The Fund may purchase asset-backed securities.
The Fund may also invest in new debt offerings and securities that are subject to
resale restrictions such as those contained in Rule 144A promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, which securities may be illiquid or thinly traded. The Fund’s investments may include securities that do not produce
immediate cash income, such as zero coupon securities and payment-in-kind securities.
The Fund may purchase and sell securities on a when-issued and
delayed delivery basis, which means that the Fund buys or sells a security with payment and delivery taking
place in the future. The Fund may also engage in “to be announced” (TBA) transactions, which are transactions in which a fund buys or sells mortgage-backed securities on a forward commitment basis.
The Fund can invest in derivative instruments including futures
contracts and swap contracts.
The Fund can use futures contracts, including Treasury and interest rate futures, to
increase or reduce its exposure to interest rate changes.
The Fund can use swap contracts, including interest rate swaps, to
hedge or adjust its exposure to interest rates. The Fund can also use swap contracts, including credit
default swaps, to create long or short exposure to corporate or sovereign debt securities.
The Fund will invest more than 25% of its net assets in the
financial services sector.
The Fund will attempt to maintain a dollar-weighted average portfolio duration of
less than one year.
The portfolio managers collaborate
with teams of market-specific specialists to implement the Fund’s strategy. Although these specialists
provide input in the management of the Fund, the portfolio managers retain responsibility for ensuring the
Fund is positioned appropriately in terms of risk exposures and portfolio structure.
In general, the portfolio managers will look for attractive
risk-reward opportunities and securities that best enable the Fund to achieve its objectives. Decisions to
purchase or sell securities are primarily determined by relative value considerations along with economic and credit-related fundamentals, market supply and demand, market dislocations and situation-specific opportunities. The purchase or sale
of securities may also be related to a decision to alter the Fund’s risk exposures (such as duration,
yield curve positioning, and sector exposure), a need to limit or reduce the Fund’s exposure to a
particular security or issuer, degradation of an issuer’s credit quality, or general liquidity needs of the Fund.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with any mutual fund investment, loss of money is a risk of investing. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. The risks associated with an investment in the Fund can increase during times of significant market volatility. The
principal risks of investing in the Fund are:
Market Risk. The market values of the Fund’s investments, and therefore the value of the Fund’s shares, will go up and down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Market risk may
affect a single issuer, industry or section of the economy, or it may affect the market as a whole. The value of the Fund’s investments may go up or down due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to the
particular issuer, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook
for revenues or corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, regional or global instability, natural or environmental disasters, widespread disease or other public health issues, war, acts of terrorism or adverse investor sentiment generally. During
a general downturn in the financial markets, multiple asset classes may decline in value. When markets
perform well, there can be no assurance that specific investments held by the Fund will rise in value.
Debt Securities Risk. The prices of debt securities held by the Fund will be affected by changes in interest rates, the creditworthiness of
the issuer
and other factors. An increase in prevailing interest rates typically causes the value of existing debt securities to fall and often has a greater impact on longer-duration debt securities and
higher quality debt securities. Falling interest rates will cause the Fund to reinvest the proceeds of debt securities that have been repaid by the issuer at lower interest rates. Falling interest rates may also reduce the Fund’s
distributable income because interest payments on floating rate debt instruments held by the Fund will decline. The Fund could lose money on investments in debt securities if the issuer or borrower fails to meet its obligations to
make interest payments and/or to repay principal in a timely manner. Changes in an issuer’s financial strength, the market’s perception of such strength or in the credit rating of the issuer or the security may affect the
value of debt securities. The Adviser’s credit analysis may fail to anticipate such changes, which could result in buying a debt security at an inopportune time or failing to sell a debt security in advance of a price decline or other credit
event.
Changing Fixed Income Market Conditions
Risk. The current low interest rate environment was created in part by the Federal Reserve Board (FRB)
and certain foreign central banks keeping the federal funds and equivalent foreign rates near historical
lows. Increases in the federal funds and equivalent foreign rates may expose fixed income markets to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity for certain fixed income investments, particularly those with longer maturities. In
addition, decreases in fixed income dealer market-making capacity may also potentially lead to heightened
volatility and reduced liquidity in the fixed income markets. As a result, the value of the Fund’s investments and share price may decline. Changes in central bank policies could also result in higher than normal shareholder redemptions, which could
potentially increase portfolio turnover and the Fund’s transaction costs.
Money Market Fund Risk. Although money market funds generally seek to preserve the value of an investment at $1.00 per share, the Fund may
lose money by investing in money market funds. A money market fund's sponsor has no legal obligation to
provide financial support to the money market fund. The credit quality of a money market fund's holdings can
change rapidly in certain markets, and the default of a single holding could have an adverse impact on the
money market fund's share price. A money market fund's share price can also be negatively affected during periods of high redemption pressures, illiquid markets and/or significant market volatility.
Asset-Backed Securities Risk. Asset-backed securities are subject to prepayment or call risk, which is the risk that a borrower's payments may be received earlier or later than expected due
to changes in prepayment rates on underlying loans, which could result in the Fund reinvesting these early
payments at lower interest rates, thereby reducing the Fund's income. Asset-backed securities also are subject to extension risk, which is the risk that a rise in interest rates could reduce the rate of prepayments, causing the price of the asset-backed securities and
the Fund’s share price to fall.
Restricted
Securities Risk. Limitations on the resale of restricted securities may have an adverse effect on their
marketability, and may prevent the Fund from disposing of them promptly at reasonable prices. There can be
no assurance that a trading market will exist at any time for any particular restricted security. Transaction costs may be higher for restricted securities and such securities may be difficult to value and may have significant volatility.
Repurchase Agreement Risk. The Fund is subject to the risk that the counterparty may default on its obligation to repurchase the underlying
instruments collateralizing the repurchase agreement, which may cause the Fund to lose money. These risks
are magnified to the extent that a repurchase agreement is secured by securities other than cash or U.S.
Government securities.
LIBOR Transition Risk. The Fund invests in financial instruments that utilize the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) as the reference or benchmark rate for variable interest
rate calculations. On July 27, 2017, the head of the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced a desire to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. Although many