IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nationwide Mutual Funds will no longer mail paper copies of your Fund’s annual and semiannual reports, unless you specifically request paper copies of those reports. Instead, Nationwide Mutual Funds will post the reports on the Funds' website, nationwide.com/mutualfundprospectuses, and will mail you a notice of availability each time a report is posted and provide you with the website link to access the reports. 

If you already have elected to receive these reports electronically (known as eDelivery), you will not be affected by this change and you do not need to take any action. You may elect to receive reports and other fund documents via eDelivery by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, if you are a direct investor, by calling Shareholder Services at 800-848-0920.

You may elect to receive all future reports in paper via U.S. mail free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue to receive paper copies of your reports. If you invest directly in a Nationwide Mutual Fund, you can call Shareholder Services at 800-848-0920 to register your preference that you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your reports. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all Funds held in your account.

As with all mutual funds, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these Funds' shares or determined whether this Prospectus is complete or accurate. To state otherwise is a crime.

nationwide.com/mutualfunds

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund will, under normal market conditions, invest its assets primarily in common stocks of small-cap value companies that are within a market capitalization range that is similar, although not identical, to the market capitalization range of those companies found in the Russell 2000® Value Index. Under normal market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 25% of the Fund’s net assets in common stocks of micro-cap companies whose market capitalization, measured at the time of purchase, is $300 million or less. There is no minimum market capitalization limit for the companies in which the Fund may invest. The Fund’s subadviser seeks to add value to the Fund’s portfolio through stock selection while maintaining a risk profile that is appropriate relative to the Russell 2000® Value Index. The subadviser uses both quantitative and qualitative techniques to identify stocks it believes are currently undervalued by the market but which still have good fundamentals.

As part of the portfolio management of the Fund, the subadviser employs Behavioral Finance techniques in an attempt to capitalize on investors’ behavioral biases and cognitive errors that can result in securities being mispriced. Behavioral Finance is the study of why people do not always behave in an economically rational manner. Economic irrationality typically arises from investors maximizing personal benefit (not wealth), emotional investing, heuristic biases (e.g., “trial and error” or “rule of thumb” biases) and cognitive errors. The subadviser attempts to exploit investors’ biases and errors that it believes to be recurring and predictable, and to minimize its own susceptibility to these same biases and errors. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in U.S. dollar-denominated stocks of foreign companies.

The Fund may also engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities.

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:

Equity securities risk – stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the

securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Smaller company risk – smaller companies are usually less stable in price and less liquid than larger, more established companies. Smaller companies are more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business and economic developments and may have more limited resources. Therefore, they generally involve greater risk.

Micro-cap risk – investing in micro-cap companies involves greater risk than investing in small-, medium- or large- capitalization companies because the stocks of micro-cap companies tend to have greater price volatility and less liquidity than the stocks of larger companies. In addition, micro-cap companies tend to have smaller financial resources, less information available, more limited business lines and more geographic area concentration.

Value style risk – value investing carries the risk that the market will not recognize a security’s intrinsic value for a long time or that a stock judged to be undervalued actually may be appropriately priced. In addition, value stocks as a group may be out of favor at times and underperform the overall equity market for long periods while the market concentrates on other types of stocks, such as “growth” stocks.

Behavioral Finance techniques risk – the criteria used in implementing Behavioral Finance techniques and the weight placed on those criteria may not be predictive of a security’s value, and the effectiveness of the criteria can change over time. There can be no guarantee that the subadviser will be successful in applying Behavioral Finance techniques to successfully predict investor behavior to exploit stock price anomalies, and the Fund may underperform funds that do not employ such techniques.

Foreign securities risk – foreign securities may be more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities.

Portfolio turnover risk – a higher portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, may adversely impact the Fund’s performance, and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.

Performance

The Fund has adopted the historical performance of the HighMark Cognitive Value Fund, a former series of HighMark Funds (the “Predecessor Fund”) as the result of a reorganization in which the Fund acquired all of the assets, subject to the liabilities, of the Predecessor Fund on September 16, 2013. The returns presented for periods prior to September 16, 2013 reflect the performance of the

3

Predecessor Fund. At the time of the reorganization, the Fund and the Predecessor Fund had substantially similar investment goals and strategies.

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. 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. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Highest Quarter:	17.72%	–	2nd qtr. of 2009
Lowest Quarter:	-21.21%	–	3rd qtr. of 2011

After-tax returns are shown 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 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-advantaged arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Historical performance for Class A, Class C, Class M and Institutional Service Class shares is based on the previous performance of Class A, Class C, Class M and Fiduciary Class Shares, respectively, of the Predecessor Fund.

The inception date for Class R6 shares is September 18, 2013. Therefore, pre-inception historical performance of Class R6 shares is based on the previous performance of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares. Performance for

Class R6 shares has not been adjusted to reflect that share class’s lower expenses than those of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Minimum Initial Investment Class A, Class C: $2,000 Class M: $5,000 Class R6: $1,000,000 Institutional Service Class: $50,000 Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A, Class C): $0* *Provided each monthly purchase is at least $50

Minimum Additional Investment Class A, Class C, Class M: $100 Class R6, Institutional Service Class: no minimum Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A, Class C): $50

In general, you can buy or sell (redeem) shares of the Fund through your broker-dealer or financial intermediary, or by

4

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund will, under normal market conditions, invest its assets primarily in common stocks located in the United States and abroad that the subadviser believes have superior sales and earnings growth potential, but at a reasonable price. It is expected that, under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in established companies in the technology and science sectors, including in the semiconductor, semiconductor equipment, hardware, software, services, communications, social media, biotechnology medical devices and interactive media sectors, and may invest in other sectors if determined by the Fund’s subadviser to be in the Fund’s best interests. The Fund may also invest up to 25% of its net assets in U.S. dollar denominated stocks of foreign companies located in both developed and emerging markets.

Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques, the Fund’s subadviser seeks to identify those securities it believes offer superior sales and earnings growth prospects at a reasonable valuation. The subadviser seeks to add value to the Fund’s portfolio through stock selection. The subadviser may also consider market indices and its own estimates of competitor portfolio weightings in managing the Fund’s portfolio.

The Fund may also invest opportunistically in initial public offerings (“IPOs”) and in securities of new public companies that have had their IPO within the last six months and that the subadviser finds attractive. The subadviser seeks investment opportunities to penetrate new and existing markets specifically within the technology, biotechnology and other growth industries. In looking at particular companies, the subadviser evaluates the scope of business of a company and its competitive landscape, as well as its management team’s experience.

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:

Equity securities risk – stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will

underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Growth style risk – growth stocks are generally more sensitive to market movements than other types of stocks primarily because their stock prices are based heavily on future expectations. If the subadviser’s assessment of the prospects for a company’s growth is wrong, or if the subadviser’s judgment of how other investors will value the company’s growth is wrong, then the price of the company’s stock may fall or not approach the value that the subadviser has placed on it. In addition, growth stocks as a group may be out of favor at times and underperform the overall equity market for long periods while the market concentrates on other types of stocks, such as “value” stocks.

Sector risk – the risk associated with exposure to any one sector. Because the Fund’s investment universe consists of securities in the semiconductor, semiconductor equipment, hardware, software, services, communications, social media, biotechnology medical devices and interactive media sectors, the Fund has a heavy weighting in these sectors.

The Fund’s investments in technology and science related sectors expose the Fund to risks associated with economic conditions in the technology and science markets to a greater extent than funds that do not invest heavily in these sectors. Due to intense global competition, a less diversified product line and other factors, companies that develop and/or rely on technology are often highly sensitive to downswings in the economy. Such companies may also experience volatile swings in demand for their products and services due to changing economic conditions, rapid technological advances and shorter product lifespans.

Initial public offering risk – availability of IPOs may be limited and the Fund may not be able to buy any shares at the offering price, or may not be able to buy as many shares at the offering price as it would like, which may adversely impact Fund performance. Further, IPO prices often are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than more established stocks.

New public company risk – the risks associated with investing in new public companies include small size, limited financial resources and operating history, dependence on a limited number of products and markets and lack of management depth.

Foreign securities risk – foreign securities may be more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities.

Emerging markets risk – emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in

7

emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging securities markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets. Since these markets are smaller than developed markets, they may be more likely to suffer sharp and frequent price changes or long-term price depression because of adverse publicity, investor perceptions or the actions of a few large investors. Many emerging markets also have histories of political instability and abrupt changes in policies. Certain emerging markets may also face other significant internal or external risks, including the risk of war, nationalization of assets, and ethnic, religious and racial conflicts.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.

Performance

The Fund has adopted the historical performance of the HighMark Enhanced Growth Fund, a former series of HighMark Funds (the “Predecessor Fund”) as the result of a reorganization in which the Fund acquired all of the assets, subject to the liabilities, of the Predecessor Fund on September 16, 2013. The returns presented for periods prior to September 16, 2013 reflect the performance of the Predecessor Fund. At the time of the reorganization, the Fund and the Predecessor Fund had substantially similar investment goals and strategies.

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. 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. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Highest Quarter:	21.84%	–	1st qtr. of 2012
Lowest Quarter:	-18.94%	–	4th qtr. of 2018

After-tax returns are shown 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 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-advantaged arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Historical performance for Class A, Class C, Class M and Institutional Service Class shares is based on the previous performance of Class A, Class C, Class M and Fiduciary Class Shares, respectively, of the Predecessor Fund.

The inception date for Class R6 shares is September 18, 2013. Therefore, pre-inception historical performance of Class R6 shares is based on the previous performance of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares. Performance for Class R6 shares has not been adjusted to reflect that share class’s lower expenses than those of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares.

8

9

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	$192	$636	$1,105	$2,405

Portfolio Turnover

The 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 176.54% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund invests primarily in common stocks of large-cap U.S. companies, utilizing a value style of investing. In other words, the Fund seeks companies that may be trading at prices that do not reflect a company’s intrinsic value. Companies issuing such securities may be currently out of favor, undervalued due to market declines, or experiencing poor operating conditions that may be temporary. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of large-cap companies. The Fund currently considers large-cap companies as those with market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell 1000® Index. The Fund makes market capitalization determinations with respect to a security at the time of purchase of such security. The Fund may also invest in stocks of foreign companies.

The subadviser focuses on estimating a company’s value independent of its current stock price. To estimate a company’s value, the subadviser concentrates on the fundamental economic drivers of the business. The primary focus is on “bottom-up” analysis, which takes into consideration earnings, revenue growth, operating margins and other economic factors. The subadviser also considers the level of industry competition, regulatory factors, the threat of technological obsolescence, and a variety of other industry factors. If the subadviser’s estimate of a company’s value differs sufficiently from the current market price, the company may be an attractive investment opportunity.

In constructing a portfolio of securities, the subadviser is not constrained by the sector or industry weights in the Fund’s benchmark. The subadviser relies on individual stock selection and discipline in the investment process to add value and assigns the highest portfolio security weights to companies in which the subadviser has the highest level of conviction. The Fund is classified as a “non-diversified fund”

under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which means that a relatively high percentage of the Fund’s assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers. The subadviser may sell a security as it reaches the subadviser’s estimate of the company’s value; if it believes that the company’s earnings, revenue growth, operating margin or other economic factors are deteriorating; or if it identifies a stock that it believes offers a better investment opportunity. The Fund may engage in frequent and active trading of portfolio securities.

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:

Equity securities risk – stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Foreign securities risk – foreign securities may be more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities. The prices of foreign securities may be further affected by other factors, such as changes in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the securities are traded.

Nondiversified fund risk – because the Fund may hold larger positions in fewer securities than diversified funds, a single security’s increase or decrease in value may have a greater impact on the Fund’s value and total return.

Value style risk – value investing carries the risk that the market will not recognize a security’s intrinsic value for a long time or that a stock judged to be undervalued actually may be appropriately priced. In addition, value stocks as a group may be out of favor at times and underperform the overall equity market for long periods while the market concentrates on other types of stocks, such as “growth” stocks.

Portfolio turnover risk – a higher portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, may adversely impact the Fund’s performance, and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account.

11

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.

Performance

The Fund has adopted the historical performance of the HighMark Large Cap Core Equity Fund, a former series of HighMark Funds (the “Predecessor Fund”) as the result of a reorganization in which the Fund acquired all of the assets, subject to the liabilities, of the Predecessor Fund on September 16, 2013. The returns presented for periods prior to September 16, 2013 reflect the performance of the Predecessor Fund. At the time of the reorganization, the Fund and the Predecessor Fund had substantially similar investment goals and strategies.

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. 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. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

The Fund’s performance prior to November 13, 2017, reflects returns pursuant to different principal investment strategies and a different subadviser. If the Fund’s current strategies and subadviser had been in place for the prior period, the performance information shown may have been different.

Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Highest Quarter:	17.24%	–	2nd qtr. of 2009
Lowest Quarter:	-14.06%	–	4th qtr. of 2018

After-tax returns are shown 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 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-advantaged arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Historical performance for Class A, Class C and Institutional Service Class shares is based on the previous performance of Class A, Class C and Fiduciary Class Shares, respectively, of the Predecessor Fund.

The inception date for Class R6 shares is September 18, 2013. Therefore, pre-inception historical performance of Class R6 shares is based on the previous performance of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares. Performance for Class R6 shares has not been adjusted to reflect that share class’s lower expenses than those of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares.

12

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Minimum Initial Investment Class A, Class C: $2,000 Class R6: $1,000,000 Institutional Service Class: $50,000 Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A, Class C): $0* * Provided each monthly purchase is at least $50

Minimum Additional Investment Class A, Class C: $100 Class R6, Institutional Service Class: no minimum Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A, Class C): $50

In general, you can buy or sell (redeem) shares of the Fund through your broker-dealer or financial intermediary, or by mail or phone on any business day. You can generally pay for shares by check or wire.

To Purchase and Sell (Redeem) Fund Shares
Mail: Nationwide Funds P.O. Box 701 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0701	Overnight: Nationwide Funds 615 East Michigan Street Third Floor Milwaukee, WI 53202	Website: nationwide.com/ mutualfunds
Phone: 800-848-0920 (toll free). Representatives are available 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions are taxable, and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

13

waivers that may apply for the periods indicated above under “Fees and Expenses.” Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

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	$179	$598	$1,043	$2,279

Portfolio Turnover

The 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 153.29% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund seeks to provide investors with long-term growth of capital by outperforming the S&P 500® Index over a full market cycle while maintaining a similar level of market risk as the index. To achieve this goal, the Fund’s subadviser seeks to identify and construct the most optimal portfolio that targets an equity-like level of volatility by allocating assets among equity securities, money market instruments, futures contracts the value of which are derived from the performance of equity and bond indexes, and options on equity index and bond futures contracts. Futures and options are derivatives and may expose the Fund to leverage.

Equity securities that the Fund buys primarily are common stocks of companies that are included in the S&P 500 Index. In order to achieve additional exposure to equity markets, the Fund also purchases futures contracts on the S&P 500 Index and call options on such S&P 500 Index futures contracts. Money market instruments are high-quality short-term debt securities issued by governments and corporations. Money market instruments serve primarily as cover for the Fund’s derivatives positions, although the

subadviser also at times may allocate assets to money market instruments in order to hedge against equity market risk. The Fund obtains exposure to U.S. Treasury bonds by purchasing futures contracts on U.S. Treasury bonds included in the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Long Treasury Index. The Fund also may purchase options on U.S. Treasury bond futures contracts. The Fund may use Treasury bond futures and options to hedge against equity market risks. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of U.S. issuers or derivatives the value of which are linked to securities of U.S. issuers.

In determining what the subadviser believes to be the optimal allocation among equity exposures, Treasury bonds and money market instruments, the subadviser uses estimates of future returns and volatility. When the subadviser believes that equity markets appear favorable, it uses leverage generated by futures and options to increase the Fund’s equity exposure. When equity markets appear to be unfavorable, the subadviser reduces the Fund’s equity exposure by allocating assets to Treasury bond index futures and/or money market instruments. By combining equity securities, futures on stock and bond indexes, call options and money market instruments in varying amounts, the subadviser may adjust the Fund’s overall equity exposure within a range of 50%–150% of the Fund’s net assets. The subadviser regularly reviews the Fund's investments and will consider selling an investment when the subadviser believes such investment is no longer attractive as a result of price appreciation or a change in risk profile, or because other available investments are considered to be more attractive. The Fund may engage in frequent and active trading of portfolio securities.

The Fund is designed for investors seeking growth of capital by investing in a portfolio of equity and debt securities, and derivatives with investment characteristics similar to equity and debt securities, in order to achieve enhanced equity returns while maintaining a level of volatility risk that is similar to the S&P 500 Index. This is in contrast to a growth style of investing, which involves investing in companies whose earnings are expected to grow consistently faster than those of other companies. Investors in the Fund should have a long-term perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp declines in value.

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:

15

Equity securities risk – stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.

Leverage risk – leverage risk is a direct risk of investing in the Fund. Derivatives and other transactions that give rise to leverage may cause the Fund’s performance to be more volatile than if the Fund had not been leveraged. Leveraging also may require that the Fund liquidate portfolio securities when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet segregation requirements. The use of leverage may expose the Fund to losses in excess of the amounts invested or borrowed.

