Summary Prospectus by Investment Company (Form 497K)

EMPOWER FUNDS, INC.
("Empower Funds")

Empower High Yield Bond Fund
Institutional Class Ticker: MXFRX
Investor Class Ticker: MXHYX
(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 to obtain high current income with capital appreciation as a secondary objective when consistent with the primary objective.

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 Expenses1 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 

	Institutional Class	Investor Class
Management Fees	0.55%	0.55%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees	0.00%	0.00%
Total Other Expenses	0.10%	0.48%
Shareholder Services Fees	0.00%	0.35%
Other Expenses	0.10%	0.13%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	0.65%	1.03%
Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement2	0.07%	0.10%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement	0.58%	0.93%

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	$59	$201	$355	$804
Investor Class	$95	$318	$559	$1,250

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 57% 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 below investment grade securities (commonly known as "high yield securities" or "junk bonds"). Below investment grade securities are those rated Ba1 or lower by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. ("Moody's"), BB+ or lower by Standard & Poor's Global Ratings ("S&P"), have a comparable rating from another nationally recognized statistical rating organization, or are of a comparable quality if unrated and no more than 35% of the Fund's total assets may be invested in securities that have below a B3/B- rating. The Fund will invest primarily in fixed or floating rate income securities, such as corporate bonds, convertible securities, bank loans (term and revolving), zero coupon bonds and Rule 144A fixed income securities.

Up to 20% of the total assets of the Fund may be invested in non-corporate fixed income securities. The Fund may invest in foreign securities and up to 20% of its total assets may be invested in securities not denominated in U.S. dollars. The Fund may invest in derivatives, including but not limited to forward currency contracts; futures and options on securities, securities indices or currencies; options on these futures; credit default swaps and credit default swap indices; and interest rate or currency swaps.

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-adviser and monitors its performance on an ongoing basis. The Fund's investment portfolio is managed by Franklin Advisers, Inc. (the "Sub-Adviser" or "Franklin"). Franklin's investment approach combines a top-down, macroeconomic overview with strong fundamental credit research, which provides sector-specific coverage across the full credit rating spectrum and capital structure.

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.

Below Investment Grade Securities Risk - Below investment grade securities (commonly known as "high yield securities" or "junk bonds") are speculative, have a higher degree of credit risk and interest rate risk, and may be less liquid and subject to greater volatility in market value than investment grade securities. In addition, high yield securities present a greater risk of loss (which may be substantial or total) of income and principal, than investment grade securities.

Credit Risk - An issuer (or guarantor) of a security may default on its obligations to pay principal or interest. A security's value may be affected by changes in its credit quality rating or its issuer's financial conditions.

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.

Convertible Securities Risk - The value of a convertible security held by the Fund may decline as interest rates rise and vary with fluctuations in the market value of the underlying securities. In addition, the security may be called for redemption at a time or price unfavorable to the Fund.

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. Securities acquired in a private placement, such as Rule 144A securities, may involve increased liquidity risk due to restrictions on resale and the potential absence of a liquid secondary market or ready purchasers for such securities. 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. Extraordinary and sudden changes in interest rates could disrupt the market for fixed income securities and result in fluctuations in the Fund's net asset value. Increased redemptions due to a rise in interest rates may require the Fund to liquidate its holdings at an unfavorable time or under adverse or disadvantageous conditions, which may negatively affect the Fund. 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.

Interest Rate Risk - The market value of a fixed income security is affected significantly by changes (or the expectation of such changes) in interest rates. A wide variety of market and economic factors can cause interest rates to rise or fall, including central bank monetary policy, rising inflation, disinflation or deflation, and changes in general economic conditions. When interest rates rise, the market value of a fixed income security will generally decline and when interest rates decline, the market values of such securities will generally rise. In general, the longer the maturity or duration of a fixed income security, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Changes in interest rates can be difficult to forecast and may have unpredictable effects on the markets and the Fund's investments, including negatively affecting yield, value or liquidity. Actions taken by the Federal Reserve Board or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize economic growth, such as increases or decreases in short-term interest rates, may adversely affect markets and the Fund's performance.

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.

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.

Bank Loan Risk - Bank loans often involve borrowers whose financial conditions are troubled or uncertain and companies that are highly leveraged. The market for bank loans may not be highly liquid and the Fund may have difficulty selling bank loans. These investments expose the Fund to the credit risk of both the financial institution and the underlying borrower.

Derivatives Risk - The use of derivatives, including but not limited to forward currency contracts; futures and options on securities, securities indices or currencies; options on these futures; credit default swaps and credit default swap indices; and interest rate or currency swaps, 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.

Call Risk - An issuer may redeem a fixed income security before maturity (a "call") at a price below its current market value.

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.

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 the last ten calendar years 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.

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	June 30, 2020	12.30%
Worst Quarter	March 31, 2020	-12.24%

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

	One Year	Five Years	Ten Years
Institutional Class	9.34%	3.91%	6.34%
Investor Class	8.96%	3.57%	5.98%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	7.30%	-0.36%	2.01%

Investment Adviser

ECM

Sub-Adviser

Franklin

Portfolio Managers 

Name	Title	Portfolio Manager of the Fund Since
Robert Salvin	Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager	2009
Glenn Voyles, CFA	Senior Vice President, Director of High Yield	2024
Bryant Dieffenbacher, CFA	Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Research 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.