples—6.1%
	14,220		Altria Group, Inc.		581,598
	3,690		Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.		151,548
	524		Bunge, Ltd.		29,669
	22,162		Coca-Cola Co.		1,206,499
	13,653		Colgate-Palmolive Co.		1,003,632
	1,652		Costco Wholesale Corp.		475,958
	23,463		Diageo, PLC (United Kingdom)		961,530
	731		J.M. Smucker Co.		80,425
	1,866		Kellogg Co.		120,077
	11,797		Kroger Co.		304,127
	4,310		Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc.		313,423
	5,209	^*	Monster Beverage Corp.		302,435
	7,119		PepsiCo, Inc.		976,015

135

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			Consumer Staples (continued)
	6,625		Philip Morris International, Inc.	$	503,036
	11,891	^*	U.S. Foods Holding Corp.		488,720
					7,498,692
			Energy—1.8%
	530	^*	Apergy Corp.		14,336
	10,592		Canadian Natural Resources, Ltd. (ADR) (Canada)		282,065
	2,990		Chevron Corp.		354,614
	2,414		Cimarex Energy Co.		115,727
	2,990		Concho Resources, Inc.		203,021
	5,822		Diamondback Energy, Inc.		523,456
	3,471		Enbridge, Inc. (ADR) (Canada)		121,763
	5,549		Halliburton Co.		104,599
	766		Marathon Petroleum Corp.		46,534
	13,673		Noble Energy, Inc.		307,096
	5,290		Tenaris SA (ADR) (Italy)		112,042
					2,185,253
			Financials—13.7%
	13,973		Aflac, Inc.		731,067
	239	^*	Alleghany Corp.		190,665
	2,584		Allstate Corp.		280,829
	9,411		American Express Co.		1,113,133
	10,036	^*	API Group Corp. (ADR) (Virgin Islands) ^(a)		98,855
	3,289		Assurant, Inc.		413,822
	4,748	^*	Athene Holding, Ltd. - Class “A”		199,701
	3,500		Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp		130,358
	12,550		Bank of America Corp.		366,083
	5,567		Bank OZK		151,812
	1,882	^*	Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. - Class “B”		391,494
	3,530		Blackstone Group. Inc. - Class “A”		172,405
	8,803		Charles Schwab Corp.		368,229
	7,121		Chubb, Ltd.		1,149,614
	5,161		Citigroup, Inc.		356,522

136

Shares			Security	Value
			Financials (continued)
	35,454		CNO Financial Group, Inc.	$	561,237
	6,841		Comerica, Inc.		451,438
	843	^*	Credit Acceptance Corp.		388,884
	780		FactSet Research Systems, Inc.		189,517
	7,327		Fidelity National Financial, Inc.		325,392
	256		First Citizens BancShares, Inc. - Class “A”		120,717
	2,254		First Republic Bank		217,962
	10,864		Highwoods Properties, Inc.		488,228
	5,341		IBERIABANK Corp.		403,459
	18,600		KeyCorp		331,824
	12,188		Lancashire Holdings, Ltd. (United Kingdom)		110,819
	7,448		Lincoln National Corp.		449,263
	1,483		London Stock Exchange (United Kingdom)		133,255
	4,048		M&T Bank Corp.		639,463
	636	^*	Markel Corp.		751,688
	7,112		Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc.		711,556
	10,755		MetLife, Inc.		507,206
	736		Moody’s Corp.		150,755
	13,671		People’s United Financial, Inc.		213,746
	5,969		PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.		836,615
	4,330		Raymond James Financial, Inc.		357,052
	2,943		Reinsurance Group of America, Inc.		470,527
	20,936		SLM Corp.		184,760
	4,373		TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.		204,219
	2,905		Travelers Cos., Inc.		431,944
	7,506		Unum Group		223,078
	2,918		Voya Financial, Inc.		158,856
	212		White Mountain Insurance Group		228,960
	13,247		Zions Bancorp		589,756
					16,946,765
			Health Care—14.6%
	9,025	^*	Acadia Healthcare Co., Inc.		280,497
	3,711		Agilent Technologies, Inc.		284,374

137

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			Health Care (continued)
	3,199	^*	Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	$	257,264
	7,232		AstraZeneca, PLC (ADR) (United Kingdom)		322,330
	11,672		Baxter International, Inc.		1,020,950
	3,425		Becton, Dickinson & Co.		866,388
	569	^*	Biogen, Inc.		132,475
	4,238		Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.		214,909
	3,613	^*	Centene Corp.		156,298
	8,657		CVS Health Corp.		545,997
	5,034		Danaher Corp.		727,061
	1,669		Dentsply Sirona, Inc.		88,974
	842	^*	DexCom, Inc.		125,660
	8,797	^*	Elanco Animal Health, Inc.		233,912
	6,109		Encompass Health Corp.		386,578
	3,074	^*	Exact Sciences Corp.		277,797
	1,506	^*	Galapagos NV		229,906
	2,644	^*	Haemonetics Corp.		333,514
	4,177		Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc.		439,546
	1,345		Humana, Inc.		343,876
	3,297	^*	Insulet Corp.		543,774
	563	^*	Intuitive Surgical, Inc.		303,981
	3,989	^*	Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.		238,981
	14,783		Johnson & Johnson		1,912,625
	5,071		Koninklijke Philips NV (ADR) (Netherlands)		233,925
	1,499	^*	Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings		251,832
	1,841		McKesson Corp.		251,591
	10,958		Medtronic, PLC		1,190,258
	10,951		Merck & Co., Inc.		921,855
	397	^*	Mettler Toledo International, Inc.		279,647
	1,697	^*	Penumbra, Inc.		228,230
	25,615		Pfizer, Inc.		920,347
	3,392	^*	Seattle Genetic, Inc.		289,677
	4,500		Stryker Corp.		973,350
	1,025		Teleflex, Inc.		348,244
	1,464		Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.		426,419

138

Shares			Security	Value
			Health Care (continued)
	5,210		UnitedHealth Group, Inc.	$	1,132,237
	882	^*	WellCare Health Plans, Inc.		228,588
					17,943,867
			Industrials—13.4%
	2,949		A.O. Smith Corp.		140,697
	955		AMERCO		372,488
	11,583		Canadian National Railway Co. (Canada)		1,040,053
	2,251		Cintas Corp.		603,493
	5,618	^*	Clean Harbors, Inc.		433,710
	935	^*	CoStar Group, Inc.		554,642
	893		Cummins, Inc.		145,264
	3,531		Delta Air Lines, Inc.		203,386
	3,940		Dover Corp.		392,266
	2,421		Equifax, Inc.		340,562
	6,828		Expeditors International of Washington, Inc.		507,252
	6,508		Fastenal Co.		212,616
	3,900		Fortive Corp.		267,384
	3,833		Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc.		209,665
	4,444		General Dynamics Corp.		812,052
	5,621	^*	Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. - Class “A”		621,177
	4,863		Herman Miller, Inc.		224,136
	334		Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.		70,738
	3,213		IDEX Corp.		526,546
	6,646		Ingersoll-Rand, PLC		818,854
	4,371	^*	Itron, Inc.		323,279
	16,450	^*	JELD-WEN Holding, Inc.		317,320
	4,875		L3Harris Technologies, Inc.		1,017,120
	2,117		Lennox International, Inc.		514,367
	1,366		Lockheed Martin Corp.		532,822
	5,203		PACCAR, Inc.		364,262
	2,551		Pentair, PLC		96,428
	938		Raytheon Co.		184,026
	8,356		Republic Services, Inc.		723,212

139

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			Industrials (continued)
	2,583		Rockwell Automation, Inc.	$	425,678
	14,843		Sanwa Holdings Corp. (Japan)		165,830
	5,860		Southwest Airlines Co.		316,499
	10,195	^*	SPX FLOW, Inc.		402,295
	14,277		Steelcase, Inc. - Class “A”		262,697
	4,452		TransUnion		361,102
	7,687	^*	Uber Technologies, Inc.		234,223
	4,678		Union Pacific Corp.		757,742
	5,710		Wabtec Corp.		410,321
	2,963		Waste Connections, Inc.		272,596
	4,972		Xylem, Inc.		395,871
					16,574,671
			Information Technology—13.1%
	3,425		Accenture, PLC - Class “A”		658,799
	12,114	^*	Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.		351,185
	1,604	^*	Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd. (ADR) (China)		268,237
	8,702		Amdocs, Ltd.		575,289
	5,227	^*	Black Knight, Inc.		319,161
	664		Broadcom, Inc.		183,310
	2,814		CDW Corp.		346,797
	3,049	^*	Coherent, Inc.		468,692
	476		Constellation Software, Inc. (Canada)		475,389
	4,394	^*	Delivery Hero AG (Germany)		195,210
	1,920	^*	Electronic Arts, Inc.		187,814
	1,254	^*	Facebook, Inc. - Class “A”		223,312
	685	^*	Fair Isaac Corp.		207,911
	1,222	^*	FleetCor Technologies, Inc.		350,445
	14,394		Genpact, Ltd.		557,767
	2,137		Global Payments, Inc.		339,783
	7,715	^*	GoDaddy, Inc. - Class “A”		509,036
	3,045	^*	Guidewire Software, Inc.		320,882
	10,099	^*	Ichor Holdings, Ltd.		244,194
	7,443		Intel Corp.		383,538

140

Shares			Security	Value
			Information Technology (continued)
	2,182		International Business Machines Corp.	$	317,306
	1,906		KLA-Tencor Corp.		303,912
	4,174		Leidos Holdings, Inc.		358,463
	5,370	^*	Lumentum Holdings, Inc.		287,617
	9,659		Marvell Technology Group, Ltd.		241,185
	3,850		Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.		222,953
	3,074	^*	Micron Technology, Inc.		131,721
	6,985		Microsoft Corp.		971,125
	3,522		MKS Instruments, Inc.		325,010
	972		Motorola Solutions, Inc.		165,639
	2,580	^*	PayPal Holdings, Inc.		267,262
	380	^*	Roku, Inc.		38,669
	2,766	^*	ServiceNow, Inc.		702,149
	3,635	^*	Splunk, Inc.		428,421
	2,447	^*	Spotify Technology SA		278,958
	2,505	^*	Square, Inc. - Class “A”		155,185
	7,091		SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc.		365,683
	8,454		TE Connectivity, Ltd.		787,744
	1,670	^*	VeriSign, Inc.		315,012
	3,445		Visa, Inc. - Class “A”		592,574
	8,121		Western Digital Corp.		484,336
	1,192	^*	Wex, Inc.		240,867
	2,469	^*	Workday, Inc. - Class “A”		419,631
	6,687	^*	Yandex NV - Class “A” (ADR) (Russia)		234,112
	1,437	^*	Zebra Technologies Corp. - Class “A”		296,554
					16,098,839
			Materials—4.1%
	3,850	^*	Alcoa Corp.		77,269
	4,275		Ball Corp.		311,263
	10,150		Cabot Corp.		459,998
	5,703		Carpenter Technology Corp.		294,617
	6,761		Celanese Corp.		826,803
	4,835		CRH, PLC (Ireland)		165,742

141

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares		Security	Value
		Materials (continued)
	3,637	Eastman Chemical Co.	$	268,520
	8,472	FMC Corp.		742,825
	4,372	Linde, PLC		846,944
	5,006	Nucor Corp.		254,855
	2,120	Nutrien, Ltd. (Canada)		105,612
	3,062	Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.		305,159
	660	Sherwin-Williams Co.		362,914
				5,022,521
		Real Estate—6.5%
	5,081	Acadia Realty Trust (REIT)		145,215
	1,545	Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (REIT)		237,992
	5,340	American Tower Corp. (REIT)		1,180,834
	7,079	Americold Realty Trust (REIT)		262,419
	2,554	AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (REIT)		549,953
	1,803	Boston Properties, Inc. (REIT)		233,777
	7,818	Brixmor Property Group, Inc. (REIT)		158,627
	7,514	Columbia Property Trust, Inc. (REIT)		158,921
	1,172	Crown Castle International Corp. (REIT)		162,920
	1,090	Equinix, Inc. (REIT)		628,712
	526	Federal Realty Investment Trust (REIT)		71,610
	11,856	Gaming and Leisure Properties (REIT)		453,373
	13,523	Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (REIT)		233,813
	8,839	Kimco Realty Corp. (REIT)		184,558
	12,840	Lennar Corp. (REIT)		717,114
	4,072	Life Storage, Inc. (REIT)		429,230
	685	Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (REIT)		89,057
	4,924	Public Storage (REIT)		1,207,709
	1,061	Simon Property Group, Inc. (REIT)		165,145
	485	SL Green Realty Corp. (REIT)		39,649
	3,407	UDR, Inc. (REIT)		165,171
	5,855	Welltower, Inc. (REIT)		530,756
				8,006,555

142

	Shares		Security	Value
			Utilities—2.5%
		3,115	CMS Energy Corp.	$	199,204
		3,164	Dominion Energy, Inc.		256,411
		2,728	Eversourse Energy		233,162
		4,645	Iberdrola SA (ADR) (Spain)		193,093
		7,619	NRG Energy, Inc.		301,712
		1,246	Pinnacle West Capital Corp.		120,949
		1,160	Sempra Energy		171,228
		12,647	Southern Co.		781,205
		15,856	UGI Corp.		797,081
					3,054,045
Total Value of Common Stocks (cost $89,570,811)					111,281,925

PUT OPTIONS PURCHASED—.6%
	Contracts		S&P 500 Index	Exercise Price		Notional Amount		Value
		60	Expiration 12/20/2019	$	2,525	$	17,860,440		63,600
		63	Expiration 3/20/2020		2,625		18,753,462		296,415
		43	Expiration 6/19/2020		2,700		12,799,982		371,950
Total Value of Put Options Purchased (premium paid $1,437,568)									731,965

		WARRANTS—.0%
		Financials
6,600	^*	API Group Corp. (Virgin Islands) (Expires 9/7/2027) (cost $66) (a)	1,914

Total Value of Investments (cost $91,008,445)	90.9		%		112,015,804
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	9.1				11,165,500
Net Assets		100.0	%	$	123,181,304

(a)	Security valued at fair value (see Note 1A)

143

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND

September 30, 2019

PUT OPTIONS WRITTEN—(.3)%
	Contracts			S&P 500 Index	Exercise Price		Notional Amount			Value
		(60	)	Expiration 12/20/2019	$	2,325	$	(17,860,440	)	$	(23,100	)
		(63	)	Expiration 3/20/2020		2,350		(18,753,462	)		(118,755	)
		(43	)	Expiration 6/19/2020		2,475		(12,799,982	)		(210,485	)
Total Value of Put Options Written (premium received $786,652)										$	(352,340	)

Futures contracts outstanding at September 30, 2019:

	Number of Contracts			Type	Expiration		Notional Amounts		Value at September 30, 2019		Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation)
		(9	)	E-mini Russell 2000 Index		Dec. 2019	$	771,585	$	796,901	$	25,316
		(53	)	E-mini S&P 500		Dec. 2019		7,965,928		8,034,301		68,373
		(39	)	E-mini S&P MidCap 400		Dec. 2019		5,915,910		6,005,025		89,115
		(20	)	FTSE 100 Index		Dec. 2019		1,462,200		1,444,340		(17,860	)
		(13	)	MSCI EAFE Index		Dec. 2019		603,515		603,285		(230	)
		(11	)	MSCI EM Index		Dec. 2019		1,233,755		1,242,423		8,668
		(15	)	S&P/TSE 60 Index		Dec. 2019		2,977,980		2,970,158		(7,822	)
(Premium received $325)											$	165,560

At September 30, 2019, the Fund has open foreign exchange contracts as described below.

The unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on the open contracts were as follows:

Counterparty	Settlement Date		Foreign Currency		Receive (Deliver)			Asset		Liability		Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation)
UBS		10/7/19		GBP		(1,854,000	)	$	2,291,943	$	2,279,574	$	12,369
DMG		10/7/19		GBP		559,000			687,315		691,428		(4,113	)
BAM		10/7/19		JPY		(16,318,000	)		152,152		150,918		1,234
DMG		10/7/19		CAD		(2,720,000	)		2,069,152		2,053,063		16,089
BOM		10/7/19		CAD		905,000			683,096		688,652		(5,556	)
Net unrealized appreciation on open foreign exchange contracts												$	20,023

A summary of abbreviations for counterparties to foreign exchange contracts are as follows:

BAM	Bank of America/Merrill Lynch

BOM	Bank of Montreal

DMG	Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.

UBS	UBS Securities

144

Summary of Abbreviations:

ADR	American Depositary Receipts

CAD	Canadian Dollar

GBP	British Pound

JPY	Japanese Yen

REIT	Real Estate Investment Trust

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

145

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND

September 30, 2019

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2			Level 3		Total
Assets
Common Stocks^*	$	111,183,070	$	98,855		$	—	$	111,281,925
Put Options Purchased		—		731,965			—		731,965
Warrants^*		—		1,914			—		1,914
	$	111,183,070	$	832,734		$	—	$	112,015,804

Other Assets
Futures Contracts	$	165,885	$	—		$	—	$	165,885

Liabilities
Put Options Written	$	—	$	(352,340	)	$	—	$	(352,340	)

Other Financial Instruments^**	$	—	$	20,023		$	—	$	20,023

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization for common stocks and warrants.

^**	Other financial instruments are foreign exchange contracts and are considered derivative instruments, which are valued at the net unrealized appreciation on the instrument.

Transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 securities as of September 30, 2019 resulted from securities priced previously with an official close price (Level 1 securities) or securities fair valued by the Valuation Committee (Level 2 securities). Transfers from Level 1 to Level 2 as of September 30, 2019, were $100,769. Transfers from Level 2 to Level 1 as of September 30, 2019, were $35,999.Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

146

Portfolio Manager’s Letter

INTERNATIONAL FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors International Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 7.01% for Class A shares, 7.43% for Advisor Class shares and 7.46% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 2.8 cents per share for Class A shares, 4.0 cents per share for Advisor Class shares and 4.7 cents per share for Institutional Class shares. In addition, the Fund distributed capital gains of 95.8 cents per share on each class of shares.

Market Review

In the fourth quarter of 2018, international equity markets faced significant pressure as volatility escalated. Equities alternated between panic and relief depending on the prevailing direction of news regarding trade tensions, monetary tightening and slowing growth in China. Both the U.S. Federal Reserve (“Fed”) and the European Central Bank (“ECB”) indicated an intent to proceed with the unwind of the quantitative easing (“QE”) program begun in the wake of the 2008 crisis, reigniting anxiety that the end of easy money would usher in weaker economic growth. Meanwhile, an unresolved Brexit agreement between the U.K. and E.U. continued to add uncertainty as Parliament’s vote on Prime Minister May’s plan was delayed until January. On the European Continent, the Italian government passed a budget late in the quarter; however, Italy’s fiscal woes continue to attract the market’s attention. Emerging market performance fared only slightly better than the U.S. and Europe.

International equity markets had a strong first quarter of 2019, bolstered by the Fed’s pause in interest rate increases and improving sentiment on U.S.-China trade tensions. While there was still lingering uncertainty about the trade negotiations between the U.S. and China, news that the two countries were making progress on a trade agreement also drove optimism and lifted Chinese equities, as did MSCI’s plan to reweight its indices. The rest of the emerging markets joined the rally over the quarter on the prospect that the pause in U.S. interest rate increases would relieve pressure on dollar-denominated debt and expectations that capital would continue to flow into the developing world. Despite a mixed picture across the continent, European equities rose 10.84% for the quarter. Political uncertainty continued as the U.K. extended its European Union exit deadline. While Germany narrowly missed a recession, Italy became the first Eurozone economy to go into decline, prompting a softer approach from the ECB. President Mario Draghi announced that the ECB would support the Eurozone economy through cheap loans for banks and maintain its key interest rate at minus 0.4%, at least through 2019.

Geopolitical pressures around the world marked the second quarter of 2019, as equity investors faced a rocky ride as sentiment on global trade tensions shifted from concern to optimism, a softer stance by central banks drove share prices upwards. At the start of the quarter, markets were primed for an “epic” trade deal between the U.S. and China. However, by early May the tariff war continued with another round of tit-for-tat measures. In Europe, deteriorating sentiment in Germany over global trade, as well as the ongoing vehicle emissions scandal, continued to hamper growth in the country and across the wider Euro zone. Inflation also slowed, prompting the ECB’s Mario Draghi to pledge more monetary support if needed. The U.K. remained mired

147

Portfolio Manager’s Letter (continued)

INTERNATIONAL FUND

in Brexit negotiations as politicians repeatedly failed to agree on a deal to leave the E.U. Country returns were mixed across emerging markets.

Intense political turmoil once again fueled market volatility in the third quarter. And stalling economic growth sent central bankers and policymakers around the globe to their armories for monetary and fiscal weapons to combat the slowdown. The uncertainty caused sharp swings in the international equity markets, with the MSCI All Country World Index ex U.S. ending the quarter in negative territory. The U.S.-China trade war roiled markets over the period and as the quarter drew to a close, reports emerged that Washington was considering capital markets restrictions on Chinese companies that might prevent them listing on US exchanges. Although an imminent move was denied by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, it nevertheless shook markets. Following Boris Johnson’s selection as prime minister in July, tensions between the U.K. and Europe mounted, and divisions in the British parliament widened, increasing the risk of a no-deal Brexit. Eurozone growth slowed to 0.2% in the second quarter, and inflation flagged to just 1% in August, prompting ECB President Draghi to cut the reserve rate for banks to -0.5% and restart QE measures. Emerging markets performance was mixed with many countries unleashing fiscal stimulus.

The Fund

The following discussion highlights specific stocks—those that provided the largest contribution to absolute performance and those that were the largest detractors for the fiscal year for the Fund.

Among the positive contributors, Constellation Software, benefited from vibrant acquisition opportunities and stable organic growth. The company also announced a special dividend for investors early in 2019. Constellation Software is a leading Canadian-listed conglomerate of mission-critical niche software businesses in the private and public sectors specializing in vertical market solutions – back office/operational software in a wide range of verticals such as health care, law and public transit. The company grows through bolt-on acquisitions and the industry is still quite fragmented. We believe the business is predictable because customers usually do not switch to a competitor’s product and they pay annual maintenance fees.

Nestlé’s organic growth exceeded expectations early in the year with particularly strong growth from its Petcare and Nutrition & Health Science units. We continue to believe Nestlé is well positioned with strong brands and meaningful exposure to faster growing emerging markets, roughly 42% of sales, and faster growing categories such as Coffee, PetCare, Infant Nutrition and Nutrition & Health Science. During the second quarter, Nestle continued its steady progress following good results in the first quarter, an informative investor conference, and progress on the $10 billion sale of its skin health business. Nestle is one of the largest food companies in the world with a vast product and geographic sales mix. The company delivers low to mid-single-digit constant currency organic sales growth consistently, driven by its focus on health and wellness, its diversified geographic exposure, and its wide product range from value to super premium. Under its new CEO it is also more quickly focused on margin improvement and focusing on its faster growing categories and disposing those that grow slower.

148

Among detractors, Reckitt Benckiser underperformed during the year, as Indivior, a pharma company Reckitt Benckiser spun off five years ago, was indicted on charges by the U.S. DOJ concerning the sale of an opioid treatment beginning in 2010. The market worried over the amount of risk this might entail for Reckitt. We sold Reckitt and reallocated capital to better opportunities.

British American Tobacco also underperformed following PMI’s announcement that uptake in Japan of its leading Heat not Burn (HNB) product was weaker than expected. It highlighted to investors the current uncertainty in the nicotine delivery space. British American Tobacco is the world’s largest tobacco company with market leadership in more than 50 countries around the world. It has global brands including Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall and Rothmans. We sold British American Tobacco and reallocated capital to better opportunities.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,

Matthew Benkendorf
Portfolio Manager
Vontobel Asset Management, Inc.

October 4, 2019

149

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

INTERNATIONAL FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.51%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,070.84	$ 7.84
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,017.50	$ 7.64
Advisor Class Shares	1.13%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,073.42	$ 5.87
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.40	$ 5.72
Institutional Class Shares	1.08%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,073.12	$ 5.61
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.66	$ 5.47

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period).
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

BY SECTOR

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

150

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

INTERNATIONAL FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors International Fund (Class A shares), the Morgan Stanley Capital International (“MSCI”) EAFE Index (Gross) and the MSCI EAFE Index (Net).

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	MSCI EAFE Index (Gross)	MSCI EAFE Index (Net)
One Year	7.01%	7.43%	7.46%	-0.82%	-1.34%
Five Years	5.80%	6.21%	6.31%	3.77%	3.27%
Since Inception^**	7.27%	5.16%	5.31%	5.39%^†	4.90%^†

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	0.87%	7.43%	7.46%
Five Years	4.55%	6.21%	6.31%
Since Inception^**	6.64%	5.16%	5.31%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors International Fund (Class A shares) beginning 9/30/09 with theoretical investments in the MSCI EAFE Index (Gross) and the MSCI EAFE Index (Net) (the “Indices”). The Indices are free float-adjusted market capitalization indices that measure developed foreign market equity performance, excluding the U.S. and Canada. The Indices consist of 21 developed market country indices. The MSCI EAFE Index (Gross) is calculated on a total-return basis with the maximum possible dividend reinvestment (before taxes). The MSCI EAFE Index (Net) is calculated on a total-return basis with the minimum possible dividend reinvestment (after taxes). The Indices are unmanaged and it is not possible to invest directly in these Indices. In addition, the Indices do not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was

151

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited) (continued)

INTERNATIONAL FUND

^** The Since Inception returns for Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the periods beginning 4/1/13 (commencement of operations for those classes).

^† The Index return is for ten years. The MSCI EAFE Index (Gross) return and MSCI EAFE Index (Net) return since inception of the Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are 5.26% and 4.76%, respectively.

152

Portfolio of Investments

INTERNATIONAL FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			COMMON STOCKS—88.5%
			United Kingdom—12.7%
	239,666		Ashtead Group, PLC	$	6,671,550
	363,120		Bunzl, PLC		9,487,526
	96,584		DCC, PLC		8,426,800
	81,982		London Stock Exchange		7,366,496
	554,662		RELX NV		13,197,458
	2,098,244		Rentokil Initial, PLC		12,068,689
					57,218,519
			France—11.3%
	49,110		Air Liquide SA		6,990,709
	16,894		LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE		6,714,549
	96,453		Safran SA		15,185,931
	55,146		Teleperformance		11,955,202
	95,629		VINCI SA		10,300,127
					51,146,518
			Canada—10.2%
	561,778		Alimentation Couche-Tard, Inc. - Class “B”		17,215,675
	361,986		CAE, Inc.		9,196,851
	110,327		Canadian National Railway Co.		9,906,404
	9,832		Constellation Software, Inc.		9,819,384
					46,138,314
			United States—9.7%
	9,017	^*	Alphabet, Inc. - Class “C”		10,991,723
	6,711	^*	Booking Holdings, Inc.		13,171,076
	55,321		Mastercard, Inc. - Class “A”		15,023,524
	41,980		Medtronic, PLC		4,559,868
					43,746,191
			Netherlands—8.1%
	41,956		Heineken NV		4,534,597
	29,323		IMCD NV		2,168,535
	271,473		Unilever NV		16,318,502

153

Portfolio of Investments (continued)
INTERNATIONAL FUND
September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			Netherlands (continued)
	184,870		Wolters Kluwer NV	$	13,496,455
					36,518,089
			Switzerland—5.5%
	116,183	^*	Alcon, Inc.		6,775,062
	164,473		Nestle SA		17,843,932
					24,618,994
			Spain—4.9%
	231,893		Cellnex Telecom SA		9,579,326
	421,007		Grifols SA - Class “A”		12,408,067
					21,987,393
			Germany—4.5%
	29,497		Adidas AG		9,183,753
	94,677		SAP SE		11,132,522
					20,316,275
			China—4.0%
	78,377	^*	Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd. (ADR)		13,106,986
	122,393		Tencent Holdings, Ltd.		5,156,381
					18,263,367
			Belgium—3.8%
	178,624		Anheuser-Busch InBev SA		17,019,968
			Taiwan—2.7%
	257,263		Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (ADR)		11,957,584
			Ireland—2.5%
	50,604		Flutter Entertainment, PLC		4,730,181
	136,260		Kingspan Group, PLC		6,653,567
					11,383,748

154

	Shares or Principal Amounts		Security	Value
			Japan—2.1%
		15,182	Keyence Corp.	$	9,393,533
			Mexico—2.1%
		3,162,618	Walmart de Mexico SAB de CV		9,373,747
			Hong Kong—1.7%
		1,070,221	Techtronic Industries Co., Ltd.		7,448,685
			Brazil—1.4%
		758,844	Itau Unibanco Holding SA (ADR)		6,381,878
			Australia—1.3%
		36,998	CSL, Ltd.		5,835,665
Total Value of Common Stocks (cost $315,441,006)					398,748,468
			SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—3.8%
	$	17,000M	U.S. Treasury Bills, 1.78%, 10/22/2019 (cost $16,982,347)		16,982,269
			SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY OBLIGATIONS—1.3%
		6,000M	Federal Home Loan Bank, 1.93%, 10/25/2019 (cost $5,992,275)		5,992,518

Total Value of Investments (cost $338,415,628)	93.6	%		421,723,255
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	6.4			28,649,944
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	450,373,199

^*	Non-income producing

Summary of Abbreviations:

ADR	American Depositary Receipts

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

155

Portfolio of Investments (continued)
INTERNATIONAL FUND
September 30, 2019

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Common Stocks
United Kingdom	$	57,218,519	$	—	$	—	$	57,218,519
France		51,146,518		—		—		51,146,518
Canada		46,138,314		—		—		46,138,314
United States		43,746,191		—		—		43,746,191
Netherlands		36,518,089		—		—		36,518,089
Switzerland		24,618,994		—		—		24,618,994
Spain		21,987,393		—		—		21,987,393
Germany		20,316,275		—		—		20,316,275
China		18,263,367		—		—		18,263,367
Belgium		17,019,968		—		—		17,019,968
Taiwan		11,957,584		—		—		11,957,584
Ireland		11,383,748		—		—		11,383,748
Japan		9,393,533		—		—		9,393,533
Mexico		9,373,747		—		—		9,373,747
Hong Kong		7,448,685		—		—		7,448,685
Brazil		6,381,878		—		—		6,381,878
Australia		5,835,665		—		—		5,835,665
Short-Term U.S Government Obligations		—		16,982,269		—		16,982,269
Short-Term U.S Government Agency Obligations		—		5,992,518		—		5,992,518
Total Investments in Securities	$	398,748,468	$	22,974,787	$	—	$	421,723,255

See notes to financial statements

156

Portfolio Manager’s Letter

OPPORTUNITY FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Opportunity Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 0.80% for Class A shares, 1.14% for Advisor Class shares and 1.23% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 38.0 cents per share for Class A shares, 40.4 cents per share for Advisor Class shares and 43.4 cents per share for Institutional Class shares. In addition, the Fund distributed capital gains of $3.41 per share on each class of shares.

U.S. equity market

The Fund

The Fund’s absolute performance was mainly attributable to investments in Information Technology, Industrials and Financial stocks. Information Technology, positions in Synopsys, FleetCor Technologies and Fiserv drove solid performance. In Industrials, Jacobs Engineering benefitted from strong earnings guidance and a successful acquisition. Finally, in Financials, Fidelity National Financial—helped by housing market strength - and Ameriprise Financial—helped by lowering cost expectations—drove strong performance.

157

Portfolio Manager’s Letter (continued)

OPPORTUNITY FUND

On a relative basis, the Fund outperformed the S&P Midcap 400 Index primarily due to stock selection in Industrials, Financials and Consumer Staples. Performance in the industrials and financials was driven by the factors discussed above. In Consumer Staples, Performance Food Group and US Foods Holding were helped by a rotation to higher quality names and continued growth in comparable sales.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,

Steven S. Hill

Senior Portfolio Manager

Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

October 4, 2019

158

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

OPPORTUNITY FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.13%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,049.73	$ 5.81
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.40	$ 5.72
Advisor Class Shares	0.94%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,051.56	$ 4.83
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,020.36	$ 4.76
Institutional Class Shares	0.77%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,051.63	$ 3.96
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,021.21	$ 3.90

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period).
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

TOP TEN SECTORS

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

159

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

OPPORTUNITY FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Opportunity Fund (Class A shares) and the Standard & Poor’s MidCap 400 Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	S&P MidCap 400 Index
One Year	0.80%	1.14%	1.23%	-2.49%
Five Years	5.91%	6.24%	6.37%	8.88%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	11.68%	9.32%	9.47%	12.56%^†

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	-5.01%	1.14%	1.23%
Five Years	4.67%	6.24%	6.37%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	11.02%	9.32%	9.47%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Opportunity Fund (Class A shares) beginning 9/30/09 with a theoretical investment in the Standard & Poor’s MidCap 400 Index (the “Index”). The Index is an unmanaged capitalization-weighted index of 400 stocks designed to measure performance of the mid-range sector of the U.S. stock market. It is not possible to invest directly in this Index. In addition, the Index does not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was deducted from the initial $10,000 investment in the Fund and all dividends and distributions were reinvested.

160

Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” returns shown are the same as the N.A.V. Only returns since these classes are sold without sales charges. During the periods shown, some of the expenses of the Fund were waived or assumed. If such expenses had been paid by the Fund, the Advisor Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return Since Inception would have been 8.67% and the Institutional Class “S.E.C. Standardized” Average Annual Total Return Since Inception would have been 8.86%. Results represent past performance and do not indicate future results. The graph and the returns shown do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on distributions or the redemption of fund shares. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Index figures are from Standard & Poor’s and all other figures are from Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

^** The Since Inception returns for Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the periods beginning 4/1/13 (commencement of operations for those classes).

^† The Index return is for ten years. The Index return since inception of the Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares is 9.99%.

161

Portfolio of Investments

OPPORTUNITY FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			COMMON STOCKS—95.8%
			Communication Services—2.5%
	56,200	^*	IAC/InterActive Corp.	$	12,249,914
	83,700	^*	Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.		10,490,958
					22,740,872
			Consumer Discretionary—8.7%
	312,700		Acushnet Holdings Corp.		8,255,280
	220,800		Aramark Holdings Corp.		9,622,464
	38,700	^*	Burlington Stores, Inc.		7,733,034
	298,100	^*	LKQ Corp.		9,375,245
	144,700		Penske Automotive Group, Inc.		6,841,416
	77,900		Ross Stores, Inc.		8,557,315
	259,400	^*	ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc.		14,500,460
	270,000		Tapestry, Inc.		7,033,500
	166,300		Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc.		8,604,362
					80,523,076
			Consumer Staples—6.1%
	237,800		Conagra Brands, Inc.		7,295,704
	471,400		Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV (ADR)		11,789,714
	32,800		Lancaster Colony Corp.		4,547,720
	56,200		McCormick & Co., Inc.		8,784,060
	246,000	^*	Performance Food Group Co.		11,318,460
	309,200	^*	U.S. Foods Holding Corp.		12,708,120
					56,443,778
			Energy—3.2%
	272,300		Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.		4,784,311
	973,300		EnCana Corp.		4,477,180
	391,800		Noble Energy, Inc.		8,799,828
	188,600		PBF Energy, Inc. - Class “A”		5,128,034
	73,800		Valero Energy Corp.		6,290,712
					29,480,065

162

Shares			Security	Value
			Financials—16.7%
	75,000		American Financial Group, Inc.	$	8,088,750
	72,000		Ameriprise Financial, Inc.		10,591,200
	392,400		Brown & Brown, Inc.		14,149,944
	439,200		Citizens Financial Group, Inc.		15,534,504
	344,400		Fidelity National Financial, Inc.		15,294,804
	102,561		First Republic Bank		9,917,648
	128,800		Global Life, Inc.		12,333,888
	111,900		IBERIABANK Corp.		8,452,926
	165,100		Nasdaq, Inc.		16,402,685
	219,600		Popular, Inc.		11,875,968
	151,700		Selective Insurance Group, Inc.		11,406,323
	544,100		Sterling Bancorp		10,914,646
	296,300		Synchrony Financial		10,100,867
					155,064,153
			Health Care—12.1%
	234,800	^*	Centene Corp.		10,157,448
	123,000	^*	Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.		16,281,510
	110,100		Gilead Sciences, Inc.		6,978,138
	107,800		Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc.		11,343,794
	82,000	^*	Jazz Pharmaceuticals, PLC		10,507,480
	103,100		PerkinElmer, Inc.		8,781,027
	276,372		Phibro Animal Health Corp. - Class “A”		5,895,015
	87,800		Quest Diagnostics, Inc.		9,397,234
	241,300		Smith & Nephew, PLC (ADR)		11,613,769
	41,000		Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.		11,942,070
	41,600	^*	Waters Corp.		9,286,368
					112,183,853
			Industrials—14.3%
	134,700		ESCO Technologies, Inc.		10,716,732
	376,600	^*	Gardner Denver Holdings, Inc.		10,654,014
	116,500		Ingersoll-Rand, PLC		14,353,965
	179,200		ITT, Inc.		10,965,248

163

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

OPPORTUNITY FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			Industrials (continued)
	173,300		Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.	$	15,856,950
	90,200		Kansas City Southern, Inc.		11,997,502
	263,000		Korn/Ferry International		10,162,320
	331,500		Masco Corp.		13,816,920
	159,300	^*	MasTec, Inc.		10,343,349
	142,300		Owens Corning		8,993,360
	26,950		Roper Technologies, Inc.		9,610,370
	35,100		Snap-On, Inc.		5,494,554
					132,965,284
			Information Technology—17.8%
	94,900	^*	Aspen Technology, Inc.		11,680,292
	56,200	^*	Autodesk, Inc.		8,300,740
	119,500	^*	Cadence Design Systems, Inc.		7,896,560
	92,500	^*	Cree, Inc.		4,532,500
	113,600	^*	Fiserv, Inc.		11,767,824
	35,100	^*	FleetCor Technologies, Inc.		10,065,978
	58,600		KLA-Tencor Corp.		9,343,770
	90,200		Leidos Holdings, Inc.		7,746,376
	101,900		LogMeIn, Inc.		7,230,824
	183,900		Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.		10,649,649
	87,800		MKS Instruments, Inc.		8,102,184
	96,600		NetApp, Inc.		5,072,466
	66,800	^*	Proofpoint, Inc.		8,620,540
	144,100	^*	Qorvo, Inc.		10,683,574
	243,600		SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc.		12,562,452
	133,500	^*	Synopsys, Inc.		18,322,875
	62,100	^*	Zebra Technologies Corp. - Class “A”		12,815,577
					165,394,181
			Materials—2.2%
	125,300		FMC Corp.		10,986,304
	48,600		Linde, PLC		9,414,792
					20,401,096

164

	Shares or Principal Amounts		Security	Value
			Real Estate—6.6%
		206,100	Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (REIT)	$	5,051,511
		198,500	American Campus Communities, Inc. (REIT)		9,543,880
		202,600	Americold Realty Trust (REIT)		7,510,382
		523,600	Brixmor Property Group, Inc. (REIT)		10,623,844
		264,700	Douglas Emmett, Inc. (REIT)		11,337,101
		86,650	Federal Realty Investment Trust (REIT)		11,796,531
		112,400	Liberty Property Trust (REIT)		5,769,492
					61,632,741
			Utilities—5.6%
		401,200	CenterPoint Energy, Inc.		12,108,216
		227,800	CMS Energy Corp.		14,567,810
		164,000	Portland General Electric Co.		9,244,680
		168,700	WEC Energy Group, Inc.		16,043,370
					51,964,076
Total Value of Common Stocks (cost $659,644,682)					888,793,175
			SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—1.3%
	$	12,000M	U.S. Treasury Bills, 1.78%, 10/22/2019 (cost $11,987,539)		11,987,484
			SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY OBLIGATIONS—1.3%
		12,000M	Federal Home Loan Bank, 1.93%, 10/25/2019 (cost $11,984,550)		11,985,036

Total Value of Investments (cost $683,616,771)	98.4	%		912,765,695
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	1.6			15,236,222
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	928,001,917

^*	Non-income producing

Summary of Abbreviations:

ADR	American Depositary Receipts

REIT	Real Estate Investment Trust

165

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

OPPORTUNITY FUND

September 30, 2019

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Common Stocks	$	888,793,175	$	—	$	—	$	888,793,175
Short-Term U.S. Government Obligations		—		11,987,484		—		11,987,484
Short-Term U.S. Government Agency Obligations		—		11,985,036		—		11,985,036
Total Investments in Securities^*	$	888,793,175	$	23,972,520	$	—	$	912,765,695

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization for common stocks.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

166

Portfolio Managers’ Letter

PREMIUM INCOME FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Premium Income Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 2.33% for Class A shares, 2.67% for Advisor Class shares and 2.90% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 17.2 cents per share for Class A shares, 18.6 cents per share for Advisor Class shares and $4.38 per share for Institutional Class shares. In addition, the Fund distributed capital gains of 17.9 cents per share on each class of shares.

Market Environment

Stocks produced modest returns during a volatile twelve month period that ended September 30, 2019. The S&P 500 returned 4.25% over the past year, but this return masks a peak to trough decline of -19.37% and subsequent rally of 30.20% during the period. Interest rates declined significantly, leading to strong returns in the bond market. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield began the period at 3.06%, but declined to 1.46% by September 2019, near its record low. As a result, the yield curve flattened significantly, with parts of it inverting, which we are closely monitoring. This change in the direction of long-term interest rates coincided with a marked shift in monetary policy, as the Federal Reserve switched from a tightening bias to an easing bias over the past twelve months. Developed market centrals banks have also adopted an easing bias for the most part, with negative interest rates across many maturities in a large number of these countries. A record $17 trillion worth of global bonds now have negative yields.

As of the most recent report, U.S. GDP grew 2.3% over the past twelve months, in-line with the current cycle average. Growth was supported by a healthy consumer, with rising wages and an unemployment rate that touched 3.6%, the lowest in 49 years. Trade concerns have waxed and waned over the past year, impacting market sentiment and stock returns. Since the beginning of the “trade war” nearly 18 months ago, most of the negative tariff impact in the U.S. has been offset by a stronger dollar and devaluation of the renminbi, which makes Chinese goods cheaper to U.S. purchasers.

Unlike the past five years, during which growth stocks significantly outperformed value stocks, there has been no clear winner over the past twelve months, as performance of the two styles has flipped multiple times. This change in the market has created an environment that is more favorable to stock picking.

Fund Performance Discussion

For the year ended September 30, 2019, the First Investors Premium Income Fund’s return outperformed the CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (BXM). This absolute return was accomplished with less risk than the S&P 500 Index (SPX). The standard deviation over the period was 60% less than the SPX’s standard deviation. As a result, the Fund’s risk-adjusted return was more than double the S&P 500 during the period. While the Fund’s risk-adjusted return outperformed both the broad equity market (SPX) and the covered call benchmark (BXM), it underperformed the Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate Bond Index because the significant decline in interest rates over the past year produced strong bond returns.

167

Portfolio Managers’ Letter (continued)

PREMIUM INCOME FUND

Due to the heightened volatility in the markets during the last 12 months, we have been able to write deeper in-the-money options and still maintain attractive call premiums. Over the past twelve months, the calls have averaged 14.3% in-the-money. As a result, the call options have provided both a historically attractive income component, and a large amount of downside protection, which has helped to smooth out the return profile of the Fund relative to the broad equity markets. For example, during the rapid market decline in the fourth quarter of 2018, the Fund’s downside participation was only 32% relative to the SPX, while the upside participation during the first quarter rally was 45%. Due to the implied volatility spike during December 2018, the call options in the Fund began 2019 at the most attractive levels in the history of the strategy. Linking the return from the fourth quarter with the return from the first quarter produces a gain of 1.48% for the Fund, versus a return of (1.72%) and (4.78%) for the SPX and BXM, respectively. The Fund had a positive return and outperformed both indices with less risk during a volatile period for the market. From the market bottom on December 24, 2018, it took the S&P 500 nearly four months to return to its original peak, while the Premium Income Fund made the retraced its path to its original height in less than two months.

While implied volatility has generally been below average for the most recent two quarters, in-the-money, single stock call premiums remain attractive. For example, the average implied volatility of the Fund’s call options ended the fiscal year at 28.9%, versus a year-end implied volatility of only 11.8% for the BXM’s at-the-money, 1-month index options. The BXM ended the fiscal year with its call options providing only 0.6% downside protection, versus the Fund’s call options providing 18.9% downside protection.

