The performance quoted represents past performance, does not guarantee future results and current performance may be lower or higher than the data quoted. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance data current to the most recent month end may be obtained at www.emeraldmutualfunds.com.

Maximum Offering Price (MOP) for Class A shares includes the Fund's maximum sales charge of 4.75%. Performance shown at NAV does not include these sales charges and would have been lower had it been taken into account.

A Contingent Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC) of 1.00% may apply to Class C shares redeemed within the first 12 months after a purchase.

The performance shown for periods prior to March 16, 2012, reflects the performance of the Forward Growth Fund, a series of Forward Funds (as a result of a prior reorganization of the Forward Growth Fund into the Emerald Growth Fund).

¹Inception Dates - Class A: 10/01/1992, Class C: 07/01/2000, Class Institutional: 10/21/2008, Class Investor: 05/02/2011

²The Russell 2000 Growth Index measures the performance of the small-cap growth segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes those Russell 2000 Index companies with higher price-to-value ratios and higher forecasted growth values. An investor may not invest directly in an index.

© 2025 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Overall Morningstar rating out of 530 Small Growth Funds as of DATE.

The Morningstar Rating^TM for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed products monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. Emerald Growth Fund was rated against the following numbers of Small Growth Funds over the following time periods: 512 funds in the last three years, 496 funds in the last five years, and 390 funds in the last ten years. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.