Securities Act File No. 33-49098 

Investment Company Act File No. 811-06719

UNITED STATES 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-1A

STERLING CAPITAL FUNDS
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

434 Fayetteville St. Suite 500 Raleigh, NC 27601
(Address of Principal Executive Offices, Zip Code)

Registrant's Telephone Number, including Area Code: (800) 228-1872

James T. Gillespie 

Sterling Capital Funds 

434 Fayetteville St., Suite 500 

Raleigh, NC 27601
(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

With Copies to:

Thomas R. Hiller 

Ropes & Gray LLP 

Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston Street 

Boston, MA 02119

It is proposed that this filing will become effective: 

[  ] immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b); 

[  ] on (date) pursuant to paragraph (b); 

[  ] 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1); 

[X] on February 1, 2025 pursuant to paragraph (a)(1); 

[  ] 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2); or 

[  ] on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of rule 485. 

If appropriate, check the following box: 

[  ] This post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment. 

The information in this Prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This Prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities, and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS        SUBJECT TO COMPLETION        NOVEMBER 29, 2024

Prospectus

February 1, 2025

Class A Shares
Class C Shares

Questions?

Call 1-800-228-1872
or your investment representative.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved the shares described in this Prospectus or determined whether this Prospectus is accurate or complete. Anyone who tells you otherwise is committing a crime.

	Fund Summaries
Carefully review this important section, which summarizes each Fund’s objectives, fees, principal investment strategies and risks, past performance, management, how to buy and sell fund shares, tax information and payments to broker-dealers.		Equity Funds
	4	Behavioral Large Cap Value Equity Fund
	9	Mid Value Fund
	14	Behavioral Small Cap Value Equity Fund
	19	Special Opportunities Fund
	24	Equity Income Fund
	29	Mid Cap Relative Value Fund
	34	Real Estate Fund
	39	Small Cap Value Fund
		Bond Funds
	44	Ultra Short Bond Fund
	50	Short Duration Bond Fund
	56	Intermediate U.S. Government Fund
	61	Total Return Bond Fund
	67	Long Duration Corporate Bond Fund
	73	Quality Income Fund
	79	North Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund
	84	South Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund
	89	Virginia Intermediate Tax-Free Fund
	94	West Virginia Intermediate Tax-Free Fund
	Additional Investment Strategies and Risks
Review this section for additional information on investment strategies and their risks.		Equity Funds
	99	Behavioral Large Cap Value Equity Fund
	99	Mid Value Fund
	99	Behavioral Small Cap Value Equity Fund
	99	Special Opportunities Fund
	99	Equity Income Fund
	99	Mid Cap Relative Value Fund
	99	Real Estate Fund
	99	Small Cap Value Fund
		Bond Funds
	99	Ultra Short Bond Fund
	99	Short Duration Bond Fund
	100	Intermediate U.S. Government Fund
	100	Total Return Bond Fund
	100	Long Duration Corporate Bond Fund
	100	Quality Income Fund
	100	North Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund
	100	South Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund
	100	Virginia Intermediate Tax-Free Fund
	100	West Virginia Intermediate Tax-Free Fund
	102	Investment Practices
	104	Additional Information about the Funds’ Investments
	108	Investment Risks

2

	Fund Management
Review this section for details on the people and organizations who oversee the Funds.
	117	The Investment Adviser
	118	Portfolio Managers
	120	The Administrator and Underwriter
	Shareholder Information
Review this section for details on how shares are valued, how to purchase, sell and exchange shares, related charges and payments of dividends and distributions.
	121	Choosing a Share Class
	122	Pricing of Fund Shares
	123	Purchasing and Adding to Your Shares
	127	Selling Your Shares
	129	General Policies on Selling Shares
	131	Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges
	134	Distribution and Shareholder Service (12b-1) Fees
	136	Exchanging Your Shares
	137	Cost Basis Reporting
	137	Market Timing Policies
	137	Dividends, Distributions and Taxes
	139	Additional Information About the Funds
	Other Information About the Funds
	142	Financial Highlights
	Appendix
	158	Appendix

3

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks maximum long-term total return, by investing primarily in equity securities of large companies.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts or waivers if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Sterling Capital Funds. More information about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers is available from your financial intermediary, in “Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges” on page 131 of the Fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix: Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries (the “Appendix”) and in “Sales Charges” on page [ ] of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

4

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 99.00% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

To pursue its investment objective, the Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in the equity securities of large companies. Large companies are defined as companies with market capitalizations within the range of those companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500^® Index (“S&P 500^® Index”) at the time of purchase. As of December 31, 2024, the smallest company in the S&P 500^® Index had a market capitalization of $[ ] billion and the largest company had a market capitalization of $[ ] trillion. Under normal market conditions, the Fund primarily invests in U.S. traded equity securities. The term “U.S. traded equity securities” refers to domestically traded U.S. common stocks (including securities of real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”)) and U.S. traded equity stocks of foreign companies. The Fund may invest in securities of middle capitalization companies.

Sterling Capital Management LLC (“Sterling Capital”) applies “behavioral finance” principles in the construction of the Fund’s portfolio. Behavioral finance theorizes that investment decisions are often influenced by biases, heuristics (i.e., experienced-based techniques for decision making) and emotion, and that investors can be predictable (and, at times, irrational) in their decision making. These emotionally charged investment decisions can lead to stock price anomalies that create opportunities in the marketplace. Sterling Capital seeks to capitalize on these behaviorally driven market anomalies by employing a disciplined investment process. In implementing behavioral finance principles, Sterling Capital ranks companies in the Fund’s investment universe based on a number of factors that it believes can be indicators of under- or over-valuation of a security by the market, such as valuation (e.g., seeking to invest in companies that Sterling Capital believes are undervalued), price momentum (e.g., identifying securities that Sterling Capital believes will experience sustained positive price momentum) and earnings revisions (e.g., identifying and capitalizing on what Sterling Capital believes are under-reactions by the market to positive earnings revisions). Sterling Capital also takes into account such factors as market capitalization, country exposure, and sector exposure to construct a diversified portfolio. Sterling Capital considers selling a security when the security’s ranking becomes less attractive and/or in light of liquidity, sector exposure, country exposure or diversification considerations.

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Market Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s stock holdings will decline in price because of a stock market decline, or other domestic, regional, or global events. Markets generally move in cycles, with periods of rising prices followed by periods of falling prices. The value of your investment will tend to increase or decrease in response to these movements.

5

Investment Style Risk: The possibility that a market segment on which this Fund focuses — large cap stocks, value stocks and momentum stocks — will underperform other kinds of investments or market averages. A value stock may decrease in price or may not increase in price as anticipated by the portfolio manager if other investors fail to recognize the company’s value or the factors that the portfolio manager believes will cause the stock price to increase do not occur. A stock owned primarily for its momentum characteristics may start to underperform abruptly. In addition, the Fund’s focus on behavioral finance principles may cause the Fund to underperform funds that do not employ a behavioral finance strategy. There can be no guarantee that the factors that the Fund’s investment adviser considers in selecting stocks, and the weight that the adviser puts on each factor, will be effective in identifying and capitalizing on stock price anomalies.

Company-Specific Risk: The possibility that a particular stock may lose value due to factors specific to the company itself, including deterioration of its fundamental characteristics, an occurrence of adverse events at the company, or a downturn in its business prospects.

Mid Capitalization Company Risk: Investments in middle capitalization companies may be riskier, more volatile and more vulnerable to economic, market and industry changes than investments in larger, more established companies. As a result, share price changes may be more sudden or erratic than the prices of other equity securities, especially over the short term.

Real Estate-Related Investment and REIT Risk: Real estate-related investments may decline in value as a result of factors affecting the real estate industry. Risks associated with investments in securities of companies in the real estate industry include decline in the value of the underlying real estate, default, prepayment, changes in value resulting from changes in interest rates and demand for real and rental property, and the management skill and creditworthiness of REIT issuers. The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management fees, paid by each REIT in which the Fund invests.

ETF Risk: The risks associated with investing in ETFs include the risks of owning the underlying securities the ETF is designed to track. Lack of liquidity in an ETF could result in the ETF being more volatile than the underlying portfolio of securities. When the Fund invests in an ETF, in addition to directly bearing expenses associated with its own operations, the Fund will bear a pro rata portion of the ETF’s expenses. As a result, it may be more costly to own an ETF than owning the underlying portfolio of securities directly.

Active Trading Risk: The Fund may trade securities actively, which could increase its transaction costs (thereby lowering its performance) and may increase the amount of taxes that a shareholder pays, by increasing the amount of the Fund’s realized capital gains and increasing the portion of the Fund’s realized capital gains that are short-term capital gains.

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Focused Investment Risk: Investments focused in asset classes, countries, regions, sectors, industries, or issuers that are subject to the same or similar risk factors and investments whose prices are closely correlated are subject to greater overall risk than investments that are more diversified or whose prices are not as closely correlated.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

For more information about the Fund’s risks, please see the “Additional Investment Strategies and Risks” section in this Prospectus.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year for Class A Shares. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of a broad measure of market performance and additional indices that represent the market sectors in which the Fund primarily invests. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.

Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

6

Class A Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31 [2024 DATA TO BE INCLUDED BY AMENDMENT]

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2024

The Russell 3000^® Index is the Fund’s new primary benchmark. Prior to [DATE], the Fund’s primary benchmark was the Russell 1000^® Value Index, and that index and the Bloomberg U.S. 1000 Value Index are now the strategy indices for the Fund. The new primary benchmark represents a broad measure of market performance and has been added to comply with new regulatory requirements.