Thank you for placing your trust in our covered call strategy. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,


Wiley D. Angell	Sean C. Hughes, CFA
Portfolio Manager	Portfolio Manager
Zeigler Capital Management, LLC	Zeigler Capital Management, LLC

October 4, 2019

168

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

PREMIUM INCOME FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (10/1/18)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.30%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,014.16	$ 6.56
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,018.55	$ 6.58
Advisor Class Shares	1.06%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,016.28	$ 5.36
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.76	$ 5.37
Institutional Class Shares	0.99%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,016.94	$ 5.01
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,020.11	$ 5.01

^*	Commencement of Operations
^**	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived.
^***	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

TOP TEN SECTORS

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

169

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

PREMIUM INCOME FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Premium Income Fund (Class A shares) and the CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index
One Year	2.33%	2.67%	2.90%	-1.11%
Since Inception^**	3.61%	3.92%	4.14%	4.76%

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	-3.59%	2.67%	2.90%
Since Inception^**	-0.41%	3.92%	4.14%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Premium Income Fund (Class A shares) beginning 4/2/18 (commencement of operations) with a theoretical investment in the Cboe S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (the “Index”). The Index is a benchmark index designed to track the performance of a hypothetical buy-write strategy on the S&P 500 Index. The Index is a passive total return index based on (1) buying an S&P 500 stock index portfolio, and (2) “writing” (or selling) the near-term S&P 500 Index (“SPX”) “covered” call option, generally on the third Friday of each month. The SPX call written will have about one month remaining to expiration, with an exercise price just above the prevailing index level (i.e., slightly out of the money). The SPX call is held until expiration and cash settled, at which time a new one-month, near-the-money call is written. It is not possible to invest directly in this Index. In addition, the Index does not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was deducted from the initial $10,000 investment in the Fund and all dividends and distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares performance may

170

be greater than or less than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^** The Since Inception returns for Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the period beginning 4/2/18 (commencement of operations).

171

Portfolio of Investments

PREMIUM INCOME FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares		Security	Value
		COMMON STOCKS—119.5%
		Communication Services—5.5%
	37,600	AT&T, Inc.	$	1,422,784
	63,700	CBS Corp. - Class “B”		2,571,569
	50,600	Verizon Communications, Inc.		3,054,216
				7,048,569
		Consumer Discretionary—13.6%
	24,700	Best Buy Co., Inc.		1,704,053
	46,200	Carnival Corp.		2,019,402
	15,300	Home Depot, Inc.		3,549,906
	31,000	Ross Stores, Inc.		3,405,350
	52,700	TJX Cos., Inc.		2,937,498
	24,600	Whirlpool Corp.		3,895,656
				17,511,865
		Consumer Staples—7.6%
	15,600	Colgate-Palmolive Co.		1,146,756
	5,700	Constellation Brands, Inc. - Class “A”		1,181,496
	35,500	General Mills, Inc.		1,956,760
	11,400	Kellogg Co.		733,590
	52,600	Kroger Co.		1,356,028
	45,700	Philip Morris International, Inc.		3,470,001
				9,844,631
		Energy—9.2%
	33,100	Chevron Corp.		3,925,660
	28,100	ConocoPhillips		1,601,138
	16,200	ExxonMobil Corp.		1,143,882
	88,800	Halliburton Co.		1,673,880
	73,500	Kinder Morgan, Inc.		1,514,835
	45,000	Occidental Petroleum Corp.		2,001,150
				11,860,545

172

Shares			Security	Value
			Exchange Traded Funds—1.0%
	4,400		SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	$	1,305,788
			Financials—21.4%
	27,500		Allstate Corp.		2,988,700
	39,200		American Express Co.		4,636,576
	99,700		Bank of America Corp.		2,908,249
	18,400		BB&T Corp.		982,008
	9,100		BlackRock, Inc.		4,055,324
	34,500		Discover Financial Services		2,797,605
	37,500		JPMorgan Chase & Co.		4,413,375
	70,300		Morgan Stanley		2,999,701
	30,600		U.S. Bancorp		1,693,404
					27,474,942
			Health Care—11.1%
	19,100		Amgen, Inc.		3,696,041
	78,800		Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.		3,995,948
	1,400	^*	Celgene Corp.		139,020
	9,800		Johnson & Johnson		1,267,924
	65,100		Pfizer, Inc.		2,339,043
	3,400		Stryker Corp.		735,420
	7,300		Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.		2,126,271
					14,299,667
			Industrials—19.7%
	30,200		CSX Corp.		2,091,954
	41,100		Delta Air Lines, Inc.		2,367,360
	14,500		Eaton Corp., PLC		1,205,675
	9,700		General Dynamics Corp.		1,772,481
	24,600		Honeywell International, Inc.		4,162,320
	8,700		Lockheed Martin Corp.		3,393,522
	20,800		Raytheon Co.		4,080,752
	31,300		United Parcel Service, Inc. - Class “B”		3,750,366
	18,600		United Technologies Corp.		2,539,272
					25,363,702

173

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

PREMIUM INCOME FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares		Security	Value
		Information Technology—21.4%
	19,900	Apple, Inc.	$	4,457,003
	13,900	Broadcom, Inc.		3,837,373
	77,600	Cisco Systems, Inc.		3,834,216
	25,500	Citrix Systems, Inc.		2,461,260
	77,700	Intel Corp.		4,003,881
	21,200	International Business Machines Corp.		3,082,904
	12,700	Microsoft Corp.		1,765,681
	43,200	Oracle Corp.		2,377,296
	13,700	Texas Instruments, Inc.		1,770,588
				27,590,202
		Materials—5.2%
	20,500	Dow, Inc.		976,825
	43,000	DuPont de Nemours, Inc.		3,066,330
	51,800	Nucor Corp.		2,637,138
				6,680,293
		Real Estate—1.6%
	13,000	Simon Property Group, Inc. (REIT)		2,023,450
		Utilities—2.2%
	58,000	Exelon Corp.		2,801,980

Total Value of Common Stocks (cost $150,802,030)	119.5	%		153,805,634
Excess of Liabilities Over Other Assets	(19.5	)		(25,103,497	)
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	128,702,137

Summary of Abbreviations:

ETF	Exchange Traded Funds

REIT	Real Estate Investment Trust

174

CALL OPTIONS WRITTEN—(22.6)%	Expiration Date		Exercise Price		Contracts			Value
Allstate Corp.		1/17/20	$	90.00		(275	)	$	(537,625	)
American Express Co.		4/17/20		105.00		(38	)		(62,795	)
American Express Co.		4/17/20		100.00		(354	)		(723,045	)
Amgen, Inc.		4/17/20		175.00		(191	)		(466,995	)
Apple, Inc.		1/17/20		185.00		(59	)		(245,735	)
Apple, Inc.		1/17/20		165.00		(28	)		(166,810	)
Apple, Inc.		1/17/20		160.00		(51	)		(330,480	)
Apple, Inc.		3/20/20		165.00		(61	)		(367,983	)
AT&T, Inc.		1/17/20		30.00		(376	)		(295,160	)
Bank of America Corp.		6/19/20		23.00		(997	)		(687,930	)
BB&T Corp.		3/20/20		41.00		(184	)		(232,300	)
Best Buy Co., Inc.		1/17/20		52.50		(247	)		(421,753	)
BlackRock, Inc.		1/17/20		410.00		(26	)		(121,810	)
BlackRock, Inc.		1/17/20		380.00		(36	)		(261,180	)
BlackRock, Inc.		1/17/20		370.00		(14	)		(113,750	)
BlackRock, Inc.		1/17/20		350.00		(6	)		(59,730	)
BlackRock, Inc.		4/17/20		380.00		(9	)		(68,085	)
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.		1/17/20		43.00		(241	)		(192,800	)
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.		1/17/20		42.00		(120	)		(106,800	)
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.		3/20/20		42.00		(142	)		(130,640	)
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.		6/19/20		43.00		(105	)		(93,450	)
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.		6/19/20		40.00		(180	)		(204,750	)
Broadcom, Inc.		1/17/20		250.00		(53	)		(184,970	)
Broadcom, Inc.		1/17/20		230.00		(45	)		(229,950	)
Broadcom, Inc.		6/19/20		240.00		(41	)		(199,875	)
Carnival Corp.		1/17/20		47.50		(57	)		(5,700	)
Carnival Corp.		1/17/20		37.50		(405	)		(277,425	)
CBS Corp. - Class “B”		1/17/20		42.50		(25	)		(4,125	)
CBS Corp. - Class “B”		3/20/20		40.00		(269	)		(95,495	)
CBS Corp. - Class “B”		3/20/20		37.50		(343	)		(172,357	)
Celgene Corp.		1/17/20		75.00		(14	)		(34,580	)
Chevron Corp.		1/17/20		105.00		(255	)		(380,588	)
Chevron Corp.		6/19/20		100.00		(76	)		(151,810	)
Cisco Systems, Inc.		6/19/20		42.50		(129	)		(108,360	)
Cisco Systems, Inc.		6/19/20		40.00		(647	)		(669,645	)
Citrix Systems, Inc.		12/20/19		85.00		(59	)		(74,930	)
Citrix Systems, Inc.		12/20/19		80.00		(129	)		(219,945	)
Citrix Systems, Inc.		3/20/20		82.50		(67	)		(107,200	)
Colgate-Palmolive Co.		1/17/20		55.00		(156	)		(292,110	)

175

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

PREMIUM INCOME FUND

September 30, 2019

CALL OPTIONS WRITTEN—(22.6)%	Expiration Date		Exercise Price		Contracts			Value
ConocoPhillips Co.		5/15/20	$	52.50		(281	)	$	(221,990	)
Constellation Brands, Inc. - Class “A”		10/18/19		145.00		(57	)		(358,530	)
CSX Corp.		2/21/20		60.00		(302	)		(337,485	)
Delta Air Lines, Inc.		1/17/20		47.00		(77	)		(86,817	)
Delta Air Lines, Inc.		1/17/20		45.00		(116	)		(151,090	)
Delta Air Lines, Inc.		3/20/20		50.00		(38	)		(34,865	)
Delta Air Lines, Inc.		6/19/20		50.00		(180	)		(179,100	)
Discover Financial Services		1/17/20		70.00		(21	)		(26,250	)
Discover Financial Services		1/17/20		65.00		(238	)		(409,360	)
Discover Financial Services		4/17/20		70.00		(86	)		(115,670	)
Dow, Inc.		1/17/20		50.00		(98	)		(19,355	)
Dow, Inc.		1/17/20		45.00		(107	)		(49,220	)
DuPont de Nemours, Inc.		1/17/20		60.00		(430	)		(533,200	)
Eaton Corp., PLC		1/17/20		72.50		(145	)		(170,375	)
Exelon Corp.		1/17/20		42.00		(580	)		(385,700	)
ExxonMobil Corp.		11/15/19		72.50		(129	)		(13,932	)
ExxonMobil Corp.		1/17/20		70.00		(33	)		(10,478	)
General Dynamics Corp.		1/17/20		150.00		(78	)		(264,810	)
General Dynamics Corp.		2/21/20		155.00		(19	)		(56,905	)
General Mills, Inc.		1/17/20		45.00		(119	)		(122,272	)
General Mills, Inc.		1/17/20		42.50		(236	)		(299,130	)
Halliburton Co.		1/17/20		17.50		(133	)		(31,920	)
Halliburton Co.		1/17/20		15.00		(755	)		(320,875	)
Home Depot, Inc.		1/17/20		175.00		(33	)		(189,585	)
Home Depot, Inc.		1/17/20		170.00		(48	)		(301,320	)
Home Depot, Inc.		1/17/20		160.00		(39	)		(283,238	)
Home Depot, Inc.		6/19/20		175.00		(33	)		(196,102	)
Honeywell International, Inc.		3/20/20		140.00		(37	)		(116,180	)
Honeywell International, Inc.		6/19/20		145.00		(209	)		(591,993	)
Intel Corp.		1/17/20		42.00		(777	)		(784,770	)
International Business Machines Corp.		1/17/20		120.00		(167	)		(450,900	)
International Business Machines Corp.		4/17/20		115.00		(45	)		(141,187	)
Johnson & Johnson		3/20/20		115.00		(98	)		(161,455	)
JPMorgan Chase & Co.		1/17/20		100.00		(287	)		(526,645	)
JPMorgan Chase & Co.		1/17/20		95.00		(37	)		(85,008	)
JPMorgan Chase & Co.		6/19/20		97.50		(51	)		(112,710	)

176

CALL OPTIONS WRITTEN—(22.6)%	Expiration Date		Exercise Price		Contracts			Value
Kellogg Co.		3/20/20	$	55.00		(86	)	$	(88,580	)
Kellogg Co.		3/20/20		47.50		(28	)		(48,300	)
Kinder Morgan, Inc.		1/17/20		16.00		(409	)		(192,230	)
Kinder Morgan, Inc.		6/19/20		17.00		(326	)		(124,695	)
Kroger Co.		1/17/20		19.00		(526	)		(364,255	)
Lockheed Martin Corp.		3/20/20		325.00		(35	)		(243,775	)
Lockheed Martin Corp.		3/20/20		320.00		(52	)		(385,580	)
Microsoft Corp.		1/17/20		92.50		(127	)		(594,995	)
Morgan Stanley		1/17/20		34.00		(348	)		(313,200	)
Morgan Stanley		6/19/20		38.00		(355	)		(233,412	)
Nucor Corp.		1/17/20		50.00		(37	)		(13,783	)
Nucor Corp.		1/17/20		47.50		(258	)		(137,385	)
Nucor Corp.		1/17/20		45.00		(223	)		(160,560	)
Occidental Petroleum Corp.		1/17/20		45.00		(28	)		(7,462	)
Occidental Petroleum Corp.		2/21/20		40.00		(80	)		(48,200	)
Occidental Petroleum Corp.		2/21/20		37.50		(342	)		(270,180	)
Oracle Corp.		6/19/20		47.50		(216	)		(203,040	)
Oracle Corp.		6/19/20		45.00		(216	)		(245,700	)
Pfizer, Inc.		1/17/20		35.00		(222	)		(47,508	)
Pfizer, Inc.		3/20/20		32.00		(323	)		(146,965	)
Pfizer, Inc.		3/20/20		31.00		(106	)		(56,445	)
Philip Morris International, Inc.		1/17/20		72.50		(107	)		(62,863	)
Philip Morris International, Inc.		3/20/20		65.00		(350	)		(431,375	)
Raytheon Co.		1/17/20		160.00		(56	)		(210,420	)
Raytheon Co.		1/17/20		150.00		(36	)		(169,110	)
Raytheon Co.		6/19/20		165.00		(116	)		(426,880	)
Ross Stores, Inc.		1/17/20		77.50		(53	)		(173,840	)
Ross Stores, Inc.		1/17/20		67.50		(257	)		(1,094,820	)
Simon Property Group, Inc. (REIT)		1/17/20		145.00		(114	)		(153,900	)
Simon Property Group, Inc. (REIT)		1/17/20		135.00		(16	)		(35,360	)
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (ETF)		1/17/20		255.00		(44	)		(199,848	)
Stryker Corp.		1/17/20		130.00		(34	)		(295,630	)
Texas Instruments, Inc.		1/17/20		92.50		(79	)		(284,400	)
Texas Instruments, Inc.		1/17/20		90.00		(54	)		(213,840	)
Texas Instruments, Inc.		1/17/20		85.00		(4	)		(17,730	)
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.		3/20/20		250.00		(56	)		(277,760	)

177

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

PREMIUM INCOME FUND

September 30, 2019

CALL OPTIONS WRITTEN—(22.6)%	Expiration Date		Exercise Price		Contracts			Value
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.		3/20/20	$	240.00		(17	)	$	(98,685	)
TJX Companies, Inc.		1/17/20		46.25		(109	)		(111,180	)
TJX Companies, Inc.		1/17/20		42.50		(114	)		(155,610	)
TJX Companies, Inc.		4/17/20		47.50		(70	)		(65,800	)
TJX Companies, Inc.		4/17/20		45.00		(234	)		(276,120	)
U.S. Bancorp		12/20/19		45.00		(195	)		(210,112	)
U.S. Bancorp		1/17/20		45.00		(111	)		(120,713	)
United Parcel Service, Inc. - Class “B”		6/19/20		100.00		(313	)		(712,857	)
United Technologies Corp.		6/19/20		110.00		(186	)		(550,560	)
Verizon Communications, Inc.		1/17/20		50.00		(393	)		(408,720	)
Verizon Communications, Inc.		1/17/20		47.00		(113	)		(151,137	)
Whirlpool Corp.		3/20/20		120.00		(246	)		(1,011,675	)
Total Value of Call Options Written (premium received $25,094,769)								$	(29,088,288	)

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

178

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2			Level 3		Total
Assets
Common Stocks^*		$153,805,634	$	—		$	—		$153,805,634

Liabilities
Call Options Written	$	—	$	(29,088,288	)	$	—	$	(29,088,288	)

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization for common stocks.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

179

Portfolio Manager’s Letter

SELECT GROWTH FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Select Growth Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was -6.01% for Class A shares, -5.74% for Advisor Class shares and -5.66% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 0.8 cents per share for Advisor Class shares and 1.3 cents per share for Institutional Class shares. In addition, the Fund distributed capital gains of 62.4 cents per share on each class of shares.

The Market

The fiscal year started with a correction as global economic data appeared less robust while the Federal Reserve (Fed) indicated it would stay the course with rate increases. The market perceived a heightened risk of a policy mistake and stocks experienced a selloff. This was quickly followed by a rally during the first quarter of calendar 2019 as Fed actions and commentary suggested an easier stance and softer economic data seemed better reflected in earnings expectations. Corporate America earnings are still expected to show some modest growth with operating earnings for the Standard & Poor’s 500 forecasted at $166 per share, a year-over-year increase of 2.5%.

The Smith Group investment process is centered on a very specific and clearly defined fundamental outcome—companies that can sustainably grow earnings faster than expected will have strong price appreciation. Significantly, even when the equity markets do not reward our investment process with excess returns, our client portfolios continue to capture a higher earnings growth premium—higher realized earnings growth relative to forecasted growth—than their respective performance benchmarks. That is, the companies in our client portfolios realize a larger earnings growth premium than the benchmarks.

The past twelve months have provided dramatic shifts in both soft and hard economic indicators. In many cases, the change in trajectory has been swift and severe. Expectations for U.S. growth has sunk to the zero bound from 3% to 4% a year ago while the slope of the yield curve briefly suggested a recession could be around the corner. Global monetary policy once again shifted towards aggressive support resulting in a quarter of the global bond market trading at negative rates. Haphazard U.S. trade policy has, remarkably, become even more disorganized causing American manufacturing and consumer confidence to weaken during the12-month period. This rapid deterioration caused an earnings centric investment process like ours to fall significantly out of favor. In fact, the reward associated with the criteria we use to select stocks is similar to the experience during the technology- and telecom-bubble in 1998-99 and the rebound after the Global Financial Crisis in 2009. We find comfort in the fact that as the market reverts back to rewarding strong earnings performance again, the Fund should be in a position to generate better relative performance going forward.

The Fund

With the selection criteria and the process out of favor during the period, the Fund’s underperformance for the year was spread across most sectors. The largest sector exposures,

180

Information Technology and Healthcare, were responsible for most of the underperformance. Another notable negative was the Fund’s lack of exposure to Real Estate, which was the best performing sector in the benchmark with a 26.7% return. This caused almost 0.5% of negative relative allocation effect. One bright spot in the Fund was the Energy sector. Although a small weight at less than 1% in both the Fund and the benchmark, the Fund’s position in Chevron posted a gain of 3.0% which easily outperformed the benchmark sector return of -24.3%.

Fund performance was hurt by the Fund’s Information Technology holdings turning negative after several years of solid performance. NetApp, an enterprise data storage systems developer, and F5 Networks, a network security and applications systems provider, declining 46.4% and 33.2%, respectively, were the largest contributors to the negative performance. Also notable was that the Fund’s underweight in Microsoft, which gained 20.7%, and no exposure to MasterCard and Visa, which gained 21.9% and 17.3%, respectively, caused almost 1.0% of relative underperformance. In Health Care, the Fund’s large position in Centene, a Medicaid managed-care company, and exposure to Biogen, a biotechnology company, hurt performance as the stocks both declined more than 30%.

While we are disappointed that the Fund underperformed for the period, we continue to believe that the holdings in the Fund should be able to generate healthy returns going forward as the market eventually returns to rewarding earnings as it has in the past. Continued economic growth should provide a good foundation for solid earnings growth by the companies held by the Fund and we continue to believe our focus on high quality companies where earnings will exceed market expectations is the key to generating excess returns over the long term.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,

John D. Brim
Portfolio Manager
Smith Asset Management Group L.P.

October 4, 2019

181

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

SELECT GROWTH FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.16%
Actual		$1,000.00	$ 977.37	$ 5.75
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$ 1,019.25	$ 5.87
Advisor Class Shares	0.86%
Actual		$1,000.00	$ 978.65	$ 4.27
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$ 1,020.76	$ 4.36
Institutional Class Shares	0.78%
Actual		$1,000.00	$ 978.80	$ 3.87
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$ 1,021.16	$ 3.95

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid during the period are net of expenses waived.
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

BY SECTOR

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

182

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

SELECT GROWTH FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Select Growth Fund (Class A shares), the Russell 1000^® Growth Index^† and the Russell 3000 Growth Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	Russell 1000 Growth Index	Russell 3000 Growth Index
One Year	-6.01%	-5.74%	-5.66%	3.71%	2.70%
Five Years	10.20%	10.62%	10.66%	13.39%	13.07%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	12.84%	12.54%	12.65%	14.94%^††	14.73%^††

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	-11.41%	-5.74%	-5.66%
Five Years	8.90%	10.62%	10.66%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	12.16%	12.54%	12.65%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Select Growth Fund (Class A shares) beginning 9/30/09 theoretical investments in the Russell 1000 Growth Index and the Russell 3000 Growth Index (the “Indices”). The Russell 1000 Growth Index is an unmanaged index that measures the performance of the large-cap growth segment of the U.S. economy. It includes Russell 1000 companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth. The Russell 3000 Growth Index is an unmanaged index that measures the performance of those Russell 3000 Index companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values (the Russell 3000 Index is an unmanaged index that measures the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies based on total market capitalization). It is not possible to invest directly in these Indices. In addition, the Indices do not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table,

183

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited) (continued)

SELECT GROWTH FUND

unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was deducted from the initial $10,000 investment in the Fund. Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares performance may be greater than or less than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^** The Since Inception returns for Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the periods beginning 4/1/13 (commencement of operations for those classes).

^† During the fiscal year, the Fund changed its primary broad-based securities index to the Russell 1000 Growth Index from the Russell 3000 Growth Index since it more closely reflects the Fund’s investment strategies. After this fiscal year we will not show a comparison to the Russell 3000 Growth Index.

^†† The Index return is for ten years. The Russell 1000 Growth Index return and the Russell 3000 Growth Index return since inception of the Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are 14.86% and 12.17%, respectively.

184

Portfolio of Investments

SELECT GROWTH FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			COMMON STOCKS—96.6%
			Communication Services—10.6%
	18,580	^*	Alphabet, Inc. - Class “A”	$	22,688,781
	295,233		Cinemark Holdings, Inc.		11,407,803
	352,000		Comcast Corp. - Special Shares “A”		15,868,160
	109,300	^*	Facebook, Inc. - Class “A”		19,464,144
					69,428,888
			Consumer Discretionary—11.8%
	14,500	^*	AutoZone, Inc.		15,726,990
	75,000	^*	Burlington Stores, Inc.		14,986,500
	113,800	^*	Deckers Outdoor Corp.		16,769,568
	190,100		Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc.		15,086,336
	136,191		Target Corp.		14,560,180
					77,129,574
			Consumer Staples—4.5%
	121,912		Procter & Gamble Co.		15,163,415
	122,712		Walmart, Inc.		14,563,460
					29,726,875
			Energy—.8%
	47,300		Chevron Corp.		5,609,780
			Financials—7.7%
	457,200		Bank of America Corp.		13,336,524
	126,990		Discover Financial Services		10,297,619
	189,100		Progressive Corp.		14,607,975
	217,030		U.S. Bancorp		12,010,440
					50,252,558

185

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

SELECT GROWTH FUND

September 30, 2019

	Shares			Security	Value
				Health Care—15.7%
		221,210		Baxter International, Inc.	$	19,349,239
		43,710	^*	Biogen, Inc.		10,176,562
		275,800		Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.		13,985,818
		336,440	^*	Centene Corp.		14,554,395
		158,772		Eli Lilly & Co.		17,755,473
		150,600		Merck & Co., Inc.		12,677,508
		117,780	^*	Varian Medical Systems, Inc.		14,026,420
						102,525,415
				Industrials—9.4%
		177,300		Dover Corp.		17,651,988
		152,490		Eaton Corp., PLC		12,679,543
		170,000		EMCOR Group, Inc.		14,640,400
		78,192		Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.		16,560,284
						61,532,215
				Information Technology—36.1%
		92,100	^*	Adobe Systems, Inc.		25,442,625
		171,700	^*	Akamai Technologies, Inc.		15,689,946
		76,500		Apple, Inc.		17,133,705
		138,464		Automatic Data Processing, Inc.		22,350,859
		385,650	^*	Cadence Design Systems, Inc.		25,483,752
		380,000	^*	Ciena Corp.		14,907,400
		88,600	^*	EPAM Systems, Inc.		16,153,552
		274,280	^*	Fortinet, Inc.		21,053,733
		185,050		Microsoft Corp.		25,727,501
		226,200		Oracle Corp.		12,447,786
		199,340	^*	PayPal Holdings, Inc.		20,649,631
		94,500	^*	Zebra Technologies Corp. - Class “A”		19,501,965
						236,542,455
Total Value of Common Stocks (cost $528,037,291)						632,747,760

186

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—2.6%
$	17,000M	U.S. Treasury Bills, 1.78%, 10/22/2019 (cost $16,982,348)	$	16,982,269
		SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY OBLIGATIONS—.4%
	2,500M	Federal Home Loan Bank, 1.93%, 10/25/2019 (cost $2,496,781)		2,496,883

Total Value of Investments (cost $547,516,420)	99.6	%		652,226,912
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	.4			2,472,440
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	654,699,352

^*	Non-income producing

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

187

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

SELECT GROWTH FUND

September 30, 2019

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Common Stocks	$	632,747,760	$	—	$	—	$	632,747,760
Short-Term U.S. Government Obligations		—		16,982,269		—		16,982,269
Short-Term U.S. Government Agency Obligations		—		2,496,883		—		2,496,883
Total Investments in Securities^*	$	632,747,760	$	19,479,152	$	—	$	652,226,912

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization for common stocks.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

188

Portfolio Manager’s Letter

SPECIAL SITUATIONS FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Special Situations Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was -9.54% for Class A shares, -9.19% for Advisor Class shares and -9.16% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 8.0 cents per share for Class A shares, 10.2 cents per share for Advisor Class shares and 11.6 for Institutional Class shares. In addition, the Fund distributed capital gains of $3.83 per share on each class of shares.

U.S. equity market

As the second quarter progressed, the dominant themes were global trade war, the slowing global economy, and the Fed becoming more accommodative and starting to lower rates again. The S&P 500 gained 17% during the first six months of the year (its best performance since 1997). The market’s gains were predominantly built upon defensive sectors like Utilities, REITs and Consumer Staples. These sectors all made new highs along with the S&P 500^®, as lower global interest rates seemingly accelerated investors’ appetite for yield.

The Fund

The Fund’s absolute performance was mainly attributable to investments in Financials, Information Technology and Industrials. In Financials, our investments in Sterling Bancorp, which executed on balance sheet restructuring, and American Financial Group, which continued its steady performance and capital returns, drove performance. In Information Technology, Perficient—helped by solid organic growth and stronger margins—and PDF Solutions—helped

189

Portfolio Manager’s Letter (continued)

SPECIAL SITUATIONS FUND

by new product launches—were the main drivers of performance. Finally, in Industrials, SPX Corp benefitted from solid growth in its less cyclical lines of business.

On a basis relative to the Russell 2000^® Value Index, the Fund underperformed primarily due to our underweights of the Real Estate and Financial sectors. In Financials, our underweight of thrifts hurt relative performance as the industry benefited from lower interest rates. In the Real Estate sector, our underweight of healthcare REITs was the largest source of relative underperformance.

As always, thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial.

Sincerely,

Steven S. Hill

Senior Portfolio Manager

Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

October 4, 2019

190

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

SPECIAL SITUATIONS FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.29%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,006.01	$ 6.49
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,018.60	$ 6.53
Advisor Class Shares	1.00%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,008.69	$ 5.04
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,020.06	$ 5.06
Institutional Class Shares	0.88%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,008.22	$ 4.43
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,020.66	$ 4.46

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period).
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

BY SECTOR

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

191

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

SPECIAL SITUATIONS FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Special Situations Fund (Class A shares), the MSCI USA Small Cap Value Index^† and the Russell 2000 Value Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	MSCI USA Small Cap Value Index	Russell 2000 Value Index
One Year	-9.54%	-9.19%	-9.16%	-6.55%	-8.27%
Five Years	5.22%	5.57%	5.69%	7.14%	7.16%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	9.52%	7.52%	7.68%	11.30%^††	10.06%^††

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	-14.74%	-9.19%	-9.16%
Five Years	3.98%	5.57%	5.69%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	8.87%	7.52%	7.68%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Special Situations Fund (Class A shares) beginning 9/30/09 with theoretical investments in the MSCI USA Small Cap Value Index and the Russell 2000 Value Index (the “Indices”). The MSCI USA Small Cap Value Index captures small cap securities exhibiting overall value style characteristics across the U.S. Equity markets. The value investment style characteristics for index construction are defined using book value to price, 12-month forward earnings to price and dividend yield. The Russell 2000 Value Index is an unmanaged index that measures the performance of the small-cap value segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes those Russell 2000 companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. It is not possible to invest directly in these Indices. In addition, the Indices do not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active

192

management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was deducted from the initial $10,000 investment in the Fund and all dividends and distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares performance may be greater than or less than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^** The Since Inception returns for Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the periods beginning 4/1/13 (commencement of operations for those classes).

^† During the fiscal year, the Fund changed its primary broad-based securities index to the MSCI USA Small Cap Value Index from the Russell 2000 Value Index since it more closely reflects the Fund’s investment strategies. After this fiscal year we will not show a comparison to the Russell 2000 Value Index.

^†† The Index return is for ten years. The MSCI USA Small Cap Value Index return and The Russell 2000 Value Index return since inception of the Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are 8.43% and 7.72%, respectively.

193

Portfolio of Investments

SPECIAL SITUATIONS FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			COMMON STOCKS—96.3%
			Consumer Discretionary—14.4%
	241,600		American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.	$	3,918,752
	82,400		Cheesecake Factory, Inc.		3,434,432
	40,900		Children’s Place, Inc.		3,148,891
	312,600		Dana Holding Corp.		4,513,944
	378,350		Designer Brands, Inc. - Class “A”		6,477,352
	171,200		Haverty Furniture Cos., Inc.		3,470,224
	40,100	^*	Helen of Troy, Ltd.		6,322,166
	148,100	^*	MasterCraft Boat Holdings, Inc.		2,210,392
	105,500		Oxford Industries, Inc.		7,564,350
	113,300		Penske Automotive Group, Inc.		5,356,824
	145,000		Ruth’s Hospitality Group, Inc.		2,960,175
	273,550	^*	Taylor Morrison Home Corp. - Class “A”		7,095,887
	394,000	^*	TRI Pointe Group, Inc.		5,925,760
	34,700	^*	Visteon Corp.		2,864,138
	204,500		Wolverine World Wide, Inc.		5,779,170
					71,042,457
			Consumer Staples—4.8%
	164,700		Energizer Holdings, Inc.		7,177,626
	107,500	^*	Performance Food Group Co.		4,946,075
	175,371		Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc.		6,513,279
	119,000	^*	U.S. Foods Holding Corp.		4,890,900
					23,527,880
			Energy—3.6%
	167,300		Delek U.S. Holdings, Inc.		6,072,990
	451,500	^*	Keane Group, Inc.		2,736,090
	330,200		Liberty Oilfield Services, Inc. - Class “A”		3,576,066
	153,000		PBF Energy, Inc. - Class “A”		4,160,070
	143,300	^*	ProPetro Holding Corp.		1,302,597
					17,847,813

194

Shares			Security	Value
			Financials—27.2%
	290,300	^*	AllianceBernstein Holding, LP (MLP)	$	8,520,305
	229,629		Amalgamated Bank - Class “A”		3,678,657
	80,100		American Financial Group, Inc.		8,638,785
	210,900		Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc.		6,177,261
	67,200		Brown & Brown, Inc.		2,423,232
	184,100		Capstar Financial Holdings, Inc.		3,052,378
	511,000		CNO Financial Group, Inc.		8,089,130
	209,200		Great Western Bancorp, Inc.		6,903,600
	49,000		IBERIABANK Corp.		3,701,460
	107,100		Independent Bank Group, Inc.		5,634,531
	82,400		James River Group Holdings, Ltd.		4,222,176
	49,850		Kemper Corp.		3,885,807
	236,500		OceanFirst Financial Corp.		5,581,400
	524,300		Old National Bancorp of Indiana		9,020,581
	93,900		Prosperity Bancshares, Inc.		6,632,157
	100,400		QCR Holdings, Inc.		3,813,192
	103,100	^*	Seacoast Banking Corp.		2,609,461
	306,700		Simmons First National Corp. - Class “A”		7,636,830
	471,300		Sterling Bancorp		9,454,278
	175,000		Synovus Financial Corp.		6,258,000
	165,640		TCF Financial Corp.		6,305,915
	199,300		Veritex Holdings, Inc.		4,836,015
	407,000		Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. - Class “A”		6,992,260
					134,067,411
			Health Care—4.5%
	13,600	^*	Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.		1,800,232
	33,000		Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc.		3,472,590
	23,600	^*	ICON, PLC		3,477,224
	194,300		Phibro Animal Health Corp. - Class “A”		4,144,419
	272,000	^*	Prestige Brands, Inc.		9,435,680
					22,330,145

195

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

SPECIAL SITUATIONS FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			Industrials—14.4%
	157,000		AAR Corp.	$	6,469,970
	200,100	^*	Atkore International Group Co.		6,073,035
	162,800		Columbus McKinnon Corp.		5,930,804
	103,400		Comfort Systems USA, Inc.		4,573,382
	223,700	^*	Gardner Denver Holdings, Inc.		6,328,473
	47,700		ICF International, Inc.		4,029,219
	111,000		Kennametal, Inc.		3,412,140
	124,900		Korn/Ferry International		4,826,136
	84,200		Park-Ohio Holdings Corp.		2,514,212
	73,200		Regal Beloit Corp.		5,332,620
	228,600	^*	SPX Corp.		9,146,286
	156,900		Timken Co.		6,826,719
	154,700		Triton International, Ltd.		5,235,048
					70,698,044
			Information Technology—8.4%
	49,200	^*	Cree, Inc.		2,410,800
	124,100	^*	Diodes, Inc.		4,982,615
	181,200	^*	Ichor Holdings, Ltd.		4,381,416
	28,100	^*	MicroStrategy, Inc. - Class “A”		4,169,197
	73,700	^*	NETGEAR, Inc.		2,374,614
	401,700	^*	PDF Solutions, Inc.		5,250,219
	208,400	^*	Perficient, Inc.		8,040,072
	416,700	^*	TTM Technologies, Inc.		5,081,657
	110,900	^*	Verint Systems, Inc.		4,744,302
					41,434,892
			Materials—5.4%
	27,700		AptarGroup, Inc.		3,281,065
	124,900	^*	Berry Global Group, Inc.		4,904,823
	212,200	^*	Ferro Corp.		2,516,692
	302,610	^*	PQ Group Holdings, Inc.		4,823,603
	117,100		Schweitzer-Mauduit International., Inc.		4,384,224

196

	Shares or Principal Amount		Security	Value
			Materials (continued)
		96,500	Sensient Technologies Corp.	$	6,624,725
					26,535,132
			Real Estate—6.1%
		315,000	Brixmor Property Group, Inc. (REIT)		6,391,350
		145,200	Douglas Emmett, Inc. (REIT)		6,218,916
		24,900	Federal Realty Investment Trust (REIT)		3,389,886
		234,368	Industrial Logistics Properties Trust (REIT)		4,980,320
		133,700	JBG SMITH Properties (REIT)		5,242,377
		294,800	Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (REIT)		4,050,552
					30,273,401
			Utilities—7.5%
		133,000	Black Hills Corp.		10,205,090
		79,600	IDACORP, Inc.		8,968,532
		84,100	Pinnacle West Capital Corp.		8,163,587
		166,100	Portland General Electric Co.		9,363,057
					36,700,266
Total Value of Common Stocks (cost $429,120,225)					474,457,441
			SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—2.0%
	$	10,000M	U.S. Treasury Bills, 1.78%, 10/22/2019 (cost $9,989,616)		9,989,570
			SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY OBLIGATIONS—1.4%
		7,000M	Federal Home Loan Bank, 1.93%, 10/25/2019 (cost $6,990,988)		6,991,271

Total Value of Investments (cost $446,100,829)	99.7	%		491,438,282
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	.3			1,513,927
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	492,952,209

^*	Non-income producing

197

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

SPECIAL SITUATIONS FUND

September 30, 2019

Summary of Abbreviations:

MLP	Master Limited Partnership

REIT	Real Estate Investment Trust

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Common Stocks	$	474,457,441	$	—	$	—	$	474,457,441
Short-Term U.S. Government Obligations		—		9,989,570		—		9,989,570
Short-Term U.S. Government Agency Obligations		—		6,991,271		—		6,991,271
Total Investments in Securities^*	$	474,457,441	$	16,980,841	$	—	$	491,438,282

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization for common stocks.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

198

Portfolio Managers’ Letter

TOTAL RETURN FUND

Dear Investor:

This is the annual report for the First Investors Total Return Fund for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. During the period, the Fund’s return on a net asset value basis was 4.58% for Class A shares, 4.93% for Advisor Class shares and 5.06% for Institutional Class shares, including dividends of 34.0 cents per share for Class A shares, 43.8 cents per share for Advisor Class shares and 48.3 cents per share for Institutional Class shares. In addition, the Fund distributed capital gains of $1.52 per share on each class of shares.

U.S. equity market

The U.S. stock market began the review period with a very weak quarter. The S&P 500 fell -9.0% in the month of December alone. Quantitative tightening by the Fed, coupled with slowing earnings and increased trade disputes, sparked the sell-off. The start of 2019 saw a meaningful reversal in the equity markets following the sharp sell-off in December. January started very strong with the S&P 500 posting a +8.0% total return, the best monthly showing since 1987. By the end of January, the S&P had erased most of the losses incurred during the month of December and sat 15% above its Christmas Eve low. The January rally was led by higher-beta, lower-quality and smaller-cap names. Fueled by a dovish Federal Reserve (“Fed”) and more optimism about a potential trade deal, the S&P 500 posted its best quarterly return since 2009. The first quarter rally in small-cap stocks was the best since 1991.

Bond market

199

Portfolio Managers’ Letter (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points in its December meeting, however, its policy moved from a tightening to a more accommodative policy. In fact, the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points twice following the rate hike in December. U.S. Treasurys rallied strongly across the yield curve in a risk-off environment. There is an inverse relationship between bond prices and yields. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note yield, which is very sensitive to changes in Fed policy, fell by 120 basis points to 1.62%. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield, which is controlled by other factors such as GDP, inflation and investor sentiment, fell by 140 basis points to 1.67%. The yield curve continued to flatten, with the spread between 2- and 10-year U.S. Treasury yields narrowing to just four basis points by the end of the period.

Amid volatility in commodity-driven sectors, the high yield bond market returned 6.30% during the review period. Municipal bonds benefited from favorable supply-demand dynamics and returned 7.93%.

The Fund—Equities

Overall, the Fund’s Class A shares underperformed its equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, which returned 10.63% for the annual reporting period ended September 30, 2019, but outperformed its fixed income benchmark, the ICE BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. Corporate, Government & Mortgage Master Index, which rose 4.25%.

The Fund’s worst relative performing sector was energy led by its investment in Encana a small cap oil producer that sold off after surprising investors with a large acquisition. The Funds investment in Marathon Petroleum has been disappointing over the past year as well as margins have taken a hit.

The current U.S. administration’s renewed focus on tariffs had a negative impact on Tapestry, the parent company of Coach and Kate Spade, as higher tariffs on goods made in China will have a negative impact on margins and earnings will likely be under pressure.

The Fund also underperformed in both the Real Estate and Utilities sectors. With the Fund’s mandate to have at least 35% of the assets in fixed income, the equity portion does not invest in high yielding stocks like REITs or Utilities which hurt performance, compared to the benchmark that does invest in those sectors.

In the Industrial sector, the Fund’s investment in defense stocks led strong returns with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman both reaching all-time highs. Gardner Denver also had a strong year after they announced an accretive acquisition earlier in the year. The Fund’s purchase of Kansas City Southern has worked out well as the stock has traded recently at its all-time high. In

200

Healthcare, our investment in Exact Sciences has been a solid winner with the stock trading near its high.

The Fund—Bonds

During the review period, the Fund had average bond and cash allocations of 41.2% and 1.8%, respectively. As a percentage of the Fund’s total assets, investment grade corporate bonds were the largest bond allocation at 25.6%, followed by mortgage-backed securities at 9.0%, U.S. government securities at 5.7%, high yield bonds at 4.9%, municipal bonds at 0.5%, and asset-backed securities at 0.4%.

The Fund’s fixed income holdings significantly outperformed the return of its benchmark, the BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. Corporate, Government & Mortgage Index. The Fund’s relative outperformance was predominantly a function of its overweight to corporate bonds, the best performing asset class during the review period. The Fund’s overweight of 30-year U.S. Treasurys compared to the Index was also a positive contributor to performance, benefiting from the substantial decline in interest rates during the review period.

Thank you for placing your trust in Foresters Financial. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve your investment needs.

Sincerely,


Sean Reidy	Rajeev Sharma
Portfolio Manager and Director of Equities, Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.	Portfolio Manager and Director of Fixed Income, Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

October 4, 2019

201

Fund Expenses (unaudited)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

Expense Example	Annualized Expense Ratio	Beginning Account Value (4/1/19)	Ending Account Value (9/30/19)	Expenses Paid During Period (4/1/19-9/30/19)^*
Class A Shares	1.13%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,061.19	$ 5.84
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,019.40	$ 5.72
Advisor Class Shares	0.73%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,064.23	$ 3.78
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,021.41	$ 3.70
Institutional Class Shares	0.78%
Actual		$1,000.00	$1,064.03	$ 4.04
Hypothetical^**		$1,000.00	$1,021.16	$ 3.95

^*	Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period).
^**	Assumed rate of return of 5% before expenses

Portfolio Composition

TOP TEN SECTORS

Portfolio holdings and allocations are subject to change. Percentages are as of September 30, 2019, and are based on the total market value of investments.

202

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

Comparison of change in value of $10,000 investment in the First Investors Total Return Fund (Class A shares), the ICE BofAML U.S. Corporate, Government & Mortgage Index and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

	Average Annual Total Returns^*
N.A.V. Only	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class	S&P 500 Index	ICE BofAML U.S. Corporate, Government & Mortgage Index
One Year	4.58%	4.93%	5.06%	4.25%	10.63%
Five Years	4.66%	5.05%	5.11%	10.84%	3.47%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	7.83%	6.38%	6.47%	13.24%^†	3.79%^†

S.E.C. Standardized	Class A	Advisor Class	Institutional Class
One Year	-1.42%	4.93%	5.06%
Five Years	3.43%	5.05%	5.11%
Ten Years or Since Inception^**	7.20%	6.38%	6.47%

The graph compares a $10,000 investment in the First Investors Total Return Fund (Class A shares) beginning 9/30/09 with theoretical investments in the ICE BofAML U.S. Corporate, Government & Mortgage Index and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (the “Indices”). The ICE BofAML U.S. Corporate, Government & Mortgage Index tracks the performance of U.S. dollar denominated investment grade debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market, including U.S. Treasuries, quasi-government securities, corporates, covered

203

Cumulative Performance Information (unaudited) (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

bonds and residential mortgage pass-through securities. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is an unmanaged capitalization-weighted index of 500 stocks designed to measure performance of the broad domestic economy through changes in the aggregate market value of such stocks, which represent all major industries. It is not possible to invest directly in these Indices. In addition, the Indices do not reflect fees and expenses associated with the active management of a mutual fund portfolio. For purposes of the graph and the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, it has been assumed that the maximum sales charge was deducted from the initial $10,000 investment in the Fund and all dividends and distributions were reinvested. Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares performance may be greater than or less than that shown in the line graph above for Class A shares based on differences in sales loads and fees paid by shareholders investing in the different classes.

^** The Since Inception returns for Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are for the periods beginning 4/1/13 (commencement of operations for those classes).

^† The Index return is for ten years. The S&P 500 Index return and ICE BofAML U.S. Corporate, Government & Mortgage Index return since inception of the Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares are 14.25% and 1.66%, respectively.

