Disclosure Statement: NFS Mutual Fund Breakpoint Discounts and Other Disclosures

Investors who purchase mutual funds must make certain choices, including which funds to purchase and which share class is most advantageous in light of their specific investing needs. Each mutual fund has a specified investment strategy. You need to consider whether the mutual fund's investment strategy is compatible with your investment objectives. Additionally, many mutual funds offer different share classes. Although each share class represents a similar interest in the mutual fund's portfolio, the mutual fund will charge you different fees and expenses depending upon your choice of share class. As a general rule, Class A shares carry a "front-end" sales charge or "load" that is deducted from your investment at the time you buy the fund shares. This sales charge is a percentage of your total purchase.

As explained below, many mutual funds offer volume discounts to the front-end sales charge assessed on Class A shares at certain predetermined levels of investment, which are called "breakpoint discounts." In contrast, Class B and C shares usually do not carry any front-end sales charges. Instead, investors who purchase Class B or C shares pay asset-based sales charges, which may be higher or lower than the charges associated with Class A shares. Investors that purchase Class B or C shares may also be required to pay a sales charge known as a contingent deferred sales charge when they sell their shares, depending upon the rules of the particular mutual fund. This is known as a "back-end" sales charge or "load."

Most mutual funds offer investors a variety of ways to qualify for breakpoint discounts on the sales charge associated with the purchase of Class A shares. In general, most mutual funds provide breakpoint discounts to investors who make large purchases at one time. The extent of the discount depends upon the size of the purchase. Generally, as the amount of the purchase increases, the percentage used to determine the sales load decreases. The entire sales charge may be waived for investors that make very large purchases of Class A shares. Mutual fund prospectuses contain tables that illustrate the available breakpoint discounts and the investment levels at which breakpoint discounts apply.

Additionally, most mutual funds allow investors to qualify for breakpoint discounts based upon current holdings from prior purchases through Rights of Accumulation and from future purchases based upon Letters of Intent. Mutual funds have different rules regarding the availability of Rights of Accumulation and Letters of Intent. Therefore, you should discuss these matters with your investment professional and review the mutual fund's prospectus and statement of additional information to determine the specific terms upon which a mutual fund offers Rights of Accumulation or Letters of Intent.

Rights of Accumulation - Many mutual funds allow investors to count the value of previous purchases of the same fund, or another fund within the same fund family, with the value of the current purchase to qualify for breakpoint discounts. Moreover, mutual funds may allow investors to count existing holdings in multiple accounts, such as individual retirement accounts (IRAs) or accounts at other financial organizations to qualify for breakpoint discounts. Therefore, if you have accounts at other financial organizations and wish to take advantage of the balances in these accounts to qualify for a breakpoint discount, you must advise your investment professional about those balances. You may need to provide documentation if you wish to rely upon balances in accounts at another firm.

In addition, many mutual funds allow investors to count the value of holdings in accounts of certain related parties, such as spouses or children, to qualify for breakpoint discounts. Each mutual fund has different rules that govern when relatives may rely upon each other's holdings to qualify for breakpoint discounts. You should consult with your investment professional or review the mutual fund's prospectus or statement of additional information to determine what these rules are for the fund family in which you are investing. If you wish to rely upon the holdings of related parties to qualify for a breakpoint discount, you should advise your investment professional about these accounts. You may need to provide documentation to your investment professional if you wish to rely upon balances in accounts at another firm.

Mutual funds also follow different rules to determine the value of existing holdings. Some funds use the current net asset value (NAV) of existing investments in determining whether an investor qualifies for a breakpoint discount. However, a small number of funds use the historical cost, which is the cost of the initial purchase, to determine eligibility for breakpoint discounts. If the mutual fund uses historical costs, you may need to provide account records, such as confirmation statements or monthly statements, to qualify for a breakpoint discount based upon previous purchases. You should consult with your investment professional and review the mutual fund's prospectus and statement of additional information to determine whether the mutual fund uses either NAV or historical costs to determine breakpoint eligibility.