After-tax returns are shown only for Class A Shares and 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. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns for Class C Shares will vary.

Management

Investment Adviser

Sterling Capital Management LLC

7

Portfolio Managers

Robert W. Bridges, CFA^®
Senior Managing Director, CIO and Head of Equity of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since August 2013

Robert O. Weller, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since August 2013

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may buy or sell Class A Shares and Class C Shares on any business day by contacting your financial representative or contacting the Fund (i) by mail at Sterling Capital Funds, c/o Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, OH 45246; or (ii) by telephone at 1-800-228-1872. In addition, Class A Shares and Class C Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

Tax Information

The Fund normally distributes its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement account (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

8

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital by investing the Fund’s assets primarily in equity securities of companies that are considered to be undervalued.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts or waivers if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Sterling Capital Funds. More information about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers is available from your financial intermediary, in “Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges” on page 131 of the Fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix: Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries (the “Appendix”) and in “Sales Charges” on page [ ] of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

9

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 39.31% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

To pursue its investment objective, the Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in the securities of middle capitalization companies. Middle capitalization companies are defined as companies with market capitalizations within the range of those companies in the Russell Midcap^® Index at the time of purchase. As of December 31, 2024, the capitalization range of the Russell Midcap^® Index was between $[ ] million and $[ ] billion. Under normal market conditions, the Fund primarily invests in domestically traded U.S. common stocks, U.S. traded common stocks of foreign companies (including stocks of issuers located in emerging markets), and American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”). The Fund may have exposure to emerging markets through its investments in ADRs. The Fund may invest in securities of small and large capitalization companies.

In managing the Fund, the portfolio manager attempts to diversify across different economic sectors, selecting those stocks that he believes are undervalued. In choosing individual stocks, the portfolio manager considers both quantitative and qualitative factors to examine the fundamental characteristics of a particular company. Quantitative analysis focuses on businesses with strong cash flow, high return on invested capital, and attractive growth prospects. Desired qualitative characteristics include companies with a sustainable competitive advantage, favorable industry structure and strong management team focused on creating shareholder value. The portfolio manager may consider selling a stock owned by the Fund when the stock price exceeds the portfolio manager’s estimate of fair value, key fundamentals change or the expected level of progress cannot be demonstrated. The Fund may reduce its position in a particular stock if the stock represents a disproportionately large position within the Fund’s portfolio, or more attractive investment alternatives are identified.

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Market Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s stock holdings will decline in price because of a stock market decline, or other domestic, regional, or global events. Markets generally move in cycles, with periods of rising prices followed by periods of falling prices. The value of your investment will tend to increase or decrease in response to these movements.

Investment Style Risk: The possibility that the market segment on which this Fund focuses — mid cap value stocks — will underperform other kinds of investments or market averages. A value stock may decrease in price or may not increase in price as anticipated by the portfolio manager if other investors fail to recognize the company’s value or the factors that the portfolio manager believes will cause the stock price to increase do not occur.

10

Small Capitalization Company Risk: Investing in smaller, lesser-known companies involves greater risk than investing in those that are more established. A small company’s financial well-being may, for example, depend heavily on just a few products or services. In addition, small company stocks tend to trade less frequently and in lesser quantities, and their market prices often fluctuate more, than those of larger firms.

Mid Capitalization Company Risk: Investments in middle capitalization companies may be riskier, more volatile and more vulnerable to economic, market and industry changes than investments in larger, more established companies. As a result, share price changes may be more sudden or erratic than the prices of other equity securities, especially over the short term.

Company-Specific Risk: The possibility that a particular stock may lose value due to factors specific to the company itself, including deterioration of its fundamental characteristics, an occurrence of adverse events at the company, or a downturn in its business prospects.

Foreign Investment Risk: Foreign securities involve risks not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities. Foreign securities may be adversely affected by various factors, including currency fluctuations and social, economic or political instability.

Emerging Markets Risk: The risks associated with foreign investments (see “Foreign Investment Risk” above) are particularly pronounced in connection with investments in emerging markets.

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Focused Investment Risk: Investments focused in asset classes, countries, regions, sectors, industries, or issuers that are subject to the same or similar risk factors and investments whose prices are closely correlated are subject to greater overall risk than investments that are more diversified or whose prices are not as closely correlated.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

For more information about the Fund’s risks, please see the “Additional Investment Strategies and Risks” section in this Prospectus.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year for Class A Shares. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of a broad measure of market performance and additional indices that represent the market sectors in which the Fund primarily invests. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.

Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

11

Class A Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31 [2024 DATA TO BE INCLUDED BY AMENDMENT]

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2024

The Russell 3000^® Index is the Fund’s new primary benchmark. Prior to [DATE], the Fund’s primary benchmark was the Russell Midcap^® Value Index, and that index and the Bloomberg U.S. Mid-Cap Value Index are now the strategy indices for the Fund. The new primary benchmark represents a broad measure of market performance and has been added to comply with new regulatory requirements.

After-tax returns are shown only for Class A Shares and 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. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns for Class C Shares will vary.

12

Management

Investment Adviser

Sterling Capital Management LLC (“Sterling Capital”)

Portfolio Managers

William C. Smith, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Lead Portfolio Manager
Since November 1, 2024
(formerly, Co-Portfolio Manager from August 2021—October 2024 and Associate Portfolio Manager from February 2021 - August 2021)

Lee D. Houser, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Associate Portfolio Manager
Since February 2021

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may buy or sell Class A Shares and Class C Shares on any business day by contacting your financial representative or contacting the Fund (i) by mail at Sterling Capital Funds, c/o Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, OH 45246; or (ii) by telephone at 1-800-228-1872. In addition, Class A Shares and Class C Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

Tax Information

The Fund normally distributes its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement account (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

13

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks maximum long-term total return, by investing primarily in equity securities of small capitalization companies.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts or waivers if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Sterling Capital Funds. More information about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers is available from your financial intermediary, in “Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges” on page 131 of the Fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix: Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries (the “Appendix”) and in “Sales Charges” on page [ ] of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

14

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 74.00% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

To pursue its investment objective, the Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in the equity securities of small capitalization companies. Small capitalization companies are defined as companies with market capitalizations within the range of those companies in the Russell 2000^® Index at the time of purchase. As of December 31, 2024, the smallest company in the Russell 2000^® Index had a market capitalization of $[ ] million and the largest company had a market capitalization of $[ ] billion. The Fund invests primarily in U.S. traded equity securities of small capitalization companies. The term “U.S. traded equity securities” refers to domestically traded U.S. common stocks (including securities of real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”)), and U.S. traded equity stocks of foreign companies. The Fund may invest in securities of middle and large capitalization companies.

Sterling Capital Management LLC (“Sterling Capital”) applies “behavioral finance” principles in the construction of the Fund’s portfolio. Behavioral finance theorizes that investment decisions are often influenced by biases, heuristics (i.e., experienced-based techniques for decision making) and emotion, and that investors can be predictable (and, at times, irrational) in their decision making. These emotionally charged investment decisions can lead to stock price anomalies that create opportunities in the marketplace. Sterling Capital seeks to capitalize on these behaviorally driven market anomalies by employing a disciplined investment process. In implementing behavioral finance principles, Sterling Capital ranks companies in the Fund’s investment universe based on a number of factors that it believes can be indicators of under- or over-valuation of a security by the market, such as valuation (e.g., seeking to invest in companies that Sterling Capital believes are undervalued), price momentum (e.g., identifying securities that Sterling Capital believes will experience sustained positive price momentum) and earnings revisions (e.g., identifying and capitalizing on what Sterling Capital believes are under-reactions by the market to positive earnings revisions). Sterling Capital also takes into account such factors as market capitalization, country exposure, and sector exposure to construct a diversified portfolio. Sterling Capital considers selling a security when the security’s ranking becomes less attractive and/or in light of liquidity, sector exposure, country exposure or diversification considerations.

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Market Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s stock holdings will decline in price because of a stock market decline, or other domestic, regional, or global events. Markets generally move in cycles, with periods of rising prices followed by periods of falling prices. The value of your investment will tend to increase or decrease in response to these movements.

15

Small Capitalization Company Risk: Investing in smaller, lesser-known companies involves greater risk than investing in those that are more established. A small company’s financial well-being may, for example, depend heavily on just a few products or services. In addition, small company stocks tend to trade less frequently and in lesser quantities, and their market prices often fluctuate more, than those of larger firms.

Investment Style Risk: The possibility that a market segment on which this Fund focuses — small company stocks, value stocks and momentum stocks — will underperform other kinds of investments or market averages. A value stock may decrease in price or may not increase in price as anticipated by the portfolio manager if other investors fail to recognize the company’s value or the factors that the portfolio manager believes will cause the stock price to increase do not occur. A stock owned primarily for its momentum characteristics may start to underperform abruptly. In addition, the Fund’s focus on behavioral finance principles may cause the Fund to underperform funds that do not employ a behavioral finance strategy. There can be no guarantee that the factors that the Fund’s investment adviser considers in selecting stocks, and the weight that the adviser puts on each factor, will be effective in identifying and capitalizing on stock price anomalies.

Company-Specific Risk: The possibility that a particular stock may lose value due to factors specific to the company itself, including deterioration of its fundamental characteristics, an occurrence of adverse events at the company, or a downturn in its business prospects.

Mid Capitalization Company Risk: Investments in middle capitalization companies may be riskier, more volatile and more vulnerable to economic, market and industry changes than investments in larger, more established companies. As a result, share price changes may be more sudden or erratic than the prices of other equity securities, especially over the short term.