204

Portfolio of Investments

TOTAL RETURN FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			COMMON STOCKS—58.5%
			Communication Services—4.8%
	4,700	^*	Alphabet, Inc. - Class “A”	$	5,739,358
	138,500		AT&T, Inc.		5,240,840
	105,875		CBS Corp. - Class “B”		4,274,174
	131,300		Comcast Corp. - Special Shares “A”		5,919,004
	48,300	^*	Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.		6,053,922
	119,275		Verizon Communications, Inc.		7,199,439
	36,500		Walt Disney Co.		4,756,680
					39,183,417
			Consumer Discretionary—2.1%
	1,650	^*	Amazon.com, Inc.		2,864,251
	11,250	^*	Burlington Stores, Inc.		2,247,975
	26,330		Home Depot, Inc.		6,109,087
	30,950		Lowe’s Cos., Inc.		3,403,262
	18,350		Ross Stores, Inc.		2,015,748
					16,640,323
			Consumer Staples—5.2%
	145,340		Coca-Cola Co.		7,912,310
	89,630		Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV (ADR)		2,241,646
	71,900		Mondelez International, Inc. - Class “A”		3,977,508
	60,560		PepsiCo, Inc.		8,302,776
	68,260		Philip Morris International, Inc.		5,182,982
	55,250		Procter & Gamble Co.		6,871,995
	60,870		Walmart, Inc.		7,224,052
					41,713,269
			Energy—3.9%
	122,973		BP, PLC (ADR)		4,671,744
	62,850		Chevron Corp.		7,454,010
	49,550		ConocoPhillips		2,823,359
	69,752		ExxonMobil Corp.		4,925,189

205

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

September 30, 2019

Shares			Security	Value
			Energy (continued)
	102,100		Marathon Petroleum Corp.	$	6,202,575
	63,600		Valero Energy Corp.		5,421,264
					31,498,141
			Financials—12.1%
	42,320		American Express Co.		5,005,610
	24,850		Aon, PLC		4,810,215
	285,200		Bank of America Corp.		8,319,284
	52,500		Chubb, Ltd.		8,475,600
	86,800		Citigroup, Inc.		5,996,144
	30,507		Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.		4,050,109
	26,100		Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.		5,408,703
	65,400		Hamilton Lane, Inc. - Class “A”		3,725,184
	87,280		JPMorgan Chase & Co.		10,271,983
	81,200		MetLife, Inc.		3,829,392
	95,180		Morgan Stanley		4,061,331
	44,725		PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.		6,268,656
	73,850		Popular, Inc.		3,993,808
	157,850		Synchrony Financial		5,381,107
	42,150		Travelers Cos., Inc.		6,267,284
	124,945		U.S. Bancorp		6,914,456
	92,770		Wells Fargo & Co.		4,679,319
					97,458,185
			Health Care—9.4%
	66,460		Abbott Laboratories		5,560,708
	12,900		Anthem, Inc.		3,097,290
	60,450	^*	Centene Corp.		2,615,067
	19,850	^*	Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.		2,627,544
	11,600		Eli Lilly & Co.		1,297,228
	47,750	^*	Exact Sciences Corp.		4,315,167
	48,700		Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc.		5,124,701
	21,900		Johnson & Johnson		2,833,422
	65,950		Koninklijke Philips NV (ADR)		3,042,273

206

Shares			Security	Value
			Health Care (continued)
	61,200		Medtronic, PLC	$	6,647,544
	74,795		Merck & Co., Inc.		6,296,243
	131,479		Pfizer, Inc.		4,724,040
	136,000		Smith & Nephew, PLC (ADR)		6,545,680
	17,745		Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.		5,168,586
	22,100	^*	Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.		3,744,182
	57,350		Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.		7,872,435
	35,065		Zoetis, Inc.		4,368,748
					75,880,858
			Industrials—8.3%
	79,700	^*	Gardner Denver Holdings, Inc.		2,254,713
	49,150		Honeywell International, Inc.		8,316,180
	73,500		Ingersoll-Rand, PLC		9,055,935
	54,250		Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.		4,963,875
	40,300		Kansas City Southern, Inc.		5,360,303
	22,620		Lockheed Martin Corp.		8,823,157
	18,100		Northrop Grumman Corp.		6,783,699
	72,450		Republic Services, Inc.		6,270,547
	12,500		Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.		1,805,125
	32,450		Union Pacific Corp.		5,256,251
	58,680		United Technologies Corp.		8,010,994
					66,900,779
			Information Technology—11.8%
	24,750	^*	Adobe Systems, Inc.		6,837,187
	106,700	^*	Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.		3,093,233
	117,747		Cisco Systems, Inc.		5,817,879
	158,700		Corning, Inc.		4,526,124
	119,100	^*	Cree, Inc.		5,835,900
	66,200	^*	Fiserv, Inc.		6,857,658
	124,875		Intel Corp.		6,434,809
	58,950		Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.		3,413,794
	54,100	^*	Mellanox Technologies, Ltd.		5,928,819
	64,185		Microsoft Corp.		8,923,641

207

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

September 30, 2019

	Shares or Principal Amount			Security	Value
				Information Technology (continued)
		133,750		Nintendo Co., Ltd. (ADR)	$	6,232,750
		20,250		NVIDIA Corp.		3,524,917
		95,500		Oracle Corp.		5,255,365
		72,220		QUALCOMM, Inc.		5,508,942
		42,550	^*	Synopsys, Inc.		5,839,987
		24,100		Texas Instruments, Inc.		3,114,684
		42,550		Visa, Inc. - Class “A”		7,319,026
						94,464,715
				Materials—.9%
		27,216		DuPont de Nemours, Inc.		1,940,773
		25,830		Linde, PLC		5,003,788
						6,944,561
Total Value of Common Stocks (cost $334,283,948)						470,684,248
				CORPORATE BONDS—20.6%
				Aerospace/Defense—.7%
	$	2,700M		Boeing Co., 2.95%, 2/1/2030		2,771,963
		100M		Bombardier, Inc., 6%, 10/15/2022 ^(a)		100,375
		2,500M		Rockwell Collins, Inc., 3.5%, 3/15/2027		2,669,677
				TransDigm, Inc.:
		75M		6%, 7/15/2022		76,313
		50M		6.5%, 7/15/2024		51,750
		25M		6.25%, 3/15/2026 ^(a)		26,906
		50M		Triumph Group, Inc., 5.25%, 6/1/2022		49,980
						5,746,964
				Automotive—1.0%
		125M		American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc., 6.25%, 4/1/2025		121,875
		50M		Asbury Automotive Group, Inc., 6%, 12/15/2024		52,000
		50M		Cooper Standard Automotive, Inc., 5.625%, 11/15/2026 (a)		45,812

208

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Automotive (continued)
$	320M	Dana Holding Corp., 5.5%, 12/15/2024	$	327,200
	2,500M	Ford Motor Credit Co., LLC, 8.125%, 1/15/2020		2,541,522
	4,345M	General Motors Financial Co., Inc., 5.25%, 3/1/2026		4,716,776
	75M	J.B. Poindexter & Co., 7.125%, 4/15/2026 ^(a)		78,000
	50M	LKQ Corp., 4.75%, 5/15/2023		50,875
	75M	Panther BF Aggregator 2, LP, 8.5%, 5/15/2027 ^(a)		76,125
				8,010,185
		Building Materials—.0%
	25M	Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc., 4.5%, 11/15/2026 ^(a)		25,281
		Building Materials Corp.:
	100M	5.375%, 11/15/2024 ^(a)		103,375
	50M	6%, 10/15/2025 ^(a)		52,673
	100M	Griffon Corp., 5.25%, 3/1/2022		101,250
	50M	New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., 6.25%, 3/15/2026 (a)		51,250
	50M	Standard Industries, Inc., 5%, 2/15/2027 ^(a)		51,890
				385,719
		Chemicals—.3%
	75M	Blue Cube Spinco, Inc., 10%, 10/15/2025		84,325
	50M	CF Industries, Inc., 4.95%, 6/1/2043		49,187
	50M	Chemours Co., 5.375%, 5/15/2027		43,376
	50M	Koppers, Inc., 6%, 2/15/2025 ^(a)		50,282
	50M	Kraton Polymers, LLC, 7%, 4/15/2025 ^(a)		52,375
	2,100M	LyondellBasell Industries NV, 6%, 11/15/2021		2,239,957
	50M	Neon Holdings, Inc., 10.125%, 4/1/2026 ^(a)		50,500
	100M	Rain CII Carbon, LLC, 7.25%, 4/1/2025 ^(a)		96,000
	50M	Tronox, Inc., 6.5%, 4/15/2026 ^(a)		47,875
				2,713,877

209

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Consumer Non-Durables—.0%
		Energizer Holdings, Inc.:
$	50M	5.5%, 6/15/2025 ^(a)	$	51,892
	25M	6.375%, 7/15/2026 ^(a)		26,841
	25M	KGA Escrow, LLC, 7.5%, 8/15/2023 ^(a)		26,281
		Reynolds Group Holdings, Inc.:
	97M	5.75%, 10/15/2020		97,235
	175M	5.125%, 7/15/2023 ^(a)		179,594
				381,843
		Energy—3.0%
	50M	Antero Resources Corp., 5.625%, 6/1/2023		43,500
	50M	Apergy Corp., 6.375%, 5/1/2026		49,875
	25M	Baytex Energy Corp., 5.125%, 6/1/2021 ^(a)		24,562
		Berry Petroleum Co.:
	50M	5.5%, 5/15/2022		50,875
	75M	5.125%, 7/15/2023		77,250
		Blue Racer Midstream, LLC:
	175M	6.125%, 11/15/2022 ^(a)		176,802
	25M	6.625%, 7/15/2026 ^(a)		24,812
	50M	Callon Petroleum Co., 6.375%, 7/1/2026		49,042
		Chesapeake Energy Corp.:
	25M	4.875%, 4/15/2022		20,312
	75M	7%, 10/1/2024		54,094
	25M	8%, 6/15/2027		17,130
	2,700M	Cimarex Energy Co., 4.375%, 3/15/2029		2,843,861
	75M	CITGO Petroleum Corp., 6.25%, 8/15/2022 ^(a)		76,125
	1,856M	Continental Resources, Inc., 5%, 9/15/2022		1,873,556
	50M	Covey Park Energy, LLC, 7.5%, 5/15/2025 ^(a)		40,250
	75M	Crestwood Midstream Partners, LP, 5.75%, 4/1/2025		77,437
	50M	CrownRock, LP, 5.625%, 10/15/2025 ^(a)		50,499
		DCP Midstream Operating, LP:
	50M	3.875%, 3/15/2023		50,687
	25M	5.125%, 5/15/2029		25,500

210

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Energy (continued)
		EnLink Midstream Partners, LP:
$	50M	4.85%, 7/15/2026	$	47,688
	50M	5.45%, 6/1/2047		41,000
	2,500M	Enterprise Products Operating, 7.55%, 4/15/2038		3,690,547
	170M	Exterran Partners, LP, 6%, 10/1/2022		172,338
	50M	Genesis Energy, LP, 6.5%, 10/1/2025		48,938
		Gulfport Energy Corp.:
	25M	6.625%, 5/1/2023		19,625
	50M	6.375%, 1/15/2026		35,250
	1,600M	Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, LP, 3.45%, 2/15/2023		1,649,422
	3,000M	Kinder Morgan, Inc., 5.625%, 11/15/2023 ^(a)		3,331,170
		Laredo Petroleum, Inc.:
	25M	5.625%, 1/15/2022		23,625
	50M	6.25%, 3/15/2023		44,125
	4,000M	Magellan Midstream Partners, LP, 5%, 3/1/2026		4,493,292
	25M	Matador Resources Co., 5.875%, 9/15/2026		25,173
	3,300M	Midwest Connector Capital Co., LLC, 4.625%, 4/1/2029 (a)		3,628,366
	50M	Murphy Oil Corp., 5.875%, 12/1/2042		44,250
	25M	Murphy Oil USA, Inc., 4.75%, 9/15/2029		25,625
	25M	Northern Oil and Gas, Inc., 8.5%, 5/15/2023		26,003
		Oasis Petroleum, Inc.:
	175M	6.875%, 1/15/2023		161,000
	50M	6.25%, 5/1/2026 ^(a)		40,750
		Parkland Fuel Corp.:
	75M	6%, 4/1/2026 ^(a)		79,500
	50M	5.875%, 7/15/2027 ^(a)		52,591
	75M	Parsley Energy, LLC, 5.25%, 8/15/2025 ^(a)		76,478
		Range Resources Corp.:
	50M	5%, 8/15/2022		47,125
	25M	4.875%, 5/15/2025		20,750
	50M	Southwestern Energy Co., 6.7%, 1/23/2025		44,249
		Suburban Propane Partners, LP:
	25M	5.5%, 6/1/2024		25,625
	50M	5.875%, 3/1/2027		51,351

211

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Energy (continued)
$	75M	Sunoco, LP, 4.875%, 1/15/2023	$	77,156
	22M	Transocean Pontus, Ltd., 6.125%, 8/1/2025 ^(a)		22,695
	50M	USA Compression Partners, LP, 6.875%, 9/1/2027 ^(a)		51,875
		Whiting Petroleum Corp.:
	175M	5.75%, 3/15/2021		167,787
	75M	6.625%, 1/15/2026		51,000
				23,942,538
		Financial Services—1.7%
	4,700M	Brookfield Finance, Inc., 4%, 4/1/2024		5,005,505
	1,000M	ERAC USA Finance, LLC, 4.5%, 8/16/2021 ^(a)		1,041,055
	50M	GTCR (AP) Finance, Inc., 8%, 5/15/2027 ^(a)		51,500
	4,100M	Key Bank NA, 3.4%, 5/20/2026		4,277,067
	2,000M	Liberty Mutual Group, Inc., 4.95%, 5/1/2022 ^(a)		2,120,774
	25M	Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, 6.5%, 7/1/2021		25,125
	1,000M	Protective Life Corp., 7.375%, 10/15/2019		1,001,826
				13,522,852
		Financials—3.8%
	25M	Acrisure, LLC, 8.125%, 2/15/2024 ^(a)		26,984
	3,700M	Air Lease Corp., 3.25%, 10/1/2029		3,655,652
	50M	Ally Financial, Inc., 8%, 11/1/2031		69,375
	2,400M	Bank of America Corp., 5.875%, 2/7/2042		3,327,780
		Citigroup, Inc.:
	1,000M	2.9%, 12/8/2021		1,015,095
	1,000M	4.5%, 1/14/2022		1,051,579
	1,600M	4.3%, 11/20/2026		1,725,016
	25M	Colfax Corp., 6%, 2/15/2024 ^(a)		26,552
	75M	DAE Funding, LLC, 5.75%, 11/15/2023 ^(a)		79,001
		Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.:
	1,650M	3.85%, 7/8/2024		1,747,748
	3,050M	3.5%, 11/16/2026		3,170,932
		Icahn Enterprises, LP:
	125M	6.75%, 2/1/2024		130,469
	100M	6.25%, 5/15/2026 ^(a)		105,125

212

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Financials (continued)
		JPMorgan Chase & Co.:
$	1,000M	4.452%, 12/5/2029	$	1,131,285
	1,800M	3.702%, 5/6/2030		1,930,257
	175M	Ladder Capital Finance Holdings, LLLP, 5.25%, 10/1/2025 (a)		179,375
	2,500M	Morgan Stanley, 4%, 7/23/2025		2,699,052
	150M	Navient Corp., 5.875%, 3/25/2021		155,906
		Springleaf Finance Corp.:
	125M	5.625%, 3/15/2023		133,438
	25M	6.875%, 3/15/2025		27,609
	50M	7.125%, 3/15/2026		55,560
	1,500M	UBS AG, 4.875%, 8/4/2020		1,536,289
	3,000M	UBS Group Funding (Switzerland) AG, 4.253%, 3/23/2028 (a)		3,274,839
	25M	Wand Merger Corp., 8.125%, 7/15/2023 ^(a)		26,125
	3,000M	Wells Fargo & Co., 3.196%, 6/17/2027		3,102,624
				30,383,667
		Food/Beverage/Tobacco—.3%
	1,300M	Anheuser-Busch Cos., LLC, 4.7%, 2/1/2036		1,503,961
	50M	HLF Financing Sarl, LLC, 7.25%, 8/15/2026 ^(a)		50,563
	125M	JBS USA LUX SA, 5.5%, 1/15/2030 ^(a)		132,810
	25M	JBS USA, LLC, 5.875%, 7/15/2024 ^(a)		25,798
	25M	Performance Food Group, Inc., 5.5%, 10/15/2027 ^(a)		26,438
		Post Holdings, Inc.:
	175M	5.75%, 3/1/2027 ^(a)		186,410
	50M	5.5%, 12/15/2029 ^(a)		52,313
	25M	Simmons Foods, Inc., 5.75%, 11/1/2024 ^(a)		24,500
				2,002,793
		Food/Drug—.0%
		Albertson’s Cos., LLC:
	25M	5.75%, 3/15/2025		25,834
	25M	7.5%, 3/15/2026 ^(a)		27,937
	25M	5.875%, 2/15/2028 ^(a)		26,523

213

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Food/Drug (continued)
$	25M	B & G Foods, Inc., 5.25%, 9/15/2027	$	25,596
				105,890
		Forest Products/Containers—.4%
	200M	Ardagh Holdings USA, Inc., 4.625%, 5/15/2023 ^(a)		205,250
		Berry Global Escrow Corp.:
	50M	4.875%, 7/15/2026 ^(a)		51,807
	50M	5.625%, 7/15/2027 ^(a)		51,875
	50M	BWAY Holding Co., 5.5%, 4/15/2024 ^(a)		51,560
	25M	Crown Americas, LLC, 4.5%, 1/15/2023		26,312
	50M	Graphic Packaging International, LLC, 4.75%, 7/15/2027 (a)		52,625
	50M	Greif, Inc., 6.5%, 3/1/2027 ^(a)		53,150
	25M	Mercer International, Inc., 7.375%, 1/15/2025		26,103
	2,835M	Packaging Corp. of America, 3.4%, 12/15/2027		2,944,462
	50M	Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc., 6.875%, 10/1/2026 (a)		53,000
				3,516,144
		Gaming/Leisure—.2%
	25M	AMC Entertainment, Inc., 5.75%, 6/15/2025		23,922
	100M	AMC Networks, Inc., 5%, 4/1/2024		103,253
	50M	Boyd Gaming Corp., 6.875%, 5/15/2023		52,062
	25M	Cedar Fair, LP, 5.375%, 6/1/2024		25,781
	200M	CRC Escrow Issuer, LLC, 5.25%, 10/15/2025 ^(a)		204,980
		Diamond Sports Group, LLC:
	50M	5.375%, 8/15/2026 ^(a)		52,000
	100M	6.625%, 8/15/2027 ^(a)		104,000
	50M	Golden Nugget, Inc., 8.75%, 10/1/2025 ^(a)		52,250
	150M	IRB Holding Corp., 6.75%, 2/15/2026 ^(a)		151,125
	25M	Marriott Ownership Resorts, Inc, 4.75%, 1/15/2028 ^(a)		25,313
	50M	MGM Resorts International Operations, Inc., 6%, 3/15/2023		55,210
	25M	National CineMedia, LLC, 6%, 4/15/2022		25,344

214

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Gaming/Leisure (continued)
$	50M	Scientific Games International, Inc., 8.25%, 3/15/2026 (a)	$	53,168
	50M	Stars Group Holdings BV, 7%, 7/15/2026 ^(a)		53,375
	200M	Viking Cruises, Ltd., 6.25%, 5/15/2025 ^(a)		210,000
	50M	Wynn Las Vegas, LLC, 5.5%, 3/1/2025 ^(a)		52,765
				1,244,548
		Health Care—.8%
		Bausch Health Cos., Inc.:
	175M	6.5%, 3/15/2022 ^(a)		181,125
	125M	9%, 12/15/2025 ^(a)		140,781
	25M	8.5%, 1/31/2027 ^(a)		28,120
	150M	Centene Corp., 5.625%, 2/15/2021		152,206
	2,400M	CVS Health Corp., 3.875%, 7/20/2025		2,541,314
	125M	DaVita, Inc., 5.125%, 7/15/2024		127,344
	2,100M	Express Scripts Holding Co., 4.75%, 11/15/2021		2,207,671
	175M	HCA, Inc., 6.25%, 2/15/2021		183,680
	161M	HealthSouth Corp., 5.75%, 11/1/2024		163,286
	125M	Mallinckrodt Finance SB, 5.75%, 8/1/2022 ^(a)		47,500
	25M	MEDNAX, Inc., 6.25%, 1/15/2027 ^(a)		24,873
	175M	Molina Healthcare, Inc., 4.875%, 6/15/2025 ^(a)		176,531
	50M	MPH Operating Partnership, LP, 7.125%, 6/1/2024 ^(a)		46,313
	25M	Par Pharmaceutical, Inc., 7.5%, 4/1/2027 ^(a)		22,969
	125M	Syneos Health, Inc., 7.5%, 10/1/2024 ^(a)		129,531
				6,173,244
		Home-Building—.0%
	50M	Brookfield Residential Properties, 6.25%, 9/15/2027 (a)		50,375
	50M	Century Communities, Inc., 6.75%, 6/1/2027 ^(a)		53,825
	25M	Taylor Morrison Communities, Inc., 5.75%, 1/15/2028 (a)		27,188

215

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Home-Building (continued)
$	50M	Toll Bros. Finance Corp., 3.8%, 11/1/2029	$	49,344
		William Lyon Homes, Inc.:
	50M	6%, 9/1/2023		52,250
	50M	6.625%, 7/15/2027 ^(a)		52,125
				285,107
		Information Technology—1.4%
	2,000M	Apple, Inc., 2.2%, 9/11/2029		1,967,716
	25M	CommScope Finance, LLC, 6%, 3/1/2026 ^(a)		25,995
	4,300M	Corning, Inc., 7.25%, 8/15/2036		5,258,332
		Diamond 1 Finance Corp.:
	3,000M	4.42%, 6/15/2021 ^(a)		3,094,170
	50M	5.875%, 6/15/2021 ^(a)		50,862
	50M	7.125%, 6/15/2024 ^(a)		52,763
	50M	Nielsen Finance, LLC, 5%, 4/15/2022 ^(a)		50,390
	75M	Nuance Communications, Inc., 6%, 7/1/2024		78,375
	50M	Rackspace Hosting, Inc., 8.625%, 11/15/2024 ^(a)		46,245
	100M	Solera, LLC, 10.5%, 3/1/2024 ^(a)		106,212
	50M	Symantec Corp., 5%, 4/15/2025 ^(a)		50,587
	25M	VeriSign, Inc., 4.75%, 7/15/2027		26,281
	50M	Verscend Holding Corp., 9.75%, 8/15/2026 ^(a)		53,431
				10,861,359
		Manufacturing—.6%
	75M	Amsted Industries, Inc., 5.625%, 7/1/2027 ^(a)		79,312
	175M	ATS Automation Tooling Systems, Inc., 6.5%, 6/15/2023 (a)		181,125
	125M	Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services, Inc., 8.5%, 7/15/2025 (a)		118,750
	25M	Cloud Crane, LLC, 10.125%, 8/1/2024 ^(a)		26,812
	3,245M	Crane Co., 4.2%, 3/15/2048		3,408,191
	50M	Grinding Media, Inc., 7.375%, 12/15/2023 ^(a)		48,000
	25M	HAT Holdings I, LLC, 5.25%, 7/15/2024 ^(a)		26,344
	1,100M	Johnson Controls International, PLC, 5%, 3/30/2020		1,114,793

216

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Manufacturing (continued)
$	75M	Manitowoc Co., Inc., 9%, 4/1/2026 ^(a)	$	73,688
	25M	MTS Systems Corp, 5.75%, 8/15/2027 ^(a)		26,063
	50M	Patrick Industries, Inc., 7.5%, 10/15/2027 ^(a)		51,630
				5,154,708
		Media-Broadcasting—.1%
	50M	Belo Corp., 7.25%, 9/15/2027		57,000
	50M	LIN Television Corp., 5.875%, 11/15/2022		51,250
	125M	Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc., 5.625%, 8/1/2024 ^(a)		130,419
	25M	Nexstar Escrow, Inc., 5.625%, 7/15/2027 ^(a)		26,250
		Sinclair Television Group, Inc.:
	75M	5.625%, 8/1/2024 ^(a)		77,344
	50M	5.125%, 2/15/2027 ^(a)		50,500
	75M	Sirius XM Radio, Inc., 4.625%, 7/15/2024 ^(a)		77,950
	150M	TEGNA, Inc., 5%, 9/15/2029 ^(a)		152,268
				622,981
		Media-Cable TV—.7%
	200M	Altice Financing SA, 6.625%, 2/15/2023 ^(a)		205,750
	200M	Altice France SA, 7.375%, 5/1/2026 ^(a)		214,942
		CCO Holdings, LLC:
	175M	5.125%, 2/15/2023		178,281
	175M	5.875%, 4/1/2024 ^(a)		183,043
	25M	5.375%, 6/1/2029 ^(a)		26,687
	50M	4.75%, 3/1/2030 ^(a)		50,885
		Clear Channel Worldwide Holdings, Inc.:
	42M	9.25%, 2/15/2024 ^(a)		46,249
	125M	5.125%, 8/15/2027 ^(a)		130,544
	3,000M	Comcast Corp., 4.25%, 1/15/2033		3,453,090
		CSC Holdings, LLC:
	200M	5.375%, 7/15/2023 ^(a)		205,750
	200M	10.875%, 10/15/2025 ^(a)		226,865
	175M	DISH DBS Corp., 5%, 3/15/2023		177,459
	175M	Gray Television, Inc., 5.875%, 7/15/2026 ^(a)		182,438

217

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Media-Cable TV (continued)
$	75M	Midcontinent Communications & Finance Corp., 5.375%, 8/15/2027 ^(a)	$	79,125
		Netflix, Inc.:
	75M	5.875%, 2/15/2025		82,548
	25M	4.875%, 4/15/2028		25,499
				5,469,155
		Media-Diversified—.0%
	75M	Gannett Co., Inc., 6.375%, 10/15/2023		77,438
	75M	iHeart Communications, 8.375%, 5/1/2027		81,398
	125M	Outdoor Americas Capital, LLC, 5.875%, 3/15/2025		129,375
				288,211
		Metals/Mining—.7%
	75M	Allegheny Technologies, Inc., 7.875%, 8/15/2023		81,639
	50M	Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., 5.875%, 6/1/2027 ^(a)		47,480
	175M	Commercial Metals Co., 4.875%, 5/15/2023		182,437
	3,000M	Glencore Funding, LLC, 4.625%, 4/29/2024 ^(a)		3,212,277
		HudBay Minerals, Inc.:
	175M	7.25%, 1/15/2023 ^(a)		181,344
	25M	7.625%, 1/15/2025 ^(a)		25,469
	50M	Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc., 11%, 5/15/2022 ^(a)		52,875
	1,500M	Newmont Mining Corp., 5.125%, 10/1/2019		1,500,000
	50M	Northwest Acquisitions, ULC, 7.125%, 11/1/2022 ^(a)		29,625
	100M	Novelis, Inc., 5.875%, 9/30/2026 ^(a)		105,120
	145M	SunCoke Energy Partners, LP, 7.5%, 6/15/2025 ^(a)		129,594
				5,547,860
		Real Estate—2.0%
	2,300M	Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., 3.95%, 1/15/2028		2,482,045
		Digital Realty Trust, LP:
	2,886M	4.75%, 10/1/2025		3,177,030
	2,250M	3.7%, 8/15/2027		2,363,107

218

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Real Estate (continued)
$	175M	Equinix, Inc., 5.375%, 4/1/2023	$	179,323
	170M	Geo Group, Inc., 5.875%, 10/15/2024		147,050
	200M	Greystar Real Estate Partners, 5.75%, 12/1/2025 ^(a)		206,250
	50M	Hilton Domestic Operating Co., LLC, 4.875%, 1/15/2030 (a)		52,918
	325M	Iron Mountain, Inc., 5.75%, 8/15/2024		329,063
	150M	iStar, Inc., 4.75%, 10/1/2024		153,012
	50M	MGM Growth Properties Operating Partnership, LP, 5.75%, 2/1/2027 ^(a)		56,203
	50M	MPT Operating Partnership, LP, 4.625%, 8/1/2029		51,594
	50M	Realogy Group/Co-Issuer, 9.375%, 4/1/2027 ^(a)		46,701
	2,500M	Realty Income Corp., 3.875%, 4/15/2025		2,687,122
	3,700M	STORE Capital Corp., 4.5%, 3/15/2028		3,996,422
				15,927,840
		Retail-General Merchandise—.7%
		1011778 B.C., ULC:
	100M	4.625%, 1/15/2022 ^(a)		100,020
	50M	3.875%, 1/15/2028 ^(a)		50,443
	150M	AmeriGas Partners, LP, 5.5%, 5/20/2025		161,812
	3,500M	Home Depot, Inc., 5.875%, 12/16/2036		4,846,377
	50M	J.C. Penney Co., Inc., 8.625%, 3/15/2025		31,504
	175M	KFC Holding Co., LLC, 5%, 6/1/2024 ^(a)		182,000
	75M	SRS Distribution, Inc., 8.25%, 7/1/2026 ^(a)		76,688
	25M	Yum! Brands, Inc., 4.75%, 1/15/2030 ^(a)		25,879
				5,474,723
		Services—.1%
	100M	ADT Corp., 3.5%, 7/15/2022		100,750
	225M	AECOM, 5.125%, 3/15/2027		237,037
	225M	GCI, Inc., 6.875%, 4/15/2025		237,938
	175M	United Rentals, Inc., 4.625%, 10/15/2025		179,242
				754,967

219

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		Telecommunication Services—1.0%
		AT&T, Inc.:
$	1,000M	3.6%, 7/15/2025	$	1,053,996
	4,000M	4.25%, 3/1/2027		4,355,568
	25M	Frontier Communications Corp., 8.5%, 4/1/2026 ^(a)		25,060
	50M	GCI, LLC, 6.625%, 6/15/2024 ^(a)		54,063
	75M	Qwest Corp., 7.25%, 9/15/2025		84,836
	50M	Sprint Capital Corp., 8.75%, 3/15/2032		61,798
	75M	Telesat Canada, 8.875%, 11/15/2024 ^(a)		80,550
	1,800M	Verizon Communications, Inc., 4.272%, 1/15/2036		2,027,160
		Zayo Group, LLC:
	75M	6%, 4/1/2023		77,344
	175M	6.375%, 5/15/2025		180,871
				8,001,246
		Transportation—.0%
	175M	BCD Acquisition, Inc., 9.625%, 9/15/2023 ^(a)		179,375
	75M	VistaJet Malta Finance, PLC, 10.5%, 6/1/2024 ^(a)		72,938
				252,313
		Utilities—1.0%
	175M	Calpine Corp., 5.25%, 6/1/2026 ^(a)		181,781
	50M	Cheniere Energy Partners, LP, 4.5%, 10/1/2029 ^(a)		51,312
	2,500M	Entergy Arkansas, Inc., 4.95%, 12/15/2044		2,700,610
		Global Partners, LP:
	50M	7%, 6/15/2023		51,688
	50M	7%, 8/1/2027 ^(a)		51,625
	75M	Nextera Energy Operating Partners, 4.25%, 7/15/2024 (a)		77,438
	150M	NRG Yield Operating, LLC, 5%, 9/15/2026		154,125
	2,000M	Ohio Power Co., 5.375%, 10/1/2021		2,123,628
	2,000M	Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co., 4%, 12/15/2044		2,180,338
		Talen Energy Supply, LLC:
	25M	7.25%, 5/15/2027 ^(a)		25,533
	25M	6.625%, 1/15/2028 ^(a)		24,688

220

	Principal Amount		Security	Value
			Utilities (continued)
	$	100M	Targa Resources Partners, LP, 4.25%, 11/15/2023	$	101,125
					7,723,891
			Waste Management—.0%
		25M	Clean Harbors, Inc., 4.875%, 7/15/2027 ^(a)		26,156
		175M	Covanta Holding Corp., 5.875%, 3/1/2024		180,687
					206,843
			Wireless Communications—.1%
		50M	Consolidated Communications, Inc., 6.5%, 10/1/2022		46,500
		25M	Hughes Satellite Systems Corp., 6.625%, 8/1/2026		27,199
			Intelsat Jackson Holdings SA:
		200M	8%, 2/15/2024 ^(a)		208,250
		50M	8.5%, 10/15/2024 ^(a)		50,485
		175M	Level 3 Financing, Inc., 5.375%, 1/15/2024		178,911
			Sprint Corp.:
		125M	7.875%, 9/15/2023		137,620
		150M	7.125%, 6/15/2024		162,045
		50M	7.625%, 3/1/2026		55,313
			T-Mobile USA, Inc.:
		175M	6%, 3/1/2023		178,708
		25M	6.375%, 3/1/2025		25,962
					1,070,993
Total Value of Corporate Bonds (cost $157,808,816)					165,772,461

221

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

September 30, 2019

	Principal Amount		Security	Value
			RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES—5.2%
			Fannie Mae—4.1%
	$	3,615M	3%, 3/1/2027 - 2/1/2031	$	3,714,469
		2,941M	3.5%, 11/1/2028 - 12/1/2047		3,062,660
		14,699M	4%, 12/1/2040 - 8/1/2047		15,521,413
		7,345M	4.5%, 9/1/2040 - 8/1/2048		7,762,197
		1,338M	5%, 4/1/2040 - 3/1/2042		1,477,174
		436M	5.5%, 5/1/2033 - 10/1/2039		491,869
		340M	6%, 5/1/2036 - 10/1/2040		388,863
		162M	6.5%, 11/1/2033 - 6/1/2036		181,031
		476M	7%, 3/1/2032 - 8/1/2032		517,249
					33,116,925
			Freddie Mac—1.1%
		4,504M	3.5%, 8/1/2026 - 7/1/2044		4,713,035
		679M	4%, 7/1/2044 - 4/1/2045		718,413
		2,577M	4.5%, 10/1/2040 - 5/1/2044		2,791,127
		503M	5.5%, 5/1/2038 - 10/1/2039		557,981
					8,780,556
Total Value of Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (cost $41,153,707)					41,897,481
			U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—5.1%
		18,000M	U.S. Treasury Bonds, 3.375%, 11/15/2048		22,939,812
			U.S. Treasury Notes:
		1,500M	2%, 11/30/2022		1,519,131
		2,000M	2%, 11/15/2026		2,051,368
		1,600M	2.125%, 3/31/2024		1,638,905
		1,400M	2.625%, 12/31/2023		1,460,567
		10,500M	3.125%, 11/15/2028		11,789,736
Total Value of U.S. Government Obligations (cost $36,517,220)					41,399,519

222

	Principal Amount		Security	Value
			ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES—2.0%
			Fixed Autos—1.5%
	$	1,200M	AmeriCredit Automobile Receivables Trust, 3.13%, 2/18/2025	$	1,222,844
		866M	BMW Vehicle Lease Trust, 2.07%, 10/20/2020		867,328
		9,500M	Hertz Vehicle Financing Trust, 2.96%, 10/25/2021		9,578,061
					11,668,233
			Fixed Communication Services—.5%
			Verizon Owner Trust:
		2,356M	1.92%, 12/20/2021 ^(a)		2,354,337
		1,670M	3.23%, 4/20/2023		1,702,909
					4,057,246
Total Value of Asset-Backed Securities (cost $15,503,021)					15,725,479
			COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES—1.5%
			Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
			Multi-Family Structured Pass-Throughs:
		2,800M	3.422%, 2/25/2052		3,091,446
		8,273M	3.725%, 12/25/2027		9,014,034
Total Value of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (cost $11,337,115)					12,105,480
			COLLATERALIZED MORTGAGE OBLIGATIONS—1.0%
			Fannie Mae:
		4,625M	3.085%, 12/25/2027 ^†		4,919,844
		2,700M	3.273%, 1/25/2029		2,946,621
Total Value of Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (cost $7,173,400)					7,866,465
			PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES—.4%
			Transportation
		2,770M	American Airlines 17-2 AA PTT, 3.35%, 10/15/2029 (cost $2,790,036)		2,856,873

223

Portfolio of Investments (continued)

TOTAL RETURN FUND

September 30, 2019

Principal Amount		Security	Value
		SHORT-TERM U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS—.6%
$	5,000M	U.S. Treasury Bills, 1.78%, 10/22/2019 (cost $4,994,808)	$	4,994,785

Total Value of Investments (cost $611,562,071)	94.9	%		763,302,791
Other Assets, Less Liabilities	5.1			40,748,560
Net Assets	100.0	%	$	804,051,351

^*	Non-income producing

(a)	Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933 (see Note 4).

^†	Interest rates on adjustable rate bonds are determined and reset periodically. The interest rates shown are the rates in effect of September 30, 2019.

Summary of Abbreviations:

ADR	American Depositary Receipts

LLLP	Limited Liability Limited Partnership

PTT	Pass-Through Trust

ULC	Unlimited Liability Corporation

The Fund’s assets and liabilities are classified into the following three levels based on the inputs used to value the assets and liabilities:

Level 1 –

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2 –

Level 3 –

224

The following is a summary, by category of Level, of inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2019:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Common Stocks	$	470,684,248	$	—	$	—	$	470,684,248
Corporate Bonds		—		165,772,461		—		165,772,461
Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities		—		41,897,481		—		41,897,481
U.S. Government Obligations		—		41,399,519		—		41,399,519
Asset-Backed Securities		—		15,725,479		—		15,725,479
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities		—		12,105,480		—		12,105,480
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations		—		7,866,465		—		7,866,465
Pass-Through Certificates		—		2,856,873		—		2,856,873
Short-Term U.S. Government Agency Obligations		—		4,994,785		—		4,994,785
Total Investments in Securities^*	$	470,684,248	$	292,618,543	$	—	$	763,302,791

^*	The Portfolio of Investments provides information on the industry categorization for common stocks, corporate bonds, asset-backed securities and pass-through certificates.

There were no transfers into or from Level 1 and Level 2 by the Fund for the year ended September 30, 2019. Transfers, if any, between Levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period.

See notes to financial statements

225

Statements of Assets and Liabilities

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

September 30, 2019

	FLOATING RATE
Assets
Investments in securities
At identified cost	$	105,240,416
At value (Note 1A)	$	104,186,120
Cash		4,463,352
Receivables:
Investment securities sold		993,928
Interest and dividends		294,617
Shares sold		81,785
Unrealized appreciation on foreign exchange contracts (Note 5)		—
Other assets		10,595
Total Assets		110,030,397

Liabilities
Payables:
Investment securities purchased		3,854,110
Shares redeemed		675,689
Dividends payable		60,222
Unrealized depreciation on foreign exchange contracts (Note 5)		—
Accrued advisory fees		178,155
Accrued shareholder servicing costs		15,778
Accrued expenses		71,010
Total Liabilities		4,854,964
Net Assets	$	105,175,433

Net Assets Consist of:
Capital paid in	$	110,040,483
Distributable earnings		(4,865,050	)
Total	$	105,175,433

See notes to financial statements

226

FUND FOR INCOME			GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT		INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND


$	525,927,396		$	169,297,047	$	117,009,783
$	532,039,456		$	169,297,047	$	104,883,866
	10,355,407			787,077		2,602,296

	2,063			—		—
	8,636,041			91,882		1,019,913
	378,153			9,763		108,546
	—			—		26,459
	26,987			6,509		6,417
	551,438,107			170,192,278		108,647,497



	6,073,889			—		—
	1,696,398			1,033,636		363,083
	431,287			12,388		—
	—			—		1,008,499
	331,057			143,985		55,773
	68,416			38,537		15,473
	86,051			57,981		55,832
	8,687,098			1,286,527		1,498,660
$	542,751,009		$	168,905,751	$	107,148,837


$	583,289,462		$	168,905,751	$	130,758,292
	(40,538,453	)		—		(23,609,455	)
$	542,751,009		$	168,905,751	$	107,148,837

227

Statements of Assets and Liabilities

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

September 30, 2019

	FLOATING RATE
Net Assets:
Class A	$	64,136,348
Advisor Class	$	40,541,690
Institutional Class	$	497,395

Shares outstanding (Note 7):
Class A		6,697,661
Advisor Class		4,237,853
Institutional Class		51,856

Net asset value and redemption price per share - Class A	$	9.58

Maximum offering price per share - Class A^*	$	9.83	⁺⁺

Net asset value, offering price and redemption price per share - Advisor Class	$	9.57

Net asset value, offering price and redemption price per share - Institutional Class	$	9.59

#	Also maximum offering price per share.
^*	On purchases of $100,000 or more, the sales charge is reduced (Note 7).
+	Net asset value/.96
++	Net asset value/.975

See notes to financial statements

228

FUND FOR INCOME			GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT		INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND

$	477,951,591		$	168,904,723	$	42,814,111
$	28,107,269			N/A	$	50,335,055
$	36,692,149		$	1,028	$	13,999,671


	195,082,711			168,904,723		4,996,948
	11,556,653			N/A		5,800,412
	14,903,777			1,028		1,596,072

$	2.45		$	1.00#	$	8.57

$	2.55	⁺		N/A	$	8.93	⁺

$	2.43			N/A	$	8.68

$	2.46		$	1.00	$	8.77

229

Statements of Assets and Liabilities

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

September 30, 2019

	INVESTMENT GRADE
Assets
Investments in securities:
Cost - Unaffiliated issuers	$	355,757,489
Cost - Affiliated issuers (Note 2)		—
Total cost of investments	$	355,757,489
Value - Unaffiliated issuers (Note 1A)	$	382,891,881
Value - Affiliated issuers (Note 2)		—
Total value of investments		382,891,881
Cash		13,393,153
Receivables:
Dividends and interest		3,796,583
Shares sold		398,656
Other assets		25,631
Total Assets		400,505,904

Liabilities
Payables:
Shares redeemed		2,079,501
Dividends payable		129,341
Accrued advisory fees		205,517
Accrued shareholder servicing costs		51,434
Accrued expenses		73,392
Total Liabilities		2,539,185
Net Assets	$	397,966,719

Net Assets Consist of:
Capital paid in	$	386,993,340
Distributable earnings		10,973,379
Total	$	397,966,719

See notes to financial statements

230

LIMITED DURATION BOND			STRATEGIC INCOME


$	306,029,183		$	11,698,226
	—			129,375,448
$	306,029,183		$	141,073,674
$	310,836,765		$	11,985,386
	—			124,754,185
	310,836,765			136,739,571
	12,727,700			1,166,428

	2,186,341			446,887
	1,166,436			129,849
	13,982			6,454
	326,931,224			138,489,189



	1,633,543			698,679
	137,141			18,808
	53,838			—
	41,914			16,543
	61,361			33,976
	1,927,797			768,006
$	325,003,427		$	137,721,183


$	357,701,590		$	146,327,928
	(32,698,163	)		(8,606,745	)
$	325,003,427		$	137,721,183

231

Statements of Assets and Liabilities

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

September 30, 2019

	INVESTMENT GRADE
Net Assets:
Class A	$	363,366,346
Advisor Class	$	11,517,551
Institutional Class	$	23,082,822

Shares outstanding (Note 7):
Class A		36,594,709
Advisor Class		1,153,485
Institutional Class		2,317,817

Net asset value and redemption price per share - Class A	$	9.93

Maximum offering price per share - Class A^*	$	10.34	⁺

Net asset value, offering price and redemption price per share - Advisor Class	$	9.99

Net asset value, offering price and redemption price per share - Institutional Class	$	9.96

^*	On purchases of $100,000 or more, the sales charge is reduced (Note 7).
+	Net asset value/.96
++	Net asset value/.975

See notes to financial statements

232

LIMITED DURATION BOND			STRATEGIC INCOME

$	220,829,879		$	137,155,372
$	56,208,767		$	565,811
$	47,964,781			N/A


	23,718,868			14,712,359
	6,021,116			60,732
	5,128,411			N/A

$	9.31		$	9.32

$	9.55	⁺⁺	$	9.71	⁺

$	9.34		$	9.32

$	9.35			N/A

233

Statements of Assets and Liabilities

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

	COVERED CALL STRATEGY
Assets
Investments in securities
At identified cost	$	225,887,741
At value (Note 1A)	$	284,092,027
Cash		2,881,594
Receivables:
Investment securities sold		8,138,072
Deposits at broker for futures contracts		—
Dividends and interest		333,084
Shares sold		307,886
Unrealized appreciation on foreign exchange and futures contracts (Note 5)		—
Other assets		15,066
Total Assets		295,767,729

Liabilities
Options written, at value (Note 5)		13,732,077	^(a)
Payables:
Shares redeemed		2,233,060
Unrealized depreciation on foreign exchange and futures contracts (Note 5)		—
Accrued advisory fees		209,249
Accrued shareholder servicing costs		47,441
Accrued expenses		40,725
Total Liabilities		16,262,552
Net Assets	$	279,505,177

Net Assets Consist of:
Capital paid in	$	249,253,795
Distributable earnings		30,251,382
Total	$	279,505,177

(a)	Premiums received from written options $10,468,889
(b)	Premiums received from written options $786,652

See notes to financial statements

234

EQUITY INCOME		GLOBAL		GROWTH & INCOME		HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES


$	326,036,437	$	348,724,001	$	1,016,819,607	$	91,008,445
$	466,575,547	$	412,685,207	$	1,483,037,271	$	112,015,804
	6,890,571		6,629,895		12,193,003		11,128,232

	—		3,558,307		—		227,469
	—		—		—		706,103
	607,108		963,234		1,320,838		149,971
	283,357		373,038		817,917		159,200
	—		—		—		195,577
	26,857		26,808		77,827		6,855
	474,383,440		424,236,489		1,497,446,856		124,589,211


	—		—		—		352,340	^(b)

	2,126,891		2,139,787		4,670,806		897,777
	—		—		—		9,669
	299,519		355,243		883,588		72,444
	63,088		63,532		195,561		20,386
	63,830		62,451		110,255		55,291
	2,553,328		2,621,013		5,860,210		1,407,907
$	471,830,112	$	421,615,476	$	1,491,586,646	$	123,181,304


$	300,893,299	$	362,929,828	$	881,494,944	$	91,948,449
	170,936,813		58,685,648		610,091,702		31,232,855
$	471,830,112	$	421,615,476	$	1,491,586,646	$	123,181,304

235

Statements of Assets and Liabilities

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

	COVERED CALL STRATEGY
Net Assets:
Class A	$	211,776,885
Advisor Class	$	66,251,667
Institutional Class	$	1,476,625

Shares outstanding (Note 7):
Class A		17,933,624
Advisor Class		5,623,868
Institutional Class		126,339

Net asset value and redemption price per share - Class A	$	11.81

Maximum offering price per share - Class A (Net asset value/.9425)^*	$	12.53

Net asset value, offering price and redemption price per share - Advisor Class	$	11.78

Net asset value, offering price and redemption price per share - Institutional Class	$	11.69

^*	On purchases of $50,000 or more, the sales charge is reduced (Note 7).

