Federated Equity Funds N-CSRS Certified semi-annual shareholder report (management investment company)

United States

Securities and Exchange Commission

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form N-CSR

Certified Shareholder Report of Registered Management Investment Companies

811-4017

(Investment Company Act File Number)

Federated Hermes Equity Funds

______________________________________________________________

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

Federated Hermes Funds

4000 Ericsson Drive

Warrendale, PA 15086-7561

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

(412) 288-1900

(Registrant's Telephone Number)

Peter J. Germain, Esquire

1001 Liberty Avenue

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222-3779

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

(Notices should be sent to the Agent for Service)

Date of Fiscal Year End: 09/30/22

Date of Reporting Period: Six months ended 03/31/22

Item 1. Reports to Stockholders

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

March 31, 2022

 

 

Share Class | Ticker	A | VSFAX	C | VSFCX	R | VSFRX
	Institutional | VSFIX	R6 | VSFSX

Federated Hermes Clover Small Value Fund

Successor to the Touchstone Diversified Small Cap Value Fund Established 1996

A Portfolio of Federated Hermes Equity Funds

Dear Valued Shareholder,

We are pleased to present the Semi-Annual Shareholder Report for your fund covering the period from October 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022. This report includes a complete listing of your fund’s holdings, performance information and financial statements along with other important fund information.

As a global leader in active, responsible investment management, Federated Hermes is guided by our conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term. The company provides capabilities across a wide range of asset classes to investors around the world.

In addition, FederatedInvestors.com offers quick and easy access to valuable resources that include timely fund updates, economic and market insights from our investment strategists and financial planning tools. You can also access many of those insights by following us on Twitter (@FederatedHermes) and LinkedIn.

Thank you for investing with us. We hope you find this information useful and look forward to keeping you informed.

Sincerely,
 

J. Christopher Donahue, President

Not FDIC Insured ▪ May Lose Value ▪ No Bank Guarantee

CONTENTS 

Portfolio of Investments Summary Table	1
Portfolio of Investments	2
Financial Highlights	7
Statement of Assets and Liabilities	12
Statement of Operations	14
Statement of Changes in Net Assets	15
Notes to Financial Statements	16
Shareholder Expense Example	26
Evaluation and Approval of Advisory Contract	28
Liquidity Risk Management Program – Annual Evaluation of Adequacy and Effectiveness	38
Voting Proxies on Fund Portfolio Securities	40
Quarterly Portfolio Schedule	40

Portfolio of Investments Summary Table (unaudited)

At March 31, 2022, the Fund’s sector composition1 was as follows: 

Sector Composition	Percentage of Total Net Assets
Financials	26.1%
Industrials	11.7%
Real Estate	11.6%
Energy	9.0%
Information Technology	8.6%
Consumer Discretionary	8.0%
Health Care	7.5%
Utilities	5.3%
Materials	3.8%
Communication Services	3.6%
Consumer Staples	2.3%
Cash Equivalents2	3.4%
Other Assets and Liabilities—Net3	(0.9)%
TOTAL	100%

 

1	Except for Cash Equivalents and Other Assets and Liabilities, sector classifications are based upon, and individual portfolio securities are assigned to, the classifications of the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) except that the Adviser assigns a classification to securities not classified by the GICS and to securities for which the Adviser does not have access to the classification made by the GICS.
2	Cash Equivalents include any investments in money market mutual funds and/or overnight repurchase agreements.
3	Assets, other than investments in securities, less liabilities. See Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

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Portfolio of Investments

March 31, 2022 (unaudited) 

Shares			Value
		COMMON STOCKS—   97.5%
		Communication Services—   3.6%
192,161		Gray Television, Inc.	$  4,240,993
116,175	1	Liberty Latin America Ltd.	1,114,118
10,928		Nexstar Media Group, Inc., Class A	2,059,710
		TOTAL	7,414,821
		Consumer Discretionary—   8.0%
25,299	1	Adient PLC	1,031,440
62,430		Bloomin Brands, Inc.	1,369,714
35,906		Boyd Gaming Corp.	2,361,897
21,712		Jack in the Box, Inc.	2,028,118
10,186	1	LGI Homes, Inc.	994,969
33,132		Macy’s, Inc.	807,096
40,816		Monro Inc.	1,809,781
19,372		Steven Madden Ltd.	748,534
57,959		Travel + Leisure Co.	3,358,144
16,329	1	Visteon Corp.	1,781,984
		TOTAL	16,291,677
		Consumer Staples—   2.3%
54,638	1	Hostess Brands, Inc.	1,198,758
96,146	1	Mission Produce, Inc.	1,216,247
12,627		PriceSmart, Inc.	995,891
87,733		Primo Water Corp.	1,250,195
		TOTAL	4,661,091
		Energy—   9.0%
109,864	1	Antero Resources Corp.	3,354,148
43,909		Civitas Resources, Inc.	2,621,806
90,608		Ovintiv, Inc.	4,899,175
55,850		PDC Energy, Inc.	4,059,178
84,792		SM Energy Co.	3,302,648
		TOTAL	18,236,955
		Financials—   26.1%
62,445		American Equity Investment Life Holding Co.	2,492,180
27,549		Argo Group International Holdings Ltd.	1,137,223
99,462	1	Blucora, Inc.	1,944,482
112,177		Cadence Bank	3,282,299
55,648		CNO Financial Group, Inc.	1,396,208
42,685		Cowen Group, Inc.	1,156,764
185,250		First Commonwealth Financial Corp.	2,808,390

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Shares			Value
		COMMON STOCKS—   continued
		Financials—   continued
63,584		First Interstate BancSystem, Inc., Class A	$  2,337,984
53,041		Hancock Whitney Corp.	2,766,088
14,770		Hanover Insurance Group, Inc.	2,208,410
163,695		KKR Real Estate Finance Trust, Inc.	3,373,754
221,500		OceanFirst Financial Corp.	4,452,150
81,626		Old National Bancorp	1,337,034
77,527		Radian Group, Inc.	1,721,875
12,631		Selective Insurance Group, Inc.	1,128,706
20,704		Stifel Financial Corp.	1,405,802
91,224		Synovus Financial Corp.	4,469,976
72,931		United Community Banks, Inc.	2,537,999
168,080		Valley National Bancorp	2,188,402
70,314		Veritex Holdings, Inc.	2,683,885
42,293		Wintrust Financial Corp.	3,930,288
48,234		WSFS Financial Corp.	2,248,669
		TOTAL	53,008,568
		Health Care—   7.5%
92,216	1	AdaptHealth Corp.	1,478,223
94,372	1	Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	1,168,325
56,034	1	Envista Holdings Corp.	2,729,416
53,240	1	Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.	2,123,211
24,679	1	Harmony Biosciences Holdings, Inc.	1,200,633
18,835	1	Syneos Health, Inc.	1,524,693
32,690	1	Tenet Healthcare Corp.	2,810,033
54,555	1	TransMedics Group, Inc.	1,469,712
29,200	1	Turning Point Therapeutics, Inc.	784,020
		TOTAL	15,288,266
		Industrials—   11.7%
59,108	1,2	APi Group Corp.	1,243,041
20,395		Arcosa, Inc.	1,167,614
3,031	1	Avis Budget Group, Inc.	798,062
28,600		BWX Technologies, Inc.	1,540,396
25,246	1	Casella Waste Systems, Inc.	2,212,812
14,859		Emcor Group, Inc.	1,673,569
14,242		EnPro Industries, Inc.	1,391,871
30,799		H&E Equipment Services, Inc.	1,340,373
8,891		Herc Holdings, Inc.	1,485,597
35,386	1	Kirby Corp.	2,554,515
14,897	1	NV5 Holdings, Inc.	1,985,770
29,949		Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc., Class A	1,464,207
28,957	1	SPX Corp.	1,430,765

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Shares			Value
		COMMON STOCKS—   continued
		Industrials—   continued
28,171		Werner Enterprises, Inc.	$  1,155,011
18,545	1	WESCO International, Inc.	2,413,446
		TOTAL	23,857,049
		Information Technology—   8.6%
12,723	1	Diodes, Inc.	1,106,774
157,992	1	Mitek Systems, Inc.	2,317,742
197,428	1	Moneygram International, Inc.	2,084,840
196,362	1	TTM Technologies, Inc.	2,910,085
58,648	1	Turtle Beach Corp.	1,248,616
26,818	1	Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc.	1,136,815
60,937	1	Verint Systems, Inc.	3,150,443
141,238		Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.	2,768,265
162,986	1	Voyager Digital Ltd.	872,480
		TOTAL	17,596,060
		Materials—   3.8%
18,240		Alcoa Corp.	1,642,147
29,651	1	Allegheny Technologies, Inc.	795,833
13,466		Ashland Global Holdings, Inc.	1,325,189
24,981		Commercial Metals Corp.	1,039,709
259,575	1,3	Ferroglobe Representation & Warranty Insurance Trust	0
21,458	1	MP Materials Corp.	1,230,402
80,516		Tronox Holdings PLC	1,593,412
		TOTAL	7,626,692
		Real Estate—   11.6%
117,410		Corporate Office Properties Trust	3,350,881
97,249		Easterly Government Properties, Inc.	2,055,844
64,142		EPR PPTYS	3,509,209
109,639		Independence Realty Trust	2,898,855
133,334		Kite Realty Group Trust	3,036,015
135,388		LXP Industrial Trust	2,125,592
156,962		Retail Opportunity Investments Corp.	3,043,493
38,134	1	Ryman Hospitality Properties	3,537,691
		TOTAL	23,557,580
		Utilities—   5.3%
44,632		Idacorp, Inc.	5,148,748
102,055		Portland General Electric Co.	5,628,333
		TOTAL	10,777,081
		TOTAL COMMON STOCKS (IDENTIFIED COST $163,441,191)	198,315,840

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Shares		Value
	INVESTMENT COMPANY—   3.4%
6,951,481	Federated Hermes Institutional Prime Value Obligations Fund, Institutional Shares, 0.34%4 (IDENTIFIED COST $6,948,420)	$  6,948,700
	TOTAL INVESTMENT IN SECURITIES—100.9% (IDENTIFIED COST $170,389,611)5	205,264,540
	OTHER ASSETS AND LIABILITIES - NET—(0.9)%6	(1,786,630)
	TOTAL NET ASSETS—100%	$203,477,910

Affiliated fund holdings are investment companies which are managed by the Adviser or an affiliate of the Adviser. Transactions with affiliated fund holdings during the period ended March 31, 2022, were as follows: 

	Federated Hermes Institutional Prime Value Obligations Fund, Institutional Shares
Value as of 9/30/2021	$4,837,957
Purchases at Cost	$34,935,849
Proceeds from Sales	$(32,821,851)
Change in Unrealized Appreciation/Depreciation	$21
Net Realized Gain/(Loss)	$(3,276)
Value as of 3/31/2022	$6,948,700
Shares Held as of 3/31/2022	6,951,481
Dividend Income	$1,848
Gain Distributions Received	$764

 

1	Non-income-producing security.
2	Denotes a restricted security that either: (a) cannot be offered for public sale without first being registered, or availing of an exemption from registration, under the Securities Act of 1933; or (b) is subject to a contractual restriction on public sales. At March 31, 2022, these restricted securities amounted to $1,243,041, which represented 0.6% of total net assets.
3	Market quotations and price evaluations are not available. Fair value determined using significant unobservable inputs in accordance with procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Trustees”).
4	7-day net yield.
5	Also represents cost of investments for federal tax purposes.
6	Assets, other than investments in securities, less liabilities. See Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

Note: The categories of investments are shown as a percentage of total net assets at March 31, 2022.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the Fund’s investments. These inputs are summarized in the three broad levels listed below:

Level 1—quoted prices in active markets for identical securities.

Level 2—other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.). Also includes securities valued at amortized cost.

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Level 3—significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments).

The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities.

The following is a summary of the inputs used, as of March 31, 2022, in valuing the Fund’s assets carried at fair value: 

Valuation Inputs
	Level 1— Quoted Prices	Level 2— Other Significant Observable Inputs	Level 3— Significant Unobservable Inputs	Total
Equity Securities:
Common Stocks
Domestic	$190,148,647	$—	$0	$190,148,647
International	8,167,193	—	—	8,167,193
Investment Company	6,948,700	—	—	6,948,700
TOTAL SECURITIES	$205,264,540	$—	$0	$205,264,540

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Financial Highlights–Class A Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 3/31/2022	Year Ended September 30,
		2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$28.03	$17.10	$19.23	$26.36	$29.16	$24.82
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income (loss)1	0.06	0.10	0.03	0.05	0.02	0.17
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	1.00	10.86	(2.09)	(3.03)	1.47	4.80
Total From Investment Operations	1.06	10.96	(2.06)	(2.98)	1.49	4.97
Less Distributions:
Distributions from net investment income	(0.08)	(0.03)	(0.07)	(0.02)	(0.11)	(0.14)
Distributions from net realized gain	(2.25)	—	—	(4.13)	(4.18)	(0.49)
Total Distributions	(2.33)	(0.03)	(0.07)	(4.15)	(4.29)	(0.63)
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$26.76	$28.03	$17.10	$19.23	$26.36	$29.16
Total Return2	3.71%	64.10%	(10.77)%	(11.25)%	5.64%	20.24%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses3	1.13%4	1.23%	1.26%	1.26%	1.27%	1.27%
Net investment income	0.45%4	0.38%	0.16%	0.26%	0.09%	0.64%
Expense waiver/reimbursement5	0.33%4	0.30%	0.21%	0.21%	0.16%	0.17%
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$68,900	$70,636	$45,527	$62,463	$94,210	$102,606
Portfolio turnover6	44%	86%	89%	74%	84%	66%

 

1	Per share numbers have been calculated using the average shares method.
2	Based on net asset value, which does not reflect the sales charge, redemption fee or contingent deferred sales charge, if applicable. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
3	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
4	Computed on an annualized basis.
5	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and the net investment income ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
6	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Financial Highlights–Class C Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 3/31/2022	Year Ended September 30,
		2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$25.75	$15.81	$17.85	$24.95	$27.91	$23.83
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income (loss)1	(0.04)	(0.09)	(0.10)	(0.09)	(0.17)	(0.03)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	0.91	10.03	(1.94)	(2.88)	1.39	4.60
Total From Investment Operations	0.87	9.94	(2.04)	(2.97)	1.22	4.57
Less Distributions:
Distributions from net realized gain	(2.25)	—	—	(4.13)	(4.18)	(0.49)
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$24.37	$25.75	$15.81	$17.85	$24.95	$27.91
Total Return2	3.28%	62.87%	(11.43)%	(11.94)%	4.82%	19.34%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses3	1.92%4	2.00%	2.04%	2.01%	2.02%	2.02%
Net investment income (loss)	(0.35)%4	(0.40)%	(0.63)%	(0.50)%	(0.68)%	(0.12)%
Expense waiver/reimbursement5	0.31%4	0.28%	0.22%	0.18%	0.15%	0.16%
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$7,459	$8,074	$5,716	$9,446	$16,028	$22,462
Portfolio turnover6	44%	86%	89%	74%	84%	66%

 

1	Per share numbers have been calculated using the average shares method.
2	Based on net asset value, which does not reflect the sales charge, redemption fee or contingent deferred sales charge, if applicable. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
3	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
4	Computed on an annualized basis.
5	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and the net investment income (loss) ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
6	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Financial Highlights–Class R Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 3/31/2022	Year Ended September 30,
		2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$27.44	$16.74	$18.83	$25.93	$28.78	$24.51
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income (loss)1	0.05	0.09	0.03	0.05	0.02	0.16
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	0.98	10.64	(2.05)	(2.99)	1.43	4.74
Total From Investment Operations	1.03	10.73	(2.02)	(2.94)	1.45	4.90
Less Distributions:
Distributions from net investment income	(0.08)	(0.03)	(0.07)	(0.03)	(0.12)	(0.14)
Distributions from net realized gain	(2.25)	—	—	(4.13)	(4.18)	(0.49)
Total Distributions	(2.33)	(0.03)	(0.07)	(4.16)	(4.30)	(0.63)
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$26.14	$27.44	$16.74	$18.83	$25.93	$28.78
Total Return2	3.66%	64.12%	(10.78)%	(11.27)%	5.58%	20.22%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses3	1.22%4	1.25%	1.27%	1.32%	1.29%	1.28%
Net investment income	0.37%4	0.38%	0.16%	0.24%	0.08%	0.61%
Expense waiver/reimbursement5	0.46%4	0.51%	0.46%	0.40%	0.36%	0.36%
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$14,644	$14,260	$9,646	$13,675	$16,013	$15,302
Portfolio turnover6	44%	86%	89%	74%	84%	66%

 

1	Per share numbers have been calculated using the average shares method.
2	Based on net asset value. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
3	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
4	Computed on an annualized basis.
5	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and the net investment income ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
6	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Financial Highlights–Institutional Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 3/31/2022	Year Ended September 30,
		2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$28.11	$17.13	$19.29	$26.48	$29.30	$24.93
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income (loss)1	0.10	0.16	0.07	0.10	0.09	0.24
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	1.00	10.89	(2.08)	(3.06)	1.47	4.83
Total From Investment Operations	1.10	11.05	(2.01)	(2.96)	1.56	5.07
Less Distributions:
Distributions from net investment income	(0.16)	(0.07)	(0.15)	(0.10)	(0.20)	(0.21)
Distributions from net realized gain	(2.25)	—	—	(4.13)	(4.18)	(0.49)
Total Distributions	(2.41)	(0.07)	(0.15)	(4.23)	(4.38)	(0.70)
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$26.80	$28.11	$17.13	$19.29	$26.48	$29.30
Total Return2	3.83%	64.63%	(10.57)%	(11.05)%	5.87%	20.56%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses3	0.88%4	0.96%	1.01%	1.01%	1.01%	1.02%
Net investment income	0.71%4	0.64%	0.36%	0.50%	0.32%	0.87%
Expense waiver/reimbursement5	0.32%4	0.31%	0.22%	0.16%	0.12%	0.13%
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$104,741	$97,317	$63,019	$203,935	$333,887	$467,881
Portfolio turnover6	44%	86%	89%	74%	84%	66%

 

1	Per share numbers have been calculated using the average shares method.
2	Based on net asset value. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
3	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
4	Computed on an annualized basis.
5	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and the net investment income ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
6	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Financial Highlights–Class R6 Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 3/31/2022	Year Ended September 30,
		2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$28.13	$17.15	$19.21	$26.39	$29.19	$24.84
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income (loss)1	0.11	0.18	0.09	0.08	0.14	0.25
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	1.00	10.89	(2.09)	(3.02)	1.44	4.80
Total From Investment Operations	1.11	11.07	(2.00)	(2.94)	1.58	5.05
Less Distributions:
Distributions from net investment income	(0.17)	(0.09)	(0.06)	(0.11)	(0.20)	(0.21)
Distributions from net realized gain	(2.25)	—	—	(4.13)	(4.18)	(0.49)
Total Distributions	(2.42)	(0.09)	(0.06)	(4.24)	(4.38)	(0.70)
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$26.82	$28.13	$17.15	$19.21	$26.39	$29.19
Total Return2	3.88%	64.64%	(10.47)%	(11.00)%	5.98%	20.58%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses3	0.81%4	0.91%	0.94%	0.94%	0.95%	0.95%
Net investment income	0.78%4	0.70%	0.53%	0.37%	0.52%	0.94%
Expense waiver/reimbursement5	0.30%4	0.28%	0.21%	0.14%	0.11%	0.11%
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$7,734	$6,924	$4,644	$8,297	$56,657	$11,006
Portfolio turnover6	44%	86%	89%	74%	84%	66%

