Summary Prospectus by Investment Company (Form 497K)

EMPOWER FUNDS, INC.
("Empower Funds")

Empower Emerging Markets Equity Fund
Institutional Class Ticker: MXENX
Investor Class Ticker: MXEOX
(the "Fund")

Summary Prospectus
April 30, 2026 

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's Prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund's Prospectus and other information about the Fund, including the Statement of Additional Information and most recent reports to shareholders, online at www.empower.com/investments/empower-funds/fund- documents. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (866) 831-7129 or by sending an email request to [email protected]. The current Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated April 30, 2026, are incorporated by reference as a matter of law into this Summary Prospectus, which means they are legally part of this Summary Prospectus.

Fund shares are sold to insurance company separate accounts for certain variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies ("variable contracts"), to individual retirement account ("IRA") custodians or trustees, to plan sponsors of qualified retirement plans ("retirement plans"), and to college savings programs (collectively, "Permitted Accounts"), and to asset allocation funds that are series of Empower Funds. This Summary Prospectus is not intended for use by other investors. This Summary Prospectus should be read together with the prospectus or disclosure document for the Permitted Account.

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. This table does not reflect the fees and expenses of any Permitted Account. If the fees and expenses of a Permitted Account were reflected, the fees and expenses shown below would be higher.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 

	Institutional Class	Investor Class
Management Fees	0.91%	0.91%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees	0.00%	0.00%
Total Other Expenses	0.09%	0.45%
Shareholder Services Fees	0.00%	0.35%
Other Expenses	0.09%	0.10%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.00%	1.36%
Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement1	0.09%	0.10%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement	0.91%	1.26%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example does not reflect the fees and expenses of any Permitted Account. If the fees and expenses of any Permitted Account were reflected, the fees and expenses in the Example would be higher.

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of each period. The Example also assumes that the Expense Limit is in place for the first year, that your investment has a 5% return each year, that all dividends and capital gains are reinvested, and that the Fund's operating expenses are the amount shown in the fee table and remain the same for the years shown. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be: 

	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Institutional Class	$93	$309	$544	$1,216
Investor Class	$128	$421	$735	$1,626

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate generally indicates higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's turnover rate was 65% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Below is a summary of the principal investment strategies of the Fund.

The Fund will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities issued by emerging market companies. The Fund considers emerging market companies to be those companies that are economically tied to emerging market countries. The Fund may consider classifications by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the United Nations (and its agencies) or the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in determining whether a country is emerging or developed.

The Fund may have significant investments in a single country, a limited number of countries, or a particular geographic region. The Fund may have exposure to non-U.S. securities across any market capitalization and style, and the Fund may also focus its investments in certain sectors, such as the technology sector.

The Fund invests primarily in common stock but may also invest in depositary receipts. The Fund may invest in derivatives, including but not limited to spot and forward foreign exchange transactions.

Empower Capital Management, LLC ("ECM") is the Fund's investment adviser and, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors of Empower Funds (the "Board"), selects the Fund's sub-advisers and monitors their performance on an ongoing basis. The Fund's investment portfolio is managed by two sub-advisers: Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. ("GSAM") and Lazard Asset Management LLC ("Lazard") (each, a "Sub-Adviser," and collectively, the "Sub-Advisers").

•GSAM selects investments using a valuation discipline to purchase what it believes are well-positioned, cash-generating businesses.

 

•Lazard invests in a broadly diversified portfolio of emerging market equity securities using a quantitative stock selection process.

ECM maintains a strategic allocation of the Fund's assets with each Sub-Adviser and reviews the asset allocations on a quarterly basis, or more frequently as deemed necessary. As of the date of this Prospectus, the target percentage is a 40% allocation of the Fund's assets to GSAM and a 60% allocation of the Fund's assets to Lazard. Actual allocations may vary from the target allocations and ECM may change the asset allocations at any time without shareholder notice or approval.

Principal Investment Risks

Below is a summary of the principal investment risks of investing in the Fund. These risks are presented in an order that reflects ECM's current assessment of relative importance, but this assessment could change over time as the Fund's portfolio changes or in light of changes in the market or the economic environment. The Fund is not required to and will not update this Prospectus solely because its assessment of the relative importance of the principal risks of investing in the Fund changes. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

Equity Securities Risk - The value of equity securities held by the Fund may decline as a result of factors directly related to a company, a particular industry or industries, or general market conditions that are not specifically related to a company or an industry.