See notes to financial statements

236

EQUITY INCOME		GLOBAL		GROWTH & INCOME		HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES

$	468,633,609	$	344,592,470	$	1,464,393,233	$	78,296,693
$	1,785,583	$	75,077,077	$	21,596,690	$	44,543,266
$	1,410,920	$	1,945,929	$	5,596,723	$	341,345


	48,387,578		45,961,025		73,791,517		6,335,772
	183,523		9,697,154		1,086,825		3,567,879
	145,840		249,433		280,923		27,246

$	9.68	$	7.50	$	19.85	$	12.36

$	10.27	$	7.96	$	21.06	$	13.11

$	9.73	$	7.74	$	19.87	$	12.48

$	9.67	$	7.80	$	19.92	$	12.53

237

Statements of Assets and Liabilities

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

	INTERNATIONAL
Assets
Investments in securities:
At identified cost	$	338,415,628
At value (Note 1A)	$	421,723,255
Cash		19,006,384
Receivables:
Investment securities sold		19,910,399
Dividends and interest		838,269
Shares sold		341,453
Other assets		17,159
Total Assets		461,836,919

Liabilities
Options written, at value (Note 5)		—
Cash overdrafts		9,269,507
Payables:
Investment securities purchased		—
Shares redeemed		1,691,788
Accrued advisory fees		374,897
Accrued shareholder servicing costs		67,837
Accrued expenses		59,691
Total Liabilities		11,463,720
Net Assets	$	450,373,199

Net Assets Consist of:
Capital paid in	$	353,320,982
Distributable earnings		97,052,217
Total	$	450,373,199

(c)	Premiums received from written options $25,094,769

See notes to financial statements

238

OPPORTUNITY		PREMIUM INCOME			SELECT GROWTH		SPECIAL SITUATIONS		TOTAL RETURN


$	683,616,771	$	150,802,030		$	547,516,420	$	446,100,829	$	611,562,071
$	912,765,695	$	153,805,634		$	652,226,912	$	491,438,282	$	763,302,791
	6,731,535		2,310,192			5,934,765		3,170,612		14,021,855

	11,310,323		1,986,979			—		—		27,221,832
	575,913		206,235			334,433		489,800		2,915,759
	596,486		45,755			764,537		339,402		448,407
	49,937		4,179			32,763		31,156		40,188
	932,029,889		158,358,974			659,293,410		495,469,252		807,950,832


	—		29,088,288	^(c)		—		—		—
	—		—			—		—		—

	—		—			—		—		100,000
	3,196,888		403,137			4,049,853		2,030,944		3,103,108
	565,524		98,504			397,312		342,949		499,548
	174,586		16,094			91,670		84,557		109,932
	90,974		50,814			55,223		58,593		86,893
	4,027,972		29,656,837			4,594,058		2,517,043		3,899,481
$	928,001,917	$	128,702,137		$	654,699,352	$	492,952,209	$	804,051,351


$	609,818,772	$	128,675,289		$	489,141,240	$	413,987,904	$	613,375,961
	318,183,145		26,848			165,558,112		78,964,305		190,675,390
$	928,001,917	$	128,702,137		$	654,699,352	$	492,952,209	$	804,051,351

239

Statements of Assets and Liabilities

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

	INTERNATIONAL
Net Assets:
Class A	$	248,301,688
Advisor Class	$	200,719,710
Institutional Class	$	1,351,801

Shares outstanding (Note 7):
Class A		15,643,935
Advisor Class		12,369,624
Institutional Class		82,973

Net asset value and redemption price per share - Class A	$	15.87

Maximum offering price per share - Class A (Net asset value/.9425)^*	$	16.84

Net asset value, offering price and redemption price per share - Advisor Class	$	16.23

Net asset value, offering price and redemption price per share - Institutional Class	$	16.29

^*	On purchases of $50,000 or more, the sales charge is reduced (Note 7).

See notes to financial statements

240

OPPORTUNITY		PREMIUM INCOME		SELECT GROWTH		SPECIAL SITUATIONS		TOTAL RETURN

$	915,338,684	$	60,829,833	$	507,351,352	$	476,826,052	$	800,910,024
$	10,325,226	$	67,843,775	$	143,303,888	$	12,227,803	$	1,165,786
$	2,338,007	$	28,529	$	4,044,112	$	3,898,354	$	1,975,541


	24,220,919		5,996,698		41,969,559		18,990,912		42,081,549
	266,458		6,680,490		11,579,019		478,568		61,052
	60,396		5,163		324,627		151,402		103,229

$	37.79	$	10.14	$	12.09	$	25.11	$	19.03

$	40.10	$	10.76	$	12.83	$	26.64	$	20.19

$	38.75	$	10.16	$	12.38	$	25.55	$	19.10

$	38.71	$	5.53	$	12.46	$	25.75	$	19.14

241

Statements of Operations

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

Year Ended September 30, 2019

	FLOATING RATE
Investment Income
Interest	$	10,178,598

Expenses (Notes 1 and 3):
Advisory fees		1,201,386
Distribution plan expenses-Class A		189,532
Distribution plan expenses-Class B ^(a)		N/A
Shareholder servicing costs-Class A		110,003
Shareholder servicing costs-Class B ^(a)		N/A
Shareholder servicing costs-Advisor Class		145,670
Shareholder servicing costs-Institutional Class		7,362
Professional fees		23,139
Custodian fees		57,919
Registration fees		46,560
Reports to shareholders		33,474
Trustees’ fees		15,515
Other expenses		15,000
Total expenses		1,845,560
Less: Expenses (waived and/or assumed) repaid to advisor (Note 3)		59,757
Expenses paid indirectly (Note 1G)		(1,030	)
Net expenses		1,904,287
Net investment income		8,274,311

Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments and Foreign Exchange Contracts (Notes 2 and 5):
Net realized loss on:
Investments		(231,419	)
Foreign exchange contracts		—
Net realized loss on investments and foreign currency transactions		(231,419	)
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on:
Investments		(2,650,231	)
Foreign exchange contracts		—
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investments and Foreign exchange contracts		(2,650,231	)
Net gain (loss) on investments and foreign currency transactions		(2,881,650	)
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Resulting from Operations	$	5,392,661

(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A on June 14, 2019.
(b)	Net of $52,920 foreign taxes withheld

See notes to financial statements

242

FUND FOR INCOME			GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT			INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND

$	35,078,464		$	3,972,706		$	5,867,822	^(b)


	4,303,509			857,145			1,021,590
	1,373,366			—			134,753
	10,976			776			N/A
	763,924			517,139			99,797
	5,974			339			N/A
	128,335			N/A			135,776
	11,161			—			4,457
	83,254			7,434			27,939
	23,015			12,306			70,742
	52,484			15,235			41,272
	62,561			27,047			32,370
	43,468			12,535			10,232
	97,141			14,757			56,167
	6,959,168			1,464,713			1,635,095
	(106,648	)		(430,911	)		(54,020	)
	—			(4,406	)		(1,286	)
	6,852,520			1,029,396			1,579,789
	28,225,944			2,943,310			4,288,033



	(554,649	)		—			(3,682,631	)
	—			—			(3,529,943	)
	(554,649	)		—			(7,212,574	)

	5,012,920			—			2,690,454
	—			—			(796,780	)
	5,012,920			—			1,893,674
	4,458,271			—			(5,318,900	)
$	32,684,215		$	2,943,310		$	(1,030,867	)

243

Statements of Operations

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

Year Ended September 30, 2019

	INVESTMENT GRADE
Investment Income
Interest	$	21,325,214
Dividends from affiliate (Note 2)		—
Total income		21,325,214
Expenses (Notes 1 and 3):
Advisory fees		3,589,935
Distribution plan expenses-Class A		1,053,949
Distribution plan expenses-Class B ^(a)		9,960
Shareholder servicing costs-Class A		587,763
Shareholder servicing costs-Class B ^(a)		2,556
Shareholder servicing costs-Advisor Class		162,652
Shareholder servicing costs-Institutional Class		6,617
Professional fees		91,567
Custodian fees		26,448
Registration fees		73,620
Reports to shareholders		62,431
Trustees’ fees		41,062
Other expenses		70,586
Total expenses		5,779,146
Less: Expenses waived and/or assumed (Note 3)		(449,311	)
Expenses paid indirectly (Note 1G)		(13,841	)
Net expenses		5,315,994
Net investment income		16,009,220

Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments and Affiliate (Notes 2 and 5):
Net realized gain (loss) on:
Investments		9,505,082
Affiliate		—
Net realized gain (loss) on investments and affiliate		9,505,082
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on:
Investments		35,715,910
Affiliate		—
Net unrealized appreciation on investments and affiliate		35,715,910
Net gain on investments and affiliate		45,220,992
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations	$	61,230,212

(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A on June 14, 2019.

See notes to financial statements

244

LIMITED DURATION BOND			STRATEGIC INCOME

$	10,307,836		$	334,121
	—			5,216,412
	10,307,836			5,550,533

	1,406,002			73,504
	654,389			402,454
	N/A			N/A
	422,910			197,059
	N/A			N/A
	125,690			421
	10,447			N/A
	104,920			51,134
	33,260			13,121
	87,457			37,172
	60,733			16,204
	25,134			10,728
	96,308			7,958
	3,027,250			809,755
	(659,118	)		(24,157	)
	(6,237	)		(3,719	)
	2,361,895			781,879
	7,945,941			4,768,654



	490,159			(92,831	)
	—			(858,002	)
	490,159			(950,833	)

	7,076,563			372,276
	—			2,490,234
	7,076,563			2,862,510
	7,566,722			1,911,677
$	15,512,663		$	6,680,331

245

Statements of Operations

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

Year Ended September 30, 2019

	COVERED CALL STRATEGY
Investment Income
Dividends	$	7,543,121
Interest		—
Total income		7,543,121
Expenses (Notes 1 and 3):
Advisory fees		2,497,132
Distribution plan expenses-Class A		558,458
Distribution plan expenses-Class B ^(a)		N/A
Shareholder servicing costs-Class A		384,901
Shareholder servicing costs-Class B ^(a)		N/A
Shareholder servicing costs-Advisor Class		91,058
Shareholder servicing costs-Institutional Class		730
Professional fees		36,318
Custodian fees		12,445
Registration fees		64,726
Reports to shareholders		38,658
Trustees’ fees		23,030
Other expenses		17,391
Total expenses		3,724,847
Less: Expenses (waived and/or assumed) repaid to advisor (Note 3)		76,322
Expenses paid indirectly (Note 1G)		(8,058	)
Net expenses		3,793,111
Net investment income		3,750,010

Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments, Options and Futures Contracts, and Foreign Exchange Contracts (Note 2 and 5):
Net realized gain (loss) on:
Investments		(6,025,127	)
Options contracts		(6,548,114	)
Futures contracts		—
Foreign exchange contracts		—
Net realized gain (loss) on investments, options and futures contracts, and foreign exchange contracts		(12,573,241	)
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on:
Investments		12,128,871
Options contracts		(3,264,321	)
Futures contracts		—
Foreign exchange contracts		—
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investments, options and futures contracts, and foreign exchange contracts		8,864,550
Net gain (loss) on investments, options and futures contracts, and foreign exchange contracts		(3,708,691	)
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Resulting from Operations	$	41,319

(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A shares on June 14, 2019.
(b)	Net of $56,032 foreign taxes withheld
(c)	Net of $408,231 foreign taxes withheld
(d)	Net of $180,745 foreign taxes withheld
(e)	Net of $22,839 foreign taxes withheld

See notes to financial statements

246

EQUITY INCOME			GLOBAL			GROWTH & INCOME			HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES

$	14,763,202	^(b)	$	11,187,703	^(c)	$	39,550,977	^(d)	$	3,271,933	^(e)
	434,838			164,325			1,416,593			—
	15,198,040			11,352,028			40,967,570			3,271,933

	4,010,000			5,384,673			11,233,686			2,171,686
	1,359,128			969,640			4,130,019			186,123
	15,842			13,779			71,856			N/A
	668,862			582,884			2,042,486			121,125
	3,378			2,612			15,363			N/A
	32,690			196,576			146,302			167,804
	608			908			2,409			156
	55,507			69,645			141,351			24,211
	17,825			43,806			29,652			67,803
	60,932			56,724			50,445			62,725
	46,624			62,546			117,399			30,691
	40,555			42,554			121,014			14,545
	22,714			64,425			73,651			54,590
	6,334,665			7,490,772			18,175,633			2,901,459
	—			(94,872	)		—			86,400
	(16,471	)		(11,758	)		(49,403	)		(4,495	)
	6,318,194			7,384,142			18,126,230			2,983,364
	8,879,846			3,967,886			22,841,340			288,569



	33,645,994			(6,471,772	)		191,174,591			13,294,135
	167,018			—			241,845			(1,219,543	)
	—			—			—			364,036
	—			(416,670	)		—			79,013
	33,813,012			(6,888,442	)		191,416,436			12,517,641

	(38,030,962	)		(4,934,221	)		(189,978,012	)		2,543,951
	—			—			—			326,178
	—			—			—			324,875
	—			(32,865	)		—			15,975
	(38,030,962	)		(4,967,086	)		(189,978,012	)		3,210,979
	(4,217,950	)		(11,855,528	)		1,438,424			15,728,620
$	4,661,896		$	(7,887,642	)	$	24,279,764		$	16,017,189

247

Statements of Operations

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

Year Ended September 30, 2019

	INTERNATIONAL
Investment Income
Dividends	$	6,617,043	^(f)
Interest		198,411
Total income		6,815,454
Expenses (Notes 1 and 3):
Advisory fees		3,953,167
Distribution plan expenses-Class A		685,363
Distribution plan expenses-Class B ^(a)		7,569
Shareholder servicing costs-Class A		527,376
Shareholder servicing costs-Class B ^(a)		2,370
Shareholder servicing costs-Advisor Class		174,766
Shareholder servicing costs-Institutional Class		787
Professional fees		38,286
Custodian fees		95,691
Registration fees		70,175
Reports to shareholders		48,944
Trustees’ fees		29,339
Other expenses		45,902
Total expenses		5,679,735
Less: Expenses waived and/or assumed (Note 3)		—
Expenses paid indirectly (Note 1G)		(1,777	)
Net expenses		5,677,958
Net investment income		1,137,496

Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments, Options Contracts and Foreign Exchange Contracts (Note 2):
Net realized gain (loss) on:
Investments		21,958,806
Options contracts		—
Foreign exchange contracts		(309,025	)
Net realized gain on investments, options contracts and foreign exchange contracts		21,649,781
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of:
Investments		6,777,677
Options contracts		—
Foreign exchange contracts		(15,793	)
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments, options contracts and foreign exchange contracts		6,761,884
Net gain (loss) on investments, options contracts and foreign exchange contracts		28,411,665
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Resulting from Operations	$	29,549,161

(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A shares on June 14, 2019.
(f)	Net of $910,738 foreign taxes withheld
(g)	Net of $107,491 foreign taxes withheld
(h)	Net of $2,895 foreign taxes withheld
(i)	Net of $49,807 foreign taxes withheld

See notes to financial statements

248

OPPORTUNITY			PREMIUM INCOME			SELECT GROWTH			SPECIAL SITUATIONS			TOTAL RETURN

$	15,306,983	^(g)	$	3,453,613		$	9,453,944		$	9,909,778	^(h)	$	10,376,403	⁽ⁱ⁾
	441,012			—			210,805			261,337			12,555,190
	15,747,995			3,453,613			9,664,749			10,171,115			22,931,593

	7,336,688			911,457			5,162,745			4,841,866			6,017,346
	2,547,888			143,456			1,471,857			1,395,372			2,272,494
	37,218			N/A			17,613			15,219			38,214
	1,603,688			83,770			822,095			919,650			1,155,023
	8,997			N/A			2,797			4,354			7,000
	174,251			88,998			207,453			161,597			1,104
	1,276			467			1,801			2,271			9,908
	81,380			21,537			62,189			63,159			171,966
	30,257			8,234			23,426			20,550			25,484
	23,555			82,107			58,881			63,409			10,000
	104,525			25,481			59,220			71,652			72,008
	77,460			8,323			52,935			45,778			63,088
	58,953			24,605			49,103			38,663			78,378
	12,086,136			1,398,435			7,992,115			7,643,540			9,922,013
	—			(58,291	)		(69,729	)		—			—
	(31,441	)		(3,432	)		(18,109	)		(18,618	)		(25,750	)
	12,054,695			1,336,712			7,904,277			7,624,922			9,896,263
	3,693,300			2,116,901			1,760,472			2,546,193			13,035,330



	107,728,650			1,163,859			59,410,250			37,166,502			55,471,198
	—			2,288,508			—			—			—
	—			—			—			—			—
	107,728,650			3,452,367			59,410,250			37,166,502			55,471,198

	(108,217,293	)		539,826			(106,507,568	)		(110,118,154	)		(31,701,223	)
	—			(2,668,324	)		—			—			—
	—			—			—			—			—
	(108,217,293	)		(2,128,498	)		(106,507,568	)		(110,118,154	)		(31,701,223	)
	(488,643	)		1,323,869			(47,097,318	)		(72,951,652	)		23,769,975
$	3,204,657		$	3,440,770		$	(45,336,846	)	$	(70,405,459	)	$	36,805,305

249

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

	FLOATING RATE
Year Ended September 30	2019			2018
Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets From Operations
Net investment income	$	8,274,311		$	7,145,470
Net realized gain (loss) on investments and foreign currency transactions		(231,419	)		691,427
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments and foreign exchange contracts		(2,650,231	)		366,130
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations		5,392,661			8,203,027

Distribution to Shareholders¹
Class A		(2,770,276	)		(2,208,169	)
Class B		N/A			N/A
Advisor Class		(4,436,212	)		(4,156,168	)
Institutional Class		(1,069,434	)		(967,368	)
Total distributions		(8,275,922	)		(7,331,705	)

Share Transactions
Class A:
Proceeds from shares sold		19,796,406			17,357,693
Reinvestment of distributions		2,621,576			2,103,112
Cost of shares redeemed		(25,931,302	)		(17,921,450	)
Shares issued in conversion ^(a)		N/A			—
		(3,513,320	)		1,539,355
Class B:
Proceeds from shares sold		N/A			N/A
Reinvestment of distributions		N/A			N/A
Cost of shares redeemed		N/A			N/A
Shares converted to Class A ^(a)		N/A			N/A
		N/A			N/A
Advisor Class:
Proceeds from shares sold		55,959,610			61,262,253
Reinvestment of distributions		4,303,144			4,032,114
Cost of shares redeemed		(162,934,169	)		(19,959,407	)
		(102,671,415	)		45,334,960
Institutional Class
Proceeds from shares sold		3,204,376			12,262,644
Reinvestment of distributions		30,284			30,703
Cost of shares redeemed		(34,376,234	)		(1,657,595	)
		(31,141,574	)		10,635,752
Net increase (decrease) from share transactions		(137,326,309	)		57,510,067
Net increase (decrease) in net assets		(140,209,570	)		58,381,389

Net Assets
Beginning of year		245,385,003			187,003,614
End of year²	$	105,175,433		$	245,385,003

¹	The S.E.C. eliminated the requirement to disclose components of distributions paid to shareholders in September 2018. The distributions for the year ended 2018 were all from net investment income.
²	The S.E.C. eliminated the requirement to disclose undistributed net investment income in September 2018. For the year ended September 30, 2018 net assets included undistributed net investment income (deficit) of $(39,540), $(2,879,872), $0 and $(880,816), respectively on the Floating Rate, Fund For Income, Government Cash Management and International Opportunities Bond Funds.
(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A on June 14, 2019.

See notes to financial statements

250

FUND FOR INCOME						GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT						INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND
2019			2018			2019			2018			2019			2018

$	28,225,944		$	31,116,677		$	2,943,310		$	1,351,094		$	4,288,033		$	3,960,014
	(554,649	)		2,892,551			—			—			(7,212,574	)		(2,315,047	)
	5,012,920			(22,306,970	)		—			—			1,893,674			(8,484,204	)
	32,684,215			11,702,258			2,943,310			1,351,094			(1,030,867	)		(6,839,237	)


	(26,190,928	)		(27,698,833	)		(2,942,231	)		(1,328,144	)		(928,347	)		(1,886,224	)
	(49,755	)		(85,725	)		(1,061	)		(163	)		N/A			N/A
	(2,944,295	)		(4,671,312	)		N/A			N/A			(1,600,584	)		(2,402,791	)
	(2,093,656	)		(2,952,485	)		(18	)		(22,787	)		(219,517	)		(271,216	)
	(31,278,634	)		(35,408,355	)		(2,943,310	)		(1,351,094	)		(2,748,448	)		(4,560,231	)



	31,095,455			35,731,994			243,798,173			270,861,015			4,177,875			11,126,773
	22,732,227			23,989,477			2,848,143			1,284,209			888,921			1,808,009
	(102,791,798	)		(89,758,885	)		(231,576,163	)		(245,529,644	)		(15,079,450	)		(14,137,804	)
	1,493,683			—			139,584			—			N/A			—
	(47,470,433	)		(30,037,414	)		15,209,737			26,615,580			(10,012,654	)		(1,203,022	)

	104,665			126,756			119,589			85,114			N/A			N/A
	41,153			67,913			1,039			163			N/A			N/A
	(423,513	)		(695,133	)		(82,463	)		(144,650	)		N/A			N/A
	(1,493,683	)		—			(139,584	)		—			N/A			N/A
	(1,771,378	)		(500,464	)		(101,419	)		(59,373	)		N/A			N/A

	44,665,685			39,762,430			N/A			N/A			36,535,536			37,576,303
	2,736,588			4,509,257			N/A			N/A			1,596,425			1,992,072
	(99,019,284	)		(34,950,872	)		N/A			N/A			(72,895,176	)		(14,261,300	)
	(51,617,011	)		9,320,815			N/A			N/A			(34,763,215	)		25,307,075

	18,118,700			11,973,731			—			1,640,026			9,908,986			5,921,591
	167,967			324,515			18			20,317			8,115			20,279
	(15,224,537	)		(55,406,840	)		—			(4,053,823	)		(5,632,160	)		(3,839,839	)
	3,062,130			(43,108,594	)		18			(2,393,480	)		4,284,941			2,102,031
	(97,796,692	)		(64,325,657	)		15,108,336			24,162,727			(40,490,928	)		26,206,084
	(96,391,111	)		(88,031,754	)		15,108,336			24,162,727			(44,270,243	)		14,806,616


	639,142,120			727,173,874			153,797,415			129,634,688			151,419,080			136,612,464
$	542,751,009		$	639,142,120		$	168,905,751		$	153,797,415		$	107,148,837		$	151,419,080

251

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

	FLOATING RATE
Year Ended September 30	2019			2018
Shares Issued and Redeemed
Class A:
Sold		2,065,800			1,791,647
Issued for distributions reinvested		274,136			217,095
Redeemed		(2,704,754	)		(1,850,470	)
Issued in conversion ^(a)		N/A			N/A
Net increase (decrease) in Class A shares outstanding		(364,818	)		158,272

Class B:
Sold		N/A			N/A
Issued for distributions reinvested		N/A			N/A
Redeemed		N/A			N/A
Converted to Class A ^(a)		N/A			N/A
Net decrease in Class B shares outstanding		N/A			N/A

Advisor Class:
Sold		5,835,139			6,320,958
Issued for distributions reinvested		450,372			415,961
Redeemed		(16,951,823	)		(2,058,862	)
Net increase (decrease) in Advisor Class shares outstanding		(10,666,312	)		4,678,057

Institutional Class:
Sold		334,873			1,264,275
Issued for distributions reinvested		3,167			3,169
Redeemed		(3,582,801	)		(171,044	)
Net increase (decrease) in Institutional Class shares outstanding		(3,244,761	)		1,096,400

(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A on June 14, 2019.

See notes to financial statements

252

FUND FOR INCOME						GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT						INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND
2019			2018			2019			2018			2019			2018


	12,862,176			14,449,467			243,798,173			270,861,015			485,499			1,202,274
	9,418,798			9,735,758			2,848,143			1,284,209			105,950			194,863
	(42,476,056	)		(36,347,934	)		(231,576,163	)		(245,529,644	)		(1,748,393	)		(1,541,669	)
	614,684			—			139,584			—			N/A			N/A
	(19,580,398	)		(12,162,709	)		15,209,737			26,615,580			(1,156,944	)		(144,532	)


	44,612			51,091			119,589			85,114			N/A			N/A
	17,139			27,480			1,039			163			N/A			N/A
	(177,501	)		(279,926	)		(82,463	)		(144,650	)		N/A			N/A
	(614,684	)		—			(139,584	)		—			N/A			N/A
	(730,434	)		(201,355	)		(101,419	)		(59,373	)		N/A			N/A


	18,487,987			16,125,451			N/A			N/A			4,176,296			4,081,995
	1,141,753			1,833,501			N/A			N/A			188,480			212,335
	(40,822,238	)		(14,292,625	)		N/A			N/A			(8,430,675	)		(1,560,329	)
	(21,192,498	)		3,666,327			N/A			N/A			(4,065,899	)		2,734,001


	7,440,769			4,841,690			—			1,640,026			1,130,170			629,288
	69,202			130,520			18			20,317			948			2,165
	(6,284,488	)		(22,365,155	)		—			(4,053,823	)		(641,884	)		(428,971	)
	1,225,483			(17,392,945	)		18			(2,393,480	)		489,234			202,482

253

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

	INVESTMENT GRADE
Year Ended September 30	2019			2018
Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets From Operations
Net investment income	$	16,009,220		$	17,925,632
Net realized gain (loss) on investments		9,505,082			(1,645,013	)
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments		35,715,910			(26,239,627	)
Net unrealized depreciation of affiliate (Note 2)		—			—
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations		61,230,212			(9,959,008	)

Distribution to Shareholders¹
Class A		(13,019,432	)		(15,179,813	)
Class B		(26,417	)		(45,111	)
Advisor Class		(5,307,664	)		(5,965,579	)
Institutional Class		(829,881	)		(970,661	)
Total distributions		(19,183,394	)		(22,161,164	)

Share Transactions
Class A:
Proceeds from shares sold		34,755,165			42,681,411
Reinvestment of distributions		12,267,106			14,260,185
Cost of shares redeemed		(116,043,630	)		(96,469,770	)
Shares issued from merger (Note 9)		—			—
Shares issued in conversion ^(a)		1,406,515			—
		(67,614,844	)		(39,528,174	)
Class B:
Proceeds from shares sold		103,617			188,297
Reinvestment of distributions		26,215			44,209
Cost of shares redeemed		(263,874	)		(847,464	)
Shares converted to Class A ^(a)		(1,406,515	)		—
		(1,540,557	)		(614,958	)
Advisor Class:
Proceeds from shares sold		37,872,470			67,872,202
Reinvestment of distributions		5,266,597			5,728,814
Cost of shares redeemed		(221,815,011	)		(21,719,878	)
Shares issued from merger (Note 9)		—			—
		(178,675,944	)		51,881,138
Institutional Class
Proceeds from shares sold		4,059,470			4,522,217
Reinvestment of distributions		53,717			69,351
Cost of shares redeemed		(6,770,284	)		(5,422,878	)
Shares issued from merger (Note 9)		—			—
		(2,657,097	)		(831,310	)
Net increase (decrease) from share transactions		(250,488,442	)		10,906,696
Net increase (decrease) in net assets		(208,441,624	)		(21,213,476	)
Net Assets
Beginning of year		606,408,343			627,621,819
End of year²	$	397,966,719		$	606,408,343

¹	The S.E.C. eliminated the requirement to disclose components of distributions paid to shareholders in September 2018. The distributions for the year ended 2018 were all from net investment income.
²	The S.E.C. eliminated the requirement to disclose undistributed net investment income in September 2018. For the year ended September 30, 2018 net assets included undistributed net investment income (deficit) of $(11,310,857), $(2,914,002) and $69,208, respectively on the Investment Grade, Limited Duration Bond and Strategic Income Funds.
(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A on June 14, 2019.

See notes to financial statements

254

LIMITED DURATION BOND						STRATEGIC INCOME
2019			2018			2019			2018

$	7,945,941		$	275,664		$	4,768,654		$	5,380,029
	490,159			(397,136	)		(950,833	)		(1,108,887	)
	7,076,563			(185,198	)		2,862,510			(85,116	)
	—			—			—			(4,391,296	)
	15,512,663			(306,670	)		6,680,331			(205,270	)


	(6,578,036	)		(1,772,750	)		(4,796,353	)		(5,462,343	)
	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A
	(2,085,773	)		(1,003,221	)		(26,638	)		(29,421	)
	(1,128,359	)		(1,078,886	)		N/A			N/A
	(9,792,168	)		(3,854,857	)		(4,822,991	)		(5,491,764	)



	37,598,776			20,386,749			19,197,484			25,716,213
	6,298,169			1,726,388			4,582,076			5,225,611
	(74,562,975	)		(21,855,129	)		(40,650,338	)		(35,879,785	)
	—			186,810,690			—			—
	N/A			—			N/A			—
	(30,666,030	)		187,068,698			(16,870,778	)		(4,937,961	)

	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A
	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A
	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A
	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A
	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A

	176,696,611			10,192,449			457,470			276,262
	2,061,691			971,339			26,041			28,321
	(159,637,535	)		(6,712,312	)		(688,192	)		(482,278	)
	—			485,702			—			—
	19,120,767			4,937,178			(204,681	)		(177,695	)

	35,842,234			18,363,649			N/A			N/A
	21,676			6,137			N/A			N/A
	(27,257,693	)		(19,537,354	)		N/A			N/A
	—			1,024			N/A			N/A
	8,606,217			(1,166,544	)		N/A			N/A
	(2,939,046	)		190,839,332			(17,075,459	)		(5,115,656	)
	2,781,449			186,677,805			(15,218,119	)		(10,812,690	)

	322,221,978			135,544,173			152,939,302			163,751,992
$	325,003,427		$	322,221,978		$	137,721,183		$	152,939,302

255

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

	INVESTMENT GRADE
Year Ended September 30	2019			2018
Shares Issued and Redeemed
Class A:
Sold		3,682,672			4,532,773
Issued for distributions reinvested		1,301,394			1,521,041
Redeemed		(12,223,963	)		(10,297,688	)
Issued from merger (Note 9)		—			—
Issued in conversion ^(a)		146,512			—
Net increase (decrease) in Class A shares outstanding		(7,093,385	)		(4,243,874	)

Class B:
Sold		11,272			19,966
Issued for distributions reinvested		2,845			4,735
Redeemed		(28,637	)		(90,020	)
Converted to Class A ^(a)		(147,125	)		—
Net decrease in Class B shares outstanding		(161,645	)		(65,319	)

Advisor Class:
Sold		4,017,946			7,214,671
Issued for distributions reinvested		562,605			609,298
Redeemed		(22,966,280	)		(2,317,779	)
Issued from merger (Note 9)		—			—
Net increase (decrease) in Advisor Class shares outstanding		(18,385,729	)		5,506,190

Institutional Class:
Sold		430,263			469,939
Issued for distributions reinvested		5,680			7,379
Redeemed		(724,416	)		(568,845	)
Issued from merger (Note 9)		—			—
Net increase (decrease) in Institutional Class shares outstanding		(288,473	)		(91,527	)

(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A on June 14, 2019.

See notes to financial statements

256

LIMITED DURATION BOND						STRATEGIC INCOME
2019			2018			2019			2018


	4,079,233			2,201,214			2,087,007			2,751,301
	682,501			186,493			498,900			559,375
	(8,074,919	)		(2,359,440	)		(4,409,875	)		(3,850,452	)
	—			20,370,413			—			—
	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A
	(3,313,185	)		20,398,680			(1,823,968	)		(539,776	)


	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A
	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A
	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A
	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A
	N/A			N/A			N/A			N/A


	19,055,875			1,094,702			49,781			29,671
	222,074			104,635			2,842			3,038
	(17,117,131	)		(722,594	)		(74,483	)		(51,305	)
	—			52,807			—			—
	2,160,818			529,550			(21,860	)		(18,596	)


	3,860,217			1,982,606			N/A			N/A
	2,338			660			N/A			N/A
	(2,948,547	)		(2,084,636	)		N/A			N/A
	—			111			N/A			N/A
	914,008			(101,259	)		N/A			N/A

257

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	COVERED CALL STRATEGY
Year Ended September 30	2019			2018
Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets From Operations
Net investment income (loss)	$	3,750,010		$	3,655,040
Net realized gain (loss) on investments, options contracts and foreign exchange contracts		(12,573,241	)		(11,113,260	)
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments, options contracts, and foreign exchange contracts		8,864,550			28,590,946
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations		41,319			21,132,726

Distributions to Shareholders¹
Class A		(2,445,494	)
Class B		N/A
Advisor Class		(1,174,712	)
Institutional Class		(33,338	)
Total distributions		(3,653,544	)

Net investment income-Class A					(1,952,791	)
Net investment income-Class B					N/A
Net investment income-Advisor Class					(1,622,620	)
Net investment income-Institutional Class					(70,317	)
Net realized gains-Class A					—
Net realized gains-Class B					N/A
Net realized gains-Advisor Class					—
Net realized gains-Institutional Class					—
Total distributions					(3,645,728	)

Share Transactions
Class A:
Proceeds from shares sold		44,574,129			94,094,747
Reinvestment of distributions		2,403,312			1,920,181
Cost of shares redeemed		(71,836,104	)		(37,816,465	)
Shares issued in conversion ^(a)		N/A			—
		(24,858,663	)		58,198,463
Class B:
Proceeds from shares sold		N/A			N/A
Reinvestment of distributions		N/A			N/A
Cost of shares redeemed		N/A			N/A
Shares converted to Class A ^(a)		N/A			N/A
		N/A			N/A
Advisor Class
Proceeds from shares sold		55,309,828			78,790,539
Reinvestment of distributions		1,083,507			1,471,618
Cost of shares redeemed		(101,320,736	)		(80,989,357	)
		(44,927,401	)		(727,200	)
Institutional Class
Proceeds from shares sold		307,194			4,814,072
Reinvestment of distributions		33,020			53,560
Cost of shares redeemed		(1,727,818	)		(9,324,730	)
		(1,387,604	)		(4,457,098	)
Net increase (decrease) from share transactions		(71,173,668	)		53,014,165
Net increase (decrease) in net assets		(74,785,893	)		70,501,163

¹	The S.E.C. eliminated the requirement to disclose components of distributions paid to shareholders in September 2018.
(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A shares on June 14, 2019.

See notes to financial statements

258

EQUITY INCOME						GLOBAL						GROWTH & INCOME
2019			2018			2019			2018			2019			2018

$	8,879,846		$	15,912,426		$	3,967,886		$	(95,148	)	$	22,841,340		$	20,857,373
	33,813,012			66,166,488			(6,888,442	)		76,449,694			191,416,436			251,442,108
	(38,030,962	)		(28,255,152	)		(4,967,086	)		(14,156,614	)		(189,978,012	)		(88,486,835	)
	4,661,896			53,823,762			(7,887,642	)		62,197,932			24,279,764			183,812,646


	(67,899,359	)					(43,940,031	)					(285,704,754	)
	(286,459	)					(324,786	)					(2,023,413	)
	(9,736,043	)					(25,969,559	)					(25,839,515	)
	(284,978	)					(407,474	)					(1,676,586	)
	(78,206,839	)					(70,641,850	)					(315,244,268	)

				(8,670,001	)					(1,904,849	)					(22,103,552	)
				(25,598	)					(11,555	)					(49,489	)
				(1,505,409	)					(1,156,269	)					(2,741,388	)
				(45,395	)					(22,952	)					(192,263	)
				(18,700,796	)					(27,517,933	)					(66,425,749	)
				(94,816	)					(225,878	)					(577,823	)
				(2,533,033	)					(14,205,335	)					(6,908,711	)
				(76,275	)					(273,391	)					(435,766	)
				(31,651,323	)					(45,318,162	)					(99,434,741	)



	39,233,964			44,822,381			25,951,227			34,440,747			95,233,130			105,256,985
	66,810,971			27,012,430			43,193,288			29,037,446			282,926,826			87,791,227
	(124,019,685	)		(110,386,174	)		(68,689,497	)		(59,239,612	)		(313,279,311	)		(292,506,030	)
	2,122,225			—			1,867,835			—			9,465,453			—
	(15,852,525	)		(38,551,363	)		2,322,853			4,238,581			74,346,098			(99,457,818	)

	93,212			201,399			77,755			219,425			320,127			1,021,175
	286,459			120,221			324,786			237,434			2,019,655			624,919
	(464,378	)		(855,935	)		(398,084	)		(785,500	)		(2,518,784	)		(4,493,704	)
	(2,122,225	)		—			(1,867,835	)		—			(9,465,453	)		—
	(2,206,932	)		(534,315	)		(1,863,378	)		(328,641	)		(9,644,455	)		(2,847,610	)

	9,803,002			28,883,060			118,947,331			71,565,214			92,583,930			52,008,514
	9,664,501			3,361,847			25,895,633			14,647,751			25,657,982			9,135,941
	(86,468,280	)		(26,068,634	)		(271,864,556	)		(56,286,039	)		(215,436,743	)		(91,647,543	)
	(67,000,777	)		6,176,273			(127,021,592	)		29,926,926			(97,194,831	)		(30,503,088	)

	1,785,192			1,347,183			357,949			572,083			709,788			887,827
	284,977			121,670			407,474			296,343			1,676,586			628,029
	(2,892,185	)		(1,209,375	)		(2,717,006	)		(383,485	)		(6,215,502	)		(1,802,340	)
	(822,016	)		259,478			(1,951,583	)		484,941			(3,829,128	)		(286,484	)
	(85,882,250	)		(32,649,927	)		(128,513,700	)		34,321,807			(36,322,316	)		(133,095,000	)
	(159,427,193	)		(10,477,488	)		(207,043,192	)		51,201,577			(327,286,820	)		(48,717,095	)

259

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	COVERED CALL STRATEGY
Year Ended September 30	2019			2018
Net Assets
Beginning of year	$	354,291,070		$	283,789,907
End of year²	$	279,505,177		$	354,291,070

Shares Issued and Redeemed
Class A:
Sold		3,985,940			8,228,315
Issued for distributions reinvested		218,650			168,270
Redeemed		(6,306,714	)		(3,301,288	)
Issued in conversion ^(a)		N/A			N/A
Net increase (decrease) in Class A shares outstanding		(2,102,124	)		5,095,297

Class B:
Sold		N/A			N/A
Issued for distributions reinvested		N/A			N/A
Redeemed		N/A			N/A
Converted to Class A ^(a)		N/A			N/A
Net decrease in Class B shares outstanding		N/A			N/A

Advisor Class
Sold		4,880,542			6,898,774
Issued for distributions reinvested		99,537			129,933
Redeemed		(9,039,296	)		(7,147,405	)
Net increase (decrease) in Advisor Class shares outstanding		(4,059,217	)		(118,698	)

Institutional Class:
Sold		28,045			414,848
Issued for distributions reinvested		3,036			4,796
Redeemed		(153,194	)		(827,929	)
Net increase (decrease) in Institutional Class shares outstanding		(122,113	)		(408,285	)

²	The S.E.C. eliminated the requirement to disclose undistributed net investment income in September 2018. For the year ended September 30, 2018 net assets included undistributed net investment income (deficit) of $41,035, $5,660,088, $(426,580) and $147,252, respectively on the Covered Call Strategy, Equity Income, Global and Growth & Income Funds.
(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A shares on June 14, 2019.

See notes to financial statements

260

EQUITY INCOME						GLOBAL						GROWTH & INCOME
2019			2018			2019			2018			2019			2018

$	631,257,305		$	641,734,793		$	628,658,668		$	577,457,091		$	1,818,873,466		$	1,867,590,561
$	471,830,112		$	631,257,305		$	421,615,476		$	628,658,668		$	1,491,586,646		$	1,818,873,466



	4,093,224			4,119,724			3,505,101			3,964,795			4,806,672			4,423,019
	7,811,540			2,490,655			6,812,821			3,469,229			16,609,882			3,692,262
	(12,957,709	)		(10,148,853	)		(9,301,139	)		(6,828,948	)		(15,851,008	)		(12,290,013	)
	225,289			—			256,571			—			492,479			—
	(827,656	)		(3,538,474	)		1,273,354			605,076			6,058,025			(4,174,732	)


	9,779			18,977			13,695			32,543			16,927			46,327
	34,733			11,300			69,696			36,528			131,250			28,301
	(49,821	)		(80,753	)		(72,371	)		(116,586	)		(137,042	)		(204,976	)
	(231,179	)		—			(350,438	)		—			(542,744	)		—
	(236,488	)		(50,476	)		(339,418	)		(47,515	)		(531,609	)		(130,348	)


	1,007,631			2,642,494			15,755,958			8,059,994			4,759,495			2,169,824
	1,129,571			308,539			3,965,640			1,711,186			1,493,783			381,959
	(9,157,830	)		(2,396,645	)		(35,292,779	)		(6,358,513	)		(10,952,002	)		(3,879,094	)
	(7,020,628	)		554,388			(15,571,181	)		3,412,667			(4,698,724	)		(1,327,311	)


	170,775			123,985			46,725			64,095			35,949			37,066
	33,369			11,208			61,926			34,458			97,916			26,328
	(283,093	)		(114,962	)		(345,679	)		(42,873	)		(304,391	)		(75,271	)
	(78,949	)		20,231			(237,028	)		55,680			(170,526	)		(11,877	)

261

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES
Year Ended September 30	2019			2018
Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets From Operations
Net investment income (loss)	$	288,569		$	(23,541	)
Net realized gain (loss) on investments, options and futures contracts, and foreign exchange contracts		12,517,641			1,451,960
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments, options and futures contracts, and foreign exchange contracts		3,210,979			11,112,390
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations		16,017,189			12,540,809

Distributions to Shareholders¹
Class A		(1,268,295	)
Class B		N/A
Advisor Class		(1,748,223	)
Institutional Class		(9,534	)
		(3,026,052	)

Net investment income-Class A					—
Net investment income-Class B					N/A
Net investment income-Advisor Class					—
Net investment income-Institutional Class					—
Net realized gains-Class A					—
Net realized gains-Class B					N/A
Net realized gains-Advisor Class					—
Net realized gains-Institutional Class					—
Total distributions					—

Share Transactions
Class A:
Proceeds from shares sold		24,887,381			29,210,518
Reinvestment of distributions		1,255,237			—
Cost of shares redeemed		(18,330,956	)		(12,110,889	)
Shares issued in conversion ^(a)		N/A			—
		7,811,662			17,099,629
Class B:
Proceeds from shares sold		N/A			N/A
Reinvestment of distributions		N/A			N/A
Cost of shares redeemed		N/A			N/A
Shares converted to Class A ^(a)		N/A			N/A
		N/A			N/A
Advisor Class:
Proceeds from shares sold		157,532,297			76,712,079
Reinvestment of distributions		1,740,439			—
Cost of shares redeemed		(218,918,208	)		(22,597,701	)
		(59,645,472	)		54,114,378
Institutional Class
Proceeds from shares sold		254,983			276,139
Reinvestment of distributions		9,534			—
Cost of shares redeemed		(515,075	)		(226,176	)
		(250,558	)		49,963
Net increase (decrease) from share transactions		(52,084,368	)		71,263,970
Net increase (decrease) in net assets		(39,093,231	)		83,804,779

¹	The S.E.C. eliminated the requirement to disclose components of distributions paid to shareholders in September 2018.
(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A shares on June 14, 2019.