Derivatives risk – derivatives may be volatile and may involve significant risks. The underlying security, measure or other instrument on which a derivative is based, or the derivative itself, may not perform as expected. Futures contracts and options on futures contracts may involve leverage, which means that their use can significantly magnify the effect of price movements of the underlying securities or reference measures, disproportionately increasing the Fund’s losses and reducing the Fund’s opportunities for gains. Some of these derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, including a loss that may be greater than the amount invested. Certain futures contracts and related options may be illiquid, making it difficult to close out an unfavorable position.

    Futures – the prices of futures contracts typically are more volatile than those of stocks and bonds. Small movements in the values of the assets or measures of underlying futures contracts can cause disproportionately larger losses to the Fund. While futures may be more liquid than other types of derivatives, they may experience periods when they are less liquid than stocks, bonds or other investments.

    Options – purchasing and selling options are highly specialized activities and entail greater-than-ordinary investment risks. The ability to close out positions in exchange-traded options depends on the existence of a liquid market. Options that expire unexercised have no value.

Fixed-income securities risk – investments in fixed-income securities, such as bonds or other investments with debt-like characteristics (e.g., futures contracts the value of which are derived from the performance of bond indexes), subject the Fund to interest rate risk, credit risk and prepayment and call risk, which may affect the value of your investment. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of fixed-income securities will decline when interest rates rise. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial

portion of its assets in debt securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates are more likely to cause periods of increased volatility and redemptions, and may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly. Currently, interest rates are at or near historic lows, which may increase the Fund's exposure to the risks associated with rising interest rates. Recent and potential future changes in government policy may affect interest rates.

Credit risk is the risk that the issuer of a bond may default if it is unable to pay interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund may lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perceptions of an issuer’s creditworthiness also may affect the value of a bond. Prepayment and call risk is the risk that certain debt securities will be paid off by the issuer more quickly than anticipated. If this occurs, the Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields.

Cash position risk – the Fund may hold significant positions in cash or money market instruments. A larger amount of such holdings could cause the Fund to miss investment opportunities presented during periods of rising market prices.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Strategy risk – the subadviser’s strategy may cause the Fund to experience above-average short-term volatility. Accordingly, the Fund may be appropriate for investors who have a long investment time horizon and who seek long-term capital growth while accepting the possibility of significant short-term, or even long-term, losses.

Liquidity risk – when there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities or instruments, it can become more difficult to sell the securities or instruments at or near their perceived value. An inability to sell a portfolio position can adversely affect the Fund's value or prevent the Fund from being able to take advantage of other investment opportunities. Liquidity risk also includes the risk that the Fund will experience significant net redemptions of its shares at a time when it cannot find willing buyers for its portfolio securities or instruments or can sell its portfolio securities or instruments only at a material loss. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell other securities or instruments that are more liquid, but at unfavorable times and conditions.

16

Portfolio turnover risk – a higher portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, may adversely impact the Fund’s performance, and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.

Performance

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. The table compares the Fund’s average annual total returns to the returns of a broad-based securities index. As of July 16, 2018, the Fund changed its broad-based securities index from the Russell 1000® Growth Index to the S&P 500® Index in order to more accurately reflect the Fund's core equity investment strategy. Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

The Fund’s performance prior to July 16, 2018, reflects returns pursuant to different principal investment strategies and a different subadviser. If the Fund’s current strategies and subadviser had been in place for the prior period, the performance information shown may have been different.

Annual Total Returns – Class R6 Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Highest Quarter:	17.35%	–	1st qtr. of 2012
Lowest Quarter:	-15.61%	–	4th qtr. of 2018

After-tax returns are shown in the table for Class R6 shares only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates 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-

advantaged arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

The inception date for Institutional Service Class shares is November 30, 2011. Pre-inception historical performance for Institutional Service Class shares is based on the previous performance of Class R6 shares. Performance for Institutional Service Class shares has not been adjusted to reflect a higher level of expenses than for Class R6 shares. Performance returns for Class R6 shares reflect a front-end sales charge of 4.50% through July 31, 2012. This front-end sales charge was eliminated as of August 1, 2012. The inception date for Eagle Class shares is September 28, 2018. Pre-inception historical performance for Eagle Class shares is based on the previous performance of Institutional Service Class shares. Performance for Eagle Class shares has not been adjusted to reflect that share class’s lower expenses than those of Institutional Service Class shares.

17

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Minimum Initial Investment Class A, Class C: $2,000 Class R: no minimum Class R6: $1,000,000 Institutional Service Class and Eagle Class: $50,000 Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A, Class C): $0* * Provided each monthly purchase is at least $50

Minimum Additional Investment Class A, Class C: $100 Class R, Class R6, Institutional Service Class, Eagle Class: no minimum Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A, Class C): $50

In general, you can buy or sell (redeem) shares of the Fund through your broker-dealer or financial intermediary, or by mail or phone on any business day. You can generally pay for shares by check or wire.

To Purchase and Sell (Redeem) Fund Shares
Mail: Nationwide Funds P.O. Box 701 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0701	Overnight: Nationwide Funds 615 East Michigan Street Third Floor Milwaukee, WI 53202	Website: nationwide.com/ mutualfunds
Phone: 800-848-0920 (toll free). Representatives are available 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions are taxable, and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

18

Portfolio Turnover

The 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 Fund’s most recent prior fiscal year ended April 30, 2018, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 37.50% of the average value of its portfolio, and during the most recent fiscal period (May 1, 2018 through October 31, 2018, the Fund’s new fiscal year end), the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 13.17% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund employs a “long/short” investment strategy to attempt to achieve capital appreciation and manage risk by purchasing equity securities believed by the Fund’s subadviser to be undervalued and selling short equity securities believed by the subadviser to be overvalued. A short sale is the sale by the Fund of a security which it does not own but must borrow to complete the sale, in anticipation of purchasing the same security at a later date at a lower price. Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities. These securities are primarily traded on U.S. securities exchanges. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in securities of foreign issuers, including issuers in emerging market countries. Emerging market countries typically are developing and low- or middle-income countries, and include certain countries located in Latin America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. For purposes of this 20% limitation, “total assets” includes the proceeds of securities sold short. Additionally, the Fund may invest in other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), to the extent permitted by law, primarily in connection with the Fund’s short portfolio, as further described below.

The Fund’s long portfolio’s (i.e., those securities that the Fund owns outright) core strategy is to invest in a combination of large-cap stocks of companies that the subadviser believes are financially sound and which have high dividend yields (i.e., value stocks), and large cap stocks of companies that the subadviser believes have higher than average growth earnings (i.e., growth stocks). The Fund’s overall strategy seeks to deliver competitive risk-adjusted returns, or “alpha,” a risk adjusted measure of an investment’s performance. The aggregate value of the Fund’s long portfolio will generally exceed the aggregate value of the Fund’s short portfolio; however, the Fund seeks to maintain at least some short exposure at all times. The

net long exposure of the Fund (gross long exposures minus gross short exposures) is usually expected to be between 50% and 100% (i.e., more than 50% of the Fund’s net assets).

The Fund’s use of short sales will create investment leverage in the Fund’s portfolio. It is possible that the Fund will lose money both on its long investments and its short investments at the same time. To the extent the Fund uses the proceeds from short sales to purchase securities for the long portfolio, the degree of leverage may be magnified.

In seeking growth stocks for the Fund’s long portfolio, the subadviser employs a “bottom-up” investment process that focuses on superior stock selection, investing in stocks based on their individual attributes, regardless of broader national or economic factors. The subadviser then utilizes a three-component process that includes “top-down” macroeconomic analysis, fundamental research and technical analysis. “Top-down” analysis involves first looking at trends in the general economy, followed by selecting industries, and then companies within such industries, that may benefit from those trends. With respect to value stocks, the subadviser seeks financially stable, high dividend-yielding companies, and screens from a universe of all stocks traded on U.S. exchanges. Factors used to screen these companies include, but are not limited to, market capitalization, cash flow, financial leverage and price volatility. The remaining companies are then further refined to include those companies with the highest dividend yield, subject to diversification among industry sectors as appropriate to manage risk. The subadviser may sell a position when it no longer qualifies for purchase under its buy discipline.

The Fund’s short positions (i.e., those securities that the Fund has sold short) generally range between 1% and 50% of the value of the Fund’s net assets. The subadviser’s short investment approach involves a disciplined, methodical search for overvalued companies. The subadviser generally applies a proprietary screening process which includes criteria such as deteriorating working capital, decelerating sales growth, negative sales surprises, and negative earnings and sales estimate revisions by Wall Street analysts. Once the subadviser has established companies which meet its initial criteria, the subadviser next scrutinizes the quality of earnings, issuer proxy statements (background of directors and management, director or accountant resignations, litigation and related transactions), the balance sheet and footnotes (accounts receivable, inventories, other current assets, reserve levels, changes in amortization or depreciation schedules and off-balance sheet liabilities), and the income and cash-flow statements (margin trends, one-time gains or losses and tax rates). Additionally, the subadviser considers the time horizon likely to be required for positions to become profitable. Accordingly, the subadviser seeks to identify so-called

32

“catalysts”, i.e., particular anticipated events or circumstances that are likely to accelerate the time frame in which the key flaw in the issuer will be reflected in its stock price. By emphasizing catalysts, the subadviser seeks to avoid potential short situations that would require extensive holding periods and their attendant increased costs and risks. The subadviser seeks to reduce, cover or close positions if the analytical basis for the original investment decision has become questionable or if there are other developments that create a lack of continuing analytic confidence in the position. In addition to selling individual securities short based on whether the subadviser believes them to be overvalued, the subadviser may also sell shares of ETFs short in response to broader stock market movements.

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:

Equity securities risk – the prices of stocks are subject to considerable fluctuation. Price changes may occur in the relevant markets as a whole, or they may occur only to the stocks of a particular company, industry or sector of the relevant market. Stocks and stock markets may experience short-term volatility (price fluctuation) as well as extended periods of growth or price declines.

Short sales risk – the Fund will incur a loss from a short sale if the value of the security sold short increases after the Fund has entered into the short position. Short sales generally involve a form of leverage, which can exaggerate the Fund’s losses. The Fund may lose more money than the actual cost of the short position and its potential losses may be unlimited. Any gain from a short sale will be offset in whole or in part by the transaction costs associated with the short sale.

Leverage risk – leverage is investment exposure that exceeds the initial amount invested. Leverage can cause the Fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. Leverage can magnify the Fund’s gains and losses and therefore increase its volatility.

Long/short strategy risk – in situations where the Fund takes a long position (i.e., owns a stock outright), the Fund will lose money if the price of the stock declines. In situations where the Fund sells equity securities short, the Fund will lose money if the price of the stock increases.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down

sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Exchange-traded funds risk – when the Fund invests in an ETF, you will indirectly bear fees and expenses charged by the ETF in addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses. In addition, the Fund may be affected by losses of the ETF and the level of risk arising from the investment practices of the ETF (such as the use of leverage by the ETF). The Fund has no control over the investments and related risks taken by the ETF in which it invests. Additionally, investments in ETFs are also subject to the following risks: (i) the market price of an ETF’s shares may trade above or below their net asset value; (ii) an active trading market for an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained; or (iii) trading of an ETF’s shares may be halted for a number of reasons.

Growth style risk – growth stocks are generally more sensitive to market movements than other types of stocks primarily because their stock prices are based heavily on future expectations. If the subadviser’s assessment of the prospects for a company’s growth is wrong, or if the subadviser’s judgment of how other investors will value the company’s growth is wrong, then the price of the company’s stock may fall or not approach the value that the subadviser has placed on it.

Value style risk – value investing carries the risk that the market will not recognize a security’s intrinsic value for a long time or that a stock judged to be undervalued actually may be appropriately priced. In addition, value stocks as a group may be out of favor at times and underperform the overall equity market for long periods while the market concentrates on other types of stocks, such as “growth” stocks.

Foreign securities risk – foreign securities may be more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities. The prices of foreign securities may be further affected by other factors, such as changes in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the securities are traded.

Emerging markets risk – emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging securities markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets. Since these markets are smaller than developed markets, they may be more likely to suffer sharp and frequent price changes or long-term price

33

depression because of adverse publicity, investor perceptions or the actions of a few large investors. Many emerging markets also have histories of political instability and abrupt changes in policies. Certain emerging markets may also face other significant internal or external risks, including the risk of war, nationalization of assets, and ethnic, religious and racial conflicts.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.

Performance

The Fund has adopted the historical performance of the Logan Capital Long/Short Fund, a former series of Advisors Series Trust (the “Predecessor Fund”) as the result of a reorganization in which the Fund acquired all of the assets, subject to liabilities, of the Predecessor Fund on December 11, 2017. The returns presented for periods prior to December 11, 2017 reflect the performance of the Predecessor Fund. At the time of the reorganization, the Fund and the Predecessor Fund had substantially similar investment goals and strategies.

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. 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. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

Annual Total Returns – Institutional Service Class Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

After tax returns are shown for Institutional Service Class shares only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates 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-advantaged arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Historical performance for Institutional Service Class and Class R6 shares is based on the previous performance of Investor Class and Institutional Class shares, respectively, of the Predecessor Fund. The inception date for Class A shares is December 8, 2017. Therefore, pre-inception historical performance is based on the previous performance of Investor Class shares of the Predecessor Fund. Performance for Class A shares has been adjusted to reflect differences in sales charges, as well as to reflect the higher expenses of Class A shares than those of the Predecessor Fund’s Investor Class shares.

34

Average Annual Total Returns
(For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018)

* Inception date of the Predecessor Fund’s Investor Class.

** Inception date of the Predecessor Fund’s Institutional Class.

Portfolio Management

Investment Adviser

Nationwide Fund Advisors

Subadviser

Logan Capital Management, Inc.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Minimum Initial Investment Class A: $2,000 Institutional Service Class: $50,000 Class R6: $1,000,000 Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A): $0* * Provided each monthly purchase is at least $50

Minimum Additional Investment Class A: $100 Institutional Service Class, Class R6: no minimum Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A): $50

In general, you can buy or sell (redeem) shares of the Fund through your broker-dealer or financial intermediary, or by mail or phone on any business day. You can generally pay for shares by check or wire.

To Purchase and Sell (Redeem) Fund Shares
Mail: Nationwide Funds P.O. Box 701 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0701	Overnight: Nationwide Funds 615 East Michigan Street Third Floor Milwaukee, WI 53202	Website: nationwide.com/ mutualfunds
Phone: 800-848-0920 (toll free). Representatives are available 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions are taxable, and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

35

Portfolio Turnover

The 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 21.94% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest in equity securities, primarily common stocks, issued by companies of any size. The Fund normally will invest across a wide range of sectors and industries, using a growth style of equity management that emphasizes companies with sustainable competitive advantages, long-term structural growth drivers, attractive cash flow returns on invested capital, and management teams focused on creating long-term value for shareholders. The Fund’s subadviser aims to invest in stocks of companies when they trade at a significant discount to the subadviser’s estimate of intrinsic value. The subadviser will consider selling a portfolio investment when it believes an unfavorable structural change occurs within a given business or the markets in which it operates, when a critical underlying investment assumption is flawed, when a more attractive reward-to-risk opportunity becomes available, when the current price fully reflects the subadviser’s estimate of intrinsic value, or for other investment reasons which the subadviser deems appropriate.

The Fund is not required to maintain any specified percentage of its assets in securities of a particular capitalization size. The Fund is permitted, therefore, at any given time, to invest either all of its assets or none of its assets in any particular capitalization size, or to invest a flexible combination of its assets among various capitalization sizes. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in foreign securities. Although the Fund maintains a diversified portfolio, it nonetheless may invest in a limited number of issuers.

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:

Equity securities risk – stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Smaller company risk – smaller companies are usually less stable in price and less liquid than larger, more established companies. Smaller companies are more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business and economic developments and may have more limited resources. Therefore, they generally involve greater risk.

Foreign securities risk – foreign securities may be more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities. The prices of foreign securities may be further affected by other factors, such as changes in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the securities are traded.

Growth style risk – growth stocks are generally more sensitive to market movements than other types of stocks primarily because their stock prices are based heavily on future expectations. If the subadviser’s assessment of the prospects for a company’s growth is wrong, or if the subadviser’s judgment of how other investors will value the company’s growth is wrong, then the price of the company’s stock may fall or not approach the value that the subadviser has placed on it. In addition, growth stocks as a group may be out of favor at times and underperform the overall equity market for long periods while the market concentrates on other types of stocks, such as “value” stocks.

Limited portfolio holdings risk – because the Fund may hold large positions in a smaller number of securities, an increase or decrease in the value of such securities may have a greater impact on the Fund’s value and total return.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.

Performance

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. 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

38

the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

Annual Total Returns – Class R6 Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

After-tax returns are shown in the table for Class R6 shares only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates 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-advantaged arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

The inception date for Eagle Class shares is June 19, 2018. Pre-inception historical performance for Eagle Class shares is based on the previous performance of Institutional Service Class shares. Performance for Eagle Class shares has not been adjusted to reflect that share class’s lower expenses than those of Institutional Service Class shares.

39

of exceptional small companies, purchased early in their corporate life cycle, that have the wherewithal to become exceptional large companies.

In selecting small companies with the potential to become successful large companies, the subadviser analyzes the potential for sustainable revenue growth; adequate resources to establish and defend a viable product or service market, and market share; sufficient profitability to support long-term growth; and management skills and resources necessary to plan and execute a long-term growth plan.

