• The management team employs a “bottom-up” investment process, utilizing proprietary Grassroots^SM Research to affirm company analysis or macroeconomic trends.
• The portfolio management team includes Paul Strand, an investment specialist in the energy sector.
• The fund invests primarily in equity securities of materials, energy, and natural resources companies, which may experience increased demand as some of the world's most populated nations begin to modernize.

RCM Is an Experienced, Informed Manager

• RCM places a unique emphasis on global information and information flow. By generating and capitalizing on this “information advantage,” RCM seeks to deliver superior and consistent investment results for the Fund’s shareholders.
• RCM is a truly global firm. In lieu of a central headquarters, their offices are strategically located in key financial centers around the world—including San Francisco, London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Sydney and Tokyo.
• RCM uses a distinctive dual research platform—consisting of their sector-based fundamental global research platform and unique Grassroots^SM Research division—to provide deep, bottom-up insight into a company’s fundamentals from a country, regional and global perspective.

As a "bottom-up" manager, RCM evaluates each investment idea by assessing the company's prospects for growth, quality and valuation. RCM has two separate research platforms: Fundamental and GrassrootsSM Research. The investment team's extensive experience and proprietary investment tools allow information to be processed quickly.

The Global Resources initial universe includes approximately 500 securities derived from in-house analysts and portfolio managers, external "Street" resources, and the MSCI World Index. The portfolio management team begins the screening process by looking at U.S. and non-U.S. natural resources companies. All market capitalization ranges are considered. To reduce the initial universe to a more workable list, RCM focuses on companies with not only high earnings growth and well-capitalized balance sheets, but also exceptional management. To that end, the portfolio management team meets with around 150 of these companies throughout the world each year, both onsite and off site. From the initial universe, the team maintains approximately 120 stocks in a narrowed working universe.

Stock Selection Overview

• Perform rigorous top down analysis of each Natural Resources sub-sector, to include alternative energy, oil, natural gas, coal, solar, wind, ethanol, chemicals, copper, nickel, etc.
• Develop investment themes within the most attractive Natural Resources sub-sectors.
• Determine the most attractive stocks within each investment theme.

The specific fundamental factors that RCM deems as integral to the stock selection process vary by sub-sector and by stock. In general, RCM views operating fundamentals, and in particular earnings growth prospects, as the most important.

Each of these criteria will be evaluated during every investment decision.

• Operating fundamentals- rigorous, bottom up financial analysis.
• Catalysts - identification, timing, and estimated stock impact of upcoming events.
• Sentiment - used as a gauge to assess when stocks have become overbought or oversold.
• Valuation - used as a tool to identify optimum buy points as well as sell points.

Paul Strand joined RCM in August 2003 and is responsible for integrated oil, oil and gas production, and oil services within the Energy Sector.

San Francisco, California

RCM is a truly global asset manager and a company of Allianz Global Investors. The firm operates across three continents and five time zones from six international offices- San Francisco, London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney. RCM's range of investment solutions spans the market cap and style spectrum and reaches from regional and global strategies to multi-asset and structured products.