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Voya Russia Fund
Voya 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 94) or the Purchase, Exchange, and Redemption of Shares section of the Statement of Additional Information (page 135).
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
Redemption fee %
[2]
Class A 5.75% none [1] 2.00%
Class I none none 2.00%
Class W none none 2.00%
[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.
[2] A 2.00% redemption fee will be charged on the redemption of shares held less than 365 days. The redemption fee will not apply to shares representing the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions.
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] 1.35% 1.35% 1.35%
Distribution and/or Shareholder Services (12b-1) Fees 0.25% none none
Other Expenses 0.53% 0.46% 0.53%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.01% 0.01% 0.01%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses [2] 2.14% 1.82% 1.89%
Waivers and Reimbursements [3] (0.13%) (0.06%) (0.13%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses after Waivers and Reimbursements 2.01% 1.76% 1.76%
[1] The portion of the management fee attributable to the advisory services is 1.30% and the portion of the management fee attributable to the administrative services is 0.05%.
[2] Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses may be higher than the Fund's ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights, which reflects the operating expenses of the Fund and does not include Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.
[3] 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, 2017. 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, 2017. The limitations do not extend to interest, taxes, investment-related costs, leverage expenses, 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 767 1,195 1,647 2,896
Class I 179 567 980 2,132
Class W 179 581 1,009 2,201
Expense Example, No Redemption - Voya Russia Fund - USD ($)
1 Yr
3 Yrs
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
Class A 767 1,195 1,647 2,896
Class I 179 567 980 2,132
Class W 179 581 1,009 2,201
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 16% 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.

Company: The price of a company’s stock could decline or underperform for many reasons including, among others, poor management, financial problems, reduced demand for company goods or services, regulatory fines and judgments, 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 instruments, 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: The price of a bond or other debt instrument is likely to 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 its financial obligations 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 by the Fund through foreign currency exchange transactions.

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 market interest rates and liquidity and volatility risk. The amounts required to purchase certain derivatives may be small relative to the magnitude of exposure assumed by the Fund. Therefore, the purchase of certain derivatives may have an economic leveraging effect on the Fund and exaggerate any increase or decrease in the net asset value. Derivatives may not perform as expected, so the Fund may not realize the intended benefits. When used for hedging purposes, the change in value of a derivative may not correlate as expected with the currency, security or other risk being hedged. When used as an alternative or substitute for direct cash investments, the return provided by the derivative may not provide the same return as direct cash investment. 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 geographic area, its investments will be sensitive to developments in that industry, sector, market segment, or geographic area. The Fund is subject to the risk that changing economic conditions; changing political or regulatory conditions; or natural and other disasters affecting the particular industry, sector, market segment, or geographic 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 its net asset value to 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, which may include the imposition of economic sanctions or other measures by the United States or other governments and supranational organizations. 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.

Growth Investing: Prices of growth stocks are more sensitive to investor perceptions of the issuing company’s growth potential and may fall quickly and significantly if investors suspect that actual growth may be less than expected. There is a risk that funds that invest in growth-oriented stocks may underperform other funds that invest more broadly. Growth stocks tend to be more volatile than value stocks, and may underperform the market as a whole over any given time period.

High-Yield Securities: Lower quality securities (including securities that have fallen below investment-grade and are classified as “junk bonds” or “high yield securities”) have greater credit risk and liquidity risk than higher quality (investment-grade) securities, and their issuers' long-term ability to make payments is considered speculative. Prices of lower quality bonds or other debt instruments are also more volatile, are more sensitive to negative news about the economy or the issuer, and have greater liquidity and price volatility risk.

Interest Rate: With bonds and other fixed rate debt instruments, a rise in market interest rates generally causes values to fall; conversely, values generally rise as market 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 paid by the securities is a floating rate, which generally will decrease when the market rate of interest to which the inverse security is indexed increases and will increase when the market rate of interest to which the inverse security is indexed decreases. As of the date of this Prospectus, market interest rates in the United States are at or near historic lows, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising market interest rates. Rising market interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility. For funds that invest in fixed-income securities, an increase in market interest rates may lead to increased redemptions and increased portfolio turnover, which could reduce liquidity for certain investments, adversely affect values, and increase 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 that is classified as a “non-diversified” investment company 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, or at all. Further, the lack of an established secondary market may make it more difficult to value illiquid securities, exposing the Fund to the risk that the price at which it sells illiquid securities will be less than the price at which they were valued when held by the Fund. The prices of illiquid securities may be more volatile than more liquid investments. The risks associated with illiquid securities may be greater in times of financial stress. 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 or have reduced liquidity in response to real or perceived impacts of factors including, but not limited to, economic conditions, changes in market interest rates, 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. Additionally, legislative, regulatory or tax policies or developments in these areas may adversely impact the investment techniques available to a manager, add to 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 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, more limited publicly available information, 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 be more volatile and may decline significantly in market downturns.