The subadviser generally expects to hold securities for the long term in order to realize the potential rewards for incurring the risks associated with investing early in a company’s corporate life cycle. Nevertheless, the subadviser sells securities when it believes their potential for future growth is diminished. The Fund may emphasize particular industry sectors or groupings, and the percentage of the Fund’s assets invested in such sectors or groupings will vary from time to time, depending on the subadviser’s perception of investment opportunities.

The Fund is intended for aggressive investors seeking above-average gains and who are willing to accept the risks involved in investing in the securities of small companies. By itself, the Fund is not intended to serve as a complete investment program.

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:

Equity securities risk – stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Smaller company risk – smaller companies are usually less stable in price and less liquid than larger, more established companies. Smaller companies are more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business and economic developments and may have more limited resources. Therefore, they generally involve greater risk.

Growth style risk – growth stocks are generally more sensitive to market movements than other types of stocks primarily because their stock prices are based heavily on future expectations. If the subadviser’s assessment of the prospects for a company’s growth is wrong, or if the subadviser’s judgment of how other investors will value the company’s growth is wrong, then the price of the company’s stock may fall or not approach the value that the subadviser has placed on it. In addition, growth stocks as a group may be out of favor at times and underperform the overall equity market for long periods while the market concentrates on other types of stocks, such as “value” stocks.

Sector risk – investments in particular industries or sectors may be more volatile than the overall stock market. Therefore, if the Fund emphasizes one or more industries or economic sectors, it may be more susceptible to financial, market or economic events affecting the particular issuers and industries participating in such sectors than funds that do not emphasize particular industries or sectors.

Strategy risk – the subadviser’s strategy of generally holding stocks for long time periods, combined with its emphasis at times on particular industries or sectors, may cause the Fund to experience above-average short-term volatility. Accordingly, the Fund may be appropriate for investors who have a long investment time horizon and who seek to maximize long-term returns while accepting the possibility of significant short-term, or even long-term, losses.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.

Performance

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. 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. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

42

Annual Total Returns – Institutional Service Class Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Highest Quarter:	17.08%	–	3rd qtr. of 2013
Lowest Quarter:	-23.06%	–	4th qtr. of 2018

After-tax returns are shown in the table for Institutional Service Class shares only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates 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-advantaged arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Subadviser

Brown Capital Management, LLC

Portfolio Managers

Portfolio Manager	Title	Length of Service with Fund
Keith Lee	Managing Director & Senior Portfolio Manager	Since 2012
Robert Hall	Managing Director & Senior Portfolio Manager	Since 2012
Kempton Ingersol	Managing Director & Senior Portfolio Manager	Since 2012
Damien Davis, CFA	Managing Director & Senior Portfolio Manager	Since 2013
Andrew Fones	Managing Director & Senior Portfolio Manager	Since 2014
Daman Blakeney	Managing Director & Senior Portfolio Manager	Since 2018

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Minimum Initial Investment Class A: $2,000 Institutional Service Class: $50,000 Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A): $0* * Provided each monthly purchase is at least $50

Minimum Additional Investment Class A: $100 Institutional Service Class: no minimum Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A): $50

In general, you can buy or sell (redeem) shares of the Fund through your broker-dealer or financial intermediary, or by

43

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund is designed to capture the returns and diversification benefits associated with equity securities of a broad and diverse cross-section of small-cap companies in the United States. The subadviser uses a market capitalization-weighted approach to invest in companies that generally are smaller than the 500 ^th largest U.S. company. While the companies in which the Fund invests may vary in capitalization sizes under $11 billion, under normal circumstances, the Fund will:

• hold at least 80% of the value of its net assets in common stocks of U.S. companies that have market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell 2000® Index (a measure of the performance of small-cap stocks) and

• maintain an average portfolio market capitalization that is within the range of companies included in the Russell 2000® Value Index (a measure of the performance of small-cap stocks that meet the criteria for value investing).

The Fund buys securities of smaller companies that the subadviser determines to be “value stocks.” Securities are considered to be value stocks primarily because a company’s shares have a low price in relation to their book value.

In general, the higher the relative market capitalization of the eligible company, the greater its representation in the Fund’s portfolio. The subadviser may adjust the representation of an eligible company, or exclude a company, after considering such factors as free float, momentum, trading strategies, liquidity, profitability, and other factors that the subadviser determines to be appropriate, given market conditions. In assessing profitability, the subadviser may consider different ratios, such as that of earnings or profits from operations relative to book value or assets. While the Fund may sell securities that do not meet the subadviser’s value criteria, the Fund is not required to sell a security even if a decline in the issuer’s market capitalization reflects a serious financial difficulty or potential or actual insolvency.

The Fund is designed for long-term investors with a focus on investment in the range of small-cap companies, as opposed to individual stock selection.

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:

Equity securities risk – stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Smaller company risk – smaller companies are usually less stable in price and less liquid than larger, more established companies. Smaller companies are more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business and economic developments and may have more limited resources. Therefore, they generally involve greater risk.

Targeted strategy risk – a portfolio that targets its investments to companies of different sizes within a broad small-capitalization range may fail to produce the returns and/or diversification benefits of the overall U.S. small-capitalization market.

Value style risk – value investing carries the risk that the market will not recognize a security’s intrinsic value for a long time or that a stock judged to be undervalued actually may be appropriately priced. In addition, value stocks as a group may be out of favor at times and underperform the overall equity market for long periods while the market concentrates on other types of stocks, such as “growth” stocks.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.

Performance

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. 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. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

46

Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Highest Quarter:	23.27%	–	3rd qtr. of 2009
Lowest Quarter:	-23.62%	–	3rd qtr. of 2011

After-tax returns are shown 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 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-advantaged arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Portfolio Managers

Portfolio Manager	Title	Length of Service with Fund
Jed S. Fogdall	Head of Global Portfolio Management and Vice President	Since 2012
Joel P. Schneider	Senior Portfolio Manager and Vice President	Since 2015

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Minimum Initial Investment Class A, Class C: $2,000 Class R6: $1,000,000 Institutional Service Class: $50,000 Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A, Class C): $0* * Provided each monthly purchase is at least $50

Minimum Additional Investment Class A, Class C: $100 Class R6, Institutional Service Class: no minimum Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan (Class A, Class C): $50

In general, you can buy or sell (redeem) shares of the Fund through your broker-dealer or financial intermediary, or by mail or phone on any business day. You can generally pay for shares by check or wire.

To Purchase and Sell (Redeem) Fund Shares
Mail: Nationwide Funds P.O. Box 701 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0701	Overnight: Nationwide Funds 615 East Michigan Street Third Floor Milwaukee, WI 53202	Website: nationwide.com/ mutualfunds
Phone: 800-848-0920 (toll free). Representatives are available 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions are taxable, and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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

47

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund invests primarily in stocks of U.S. small-cap companies that the subadviser believes have improving earnings growth potential and attractive valuation. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of small-cap companies whose capitalization is within the range of the market capitalization of the companies in the Russell 2000® Index. The subadviser makes market capitalization determinations with respect to a security at the time of purchase of such security. In addition to holdings in primarily U.S. small-cap equity securities, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in foreign securities.

The subadviser uses an actively managed bottom-up stock selection process for choosing securities across the small-cap equity market universe. The subadviser selects securities using a process that seeks to identify companies that have all three of the following attributes: durable competitive advantages, stakeholder-friendly management, and trade at a discount to intrinsic value. The portfolio is constructed using the subadviser’s best ideas that are generated through multiple sources, including management discussions, industry knowledge, prior research and various ad-hoc screens. The subadviser’s goal is to uncover companies with sustained high return on invested capital, consistent growth in free cash flow and stable to growing market share. The subadviser assigns the highest portfolio security weights to companies in which the subadviser has the highest level of conviction. The subadviser is not constrained by the sector weights in the benchmark.

Although the Fund maintains a diversified portfolio, it nonetheless may invest in a limited number of issuers. The subadviser may sell a security as it reaches the subadviser’s estimate of the company’s value; if relative fundamentals deteriorate; or if alternative investments become sufficiently more attractive. The Fund may engage in frequent and active trading of portfolio securities.

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:

Equity securities risk – stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down

sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Smaller company risk – smaller companies are usually less stable in price and less liquid than larger, more established companies. Smaller companies are more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business and economic developments and may have more limited resources. Therefore, they generally involve greater risk.

Foreign securities risk – foreign securities may be more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities. The prices of foreign securities may be further affected by other factors, such as changes in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the securities are traded.

Limited portfolio holdings risk – because the Fund may hold large positions in a smaller number of securities an increase or decrease in the value of such securities may have a greater impact on the Fund’s value and total return.

Portfolio turnover risk – a higher portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, may adversely impact the Fund’s performance, and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.

Performance

The Fund has adopted the historical performance of the HighMark Small Cap Core Fund, a former series of HighMark Funds (the “Predecessor Fund”) as the result of a reorganization in which the Fund acquired all of the assets, subject to the liabilities, of the Predecessor Fund on September 16, 2013. The returns presented for periods prior to September 16, 2013 reflect the performance of the Predecessor Fund. At the time of the reorganization, the Fund and the Predecessor Fund had substantially similar investment goals and strategies.

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. 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. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

50

Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Highest Quarter:	19.64%	–	3rd qtr. of 2009
Lowest Quarter:	-23.96%	–	3rd qtr. of 2011

After-tax returns are shown 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 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-advantaged arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Historical performance for Class A, Class C and Institutional Service Class shares is based on the previous performance of Class A, Class C and Fiduciary Class Shares, respectively, of the Predecessor Fund.

The inception date for Class R6 shares is September 18, 2013. Therefore, pre-inception historical performance of Class R6 shares is based on the previous performance of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares. Performance for Class R6 shares has not been adjusted to reflect that share class’s lower expenses than those of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares.

51

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund seeks to invest, under normal market conditions, in stocks that provide a dividend yield that is generally greater than the average yield for each stock’s representative Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) sector and provide exposure across major sectors of the domestic equity market, as defined by GICS.

The subadviser uses a stock selection process that begins by identifying U.S. dividend paying common and/or preferred stocks within a market capitalization range that reflects the market capitalization range of the companies included in the Russell 1000® Value Index (the “investable universe”). The subadviser then assigns each stock within the investable universe into its appropriate GICS industry sector. The subadviser ranks each stock within each of the GICS industry sectors by its dividend yield—highest dividend yield to the lowest dividend yield. The subadviser uses additional screens throughout the stock selection process to attempt to select stocks with more favorable valuation and higher quality of earnings characteristics, such as stronger cash flows, growth potential, dividends and other favorable investment characteristics.

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities. The Fund concentrates at least 25% of its assets in equity securities of companies which operate in the financial services group of industries.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in foreign securities and bonds.

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:

Equity securities risk – stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Concentration risk – the risk associated with exposure to any one industry or sector. Because the Fund seeks to invest in stocks that provide a yield that exceeds the average yield of its representative industry or sector and because a high percentage of these stocks are financial services-based companies, the Fund focuses its investments (i.e., invests more than 25% of its total assets) in the financial services sector. This sector concentration exposes the Fund to risks associated with economic conditions in the financial services sector. Those risks include the following, among others:

• Government Regulation. Companies in the financial services sector are subject to extensive government regulation that affects the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. There is also the risk of government intervention in the sector, including such activities as forced receivership or restructuring of companies which could severely adversely affect the values of an investment in company stock.

• Interest Rate Increases. The profitability of companies in this sector is adversely affected by increases in interest rates.

• Loan Losses. The profitability of companies in this sector is adversely affected by loan losses, which usually increase in economic downturns.

• Consolidation and Competition . Newly enacted laws may result in increased inter-industry consolidation and competition in the financial sector.

Preferred stock risk – a preferred stock may decline in price, or fail to pay dividends when expected, because the issuer experiences a decline in its financial status. Preferred stocks often behave like debt securities, but have a lower payment priority than the issuer’s bonds or other debt securities. Therefore, they may be subject to greater credit risk than those of debt securities. Preferred stocks also may be significantly less liquid than many other securities, such as corporate debt or common stock.

Fixed-income securities risk – investments in fixed-income securities, such as bonds , subject the Fund to interest rate risk, credit risk and prepayment and call risk, which may affect the value of your investment. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of fixed-income securities will decline when interest rates rise. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in debt securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates are more likely to cause periods of increased volatility and redemptions, and may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly. Currently, interest rates are at or near historic lows, which may increase the Fund's

54

exposure to the risks associated with rising interest rates. Recent and potential future changes in government policy may affect interest rates.

Credit risk is the risk that the issuer of a bond may default if it is unable to pay interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund may lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perceptions of an issuer’s creditworthiness also may affect the value of a bond. Prepayment and call risk is the risk that certain debt securities will be paid off by the issuer more quickly than anticipated. If this occurs, the Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields.

Foreign securities risk – foreign securities may be more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities. The prices of foreign securities may be further affected by other factors, such as changes in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the securities are traded.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.

Performance

The Fund has adopted the historical performance of the HighMark Equity Income Fund, a former series of HighMark Funds (the “Predecessor Fund”) as the result of a reorganization in which the Fund acquired all of the assets, subject to the liabilities, of the Predecessor Fund on September 16, 2013. The returns presented for periods prior to September 16, 2013 reflect the performance of the Predecessor Fund. At the time of the reorganization, the Fund and the Predecessor Fund had substantially similar investment goals and strategies.

The returns presented for periods prior to June 8, 2009 are based on the performance of the North Track Equity Income Fund (the “Prior Predecessor Fund”), which was acquired as the result of a reorganization between the Predecessor Fund and the Prior Predecessor Fund. At the time of the reorganization, the Predecessor Fund and the Prior Predecessor Fund had substantially similar investment goals and strategies.

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. 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. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Highest Quarter:	15.64%	–	3rd qtr. of 2009
Lowest Quarter:	-15.64%	–	1st qtr. of 2009

After-tax returns are shown 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 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-advantaged arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Historical performance for Class A, Class C and Institutional Service Class shares is based on the previous performance of Class A, Class C and Fiduciary Class Shares, respectively, of the Predecessor Fund. The performance of Fiduciary Class Shares for the period from June 8, 2009 to July 24, 2009 was based on the performance of Class A Shares of the Predecessor Fund and, for the period prior to June 8, 2009, of Class A shares of the Prior Predecessor Fund. The performance of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares had been adjusted because Class A Shares of the Predecessor Fund and the Prior Predecessor Fund bore a sales charge while Fiduciary Class Shares did not bear a sales charge. However, the performance of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares was not adjusted to reflect that share class’s lower expenses than those of Class A Shares of the Predecessor Fund and the Prior Predecessor Fund.

The inception date for Class R6 shares is September 18, 2013. Therefore, pre-inception historical performance of Class R6 shares is based on the previous performance of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares. Performance for Class R6 shares has not been adjusted to reflect that share class’s lower expenses than those of the Predecessor Fund’s Fiduciary Class Shares.

55

mail or phone on any business day. You can generally pay for shares by check or wire.

To Purchase and Sell (Redeem) Fund Shares
Mail: Nationwide Funds P.O. Box 701 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0701	Overnight: Nationwide Funds 615 East Michigan Street Third Floor Milwaukee, WI 53202	Website: nationwide.com/ mutualfunds
Phone: 800-848-0920 (toll free). Representatives are available 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions are taxable, and generally will be taxed as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

56

Objective

The Nationwide Bailard Cognitive Value Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. This objective may be changed by the Nationwide Mutual Funds’ (the “Trust”) Board of Trustees (“Board of Trustees”) without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund will, under normal market conditions, invest its assets primarily in common stocks of small-cap value companies that are within a market capitalization range that is similar, although not identical, to the market capitalization range of those companies found in the Russell 2000® Value Index. Under normal market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 25% of the Fund’s net assets in common stocks of micro-cap companies whose market capitalization, measured at the time of purchase, is $300 million or less. There is no minimum market capitalization limit for the companies in which the Fund may invest. The Fund’s subadviser seeks to add value to the Fund’s portfolio through stock selection while maintaining a risk profile that is appropriate relative to the Russell 2000® Value Index. The subadviser uses both quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify stocks it believes are currently undervalued by the market but which still have good fundamentals.

As part of the portfolio management of the Fund, the subadviser employs Behavioral Finance techniques in an attempt to capitalize on investors’ behavioral biases and cognitive errors that can result in securities being mispriced. Behavioral Finance is the study of why people do not always behave in an economically rational manner. Economic irrationality typically arises from investors maximizing personal benefit (not wealth), emotional investing, heuristic biases (e.g., “trial and error” or “rule of thumb” biases) and cognitive errors. The subadviser attempts to exploit investors’ biases and errors that it believes to be recurring and predictable, and to minimize its own susceptibility to these same biases and errors. Stocks are sold when their ranking scores, determined using the subadviser’s model, deteriorate below available alternatives, or when the subadviser determines that shifts to the competitive universe or Russell 2000 Value benchmark are significant enough to require economic subsector adjustments to the portfolio for risk control purposes.

The Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in U.S. dollar-denominated stocks of foreign companies. The

Fund also may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities.

Key Terms:

Market capitalization – a common way of measuring the size of a company based on the price of its common stock times the number of outstanding shares.

Micro-cap companies – companies whose capitalization is $300 million or less.

Quantitative analysis – mathematical and statistical methods used in the investment process to evaluate market conditions and to identify securities of issuers for possible purchase or sale by the Fund.