Real Estate-Related Investment and REIT Risk: Real estate-related investments may decline in value as a result of factors affecting the real estate industry. Risks associated with investments in securities of companies in the real estate industry include decline in the value of the underlying real estate, default, prepayment, changes in value resulting from changes in interest rates and demand for real and rental property, and the management skill and creditworthiness of REIT issuers. The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management fees, paid by each REIT in which the Fund invests.

ETF Risk: The risks associated with investing in ETFs include the risks of owning the underlying securities the ETF is designed to track. Lack of liquidity in an ETF could result in the ETF being more volatile than the underlying portfolio of securities. When the Fund invests in an ETF, in addition to directly bearing expenses associated with its own operations, the Fund will bear a pro rata portion of the ETF’s expenses. As a result, it may be more costly to own an ETF than owning the underlying portfolio of securities directly.

Active Trading Risk: The Fund may trade securities actively, which could increase its transaction costs (thereby lowering its performance) and may increase the amount of taxes that a shareholder pays, by increasing the amount of the Fund’s realized capital gains and increasing the portion of the Fund’s realized capital gains that are short-term capital gains.

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Focused Investment Risk: Investments focused in asset classes, countries, regions, sectors, industries, or issuers that are subject to the same or similar risk factors and investments whose prices are closely correlated are subject to greater overall risk than investments that are more diversified or whose prices are not as closely correlated.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

For more information about the Fund’s risks, please see the “Additional Investment Strategies and Risks” section in this Prospectus.

16

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year for Class A Shares. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of a broad measure of market performance and additional indices that represent the market sectors in which the Fund primarily invests. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.

Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

Class A Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31 [2024 DATA TO BE INCLUDED BY AMENDMENT]

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2024

The Russell 3000^® Index is the Fund’s new primary benchmark. Prior to [DATE], the Fund’s primary benchmark was the Russell 2000^® Value Index, and that index and the Bloomberg U.S. 2000 Value Index are now the strategy indices for the Fund. The new primary benchmark represents a broad measure of market performance and has been added to comply with new regulatory requirements.

17

After-tax returns are shown only for Class A Shares and 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. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns for Class C Shares will vary.

Management

Investment Adviser

Sterling Capital Management LLC

Portfolio Managers

Robert W. Bridges, CFA^®
Senior Managing Director, CIO and Head of Equity of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since June 2013

Robert O. Weller, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since June 2013

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may buy or sell Class A Shares and Class C Shares on any business day by contacting your financial representative or contacting the Fund (i) by mail at Sterling Capital Funds, c/o Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, OH 45246; or (ii) by telephone at 1-800-228-1872. In addition, Class A Shares and Class C Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

Tax Information

The Fund normally distributes its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement account (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

18

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts or waivers if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Sterling Capital Funds. More information about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers is available from your financial intermediary, in “Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges” on page 131 of the Fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix: Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries (the “Appendix”) and in “Sales Charges” on page [ ] of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

19

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 41.68% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

To pursue its investment objective, the Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in equity securities. The securities may include common stock, preferred stock, warrants, American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), or debt instruments that are convertible to common stock. The Fund invests, under normal market conditions, primarily in domestically traded U.S. common stocks and U.S. traded equity stocks of foreign companies, including ADRs. The Fund uses a multi-style approach, meaning that it not only invests across different capitalization levels but may target both value- and growth-oriented companies.

The portfolio manager looks for companies experiencing above-average revenue and profit growth as well as out-of-favor stocks that may be depressed due to what the portfolio manager believes to be temporary economic circumstances. In choosing individual stocks, the portfolio manager then performs a fundamental analysis to examine the valuation, growth and momentum characteristics of a particular issuer.

The portfolio manager may consider selling a stock owned by the Fund for a variety of reasons including but not limited to: when the factors that induced the portfolio manager to buy the stock have changed, the company faces earnings growth risk or has issued substantial new debt, or to reduce the Fund’s position in a particular stock if the stock represents a disproportionately large position within the Fund’s portfolio.

In addition, the Fund may engage in writing covered call options on securities to generate income from premiums received in connection with the option. A call option gives the buyer the right to buy, and obligates the option seller to sell a security at a specified price. Generally, a written call option is covered if a fund owns the security or instrument underlying the call or has an absolute right to acquire that security or instrument without additional cash consideration. When the Fund writes a covered call option on a security, the Fund limits its opportunity to profit from an increase in the market price of the security above the exercise price of the option. The Fund will not write a covered call option if, as a result, the aggregate fair value of all portfolio securities covering call options exceeds 50% of the fair value of its net assets.

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Market Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s stock holdings will decline in price because of a stock market decline, or other domestic, regional, or global events. Markets generally move in cycles, with periods of rising prices followed by periods of falling prices. The value of your investment will tend to increase or decrease in response to these movements.

Interest Rate Risk: The possibility that the value of the Fund’s investments will decline due to an increase in interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally higher for longer-term debt instruments and lower for shorter-term debt instruments.

20

Investment Style Risk: The possibility that the market segment on which this Fund is primarily invested in, whether growth or value; large-, mid- or small-cap; could underperform other kinds of investments or market averages that include style-focused investments.

Small Capitalization Company Risk: Investing in smaller, lesser-known companies involves greater risk than investing in those that are more established. A small company’s financial well-being may, for example, depend heavily on just a few products or services. In addition, small company stocks tend to trade less frequently and in lesser quantities, and their market prices often fluctuate more, than those of larger firms.

Mid Capitalization Company Risk: Investments in middle capitalization companies may be riskier, more volatile and more vulnerable to economic, market and industry changes than investments in larger, more established companies. As a result, share price changes may be more sudden or erratic than the prices of other equity securities, especially over the short term.

Company-Specific Risk: The possibility that a particular stock may lose value due to factors specific to the company itself, including deterioration of its fundamental characteristics, an occurrence of adverse events at the company, or a downturn in its business prospects.

Foreign Investment Risk: Foreign securities involve risks not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities. Foreign securities may be adversely affected by various factors, including currency fluctuations and social, economic or political instability.

Counterparty Risk: The possibility that a counterparty to a contract will default or otherwise become unable to honor a financial obligation.

Options Risk: There are significant differences between the securities and options markets that could result in an imperfect correlation between these markets, causing an options transaction not to achieve its objectives. A decision as to whether, when and how to use options involves the exercise of skill and judgment, and even a well conceived transaction may be unsuccessful to some degree because of market behavior or unexpected events. There can be no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular option at a particular time; as a result, it may be costly to liquidate options. There is also no assurance that a liquid market will exist for any particular option contract on an exchange.

Preferred Stock Risk: Preferred stock represents an interest in a company that generally entitles the holder to receive, in preference to the holders of common stock, dividends and a fixed share of the proceeds resulting from a liquidation of the company. Preferred stocks are generally subordinated in right of payment to all debt obligations and creditors of the issuer.

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Focused Investment Risk: Investments focused in asset classes, countries, regions, sectors, industries, or issuers that are subject to the same or similar risk factors and investments whose prices are closely correlated are subject to greater overall risk than investments that are more diversified or whose prices are not as closely correlated.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

For more information about the Fund’s risks, please see the “Additional Investment Strategies and Risks” section in this Prospectus.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year for Class A Shares. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.

Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

21

Class A Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31 [2024 DATA TO BE INCLUDED BY AMENDMENT]

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2024

After-tax returns are shown only for Class A Shares and 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. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns for Class C Shares will vary.

Management

Investment Adviser

Sterling Capital Management LLC (“Sterling Capital”)

22

Portfolio Managers

Daniel A. Morrall
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since December 2021
(formerly Associate Portfolio Manager from July 2021 - December 2021)

James L. Curtis, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since April 2023

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may buy or sell Class A Shares and Class C Shares on any business day by contacting your financial representative or contacting the Fund (i) by mail at Sterling Capital Funds, c/o Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, OH 45246; or (ii) by telephone at 1-800-228-1872. In addition, Class A Shares and Class C Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

Tax Information

The Fund normally distributes its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement account (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

23

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks capital growth and current income.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts or waivers if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Sterling Capital Funds. More information about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers is available from your financial intermediary, in “Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges” on page 131 of the Fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix: Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries (the “Appendix”) and in “Sales Charges” on page [ ] of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

24

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 41.82% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

To pursue its investment objective, the Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in equity securities. The Fund invests, under normal market conditions, primarily in dividend-paying equity securities, in particular common stocks of companies with a history of increasing dividends. The Fund may also invest in U.S. traded common stocks of foreign companies, including American Depositary Receipts. Because yield is a consideration in selecting securities, the Fund may purchase stocks of companies that are out of favor in the financial community and, therefore, are selling below what the portfolio manager believes to be their long-term investment value. The Fund may invest in securities of issuers of any capitalization range.

The portfolio manager may consider selling a stock owned by the Fund when the factors that induced the portfolio manager to buy the stock have changed, the portfolio manager anticipates a negative change in the company’s dividend policy, or to reduce the Fund’s position in a particular stock if the stock represents a disproportionately large position within the Fund’s portfolio.

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Market Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s stock holdings will decline in price because of a stock market decline, or other domestic, regional, or global events. Markets generally move in cycles, with periods of rising prices followed by periods of falling prices. The value of your investment will tend to increase or decrease in response to these movements.

Investment Style Risk: The possibility that the market segment on which this Fund focuses — income-producing equities — will underperform other kinds of investments or market averages.

