METWEST ESG SECURITIZED FUND CLASS M (MWERX) Exchange: NMFQS

The Fund pursues its objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in debt securities issued by securitized vehicles and similar instruments that the Adviser believes satisfy one or more of its positive-screening environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) criteria to support sustainable initiatives. A securitized vehicle typically issues debt securities backed by assets it owns such as commercial or residential mortgage loans, as well as other types of loans and assets. The Fund may also invest in other types of real estate related debt, mortgage pass-through securities, as well as floating, variable and fixed-rate securities. The Fund will invest in securities that are issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or by any of its agencies or instrumentalities and those issued by non-governmental entities, as well as unguaranteed securities issued by private entities. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities rated investment grade or unrated securities determined by the Adviser to be of comparable quality. The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its assets in below investment grade bonds (“junk bonds”), which are bonds rated below BBB- by Fitch Ratings, Inc. (“Fitch”), below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) and below Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), or, if unrated, bonds deemed by the Fund’s investment advisor to be of comparable quality. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its total assets (measured at the time of investment) in asset-backed and mortgage-related securities rated below investment grade by Moody’s, S&P or Fitch, or, if unrated, determined by the Adviser to be of comparable quality. In determining whether to buy or sell investments, the portfolio management team evaluates each investment idea based on, among other factors, the team’s view of its current income potential, risk level, capital appreciation potential, and how it fits within the Fund’s overall portfolio. The allocation of capital to sectors and securities is driven primarily by the Adviser’s assessment of relative value offered by each sector and security, respectively, with an additional positive ESG screen to determine whether securities meet the portfolio manager’s criteria to support sustainable initiatives. There are no universally agreed upon objective criteria for assessing ESG factors for investments. Rather, these criteria tend to have many subjective characteristics, can be difficult to analyze, and frequently involve a balancing of numerous factors. ESG factors can vary over different periods and can evolve over time. They may also be difficult to apply consistently across different types of investments. For these reasons, ESG standards may be aspirational and tend to be stated broadly and applied flexibly. In addition, investors and others may disagree as to whether a certain investment satisfies ESG standards given the absence of mandated or generally accepted criteria. In implementing its positive-screening ESG strategy, the Adviser evaluates potential investments based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: support for affordable housing and community development, especially serving low- and moderate-income individuals and communities; mortgage-backed securities that support energy efficiency and broader “green” initiatives; certain non-mortgage related asset-backed securities, such as collateralized loan obligations with ESG-related exclusionary criteria; and commercial and consumer secured and unsecured debt related to sustainable initiatives, such as solar facilities. Governance review includes, but is not limited to, lending programs, borrower education and disclosure, origination policies, servicing practices, and securitization deal structure. In conducting its positive ESG screening process, the Adviser reviews for environmental, social and/or sustainable features related to the underlying security collateral and issuer programs, evidenced by marketing materials, borrower underwriting criteria, loan tapes (electronic files that capture lending product data from a financial firm’s internal systems), additional issuer disclosures and clarification from engagement, as well as third-party reports such as rating agency presales and second-party opinions where applicable. Typically, there is significant disclosure around issuer lending programs that offers insight into the environmental, social and/or sustainable nature of a securitization, such as supporting energy-efficient property improvements (environmental positive) and/or supporting affordable rental housing access and availability (social positive). The Adviser will also engage with issuers to obtain additional materials, clarification, and/or data points to support the viability of their lending and securitization programs and/or confirm their compliance with industry standards such as the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green, Social and/or Sustainable bond principles. The Adviser will continue to monitor the market for additional information sources as well as issuer best-practices to enhance its diligence and positive screening approach. The types of ESG securitized vehicles in which the Fund invests typically include, but are not limited to: (i) agency mortgage-backed securities and private label residential mortgage-backed securities that are collateralized by mortgage loans originated to support energy-efficient home improvements or with a financial inclusion component, focusing on promoting