 

1	Per share numbers have been calculated using the average shares method.
2	Based on net asset value. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
3	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
4	Computed on an annualized basis.
5	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and the net investment income ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
6	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Statement of Assets and Liabilities
March 31, 2022 (unaudited)

 

Assets:
Investment in securities, at value including $6,948,700 of investments in an affiliated holding* (identified cost $170,389,611)	$205,264,540
Cash	11,954
Income receivable	331,693
Income receivable from an affiliated holding	1,945
Receivable for shares sold	133,356
Total Assets	205,743,488
Liabilities:
Payable for shares redeemed	2,161,251
Payable for investment adviser fee (Note 5)	3,233
Payable for administrative fee (Note 5)	445
Payable for distribution services fee (Note 5)	8,992
Payable for other service fees (Notes 2 and 5)	16,419
Accrued expenses (Note 5)	75,238
Total Liabilities	2,265,578
Net assets for 7,638,615 shares outstanding	$203,477,910
Net Assets Consist of:
Paid-in capital	$159,439,103
Total distributable earnings (loss)	44,038,807
Total Net Assets	$203,477,910

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Statement of Assets and Liabilities–continued

Net Asset Value, Offering Price and Redemption Proceeds Per Share:
Class A Shares:
Net asset value per share ($68,900,393 ÷ 2,575,134 shares outstanding), no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$26.76
Offering price per share (100/94.50 of $26.76)	$28.32
Redemption proceeds per share	$26.76
Class C Shares:
Net asset value per share ($7,459,009 ÷ 306,092 shares outstanding), no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$24.37
Offering price per share	$24.37
Redemption proceeds per share (99.00/100 of $24.37)	$24.13
Class R Shares:
Net asset value per share ($14,643,676 ÷ 560,308 shares outstanding), no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$26.14
Offering price per share	$26.14
Redemption proceeds per share	$26.14
Institutional Shares:
Net asset value per share ($104,741,019 ÷ 3,908,710 shares outstanding), no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$26.80
Offering price per share	$26.80
Redemption proceeds per share	$26.80
Class R6 Shares:
Net asset value per share ($7,733,813 ÷ 288,371 shares outstanding), no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$26.82
Offering price per share	$26.82
Redemption proceeds per share	$26.82

 

* See information listed after the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Statement of Operations
Six Months Ended March 31, 2022 (unaudited)

 

Investment Income:
Dividends (including $1,848 received from an affiliated holding* and net of foreign taxes withheld of $5,165)	$1,608,944
Expenses:
Investment adviser fee (Note 5)	876,688
Administrative fee (Note 5)	79,823
Custodian fees	6,148
Transfer agent fees (Note 2)	117,179
Directors’/Trustees’ fees (Note 5)	956
Auditing fees	16,576
Legal fees	4,603
Portfolio accounting fees	51,817
Distribution services fee (Note 5)	66,531
Other service fees (Notes 2 and 5)	98,299
Share registration costs	41,257
Printing and postage	12,206
Miscellaneous (Note 5)	13,018
TOTAL EXPENSES	1,385,101
Waivers and Reimbursements:
Waiver/reimbursement of investment adviser fee (Note 5)	(307,896)
Waivers/reimbursement of other operating expenses (Notes 2 and 5)	(30,893)
TOTAL WAIVERS AND REIMBURSEMENTS	(338,789)
Net expenses	1,046,312
Net investment income	562,632
Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments:
Net realized gain on investments (including net realized loss of $(3,276) on sales of investments in an affiliated holding*)	14,361,958
Realized gain distribution from affiliated investment company shares	764
Net change in unrealized appreciation of investments (including net change in unrealized appreciation of $21 on investments in an affiliated holding*)	(7,503,769)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments	6,858,953
Change in net assets resulting from operations	$7,421,585

 

* See information listed after the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Statement of Changes in Net Assets 

 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 3/31/2022	Year Ended 9/30/2021
Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets
Operations:
Net investment income	$562,632	$881,548
Net realized gain (loss)	14,362,722	40,653,585
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation	(7,503,769)	36,905,389
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS	7,421,585	78,440,522
Distributions to Shareholders:
Class A Shares	(5,780,869)	(64,125)
Class C Shares	(647,794)	—
Class R Shares	(1,235,755)	(15,319)
Institutional Shares	(8,200,915)	(251,271)
Class R6 Shares	(639,094)	(22,473)
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM DISTRIBUTIONS TO SHAREHOLDERS	(16,504,427)	(353,188)
Share Transactions:
Proceeds from sale of shares	29,460,925	48,773,298
Net asset value of shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	15,999,603	336,020
Cost of shares redeemed	(30,111,278)	(58,536,923)
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM SHARE TRANSACTIONS	15,349,250	(9,427,605)
Change in net assets	6,266,408	68,659,729
Net Assets:
Beginning of period	197,211,502	128,551,773
End of period	$203,477,910	$197,211,502

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Notes to Financial Statements

March 31, 2022 (unaudited)

1. ORGANIZATION

Federated Hermes Equity Funds (the “Trust”) is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust consists of 8 portfolios. The financial statements included herein are only those of Federated Hermes Clover Small Value Fund (the “Fund”), a diversified portfolio. The financial statements of the other portfolios are presented separately. The assets of each portfolio are segregated and a shareholder’s interest is limited to the portfolio in which shares are held. Each portfolio pays its own expenses. The Fund offers five classes of shares: Class A Shares, Class C Shares, Class R Shares, Institutional Shares and Class R6 Shares. All shares of the Fund have equal rights with respect to voting, except on class-specific matters. The investment objective of the Fund is to seek capital appreciation.

2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The following is a summary of significant accounting policies consistently followed by the Fund in the preparation of its financial statements. These policies are in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Investment Valuation

In calculating its net asset value (NAV), the Fund generally values investments as follows:

◾

Equity securities listed on an exchange or traded through a regulated market system are valued at their last reported sale price or official closing price in their principal exchange or market.

◾

Shares of other mutual funds or non-exchange-traded investment companies are valued based upon their reported NAVs, or NAV per share practical expedient, as applicable.

◾

Derivative contracts listed on exchanges are valued at their reported settlement or closing price, except that options are valued at the mean of closing bid and asked quotations.

◾

Over-the-counter (OTC) derivative contracts are fair valued using price evaluations provided by a pricing service approved by the Trustees.

◾

For securities that are fair valued in accordance with procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Trustees, certain factors may be considered, such as: the last traded or purchase price of the security, information obtained by contacting the issuer or dealers, analysis of the issuer’s financial statements or other available documents, fundamental analytical data, the nature and duration of restrictions on disposition, the movement of the market in which the security is normally traded, public trading in similar securities or derivative contracts of the issuer or comparable issuers, movement of a relevant index, or other factors including but not limited to industry changes and relevant government actions.

If any price, quotation, price evaluation or other pricing source is not readily available when the NAV is calculated, if the Fund cannot obtain price evaluations from a pricing service or from more than one dealer for an investment within a reasonable period of time as set forth in the Fund’s valuation policies and procedures, or if information furnished by a pricing service, in the opinion of the valuation committee (“Valuation

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Committee”), is deemed not representative of the fair value of such security, the Fund uses the fair value of the investment determined in accordance with the procedures described below. There can be no assurance that the Fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it sold the investment at approximately the time at which the Fund determines its NAV per share, and the actual value obtained could be materially different.

Fair Valuation and Significant Events Procedures

The Trustees have ultimate responsibility for determining the fair value of investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have appointed a Valuation Committee comprised of officers of the Fund, Federated Equity Management Company of Pennsylvania (the “Adviser”) and certain of the Adviser’s affiliated companies to assist in determining fair value and in overseeing the calculation of the NAV. The Trustees have also authorized the use of pricing services recommended by the Valuation Committee to provide fair value evaluations of the current value of certain investments for purposes of calculating the NAV. The Valuation Committee employs various methods for reviewing third-party pricing-service evaluations including periodic reviews of third-party pricing services’ policies, procedures and valuation methods (including key inputs, methods, models and assumptions), transactional back-testing, comparisons of evaluations of different pricing services, and review of price challenges by the Adviser based on recent market activity. In the event that market quotations and price evaluations are not available for an investment, the Valuation Committee determines the fair value of the investment in accordance with procedures adopted by the Trustees. The Trustees periodically review and approve the fair valuations made by the Valuation Committee and any changes made to the procedures.

Factors considered by pricing services in evaluating an investment include the yields or prices of investments of comparable quality, coupon, maturity, call rights and other potential prepayments, terms and type, reported transactions, indications as to values from dealers and general market conditions. Some pricing services provide a single price evaluation reflecting the bid-side of the market for an investment (a “bid” evaluation). Other pricing services offer both bid evaluations and price evaluations indicative of a price between the prices bid and asked for the investment (a “mid” evaluation). The Fund normally uses bid evaluations for any U.S. Treasury and Agency securities, mortgage-backed securities and municipal securities. The Fund normally uses mid evaluations for any other types of fixed-income securities and any OTC derivative contracts. In the event that market quotations and price evaluations are not available for an investment, the fair value of the investment is determined in accordance with procedures adopted by the Trustees.

The Trustees also have adopted procedures requiring an investment to be priced at its fair value whenever the Adviser determines that a significant event affecting the value of the investment has occurred between the time as of which the price of the investment would otherwise be determined and the time as of which the NAV is computed. An event is considered significant if there is both an affirmative expectation

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that the investment’s value will change in response to the event and a reasonable basis for quantifying the resulting change in value. Examples of significant events that may occur after the close of the principal market on which a security is traded, or after the time of a price evaluation provided by a pricing service or a dealer, include:

◾

With respect to securities traded principally in foreign markets, significant trends in U.S. equity markets or in the trading of foreign securities index futures contracts;

◾

Political or other developments affecting the economy or markets in which an issuer conducts its operations or its securities are traded;

◾

Announcements concerning matters such as acquisitions, recapitalizations, litigation developments, or a natural disaster affecting the issuer’s operations or regulatory changes or market developments affecting the issuer’s industry.

The Trustees have adopted procedures whereby the Valuation Committee uses a pricing service to provide factors to update the fair value of equity securities traded principally in foreign markets from the time of the close of their respective foreign stock exchanges to the pricing time of the Fund. For other significant events, the Fund may seek to obtain more current quotations or price evaluations from alternative pricing sources. If a reliable alternative pricing source is not available, the Fund will determine the fair value of the investment in accordance with the fair valuation procedures approved by the Trustees. The Trustees have ultimate responsibility for any fair valuations made in response to a significant event.

Repurchase Agreements

The Fund may invest in repurchase agreements for short-term liquidity purposes. It is the policy of the Fund to require the other party to a repurchase agreement to transfer to the Fund’s custodian or sub-custodian eligible securities or cash with a market value (after transaction costs) at least equal to the repurchase price to be paid under the repurchase agreement. The eligible securities are transferred to accounts with the custodian or sub-custodian in which the Fund holds a “securities entitlement” and exercises “control” as those terms are defined in the Uniform Commercial Code. The Fund has established procedures for monitoring the market value of the transferred securities and requiring the transfer of additional eligible securities if necessary to equal at least the repurchase price. These procedures also allow the other party to require securities to be transferred from the account to the extent that their market value exceeds the repurchase price or in exchange for other eligible securities of equivalent market value.

The insolvency of the other party or other failure to repurchase the securities may delay the disposition of the underlying securities or cause the Fund to receive less than the full repurchase price. Under the terms of the repurchase agreement, any amounts received by the Fund in excess of the repurchase price and related transaction costs must be remitted to the other party.

The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements in which eligible securities are transferred into joint trading accounts maintained by the custodian or sub-custodian for investment companies and other clients advised by the Fund’s Adviser and its affiliates. The Fund will participate on a pro rata basis with the other investment companies and clients in its share of the securities transferred under such repurchase agreements and in its share of proceeds from any repurchase or other disposition of such securities.

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Investment Income, Gains and Losses, Expenses and Distributions

Investment transactions are accounted for on a trade-date basis. Realized gains and losses from investment transactions are recorded on an identified-cost basis. Interest income and expenses are accrued daily. Dividend income and distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Foreign dividends are recorded on the ex-dividend date or when the Fund is informed of the ex-dividend date. Distributions of net investment income, if any, are declared and paid annually. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are recorded at fair value. Amortization/accretion of premium and discount is included in investment income. Investment income, realized and unrealized gains and losses, and certain fund-level expenses are allocated to each class based on relative average daily net assets, except that select classes will bear certain expenses unique to those classes. The detail of the total fund expense waivers and reimbursements of $338,789 is disclosed in various locations in this Note 2 and Note 5. Dividends are declared separately for each class. No class has preferential dividend rights; differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses.

Transfer Agent Fees

For the six months ended March 31, 2022, transfer agent fees for the Fund were as follows: 

	Transfer Agent Fees Incurred	Transfer Agent Fees Reimbursed
Class A Shares	$44,150	$(9,264)
Class C Shares	5,330	—
Class R Shares	7,042	(483)
Institutional Shares	59,570	(9,917)
Class R6 Shares	1,087	—
TOTAL	$117,179	$(19,664)

Other Service Fees

The Fund may pay other service fees up to 0.25% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class A Shares and Class C Shares to financial intermediaries or to Federated Shareholder Services Company (FSSC) for providing services to shareholders and maintaining shareholder accounts. Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, FSSC may voluntarily reimburse the Fund for other service fees. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, other service fees for the Fund were as follows: 

	Other Service Fees Incurred
Class A Shares	$88,635
Class C Shares	9,664
TOTAL	$98,299

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Federal Taxes

It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the Subchapter M provision of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) and to distribute to shareholders each year substantially all of its income. Accordingly, no provision for federal income tax is necessary. As of and during the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Fund did not have a liability for any uncertain tax positions. The Fund recognizes interest and penalties, if any, related to tax liabilities as income tax expense in the Statement of Operations. As of March 31, 2022, tax years 2018 through 2021 remain subject to examination by the Fund’s major tax jurisdictions, which include the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Fund may be subject to taxes imposed by governments of countries in which it invests. Such taxes are generally based on either income or gains earned or repatriated. The Fund accrues and applies such taxes to net investment income, net realized gains and net unrealized gains as income and/or gains are earned.

When-Issued and Delayed-Delivery Transactions

The Fund may engage in when-issued or delayed-delivery transactions. The Fund records when-issued securities on the trade date and maintains security positions such that sufficient liquid assets will be available to make payment for the securities purchased. Securities purchased on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis are marked to market daily and begin earning interest on the settlement date. Losses may occur on these transactions due to changes in market conditions or the failure of counterparties to perform under the contract.

Foreign Currency Translation

The accounting records of the Fund are maintained in U.S. dollars. All assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars based on the rates of exchange of such currencies against U.S. dollars on the date of valuation. Purchases and sales of securities, income and expenses are translated at the rate of exchange quoted on the respective date that such transactions are recorded. The Fund does not isolate that portion of the results of operations resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates on investments from the fluctuations arising from changes in market prices of securities held. Such fluctuations are included with the net realized and unrealized gain or loss from investments.

Reported net realized foreign exchange gains or losses arise from sales of foreign currencies, currency gains or losses realized between the trade and settlement dates on securities transactions, the difference between the amounts of dividends, interest and foreign withholding taxes recorded on the Fund’s books, and the U.S. dollar equivalent of the amounts actually received or paid. Net unrealized foreign exchange gains and losses arise from changes in the value of assets and liabilities other than investments in securities at period end, resulting from changes in the exchange rate.

Other

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts of assets, liabilities, expenses and revenues reported in the financial statements. Actual results could differ materially from those estimated. The Fund applies investment company accounting and reporting guidance.

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3. SHARES OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST

The following tables summarize share activity: 

	Six Months Ended 3/31/2022		Year Ended 9/30/2021
Class A Shares:	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	258,290	$7,112,708	509,092	$13,137,958
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	211,600	5,723,775	2,820	63,395
Shares redeemed	(414,587)	(11,409,958)	(654,965)	(16,321,427)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM CLASS A SHARE TRANSACTIONS	55,303	$1,426,525	(143,053)	$(3,120,074)
	Six Months Ended 3/31/2022		Year Ended 9/30/2021
Class C Shares:	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	26,849	$677,470	71,301	$1,715,793
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	26,089	644,136	—	—
Shares redeemed	(60,439)	(1,542,169)	(119,296)	(2,825,136)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM CLASS C SHARE TRANSACTIONS	(7,501)	$(220,563)	(47,995)	$(1,109,343)
	Six Months Ended 3/31/2022		Year Ended 9/30/2021
Class R Shares:	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	69,653	$1,953,633	187,958	$4,777,905
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	46,691	1,234,030	695	15,300
Shares redeemed	(75,744)	(2,070,805)	(245,198)	(6,153,646)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM CLASS R SHARE TRANSACTIONS	40,600	$1,116,858	(56,545)	$(1,360,441)
	Six Months Ended 3/31/2022		Year Ended 9/30/2021
Institutional Shares:	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	672,006	$18,276,997	1,017,776	$27,031,411
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	288,525	7,813,254	10,508	236,426
Shares redeemed	(514,041)	(14,246,592)	(1,243,895)	(30,470,859)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM INSTITUTIONAL SHARE TRANSACTIONS	446,490	$11,843,659	(215,611)	$(3,203,022)

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	Six Months Ended 3/31/2022		Year Ended 9/30/2021
Class R6 Shares:	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	51,643	$1,440,117	80,290	$2,110,231
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	21,573	584,408	928	20,899
Shares redeemed	(30,950)	(841,754)	(105,894)	(2,765,855)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM CLASS R6 SHARE TRANSACTIONS	42,266	$1,182,771	(24,676)	$(634,725)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM TOTAL FUND SHARE TRANSACTIONS	577,158	$15,349,250	(487,880)	$(9,427,605)

4. FEDERAL TAX INFORMATION

At March 31, 2022, the cost of investments for federal tax purposes was $170,389,611. The net unrealized appreciation of investments for federal tax purposes was $34,874,929. This consists of net unrealized appreciation from investments for those securities having an excess of value over cost of $41,178,805 and net unrealized depreciation from investments for those securities having an excess of cost over value of $6,303,876.

5. INVESTMENT ADVISER FEE AND OTHER TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

Investment Adviser Fee

The advisory agreement between the Fund and the Adviser provides for an annual fee equal to 0.85% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. Prior to December 1, 2021, the annual fee was equal to 0.90% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, the Adviser may voluntarily choose to waive any portion of its fee and/or reimburse certain operating expenses of the Fund for competitive reasons such as to maintain the Fund’s expense ratio, or as and when appropriate, to maintain positive or zero net yields. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Adviser voluntarily waived $306,516 of its fee and voluntarily reimbursed $19,664 of transfer agent fees.

The Adviser has agreed to reimburse the Fund for certain investment adviser fees as a result of transactions in other affiliated investment companies. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Adviser reimbursed $1,380.

Administrative Fee

Federated Administrative Services (FAS), under the Administrative Services Agreement, provides the Fund with administrative personnel and services. For purposes of determining the appropriate rate breakpoint, “Investment Complex” is defined as all of the Federated Hermes Funds subject to a fee under the Administrative Services Agreement. The fee paid to FAS is based on the average daily net assets of the Investment Complex as specified below: 

Administrative Fee	Average Daily Net Assets of the Investment Complex
0.100%	on assets up to $50 billion
0.075%	on assets over $50 billion

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Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, FAS may voluntarily choose to waive any portion of its fee. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, the annualized fee paid to FAS was 0.079% of average daily net assets of the Fund.