Company-Specific Risk: The possibility that a particular stock may lose value due to factors specific to the company itself, including deterioration of its fundamental characteristics, an occurrence of adverse events at the company, or a downturn in its business prospects.

Foreign Investment Risk: Foreign securities involve risks not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities. Foreign securities may be adversely affected by various factors, including currency fluctuations and social, economic or political instability.

Counterparty Risk: The possibility that a counterparty to a contract will default or otherwise become unable to honor a financial obligation.

Dividend Risk: Companies that issue dividend-yielding securities are not required to continue to pay dividends on such securities. Therefore, there is the possibility that such companies could reduce or eliminate the payment of dividends in the future.

Mid Capitalization Company Risk: Investments in middle capitalization companies may be riskier, more volatile and more vulnerable to economic, market and industry changes than investments in larger, more established companies. As a result, share price changes may be more sudden or erratic than the prices of other equity securities, especially over the short term.

25

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

For more information about the Fund’s risks, please see the “Additional Investment Strategies and Risks” section in this Prospectus.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year for Class A Shares. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of a broad measure of market performance and additional indices that represent the market sectors in which the Fund primarily invests. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.

Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

Class A Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31 [2024 DATA TO BE INCLUDED BY AMENDMENT]

26

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2024

The Russell 3000^® Index is the Fund’s new primary benchmark. Prior to [DATE], the Fund’s primary benchmark was the Russell 1000^® Value Index, and that index and the Bloomberg U.S. 1000 Value Index are now the strategy indices for the Fund. The new primary benchmark represents a broad measure of market performance and has been added to comply with new regulatory requirements.

After-tax returns are shown only for Class A Shares and 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. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns for Class C Shares will vary.

Management

Investment Adviser

Sterling Capital Management LLC (“Sterling Capital”)

Portfolio Managers

Charles J. Wittmann, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since December 2021
(formerly Associate Portfolio Manager from July 2021 - December 2021)

Jeremy M. Lopez, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since November 2022

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

27

You may buy or sell Class A Shares and Class C Shares on any business day by contacting your financial representative or contacting the Fund (i) by mail at Sterling Capital Funds, c/o Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, OH 45246; or (ii) by telephone at 1-800-228-1872. In addition, Class A Shares and Class C Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

Tax Information

The Fund normally distributes its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement account (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

28

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts or waivers if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Sterling Capital Funds. More information about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers is available from your financial intermediary, in “Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges” on page 131 of the Fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix: Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries (the “Appendix”) and in “Sales Charges” on page [ ] of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

29

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 8.96% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

To pursue its investment objective, the Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in a diversified portfolio of common stock and securities convertible into common stock of mid capitalization (“mid cap”) companies. Mid cap stocks are defined as those companies with public stock market capitalizations within the range of the market capitalization of companies constituting the Russell Midcap^® Index at the time of investment. As of December 31, 2024, the capitalization range of the Russell Midcap^® Index was between $[ ] million and $[ ] billion. The market capitalization of the companies in the Fund’s portfolio and the Russell Midcap^® Index changes over time; the Fund will not automatically sell or cease to purchase stock of a company it already owns solely because the company’s market capitalization grows or falls outside these ranges. The Fund may also invest in real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), including mortgage REITs, and other real estate-related securities.

Sterling Capital Management LLC (“Sterling Capital”) believes that undervalued companies with good earnings prospects have superior appreciation potential with reasonable levels of risk. Quantitatively, Sterling Capital focuses on a stock’s fundamental valuation relative to its peers. Sterling Capital considers additional quantitative measures, such as earnings momentum and relative price strength. Qualitatively, Sterling Capital seeks to identify business catalysts which will serve to drive future earnings growth, increase investor interest and expand valuation.

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Market Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s stock holdings will decline in price because of a stock market decline, or other domestic, regional, or global events. Markets generally move in cycles, with periods of rising prices followed by periods of falling prices. The value of your investment will tend to increase or decrease in response to these movements.

Mid Capitalization Company Risk: Investments in middle capitalization companies may be riskier, more volatile and more vulnerable to economic, market and industry changes than investments in larger, more established companies. As a result, share price changes may be more sudden or erratic than the prices of other equity securities, especially over the short term.

Real Estate-Related Investment and REIT Risk: Real estate-related investments may decline in value as a result of factors affecting the real estate industry. Risks associated with investments in securities of companies in the real estate industry include decline in the value of the underlying real estate, default, prepayment, changes in value resulting from changes in interest rates and demand for real and rental property, and the management skill and creditworthiness of REIT issuers. The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management fees, paid by each REIT in which the Fund invests.

30

Convertible Securities Risk: Convertible securities are securities that may be converted or exchanged into shares of an underlying stock or other asset at a stated exchange ratio or predetermined price. The market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase and may be affected by changes in the price of the underlying security.

Investment Style Risk: The possibility that the market segment on which this Fund focuses — mid cap value stocks — will underperform other kinds of investments or market averages. A value stock may decrease in price or may not increase in price as anticipated by the portfolio manager if other investors fail to recognize the company’s value or the factors that the portfolio manager believes will cause the stock price to increase do not occur.

Company-Specific Risk: The possibility that a particular stock may lose value due to factors specific to the company itself, including deterioration of its fundamental characteristics, an occurrence of adverse events at the company, or a downturn in its business prospects.

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Focused Investment Risk: Investments focused in asset classes, countries, regions, sectors, industries, or issuers that are subject to the same or similar risk factors and investments whose prices are closely correlated are subject to greater overall risk than investments that are more diversified or whose prices are not as closely correlated.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

For more information about the Fund’s risks, please see the “Additional Investment Strategies and Risks” section in this Prospectus.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of two broad measures of market performance and additional indices that represent the market sectors in which the Fund primarily invests. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.

Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

31

Class A Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31⁽¹⁾ [2024 DATA TO BE INCLUDED BY AMENDMENT]

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2024

The Russell 3000^® Index is the Fund’s new primary benchmark. Prior to [DATE], the Fund’s primary benchmark was the Russell Midcap^® Value Index, and that index and the Bloomberg U.S. Mid Cap Value Index are now the strategy indices for the Fund. The new primary benchmark represents a broad measure of market performance and has been added to comply with new regulatory requirements.

After-tax returns are shown only for Class A Shares and 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. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns for Class C Shares will vary.

32

Management

Investment Adviser

Sterling Capital Management LLC

Portfolio Manager

Andrew T. DiZio, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Portfolio Manager
Since August 2021
(formerly Associate Portfolio Manager from November 2015 - August 2021)

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may buy or sell Class A Shares and Class C Shares on any business day by contacting your financial representative or contacting the Fund (i) by mail at Sterling Capital Funds, c/o Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, OH 45246; or (ii) by telephone at 1-800-228-1872. In addition, Class A Shares and Class C Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

Tax Information

The Fund normally distributes its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement account (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

33

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks total return through investment in real estate securities.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts or waivers if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Sterling Capital Funds. More information about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers is available from your financial intermediary, in “Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges” on page 131 of the Fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix: Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries (the “Appendix”) and in “Sales Charges” on page [ ] of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

34

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 4.90% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

To pursue its investment objective, the Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in securities of real estate and real estate-related companies, or in companies which own significant real estate assets at the time of purchase (“real estate companies”) including real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). A real estate company derives at least 50% of its revenue from the ownership, construction, financing, management or sale of commercial, industrial, or residential real estate, or has at least 50% of its assets in such real estate. REITs are companies that own interests in real estate or in real estate related loans or other interests, and their revenue primarily consists of rent derived from owned, income producing real estate properties and capital gains from the sale of such properties. The Fund will invest more than 25% of its assets in REITs, including mortgage REITs and other real estate-related securities. The Fund may invest in equity securities including, without limitation, preferred stocks, convertible securities, limited liability companies and similar enterprises. The Fund may also invest in securities of foreign issuers which meet the same criteria for investment as domestic companies, or sponsored and unsponsored depositary receipts for such securities. In pursuing total return, the Fund will emphasize both capital appreciation and current income.

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Market Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s stock holdings will decline in price because of a stock market decline, or other domestic, regional, or global events. Markets generally move in cycles, with periods of rising prices followed by periods of falling prices. The value of your investment will tend to increase or decrease in response to these movements.

Concentration Risk: The risk that the Fund’s concentration in REITs and other real estate-related securities may produce a greater risk of loss than a more diversified mutual fund.

Real Estate-Related Investment and REIT Risk: Real estate-related investments may decline in value as a result of factors affecting the real estate industry. Risks associated with investments in securities of companies in the real estate industry include decline in the value of the underlying real estate, default, prepayment, changes in value resulting from changes in interest rates and demand for real and rental property, and the management skill and creditworthiness of REIT issuers. The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management fees, paid by each REIT in which the Fund invests.

Small Capitalization Company Risk: Investing in smaller, lesser-known companies involves greater risk than investing in those that are more established. A small company’s financial well-being may, for example, depend heavily on just a few products or services. In addition, small company stocks tend to trade less frequently and in lesser quantities, and their market prices often fluctuate more, than those of larger firms.

35

Foreign Investment Risk: Foreign securities involve risks not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities. Foreign securities may be adversely affected by various factors, including currency fluctuations and social, economic or political instability.

Convertible Securities Risk: Convertible securities are securities that may be converted or exchanged into shares of an underlying stock or other asset at a stated exchange ratio or predetermined price. The market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase and may be affected by changes in the price of the underlying security.

Company-Specific Risk: The possibility that a particular stock may lose value due to factors specific to the company itself, including deterioration of its fundamental characteristics, an occurrence of adverse events at the company, or a downturn in its business prospects.