affordability and/or lending to low-to-moderate income individuals and communities; (ii) commercial mortgage-backed securities collateralized by certified energy efficient commercial properties (usually LEED-certified but also including alternative green building certifications such as BREEAM, NABERS, and Energy Star) or by loans focused on promoting affordable rental housing, typically through a landlord commitment and/or requirement to sustain below-market rents in existing or new construction multifamily properties; and (iii) asset-backed securities with an energy efficiency component, such as lower-carbon transportation and green asset transportation. Other securities considered for positive ESG screening include ESG collateralized loan obligations that often also include investment restrictions in certain sectors such as production and/or sale of weapons or tobacco-related products. The investment analysis and liquidity of these securitized vehicles do not differ materially from other forms of asset-backed securities the Adviser would typically consider for its other registered funds, except for the addition of the positive ESG screening process. As ESG standards evolve, the Adviser may update the foregoing criteria to more accurately reflect the portfolio management team’s understanding of ESG factors. The Adviser may use issuer engagement, as necessary, to determine whether investments support positive and sustainable environmental, social and governance impact. The Fund’s investments are not limited to securities labeled “sustainable” or “ESG.” An investment’s satisfaction of the ESG criteria described above is based on the Adviser’s proprietary analysis and not that of a third party. There can be no guarantee that an investment that passes the Adviser’s positive screening process for ESG criteria will actually support sustainable initiatives. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities that the Adviser does not consider to be ESG investments. Securities or other instruments may be sold for a number of reasons, including when the portfolio managers believe that (i) another security or instrument may offer a better investment opportunity, (ii) there has been a deterioration in the credit fundamentals of an issuer, (iii) an individual security or instrument has reached its sell target, (iv) the portfolio should be rebalanced for diversification or portfolio weighting purposes, or (v) the security no longer meets the Adviser’s ESG criteria. Under normal circumstances, the Fund’s portfolio duration is two to eight years and the Fund’s dollar-weighted average maturity ranges from two to fifteen years. Duration is a measure of the expected life of a fixed income security that is used to determine the sensitivity of a security to changes in interest rates. The Fund invests in the U.S. and international securitized markets, including securities denominated in foreign currencies. The Fund has the flexibility to allocate up to 20% of its total assets to securities of foreign issues denominated in U.S. dollars or foreign currencies. The Fund reserves the right to hedge its exposure to foreign currencies to reduce the risk of loss from fluctuations in currency exchange rates, but is under no obligation to do so under any circumstances. Up to 10% of the Fund’s total assets may be invested in emerging markets and instruments that are economically tied to emerging market countries. The Fund considers emerging market countries to include all of the countries in the J.P. Morgan Emerging Market Bond Index (EMBI) Global Diversified, the J.P. Morgan Corporate Emerging Market Bond Index (CEMBI) Broad Diversified, the J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM), the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and the MSCI Frontier Markets Index. Instruments considered to be economically tied to emerging market countries are (i) those that are principally traded in an emerging market country, or (ii) those that are issued by: (a) an issuer organized under the laws of or maintaining a principal place of business in an emerging market country, (b) an issuer that derives or is expected to derive 50% or more of its total revenues, earnings or profits from business activity in an emerging market country, or that maintains or is expected to maintain 50% or more of its employees, assets, investments or operations in an emerging market country, or (c) a governmental or quasi-governmental entity of an emerging market country. The emerging market fixed-income securities in which the Fund may invest are not subject to any minimum credit quality standards, so long as the value of those investments does not cause the Fund to exceed its limits on investments in securities rated below investment grade. The Fund may sell securities and other instruments short provided that not more than 331/3% of its net assets is held as collateral for those transactions. Derivatives are used in an effort to hedge investments, for risk management, or to increase income or gains for the Fund. The types of derivatives in which the Fund will principally invest are options, futures, swap agreements and currency forwards, as well as: (i) securitized instruments that isolate specific cash flows, such as Principal only (PO) bonds or Interest only (IO) bonds; (ii) tiered index bonds that reference a series of cash securitizations (such as CMBX, a non-agency securitized index where the underlying assets are commercial mortgage-backed securities), and (iii) TBAs (to-be-announced securities). The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities to achieve its primary investment strategies.