In addition, FAS may charge certain out-of-pocket expenses to the Fund.

Distribution Services Fee

The Fund has adopted a Distribution Plan (the “Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Act. Under the terms of the Plan, the Fund will compensate Federated Securities Corp. (FSC), the principal distributor, from the daily net assets of the Fund’s Class A Shares, Class C Shares and Class R Shares to finance activities intended to result in the sale of these shares. The Plan provides that the Fund may incur distribution expenses at the following percentages of average daily net assets annually, to compensate FSC: 

	Percentage of Average Daily Net Assets of Class
Class A Shares	0.05%
Class C Shares	0.75%
Class R Shares	0.50%

Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, FSC may voluntarily choose to waive any portion of its fee. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, distribution services fees for the Fund were as follows: 

	Distribution Services Fees Incurred	Distribution Services Fees Waived
Class C Shares	$29,100	$—
Class R Shares	37,431	(11,229)
TOTAL	$66,531	$(11,229)

When FSC receives fees, it may pay some or all of them to financial intermediaries whose customers purchase shares. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, FSC retained $9,016 of fees paid by the Fund. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Fund’s Class A Shares did not incur a distribution services fee; however, it may begin to incur this fee upon approval of the Trustees.

Sales Charges

Front-end sales charges and contingent deferred sales charges do not represent expenses of the Fund. They are deducted from the proceeds of sales of Fund shares prior to investment or from redemption proceeds prior to remittance, as applicable. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, FSC retained $2,547 in sales charges from the sale of Class A Shares. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, FSC also retained $123 of CDSC relating to redemptions of Class C Shares.

Other Service Fees

For the six months ended March 31, 2022, FSSC received $5,958 of the other service fees disclosed in Note 2.

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Expense Limitation

The Adviser and certain of its affiliates (which may include FSC, FAS and FSSC) on their own initiative have agreed to waive certain amounts of their respective fees and/or reimburse expenses. Total annual fund operating expenses (as shown in the financial highlights, excluding interest expense, extraordinary expenses and proxy-related expenses paid by the Fund, if any) paid by the Fund’s Class A Shares, Class C Shares, Class R Shares, Institutional Shares and Class R6 Shares (after the voluntary waivers and/or reimbursements) will not exceed 1.13%, 1.94%, 1.22%, 0.88% and 0.81% (the “Fee Limit”), respectively, up to but not including the later of (the “Termination Date”): (a) December 1, 2022; or (b) the date of the Fund’s next effective Prospectus. Prior to June 30, 2021, total annual operating expenses were 1.26%, 2.07%, 1.30%, 1.01% and 0.94% for Class A Shares, Class C Shares, Class R Shares, Institutional Shares and Class R6 Shares, respectively. While the Adviser and its applicable affiliates currently do not anticipate terminating or increasing these arrangements prior to the Termination Date, these arrangements may only be terminated or the Fee Limit increased prior to the Termination Date with the agreement of the Trustees.

Directors’/Trustees’ and Miscellaneous Fees

Certain Officers and Trustees of the Fund are Officers and Directors or Trustees of certain of the above companies. To efficiently facilitate payment, Independent Directors’/Trustees’ fees and certain expenses related to conducting meetings of the Directors/Trustees and other miscellaneous expenses are paid by an affiliate of the Adviser which in due course are reimbursed by the Fund. These expenses related to conducting meetings of the Directors/Trustees and other miscellaneous expenses may be included in Accrued and Miscellaneous Expenses on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Statement of Operations, respectively.

6. INVESTMENT TRANSACTIONS

Purchases and sales of investments, excluding long-term U.S. government securities and short-term obligations, for the six months ended March 31, 2022, were as follows: 

Purchases	$86,681,519
Sales	$86,258,690

7. CONCENTRATION OF RISK

A substantial part of the Fund’s portfolio may be comprised of entities in the financial sector. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to any economic, business, political or other developments which generally affect these entities.

8. LINE OF CREDIT

The Fund participates with certain other Federated Hermes Funds, on a several basis, in an up to $500,000,000 unsecured, 364-day, committed, revolving line of credit (LOC) agreement dated June 23, 2021. The LOC was made available to temporarily finance the repurchase or redemption of shares of the Fund, failed trades, payment of dividends, settlement of trades and for other short-term, temporary or emergency general business purposes. The Fund cannot borrow under the LOC if an inter-fund loan is outstanding. The Fund’s ability to borrow under the LOC also is subject to the limitations of the Act and various conditions precedent that must be satisfied before the Fund can borrow. Loans under the LOC are charged interest at a fluctuating rate per

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annum equal to the highest, on any day, of (a) (i) the federal funds effective rate, (ii) the one month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), or a replacement rate as appropriate, and (iii) 0.0%, plus (b) a margin. Any fund eligible to borrow under the LOC pays its pro rata share of a commitment fee based on the amount of the lenders’ commitment that has not been utilized, quarterly in arrears and at maturity. As of March 31, 2022, the Fund had no outstanding loans. During the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Fund did not utilize the LOC.

9. INTERFUND LENDING

Pursuant to an Exemptive Order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Fund, along with other funds advised by subsidiaries of Federated Hermes, Inc., may participate in an interfund lending program. This program provides an alternative credit facility allowing the Fund to borrow from other participating affiliated funds. As of March 31, 2022, there were no outstanding loans. During the six months ended March 31, 2022, the program was not utilized.

10. OTHER MATTERS

An outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus was first detected in China in late 2019 and subsequently spread globally. As of the date of the issuance of these financial statements, this coronavirus has resulted in closing borders, enhanced health screenings, disruptions to healthcare service preparation and delivery, quarantines, cancellations, and disruptions to supply chains, workflow operations and consumer activity, as well as general concern and uncertainty. The impact of this coronavirus may continue for an extended period of time and has resulted in substantial economic volatility. Health crises caused by outbreaks, such as the coronavirus outbreak, may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks. The impact of this outbreak, and other epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future, could continue to negatively affect the worldwide economy, as well as the economies of individual countries, individual companies (including certain Fund service providers and issuers of the Fund’s investments) and the markets in general in significant and unforeseen ways. Any such impact could adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

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Shareholder Expense Example (unaudited)

As a shareholder of the Fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on purchase or redemption payments; and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees and to the extent applicable, distribution (12b-1) fees and/or other service fees and other Fund expenses. This Example is intended to help you to understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. It is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

ACTUAL EXPENSES

The first section of the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this section, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you incurred over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first section under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses attributable to your investment during this period.

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

The second section of the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. Thus, you should not use the hypothetical account values and expenses to estimate the actual ending account balance or your expenses for the period. Rather, these figures are required to be provided to enable you to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund with other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

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Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transaction costs, such as sales charges (loads) on purchase or redemption payments. Therefore, the second section of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transaction costs were included, your costs would have been higher. 

	Beginning Account Value 10/1/2021	Ending Account Value 3/31/2022	Expenses Paid During Period1
Actual:
Class A Shares	$1,000	$1,037.10	$5.74
Class C Shares	$1,000	$1,032.80	$9.73
Class R Shares	$1,000	$1,036.60	$6.19
Institutional Shares	$1,000	$1,038.30	$4.47
Class R6 Shares	$1,000	$1,038.80	$4.12
Hypothetical (assuming a 5% return before expenses):
Class A Shares	$1,000	$1,019.30	$5.69
Class C Shares	$1,000	$1,015.36	$9.65
Class R Shares	$1,000	$1,018.85	$6.14
Institutional Shares	$1,000	$1,020.54	$4.43
Class R6 Shares	$1,000	$1,020.89	$4.08

 

1 Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized net expense ratios, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 182/365 (to reflect the one-half-year period). The annualized net expense ratios are as follows:

 

Class A Shares	1.13%
Class C Shares	1.92%
Class R Shares	1.22%
Institutional Shares	0.88%
Class R6 Shares	0.81%

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Evaluation and Approval of Advisory Contract–May 2021

Federated Hermes Clover Small Value Fund (the “Fund”)

At its meetings in May 2021 (the “May Meetings”), the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”), including those Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Fund, as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Independent Trustees”), reviewed and unanimously approved the continuation of the investment advisory contract between the Fund and Federated Equity Management Company of Pennsylvania (the “Adviser”) (the “Contract”) for an additional one-year term. The Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contract reflects the exercise of its business judgment after considering all of the information and factors believed to be relevant and appropriate on whether to approve the continuation of the existing arrangement. The information, factors and conclusions that formed the basis for the Board’s approval are summarized below.

Information Received and Review Process

At the request of the Independent Trustees, the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer (the “CCO”) furnished to the Board in advance of its May Meetings an independent written evaluation presenting on the topics discussed below. The Board considered the CCO’s independent written evaluation (the “CCO Fee Evaluation Report”), along with other information, in evaluating the reasonableness of the Fund’s management fee and in determining to approve the continuation of the Contract. The CCO, in preparing the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, has the authority to retain consultants, experts or staff as reasonably necessary to assist in the performance of his duties, reports directly to the Board, and can be terminated only with the approval of a majority of the Independent Trustees. At the request of the Independent Trustees, the CCO Fee Evaluation Report followed the same general approach and covered the same topics as that of the report that had previously been delivered by the CCO in his capacity as “Senior Officer” prior to the elimination of the Senior Officer position in December 2017.

In addition to the extensive materials that comprise and accompany the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, the Board considered information specifically prepared in connection with the approval of the continuation of the Contract that was presented at the May Meetings. In this regard, in the months preceding the May Meetings, the Board requested and reviewed written responses and supporting materials prepared by the Adviser and its affiliates (collectively, “Federated Hermes”) in response to requests posed to Federated Hermes on behalf of the Independent Trustees encompassing a wide variety of topics, including those summarized below. The Board also considered such additional

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matters as the Independent Trustees deemed reasonably necessary to evaluate the Contract, which included detailed information about the Fund and Federated Hermes furnished to the Board at its meetings throughout the year and in between regularly scheduled meetings on particular matters as the need arose.

The Board’s consideration of the Contract included review of materials and information covering the following matters, among others: the Adviser’s investment philosophy, revenue, profitability, personnel and processes; investment and operating strategies; the Fund’s short-term and long-term performance (in absolute terms, both on a gross basis and net of expenses, and relative to the Fund’s particular investment program and a group of its peer funds and/or its benchmark, as appropriate) and comments on the reasons for the Fund’s performance; the Fund’s investment objectives; the Fund’s expenses, including the advisory fee and the overall expense structure of the Fund (both in absolute terms and relative to a group of its peer funds), with due regard for contractual or voluntary expense limitations (if any); the use and allocation of brokerage commissions derived from trading the Fund’s portfolio securities (if any); and the nature, quality and extent of the advisory and other services provided to the Fund by the Adviser and its affiliates. The Board also considered the preferences and expectations of Fund shareholders; the entrepreneurial and other risks assumed by the Adviser in sponsoring and managing the Fund; the continuing state of competition in the mutual fund industry and market practices; the range of comparable fees for similar funds in the mutual fund industry; the Fund’s relationship to the other funds advised by Federated Hermes (each, a “Federated Hermes Fund” and, collectively, the “Federated Hermes Funds”), which include a comprehensive array of funds with different investment objectives, policies and strategies, and the benefits to shareholders of being part of the family of Federated Hermes Funds, which include the general right to exchange investments between the same class of shares without the incurrence of additional sales charges; compliance and audit reports concerning the Federated Hermes Funds and Federated Hermes’ affiliates that service them (including communications from regulatory agencies), as well as Federated Hermes’ responses to any issues raised therein; and relevant developments in the mutual fund industry and how the Federated Hermes Funds and/or Federated Hermes may be responding to them. The Board noted that its evaluation process is evolutionary and that the criteria considered and the emphasis placed on relevant criteria may change in recognition of changing circumstances in the mutual fund marketplace.

The Board also considered judicial decisions concerning allegedly excessive investment advisory fees in determining to approve the Contract. Using these judicial decisions as a guide, the Board observed that the following factors may be relevant to an adviser’s fiduciary duty with respect to its receipt of compensation from a fund: (1) the nature and quality of the services provided by an adviser to a fund and its shareholders (including the performance of the

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fund, its benchmark, and comparable funds); (2) an adviser’s cost of providing the services (including the profitability to an adviser of providing advisory services to a fund); (3) the extent to which an adviser may realize “economies of scale” as a fund grows larger and, if such economies of scale exist, whether they have been appropriately shared with a fund and its shareholders or the family of funds; (4) any “fall-out” benefits that accrue to an adviser because of its relationship with a fund (including research services received from brokers that execute fund trades and any fees paid to affiliates of an adviser for services rendered to a fund); (5) comparative fee and expense structures (including a comparison of fees paid to an adviser with those paid by similar funds both internally and externally as well as management fees charged to institutional and other advisory clients of the adviser for what might be viewed as like services); and (6) the extent of care, conscientiousness and independence with which the fund’s board members perform their duties and their expertise (including whether they are fully informed about all facts the board deems relevant to its consideration of an adviser’s services and fees). The Board noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) disclosure requirements regarding the basis for a fund board’s approval of the fund’s investment advisory contract generally align with the factors listed above. The Board was guided by these factors in its review of the Contract to the extent it considered them to be appropriate and relevant, as discussed further below. The Board considered and weighed these factors in light of its substantial accumulated experience in governing the Fund and working with Federated Hermes on matters relating to the Federated Hermes Funds.

In addition to considering the above-referenced factors, the Board was mindful of the potential disruptions of the Fund’s operations and various risks, uncertainties and other effects that could occur as a result of a decision to terminate or not renew the Contract. In particular, the Board recognized that many shareholders have invested in the Fund on the strength of Federated Hermes’ industry standing and reputation and with the expectation that Federated Hermes will have a continuing role in providing advisory services to the Fund. Thus, the Board observed that in the marketplace there are a range of investment options available to the Fund’s shareholders and such shareholders, having had the opportunity to consider other investment options, have effectively selected Federated Hermes by virtue of investing in the Fund.

In determining to approve the continuation of the Contract, the members of the Board reviewed and evaluated information and factors they believed to be relevant and appropriate through the exercise of their reasonable business judgment. While individual members of the Board may have weighed certain factors differently, the Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contract was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Board throughout the year and specifically with respect to the continuation of the Contract. The Independent Trustees were assisted throughout the evaluation process by independent legal counsel. In connection

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with their deliberations at the May Meetings, the Independent Trustees met separately in executive session with their independent legal counsel and without management present to review the relevant materials and consider their responsibilities under applicable laws. In addition, senior management representatives of Federated Hermes also met with the Independent Trustees and their independent legal counsel to discuss the materials and presentations furnished to the Board at the May Meetings. The Board considered the approval of the Contract for the Fund as part of its consideration of agreements for funds across the Federated Hermes Funds family, but its approvals were made on a fund-by-fund basis.

Nature, Extent and Quality of Services

The Board considered the nature, extent and quality of the services provided to the Fund by the Adviser and the resources of the Adviser and its affiliates dedicated to the Fund. In this regard, the Board evaluated, among other things, the terms of the Contract and the range of services provided to the Fund by the Adviser and its affiliates. The Board considered the Adviser’s personnel, investment philosophy and process, investment research capabilities and resources, trade execution capabilities, experience and performance track record. The Board reviewed the qualifications, backgrounds and responsibilities of the portfolio management team primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and the Adviser’s ability and experience in attracting and retaining qualified personnel to service the Fund. The Fund’s ability to deliver competitive performance when compared to its Performance Peer Group (as defined below) was also deemed to be relevant by the Board as a useful indicator of how the Adviser is executing the Fund’s investment program.

In addition, the Board considered the financial resources and overall reputation of Federated Hermes and its willingness to consider and make investments in personnel, infrastructure, technology, cybersecurity, business continuity planning and operational enhancements that are designed to benefit the Federated Hermes Funds. The Board noted the significant acquisition of Hermes Fund Managers Limited by Federated Hermes in 2018, which has deepened the organization’s investment management expertise and capabilities and expanded the investment process for all of the Federated Hermes Funds to have access to analytical resources related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors and issuer engagement on ESG matters.

The Board considered the quality of the Adviser’s communications with the Board and responsiveness to Board inquiries and requests made from time to time with respect to the Fund and other Federated Hermes Funds. In this regard, the Board took into account the Adviser’s communications with the Board in light of the market volatility amidst the pandemic. The Board also considered that Federated Hermes is responsible for providing the Federated Hermes Funds’ officers.

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The Board received and evaluated information regarding the Adviser’s regulatory and compliance environment. The Board considered the Adviser’s compliance program, compliance history, and reports from the CCO about the Adviser’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including responses to regulatory developments and any compliance or other issues raised by regulatory agencies. The Board also noted Federated Hermes’ support of the Federated Hermes Funds’ compliance control structure and, in particular, the compliance-related resources devoted by the Adviser and its affiliates in support of the Fund’s obligations pursuant to Rule 38a-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, including the Adviser’s commitment to respond to rulemaking and other regulatory initiatives of the SEC. The Board considered Federated Hermes’ day-to-day oversight of the Federated Hermes Funds’ compliance with their investment objectives and policies as well as with applicable laws and regulations, noting that regulatory and other developments had over time led to an increase in the scope of Federated Hermes’ oversight in this regard, including in connection with the designation of the Federated Hermes Funds’ investment advisers as the administrators of the Federated Hermes Funds’ liquidity risk management program.

The Board also considered discussions with Federated Hermes regarding the implementation of its business continuity plans and recognized steps taken by Federated Hermes to continue to provide the same nature, extent and quality of services to the Federated Hermes Funds during the pandemic. In addition, the Board noted Federated Hermes’ commitment to maintaining high quality systems and expending substantial resources to prepare for and respond to ongoing changes due to the market, regulatory and control environments in which the Fund and its service providers operate, including changes associated with the pandemic.

Based on these considerations, the Board concluded that the nature, extent and quality of the Adviser’s investment management and related services warrant the continuation of the Contract.

Fund Investment Performance

In evaluating the Fund’s investment performance, the Board considered performance results in light of the Fund’s investment objective, strategies and risks, as disclosed in the Fund’s prospectus. The Board also considered detailed investment reports on, and the Adviser’s analysis of, the Fund’s performance over different time periods that were provided to the Board throughout the year and in connection with the May Meetings. These reports include, among other items, information on the Fund’s gross and net returns, the Fund’s investment performance compared to one or more relevant investment categories and the Fund’s benchmark index, portfolio attribution information and commentary on the effect of current and recent market conditions.

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The Board also reviewed comparative information regarding the performance of other mutual funds in the category of peer funds selected by Morningstar, Inc. (the “Morningstar”), an independent fund ranking organization (the “Performance Peer Group”), noting the CCO’s view that comparisons to fund peer groups may be helpful, though not conclusive, in evaluating the performance of the Adviser in managing the Fund. The Board considered, in evaluating such comparisons, that in some cases there may be differences in the funds’ objectives or investment management techniques, or the costs to implement the funds, even within the same Performance Peer Group.

For the one-year, three-year and five-year periods ended December 31, 2020, the Fund’s performance was above the median of the Performance Peer Group.

Following such evaluation and full deliberations, the Board concluded that the performance of the Fund supported renewal of the Contract.

Fund Expenses

The Board considered the advisory fee and overall expense structure of the Fund and the comparative fee and expense information that had been provided in connection with the May Meetings. In this regard, the Board was presented with, and considered, information regarding the contractual advisory fee rates, net advisory fee rates, total expense ratios and each element of the Fund’s total expense ratio (i.e., gross and net advisory fees, administrative fees, custody fees, portfolio accounting fees and transfer agency fees) relative to an appropriate group of peer funds compiled by Federated Hermes from the category of peer funds selected by Morningstar (the “Expense Peer Group”). The Board received a description of the methodology used to select the Expense Peer Group from the overall Morningstar category. The Board also reviewed comparative information regarding the fees and expenses of the broader group of funds in the overall Morningstar category.