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Focused Investment Risk: Investments focused in asset classes, countries, regions, sectors, industries, or issuers that are subject to the same or similar risk factors and investments whose prices are closely correlated are subject to greater overall risk than investments that are more diversified or whose prices are not as closely correlated.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

For more information about the Fund’s risks, please see the “Additional Investment Strategies and Risks” section in this Prospectus.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of two broad measures of market performance and additional indices that represent the market sectors in which the Fund primarily invests. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.

Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

36

Class A Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31⁽¹⁾ [2024 DATA TO BE INCLUDED BY AMENDMENT]

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2024

The Russell 3000^® Index is the Fund’s new primary benchmark. Prior to [DATE], the Fund’s primary benchmark was the Bloomberg U.S. 3000 REIT Index, and that index is now the strategy index for the fund. The new primary benchmark represents a broad measure of market performance and has been added to comply with new regulatory requirements.

37

After-tax returns are shown only for Class A Shares and 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. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns for Class C Shares will vary.

Management

Investment Adviser

Sterling Capital Management LLC (“Sterling Capital”)

Portfolio Manager

Andrew T. DiZio, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Portfolio Manager
Since November 2015

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may buy or sell Class A Shares and Class C Shares on any business day by contacting your financial representative or contacting the Fund (i) by mail at Sterling Capital Funds, c/o Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, OH 45246; or (ii) by telephone at 1-800-228-1872. In addition, Class A Shares and Class C Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

Tax Information

The Fund normally distributes its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement account (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

38

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts or waivers if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Sterling Capital Funds. More information about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers is available from your financial intermediary, in “Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges” on page 131 of the Fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix: Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries (the “Appendix”) and in “Sales Charges” on page [ ] of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

39

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 2.87% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

To pursue its investment objective, the Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in common stock and securities convertible into common stock of small capitalization companies. Small cap companies include companies with market capitalizations, at the time of purchase, that are below the market capitalization of the largest company in the Russell 2000^® Index. As of December 31, 2024, the market capitalization of the largest company in the Russell 2000^® Index was $[ ] billion. The Fund may also invest in real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), including mortgage REITs, and other real estate-related securities.

Sterling Capital Management LLC (“Sterling Capital”) believes that undervalued companies with good earnings prospects have superior appreciation potential with reasonable levels of risk. Quantitatively, Sterling Capital focuses on a stock’s fundamental valuation relative to its peers. Sterling Capital considers additional quantitative measures, such as earnings momentum and relative price strength. Qualitatively, Sterling Capital seeks to identify business catalysts which will serve to drive future earnings growth, increase investor interest and expand valuation.

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Market Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s stock holdings will decline in price because of a stock market decline, or other domestic, regional, or global events. Markets generally move in cycles, with periods of rising prices followed by periods of falling prices. The value of your investment will tend to increase or decrease in response to these movements.

Small Capitalization Company Risk: Investing in smaller, lesser-known companies involves greater risk than investing in those that are more established. A small company’s financial well-being may, for example, depend heavily on just a few products or services. In addition, small company stocks tend to trade less frequently and in lesser quantities, and their market prices often fluctuate more, than those of larger firms.

Investment Style Risk: The possibility that the market segment on which this Fund focuses — small cap value stocks — will underperform other kinds of investments or market averages. A value stock may decrease in price or may not increase in price as anticipated by the portfolio manager if other investors fail to recognize the company’s value or the factors that the portfolio manager believes will cause the stock price to increase do not occur.

Real Estate-Related Investment and REIT Risk: Real estate-related investments may decline in value as a result of factors affecting the real estate industry. Risks associated with investments in securities of companies in the real estate industry include decline in the value of the underlying real estate, default, prepayment, changes in value resulting from changes in interest rates and demand for real and rental property, and the management skill and creditworthiness of REIT issuers. The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management fees, paid by each REIT in which the Fund invests.

40

Convertible Securities Risk: Convertible securities are securities that may be converted or exchanged into shares of an underlying stock or other asset at a stated exchange ratio or predetermined price. The market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase and may be affected by changes in the price of the underlying security.

Company-Specific Risk: The possibility that a particular stock may lose value due to factors specific to the company itself, including deterioration of its fundamental characteristics, an occurrence of adverse events at the company, or a downturn in its business prospects.

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Focused Investment Risk: Investments focused in asset classes, countries, regions, sectors, industries, or issuers that are subject to the same or similar risk factors and investments whose prices are closely correlated are subject to greater overall risk than investments that are more diversified or whose prices are not as closely correlated.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

For more information about the Fund’s risks, please see the “Additional Investment Strategies and Risks” section in this Prospectus.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of two broad measures of market performance and additional indices that represent the market sectors in which the Fund primarily invests. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.

Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

Class A Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31⁽¹⁾ [2024 DATA TO BE INCLUDED BY AMENDMENT]

41

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2024

The Russell 3000^® Index is the Fund’s new primary benchmark. Prior to [DATE], the Fund’s primary benchmark was the Russell 2000^® Value Index, and that index and the Bloomberg U.S. 2000 Value Index are now the strategy indices for the Fund. The new primary benchmark represents a broad measure of market performance and has been added to comply with new regulatory requirements.

After-tax returns are shown only for Class A Shares and 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. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns for Class C Shares will vary.

Management

Investment Adviser

Sterling Capital Management LLC

Portfolio Managers

Gerald M. Van Horn, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Lead Portfolio Manager
Since November 2015

Andrew T. DiZio, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Associate Portfolio Manager
Since November 2015

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

42

You may buy or sell Class A Shares and Class C Shares on any business day by contacting your financial representative or contacting the Fund (i) by mail at Sterling Capital Funds, c/o Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, OH 45246; or (ii) by telephone at 1-800-228-1872. In addition, Class A Shares and Class C Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

Tax Information

The Fund normally distributes its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement account (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

43

Class A Shares BUSRX

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks to provide current income and competitive total return.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

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, except for the expiration of the current contractual expense limitation on January 31, 2025. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

44

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 50.87% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

To pursue its investment objective, the Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in fixed income securities (bonds).

The Fund invests primarily in the following types of fixed income securities: (i) securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities, some of which may be subject to repurchase agreements; (ii) corporate debt securities, including bonds, notes and debentures, issued by U.S. companies that are investment grade (i.e., rated at the time of purchase in one of the four highest rating categories by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, or are determined by the portfolio manager to be of comparable quality); (iii) investment grade asset-backed securities; (iv) investment grade mortgage-backed securities, including collateralized mortgage obligations; (v) municipal securities; (vi) U.S. dollar-denominated foreign and emerging market securities; and (vii) variable and floating rate instruments. Additionally, the Fund will invest in convertible securities, including convertible bonds and preferred stocks, and cash equivalents. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its total assets in bonds that are below investment grade, which are commonly referred to as “high yield” or “junk” bonds. The Fund will maintain an average duration of 18 months or less. The Fund is generally structured to target a dollar-weighted average maturity of between zero and 24 months, although the Fund may invest in individual securities of any weighted average maturity. Duration is the expected life of a fixed-income security and is used to determine the sensitivity of the security’s price to changes in interest rates. Maturity merely measures the time until final payment is due. Unlike maturity, duration accounts for the time until all payments of interest and principal on a security are expected to be made, including how these payments are affected by prepayments and by changes in interest rates.

In managing the portfolio, the portfolio manager uses a “top down” investment management approach focusing on allocation among sectors, credit risk, and individual securities selection. The portfolio manager focuses on macro trends in the economy to establish a duration target that reflects the outlook for the future direction of interest rates. For yield curve management, in addition to the trend in interest rates, other factors such as future inflation expectations, supply factors, and future interest rate expectations are considered. Sector weightings are driven by a combination of the portfolio manager’s macro view on interest rates and volatility as well as relative spread analysis. Utilizing fundamental analysis the portfolio manager then selects individual securities consistent with the target by looking for the best relative values within particular sectors. The analysis includes an attempt to understand the structure and embedded features of potential securities. Features that are analyzed include puts, calls, sinking fund requirements (scheduled early retirements of the specific debt instrument), prepayment and extension risk, and individual company financial data for potential corporate holdings. Scenario analysis is the primary tool employed for these assessments.

The portfolio manager may consider selling a security owned by the Fund to reduce exposure to a particular sector, if the portfolio manager sees a deterioration in the underlying fundamentals of an issuer or if the actions of the issuer violate the investment thesis of owning the security (or, in another words, the original reasoning for purchasing the security), when the portfolio managers finds other attractive securities that the portfolio manager believes are less expensive and offer relatively greater income or growth potential, and in response to macro level adjustments to duration and yield curve contributions (which are changes made to portfolio duration or yield curve positioning due to changes in the portfolio manager’s macroeconomic outlook).

45

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Interest Rate Risk: The possibility that the value of the Fund’s investments will decline due to an increase in interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally higher for longer-term debt instruments and lower for shorter-term debt instruments.

Credit Risk: The possibility that an issuer cannot make timely interest and principal payments on its debt securities such as bonds. The lower a security’s rating, the greater its credit risk. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly.

Income Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s income will decline due to a decrease in interest rates. Income risk is generally higher for shorter-term bonds and lower for longer-term bonds.

Fixed Income Market Risk: Fixed income securities markets may, in response to governmental intervention, economic or market developments (including potentially a reduction in the number of broker-dealers willing to engage in market-making activity), or other factors, experience periods of increased volatility and reduced liquidity.