Small-cap value companies – companies whose capitalization is within the range of the market capitalization of the companies in the Russell 2000 ® Value Index. As of December 31, 2018, the market capitalization for companies included in the Russell 2000 ® Value Index ranged from approximately $2.27 million to $4.2 billion.

Value stocks – stocks that may be trading at prices that do not reflect a company’s intrinsic value, based on factors such as a company’s stock price relative to its book value, earnings and cash flow. Companies issuing such securities may be currently out of favor, undervalued due to market declines, or experiencing poor operating conditions that may be temporary.

57

Objective

The Nationwide Bailard Technology & Science Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund will, under normal market conditions, invest its assets primarily in common stocks located in the United States and abroad that the subadviser believes have superior sales and earnings growth potential, but at a reasonable price. It is expected that, under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in established companies in the technology and science sectors, including in the semiconductor, semiconductor equipment, hardware, software, services, communications, social media, biotechnology medical devices and interactive media sectors, and may invest in other sectors if determined by the Fund’s subadviser to be in the Fund’s best interests. The Fund may also invest up to 25% of its net assets in U.S. dollar denominated stocks of foreign companies located in both developed and emerging market countries.

Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis , the Fund seeks to identify and invest in companies that offer superior sales and earnings growth prospects at a reasonable valuation. The subadviser seeks to add value to the Fund’s portfolio through stock selection. The subadviser may also consider market indices and its own estimates of competitor portfolio weightings in managing the Fund’s portfolio. The subadviser will sell securities if it determines that the company’s prospects change or fundamentals no longer appear relatively attractive.

The Fund may also invest opportunistically in initial public offerings (“IPOs”) and in securities of new public companies that have had their IPO within the last six months and that the subadviser finds attractive. The subadviser seeks investment opportunities to penetrate new and existing markets specifically within the technology, biotechnology and other growth industries. In looking at particular companies, the subadviser evaluates the scope of business of a company and its competitive landscape, as well as its management team’s experience.

Key Terms:

Emerging market countries – typically are developing and low- or middle-income countries such as those as identified by the International Finance Corporation or the World Bank. Emerging market countries may be found in regions such as Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Growth style – investing in equity securities of companies that the Fund’s subadviser believes have above-average rates of earnings growth and which therefore may experience above-average increases in stock prices.

Quantitative analysis – mathematical and statistical methods used in the investment process to evaluate market conditions and to identify securities of issuers for possible purchase or sale by the Fund.

58

Objective

The Nationwide Diamond Hill Large Cap Concentrated Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund invests primarily in common stocks of large-cap U.S. companies, utilizing a value style of investing. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of large-cap companies . The Fund makes market capitalization determinations with respect to a security at the time of purchase of such security. The Fund also may invest in foreign securities.

The subadviser focuses on estimating a company’s value independent of its current stock price. To estimate a company’s value, the subadviser concentrates on the fundamental economic drivers of the business. The subadviser uses a bottom-up approach , which takes into consideration earnings, revenue growth, operating margins and other economic factors. The subadviser also considers the level of industry competition, regulatory factors, the threat of technological obsolescence, and a variety of other industry factors. If the subadviser’s estimate of a company’s value differs sufficiently from the current market price, the company may be an attractive investment opportunity.

In constructing a portfolio of securities, the subadviser is not constrained by the sector or industry weights in the Fund’s benchmark. The subadviser relies on individual stock selection and discipline in the investment process to add value and assigns the highest portfolio security weights to companies in which the subadviser has the highest level of conviction.

The Fund is classified as a “non-diversified fund” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which means that a relatively high percentage of the Fund’s assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers. The subadviser may sell a security as it reaches the subadviser’s estimate of the company’s value; if it believes that the company’s earnings, revenue growth, operating margin or other economic factors are deteriorating; or if it identifies a stock that it believes offers a better investment opportunity. The Fund may engage in frequent and active trading of portfolio securities.

Key Terms:

Bottom-up approach – a method of investing that involves the selection of securities based on their individual attributes regardless of broader national, industry or economic factors.

Large-cap companies – companies with market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell 1000 ® Index, ranging from $204 million to $768.7 billion as of December 31, 2018.

Market capitalization – a common way of measuring the size of a company based on the price of its common stock times the number of outstanding shares.

Value style – investing in equity securities that may be trading at prices that do not reflect a company’s intrinsic value, based on such factors as a company’s stock price relative to its book value, earnings and cash flow. Companies issuing such securities may be currently out of favor, undervalued due to market declines, or experiencing poor operating conditions that may be temporary.

59

Objective

The Nationwide Dynamic U.S. Growth Fund seeks long-term capital growth. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund seeks to provide investors with long-term growth of capital by outperforming the S&P 500 ® Index over a full market cycle while maintaining a similar level of market risk as the index. To achieve this goal, the Fund’s subadviser seeks to identify and construct the most optimal portfolio that targets an equity-like level of volatility by allocating assets among equity securities , money market instruments, futures contracts the value of which are derived from the performance of equity and bond indexes, and options on equity index and bond futures contracts. Futures and options are derivatives and may expose the Fund to leverage.

Equity securities that the Fund buys primarily are common stocks of companies that are included in the S&P 500 Index. In order to achieve additional exposure to equity markets, the Fund also purchases futures contracts on the S&P 500 Index and call options on such S&P 500 Index futures contracts. Money market instruments are high-quality short-term debt securities issued by governments and corporations. Money market instruments serve primarily as cover for the Fund’s derivatives positions, although the subadviser also at times may allocate assets to money market instruments in order to hedge against equity market risk. The Fund obtains exposure to U.S. Treasury bonds by purchasing futures contracts on U.S. Treasury bonds included in the Bloomberg Barclays Long Treasury Index. The Fund also may purchase options on U.S. Treasury bond futures contracts. The Fund may use Treasury bond futures and options to hedge against equity market risks. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of U.S. issuers or derivatives the value of which are linked to securities of U.S. issuers.

In determining what the subadviser believes to be the optimal allocation among equity exposures, Treasury bonds and money market instruments, the subadviser uses estimates of future returns and volatility. When the subadviser believes that equity markets appear favorable, it uses leverage generated by futures and options to increase the Fund’s equity exposure. When equity markets appear to be unfavorable, the subadviser reduces the Fund’s equity exposure by allocating assets to Treasury bond index futures and/or money market instruments. By combining equity securities, futures on stock and bond indexes, call options and money market instruments in varying amounts, the subadviser may adjust the Fund’s overall equity exposure within a range of 50%–150% of the Fund’s net assets. The subadviser regularly reviews the Fund's

investments and will consider selling an investment when the subadviser believes such investment is no longer attractive as a result of price appreciation or a change in risk profile, or because other available investments are considered to be more attractive. The Fund may engage in frequent and active trading of portfolio securities.

The Fund is designed for investors seeking growth of capital by investing in a portfolio of equity and debt securities, and derivatives with investment characteristics similar to equity and debt securities, in order to achieve enhanced equity returns while maintaining a level of volatility risk that is similar to the S&P 500 Index. This is in contrast to a growth style of investing, which involves investing in companies whose earnings are expected to grow consistently faster than those of other companies. Investors in the Fund should have a long-term perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp declines in value.

Key Terms:

Derivative – a contract, security or investment the value of which is based on the performance of an underlying financial asset, index or economic measure. Futures and options are derivatives, because their values are based on changes in the values of an underlying asset or measure.

Equity securities – represent an ownership interest in the issuer. Common stocks are the most common type of equity securities.

Futures – a contract that obligates the buyer to buy and the seller to sell a specified quantity of an underlying asset (or settle for the cash value of a contract based on the underlying asset) at a specified price on the contract’s maturity date. The assets underlying futures contracts may be commodities, currencies, securities or financial instruments, or even intangible measures such as securities indexes or interest rates. Futures do not represent direct investments in securities (such as stocks and bonds) or commodities. Rather, futures are derivatives, because their value is derived from the performance of the assets or measures to which they relate. Futures are standardized and traded on exchanges, and therefore, typically are more liquid than other types of derivatives.

Options – a call option gives the purchaser of the option the right to buy, and the seller of the option the obligation to sell, an underlying security or futures contract at a specified price during the option period. A put option gives the purchaser of the option the right to sell, and the seller of the option the obligation to buy, an underlying security or futures contract at a specified price during the option period.

60

Objective

The Nationwide Fund seeks total return through a flexible combination of capital appreciation and current income. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund invests in a diversified portfolio of common stocks to produce an overall blended equity portfolio consisting of various types of stocks that the subadviser believes offer the potential for capital growth and/or dividend income. Most of the stocks in which the Fund invests are issued by large-cap companies . Some of these companies may be located outside of the United States. The Fund makes market capitalization determinations with respect to a security at the time it purchases such security.

In managing the Fund, the subadviser allocates the Fund’s assets across a variety of industries, selecting companies in each industry based on the research of a team of global industry analysts. The Fund typically seeks to maintain representation in each major industry represented by broad-based, large cap U.S. equity indices.

The subadviser employs a bottom-up approach to selecting securities, emphasizing those that it believes to represent above-average potential for total return, based on fundamental research and analysis. Fundamental analysis of a company typically involves the assessment of a variety of factors, and may include the company’s business environment, management quality, balance sheet, income statement, anticipated earnings, revenues and dividends, and environmental, social and/or governance (ESG) factors. The subadviser seeks to develop a portfolio that is broadly diversified across issuers, sectors, industries and styles. The Fund’s portfolio therefore will include stocks that are considered to be either growth stocks or value stocks . Because the subadviser’s process is driven primarily by individual stock selection, the overall portfolio’s yield, price-to-earnings ratio, price-to-book ratio, growth rate and other characteristics will vary over time and, at any given time, the Fund may emphasize either growth stocks or value stocks. The subadviser may sell a security when it believes that a significant change in the company’s business fundamentals exists, it has become overvalued in terms of earnings, assets or growth prospects or in order to take advantage of more attractive alternatives. The Fund may engage in frequent and active trading of portfolio securities.

Key Terms:

Bottom-up approach – a method of investing that involves the selection of securities based on their individual attributes regardless of broader national, industry or economic factors.

Growth stocks – equity securities of companies that the Fund’s subadviser believes have above-average rates of earnings or cash flow growth and which therefore may experience above-average increases in stock prices.

Large-cap companies – companies with market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell 1000 ® Index, ranging from $204 million to $768.7 billion as of December 31, 2018.

Market capitalization – a common way of measuring the size of a company based on the price of its common stock times the number of outstanding shares.

Value stocks – stocks that may be trading at prices that do not reflect a company’s intrinsic value, based on factors such as a company’s stock price relative to its book value, earnings and cash flow. Companies issuing such securities may be currently out of favor, undervalued due to market declines, or experiencing poor operating conditions that may be temporary.

62

Objective

The Nationwide Geneva Mid Cap Growth Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund seeks to invest, under normal market conditions, in common stocks of publicly traded companies that the subadviser believes demonstrate, at the time of a stock’s purchase, strong growth characteristics such as a leadership position in the relevant industry, a sustainable advantage, strong earnings growth potential and experienced management.

The Fund’s investment focus is on U.S. companies whose market capitalization is generally within the range of the companies represented in the Russell Midcap® Growth Index (the “Index”) at time of purchase (“ U.S. mid-cap companies ”), although the Fund may invest in companies outside this range. This capitalization range varies with market changes and periodic reconstitution of the Index. Just following a reconstitution, the capitalization range of an index may be significantly different than it was prior to the reconstitution. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in U.S. mid-cap companies. The Fund makes market capitalization determinations with respect to a security at the time of purchase of such security. Because the Fund may continue to hold a security whose market capitalization increases or decreases, a substantial portion of the Fund’s holdings can have market capitalizations outside the range of the Index at any given time. In selecting growth stocks for the Fund, the subadviser emphasizes a “ bottom-up ” fundamental analysis (i.e., developing an understanding of the specific company through research, meetings with management or analysis of the company’s financial statements and public disclosures). The subadviser’s “bottom-up” approach is supplemented by “ top-down ” considerations (i.e., reviewing general economic conditions and analyzing their effect on various industries). A complete position will be sold from the portfolio when the subadviser believes there is a major negative change in the long-term outlook for the company or industry. The subadviser also may reduce a position when an individual stock holding represents more than 5% of the portfolio; a particular industry represents more than 15% of the portfolio; or the subadviser believes the stock

has become overvalued based on the subadviser’s proprietary valuation model and technical analysis.

Key Terms:

Bottom-up approach – a method of investing that involves the selection of securities based on their individual attributes regardless of broader national, industry or economic factors.

Growth stocks – equity securities of companies that the Fund’s subadviser believes have above-average rates of earnings or cash flow growth and which therefore may experience above-average increases in stock prices.

Market capitalization – a common way of measuring the size of a company based on the price of its common stock times the number of outstanding shares.

Top-down approach – a method of investing that involves first looking at trends in the general economy, followed by selecting industries, and then companies within such industries, that may benefit from those trends.

U.S. mid-cap companies – have market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell Midcap® Growth Index and which list their stock on a U.S. national securities exchange. As of December 31, 2018, the market capitalization for companies included in the Russell Midcap ® Growth Index ranged from approximately $57.6 million to $32 billion.

63

Objective

The Nationwide Geneva Small Cap Growth Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund seeks to invest, under normal market conditions, in common stocks of publicly traded companies that the subadviser believes demonstrate, at the time of a stock’s purchase, strong growth characteristics such as a leadership position in the relevant industry, a sustainable advantage, strong earnings growth potential and experienced management. The Fund’s investment focus is on U.S. companies whose market capitalizations are generally within the market capitalization range of the companies represented in the Russell 2000 ^® Index (the “Index”) at time of purchase (“ small-cap companies ”), although the Fund may invest in companies outside this range. This capitalization range varies with market changes and periodic reconstitution of the Index. Just following a reconstitution, the capitalization range of an index may be significantly different than it was prior to the reconstitution. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in small-cap companies. The Fund makes market capitalization determinations with respect to a security at the time of purchase of such security. Because the Fund may continue to hold a security whose market capitalization increases or decreases, a substantial portion of the Fund’s holdings can have market capitalizations outside the range of the Index at any given time. In selecting growth stocks for the Fund, the subadviser emphasizes a “ bottom-up ” fundamental analysis (i.e., developing an understanding of the specific company through research, meetings with management or analysis of the company’s financial statements and public disclosures). The subadviser’s “bottom-up” approach is supplemented by “ top-down ” considerations (i.e., reviewing general economic conditions and analyzing their effect on various industries). A complete position will be sold from the portfolio when the subadviser believes there is a major negative change in the long-term outlook for the company or industry. A position will be reduced when an individual stock holding represents more than 5% of the portfolio; a particular industry represents more than 15% of the portfolio; or the subadviser believes the stock has become

overvalued based on the subadviser’s proprietary valuation model and technical analysis.

Key Terms:

Bottom-up approach – a method of investing that involves the selection of securities based on their individual attributes regardless of broader national, industry or economic factors.

Growth stocks – equity securities of companies that the Fund’s subadviser believes have above-average rates of earnings or cash flow growth and which therefore may experience above-average increases in stock prices.

Market capitalization – a common way of measuring the size of a company based on the price of its common stock times the number of outstanding shares.

Small-cap companies – have market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell 2000® Index. As of December 31, 2018, the market capitalization of the largest company included in the Russell 2000® Index was $6.2 billion.

Top-down approach – a method of investing that involves first looking at trends in the general economy, followed by selecting industries, and then companies within such industries, that may benefit from those trends.

64

Objective

The Nationwide Long/Short Equity Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund employs a “long/short” investment strategy to attempt to achieve capital appreciation and manage risk by purchasing equity securities believed by the subadviser to be undervalued and selling short equity securities believed by the subadviser to be overvalued. Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities. Equity securities in which the Fund invests primarily include common stocks and are traded primarily on U.S. securities exchanges. The Fund nevertheless may invest up to 20% of its total assets in securities of foreign issuers, including issuers in emerging market countries . For purposes of this 20% limitation, “total assets” includes the proceeds of securities sold short.

Additionally, the Fund may invest in other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), to the extent permitted by law, primarily in connection with the Fund’s short portfolio, as further described below.

The Fund’s long portfolio’s (i.e., those securities that the Fund owns outright) core strategy is to invest in a combination of large-cap stocks of companies that the subadviser believes are financially sound and which have high dividend yields (i.e., value stocks ), and large-cap stocks of companies that the subadviser believes have higher than average growth earnings (i.e., growth stocks ). The Fund’s overall strategy seeks to deliver competitive risk-adjusted returns, or alpha , without unnecessary risk. The aggregate value of the Fund’s long portfolio will generally exceed the aggregate value of the Fund’s short portfolio; however, the Fund seeks to maintain at least some short exposure at all times. The net long exposure of the Fund (gross long exposures minus gross short exposures) is usually expected to be between 50% and 100% (i.e., more than 50% of the Fund’s net assets).

The Fund’s use of short sales will create investment leverage in the Fund’s portfolio. It is possible that the Fund will lose money both on its long investments and its short investments at the same time. To the extent the Fund uses the proceeds from short sales to purchase securities for the long portfolio, the degree of leverage may be magnified.

