Aberdeen Tax-Free Income Fund

Aberdeen Funds: Summary Prospectus

February 25, 2013

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund's prospectus, Statement of Additional Information, shareholder reports and other information about the Fund online at www.aberdeen-asset.us/literaturefixed. You can also get this information at no cost by e-mailing a request to openend.funds.us@aberdeen-asset.com, calling 866-667-9231 or asking your financial advisor. The Fund's prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated February 25, 2013, and the independent registered public accounting firm's report and financial statements in the Fund's annual report, dated October 31, 2012, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.

Fund Tickers

Class A: NTFAX Class C: GTICX Class R: ABERX Institutional Class: ABEIX Institutional Service Class: ABESX

Objective

The Aberdeen Tax-Free Income Fund (the "Tax-Free Income Fund" or the "Fund") seeks a high level of current income that is exempt from federal income taxes by investing in investment grade municipal obligations.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay when you buy and hold shares of the Tax-Free Income Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in Aberdeen Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial advisor and in the "Investing with Aberdeen Funds: Choosing a Share Class – Reduction and Waiver of Class A Sales Charges" section on page 179 of the Fund's prospectus and in the "Additional Information on Purchases and Sales" – "Waiver of Class A Sales Charges" and "Reduction of Sales Charges" section on pages 145-147 of the Fund's Statement of Additional Information.

Shareholders Fees
(Fees Paid Directly From Your Investment) 		 
Class A
Shares 		 
Class C
Shares 		 
Class R
Shares 		 
Institutional
Class Shares 		  Institutional
Service Class
Shares 		 
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of
offering price) 		   

4.25

%

   

None

     

None

     

None

     

None

   
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale
price, whichever is less) 		   

0.75

% 1

   

1.00

%

   

None

     

None

     

None

   
Redemption/Exchange Fee (as a percentage of amount redeemed or
exchanged) (for shares redeemed or exchanged within 7 days after
the date of purchase) 		   

2.00

%

   

2.00

%

   

2.00

%

   

2.00

%

   

2.00

%

 
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year
as a percentage of the value of your investment) 		                                         

Management Fees

   

0.43

%

   

0.43

%

   

0.43

%

   

0.43

%

   

0.43

%

 

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

   

0.25

%

   

1.00

%

   

0.50

%

   

None

     

None

   

Other Expenses 2

   

0.31

%

   

0.30

%

   

0.35

%

   

0.30

%

   

0.35

%

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

   

0.99

%

   

1.73

%

   

1.28

%

   

0.73

%

   

0.78

%

 

Less: Amount of Fee Limitations/Expense Reimbursements 3

   

0.11

%

   

0.11

%

   

0.11

%

   

0.11

%

   

0.11

%

 
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Limitations/Expense
Reimbursements 		   

0.88

%

   

1.62

%

   

1.17

%

   

0.62

%

   

0.67

%

 

1  Unless you are otherwise eligible to purchase Class A shares without a sales charge, a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) of up to 0.75% will be charged on Class A shares redeemed within 18 months of purchase if you paid no sales charge on the original purchase and a finder's fee was paid.

2  "Other Expenses" for the Class R, Institutional Class and Institutional Service Class shares are based on anticipated expenses payable by the Fund for the current fiscal year.

3  Aberdeen Funds (the "Trust") and Aberdeen Asset Management Inc. (the "Adviser") have entered into a written contract limiting operating expenses to 0.62% for all Classes of the Fund at least through February 28, 2014 or the effective date of the 2014 annual update to the registration statement, whichever occurs first. This limit excludes certain expenses, including any taxes, interest, brokerage fees, short-sale dividend expenses, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, Rule 12b-1 fees, administrative services fees and extraordinary expenses. The Trust is authorized to reimburse the Adviser for management fees previously limited and/or for expenses previously paid by the Adviser, provided, however, that any reimbursements must be paid at a date not more than three years after the date when the Adviser limited the fees or reimbursed the expenses and the reimbursements do not cause a Class to exceed the applicable expense limitation in the contract at the time the fees were limited or expenses are paid. This contract may not be terminated before February 28, 2014 or the effective date of the 2014 annual update to the registration statement, whichever occurs first.


Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Tax-Free Income Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return each year, no change in expenses and the expense limitations (if applicable). Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

Class A shares

 

$

511

   

$

716

   

$

939

   

$

1,577

   

Class C shares

 

$

265

   

$

534

   

$

928

   

$

2,032

   

Class R shares

 

$

119

   

$

395

   

$

692

   

$

1,536

   
Institutional Class
shares 		 

$

63
 

$

222
 

$

395
 

$

896
 
Institutional
Service Class
shares 		 

$

68
 

$

238
 

$

422
 

$

956
 

You would pay the following expenses on the same investment if you did not sell your shares:

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

Class C shares

 

$

165

   

$

534

   

$

928

   

$

2,032

   

Portfolio Turnover

The Tax-Free Income Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 13.27% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Strategies

As a fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in investment grade fixed-income securities that qualify as tax-exempt municipal obligations. These obligations are issued by states, U.S. territories and their political subdivisions, such as counties, cities and towns. The income from these securities is exempt from regular federal income tax, but may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. The Fund may also invest in other types of municipal obligations, including tax-exempt zero-coupon securities and floating- and variable-rate bonds, and may invest up to 20% of its net assets in municipal securities whose interest income is treated as a preference item for purposes of the federal alternative minimum tax. In selecting securities for the Fund, the Adviser employs an opportunistic approach that takes advantage of

changing market conditions. The Adviser's process focuses on credit market, sector, security and yield curve analysis.

A security may be sold to take advantage of more favorable opportunities. The Fund may, but is not required to, sell a security whose rating falls below investment grade.

The Fund may invest in derivative instruments. Derivative instruments may be used for hedging purposes and for gaining risk exposures to securities that are permitted investments for the Fund. Derivative instruments may also be used to adjust the interest rate, yield curve, credit and spread risk exposure of the Fund. The Fund invests in, but is not limited to, the following derivative instruments: municipal credit default swaps ("MCDS") (both single name MCDS and municipal credit default index swaps) and interest rate swaps and futures. MCDS may be used to adjust the Fund's exposure to the industry sector and/or sell/buy protection on the credit risk of individual issuers or a basket of individual issuers. MCDS may also be used as a substitute for purchasing or selling securities or for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains. Interest rate swaps are primarily used to manage the Fund's interest rate exposure.

To the extent that the Fund invests in derivatives with an underlying asset that meets the 80% policy, the market value of the derivative would be included to meet the 80% minimum.

The Fund may invest in securities of any maturity.

Principal Risks

The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.

As with any fund, the value of the Fund's investments – and therefore, the value of Fund shares – may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of:

Interest Rate Risk – changes in interest rates may cause a decline in the market value of an investment. With bonds and other fixed-income securities, a rise in interest rates typically causes a fall in values.

Credit Risk – a debt instrument's price depends, in part, on the credit quality of the issuer, borrower, counterparty, or underlying collateral and can decline in response to changes in the financial condition of the issuer, borrower, counterparty, or underlying collateral, or changes in specific or general market, economic, industry, political, regulatory, geopolitical, or other conditions.

Asset-Backed Securities – Like traditional fixed-income securities, the value of asset-backed securities typically increases when interest rates fall and decreases when interest rates rise. Certain asset-backed securities may also be subject to the risk of prepayment.

Selection Risk – the investment team may select securities that underperform the market or other funds with similar investment objectives and strategies.

Market Risk – the Fund could lose value if the individual bonds in which it invests or overall bond markets in which such bonds trade go down.

2  Aberdeen Tax-Free Income Fund: Summary Prospectus as of February 25, 2013


Prepayment Risk – as interest rates decline, debt issuers may repay or refinance their loans or obligations earlier than anticipated. The issuers of fixed income securities may, therefore, repay principal in advance. This forces the Fund to reinvest the proceeds from the principal prepayments at lower rates, which reduces the Fund's income.

Extension Risk – principal repayments may not occur as quickly as anticipated, causing the expected maturity of a security to increase. Rapidly rising interest rates may cause prepayments to occur more slowly than expected, thereby lengthening the maturity of the securities held by the Fund and making their prices more sensitive to rate changes and more volatile.

Call and Redemption Risk – some bonds allow the issuer to call a bond for redemption before it matures. If this happens, the Tax-Free Income Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields.