See notes to financial statements

262

INTERNATIONAL						OPPORTUNITY						PREMIUM INCOME
2019			2018			2019			2018			2019			2018

$	1,137,496		$	846,265		$	3,693,300		$	11,171,649		$	2,116,901		$	366,478
	21,649,781			28,737,160			107,728,650			75,396,234			3,452,367			(375,632	)
	6,761,884			(23,085,239	)		(108,217,293	)		(14,746,162	)		(2,128,498	)		1,138,583
	29,549,161			6,498,186			3,204,657			71,821,721			3,440,770			1,129,429


	(16,053,838	)					(89,968,893	)					(2,048,419	)
	(72,818	)					(687,500	)					N/A
	(8,663,047	)					(13,689,378	)					(2,126,770	)
	(183,424	)					(437,316	)					(20,972	)
	(24,973,127	)					(104,783,087	)					(4,196,161	)

				(275,588	)					(2,804,178	)					(148,277	)
				—						(14,370	)					N/A
				(239,073	)					(288,632	)					(114,909	)
				(7,737	)					(22,342	)					(84,004	)
				—						(56,621,327	)					—
				—						(518,174	)					N/A
				—						(4,684,317	)					—
				—						(323,573	)					—
				(522,398	)					(65,276,913	)					(347,190	)



	29,586,000			58,126,902			80,865,931			103,692,905			32,786,671			44,677,901
	15,918,971			273,396			89,198,488			59,060,707			2,001,143			143,012
	(59,056,317	)		(41,313,524	)		(184,561,093	)		(160,025,421	)		(15,332,080	)		(3,460,167	)
	1,047,200			—			4,981,232			—			N/A			—
	(12,504,146	)		17,086,774			(9,515,442	)		2,728,191			19,455,734			41,360,746

	34,643			126,139			202,837			551,389			N/A			N/A
	72,635			—			684,857			530,291			N/A			N/A
	(242,292	)		(369,272	)		(1,207,443	)		(2,298,990	)		N/A			N/A
	(1,047,200	)		—			(4,981,232	)		—			N/A			N/A
	(1,182,214	)		(243,133	)		(5,300,981	)		(1,217,310	)		N/A			N/A

	138,845,397			52,322,028			25,710,508			80,413,897			77,670,239			35,759,296
	8,630,971			222,902			13,608,679			4,553,410			2,001,731			108,996
	(86,942,993	)		(29,315,834	)		(163,748,110	)		(18,910,762	)		(45,830,176	)		(1,946,404	)
	60,533,375			23,229,096			(124,428,923	)		66,056,545			33,841,794			33,921,888

	333,252			896,876			652,202			1,044,609			27,464			16,026,765
	183,425			7,737			437,316			345,915			15,731			20,648
	(2,625,255	)		(737,330	)		(4,052,940	)		(1,339,746	)		(3,618,214	)		(12,377,267	)
	(2,108,578	)		167,283			(2,963,422	)		50,778			(3,575,019	)		3,670,146
	44,738,437			40,240,020			(142,208,768	)		67,618,204			49,722,509			78,952,780
	49,314,471			46,215,808			(243,787,198	)		74,163,012			48,967,118			79,735,019

263

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES
Year Ended September 30	2019			2018
Net Assets
Beginning of year	$	162,274,535		$	78,469,756
End of year²	$	123,181,304		$	162,274,535

Shares Issued and Redeemed
Class A:
Sold		2,150,509			2,558,901
Issued for distributions reinvested		119,206			—
Redeemed		(1,540,989	)		(1,057,699	)
Issued in conversion ^(a)		N/A			N/A
Net increase (decrease) in Class A shares outstanding		728,726			1,501,202

Class B:
Sold		N/A			N/A
Issued for distributions reinvested		N/A			N/A
Redeemed		N/A			N/A
Converted to Class A ^(a)		N/A			N/A
Net decrease in Class B shares outstanding		N/A			N/A

Advisor Class:
Sold		13,176,303			6,763,670
Issued for distributions reinvested		164,038			—
Redeemed		(17,694,623	)		(1,965,792	)
Net increase (decrease) in Advisor Class shares outstanding		(4,354,282	)		4,797,878

Institutional Class:
Sold		21,405			24,135
Issued for distributions reinvested		896			—
Redeemed		(42,838	)		(19,944	)
Net increase (decrease) in Institutional Class shares outstanding		(20,537	)		4,191

²	The S.E.C. eliminated the requirement to disclose undistributed net investment income in September 2018. For the year ended September 30, 2018 net assets included undistributed net investment income (deficit) of $(4,522), $619,607, $10,465,942 and $19,288, respectively on the Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities, International, Opportunity and Premium Income Funds.
(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A shares on June 14, 2019.

See notes to financial statements

264

INTERNATIONAL						OPPORTUNITY						PREMIUM INCOME
2019			2018			2019			2018			2019			2018

$	401,058,728		$	354,842,920		$	1,171,789,115		$	1,097,626,103		$	79,735,019		$	—
$	450,373,199		$	401,058,728		$	928,001,917		$	1,171,789,115		$	128,702,137		$	79,735,019



	1,984,404			3,590,666			2,208,172			2,472,473			3,248,351			4,385,757
	1,218,911			16,773			2,871,812			1,413,612			199,417			14,023
	(3,907,855	)		(2,553,601	)		(5,017,572	)		(3,815,117	)		(1,512,611	)		(338,239	)
	68,624			—			136,323			—			N/A			N/A
	(635,916	)		1,053,838			198,735			70,968			1,935,157			4,061,541


	2,681			8,386			7,413			17,104			N/A			N/A
	6,043			—			29,959			16,499			N/A			N/A
	(17,747	)		(24,704	)		(44,269	)		(71,493	)		N/A			N/A
	(74,800	)		—			(185,936	)		—			N/A			N/A
	(83,823	)		(16,318	)		(192,833	)		(37,890	)		N/A			N/A


	8,826,954			3,187,640			691,255			1,895,352			7,684,713			3,508,615
	648,458			13,468			428,350			107,063			199,392			10,710
	(5,518,155	)		(1,782,051	)		(4,336,855	)		(439,869	)		(4,532,696	)		(190,244	)
	3,957,257			1,419,057			(3,217,250	)		1,562,546			3,351,409			3,329,081


	22,233			54,037			17,522			24,450			2,832			1,581,172
	13,729			466			13,787			8,149			2,970			2,046
	(168,329	)		(44,299	)		(106,041	)		(31,085	)		(382,162	)		(1,201,695	)
	(132,367	)		10,204			(74,732	)		1,514			(376,360	)		381,523

265

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	SELECT GROWTH
Year Ended September 30	2019			2018
Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets From Operations
Net investment income	$	1,760,472		$	150,706
Net realized gain on investments		59,410,250			36,073,320
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments		(106,507,568	)		98,924,921
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations		(45,336,846	)		135,148,947

Distributions to Shareholders¹
Class A		(26,782,811	)
Class B		(154,240	)
Advisor Class		(9,136,425	)
Institutional Class		(308,565	)
		(36,382,041	)

Net investment income-Class A					(239,159	)
Net investment income-Class B					—
Net investment income-Advisor Class					(130,189	)
Net investment income-Institutional Class					(8,316	)
Net realized gains-Class A					(39,548,693	)
Net realized gains-Class B					(318,093	)
Net realized gains-Advisor Class					(7,349,893	)
Net realized gains-Institutional Class					(445,150	)
Total distributions					(48,039,493	)

Share Transactions
Class A:
Proceeds from shares sold		89,725,264			104,868,480
Reinvestment of distributions		26,527,802			39,481,516
Cost of shares redeemed		(120,862,330	)		(83,751,760	)
Shares issued from merger (Note 9)		—			—
Shares issued in conversion ^(a)		2,274,251			—
		(2,335,013	)		60,598,236
Class B:
Proceeds from shares sold		165,997			272,956
Reinvestment of distributions		150,066			310,573
Cost of shares redeemed		(688,182	)		(1,051,710	)
Shares converted to Class A ^(a)		(2,274,251	)		—
		(2,646,370	)		(468,181	)
Advisor Class:
Proceeds from shares sold		118,768,769			129,714,140
Reinvestment of distributions		9,075,112			7,092,254
Cost of shares redeemed		(159,103,061	)		(44,628,910	)
Shares issued from merger (Note 9)		—			—
		(31,259,180	)		92,177,484
Institutional Class
Proceeds from shares sold		1,197,203			2,115,173
Reinvestment of distributions		308,565			453,466
Cost of shares redeemed		(4,543,171	)		(538,910	)
		(3,037,403	)		2,029,729
Net increase (decrease) from share transactions		(39,277,966	)		154,337,268
Net increase (decrease) in net assets		(120,996,853	)		241,446,722

¹	The S.E.C. eliminated the requirement to disclose components of distributions paid to shareholders in September 2018.
(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A shares on June 14, 2019.

See notes to financial statements

266

SPECIAL SITUATIONS						TOTAL RETURN
2019			2018			2019			2018

$	2,546,193		$	1,131,375		$	13,035,330		$	14,170,068
	37,166,502			82,755,122			55,471,198			63,414,992
	(110,118,154	)		(31,396,357	)		(31,701,223	)		(30,583,626	)
	(70,405,459	)		52,490,140			36,805,305			47,001,434


	(69,289,188	)					(79,846,565	)
	(397,669	)					(471,925	)
	(16,747,438	)					(105,598	)
	(988,798	)					(3,088,864	)
	(87,423,093	)					(83,512,952	)

				(223,805	)					(15,396,814	)
				—						(57,491	)
				(152,568	)					(21,110	)
				(12,819	)					(769,762	)
				(15,226,717	)					(15,297,108	)
				(105,510	)					(119,932	)
				(3,496,476	)					(17,418	)
				(235,100	)					(575,977	)
				(19,452,995	)					(32,255,612	)



	55,763,572			80,670,471			64,939,840			73,816,412
	68,590,690			15,336,562			78,807,381			30,309,443
	(104,992,077	)		(90,637,765	)		(192,814,710	)		(156,488,239	)
	—			—			—			50,464,265
	1,961,695			—			5,190,520			—
	21,323,880			5,369,268			(43,876,969	)		(1,898,119	)

	105,962			219,160			361,645			480,372
	395,996			105,121			471,902			177,049
	(467,854	)		(864,654	)		(1,228,424	)		(1,645,557	)
	(1,961,695	)		—			(5,190,520	)		—
	(1,927,591	)		(540,373	)		(5,585,397	)		(988,136	)

	27,517,981			61,323,950			696,193			262,074
	16,649,603			3,459,240			91,540			33,393
	(142,584,431	)		(51,953,688	)		(568,268	)		(357,281	)
	—			—			—			51,815
	(98,416,847	)		12,829,502			219,465			(9,999	)

	675,600			1,382,471			347,661			534,750
	987,844			247,919			3,088,864			1,345,739
	(5,468,146	)		(1,205,420	)		(34,529,019	)		(1,426,515	)
	(3,804,702	)		424,970			(31,092,494	)		453,974
	(82,825,260	)		18,083,367			(80,335,395	)		(2,442,280	)
	(240,653,812	)		51,120,512			(127,043,042	)		12,303,542

267

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	SELECT GROWTH
Year Ended September 30	2019			2018
Net Assets
Beginning of year	$	775,696,205		$	534,249,483
End of year²	$	654,699,352		$	775,696,205

Shares Issued and Redeemed
Class A:
Sold		7,344,999			4,294,908
Reinvestment of distributions		2,467,703			5,154,994
Redeemed		(9,937,934	)		(5,689,031	)
Issued from merger (Note 9)		—			—
Issued in conversion ^(a)		188,891			—
Net increase (decrease) in Class A shares outstanding		63,659			3,760,871

Class B:
Sold		17,259			29,073
Reinvestment of distributions		17,170			57,376
Redeemed		(68,388	)		(121,992	)
Converted to Class A ^(a)		(232,779	)		—
Net decrease in Class B shares outstanding		(266,738	)		(35,543	)

Advisor Class:
Sold		9,508,471			2,306,144
Reinvestment of distributions		826,513			957,774
Redeemed		(12,767,501	)		(2,480,897	)
Issued from merger (Note 9)		—			—
Net increase (decrease) in Advisor Class shares outstanding		(2,432,517	)		783,021

Institutional Class:
Sold		95,065			81,566
Reinvestment of distributions		27,950			52,639
Redeemed		(359,535	)		(74,392	)
Net increase (decrease) in Institutional Class shares outstanding		(236,520	)		59,813

²	The S.E.C. eliminated the requirement to disclose undistributed net investment income in September 2018. For the year ended September 30, 2018 net assets included undistributed net investment income (deficit) of $0, $812,257 and $(4,254,853), respectively on the Select Growth, Special Situations and Total Return Funds.
(a)	All Class B shares were converted into Class A shares on June 14, 2019.

See notes to financial statements

268

SPECIAL SITUATIONS						TOTAL RETURN
2019			2018			2019			2018

$	733,606,021		$	682,485,509		$	931,094,393		$	918,790,851
$	492,952,209		$	733,606,021		$	804,051,351		$	931,094,393



	2,147,930			2,502,430			3,498,020			3,674,984
	3,073,060			478,221			4,657,392			1,507,141
	(4,110,417	)		(2,812,100	)		(10,344,862	)		(7,795,384	)
	—			—			—			2,466,173
	79,647			—			279,964			—
	1,190,220			168,551			(1,909,486	)		(147,086	)


	5,576			9,120			20,382			24,453
	25,368			4,378			28,672			8,913
	(24,788	)		(35,942	)		(68,215	)		(83,813	)
	(114,318	)		—			(285,193	)		—
	(108,162	)		(22,444	)		(304,354	)		(50,447	)


	1,032,850			1,882,451			36,742			13,080
	735,406			106,833			5,359			1,653
	(5,548,821	)		(1,571,891	)		(30,566	)		(17,571	)
	—			—			—			2,516
	(3,780,565	)		417,393			11,535			(322	)


	25,687			42,180			18,636			26,378
	43,308			7,610			181,206			66,432
	(206,063	)		(36,480	)		(1,792,261	)		(70,281	)
	(137,068	)		13,310			(1,592,419	)		22,529

269

Notes to Financial Statements

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

1. Significant Accounting Policies—First Investors Income Funds (“Income Funds”) and First Investors Equity Funds (“Equity Funds”), each a Delaware statutory trust (each a “Trust”, collectively, “the Trusts”), are registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”) as open-end management investment companies and operate as series funds. Each Fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standard Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standard Codification Topic 946 “Financial Services – Investment Companies” including FASB Accounting Standard Update ASU 2013-08.The Income Funds issues shares of beneficial interest in the Floating Rate Fund, Fund For Income, Government Cash Management Fund, International Opportunities Bond Fund, Investment Grade Fund, Limited Duration Bond Fund and Strategic Income Fund. All Funds in the Income Funds are diversified funds except for International Opportunities Bond Fund, which is a non-diversified fund. The Equity Funds issues shares of beneficial interest in the Covered Call Strategy Fund, Equity Income Fund, Global Fund, Growth & Income Fund, Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund, International Fund, Opportunity Fund, Premium Income Fund, Select Growth Fund, Special Situations Fund and Total Return Fund. All Funds in the Equity Funds are diversified funds. The Trusts account separately for the assets, liabilities and operations of each Fund. The objective of each Fund as of September 30, 2019, is as follows:

Floating Rate Fund seeks a high level of current income.

Fund For Income seeks high current income.

Government Cash Management Fund seeks to earn a high rate of current income consistent with the preservation of capital and maintenance of liquidity.

International Opportunities Bond Fund seeks total return consisting of income and capital appreciation.

Investment Grade Fund seeks to generate a maximum level of income consistent with investment primarily in investment grade debt securities.

Limited Duration Bond Fund seeks current income consistent with low volatility of principal.

Strategic Income Fund seeks a high level of current income.

Covered Call Strategy Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Equity Income Fund seeks total return.

Global Fund seeks long-term capital growth.

Growth & Income Fund seeks long-term growth of capital and current income.

270

Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund seeks total return and, secondarily, capital preservation.

International Fund primarily seeks long-term capital growth.

Opportunity Fund seeks long-term capital growth.

Premium Income Fund seeks to generate income.

Select Growth Fund seeks long-term growth of capital.

Special Situations Fund seeks long-term growth of capital.

Total Return Fund seeks high, long-term total investment return consistent with moderate investment risk.

A. Security Valuation—Except as provided below, a security listed or traded on an exchange or the Nasdaq Stock Market is valued at its last sale price on the exchange or market where the security is principally traded, and lacking any sales, the security is valued at the mean between the closing bid and asked prices. Securities traded in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) market (including securities listed on exchanges whose primary market is believed to be OTC) and call and put options are valued at the mean between the last bid and asked prices based on quotes furnished by a market maker for such securities or an authorized pricing service. Fixed income securities, other than short-term debt securities held by the Government Cash Management Fund, are priced based upon evaluated prices that are provided by a pricing service approved by the Trusts’ Board of Trustees (the “Board”). Other securities may also be priced based upon valuations that are provided by pricing services approved by the Board. The pricing services consider security type, rating, market condition and yield data as well as market quotations, prices provided by market makers and other available information in determining evaluated prices. The net asset value of the Strategic Income Fund is derived from the net asset values of the underlying Funds in which it invests.

The Funds monitor for significant events occurring prior to the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange that could have a material impact on the value of any securities that are held by the Funds. Examples of such events include trading halts, natural disasters, political events and issuer-specific developments. If the Valuation Committee of Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc. (“FIMCO”) decides that such events warrant using fair value estimates, it will take such events into consideration in determining the fair values of such securities. If market quotations or prices are not readily available or are deemed to be unreliable, or do not appear to reflect significant events that have occurred prior to the time as of which the net assets value is calculated, the securities may be valued at fair value as determined in good faith pursuant to procedures adopted by the Board. The Funds also use evaluated prices from a pricing service to fair value certain foreign equity securities in the event that fluctuation in U.S. securities markets exceed a predetermined level or if a foreign market is closed. For valuation purposes, where applicable, quotations of foreign securities in foreign currencies are translated to U.S. dollar

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September 30, 2019

equivalents using the foreign exchange quotation in effect. At September 30, 2019, the Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Bond Fund held two securities that were fair valued at a value of $100,769 representing 0.1% of the Fund’s net assets.

The Government Cash Management Fund values its portfolio securities in accordance with the amortized cost method of valuation under Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act. Amortized cost is an approximation of market value of an instrument, whereby the difference between its acquisition cost and market value at maturity is amortized on a straight-line basis over the remaining life of the instrument. The effect of changes in the market value of a security as a result of fluctuating interest rates is not taken into account and thus the amortized cost method of valuation may result in the value of a security being higher or lower than its actual market value.

In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification 820 “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” (“ASC 820”), investments held by the Funds are carried at “fair value”. As defined by ASC 820, fair value is the price that a fund would receive upon selling an investment in an orderly transaction to an independent buyer in the principal or most advantageous market for the investment under current market conditions. Various inputs are used in determining the value of the fund’s investments.

In addition to defining fair value, ASC 820 established a three-tier hierarchy of inputs to establish a classification of fair value measurements for disclosure purposes. The three-tier hierarchy of inputs is summarized in the three broad Levels listed below:

Level 1—Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical securities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2—Observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. These inputs may include quoted prices for the identical instrument on an inactive market, prices for similar instruments, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, yield curves, default rates and similar data.

Level 3—Unobservable inputs for the asset or liability, to the extent relevant observable inputs are not available, representing the Fund’s own assumption about the assumptions a market participant would use in valuing the asset or liability, and would be based on the best information available.

Equity securities and futures contracts traded on an exchange or the Nasdaq Stock Market are categorized in Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy to the extent that they are actively traded and valuation adjustments are not applied. The underlying Funds in which Strategic Income Fund invests are also categorized in Level 1. Foreign equity securities that are fair valued in the event that fluctuations in U.S. securities markets exceed a predetermined level or if a foreign market is closed are categorized in Level 2. Variable and floating rate, corporate, sovereign and municipal bonds, asset backed, U.S. Government and U.S. Government Agency securities, pass-through certificates and loan participations are categorized in Level 2 to the extent that the inputs are observable and timely, otherwise they would be categorized in Level 3. Short-term notes that

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are valued at amortized cost by the Government Cash Management Fund are categorized in Level 2. Call and put options contracts are categorized in Level 2 to the extent that the inputs are observable and timely. Foreign exchange contracts that are considered derivative instruments and are valued at the net unrealized appreciation or depreciation on the instruments are categorized in Level 2. Securities that are fair valued by the Valuation Committee may be categorized in either Level 2 or Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy depending on the relative significance of the unobservable valuation inputs.

The aggregate value by input level, as of September 30, 2019, for each Fund’s investments is included following each Fund’s portfolio of investments.

B. Federal Income Taxes—No provision has been made for federal income taxes on net income or capital gains since it is the policy of each Fund to continue to comply with the special provisions of the Internal Revenue Code applicable to investment companies, and to make sufficient distributions of income and capital gains (in excess of any available capital loss carryovers) to relieve it from all, or substantially all, such taxes. At September 30, 2019, capital loss carryovers were as follows:

			Capital Loss Carryovers Not Subject to Expiration				Capital Loss Carryovers Utilized^*
Fund	Total		Long-Term		Short-Term		Utilized
Floating Rate	$	3,294,146	$	2,807,821	$	486,325	$	244,038
Fund For Income		40,084,848		33,034,947		7,049,901		—
International Opportunities Bond		3,918,295		3,918,295		—		—
Investment Grade		5,860,069		5,860,069		—		—
Limited Duration Bond		10,981,230		8,926,600		2,054,630		—
Strategic Income		3,308,655		2,357,236		951,419		—
Covered Call Strategy		9,178,030		—		9,178,030		—
Global		5,175,460		—		5,175,460		—
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities		—		—		—		316,853
Premium Income		—		—		—		206,166

^*	During the year ended September 30, 2019, the Funds utilized capital loss carryovers in the amounts indicated.

The Funds recognize the tax benefits of uncertain tax positions only where the position is “more likely than not” to be sustained assuming examination by tax authorities. Management has analyzed the Funds’ tax positions and has concluded that no liability for unrecognized tax benefits should be recorded related to uncertain tax positions taken on returns filed for open tax years 2016 – 2018, or expected to be taken in the Funds’ 2019 tax returns. The Funds identify their major tax jurisdictions as U.S. Federal, New York State, New York City and foreign jurisdictions where the Funds make significant investments; however, the Funds are not aware

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September 30, 2019

of any tax position for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change materially in the next twelve months.

C. Distributions to Shareholders—Dividends from net investment income of Floating Rate Fund, Fund For Income, Investment Grade Fund, Limited Duration Bond Fund, and Strategic Income Fund are generally declared daily and paid monthly. The Government Cash Management Fund declares distributions, if any, daily and pays distributions monthly, from the total of net investment income plus or minus all realized short-term gains and losses on investments. Dividends from net investment income, if any, of International Opportunities Bond Fund, Covered Call Strategy Fund, Equity Income Fund, Growth & Income Fund, Premium Income Fund and Total Return Fund are declared and paid quarterly. Dividends from net investment income, if any, of Global Fund, Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund, International Fund, Opportunity Fund, Select Growth Fund and Special Situations Fund are declared and paid annually. Distributions from net realized capital gains, if any, of each of the Funds are normally declared and paid annually. Premium Income Fund may distribute net short-term capital gains, if any, on a quarterly basis. Income dividends and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations which may differ from accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These differences are primarily due to differing treatments for capital loss carryforwards, deferral of wash sales losses, post-October capital losses, late loss deferrals, net operating losses and foreign currency transactions.

D. Expense Allocation—Expenses directly charged or attributable to a Fund are paid from the assets of that Fund. General expenses of the Trusts are allocated among and charged to the assets of each Fund on a fair and equitable basis, which may be based on the relative assets of each Fund or the nature of the services performed and relative applicability to each Fund.

E. Use of Estimates—The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expense during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

F. Foreign Currency Translations—The accounting records of all of the Funds are maintained in U.S. dollars, including those Funds that invest in foreign securities. Portfolio securities and other assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated to U.S. dollars at the date of valuation. Purchases and sales of foreign investment securities, dividend income and certain expenses are translated to U.S. dollars at the rates of exchange prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions.

International Opportunities Bond Fund, Global Fund, Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund and International Fund do not isolate that portion of gains and losses on foreign investments which is due to changes in foreign exchange rates from that which is due to changes in market prices of the investments. These changes are included with the net realized and unrealized gains and losses from investments.

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Net realized and unrealized gains and losses on foreign currency transactions include gains and losses from the sales of foreign currency and gains and losses on accrued foreign dividends and related withholding taxes.

G. Other—Security transactions are generally accounted for on the first business day following the date the securities are purchased or sold, except for financial reporting purposes, which is trade date. Investments in securities issued on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis are generally reflected in the assets of the Funds on the first business day following the date the securities are purchased and the Funds segregate assets for these transactions. Cost of securities is determined and gains and losses are based on the identified cost basis for both financial statement and federal income tax purposes. Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date or for certain foreign dividends, as soon as the Fund becomes aware of the dividends. Interest income and estimated expenses are accrued daily. Bond discounts and premiums are accreted or amortized using the interest method. Withholding taxes on foreign dividends have been provided in accordance with the Funds’ understanding of the applicable country’s tax rules and rates. The Bank of New York Mellon serves as custodian for the Funds and may provide credits against custodian charges based on uninvested cash balance of the Funds. For the year ended September 30, 2019, the Income Funds and Equity Funds received credits in the amount of $30,519 and $163,422, respectively. Certain of the Equity Funds reduced expenses through brokerage service arrangements. For the year ended September 30, 2019, expenses were reduced by a total of $25,890 for certain of the Equity Funds under these arrangements.

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

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FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

2. Security Transactions—For the year ended September 30, 2019, purchases and sales of securities and long-term U.S. Government obligations (excluding U.S. Treasury bills, short-term securities and foreign currencies) were as follows:

	Securities				Long-Term U.S. Government Obligations
Fund	Cost of Purchases		Proceeds of Sales		Cost of Purchases		Proceeds of Sales
Floating Rate	$	132,394,581	$	266,251,691	$	24,981,934	$	24,994,974
Fund For Income		407,565,993		501,602,731		—		—
International Opportunities Bond		45,967,078		97,999,343		65,594,239		51,224,945
Investment Grade		225,726,360		476,435,936		93,823,058		98,394,673
Limited Duration Bond		196,517,020		228,289,010		94,180,492		78,075,902
Strategic Income		90,543,401		103,456,837		7,971,500		6,243,760
Covered Call Strategy		107,247,865		179,612,816		—		—
Equity Income		201,763,097		358,454,847		—		—
Global		653,339,181		852,085,849		—		—
Growth & Income		856,466,789		1,168,951,802		—		—
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities		216,443,722		272,974,991		—		—
International		295,508,416		314,792,670		—		—
Opportunity		471,521,268		717,673,740		—		—
Premium Income		143,278,510		84,168,376		—		—
Select Growth		353,654,431		439,144,370		—		—
Special Situations		300,059,187		472,182,723		—		—
Total Return		441,100,856		627,007,015		53,214,361		40,264,084

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At September 30, 2019, aggregate cost and net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of securities for federal income tax purposes were as follows:

Fund	Aggregate Cost		Gross Unrealized Appreciation		Gross Unrealized Depreciation		Net Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation)
Floating Rate	$	105,346,528	$	530,159	$	1,690,567	$	(1,160,408	)
Fund For Income		528,202,441		16,114,666		12,277,651		3,837,015
International Opportunities Bond		118,096,249		391,846		13,604,229		(13,212,383	)
Investment Grade		361,530,306		25,416,264		4,054,689		21,361,575
Limited Duration Bond		308,216,412		4,041,488		1,421,135		2,620,353
Strategic Income		141,086,556		287,167		4,634,152		(4,346,985	)
Covered Call Strategy		215,467,890		62,426,377		7,534,317		54,892,060
Equity Income		328,211,502		144,872,636		6,508,591		138,364,045
Global		351,918,644		67,355,392		6,588,829		60,766,563
Growth & Income		1,021,012,893		473,741,015		11,716,637		462,024,378
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities		91,142,465		21,381,119		694,235		20,686,884
International		339,191,887		84,897,876		2,366,508		82,531,368
Opportunity		684,351,311		256,133,304		27,718,920		228,414,384
Premium Income		126,251,034		13,277,296		14,810,984		(1,533,688	)
Select Growth		547,516,420		114,517,929		9,807,437		104,710,492
Special Situations		448,159,417		76,073,466		32,794,601		43,278,865
Total Return		617,719,427		152,934,702		7,351,338		145,583,364

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

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FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

The Strategic Income Fund may invest in Institutional Class shares of the Floating Rate Fund, Fund For Income, Government Cash Management Fund, International Opportunities Bond Fund, Investment Grade Fund, Limited Duration Bond Fund, Covered Call Strategy Fund, Equity Income Fund, Premium Income Fund, Tax Exempt Income Fund and Tax Exempt Opportunities Fund. During the year ended September 30, 2019, purchases and sales of shares, dividends, capital gain distributions received and realized gains (losses) recognized by Strategic Income Fund from investments in these Funds were as follows:

Fund	Balance of Shares Held 9/30/2018		Purchases/ Additions		Sales/ Reductions			Balance of Shares Held 9/30/2019		Value 9/30/2019		Dividend Income		Capital Gain Distributions		Realized Gain (Loss) on Security Transactions
Floating Rate		3,205,012		300,083		(3,505,095	)		—	$	—	$	1,038,513	$	—	$	(313,344	)
Fund For Income		12,394,911		5,338,818		(3,532,547	)		14,201,182		34,934,908		1,925,690		—		4,876
International Opportunities Bond		1,032,932		1,119,085		(581,554	)		1,570,463		13,772,958		211,401		—		46,541
Investment Grade		2,422,818		389,356		(624,215	)		2,187,959		21,792,074		776,164		—		(207,014	)
Limited Duration Bond		4,139,759		3,827,341		(2,901,295	)		5,065,805		47,365,275		1,107,319		—		(121,289	)
Equity Income		—		142,155		(142,155	)		—		—		—		—		14,244
Premium Income		377,554		—		(377,554	)		—		—		—		—		(237,475	)
Tax Exempt Income		424,153		382,193		(806,346	)		—		—		48,479		—		(127,788	)
Tax Exempt Opportunities		237,635		671,515		(497,623	)		411,527		6,888,970		108,846		—		83,247
		24,234,774		12,170,546		(12,968,384	)		23,436,936	$	124,754,185	$	5,216,412	$	—	$	(858,002	)

The Strategic Income Fund operates as a fund of funds - also referred to as a multi-manager investment - an investment strategy in which a fund invests in other types of funds. This strategy invests in a portfolio that contains different underlying assets instead of investing directly in bonds, stocks and other types of securities.

The financial statements of each of the Funds in which Strategic Income Fund had investments during the year ended September 30, 2019, are included in this report except Tax Exempt Income Fund and Tax Exempt Opportunities Fund, whose most recent financial statements as of June 30, 2019, are available by calling 1-800-423-4026 or by writing to us at the following address: Foresters Financial Services, Inc., 40 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005.

3. Advisory Fee and Other Transactions With Affiliates—Certain officers of the Trusts are officers of the Trusts’ investment adviser, Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc. (“FIMCO”), their underwriter, Foresters Financial Services, Inc. (“FFS”) and their transfer agent, Foresters Investor Services, Inc. (“FIS”). Trustees of the Trusts who are not officers or directors of FIMCO or its affiliates are remunerated by the Funds. For the year ended September 30, 2019,

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total trustees fees accrued by the Income Funds and Equity Funds amounted to $158,674 and $518,621, respectively.

The Investment Advisory Agreements provide as compensation to FIMCO for each Fund, an annual fee, payable monthly, at the following rates:

Floating Rate Fund—.60% on the first $250 million of the Fund’s average daily net assets, .55% on the next $250 million, .50% on the next $500 million, .45% on the next $1 billion and .40% on average daily net assets over $2 billion. During the period October 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019 (expiration of expense limitation agreement), FIMCO has assumed, pursuant to an expense limitation agreement, $8,398 in other expenses to limit the Fund’s overall expense ratio (exclusive of certain expenses) to 1.10% on Class A shares, .90% on Advisor Class shares and .70% on Institutional Class shares. During the period January 31, 2019 through September 30, 2019, FIMCO voluntarily waived $15,672 in advisory fees.

Fund For Income and International Opportunities Bond Fund—.75% on the first $250 million of each Fund’s average daily net assets, .72% on the next $250 million, .69% on the next $250 million, .66% on the next $500 million, declining by .02% on each $500 million thereafter, down to .60% on average daily net assets over $2.25 billion. During the period October 1, 2018 through January 31, 2019 (expiration of advisory fee waiver), FIMCO has waived $54,695 in advisory fees on Fund For Income to limit the advisory fee to .70% of its average daily net assets. FIMCO also voluntarily waived an additional $51,953 in advisory fees on Fund For Income during the period January 31, 2019 through September 30, 2019. During the period June 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019, FIMCO voluntarily waived $54,020 in advisory fees on International Opportunities Bond Fund to limit the advisory fee to .60% of its average daily net assets.

Government Cash Management Fund—.50% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. For the year ended September 30, 2019, FIMCO has waived $383,241 in advisory fees to limit the Fund’s overall expense ratio (exclusive of certain expenses) to .60% on Class A shares, 1.35% on Class B shares and .60% on Institutional Class shares.

Investment Grade Fund—.66% on the first $500 million of the Fund’s average daily net assets, declining by .02% on each $500 million thereafter, down to .60% on average daily net assets over $1.5 billion. During the period October 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019, FIMCO has waived $212,088 in advisory fees on Investment Grade Fund to limit the advisory fee to .55% of its average daily net assets. During the period February 1, 2019 to September 30, 2019, FIMCO has waived $237,223 in advisory fees on Investment Grade Fund to limit the advisory fee to .59% of its average daily net assets.

Limited Duration Bond Fund—.41% on the first $500 million of the Fund’s average daily net assets, .39% on the next $500 million, .37% on the next $500 million and .35% on average daily net assets over $1.5 billion. For the year ended September 30, 2019, FIMCO has waived $621,462 in advisory fees and assumed $37,656 in other expenses to limit the Fund’s overall

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FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

expense ratio (exclusive of certain expenses) to .79% on Class a shares, .51% on Advisor Class shares and .36% on Institutional Class shares.

Strategic Income Fund—.05% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. During the period June 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019, FIMCO voluntarily waived $24,157 in advisory fees to limit the advisory fee to .00% of its average daily net assets.

Covered Call Strategy and Premium Income Funds—.80% on the first $300 million of each Fund’s average daily net assets, .75% on the next $200 million, .70% on the next $500 million, declining by .05% on each $1 billion thereafter, down to .55% on average daily net assets over $3 billion. During the period January 31, 2019 through September 30, 2019, FIMCO voluntarily waived $19,961 in advisory fees on the Covered Call Strategy Fund. During the period October 1, 2018 through January 31, 2019, FIMCO has waived, pursuant to an expense limitation agreement $17,774 in advisory fees and assumed $5,607 in other expenses to limit the Premium Income Fund’s overall expense ratio (exclusive of certain expenses) to 1.30% on Class A shares, 1.02% on Advisor Class shares and .89% on Institutional Class shares. During the period February 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019, FIMCO has waived, pursuant to an expense limitation agreement that became effective on February 1, 2019, $34,910 in advisory fees to limit the Premium Income Fund’s overall expense ratio (exclusive of certain expenses) to 1.30% on Class A shares, 1.06% on Advisor Class shares and .99% on Institutional Class shares.

Equity Income, Growth & Income, Opportunity, and Select Growth Funds—.75% on the first $300 million of each Fund’s average daily net assets, .72% on the next $200 million, .69% on the next $250 million, .66% on the next $500 million, declining by .02% on each $500 million thereafter, down to .60% on average daily net assets over $2.25 billion. During the period January 31, 2019 through September 30, 2019, FIMCO voluntarily waived $69,729 in advisory fees of the Select Growth Fund.

Global Fund—.95% on the first $600 million, .92% on the next $400 million, .90% on the next $500 million and .88% on average daily net assets over $1.5 billion. During the period October 1, 2018 through January 31, 2019 (expiration of advisory fee waiver), FIMCO has waived $94,872 in advisory fees to limit the advisory fee to .90% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund—1.15% on the first $100 million of each Fund’s average daily net assets, 1.10% on the next $400 million, 1.05% on the next $500 million, declining by .05% on each $1 billion thereafter, down to .90% on average daily net assets over $3 billion.

International Fund—.98% on the first $300 million of the Fund’s average daily net assets, .95% on the next $300 million, .92% on the next $400 million, .90% on the next $500 million and .88% on average daily net assets over $1.5 billion.

Special Situations Fund—.90% on the first $200 million of the Fund’s average daily net assets, .75% on the next $300 million, .72% on the next $250 million, .69% on the next $250 million, .66% on the next $500 million and .64% on average daily net assets over $1.5 billion.

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Total Return Fund—.75% on the first $300 million of the Fund’s average daily net assets, .70% on the next $200 million, .65% on the next $500 million, .60% on the next $1 billion, .55% on the next $1 billion, down to .50% on average daily net assets over $3 billion.

For the year ended September 30, 2019, total advisory fees accrued to FIMCO by the Income Funds and Equity Funds were $12,453,071 and $53,520,446, respectively, of which $1,654,511 and $237,246, respectively, was waived by FIMCO as noted above.

FIMCO has entered into an expense limitation agreement with the Floating Rate Fund (“FRF”) on January 31, 2019, to limit FRF’s total annual fund operating expenses (exclusive of interest expenses, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend costs related to short sales, and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses, if any) to 1.10% of the average daily net assets on Class A shares. The agreement expires on January 31, 2020. During the period January 31, 2019 to September 30, 2019, FRF repaid FIMCO $75,429 under the terms of the agreement. FIMCO and FRF have agreed that any expenses of FRF assumed by FIMCO pursuant to this agreement be repaid to FIMCO by FRF within three years after the date the fee limitation and/or expense reimbursement has been made by FIMCO, provided that such repayment does not cause the expenses of FRF’s Class A shares to exceed the applicable expense ratio in place at the time the expenses are waived or assumed or the current limits established under the expense limitation agreement. The expense limitation agreement may be terminated or amended prior to January 31, 2020, with the approval of the Board. FIMCO had entered into an expense limitation agreement with the FRF to limit FRF’s total annual fund operating expenses (exclusive of interest expenses, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend costs related to short sales, and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses, if any) to 1.10% of the average daily net assets on Class A shares, .90% of the average daily net assets on Advisor Class shares and .70% of the average daily net assets on Institutional Class shares. The agreement expired on January 31, 2019. During the period October 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019 (expiration of the expense limitation agreement), FIMCO assumed $8,398, under the terms of the agreement. FIMCO and FRF have agreed that any expenses of FRF assumed by FIMCO pursuant to this agreement be repaid to FIMCO by FRF within three years after the date the fee limitation and/or expense reimbursement has been made by FIMCO, provided that such repayment does not cause the expenses of FRF’s Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares to exceed the applicable expense ratio in place at the time the expenses are waived or assumed or the current limits established under the expense limitation agreement. For the period October 21, 2013 (commencement of operations) through January 31, 2019 (expiration of the expense limitation agreement), FIMCO assumed $766,764 of which FRF repaid $75,429, and under the terms of the agreement of which $223,534 expired on September 30, 2017, $198,431 expired on September 30, 2018, $86,184 expired on September 30, 2019, $131,427 expires on September 30, 2020, $43,361 expires on September 30, 2021 and $8,398 expires on September 30, 2022.

Effective June 1, 2018, FIMCO has entered into an expense limitation agreement with the Government Cash Management Fund (“GCM”) to limit GCM’s total annual fund operating expenses (exclusive of interest expenses, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

expenses, dividend costs related to short sales, and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses, if any) to .80% of the average daily net assets on Class A shares and .80% of the average daily net assets on Institutional Class shares. The agreement expires on January 31, 2020. For the period ended September 30, 2019, FIMCO assumed $40,108 under the terms of the agreement. FIMCO and GCM have agreed that any expenses of GCM assumed by FIMCO and/or FIS pursuant to this agreement be repaid to FIMCO by GCM within three years after the date the fee limitation and/or expense reimbursement has been made by FIMCO, provided that such repayment does not cause the expenses of GCM’s Class A shares and Institutional Class shares to exceed the applicable expense ratio in place at the time the expenses are waived or assumed or the current limits established under the expense limitation agreement. For the period June 1, 2018 (commencement of expense limitation agreement) through September 30, 2019, FIMCO assumed $131,287 under the terms of the agreement of which expires $91,179 September 30, 2021 and $40,108 expires on September 30, 2022. The expense limitation agreement may be terminated or amended prior to January 31, 2020, with the approval of the Board.

FIMCO had entered into an expense limitation agreement with the International Opportunities Bond Fund (“IOBF”) to limit IOBF’s total annual fund operating expenses (exclusive of interest expenses, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend costs related to short sales, and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses, if any) to 1.30% of the average daily net assets on Class A shares. The agreement expired on January 31, 2016. FIMCO and IOBF have agreed that any expenses of IOBF assumed by FIMCO pursuant to this agreement be repaid to FIMCO by IOBF within three years after the date the fee limitation and/or expense reimbursement has been made by FIMCO, provided that such repayment does not cause the expenses of IOBF’s Class A shares to exceed the applicable expense ratio in place at the time the expenses are waived or assumed or the current limits established under the expense limitation agreement. For the period August 20, 2012 (commencement of operations) to January 31, 2016 (expiration of the expense limitation agreement), FIMCO assumed $684,479 under the terms of the agreement of which $278,248 expired on September 30, 2015, $228,243 expired on September 30, 2016, $94,746 expired on September 30, 2017, $62,359 expired on September 30, 2018, and $20,883 expired on September 30, 2019.

FIMCO has entered into an expense limitation agreement with the Limited Duration Bond Fund (“LDB”) on March 14, 2018, to limit LDB’s total annual fund operating expenses (exclusive of interest expenses, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend costs related to short sales, and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses, if any) to .79% of the average daily net assets on Class A shares, .51% of the average daily net assets on Advisor Class shares and .36% of the average daily net assets on Institutional Class shares. The agreement expires on January 31, 2020. For the period ended September 30, 2019, FIMCO assumed $659,118 under the terms of the agreement. FIMCO and LDB have agreed that any expenses of LDB assumed by FIMCO pursuant to this agreement be repaid to FIMCO by LDB within three years after the date the fee limitation and/or expense reimbursement has been made by FIMCO, provided that such repayment does not cause the expenses of LDB’s Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares to exceed the applicable expense ratio in

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place at the time the expenses are waived or assumed or the current limits established under the expense limitation agreement. For the period March 14, 2018 to September 30, 2019, FIMCO assumed $875,805 under the terms of the agreement of which $216,687 expires on September 30, 2021 and $659,118 expires on September 30, 2022. The expense limitation agreement may be terminated or amended prior to January 31, 2020, with the approval of the Board. FIMCO had previously entered into an expense limitation agreement with LDB to limit LDB’s total annual fund operating expenses (exclusive of interest expenses, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend costs related to short sales, and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses, if any) to 1.05% of the average daily net assets on Class A shares, .75% of the average daily net assets on Advisor Class shares and .60% of the average daily net assets on Institutional Class shares. The agreement expired on January 31, 2018. FIMCO and LDB have agreed that any expenses of LDB assumed by FIMCO pursuant to this agreement be repaid to FIMCO by LDB within three years after the date the fee limitation and/or expense reimbursement has been made by FIMCO, provided that such repayment does not cause the expenses of LDB’s Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares to exceed the applicable expense ratio in place at the time the expenses are waived or assumed or the current limits established under the expense limitation agreement. For the period May 19, 2014 (commencement of operations) to January 31, 2018 (expiration of the expense limitation agreement), FIMCO assumed $894,488 under the terms of the agreement of which $143,148 expired on September 30, 2017, $179,140 expired on September 30, 2018, $224,276 expired on September 30, 2019, $274,706 expires on September 30, 2020, and $73,218 expires on September 30, 2021.

