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Voya Russia Fund
Voya Russia Fund  (formerly, ING Russia Fund)
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund's investment objective is to seek long-term capital appreciation.
FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND
These tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in Voya mutual funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in the discussion in the Sales Charges section of the Prospectus (page 92) or the Purchase, Exchange, and Redemption of Shares section of the Statement of Additional Information (page 134).
Shareholder Fees
Fees paid directly from your investment
Shareholder Fees Voya Russia Fund
Maximum sales charge (load) as a % of offering price
Maximum deferred sales charge as a % of purchase or sales price, whichever is less
Class A
5.75% none [1]
Class I
none none
Class W
none none
[1] A contingent deferred sales charge of 1.00% is assessed on certain redemptions of Class A shares made within 18 months after purchase where no initial sales charge was paid at the time of purchase as part of an investment of $1 million or more.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Expenses you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment
Annual Fund Operating Expenses Voya Russia Fund
Class A
Class I
Class W
Management Fees 1.25%rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.25%rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.25%rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets
Distribution and/or Shareholder Services (12b-1) Fees 0.25%rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none none
Administrative Services Fees 0.10%rr_Component1OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.10%rr_Component1OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.10%rr_Component1OtherExpensesOverAssets
Other Expenses 0.47%rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.53%rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.47%rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 2.07%rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.88%rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.82%rr_ExpensesOverAssets
Waivers and Reimbursements [1] (0.07%)rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.13%)rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.07%)rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses after Waivers and Reimbursements 2.00%rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.75%rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.75%rr_NetExpensesOverAssets
[1] The adviser is contractually obligated to limit expenses to 2.15%, 1.90%, and 1.90% for Class A, Class I, and Class W shares, respectively, through March 1, 2016. This limitation is subject to possible recoupment by the adviser within 36 months of the waiver or reimbursement. In addition, the adviser is contractually obligated to further limit expenses to 2.00%, 1.75%, and 1.75% for Class A, Class I, and Class W shares, respectively, through March 1, 2016. The limitations do not extend to interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, extraordinary expenses, and Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. Termination or modification of these obligations requires approval by the Fund's board.
Expense Examples
The Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Fund with the costs of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated. The Examples show costs if you sold (redeemed) your shares at the end of the period or continued to hold them. The Examples also assume that your investment had a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. The cost of investing in the Fund for one year may vary based on the 2.00% redemption fee if shares were held for less than 365 days. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example Voya Russia Fund (USD $)
1 Yr
3 Yrs
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
Class A
766 1,180 1,618 2,832
Class I
178 578 1,004 2,190
Class W
178 566 979 2,132
Expense Example, No Redemption Voya Russia Fund (USD $)
1 Yr
3 Yrs
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
Class A
766 1,180 1,618 2,832
Class I
178 578 1,004 2,190
Class W
178 566 979 2,132
The Examples reflect applicable expense limitation agreements and/or waivers in effect, if any, for the one-year period and the first year of the three-, five-, and ten-year periods.
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Expense Examples, affect the Fund's performance.

During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 76% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities (including common stocks, preferred stocks, and convertible securities) of Russian companies. The Fund will provide shareholders with at least 60 days' prior notice of any change in this investment policy. The Fund may invest the other 20% of its assets in debt securities issued by Russian companies and debt securities issued or guaranteed by the Russian government without any restrictions based on investment quality or maturity of the debt securities. The Fund may also invest in the equity securities of companies located outside of Russia, including those companies located in the former Soviet Union. The Fund may invest in other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds, to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules, regulations, and exemptive orders thereunder (“1940 Act”).

The Fund may use derivatives including, but not limited to, futures, options, swaps, and forward contracts for hedging and non-hedging purposes. The Fund may use derivatives as a substitute for taking a position in the underlying asset and/or as part of a strategy to seek to reduce risk, such as interest rate risk, currency risk, and price risk.

The sub-adviser (“Sub-Adviser”) manages the Fund as a core equity product investing primarily in Russian companies and is not constrained by a particular investment style or market capitalization. It may invest in “growth” or “value” securities. The Sub-Adviser seeks to invest in companies that are undervalued by the market because their pace of development and earnings growth have been underestimated. The Sub-Adviser also seeks to invest in companies that it believes will experience growth in revenue and profits.

The Sub-Adviser defines a Russian company as a company that: (i) is organized under the laws of, or with principal offices in, Russia; (ii) has 50% or more of its assets in Russia; or (iii) derives 50% or more of its total revenue from sales made in markets in Russia.

The Fund is non-diversified, which means it may invest a significant portion of its assets in a single issuer.

The Sub-Adviser may sell securities for a variety of reasons, such as to secure gains, limit losses, or redeploy assets into opportunities believed to be more promising, among others.

The Fund may lend portfolio securities on a short-term or long-term basis, up to 33 1⁄3% of its total assets.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
You could lose money on an investment in the Fund. Any of the following risks, among others, could affect Fund performance or cause the Fund to lose money or to underperform market averages of other funds.