Derivatives Risk (including Options, Futures and Swaps) – derivatives are speculative and may hurt the Fund's performance. Derivatives present the risk of disproportionately increased losses and/or reduced opportunities for gains when the financial asset or measure to which the derivative is linked changes in unexpected ways. The potential benefits to be derived from the Fund's options, futures and derivatives strategy are dependent upon the portfolio managers' ability to discern pricing inefficiencies and predict trends in these markets, which decisions could prove to be inaccurate. This requires different skills and techniques than predicting changes in the price of individual debt securities, and there can be no assurance that the use of this strategy will be successful.

Speculative Exposure Risk – to the extent that a derivative or practice is not used as a hedge, the Fund is directly exposed to its risks. Gains or losses from speculative positions in a derivative may be much greater than the derivative's original cost. For example, potential losses from writing uncovered call options and from speculative short sales are unlimited.

Hedged Exposure Risk – losses generated by a derivative or practice used by the Fund for hedging purposes should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged investment. However, while hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains.

Correlation Risk – the Fund is exposed to the risk that changes in the value of a hedging instrument will not match those of the investment being hedged.

Counterparty Risk – derivative transactions depend on the creditworthiness of the counterparty and the counterparty's ability to fulfill its contractual obligations.

Tax Risk – a municipal bond that is issued as tax-exempt may later be declared to be taxable. In addition, if the federal income tax rate is reduced, the value of the tax exemption may be less valuable, causing the value of a municipal bond to decline.

If the value of the Fund's investments goes down, you may lose money.

For additional information regarding the above identified risks, see "Fund Details: Additional Information about Investments, Investment Techniques and Risks" in the prospectus.

Performance

The bar chart and table below can help you evaluate potential risks of the Tax-Free Income Fund. The bar chart shows how the Fund's annual total returns for Class A have varied from year to year. The returns in the bar chart do not reflect the impact of sales charges or taxes. If the applicable sales charges or taxes were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. The returns in the table reflect the maximum sales charge for Class A. The table compares the Fund's average annual total returns to the returns of a broad-based securities index. Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. For updated performance information, please visit www.aberdeen-asset.us or call 866-667-9231.

The returns presented for the Tax-Free Income Fund for periods prior to June 23, 2008 reflect the performance of a predecessor fund (the "Predecessor Fund"), from May 11, 1998 to June 22, 2008. The Tax-Free Income Fund adopted the performance of the Predecessor Fund as the result of a reorganization on June 23, 2008 in which the Tax-Free Income Fund acquired all of the assets, subject to the liabilities, of the Predecessor Fund. Since June 23, 2008, Aberdeen Asset Management Inc. has served as the Fund's investment adviser. Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC served as the subadviser for the Tax-Free Income Fund from June 23, 2008 to February 27, 2011. The Tax-Free Income Fund and the Predecessor Fund have substantially similar investment objectives and strategies.

Returns of the Predecessor Fund have not been adjusted to reflect the expenses applicable to the respective classes. Class C returns prior to September 4, 2003 are based on the previous performance of Class Y shares of the Predecessor Fund. Excluding the effect of any fee waivers or reimbursements, this performance is substantially similar to what each individual class would have produced because all classes invest in the same portfolio of securities.

Effective February 25, 2013, all Class D shares of the Aberdeen Tax-Free Income Fund were converted into Institutional Class shares of the Fund (the "Conversion"). The Conversion was not considered a purchase and sale of shares, and therefore, generally did not result in a taxable event for federal income tax purposes. Shareholders should talk to their tax advisors about any potential tax consequences of the Conversion.

The Fund ceased to offer Class D shares prior to the Conversion, and began to offer Class R, Institutional Class and Institutional Service Class shares of the Fund after the Conversion. The fees and expenses of the Institutional Class are identical to the fees and expenses of the Class D shares.

Institutional Class shares are not subject to a front-end sales charge or a contingent deferred sales charge. For more information

  Aberdeen Tax-Free Income Fund: Summary Prospectus as of February 25, 2013  3


on the fees and expenses of Institutional Class shares, please see the "Fees and Expenses" section of the Fund in the Prospectus.

