There’s no doubt that 2016 was a strong year for the PIMCO RAE Fundamental strategies, with robust returns across the board. In many ways, the shift from growth to value stocks in 2016 highlighted why patient investors may benefit from the RAE Fundamental strategies’ contrarian approach. But what does a single year tell us about a strategy that emphasizes long-horizon mean reversion as a source of long-term capital appreciation? In this Q&A, Research Affiliates’ Chairman Robert Arnott and CIO Christopher Brightman provide perspective on 2016’s outperformance and their views on continued opportunities in a nascent value cycle.

Q: The PIMCO RAE Fundamental suite employs a contrarian “systematic active” strategy. Can you explain this approach?

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The Author

Robert Arnott

Founder and Chairman, Research Affiliates

Chris Brightman

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Research Affiliates

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Disclosures

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the funds carefully before investing. This and other information are contained in the fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus, if available, which may be obtained by contacting your PIMCO representative or visiting www.pimco.com . Please read them carefully before you invest or send money.

The performance figures presented reflect the total return performance and reflect changes in share price and reinvestment of dividend and capital gain distributions. All periods longer than one year are annualized. The minimum initial investment for Institutional class shares is $1 million; however, it may be modified for certain financial intermediaries who submit trades on behalf of eligible investors.

Investments made by a Fund and the results achieved by a Fund are not expected to be the same as those made by any other PIMCO advised Fund, including those with a similar name, investment objective or policies. A new or smaller Fund’s performance may not represent how the Fund is expected to or may perform in the long-term. New Funds have limited operating histories for investors to evaluate and new and smaller Funds may not attract sufficient assets to achieve investment and trading efficiencies. A Fund may be forced to sell a comparatively large portion of its portfolio to meet significant shareholder redemptions for cash, or hold a comparatively large portion of its portfolio in cash due to significant share purchases for cash, in each case when the Fund otherwise would not seek to do so, which may adversely affect performance.

Differences in the Fund’s performance versus the index and related attribution information with respect to particular categories of securities or individual positions may be attributable, in part, to differences in the pricing methodologies used by the Fund and the index.

The PIMCO RAE Fundamental Emerging Markets Fund and PIMCO RAE Fundamental US Fund were privately offered funds managed by the Fund’s Sub-Adviser and were reorganized into the Funds as of 5 June 2015. For periods prior to the commencement of Fund operations, the Fund’s performance is that of the privately offered fund. The performance of the privately offered fund has not been restated to reflect the fees, estimated expenses and fee waivers and/or expense limitations applicable to each class of shares of the Fund. If the performance of the privately offered fund had been restated to reflect the applicable fees and expenses of each share class of the Fund, the performance may have been higher or lower. The privately offered fund began operations on 31 May 2006 and 22 December 2004, respectively, and on 5 June 2015, were reorganized into the Funds. Prior to the reorganization, the privately offered funds had an investment objective and investment strategies that were, in all material respects, the same as those of the Funds, and were managed in a manner that, in all material respects, complied with the investment guidelines and restrictions of the Funds. However, the privately offered funds were not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and were not subject to its requirements or requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which, if applicable, may have adversely affected their performance. The performance of each class of shares of the Funds will differ as a result of the different levels of fees and expenses applicable to each class of shares.

A word about risk : In managing the strategy’s investments in Fixed Income Instruments, PIMCO utilizes an absolute return approach; the absolute return approach does not apply to the equity index replicating component of the strategy. Absolute return portfolios may not fully participate in strong positive market rallies. Investing in foreign denominated and/or domiciled securities may involve heightened risk due to currency fluctuations, and economic and political risks, which may be enhanced in emerging markets. Investing in the bond market is subject to certain risks including market, interest-rate, issuer, credit, and inflation risk; investments may be worth more or less than the original cost when redeemed. Mortgage and asset-backed securities may be sensitive to changes in interest rates, subject to early repayment risk, and their value may fluctuate in response to the market’s perception of issuer creditworthiness; while generally supported by some form of government or private guarantee there is no assurance that private guarantors will meet their obligations. High-yield, lower-rated, securities involve greater risk than higher-rated securities; portfolios that invest in them may be subject to greater levels of credit and liquidity risk than portfolios that do not. Equities may decline in value due to both real and perceived general market, economic, and industry conditions. Derivatives may involve certain costs and risks such as liquidity, interest rate, market, credit, management and the risk that a position could not be closed when most advantageous. Investing in derivatives could lose more than the amount invested. Diversification does not ensure against loss.

The Russell 1000 Index consists of the 1,000 largest securities in the Russell 3000 Index, which represents approximately 90% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000 Index. It is a large-cap, market-oriented index and is highly correlated with the S&P 500 Index. The Russell 2000 Index is an unmanaged index generally representative of the 2,000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000 Index, which represents approximately 10% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000 Index. The MSCI EAFE Index (Europe, Australasia, Far East) is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets, excluding the US & Canada. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure equity market performance of emerging markets. The S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged market index generally considered representative of the stock market as a whole. The index focuses on the Large-Cap segment of the U.S. equities market. It is not possible to invest directly in an unmanaged index.

Individuals should consult with their own financial advisors to determine the most appropriate allocations for their financial situation, including their investment objectives, time frame, risk tolerance, savings and other investments.

This material contains the current opinions of the manager and such opinions are subject to change without notice. This material has been distributed for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission. PIMCO is a trademark of Allianz Asset Management of America L.P. in the United States and throughout the world. ©2017, PIMCO.

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