While mindful that courts have cautioned against giving too much weight to comparative information concerning fees charged by other advisers for managing funds with comparable investment programs, the Board noted that it found the use of such comparisons to be relevant to its deliberations. The Board focused on comparisons with other similar mutual funds more heavily than non-mutual fund products or services because such comparisons are believed to be more relevant. The Board considered that other mutual funds are the products most like the Fund, in that they are readily available to Fund shareholders as alternative investment vehicles, and they are the type of investment vehicle, in fact, chosen and maintained by the Fund’s shareholders. The Board noted that the range of such other mutual funds’ fees and expenses, therefore, appears to be a relevant indicator of what consumers have found to be reasonable in the marketplace in which the Fund competes.

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The Board reviewed the contractual advisory fee rate, net advisory fee rate and other expenses of the Fund and noted the position of the Fund’s fee rates relative to its Expense Peer Group. In this regard, the Board noted that the contractual advisory fee rate was above the median of the Expense Peer Group, but the Board noted the applicable waivers and reimbursements, and that the overall expense structure of the Fund remained competitive in the context of other factors considered by the Board.

The Board also received and considered information about the fees charged by Federated Hermes for providing advisory services to other types of clients with investment strategies similar to those of the Federated Hermes Funds, including non-mutual fund clients (such as institutional separate accounts) and third-party unaffiliated mutual funds for which the Adviser or its affiliates serve as sub-adviser. The Board noted the CCO’s conclusion that non-mutual fund clients are inherently different products due to the following differences, among others: (i) different types of targeted investors; (ii) different applicable laws and regulations; (iii) different legal structures; (iv) different average account sizes and portfolio management techniques made necessary by different cash flows and different associated costs; (v) the time spent by portfolio managers and their teams (among other personnel across various departments, including legal, compliance and risk management) in reviewing securities pricing, addressing different administrative responsibilities, and addressing different degrees of risk associated with management; and (vi) a variety of different costs. The Board also considered information regarding the differences in the nature of the services required for Federated Hermes to manage its proprietary mutual fund business versus managing a discrete pool of assets as a sub-adviser to another institution’s mutual fund, noting the CCO’s view that Federated Hermes generally performs significant additional services and assumes substantially greater risks in managing the Fund and other Federated Hermes Funds than in its role as sub-adviser to an unaffiliated third-party mutual fund. The Board noted that the CCO did not consider the fees for providing advisory services to other types of clients to be determinative in judging the appropriateness of the Federated Hermes Funds’ advisory fees.

Following such evaluation and full deliberations, the Board concluded that the fees and expenses of the Fund are reasonable and supported renewal of the Contract.

Profitability and Other Benefits

The Board also received financial information about Federated Hermes, including information regarding the compensation and ancillary (or “fall-out”) benefits that Federated Hermes derived from its relationships with the Federated Hermes Funds. This information covered not only the fees under the Federated Hermes Funds’ investment advisory contracts, but also fees received by Federated Hermes’ affiliates for providing other services to the

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Federated Hermes Funds under separate contracts (e.g., for serving as the Federated Hermes Funds’ administrator and distributor). In this regard, the Board considered that certain of Federated Hermes’ affiliates provide distribution and shareholder services to the Federated Hermes Funds, for which they may be compensated through distribution and servicing fees paid pursuant to Rule 12b-1 plans or otherwise. The Board also received and considered information detailing any indirect benefit that Federated Hermes may derive from its receipt of research services from brokers who execute portfolio trades for the Federated Hermes Funds. In addition, the Board considered that, in order for the Federated Hermes Funds to remain competitive in the marketplace, the Adviser and its affiliates frequently waived fees and/or reimbursed expenses and have disclosed to Federated Hermes Fund shareholders and/or reported to the Board their intention to do so (or continue to do so) in the future. Moreover, the Board received and considered regular reports from Federated Hermes throughout the year as to the institution, adjustment or elimination of these voluntary waivers and/or reimbursements.

The Board received and considered information furnished by Federated Hermes, as requested by the CCO, that reported revenues on a fund-by-fund basis and made estimates of the allocation of expenses on a fund-by-fund basis, using allocation methodologies specified by the CCO and described to the Board. The Board considered the CCO’s view that, while these cost allocation reports apply consistent allocation processes, the inherent difficulties in allocating costs continues to cause the CCO to question the precision of the process and to conclude that such reports may be unreliable because a single change in an allocation estimate may dramatically alter the resulting estimate of cost and/or profitability of a Federated Hermes Fund and may produce unintended consequences. The allocation information, including the CCO’s view that cost allocations on a fund-by-fund basis may be unreliable, was considered in the evaluation by the Board. In addition, the Board considered the CCO’s view that the allocation methodologies used by Federated Hermes in estimating profitability for purposes of reporting to the Board in connection with the continuation of the Contract are consistent with the methodologies previously reviewed by an independent consultant. The Board noted that the independent consultant had previously conducted a review of the allocation methodologies and reported that, although there is no single best method to allocate expenses, the methodologies used by Federated Hermes are reasonable.

The Board also reviewed information compiled by Federated Hermes comparing its profitability information to other publicly held fund management companies, including information regarding profitability trends over time. The Board considered the CCO’s conclusion that, based on such profitability

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information, Federated Hermes’ profit margins did not appear to be excessive. The Board also considered the CCO’s view that Federated Hermes appeared financially sound, with the resources necessary to fulfill its obligations under its contracts with the Federated Hermes Funds.

Economies of Scale

The Board received and considered information about the notion of possible realization of “economies of scale” as a fund grows larger, the difficulties of calculating economies of scale at an individual fund level, and the extent to which potential scale benefits are shared with shareholders. In this regard, the Board considered that Federated Hermes has made significant and long-term investments in areas that support all of the Federated Hermes Funds, such as personnel and processes for the portfolio management (including market data on which portfolio managers make investment decisions), trading operations, issuer engagement (including with respect to ESG matters), shareholder services, compliance, business continuity, internal audit and risk management functions, as well as systems technology (including technology relating to cybersecurity) and use of data. The Board noted that Federated Hermes’ investments in these areas are extensive and are designed to provide enhanced services to the Federated Hermes Funds and their shareholders. The Board considered that the benefits of these investments (as well as the benefits of any economies of scale, should they exist) are likely to be shared with the family of Federated Hermes Funds as a whole. In addition, the Board considered that the Adviser and its affiliates have frequently waived fees and/or reimbursed expenses for the Federated Hermes Funds and that such waivers and reimbursements are another means for potential economies of scale to be shared with shareholders and can provide protection from an increase in expenses if a Federated Hermes Fund’s assets decline. The Board also considered reports on adviser-paid fees (commonly referred to as “revenue sharing”) that were provided to the Board throughout the year and in connection with the May Meetings. The Board considered the beliefs of Federated Hermes and the CCO that this information should be viewed to determine if there was an incentive to either not apply breakpoints, or to apply breakpoints at higher levels, and should not be viewed to determine the appropriateness of advisory fees. The Board also noted the absence of any applicable regulatory or industry guidelines on this subject, which is compounded by the lack of any common industry practice or general pattern with respect to structuring fund advisory fees with “breakpoints” that serve to reduce the fees as a fund attains a certain size.

Conclusions

The Board considered: (i) the CCO’s conclusion that his observations and the information accompanying the CCO Fee Evaluation Report show that the management fee for the Fund was reasonable; and (ii) the CCO’s recommendation that the Board approve the management fee. The Board noted

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that, under these circumstances, no changes were recommended to, and no objection was raised to the continuation of, the Contract by the CCO. The CCO also recognized that the Board’s evaluation of the Federated Hermes Funds’ advisory and sub-advisory arrangements is a continuing and ongoing process that is informed by the information that the Board requests and receives from management throughout the course of the year and, in this regard, the CCO noted certain items for future reporting to the Board or further consideration by management as the Board continues its ongoing oversight of the Federated Hermes Funds.

On the basis of the information and factors summarized above, among other information and factors deemed relevant by the Board, and the evaluation thereof, the Board, including the Independent Trustees, unanimously voted to approve the continuation of the Contract. The Board based its determination to approve the Contract on the totality of the circumstances and relevant factors and with a view of past and future long-term considerations. Not all of the factors and considerations identified above were necessarily deemed to be relevant to the Fund, nor did the Board consider any one of them to be determinative. With respect to the factors that were deemed to be relevant, the Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contract reflects its view that Federated Hermes’ performance and actions provided a satisfactory basis to support the determination to approve the continuation of the existing arrangement.

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Liquidity Risk Management Program–
Annual Evaluation of Adequacy and Effectiveness

In accordance with Rule 22e-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Liquidity Rule”), Federated Hermes Equity Funds (the “Trust”) has adopted and implemented a liquidity risk management program (the “Program”) for Federated Hermes Clover Small Value Fund (the “Fund” and, collectively with the other non-money market open-end funds advised by Federated Hermes, the “Federated Hermes Funds”). The Program seeks to assess and manage the Fund’s liquidity risk. “Liquidity risk” is defined under the Liquidity Rule as the risk that the Fund is unable to meet redemption requests without significantly diluting remaining investors’ interests in the Fund. The Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”) has approved the designation of the Fund’s investment adviser as the administrator for the Program with respect to the Fund (the “Administrator”). Each affiliated Federated Hermes advisory subsidiary (including the Fund’s investment adviser) that serves as investment adviser to a Federated Hermes Fund (including the Fund) has been approved as the administrator of the Program with respect to each Federated Hermes Fund that is managed by such advisory subsidiary (collectively, the “Administrator”). The Administrator, in turn, has delegated day-to-day responsibility for the administration of the Program to multiple Liquidity Risk Management Committees, which are comprised of representatives from certain divisions within Federated Hermes.

The Program is comprised of various components designed to support the assessment and/or management of liquidity risk, including: (1) the periodic assessment (no less frequently than annually) of certain factors that influence the Fund’s liquidity risk; (2) the periodic classification (no less frequently than monthly) of the Fund’s investments into one of four liquidity categories that reflect an estimate of their liquidity under current market conditions; (3) a 15% limit on the acquisition of “illiquid investments” (as defined under the Liquidity Rule); (4) to the extent a Fund does not invest primarily in “highly liquid investments” (as defined under the Liquidity Rule), the determination of a minimum percentage of the Fund’s assets that generally will be invested in highly liquid investments (an “HLIM”); (5) if a Fund has established an HLIM, the periodic review (no less frequently than annually) of the HLIM and the adoption of policies and procedures for responding to a shortfall of the Fund’s highly liquid investments below its HLIM; and (6) periodic reporting to the Board.

At its meetings in May 2021, the Board received and reviewed a written report (the “Report”) from the Federated Hermes Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Risk Officer, on behalf of the Administrator, concerning the operation of the Program for the period from April 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021 (the “Period”). The Report addressed the operation of the Program and assessed its adequacy and effectiveness, including, where

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applicable, the operation of any HLIM established for a Federated Hermes Fund and each Federated Hermes Fund’s access to other available funding sources such as the Federated Hermes Funds’ interfund lending facility, redemptions in-kind and committed lines of credit. There were no material changes to the Program during the Period. The Report summarized the operation of the Program and the information and factors considered by the Administrator in assessing whether the Program has been adequately and effectively implemented with respect to the Federated Hermes Funds. Such information and factors included, among other things:

◾ confirmation that the Fund did not utilize alternative funding sources during the Period;

◾ the periodic classifications of the Fund’s investments into one of four liquidity categories and the methodologies and inputs used to classify the investments, including the Fund’s reasonably anticipated trade size;

◾ the analysis received from a third-party liquidity assessment vendor that is taken into account in the process of determining the liquidity classifications of the Fund’s investments and the results of an evaluation of the services performed by the vendor in support of this process;

◾ the fact that the Fund invested primarily in highly liquid investments during the Period and, therefore, was not required to establish, and has not established, an HLIM and the procedures for monitoring the status of the Fund as investing primarily in highly liquid investments;

◾ the fact that the Fund invested no more than 15% of its assets in illiquid investments during the Period and the procedures for monitoring this limit; and

◾ liquidity events during the Period, including the impact on liquidity caused by extended non-U.S. market closures and the March-April 2020 market conditions, and the fact that there were no specific liquidity events during the Period that materially affected the Fund’s liquidity risk.

Based on this review, the Administrator concluded that the Program is operating effectively to assess and manage the Fund’s liquidity risk, and that the Program has been and continues to be adequately and effectively implemented to monitor and, as applicable, respond to the Fund’s liquidity developments.

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Voting Proxies on Fund Portfolio Securities

A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies, if any, relating to securities held in the Fund’s portfolio is available, without charge and upon request, by calling 1-800-341-7400, Option #4. A report on “Form N-PX” of how the Fund voted any such proxies during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available via the Proxy Voting Record (Form N-PX) link associated with the Fund and share class name at FederatedInvestors.com/FundInformation. Form N-PX filings are also available at the SEC’s website at sec.gov.

Quarterly Portfolio Schedule

Each fiscal quarter, the Fund will file with the SEC a complete schedule of its monthly portfolio holdings on “Form N-PORT.” The Fund’s holdings as of the end of the third month of every fiscal quarter, as reported on Form N-PORT, will be publicly available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov within 60 days of the end of the fiscal quarter upon filing. You may also access this information via the link to the Fund and share class name at FederatedInvestors.com.

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

40

Mutual funds are not bank deposits or obligations, are not guaranteed by any bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. government, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency. Investment in mutual funds involves investment risk, including the possible loss of principal.

This Report is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains facts concerning its objective and policies, management fees, expenses and other information.

 
IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT FUND DOCUMENT DELIVERY 

In an effort to reduce costs and avoid duplicate mailings, the Fund(s) intend to deliver a single copy of certain documents to each household in which more than one shareholder of the Fund(s) resides (so-called “householding”), as permitted by applicable rules. The Fund’s “householding” program covers its/their Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, and supplements to each, as well as Semi-Annual and Annual Shareholder Reports and any Proxies or information statements. Shareholders must give their written consent to participate in the “householding” program. The Fund is also permitted to treat a shareholder as having given consent (“implied consent”) if (i) shareholders with the same last name, or believed to be members of the same family, reside at the same street address or receive mail at the same post office box, (ii) the Fund gives notice of its intent to “household” at least sixty (60) days before it begins “householding” and (iii) none of the shareholders in the household have notified the Fund(s) or their agent of the desire to “opt out” of “householding.” Shareholders who have granted written consent, or have been deemed to have granted implied consent, can revoke that consent and opt out of “householding” at any time: shareholders who purchased shares through an intermediary should contact their representative; other shareholders may call the Fund at 1-800-341-7400, Option #4.

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41

  

 

Federated Hermes Clover Small Value Fund
Federated Hermes Funds
4000 Ericsson Drive
Warrendale, PA 15086-7561

Contact us atFederatedInvestors.com
or call 1-800-341-7400.

Federated Securities Corp., Distributor

CUSIP 314172289
CUSIP 314172271
CUSIP 314172172
CUSIP 314172263
CUSIP 31421N808

40449 (5/22)

© 2022 Federated Hermes, Inc.

 

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

March 31, 2022

 

 

Share Class | Ticker A | BEARX C | PBRCX Institutional | PBRIX

Federated Hermes Prudent Bear Fund

Successor to the Prudent Bear Fund Established 1995

A Portfolio of Federated Hermes Equity Funds

Dear Valued Shareholder,

We are pleased to present the Semi-Annual Shareholder Report for your fund covering the period from October 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022. This report includes a complete listing of your fund’s holdings, performance information and financial statements along with other important fund information.

As a global leader in active, responsible investment management, Federated Hermes is guided by our conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term. The company provides capabilities across a wide range of asset classes to investors around the world.

In addition, FederatedInvestors.com offers quick and easy access to valuable resources that include timely fund updates, economic and market insights from our investment strategists and financial planning tools. You can also access many of those insights by following us on Twitter (@FederatedHermes) and LinkedIn.

Thank you for investing with us. We hope you find this information useful and look forward to keeping you informed.

Sincerely,
 

J. Christopher Donahue, President

Not FDIC Insured ▪ May Lose Value ▪ No Bank Guarantee

CONTENTS 

Portfolio of Investments Summary Tables	1
Portfolio of Investments	2
Financial Highlights	12
Statement of Assets and Liabilities	15
Statement of Operations	17
Statement of Changes in Net Assets	19
Notes to Financial Statements	20
Shareholder Expense Example	32
Evaluation and Approval of Advisory Contract	34
Liquidity Risk Management Program – Annual Evaluation of Adequacy and Effectiveness	44
Voting Proxies on Fund Portfolio Securities	46
Quarterly Portfolio Schedule	46

Portfolio of Investments Summary Tables (unaudited)

At March 31, 2022, the Fund’s portfolio composition was as follows: 

	Percentage of Total Net Assets
Securities Sold Short	(54.7)%
Derivative Contracts—Short (notional value)1	(41.0)%
U.S. Treasury Securities	66.1%
Common Stocks	7.3%
Other Security Type2	0.2%
Cash Equivalents3	23.0%
Adjustment for Derivative Contracts (notional value)1	39.3%
Collateral on Deposit for Securities Sold Short	56.4%
Other Assets and Liabilities—Net4	3.4%
TOTAL	100%

At March 31, 2022, the Fund’s sector composition5 for its short positions was as follows: 

Sector Composition	Percentage of Total Securities Sold Short6
Broad Equity Index	93.8%
Information Technology	1.2%
Health Care	1.0%
Industrials	0.9%
Financials	0.8%
Consumer Discretionary	0.5%
Real Estate	0.5%
Utilities	0.4%
Consumer Staples	0.3%
Communication Services	0.3%
Materials	0.2%
Energy	0.1%
TOTAL	100%

 

1	Derivative contracts may consist of futures, forwards, written options and swaps. More complete information regarding the Fund’s direct investments in derivative contracts, including unrealized appreciation (depreciation), value and notional values or amounts of such contracts, can be found in the table at the end of the Portfolio of Investments included in this Report.
2	Other Security Type consists of purchased put options.
3	Cash Equivalents include any investments in money market mutual funds and/or overnight repurchase agreements.
4	Assets, other than investments in securities, securities sold short, derivative contracts and collateral on deposit for securities sold short, less liabilities. See Statement of Assets and Liabilities.
5	Sector classifications are based upon, and individual portfolio securities are assigned to, the classifications of the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) except that the Adviser assigns a classification to securities not classified by the GICS and to securities for which the Adviser does not have access to the classification made by the GICS.
6	Includes any short positions on futures contracts.