U.S. Government Securities Risk: The Fund invests in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities (such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac securities). Although U.S. government securities issued directly by the U.S. government are guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury, other U.S. government securities issued by an agency or instrumentality of the U.S. government may not be. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies and instrumentalities if not required to do so by law.

Liquidity Risk: The possibility that certain securities may be difficult or impossible to sell at the time and the price that would normally prevail in the market. The seller may have to lower the price, sell other securities instead or forego an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on Fund management or performance.

Prepayment/Call Risk: When mortgages and other obligations are prepaid and when securities are called, the Fund may have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield or fail to recover additional amounts (i.e., premiums) paid for securities with higher interest rates, resulting in an unexpected capital loss. Call risk is the possibility that, during periods of declining interest rates, a bond issuer will “call” — or repay — higher-yielding bonds before their stated maturity date. In both cases, investors receive their principal back and are typically forced to reinvest it in bonds that pay lower interest rates.

Estimated Maturity Risk: The possibility that an underlying security holder will exercise its right to pay principal on an obligation earlier or later than expected. This may happen when there is a rise or fall in interest rates. These events may shorten or lengthen the duration (i.e., interest rate sensitivity) and potentially reduce the value of these securities.

Municipal Securities Risk: Municipal obligations are issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the United States and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities and the District of Columbia to obtain funds for various public purposes. Municipal obligations are subject to more credit risk than U.S. government securities that are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States. The ability of municipalities to meet their obligations will depend on the availability of tax and other revenues, economic, political and other conditions within the state and municipality, and the underlying fiscal condition of the state and municipality. As with other fixed income securities, municipal securities also expose their holders to market risk because their values typically change as interest rates fluctuate.

46

Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Securities Risk: Mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities may be particularly sensitive to changes in prevailing interest rates. Rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage-backed securities, making them more sensitive to changes in interest rates, and may reduce the market value of the securities. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to pre-payment risk. Due to their often complicated structures, various mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities may be difficult to value and may constitute illiquid securities. Furthermore, debtors may be entitled to the protection of a number of state and federal consumer protection credit laws with respect to these securities, which may give the debtor the right to avoid or reduce payment.

High-Yield/High-Risk Debt Securities: High-yield/high-risk debt securities are securities that are rated below investment grade by the primary rating agencies. These securities are considered speculative and involve greater risk of loss than investment grade debt securities.

Foreign Investment Risk: Foreign securities involve risks not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities. Foreign securities may be adversely affected by various factors, including currency fluctuations and social, economic or political instability. These risks are particularly pronounced for emerging markets.

Convertible Securities Risk: Convertible securities are securities that may be converted or exchanged into shares of an underlying stock or other asset at a stated exchange ratio or predetermined price. The market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase and may be affected by changes in the price of the underlying security.

Variable and Floating Rate Instrument Risk: Variable and floating rate instruments are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than other fixed rate instruments; however, the value of floating rate instruments may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as general interest rates.

Active Trading Risk: The Fund may trade securities actively, which could increase its transaction costs (thereby lowering its performance) and may increase the amount of taxes that a shareholder pays, by increasing the amount of the Fund’s realized capital gains and increasing the portion of the Fund’s realized capital gains that are short-term capital gains.

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Focused Investment Risk: Investments focused in asset classes, countries, regions, sectors, industries, or issuers that are subject to the same or similar risk factors and investments whose prices are closely correlated are subject to greater overall risk than investments that are more diversified or whose prices are not as closely correlated.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

For more information about the Fund’s risks, please see the “Additional Investment Strategies and Risks” section in this Prospectus.

47

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of a broad measure of market performance and additional indices that reflects the principal investment strategies of the Fund. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.

Class A Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31 [2024 DATA TO BE INCLUDED BY AMENDMENT]

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2024

The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is the Fund’s new primary benchmark. Prior to [DATE], the Fund’s primary benchmark was the FTSE 6 Month Treasury Bill Index, and that index and the [ICE BofA U.S. 6 Month Tbill Index] are now the strategy indices for the Fund. The new primary benchmark represents a broad measure of market performance and has been added to comply with new regulatory requirements.

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. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

48

Management

Investment Adviser

Sterling Capital Management LLC

Portfolio Managers

Mark M. Montgomery, CFA^®
Senior Managing Director, CIO and Head of Fixed Income of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since inception

Jeffrey D. Ormsby, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since February 2020

Byron G. Mims, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since February 2020

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may buy or sell Class A Shares on any business day by contacting your financial representative or contacting the Fund (i) by mail at Sterling Capital Funds, c/o Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, OH 45246; or (ii) by telephone at 1-800-228-1872. In addition, Class A Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

Tax Information

The Fund normally distributes its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement account (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

49

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks to provide current income and competitive total return.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts or waivers if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Sterling Capital Funds. More information about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers is available from your financial intermediary, in “Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges” on page 131 of the Fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix: Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries (the “Appendix”) and in “Sales Charges” on page [ ] of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

50

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 67.85% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

To pursue its investment objective, the Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in investment grade fixed income securities (bonds).

The Fund invests primarily in the following types of fixed income securities: (i) corporate debt securities, including bonds, notes and debentures, issued by U.S. companies that are investment grade (i.e., rated at the time of purchase in one of the four highest rating categories by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, or are determined by the portfolio manager to be of comparable quality); (ii) securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities, some of which may be subject to repurchase agreements; (iii) investment grade mortgage-backed securities, including collateralized mortgage obligations; (iv) investment grade asset-backed securities; and (v) U.S. dollar-denominated foreign and emerging market securities. Additionally, the Fund will invest in municipal securities, convertible securities, including convertible bonds and preferred stocks, and cash equivalents. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its total assets in bonds that are below investment grade, which are commonly referred to as “high yield” or “junk” bonds, and non-dollar denominated foreign and emerging market securities. The Fund will maintain an average duration between 1 and 3 years. Duration is the expected life of a fixed income security and is used to determine the sensitivity of the security’s price to changes in interest rates. Duration accounts for the time until all payments of interest and principal on a security are expected to be made, including how these payments are affected by prepayments and by changes in interest rates.

The Fund may invest in certain types of derivative instruments for hedging and investment purposes. Although the Fund may invest in derivatives of any kind, the Fund currently expects to invest in futures contracts and forward foreign currency contracts to gain efficient investment exposures as an alternative to cash investments or to hedge against portfolio exposures, and credit default swaps and interest rate swaps to gain indirect exposure to interest rates, issuers, currencies, or market sectors, or to hedge against portfolio exposures.

In managing the portfolio, the portfolio manager uses a “top down” investment management approach focusing on allocation among sectors, credit risk, and individual securities selection. The portfolio manager focuses on macro trends in the economy to establish a duration target that reflects the outlook for the future direction of interest rates. For yield curve management, in addition to the trend in interest rates, other factors such as future inflation expectations, supply factors, and future interest rate expectations are considered. Sector weightings are driven by a combination of the portfolio manager’s macro view on interest rates and volatility as well as relative spread analysis. Utilizing fundamental analysis the portfolio manager then selects individual securities consistent with the target by looking for the best relative values within particular sectors. The analysis includes an attempt to understand the structure and embedded features of potential securities. Features that are analyzed include puts, calls, sinking fund requirements (scheduled early retirements of the specific debt instrument), prepayment and extension risk, and individual company financial data for potential corporate holdings. Scenario analysis is the primary tool employed for these assessments.

51

The portfolio manager may consider selling a security owned by the Fund to reduce exposure to a particular sector, if the portfolio manager sees a deterioration in the underlying fundamentals of an issuer or if the actions of the issuer violate the investment thesis of owning the security (or, in another words, the original reasoning for purchasing the security), when the portfolio managers finds other attractive securities that the portfolio manager believes are less expensive and offer relatively greater income or growth potential, and in response to macro level adjustments to duration and yield curve contributions (which are changes made to portfolio duration or yield curve positioning due to changes in the portfolio manager’s macroeconomic outlook).

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Interest Rate Risk: The possibility that the value of the Fund’s investments will decline due to an increase in interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally higher for longer-term debt instruments and lower for shorter-term debt instruments.

Income Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s income will decline due to a decrease in interest rates. Income risk is generally higher for shorter-term bonds and lower for longer-term bonds.

Fixed Income Market Risk: Fixed income securities markets may, in response to governmental intervention, economic or market developments (including potentially a reduction in the number of broker-dealers willing to engage in market-making activity), or other factors, experience periods of increased volatility and reduced liquidity.

Liquidity Risk: The possibility that certain securities or derivatives may be difficult or impossible to sell at the time and the price that would normally prevail in the market. The seller may have to lower the price, sell other securities instead or forego an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on Fund management or performance.

Prepayment/Call Risk: When mortgages and other obligations are prepaid and when securities are called, the Fund may have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield or fail to recover additional amounts (i.e., premiums) paid for securities with higher interest rates, resulting in an unexpected capital loss. Call risk is the possibility that, during periods of declining interest rates, a bond issuer will “call” — or repay — higher-yielding bonds before their stated maturity date. In both cases, investors receive their principal back and are typically forced to reinvest it in bonds that pay lower interest rates.

Estimated Maturity Risk: The possibility that an underlying security holder will exercise its right to pay principal on an obligation earlier or later than expected. This may happen when there is a rise or fall in interest rates. These events may shorten or lengthen the duration (i.e., interest rate sensitivity) and potentially reduce the value of these securities.

U.S. Government Securities Risk: The Fund invests in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities (such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac securities). Although U.S. government securities issued directly by the U.S. government are guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury, other U.S. government securities issued by an agency or instrumentality of the U.S. government may not be. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies and instrumentalities if not required to do so by law.