Market Risk - The value of the Fund's investments may decrease, sometimes rapidly or unexpectedly, due to factors affecting (or perceived to affect) specific issuers held by the Fund, particular industries represented in the Fund's portfolio, or the overall securities markets. A variety of factors can increase the volatility of the Fund's holdings and markets generally, including political or regulatory developments, recessions, inflation, deflation, rapid interest rate changes, bank failures, war or acts of terrorism, sanctions, tariffs, natural disasters, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, general outlook for corporate earnings, or adverse investor sentiment generally. Certain events may cause instability across global markets, including reduced liquidity and disruptions in trading markets, while some events may affect certain geographic regions, countries, sectors and industries more significantly than others. These adverse developments may cause broad declines in an issuer's value due to short-term market movements or for significantly longer periods during more prolonged market downturns.

Foreign Securities Risk - Foreign markets can be more volatile than the U.S. market due to increased risks of adverse issuer, political, geopolitical (including war or armed conflict), regulatory, market, currency valuation, or economic or other developments, and can perform differently than the U.S. market. Current tariffs, sanctions, or the threat of potential tariffs, sanctions or similar measures may also impair the value or liquidity of affected securities and negatively impact the Fund.

Emerging Markets Risk - Emerging market countries generally have economic structures that are less diverse and mature, and political systems that are less stable, than those of developed countries. The economies of countries with emerging markets may be based predominantly on only a few industries, may be highly vulnerable to changes in local or global trade conditions, and may suffer from limited reliable access to capital, extreme debt burdens, less established financial market operations or volatile inflation rates. The securities markets of emerging market countries may be subject to manipulation and have historically been extremely volatile and less liquid than more developed markets. These market conditions may continue or worsen. Investments in these countries may be subject to heightened political, geopolitical (including war or armed conflict), economic, legal, market, currency and tariff risks, as well as other adverse local or regional developments, including heightened risk of war and ethnic, religious and racial conflicts. The imposition of sanctions, exchange controls (including repatriation restrictions), confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs), and other government restrictions by the U.S. and other governments, as well as problems in share registration, settlement or custody, may also result in losses. Differences in regulatory, accounting, auditing, and financial reporting and recordkeeping standards could impede the availability of reliable information to evaluate and monitor local companies and impact the Fund's performance. There is also the risk of adverse foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time.

Currency Risk - Adverse fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and other currencies may cause the Fund to lose money on investments denominated in foreign currencies.

Greater China Risk - Investing in securities economically tied to the Greater China region, which consists of mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, may subject the Fund to a higher degree of risk of loss than investing in other countries or groups of countries because of the risks associated with adverse securities markets, negative foreign currency rate fluctuations and social, political, diplomatic, regulatory, economic or environmental instabilities and natural disasters as well as military actions or conflicts, including risks associated with a potential invasion of Taiwan by China. The economy, industries, and securities and currency markets of Greater China are particularly vulnerable to the region's dependence on exports and international trade and increasing competition from Asia's other low-cost emerging economies. The imposition of tariffs or other trade barriers by the U.S. or foreign governments on exports from mainland China may also have an adverse impact on Chinese issuers. In addition, currency fluctuations, currency convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher rates of inflation as a result of internal social unrest or conflicts with other countries have had, and may continue to have, negative effects on the economies and securities markets of Greater China. Investments in China are also subject to increased risks associated with unreliable audits and other financial information regarding Chinese companies and increased risk of market manipulation and fraud.

Sector Risk - The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies within a particular sector, and its performance may suffer if that sector underperforms the overall market.

Geographic Concentration Risk - Events negatively affecting the fiscal stability of a particular country or region in which the Fund focuses its investments may cause the value of its shares to decrease, perhaps significantly.

Small- and Medium-Size Company Risk - The stocks of small- and medium-size companies often trade in lower volumes, may be less liquid, and are subject to greater or more unpredictable price changes than stocks of larger companies. Such companies may also have limited markets, financial resources or product lines, may lack management depth, and may be more vulnerable to adverse business or market developments. Accordingly, stocks of small- and medium-size companies tend to be more sensitive to changing economic, market, and industry conditions, tend to be more volatile and less liquid than stocks of larger companies,

especially over the short term, and are less likely to survive or accomplish their goals, with the result that the value of their stock could decline significantly. In addition, there may be less publicly available information concerning small- and medium-size companies upon which to base an investment decision.

Large-Size Company Risk - Large-size companies are generally more mature and may be unable to respond as quickly as smaller companies to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology and consumer tastes, and may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.

Liquidity Risk - The Fund may not be able to sell a security at or near its perceived value in a timely manner (or at all) because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, little or no active trading market for a specific type of security, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or a reduced number or capacity of market participants to make a market in such security. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that the Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period or without significant dilution to the remaining investors' interest due to market conditions or other factors. Investments in many foreign securities tend to have greater exposure to liquidity risk than domestic securities because secondary trading markets for these securities may be smaller and less well-developed and the securities may trade less frequently.

Depositary Receipts Risk - Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same sort of risks as direct investments in a foreign country, such as currency risk, political and economic risk, and market risk, because their values depend on the performance of a foreign security denominated in its home currency.

