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, military conflict, acts of terrorism, economic crisis 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. Increases in the federal funds and equivalent foreign rates or other changes to monetary policy or regulatory actions may expose fixed
income markets to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity for certain fixed income investments,
particularly those with longer maturities. It is difficult to predict the impact of interest rate changes
on various markets. 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 redemptions by shareholders, which could potentially increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate and 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.
Rule 144A Securities and Other Exempt Securities Risk. The market for Rule 144A and other securities exempt from certain registration requirements may be less active than the market for publicly-traded securities. Rule 144A and other exempt securities
carry the risk that their liquidity may become impaired and the Fund may be unable to dispose of the
securities at a desirable time or price.
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.
Commercial Paper Risk. The value of an investment in commercial paper, which is an unsecured promissory note that generally has a maturity
date between one and 270 days and is issued by a U.S. or foreign entity, is susceptible to changes in the
issuer’s financial condition or credit quality. Investments in commercial paper are usually discounted from their value at maturity. Commercial paper can be fixed-rate or variable rate and can be adversely affected by changes in interest
rates.