In seeking growth stocks for the Fund’s long portfolio, the subadviser employs a bottom-up investment process that focuses on superior stock selection. The subadviser utilizes a three-component process that includes top-down macroeconomic analysis, fundamental research and technical analysis . For a stock to be eligible for portfolio

inclusion, it must pass all three independent components of this process:

• Macroeconomic analysis – to aid in security selection, the subadviser begins by analyzing macroeconomic factors including, but not limited to, trends in real GDP growth, short- and long-term interest rates, yield curve, inflation, Federal Reserve Board actions, productivity gains and corporate cash flow.

• Fundamental analysis – investment ideas are generated utilizing the subadviser’s proprietary ranking and screening tool which assigns a score, based on a number of quantitative factors, to a broad universe of stocks. Factors considered include, but are not limited to, expected long-term future earnings growth rates, return on equity and price/earnings-to-growth rate ratios. Stocks with favorable quantitative scores are further analyzed using qualitative fundamental factors such as market expansion opportunities, market dominance and/or pricing power, significant barriers to entry and a strong balance sheet.

• Technical analysis – an evaluation that examines a stock’s pricing behavior and charts of price movement patterns to determine an uptrend or downtrend. Factors considered include, but are not limited to, relative performance as compared to the peer group and the overall market, historically significant price patterns, support and resistance levels and overbought and oversold levels.

With respect to value stocks, the subadviser seeks financially stable, high-dividend-yielding companies, and screens from a universe of all stocks traded on U.S. exchanges. Factors used to screen these companies include, but are not limited to, market capitalization, cash flow, financial leverage and price volatility. The remaining companies are then further refined to include those companies with the highest dividend yield, subject to diversification among industry sectors as appropriate to manage risk. The subadviser may sell a position when it no longer qualifies for purchase under its buy discipline.

The Fund’s short positions (i.e., those securities that the Fund has sold short) generally range between 1% and 50% of the value of the Fund’s net assets. The subadviser’s short investment approach involves a disciplined, methodical search for overvalued companies. The subadviser generally applies a proprietary screening process which includes criteria such as deteriorating working capital, decelerating sales growth, negative sales surprises, and negative earnings and sales estimate revisions by Wall Street analysts. Once the subadviser has established companies which meet its initial criteria, the subadviser next scrutinizes the quality of earnings, issuer proxy statements (background of directors and management, director or accountant resignations, litigation and related transactions), the balance sheet and footnotes (accounts receivable, inventories, other current assets, reserve levels, changes in

65

amortization or depreciation schedules and off-balance sheet liabilities), and the income and cash-flow statements (margin trends, one-time gains or losses and tax rates). Additionally, the subadviser considers the time horizon likely to be required for positions to become profitable. Accordingly, the subadviser seeks to identify so-called “catalysts”, i.e., particular anticipated events or circumstances that are likely to accelerate the time frame in which the key flaw in the issuer will be reflected in its stock price. By emphasizing catalysts, the subadviser seeks to avoid potential short situations that would require extensive holding periods and their attendant increased costs and risks. The subadviser seeks to reduce, cover or close positions if the analytical basis for the original investment decision has become questionable or if there are other developments that create a lack of continuing analytic confidence in the position. In addition to selling individual securities short based on whether the subadviser believes them to be overvalued, the subadviser may also sell shares of ETFs short in response to broader stock market movements.

Key Terms:

Alpha – a measure of performance on a risk-adjusted basis. It gauges the performance of a portfolio as compared to a market index used as a benchmark.

Bottom-up approach – a method of investing that involves the selection of securities based on their individual attributes regardless of broader national, industry or economic factors.

Common stock – securities representing shares of ownership of a corporation.

Dividend yield – a ratio that indicates how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its stock price.

Emerging market countries – typically are developing and low- or middle-income countries. Emerging market countries may be found in regions such as Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Equity securities – represent an ownership interest in the issuer. Common stocks are the most common type of equity securities.

Growth stocks – equity securities of companies that the Fund’s subadviser believes have above-average rates of earnings growth and which therefore may experience above-average increases in stock prices.

Large-cap companies – companies with market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell 1000 ® Index, ranging from $204 million to $768.7 billion as of December 31, 2018.

Selling short – selling a security that the Fund does not own, but must borrow to complete the sale, in anticipation of purchasing the same security at a later date at a lower price.

Technical analysis – a tool used to evaluate securities and attempt to forecast their future price movement by analyzing statistics gathered from trading activity, such as price movement and volume. Unlike fundamental research, which attempts to evaluate a security’s intrinsic value, technical analysis focuses on charts of price movement and various analytical tools to evaluate a stock’s strength or weakness and forecast future price changes.

Top-down approach – a method of investing that involves first looking at trends in the general economy, followed by selecting industries, and then companies within such industries, that may benefit from those trends.

Value stocks – stocks that may be trading at prices that do not reflect a company’s intrinsic value, based on factors such as a company’s stock price relative to its book value, earnings and cash flow. Companies issuing such securities may be currently out of favor, undervalued due to market declines, or experiencing poor operating conditions that may be temporary.

66

Objective

The Nationwide Loomis All Cap Growth Fund seeks to provide long-term capital growth. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest in equity securities , primarily common stocks , issued by companies of any size, including large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap companies . The Fund normally will invest across a wide range of sectors and industries, using a growth style of equity management that emphasizes companies with sustainable competitive advantages, long-term structural growth drivers, attractive cash flow returns on invested capital, and management teams focused on creating long-term value for shareholders. The Fund’s subadviser aims to invest in stocks of companies when they trade at a significant discount to the subadviser’s estimate of intrinsic value. The subadviser will consider selling a portfolio investment when it believes an unfavorable structural change occurs within a given business or the markets in which it operates, when a critical underlying investment assumption is flawed, when a more attractive reward-to-risk opportunity becomes available, when the current price fully reflects the subadviser’s estimate of intrinsic value, or for other investment reasons which the subadviser deems appropriate.

The Fund is not required to maintain any specified percentage of its assets in securities of a particular market capitalization size. The Fund is permitted, therefore, at any given time, to invest either all of its assets or none of its assets in any particular capitalization size, or to invest a flexible combination of its assets among various capitalization sizes. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in foreign securities. Although the Fund maintains a diversified portfolio, it nonetheless may invest in a limited number of issuers.

Key Terms:

Common stock – securities representing shares of ownership of a corporation.

Equity securities – represent an ownership interest in the issuer. Common stocks are the most common type of equity securities.

Growth style – investing in equity securities of companies that the Fund’s subadviser believes have above-average rates of cash flow growth and which therefore may experience above-average increases in stock prices.

Large-cap companies – companies with market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell 1000 ® Index, ranging from $204 million to $768.7 billion as of December 31, 2018.

Market capitalization – a common way of measuring the size of a company based on the price of its common stock times the number of outstanding shares.

Mid-cap companies – companies with market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell MidCap ® Index, ranging from $204 million to $33.3 billion as of December 31, 2018.

Small-cap companies – have market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell 2000® Index. As of December 31, 2018, the market capitalization of the largest company included in the Russell 2000® Index was $6.2 billion.

67

Objective

The Nationwide Small Company Growth Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. Current income is a secondary consideration in selecting portfolio investments. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in common stocks of small companies. The Fund employs a growth style of investing, as the subadviser seeks to build a portfolio of exceptional small companies that have the wherewithal to become exceptional large companies. Specifically, the subadviser seeks to identify publicly-traded companies early in their corporate life cycle that can produce exceptional long-term returns. For the purpose of the Fund, small companies are defined as companies with operating revenues of $250 million or less at the time of initial purchase. It is important to note that the Fund does NOT choose its portfolio companies based on a reference to market capitalization. Rather, the Fund’s focus is on the revenue produced by the issuer of the securities.

In selecting small companies with the potential to become successful large companies, the subadviser analyzes the potential for:

• sustainable revenue growth;

• adequate resources to establish and defend a viable product or service market, and market share;

• sufficient profitability to support long-term growth and

• management skills and resources necessary to plan and execute a long-term growth plan.

The subadviser believes that:

• a sustained commitment to a portfolio of exceptional small companies will, over time, produce a significant investment return and

• an investment analysis that identifies and successfully evaluates those few small companies with the legitimate potential to become large companies can be a very rewarding investment strategy.

Accordingly, the subadviser employs analysis that contains elements of traditional dividend discount and earnings yield models.

The subadviser generally expects to hold securities for the long term in order to realize the potential rewards for incurring the risks associated with investing early in a company’s corporate life cycle. Nevertheless, the subadviser sells securities when it believes their potential for future growth is diminished. The Fund may emphasize particular industry sectors or groupings, and the percentage of the Fund’s assets invested in such sectors or groupings

will vary from time to time, depending on the subadviser’s perception of investment opportunities.

The Fund is intended for aggressive investors seeking above average gains and who are willing to accept the risks involved in investing in the securities of small companies. By itself, the Fund is not intended to serve as a complete investment program.

Key Terms:

Growth style – investing in equity securities of companies that the Fund’s subadviser believes have above-average rates of earnings or cash flow growth and which therefore may experience above-average increases in stock prices.

68

Objective

The Nationwide U.S. Small Cap Value Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund is designed to capture the returns and diversification benefits associated with equity securities of a broad and diverse cross-section of smaller companies in the United States that the subadviser believes to be value stocks . While the companies in which the Fund invests may vary in capitalization sizes under $11 billion, the following two investment policies apply to the Fund:

• Under normal circumstances, the Fund holds at least 80% of the value of its net assets in common stocks of U.S. small-cap companies and

• The Fund typically will maintain an average portfolio market capitalization that is within the range of companies included in the Russell 2000® Value Index.

These two investment policies are non-fundamental, which means that they may be changed by the Board of Trustees upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Using a market capitalization-weighted approach , the subadviser invests in companies that are smaller than the 500 ^th largest U.S. company. In general, the higher the relative market capitalization of the eligible company, the greater its representation in the Fund’s portfolio. The average market capitalization of the overall portfolio, however, normally stays within the range of companies included in the Russell 2000® Value Index. The subadviser considers securities to be value stocks primarily because a company’s shares have a low price in relation to their book value .

The Fund generally expects to retain securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations for longer periods, despite any decrease in such companies’ price-to-book ratios. While the Fund may sell securities that do not meet the subadviser’s value criteria when, in the subadviser’s judgment, circumstances warrant, the Fund is not required to sell a security even if a decline in the issuer’s market capitalization reflects a serious financial difficulty or potential or actual insolvency.

The Fund is designed for long-term investors with a focus on investment in the range of small-cap companies, as opposed to individual stock selection.

About Russell indices – The Russell 2000® Index is composed of equity securities of small-capitalization U.S. companies. It includes the smallest 2,000 companies in the Russell 3000® Index, which in turn generally measures the performance of the largest 3,000 U.S. companies, based on market capitalization. The Russell 2000® Index is

generally considered to broadly represent the performance of publicly traded U.S. smaller-capitalization stocks. The Frank Russell Company selects stocks for the Russell 2000® Index based on its criteria for the index and does not evaluate whether any particular stock is an attractive investment. The Russell 2000® Value Index represents those issuers listed in the Russell 2000® Index with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The market capitalization of the largest company included in the Russell 2000® Value Index was $4.8 billion as of December 31, 2018.

The Frank Russell Company reconstitutes the Russell 2000® Index once annually, at which time there may be substantial changes in the composition of the index. Upon annual reconstitution of the index, the market capitalization range of companies included in the index may decline significantly. Consequently, these composition changes may result in (i) a brief period of time during which the Fund’s average portfolio market capitalization is not consistent with that of the newly reconstituted index, and (ii) significant turnover in the Fund’s portfolio as the Fund attempts to recalibrate its average weighted portfolio capitalization to fall within the capitalization range of companies included in the reconstituted Russell 2000® Value Index.

Key Terms:

Book value – a way of determining a company’s value, based on its assets minus its liabilities, as reflected on its balance sheet.

Equity securities – represent an ownership interest in the issuer. Common stocks are the most common type of equity securities.

Market capitalization – a common way of measuring the size of a company based on the price of its common stock times the number of outstanding shares.

69

Market capitalization-weighted approach – market capitalization weighting generally means each security is purchased based on the issuer’s relative market capitalization. Market capitalization weighting may be adjusted by the subadviser for a variety of reasons. The subadviser may consider such factors as free float, momentum, trading strategies, liquidity, profitability and other factors determined to be appropriate by the subadviser given market conditions. In assessing profitability, the subadviser may consider different ratios, such as that of earnings or profits from operations relative to book value or assets. The subadviser may deviate from market capitalization weighting to limit or fix the exposure of the Fund to a particular issuer to a maximum proportion of the assets of the Fund. The subadviser may exclude the stock of a company that meets applicable market capitalization criteria if the subadviser determines, in its judgment, that the purchase of such stock is inappropriate in light of other conditions. These adjustments will result in a deviation from traditional market capitalization weighting.

The subadviser may reduce the relative amount of any security held in order to retain sufficient portfolio liquidity. A portion of the Fund may be invested in interest bearing obligations, such as money market instruments, thereby causing further deviation from market capitalization weighting. Block purchases of eligible securities may be made at opportune prices, even though such purchases exceed the number of shares that, at the time of purchase, adherence to a market capitalization-weighted approach would otherwise require. Changes in the composition and relative ranking (in terms of market capitalization) of the stocks that are eligible for purchase take place with every trade when the securities markets are open for trading due primarily to price fluctuations of such securities.

On at least a semiannual basis, the subadviser will prepare lists of companies whose stock is eligible for investment by the Fund. Additional investments generally will not be made in securities that have changed in value sufficiently to be excluded from the subadviser’s then-current market capitalization requirement for eligible portfolio securities. This may result in further deviation from market capitalization weighting. Such deviation could be substantial if a significant amount of holdings of the Fund change in value sufficiently to be excluded from the requirement for eligible securities, but not by an amount sufficient to warrant their sale.

U.S. small-cap companies – have market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell 2000 ® Index and which list their stock on a U.S. national securities exchange. As of December 31, 2018, the market capitalization of the largest company included in the Russell 2000 ® Index was $6.2 billion.

Value stocks – stocks that may be trading at prices that do not reflect a company’s intrinsic value, based on factors such as a company’s stock price relative to its book value, earnings and cash flow. Companies issuing such securities may be currently out of favor, undervalued due to market declines, or experiencing poor operating conditions that may be temporary. For this Fund, the subadviser determines a stock to be a value stock primarily because the stock's market price is low in relation to its book value.

70

Objective

The Nationwide WCM Focused Small Cap Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund invests primarily in stocks of U.S. small-cap companies that the subadviser believes have improving earnings growth potential and attractive valuation. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of small-cap companies. The subadviser makes market capitalization determinations with respect to a security at the time of purchase of such security. In addition to holdings in primarily U.S. small-cap equity securities, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in foreign securities.

The subadviser uses an actively managed bottom-up approach to choosing securities across the small-cap equity market universe. The subadviser selects securities using a process that seeks to identify companies that have all three of the following attributes: durable competitive advantages, stakeholder-friendly management, and trade at a discount to intrinsic value. The portfolio is constructed using the subadviser’s best ideas that are generated through multiple sources, including management discussions, industry knowledge, prior research and various ad-hoc screens. The subadviser’s goal is to uncover companies with sustained high return on invested capital, consistent growth in free cash flow and stable to growing market share. The subadviser assigns the highest portfolio security weights to companies in which the subadviser has the highest level of conviction. The subadviser is not constrained by the sector weights in the benchmark.

Although the Fund maintains a diversified portfolio, it nonetheless may invest in a limited number of issuers. The subadviser may sell a security as it reaches the subadviser’s estimate of the company’s value; if relative fundamentals deteriorate or alternative investments become sufficiently more attractive. The Fund may engage in frequent and active trading of portfolio securities.

Key Terms:

Bottom-up approach – a method of investing that involves the selection of securities based on their individual attributes regardless of broader national, industry or economic factors.

Market capitalization – a common way of measuring the size of a company based on the price of its common stock times the number of outstanding shares.

Small-cap companies – have market capitalizations similar to those of companies included in the Russell 2000® Index. As of December 31, 2018, the market capitalization of the largest company included in the Russell 2000® Index was $6.2 billion.

71

Objective

The Nationwide Ziegler Equity Income Fund seeks total return from income and capital appreciation. This objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Principal Investment Strategies

The subadviser uses a stock selection process that begins by identifying U.S. dividend paying common and/or preferred stocks within a market capitalization range that reflects the market capitalization range of the companies included in the Russell 1000® Value Index (the “investable universe”). As of December 31, 2018, the market capitalization for companies included in the Russell 1000® Value Index ranged from approximately $66.3 million to $345.2 billion. The Fund makes market capitalization determinations with respect to a security at the time of purchase of such security. The subadviser then assigns each stock within the investable universe into its appropriate Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) industry sector. The subadviser ranks each stock within each of the GICS industry sectors by its dividend yield—highest dividend yield to lowest dividend yield. The subadviser uses additional screens throughout the stock selection process to attempt to select stocks with more favorable valuation and higher quality of earnings characteristics, such as stronger cash flows, growth potential, dividends and other favorable investment characteristics.

A high percentage of stocks that provide a yield that exceeds the average yield of its representative sector or industry are financial services companies. Therefore, the Fund invests at least 25% of its total assets in equity securities of companies which operate in the financial services group of industries. Companies that operate in the financial services group of industries include, but are not limited to, the following types of companies:

• banks, thrifts and savings and loans;

• consumer and industrial finance companies;

• investment banks and capital markets;

• insurance brokers;

• insurance companies;

• securities brokers and investment advisers;

• real estate related companies and

• leasing companies.

