BNY MELLON FUNDS TRUST Form N-CSRS Filed 2018-05-02
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION FORM N-CSRS Certified semi-annual shareholder report of registered management investment companies filed on Form N-CSR Filing Date: 2018-05-02 | Period of Report: 2018-02-28 SEC Accession No. 0001111565-18-000038 (HTML Version on secdatabase.com) FILER BNY MELLON FUNDS TRUST Mailing Address Business Address THE DREYFUS 200 PARK AVENUE CIK:1111565| IRS No.: 134121547 CORPORATION THE DREYFUS Type: N-CSRS | Act: 40 | File No.: 811-09903 | Film No.: 18799755 200 PARK AVENUE CORPORATION NEW YORK NY 10166 NEW YORK NY 10166 2129228023 Copyright © 2018 www.secdatabase.com. All Rights Reserved. Please Consider the Environment Before Printing This Document UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM N-CSR CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES Investment Company Act file number 811-09903 BNY Mellon Funds Trust (Exact name of Registrant as specified in charter) c/o The Dreyfus Corporation 200 Park Avenue New York, New York 10166 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code) Bennett A. MacDougall, Esq. 200 Park Avenue New York, New York 10166 (Name and address of agent for service) Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (212) 922-6400 Date of fiscal year end: 08/31 Date of reporting period: 02/28/18 Copyright © 2018 www.secdatabase.com. All Rights Reserved. Please Consider the Environment Before Printing This Document FORM N-CSR Item 1. Reports to Stockholders. Copyright © 2018 www.secdatabase.com. All Rights Reserved. Please Consider the Environment Before Printing This Document The BNY Mellon Funds BNY Mellon Large Cap Stock Fund BNY Mellon Large Cap Market Opportunities Fund BNY Mellon Tax-Sensitive Large Cap Multi-Strategy Fund BNY Mellon Income Stock Fund BNY Mellon Mid Cap Multi-Strategy Fund BNY Mellon Small Cap Multi-Strategy Fund BNY Mellon Focused Equity Opportunities Fund BNY Mellon Small/Mid Cap Multi-Strategy Fund BNY Mellon International Fund BNY Mellon Emerging Markets Fund BNY Mellon International Appreciation Fund BNY Mellon International Equity Income Fund BNY Mellon Asset Allocation Fund SEMIANNUAL REPORT February 28, 2018 Contents THE FUNDS A Letter from the President 3 Discussion of Funds’ Performance 4 Understanding Your Fund’s Expenses 17 Comparing Your Fund’s Expenses With Those of Other Funds 19 Statements of Investments 21 Statements of Investments in Affiliated Issuers 64 Statement of Futures 68 Statement of Options Written 69 Statements of Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts 71 Statements of Assets and Liabilities 72 Statements of Operations 76 Statements of Changes in Net Assets 79 Financial Highlights 87 Notes to Financial Statements 117 FOR MORE INFORMATION Back Cover The views expressed herein are current to the date of this report. These views and the composition of the funds’ portfolios are subject to change at any time based on market and other conditions. Copyright © 2018 www.secdatabase.com. All Rights Reserved. Please Consider the Environment Before Printing This Document Not FDIC-Insured • Not Bank-Guaranteed • May Lose Value The Funds LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear Shareholder: We are pleased to present this semiannual report for BNY Mellon Funds Trust, covering the six-month period from September 1, 2017 through February 28, 2018. For information about how the fund performed during the reporting period, as well as general market perspectives, we provide a Discussion of Fund Performance on the pages that follow. Stocks set a series of new record highs while bonds generally lost a degree of value over the reporting period. Riskier sectors of the financial markets responded positively to growing corporate earnings, improving global economic conditions and the enactment of tax reform legislation. While the rally was relatively broad-based, growth stocks produced substantially higher returns than value-oriented stocks. International stocks also performed well amid more positive economic data from Europe, Japan, and the emerging markets. In the bond market, U.S. government securities and municipal bonds declined when short-term interest rates and inflation expectations increased, while lower-rated corporate-backed securities fared somewhat better in anticipation of improved business conditions. The markets’ performance was supported by solid underlying fundamentals, including sustained economic growth, a robust labor market and strong consumer and business confidence. We currently expect these favorable conditions to persist, but we remain watchful for economic and political developments that could negatively affect the markets. Indeed, in February 2018, we witnessed a return of heightened volatility