Class R, Institutional Class and Institutional Service Class shares have not been in operation for a full calendar year; therefore no performance information for Class R, Institutional Class and Institutional Service Class shares is provided. The returns for Class R, Institutional Class and Institutional Service Class shares will be substantially similar to returns for Class A shares because the shares are invested in the same portfolio of securities and will only differ to the extent that the Classes have different expenses.

Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares (Years Ended Dec. 31)

Best Quarter: 6.48% – 3rd quarter 2009

Worst Quarter: -4.64% – 4th quarter 2010

After-tax returns are shown in the following table for Class A shares only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates in effect and do not reflect state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax return depends on your personal tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors in tax-deferred arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Average Annual Total Returns – as of December 31, 2012

 

1 Year

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

Class A shares – Before Taxes

   

1.76

%

   

4.24

%

   

3.86

%

 
Class A shares – After Taxes on
Distributions 		   

0.54

%

   

2.91

%

   

2.44

%

 
Class A shares – After Taxes on
Distributions and Sales of Shares 		   

1.30

%

   

2.84

%

   

2.46

%

 

Class C shares – Before Taxes

   

5.53

%

   

4.39

%

   

3.55

%

 
Barclays Capital Municipal Bond Index
(reflects no deduction for fees,
expenses or taxes) 		   

6.78

%

   

5.91

%

   

5.10

%

 

Investment Adviser

Aberdeen Asset Management Inc. (the "Adviser") serves as the Tax-Free Income Fund's investment adviser.

Portfolio Managers

The Fund is managed using a team-based approach, with the following team members being primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:

Name  

Title

  Served on
the Fund
Since 		 

Michael Degernes

 

Senior Portfolio Manager

   

2011

   
Edward Grant
  		  Portfolio Manager and Head of
U.S. Credit Research 		  2011
 

James Faunce

 

Portfolio Manager

   

2011

   

William Hines

 

Portfolio Manager

   

2011

   

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund's minimum investment requirements are as follows:

Class A and Class C Shares

 

To open an account

  $ 1,000  

To open an IRA account

  $ 1,000  

Additional investments

  $ 50  

To start an Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan

  $ 1,000  
Additional Investments (Automatic Asset
Accumulation Plan) 		  $ 50
 

Class R Shares

 

To open an account

 

No Minimum

 

Additional investments

 

No Minimum

 

Institutional Class Shares

 

To open an account

  $ 1,000,000  

Additional investments

 

No Minimum

 

Institutional Service Class Shares

 

To open an account

  $ 1,000,000  

Additional investments

 

No Minimum

 

Minimum investment requirements do not apply to purchases by employees of the Adviser or its affiliates (or their spouses, children or immediate relatives), and generally do not apply to retirement plans, fee-based programs or omnibus accounts. Certain endowments, non-profits, and charitable organizations may also be eligible for waiver of minimum investment requirements. If you purchase shares through an intermediary, different minimum account requirements may apply. The Trust reserves the right to apply or waive investment minimums under certain circumstances.

Fund shares may be redeemed on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is open. Fund shares may be sold by mail or fax, by telephone or on-line.

4  Aberdeen Tax-Free Income Fund: Summary Prospectus as of February 25, 2013


Tax Information

The Fund intends to distribute dividends exempt from regular federal income tax and capital gains distributions.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your financial advisor to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.

  Aberdeen Tax-Free Income Fund: Summary Prospectus as of February 25, 2013  5


This page has been intentionally left blank.

6  Aberdeen Tax-Free Income Fund: Summary Prospectus as of February 25, 2013


This page has been intentionally left blank.

  Aberdeen Tax-Free Income Fund: Summary Prospectus as of February 25, 2013  7


This page has been intentionally left blank.

8  Aberdeen Tax-Free Income Fund: Summary Prospectus as of February 25, 2013

AOE-0277-0213


Western Union (NYSE:WU)
과거 데이터 주식 차트
부터 6월(6) 2024 으로 7월(7) 2024 Western Union 차트를 더 보려면 여기를 클릭.
Western Union (NYSE:WU)
과거 데이터 주식 차트
부터 7월(7) 2023 으로 7월(7) 2024 Western Union 차트를 더 보려면 여기를 클릭.