# EDGAR Filing Document

**Accession Number:** 0000889284
**File Stem:** 0001398344-23-001720
**Filing Date:** 2023-2
**Character Count:** 18066
**Document Hash:** f2abb39b4e4c81d2499add7ed6d69dc1
**Contains OCR:** False
**Source Format:** 

## Filing Content

## Filing Summary
**0001398344-23-001720.hdr.sgml**: 20230201

**ACCESSION NUMBER**: 0001398344-23-001720

**CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE**: 497K

**PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT**: 3

**FILED AS OF DATE**: 20230201

**DATE AS OF CHANGE**: 20230201

**EFFECTIVENESS DATE**: 20230201

**FILER**: 

**COMPANY DATA:**
- **COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:** STERLING CAPITAL FUNDS
- **CENTRAL INDEX KEY:** 0000889284
- **IRS NUMBER:** 043331055
- **STATE OF INCORPORATION:** MA
- **FISCAL YEAR END:** 0930

**FILING VALUES:**
- **FORM TYPE:** 497K
- **SEC ACT:** 1933 Act
- **SEC FILE NUMBER:** 033-49098
- **FILM NUMBER:** 23575609

**BUSINESS ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** 3605 GLENWOOD AVENUE
- **STREET 2:** SUITE 100
- **CITY:** RALEIGH
- **STATE:** NC
- **ZIP:** 27612
- **BUSINESS PHONE:** 8002281872

**MAIL ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** 3605 GLENWOOD AVENUE
- **STREET 2:** SUITE 100
- **CITY:** RALEIGH
- **STATE:** NC
- **ZIP:** 27612

**FORMER COMPANY:**
- **FORMER CONFORMED NAME:** BB&T FUNDS /
- **DATE OF NAME CHANGE:** 20010419

**FORMER COMPANY:**
- **FORMER CONFORMED NAME:** BB&T MUTUAL FUNDS GROUP
- **DATE OF NAME CHANGE:** 19920929

## Series and Classes Contracts Data

### STERLING CAPITAL SOUTH CAROLINA INTERMEDIATE TAX-FREE FUND (Series ID: S000003545)

| Class ID   | Class Name          | Ticker Symbol   |
|:---|:---|:---|
| C000009851 | INSTITUTIONAL CLASS | BSCIX           |

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| |
|:---|
| **Summary Prospectus** February 1, 2023 |
| Sterling Capital South Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund <br>**Institutional Shares BSCIX** |
| Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's Prospectus, which contains information about the Fund and its risks. The Fund's Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated February 1, 2023, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. You can find the Fund's Prospectus and other information about the Fund online at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com/funds. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-228-1872 or by sending an e-mail request to fundinfo@sterling-capital.com. |

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**Investment Objective** 

The Fund seeks current income exempt from federal and South Carolina income taxes consistent with preservation of capital.

**Fee Table** 

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.

&nbsp;&nbsp;**Shareholder Fees** (fees paid directly from your investment) <br>

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| | |
|:---|:---|
|  | **Institutional <br> Shares**  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Maximum Sales Charge (load) on Purchases (as a % of offering price)  |  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a % of the lesser of the cost of your shares or their net asset value at the time of redemption)  |  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Redemption Fee  |  |

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&nbsp;&nbsp;**Annual Fund Operating Expenses** (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)<br>

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
|  | **Institutional <br> Shares**  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Management Fees | 0.35% |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | 0.00% |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Other Expenses | 0.24% |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.59% |

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&nbsp;&nbsp;**Example**<br>

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes, that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

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| | | | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|
|  | **1 <br> Year**  | **3 <br> Years**  | **5 <br> Years**  | **10 <br> Years**  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;**Institutional Shares**  | $60 | $189 | $329 | $738 |

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&nbsp;&nbsp;**Portfolio Turnover**<br>

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 9.94% of the average value of its portfolio.

