# EDGAR Filing Document

**Accession Number:** 0000891944
**File Stem:** 0000898531-23-000086
**Filing Date:** 2023-2
**Character Count:** 16715
**Document Hash:** 66783372eb89c3d1b75a319313677366
**Contains OCR:** False
**Source Format:** 

## Filing Content

## Filing Summary
**0000898531-23-000086.hdr.sgml**: 20230228

**ACCESSION NUMBER**: 0000898531-23-000086

**CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE**: 497K

**PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT**: 5

**FILED AS OF DATE**: 20230228

**DATE AS OF CHANGE**: 20230228

**EFFECTIVENESS DATE**: 20230228

**FILER**: 

**COMPANY DATA:**
- **COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:** HENNESSY FUNDS TRUST
- **CENTRAL INDEX KEY:** 0000891944
- **IRS NUMBER:** 000000000
- **STATE OF INCORPORATION:** DE
- **FISCAL YEAR END:** 0630

**FILING VALUES:**
- **FORM TYPE:** 497K
- **SEC ACT:** 1933 Act
- **SEC FILE NUMBER:** 033-52154
- **FILM NUMBER:** 23683618

**BUSINESS ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** 7250  REDWOOD BOULEVARD
- **STREET 2:** SUITE 200
- **CITY:** NOVATO
- **STATE:** CA
- **ZIP:** 94945
- **BUSINESS PHONE:** 8009664354

**MAIL ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** C/O US BANCORP FUND SERVICES, LLC
- **STREET 2:** 615 E MICHIGAN ST MK-WI-LC-2
- **CITY:** MILWAUKEE
- **STATE:** WI
- **ZIP:** 53202

**FORMER COMPANY:**
- **FORMER CONFORMED NAME:** HENLOPEN FUND
- **DATE OF NAME CHANGE:** 19921217

## Series and Classes Contracts Data

### Hennessy Cornerstone Large Growth Fund (Series ID: S000019531)

| Class ID   | Class Name          | Ticker Symbol   |
|:---|:---|:---|
| C000054248 | Investor Class      | HFLGX           |
| C000074662 | Institutional Class | HILGX           |

Filed pursuant to Rule 497(k)<br>

1933 Act File No. 033-52154<br>

1940 Act File No. 811-07168<br>

![](hennessy_funds-logo.jpg)

HENNESSY CORNERSTONE LARGE GROWTH FUND

*Investor Class* **HFLGX \|** *Institutional Class* **HILGX**

#### Summary Prospectus

#### February 28, 2023

![](hf-hcgfhcmc30fhclgfhcvf.jpg)

![](hf-investuncomplogo.jpg)

------

hennessyfunds.com \| 1-800-966-4354

*The Fund's Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated February 28, 2023, as supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's Prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund's Prospectus, reports to shareholders, and other information about the Fund at no cost online at www.hennessyfunds.com/funds/fund-documents, by calling 1-800-966-4354 or 1-415-899-1555, or by emailing fundsinfo@hennessyfunds.com.*

------

### Investment Objective
The Hennessy Cornerstone Large Growth Fund seeks long-term growth of capital.

### Fund Fees and Expenses
The following 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.

---

| | | | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|
| **SHAREHOLDER FEES** |  | <u>Investor</u> |  | <u>Institutional</u> |
| *(fees paid directly from your investment)* |  |  |  |  |
| **ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES** |  |  |  |  |
| *(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)* |  |  |  |  |
| Management Fees |  | 0.74% |  | 0.74% |
| Distribution and Service *(12b-1)* Fees |  | 0.15% |  |  |
| Other Expenses |  | <u>0.41%</u> |  | <u>0.25%</u> |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Shareholder Servicing | 0.10% |  |  |  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Remaining Other Expenses | 0.31% |  | 0.25% |  |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |  | <u>1.30%</u> |  | <u>0.99%</u> |

---

#### EXAMPLE

#### <br>
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of this 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 you reinvest all dividends and distributions, 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 those assumptions, your costs would be:

---

| | | | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|
|  | <u>One Year</u> | <u>Three Years</u> | <u>Five Years</u> | <u>Ten Years</u> |
| Investor | $132 | $412 | $713 | $1568 |
| Institutional | $101 | $315 | $547 | $1213 |

