are prepaid or when securities are
redeemed, an underlying fund may have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield. The
underlying fund may also fail to recover additional amounts (i.e., premiums) paid for securities
with higher coupons, resulting in an unexpected capital loss.
High Yield Securities and Loan Risk. Investments in instruments, including junk bonds, Loans and instruments that are issued by companies that are highly leveraged, less
creditworthy or financially distressed are subject to risks. These investments are considered to
be speculative and may be subject to greater risk of loss, greater sensitivity to economic changes, valuation difficulties, and potential illiquidity. Such investments are subject to additional risks including subordination to other
creditors, no collateral or limited rights in collateral, lack of a regular trading market,
extended settlement periods, liquidity risks, prepayment risks, potentially less protection under the federal securities laws and lack of publicly available information.
In recent years, there has been a broad trend of weaker or less restrictive covenant protections in both the Loan and high yield markets. Among other things, under such
weaker or less restrictive covenants, borrowers might be able to exercise more flexibility with
respect to certain activities than borrowers who are subject to stronger or more protective covenants. For example, borrowers might be able to incur more debt, including secured debt, return more capital to shareholders,
remove or reduce assets that are designated as collateral securing Loans or high yield
securities, increase the claims against assets that are permitted against collateral securing Loans or high yield securities or otherwise manage their business in ways that could impact creditors negatively. In addition, certain
privately held borrowers might be permitted to file less frequent, less detailed or less timely
financial reporting or other information, which could negatively impact the value of the Loans or high yield securities issued by such borrowers. Each of these factors might negatively impact the Loans and high yield
instruments held by an underlying fund.
High yield securities and Loans that are deemed to be liquid at the time of purchase may become illiquid. No active trading market may exist for some Loans and other
instruments and certain investments may be subject to restrictions on resale. In addition, the
settlement period for Loans is uncertain as there is no standardized settlement schedule applicable to such investments. Certain Loans may take more than seven days to settle. The inability to dispose of the Fund’s and/or
underlying fund’s securities and other investments in a timely fashion could result in
losses to the Fund and underlying fund. Instruments that have a more limited secondary market have more pronounced liquidity and valuation risk than other types of fixed income instruments or equity securities. When Loans and
other instruments are prepaid, the Fund and/or an underlying fund may have to reinvest in
instruments with a lower yield or fail to recover additional amounts (i.e., premiums) paid for these instruments, resulting in an unexpected capital loss and/or a decrease in the amount of dividends and yield.
Certain Loans may not be considered securities under the federal securities laws and, therefore,
investments in such Loans may not be subject to certain protections under those laws. In addition, the adviser may not have access to material non-public information to which other investors may have
access.
General Market Risk. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or
conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries
or regions. Securities in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to securities in general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes due to a number of factors, including inflation
(or expectations for inflation), deflation (or expectations for deflation), interest rates,
global demand for particular products or resources, market instability, financial system instability, debt crises and downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, sanctions and other trade barriers, regulatory events, other governmental
trade or market control programs and related geopolitical events. In addition, the value of the
Fund’s investments may be negatively affected by the occurrence of global events such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters or events, country instability, and infectious disease epidemics or
pandemics.
Foreign Securities and Emerging Markets
Risk. Because the underlying funds may invest in foreign currencies or securities of foreign issuers, investments in such underlying funds are subject to special risks in addition to those of
U.S. investments. Investments in foreign issuers and foreign securities (including depositary
receipts) are subject to additional risks, including political and economic risks, unstable governments, civil conflicts and war, greater volatility, decreased market liquidity, expropriation and nationalization risks,
sanctions or other measures by the United States or other governments, currency fluctuations,
higher transaction costs, delayed settlement, possible foreign controls on investment, and less stringent investor protection and disclosure standards of foreign markets. In certain markets where securities and other
instruments are not traded “delivery versus payment,” an underlying fund may not
receive timely payment for securities or other instruments it has delivered or receive delivery
of securities paid for and may be subject to increased risk that the counterparty will fail to make
payments or delivery when due or default completely. Foreign market trading hours, clearance and
settlement procedures, and holiday schedules may limit an underlying fund’s ability to buy
and sell securities.
Events and evolving conditions in certain
economies or markets may alter the risks associated with investments tied to countries or regions
that historically were perceived as comparatively stable becoming riskier and more volatile. These risks are magnified in emerging markets. Emerging market countries typically have less established market economies than
developed countries and may face greater social, economic, regulatory and political
uncertainties. In addition, emerging markets typically present greater illiquidity and price volatility concerns due to smaller or limited local capital markets and greater difficulty in determining market
valuations of securities due to limited public information on issuers. Certain emerging market
countries may be subject to less stringent requirements regarding accounting, auditing, financial reporting and record keeping and therefore, material information related to an investment may not be available or reliable.
Additionally, an underlying fund may have substantial difficulties exercising its legal rights or
enforcing a counterparty’s legal obligations in certain jurisdictions outside of the United States, in particular, in emerging markets countries, which can increase the risk of loss.