**Strategy, Risks and Performance** 

**Principal Strategy** 

As a matter of fundamental policy, the Fund will invest, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in investments the income from which is exempt from federal income tax, alternative minimum tax, and South Carolina personal income tax ("South Carolina Tax-Exempt Obligations"). The Fund invests, under normal market conditions, primarily in municipal securities of the State of South Carolina ("South Carolina" or the "State") and its political subdivisions that provide income exempt from both federal personal income tax and South Carolina personal income tax. Municipal securities in which the Fund will invest include municipal notes and bonds, general obligation bonds, special revenue bonds, private activity bonds, lease obligations, certificates of participation, variable rate demand notes, and tax-exempt commercial paper. The Fund invests in South Carolina municipal securities only if they are "investment grade" (rated at the time of purchase in one of the four highest rating categories by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, or are determined by the portfolio manager to be of comparable quality). The Fund will maintain an average duration of 3.5 to 8 years. The Fund's dollar-weighted average maturity is expected to be more than 3 years but less than 10 years. Duration is the expected life of a fixed income security and is used to determine the sensitivity of the security's price to changes in interest rates. Maturity merely measures the time until final payment is due. Unlike maturity, duration accounts for the time until all payments of interest and principal on a security are expected to be made, including how these payments are affected by prepayments and by changes in interest rates.

In managing the Fund's portfolio, the portfolio manager uses a "top down" investment management approach focusing on interest rates and credit quality. The portfolio manager sets, and continually adjusts, a target for the interest rate sensitivity of the Fund's portfolio based on expectations about interest rate movements. The portfolio manager then selects securities consistent with this target based on their individual characteristics.

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| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| **Summary Prospectus** | 1 of 4 | **Sterling Capital South Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund** |

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The portfolio manager may consider selling a security owned by the Fund to reposition the Fund along the yield curve, to adjust the Fund's average maturity or duration, to replace a security with one that the portfolio manager believes offers greater total return potential, or to exit a security whose credit fundamentals are deteriorating.

The Fund is non-diversified and, therefore, may invest in a limited number of issuers.

**Principal Risks** 

All investments carry a certain amount of risk and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. Below are the principal risks of investing in the Fund.

**Interest Rate Risk:** The possibility that the value of the Fund's investments will decline due to an increase in interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally higher for longer-term debt instruments and lower for shorter-term debt instruments.

**State-Specific Risk:** By concentrating its investments in securities issued by South Carolina and its political subdivisions, the Fund may be more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in South Carolina (*e.g.*, adverse changes in South Carolina economic conditions, government policies or tax revenues and expenditures) than funds that are more geographically diversified.

**Credit Risk:** The possibility that an issuer cannot make timely interest and principal payments on its debt securities such as bonds. The lower a security's rating, the greater its credit risk. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly.

**Tax Risk:** The risk that the issuer of the securities will fail to comply with certain requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, which would cause adverse tax consequences. Changes or proposed changes in federal or state tax laws may cause the prices of tax-exempt securities to fall and/or may affect the tax-exempt status of the securities in which the Fund invests.

**Municipal Securities Risk:** Municipal obligations are issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the United States and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities and the District of Columbia to obtain funds for various public purposes. Municipal obligations are subject to more credit risk than U.S. government securities that are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States. The ability of municipalities to meet their obligations will depend on the availability of tax and other revenues, economic, political and other conditions within the state and municipality, and the underlying fiscal condition of the state and municipality. As with other fixed income securities, municipal securities also expose their holders to market risk because their values typically change as interest rates fluctuate.

**Non-Diversified Risk:** Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a particular issuer compared with other funds. Accordingly, the Fund's portfolio may be more sensitive to changes in the market value of a single issuer or industry.

**Prepayment/Call Risk:** When obligations are prepaid and when securities are called, the Fund may have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield or fail to recover additional amounts (*i.e.*, premiums) paid for securities with higher interest rates, resulting in an unexpected capital loss. Call risk is the possibility that, during periods of declining interest rates, a bond issuer will "call" — or repay — higher-yielding bonds before their stated maturity date. In both cases, investors receive their principal back and are typically forced to reinvest it in bonds that pay lower interest rates.

**Estimated Maturity Risk:** The possibility that an underlying security holder will exercise its right to pay principal on an obligation earlier or later than expected. This may happen when there is a rise or fall in interest rates. These events may shorten or lengthen the duration (*i.e.*, interest rate sensitivity) and potentially reduce the value of these securities.