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities. Under normal

market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in foreign securities and bonds.

Key Terms:

Equity securities – represent an ownership interest in the issuer. Common stocks are the most common type of equity securities.

Market capitalization – a common way of measuring the size of a company based on the price of its common stock times the number of outstanding shares.

Preferred stock – a class of stock that often pays dividends at a specified rate and has preference over common stocks in dividend payments and liquidations of assets. Preferred stock does not normally carry voting rights. Some preferred stocks may also be convertible into common stock.

72

is organized as a Wisconsin limited liability company. Ziegler is a wholly owned subsidiary of Stifel Financial Corporation. As of December 31, 2018, Ziegler had approximately $10 billion in assets under management. Ziegler (and its predecessors) have been providing investment management services since 1991.

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the investment advisory and subadvisory agreements for the Funds will be in the Funds' semiannual report to shareholders, which will cover the period ending April 30, 2019.

Management Fees

Each Fund pays NFA a management fee based on the Fund’s average daily net assets. The total management fee paid by each Fund for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2018, expressed as a percentage of each Fund’s average daily net assets and taking into account any applicable fee waivers or reimbursements, was as follows:

⁽¹⁾ The total management fee paid by the Fund during the period May 1, 2018 through October 31, 2018, expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets and taking into account any applicable fee waivers or reimbursements. The Fund’s fiscal year changed from April 30 to October 31.

Portfolio Management

Nationwide Bailard Cognitive Value Fund

Thomas J. Mudge III, CFA, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

Mr. Mudge heads Bailard’s equity research and serves as the lead portfolio manager of the Bailard small value equity strategy. He has over 31 years of investment experience, having joined the firm in 1987.

Nationwide Bailard Technology & Science Fund

Sonya Thadhani Mughal, CFA, Warren M. Johnson, and David H. Smith, CFA, are jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

Ms. Mughal is Chief Operating Officer and Chief Risk Officer of Bailard. She has over 24 years of investment experience, having joined Bailard in 1994.

Mr. Johnson is Vice President of Healthcare Investments at Bailard. He joined Bailard in 2001.

Mr. Smith is Senior Vice President of Domestic Equities and focuses on technology sector research for the firm and security selection for Bailard's multi-cap growth/technology equity strategy. He joined Bailard in 2009.

Nationwide Diamond Hill Large Cap Concentrated Fund

Charles Bath, CFA, Austin Hawley, CFA, and Christopher Welch, CFA, are responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

Mr. Bath serves as Managing Director–Investments and Portfolio Manager for DHCM. He has been associated with DHCM since 2002.

Mr. Hawley serves as Co-Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager for DHCM. He has been associated with DHCM since 2008.

Mr. Welch serves as Co-Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager for DHCM. He has been associated with DHCM since 2005.

Nationwide Dynamic U.S. Growth Fund

Vassilis Dagioglu, James H. Stavena and Joseph Miletich, CFA, are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

Mr. Dagioglu is the head of the asset allocation portfolio management team. In his current role, he is responsible for managing global tactical asset allocation, strategic asset allocation and multi-asset portfolios including total return, absolute return, multi-asset income, global macro as well as active commodities strategies. Since joining Mellon, Mr. Dagioglu has managed several asset allocation portfolios such as mutual funds, hedge funds, and separately managed portfolios and helped develop custom portfolio solutions. Mr. Dagioglu joined Mellon in 1999.

Mr. Stavena is a senior portfolio manager. He manages a team of portfolio managers responsible for the implementation of asset allocation strategies including global alpha, domestic, active currency, active commodity, and custom rules-based strategies. Mr. Stavena is a key contributor to the development, refinement, and risk management of all asset allocation investment strategies and signals. Mr. Stavena has extensive experience and a

80

particular focus on the use of derivatives in quantitative investment strategies, as well as 1940 Act and UCITS III implementations of asset allocation strategies. Mr. Stavena joined Mellon in 1998.

Mr. Miletich, CFA, is a global investment strategist. He is responsible for articulating various strategies to clients and prospects, as well as participating in the refinement of current strategies and the development of new strategies. Mr. Miletich joined Mellon in 2008.

Nationwide Fund

Jonathan G. White, CFA, and Mary L. Pryshlak, CFA, are jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

Mr. White is Managing Director and Director, Research Portfolios of Wellington Management, and joined the firm as an investment professional in 1999.

Ms. Pryshlak is Senior Managing Director and Director of Global Industry Research of Wellington Management, and joined the firm in 2004.

Nationwide Geneva Mid Cap Growth Fund and Nationwide Geneva Small Cap Growth Fund

William A. Priebe, CFA; William S. Priebe; and Jose Munoz, CFA, are jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Funds, including selection of each Fund’s investments.

Mr. William A. Priebe, Portfolio Manager, has been associated with Geneva since 1987.

Mr. William S. Priebe, Portfolio Manager, has been associated with Geneva since 2004.

Mr. Munoz, Portfolio Manager, has been associated with Geneva since 2011.

Nationwide Long/Short Equity Fund

The Fund’s long portfolio is managed on a day-to-day basis by Al Besse, Stephen S. Lee, Dana H. Stewardson, Marvin I. Kline, CFA, and Richard E. Buchwald, CFA, using a team approach.

Mr. Besse is a Principal and Portfolio Manager of Logan Capital and also serves as President. As a member of the investment team, Mr. Besse is responsible for Logan Capital’s technical analysis effort. He has been with Logan Capital since 1993.

Mr. Lee is a Principal and Portfolio Manager of Logan Capital. As a member of the investment team, Mr. Lee oversees portfolios for institutional and private clients. He has been with Logan Capital since 1993.

Mr. Stewardson is a Principal, Portfolio Manager and a member of the growth equity investment team of Logan Capital. He has been with Logan Capital since 1993.

Mr. Kline, CFA, is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Logan Capital. Mr. Kline is a co-developer and manager of the proprietary Logan Concentrated Value equity product and has been with Logan Capital since 2000.

Mr. Buchwald, CFA, is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Logan Capital. Mr. Buchwald is a co-developer and manager of the proprietary Logan Concentrated Value equity product and has been with Logan Capital since 2000.

The Fund’s short portfolio is co-managed on a day-to-day basis by David F. Schroll and Guy Judkowski.

Mr. Schroll has been a Portfolio Manager of Logan Capital since 2017. Prior to joining Logan Capital, Mr. Schroll was a Co-Managing Member and Portfolio Manager of Waterloo Partners LP for seventeen years.

Mr. Judkowski has been a Portfolio Manager of Logan Capital since 2017. Prior to joining Logan Capital, Mr. Judkowski was a Co-Managing Member and Portfolio Manager of Waterloo Partners LP for seventeen years.

Nationwide Loomis All Cap Growth Fund

Aziz V. Hamzaogullari, CFA, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Hamzaogullari is the Chief Investment Officer and founder of the Growth Equity Strategies Team. He joined Loomis Sayles in 2010.

Nationwide Small Company Growth Fund

The Fund is managed on a day-to-day basis by Keith Lee, Robert Hall, Kempton Ingersol, Andrew Fones, Daman Blakeney and Damien Davis, CFA.

Mr. Lee, President & Chief Operating Officer, joined Brown Capital as a portfolio manager in 1991. He is also chairman of the Management Committee, which is the governing body of Brown Capital.

Mr. Hall, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Brown Capital in 1993.

Mr. Ingersol, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Brown Capital in 1999.

Mr. Fones, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Brown Capital in 2014.

Mr. Blakeney, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Brown Capital in 2008.

Mr. Davis, CFA, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, rejoined Brown Capital in 2010 and has over ten years of investment experience.

81

Nationwide U.S. Small Cap Value Fund

The Fund is managed by the Investment Committee of Dimensional using a team approach. The Investment Committee is composed primarily of certain officers and directors of Dimensional who are appointed annually. Jed S. Fogdall and Joel Schneider are primarily responsible for coordinating the day-to-day management of the Fund.

Mr. Fogdall is Head of Global Portfolio Management and Vice President of Dimensional and is a member of the Investment Committee. He joined Dimensional in 2004.

Mr. Schneider is a Senior Portfolio Manager and Vice President of Dimensional. He joined Dimensional in 2011.

Nationwide WCM Focused Small Cap Fund

Jonathon Detter, CFA, Anthony B. Glickhouse, CFA, and Patrick McGee, CFA, are responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

Mr. Detter’s primary responsibilities are portfolio management and equity research for WCM’s U.S. Focused Small Cap strategy. Prior to joining WCM, he was principal at Opus Capital Management from 2003 to 2016, where he also served as a portfolio manager.

Mr. Glickhouse’s primary responsibilities are portfolio management and equity research for WCM’s Focused Small Cap strategy. Prior to joining WCM, he was at Opus Capital Management from 2012 to 2016, where he was a research analyst and a portfolio manager.

Mr. McGee’s primary responsibilities are portfolio management and equity research for WCM’s U.S. Focused Small Cap strategy. Prior to joining WCM, he was at Opus Capital Management from 2011 to 2016, where he was a research analyst and a portfolio manager.

Nationwide Ziegler Equity Income Fund

Donald J. Nesbitt, CFA, Gary Hurlbut, CFA, and Christian J. Greiner, CFA, are responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

Mr. Nesbitt is a Senior Portfolio Manager and Chief Investment Officer of Ziegler’s Select Equity Group. He joined Ziegler in 2002.

Mr. Hurlbut is a Senior Portfolio Manager. He joined Ziegler in 2000.

Mr. Greiner is a Senior Portfolio Manager. He joined Ziegler in 2003.

Historical Performance of Similarly Managed Accounts of Loomis Sayles

The following table sets forth historical performance information for all accounts managed by Loomis Sayles that have substantially similar investment objectives, policies,

strategies, risks and investment restrictions as the Fund (the “Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts”).

The returns of the Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts are provided to illustrate the past performance of Loomis Sayles in managing substantially similar accounts as measured against a specified market index and does not represent the performance of the Fund. The Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts are separate and distinct from the Fund; its performance is not intended as a substitute for the Fund’s performance and should not be considered a prediction of the future performance of the Fund or of Loomis Sayles.

The returns of the Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts were calculated on a total return basis, include all dividends and interest, accrued income and realized and unrealized gains and losses. “Composite Returns Gross of Investment Management Fee” reflect the deduction of all fees paid by the Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts, including brokerage commissions and transaction and execution costs, excluding custodial fees and without provision for federal or state income taxes. “Composite Returns Net of Investment Management Fee” also reflect the additional deduction of investment advisory fees. The Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts include actual discretionary accounts managed by Loomis Sayles that have investment objectives, policies, strategies, risks and investment restrictions substantially similar to those of the Fund. The Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts may include both tax- exempt and taxable accounts.

Securities transactions are accounted for on trade date and accrual accounting is utilized. Cash and equivalents are included in performance returns. Monthly returns of the Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts have been linked to calculate average annual returns and combine the individual accounts’ returns (calculated on a time-weighted rate of return basis that is revalued daily) weighted based on each account’s asset value as of the beginning of the month. Investors should be aware that the performance information shown below was calculated differently than the methodology mandated by the SEC for registered investment companies.

The Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts are subject to lower expenses than the Fund and may not be subject to the diversification requirements, specific tax restrictions and investment limitations imposed on the Fund by the Investment Company Act of 1940 or Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. Consequently, the performance results for the Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts would have been less favorable had it been regulated as an investment company under the federal securities laws.

The returns set forth below are provided to illustrate the past performance of Loomis Sayles in managing substantially similar accounts and should not be interpreted as indicative of the future results that may be

82

achieved by the Fund. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results . In addition, the results presented below may not necessarily equate with the return experienced by any particular investor as a result of the timing of investments and redemptions, market conditions and other factors. In addition, the effect of taxes on any investor will depend on such person’s tax status, and the results have not been reduced to reflect any income tax that may have been payable.

The table below shows the annual total returns for the Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts and a broad-based securities market index for periods ended December 31, 2018.

Subadviser’s Similarly Managed Accounts Performance

Average Annual Total Returns
for the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Additional Information about the Portfolio Managers

The SAI provides additional information about each portfolio manager’s compensation, other accounts managed by each portfolio manager and each portfolio manager’s ownership of securities in the Fund(s) managed by the portfolio manager, if any.

Manager-of-Managers Structure

The Adviser and the Trust have received an exemptive order from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a manager-of-managers structure that allows the Adviser, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees, to hire, replace or terminate a subadviser (excluding hiring a subadviser which is an affiliate of the Adviser) without the approval of shareholders. The order also allows the Adviser to revise a subadvisory agreement with an unaffiliated subadviser with the approval of the Board of Trustees but without shareholder approval. If a new unaffiliated subadviser is hired for a Fund, shareholders will receive information about the new subadviser within 90 days of the change. The exemptive order allows the Funds greater flexibility, enabling them to operate more efficiently.

Pursuant to the exemptive order, the Adviser monitors and evaluates any subadvisers, which includes the following:

• performing initial due diligence on prospective Fund subadvisers;

• monitoring subadviser performance, including ongoing analysis and periodic consultations;

• communicating performance expectations and evaluations to the subadvisers;

• making recommendations to the Board of Trustees regarding renewal, modification or termination of a subadviser’s contract and

• selecting Fund subadvisers.

The Adviser does not expect to recommend subadviser changes frequently. The Adviser periodically provides written reports to the Board of Trustees regarding its evaluation and monitoring of each subadviser. Although the Adviser monitors each subadviser’s performance, there is no certainty that any subadviser or a Fund will obtain favorable results at any given time.

83

The Nationwide Geneva Small Cap Growth Fund , subject to certain exceptions noted below, is only available for investment on a limited basis. In addition, the Fund may from time to time, in its sole discretion based on the Fund's net asset levels and other factors, limit new purchases into the Fund or otherwise modify the closure policy at any time on a case-by-case basis.

The continued purchase of Fund shares will be permitted as follows:

• Shareholders of the Fund are able to continue to purchase additional shares in their existing Fund accounts and may continue to reinvest dividends or capital gains distributions from shares owned in the Fund;

• Shareholders of the Fund are able to add to their existing Fund accounts through exchanges from other Nationwide Funds;

• Group employer benefit plans, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans, and health savings account programs (and their successor, related and affiliated plans), can continue to invest in the Fund and open new plans;

• Platforms where the Fund is on a model compiled by a financial intermediary's research department may continue to utilize the Fund for new and existing accounts;

• Approved fee-based advisory programs may continue to utilize the Fund for new and existing program accounts. These particular programs must have been accepted for continued investment by the Fund and its distributor on or before the close of business on October 30, 2017 (the “Closing Date”);

• Other fee-based advisory programs that were not accepted for continued investment by the Fund and its distributor on or before the Closing Date may continue to utilize the Fund for existing program accounts, but will not be able to open new program accounts;

• Financial advisors who manage approved discretionary fee-based advisory programs (including registered investment advisory firms) and who have included the Fund in their discretionary account models may continue to make Fund shares available to new and existing accounts. These particular programs must have been accepted for continued investment by the Fund and its distributor on or before the Closing Date;

• Other financial advisors who manage approved discretionary fee-based advisory programs (including registered investment advisory firms) and who have included the Fund in their discretionary account models (that were not accepted for continued investment by the Fund and its distributor on or before the Closing Date) may continue to utilize the Fund for existing discretionary fee-based advisory programs, but will not be able to open new discretionary fee-based advisory programs;

• Approved brokerage platforms may continue to utilize the Fund for new and existing accounts. These platforms must have been accepted for continued investments by the Fund and its distributor on or before by the Closing Date;

• Other brokerage platforms (that were not accepted for continued investments by the Fund and its distributor on or before the Closing Date) may continue to utilize the Fund for existing accounts, but will not be able to open new accounts and

• Current and future Nationwide Funds which are permitted to invest in other Nationwide Funds may purchase shares of the Fund.

In certain limited circumstances, and under the discretion of the Fund and its distributor, the purchase of Fund shares may be open to new investors. Nationwide offers a broad range of investment options, and investors seeking comparable strategies should visit nationwidefinancial.com.

The Nationwide Small Company Growth Fund no longer accepts purchase orders from new investors. Investors who owned shares of the Fund as of the close of business on September 29, 2017, may continue to purchase shares. Notwithstanding the foregoing, customers of U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. whose accounts are maintained at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. may continue to establish new accounts to purchase shares of the Fund.

Share Classes

When selecting a share class, you should consider the following:

• which share classes are available to you;

• how long you expect to own your shares;

• how much you intend to invest;

• total costs and expenses associated with a particular share class and

• whether you qualify for any reduction or waiver of sales charges.

The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Trust or through a financial intermediary.

84

Intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers or contingent deferred (backend) sales charge (“CDSC”) waivers. More information about purchasing shares through certain financial intermediaries appears in Appendix A to this Prospectus.

In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify Nationwide Funds or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts.

Your financial intermediary can help you to decide which share class is best suited to your needs. In addition to the sales charges and fees discussed in this section, your financial intermediary also may charge you a fee when you purchase or redeem a Fund’s shares.

The Nationwide Funds offer several different share classes, each with different price and cost features. Class A and Class C shares are available to all investors. Class R, Institutional Service Class, Class R6, Class M and Eagle Class shares are available only to certain investors. For eligible investors, these share classes may be more suitable than Class A or Class C shares.