Call    During periods of falling interest rates, a bond issuer may “call” or repay its high-yielding bond before the bond's maturity date. If forced to invest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates, the Fund would experience a decline in income.

Company    The price of a given company's stock could decline or underperform for many reasons including, among others, poor management, financial problems, or business challenges. If a company declares bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, its stock could become worthless.

Convertible Securities    Convertible securities are securities that are convertible into or exercisable for common stocks at a stated price or rate. Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt securities, such as interest rate and credit risk. In addition, because convertible securities react to changes in the value of the stocks into which they convert, they are subject to market risk.

Credit    Prices of bonds and other debt instruments can fall if the issuer's actual or perceived financial health deteriorates, whether because of broad economic or issuer-specific reasons. In certain cases, the issuer could be late in paying interest or principal, or could fail to pay altogether.

Currency    To the extent that the Fund invests directly in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities denominated in, or that trade in, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, it is subject to the risk that those foreign (non-U.S.) currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged.

Derivative Instruments    Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including the risk of changes in the market price of the underlying securities, credit risk with respect to the counterparty, risk of loss due to changes in interest rates and liquidity risk. The use of certain derivatives may also have a leveraging effect which may increase the volatility of the Fund and reduce its returns. Derivatives may not perform as expected, so the Fund may not realize the intended benefits. When used for hedging, the change in value of a derivative may not correlate as expected with the currency, security or other risk being hedged. In addition, given their complexity, derivatives expose the Fund to the risk of improper valuation.

Focused Investing    To the extent that the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in securities related to a particular industry, sector, market segment, or geographical area, its investments will be sensitive to developments in that industry, sector, market segment, or geographical area. The Fund assumes the risk that changing economic conditions; changing political or regulatory conditions; or natural and other disasters affecting the particular industry, sector, market segment, or geographical area in which the Fund focuses its investments could have a significant impact on its investment performance and could ultimately cause the Fund to underperform, or be more volatile than, other funds that invest more broadly.

Foreign Investments/Developing and Emerging Markets    Investing in foreign (non-U.S.) securities may result in the Fund experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S. companies due to: smaller markets; differing reporting, accounting, and auditing standards; nationalization, expropriation, or confiscatory taxation; foreign currency fluctuations, currency blockage, or replacement; potential for default on sovereign debt; or political changes or diplomatic developments. Markets and economies throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions or events in one market, country or region may adversely impact investments or issuers in another market, country or region. Foreign investment risks may be greater in developing and emerging markets than in developed markets.

High-Yield Securities    Investments rated below investment-grade (or of similar quality if unrated) are known as “high-yield securities” or “junk bonds.” High-yield securities are subject to greater levels of credit and liquidity risks. High-yield securities are considered primarily speculative with respect to the issuer's continuing ability to make principal and interest payments.

Interest Rate    With bonds and other fixed rate debt instruments, a rise in interest rates generally causes values to fall; conversely, values generally rise as interest rates fall. The higher the credit quality of the instrument, and the longer its maturity or duration, the more sensitive it is likely to be to interest rate risk. In the case of inverse securities, the interest rate generally will decrease when the market rate of interest to which the inverse security is indexed increases. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States are at or near historic lows, which may increase the Fund's exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. Rising interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility. For fixed-income securities, an increase in interest rates may lead to increased redemptions and increased portfolio turnover, which could reduce liquidity for certain Fund investments, adversely affect values, and increase a Fund's costs. If dealer capacity in fixed-income markets is insufficient for market conditions, it may further inhibit liquidity and increase volatility in the fixed-income markets.

Issuer Non-Diversification    The Fund is classified as a “non-diversified” investment company and, therefore, is subject to the risks of focusing investments in a small number of issuers, industries or foreign currencies, including being more susceptible to risks associated with a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence than a more diversified portfolio might be.

Liquidity    If a security is illiquid, the Fund might be unable to sell the security at a time when the Fund's manager might wish to sell, and the security could have the effect of decreasing the overall level of the Fund's liquidity. Further, the lack of an established secondary market may make it more difficult to value illiquid securities, which could vary from the amount the Fund could realize upon disposition. The Fund may make investments that become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perception. The Fund could lose money if it cannot sell a security at the time and price that would be most beneficial to the Fund.

Market    Stock prices may be volatile and are affected by the real or perceived impacts of such factors as economic conditions and political events. Stock markets tend to be cyclical, with periods when stock prices generally rise and periods when stock prices generally decline. Any given stock market segment may remain out of favor with investors for a short or long period of time, and stocks as an asset class may underperform bonds or other asset classes during some periods. From time to time, the stock market may not favor the growth- or value-oriented securities in which the Fund invests. Rather, the market could favor securities to which the Fund is not exposed or may not favor equities at all. Additionally, legislative, regulatory or tax policies or developments in these areas may adversely impact the investment techniques available to a manager, add to Fund costs and impair the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objectives.