FIMCO had entered into an expense limitation agreement with the Covered Call Strategy Fund (“CCS”) to limit CCS’s total annual fund operating expenses (exclusive of interest expenses, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend costs related to short sales, and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses, if any) to 1.30% of the average daily net assets on Class A shares, .97% of the average daily net assets on Advisor Class shares and .84% of the average daily net assets on Institutional Class shares. The agreement expired on January 31, 2019. FIMCO and CCS have agreed that any expenses of CCS assumed by FIMCO pursuant to this agreement be repaid to FIMCO by CCS within three years after the date the fee limitation and/or expense reimbursement has been made by FIMCO, provided that such repayment does not cause the expenses of CCS’s Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares to exceed the applicable expense ratio in place at the time the expenses are waived or assumed or the current limits established under the expense limitation agreement. For the period ended September 30, 2019, CCS repaid FIMCO $96,283 under the terms of the agreement. For the period April 1, 2016 (commencement of operations) through January 31, 2019, (expiration of the expense limitation agreement), FIMCO assumed $304,868, of which CCS repaid $96,283, and under the terms of the agreement of which $34,218 expired on September 30, 2019, $137,941 expires on September 30, 2020 and $36,426 expires on September 30, 2021.

FIMCO had entered into an expense limitation agreement with the Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund (“HUSEO”) to limit HUSEO’s total annual fund operating expenses

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

(exclusive of interest expenses, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend costs related to short sales, and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses, if any) to 1.75% of the average daily net assets on Class A shares, 1.42% of the average daily net assets on Advisor Class shares and 1.31% of the average daily net assets on Institutional Class shares. The agreement expired on January 31, 2019. FIMCO and HUSEO have agreed that any expenses of HUSEO assumed by FIMCO pursuant to this agreement be repaid to FIMCO by HUSEO within three years after the date the fee limitation and/or expense reimbursement has been made by FIMCO, provided that such repayment does not cause the expenses of HUSEO’s Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares to exceed the applicable expense ratio in place at the time the expenses are waived or assumed or the current limits established under the expense limitation agreement. For the year ended September 30, 2019, HUSEO repaid $86,400 under terms of the agreement. For the period August 1, 2016 (commencement of operations) to January 31, 2019 (expiration of the expense limitation agreement), FIMCO assumed $272,154, of which HUSEO repaid $86,400 under the terms of the agreement and of which $185,754 expires on September 30, 2020.

FIMCO has entered into an expense limitation agreement with the Premium Income Fund (“PIF”) on January 31, 2019, to limit PIF’s total annual fund operating expenses (exclusive of interest expenses, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend costs related to short sales, and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses, if any) to 1.30% of the average daily net assets on Class A shares, 1.06% of the average daily net assets on Advisor Class shares and .99% of the average daily net assets on Institutional Class shares. The agreement expires on January 31, 2020. During the period January 31, 2019 to September 30, 2019, FIMCO assumed $34,910 under the terms of the agreement of which expires on September 30, 2022. FIMCO and PIF have agreed that any expenses of PIF assumed by FIMCO pursuant to this agreement be repaid to FIMCO by PIF within three years after the date the fee limitation and/or expense reimbursement has been made by FIMCO, provided that such repayment does not cause the expenses of PIF’s Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares to exceed the applicable expense ratio in place at the time the expenses are waived or assumed or the current limits established under the expense limitation agreement. FIMCO had previously entered into an expense limitation agreement with PIF to limit PIF’s total annual fund operating expenses (exclusive of interest expenses, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend costs related to short sales, and extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses, if any) to 1.30% of the average daily net assets on Class A shares, 1.02% of the average daily net assets on Advisor Class shares and .89% of the average daily net assets on Institutional Class shares. The agreement expired on January 31, 2019. FIMCO and PIF have agreed that any expenses of PIF assumed by FIMCO pursuant to this agreement be repaid to FIMCO by PIF within three years after the date the fee limitation and/or expense reimbursement has been made by FIMCO, provided that such repayment does not cause the expenses of PIF’s Class A shares, Advisor Class shares and Institutional Class shares to exceed the applicable expense ratio in place at the time the expenses are waived or assumed or the current limits established under the expense limitation agreement. For the period October 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019, FIMCO assumed $23,381 under the terms of the agreement. For

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the period April 2, 2018 (commencement of operations) to January 31, 2019 (expiration of the expense limitation agreement), FIMCO assumed $179,141 under the terms of the agreement of which $155,760 expires on September 30, 2021 and $23,381 expires on September 30, 2022.

For the year ended September 30, 2019, FFS, as underwriter, received from the Income Funds and Equity Funds $1,130,689 and $11,041,275, respectively, in commissions in connection with the sale of shares of the Funds, after allowing $29,929 and $311,733, respectively, to other dealers. For the year ended September 30, 2019, shareholder servicing costs for the Income Funds and Equity Funds included $2,918,916 and $8,778,095, respectively, in transfer agent fees accrued to FIS, of which FIS voluntarily waived $47,670 on the Government Cash Management Fund.

Pursuant to Distribution Plans adopted under Rule 12b-1 of the 1940 Act, each Fund, other than the Government Cash Management Fund, is authorized to pay FFS a fee up to .30% (and for certain Funds, up to .25%) of the average daily net assets of the Class A shares and 1% of the average daily net assets of the Class B shares on an annualized basis each fiscal year, payable monthly. The Government Cash Management Fund is authorized to pay FFS a fee up to 1% of the average daily net assets of the Class B shares. The fee consists of a distribution fee and a service fee. The service fee is paid for the ongoing servicing of clients who are shareholders of that Fund. For the year ended September 30, 2019, total distribution plan fees accrued to FFS by the Income Funds and Equity Funds amounted to $3,830,155 and $15,937,108, respectively.

Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC, serves as investment subadviser to International Opportunities Bond Fund. Muzinich & Co., Inc. serves as investment subadviser to Floating Rate Fund and Fund For Income. Effective January 31, 2018, Muzinich & Co., Inc. serves as investment subadviser to Investment Grade Fund, Limited Duration Bond Fund and Total Return Fund. Ziegler Capital Management, LLC serves as investment subadviser to Covered Call Strategy Fund and Premium Income Fund. Wellington Management Company, LLP serves as investment subadviser to Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund. Vontobel Asset Management, Inc. serves as investment subadviser to International Fund. Smith Asset Management Group, L.P. serves as investment subadviser to Select Growth Fund. The subadvisers are paid by FIMCO and not by the Funds.

4. Restricted Securities—Certain restricted securities are exempt from the registration requirements under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933 and may only be sold to qualified institutional investors. Unless otherwise noted, these 144A securities are deemed to be liquid. At September 30, 2019, Floating Rate Fund held four 144A securities with an aggregate value of $3,215,472 representing 3.1% of the Fund’s net assets, Fund For Income held one hundred eighty-five 144A securities with an aggregate value of $313,675,504 representing 57.8% of the Fund’s net assets, Investment Grade Fund held nine 144A securities with an aggregate value of $34,834,819 representing 8.8% of the Fund’s net assets, Limited Duration Bond Fund held nineteen 144A securities with an aggregate value of $67,099,674 representing 20.6% of the Fund’s net assets and Total Return Fund held one hundred forty-nine 144A securities with an

285

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

aggregate value of $33,087,788 representing 4.1% of the Fund’s net assets. These securities are valued as set forth in Note 1A.

5. Derivatives—Some of the Funds may invest in various derivatives. A derivative is a financial instrument which has a value that is based on – or “derived from” – the values of other assets, reference rates, or indices. The Funds may invest in derivatives for hedging purposes.

Derivatives may relate to a wide variety of underlying references, such as commodities, stocks, bonds, interest rates, currency exchange rates, and related indices. Derivatives include futures contracts and options on futures contracts, forward-commitment transactions, options on securities, caps, floors, collars, swap contracts, and other financial instruments. Some derivatives, such as futures contracts and certain options, are traded on U.S. commodity and securities exchanges, while other derivatives, such as swap contracts, are privately negotiated and entered into in the OTC market. The risks associated with the use of derivatives are different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments.

The use of a derivative involves the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the insolvency or bankruptcy of the other party to the contract (usually referred to as a “counterparty”) or the failure of the counterparty to make required payments or otherwise comply with the terms of the contract. Additionally, the use of credit derivatives can result in losses if FIMCO, or a Fund’s subadviser, as applicable, does not correctly evaluate the creditworthiness of the issuer on which the credit derivative is based.

Derivatives may be subject to liquidity risk, which exists when a particular derivative is difficult to purchase or sell. If a derivative transaction is particularly large or if the relevant market is relatively illiquid (as is the case with many OTC derivatives), it may not be possible to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price.

Derivatives may be subject to pricing or “basis” risk, which exists when a particular derivative becomes extraordinarily expensive relative to historical prices or the prices of corresponding cash market instruments. Under certain market conditions, it may not be economically feasible to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position in time to avoid a loss or take advantage of an opportunity.

Because many derivatives have leverage or borrowing components, adverse changes in the value or level of the underlying asset, reference rate, or index can result in a loss substantially greater than the amount invested in the derivative itself. Certain derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment.

Like most other investments, derivative instruments are subject to the risk that the market value of the instrument will change in a way detrimental to the Funds’ interest. The Funds bear the risk that FIMCO will incorrectly forecast future market trends or the values of assets, reference rates, indices, or other financial or economic factors in establishing derivative positions for the Funds. If FIMCO attempts to use a derivative as a hedge against, or as a substitute for, a portfolio

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investment, the Funds will be exposed to the risk that the derivative will have or will develop an imperfect or no correlation with the portfolio investment. This could cause substantial losses for the Funds. While hedging strategies involving derivative instruments can reduce the risk of loss, they can also reduce the opportunity for gain or even result in losses by offsetting favorable price movements in other investments. Many derivatives, in particular OTC derivatives, are complex and often valued subjectively. Improper valuations can result in increased cash payment requirements to counterparties or a loss of value to a Fund.

The following provides more information on specific types of derivatives and activity in the Funds.

Options Contracts—Some of the Funds may write covered call and put options on securities, derivative instruments, or currencies the Fund owns or in which it may invest. Writing put options tends to increase a Fund’s exposure to the underlying instrument. Writing call options tends to decrease a Fund’s exposure to the underlying instrument. When a Fund writes a call or put option, an amount equal to the premium received is recorded as a liability and subsequently marked to market to reflect the current value of the option written. These liabilities are reflected as written options outstanding in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Payments received or made, if any, from writing options with premiums to be determined on a future date are reflected as such on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Premiums received from writing options which expire are treated as realized gains. Premiums received from writing options which are exercised or closed are added to the proceeds or offset against amounts paid on the underlying future, swap, security or currency transaction to determine the realized gain or loss. A Fund, as a writer of an option, has no control over whether the underlying future, swap, security or currency may be sold (call) or purchased (put) and, as a result, bears the market risk of an unfavorable change in the price of the future, swap, security or currency underlying the written option. The risk exists that a Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction because of an illiquid market.

Some of the Funds may also purchase put and call options. Purchasing call options tends to increase a Fund’s exposure to the underlying instrument. Purchasing put options tends to decrease a Fund’s exposure to the underlying instrument. A Fund pays a premium which is included in its Statement of Assets and Liabilities as an investment and subsequently marked to market to reflect the current value of the option. Premiums paid for purchasing options which expire are treated as realized losses. The risk associated with purchasing put and call options is limited to the premium paid. Premiums paid for purchasing options which are exercised or closed are added to the amounts paid or offset against the proceeds on the underlying future, swap, security or currency transaction to determine the realized gain or loss.

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

The premium amount and the number of option contracts written or purchased by the Funds during the year ended September 30, 2019, were as follows:

	Covered Call Strategy						Equity Income						Growth & Income
	Call Options						Call Options						Call Options
	Number of Contracts			Premium Amount			Number of Contracts			Premium Amount			Number of Contracts			Premium Amount
Options outstanding at September 30, 2018		(37,287	)	$	(4,894,698	)		—		$	—			—		$	—
Call options written		(230,984	)		(46,537,285	)		(1,822	)		(254,152	)		(3,538	)		(484,606	)
Call options exercised		2,461			515,982			672			87,135			1,588			242,763
Call options purchased to cover		192,362			33,903,644			—			—			—			—
Call options expirations		47,517			6,543,468			1,150			167,017			1,950			241,843
Options outstanding at September 30, 2019		(25,931	)	$	(10,468,889	)		—		$	—			—		$	—

	Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities												Premium Income
	Put Options												Call Options
	Number of Contracts			Premium Amount			Number of Contracts			Premium Amount			Number of Contracts			Premium Amount
Options outstanding at September 30, 2018		177		$	1,516,217			(132	)	$	(608,359	)		(13,818	)	$	(15,158,255	)
Put options written		—			—			(227	)		(1,211,742	)		—			—
Put options purchased to cover		—			—			170			969,499			—			—
Put options written expirations		—			—			23			63,950			—			—
Put options purchased		227			2,143,052			—			—			—			—
Put options sold		(61	)		(705,485	)		—			—			—			—
Put options purchased expired		(177	)		(1,516,216	)		—			—			—			—
Call options written		—			—			—			—			(49,682	)		(61,789,236	)
Call options exercised		—			—			—			—			6,429			5,266,267
Call options purchased to cover		—			—			—			—			36,323			46,172,153
Call options expirations		—			—			—			—			299			414,302
Options outstanding at September 30, 2019		166		$	1,437,568			(166	)	$	(786,652	)		(20,449	)	$	(25,094,769	)

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Derivative Investment Holdings Categorized by Risk Exposure—The following table sets forth the fair value and the location in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities of the Funds’ derivative contracts by primary risk exposure as of September 30, 2019:

Asset derivatives

Liability derivatives

Risk exposure category

Statement of Assets
and Liabilities
location

Value

Statement of Assets
and Liabilities
location

Value

Options Contracts:

Covered Call Strategy

Purchased Options, at value

N/A

Written Options, at value

13,732,077

Purchased Options, at value

N/A

Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities

Purchased Options, at value

731,965

Written Options, at value

352,340

Purchased Options, at value

—

Premium Income

Purchased Options, at value

N/A

Written Options, at value

29,088,288

Purchased Options, at value

N/A

The following table sets forth the Funds’ realized gain (loss), as reflected in the Statement of Operations, by primary risk exposure and by type of derivative contract for the year ended September 30, 2019:

Risk exposure category	Written options			Purchased options
Options contracts:
Covered Call Strategy	$	(6,548,114	)		N/A
Equity Income	$	167,018			N/A
Growth & Income	$	241,845			N/A
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities	$	(1,946,305	)	$	726,762
Premium Income	$	2,288,508			N/A

The following table sets forth the Funds’ change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) by primary risk exposure and by type of derivative contract for the year ended September 30, 2019:

Risk exposure category	Written options			Purchased options
Options Contracts:
Covered Call Strategy	$	(3,264,321	)	$	N/A
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities	$	140,894		$	185,284
Premium Income	$	(2,668,324	)	$	N/A

Futures Contracts—The Funds may enter into futures contracts including interest rate futures contracts and index futures, including futures on equity market indices and debt market indices. A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell a specified underlying instrument for a fixed price at a specified future date. The Funds may use futures contracts to manage exposure to the stock market. Upon entering into a futures contract, a fund is required

289

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

to deposit either cash or securities (initial margin) with a clearing broker in an amount equal to a certain percentage of the face value of the contract. Futures contracts are marked-to-market daily and subsequent daily payments (variation margin) are made or received by a fund depending on the daily fluctuations in the value of the futures contracts and are recorded as unrealized appreciation or (depreciation). This receivable and/or payable, if any, is included in daily variation margin on futures contracts in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Realized gain or (loss) is recorded upon the expiration or closing of a futures contract. The net realized gain (loss) and change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on futures contracts during the period is presented in the Statement of Operations. Any open futures contracts at period end are presented in the Schedule of Investments under the caption “Futures Contracts”. The notional amount at value reflects each contract’s exposure to the underlying instrument or index at period end.

The Funds may enter into interest rate futures contracts on U.S. Treasury obligations and options thereon that are traded on a U.S. exchange. An interest rate futures contract provides for the future sale by one party and the purchase by another party of a specified amount of a particular financial instrument (debt security) at a specified price, date, time and place. Such investments may be used for, among other purposes, the purpose of hedging against changes in the value of a Fund’s portfolio securities due to anticipated changes in interest rates and market conditions. A public market exists for interest rate futures contracts covering a number of debt securities, including long-term U.S. Treasury Bonds, 10-year U.S. Treasury Notes and three-month U.S. Treasury Bills. No price is paid upon entering into futures contracts. Instead, upon entering into a futures contract, a Fund is required to deposit with its custodian in a segregated account in the name of the futures broker through which the transaction is effected an amount of cash or U.S. Government securities generally equal to 3%-5% or less of the contract value. This amount is known as “initial margin.”

An option on an interest rate futures contract generally gives the purchaser the right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in a futures contract at a specified exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option. The Funds may purchase put and call options on interest rate futures contracts on U.S. Treasury obligations which are traded on a U.S. exchange as a hedge against changes in interest rates, and may enter into closing transactions with respect to such options to terminate existing positions. There is no guarantee such closing transactions can be effected. When writing a call or put option on a futures contract, margin also must be deposited in accordance with applicable exchange rules. Initial margin on futures contracts is in the nature of a performance bond or good-faith deposit that is returned to a Fund upon termination of the transaction, assuming all obligations have been satisfied. Under certain circumstances, such as periods of high volatility, a Fund may be required by an exchange to increase the level of its initial margin payment. Subsequent payments, called “variation margin,” to and from the broker, are made on a daily basis as the value of the futures position varies, a process known as “marking to market.” Variation margin does not involve borrowing to finance the futures transactions, but rather represents a daily settlement of a Fund’s obligation to or from a clearing organization. A Fund is also obligated to make initial and variation margin payments when it writes options on futures contracts.

290

To the extent that a Fund participates in the futures or options markets, it will incur investment risks and transaction costs to which it would not be subject absent the use of these strategies. The use of these strategies involves certain special risks, including: (1) dependence on the ability of the Funds’ investment adviser, FIMCO, or a Fund’s subadviser, as applicable, to predict correctly movements in the direction of interest rates and securities prices; (2) imperfect correlation between the price of futures contracts and options thereon and movements in the prices of the securities or currencies being hedged; (3) the fact that skills needed to use these strategies are different from those needed to select portfolio securities; (4) the leverage (if any) that is created by investing in the option or futures contract; and (5) the possible absence of a liquid secondary market for any particular instrument at any time. If FIMCO’s, or a Fund’s subadviser, as applicable, prediction of movements in the direction of the securities and interest rate markets is inaccurate, the adverse consequences to that Fund may leave it in a worse position than if such strategies were not used. Derivatives may be difficult to sell, unwind or value.

The following table summarizes the value of the Funds’ futures contracts held as of September 30, 2019 and the related location in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities:

	Statement of Assets and Liabilities Location
Futures Contracts	Unrealized appreciation in value of investments
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities	$	165,885

The amount of unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on futures contracts recognized by the Funds in the accompanying Statement of Operations for the year ended September 30, 2019 is summarized in the following table:

	Statement of Operations Location
Futures Contracts	Unrealized appreciation in value of investments
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities	$	324,875

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Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

The following table summarizes the realized gain on futures contracts during the year ended September 30, 2019, and the related location in the accompanying Statement of Operations.

	Statement of Operations
Futures Contracts	Realized gain on futures contracts
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities	$	364,036

Foreign Exchange Contracts—The International Opportunities Bond Fund, Global Fund and Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund may enter into foreign exchange contracts for the purchase or sale of foreign currencies at negotiated rates at future dates. These contracts are considered derivative instruments and a Fund may invest in them in order to hedge its currency exposure in bond positions or to gain currency exposure held by the Fund. A Fund could be exposed to risk if counterparties to the contracts are unable to meet the terms of their contracts or if the value of the foreign currency changes unfavorably. Foreign exchange contracts are “marked-to-market” daily at the applicable translation rate and the resulting unrealized gains and losses are reflected in the Funds’ assets. During the period, the Funds used currency forwards to hedge currency exposure from certain bonds as well as to gain currency exposure in certain countries.

Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities—Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities requires an entity to disclose information about offsetting and related arrangements to enable users of its financial statements to understand the effect of those arrangements on its financial position. The guidance requires retrospective application for all comparative periods presented.

A Fund may mitigate credit risk with respect to OTC derivative counterparties through credit support annexes included with an International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. Master Agreements or other Master Netting Agreements which are the standard contracts governing most derivative transactions between the Fund and each of its counterparties. These agreements may allow the Fund and each counterparty to offset certain derivative financial instruments’ payables and/or receivables against each other and/or with collateral, which is generally held by the Fund’s custodian. The amount of collateral moved to/from applicable counterparties is based upon minimum transfer amounts specified in the agreement. To the extent amounts due to the Fund from its counterparties are not fully collateralized contractually or otherwise, the Fund bears the risk of loss from counterparty non-performance.

The Funds’ Statement of Assets and Liabilities (“SOAL”) presents financial instruments on a gross basis, therefore there are no net amounts and no offset amounts within the SOAL to present

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below. Gross amounts of the financial instruments, amounts related to financial instruments/cash collateral not offset in the SOAL and net amounts are presented below:

International Opportunities Bond

Description/Financial Instrument/Statement of Assets and Liabilities Category	Counterparty	Gross Amounts Presented in Statement of Assets and Liabilities			Financial Instruments^*			Net Amount
Unrealized gain on foreign exchange contracts	HSBC	$	26,459		$	(26,459	)	$	—

Unrealized loss on foreign exchange contracts	CITI	$	(311,354	)	$	—		$	(311,354	)
	GS		(90,135	)		—			(90,135	)
	HSBC		(430,516	)		26,459			(404,057	)
	MS		(176,494	)		—			(176,494	)
	Total	$	(1,008,499	)	$	26,459		$	(982,040	)

Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities

Description/Financial Instrument/Statement of Assets and Liabilities Category	Counterparty	Gross Amounts Presented in Statement of Assets and Liabilities			Financial Instruments^*			Net Amount
Unrealized gain on foreign exchange contracts	BAM	$	1,234		$	—		$	1,234
	DMG		16,089			(4,113	)		11,976
	UBS		12,369			—			12,369
		$	29,692		$	(4,113	)	$	25,579
Unrealized loss on foreign exchange contracts	BOM	$	(5,556	)	$	—		$	(5,556	)
	DMG		(4,113	)		4,113			—
	Total	$	(9,669	)	$	4,113		$	(5,556	)

^*	Amounts related to master netting arrangements (for example, ISDA) which have been determined by the Fund to be legally enforceable in the event of default and where certain other criteria are met in accordance with applicable offsetting accounting guidance.

A summary of abbreviations for counterparties appear at the end of the Portfolio of Investments for the respective Funds.

293

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

During the year ended September 30, 2019, the volume of derivative activity for the Funds based on average monthly market values for forward foreign currency contracts (to buy) and for forward foreign currency contracts (to sell) were as follows:

	Forward Foreign Currency Contracts
	to Buy		to Sell
International Opportunities Bond	$	55,794,644	$	11,609,624
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities		955,030		4,038,721

Fair Value of Derivative Instruments—The fair value of derivative instruments held by the Funds as of September 30, 2019, was as follows:

	Assets Derivatives			Liability Derivatives
Derivatives not accounted for as hedging instruments under ASC 815	Statements of Assets and Liabilities Location			Statements of Assets and Liabilities Location
Foreign exchange, options and futures contracts:	Unrealized appreciation of foreign exchange, options and futures contracts	Value		Unrealized depreciation of foreign exchange, options and futures contracts	Value
International Opportunities Bond		$	26,459		$	(1,008,499	)
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities		$	29,692		$	(9,669	)

The effect of the Funds’ derivative instruments on the Statement of Operations are as follows:

Amount of Realized Gain or Loss Recognized on Derivatives
Derivatives not accounted for as hedging instruments under ASC 815	Net Realized Gain (Loss) on Foreign Exchange Transactions
Foreign exchange transactions:
International Opportunities Bond	$	(3,529,943	)
Global	$	(416,670	)
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities	$	79,013
International	$	(309,025	)

294

Amount of Change in Unrealized Appreciation or Depreciation Recognized on Derivatives
Derivatives not accounted for as hedging instruments under ASC 815	Net Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) on Foreign Exchange Transactions
Foreign exchange transactions:
International Opportunities Bond	$	(796,780	)
Global	$	(32,865	)
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities	$	15,975
International	$	(15,793	)

6. High Yield Credit Risk—The investments in high yield securities of Floating Rate Fund, Fund For Income, Investment Grade Fund, Limited Duration Bond Fund and Total Return Fund, whether rated or unrated, may be considered speculative and subject to greater market fluctuations and risks of loss of income and principal than lower-yielding, higher-rated, fixed-income securities. The risk of loss due to default by the issuer may be significantly greater for holders of high-yielding securities, because such securities are generally unsecured and are often subordinated to other creditors of the issuer.

7. Capital—The Trusts are authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest without par value. The Trusts consist of the Funds listed on the cover page, each of which is a separate and distinct series of the Trusts. Each Fund has designated three classes of shares, Class A, Advisor Class and Institutional Class shares (each, a “Class”) except for Government Cash Management Fund which has designated only Class A, and Institutional Class shares, Strategic Income Fund which has designated only Class A and Advisor Class shares. All Class B shares were converted to Class A shares on June 14, 2019. Not all classes of shares of each Fund may be available in all jurisdictions. Effective February 1, 2019, Class B shares are no longer offered for sale to the public. Each share of each Class has an equal beneficial interest in the assets, has identical voting, dividend, liquidation and other rights and is subject to the same terms and conditions except that expenses allocated to a Class may be borne solely by that Class as determined by the Board and a Class may have exclusive voting rights with respect to matters affecting only that Class. Government Cash Management Fund’s Class A, and Institutional Class shares are sold without an initial sales charge; however, The shares sold by the other Funds have a public offering price that reflects different sales charges and expense levels. Class A shares are sold with an initial sales charge of up to 4% for the First Investors Income Funds, except for Floating Rate Fund and Limited Duration Bond Fund which have an initial sales charge of up to 2.5% (effective June 12, 2017, the maximum sales charge on Class A shares was changed from 5.75% to 4% on the Income Funds, except for Floating Rate Fund and Limited Duration Bond Fund which was changed to 2.5%) and 5.75% for the First Investors Equity Funds and together with the Class B shares are subject to distribution plan fees as described in Note 3. There are no sales charges associated with the purchase of Advisor Class and Institutional Class shares. Realized and unrealized gains or losses, investment income and expenses (other than distribution

295

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

plan fees and shareholder servicing costs) are allocated daily to each class of shares based upon the relative proportion of net assets to each class.

8. Litigation—The Blue Chip and Equity Income Funds have been named, and have received notice that they may be putative members of the proposed defendant class of shareholders, in a lawsuit filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on November 1, 2010, by the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Tribune Company (the “Committee”). The Committee is seeking to recover all payments made to beneficial owners of common stock in connection with a leveraged buyout of the Tribune Company (“LBO”), including payments made in connection with a 2007 tender offer into which the Blue Chip and Equity Income Funds tendered their shares of common stock of the Tribune Company. On December 9, 2011, the Blue Chip Fund was reorganized into the Growth & Income Fund pursuant to a Plan of Reorganization and Termination, whereby all of the assets of the Blue Chip Fund were transferred to the Growth & Income Fund, the Growth & Income Fund assumed all of the liabilities of the Blue Chip Fund, including any contingent liabilities with respect to pending or threatened litigation or actions, and shareholders of Blue Chip Fund became shareholders of Growth & Income Fund. The adversary proceeding brought by the Committee has been transferred to the Southern District of New York and administratively consolidated with other similar suits as discussed below. In addition, on June 2, 2011, the Blue Chip and Equity Income Funds were named as defendants in a lawsuit brought in connection with the Tribune Company’s LBO by Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, in its capacity as successor indenture trustee for a certain series of Senior Notes, Law Debenture Trust Company of New York, in its capacity as successor indenture trustee for a certain series of Senior Notes, and Wilmington Trust Company, in its capacity as successor indenture trustee for the PHONES Notes (together, the “Bondholder Plaintiffs”) in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The Blue Chip and Equity Income Funds have also been named in a similar suit filed on behalf of participants in Tribune defined-compensation plans (the “Retiree Plaintiffs”). As with the Bondholder Plaintiffs and the Committee, the Retiree Plaintiffs seek to recover payments of the proceeds of the LBO. (All of these suits have been removed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and administratively consolidated with other substantially similar suits against other former Tribune shareholders (the “MDL Proceeding”)). On September 23, 2013, the Judge in the MDL Proceeding dismissed various state law constructive fraudulent transfer suits, resulting in the Funds being dismissed from the Bondholder and Retiree Plaintiffs’ actions. On September 30, 2013, counsel for the plaintiffs in those suits appealed the MDL Judge’s dismissal ruling to the Second Circuit. On March 24, 2016, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the MDL Judge’s dismissal of the various state law constructive fraudulent transfer suits. In September 2016, the Bondholder and Retiree Plaintiffs petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit’s decision. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on that request. On January 9, 2017, the Tribune MDL judge granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the Committee lawsuit alleging a single claim for intentional fraudulent transfer. An appeal of that decision to the Second Circuit is expected, but has not yet been made. The extent of the Funds’ potential liability in any such actions has not been determined. The Funds have been advised by counsel that the Funds could be held liable to return all or part of the proceeds received in any of these actions, as well as interest and court costs, even though the Funds had no knowledge of, or participation in,

296

any misconduct. The Equity Income Fund received proceeds of $1,526,566 in connection with the LBO, representing 0.32% of its net assets as of September 30, 2019. The Blue Chip Fund received proceeds of $790,772 in connection with the LBO, representing 0.05% of the net assets of Growth & Income Fund as of September 30, 2019. The Equity Income and Growth & Income Funds cannot predict the outcomes of these proceedings, and thus have not accrued any of the amounts sought in the various actions in the accompanying financial statements.

9. Reorganization of Government Fund into Limited Duration Bond Fund—On September 21, 2018, the Limited Duration Bond Fund acquired all of the net assets of the Government Fund in connection with a tax-free reorganization that was approved by the Income Funds’ Board of Trustees. The Limited Duration Bond Fund issued 20,370,413 Class A shares, 52,807 Advisor Class shares and 111 Institutional Class shares to the Government Fund in connection with the reorganization. In return, it received net assets of $187,297,416 from the Government Fund (which included $2,066,343 of unrealized depreciation and $27,873,276 of accumulated net realized losses). The Limited Duration Bond Fund’s shares were issued at their current net asset values as of the date of the reorganization. The aggregate net assets of the Limited Duration Bond Fund and Government Fund immediately before the acquisition were $322,964,766 consisting of, with respect to Limited Duration Bond Fund, $135,667,350 ($61,845,002 Class A, $34,993,936 Advisor Class and $38,828,412 Institutional Class) and, with respect to Government Fund, $187,297,416 ($186,810,690 Class A, $485,702 Advisor Class and $1,024 Institutional Class).

Reorganization of Balanced Income Fund into Total Return Fund—On September 21, 2018, the Total Return Fund acquired all of the net assets of the Balanced Income Fund in connection with a tax-free reorganization that was approved by the Income Funds and Equity Funds Board of Trustees. The Total Return Fund issued 2,466,173 Class A shares and 2,516 Advisor Class shares to the Balanced Income Fund in connection with the reorganization. In return, it received net assets of $50,516,080 from the Balanced Income Fund (which included $2,722,435 of unrealized appreciation and $237,931 of accumulated net realized losses). The Total Return Fund’s shares were issued at their current net asset values as of the date of the reorganization. The aggregate net assets of the Total Return Fund and Balanced Income Fund immediately before the acquisition were $939,139,408 consisting of, with respect to Total Return Fund, $888,623,328 ($846,769,158 Class A, $6,101,354 Class B, $958,144 Advisor Class and $34,794,672 Institutional Class) and, with respect to Balanced Income Fund, $50,516,080 ($50,464,265 Class A and $51,815 Advisor Class).

10. Asset Purchase Agreements with Macquarie and Cetera—On April 9, 2019, The Independent Order of Foresters, the ultimate parent company of FIMCO, which is the investment adviser to the separate series of the First Investors Income Funds, First Investors Equity Funds, First Investors Tax Exempt Funds and First Investors Life Series Funds (the “Funds”), FFS, which is the Funds’ distributor, and FIS, which is the Funds’ transfer agent, announced that it had entered into the two definitive purchase agreements described below that, once completed, resulted in the sale of its U.S. North American Asset Management businesses.

297

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

First, FIMCO entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Macquarie Management Holdings, Inc. (“Macquarie”) whereby Macquarie, a global investment management firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, purchased FIMCO’s assets related to the mutual fund management business, including the Funds (the “Transaction”). The Transaction did not result in any material changes to the Funds’ investment objectives and principal investment strategies. However, upon the completion of the Transaction, each Fund was reorganized into a substantially similar fund that is managed by Delaware Management Company, a subsidiary of Macquarie (the “Reorganizations”). The Funds’ Board of Trustees approved the Reorganizations on June 10, 2019. Fund shareholders approved the reorganizations at a special shareholder meeting on October 1, 2019. On October 4, 2019, Macquarie completed the purchase of FIMCO’s assets related to the mutual fund management business, including the Funds.

Second, FFS and Foresters Advisory Services, LLC (“FAS”) entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Cetera Financial Group, Inc. (“Cetera”), a U.S.-based wealth management firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The agreement with Cetera did not require the approval of Fund shareholders. On June 20, 2019, Cetera completed the purchase of FFS’ retail brokerage business and FAS’ retail advisory business.

11. Tax Components of Capital and Distributions to Shareholders—The tax character of distributions declared for the years ended September 30, 2019 and September 30, 2018 were as follows:

	Year Ended September 30, 2019
	Distributions Declared from
Fund	Ordinary Income		Long-Term Capital Gain		Total
Floating Rate	$	8,275,922	$	—	$	8,275,922
Fund For Income		31,278,634		—		31,278,634
Government Cash Management		2,943,310		—		2,943,310
International Opportunities Bond		2,748,448		—		2,748,448
Investment Grade		19,183,394		—		19,183,394
Limited Duration Bond		9,792,168		—		9,792,168
Strategic Income		4,822,991		—		4,822,991
Covered Call Strategy		3,653,544		—		3,653,544
Equity Income		14,534,135		63,672,704		78,206,839
Global		2,520,015		68,121,835		70,641,850
Growth & Income		27,212,978		288,031,290		315,244,268
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities		2,127,641		898,411		3,026,052
International		805,814		24,167,313		24,973,127
Opportunity		11,273,772		93,509,315		104,783,087
Premium Income		4,196,161		—		4,196,161
Select Growth		139,861		36,242,180		36,382,041
Special Situations		7,966,976		79,456,117		87,423,093
Total Return		15,493,514		68,019,438		83,512,952

298

	Year Ended September 30, 2018
	Distributions Declared from
Fund	Ordinary Income		Long-Term Capital Gain		Total
Floating Rate	$	7,331,705	$	—	$	7,331,705
Fund For Income		35,408,355		—		35,408,355
Government Cash Management		1,351,094		—		1,351,094
International Opportunities Bond		4,560,231		—		4,560,231
Investment Grade….		22,161,164		—		22,161,164
Limited Duration Bond		3,854,857		—		3,854,857
Strategic Income		5,491,764		—		5,491,764
Covered Call Strategy.		3,645,728		—		3,645,728
Equity Income		15,326,911		16,324,412		31,651,323
Global		7,425,106		37,893,056		45,318,162
Growth & Income		35,231,978		64,202,763		99,434,741
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities		—		—		—
International		522,398		—		522,398
Opportunity.		6,881,745		58,395,168		65,276,913
Premium Income		347,190		—		347,190
Select Growth		363,284		47,676,209		48,039,493
Special Situations		3,559,349		15,893,646		19,452,995
Total Return		18,048,089		14,207,523		32,255,612

299

Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

September 30, 2019

As of September 30, 2019, the components of distributable earnings (deficit) on a tax basis were as follows:

Fund	Undistributed Ordinary Income		Undistributed Capital Gains		Capital Losses Carryover			Other Accumulated Losses			Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation)			Total Distributable Earnings (Deficit)
Floating Rate	$	285,107	$	—	$	(3,294,146	)	$	(695,603	)	$	(1,160,408	)	$	(4,865,050	)
Fund For Income		209,104		—		(40,084,848	)		(4,499,724	)		3,837,015			(40,538,453	)
International Opportunities Bond		1,224,588		—		(3,918,295	)		(6,692,303	)		(14,223,445	)		(23,609,455	)
Investment Grade		60,507		—		(5,860,069	)		(4,588,634	)		21,361,575			10,973,379
Limited Duration Bond		27		—		(10,981,230	)		(24,337,313	)^*		2,620,353			(32,698,163	)
Strategic Income		14,872		—		(3,308,655	)		(965,977	)		(4,346,985	)		(8,606,745	)
Covered Call Strategy		137,500		—		(9,178,030	)		(15,600,148	)		54,892,060			30,251,382
Equity Income		11,798		32,560,970		—			—			138,364,045			170,936,813
Global		3,514,280		—		(5,175,460	)		(389,745	)		60,736,573			58,685,648
Growth & Income		450,700		147,616,624		—			—			462,024,378			610,091,702
Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities		5,717,724		4,721,779		—			—			20,793,352			31,232,855
International		1,593,450		13,318,437		—			(292,018	)		82,432,348			97,052,217
Opportunity		3,563,058		86,205,703		—			—			228,414,384			318,183,145
Premium Income		430,320		1,130,216		—			—			(1,533,688	)		26,848
Select Growth		1,620,611		59,227,009		—			—			104,710,492			165,558,112
Special Situations		1,371,824		34,313,616		—			—			43,278,865			78,964,305
Total Return		257,166		44,834,860		—			—			145,583,364			190,675,390

^*	Includes $23,458,410 of long-term capital losses acquired by the Fund’s merger with the First Investors Government Fund on September 21, 2018. Per the IRS, use of these losses is limited to $4,374,271 per year.

300

Other accumulated losses as of September 30, 2019 consist of late year loss deferrals in the following categories:

Fund	Capital Losses			Currency Losses			Total
Floating Rate	$	(695,603	)	$	—		$	(695,603	)
Fund For Income		(4,499,724	)		—			(4,499,724	)
International Opportunities Bond		(4,017,026	)		(3,657,313	)		(7,674,339	)
Investment Grade		(4,588,634	)		—			(4,588,634	)
Limited Duration Bond		(878,903	)		—			(878,903	)
Strategic Income		(965,977	)		—			(965,977	)
Covered Call Strategy		(15,600,148	)		—			(15,600,148	)
Global		—			(389,745	)		(389,745	)
International		—			(292,018	)		(292,018	)

For the year ended September 30, 2019, the following reclassifications were made to reflect permanent differences between book and tax reporting which are primarily due to the differences between book and tax treatment of bond premium amortization.

Fund		Capital Paid In				Distributable Earnings
Fund For Income		$	3,171			$	(3,171	)

12. Subsequent Events—Subsequent events occurring after September 30, 2019 have been evaluated for potential impact to this report through the date the financial statements were issued. As described in Note 10 in the Notes to Financial Statements, on October 1, 2019, at a special shareholder meeting, Fund shareholders approved the Reorganizations and on October 4, 2019, Macquarie completed the purchase of FIMCO’s assets related to the mutual fund management business, including the Funds. All the fee waivers and expense limitation agreements described in Note 3 were terminated at the time of the Reorganizations. Macquarie has implemented fee waivers through two years from the closing date of the Reorganizations as necessary to ensure that the total expense ratio for each class of shares of the corresponding Delaware Fund (after waivers if applicable) is no higher than that of the corresponding class of the corresponding First Investors Fund (after waivers if applicable). There were no other subsequent events to report that would have a material impact on the Funds’ financial statements.

301

Financial Highlights

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

The following table sets forth the per share operating performance data for a share outstanding, total return, ratios to average net assets and other supplemental data for each fiscal year ended September 30 unless otherwise indicated.