Before you invest, compare the features of each share class, so that you can choose the class that is right for you. We describe each share class in detail on the following pages. Your financial intermediary can help you with this decision.

Class A Shares

Class A shares are subject to a front-end sales charge of 5.75% of the offering price, which declines based on the size of your purchase as shown below. A front-end sales charge means that a portion of your investment goes toward the sales charge and is not invested. Class A shares are subject to maximum annual administrative services fees of 0.25% and an annual Rule 12b-1 fee of 0.25%. Class A shares may be most appropriate for investors who want lower fund expenses or those who qualify for reduced front-end sales charges or a waiver of sales charges.

Front-End Sales Charges for Class A Shares

*	Dealer may be eligible for a finder’s fee as described in “Purchasing Class A Shares without a Sales Charge” below.

No front-end sales charge applies to Class A shares that you buy through reinvestment of Fund dividends or capital gains.

Waiver of Class A Sales Charges

Front-end sales charges on Class A shares are waived for the following purchasers:

• registered investment advisers, trust companies and bank trust departments exercising discretionary investment authority with respect to the amounts to be invested in the Fund;

• investors who participate in a self-directed investment brokerage account program offered by a financial intermediary that may or may not charge its customers a transaction fee;

• current shareholders of a Nationwide Fund who, as of February 28, 2017, owned their shares directly with the Trust in an account for which Nationwide Fund Distributors LLC (the “Distributor”) was identified as the broker-dealer of record;

• directors, officers, full-time employees, and sales representatives and their employees of a broker-dealer that has a dealer/selling agreement with the Distributor;

• employer-sponsored 401(k) plans, 457 plans, 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans, defined benefit plans and nonqualified deferred compensation plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans;

• owners of individual retirement accounts (“IRA”) investing assets formerly in retirement plans that were subject to the automatic rollover provisions under Section 401(a)(31)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

• investment advisory clients of the Adviser and its affiliates;

• Trustees and retired Trustees of the Trust and

• directors, officers, full-time employees (and their spouses, children or immediate relatives) of the Adviser or its affiliates, and directors, officers, full-time employees (and their spouses, children or immediate relatives) of any current subadviser to the Trust.

The SAI lists other investors eligible for sales charge waivers.

Reduction of Class A Sales Charges

Investors may be able to reduce or eliminate front-end sales charges on Class A shares through one or more of these methods:

• A larger investment . The sales charge decreases as the amount of your investment increases.

85

• Rights of accumulation (“ROA”) . To qualify for the reduced Class A sales charge that would apply to a larger purchase than you are currently making (as shown in the table above), you and other family members living at the same address can add the current value of any Class A or Class C shares in all Nationwide Funds (except the Nationwide Government Money Market Fund) that you currently own or are currently purchasing to the value of your Class A purchase.

• Share repurchase privilege . If you redeem Fund shares from your account, you may qualify for a one time reinvestment privilege (also known as a Right of Reinstatement). Generally, you may reinvest some or all of the proceeds in shares of the same class without paying an additional sales charge within 30 days of redeeming shares on which you previously paid a sales charge. (Reinvestment does not affect the amount of any capital gains tax due. However, if you realize a loss on your redemption and then reinvest all or some of the proceeds, all or a portion of that loss may not be tax deductible.)

• Letter of Intent discount . If you declare in writing that you or a group of family members living at the same address intend to purchase at least $50,000 in Class A shares (except the Nationwide Government Money Market Fund) during a 13-month period, your sales charge is based on the total amount you intend to invest. You also can combine your purchase of Class A shares with your purchase of Class C shares of another Nationwide Fund to fulfill your Letter of Intent. You are not legally required to complete the purchases indicated in your Letter of Intent. However, if you do not fulfill your Letter of Intent, additional sales charges may be due and shares in your account would be liquidated to cover those sales charges. These additional sales charges would be equal to any applicable front-end sales charges that would have been paid on the shares already purchased, had there been no Letter of Intent.

The value of cumulative-quantity-discount-eligible-shares equals the current value of those shares. The current value of shares is determined by multiplying the number of shares by their current public offering price. In order to obtain a sales charge reduction, you may need to provide your financial intermediary or the Fund’s transfer agent, at the time of purchase, with information regarding shares of the Fund held in other accounts which may be eligible for aggregation. Such information may include account statements or other records regarding shares of the Fund held in (i) all accounts (e.g., retirement accounts) with the Fund and your financial intermediary; (ii) accounts with other financial intermediaries; and (iii) accounts in the name of immediate family household members (spouse and children under 21). You should retain any records necessary to substantiate historical costs because the Fund, its transfer agent, and financial intermediaries may not maintain this information. Otherwise, you may not receive

the reduction or waivers. This information regarding breakpoints is also available free of charge at nationwide.com/mutual-funds-sales-charges.jsp.

Purchasing Class A Shares without a Sales Charge

Purchases of $1 million or more of Class A shares have no front-end sales charge. You can purchase $1 million or more in Class A shares in one or more of the Funds offered by the Trust (including the Funds in this Prospectus) at one time, or you can utilize the ROA discount and Letter of Intent discount as described above. However, a CDSC applies (as shown below) if a “finder’s fee” is paid by the Distributor to your financial advisor or intermediary and you redeem your shares within 18 months of purchase.

The CDSC does not apply:

• if you are eligible to purchase Class A shares without a sales charge because of a waiver identified in “Waiver of Class A Sales Charges” above;

• if no finder’s fee was paid or

• to shares acquired through reinvestment of dividends or capital gains distributions.

Contingent Deferred Sales Charge on Certain Redemptions of Class A Shares

Amount of Purchase	$1 million or more
If sold within	18 months
Amount of CDSC	1.00%

Any CDSC is based on the original purchase price or the current market value of the shares being redeemed, whichever is less. If you redeem a portion of your shares, shares that are not subject to a CDSC are redeemed first, followed by shares that you have owned the longest. This minimizes the CDSC you pay. Please see “Waiver of Contingent Deferred Sales Charges—Class A and Class C Shares” for a list of situations where a CDSC is not charged.

The CDSC for Class A shares of the Funds is described above; however, the CDSC for Class A shares of other Nationwide Funds may be different and is described in their respective Prospectuses. If you purchase more than one Nationwide Fund and subsequently redeem those shares, the amount of the CDSC is based on the specific combination of Nationwide Funds purchased and is proportional to the amount you redeem from each Nationwide Fund.

Class C Shares

Class C shares may be appropriate if you are uncertain how long you will hold your shares. If you redeem your Class C shares within the first year after purchase, you must pay a CDSC as shown in the Fund’s applicable expense table. Purchases of Class C shares are limited to a maximum amount of $1 million (calculated based on one-year holding

86

period), and larger investments may be rejected. No CDSC applies to Class C shares that you buy through reinvestment of Fund dividends or capital gains.

Calculation of CDSC for Class C Shares

For Class C shares, the CDSC is based on the original purchase price or the current market value of the shares being redeemed, whichever is less. If you redeem a portion of your shares, shares that are not subject to a CDSC are redeemed first, followed by shares that you have owned the longest. This minimizes the CDSC that you pay. See “Waiver of Contingent Deferred Sales Charges—Class A and Class C Shares” for a list of situations where a CDSC is not charged.

Waiver of Contingent Deferred Sales Charges Class A and Class C Shares

The CDSC is waived on:

• the redemption of Class A or Class C shares purchased through reinvested dividends or distributions;

• Class A or Class C shares redeemed following the death or disability of a shareholder, provided the redemption occurs within one year of the shareholder’s death or disability;

• mandatory withdrawals of Class A or Class C shares from traditional IRAs after age 70  ¹ ⁄ 2 and for other required distributions from retirement accounts and

• redemptions of Class C shares from retirement plans offered by broker-dealers or retirement plan administrators that maintain an agreement with the Funds or the Distributor.

If a CDSC is charged when you redeem your Class C shares, and you then reinvest the proceeds in Class C shares within 30 days, shares equal to the amount of the CDSC are re-deposited into your new account.

If you qualify for a waiver of a CDSC, you must notify the Funds’ transfer agent, your financial advisor or other intermediary at the time of purchase and also must provide any required evidence showing that you qualify. For more complete information, see the SAI.

Share Classes Available Only to Institutional Accounts

The Funds offer Institutional Service Class, Class R6, Class M, Class R and Eagle Class shares. Only certain types of entities and selected individuals are eligible to purchase shares of these classes.

If an institution or retirement plan has hired an intermediary and is eligible to invest in more than one class of shares, the intermediary can help determine which share class is appropriate for that retirement plan or other institutional account. Plan fiduciaries should consider their obligations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) when determining which class is appropriate for the retirement plan. Other fiduciaries also should consider

their obligations in determining the appropriate share class for a customer including:

• the level of distribution and administrative services the plan or account requires;

• the total expenses of the share class and

• the appropriate level and type of fee to compensate the intermediary.

An intermediary may receive different compensation depending on which class is chosen.

Class M Shares

Class M Shares are only available to clients of Bailard, Inc., employees and officers of Bailard, Inc. and their families and friends, and to existing Class M shareholders.

Class R Shares

Class R shares are available to retirement plans, including:

• 401(k) plans;

• 457 plans;

• 403(b) plans;

• profit-sharing and money purchase pension plans;

• defined benefit plans;

• non-qualified deferred compensation plans and

• other retirement accounts in which the retirement plan or the retirement plan’s financial services firm has an agreement with the Distributor to use Class R shares.

The above-referenced plans generally are small and mid-sized retirement plans having at least $1 million in assets and shares held through omnibus accounts that are represented by an intermediary such as a broker, third-party administrator, registered investment adviser or other plan service provider.

Class R shares are not available to:

• institutional non-retirement accounts;

• traditional and Roth IRAs;

• Coverdell Education Savings Accounts;

• SEPs and SAR-SEPs;

• SIMPLE IRAs;

• one-person Keogh plans;

• individual 403(b) plans or

• 529 Plan accounts.

Class R6 Shares

Class R6 shares are sold without a sales charge, and are not subject to Rule 12b-1 fees or administrative services fees. Therefore, no administrative services fees, sub-transfer agency payments or other service payments are paid to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries either from Fund assets or the Distributor’s or an affiliate’s resources with respect to sales of or investments in Class R6 shares, although such payments may be made by the Distributor or its affiliate from its own resources pursuant to written

87

contracts entered into by the Distributor or its affiliate prior to April 1, 2014.

Class R6 shares are available for purchase only by the following:

• funds-of-funds;

• retirement plans for which no third-party administrator or other financial intermediary receives compensation from the Funds, the Distributor or the Distributor’s affiliates;

• a bank, trust company or similar financial institution investing for its own account or for trust accounts for which it has authority to make investment decisions as long as the accounts are not part of a program that requires payment of Rule 12b-1 or administrative services fees to the financial institution;

• clients of investment advisory fee-based wrap programs;

• high-net-worth individuals or corporations who invest directly with the Trust without using the services of a broker, investment adviser or other financial intermediary or

• current holders of Class R6 shares of any Nationwide Fund.

Class R6 shares are not available to retail accounts or to broker-dealer fee-based wrap programs.

Institutional Service Class Shares

Institutional Service Class shares are sold without a sales charge, and are not subject to Rule 12b-1 fees. Institutional Service Class shares are subject to a maximum annual administrative services fee of 0.25%. Institutional Service Class shares are available for purchase only by the following:

• retirement plans advised by financial professionals;

• retirement plans for which third-party administrators provide recordkeeping services and are compensated by the Funds for these services;

• a bank, trust company or similar financial institution investing for trust accounts for which it has authority to make investment decisions;

• fee-based accounts of broker-dealers and/or registered investment advisers investing on behalf of their customers;

• unregistered life insurance separate accounts using the investment to fund benefits for variable annuity contracts issued to governmental entities as an investment option for 457 or 401(k) plans or

• current holders of Institutional Service Class shares of any Nationwide Fund.

Eagle Class Shares

Eagle Class shares are sold without a sales charge, and are not subject to Rule 12b-1 fees. Eagle Class shares are subject to a maximum administrative services fee of 0.10%.

Eagle Class shares are available for purchase only by the following:

• retirement plans advised by financial professionals;

• retirement plans for which third-party administrators provide recordkeeping services and are compensated by the Fund for these services;

• fee-based accounts of registered investment advisers investing on behalf of their customers or

• unregistered life insurance separate accounts using the investment to fund benefits for variable annuity contracts issued to governmental entities as an investment option for 457 or 401(k) plans.

Institutional Service Class and Eagle Class shares also may be available on brokerage platforms of firms that have agreements with the Distributor to offer such shares when acting solely on an agency basis for the purchase or sale of such shares. If you transact in Institutional Service Class or Eagle Class shares through one of these programs, you may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker.

Sales Charges and Fees

Sales Charges

Sales charges, if any, are paid to the Distributor. These fees are either kept by the Distributor or paid to your financial advisor or other intermediary.

Distribution and Service Fees

Each of the Funds has adopted a Distribution Plan under Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, which permits Class A, Class C and Class R shares of the Funds to compensate the Distributor through distribution and/or service fees (“Rule 12b-1 fees”) for expenses associated with distributing and selling shares and maintaining shareholder accounts. These Rule 12b-1 fees are paid to the Distributor and are either kept or paid to your financial advisor or other intermediary for distribution and shareholder services and maintenance of customer accounts. Institutional Service Class, Class R6, Class M and Eagle Class shares pay no Rule 12b-1 fees.

These Rule 12b-1 fees are in addition to any applicable sales charges and are paid from the Funds' assets on an ongoing basis. (The fees are accrued daily and paid monthly.) As a result, Rule 12b-1 fees increase the cost of your investment and over time may cost more than other types of sales charges. Under the Distribution Plan, Class A, Class C and Class R shares pay the Distributor annual amounts not exceeding the following:

Class	as a % of Daily Net Assets
Class A shares	0.25% (distribution or service fee)

88

Class	as a % of Daily Net Assets
Class C shares	1.00% (0.25% of which may be a service fee)
Class R shares	0.50% (0.25% of which may be a service fee)

Administrative Services Fees

Class A, Class C, Class R, Institutional Service Class and Eagle Class shares of the Funds are subject to fees pursuant to an Administrative Services Plan (the “Plan”) adopted by the Board of Trustees. These fees, which are in addition to Rule 12b-1 fees for Class A, Class C and Class R shares as described above, are paid by the Funds to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries (including those that are affiliated with NFA) who provide administrative support services to beneficial shareholders on behalf of the Funds and are based on the average daily net assets of the applicable share class. Under the Plan, a Fund may pay a broker-dealer or other intermediary a maximum annual administrative services fee of 0.25% for Class A, Class C, Class R and Institutional Service Class shares, and 0.10% for Eagle Class shares; however, many intermediaries do not charge the maximum permitted fee or even a portion thereof and the Board of Trustees has implemented limits on the amounts of payments under the Plan for certain types of shareholder accounts.

For the current fiscal year, administrative services fees are estimated to be as follows:

Nationwide Bailard Cognitive Value Fund Class A, Class C and Institutional Service Class shares: 0.09%, 0.10% and 0.15%, respectively.

Nationwide Bailard Technology & Science Fund Class A, Class C and Institutional Service Class shares: 0.06%, 0.10% and 0.10%, respectively.

Nationwide Diamond Hill Large Cap Concentrated Fund Class A, Class C and Institutional Service Class shares: 0.10%, 0.07% and 0.16%, respectively.

Nationwide Dynamic U.S. Growth Fund Class A, Class C, Class R, Institutional Service Class and Eagle Class shares: 0.05%, 0.11%, 0.25%, 0.15% and 0.10%, respectively.

Nationwide Fund Class A, Class C, Class R and Institutional Service Class shares: 0.07%, 0.06%, 0.25% and 0.07%, respectively.

Nationwide Geneva Mid Cap Growth Fund Class A, Class C and Institutional Service Class shares: 0.11%, 0.10% and 0.15%, respectively.

Nationwide Geneva Small Cap Growth Fund Class A, Class C and Institutional Service Class shares: 0.13%, 0.09% and 0.10%, respectively.

Nationwide Long/Short Equity Fund Class A and Institutional Service Class shares: 0.25% and 0.10%, respectively.

Nationwide Loomis All Cap Growth Fund Class A, Institutional Service Class and Eagle Class shares: 0.25%, 0.25% and 0.10%, respectively.

Nationwide Small Company Growth Fund Class A and Institutional Service Class shares: 0.13% and 0.25%, respectively.

Nationwide U.S. Small Cap Value Fund Class A, Class C and Institutional Service Class shares: 0.09%, 0.10% and 0.25%, respectively.

Nationwide WCM Focused Small Cap Fund Class A, Class C and Institutional Service Class shares: 0.10%, 0.10% and 0.10%, respectively.

Nationwide Ziegler Equity Income Fund Class A, Class C and Institutional Service Class shares: 0.08%, 0.08% and 0.12%, respectively.

Because these fees are paid out of a Fund’s Class A, Class C, Class R, Institutional Service Class and Eagle Class assets on an ongoing basis, these fees will increase the cost of your investment in such share classes over time and may cost you more than paying other types of fees.

Revenue Sharing

The Adviser and/or its affiliates (collectively, “Nationwide Funds Group” or “NFG”) often make payments for marketing, promotional or related services provided by broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries that sell shares of the Trust or which include them as investment options for their respective customers.

