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ADVISER | Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLC
SUB-ADVISER | Wells Capital Management Incorporated ("Wells Capital Management")
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
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Thomas C. Ognar, CFA
Managed the Emerging Growth Fund since 2007
Mr. Ognar joined Wells Capital Management in 2005. Prior to joining Wells Capital Management, Mr. Ognar was with Strong Capital Management, Inc. ("SCM") since January 1998, where he was a senior equity research analyst from October 1998 to 2002. Prior to joining SCM, he was a research analyst at M&I Investment Management Corp., and he was a trader at Republic Securities, Inc. Mr. Ognar earned his B.A. degree in Finance from Miami University and his M.S. degree in Finance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
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Bruce C. Olson, CFA
Managed the Emerging Growth Fund since 2007
Mr. Olson joined Wells Capital Management in 2005. Prior to that he was with Strong Capital Management, Inc. ("SCM") since 1994, where he managed separate and institutional accounts since January 1998. In May 2002, he was also named as a co-portfolio manager of the Strong Large Cap Growth Fund and sole portfolio manager of the Fund on June 30, 2003. Prior to joining SCM, he was a managing partner at Olson Brothers, Inc. from 1989 to 1993. Prior to joining Olson Brothers Inc., he was with The Travelers Corporation, American National Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago, and Minton Investment Corporation. Mr. Olson earned a B.A. degree in Finance and History from Gustavus Adolphus College.
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Joseph M. Eberhardy, CFA
Managed the Emerging Growth Fund since 2008
Mr. Eberhardy joined Wells Capital Management in 2005 from Strong Capital Management ("SCM"), having joined SCM in 1994. Prior to his current role, Mr. Eberhardy was a senior research analyst with the Growth Equity team, and he maintains research responsibilities in the health care, capital goods, and aerospace-and-defense industries. Prior to joining the Growth Equity team in 2000, his previous roles at SCM included small- to mid-cap equity analyst, high-yield bond trader, and fixed-income accounting manager. Mr. Eberhardy earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
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OBJECTIVE | The Emerging Growth Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.
PRINCIPAL STRATEGIES | We invest principally in equity securities of small-capitalization companies that we believe have prospects for robust and sustainable growth of revenues and earnings. We define small capitalization companies as those with market capitalizations of $3 billion or less. We may also invest in equity securities of foreign issuers through ADRs and similar investments.
We seek small-capitalization companies that are in an emerging phase of their life cycle. We believe these companies have prospects for robust and sustainable growth in earnings and revenue and their stock may benefit from positive revisions to earnings and revenue forecasts made by Wall Street analysts. Positive revisions are important because we believe identifying and successfully anticipating those revisions can lead to stock outperformance. To find growth and anticipate positive revisions, we use bottom-up research, emphasizing companies whose management teams have histories of successfully executing their strategies and whose business models have sufficient profit potential. We combine that fundamental analysis with our assessment of the market's sentiment toward the stocks of these companies to form an investment decision. We may invest in any sector, and at times, we may emphasize one or more particular sectors. We may sell a company's stock when we see deterioration in fundamentals that causes us to become suspicious of a company's prospective growth profile or when we see a lack of positive revisions to revenue and earnings. Depending on the circumstances, we may also sell or trim a portfolio position when we see market sentiment turn negative on a stock held in the portfolio. We consider our sell discipline a critical and value-added part of our process.
RISKS | Stock fund values fluctuate in response to the activities of individual companies and general market and economic conditions. Smaller company stocks tend to be more volatile and less liquid than those of larger companies. The use of derivatives may reduce returns and/or increase volatility. Active trading results in increased turnover and trading expenses, and may generate higher short-term capital gains. Certain investment strategies tend to increase the total risk of an investment (relative to the broader market). This fund is exposed to foreign investment risk. Consult the Fund's prospectus for additional information on these and other risks.
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