to the financial markets. As always, we encourage you to discuss the risks and opportunities of today’s investment environment with your financial advisor. Sincerely, Patrick T. Crowe President BNY Mellon Funds Trust March 15, 2018 3 DISCUSSION OF FUND PERFORMANCE (Unaudited) For the period from September 1, 2017 through February 28, 2018, as provided by C. Wesley Boggs, William S. Cazalet, CAIA, Ronald P. Gala, CFA, Peter D. Goslin, CFA, and Syed A. Zamil, CFA, Portfolio Managers Market and Fund Performance Overview For the six-month period ended February 28, 2018, BNY Mellon Large Cap Stock Fund’s Class M shares produced a total return of 11.78%, and Investor shares produced a total return of 11.46%.1 In comparison, the S&P 500® Index (the “Index”), the fund’s benchmark, produced a total return of 10.83% for the same period.2 Large-cap stocks continued to gain ground over the reporting period amid rising corporate earnings, improved economic conditions, and the passage of business-friendly tax- reform legislation. The fund produced higher returns than the Index, mainly due to the success of our security selection strategy in the industrials and financials sectors. The Fund’s Investment Approach The fund seeks capital appreciation. To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in stocks of large- capitalization companies with market capitalizations of $5 billion or more at the time of purchase. We apply a systematic, quantitative investment approach designed to identify and exploit relative misvaluations primarily within large-cap U.S. stocks. We use a proprietary valuation model that identifies and ranks stocks to construct the fund’s portfolio. We construct the fund’s portfolio through a systematic structured approach, focusing on stock selection as opposed to making proactive decisions as to industry or sector exposure. Within each sector and style subset, the fund overweights the most attractive stocks and underweights or zero weights the stocks that have been ranked least attractive. The fund typically will hold between 100 and 175 securities. Rising Corporate Earnings Drove Markets Higher Continuing a trend established earlier in 2017, stocks across all capitalization ranges remained energized during the reporting period by better-than-expected corporate earnings growth, strengthening U.S. labor markets, and encouraging global economic developments. In addition, investors responded positively to the enactment of tax-reform legislation in December 2017. Consequently, the Index reached a series of new highs through January 2018. While inflation fears sparked heightened market volatility in February, the resulting declines were not enough to fully offset earlier gains. The market’s advance also was supported by well-telegraphed shifts in monetary policy. Although rising interest rates historically have tended to undermine investor sentiment toward stocks, the Federal Reserve Board’s gradual approach to adopting a less accommodative monetary policy generally was received calmly by investors, who focused more on improving business conditions and corporate earnings growth. In this environment, large-cap stocks outperformed their mid- and small-cap counterparts, and growth stocks typically produced higher returns than value-oriented stocks. Among large-cap stocks, the financials, information technology, and consumer discretionary sectors—which constitute three of the Index’s four largest industry groups—fared especially well. Copyright © 2018 www.secdatabase.com. All Rights Reserved. Please Consider the Environment Before Printing This Document Security Selections Bolstered Fund Performance The fund participated more than fully in the Index’s gains over the reporting period, supported by our quantitative security selection process across several major market segments. The industrials sector generally benefited from stronger global economic growth, helping to boost business prospects for aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing, which saw robust order volumes for new products. Conversely, the fund benefited from underweighted exposure to industrial conglomerate General Electric, which lost considerable value over the reporting period as it sought to formulate and implement a turnaround strategy. The financials sector represented the Index’s top-performing segment for the reporting period. Major financial institutions such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co. fared especially well due to corporate tax cuts, reduced regulatory burdens, and the positive impact of rising interest rates on lending margins. Disappointments during the reporting period included some holdings in the health care sector, where biotechnology developer Celgene was hurt by unsatisfactory results from clinical trials of a