Other Investment Companies: The main risk of investing in other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), is the risk that the value of the securities underlying an investment company might decrease. Shares of investment companies that are listed on an exchange may trade at a discount or premium from their net asset value. 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. The investment policies of the other investment companies may not be the same as those of the Fund; as a result, an investment in the other investment companies may be subject to additional or different risks than those to which the Fund is typically subject.

Prepayment and Extension: Many types of debt instruments are subject to prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal earlier than expected. This may occur when interest rates decline. Prepayment may expose the Fund to a lower rate of return upon reinvestment of principal. Also, if a debt instrument subject to prepayment has been purchased at a premium, the value of the premium would be lost in the event of prepayment. Extension risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal later than expected. This may occur when interest rates rise. This may negatively affect performance, as the value of the debt instrument decreases when principal payments are made later than expected. Additionally, the Fund may be prevented from investing proceeds it would have received at a given time at the higher prevailing interest rates.

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, regional and global conflicts, including actions that are contrary to the interests of the U.S., and currency fluctuations. Investment in the Fund should be considered highly speculative.

Sanctions: The United States and other countries have imposed economic sanctions against or affecting certain Russian companies in various sectors of the Russian economy, such as the financial services, energy, and defense and defense-related materials sectors. These sanctions, or even the threat of further sanctions, may result in the decline of the value and liquidity of Russian securities, the weakening of the ruble, or other adverse consequences to the Russian economy. As a result, sanctions may impair the Fund’s performance or its 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 negatively impact the Fund’s ability to sell securities or other financial instruments as needed and may instead borrow funds to meet shareholder redemptions. The Fund may 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 that affect Russian companies. Both current and potential sanctions could result in Russia taking counter measures or retaliatory actions, which may further impair the value or liquidity of Russian securities and negatively impact the Fund.

Securities Lending: Securities lending involves two primary risks: “investment risk” and “borrower default risk.” When lending securities, the Fund will receive cash or U.S. government securities as collateral. 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. Securities lending may result in leverage. The use of leverage may exaggerate any increase or decrease in the net asset value, causing the Fund to be more volatile. The use of leverage may increase expenses and increase the impact of the Fund’s other risks.

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, social changes, 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.

Value Investing: Securities that appear to be undervalued may never appreciate to the extent expected. Further, because the prices of value-oriented securities tend to correlate more closely with economic cycles than growth-oriented securities, they generally are more sensitive to changing economic conditions, such as changes in market interest rates, corporate earnings and industrial production. The manager may be wrong in its assessment of a company’s value and the securities the Fund holds may not reach their full values. A particular risk of the Fund’s value approach is that some holdings may not recover and provide the capital growth anticipated or a security judged to be undervalued may actually be appropriately priced. The market may not favor value-oriented securities and may not favor equities at all. During those periods, the Fund’s relative performance may suffer. There is a risk that Funds that invest in value-oriented stocks may underperform other funds that invest more broadly.

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 Class W shares performance shown for the period prior to their inception date is the performance of Class A shares without adjustment for any differences in the expenses between the two classes. If adjusted for such differences, returns would be different. 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, 2015)
Average Annual Total Returns - Voya Russia Fund
1 Yr
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
Since Inception
Inception Date
Class A (1.42%) (12.70%) (0.75%) Jul. 03, 1996
Class A | After tax on distributions (1.71%) (12.81%) (1.55%)  
Class A | After tax on distributions with sale 0.15% (8.74%) 0.30%  
Class A | Russia Trading System Index 0.60% (12.51%) (1.72%)  
Class A | MSCI Russia 10/40 Index [1],[2] 7.92% (11.66%) May 31, 2006
Class I 4.80% (11.47%) (3.78%) Sep. 30, 2009
Class I | Russia Trading System Index 0.60% (12.51%) (4.90%)  
Class I | MSCI Russia 10/40 Index [2] 7.92% (11.66%) (3.92%)  
Class W 4.72% (11.51%) (0.07%) Aug. 05, 2011
Class W | Russia Trading System Index 0.60% (12.51%) (1.72%)  
Class W | MSCI Russia 10/40 Index [1],[2] 7.92% (11.66%) May 31, 2006
[1] The inception date of the MSCI Russia 10/40 Index is May 31, 2006.
[2] The index returns include the reinvestment of dividends and distributions net of withholding taxes, but do not reflect fees, brokerage commissions, or other expenses.
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 advantaged 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.