Credit Risk: The possibility that an issuer cannot make timely interest and principal payments on its debt securities such as bonds. The lower a security’s rating, the greater its credit risk. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly.

Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Securities Risk: Mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities may be particularly sensitive to changes in prevailing interest rates. Rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage-backed securities, making them more sensitive to changes in interest rates, and may reduce the market value of the securities. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to pre-payment risk. Due to their often complicated structures, various mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities may be difficult to value and may

52

constitute illiquid securities. Furthermore, debtors may be entitled to the protection of a number of state and federal consumer protection credit laws with respect to these securities, which may give the debtor the right to avoid or reduce payment.

Counterparty Risk: The possibility that a counterparty to a contract will default or otherwise become unable to honor a financial obligation.

High-Yield/High-Risk Debt Securities: High-yield/high-risk debt securities are securities that are rated below investment grade by the primary rating agencies. These securities are considered speculative and involve greater risk of loss than investment grade debt securities.

Foreign Currency Transaction Risk: Funds that invest directly in foreign currencies and in securities that trade in, or receive revenues in, foreign currencies are subject to the risk that those currencies will fluctuate in value relative to the U.S. dollar.

Foreign Investment Risk: Foreign securities involve risks not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities. Foreign securities may be adversely affected by various factors, including currency fluctuations and social, economic or political instability. These risks are particularly pronounced for emerging markets.

Derivatives Risk: The possibility that the Fund will suffer a loss from its use of derivatives. The primary risk with many derivatives is that they can amplify a gain or loss, potentially earning or losing substantially more money than the actual cost of the derivative instrument. It is possible that the Fund’s liquid assets may be insufficient to support its obligations under its derivatives positions. The Fund’s use of derivatives such as futures transactions and swap transactions involves other risks, such as the credit risk relating to the other party to a derivative contract (which is heightened for over-the-counter swaps and other derivatives as compared to centrally cleared derivatives), the risk of difficulties in pricing and valuation, and the risk that changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with relevant assets, rates or indices. There is also the risk that the Fund may be unable to terminate or sell a derivatives position at an advantageous time or price. When the Fund uses credit default swaps to gain indirect long exposure to an issuer or a fixed income security by selling credit protection on such issuer or security, the Fund is exposed to the risk that it will be required to pay the full notional value of the swap contract in the event of a default.

Convertible Securities Risk: Convertible securities are securities that may be converted or exchanged into shares of an underlying stock or other asset at a stated exchange ratio or predetermined price. The market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase and may be affected by changes in the price of the underlying security.

Preferred Stock Risk: Preferred stock represents an interest in a company that generally entitles the holder to receive, in preference to the holders of common stock, dividends and a fixed share of the proceeds resulting from a liquidation of the company. Preferred stocks are generally subordinated in right of payment to all debt obligations and creditors of the issuer.

Active Trading Risk: The Fund may trade securities actively, which could increase its transaction costs (thereby lowering its performance) and may increase the amount of taxes that a shareholder pays, by increasing the amount of the Fund’s realized capital gains and increasing the portion of the Fund’s realized capital gains that are short-term capital gains.

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Focused Investment Risk: Investments focused in asset classes, countries, regions, sectors, industries, or issuers that are subject to the same or similar risk factors and investments whose prices are closely correlated are subject to greater overall risk than investments that are more diversified or whose prices are not as closely correlated.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

For more information about the Fund’s risks, please see the “Additional Investment Strategies and Risks” section in this Prospectus.

53

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index that reflects the principal investment strategies of the Fund. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.

Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

Class A Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31 [2024 DATA TO BE INCLUDED BY AMENDMENT]

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2024

The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is the Fund’s new primary benchmark. Prior to [DATE], the Fund’s primary benchmark was the ICE BofA 1-3 Year U.S. Corporate Government Index, and that index is now the strategy index for the fund. The new primary benchmark represents a broad measure of market performance and has been added to comply with new regulatory requirements.

54

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. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns for Class C Shares will vary.

Management

Investment Adviser

Sterling Capital Management LLC (“Sterling Capital”)

Portfolio Managers

Mark M. Montgomery, CFA^®
Senior Managing Director, CIO and Head of Fixed Income of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since February 2011

Peter L. Brown, CFA^®
Managing Director of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since February 2020

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may buy or sell Class A Shares and Class C Shares on any business day by contacting your financial representative or contacting the Fund (i) by mail at Sterling Capital Funds, c/o Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, OH 45246; or (ii) by telephone at 1-800-228-1872. In addition, Class A Shares and Class C Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

Tax Information

The Fund normally distributes its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement account (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

55

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks current income consistent with the preservation of capital.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts or waivers if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Sterling Capital Funds. More information about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers is available from your financial intermediary, in “Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges” on page 131 of the Fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix: Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries (the “Appendix”) and in “Sales Charges” on page [ ] of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

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, except for the expiration of the current contractual expense limitation on January 31, 2026. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

56

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 11.51% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

To pursue its investment objective, the Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in bonds issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities (“U.S. government securities”). In addition, under normal circumstances, at least 90% of the value of the Fund’s investments in securities will consist of U.S. government securities. Bonds for this purpose include Treasury bills (maturities of less than one year), bonds (maturities of ten years or more) and notes (maturities of one to ten years) of the U.S. government. The Fund invests, under normal market conditions, in U.S. government securities, some of which may be subject to repurchase agreements, or in “high grade” (rated at the time of purchase in one of the three highest rating categories by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization or are determined by the portfolio manager to be of comparable quality) mortgage-backed securities, including collateralized mortgage obligations.

The Fund will also invest in short-term obligations, asset-backed securities, corporate bonds, municipal securities and the shares of other investment companies. The Fund may also invest in Yankee bonds, which are U.S.-dollar denominated bonds and notes issued by foreign corporations or governments. The Fund will maintain an average duration between 2.5 and 7 years. The Fund’s dollar-weighted average maturity is expected to be more than 3 years but less than 10 years. Duration is the expected life of a fixed income security and is used to determine the sensitivity of the security’s price to changes in interest rates. Maturity merely measures the time until final payment is due. Unlike maturity, duration accounts for the time until all payments of interest and principal on a security are expected to be made, including how these payments are affected by prepayments and by changes in interest rates.

In managing the portfolio, the portfolio manager uses a “top down” investment management approach focusing on duration, yield curve structure and sector allocation based upon economic outlook and market expectations. The portfolio manager then selects individual securities consistent with the target by looking for the best relative values within particular sectors. The portfolio manager may consider selling a security owned by the Fund to manage the Fund’s price sensitivity, to reposition the Fund to a more favorable portion of the yield curve, or to purchase securities that the portfolio manager believes offer greater total return potential than existing holdings.

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Interest Rate Risk: The possibility that the value of the Fund’s investments will decline due to an increase in interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally higher for longer-term debt instruments and lower for shorter-term debt instruments.

Income Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s income will decline due to a decrease in interest rates. Income risk is generally higher for shorter-term bonds and lower for longer-term bonds.

57

Fixed Income Market Risk: Fixed income securities markets may, in response to governmental intervention, economic or market developments (including potentially a reduction in the number of broker-dealers willing to engage in market-making activity), or other factors, experience periods of increased volatility and reduced liquidity.

Liquidity Risk: The possibility that certain securities may be difficult or impossible to sell at the time and the price that would normally prevail in the market. The seller may have to lower the price, sell other securities instead or forego an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on Fund management or performance.

Prepayment/Call Risk: When mortgages and other obligations are prepaid and when securities are called, the Fund may have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield or fail to recover additional amounts (i.e., premiums) paid for securities with higher interest rates, resulting in an unexpected capital loss. Call risk is the possibility that, during periods of declining interest rates, a bond issuer will “call” — or repay — higher-yielding bonds before their stated maturity date. In both cases, investors receive their principal back and are typically forced to reinvest it in bonds that pay lower interest rates.

Estimated Maturity Risk: The possibility that an underlying security holder will exercise its right to pay principal on an obligation earlier or later than expected. This may happen when there is a rise or fall in interest rates. These events may shorten or lengthen the duration (i.e., interest rate sensitivity) and potentially reduce the value of these securities.

Credit Risk: The possibility that an issuer cannot make timely interest and principal payments on its debt securities such as bonds. The lower a security’s rating, the greater its credit risk. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly.

U.S. Government Securities Risk: The Fund invests in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities (such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac securities). Although U.S. government securities issued directly by the U.S. government are guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury, other U.S. government securities issued by an agency or instrumentality of the U.S. government may not be. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies and instrumentalities if not required to do so by law.

Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Securities Risk: Mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities may be particularly sensitive to changes in prevailing interest rates. Rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage-backed securities, making them more sensitive to changes in interest rates, and may reduce the market value of the securities. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to pre-payment risk. Due to their often complicated structures, various mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities may be difficult to value and may constitute illiquid securities. Furthermore, debtors may be entitled to the protection of a number of state and federal consumer protection credit laws with respect to these securities, which may give the debtor the right to avoid or reduce payment.

Municipal Securities Risk: Municipal obligations are issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the United States and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities and the District of Columbia to obtain funds for various public purposes. Municipal obligations are subject to more credit risk than U.S. government securities that are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States. The ability of municipalities to meet their obligations will depend on the availability of tax and other revenues, economic, political and other conditions within the state and municipality, and the underlying fiscal condition of the state and municipality. As with other fixed income securities, municipal securities also expose their holders to market risk because their values typically change as interest rates fluctuate.

