Trying to outpace the overall market?

What is a growth fund?
Growth funds consist of stocks of companies that are expected to "grow" their earnings, or profits, faster than the overall market. These stocks can be issued by companies in new or expanding industries, or in well-established industries.

What type of stocks do growth managers look for?
Growth managers search for stocks of companies with above-average historical earnings, earnings growth rates, and earnings forecasts. These companies are typically well-managed and have demonstrated sustained patterns of profitability. Given their earnings growth potential, growth stocks tend to be relatively expensive. Investors are often willing to pay more for them and thus push prices up.

Why consider growth-style products for my portfolio?
Depending on your time horizon and risk tolerance, tapping into the growth potential of these stocks through growth mutual funds could help you pursue your need for capital appreciation, particularly for long-term goals such as retirement or college.

Growth funds invest in stocks that potentially may perform best when the economy is strong, since fast growing companies need capital to finance expansion. Growth-style investing is buying stock in companies that tend to grow faster than others, and in most cases this involves buying companies with higher projected growth rates.

As market conditions change, so can market leaders.
In selecting mutual funds for your portfolio, it is important to realize that economic and market conditions will change. Sometimes the market will favor growth stocks and sometimes it will favor other styles of investing.

Instead of investing in only growth funds, you might consider a mix of styles in your portfolio. Over the long term, you'll potentially benefit by not having to guess which investment style will out perform.

How can I add growth-style investments to my portfolio?
Do you have the time, resources or the inclination to actively manage a portfolio of growth stocks? Even experienced investors may find identifying the right investment opportunities at the right time a challenge. By investing in a Dreyfus growth fund, you're able to tap into the investment expertise and resources of a professional management team.

A Dreyfus mutual fund's professional management team can consist of portfolio managers, economists, analysts, and traders who can perform their own research, conduct in-depth company analysis, meet with corporate management and use a range of sophisticated techniques in making investment decisions. Their experience, knowledge and resources are critical to optimizing performance potential and managing risk.

What are the special benefits and risks?
Equity funds are subject generally to market, market sector, market liquidity, issuer and investment style risks, among other factors, to varying degrees, all of which are more fully described in the fund's prospectus.

Growth stocks, in particular, may provide potential for returns that exceed the overall market's returns, but they can also be more volatile. Growth companies are expected to increase their earnings at a certain rate. If these expectations are not met, a stock's price may decline, even if earnings do increase. In addition, growth stocks typically lack the dividend yield that can cushion stock prices during market downturns.

Questions? Contact us.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of a fund carefully before investing. Download a prospectus that contains this and other information about a fund, and read it carefully before investing.

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