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Zacks Small-Cap Core Fund
Investor Class Shares – ZSCCX
Class C Shares – ZCCCX
Class I Shares - ZSCIX
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SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
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April 8, 2014
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Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund's Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information and other information about the Fund online at http://www.zacksfunds.com/literature.php. You may also obtain this information at no cost by calling 1-888-453-4003 or by sending an e-mail request to
wholesalesupport@Zacks.com
. The Fund's Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated April 1, 2014, as each may be amended or supplemented, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.
Investment Objective
The investment objective of the Zacks Small-Cap Core Fund is to seek capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Zacks
Small-Cap Core
Fund.
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SHAREHOLDER FEES
(paid directly from your investment)
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Investor
Class
Shares
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Class C
Shares
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Class I
Shares
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Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases
(as a percentage of offering price)
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None
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None
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None
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Maximum deferred sales charge (load)
(as a percentage of the lesser of the value redeemed or the amount invested)
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None
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1.00%
1
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None
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Redemption fee if redeemed within 30 days of purchase
(as a percentage of amount redeemed, if applicable)
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2.00%
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2.00%
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2.00%
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Wire fee
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$20
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$20
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$20
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Overnight check delivery fee
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$15
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$15
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$15
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Retirement account fees (annual maintenance fee)
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$15
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$15
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$15
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ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment
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Investor
Class
Shares
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Class C
Shares
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Class I
Shares
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Management fees
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0.90%
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0.90%
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0.90%
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Distribution and/or service (Rule 12b-1) fees
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0.25%
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1.00%
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None
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Other expenses
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1.12%
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1.12%
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1.12%
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Total annual fund operating expenses
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2.27%
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3.02%
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2.02%
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Expense waiver and reimbursements
2
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(0.88)%
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(0.88)%
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(0.88)%
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Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver
and/or expense reimbursements
2
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1.39%
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2.14%
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1.14%
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1
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Class C Shares of the Fund are subject to a Contingent Deferred Sales Charge (“CDSC”) of 1.00% on any shares sold within 12 months of the date of purchase and 0.50% on any shares sold during months 13-18 after the date of purchase.
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2
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The Fund’s advisor has contractually agreed to waive its fees and/or pay for operating expenses of the Fund to ensure that total annual fund operating expenses (excluding, as applicable, any taxes, leverage interest, brokerage commissions, dividend expenses on short sales, acquired fund fees and expenses (as determined in accordance with Form N-1A), expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization, and extraordinary expenses such as litigation expenses) do not exceed 1.39%, 2.14% and 1.14% of the average daily net assets of the Investor Class, Class C and Class I shares of the Fund, respectively. This agreement is in effect until March 31, 2017 and it may be terminated before that date only by the Trust’s Board of Trustees. The Fund’s advisor is permitted to seek reimbursement from the Fund, subject to limitations, of fees waived or payments made to the Fund for a period of three years from the date of the waiver or payment.
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Example
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same each year. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
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One Year
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Three Years
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Five Years
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Ten Years
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Investor Class
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$142
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$440
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$959
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$2,385
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Class C
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$320
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$670
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$1,340
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$3,136
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Class I
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$116
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$362
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$828
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$2,121
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You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:
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One Year
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Three Years
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Five Years
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Ten Years
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Investor Class
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$142
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$440
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$959
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$2,385
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Class C
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$217
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$670
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$1,340
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$3,136
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Class I
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$116
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$362
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$828
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$2,121
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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 may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2013 was 140% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund pursues its investment objective by applying a hybrid research process which uses both quantitative and qualitative criteria. Zacks Investment Management, Inc. (the “Advisor”) uses a proprietary model to quantitatively assess the attractiveness of a large universe of stocks based on potential capital appreciation. The primary aim of the quantitative model is to identify those companies most likely to generate positive alpha, or excess return over the market, when adjusted for stock beta, or movement with the market. From a smaller universe of stocks that are highly ranked by the quantitative model, the portfolio managers select small-cap stocks with attractive risk/return characteristics based on qualitative criteria. Portfolio construction incorporates risk controls.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (including amounts borrowed for investment purposes) in a diversified portfolio of equity securities of small capitalization companies, with an emphasis on equity securities of U.S. issuers. The Fund’s investments in equity securities may include common stock, preferred stock and convertible securities. The Fund considers small capitalization companies to be companies within the range of those companies included in the Russell 2000 Index at the time of purchase. Because small capitalization companies are defined by reference to an index, the range of market capitalization companies in which the Fund invests may vary with market conditions. As of May 31, 2013, the market capitalizations of companies included in the Russell 2000 Index were between $129 million and $3.3 billion. The Russell 2000 Index is reconstituted annually, typically on May 31 of each year, to seek to ensure that larger stocks do not distort the performance and characteristics of the Index and that the represented companies continue to reflect small capitalization characteristics.
The Fund is designed to be a “core” fund that seeks to combine both value and growth characteristics within the small-cap universe. The Fund seeks to diversify its assets by investing in securities from a pool of more than one dozen industry sectors. The Advisor allocates assets opportunistically based on market information and is not constrained by investment style parameters. Sector and style allocations generally result from a hybrid research process. The Fund may engage in short-sale transactions up to 25% of its net assets. The Fund’s investment strategy involves active and frequent trading.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests primarily in equity securities of U.S. issuers. The Fund also may invest in equity securities of Canadian issuers and American Depository Receipts (“ADRs”). ADRs are receipts that represent interests in foreign securities held on deposit by U.S. banks.
Principal Investment Risks
Risk is inherent in all investing. A summary description of certain principal risks of investing in the Fund is set forth below. Before you decide whether to invest in the Fund, carefully consider these risk factors associated with investing in the Fund, which may cause investors to lose money. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.