Yankee Bond Risk: Yankee bonds are subject to the same risks as other debt issues, notably credit risk, market risk, currency and liquidity risk. Other risks include adverse political and economic developments; the extent and quality of government regulations of financial markets and institutions; the imposition of foreign withholding or other taxes; and the expropriation or nationalization of foreign issuers.

Active Trading Risk: The Fund may trade securities actively, which could increase its transaction costs (thereby lowering its performance) and may increase the amount of taxes that a shareholder pays, by increasing the amount of the Fund’s realized capital gains and increasing the portion of the Fund’s realized capital gains that are short-term capital gains.

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

58

For more information about the Fund’s risks, please see the “Additional Investment Strategies and Risks” section in this Prospectus.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year for Class A Shares. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index that reflects the principal investment strategies of the Fund. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.

Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

Class A Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31 [2024 DATA TO BE INCLUDED BY AMENDMENT]

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2024

The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is the Fund’s new primary benchmark. Prior to [DATE], the Fund’s primary benchmark was the Bloomberg U.S. Intermediate Government Index, and that index is now the strategy index for the fund. The new primary benchmark represents a broad measure of market performance and has been added to comply with new regulatory requirements.

59

After-tax returns are shown only for Class A Shares and 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. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns for Class C Shares will vary.

Management

Investment Adviser

Sterling Capital Management LLC

Portfolio Managers

Michael Z. Sun, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since February 2019

Jeffrey D. Ormsby, CFA^®
Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Co-Portfolio Manager
Since July 2022

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may buy or sell Class A Shares and Class C Shares on any business day by contacting your financial representative or contacting the Fund (i) by mail at Sterling Capital Funds, c/o Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 46707, Cincinnati, OH 45246; or (ii) by telephone at 1-800-228-1872. In addition, Class A Shares and Class C Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

Tax Information

The Fund normally distributes its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement account (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

60

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks a high level of current income and a competitive total return.

Fee Table

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts or waivers if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Sterling Capital Funds. More information about these and other sales charge discounts and waivers is available from your financial intermediary, in “Distribution Arrangements/Sales Charges” on page 131 of the Fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix: Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers Available from Certain Financial Intermediaries (the “Appendix”) and in “Sales Charges” on page [ ] of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

61

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, except for the expiration of the current contractual expense limitation on January 31, 2026. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 63.02% of the average value of its portfolio.

Strategy, Risks and Performance

Principal Strategy

The Fund seeks above-average total return through any combination of current income and capital appreciation. To pursue its investment objective, the Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in a diversified portfolio of bonds, including: securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities, corporate bonds, asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities, including commercial mortgage-backed securities and collateralized mortgage obligations, municipal securities, and convertible securities. All securities will be U.S. dollar-denominated although the Fund may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated foreign and emerging market securities. The Fund will invest in securities that are investment grade (rated at the time of purchase in one of the four highest rating categories by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”), or are determined by the portfolio manager to be of comparable quality).

In managing the portfolio, the portfolio manager uses a “top down” investment management approach focusing on interest rate risk, allocation among sectors, credit risk, and individual securities selection. The portfolio manager focuses on macro trends in the economy to establish a duration target that reflects the outlook for the future direction of interest rates. For yield curve management, in addition to the trend in interest rates, other factors such as future inflation expectations, supply factors, and future interest rate expectations are considered. Sector weightings are driven by a combination of the portfolio manager’s macro view on interest rates and volatility as well as relative spread analysis (a comparison of current and historical valuation relationships between various sectors). Utilizing fundamental analysis the portfolio manager then selects individual securities consistent with the target by looking for the best relative values within particular sectors. The analysis includes an attempt to understand the structure and embedded features of potential securities. Features that are analyzed include puts, calls, sinking fund requirements (scheduled early retirements of the specific debt instrument), prepayment and extension risk, and individual company financial data for potential corporate holdings. Scenario analysis is the primary tool employed for these assessments.

62

The portfolio manager may consider selling a security owned by the Fund to reduce exposure to a particular sector, if the portfolio manager sees a deterioration in the underlying fundamentals of an issuer or if the actions of the issuer violate the investment thesis of owning the security (or, in another words, the original reasoning for purchasing the security), when the portfolio manager finds other attractive securities that the portfolio manager believes are less expensive and offer relatively greater income or growth potential, and in response to macro level adjustments to duration and yield curve contributions (which are changes made to portfolio duration or yield curve positioning due to changes in the portfolio manager’s macroeconomic outlook).

The Fund may invest in certain types of derivative instruments for hedging and investment purposes. Although the Fund may invest in derivatives of any kind, the Fund currently expects to invest in futures contracts and forward foreign currency contracts to gain efficient investment exposures as an alternative to cash investments or to hedge against portfolio exposures, and credit default swaps and interest rate swaps to gain indirect exposure to interest rates, issuers, currencies, or market sectors, or to hedge against portfolio exposures.

Principal Risks

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

Interest Rate Risk: The possibility that the value of the Fund’s investments will decline due to an increase in interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally higher for longer-term debt instruments and lower for shorter-term debt instruments.

Credit Risk: The possibility that an issuer cannot make timely interest and principal payments on its debt securities such as bonds. The lower a security’s rating, the greater its credit risk. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly.

Income Risk: The possibility that the Fund’s income will decline due to a decrease in interest rates. Income risk is generally higher for shorter-term bonds and lower for longer-term bonds.

Fixed Income Market Risk: Fixed income securities markets may, in response to governmental intervention, economic or market developments (including potentially a reduction in the number of broker-dealers willing to engage in market-making activity), or other factors, experience periods of increased volatility and reduced liquidity.

Counterparty Risk: The possibility that a counterparty to a contract will default or otherwise become unable to honor a financial obligation.

Liquidity Risk: The possibility that certain securities or derivatives may be difficult or impossible to sell at the time and the price that would normally prevail in the market. The seller may have to lower the price, sell other securities instead or forego an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on Fund management or performance.

Estimated Maturity Risk: The possibility that an underlying security holder will exercise its right to pay principal on an obligation earlier or later than expected. This may happen when there is a rise or fall in interest rates. These events may shorten or lengthen the duration (i.e., interest rate sensitivity) and potentially reduce the value of these securities.

Prepayment/Call Risk: When mortgages and other obligations are prepaid and when securities are called, the Fund may have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield or fail to recover additional amounts (i.e., premiums) paid for securities with higher interest rates, resulting in an unexpected capital loss. Call risk is the possibility that, during periods of declining interest rates, a bond issuer will “call” — or repay — higher-yielding bonds before their stated maturity date. In both cases, investors receive their principal back and are typically forced to reinvest it in bonds that pay lower interest rates.

63

U.S. Government Securities Risk: The Fund invests in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities (such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac securities). Although U.S. government securities issued directly by the U.S. government are guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury, other U.S. government securities issued by an agency or instrumentality of the U.S. government may not be. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies and instrumentalities if not required to do so by law.

Foreign Currency Transaction Risk: Funds that invest directly in foreign currencies and in securities that trade in, or receive revenues in, foreign currencies are subject to the risk that those currencies will fluctuate in value relative to the U.S. dollar.

Foreign Investment Risk: Foreign securities involve risks not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities. Foreign securities may be adversely affected by various factors, including currency fluctuations and social, economic or political instability. These risks are particularly pronounced for emerging markets.

Derivatives Risk: The possibility that the Fund will suffer a loss from its use of derivatives. The primary risk with many derivatives is that they can amplify a gain or loss, potentially earning or losing substantially more money than the actual cost of the derivative instrument. It is possible that the Fund’s liquid assets may be insufficient to support its obligations under its derivatives positions. The Fund’s use of derivatives such as futures transactions and swap transactions involves other risks, such as the credit risk relating to the other party to a derivative contract (which is heightened for over-the-counter swaps and other derivatives as compared to centrally cleared derivatives), the risk of difficulties in pricing and valuation, and the risk that changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with relevant assets, rates or indices. There is also the risk that the Fund may be unable to terminate or sell a derivatives position at an advantageous time or price.

Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Securities Risk: Mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities may be particularly sensitive to changes in prevailing interest rates. Rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage-backed securities, making them more sensitive to changes in interest rates, and may reduce the market value of the securities. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to pre-payment risk. Due to their often complicated structures, various mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities may be difficult to value and may constitute illiquid securities. Furthermore, debtors may be entitled to the protection of a number of state and federal consumer protection credit laws with respect to these securities, which may give the debtor the right to avoid or reduce payment.

Municipal Securities Risk: Municipal obligations are issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the United States and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities and the District of Columbia to obtain funds for various public purposes. Municipal obligations are subject to more credit risk than U.S. government securities that are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States. The ability of municipalities to meet their obligations will depend on the availability of tax and other revenues, economic, political and other conditions within the state and municipality, and the underlying fiscal condition of the state and municipality. As with other fixed income securities, municipal securities also expose their holders to market risk because their values typically change as interest rates fluctuate.

Convertible Securities Risk: Convertible securities are securities that may be converted or exchanged into shares of an underlying stock or other asset at a stated exchange ratio or predetermined price. The market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase and may be affected by changes in the price of the underlying security.

Active Trading Risk: The Fund may trade securities actively, which could increase its transaction costs (thereby lowering its performance) and may increase the amount of taxes that a shareholder pays, by increasing the amount of the Fund’s realized capital gains and increasing the portion of the Fund’s realized capital gains that are short-term capital gains.

Operational and Technology Risk: Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

Management Risk: The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund’s portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

64