These payments are often referred to as “revenue sharing payments.” The existence or level of such payments may be based on factors that include, without limitation, differing levels or types of services provided by the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the expected level of assets or sales of shares, the placing of some or all of the Funds on a recommended or preferred list, and/or access to an intermediary’s personnel and other factors. Revenue sharing payments are paid from NFG’s own legitimate profits and other of its own resources (not from the Funds’) and may be in addition to any Rule 12b-1 payments or administrative services payments that are paid to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries. Because revenue sharing payments are paid by NFG, and not from the Funds’ assets, the amount of any revenue sharing payments is determined by NFG.

In addition to the revenue sharing payments described above, NFG may offer other incentives to sell shares of the Funds in the form of sponsorship of educational or other client seminars relating to current products and issues, assistance in training or educating an intermediary’s

89

personnel, and/or entertainment or meals. These payments also may include, at the direction of a retirement plan’s named fiduciary, amounts to a retirement plan intermediary to offset certain plan expenses or otherwise for the benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries.

The recipients of such payments may include:

• the Adviser’s affiliates;

• broker-dealers;

• financial institutions and

• other financial intermediaries through which investors may purchase shares of a Fund.

Payments may be based on current or past sales, current or historical assets or a flat fee for specific services provided. In some circumstances, such payments may create an incentive for an intermediary or its employees or associated persons to sell shares of a Fund to you instead of shares of funds offered by competing fund families.

Contact your financial intermediary for details about revenue sharing payments it may receive.

Notwithstanding the revenue sharing payments described above, the Adviser and all subadvisers to the Trust are prohibited from considering a broker-dealer’s sale of any of the Trust’s shares in selecting such broker-dealer for the execution of Fund portfolio transactions.

Fund portfolio transactions nevertheless may be effected with broker-dealers who coincidentally may have assisted customers in the purchase of Fund shares, although neither such assistance nor the volume of shares sold of the Trust or any affiliated investment company is a qualifying or disqualifying factor in the Adviser’s or a subadviser’s selection of such broker-dealer for portfolio transaction execution.

Contacting Nationwide Funds

Representatives are available 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, at 800-848-0920.

Automated Voice Response Call 800-848-0920, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for easy access to mutual fund information. Choose from a menu of options to:

• make transactions;

• hear fund price information and

• obtain mailing and wiring instructions.

Internet Go to nationwide.com/mutualfunds 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for easy access to your mutual fund accounts. The website provides instructions on how to select a password and perform transactions. On the website, you can:

• download Fund Prospectuses;

• obtain information on the Nationwide Funds;

• access your account information and

• request transactions, including purchases, redemptions and exchanges.

By Regular Mail Nationwide Funds, P.O. Box 701, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-0701.

By Overnight Mail Nationwide Funds, 615 East Michigan Street, Third Floor, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202.

90

Buying Shares

Share Price

The net asset value per share or “NAV” per share is the value of a single share. A separate NAV is calculated for each share class of a Fund. The NAV is:

• calculated at the close of regular trading (usually 4 p.m. Eastern time) each day the New York Stock Exchange is open and

• generally determined by dividing the total net market value of the securities and other assets owned by a Fund allocated to a particular class, less the liabilities allocated to that class, by the total number of outstanding shares of that class.

The purchase or “offering” price for Fund shares is the NAV (for a particular class) next determined after the order is received by a Fund or its agent or authorized intermediary, plus any applicable sales charge.

The Funds generally are available only to investors residing in the United States. Each Fund may reject any order to buy shares and may suspend the sale of shares at any time.

Fair Value Pricing

The Board of Trustees has adopted Valuation Procedures governing the method by which individual portfolio securities held by the Funds are valued in order to determine each Fund’s NAV. The Valuation Procedures provide that each Fund’s assets are valued primarily on the basis of market-based quotations. Equity securities generally are valued at the last quoted sale price, or if there is no sale price, the last quoted bid price provided by an independent pricing service. Securities traded on NASDAQ generally are valued at the NASDAQ Official Closing Price. Prices are taken from the primary market or exchange in which each security trades.

Securities for which market-based quotations are either unavailable (e.g., an independent pricing service does not provide a value) or are deemed unreliable, in the judgment of the Adviser, generally are valued at fair value by the Trustees or persons acting at their direction pursuant to procedures approved by the Board of Trustees. In addition, fair value determinations are required for securities whose value is affected by a significant event (as defined below) that will materially affect the value of a security and which occurs subsequent to the time of the close of the principal market on which such security trades but prior to the calculation of the Funds’ NAVs.

A “significant event” is defined by the Valuation Procedures as an event that materially affects the value of a security that occurs after the close of the principal market on which such security trades but before the calculation of a Fund’s NAV. Significant events that could affect individual portfolio securities may include corporate actions such as

reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs, corporate announcements on earnings, significant litigation, regulatory news such as government approvals and news relating to natural disasters affecting an issuer’s operations. Significant events that could affect a large number of securities in a particular market may include significant market fluctuations, market disruptions or market closings, governmental actions or other developments, or natural disasters or armed conflicts that affect a country or region.

By fair valuing a security whose price may have been affected by significant events or by news after the last market pricing of the security, each Fund attempts to establish a price that it might reasonably expect to receive upon the current sale of that security. The fair value of one or more of the securities in a Fund’s portfolio which is used to determine a Fund’s NAV could be different from the actual value at which those securities could be sold in the market. Thus, fair valuation may have an unintended dilutive or accretive effect on the value of shareholders’ investments in a Fund.

Due to the time differences between the closings of the relevant foreign securities exchanges and the time that a Fund’s NAV is calculated, a Fund may fair value its foreign investments more frequently than it does other securities. When fair value prices are utilized, these prices will attempt to reflect the impact of the financial markets’ perceptions and trading activities on a Fund’s foreign investments since the last closing prices of the foreign investments were calculated on their primary foreign securities markets or exchanges. Pursuant to the Valuation Procedures, a Fund’s foreign equity investments generally will be fair valued daily by an independent pricing service using models designed to estimate likely changes in the values of those investments between the times in which the trading in those securities is substantially completed and the close of the NYSE. The fair values assigned to a Fund’s foreign equity investments may not be the quoted or published prices of the investments on their primary markets or exchanges. Because certain of the securities in which a Fund may invest may trade on days when the Fund does not price its shares, the value of the Fund’s investments may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or redeem their shares.

These procedures are intended to help ensure that the prices at which a Fund’s shares are purchased and redeemed are fair, and do not result in dilution of shareholder interests or other harm to shareholders. In the event a Fund values its securities using the fair valuation procedures described above, the Fund’s NAV may be higher or lower than would have been the case if the Fund had not used such procedures.

In-Kind Purchases

Each Fund may accept payment for shares in the form of securities that are permissible investments for the Fund.

92

The Funds do not calculate NAV on days when the New York Stock Exchange is closed.

• New Year’s Day

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day

• Presidents’ Day

• Good Friday

• Memorial Day

• Independence Day

• Labor Day

• Thanksgiving Day

• Christmas Day

• Other days when the New York Stock Exchange is closed.

Minimum Investments
Class A Shares and Class C Shares
To open an account	$2,000 (per Fund)
To open an IRA account	$1,000 (per Fund)
Additional investments	$100 (per Fund)
To start an Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan	$0 (provided each monthly purchase is at least $50)
Additional Investments (Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan)	$50
Class R Shares
To open an account	No Minimum
Additional investments	No Minimum
Class R6 Shares
To open an account	$1 million (per Fund)
Additional investments	No Minimum
Institutional Service Class and Eagle Class Shares
To open an account	$50,000 (per Fund)
Additional investments	No Minimum
Class M Shares
To open an account	$5,000 (per Fund)
Additional investments	$100
Minimum investment requirements do not apply to purchases by employees of the Adviser or its affiliates (or to their spouses, children or immediate relatives), or to certain retirement plans, fee-based programs or omnibus accounts. If you purchase shares through an intermediary, different minimum account requirements may apply. The Distributor reserves the right to waive the investment minimums under certain circumstances.

Customer Identification Information

To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each person that opens a new account, and to determine whether such person’s name appears on government lists of known or suspected terrorists and terrorist organizations.

As a result, unless such information is collected by the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary pursuant to an agreement, the Funds must obtain the following information for each person that opens a new account:

• name;

• date of birth (for individuals);

• residential or business street address (although post office boxes are still permitted for mailing) and

• Social Security number, taxpayer identification number or other identifying number.

You also may be asked for a copy of your driver’s license, passport or other identifying document in order to verify your identity. In addition, it may be necessary to verify your identity by cross-referencing your identification information with a consumer report or other electronic database. Additional information may be required to open accounts for corporations and other entities. Federal law prohibits the Funds and other financial institutions from opening a new account unless they receive the minimum identifying information listed above. After an account is opened, the Funds may restrict your ability to purchase additional shares until your identity is verified. The Funds may close your account or take other appropriate action if they are unable to verify your identity within a reasonable time. If your account is closed for this reason, your shares will be redeemed at the NAV next calculated after the account is closed.

Accounts with Low Balances

Maintaining small accounts is costly for the Funds and may have a negative effect on performance. Shareholders are encouraged to keep their accounts above each Fund’s minimum.

• If the value of your account falls below $2,000 ($1,000 for IRA accounts), you generally are subject to a $5 quarterly fee, unless such account actively participates in an Automatic Asset Accumulation Plan. Shares from your account are redeemed each quarter/month to cover the fee, which is returned to the Fund to offset small account expenses. Under some circumstances, a Fund may waive the low-balance fee.

• Each Fund reserves the right to redeem your remaining shares and close your account if a redemption of shares brings the value of your account below the minimum. In such cases, you will be notified and given 60 days to purchase additional shares before the account is closed. A redemption of your remaining shares may be a taxable event for you. See “Distributions and Taxes—Selling or Exchanging Shares” below.

Exchanging Shares

You may exchange your Fund shares for shares of any Nationwide Fund that is currently accepting new investments as long as:

93

• both accounts have the same registration;

• your first purchase in the new fund meets its minimum investment requirement and

• you purchase the same class of shares. For example, you may exchange between Class A shares of any Nationwide Fund, but may not exchange between Class A shares and Class C shares.

No minimum investment requirement shall apply to holders of Institutional Service Class shares seeking to exchange such shares for Institutional Service Class shares of another Fund, or to holders of Class R6 shares seeking to exchange such shares for Class R6 shares of another Fund, where such Institutional Service Class or Class R6 shares (as applicable) had been designated as Class D shares at the close of business on July 31, 2012.

The exchange privileges may be amended or discontinued upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.

Generally, there are no sales charges for exchanges of shares. However,

• if you exchange from Class A shares of a Fund to a fund with a higher sales charge, you may have to pay the difference in the two sales charges.

• if you exchange Class A shares that are subject to a CDSC, and then redeem those shares within 18 months of the original purchase, the CDSC applicable to the original purchase is charged.

For purposes of calculating a CDSC, the length of ownership is measured from the date of original purchase and is not affected by any permitted exchange (except exchanges to the Nationwide Government Money Market Fund).

Exchanges into the Nationwide Government Money Market Fund

You may exchange between Class R6 shares of the Funds and Class R6 shares of the Nationwide Government Money Market Fund. You may exchange between all other share classes of the Funds and the Investor Shares of the Nationwide Government Money Market Fund. If your original investment was in Investor Shares, any exchange of Investor Shares you make for Class A or Class C shares of another Nationwide Fund may require you to pay the sales charge applicable to such new shares. In addition, if you exchange shares subject to a CDSC, the length of time you own Investor Shares of the Nationwide Government Money Market Fund is not included for purposes of determining the CDSC. Redemptions from the Nationwide Government Money Market Fund are subject to any CDSC that applies to the original purchase.

Selling Shares

You can sell or, in other words, redeem your Fund shares at any time, subject to the restrictions described below. The price you receive when you redeem your shares is the NAV

(minus any applicable sales charges) next determined after a Fund’s authorized intermediary or an agent of the Fund receives your properly completed redemption request. The value of the shares you redeem may be worth more than or less than their original purchase price, depending on the market value of the Fund’s investments at the time of the redemption.

You may not be able to redeem your Fund shares or Nationwide Funds may delay paying your redemption proceeds if:

• the New York Stock Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings);

• trading is restricted or

• an emergency exists (as determined by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Generally, a Fund will pay you for the shares that you redeem within two days after your redemption request is received by check or electronic transfer, except as noted below. Payment for shares that you recently purchased may be delayed up to 10 business days from the purchase date to allow time for your payment to clear. If you are selling shares that were recently purchased by check or through ACH, redemption proceeds may not be available until your check has cleared or the ACH transaction has been completed (which may take 10 business days from your date of purchase). A Fund may delay forwarding redemption proceeds for up to seven days if the account holder:

• is engaged in excessive trading or

• if the amount of the redemption request would disrupt efficient portfolio management or adversely affect the Fund.

Under normal circumstances, a Fund expects to satisfy redemption requests through the sale of investments held in cash or cash equivalents. However, a Fund may also use the proceeds from the sale of portfolio securities or a bank line of credit to meet redemption requests if consistent with management of the Fund, or in stressed market conditions. Under extraordinary circumstances, a Fund, in its sole discretion, may elect to honor redemption requests by transferring some of the securities held by the Fund directly to an account holder as a redemption in-kind. If an account holder receives securities in a redemption in-kind, the account holder may incur brokerage costs, taxes or other expenses in converting the securities to cash. Securities received from in-kind redemptions are subject to market risk until they are sold. For more about Nationwide Funds’ ability to make a redemption in-kind as well as how redemptions in-kind are effected, see the SAI.

The Board of Trustees has adopted procedures for redemptions in-kind of affiliated persons of a Fund. Affiliated persons of a Fund include shareholders who are affiliates of the Adviser and shareholders of a Fund owning

94

5% or more of the outstanding shares of that Fund. These procedures provide that a redemption in-kind shall be effected at approximately the affiliated shareholder’s proportionate share of the Fund’s current net assets, and are designed so that such redemptions will not favor the affiliated shareholder to the detriment of any other shareholder.

Automatic Withdrawal Program

You may elect to automatically redeem shares in a minimum amount of $50. Complete the appropriate section of the Mutual Fund Application for New Accounts or contact your financial intermediary or the Funds’ transfer agent. Your account value must meet the minimum initial investment amount at the time the program is established. This program may reduce, and eventually deplete, your account. Generally, it is not advisable to continue to purchase Class A or Class C shares subject to a sales charge while redeeming shares using this program. An automatic withdrawal plan for Class A and Class C shares will be subject to any applicable CDSC.

Signature Guarantee

A signature guarantee is required for sales of shares of the Funds in any of the following instances:

• your account address has changed within the last 30 calendar days;

• the redemption check is made payable to anyone other than the registered shareholder;

• the proceeds are mailed to any address other than the address of record or

• the redemption proceeds are being wired or sent by ACH to a bank for which instructions currently are not on your account.

No signature guarantee is required under normal circumstances where redemption proceeds are transferred directly to: (1) another account maintained by a Nationwide Financial Services, Inc. company; or (2) a bank account, the registration of which includes the names of all of the account owners in which the mutual fund account is registered.

A signature guarantee is a certification by a bank, brokerage firm or other financial institution that a customer’s signature is valid. We reserve the right to require a signature guarantee in other circumstances, without notice.

Excessive or Short-Term Trading

The Nationwide Funds seek to discourage excessive or short-term trading (often described as “market timing”). Excessive trading (either frequent exchanges between

Nationwide Funds or redemptions and repurchases of Nationwide Funds within a short time period) may:

• disrupt portfolio management strategies;

• increase brokerage and other transaction costs and

• negatively affect fund performance.

Each Fund may be more or less affected by short-term trading in Fund shares, depending on various factors such as the size of the Fund, the amount of assets the Fund typically maintains in cash or cash equivalents, the dollar amount, number and frequency of trades in Fund shares and other factors. A Fund that invests in foreign securities may be at greater risk for excessive trading. Investors may attempt to take advantage of anticipated price movements in securities or derivatives held by a Fund based on events occurring after the close of a foreign market that may not be reflected in a Fund’s NAV (referred to as “arbitrage market timing”). Arbitrage market timing also may be attempted in funds that hold significant investments in small-cap securities, commodity-linked investments, high-yield (junk) bonds and other types of investments that may not be frequently traded. There is the possibility that arbitrage market timing, under certain circumstances, may dilute the value of Fund shares if redeeming shareholders receive proceeds (and buying shareholders receive shares) based on NAVs that do not reflect appropriate fair value prices.

The Board of Trustees has adopted the following policies with respect to excessive or short-term trading in the Funds:

Fair Valuation

The Funds have fair value pricing procedures in place as described above in “Investing with Nationwide Funds: Fair Value Pricing.”

Monitoring of Trading Activity

The Funds, through the Adviser, their subadvisers and their agents, monitor selected trades and flows of money in and out of the Funds in an effort to detect excessive short-term trading activities. Further, in compliance with Rule 22c-2 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, Nationwide Funds Group, on behalf of the Funds, has entered into written agreements with the Funds’ financial intermediaries, under which the intermediary must, upon request, provide a Fund with certain shareholder identity and trading information so that the Fund can enforce its market timing policies. If a shareholder is found to have engaged in excessive short-term trading, the Funds may, at their discretion, ask the shareholder to stop such activities or refuse to process purchases or exchanges in the shareholder’s account.

Despite its best efforts, a Fund may be unable to identify or deter excessive trades conducted through intermediaries or

95