**Income Risk:** The possibility that the Fund's income will decline due to a decrease in interest rates. Income risk is generally higher for shorter-term bonds and lower for longer-term bonds.

**Fixed Income Market Risk:** Fixed income securities markets may, in response to governmental intervention, economic or market developments (including potentially a reduction in the number of broker-dealers willing to engage in market-making activity), or other factors, experience periods of increased volatility and reduced liquidity.

**Counterparty Risk:** The possibility that a counterparty to a contract will default or otherwise become unable to honor a financial obligation.

**Operational and Technology Risk:** Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the Fund's service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the Fund or impairing Fund operations.

**Management Risk:** The risk that an investment technique used by the Fund's portfolio manager may fail to produce the intended result.

For more information about the Fund's risks, please see the "Additional Investment Strategies and Risks" section in this Prospectus.

**Performance** 

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1, 5 and 10 years compared with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. *Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-228-1872.*

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| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| **Summary Prospectus** | 2 of 4 | **Sterling Capital South Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund** |

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&nbsp;&nbsp;**Institutional Shares Annual Total Returns for years ended 12/31**<br>

![](fp0081483-35_sc3.jpg)

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| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| Best quarter: | 3.07% | 12/31/2022 |
| Worst quarter: | -5.13% | 03/31/2022 |

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&nbsp;&nbsp;**Average Annual Total Returns** as of December 31, 2022<br>

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| | | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|
|  | **1 <br> Year**  | **5 <br> Years**  | **10 <br> Years**  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;**Institutional Shares** |  |  |  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Return Before Taxes  | -6.01% | 0.98% | 1.41% |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Return After Taxes on Distributions  | -6.05% | 0.97% | 1.39% |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares  | -2.83% | 1.22% | 1.56% |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;**ICE BofA Merrill Lynch 2-17 Year Municipal Bond Index**  |  |  |  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses, or taxes)  | -6.48% | 1.42% | 2.00% |

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After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

**Management** 

**Investment Adviser** 

Sterling Capital Management LLC ("Sterling Capital")

**Portfolio Managers** 

Robert F. Millikan, CFA<br> Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Lead Portfolio Manager<br> Since February 2000

Michael P. McVicker<br> Executive Director of Sterling Capital and Associate Portfolio Manager<br> Since February 2016

**Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares**

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| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| &nbsp;&nbsp;**Account Type**  | **Minimum <br> Initial <br> Investment\*** | **Minimum <br> Subsequent <br> Investment**  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Regular Account | $1000000  | $0  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;Automatic Investment Plan | $1000000 | $25 |

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\* Investors purchasing shares through Truist Bank, its affiliates or other financial service providers or intermediaries approved by the Fund and other investors approved by the Fund are not subject to a minimum initial investment requirement.

You may buy or sell Institutional Shares of the Fund through procedures established by the Fund in connection with the requirements of fiduciary, advisory, agency, custodial and other similar accounts maintained by or on behalf of customers of Truist Bank or one of its affiliates or other financial service providers or intermediaries approved by the Fund. These parties are responsible for transmitting orders by close of business. Institutional Shares are available for purchase on any business day when the New York Stock Exchange (the NYSE) is open for regular trading. Please contact your investment representative or institution or the Funds directly at 1-800-228-1872 for more information regarding purchasing, redeeming and exchanging shares. In addition, Institutional Shares are available for purchase at www.sterlingcapitalfunds.com.

**Tax Information** 

Distributions of the Fund's net interest income from tax-exempt securities generally are not subject to federal income tax, but may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax and to state and local taxes. Distributions of the Fund's net interest income from South Carolina Tax-Exempt Obligations generally are not subject to South Carolina personal income tax. A portion of the Fund's distributions may not qualify as exempt-interest dividends; such distributions will generally be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal) or an individual retirement plan (which may be taxable upon withdrawal).

**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 Web site for more information.

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| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| **Summary Prospectus** | 3 of 4 | **Sterling Capital South Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund** |

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SCTF-I-0223

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| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| **Summary Prospectus** | 4 of 4 | **Sterling Capital South Carolina Intermediate Tax-Free Fund** |

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