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Key features

  • The Fund invests in companies with a strong history of paying and growing dividends; it aims to provide income and long-term growth while favoring stability
  • Using the proprietary Capital System™, the Fund leverages multiple portfolio managers and analysts to generate diverse perspectives and deliver consistent results across market cycles
  • The Fund maintains strict investment guidelines to manage risk, including limits on stock and sector weights, illiquid holdings and ownership concentration

Q: How can I add the American Funds Insurance Series® – Washington Mutual Investors Fund to my portfolio?

A: The Fund is a Variable Insurance Trust (VIT) fund available within certain Nationwide® variable annuities and variable universal life products. Visit our VIT fund research tool for more details.

Q: What is the Fund’s investment objective and philosophy?

A: The strategy seeks income and growth of principal consistent with sound common-stock investing.

Q: What is the Fund’s investment management strategy?

A: The Fund focuses on investing in companies that have consistently paid dividends over the long term and those that have a consistent growth history of their dividend payouts from year-to-year. The belief is growing dividend payouts is typically a sign that a company has a strong balance sheet and its management is confident that earnings will support future payments. Companies with a record of increasing dividends have also tended to be more stable — providing further value to investors, such as near-term retirees, who are vulnerable to market declines.

American Funds’ proprietary Capital System™ is a distinctive investment approach designed to deliver superior long-term investment results. Across asset classes, they believe in collaborative research to yield deeper insights, diverse perspectives from multiple portfolio managers and analysts, and a long-term view toward decision-making. These pillars are applied consistently throughout the investment process.

Q: How is the Fund positioned in today’s market environment?

A: In the current market environment, the Fund’s lower-than-index exposure to higher multiple sectors, such as technology and consumer discretionary, could be advantageous if economic conditions remain volatile or worsen and as the market continues to broaden. Additionally, the Fund’s focus on quality dividends supported by strong balance sheets and the managers who guide those companies may become more important in a market that is moving away from an environment of easy money.

Q: What is the Fund’s process for stock selection?

A: The strategy builds a high conviction portfolio from a diverse list of eligible companies that meet rigorous investment standards (refer to the funnel chart).
This funnel chart shows that at the widest point, 2,151 companies (approximately) were listed on the New York Stock Exchange; 733 met the strategy's rigorous investment standards (the

Q: What is the Fund’s risk management process?

A: At the total portfolio level, there are several investment guidelines and risk parameters that must always be adhered to, including guidelines around maximum stock and sector weights, investments in illiquid stocks and ownership of a company’s outstanding shares.
If you have questions about the American Funds Insurance Series® – Washington Mutual Investors Fund or want to review other VIT funds, call 1-800-321-6064 or visit our fund research tool.

This material is not a recommendation to buy or sell a financial product or to adopt an investment strategy. Investors should discuss their specific situation with their financial professional.

Variable products are sold by prospectus. Both the product and NVIT fund prospectuses can be obtained by visiting Nationwide.com/prospectus or by calling 1-800-848-6331. For non-NVIT underlying fund prospectuses, please visit https://nationwide.onlineprospectus.net/NW/funds/index.html. Before investing, carefully read and consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information contained in this and the underlying funds’ prospectuses.

KEY RISKS: The Fund is subject to the risks of investing in equity securities. The Fund is subject to selection risk in that the securities owned by the Fund may underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies. The Fund uses a value style of investing, focusing on dividend-paying stocks and other investments which provide income, and may underperform other funds that use different investing styles. There is no guarantee that the issuers of the stocks held by the Fund will declare dividends in the future or that the dividends will remain at the current levels or increase over time. Please refer to the most recent prospectus for a more detailed explanation of the Fund’s principal risks.

Variable annuities are issued by Nationwide Life Insurance Company, Columbus, Ohio. The general distributor for variable products is Nationwide Investment Services Corporation (NISC), member FINRA, Columbus, Ohio. NVIT Funds are distributed by Nationwide Fund Distributors LLC (NFD), member FINRA, Columbus, Ohio. NISC and NFD are not affiliated with any subadviser contracted by Nationwide Fund Advisors, with the exception of Nationwide Asset Management LLC, and are not affiliated with Morningstar Inc.

NVIT Funds are distributed by Nationwide Fund Distributors LLC (NFD), member FINRA, Columbus, Ohio. NISC and NFD are not affiliated with any subadviser contracted by Nationwide Fund Advisors, with the exception of Nationwide Asset Management LLC, and are not affiliated with Morningstar Inc.

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