Quantitative Model Risk - Securities selected by Lazard using a quantitative investment model can perform differently than the market as a whole based on the factors used in the model, the weight placed on each factor, and changes in the factors' historical trends. Due to the significant role technology plays in a quantitative investment model, its use carries the risk of potential issues with the design, coding, implementation or maintenance of the computer programs, data, or technology used in the model. There can be no assurance that the use of a quantitative investment model will enable the Fund to achieve its objective.

Derivatives Risk - The use of derivatives, including but not limited to spot and forward foreign exchange transactions, may expose the Fund to additional risks that it would not be subject to if it invested directly in the securities underlying those derivatives. These risks include imperfect correlations with underlying investments or the Fund's other portfolio holdings, magnified losses resulting from leverage, counterparty risk, high price volatility, liquidity risk, segregation risk, valuation risk and legal restrictions.

Management Risk - A strategy, investment decision, technique, analysis, or model used by the portfolio managers may fail to produce the intended results, or imperfections, errors or limitations in the tools and data used by the portfolio managers may cause unintended results. Therefore, the Fund could underperform in comparison to other funds with similar objectives and investment strategies and may generate losses even in a favorable market.

Multi-Manager Risk - Because the Sub-Advisers make investment decisions independently, it is possible that their security selection processes may not complement one another, and the Fund may have buy and sell transactions in the same security on the same day.

An investment in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank, is not insured, endorsed or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any government agency, and is subject to the possible loss of your original investment.

Performance

The bar chart and table below provide an indication of the risk of investment in the Fund by showing changes in the performance of the Fund's Investor Class shares for each full calendar year since inception and by comparing the Fund's average annual total returns to the performance of a broad-based securities market index. The returns shown below are historical and are not an indication of future performance. Total return figures assume reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions and include the effect of the Fund's recurring expenses, but do not include the fees and expenses of any Permitted Account. If the fees and expenses of any Permitted Account were reflected, the performance shown would be lower.

Performance information prior to June 1, 2023, includes the performance of a sub-adviser that no longer manages the Fund's investment portfolio. Consequently, the Fund's total returns shown below for the periods prior to that date are not necessarily indicative of the performance of the Fund as it is currently managed.

Updated performance information may be obtained at www.empower.com/investments/empower-funds/fund-documents (the website does not form a part of this Prospectus).

Calendar Year Total Returns

  

	Quarter Ended	Total Return
Best Quarter	December 31, 2020	19.06%
Worst Quarter	March 31, 2020	-23.11%

Average Annual Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31, 2025 

	One Year	Five Years	Since Inception	Inception Date
Institutional Class	33.33%	3.88%	4.29%	1/4/2018
Investor Class	32.78%	3.49%	3.91%	1/4/2018
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	33.57%	4.20%	4.65%

Investment Adviser

ECM

Sub-Advisers

GSAM and Lazard

Portfolio Managers 

Name	Title	Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since
GSAM
Basak Yavuz	Managing Director, Portfolio Manager Emerging Markets Equity	2023
Lazard
Paul Moghtader, CFA	Managing Director, Portfolio Manager/Analyst	2018
Ciprian Marin	Managing Director, Portfolio Manager/Analyst	2018
Peter Kashanek	Director, Portfolio Manager/Analyst	2024
Alex Lai, CFA	Managing Director, Portfolio Manager/Analyst	2024
Kurt Livermore, CFA	Managing Director, Portfolio Manager/Analyst	2024

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is not sold directly to the general public, but instead may be offered as an underlying investment for Permitted Accounts. Permitted Accounts may place orders on any business day to purchase and redeem shares of the Fund based on instructions received from owners of variable contracts or IRAs, or from participants of retirement plans or college savings programs. Please contact your registered representative, IRA custodian or trustee, retirement plan sponsor or administrator, or college savings program for information concerning the procedures for purchasing and redeeming shares of the Fund.

The Fund does not have any initial or subsequent investment minimums. However, Permitted Accounts may impose investment minimums.

Tax Information

Currently, Permitted Accounts generally are not subject to federal income tax on any Fund distributions. Owners of variable contracts, retirement plan participants and IRA owners are also generally not subject to federal income tax on Fund distributions until such amounts are withdrawn from the variable contract, retirement plan or IRA. Distributions from a college savings program generally are not taxed provided that they are used to pay for qualified higher education expenses. More information regarding federal taxation of Permitted Account owners may be found in the prospectus or disclosure documents for that Permitted Account.

Payments to Insurers, Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

Companies related to the Fund may make payments to insurance companies, broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries for the sale of Fund shares and other services. These payments may be a factor that an insurance company, broker-dealer or other financial intermediary considers when including the Fund as an investment option in a Permitted Account. These payments also may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson, visit your financial intermediary's website, or consult the variable contract prospectus for more information.