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1

Portfolio of Investments

March 31, 2022 (unaudited) 

Shares, Principal Amount or Contracts			Value
		U.S. TREASURIES—   66.1%
		U.S. Treasury Bills—   18.6%
$37,000,000	1,2	United States Treasury Bill, 0.245%, 12/1/2022	$ 36,674,030
		U.S. Treasury Notes—   47.5%
36,000,000	1	United States Treasury Note, 0.500%, 11/30/2023	34,989,869
60,000,000		United States Treasury Note, 0.750%, 12/31/2023	58,442,802
		TOTAL	93,432,671
		TOTAL U.S. TREASURIES (IDENTIFIED COST $132,507,249)	130,106,701
		COMMON STOCKS—   7.3%
		Communication Services—   0.5%
180	3	Alphabet, Inc., Class A	500,643
2,200	3	Meta Platforms, Inc.	489,192
		TOTAL	989,835
		Consumer Discretionary—   0.8%
1,200		Advance Auto Parts, Inc.	248,351
5,000		eBay, Inc.	286,300
1,800	3	Expedia Group, Inc.	352,206
50,000	3	Solo Brands, Inc.	426,500
600	3	Ulta Beauty, Inc.	238,932
		TOTAL	1,552,289
		Consumer Staples—   0.7%
4,800		Kroger Co.	275,376
18,000	3	Olaplex Holdings, Inc.	281,340
4,200		Philip Morris International, Inc.	394,548
2,400		WalMart, Inc.	357,408
24,700	3	Winc, Inc.	78,299
		TOTAL	1,386,971
		Financials—   1.1%
7,000		Ally Financial, Inc.	304,360
6,000		Bank of America Corp.	247,320
1,000	3	Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., Class B	352,910
1,000		Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.	330,100
12,000		KeyCorp	268,560
24,933	3	Oportun Financial Corp.	358,038
4,800		VOYA Financial, Inc.	318,480
		TOTAL	2,179,768
		Health Care—   0.9%
5,500		Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.	401,665
30,000	3	Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	95,700
15,000	3	Decibel Therapeutics, Inc.	45,600
60,000	3	Freeline Therapeutics Holdings PLC, ADR	67,200

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2

Shares, Principal Amount or Contracts			Value
		COMMON STOCKS—   continued
		Health Care—   continued
26,000	3	Galecto, Inc.	$     57,200
1,100	3	Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings	290,026
1,200		McKesson Corp.	367,356
17,000	3	Reneo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	49,980
900		UnitedHealth Group, Inc.	458,973
		TOTAL	1,833,700
		Industrials—   0.8%
1,400		Cummins, Inc.	287,154
3,200		Emerson Electric Co.	313,760
3,400		Owens Corning, Inc.	311,100
1,000		Parker-Hannifin Corp.	283,760
1,500		United Parcel Service, Inc.	321,690
		TOTAL	1,517,464
		Information Technology—   1.5%
2,000		Apple, Inc.	349,220
4,000		Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.	358,680
900	3	Fair Isaac & Co., Inc.	419,814
12,603	3	IBEX LTD	200,892
3,000		IBM Corp.	390,060
5,000		Micron Technology, Inc.	389,450
1,800		Microsoft Corp.	554,958
2,000		Qualcomm, Inc.	305,640
		TOTAL	2,968,714
		Materials—   0.3%
2,000		Eagle Materials, Inc.	256,720
5,000		Olin Corp.	261,400
		TOTAL	518,120
		Real Estate—   0.3%
2,000		Crown Castle International Corp.	369,200
6,000		National Retail Properties, Inc.	269,640
		TOTAL	638,840
		Utilities—   0.4%
3,500		Duke Energy Corp.	390,810
12,000		PPL Corp.	342,720
		TOTAL	733,530
		TOTAL COMMON STOCKS (IDENTIFIED COST $15,590,096)	14,319,231
	3	PURCHASED PUT OPTIONS—   0.2%
500		SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, Notional Amount $22,582,000, Exercise Price $420. Expiration Date 5/20/2022	212,750
1,000		SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, Notional Amount $45,164,000, Exercise Price $435. Expiration Date 4/14/2022	151,000
1,000		SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, Notional Amount $45,164,000, Exercise Price $440. Expiration Date 4/8/2022	100,500

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3

Shares, Principal Amount or Contracts			Value
	3	PURCHASED PUT OPTIONS—   continued
1,000		SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, Notional Amount $45,164,000, Exercise Price $445. Expiration Date 4/1/2022	$     11,500
		TOTAL PURCHASED PUT OPTIONS (IDENTIFIED COST $572,206)	475,750
		INVESTMENT COMPANY—   23.0%
45,410,306		Federated Hermes Government Obligations Fund, Premier Shares, 0.19%4 (IDENTIFIED COST $45,410,306)	45,410,306
		TOTAL INVESTMENT IN SECURITIES—96.6% (IDENTIFIED COST $194,079,857)5	190,311,988
		OTHER ASSETS AND LIABILITIES - NET—3.4%6	6,619,221
		TOTAL NET ASSETS—100%	$196,931,209

SECURITIES SOLD SHORT—(54.7)% 

Shares			Value
		Broad Equity Index—   (48.7)%
12,000	3	ARK Fintech Innovation ETF	$    348,600
2,000		ARK Industrial Innovation ETF	135,320
2,500		ARK Web x.0 ETF	218,050
11,000		iShares Russell 2000 ETF	2,257,970
206,000		S&P Depositary Receipts Trust	93,037,840
		TOTAL	95,997,780
		Communication Services—   (0.3)%
1,000	3	Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.	117,640
200	3	Netflix, Inc.	74,918
1,200	3	Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.	184,488
1,000		Walt Disney Co.	137,160
		TOTAL	514,206
		Consumer Discretionary—   (0.5)%
1,700	3	CarMax, Inc.	164,016
1,200	3	Carvana Co.	143,148
4,000	3	General Motors Co.	174,960
5,000		Leggett and Platt, Inc.	174,000
1,800		Polaris, Inc., Class A	189,576
400		Pool Corp.	169,140
		TOTAL	1,014,840
		Consumer Staples—   (0.3)%
5,000		Conagra Brands, Inc.	167,850
2,000		McCormick & Co., Inc.	199,600
7,000		Reynolds Consumer Products, Inc.	205,380
		TOTAL	572,830
		Energy—   (0.1)%
4,200		DT Midstream, Inc.	227,892

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4

Shares			Value
		Financials—   (0.8)%
800		CME Group, Inc.	$    190,288
2,000		Cullen Frost Bankers, Inc.	276,820
1,300		Gallagher (Arthur J.) & Co.	226,980
15,000	3	Rocket Companies, Inc.	166,800
9,000		Starwood Property Trust, Inc.	217,530
8,000		Unum Group	252,080
2,000		Wintrust Financial Corp.	185,860
		TOTAL	1,516,358
		Health Care—   (0.9)%
800		Becton Dickinson & Co.	212,800
1,800	3	Catalent, Inc.	199,620
500		Cooper Cos., Inc.	208,795
9,000	3	Elanco Animal Health, Inc.	234,810
800	3	Insulet Corp.	213,112
1,000	3	Repligen Corp.	188,090
4,000		SPDR S&P Biotech ETF	359,520
900		STERIS PLC	217,593
		TOTAL	1,834,340
		Industrials—   (0.9)%
1,500		Ametek, Inc.	199,770
1,000	3	Boeing Co.	191,500
5,100	3	Delta Air Lines, Inc.	201,807
10,000	3	Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc.	175,200
2,000		ITT Corp.	150,420
1,100		Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.	153,769
7,300	3	SunRun, Inc.	221,701
4,000	3	United Airlines Holdings, Inc.	185,440
800		Valmont Industries, Inc.	190,880
		TOTAL	1,670,487
		Information Technology—   (1.2)%
2,500		Amphenol Corp., Class A	188,375
1,200		Analog Devices, Inc.	198,216
450		Automatic Data Processing, Inc.	102,393
5,000		Avnet, Inc.	202,950
400	3	Bill.Com Holdings, Inc.	90,716
2,000	3	Cirrus Logic, Inc.	169,580
1,400		Entegris, Inc.	183,764
1,000	3	Fiserv, Inc.	101,400
1,700	3	Five9, Inc.	187,680
1,000	3	Guidewire Software, Inc.	94,620
700		Littelfuse, Inc.	174,587
1,800	3	PTC, Inc.	193,896
4,000		Switch, Inc.	123,280
500	3	Teledyne Technologies, Inc.	236,315
550		Texas Instruments, Inc.	100,914
		TOTAL	2,348,686

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5

Shares		Value
	Materials—   (0.2)%
1,700	Aptargroup, Inc.	$    199,750
1,200	Scotts Miracle-Gro Co.	147,552
	TOTAL	347,302
	Real Estate—   (0.5)%
1,000	Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.	201,250
3,000	Duke Realty Corp.	174,180
8,000	Kimco Realty Corp.	197,600
2,500	Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc.	186,475
2,500	WP Carey, Inc.	202,100
	TOTAL	961,605
	Utilities—   (0.3)%
8,000	CenterPoint Energy, Inc.	245,120
3,100	Edison International	217,310
5,000	OGE Energy Corp.	203,900
	TOTAL	666,330
	Total Securities Sold Short (PROCEEDS $82,318,295)	$107,672,656

At March 31, 2022, the Fund had the following outstanding futures contracts: 

Description	Number of Contracts	Notional Value	Expiration Date	Value and Unrealized Depreciation
Short Futures:
3E-Mini Russel 2000 Short Futures	190	$19,630,800	June 2022	$(565,791)
3S&P 500 E-Mini Short Futures	270	$61,165,125	June 2022	$(3,328,082)
NET UNREALIZED DEPRECIATION ON FUTURES CONTRACTS				$(3,893,873)

Net Unrealized Depreciation on Futures Contracts and on the Value of Securities Sold Short is included in “Other Assets and Liabilities—Net.”

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[PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]

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7

An affiliated company is a company in which the Fund, alone or in combination with other funds, has ownership of at least 5% of the voting shares. Transactions with the affiliated companies during the period ended March 31, 2022, were as follows: 

	Value as of 9/30/2021	Purchases at Cost	Proceeds from Sales
Affiliated issuers no longer in the portfolio at period end	$315,350	$—	$(223,430)
TOTAL OF AFFILIATED COMPANIES TRANSACTIONS	$315,350	$—	$(223,430)

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Change in Unrealized Appreciation/ Depreciation	Net Realized Gain/ (Loss)	Value as of 3/31/2022	Shares Held as of 3/31/2022	Dividend Income
$119,189	$(211,109)	$—	—	$—
$119,189	$(211,109)	$—	—	$—

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9

Affiliated fund holdings are investment companies which are managed by the Adviser or an affiliate of the Adviser. Transactions with affiliated fund holdings during the period ended March 31, 2022, were as follows: 

	Federated Hermes Government Obligations Fund, Premier Shares
Value as of 9/30/2021	$55,798,854
Purchases at Cost	$194,993,446
Proceeds from Sales	$(205,381,994)
Change in Unrealized Appreciation/Depreciation	N/A
Net Realized Gain/(Loss)	N/A
Value as of 3/31/2022	$45,410,306
Shares Held as of 3/31/2022	45,410,306
Dividend Income	$7,734

The Fund invests in Federated Hermes Government Obligations Fund (GOF), a diversified portfolio of Federated Hermes Money Market Obligations Trust (MMOT) which is also managed by the Adviser. MMOT is an open-end management investment company, registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. The investment objective of GOF is to provide current income consistent with stability of principal. GOF operates as a government money market fund. As a government money market fund, GOF: (1) invests at least 99.5% of its total assets in: (i) cash; (ii) securities issued or guaranteed by the United States or certain U.S. government agencies or instrumentalities; and/or (iii) repurchase agreements that are collateralized fully; (2) generally continues to use amortized cost to value its portfolio securities and transact at a stable $1.00 net asset value (NAV); and (3) has elected not to be subject to the liquidity fees and gates requirement at this time as permitted by Rule 2a-7 under the Act. Income distributions from GOF are declared daily and paid monthly. All income distributions are recorded by the Fund as dividend income. Capital gain distributions of GOF, if any, are declared and paid annually, and are recorded by the Fund as capital gains received. At March 31, 2022, GOF represents 23.0% of the Fund’s net assets. Therefore, the performance of the Fund is directly affected by the performance of GOF. A copy of GOF’s financial statements is available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website or upon request from the Fund. 

1	All or a portion of this security is pledged as collateral to ensure the Fund is able to satisfy the obligations of its outstanding short futures and securities sold short contracts.
2	Discount rate at time of purchase.
3	Non-income-producing security.
4	7-day net yield.
5	Also represents the cost of investments for federal tax purposes.
6	Assets, other than investments in securities, less liabilities. See Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

Note: The categories of investments are shown as a percentage of total net assets at March 31, 2022.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the Fund’s investments. These inputs are summarized in the three broad levels listed below:

Level 1—quoted prices in active markets for identical securities.

Level 2—other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.). Also includes securities valued at amortized cost.

Level 3—significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments).

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10

The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities.

The following is a summary of the inputs used, as of March 31, 2022, in valuing the Fund’s assets carried at fair value: 

Valuation Inputs
	Level 1— Quoted Prices	Level 2— Other Significant Observable Inputs	Level 3— Significant Unobservable Inputs	Total
Debt Securities:
U.S. Treasuries	$—	$130,106,701	$—	$130,106,701
Purchased Put Options	475,750	—	—	475,750
Equity Securities:
Common Stocks
Domestic	14,051,139	—	—	14,051,139
International	268,092	—	—	268,092
Investment Company	45,410,306	—	—	45,410,306
TOTAL SECURITIES	$60,205,287	$130,106,701	$—	$190,311,988
Other Financial Instruments:
Liabilities
Securities Sold Short	$(107,672,656)	$—	$—	$(107,672,656)
Futures Contracts	(3,893,873)	—	—	(3,893,873)
TOTAL OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS	$(111,566,529)	$—	$—	$(111,566,529)

 

The following acronym(s) are used throughout this portfolio:
ADR	—American Depositary Receipt
ETF	—Exchange-Traded Fund
SPDR	—Standard & Poor’s Depositary Receipt

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Financial Highlights–Class A Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 3/31/2022	Year Ended September 30,
		2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$7.79	$10.11	$12.58	$13.27	$16.27	$19.50
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income (loss)1	0.09	(0.23)	(0.19)	0.10	(0.11)	(0.25)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	(0.90)	(2.09)	(2.21)	(0.79)	(2.89)	(2.98)
Total From Investment Operations	(0.81)	(2.32)	(2.40)	(0.69)	(3.00)	(3.23)
Less Distributions:
Distributions from net investment income	—	—	(0.07)	—	—	—
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$6.98	$7.79	$10.11	$12.58	$13.27	$16.27
Total Return2	(10.40)%	(22.95)%	(19.15)%	(5.20)%	(18.44)%	(16.56)%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses3	2.69%4	3.02%	2.85%	2.84%	3.54%	3.34%
Net expenses excluding dividends and other expenses related to short sales	1.78%4	1.78%	1.78%	1.78%	1.89%	1.78%
Net investment income (loss)	(2.24)%4	(2.68)%	(1.65)%	0.74%	(0.74)%	(1.40)%
Expense waiver/reimbursement5	0.10%4	0.11%	0.11%	0.09%	0.10%	0.07%
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$38,123	$40,185	$59,987	$53,827	$57,253	$82,782
Portfolio turnover6	57%	148%	247%	313%	284%	315%

 

1	Per share numbers have been calculated using the average shares method.
2	Based on net asset value, which does not reflect the sales charge, redemption fee or contingent deferred sales charge, if applicable. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
3	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
4	Computed on an annualized basis.
5	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and the net investment income (loss) ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
6	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

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Financial Highlights–Class C Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 3/31/2022	Year Ended September 30,
		2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$6.74	$8.81	$10.98	$11.67	$14.42	$17.41
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income (loss)1	0.01	(0.25)	(0.25)	0.002	(0.20)	(0.34)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	(0.73)	(1.82)	(1.92)	(0.69)	(2.55)	(2.65)
Total From Investment Operations	(0.72)	(2.07)	(2.17)	(0.69)	(2.75)	(2.99)
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$6.02	$6.74	$8.81	$10.98	$11.67	$14.42
Total Return3	(10.68)%	(23.50)%	(19.76)%	(5.91)%	(19.07)%	(17.17)%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses4	3.45%5	3.77%	3.63%	3.59%	4.28%	4.09%
Net expenses excluding dividends and other expenses related to short sales	2.53%5	2.53%	2.53%	2.53%	2.63%	2.53%
Net investment income (loss)	(3.00)%5	(3.44)%	(2.46)%	0.01%	(1.49)%	(2.16)%
Expense waiver/reimbursement6	0.10%5	0.11%	0.11%	0.09%	0.10%	0.07%
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$7,291	$8,018	$12,696	$10,422	$12,090	$18,278
Portfolio turnover7	57%	148%	247%	313%	284%	315%

 

1	Per share numbers have been calculated using the average shares method.
2	Represents less than $0.01.
3	Based on net asset value, which does not reflect the sales charge, redemption fee or contingent deferred sales charge, if applicable. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
4	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
5	Computed on an annualized basis.
6	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and the net investment income (loss) ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
7	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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13

Financial Highlights–Institutional Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 3/31/2022	Year Ended September 30,
		2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$8.02	$10.38	$12.92	$13.59	$16.63	$19.88
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income (loss)1	(0.34)	(0.21)	(0.22)	0.14	(0.07)	(0.20)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	(0.49)	(2.15)	(2.21)	(0.81)	(2.97)	(3.05)
Total From Investment Operations	(0.83)	(2.36)	(2.43)	(0.67)	(3.04)	(3.25)
Less Distributions:
Distributions from net investment income	—	—	(0.11)	—	—	—
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$7.19	$8.02	$10.38	$12.92	$13.59	$16.63
Total Return2	(10.35)%	(22.74)%	(18.97)%	(4.93)%	(18.28)%	(16.35)%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses3	2.53%4	2.69%	2.64%	2.56%	3.26%	3.04%
Net expenses excluding dividends and other expenses related to short sales	1.53%4	1.53%	1.53%	1.53%	1.63%	1.53%
Net investment income (loss)	(2.04)%4	(2.38)%	(1.79)%	1.03%	(0.48)%	(1.09)%
Expense waiver/reimbursement5	0.09%4	0.11%	0.09%	0.09%	0.10%	0.06%
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$151,516	$116,071	$196,933	$77,603	$86,727	$107,720
Portfolio turnover6	57%	148%	247%	313%	284%	315%

 

1	Per share numbers have been calculated using the average shares method.
2	Based on net asset value. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
3	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
4	Computed on an annualized basis.
5	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and the net investment income (loss) ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
6	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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14

Statement of Assets and Liabilities
March 31, 2022 (unaudited)

 

Assets:
Investment in securities, at value including $45,410,306 of investments in an affiliated holding* (identified cost $194,079,857)	$190,311,988
Cash denominated in foreign currencies (identified cost $131,662)	132,155
Deposit at broker for short sales	106,638,496
Income receivable	192,787
Income receivable from an affiliated holding	3,644
Interest receivable on short positions	34,513
Receivable for investments sold	2,906,138
Receivable for shares sold	4,054,913
Receivable for variation margin on futures contracts	1,047,888
Total Assets	305,322,522
Liabilities:
Securities sold short, at value (proceeds $82,318,295)	107,672,656
Dividends payable on short positions	284,166
Payable for investments purchased	229,545
Payable for shares redeemed	87,124
Payable for investment adviser fee (Note 5)	6,479
Payable for administrative fee (Note 5)	412
Payable for distribution services fee (Note 5)	4,777
Payable for other service fees (Notes 2 and 5)	13,890
Accrued expenses (Note 5)	92,264
Total Liabilities	108,391,313
Net assets for 27,733,747 shares outstanding	$196,931,209
Net Assets Consist of:
Paid-in capital	$1,183,637,906
Total distributable earnings (loss)	(986,706,697)
Total Net Assets	$196,931,209

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Statement of Assets and Liabilities–continued