---

### 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 76% of the average value of its portfolio.

### Principal Investment Strategy
The Fund may invest in any company whose securities are listed on a U.S. national securities exchange, but not through American Depositary Receipts, which are U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers listed on U.S. national securities exchanges. The Fund invests in growth-oriented common stocks of larger companies by utilizing a quantitative formula known as the Cornerstone Large Growth Formula (the "Large Growth Formula"). Beginning with the investable common stocks of public companies in the S&P Capital IQ Database, the Large Growth Formula identifies the 50 common stocks that meet the following criteria, in the specified order:

**1)** **Above-average market capitalization**

**2)** **Price-to-cash flow ratio less than the median of the remaining securities**

**3)** **Positive total capital**

**4)** **Highest one-year return on total capital**

The Fund purchases these 50 stocks weighted equally by dollar amount, with 2% of the portfolio's assets invested in each. Using the Large Growth Formula, the universe of stocks is re-screened and the portfolio is rebalanced annually, generally in the winter. Stocks meeting the Large Growth Formula's criteria not currently in the portfolio are purchased, and stocks that no longer meet the criteria are sold. Holdings of all stocks in the Fund that continue to meet the criteria are appropriately increased or decreased to result in an equal 2% weighting.

### Principal Risks
As with any security, there are market and investment risks associated with an investment in the Fund. The value of an investment will fluctuate over time, and it is possible to lose money. The principal risks of investing in the Fund include the following:

**Formula Investing Risk:** The Fund will adhere to the Large Growth Formula during the course of the year, subject to applicable Securities and Exchange Commission requirements and federal tax requirements relating to mutual funds, regardless of any adverse developments that may arise. This could result in substantial losses to the Fund if, for example, the stocks selected for the Fund in a given year are experiencing financial difficulty or are out of favor with investors.

**Growth and Value Investing Risk:** Growth and value securities may perform differently from the market as a whole and may fall out of favor with investors at times. Growth securities typically are very sensitive to market movements because their market prices tend to reflect future expectations. When it appears those expectations will not be met, the prices of growth securities typically fall. Value securities may remain undervalued, their undervaluation may become more severe, or their perceived undervaluation may actually represent their intrinsic value.

**Medium-Sized Company Risk:** The Fund may invest in medium-sized companies, which may have more limited liquidity and greater price volatility than larger, more established companies.

**Market and Equity Investments Risk:** The market value of a security may move up or down, and these fluctuations may cause a

------

security to be worth more or less than the price originally paid for it. Market risk may affect a single company, an industry, a sector of the economy, or the market as a whole. The value of equity securities fluctuate due to many factors, including the past and predicted earnings of the issuer, the quality of the issuer's management, general market conditions, political and other events, forecasts for the issuer's industry, and the value of the issuer's assets.

**Tax Law Change Risk**: Tax law is subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect, or to different interpretations. For example, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will add a 15% alternative minimum tax on large corporations and a 1% excise tax on issuer stock repurchases. Such legislation, as well as possible future U.S. tax legislation and administrative guidance, could materially affect the value of or tax consequences of your investment in the Fund. Prospective shareholders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the impact to them of possible changes in tax laws.

### Performance Information
The following performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in its performance from year to year and how the Fund's average annual returns for one, five, and ten years compare with those of indices that reflect broad measures of market performance, the Russell 1000<sup>®</sup> Index and the S&P 500<sup>®</sup> Index. For additional information on these indices, please see "Descriptions of Indices" on page 68 of the Prospectus. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of future performance. Performance may be higher or lower in the future. Updated performance information is available at www.hennessyfunds.com.

#### HENNESSY CORNERSTONE LARGE GROWTH FUND

#### CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS OF INVESTOR SHARES

![](hclgf-barchart.jpg)

For the period shown in the bar chart, the Fund's highest quarterly return was 22.43% for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, and the lowest quarterly return was -28.85% for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.

Performance of the Fund's Institutional Class shares differs from that of the Fund's Investor Class shares because the share classes have different expenses.

#### AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
*(for the periods ended December 31, 2022)*

** 

<br> ---

| | | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|
|  | One | Five | Ten |
|  | <u>Year</u> | <u>Years</u> | <u>Years</u> |
| ***Hennessy Cornerstone Large*** |  |  |  |
| ***&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Growth Fund – Investor Shares*** |  |  |  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Return before taxes | -13.31% | 7.41% | 10.79% |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Return after taxes |  |  |  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;on distributions | -16.60% | 4.50% | 7.97% |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Return after taxes |  |  |  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;on distributions and |  |  |  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;sale of Fund shares | -5.41% | 5.60% | 8.33% |
| ***Hennessy Cornerstone Large*** |  |  |  |
| ***&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Growth Fund – Institutional Shares*** |  |  |  |
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Return before taxes | -13.06% | 7.71% | 11.06% |
| ***Russell 1000<sup>®</sup> Index*** |  |  |  |
| *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(reflects no deduction for* |  |  |  |
| *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;fees, expenses, or taxes)* | -19.13% | 9.13% | 12.37% |
| ***S&P 500<sup>®</sup> Index*** |  |  |  |
| *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(reflects no deduction for* |  |  |  |
| *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;fees, expenses, or taxes)* | -18.11% | 9.42% | 12.56% |

---

The after-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual stated federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an individual investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown, and the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns are shown for Investor Class shares only, and after-tax returns for Institutional Class shares will vary. The Fund's "return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares" may be higher than its "return before taxes" or its "return after taxes on distributions" because it may include a tax benefit due to the capital losses generated by the sale of Fund shares.

### Investment Manager
Hennessy Advisors, Inc. is the investment manager of the Fund.

### Portfolio Managers
Neil J. Hennessy, Ryan C. Kelley, CFA, and L. Joshua Wein, CAIA, are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the portfolio of the Fund and for developing and executing the Fund's investment program. Mr. Hennessy has served as a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since its inception, has served as the Chief Market Strategist of the Hennessy Funds since March 2021, and has been the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Investment Manager since its organization in 1989. Mr. Kelley has served as a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since February 2017, has served as the Chief Investment Officer of the Hennessy Funds since March 2021, and has been employed by the Investment Manager since 2012. Mr. Wein has served as a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since February 2021, as a Co-Portfolio Manager from February 2019 until February 2021, and previously served as a Senior Portfolio Analyst of the Fund from the time he joined the Investment Manager in September 2018 until February 2019.

------

### Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Institutional Class shares are available only to shareholders who invest directly in Fund shares or who invest through certain broker-dealers or financial institutions that have entered into appropriate arrangements with a Fund.

To purchase Fund shares, you may contact your broker-dealer or other financial intermediary. To purchase Fund shares directly from the Hennessy Funds, or for assistance with completing your application, please call 1-800-966-4354 or 1-415-899-1555 between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Eastern time/6:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Pacific time on Monday through Thursday or between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern time/6:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Pacific time on Friday (excluding holidays). You may buy Fund shares any day the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") is open.

The minimum initial investment in Investor Class shares of a Fund is $2,500 for regular accounts and $250 for Individual Retirement Accounts. The minimum initial investment in Institutional Class shares of a Fund is $250,000. For corporate-sponsored retirement plans, there is no minimum initial investment for either Investor Class or Institutional Class shares. There is no subsequent minimum investment requirement. A $100 minimum exists for each additional investment made through an Automatic Investment Plan. The Funds may waive the minimum investment requirements from time to time. Investors purchasing Fund shares through financial intermediaries' asset-based fee programs may have the above minimums waived by their intermediary, since the intermediary, rather than the Funds, absorbs the increased costs of small purchases.

You may redeem Fund shares each day the NYSE is open either by mail (Hennessy Funds, c/o U.S. Bank Global Fund Services, P.O. Box 701, Milwaukee, WI 53201-0701) or by calling the Transfer Agent at 1-800-261-6950 between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Eastern time/6:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Pacific time on Monday through Friday (excluding holidays). Investors who wish to redeem Fund shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary should contact the intermediary regarding the hours during which orders to redeem Fund shares may be placed.

### Tax Information
The Funds' distributions generally will be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains regardless of whether they are paid in cash or reinvested in Fund shares, unless you invest through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case such distributions may be taxable at a later date.

### Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Funds and their related companies may pay the intermediary for performing shareholder services or distribution-related services for the Funds. If made, these payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your financial adviser to recommend a Fund over another investment. Ask your financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.

<br>