Market Capitalization    Stocks fall into three broad market capitalization categories - large, mid, and small. Investing primarily in one category carries the risk that, due to current market conditions, that category may be out of favor with investors. If valuations of large-capitalization companies appear to be greatly out of proportion to the valuations of mid- or small-capitalization companies, investors may migrate to the stocks of mid- and small-sized companies causing the Fund that invests in these companies to increase in value more rapidly than a fund that invests in larger, fully-valued companies. Investing in mid- and small-capitalization companies may be subject to special risks associated with narrower product lines, more limited financial resources, smaller management groups, and a more limited trading market for their stocks as compared with larger companies. As a result, stocks of mid- and small-capitalization companies may decline significantly in market downturns.

Other Investment Companies    The main risk of investing in other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds, is the risk that the value of the securities underlying an investment company might decrease. Because the Fund may invest in other investment companies, you will pay a proportionate share of the expenses of those other investment companies (including management fees, administration fees, and custodial fees) in addition to the expenses of the Fund.

Russian Companies    Investments in Russian Companies involve a high degree of risk and special considerations not typically associated with investments in more established economies or securities markets, such as political, economic, and legal uncertainties, and currency fluctuations. Investment in the Fund should be considered highly speculative.

Sanctions    The United States has imposed economic sanctions against companies in various sectors of the Russian economy including, but not limited to, financial services, energy, metals and mining, engineering, and defense and defense-related materials sectors. These sanctions could impair the Fund's ability to meet its investment objective. For example, the Fund may be prohibited from investing in securities issued by companies subject to such sanctions. In addition, the sanctions may require the Fund to freeze its existing investments in Russian companies, prohibiting the Fund from selling or otherwise transacting in these investments. This could impact the Fund's ability to sell securities or other financial instruments as needed to meet shareholder redemptions. The Fund could seek to suspend redemptions in the event that an emergency exists in which it is not reasonably practicable for the Fund to dispose of its securities or to determine the value of its net assets. Other entities or countries could also institute broader sanctions on Russia.

Securities Lending    Securities lending involves two primary risks: “investment risk” and “borrower default risk.” Investment risk is the risk that the Fund will lose money from the investment of the cash collateral received from the borrower. Borrower default risk is the risk that the Fund will lose money due to the failure of a borrower to return a borrowed security in a timely manner.

Sovereign Debt    These securities are issued or guaranteed by foreign government entities. Investments in sovereign debt are subject to the risk that a government entity may delay payment, restructure its debt, or refuse to pay interest or repay principal on its sovereign debt. Some of these reasons may include cash flow problems, insufficient foreign currency reserves, political considerations, the relative size of its debt position to its economy or its failure to put in place economic reforms required by the International Monetary Fund or other multilateral agencies. If a government entity defaults, it may ask for more time in which to pay or for further loans. There is no legal process for collecting sovereign debts that a government does not pay or bankruptcy proceeding by which all or part of sovereign debt that a government entity has not repaid may be collected.

An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
The following information is intended to help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The following bar chart shows the changes in the Fund's performance from year to year, and the table compares the Fund's performance to the performance of a broad-based securities market index/indices for the same period. The Fund's performance information reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the period presented. Absent such fee waivers/expense limitations, if any, performance would have been lower. The bar chart shows the performance of the Fund's Class A shares. Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart. If they were, returns would be less than those shown. However, the table includes all applicable fees and sales charges. Other class shares' performance would be higher or lower than Class A shares' performance because of the higher or lower expenses paid by Class A shares. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of future results. For the most recent performance figures, go to www.voyainvestments.com/literature or call 1-800-992-0180.
Calendar Year Total Returns Class A
(as of December 31 of each year)
Bar Chart
Best quarter: 2nd, 2009, 44.02% and Worst quarter: 4th, 2008, -48.55%
Average Annual Total Returns %
(for the periods ended December 31, 2014)
Average Annual Total Returns Voya Russia Fund
1 Yr
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
Since Inception
Inception Date
Class A
(43.96%) (9.17%) 4.25%    Jul. 03, 1996
Class A After tax on distributions
(44.26%) (9.22%) 3.44%     
Class A After tax on distributions with sale
(24.28%) (6.40%) 4.39%     
Class A Russia Trading System Index
(42.90%) (8.81%) 4.56%     
Class A MSCI Russia 10/40 Index
[1] (42.60%) (8.45%)    [2]    May 31, 2006
Class I
(40.43%) (7.87%)    (5.33%) Sep. 30, 2009
Class I Russia Trading System Index
(42.90%) (8.81%)    (5.91%)  
Class I MSCI Russia 10/40 Index
[1] (42.60%) (8.45%)    (6.02%)  
Class W
(40.40%)       (16.69%) Aug. 05, 2011
Class W Russia Trading System Index
(42.90%)       (18.75%)  
Class W MSCI Russia 10/40 Index
[1] (42.60%)       (18.47%)  
[1] The index returns include the reinvestment of dividends and distributions net of withholding taxes, but do not reflect fees, brokerage commissions, or other expenses.
[2] The inception date of the MSCI Russia 10/40 Index is May 31, 2006.
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown, and the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases the after-tax returns may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement period. After-tax returns are shown for Class A shares only. After-tax returns for other classes will vary.