Net Asset Value, Offering Price and Redemption Proceeds Per Share:
Class A Shares:
Net asset value per share ($38,123,403 ÷ 5,458,402 shares outstanding), no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$6.98
Offering price per share (100/94.50 of $6.98)	$7.39
Redemption proceeds per share	$6.98
Class C Shares:
Net asset value per share ($7,291,499 ÷ 1,211,333 shares outstanding), no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$6.02
Offering price per share	$6.02
Redemption proceeds per share (99.00/100 of $6.02)	$5.96
Institutional Shares:
Net asset value per share ($151,516,307 ÷ 21,064,012 shares outstanding), no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$7.19
Offering price per share	$7.19
Redemption proceeds per share	$7.19

 

* See information listed after the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Statement of Operations
Six Months Ended March 31, 2022 (unaudited)

 

Investment Income:
Interest	$232,696
Dividends (including $7,734 received from an affiliated holding*)	139,496
TOTAL INCOME	372,192
Expenses:
Investment adviser fee (Note 5)	974,807
Administrative fee (Note 5)	62,146
Custodian fees	16,018
Transfer agent fees	91,912
Directors’/Trustees’ fees (Note 5)	825
Auditing fees	18,719
Legal fees	4,603
Portfolio accounting fees	37,869
Distribution services fee (Note 5)	27,006
Other service fees (Notes 2 and 5)	54,919
Share registration costs	30,413
Printing and postage	17,518
Miscellaneous (Note 5)	15,125
Expenses related to short positions	757,509
TOTAL EXPENSES	2,109,389
Waiver and Reimbursement:
Waiver/reimbursement of investment adviser fee (Note 5)	(72,655)
Net expenses	2,036,734
Net investment loss	(1,664,542)

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Statement of Operations–continued

Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments, Foreign Currency Transactions, Futures Contracts and Short Sales:
Net realized loss on investments (including net realized loss of $(211,109) on sales of investments in affiliated companies*)	$(4,322,666)
Net realized loss on foreign currency transactions	(4,743)
Net realized loss on futures contracts	(1,439,060)
Net realized loss on short sales	(3,527,451)
Net change in unrealized depreciation of investments (including net change in unrealized depreciation of $119,189 on investments in affiliated companies*)	(1,842,884)
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation of translation of assets and liabilities in foreign currency	1,259
Net change in unrealized appreciation of futures contracts	(6,918,706)
Net change in unrealized depreciation of securities sold short	260,517
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments, foreign currency transactions, futures contracts and short sales	(17,793,734)
Change in net assets resulting from operations	$(19,458,276)

 

* See information listed after the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Statement of Changes in Net Assets 

 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 3/31/2022	Year Ended 9/30/2021
Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets
Operations:
Net investment loss	$(1,664,542)	$(4,280,552)
Net realized gain (loss)	(9,293,920)	(69,270,761)
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation	(8,499,814)	23,781,034
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS	(19,458,276)	(49,770,279)
Share Transactions:
Proceeds from sale of shares	215,333,045	225,464,917
Cost of shares redeemed	(163,217,188)	(281,036,978)
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM SHARE TRANSACTIONS	52,115,857	(55,572,061)
Change in net assets	32,657,581	(105,342,340)
Net Assets:
Beginning of period	164,273,628	269,615,968
End of period	$196,931,209	$164,273,628

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Notes to Financial Statements

March 31, 2022 (unaudited)

1. ORGANIZATION

Federated Hermes Equity Funds (the “Trust”) is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust consists of eight portfolios. The financial statements included herein are only those of Federated Hermes Prudent Bear Fund (the “Fund”), a diversified portfolio. The financial statements of the other portfolios are presented separately. The assets of each portfolio are segregated and a shareholder’s interest is limited to the portfolio in which shares are held. Each portfolio pays its own expenses. The Fund offers three classes of shares: Class A Shares, Class C Shares and Institutional Shares. All shares of the Fund have equal rights with respect to voting, except on class-specific matters. The investment objective of the Fund is to seek capital appreciation.

2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The following is a summary of significant accounting policies consistently followed by the Fund in the preparation of its financial statements. These policies are in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Investment Valuation

In calculating its net asset value (NAV), the Fund generally values investments as follows:

◾

Equity securities including shares of exchange traded funds listed on an exchange or traded through a regulated market system are valued at their last reported sale price or official closing price in their principal exchange or market.

◾

Fixed-income securities are fair valued using price evaluations provided by a pricing service approved by the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Trustees”).

◾

Shares of other mutual funds or non-exchange-traded investment companies are valued based upon their reported NAVs, or NAV per share practical expedient, as applicable.

◾

Derivative contracts listed on exchanges are valued at their reported settlement or closing price, except that options are valued at the mean of closing bid and asked quotations.

◾

Over-the-counter (OTC) derivative contracts are fair valued using price evaluations provided by a pricing service approved by the Trustees.

◾

For securities that are fair valued in accordance with procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Trustees, certain factors may be considered, such as: the last traded or purchase price of the security, information obtained by contacting the issuer or dealers, analysis of the issuer’s financial statements or other available documents, fundamental analytical data, the nature and duration of restrictions on disposition, the movement of the market in which the security is normally traded, public trading in similar securities or derivative contracts of the issuer or comparable issuers, movement of a relevant index, or other factors including but not limited to industry changes and relevant government actions.

If any price, quotation, price evaluation or other pricing source is not readily available when the NAV is calculated, if the Fund cannot obtain price evaluations from a pricing service or from more than one dealer for an investment within a reasonable period of time as set forth in the Fund’s valuation policies and procedures, or if information

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furnished by a pricing service, in the opinion of the valuation committee (“Valuation Committee”), is deemed not representative of the fair value of such security, the Fund uses the fair value of the investment determined in accordance with the procedures described below. There can be no assurance that the Fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it sold the investment at approximately the time at which the Fund determines its NAV per share, and the actual value obtained could be materially different.

Fair Valuation and Significant Events Procedures

The Trustees have ultimate responsibility for determining the fair value of investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have appointed a Valuation Committee comprised of officers of the Fund, Federated Equity Management Company of Pennsylvania (the “Adviser”) and certain of the Adviser’s affiliated companies to assist in determining fair value and in overseeing the calculation of the NAV. The Trustees have also authorized the use of pricing services recommended by the Valuation Committee to provide fair value evaluations of the current value of certain investments for purposes of calculating the NAV. The Valuation Committee employs various methods for reviewing third-party pricing-service evaluations including periodic reviews of third-party pricing services’ policies, procedures and valuation methods (including key inputs, methods, models and assumptions), transactional back-testing, comparisons of evaluations of different pricing services, and review of price challenges by the Adviser based on recent market activity. In the event that market quotations and price evaluations are not available for an investment, the Valuation Committee determines the fair value of the investment in accordance with procedures adopted by the Trustees. The Trustees periodically review and approve the fair valuations made by the Valuation Committee and any changes made to the procedures.

Factors considered by pricing services in evaluating an investment include the yields or prices of investments of comparable quality, coupon, maturity, call rights and other potential prepayments, terms and type, reported transactions, indications as to values from dealers and general market conditions. Some pricing services provide a single price evaluation reflecting the bid-side of the market for an investment (a “bid” evaluation). Other pricing services offer both bid evaluations and price evaluations indicative of a price between the prices bid and asked for the investment (a “mid” evaluation). The Fund normally uses bid evaluations for any U.S. Treasury and Agency securities, mortgage-backed securities and municipal securities. The Fund normally uses mid evaluations for any other types of fixed-income securities and any OTC derivative contracts. In the event that market quotations and price evaluations are not available for an investment, the fair value of the investment is determined in accordance with procedures adopted by the Trustees.

The Trustees also have adopted procedures requiring an investment to be priced at its fair value whenever the Adviser determines that a significant event affecting the value of the investment has occurred between the time as of which the price of the investment would otherwise be determined and the time as of which the NAV is computed. An event is considered significant if there is both an affirmative expectation

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that the investment’s value will change in response to the event and a reasonable basis for quantifying the resulting change in value. Examples of significant events that may occur after the close of the principal market on which a security is traded, or after the time of a price evaluation provided by a pricing service or a dealer, include:

◾

With respect to securities traded principally in foreign markets, significant trends in U.S. equity markets or in the trading of foreign securities index futures contracts;

◾

Political or other developments affecting the economy or markets in which an issuer conducts its operations or its securities are traded;

◾

Announcements concerning matters such as acquisitions, recapitalizations, litigation developments, or a natural disaster affecting the issuer’s operations or regulatory changes or market developments affecting the issuer’s industry.

The Trustees have adopted procedures whereby the Valuation Committee uses a pricing service to provide factors to update the fair value of equity securities traded principally in foreign markets from the time of the close of their respective foreign stock exchanges to the pricing time of the Fund. For other significant events, the Fund may seek to obtain more current quotations or price evaluations from alternative pricing sources. If a reliable alternative pricing source is not available, the Fund will determine the fair value of the investment in accordance with the fair valuation procedures approved by the Trustees. The Trustees have ultimate responsibility for any fair valuations made in response to a significant event.

Repurchase Agreements

The Fund may invest in repurchase agreements for short-term liquidity purposes. It is the policy of the Fund to require the other party to a repurchase agreement to transfer to the Fund’s custodian or sub-custodian eligible securities or cash with a market value (after transaction costs) at least equal to the repurchase price to be paid under the repurchase agreement. The eligible securities are transferred to accounts with the custodian or sub-custodian in which the Fund holds a “securities entitlement” and exercises “control” as those terms are defined in the Uniform Commercial Code. The Fund has established procedures for monitoring the market value of the transferred securities and requiring the transfer of additional eligible securities if necessary to equal at least the repurchase price. These procedures also allow the other party to require securities to be transferred from the account to the extent that their market value exceeds the repurchase price or in exchange for other eligible securities of equivalent market value.

The insolvency of the other party or other failure to repurchase the securities may delay the disposition of the underlying securities or cause the Fund to receive less than the full repurchase price. Under the terms of the repurchase agreement, any amounts received by the Fund in excess of the repurchase price and related transaction costs must be remitted to the other party.

The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements in which eligible securities are transferred into joint trading accounts maintained by the custodian or sub-custodian for investment companies and other clients advised by the Fund’s Adviser and its affiliates. The Fund will participate on a pro rata basis with the other investment companies and clients in its share of the securities transferred under such repurchase agreements and in its share of proceeds from any repurchase or other disposition of such securities.

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Investment Income, Gains and Losses, Expenses and Distributions

Investment transactions are accounted for on a trade-date basis. Realized gains and losses from investment transactions are recorded on an identified-cost basis. Interest income and expenses are accrued daily. Dividend income and distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Foreign dividends are recorded on the ex-dividend date or when the Fund is informed of the ex-dividend date. Distributions of net investment income, if any, are declared and paid annually. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are recorded at fair value. Amortization/accretion of premium and discount is included in investment income. Investment income, realized and unrealized gains and losses, and certain fund-level expenses are allocated to each class based on relative average daily net assets, except that select classes will bear certain expenses unique to those classes. The detail of the total fund expense waiver and reimbursement of $72,655 is disclosed in Note 5. Dividends are declared separately for each class. No class has preferential dividend rights; differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses.

Other Service Fees

The Fund may pay other service fees up to 0.25% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class A Shares and Class C Shares to financial intermediaries or to Federated Shareholder Services Company (FSSC) for providing services to shareholders and maintaining shareholder accounts. Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, FSSC may voluntarily reimburse the Fund for other service fees.

For the six months ended March 31, 2022, other service fees for the Fund were as follows: 

	Other Service Fees Incurred
Class A Shares	$45,996
Class C Shares	8,923
TOTAL	$54,919

Federal Taxes

It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the Subchapter M provision of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) and to distribute to shareholders each year substantially all of its income. Accordingly, no provision for federal income tax is necessary. As of and during the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Fund did not have a liability for any uncertain tax positions. The Fund recognizes interest and penalties, if any, related to tax liabilities as income tax expense in the Statement of Operations. As of March 31, 2022, tax years 2018 through 2021 remain subject to examination by the Fund’s major tax jurisdictions, which include the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Fund may be subject to taxes imposed by governments of countries in which it invests. Such taxes are generally based on either income or gains earned or repatriated. The Fund accrues and applies such taxes to net investment income, net realized gains and net unrealized gains as income and/or gains are earned.

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When-Issued and Delayed-Delivery Transactions

The Fund may engage in when-issued or delayed-delivery transactions. The Fund records when-issued securities on the trade date and maintains security positions such that sufficient liquid assets will be available to make payment for the securities purchased. Securities purchased on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis are marked to market daily and begin earning interest on the settlement date. Losses may occur on these transactions due to changes in market conditions or the failure of counterparties to perform under the contract.

Futures Contracts

The Fund purchases and sells financial futures contracts to seek to increase return and to manage market and sector/asset class risks. Upon entering into a financial futures contract with a broker, the Fund is required to deposit with a broker, either U.S. government securities or a specified amount of cash, which is shown as due from broker in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Futures contracts are valued daily and unrealized gains or losses are recorded in a “variation margin” account. The Fund receives from or pays to the broker a specified amount of cash based upon changes in the variation margin account. When a contract is closed, the Fund recognizes a realized gain or loss. Futures contracts have market risks, including the risk that the change in the value of the contract may not correlate with the changes in the value of the underlying securities. There is minimal counterparty risk to the Fund since futures contracts are exchange traded and the exchange’s clearinghouse, as counterparty to all exchange traded futures contracts, guarantees the futures contracts against default.

Futures contracts outstanding at period end are listed after the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

The average notional value of short futures contracts held by the Fund throughout the period was $58,656,261. This is based on amounts held as of each month-end throughout the six-month period.

Foreign Currency Translation

The accounting records of the Fund are maintained in U.S. dollars. All assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars based on the rates of exchange of such currencies against U.S. dollars on the date of valuation. Purchases and sales of securities, income and expenses are translated at the rate of exchange quoted on the respective date that such transactions are recorded. The Fund does not isolate that portion of the results of operations resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates on investments from the fluctuations arising from changes in market prices of securities held. Such fluctuations are included with the net realized and unrealized gain or loss from investments.

Reported net realized foreign exchange gains or losses arise from sales of foreign currencies, currency gains or losses realized between the trade and settlement dates on securities transactions, the difference between the amounts of dividends, interest and foreign withholding taxes recorded on the Fund’s books, and the U.S. dollar equivalent of the amounts actually received or paid. Net unrealized foreign exchange gains and losses arise from changes in the value of assets and liabilities other than investments in securities at period end, resulting from changes in the exchange rate.

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Option Contracts

The Fund buys or sells put and call options to seek to increase returns and to manage individual security, market and sector/asset class risks. The seller (“writer”) of an option receives a payment or premium, from the buyer, which the writer keeps regardless of whether the buyer exercises the option. When the Fund writes a put or call option, an amount equal to the premium received is recorded as a liability and subsequently marked to market to reflect the current value of the option written. Premiums received from writing options which expire are treated as realized gains. The Fund, as a writer of an option, bears the market risk of an unfavorable change in the price of the underlying reference instrument. When the Fund purchases a put or call option, an amount equal to the premium paid is recorded as an increase to the cost of the investment and subsequently marked to market to reflect the current value of the option purchased. Premiums paid for purchasing options which expire are treated as realized losses. Premiums received/paid for writing/purchasing options which are exercised or closed are added to the proceeds or offset against amounts paid on the underlying reference instrument to determine the realized gain or loss. The risk associated with purchasing put and call options is limited to the premium paid. Options can trade on securities or commodities exchanges. In this case, the exchange sets all the terms of the contract except for the price. Most exchanges require investors to maintain margin accounts through their brokers to cover their potential obligations to the exchange. This protects investors against potential defaults by the counterparty.

Purchased option contracts outstanding at period-end are listed in the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

The average market value of purchased put options held by the Fund throughout the period was $786,407. This is based on amounts held as of each month-end throughout the six-month period.

Short Sales

In a short sale, the Fund sells a security it does not own in anticipation of a decline in the fair market value of the security. When the Fund sells a security short, it must borrow the security in order to deliver it at the completion of the sale. A gain, limited to the price at which the Fund sold the security short, or a loss, unlimited in size, will be recognized upon the termination of the short sale.

The Fund has an obligation to replace the borrowed security (e.g., to purchase the security at a future date and deliver it to the lender of the security). While the security is borrowed, the proceeds from the sale are deposited with the lender (“Prime Broker”). The Fund may incur two types of expenses from short sales: borrowing expenses and dividend expenses. Borrowing expenses may occur because the Fund may be obligated to pay fees to the Prime Broker on borrowed securities. This fee is normally based upon the market value of the borrowed security and is dependent upon the availability of the security. Dividend expenses may occur because the Fund has to pay the Prime Broker the equivalent of any dividends earned on the borrowed security.

For the six months ended March 31, 2022, the net realized gain (loss) and the net change in unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) on short sales was $(3,527,451) and $260,517, respectively.

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Restricted Securities

The Fund may purchase securities which are considered restricted. Restricted securities are securities that either: (a) cannot be offered for public sale without first being registered, or being able to take advantage of an exemption from registration, under the Securities Act of 1933; or (b) are subject to contractual restrictions on public sales. In some cases, when a security cannot be offered for public sale without first being registered, the issuer of the restricted security has agreed to register such securities for resale, at the issuer’s expense, either upon demand by the Fund or in connection with another registered offering of the securities. Many such restricted securities may be resold in the secondary market in transactions exempt from registration. Restricted securities may be determined to be liquid under criteria established by the Trustees. The Fund will not incur any registration costs upon such resales. The Fund’s restricted securities, like other securities, are priced in accordance with procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Trustees.

Additional Disclosure Related to Derivative Instruments 

Fair Value of Derivative Instruments
	Assets
	Statement of Assets and Liabilities Location	Fair Value
Derivatives not accounted for as hedging instruments under ASC Topic 815
Equity contracts	Receivable for variation margin on futures contracts	$(3,893,873)*
Equity contracts	Purchased options, within Investment in securities at value	475,750
Total derivatives not accounted for as hedging instruments under ASC Topic 815		$(3,418,123)

 

* Includes cumulative net depreciation of futures contracts as reported in the footnotes to the Portfolio of Investments. Only the current day’s variation margin is reported within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

The Effect of Derivative Instruments on the Statement of Operations for the Six Months Ended March 31, 2022 

Amount of Realized Gain or (Loss) on Derivatives Recognized in Income
	Futures Contracts	Purchased Options Contracts1	Total
Equity contracts	$(1,439,060)	$(2,930,123)	$(4,369,183)

 

1 The net realized loss on Purchased Options Contracts is found within the Net realized loss on investments on the Statement of Operations.

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Change in Unrealized Appreciation or (Depreciation) on Derivatives Recognized in Income
	Futures Contracts	Purchased Options Contracts2	Total
Equity contracts	$(6,918,706)	$(585,241)	$(7,503,947)

 

2 The net change in unrealized appreciation of Purchased Options Contracts is found within the Net change in unrealized depreciation of investments on the Statement of Operations.

Other

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts of assets, liabilities, expenses and revenues reported in the financial statements. Actual results could differ materially from those estimated. The Fund applies investment company accounting and reporting guidance.