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
					Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income ^(c)		and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
FLOATING RATE FUND
Class A
2015	$	9.88	$	.26	$	(.27	)	$	(.01	)	$	.29		—	$	.29	$	9.58
2016		9.58		.27		.09			.36			.28		—		.28		9.66
2017		9.66		.27		.05			.32			.31		—		.31		9.67
2018		9.67		.32		.04			.36			.32		—		.32		9.71
2019		9.71		.39		(.13	)		.26			.39		—		.39		9.58
Advisor Class
2015		9.88		.28		(.26	)		.02			.32		—		.32		9.58
2016		9.58		.29		.08			.37			.30		—		.30		9.65
2017		9.65		.26		.09			.35			.32		—		.32		9.68
2018		9.68		.34		.04			.38			.34		—		.34		9.72
2019		9.72		.39		(.13	)		.26			.41		—		.41		9.57
Institutional Class
2015		9.86		.30		(.25	)		.05			.34		—		.34		9.57
2016		9.57		.31		.08			.39			.32		—		.32		9.64
2017		9.64		.26		.11			.37			.34		—		.34		9.67
2018		9.67		.36		.04			.40			.36		—		.36		9.71
2019		9.71		.41		(.11	)		.30			.42		—		.42		9.59

302

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A

						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Ratio to Average Net Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income			Expenses^***			Net Investment Income			Portfolio Turnover Rate


		(.08	)%	$	57,101		1.10	%		1.10	%		2.72	%		1.33	%		2.49	%		49	%
		3.69			61,243		1.10			1.10			2.86			1.27			2.69			38
		3.47			66,769		1.10			1.10			2.90			1.24			2.76			89
		3.83			68,567		1.10			1.10			3.25			1.21			3.14			60
		2.71			64,136		1.10			1.10			4.12			1.10			4.12			88

		.18			50,122		.90			.90			2.92			1.03			2.79			49
		3.92			61,844		.90			.90			3.06			.98			2.98			38
		3.70			98,958		.90			.90			3.07			.92			3.05			89
		4.03			144,799		.90			.90			3.46			.86			3.50			60
		2.72			40,542		.90			.90			4.09			.84			4.15			88

		.47			10,458		.70			.70			3.17			.90			2.97			49
		4.14			11,456		.70			.70			3.27			.83			3.14			38
		3.87			21,277		.70			.70			3.23			.80			3.13			89
		4.20			32,019		.70			.70			3.68			.75			3.63			60
		3.21			497		.75			.75			4.31			.78			4.28			88

303

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
					Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income^(c)		and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
FUND FOR INCOME
Class A
2015	$	2.59	$	.11	$	(.18	)	$	(.07	)	$	.13		—	$	.13	$	2.39
2016		2.39		.11		.10			.21			.12		—		.12		2.48
2017		2.48		.11		.05			.16			.12		—		.12		2.52
2018		2.52		.11		(.06	)		.05			.13		—		.13		2.44
2019		2.44		.12		.02			.14			.13		—		.13		2.45
Advisor Class
2015		2.59		.12		(.18	)		(.06	)		.14		—		.14		2.39
2016		2.39		.12		.10			.22			.13		—		.13		2.48
2017		2.48		.12		.05			.17			.13		—		.13		2.52
2018		2.52		.12		(.07	)		.05			.13		—		.13		2.44
2019		2.44		.12		—			.12			.13		—		.13		2.43
Institutional Class
2015		2.60		.12		(.17	)		(.05	)		.15		—		.15		2.40
2016		2.40		.12		.10			.22			.13		—		.13		2.49
2017		2.49		.13		.05			.18			.13		—		.13		2.54
2018		2.54		.12		(.07	)		.05			.14		—		.14		2.45
2019		2.45		.13		.02			.15			.14		—		.14		2.46

304

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income			Expenses^***			Net Investment Income			Portfolio Turnover Rate


		(2.85	)%	$	567,249		1.21	%		1.21	%		4.39	%		1.23	%		4.37	%		47	%
		9.07			571,028		1.22			1.22			4.76			1.24			4.74			55
		6.79			572,631		1.21			1.21			4.57			1.23			4.55			65
		1.88			523,932		1.22			1.22			4.46			1.24			4.44			67
		5.80			477,952		1.20			1.20			4.72			1.22			4.70			71

		(2.47	)		41,699		.93			.93			4.65			.95			4.63			47
		9.34			68,198		.93			.94			5.02			.96			5.00			55
		7.05			73,403		.94			.94			4.84			.96			4.82			65
		2.17			79,880		.93			.93			4.76			.95			4.74			67
		5.13			28,107		1.01			1.01			4.98			1.03			4.96			71

		(2.28	)		51,704		.78			.78			4.81			.80			4.79			47
		9.58			62,340		.79			.79			5.19			.81			5.17			55
		7.59			78,784		.78			.78			4.99			.80			4.97			65
		1.91			33,545		.79			.79			4.88			.81			4.86			67
		6.23			36,692		.80			.80			5.12			.82			5.10			71

305

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
						Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income ^(c)			and Unrealized Gain on Investments		Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income			Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions			Net Asset Value, End of Year
GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT FUND^(f)
Class A
2015	$	1.00	$	—			—	$	—		$	—			—	$	—		$	1.00
2016		1.00		—			—		—			—			—		—			1.00
2017		1.00		.00	^(d)		—		.00	^(d)		.00	^(d)		—		.00	^(d)		1.00
2018		1.00		.01			—		.01			.01			—		.01			1.00
2019		1.00		.02			—		.02			.02			—		.02			1.00
Institutional Class
2015		1.00		—			—		—			—			—		—			1.00
2016		1.00		—			—		—			—			—		—			1.00
2017		1.00		.00	^(d)		—		.00	^(d)		.00	^(d)		—		.00	^(d)		1.00
2018		1.00		.01			—		.01			.01			—		.01			1.00
2019		1.00		.02			—		.02			.02			—		.02			1.00

306

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income			Expenses^***			Net Investment Income (Loss)			Portfolio Turnover Rate


		.00	%	$	109,566		.10	%		.10	%		.00	%		1.08	%		(.98	)%		N/A
		.00			122,037		.33			.33			.00			1.05			(.72	)		N/A
		.08			127,079		.60			.60			.08			1.02			(.34	)		N/A
		.96			153,695		.60			.60			.98			1.01			.57			N/A
		1.73			168,905		.60			.60			1.72			.85			1.47			N/A

		.00			2,267		.10			.10			.00			.67			(.57	)		N/A
		.00			2,844		.33			.33			.00			.68			(.35	)		N/A
		.07			2,394		.60			.60			.06			.68			(.02	)		N/A
		.97			1		.60			.60			.96			.68			.88			N/A
		1.76			1		.60			.60			1.77			.69			1.68			N/A

307

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
					Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income^(c)		and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BOND FUND
Class A
2015	$	9.85	$	.12	$	(1.06	)	$	(.94	)	$	.28		—	$	.28	$	8.63
2016		8.63		.20		.51			.71			.13		—		.13		9.21
2017		9.21		.22		.21			.43			.15		—		.15		9.49
2018		9.49		.23		(.64	)		(.41	)		.30		—		.30		8.78
2019		8.78		.25		(.30	)		(.05	)		.16		—		.16		8.57
Advisor Class
2015		9.85		.14		(1.06	)		(.92	)		.29		—		.29		8.64
2016		8.64		.23		.51			.74			.13		—		.13		9.25
2017		9.25		.24		.23			.47			.16		—		.16		9.56
2018		9.56		.27		(.66	)		(.39	)		.30		—		.30		8.87
2019		8.87		.28		(.31	)		(.03	)		.16		—		.16		8.68
Institutional Class
2015		9.88		.17		(1.08	)		(.91	)		.30		—		.30		8.67
2016		8.67		.24		.52			.76			.14		—		.14		9.29
2017		9.29		.22		.27			.49			.19		—		.19		9.59
2018		9.59		.28		(.65	)		(.37	)		.30		—		.30		8.92
2019		8.92		.30		(.33	)		(.03	)		.12		—		.12		8.77

308

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income			Expenses^***			Net Investment Income			Portfolio Turnover Rate


		(9.72	)%	$	69,394		1.30	%		1.30	%		1.29	%		1.38	%		1.21	%		61	%
		8.30			65,456		1.38			1.38			2.29			1.41			2.26			72
		4.70			59,782		1.41			1.41			2.35			N/A			N/A			76
		(4.50	)		54,060		1.40			1.40			2.49			N/A			N/A			41
		(.56	)		42,814		1.36			1.36			2.92			1.41			2.87			85

		(9.51	)		50,912		1.04			1.04			1.56			N/A			N/A			61
		8.70			50,749		1.08			1.08			2.60			N/A			N/A			72
		5.07			68,162		1.11			1.11			2.66			N/A			N/A			76
		(4.17	)		87,491		1.08			1.08			2.82			N/A			N/A			41
		(.30	)		50,335		1.08			1.08			3.26			1.13			3.21			85

		(9.36	)		19,097		.90			.90			1.69			N/A			N/A			61
		8.85			8,289		.93			.93			2.75			N/A			N/A			72
		5.27			8,669		.94			.95			2.80			N/A			N/A			76
		(4.03	)		9,868		.93			.93			2.98			N/A			N/A			41
		(.25	)		14,000		.91			.91			3.37			.96			3.32			85

309

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
					Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income^(c)		and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
INVESTMENT GRADE FUND
Class A
2015	$	9.92	$	.28	$	(.17	)	$	.11		$	.39		—	$	.39	$	9.64
2016		9.64		.27		.35			.62			.36		—		.36		9.90
2017		9.90		.26		(.17	)		.09			.33		—		.33		9.66
2018		9.66		.26		(.42	)		(.16	)		.33		—		.33		9.17
2019		9.17		.26		.82			1.08			.32		—		.32		9.93
Advisor Class
2015		9.92		.31		(.16	)		.15			.40		—		.40		9.67
2016		9.67		.30		.34			.64			.37		—		.37		9.94
2017		9.94		.26		(.14	)		.12			.35		—		.35		9.71
2018		9.71		.30		(.42	)		(.12	)		.36		—		.36		9.23
2019		9.23		.30		.82			1.12			.36		—		.36		9.99
Institutional Class
2015		9.94		.32		(.17	)		.15			.43		—		.43		9.66
2016		9.66		.31		.35			.66			.40		—		.40		9.92
2017		9.92		.31		(.18	)		.13			.37		—		.37		9.68
2018		9.68		.31		(.42	)		(.11	)		.37		—		.37		9.20
2019		9.20		.30		.82			1.12			.36		—		.36		9.96

310

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived, Assumed or Reimbursed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income			Expenses^***			Net Investment Income			Portfolio Turnover Rate


		1.12	%	$	458,704		1.04	%		1.04	%		2.85	%		1.15	%		2.74	%		36	%
		6.55			477,010		1.04			1.05			2.78			1.15			2.68			37
		.97			462,999		1.04			1.04			2.68			1.15			2.57			52
		(1.69	)		400,673		1.06			1.06			2.80			1.17			2.69			58
		12.00			363,366		1.07			1.07			2.83			1.16			2.74			60

		1.53			63,614		.73			.73			3.17			.84			3.06			36
		6.78			83,659		.74			.74			3.08			.85			2.97			37
		1.32			136,316		.72			.72			2.99			.82			2.89			52
		(1.25	)		180,286		.72			.72			3.15			.83			3.04			58
		12.37			11,518		.75			.75			3.22			.84			3.13			60

		1.48			15,025		.63			.63			3.26			.74			3.15			36
		6.97			31,395		.63			.63			3.17			.74			3.06			37
		1.41			26,127		.63			.63			3.10			.74			2.99			52
		(1.18	)		23,974		.64			.64			3.23			.75			3.12			58
		12.43			23,083		.67			.67			3.19			.76			3.10			60

311

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations									Less Distributions from
						Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income (Loss)^(c)			and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
LIMITED DURATION BOND FUND ^(e)
Class A
2015	$	9.89	$	.03		$	.04		$	.07		$	.20		—	$	.20	$	9.76
2016		9.76		(.03	)		.15			.12			.22		—		.22		9.66
2017		9.66		.08			(.06	)		.02			.21		—		.21		9.47
2018		9.47		—			(.05	)		(.05	)		.25		—		.25		9.17
2019		9.17		.21			.19			.40			.26		—		.26		9.31
Advisor Class
2015		9.91		.06			.05			.11			.22		—		.22		9.80
2016		9.80		—			.14			.14			.25		—		.25		9.69
2017		9.69		.13			(.08	)		.05			.24		—		.24		9.50
2018		9.50		.03			(.05	)		(.02	)		.28		—		.28		9.20
2019		9.20		.23			.19			.42			.28		—		.28		9.34
Institutional Class
2015		9.92		.08			.04			.12			.23		—		.23		9.81
2016		9.81		.02			.14			.16			.27		—		.27		9.70
2017		9.70		.11			(.04	)		.07			.25		—		.25		9.52
2018		9.52		.04			(.06	)		(.02	)		.29		—		.29		9.21
2019		9.21		.25			.19			.44			.30		—		.30		9.35

312

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived, Assumed or Reimbursed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income (Loss)			Expenses^***			Net Investment Income (Loss)			Portfolio Turnover Rate


		.67	%	$	26,852		1.05	%		1.05	%		.37	%		1.32	%		.10	%		57	%
		1.21			48,342		1.05			1.05			(.25	)		1.23			(.43	)		54
		.22			62,841		1.05			1.05			.85			1.22			.68			60
		(.52	)		247,902		.89			.89			.02			1.11			(.20	)		102
		4.37			220,830		.79			.79			2.22			.99			2.02			87

		1.08			40,502		.75			.75			.66			1.09			.32			57
		1.47			50,645		.75			.75			.04			1.01			(.22	)		54
		.54			31,638		.75			.75			1.14			1.02			.87			60
		(.25	)		35,498		.62			.62			.33			.84			.11			102
		4.65			56,209		.51			.51			2.47			.69			2.29			87

		1.21			6,747		.60			.60			.81			.92			.49			57
		1.64			22,296		.60			.60			.20			.82			(.02	)		54
		.77			41,065		.60			.60			1.30			.82			1.08			60
		(.19	)		38,822		.47			.47			.46			.68			.25			102
		4.83			47,965		.36			.36			2.64			.56			2.44			87

313

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
					Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income ^(a)(c)		and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Class A
2015	$	9.94	$	.34	$	(.57	)	$	(.23	)	$	.34	$	.07	$	.41	$	9.30
2016		9.30		.30		.22			.52			.32		.02		.34		9.48
2017		9.48		.30		.05			.35			.30		—		.30		9.53
2018		9.53		.31		(.32	)		(.01	)		.32		—		.32		9.20
2019		9.20		.30		.12			.42			.30		—		.30		9.32
Advisor Class
2015		9.92		.38		(.56	)		(.18	)		.38		.07		.45		9.29
2016		9.29		.33		.23			.56			.36		.02		.38		9.47
2017		9.47		.29		.09			.38			.33		—		.33		9.52
2018		9.52		.34		(.32	)		.02			.35		—		.35		9.19
2019		9.19		.33		.13			.46			.33		—		.33		9.32

^*	Calculated without sales charges.
^**	Net of expenses waived or assumed (Note 3).
^***	The ratios do not include a reduction of expenses from cash balances maintained with the custodian or from brokerage service arrangements (Note 1G).
(a)	Recognition of net investment income by the Fund is affected by the timing of the declaration of dividends by the underlying investment companies in which the Fund invests. The ratio does not include net investment income of the investment companies in which the Fund invests.
(b)	Does not include expenses of the investment companies in which the Fund invests.
(c)	Based on average shares during the period.
(d)	Due to rounding, amount is less than .005 per share.
(e)	Prior to January 31, 2018, known as Limited Duration High Quality Bond Fund.
(f)	Prior to October 3, 2016, known as Cash Management Fund.

314

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived, Assumed or Reimbursed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits^(b)			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***(b)			Net Investment Income^(a)			Expenses^***		Net Investment Income		Portfolio Turnover Rate


		(2.37	)%	$	131,734		.59	%		.59	%		3.55	%		N/A		N/A		40	%
		5.64			149,190		.58			.58			3.19			N/A		N/A		49
		3.73			162,789		.57			.57			3.24			N/A		N/A		37
		(.10	)		152,180		.56			.56			3.36			N/A		N/A		58
		4.67			137,155		.53			.53			3.24			.55		3.22		70

		(1.93	)		306		.19			.19			3.95			N/A		N/A		40
		6.14			415		.17			.17			3.59			N/A		N/A		49
		4.14			963		.18			.18			3.66			N/A		N/A		37
		.22			759		.21			.21			3.70			N/A		N/A		58
		5.11			566		.19			.19			3.60			.21		3.58		70

315

Financial Highlights

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations							Less Distributions from

	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period/ Year		Net Investment Income^(a)		Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations		Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Period/ Year
COVERED CALL STRATEGY FUND
Class A
2016^(d)	$	10.00	$	.06	$	.33		$	.39	$	.03	$	—	$	.03	$	10.36
2017		10.36		.10		.85			.95		.11		.02		.13		11.18
2018		11.18		.11		.64			.75		.10		—		.10		11.83
2019		11.83		.12		(.02	)		.10		.12		—		.12		11.81
Advisor Class
2016^(d)		10.00		.08		.32			.40		.06		—		.06		10.34
2017		10.34		.13		.86			.99		.15		.02		.17		11.16
2018		11.16		.14		.64			.78		.14		—		.14		11.80
2019		11.80		.16		(.02	)		.14		.16		—		.16		11.78
Institutional Class
2016^(d)		10.00		.09		.33			.42		.07		—		.07		10.35
2017		10.35		.16		.85			1.01		.17		.02		.19		11.17
2018		11.17		.16		.63			.79		.24		—		.24		11.72
2019		11.72		.17		(.02	)		.15		.18		—		.18		11.69

316

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Period/ Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income			Expenses^***			Net Investment Income			Portfolio Turnover Rate


		3.94	%^††	$	48,514		1.30	%^†		1.30	%^†		1.19	%^†		1.73	%^†		.76	%^†		83	%^††
		9.17			167,906		1.30			1.30			1.18			1.36			1.12			121
		6.79			237,103		1.30			1.30			.95			1.28			.97			107
		.97			211,777		1.30			1.30			1.11			1.28			1.13			34

		4.05	^††		39,129		.97	^†		.97	^†		1.64	^†		1.50	^†		1.11	^†		83	^††
		9.62			109,360		.97			.97			1.53			1.06			1.44			121
		7.09			114,275		.97			.97			1.25			1.03			1.19			107
		1.25			66,252		1.00			1.00			1.41			.96			1.45			34

		4.18	^††		4,214		.84	^†		.84	^†		1.76	^†		1.25	^†		1.35	^†		83	^††
		9.77			7,334		.84			.84			1.65			.96			1.53			121
		7.19			2,913		.84			.84			1.38			.89			1.33			107
		1.42			1,477		.87			.87			1.54			.90			1.51			34

317

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
					Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income^(a)		and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
EQUITY INCOME FUND
Class A
2015	$	9.99	$	.15	$	(.54	)	$	(.39	)	$	.15	$	.46	$	.61	$	8.99
2016		8.99		.16		1.08			1.24			.16		.35		.51		9.72
2017		9.72		.16		1.22			1.38			.21		.18		.39		10.71
2018		10.71		.26		.65			.91			.17		.36		.53		11.09
2019		11.09		.15		(.16	)		(.01	)		.26		1.14		1.40		9.68
Advisor Class
2015		9.99		.19		(.55	)		(.36	)		.17		.46		.63		9.00
2016		9.00		.20		1.08			1.28			.19		.35		.54		9.74
2017		9.74		.19		1.23			1.42			.21		.18		.39		10.77
2018		10.77		.31		.65			.96			.21		.36		.57		11.16
2019		11.16		.20		(.20	)		—			.29		1.14		1.43		9.73
Institutional Class
2015		10.03		.19		(.55	)		(.36	)		.17		.46		.63		9.04
2016		9.04		.20		1.09			1.29			.20		.35		.55		9.78
2017		9.78		.37		1.06			1.43			.31		.18		.49		10.72
2018		10.72		.31		.66			.97			.21		.36		.57		11.12
2019		11.12		.19		(.17	)		.02			.33		1.14		1.47		9.67

318

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income			Expenses^***		Net Investment Income		Portfolio Turnover Rate


		(4.31	)%	$	485,342		1.21	%		1.21	%		1.52	%		N/A		N/A		23	%
		14.16			529,327		1.22			1.22			1.72			N/A		N/A		22
		14.46			564,918		1.20			1.20			1.58			N/A		N/A		15
		8.68			545,810		1.20			1.20			2.42			N/A		N/A		35
		1.83			468,634		1.19			1.19			1.58			N/A		N/A		39

		(3.96	)		38,482		.84			.84			1.90			N/A		N/A		23
		14.63			54,576		.85			.85			2.08			N/A		N/A		22
		14.87			71,611		.84			.84			1.94			N/A		N/A		15
		9.09			80,387		.85			.85			2.79			N/A		N/A		35
		1.97			1,786		.86			.86			2.08			N/A		N/A		39

		(3.97	)		9,773		.81			.81			1.93			N/A		N/A		23
		14.67			2,448		.78			.78			2.08			N/A		N/A		22
		14.84			2,193		.80			.80			2.02			N/A		N/A		15
		9.21			2,499		.80			.80			2.81			N/A		N/A		35
		2.18			1,411		.81			.81			1.94			N/A		N/A		39

319

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations									Less Distributions from
						Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income (Loss)^(a)			and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income			Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
GLOBAL FUND
Class A
2015	$	8.66	$	—		$	.11		$	.11		$	—		$	1.51	$	1.51	$	7.26
2016		7.26		.01			.43			.44			.00	^(b)		.40		.40		7.30
2017		7.30		.02			1.29			1.31			.01			—		.01		8.60
2018		8.60		(.01	)		.89			.88			.04			.63		.67		8.81
2019		8.81		.04			(.35	)		(.31	)		—			1.00		1.00		7.50
Advisor Class
2015		8.72		.03			.12			.15			—			1.51		1.51		7.36
2016		7.36		.04			.44			.48			.01			.40		.41		7.43
2017		7.43		.06			1.31			1.37			.02			—		.02		8.78
2018		8.78		.02			.91			.93			.05			.63		.68		9.03
2019		9.03		.07			(.36	)		(.29	)		—			1.00		1.00		7.74
Institutional Class
2015		8.75		.04			.11			.15			—			1.51		1.51		7.39
2016		7.39		.04			.45			.49			.01			.40		.41		7.47
2017		7.47		.06			1.31			1.37			.02			—		.02		8.82
2018		8.82		.03			.91			.94			.05			.63		.68		9.08
2019		9.08		.07			(.35	)		(.28	)		—			1.00		1.00		7.80

320

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income (Loss)			Expenses^***			Net Investment Income (Loss)			Portfolio Turnover Rate


		.87	%	$	331,382		1.47	%		1.47	%		(.01	)%		1.52	%		(.06	)%		97	%
		6.03			339,956		1.47			1.47			.09			1.52			.04			94
		17.99			379,176		1.44			1.44			.30			1.49			.25			117
		10.69			393,697		1.43			1.43			(.16	)		1.48			(.21	)		132
		(1.48	)		344,592		1.44			1.44			.55			1.46			.53			119

		1.37			114,556		1.06			1.06			.43			1.11			.38			97
		6.48			169,088		1.05			1.05			.53			1.10			.48			94
		18.46			191,839		1.04			1.04			.70			1.09			.65			117
		11.03			228,234		1.05			1.05			.25			1.10			.20			132
		(1.20	)		75,077		1.09			1.09			.95			1.11			.93			119

		1.37			2,955		1.02			1.02			.45			1.07			.40			97
		6.61			3,288		1.01			1.01			.55			1.06			.50			94
		18.38			3,800		1.00			1.00			.74			1.05			.69			117
		11.12			4,419		1.00			1.00			.29			1.05			.24			132
		(1.08	)		1,946		1.02			1.02			.95			1.04			.93			119

321

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
					Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income^(a)		and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
GROWTH & INCOME FUND
Class A
2015	$	22.76	$	.20	$	(1.37	)	$	(1.17	)	$	.19	$	1.05	$	1.24	$	20.35
2016		20.35		.26		2.07			2.33			.24		.93		1.17		21.51
2017		21.51		.25		2.66			2.91			.37		.75		1.12		23.30
2018		23.30		.26		2.11			2.37			.32		.94		1.26		24.41
2019		24.41		.27		(.54	)		(.27	)		.27		4.02		4.29		19.85
Advisor Class
2015		22.84		.29		(1.38	)		(1.09	)		.24		1.05		1.29		20.46
2016		20.46		.35		2.08			2.43			.29		.93		1.22		21.67
2017		21.67		.33		2.69			3.02			.48		.75		1.23		23.46
2018		23.46		.35		2.11			2.46			.40		.94		1.34		24.58
2019		24.58		.33		(.55	)		(.22	)		.47		4.02		4.49		19.87
Institutional Class
2015		22.78		.29		(1.39	)		(1.10	)		.24		1.05		1.29		20.39
2016		20.39		.35		2.07			2.42			.30		.93		1.23		21.58
2017		21.58		.34		2.67			3.01			.45		.75		1.20		23.39
2018		23.39		.36		2.12			2.48			.41		.94		1.35		24.52
2019		24.52		.35		(.56	)		(.21	)		.37		4.02		4.39		19.92

322

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income			Expenses^***		Net Investment Income		Portfolio Turnover Rate


		(5.62	)%	$	1,496,803		1.15	%		1.15	%		.89	%		N/A		N/A		23	%
		11.72			1,588,423		1.16			1.16			1.28			N/A		N/A		23
		13.99			1,675,590		1.15			1.15			1.13			N/A		N/A		16
		10.35			1,653,563		1.14			1.14			1.08			N/A		N/A		34
		2.02			1,464,393		1.13			1.13			1.37			N/A		N/A		55

		(5.24	)		141,229		.75			.75			1.29			N/A		N/A		23
		12.18			132,486		.77			.77			1.68			N/A		N/A		23
		14.42			166,851		.78			.78			1.50			N/A		N/A		16
		10.73			142,220		.79			.79			1.44			N/A		N/A		34
		2.26			21,597		.83			.83			1.66			N/A		N/A		55

		(5.27	)		9,380		.75			.75			1.29			N/A		N/A		23
		12.18			10,596		.74			.74			1.70			N/A		N/A		23
		14.47			10,839		.74			.74			1.54			N/A		N/A		16
		10.85			11,067		.74			.74			1.49			N/A		N/A		34
		2.34			5,597		.75			.75			1.75			N/A		N/A		55

323

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations									Less Distributions from
						Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period/ Year		Net Investment Income (Loss)^(a)			and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income			Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions			Net Asset Value, End of Period/ Year
HEDGED U.S. EQUITY OPPORTUNITIES FUND
Class A
2016^(c)	$	10.00	$	—		$	(.09	)	$	(.09	)	$	—		$	—	$	—		$	9.91
2017		9.91		(.02	)		.88			.86			—			—		—			10.77
2018		10.77		(.03	)		1.16			1.13			—			—		—			11.90
2019		11.90		(.01	)		.68			.67			—			.21		.21			12.36
Advisor Class
2016^(c)		10.00		—			(.09	)		(.09	)		—			—		—			9.91
2017		9.91		.01			.89			.90			.00	^(b)		—		.00	^(b)		10.81
2018		10.81		.02			1.16			1.18			—			—		—			11.99
2019		11.99		.03			.67			.70			.00	^(b)		.21		.21			12.48
Institutional Class
2016^(c)		10.00		.01			(.10	)		(.09	)		—			—		—			9.91
2017		9.91		.02			.89			.91			.00	^(b)		—		.00	^(b)		10.82
2018		10.82		.02			1.17			1.19			—			—		—			12.01
2019		12.01		.04			.69			.73			.00	^(b)		.21		.21			12.53

324

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Period/ Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income (Loss)			Expenses^***			Net Investment Income (Loss)			Portfolio Turnover Rate


		(.90	)%^††	$	9,265		1.75	%^†		1.75	%^†		(.02	)%^†		4.24	%^†		(2.51	)%^†		7	%^††
		8.68			44,228		1.75			1.75			(.21	)		2.09			(.55	)		75
		10.49			66,746		1.75			1.75			(.22	)		1.76			(.23	)		56
		5.92			78,297		1.75			1.75			(.05	)		1.68			.02			124

		(.90	)^††		24,539		1.42	^†		1.42	^†		.26	^†		3.37	^†		(1.69	)^†		7	^††
		9.11			33,770		1.42			1.42			.10			1.76			(.24	)		75
		10.92			94,955		1.42			1.42			.16			1.40			.18			56
		6.14			44,543		1.42			1.42			.27			1.39			.30			124

		(.90	)^††		99		1.31	^†		1.31	^†		.30	^†		3.24	^†		(1.63	)^†		7	^††
		9.21			472		1.31			1.31			.23			1.74			(.20	)		75
		11.00			574		1.31			1.31			.21			1.39			.13			56
		6.39			341		1.31			1.31			.37			1.30			.38			124

325

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
					Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income^(a)		and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
INTERNATIONAL FUND
Class A
2015	$	13.06	$	.05	$	(.41	)	$	(.36	)	$	.05	$	—	$	.05	$	12.65
2016		12.65		.06		1.05			1.11			.05		—		.05		13.71
2017		13.71		.02		2.02			2.04			.07		—		.07		15.68
2018		15.68		.01		.28			.29			.02		—		.02		15.95
2019		15.95		.03		.88			.91			.03		.96		.99		15.87
Advisor Class
2015		13.13		.11		(.43	)		(.32	)		.05		—		.05		12.76
2016		12.76		.11		1.06			1.17			.06		—		.06		13.87
2017		13.87		.08		2.05			2.13			.08		—		.08		15.92
2018		15.92		.08		.27			.35			.03		—		.03		16.24
2019		16.24		.09		.90			.99			.04		.96		1.00		16.23
Institutional Class
2015		13.19		.12		(.43	)		(.31	)		.10		—		.10		12.78
2016		12.78		.13		1.07			1.20			.07		—		.07		13.91
2017		13.91		.09		2.05			2.14			.09		—		.09		15.96
2018		15.96		.09		.29			.38			.04		—		.04		16.30
2019		16.30		.07		.93			1.00			.05		.96		1.01		16.29

326

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income			Expenses^***		Net Investment Income		Portfolio Turnover Rate


		(2.78	)%	$	194,991		1.64	%		1.64	%		.40	%		N/A		N/A		27	%
		8.80			209,205		1.61			1.61			.45			N/A		N/A		28
		15.00			238,770		1.58			1.58			.17			N/A		N/A		38
		1.83			259,683		1.56			1.56			.09			N/A		N/A		36
		7.01			248,302		1.55			1.55			.19			N/A		N/A		76

		(2.45	)		57,623		1.24			1.24			.83			N/A		N/A		27
		9.22			81,525		1.23			1.24			.85			N/A		N/A		28
		15.50			111,334		1.18			1.18			.59			N/A		N/A		38
		2.21			136,628		1.18			1.18			.48			N/A		N/A		36
		7.43			200,720		1.17			1.17			.61			N/A		N/A		76

		(2.33	)		2,347		1.14			1.14			.89			N/A		N/A		27
		9.39			2,695		1.12			1.12			.95			N/A		N/A		28
		15.54			3,274		1.09			1.09			.65			N/A		N/A		38
		2.36			3,509		1.09			1.09			.56			N/A		N/A		36
		7.46			1,352		1.09			1.09			.44			N/A		N/A		76

327

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
					Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income^(a)		and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
OPPORTUNITY FUND
Class A
2015	$	40.90	$	.04	$	(.39	)	$	(.35	)	$	.06	$	2.70	$	2.76	$	37.79
2016		37.79		.20		2.52			2.72			.04		3.18		3.22		37.29
2017		37.29		.11		6.03			6.14			.22		1.35		1.57		41.86
2018		41.86		.39		2.31			2.70			.12		2.38		2.50		42.06
2019		42.06		.12		(.60	)		(.48	)		.38		3.41		3.79		37.79
Advisor Class
2015		41.20		.16		(.40	)		(.24	)		.08		2.70		2.78		38.18
2016		38.18		.30		2.56			2.86			.07		3.18		3.25		37.79
2017		37.79		.24		6.12			6.36			.24		1.35		1.59		42.56
2018		42.56		.61		2.27			2.88			.15		2.38		2.53		42.91
2019		42.91		.23		(.58	)		(.35	)		.40		3.41		3.81		38.75
Institutional Class
2015		41.15		.22		(.40	)		(.18	)		.20		2.70		2.90		38.07
2016		38.07		.36		2.54			2.90			.08		3.18		3.26		37.71
2017		37.71		.27		6.12			6.39			.26		1.35		1.61		42.49
2018		42.49		.59		2.33			2.92			.16		2.38		2.54		42.87
2019		42.87		.27		(.59	)		(.32	)		.43		3.41		3.84		38.71

328

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income			Expenses^***		Net Investment Income		Portfolio Turnover Rate


		(1.16	)%	$	818,955		1.20	%		1.20	%		.11	%		N/A		N/A		37	%
		7.39			880,274		1.22			1.22			.54			N/A		N/A		36
		16.99			1,002,618		1.20			1.20			.27			N/A		N/A		32
		6.49			1,010,312		1.20			1.20			.93			N/A		N/A		35
		.80			915,339		1.19			1.20			.32			N/A		N/A		47

		(.87	)		48,322		.91			.91			.40			N/A		N/A		37
		7.69			73,477		.93			.93			.83			N/A		N/A		36
		17.37			81,773		.88			.88			.59			N/A		N/A		32
		6.82			149,481		.89			.89			1.42			N/A		N/A		35
		1.14			10,325		.91			.92			.62			N/A		N/A		47

		(.74	)		4,228		.78			.78			.52			N/A		N/A		37
		7.84			4,975		.79			.79			.98			N/A		N/A		36
		17.49			5,678		.78			.78			.70			N/A		N/A		32
		6.95			5,793		.77			.77			1.38			N/A		N/A		35
		1.23			2,338		.77			.78			.73			N/A		N/A		47

329

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations									Less Distributions from
						Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period/ Year		Net Investment Income (Loss)^(a)			and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income			Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions			Net Asset Value, End of Period/ Year
PREMIUM INCOME FUND
Class A
2018^(e)	$	10.00	$	.08		$	.23		$	.31		$	.05		$	—	$	.05		$	10.26
2019		10.26		.18			.05			.23			.17			.18		.35			10.14
Advisor Class
2018^(e)		10.00		.10			.22			.32			.06			—		.06			10.26
2019		10.26		.20			.07			.27			.19			.18		.37			10.16
Institutional Class
2018^(e)		10.00		.10			.23			.33			.17			—		.17			10.16
2019		10.16		.20			(.27	)		(.07	)		4.38			.18		4.56			5.53

SELECT GROWTH FUND
Class A
2015	$	10.97	$	.02		$	.65		$	.67		$	.00	^(b)	$	—	$	.00	^(b)	$	11.64
2016		11.64		.02			.73			.75			.02			1.13		1.15			11.24
2017		11.24		—			2.38			2.38			.03			1.55		1.58			12.04
2018		12.04		(.01	)		2.66			2.65			.01			1.07		1.08			13.61
2019		13.61		.02			(.92	)		(.90	)		—			.62		.62			12.09
Advisor Class
2015		11.01		.07			.66			.73			.01			—		.01			11.73
2016		11.73		.07			.73			.80			.03			1.13		1.16			11.37
2017		11.37		.05			2.40			2.45			.04			1.55		1.59			12.23
2018		12.23		.04			2.71			2.75			.02			1.07		1.09			13.89
2019		13.89		.06			(.94	)		(.88	)		.01			.62		.63			12.38
Institutional Class
2015		11.06		.07			.66			.73			.02			—		.02			11.77
2016		11.77		.07			.74			.81			.03			1.13		1.16			11.42
2017		11.42		.05			2.41			2.46			.04			1.55		1.59			12.29
2018		12.29		.05			2.72			2.77			.02			1.07		1.09			13.97
2019		13.97		.07			(.95	)		(.88	)		.01			.62		.63			12.46

330

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Period/ Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income (Loss)			Expenses^***			Net Investment Income			Portfolio Turnover Rate


		3.06	%^††	$	41,688		1.30	%^†		1.30	%^†		1.57	%^†		2.07	%^†		.80	%^†		77	%^††
		2.33			60,830		1.30			1.30			1.74			1.35			1.69			63

		3.18	^††		34,170		1.02	^†		1.02	^†		1.86	^†		1.52	^†		1.36	^†		77	^††
		2.67			67,844		1.05			1.05			1.98			1.10			1.93			63

		3.27	^††		3,877		.89	^†		.89	^†		1.88	^†		1.88	^†		.89	^†		77	^††
		2.90			29		.90			.90			2.06			1.05			1.91			63



		6.12	%	$	352,651		1.25	%		1.25	%		.16	%		N/A			N/A			48	%
		6.50			373,279		1.27			1.27			.22			N/A			N/A			59
		24.16			444,933		1.25			1.25			.00			N/A			N/A			58
		23.22			570,309		1.22			1.22			(.06	)		N/A			N/A			37
		(6.01	)		507,351		1.19			1.19			.16			1.20			.15			51

		6.61			46,793		.84			.84			.57			N/A			N/A			48
		6.93			66,588		.85			.86			.62			N/A			N/A			59
		24.61			81,203		.84			.84			.40			N/A			N/A			58
		23.74			194,554		.83			.83			.34			N/A			N/A			37
		(5.74	)		143,304		.88			.88			.50			.89			.49			51

		6.56			3,608		.82			.82			.59			N/A			N/A			48
		7.00			3,915		.83			.83			.66			N/A			N/A			59
		24.61			4,950		.82			.82			.43			N/A			N/A			58
		23.81			7,836		.80			.80			.35			N/A			N/A			37
		(5.66	)		4,044		.79			.79			.57			.80			.56			51

331

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
					Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income^(a)		and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
SPECIAL SITUATIONS FUND
Class A
2015	$	26.65	$	.02	$	.07		$	.09		$	.04	$	1.43	$	1.47	$	25.27
2016		25.27		.17		2.36			2.53			.02		1.44		1.46		26.34
2017		26.34		—		5.24			5.24			.16		.24		.40		31.18
2018		31.18		.03		2.29			2.32			.01		.87		.88		32.62
2019		32.62		.09		(3.69	)		(3.60	)		.08		3.83		3.91		25.11
Advisor Class
2015		26.71		.10		.08			.18			.08		1.43		1.51		25.38
2016		25.38		.23		2.39			2.62			.04		1.44		1.48		26.52
2017		26.52		.08		5.29			5.37			.18		.24		.42		31.47
2018		31.47		.14		2.32			2.46			.04		.87		.91		33.02
2019		33.02		.18		(3.72	)		(3.54	)		.10		3.83		3.93		25.55
Institutional Class
2015		26.84		.14		.08			.22			.16		1.43		1.59		25.47
2016		25.47		.28		2.39			2.67			.05		1.44		1.49		26.65
2017		26.65		.12		5.31			5.43			.18		.24		.42		31.66
2018		31.66		.17		2.34			2.51			.05		.87		.92		33.25
2019		33.25		.21		(3.76	)		(3.55	)		.12		3.83		3.95		25.75

332

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income (Loss)			Expenses^***			Net Investment Income			Portfolio Turnover Rate


		.12	%	$	432,235		1.32	%		1.32	%		.07	%		1.33	%		.06	%		43	%
		10.35			472,720		1.33			1.34			.68			1.34			.68			39
		20.06			549,780		1.31			1.31			(.01	)		N/A			N/A			27
		7.50			580,730		1.29			1.29			.08			N/A			N/A			48
		(9.54	)		476,826		1.31			1.31			.36			N/A			N/A			51

		.46			38,790		1.02			1.03			.37			1.04			.36			43
		10.67			59,159		1.03			1.03			.94			1.04			.93			39
		20.45			120,912		.97			.97			.34			N/A			N/A			27
		7.86			140,657		.95			.95			.43			N/A			N/A			48
		(9.19	)		12,228		1.01			1.01			.69			N/A			N/A			51

		.60			5,905		.88			.88			.51			.89			.50			43
		10.84			6,914		.88			.89			1.11			.90			1.10			39
		20.56			8,712		.87			.87			.42			N/A			N/A			27
		7.98			9,592		.86			.86			.52			N/A			N/A			48
		(9.16	)		3,898		.88			.88			.79			N/A			N/A			51

333

Financial Highlights (continued)

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

	P E R S H A R E D A T A
			Investment Operations								Less Distributions from
					Net Realized
	Net Asset Value, Beginning of Year		Net Investment Income^(a)		and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments			Total From Investment Operations			Net Investment Income		Net Realized Gain		Total Distributions		Net Asset Value, End of Year
TOTAL RETURN FUND
Class A
2015	$	19.63	$	.21	$	(.68	)	$	(.47	)	$	.28	$	.67	$	.95	$	18.21
2016		18.21		.23		1.26			1.49			.27		.43		.70		19.00
2017		19.00		.23		1.27			1.50			.32		.30		.62		19.88
2018		19.88		.31		.74			1.05			.36		.35		.71		20.22
2019		20.22		.28		.39			.67			.34		1.52		1.86		19.03
Advisor Class
2015		19.64		.29		(.69	)		(.40	)		.31		.67		.98		18.26
2016		18.26		.26		1.27			1.53			.32		.43		.75		19.04
2017		19.04		.32		1.30			1.62			.38		.30		.68		19.98
2018		19.98		.37		.75			1.12			.43		.35		.78		20.32
2019		20.32		.34		.40			.74			.44		1.52		1.96		19.10
Institutional Class
2015		19.65		.29		(.70	)		(.41	)		.28		.67		.95		18.29
2016		18.29		.31		1.28			1.59			.32		.43		.75		19.13
2017		19.13		.32		1.27			1.59			.37		.30		.67		20.05
2018		20.05		.40		.74			1.14			.46		.35		.81		20.38
2019		20.38		.35		.41			.76			.48		1.52		2.00		19.14

^*	Calculated without sales charges.
^**	Net of expenses waived or assumed (Note 3).
^***	The ratios do not include a reduction of expenses from cash balances maintained with the custodian or from brokerage service arrangements (Note 1G).
^†	Annualized
^††	Not annualized
(a)	Based on average shares during the period.
(b)	Due to rounding, amount is less than .005 per share.
(c)	For the period August 1, 2016 (commencement of operations) to September 30, 2016.
(d)	For the period April 1, 2016 (commencement of operations) to September 30, 2016.
(e)	For the period April 2, 2018 (commencement of operations) to September 30, 2018.

334

See notes to financial statements

R A T I O S / S U P P L E M E N T A L D A T A
															Ratio to Average Net
						Ratio to Average Net Assets^**									Assets Before Expenses Waived or Assumed
	Total Return^*			Net Assets End of Year (in thousands)		Net Expenses After Fee Credits			Net Expenses Before Fee Credits^***			Net Investment Income			Expenses^***		Net Investment Income		Portfolio Turnover Rate


		(2.65	)%	$	784,281		1.18	%		1.18	%		1.05	%		N/A		N/A		40	%
		8.36			845,726		1.19			1.19			1.27			N/A		N/A		63
		8.09			877,311		1.19			1.19			1.22			N/A		N/A		39
		5.32			889,473		1.18			1.18			1.55			N/A		N/A		53
		4.58			800,910		1.17			1.17			1.50			N/A		N/A		59

		(2.24	)		976		.78			.78			1.44			N/A		N/A		40
		8.55			1,213		.82			.82			1.63			N/A		N/A		63
		8.69			996		.80			.80			1.61			N/A		N/A		39
		5.69			1,006		.84			.84			1.83			N/A		N/A		53
		4.93			1,166		.85			.85			1.80			N/A		N/A		59

		(2.28	)		30,644		.77			.77			1.47			N/A		N/A		40
		8.88			32,525		.77			.77			1.68			N/A		N/A		63
		8.50			33,545		.77			.77			1.65			N/A		N/A		39
		5.77			34,555		.77			.77			1.96			N/A		N/A		53
		5.06			1,976		.79			.79			1.86			N/A		N/A		59

335

Report of Independent Registered Public
Accounting Firm

To the Shareholders and Board of Trustees of
First Investors Income Funds
First Investors Equity Funds

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities of the Floating Rate Fund, Fund For Income, Government Cash Management Fund, International Opportunities Bond Fund, Investment Grade Fund, Limited Duration Bond Fund and Strategic Income Fund, (the “Income Funds”), each a series of the First Investors Income Funds and the Covered Call Strategy Fund, Equity Income Fund, Global Fund, Growth & Income Fund, Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund, International Fund, Opportunity Fund, Premium Income Fund, Select Growth Fund, Special Situations Fund and Total Return Fund (the “Equity Funds”), each a series of First Investors Equity Funds, including the portfolio of investments, as of September 30, 2019, the related statement of operations, the statements of changes in net assets for each of the periods indicated, and financial highlights for each of the periods indicated thereon, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Income Funds and Equity Funds as of September 30, 2019, the results of their operations, the changes in their net assets, and their financial highlights for each of the periods indicated thereon, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Income Funds’ and Equity Funds’ management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Income Funds’ and Equity Funds’ financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Income Funds and Equity Funds in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB. We have served as the auditor of one or more of the funds in the First Investors Family of Funds since 1978.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Income Funds and Equity Funds are not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of their internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Income Funds’ and Equity Funds’ internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall

336

presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of September 30, 2019 by correspondence with the custodian and brokers; when replies were not received from brokers, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

TAIT, WELLER & BAKER LLP

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
November 26, 2019

337

Board Considerations of Advisory Contracts and Fees

(unaudited)

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

Annual Consideration of the Investment Advisory Agreements and the Sub-Advisory Agreements with Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC and Muzinich & Co., Inc.

The First Investors Income Funds’ (the “Trust”) investment advisory agreements with the Trust’s investment adviser and, as applicable, sub-advisers, on behalf of each of the Trust’s funds, can remain in effect after an initial term of no greater than two years only if they are renewed at least annually thereafter (i) by the vote of the Trustees or by a vote of the shareholders of each fund and (ii) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to the advisory agreement (and sub-advisory agreement, as applicable) or “interested persons” of any party thereto (the “Independent Trustees”), cast in person at a meeting called specifically for the purpose of voting on such approval.

The Board of Trustees (the “Board”) has six regularly scheduled meetings each year and takes into account throughout the year matters bearing on the approval of the advisory agreement (and sub-advisory agreements, as applicable). In particular, the Board and its standing committees also consider at each meeting at least certain of the factors that are relevant to the annual renewal of each fund’s advisory agreement (and sub-advisory agreements, as applicable), including investment performance, sub-adviser updates and reviews, reports with respect to brokerage and portfolio transactions, portfolio turnover rates, risk management (including as it relates to cybersecurity risk), compliance monitoring, and the services and support provided to each fund and its shareholders. In addition the Board meets with representatives of each sub-adviser in person at least once per year.

On April 18, 2019 (the “April Meeting”), the Independent Trustees met telephonically with senior management personnel of Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc. (“FIMCO”), which is the Trust’s investment adviser, Trust counsel, independent legal counsel to the Independent Trustees (“Independent Legal Counsel”) and others to give preliminary consideration to information bearing on the continuation of the advisory agreement (and sub-advisory agreements, as applicable) with respect to each fund. The primary purpose of the April Meeting was to ensure that the Independent Trustees had ample opportunity to consider matters they deemed relevant in determining whether to continue the advisory agreement (or sub-advisory agreements, as applicable), and to request any additional information they considered reasonably necessary to their deliberations. The Independent Trustees also met telephonically in executive session with Independent Legal Counsel on April 15, 2019, prior to the April Meeting, to consider the continuation of the advisory agreement (or sub-advisory agreements, as applicable) outside the presence of management. As part of the April Meeting, the Independent Trustees asked FIMCO to respond to certain additional questions prior to the contract approval meeting of the Board to be held on May 16, 2019 (the “May Meeting”). In addition, Independent Legal Counsel, in conjunction with the Board, and personnel from FIMCO reviewed each sub-adviser’s response in connection with the request for information with respect to the applicable sub-advisory agreements and requested follow-up information or clarifications from each sub-adviser, as applicable, which was provided prior to the May Meeting.

At the May Meeting, the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, approved the renewal of the investment advisory agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) between FIMCO and

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each of the following funds (each a “Fund” and collectively the “Funds”): Floating Rate Fund, Fund For Income, Government Cash Management Fund, International Opportunities Bond Fund, Investment Grade Fund, Limited Duration Bond Fund and Strategic Income Fund. In addition, at the May Meeting, the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, approved the renewal of the sub-advisory agreements (each, a “Sub-Advisory Agreement” and collectively, the “Sub-Advisory Agreements”) with: (1) Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC (“Brandywine”) with respect to the International Opportunities Bond Fund; and (2) Muzinich & Co., Inc. (“Muzinich”) with respect to the Floating Rate Fund, Fund For Income, Investment Grade Fund and Limited Duration Bond Fund. The International Opportunities Bond Fund, Floating Rate Fund, Fund For Income, Investment Grade Fund and Limited Duration Bond Fund are collectively referred to as the “Sub-Advised Funds.”

In reaching its decisions to approve the continuation of the Advisory Agreement for each Fund and the Sub-Advisory Agreements for the Sub-Advised Funds, the Board considered information furnished and discussed throughout the year at regularly scheduled Board and Committee meetings as well as a wide range of information provided specifically in relation to the renewal of the Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreements for the April Meeting and May Meeting. Information furnished at Board and/or Committee meetings throughout the year included FIMCO’s analysis of each Fund’s investment performance and the performance of the sub-advisers to the respective Sub-Advised Funds, presentations given by representatives of FIMCO, Brandywine and Muzinich and various reports on compliance and other services provided by FIMCO and its affiliates.

In preparation for the April Meeting and/or May Meeting, the Independent Trustees requested and received information compiled by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent provider of investment company data, that included, among other things: (1) the investment performance over various time periods and the fees and expenses of each Fund as compared to a comparable group of funds as determined by Broadridge (“Peer Group”); and (2) comparative information on each Fund’s volatility versus total return. The Board also considered that FIMCO charges different fee rates to various mutual funds that have similar investment mandates and FIMCO’s explanation for these differences.

