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Social Awareness Fund
 

asset allocation

Objective

The objective of the Social Awareness Fund is to provide long-term growth of capital that equals or exceeds the rate of inflation over time while avoiding companies in the tobacco, alcohol, gambling or pornography industries. The fund excludes companies whose businesses are not in harmony with the fund's social sensitivities, to the extent that they can be identified. There is no guarantee that these objectives will be met.

 
Strategy

The Social Awareness Fund is actively managed, meaning that it attempts to outperform its benchmark, the Standard & Poors (S&P) 500, while adhering to its socially aware mandate. The S&P 500 is representative of the companies that are thought to drive the U.S. economy. These tend to be the larger, more established companies. The net return will be the result of general market performance, plus or minus the manager's active performance, less investment and administration expenses.


Opportunities

Historically, over long periods of time, the U.S. equity (stock) market has tended to provide higher returns than other investments, such as bonds or money market instruments. While there is no guarantee that this will be the case in the future, investment theory suggests that the potential for higher returns over the long term are a key reason investors would select an option like this one.

The Social Awareness Fund allows investors to participate in the U.S. stock market while explicitly avoiding investments in the alcohol, tobacco, gambling and pornography industries. While all MMBB investment options are socially sensitive to the extent that they can likely still meet their investment objective, the Social Awareness Fund engages a more stringent application of social awareness than other options.

Because this fund is actively managed, the portfolio manager makes conscious decisions about which stocks to include due to their favorable prospects, and which to exclude due to unfavorable prospects. These decisions are made in an attempt to produce higher returns than the stock market generally.


Risks

All securities investments risk the loss of capital. Since this fund is invested entirely in equities (stocks), the chance of losing a percentage of your original investment is much higher than with some other investment options.

The stock market can be volatile. Although, over long periods of time, investors may enjoy higher returns than some other options receive, they can also lose more money than in some other options. Sharp and unpredictable changes in value, either positive or negative, can be especially acute over shorter periods of time.

The active decisions that the portfolio manager makes with respect to which stocks to include and which to exclude may not turn out as expected and may detract from total fund return rather than enhancing it. This fund's return may vary meaningfully from its benchmark, especially over periods shorter than one year.

If you are uncomfortable with the risks associated with the Social Awareness Fund, you may want to consider another MMBB investment option.

Fund Performance

To offer historical perspective on the long-term risk and return of this investment option in comparison to MMBB's other investment options, see the diagram below. It summarizes risk and return for more than ten years, and encompasses both rising and falling stock market periods as well as both economic expansions and recessions.

  • The horizontal placement of the fund indicates the volatilityof the investment option, one measure of risk. Volatility of returns can be mathematically measured and attracts a lot of attention among investors because the higher the volatility the more the value of your investment tends to rise and fall. If you decide to exit the investment when it is declining, the value of your investment may be less than you expected. The further to the right, the more the value of the fund is likely to fluctuate; the further to the left, the more stable, or reliable, the return of the option, historically.
  • The vertical placement of the fund indicates the average return the investment option generated over the last 10+ years. The higher up on the diagram, the greater the return, the lower down, the more modest the return, on average, per year.

 

scatter chart

 

In reading this graph, please note the following:

  • The data in the chart is periodically updated. As a result, the plot points may change.
  • Past experience is no guarantee of future returns. This chart is just one tool to assist you in comparing one option to another.
  • Returns can be negative as well as positive, especially in the short term.

While it is valuable to view investment performance over long-term time horizons, looking at shorter time periods can give one insight as to how returns may fluctuate from over shorter time periods. The table below displays calendar year returns.

Calendar Year Returns
200120022003200420052006200720082009
-10.2%-21.0%26.5%9.0%1.9%13.5%6.1%-36.3%22.4%


  TOTAL RETURN AS OF SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
FUND Price 1
Day
Year to
Date
1
Year
3
Years
5
Years
Since
Inception*
Social Awareness Fund
$7.83 1.26% -3.95% 7.82% -8.73% -1.51% -2.43%

*The inception date is February 1, 2000.

Money Manager(s)

From time to time MMBB contracts with one or more external managers to execute the stated strategy for this investment option. Recently the roster for the Social Awareness Fund included:

Mellon Capital Management

 
Annual expenses

For the year 2010 total expenses are estimated at 1.25%. Returns shown are net of all expenses.

 

* Benchmark used is a combination of the Standard & Poora™s 500 U.S. Stock Index on and after January 1, 2006 and the Domini 400 Social Index before that date.