3. SHARES OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST

The following tables summarize share activity: 

	Six Months Ended 3/31/2022		Year Ended 9/30/2021
Class A Shares:	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	2,540,985	$18,488,901	3,166,440	$27,389,174
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	—	—	—	—
Shares redeemed	(2,238,353)	(16,144,212)	(3,946,531)	(34,863,911)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM CLASS A SHARE TRANSACTIONS	302,632	$2,344,689	(780,091)	$(7,474,737)
	Six Months Ended 3/31/2022		Year Ended 9/30/2021
Class C Shares:	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	208,354	$1,311,432	341,660	$2,607,941
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	—	—	—	—
Shares redeemed	(186,139)	(1,149,439)	(593,823)	(4,516,907)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM CLASS C SHARE TRANSACTIONS	22,215	$161,993	(252,163)	$(1,908,966)

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	Six Months Ended 3/31/2022		Year Ended 9/30/2021
Institutional Shares:	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	26,042,948	$195,532,712	21,814,821	$195,467,802
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	—	—	—	—
Shares redeemed	(19,446,842)	(145,923,537)	(26,325,644)	(241,656,160)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM INSTITUTIONAL SHARE TRANSACTIONS	6,596,106	$49,609,175	(4,510,823)	$(46,188,358)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM TOTAL FUND SHARE TRANSACTIONS	6,920,953	$52,115,857	(5,543,077)	$(55,572,061)

4. FEDERAL TAX INFORMATION

At March 31, 2022, the cost of investments for federal tax purposes was $194,079,857. The net unrealized depreciation of investments for federal tax purposes was $7,661,742. This consists of net unrealized appreciation from investments for those securities having an excess of value over cost of $1,198,803 and net unrealized depreciation from investments for those securities having an excess of cost over value of $8,860,545. The amounts presented are inclusive of derivative contracts.

As of March 31, 2022, the Fund had a capital loss carryforward of $933,784,793 which will reduce the Fund’s taxable income arising from future net realized gains on investments, if any, to the extent permitted by the Code, thereby reducing the amount of distributions to shareholders which would otherwise be necessary to relieve the Fund of any liability for federal income tax. Pursuant to the Code, these net capital losses retain their character as either short-term or long-term and do not expire.

The following schedule summarizes the Fund’s capital loss carryforwards: 

Short-Term	Long-Term	Total
$706,950,627	$226,834,166	$933,784,793

5. INVESTMENT ADVISER FEE AND OTHER TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

Investment Adviser Fee

The advisory agreement between the Fund and the Adviser provides for an annual fee equal to 1.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. The Adviser may voluntarily choose to waive any portion of its fee and/or reimburse certain operating expenses of the Fund for competitive reasons such as to maintain the Fund’s expense ratio, or as and when appropriate, to maintain positive or zero net yields. The Adviser can modify or terminate this voluntary waiver at any time at its sole discretion. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Adviser voluntarily waived $71,609 of its fee.

The Adviser has agreed to reimburse the Fund for certain investment adviser fees as a result of transactions in other affiliated investment companies. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Adviser reimbursed $1,046.

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Administrative Fee

Federated Administrative Services (FAS), under the Administrative Services Agreement, provides the Fund with administrative personnel and services. For purposes of determining the appropriate rate breakpoint, “Investment Complex” is defined as all of the Federated Hermes Funds subject to a fee under the Administrative Services Agreement. The fee paid to FAS is based on the average daily net assets of the Investment Complex as specified below: 

Administrative Fee	Average Daily Net Assets of the Investment Complex
0.100%	on assets up to $50 billion
0.075%	on assets over $50 billion

Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, FAS may voluntarily choose to waive any portion of its fee. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, the annualized fee paid to FAS was 0.080% of average daily net assets of the Fund.

In addition, FAS may charge certain out-of-pocket expenses to the Fund.

Distribution Services Fee

The Fund has adopted a Distribution Plan (the “Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Act. Under the terms of the Plan, the Fund will compensate Federated Securities Corp. (FSC), the principal distributor, from the daily net assets of the Fund’s Class A Shares and Class C Shares to finance activities intended to result in the sale of these shares. The Plan provides that the Fund may incur distribution expenses at the following percentages of average daily net assets annually, to compensate FSC: 

	Percentage of Average Daily Net Assets of Class
Class A Shares	0.05%
Class C Shares	0.75%

Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, FSC may voluntarily choose to waive any portion of its fee. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, distribution services fees for the Fund were as follows: 

	Distribution Services Fees Incurred
Class C Shares	$27,006

When FSC receives fees, it may pay some or all of them to financial intermediaries whose customers purchase shares. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, FSC retained $5,972 of fees paid by the Fund.

For the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Fund’s Class A Shares did not incur a distribution services fee; however, it may begin to incur this fee upon approval of the Trustees.

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Sales Charges

Front-end sales charges and contingent deferred sales charges (CDSC) do not represent expenses of the Fund. They are deducted from the proceeds of sales of Fund shares prior to investment or from redemption proceeds prior to remittance, as applicable. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, FSC retained $8,780 in sales charges from the sale of Class A Shares. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, FSC also retained $696 of CDSC relating to redemptions of Class C Shares.

Other Service Fees

For the six months ended March 31, 2022, FSSC received $5,750 of the other service fees disclosed in Note 2.

Expense Limitation

The Adviser and certain of its affiliates (which may include FSC, FAS and FSSC) on their own initiative have agreed to waive certain amounts of their respective fees and/or reimburse expenses. Total annual fund operating expenses (as shown in the financial highlights, excluding dividends and other expenses related to short sales, interest expense, extraordinary expenses and proxy-related expenses paid by the Fund, if any) paid by the Fund’s Class A Shares, Class C Shares and Institutional Shares (after the voluntary waivers and/or reimbursements) will not exceed 1.78%, 2.53% and 1.53% (the “Fee Limit”), respectively, up to but not including the later of (the “Termination Date”): (a) December 1, 2022, or (b) the date of the Fund’s next effective Prospectus. While the Adviser and its applicable affiliates currently do not anticipate terminating or increasing these arrangements prior to the Termination Date, these arrangements may only be terminated or the Fee Limit increased prior to the Termination Date with the agreement of the Trustees.

Interfund Transactions

During the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Fund engaged in sale transactions with funds that have a common investment adviser (or affiliated investment advisers), common Directors/Trustees and/or common Officers. These sale transactions complied with Rule 17a-7 under the Act and amounted to $169,920. Net realized loss recognized on these transactions was $86,908.

Directors’/Trustees’ and Miscellaneous Fees

Certain Officers and Trustees of the Fund are Officers and Directors or Trustees of certain of the above companies. To efficiently facilitate payment, Independent Directors’/Trustees’ fees and certain expenses related to conducting meetings of the Directors/Trustees and other miscellaneous expenses are paid by an affiliate of the Adviser which in due course are reimbursed by the Fund. These expenses related to conducting meetings of the Directors/Trustees and other miscellaneous expenses may be included in Accrued and Miscellaneous Expenses on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Statement of Operations, respectively.

6. INVESTMENT TRANSACTIONS

Purchases and sales of investments, excluding long-term U.S. government securities and short-term obligations, for the six months ended March 31, 2022, were as follows: 

Purchases	$24,925,949
Sales	$41,559,605

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7. CONCENTRATION OF RISK

A substantial portion of the Fund’s portfolio may be comprised of securities deemed by the Adviser to be in similar sectors. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to any economic, business, political or other developments which generally affect these entities.

8. LINE OF CREDIT

The Fund participates with certain other Federated Hermes Funds, on a several basis, in an up to $500,000,000 unsecured, 364-day, committed, revolving line of credit (LOC) agreement dated June 23, 2021. The LOC was made available to temporarily finance the repurchase or redemption of shares of the Fund, failed trades, payment of dividends, settlement of trades and for other short-term, temporary or emergency general business purposes. The Fund cannot borrow under the LOC if an inter-fund loan is outstanding. The Fund’s ability to borrow under the LOC also is subject to the limitations of the Act and various conditions precedent that must be satisfied before the Fund can borrow. Loans under the LOC are charged interest at a fluctuating rate per annum equal to the highest, on any day, of (a) (i) the federal funds effective rate, (ii) the one month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), or a replacement rate as appropriate, and (iii) 0.0%, plus (b) a margin. Any fund eligible to borrow under the LOC pays its pro rata share of a commitment fee based on the amount of the lenders’ commitment that has not been utilized, quarterly in arrears and at maturity. As of March 31, 2022, the Fund had no outstanding loans. During the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Fund did not utilize the LOC.

9. INTERFUND LENDING

Pursuant to an Exemptive Order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Fund, along with other funds advised by subsidiaries of Federated Hermes, Inc., may participate in an interfund lending program. This program provides an alternative credit facility allowing the Fund to borrow from other participating affiliated funds. As of March 31, 2022, there were no outstanding loans. During the six months ended March 31, 2022, the program was not utilized.

10. OTHER MATTERS

An outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus was first detected in China in late 2019 and subsequently spread globally. As of the date of the issuance of these financial statements, this coronavirus has resulted in closing borders, enhanced health screenings, disruptions to healthcare service preparation and delivery, quarantines, cancellations, and disruptions to supply chains, workflow operations and consumer activity, as well as general concern and uncertainty. The impact of this coronavirus may continue for an extended period of time and has resulted in substantial economic volatility. Health crises caused by outbreaks, such as the coronavirus outbreak, may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks. The impact of this outbreak, and other epidemics and pandemics that may arise in the future, could continue to negatively affect the worldwide economy, as well as the economies of individual countries, individual companies (including certain Fund service providers and issuers of the Fund’s investments) and the markets in general in significant and unforeseen ways. Any such impact could adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

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Shareholder Expense Example (unaudited)

As a shareholder of the Fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on purchase or redemption payments; and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees and to the extent applicable, distribution (12b-1) fees and/or other service fees and other Fund expenses. This Example is intended to help you to understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. It is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

ACTUAL EXPENSES

The first section of the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this section, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you incurred over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first section under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses attributable to your investment during this period.

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

The second section of the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. Thus, you should not use the hypothetical account values and expenses to estimate the actual ending account balance or your expenses for the period. Rather, these figures are required to be provided to enable you to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund with other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

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Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transaction costs, such as sales charges (loads) on purchase or redemption payments. Therefore, the second section of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transaction costs were included, your costs would have been higher. 

	Beginning Account Value 10/1/2021	Ending Account Value 3/31/2022	Expenses Paid During Period1
Actual:
Class A Shares	$1,000	$896.00	$12.72
Class C Shares	$1,000	$893.20	$16.28
Institutional Shares	$1,000	$896.50	$11.96
Hypothetical (assuming a 5% return before expenses):
Class A Shares	$1,000	$1,011.52	$13.49
Class C Shares	$1,000	$1,007.73	$17.27
Institutional Shares	$1,000	$1,012.32	$12.69

 

1 Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized net expense ratios, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 182/365 (to reflect the one-half-year period). The annualized net expense ratios are as follows:

 

Class A Shares	2.69%
Class C Shares	3.45%
Institutional Shares	2.53%

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Evaluation and Approval of Advisory Contract–May 2021

Federated Hermes Prudent Bear Fund (the “Fund”)

At its meetings in May 2021 (the “May Meetings”), the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”), including those Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Fund, as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Independent Trustees”), reviewed and unanimously approved the continuation of the investment advisory contract between the Fund and Federated Equity Management Company of Pennsylvania (the “Adviser”) (the “Contract”) for an additional one-year term. The Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contract reflects the exercise of its business judgment after considering all of the information and factors believed to be relevant and appropriate on whether to approve the continuation of the existing arrangement. The information, factors and conclusions that formed the basis for the Board’s approval are summarized below.

Information Received and Review Process

At the request of the Independent Trustees, the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer (the “CCO”) furnished to the Board in advance of its May Meetings an independent written evaluation presenting on the topics discussed below. The Board considered the CCO’s independent written evaluation (the “CCO Fee Evaluation Report”), along with other information, in evaluating the reasonableness of the Fund’s management fee and in determining to approve the continuation of the Contract. The CCO, in preparing the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, has the authority to retain consultants, experts or staff as reasonably necessary to assist in the performance of his duties, reports directly to the Board, and can be terminated only with the approval of a majority of the Independent Trustees. At the request of the Independent Trustees, the CCO Fee Evaluation Report followed the same general approach and covered the same topics as that of the report that had previously been delivered by the CCO in his capacity as “Senior Officer” prior to the elimination of the Senior Officer position in December 2017.

In addition to the extensive materials that comprise and accompany the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, the Board considered information specifically prepared in connection with the approval of the continuation of the Contract that was presented at the May Meetings. In this regard, in the months preceding the May Meetings, the Board requested and reviewed written responses and supporting materials prepared by the Adviser and its affiliates (collectively, “Federated Hermes”) in response to requests posed to Federated Hermes on behalf of the Independent Trustees encompassing a wide variety of topics, including those summarized below. The Board also considered such additional

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matters as the Independent Trustees deemed reasonably necessary to evaluate the Contract, which included detailed information about the Fund and Federated Hermes furnished to the Board at its meetings throughout the year and in between regularly scheduled meetings on particular matters as the need arose.

The Board’s consideration of the Contract included review of materials and information covering the following matters, among others: the Adviser’s investment philosophy, revenue, profitability, personnel and processes; investment and operating strategies; the Fund’s short-term and long-term performance (in absolute terms, both on a gross basis and net of expenses, and relative to the Fund’s particular investment program and a group of its peer funds and/or its benchmark, as appropriate) and comments on the reasons for the Fund’s performance; the Fund’s investment objectives; the Fund’s expenses, including the advisory fee and the overall expense structure of the Fund (both in absolute terms and relative to a group of its peer funds), with due regard for contractual or voluntary expense limitations (if any); the use and allocation of brokerage commissions derived from trading the Fund’s portfolio securities (if any); and the nature, quality and extent of the advisory and other services provided to the Fund by the Adviser and its affiliates. The Board also considered the preferences and expectations of Fund shareholders; the entrepreneurial and other risks assumed by the Adviser in sponsoring and managing the Fund; the continuing state of competition in the mutual fund industry and market practices; the range of comparable fees for similar funds in the mutual fund industry; the Fund’s relationship to the other funds advised by Federated Hermes (each, a “Federated Hermes Fund” and, collectively, the “Federated Hermes Funds”), which include a comprehensive array of funds with different investment objectives, policies and strategies, and the benefits to shareholders of being part of the family of Federated Hermes Funds, which include the general right to exchange investments between the same class of shares without the incurrence of additional sales charges; compliance and audit reports concerning the Federated Hermes Funds and Federated Hermes’ affiliates that service them (including communications from regulatory agencies), as well as Federated Hermes’ responses to any issues raised therein; and relevant developments in the mutual fund industry and how the Federated Hermes Funds and/or Federated Hermes may be responding to them. The Board noted that its evaluation process is evolutionary and that the criteria considered and the emphasis placed on relevant criteria may change in recognition of changing circumstances in the mutual fund marketplace.

The Board also considered judicial decisions concerning allegedly excessive investment advisory fees in determining to approve the Contract. Using these judicial decisions as a guide, the Board observed that the following factors may be relevant to an adviser’s fiduciary duty with respect to its receipt of compensation from a fund: (1) the nature and quality of the services provided by an adviser to a fund and its shareholders (including the performance of the

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fund, its benchmark, and comparable funds); (2) an adviser’s cost of providing the services (including the profitability to an adviser of providing advisory services to a fund); (3) the extent to which an adviser may realize “economies of scale” as a fund grows larger and, if such economies of scale exist, whether they have been appropriately shared with a fund and its shareholders or the family of funds; (4) any “fall-out” benefits that accrue to an adviser because of its relationship with a fund (including research services received from brokers that execute fund trades and any fees paid to affiliates of an adviser for services rendered to a fund); (5) comparative fee and expense structures (including a comparison of fees paid to an adviser with those paid by similar funds both internally and externally as well as management fees charged to institutional and other advisory clients of the adviser for what might be viewed as like services); and (6) the extent of care, conscientiousness and independence with which the fund’s board members perform their duties and their expertise (including whether they are fully informed about all facts the board deems relevant to its consideration of an adviser’s services and fees). The Board noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) disclosure requirements regarding the basis for a fund board’s approval of the fund’s investment advisory contract generally align with the factors listed above. The Board was guided by these factors in its review of the Contract to the extent it considered them to be appropriate and relevant, as discussed further below. The Board considered and weighed these factors in light of its substantial accumulated experience in governing the Fund and working with Federated Hermes on matters relating to the Federated Hermes Funds.

In addition to considering the above-referenced factors, the Board was mindful of the potential disruptions of the Fund’s operations and various risks, uncertainties and other effects that could occur as a result of a decision to terminate or not renew the Contract. In particular, the Board recognized that many shareholders have invested in the Fund on the strength of Federated Hermes’ industry standing and reputation and with the expectation that Federated Hermes will have a continuing role in providing advisory services to the Fund. Thus, the Board observed that in the marketplace there are a range of investment options available to the Fund’s shareholders and such shareholders, having had the opportunity to consider other investment options, have effectively selected Federated Hermes by virtue of investing in the Fund.

In determining to approve the continuation of the Contract, the members of the Board reviewed and evaluated information and factors they believed to be relevant and appropriate through the exercise of their reasonable business judgment. While individual members of the Board may have weighed certain factors differently, the Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contract was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Board throughout the year and specifically with respect to the continuation of the Contract. The Independent Trustees were assisted throughout the evaluation process by independent legal counsel. In connection

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with their deliberations at the May Meetings, the Independent Trustees met separately in executive session with their independent legal counsel and without management present to review the relevant materials and consider their responsibilities under applicable laws. In addition, senior management representatives of Federated Hermes also met with the Independent Trustees and their independent legal counsel to discuss the materials and presentations furnished to the Board at the May Meetings. The Board considered the approval of the Contract for the Fund as part of its consideration of agreements for funds across the Federated Hermes Funds family, but its approvals were made on a fund-by-fund basis.

Nature, Extent and Quality of Services

The Board considered the nature, extent and quality of the services provided to the Fund by the Adviser and the resources of the Adviser and its affiliates dedicated to the Fund. In this regard, the Board evaluated, among other things, the terms of the Contract and the range of services provided to the Fund by the Adviser and its affiliates. The Board considered the Adviser’s personnel, investment philosophy and process, investment research capabilities and resources, trade execution capabilities, experience and performance track record. The Board reviewed the qualifications, backgrounds and responsibilities of the portfolio management team primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and the Adviser’s ability and experience in attracting and retaining qualified personnel to service the Fund. The Fund’s ability to deliver competitive performance when compared to its Performance Peer Group (as defined below) was also deemed to be relevant by the Board as a useful indicator of how the Adviser is executing the Fund’s investment program.

In addition, the Board considered the financial resources and overall reputation of Federated Hermes and its willingness to consider and make investments in personnel, infrastructure, technology, cybersecurity, business continuity planning and operational enhancements that are designed to benefit the Federated Hermes Funds. The Board noted the significant acquisition of Hermes Fund Managers Limited by Federated Hermes in 2018, which has deepened the organization’s investment management expertise and capabilities and expanded the investment process for all of the Federated Hermes Funds to have access to analytical resources related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors and issuer engagement on ESG matters.

The Board considered the quality of the Adviser’s communications with the Board and responsiveness to Board inquiries and requests made from time to time with respect to the Fund and other Federated Hermes Funds. In this regard, the Board took into account the Adviser’s communications with the Board in light of the market volatility amidst the pandemic. The Board also considered that Federated Hermes is responsible for providing the Federated Hermes Funds’ officers.

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The Board received and evaluated information regarding the Adviser’s regulatory and compliance environment. The Board considered the Adviser’s compliance program, compliance history, and reports from the CCO about the Adviser’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including responses to regulatory developments and any compliance or other issues raised by regulatory agencies. The Board also noted Federated Hermes’ support of the Federated Hermes Funds’ compliance control structure and, in particular, the compliance-related resources devoted by the Adviser and its affiliates in support of the Fund’s obligations pursuant to Rule 38a-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, including the Adviser’s commitment to respond to rulemaking and other regulatory initiatives of the SEC. The Board considered Federated Hermes’ day-to-day oversight of the Federated Hermes Funds’ compliance with their investment objectives and policies as well as with applicable laws and regulations, noting that regulatory and other developments had over time led to an increase in the scope of Federated Hermes’ oversight in this regard, including in connection with the designation of the Federated Hermes Funds’ investment advisers as the administrators of the Federated Hermes Funds’ liquidity risk management program.

