The Fund is offered on a no-load basis, which means that you pay no sales charge for the purchase or sale of Fund shares and no 12b-1 marketing fees. You will, however, incur expenses for investment advisory, management, and administrative services, which are included in annual fund operating expenses.

States Available to Shareholders: All 50 U.S. States (and including Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam)

• Date of Inception: 11/07/1958
• Minimum Initial Investment: $2,500 ($1,000 for IRA accounts)
• Subsequent Minimum Purchase: $100.00
• Expense Ratio: 0.71% (annualized as of 12/31/2009)
• Turnover Ratio: 3.21% (as of 12/31/2009)
• Total Net Assets: $1.9 billion (as of 12/31/2009)
• Income Distribution: Semi-annual
• Capital Gain Distribution: Annual

The objective of the Fund is to provide shareholders with a diversified holding of common stocks which appear to offer possibilities for long-term appreciation.

We expect that common stocks will continue to be the primary emphasis in the portfolio. Preference is given to holdings in high quality companies characterized by:

• Earnings that are reasonably predictable;
• Return on equity that is above average;
• Market dominance;
• Financial strength.

Because we believe that smaller capitalization companies provide somewhat higher returns over longer time frames, some emphasis is placed on companies that are generally located in the Upper Midwest region. These companies may be underowned by institutional investors.

The Fund seeks to:

• Keep its assets reasonably fully invested at all times.
  
• Maintain modest portfolio turnover rates.

Click on the link below to view the Growth Fund's proxy voting record (in HTML format).