only periodically, changes in
prevailing interest rates (and particularly sudden and significant changes) can be expected to cause some fluctuations in the net asset value of the Fund to the extent that it
invests in floating rate debt securities.
These basic principles of bond prices also apply to U.S. Government
securities. A security backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government is guaranteed only as to its stated interest rate and face value at maturity, not
its current market price. Just like other fixed-income securities, government-guaranteed securities will fluctuate in value when interest rates change.
A general rise in interest rates has the potential to cause investors to move out of fixed-income securities on a large
scale, which may increase redemptions from funds that hold large amounts of fixed-income securities. Heavy
redemptions could cause the Fund to sell assets at inopportune times or at a loss or depressed value and could hurt the Fund’s performance.
Extension Risk — When interest rates rise, certain obligations will be paid off by the obligor more slowly than anticipated,
causing the value of these obligations to fall.
Prepayment Risk — When interest rates fall, certain
obligations will be paid off by the obligor more quickly than originally anticipated, and the Fund may have to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields.
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Municipal Securities Risks — Municipal securities risks include the ability of the issuer to repay the obligation, the relative lack of
information about certain issuers of municipal securities, and the possibility of future legislative changes which could affect the market for and value of municipal securities.
Budgetary constraints of local, state, and federal governments upon which the issuers may be relying for funding may also impact municipal securities. These risks include:
General Obligation Bonds Risks — Timely payments depend on
the issuer’s credit quality, ability to raise tax revenues and ability to maintain an adequate tax base.
Revenue Bonds Risks — These payments depend on the money earned by the particular facility or class of facilities, or the amount of revenues
derived from another source.
Private Activity Bonds Risks — Municipalities and other
public authorities issue private activity bonds to finance development of industrial facilities for use by a private enterprise. The private enterprise pays the principal and
interest on the bond, and the issuer does not pledge its full faith, credit and taxing power for repayment.
Moral Obligation Bonds Risks — Moral obligation bonds are generally issued by special purpose
public authorities of a state or municipality. If the issuer is unable to meet its obligations, repayment of these bonds becomes a moral commitment, but not a legal obligation, of the state or municipality.
Municipal Notes Risks — Municipal notes are shorter term
municipal debt obligations. If there is a shortfall in the anticipated proceeds, the notes may not be fully repaid and the Fund may lose money.
Municipal Lease Obligations Risks — In a municipal lease obligation, the issuer agrees to make payments when due on the lease obligation. Although the
issuer does not pledge its unlimited taxing power for payment of the lease obligation, the lease obligation is secured by the leased property.
Tax-Exempt Status Risk — The Fund and its investment manager will rely on the opinion of issuers’ bond counsel and, in the case of
derivative securities, sponsors’ counsel, on the tax-exempt status of interest on municipal bonds and payments under derivative securities. Neither the Fund nor its
investment manager will independently review the bases for those tax opinions, which may ultimately be determined to be incorrect and subject the Fund and its shareholders to substantial tax liabilities.
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Market Risk and Selection Risk — Market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the
possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. The value of a security or other asset may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic
trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or other asset, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, exchange, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class.
Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues like pandemics or epidemics, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its
investments. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by Fund management will underperform the
markets, the relevant indices or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies. This means you may lose money.
An outbreak of an infectious coronavirus (COVID-19) that was first
detected in December 2019 developed into a global pandemic that has resulted in numerous disruptions in the market and has had significant economic impact leaving general concern and uncertainty. Although vaccines have been developed and approved for use by various
governments, the duration of the pandemic and its effects cannot be predicted with certainty. The impact of this