The Board also considered discussions with Federated Hermes regarding the implementation of its business continuity plans and recognized steps taken by Federated Hermes to continue to provide the same nature, extent and quality of services to the Federated Hermes Funds during the pandemic. In addition, the Board noted Federated Hermes’ commitment to maintaining high quality systems and expending substantial resources to prepare for and respond to ongoing changes due to the market, regulatory and control environments in which the Fund and its service providers operate, including changes associated with the pandemic.

Based on these considerations, the Board concluded that the nature, extent and quality of the Adviser’s investment management and related services warrant the continuation of the Contract.

Fund Investment Performance

In evaluating the Fund’s investment performance, the Board considered performance results in light of the Fund’s investment objective, strategies and risks, as disclosed in the Fund’s prospectus. The Board also considered detailed investment reports on, and the Adviser’s analysis of, the Fund’s performance over different time periods that were provided to the Board throughout the year and in connection with the May Meetings. These reports include, among other items, information on the Fund’s gross and net returns, the Fund’s investment performance compared to one or more relevant investment categories and the Fund’s benchmark index, portfolio attribution information and commentary on the effect of current and recent market conditions.

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The Board also reviewed comparative information regarding the performance of other mutual funds in the category of peer funds selected by Morningstar, Inc. (the “Morningstar”), an independent fund ranking organization (the “Performance Peer Group”), noting the CCO’s view that comparisons to fund peer groups may be helpful, though not conclusive, in evaluating the performance of the Adviser in managing the Fund. The Board considered, in evaluating such comparisons, that in some cases there may be differences in the funds’ objectives or investment management techniques, or the costs to implement the funds, even within the same Performance Peer Group.

For the one-year, three-year and five-year periods ended December 31, 2020, the Fund’s performance was above the median of the Performance Peer Group.

Following such evaluation and full deliberations, the Board concluded that the performance of the Fund supported renewal of the Contract.

Fund Expenses

The Board considered the advisory fee and overall expense structure of the Fund and the comparative fee and expense information that had been provided in connection with the May Meetings. In this regard, the Board was presented with, and considered, information regarding the contractual advisory fee rates, net advisory fee rates, total expense ratios and each element of the Fund’s total expense ratio (i.e., gross and net advisory fees, administrative fees, custody fees, portfolio accounting fees and transfer agency fees) relative to an appropriate group of peer funds compiled by Federated Hermes from the category of peer funds selected by Morningstar (the “Expense Peer Group”). The Board received a description of the methodology used to select the Expense Peer Group from the overall Morningstar category. The Board also reviewed comparative information regarding the fees and expenses of the broader group of funds in the overall Morningstar category.

While mindful that courts have cautioned against giving too much weight to comparative information concerning fees charged by other advisers for managing funds with comparable investment programs, the Board noted that it found the use of such comparisons to be relevant to its deliberations. The Board focused on comparisons with other similar mutual funds more heavily than non-mutual fund products or services because such comparisons are believed to be more relevant. The Board considered that other mutual funds are the products most like the Fund, in that they are readily available to Fund shareholders as alternative investment vehicles, and they are the type of investment vehicle, in fact, chosen and maintained by the Fund’s shareholders. The Board noted that the range of such other mutual funds’ fees and expenses, therefore, appears to be a relevant indicator of what consumers have found to be reasonable in the marketplace in which the Fund competes.

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The Board reviewed the contractual advisory fee rate, net advisory fee rate and other expenses of the Fund and noted the position of the Fund’s fee rates relative to its Expense Peer Group. In this regard, the Board noted that the contractual advisory fee rate was at the median of the Expense Peer Group, and the Board was satisfied that the overall expense structure of the Fund remained competitive.

The Board also received and considered information about the fees charged by Federated Hermes for providing advisory services to other types of clients with investment strategies similar to those of the Federated Hermes Funds, including non-mutual fund clients (such as institutional separate accounts) and third-party unaffiliated mutual funds for which the Adviser or its affiliates serve as sub-adviser. The Board noted the CCO’s conclusion that non-mutual fund clients are inherently different products due to the following differences, among others: (i) different types of targeted investors; (ii) different applicable laws and regulations; (iii) different legal structures; (iv) different average account sizes and portfolio management techniques made necessary by different cash flows and different associated costs; (v) the time spent by portfolio managers and their teams (among other personnel across various departments, including legal, compliance and risk management) in reviewing securities pricing, addressing different administrative responsibilities, and addressing different degrees of risk associated with management; and (vi) a variety of different costs. The Board also considered information regarding the differences in the nature of the services required for Federated Hermes to manage its proprietary mutual fund business versus managing a discrete pool of assets as a sub-adviser to another institution’s mutual fund, noting the CCO’s view that Federated Hermes generally performs significant additional services and assumes substantially greater risks in managing the Fund and other Federated Hermes Funds than in its role as sub-adviser to an unaffiliated third-party mutual fund. The Board noted that the CCO did not consider the fees for providing advisory services to other types of clients to be determinative in judging the appropriateness of the Federated Hermes Funds’ advisory fees.

Following such evaluation and full deliberations, the Board concluded that the fees and expenses of the Fund are reasonable and supported renewal of the Contract.

Profitability and Other Benefits

The Board also received financial information about Federated Hermes, including information regarding the compensation and ancillary (or “fall-out”) benefits that Federated Hermes derived from its relationships with the Federated Hermes Funds. This information covered not only the fees under the Federated Hermes Funds’ investment advisory contracts, but also fees received by Federated Hermes’ affiliates for providing other services to the Federated Hermes Funds under separate contracts (e.g., for serving as the

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Federated Hermes Funds’ administrator and distributor). In this regard, the Board considered that certain of Federated Hermes’ affiliates provide distribution and shareholder services to the Federated Hermes Funds, for which they may be compensated through distribution and servicing fees paid pursuant to Rule 12b-1 plans or otherwise. The Board also received and considered information detailing any indirect benefit that Federated Hermes may derive from its receipt of research services from brokers who execute portfolio trades for the Federated Hermes Funds. In addition, the Board considered that, in order for the Federated Hermes Funds to remain competitive in the marketplace, the Adviser and its affiliates frequently waived fees and/or reimbursed expenses and have disclosed to Federated Hermes Fund shareholders and/or reported to the Board their intention to do so (or continue to do so) in the future. Moreover, the Board received and considered regular reports from Federated Hermes throughout the year as to the institution, adjustment or elimination of these voluntary waivers and/or reimbursements.

The Board received and considered information furnished by Federated Hermes, as requested by the CCO, that reported revenues on a fund-by-fund basis and made estimates of the allocation of expenses on a fund-by-fund basis, using allocation methodologies specified by the CCO and described to the Board. The Board considered the CCO’s view that, while these cost allocation reports apply consistent allocation processes, the inherent difficulties in allocating costs continues to cause the CCO to question the precision of the process and to conclude that such reports may be unreliable because a single change in an allocation estimate may dramatically alter the resulting estimate of cost and/or profitability of a Federated Hermes Fund and may produce unintended consequences. The allocation information, including the CCO’s view that cost allocations on a fund-by-fund basis may be unreliable, was considered in the evaluation by the Board. In addition, the Board considered the CCO’s view that the allocation methodologies used by Federated Hermes in estimating profitability for purposes of reporting to the Board in connection with the continuation of the Contract are consistent with the methodologies previously reviewed by an independent consultant. The Board noted that the independent consultant had previously conducted a review of the allocation methodologies and reported that, although there is no single best method to allocate expenses, the methodologies used by Federated Hermes are reasonable.

The Board also reviewed information compiled by Federated Hermes comparing its profitability information to other publicly held fund management companies, including information regarding profitability trends over time. The Board considered the CCO’s conclusion that, based on such profitability information, Federated Hermes’ profit margins did not appear to be excessive. The Board also considered the CCO’s view that Federated Hermes appeared financially sound, with the resources necessary to fulfill its obligations under its contracts with the Federated Hermes Funds.

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Economies of Scale

The Board received and considered information about the notion of possible realization of “economies of scale” as a fund grows larger, the difficulties of calculating economies of scale at an individual fund level, and the extent to which potential scale benefits are shared with shareholders. In this regard, the Board considered that Federated Hermes has made significant and long-term investments in areas that support all of the Federated Hermes Funds, such as personnel and processes for the portfolio management (including market data on which portfolio managers make investment decisions), trading operations, issuer engagement (including with respect to ESG matters), shareholder services, compliance, business continuity, internal audit and risk management functions, as well as systems technology (including technology relating to cybersecurity) and use of data. The Board noted that Federated Hermes’ investments in these areas are extensive and are designed to provide enhanced services to the Federated Hermes Funds and their shareholders. The Board considered that the benefits of these investments (as well as the benefits of any economies of scale, should they exist) are likely to be shared with the family of Federated Hermes Funds as a whole. In addition, the Board considered that the Adviser and its affiliates have frequently waived fees and/or reimbursed expenses for the Federated Hermes Funds and that such waivers and reimbursements are another means for potential economies of scale to be shared with shareholders and can provide protection from an increase in expenses if a Federated Hermes Fund’s assets decline. The Board also considered reports on adviser-paid fees (commonly referred to as “revenue sharing”) that were provided to the Board throughout the year and in connection with the May Meetings. The Board considered the beliefs of Federated Hermes and the CCO that this information should be viewed to determine if there was an incentive to either not apply breakpoints, or to apply breakpoints at higher levels, and should not be viewed to determine the appropriateness of advisory fees. The Board also noted the absence of any applicable regulatory or industry guidelines on this subject, which is compounded by the lack of any common industry practice or general pattern with respect to structuring fund advisory fees with “breakpoints” that serve to reduce the fees as a fund attains a certain size.

Conclusions

The Board considered: (i) the CCO’s conclusion that his observations and the information accompanying the CCO Fee Evaluation Report show that the management fee for the Fund was reasonable; and (ii) the CCO’s recommendation that the Board approve the management fee. The Board noted that, under these circumstances, no changes were recommended to, and no objection was raised to the continuation of, the Contract by the CCO. The CCO also recognized that the Board’s evaluation of the Federated Hermes Funds’ advisory and sub-advisory arrangements is a continuing and ongoing process that is informed by the information that the Board requests and receives from

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management throughout the course of the year and, in this regard, the CCO noted certain items for future reporting to the Board or further consideration by management as the Board continues its ongoing oversight of the Federated Hermes Funds.

On the basis of the information and factors summarized above, among other information and factors deemed relevant by the Board, and the evaluation thereof, the Board, including the Independent Trustees, unanimously voted to approve the continuation of the Contract. The Board based its determination to approve the Contract on the totality of the circumstances and relevant factors and with a view of past and future long-term considerations. Not all of the factors and considerations identified above were necessarily deemed to be relevant to the Fund, nor did the Board consider any one of them to be determinative. With respect to the factors that were deemed to be relevant, the Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contract reflects its view that Federated Hermes’ performance and actions provided a satisfactory basis to support the determination to approve the continuation of the existing arrangement.

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Liquidity Risk Management Program–
Annual Evaluation of Adequacy and Effectiveness

In accordance with Rule 22e-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Liquidity Rule”), Federated Hermes Equity Funds (the “Trust”) has adopted and implemented a liquidity risk management program (the “Program”) for Federated Hermes Prudent Bear Fund (the “Fund” and, collectively with the other non-money market open-end funds advised by Federated Hermes, the “Federated Hermes Funds”). The Program seeks to assess and manage the Fund’s liquidity risk. “Liquidity risk” is defined under the Liquidity Rule as the risk that the Fund is unable to meet redemption requests without significantly diluting remaining investors’ interests in the Fund. The Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”) has approved the designation of the Fund’s investment adviser as the administrator for the Program with respect to the Fund (the “Administrator”). Each affiliated Federated Hermes advisory subsidiary (including the Fund’s investment adviser) that serves as investment adviser to a Federated Hermes Fund (including the Fund) has been approved as the administrator of the Program with respect to each Federated Hermes Fund that is managed by such advisory subsidiary (collectively, the “Administrator”). The Administrator, in turn, has delegated day-to-day responsibility for the administration of the Program to multiple Liquidity Risk Management Committees, which are comprised of representatives from certain divisions within Federated Hermes.

The Program is comprised of various components designed to support the assessment and/or management of liquidity risk, including: (1) the periodic assessment (no less frequently than annually) of certain factors that influence the Fund’s liquidity risk; (2) the periodic classification (no less frequently than monthly) of the Fund’s investments into one of four liquidity categories that reflect an estimate of their liquidity under current market conditions; (3) a 15% limit on the acquisition of “illiquid investments” (as defined under the Liquidity Rule); (4) to the extent a Fund does not invest primarily in “highly liquid investments” (as defined under the Liquidity Rule), the determination of a minimum percentage of the Fund’s assets that generally will be invested in highly liquid investments (an “HLIM”); (5) if a Fund has established an HLIM, the periodic review (no less frequently than annually) of the HLIM and the adoption of policies and procedures for responding to a shortfall of the Fund’s highly liquid investments below its HLIM; and (6) periodic reporting to the Board.

At its meetings in May 2021, the Board received and reviewed a written report (the “Report”) from the Federated Hermes Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Risk Officer, on behalf of the Administrator, concerning the operation of the Program for the period from April 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021 (the “Period”). The Report addressed the operation of the Program and assessed its adequacy and effectiveness, including, where

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applicable, the operation of any HLIM established for a Federated Hermes Fund and each Federated Hermes Fund’s access to other available funding sources such as the Federated Hermes Funds’ interfund lending facility, redemptions in-kind and committed lines of credit. There were no material changes to the Program during the Period. The Report summarized the operation of the Program and the information and factors considered by the Administrator in assessing whether the Program has been adequately and effectively implemented with respect to the Federated Hermes Funds. Such information and factors included, among other things:

◾ confirmation that the Fund did not utilize alternative funding sources during the Period;

◾ the periodic classifications of the Fund’s investments into one of four liquidity categories and the methodologies and inputs used to classify the investments, including the Fund’s reasonably anticipated trade size;

◾ the analysis received from a third-party liquidity assessment vendor that is taken into account in the process of determining the liquidity classifications of the Fund’s investments and the results of an evaluation of the services performed by the vendor in support of this process;

◾ the fact that the Fund invested primarily in highly liquid investments during the Period and, therefore, was not required to establish, and has not established, an HLIM and the procedures for monitoring the status of the Fund as investing primarily in highly liquid investments;

◾ the fact that the Fund invested no more than 15% of its assets in illiquid investments during the Period and the procedures for monitoring this limit; and

◾ liquidity events during the Period, including the impact on liquidity caused by extended non-U.S. market closures and the March-April 2020 market conditions, and the fact that there were no specific liquidity events during the Period that materially affected the Fund’s liquidity risk.

Based on this review, the Administrator concluded that the Program is operating effectively to assess and manage the Fund’s liquidity risk, and that the Program has been and continues to be adequately and effectively implemented to monitor and, as applicable, respond to the Fund’s liquidity developments.

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Voting Proxies on Fund Portfolio Securities

A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies, if any, relating to securities held in the Fund’s portfolio is available, without charge and upon request, by calling 1-800-341-7400, Option #4. A report on “Form N-PX” of how the Fund voted any such proxies during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available via the Proxy Voting Record (Form N-PX) link associated with the Fund and share class name at FederatedInvestors.com/FundInformation. Form N-PX filings are also available at the SEC’s website at sec.gov.

Quarterly Portfolio Schedule

Each fiscal quarter, the Fund will file with the SEC a complete schedule of its monthly portfolio holdings on “Form N-PORT.” The Fund’s holdings as of the end of the third month of every fiscal quarter, as reported on Form N-PORT, will be publicly available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov within 60 days of the end of the fiscal quarter upon filing. You may also access this information via the link to the Fund and share class name at FederatedInvestors.com.

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Mutual funds are not bank deposits or obligations, are not guaranteed by any bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. government, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency. Investment in mutual funds involves investment risk, including the possible loss of principal.

This Report is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains facts concerning its objective and policies, management fees, expenses and other information.

 
IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT FUND DOCUMENT DELIVERY 

In an effort to reduce costs and avoid duplicate mailings, the Fund(s) intend to deliver a single copy of certain documents to each household in which more than one shareholder of the Fund(s) resides (so-called “householding”), as permitted by applicable rules. The Fund’s “householding” program covers its/their Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, and supplements to each, as well as Semi-Annual and Annual Shareholder Reports and any Proxies or information statements. Shareholders must give their written consent to participate in the “householding” program. The Fund is also permitted to treat a shareholder as having given consent (“implied consent”) if (i) shareholders with the same last name, or believed to be members of the same family, reside at the same street address or receive mail at the same post office box, (ii) the Fund gives notice of its intent to “household” at least sixty (60) days before it begins “householding” and (iii) none of the shareholders in the household have notified the Fund(s) or their agent of the desire to “opt out” of “householding.” Shareholders who have granted written consent, or have been deemed to have granted implied consent, can revoke that consent and opt out of “householding” at any time: shareholders who purchased shares through an intermediary should contact their representative; other shareholders may call the Fund at 1-800-341-7400, Option #4.

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Federated Hermes Prudent Bear Fund
Federated Hermes Funds
4000 Ericsson Drive
Warrendale, PA 15086-7561

Contact us atFederatedInvestors.com
or call 1-800-341-7400.

Federated Securities Corp., Distributor

CUSIP 31421N709
CUSIP 31421N600
CUSIP 31421N501

40432 (5/22)

© 2022 Federated Hermes, Inc.

 

Item 2. Code of Ethics

Not Applicable

Item 3. Audit Committee Financial Expert

Not Applicable

Item 4. Principal Accountant Fees and Services

Not Applicable

Item 5. Audit Committee of Listed Registrants

Not Applicable

Item 6. Schedule of Investments

(a) The registrant’s Schedule of Investments is included as part of the Report to Stockholders filed under Item 1 of this form.

(b) Not Applicable; Fund had no divestments during the reporting period covered since the previous Form N-CSR filing.

Item 7. Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures for Closed-End Management Investment Companies

Not Applicable

Item 8. Portfolio Managers of Closed-End Management Investment Companies

Not Applicable

Item 9. Purchases of Equity Securities by Closed-End Management Investment Company and Affiliated Purchasers

Not Applicable

Item 10. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

No Changes to Report

Item 11. Controls and Procedures

(a) The registrant’s President and Treasurer have concluded that the

registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in rule 30a-3(c) under the Act) are effective in design and operation and are sufficient to form the basis of the certifications required by Rule 30a-(2) under the Act, based on their evaluation of these disclosure controls and procedures within 90 days of the filing date of this report on Form N-CSR.

(b) There were no changes in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in rule 30a-3(d) under the Act) during the period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Item 12. Disclosure of Securities Lending Activities for Closed-End Management Investment Companies

Not Applicable

Item 13. Exhibits

(a)(1) Code of Ethics- Not Applicable to this Report.

(a)(2) Certifications of Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer.

(a)(3) Not Applicable.

(b) Certifications pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Registrant Federated Hermes Equity Funds

By /S/ Lori A. Hensler

Lori A. Hensler

Principal Financial Officer

Date May 23, 2022

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

By /S/ J. Christopher Donahue

J. Christopher Donahue

Principal Executive Officer

Date May 23, 2022

By /S/ Lori A. Hensler

Lori A. Hensler

Principal Financial Officer

Date May 23, 2022