Market Risk.
The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions throughout the world, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or adverse investor sentiment generally. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry.
Equity Risk
. The value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific companies in which the Fund invests.
Management and Strategy Risk.
The value of your investment depends on the judgment of the Advisor about the quality, relative yield, value or market trends affecting a particular security, industry, sector or region, which may prove to be incorrect. Investment strategies employed by the Advisor in selecting investments for the Fund may not result in an increase in the value of your investment or in overall performance equal to other investments.
Small-Cap Companies Risk
. The securities of small-capitalization companies may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements and may have lower trading volumes or more erratic trading than securities of larger, more established companies or market averages in general. In addition, such companies typically are more likely to be adversely affected than large capitalization companies by changes in earning results, business prospects, investor expectations or poor economic or market conditions.
Income and Distribution Risk
. The income that shareholders receive from the Fund through annual distributions is based primarily on the dividends and interest the Fund earns from its investments. Dividend payments the Fund receives in respect of its portfolio securities can vary widely over the short and long term.
Foreign Investment Risk.
The prices of foreign securities may be more volatile than the prices of securities of U.S. issuers because of economic and social conditions abroad, political developments, and changes in the regulatory environments of foreign countries. In addition, changes in exchange rates and interest rates may adversely affect the values of the Fund’s foreign investments. Foreign companies are generally subject to different legal and accounting standards than U.S. companies, and foreign financial intermediaries may be subject to less supervision and regulation than U.S. financial firms. Foreign securities include ADRs. Unsponsored ADRs involve additional risks because U.S. reporting requirements do not apply and the issuing bank will recover shareholder distribution costs from changes in share prices and payment of dividends.
Short Sales Risk.
In connection with a short sale of a security or other instrument, the Fund is subject to the risk that instead of declining, the price of the security or other instrument sold short will rise. If the price of the security or other instrument sold short increases between the date of the short sale and the date on which the Fund replaces the security or other instrument borrowed to make the short sale, the Fund will experience a loss, which is theoretically unlimited since there is a theoretically unlimited potential for the market price of a security or other instrument sold short to increase.
ETF Risk.
Investing in an ETF will provide the Fund with exposure to the securities comprising the index on which the ETF is based and will expose the Fund to risks similar to those of investing directly in those securities. Shares of ETFs typically trade on securities exchanges and may at times trade at a premium or discount to their net asset values. In addition, an ETF may not replicate exactly the performance of the benchmark index it seeks to track for a number of reasons, including transaction costs incurred by the ETF, the temporary unavailability of certain index securities in the secondary market or discrepancies between the ETF and the index with respect to the weighting of securities or the number of securities held. Investing in ETFs, which are investment companies, may involve duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. The Fund will pay brokerage commissions in connection with the purchase and sale of shares of ETFs.
Sector Risk.
The Fund may invest a larger portion of its assets in one or more sectors than many other mutual funds and thus will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those sectors. For example, as of November 30, 2013, a significant portion of the Fund’s assets were invested in the Consumer sector. Companies in the Consumer sector may be adversely affected by fluctuations in supply and demand, changes in the global economy, consumer spending, competition, demographics and consumer preferences, and production spending. Companies in the Consumer sector are also affected by changes in government regulation, global economic, environmental and political events, economic conditions and the depletion of resources.
Performance
The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year for Investor Class shares and by showing how the average annual total return of the Fund compare with the average annual total returns of a broad-based market index. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. Updated performance information is available at the Fund’s website, www.zacksfunds.com, or by calling the Fund at 888-453-4003.
The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The returns shown in the accompanying bar chart and table are for the Fund’s Investor Class shares because no Class I shares or Class C shares were outstanding as of December 31, 2013. Sales loads are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.
Calendar-Year Total Return (before taxes) for Investor Class
For each calendar year at NAV
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Highest Calendar Quarter Return at NAV
(non-annualized):
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15.30%
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Quarter Ended 3/31/13
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Lowest Calendar Quarter Return at NAV
(non-annualized):
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(1.21%)
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Quarter Ended 6/30/12
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Average Annual Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31, 2013
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1 year
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Since Inception
(06/30/11)
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Return Before Taxes
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43.66%
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21.79%
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Return After Taxes on Distributions
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42.47%
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21.25%
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Return After Taxes on Distributions and
Sale of Fund Shares
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24.85%
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17.00%
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Russell 2000 Index
(Reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
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38.82%
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16.23%
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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. Furthermore, 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.
Investment Advisor
Zacks Investment Management, Inc.
Portfolio Managers
Benjamin L. Zacks, Senior Portfolio Manager, and Mitch E. Zacks, Portfolio Manager, have been the portfolio managers of the Fund since its inception on June 30, 2011.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
To purchase shares of the Fund, you must invest at least the minimum amount.
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Investor Class and Class C
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Minimum Investments
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To Open
Your Account
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To Add to
Your Account
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Direct Regular Accounts
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$2,500
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$100
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Direct Retirement Accounts
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$1,000
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$50
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Automatic Investment Plan
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$500
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$50
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Gift Account For Minors
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$1,000
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$50
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Class I
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Minimum Investments
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To Open
Your Account
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To Add to
Your Account
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Direct Regular Accounts
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$25,000
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$1,000
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Direct Retirement Accounts
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$2,000
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$500
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Automatic Investment Plan
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$5,000
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$500
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Gift Account For Minors
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$2,000
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$500
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Fund shares are redeemable on any business day the NYSE is open for business by written request or by telephone.
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable, and will ordinarily be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Shareholders investing through such tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal of monies from those accounts.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your sales person to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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