Letters of Intent - Most mutual funds allow investors to qualify for breakpoint discounts by signing a Letter of Intent, which commits the investor to purchasing a specified amount of Class A shares within a defined period of time, usually 13 months. For instance, if an investor plans to purchase $50,000 worth of Class A shares over a period of 13 months, but each individual purchase would not qualify for a breakpoint discount, the investor could sign a Letter of Intent at the time of the first purchase and receive the breakpoint discount associated with a $50,000 investment on the first and all subsequent purchases. Additionally, some funds offer retroactive Letters of Intent that allow investors to rely upon purchases in the recent past to qualify for a breakpoint discount. However, if an investor fails to invest the amount required by the Letter of Intent, the fund is entitled to retroactively deduct the correct sales charges based upon the amount that the investor actually invested. If you intend to make several purchases within a 13-month period, you should consult your investment professional and the mutual fund prospectus to determine if it would be beneficial for you to sign a Letter of Intent. As you can see, understanding the availability of breakpoint discounts is important because it may allow you to purchase Class A shares at a lower price. The availability of breakpoint discounts may save you money and may also affect your decision regarding the appropriate share class in which to invest. Therefore, you should discuss the availability of breakpoint discounts with your investment professional and carefully review the mutual fund prospectus and its statement of additional information, which you can get from your investment professional, when choosing among the share classes offered by a mutual fund. If you wish to learn more about mutual fund share classes or mutual fund breakpoints, you can also review the investor alerts that are available on the FINRA^® website at www.finra.org/investors/protectyourself/investoralerts/mutualfunds/p006022* and www.finra.org/investors/protectyourself/investoralerts/mutualfunds/p006008.*

NFS may receive servicing fees from mutual funds that participate in NFS' mutual fund no-transaction-fee program in lieu of clearance charges to your financial organization.

Participation by your financial organization in this program is optional and your financial organization may share with NFS in such fees. These fees may be considered revenue sharing and are a significant source of revenue for NFS and may be a significant source of revenue for your financial organization. These recurring fees are based on the value of your assets. NFS also receives operational reimbursements from mutual funds in the form of networking or omnibus processing fees. These fees are based on a flat fee per holding and are reimbursed to NFS for the work it performs on behalf of the funds, which may include but is not limited to, subaccounting services, dividend calculation and posting, accounting and reconciliation, client confirmation and statement preparation and mailing, and tax statement preparation and mailing. These fees are a significant source of revenue for NFS.

Money fund processing and revenue sharing fees are significant sources of revenue for NFS and may be significant sources of revenue for your financial organization.

NFS receives fees from money fund providers for making available money market funds or FDIC-insured bank deposits, which you have selected through your financial organization. These fees are paid in accordance with an asset-based formula based on established amounts of money market funds or FDIC insured bank deposits available through NFS. Your financial organization may share in these fees. A portion of NFS' fees is applied against costs associated with providing services on behalf of the funds, which may include sweep systems, subaccounting services, dividend calculation and posting, accounting and reconciliation, client statement preparation and mailing, tax statement preparation and mailing, marketing and distribution related support, and other services.

NFS receives processing fees from certain money fund providers, which may be associated with your financial organization. These fees reimburse NFS for operational services it performs on behalf of the funds, which may include sweep systems, subaccounting services, dividend calculation and posting, accounting and reconciliation, client statement preparation and mailing, tax statement preparation and mailing, or other services.

NFS may receive servicing fees from certain insurance companies that participate in NFS' annuity no-transaction fee program in lieu of clearance charges to your financial organization. Participation by your financial organization in this program is optional. These fees may be considered revenue sharing and are a source of revenue for NFS.

NFS also receives operational reimbursement fees from certain insurance companies. A flat fee per holding is paid to NFS for the services it provides, which may include, but is not limited to; posting, account reconciliation, and client statement preparation and mailing. These fees are a source of revenue for NFS.