Additionally, in response to specific requests from the Independent Trustees in connection with the April Meeting and/or May Meeting, FIMCO furnished, and the Board considered, information concerning various aspects of its operations, including: (1) the nature, extent and quality of services provided by FIMCO and its affiliates to the Funds, including investment advisory and administrative services to the Funds and, as applicable, services in connection with selecting, overseeing and evaluating the sub-advisers; (2) the actual management fees paid by each Fund to FIMCO; (3) the costs of providing services to each Fund and the profitability of FIMCO and its affiliate, Foresters Investor Services, Inc. (“FIS”), the Funds’ affiliated transfer agent, from the relationship with each Fund; and (4) any “fall out” or ancillary benefits accruing to FIMCO or its affiliates as a result of the relationship with each Fund. FIMCO also provided, and the Board considered, an analysis of the overall profitability of the First Investors mutual fund business that included various entities affiliated with FIMCO as well as comparative profitability information based on analysis performed by FIMCO of the financial statements of

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certain publicly-traded mutual fund asset managers. The Board also considered FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s personnel and methods, including the education, experience of key personnel, and the number of their advisory and analytical personnel; general information regarding the compensation of FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s advisory personnel; FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s investment management process; FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s compliance program; the time and attention of FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s personnel devoted to the management of the Funds; FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s cybersecurity practices and related controls and business continuity plans; and material pending, threatened or settled litigation involving FIMCO and each sub-adviser, and any ongoing or completed audits, investigations or examinations by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Board also considered information provided by FIMCO related to the decision by The Independent Order of Foresters, the parent company of FIMCO, to sell its U.S. North American Asset Management businesses including FIMCO and that part of FIMCO’s business relating to the operation of the Funds to Macquarie Management Holdings, Inc., which would result in the reorganization of each of the Funds into corresponding series of the Delaware Funds by Macquarie (the “Reorganizations”), and that such Reorganizations were expected to be completed during the last quarter of the year, if approved by the Board at a meeting to be held on June 10, 2019, and by shareholders of the Funds. In addition to evaluating, among other considerations, the written information provided by FIMCO, the Board also evaluated the answers to questions posed by the Board to representatives of FIMCO.

In addition, in response to specific requests from the Independent Trustees in connection with the April Meeting and/or May Meeting, Brandywine and Muzinich furnished, and the Board reviewed, information concerning various aspects of their respective operations, including: (1) the nature, extent and quality of services provided by Brandywine and Muzinich to the applicable Sub-Advised Funds; (2) the sub-advisory fee rates charged by Brandywine and Muzinich and a comparison of those fee rates to the fee rates of Brandywine and Muzinich for providing advisory services to other investment companies or accounts or compared to their standard fee schedule, as applicable, with an investment mandate similar to the applicable Sub-Advised Funds; (3) profitability and/or financial information provided by Brandywine and Muzinich; and (4) any “fall out” or ancillary benefits accruing to Brandywine and Muzinich as a result of the relationship with each applicable Sub-Advised Fund. The Board also considered FIMCO’s representations that it found the sub-adviser responses to the information requests in connection with the renewal of the Sub-Advisory Agreements to be satisfactory and to raise no issues of general concern.

In considering the information and materials described above, the Independent Trustees took into account management style, investment strategies and prevailing market conditions. Moreover, the Independent Trustees received assistance from and met separately with Independent Legal Counsel prior to the April Meeting and prior to and during the May Meeting and were provided with a written description of their statutory responsibilities and the legal standards that are applicable to approvals of advisory agreements (and sub-advisory agreements, as applicable). Although the Advisory Agreement for all of the Funds and the Sub-Advisory Agreements for

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the Sub-Advised Funds were considered at the same Board meeting, the Independent Trustees addressed each Fund separately during the April Meeting and May Meeting.

Based on all of the information presented, the Board, including a majority of its Independent Trustees, determined on a Fund-by-Fund basis that the fees charged under the Advisory Agreement and each Sub-Advisory Agreement are reasonable in relation to the services that are provided under each Agreement. The Board did not identify any single factor as being of paramount importance in reaching its conclusions and determinations with respect to the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for each Fund and Sub-Advisory Agreements and different Trustees may have given different weight to different factors. Although not meant to be all-inclusive, the following describes some of the factors that were considered by the Board in deciding to approve the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for each Fund and the Sub-Advisory Agreements with Brandywine and Muzinich.

Nature, Extent and Quality of Services

In examining the nature, extent and quality of the services provided by FIMCO, the Board recognized that FIMCO is dedicated to providing investment management services exclusively to the Funds and the other funds in the First Investors fund complex and that, unlike many other mutual fund managers, FIMCO is not in the business of providing management services to hedge funds, pension funds or private accounts. In this connection, the Board was advised that certain key FIMCO personnel provide separately managed account services to a FIMCO-affiliated investment adviser, but that these personnel spend most of their time serving their FIMCO clients. As a result, the Board considered that FIMCO’s personnel devote substantially all of their time to serving the funds in the First Investors fund complex. The Board also considered management’s explanation regarding the significant costs involved in providing the level of personal service that the First Investors fund complex seeks to deliver to its shareholders, which are primarily shareholders in the broad middle market.

The Board noted that FIMCO has undertaken extensive responsibilities as manager of the Funds, including: (1) the provision of investment advice to the Funds; (2) implementing policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with each Fund’s investment objectives and policies as well as new laws and regulatory initiatives; (3) the review of brokerage arrangements; (4) oversight of general portfolio compliance with applicable laws; (5) the provision of certain administrative services to the Funds, including fund accounting; (6) the implementation of Board directives as they relate to the Funds; and (7) evaluating and monitoring any sub-advisers on an ongoing basis, including, but not limited to, monitoring each sub-adviser’s investment performance, evaluating each sub-adviser’s compliance program on an annual basis and monitoring investments for compliance purposes, including monitoring each sub-adviser’s soft dollar practices (as applicable), portfolio allocation and best execution. The Board noted that FIMCO provided the same sorts of administrative and other services, except for direct management of the portfolio, for the Sub-Advised Funds as it does for the other funds that do not employ a sub-adviser. The Board noted that FIMCO provides not only advisory services, but historically also has provided certain administrative personnel and services that many other advisers do not provide without imposition of separate fees. The Board also noted the

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steps that FIMCO has taken to encourage strong performance, including the manner in which portfolio managers and analysts are provided significant incentive compensation for good Fund performance. In addition, the Board considered information regarding the overall financial strength of FIMCO and its affiliates and the resources and staffing in place with respect to the services provided to the Funds.

The Board also considered the nature, extent and quality of the services provided to the Funds by FIMCO’s affiliates, including transfer agency and distribution services. The Board took into account the fact that FIS is dedicated to providing transfer agency services exclusively to the Funds and the other funds in the First Investors fund complex. As a result, FIS can tailor its processes and services to satisfy the needs of the Funds’ shareholder base. The Board noted that the Funds’ shares are distributed primarily through Foresters Financial Services, Inc. (“FFS”), which is an affiliate of FIMCO.

Furthermore, the Board considered the nature, extent and quality of the investment management services provided by Brandywine and Muzinich to the applicable Sub-Advised Funds. The Board considered Brandywine’s and Muzinich’s investment management process in managing the applicable Sub-Advised Funds and the experience and capability of its personnel responsible for the portfolio management of the applicable Sub-Advised Funds. The Board also considered information regarding the resources and staffing in place with respect to the services provided by each sub-adviser. Additionally, with respect to the Sub-Advised Funds, the Board considered the differences in fees paid by each Sub-Advised Fund to FIMCO and the fees paid by FIMCO to each sub-adviser, as well as representations by FIMCO that these fee differentials are warranted by its ongoing services and assumption of risks.

Based on the information considered, the Board concluded that the nature, extent and quality of the services provided to each Fund by FIMCO and the applicable Sub-Advised Funds by Brandywine and Muzinich were appropriate and consistent with the terms of the Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreements, as applicable, and supported approval of the Advisory Agreement and each Sub-Advisory Agreement.

Investment Performance

The Board placed significant emphasis on the investment performance of each of the Funds. While consideration was given to performance reports and discussions held at prior Board or Committee meetings, as applicable, particular attention was given to the performance information compiled by Broadridge. In particular, the Board reviewed the total return of each Fund, as applicable, over the most recent calendar year (“1-year period”) and the annualized total return over the most recent three calendar year period (“3-year period”) and five calendar year period (“5-year period”). In addition, the Board considered the total return information provided by FIMCO for each Fund through April 30, 2019. The Board also reviewed the annual yield of each Fund for each of the past five calendar years (or shorter period as applicable). With regard to the total return and yield information, the Board considered the total return and yield of each Fund on a percentile and quintile basis as compared to its Peer Group. For purposes of the data provided, the first quintile is defined as 20% of the funds in the applicable Peer Group with the

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highest performance or yield, as applicable, and the fifth quintile is defined as 20% of the funds in the applicable Peer Group with the lowest performance or yield. The Board also considered FIMCO’s representations that it monitors to ensure portfolio managers invest in a manner consistent with the mandate for the Fund or Funds they manage. The Board also considered a special performance report prepared by FIMCO analyzing the performance of the Limited Duration Bond Fund.

On a Fund-by-Fund basis, the total return performance reports indicated, and the Board noted, that: (i) the Floating Rate Fund fell within the fifth quintile for the 3-year period and 5-year period and in the second quintile for the 1-year period; (ii) the Fund For Income fell within the fourth quintile for the 3-year period and 5-year period and in the second quintile for the 1-year period; (iii) the Government Cash Management Fund fell within the fourth quintile for each of the performance periods shown by Broadridge; (iv) the International Opportunities Bond Fund fell within the fifth quintile for the 1-year period and 5-year period and in the fourth quintile for the 3-year period; (v) the Investment Grade Fund fell within the fifth quintile for the 3-year period and 5-year period and in the second quintile for the 1-year period; (vi) the Limited Duration Bond Fund fell within the fifth quintile for the 1-year period and 3-year period (the only periods for which information was provided due to the short operating history of the Fund); and (vii) the Strategic Income Fund fell within the fifth quintile for the 3-year period and 5-year period and in the second quintile for the 1-year period. With respect to the Limited Duration Bond Fund, the Board considered FIMCO’s explanations regarding the Fund’s underperformance and strategy going forward.

The Board also reviewed the yields of the Funds and noted that the yield for: (i) the Floating Rate Fund fell outside of the top three quintiles for each of the past five calendar years; (ii) the Fund For Income fell within one of the top three quintiles for three of the past five calendar years; (iii) the Government Cash Management Fund fell outside of the top three quintiles for each of the past five calendar years; (iv) the International Opportunities Bond Fund fell within one of the top three quintiles for four of the past five calendar years; (v) the Investment Grade Fund fell within one of the top two quintiles for each of the past five calendar years; (vi) the Limited Duration Bond Fund fell within one of the top two quintiles for each of the past four years (the only periods available due to its relatively short operating history); and (vii) the Strategic Income Fund fell outside of the top three quintiles for each of the past five calendar years. Moreover, the Board considered the volatility versus total return data provided by Broadridge as well as FIMCO’s representation that it believes that the Funds generally use a more conservative investment style than many of their peers.

Based on the information considered, the Board concluded that the investment performance of each Fund was either (a) acceptable or better, or (b) subject to reasonable steps to monitor or address certain periods of underperformance.

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Fund Expenses, Costs of Services, Economies of Scale and Related Benefits

Management Fees and Expenses. The Board also gave substantial consideration to the fees payable under each Fund’s Advisory Agreement as well as under the Sub-Advisory Agreements for the Sub-Advised Funds.

The Board reviewed the information compiled by Broadridge comparing each Fund’s contractual management fee rate (at common asset levels) and actual management fee rate (which included the effect of any fee waivers) as a percentage of average net assets to other funds in its Peer Group. In this regard, the Board considered the contractual and actual management fees of each Fund on a quintile basis as compared to its Peer Group and noted the relative position of each Fund within the Peer Group. The Board also considered that FIMCO provides not only advisory services but also certain administrative personnel to the Funds under each Fund’s Advisory Agreement and that many other advisers do not provide such administrative personnel under their advisory agreements and that FIMCO also provides certain administrative services without the imposition of a separate fee. The Board considered that it had previously approved the: (i) extension, on a contractual basis, of the existing total expense cap limitation for the Government Cash Management Fund until January 31, 2020; (ii) the imposition, on a contractual basis, of a management fee cap for the Investment Grade Fund until January 1, 2020; (iii) extension, on a contractual basis, of the existing total expense cap for the Limited Duration Bond Fund until January 1, 2020; and (iv) imposition, on a contractual basis, of a total expense cap for Class A shares of the Floating Rate Fund. The Board also considered that, with respect to the Government Cash Management Fund, FIMCO has historically waived a significant portion of its management fees and reimbursed a portion of other expenses to avoid a negative return for shareholders during periods of historically low interest rates during recent prior years. In particular, the Board noted that: (i) the Floating Rate Fund’s contractual management fee was in the first quintile and actual management fee was in the second quintile of its Peer Group; (ii) the Fund For Income’s contractual and actual management fees were in the fifth quintile of its Peer Group; (iii) the Government Cash Management Fund’s contractual management fee was in the third quintile and actual management fee was in the first quintile of its Peer Group; (iv) the International Opportunities Bond Fund’s contractual management fee was in the fourth quintile and actual management fee was in the fifth quintile of its Peer Group; (v) the Investment Grade Fund’s contractual and actual management fees were in the fifth quintile of its Peer Group; (vi) the Limited Duration Bond Fund’s contractual and actual management fees were in the third quintile of its Peer Group; and (vii) the Strategic Income Fund’s contractual management fee was in the first quintile and actual management fee was in the fifth quintile of its Peer Group (although there were only a limited number of peers in the Peer Group). The Board also considered that FIMCO had agreed to voluntarily waive 15 basis points of the management fee of the International Opportunities Bond Fund and its entire 5 basis points management fee on the Strategic Income Fund for a period of one year in response to a Board request at the May Meeting.

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than management, transfer agency and Rule 12b-1/non-Rule 12b-1 shareholder service fees) to other funds in its Peer Group, including on a quintile basis. In particular, the Board noted that: (i) the total expense ratio for each Fund except the Floating Rate Fund and Government Cash Management was not in the top three quintiles of their respective Peer Groups; and (ii) the ratio of the sum of actual management and other non-management fees for each Fund except the Floating Rate Fund and Government Cash Management Fund was not in the top three quintiles of their respective Peer Groups. The Board also considered that FIMCO had proposed, and the Board had previously approved, to lower the Rule 12b-1 fee by 5 basis points for each of the Fund For Income, International Opportunities Bond Fund, Investment Grade Fund and Strategic Income Fund effective as of April 1, 2019 and that, as a result, the total expense ratios of such Funds would be reduced going forward. In considering the level of the total expense ratio and the ratio of the sum of actual management and other non-management fees, the Board took into account management’s explanation that: (i) the average account size of many of the First Investors funds is small by comparison to the industry average account size and that funds with small average account sizes generally have higher expense ratios than funds with larger average account sizes; (ii) there are significant costs involved in providing the level of personal service that the First Investors fund complex seeks to deliver to its shareholders; (iii) overall Fund expenses cover certain check-writing and wiring privileges for Government Cash Management Fund shareholders at no additional cost; and (iv) Broadridge expense comparisons do not take into account the size of a fund complex, and as a result, in most cases the First Investors funds are compared to funds in complexes that are much larger than First Investors. The Board also noted that Broadridge’s customized expense groups tend to be fairly small in number and the funds included in the Peer Group generally change from year to year, thereby introducing an element of randomness that affects comparative results each year. While recognizing the limitations inherent in Broadridge’s methodology, the Board believed that the data provided by Broadridge was a generally appropriate measure of comparative expenses.

In considering the sub-advisory fee rates charged by and costs and profitability of Brandywine and Muzinich with regard to the respective Sub-Advised Funds, the Board noted that FIMCO pays Brandywine and Muzinich, as the case may be, a sub-advisory fee from its own advisory fee rather than each Fund paying Brandywine and Muzinich a fee directly. The Board also considered arrangements pursuant to which Muzinich (but not its Sub-Advised Funds) pays a portion of its sub-advisory fee to a solicitor that introduced Muzinich to FIMCO. Brandywine and Muzinich provided, and the Board reviewed, information comparing the fees charged by Brandywine and Muzinich for services to the respective Sub-Advised Funds versus the fee rates of Brandywine and Muzinich for providing advisory services to other comparable investment companies or accounts or compared to their standard fee schedule, as applicable. Based on a review of this information, the Board noted that the fees charged by Brandywine and Muzinich, as the case may be, for services to each applicable Sub-Advised Fund appeared competitive to the fees Brandywine and Muzinich charge to their other comparable investment companies or accounts or compared to their standard fee schedule, as applicable.

The foregoing comparisons assisted the Trustees by providing them with a basis for evaluating each Fund’s management fee and expense ratio on a relative basis and the Board concluded

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that each Fund’s management fees appeared reasonable in relation to the services and benefits provided to each Fund.

Profitability. The Board reviewed the materials it received from FIMCO regarding its revenues and costs in providing investment management and certain administrative services to the Funds. In particular, the Board considered the analysis of FIMCO’s profitability with respect to each Fund, calculated for the year ended December 31, 2018, as well as overall profitability information relating to the past five calendar years. The Board also considered the information provided by FIMCO comparing the profitability of certain publicly-traded mutual fund asset managers as analyzed by FIMCO based on publicly available financial statements and noted FIMCO’s analysis that its profit margin is substantially lower than the average of such publicly-traded managers. In reviewing the profitability information, the Board also considered the “fall-out” or ancillary benefits that may accrue to FIMCO and its affiliates as a result of their relationship with the Funds, which are discussed below. Based on the information provided, the Board also noted that FIMCO operates the Limited Duration Bond Fund and Strategic Income Fund at a loss. The Board acknowledged that, as a business matter, FIMCO was entitled to earn reasonable profits for its services to the Funds and concluded that the level of profitability to FIMCO of its contractual arrangements with each Fund did not appear so high as to call into question the appropriateness of the fees paid to FIMCO by any Fund or otherwise to preclude the proposed continuation of the Advisory Agreement for any of the Funds. The Board also considered the profitability and/or financial information provided by Brandywine and Muzinich.

Economies of Scale. With respect to whether economies of scale are realized by FIMCO and the extent to which any economies of scale are reflected in the level of management fee rates charged, the Board considered that the Advisory Agreement fee schedule for each Fund, except the Strategic Income Fund and Government Cash Management Fund, includes breakpoints to account for management economies of scale as each Fund’s assets increase. With respect to the Strategic Income Fund and Government Cash Management Fund, the Board concluded that the fee structure is appropriate at current asset levels.

“Fall Out” or Ancillary Benefits. The Board considered the “fall-out” or ancillary benefits that may accrue to FIMCO, Brandywine and Muzinich as a result of their relationship with the Funds. In that regard, the Board considered the fact that FIMCO and Brandywine (but not Muzinich) may receive research from broker-dealers that execute brokerage transactions for the funds in the First Investors fund complex. However, the Board noted that FIMCO and the sub-advisers must select brokers based on each Fund’s requirements for seeking best execution. The Board also considered the profits earned by FIS and the revenues received by FFS as a result of FIMCO’s management of the First Investors funds.

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In summary, based on all relevant information and factors, none of which was individually determinative of the outcome, the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, approved the renewal of the Advisory Agreement and each Sub-Advisory Agreement.

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Annual Consideration of the Investment Advisory Agreements and the Sub-Advisory Agreements with Muzinich & Co., Inc., Smith Group Asset Management, LP, Vontobel Asset Management, Inc., Wellington Management Company, LLP and Ziegler Capital Management, LLC

The First Investors Equity Funds’ (the “Trust”) investment advisory agreements with the Trust’s investment adviser and, as applicable, sub-advisers, on behalf of each of the Trust’s funds, can remain in effect after an initial term of no greater than two years only if they are renewed at least annually thereafter (i) by the vote of the Trustees or by a vote of the shareholders of each fund and (ii) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to the advisory agreement (and sub-advisory agreements, as applicable) or “interested persons” of any party thereto (the “Independent Trustees”), cast in person at a meeting called specifically for the purpose of voting on such approval.

The Board of Trustees (the “Board”) has six regularly scheduled meetings each year and takes into account throughout the year matters bearing on the approval of the advisory agreement (and sub-advisory agreements, as applicable). In particular, the Board and its standing committees also consider at each meeting at least certain of the factors that are relevant to the annual renewal of each fund’s advisory agreement (and sub-advisory agreements, as applicable), including investment performance, sub-adviser updates and reviews, reports with respect to brokerage and portfolio transactions, use of soft dollars for research products and services, portfolio turnover rates, risk management (including as it relates to cybersecurity risk), compliance monitoring, and the services and support provided to each fund and its shareholders. In addition, the Board meets with representatives of each sub-adviser in person at least once per year.

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At the May Meeting, the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, approved the renewal of the investment advisory agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) between FIMCO and each of the following funds (each a “Fund” and collectively the “Funds”): Covered Call Strategy Fund, Equity Income Fund, Global Fund, Growth & Income Fund, Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund, International Fund, Opportunity Fund, Premium Income Fund, Select Growth Fund, Special Situations Fund and Total Return Fund. In addition, at the May Meeting, the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, approved the renewal of the sub-advisory agreements (each a “Sub-Advisory Agreement” and collectively the “Sub-Advisory Agreements”) with: (1) Muzinich & Co. Inc. (“Muzinich”) with respect to the Total Return Fund; (2) Smith Group Asset Management, LP (“Smith Group”) with respect to the Select Growth Fund; (3) Vontobel Asset Management, Inc. (“Vontobel”) with respect to the International Fund; (4) Wellington Management Company, LLP (“WMC”) with respect to the Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund; and (5) Ziegler Capital Management, LLC (“Ziegler”) with respect to the Covered Call Strategy Fund and Premium Income Fund. The Total Return Fund, Select Growth Fund, International Fund, Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund, Covered Call Strategy Fund and Premium Income Fund are collectively referred to as the “Sub-Advised Funds.”

In reaching its decisions to approve the continuation of the Advisory Agreement for each Fund and the Sub-Advisory Agreements for the Sub-Advised Funds, the Board considered information furnished and discussed throughout the year at regularly scheduled Board and Committee meetings as well as a wide range of information provided specifically in relation to the renewal of the Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreements for the April Meeting and May Meeting. Information furnished at Board and/or Committee meetings throughout the year included FIMCO’s analysis of each Fund’s investment performance and the performance of the sub-advisers to the respective Sub-Advised Funds, presentations given by representatives of FIMCO, Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, Wellington and Ziegler and various reports on compliance and other services provided by FIMCO and its affiliates.

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agent, from the relationship with each Fund; and (4) any “fall out” or ancillary benefits accruing to FIMCO or its affiliates as a result of the relationship with each Fund. FIMCO also provided, and the Board considered, an analysis of the overall profitability of the First Investors mutual fund business that included various entities affiliated with FIMCO as well as comparative profitability information based on analysis performed by FIMCO of the financial statements of certain publicly-traded mutual fund asset managers. The Board also considered FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s personnel and methods, including the education, experience of key personnel, and the number of their advisory and analytical personnel; general information regarding the compensation of FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s advisory personnel; FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s investment management process; FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s compliance program; the time and attention of FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s personnel devoted to the management of the Funds; FIMCO’s and each sub-adviser’s cybersecurity practices and related controls and business continuity plans; and material pending, threatened or settled litigation involving FIMCO and each sub-adviser, and any ongoing or completed audits, investigations or examinations by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Board also considered information provided by FIMCO related to the decision by The Independent Order of Foresters, the parent company of FIMCO, to sell its U.S. North American Asset Management businesses including FIMCO and that part of FIMCO’s business relating to the operation of the Funds to Macquarie Management Holdings, Inc., which would result in the reorganization of each of the Funds into corresponding series of the Delaware Funds by Macquarie (the “Reorganizations”), and that such Reorganizations were expected to be completed during the last quarter of the year, if approved by the Board at a meeting to be held on June 10, 2019, and by shareholders of the Funds. In addition to evaluating, among other considerations, the written information provided by FIMCO, the Board also evaluated the answers to questions posed by the Board to representatives of FIMCO.

In addition, in response to specific requests from the Independent Trustees in connection with the April Meeting and/or May Meeting, Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler furnished, and the Board reviewed, information concerning various aspects of their respective operations, including: (1) the nature, extent and quality of services provided by Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler to the applicable Sub-Advised Funds; (2) the sub-advisory fee rates charged by Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler and a comparison of those fee rates to the fee rates of Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler for providing advisory services to other investment companies or accounts or compared to their standard fee schedule, as applicable, with an investment mandate similar to the applicable Sub-Advised Funds; (3) profitability and/or financial information provided by Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler; and (4) any “fall out” or ancillary benefits accruing to Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler as a result of the relationship with each applicable Sub-Advised Fund. The Board also considered FIMCO’s representations that it found the sub-adviser responses to the information requests in connection with the renewal of the Sub-Advisory Agreements to be satisfactory and to raise no issues of general concern.

In considering the information and materials described above, the Independent Trustees took into account management style, investment strategies and prevailing market conditions. Moreover,

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the Independent Trustees received assistance from and met separately with Independent Legal Counsel prior to the April Meeting and prior to and during the May Meeting and were provided with a written description of their statutory responsibilities and the legal standards that are applicable to approvals of advisory agreements (and sub-advisory agreements, as applicable). Although the Advisory Agreement for all of the Funds and the Sub-Advisory Agreements for the Sub-Advised Funds were considered at the same Board meeting, the Independent Trustees addressed each Fund separately during the April Meeting and May Meeting.

Based on all of the information presented, the Board, including a majority of its Independent Trustees, determined on a Fund-by-Fund basis that the fees charged under the Advisory Agreement and each Sub-Advisory Agreement are reasonable in relation to the services that are provided under each Agreement. The Board did not identify any single factor as being of paramount importance in reaching its conclusions and determinations with respect to the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for each Fund and Sub-Advisory Agreements and different Trustees may have given different weight to different factors. Although not meant to be all-inclusive, the following describes some of the factors that were considered by the Board in deciding to approve the continuance of the Advisory Agreement for each Fund and Sub-Advisory Agreements with Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler.

Nature, Extent and Quality of Services

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that FIMCO provided the same sorts of administrative and other services, except for direct management of the portfolio, for the Sub-Advised Funds as it does for the other funds that do not employ a sub-adviser. The Board noted that FIMCO provides not only advisory services, but historically also has provided certain administrative personnel and services that many other advisers do not provide without imposition of separate fees. The Board also noted the steps that FIMCO has taken to encourage strong performance, including the manner in which portfolio managers and analysts are provided significant incentive compensation for good Fund performance. In addition, the Board considered information regarding the overall financial strength of FIMCO and its affiliates and the resources and staffing in place with respect to the services provided to the Funds.

Furthermore, the Board considered the nature, extent and quality of the investment management services provided by Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler to the applicable Sub-Advised Funds. The Board considered Muzinich’s, Smith Group’s, Vontobel’s, WMC’s and Ziegler’s investment management process in managing the applicable Sub-Advised Funds and the experience and capability of their respective personnel responsible for the portfolio management of the applicable Sub-Advised Funds. The Board also considered information regarding the resources and staffing in place with respect to the services provided by each sub-adviser. Additionally, with respect to the Sub-Advised Funds, the Board considered the differences in fees paid by each Sub-Advised Fund to FIMCO and the fees paid by FIMCO to each sub-adviser, as well as representations by FIMCO that these fee differentials are warranted by its ongoing services and assumption of risks.

Based on the information considered, the Board concluded that the nature, extent and quality of the services provided to each Fund by FIMCO and the applicable Sub-Advised Funds by Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler were appropriate and consistent with the terms of the Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreements, as applicable, and supported approval of the Advisory Agreement and each Sub-Advisory Agreement.

Investment Performance

351

Board Considerations of Advisory Contracts and Fees (continued) (unaudited)

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

year period (“5-year period”). In addition, the Board considered the performance information provided by FIMCO for each Fund through April 30, 2019. With regard to the performance information, the Board considered the performance of each Fund on a percentile and quintile basis as compared to its Peer Group. For purposes of the performance data provided, the first quintile is defined as 20% of the funds in the applicable Peer Group with the highest performance and the fifth quintile is defined as 20% of the funds in the applicable Peer Group with the lowest performance. The Board also considered FIMCO’s representations that it monitors to ensure portfolio managers invest in a manner consistent with the mandate for the Fund or Funds they manage. The Board also considered a special performance report prepared by FIMCO analyzing the performance of the Opportunity Fund.

On a Fund-by-Fund basis, the performance reports indicated, and the Board noted, that each Fund except the Growth & Income Fund, Opportunity Fund, Total Return Fund and Covered Call Strategy Fund fell within one of the top three quintiles for at least one of the performance periods provided by Broadridge. The Board also noted that the Premium Income Fund had no quintile information provided by Broadridge because of its short operating history. In particular, the Board noted that: (i) the Equity Income Fund fell within the top three quintiles for the 1-year period; (ii) the Global Fund fell within the top three quintiles for the 5-year period; (iii) the International Fund fell within the top three quintiles for the 1-year period, 3-year period and 5-year period; (iv) the Select Growth Fund fell within the top three quintiles for the 3-year period and 5-year period; (v) the Special Situations Fund fell within the top three quintiles for the 5-year period; and (vi) the Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund fell within the top three quintiles for the 1-year period (the only period for which performance information was provided due to the short operating history of the Fund). With respect to the Growth & Income Fund and Total Return Fund, the Board considered that while each Fund did not fall within the top three quintiles for any of the periods, there was improvement in each Fund’s shorter term performance over the 1-year period. With respect to the Opportunity Fund, the Board considered FIMCO’s explanations regarding the Fund’s underperformance and noted that FIMCO had added a new assistant portfolio manager on the Fund recently. The Board also considered that the Covered Call Strategy Fund had a short operating history with only one full year of performance information. The Board also considered the volatility versus total return data provided by Broadridge as well as FIMCO’s representation that it believes that the Funds generally use a more conservative investment style than many of their peers.

Fund Expenses, Costs of Services, Economies of Scale and Related Benefits

352

The Board also reviewed the information compiled by Broadridge comparing each Fund’s Class A share total expense ratio, taking into account FIMCO’s expense waivers (as applicable), and the ratio of the sum of actual management and other non-management fees (i.e., fees other than management, transfer agency and Rule 12b-1/non-Rule 12b-1 shareholder service fees) to other funds in its Peer Group, including on a quintile basis. In particular, the Board noted that: (i) the total expense ratio for each Fund except the Opportunity Fund, Select Growth Fund and Premium Income Fund was not in the top three quintiles of their respective Peer Groups; and (ii) the ratio of the sum of actual management and other non-management fees was in the top three quintiles for all of the Funds except the Equity Income Fund, Global Fund, International Fund, Total Return Fund and Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund. The Board also considered that FIMCO had proposed, and the Board had previously approved, to lower the Rule 12b-1 fee by 5 basis points for each of the Equity Income Fund, Global Fund, Growth & Income Fund, International Fund, Opportunity Fund, Select Growth Fund, Special Situations Fund and Total Return Fund effective as of April 1, 2019 and that, as a result, the total expense ratios of such Funds would be reduced going forward. The Board noted that the Covered Call Strategy Fund, Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund and Premium Income Fund already charged Rule 12b-1 fees at such lower level. In considering the level of the total expense ratio and the ratio of the sum of actual management and other non-management fees, the Board took into account management’s explanation that: (i) the average account size of many of the First Investors funds is small by comparison to the industry average account size and that funds with small average account sizes generally have higher expense ratios than funds with larger average account sizes; (ii) there are significant costs involved in providing the level of personal service that the First Investors fund complex seeks to deliver to its shareholders; and (iii) Broadridge expense

353

Board Considerations of Advisory Contracts and Fees (continued) (unaudited)

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

comparisons do not take into account the size of a fund complex, and as a result, in certain cases the First Investors funds are compared to funds in complexes that are much larger than First Investors. The Board also noted that Broadridge’s customized expense groups tend to be fairly small in number and the funds included in the Peer Group generally change from year to year, thereby introducing an element of randomness that affects comparative results each year. While recognizing the limitations inherent in Broadridge’s methodology, the Board believed that the data provided by Broadridge was a generally appropriate measure of comparative expenses.

In considering the sub-advisory fee rates charged by and costs and profitability of Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler with regard to the respective Sub-Advised Funds, the Board noted that FIMCO pays Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler, as the case may be, a sub-advisory fee from its own advisory fee rather than each Fund paying Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler a fee directly. The Board also considered an arrangement pursuant to which Muzinich, Smith Group and Vontobel (but not the Sub-Advised Funds) each pays a portion of its sub-advisory fee to a solicitor that introduced each such subadviser to FIMCO. Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler provided, and the Board reviewed, information comparing the fees charged by Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler for services to the respective Sub-Advised Funds versus the fee rates of Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler for providing advisory services to other comparable investment companies or accounts or compared to their standard fee schedule, as applicable. Based on a review of this information, the Board noted that the fees charged by Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler, as the case may be, for services to each applicable Sub-Advised Fund appeared competitive to the fees Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler charge to their other comparable investment companies or accounts or compared to their standard fee schedule, as applicable.

The foregoing comparisons assisted the Trustees by providing them with a basis for evaluating each Fund’s management fee and expense ratio on a relative basis and the Board concluded that each Fund’s management fees appeared reasonable in relation to the services and benefits provided to each Fund.

Profitability. The Board reviewed the materials it received from FIMCO regarding its revenues and costs in providing investment management and certain administrative services to the Funds. In particular, the Board considered the analysis of FIMCO’s profitability with respect to each Fund, calculated for the year ended December 31, 2018, as well as overall profitability information relating to the past five calendar years. The Board also considered the information provided by FIMCO comparing the profitability of certain publicly-traded mutual fund asset managers as analyzed by FIMCO based on publicly available financial statements and noted FIMCO’s analysis that its profit margin is substantially lower than the average of such publicly-traded managers. In reviewing the profitability information, the Board also considered the “fall-out” or ancillary benefits that may accrue to FIMCO and its affiliates as a result of their relationship with the Funds, which are discussed below. Based on the information provided, the Board also noted that FIMCO operates the Premium Income Fund at a loss. The Board acknowledged that, as a business matter, FIMCO was entitled to earn reasonable profits for its services to the Funds and concluded that the level of profitability to FIMCO of its contractual

354

arrangements with each Fund did not appear so high as to call into question the appropriateness of the fees paid to FIMCO by any Fund or otherwise to preclude the proposed continuation of the Advisory Agreement for any of the Funds. The Board also considered the profitability and/or financial information provided by Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler.

“Fall Out” or Ancillary Benefits. The Board considered the “fall-out” or ancillary benefits that may accrue to FIMCO, Muzinich, Smith Group, Vontobel, WMC and Ziegler as a result of their relationship with the Funds. In that regard, the Board considered the fact that FIMCO and each sub-adviser (except Muzinich and Ziegler) may receive research from broker-dealers that execute brokerage transactions for the funds in the First Investors fund complex. However, the Board noted that FIMCO and the sub-advisers must select brokers based on each Fund’s requirements for seeking best execution. The Board also considered the profits earned by FIS and the revenues received by FFS as a result of FIMCO’s management of the First Investors funds.

^* ^* ^*

355

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

Trustees and Officers^*

Name, Year of Birth and Address	Position Held with Funds	Length of Time Served (Including with Predecessor Funds)	Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen	Other Trusteeships/ Directorships Held
DISINTERESTED TRUSTEES
Susan E. Artmann (1954) c/o First Investors Funds, Legal Department 40 Wall Street New York, NY 10005	Trustee	Since 11/1/12	36	None
Principal Occupation During Past 5 Years: None/Retired.
Mary J. Barneby (1952) c/o First Investors Funds, Legal Department 40 Wall Street New York, NY 10005	Trustee	Since 11/1/12	36	None
Principal Occupation During Past 5 Years: Chief Executive Officer, Girl Scouts of Connecticut (since October 2012).
Charles R. Barton, III (1965) c/o First Investors Funds, Legal Department 40 Wall Street New York, NY 10005	Trustee	Since 1/1/06	36	None
Principal Occupation During Past 5 Years: Chief Operating Officer (since 2007), Board Director (since 1989, currently Ex-Officio) and Trustee (since 1994) of The Barton Group/Barton Mines Corporation (mining and industrial abrasives distribution); President of Noe Pierson Corporation (land holding and management services provider) (since 2004).
Arthur M. Scutro, Jr. (1941) c/o First Investors Funds, Legal Department 40 Wall Street New York, NY 10005	Trustee and Chairman	Trustee since 1/1/06 and Chairman since 1/1/13	36	None
Principal Occupation During Past 5 Years: None/Retired

356

Name, Year of Birth and Address	Position Held with Funds	Length of Time Served (Including with Predecessor Funds)	Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen	Other Trusteeships/ Directorships Held
DISINTERESTED TRUSTEES (continued)
Mark R. Ward (1952) c/o First Investors Funds, Legal Department 40 Wall Street New York, NY 10005	Trustee	Since 1/1/10	36	None
Principal Occupation During Past 5 Years: Self-employed, consultant (since 2008).

^*	Each Trustee serves for an indefinite term with the Funds, until his/her successor is elected.

357

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

Trustees and Officers^* (continued)

Name, Year of Birth and Address	Position Held with Funds	Length of Time Served (Including with Predecessor Funds)	Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen	Other Trusteeships/ Directorships Held
OFFICERS WHO ARE NOT TRUSTEES
E. Blake Moore Jr. (1958) c/o First Investors Funds, Legal Department 40 Wall Street New York, NY 10005	President	Since 2/22/2018	N/A	None
Principal Occupation During Past 5 Years: President, Foresters Invesment Management Company, Inc. (since February 2018); Managing Director and Head of Americas, UBS Asset Management (Americas) Inc. (2015-2017); Executive Vice President , Mackenzie Investments (Canada) (2011-2014).
Joseph I. Benedek (1957) c/o Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc. Raritan Plaza I Edison, NJ 08837	Treasurer	Since 1988	N/A	None
Principal Occupation During Past 5 Years: Treasurer of Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.
Scott K. Richardson (1966) c/o First Investors Funds, Legal Department 40 Wall Street New York, NY 10005	Secretary	Since 9/17/2018	N/A	None
Principal Occupation During Past 5 Years: Senior Vice President, General Counsel/Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer, Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc. (since September 2018); Executive Director, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (2005-2018).
Marc S. Milgram (1957) c/o First Investors Funds, Legal Department 40 Wall Street New York, NY 10005	Chief Compliance Officer	Since 2010	N/A	None
Principal Occupation During Past 5 Years: Chief Compliance Officer of Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.

358

FIRST INVESTORS INCOME FUNDS

FIRST INVESTORS EQUITY FUNDS

Shareholder Information

Investment Adviser
Foresters Investment Management Company, Inc.
40 Wall Street
New York, NY 10005

Subadviser
(Covered Call Strategy Fund and Premium Income Fund)
Ziegler Capital Management, LLC
70 W. Madison Street
Chicago, IL 60602

Subadviser
(Floating Rate Fund, Fund For Income, Investment Grade Fund, Limited Duration Bond Fund and Total Return Fund)
Muzinich & Co., Inc.
450 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Subadviser
(Hedged U.S. Equity Opportunities Fund)
Wellington Management Company, LLP
280 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210

Subadviser
(International Fund)
Vontobel Asset Management, Inc.
1540 Broadway
New York, NY 10036

Subadviser
(International Opportunities Bond Fund)
Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC
1735 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Subadviser
(Select Growth Fund)
Smith Asset Management Group, L.P.
100 Crescent Court
Dallas, TX 75201

Underwriter
Foresters Financial Services, Inc.
40 Wall Street
New York, NY 10005

Custodian
The Bank of New York Mellon
240 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10286

Transfer Agent
Foresters Investor Services, Inc.
Raritan Plaza I – 8th Floor
Edison, NJ 08837-3620

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Tait, Weller & Baker LLP
Two Liberty Place
50 South 16th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102

Legal Counsel
K&L Gates LLP
1601 K Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006

359

A description of the policies and procedures that the Funds use to vote proxies relating to a portfolio’s securities is available, without charge, upon request by calling toll free 1-800-423-4026 or can be viewed online or downloaded from the EDGAR database on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) internet website at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, information regarding how the Funds voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30, is available, without charge, upon request in writing or by calling 1-800-423-4026 and on the SEC’s internet website at http://www.sec.gov.

The Funds file their complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC on Form N-PORT for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year. The Funds’ Form N-PORT is available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov; and may also be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington D.C. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. The schedule of portfolio holdings is available, without charge, upon request in writing or by calling 1-800-423-4026.

360

NOTES

361

Foresters Financial
40 Wall Street
New York, NY 10005

(1017727-11/19)
IEAR19

Item 2. Code of Ethics

The Registrant has adopted a code of ethics that applies to the Registrant's principal executive officer and principal financial officer. On February 22, 2018, revisions were made to the code of ethics to reflect the appointment of a new President of the First Investors Funds.

For the year ended September 30, 2019, there were no waivers granted from a provision of the code of ethics.

A copy of the Registrant's code of ethics is filed under Item 12(a)(1).

Item 3. Audit Committee Financial Expert

The Registrant's Board has determined that it had at least one "audit committee financial expert" serving on its audit committee. Arthur M. Scutro, Jr. and Mark R. Ward were the "audit committee financial experts" during all or part of the period and were considered to be "independent" as defined in Item 3 of Form N-CSR.

Item 4. Principal Accountant Fees and Services

		Fiscal Year Ended
		September 30,

		2019		2018
(a)	Audit Fees
	First Investors Equity Funds	$	340,600	$	331,650

(b)	Audit-Related Fees
	First Investors Equity Funds	$	0	$	0

(c)	Tax Fees
	First Investors Equity Funds	$	58,300	$	61,700

	Nature of services: tax returns preparation and tax compliance

(d)	All Other Fees
	First Investors Equity Funds	$	0	$	0

(e)(1) Audit committee's pre-approval policies

The Charter of the Audit Committee requires the Audit Committee (a) to pre-approve, and to recommend to the full Board, the selection, retention or termination of the independent auditors to provide audit, review or attest services to the First Investors Funds (“Funds”) and, in connection therewith, evaluate the independence of the auditors and to obtain the auditors’ specific representations as to their independence; (b) to pre-approve all non-audit services to be provided to the Funds by the independent auditor; and (c) to pre-approve all non-audit services to be provided by the Funds’ independent auditor to the Funds’ investment adviser or to any entity that controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the Funds’ investment adviser and that provides ongoing services to the Funds, if the engagement relates directly to the operations and financial reporting of the Funds. The Audit Committee has not adopted pre-approval policies or procedures to permit the services in (b) and (c) above to be pre-approved by other means.

(e)(2) None, or 0%, of the services relating to the Audit-Related Fees, Tax Fees and All Other Fees paid by the Registrant and Related Entities disclosed above were approved by the Audit Committee pursuant to paragraph(c)(7)(i)(C) of Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X (which permits audit committee

approval after the start of the engagement with respect to services other than audit review or attest services, if certain conditions are satisfied).

(f) Not Applicable

(g) Aggregate non-audit fees billed by the Registrant's accountant for services rendered to the Registrant and the Registrant's investment adviser and any entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the adviser that provides ongoing services to the Registrant for the two fiscal years ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 were $180,100 and $180,100 respectively.

(h) Not Applicable

Item 5. Audit Committee of Listed Registrants

Not applicable

Item 6. Schedule of Investments

(a)

Schedule is included as part of the report to shareholders filed under Item 1 of

this Form.

(b)

Not applicable

Item 7. Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies & Procedures for Closed-End Management Investment Companies

Not applicable

Item 8. Portfolio Managers of Closed-End Management Investment Companies

Not applicable

Item 9. Purchases of Equity Securities by Closed-End Management Investment Companies and Affiliated Purchasers

Not applicable

Item 10. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

There were no material changes to the procedure by which shareholders may recommend nominees to the Registrant's Board of Trustees.

Item 11. Controls and Procedures

(a) The Registrant's President and Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer have concluded that the Registrant's disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended) are effective, based on their evaluation of these

disclosure controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days of the filing date of this report.

(b) There were no changes in the Registrant's internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended) that occurred during the second fiscal quarter of the period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Registrant's internal control over

financial reporting.

Item 12. Disclosure of Securities Lending Activities for Closed-End Management Investment Companies

Not applicable

Item 13. Exhibits

(a)(1)

Code of Ethics - Filed herewith

(a)(2)

Certifications pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 - Filed herewith

(a)(3)

Not applicable

(a)(4)

Not applicable

(b)

Certifications pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 - Filed herewith

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

First Investors Equity Funds

By	/s/ E. Blake Moore Jr.
	E. Blake Moore Jr.
	President and Principal Executive Officer

Date:	November 25, 2019

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

By	/ s/ E. Blake Moore Jr.
	E. Blake Moore Jr.
	President and Principal Executive Officer

By	/s/ Joseph I. Benedek
	Joseph I. Benedek
	Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer

Date:	November 25, 2019