Class
|
|
| 1 Yr
| 3 Yrs
| 5 Yrs
| 10 Yrs
|
ADV
|
| $
| 107
| 334
| 579
| 1,283
|
I
|
| $
| 56
| 176
| 307
| 689
|
S
|
| $
| 82
| 255
| 444
| 990
|
S2
|
| $
| 97
| 303
| 525
| 1,166
|
Portfolio Turnover
The Portfolio pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected
in Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses or in the Expense Example, affect the Portfolio's performance.
During the most recent fiscal year,
the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 193% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment
Strategies
Under normal market conditions,
the Portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in a portfolio of bonds, including but not limited to corporate, government and mortgage bonds, which, at the time of
purchase, are rated investment-grade (e.g., rated at least BBB- by S&P Global Ratings or Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service, Inc.) or have an equivalent rating by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization
(“NRSRO”), or are of comparable quality if unrated. The Portfolio will provide shareholders with at least 60 days' prior notice of any change in this investment policy.
Although the Portfolio may
invest a portion of its assets in high-yield (high risk) debt instruments rated below investment grade (commonly referred to as “junk bonds”), the Portfolio will seek to maintain a minimum weighted average
portfolio quality rating of at least investment-grade. Generally, the sub-adviser (“Sub-Adviser”) maintains a dollar-weighted average duration between three and ten years. Duration is the most commonly
used measure of risk in debt instruments as it incorporates multiple features of the debt instruments (e.g., yield, coupon, maturity, etc.) into one number. Duration is a measure of sensitivity of the price of a debt instrument to a change in interest rates. Duration is a weighted
average of the times that interest payments and the final return of principal are received. The weights are the amounts of the payments discounted by the yield-to-maturity of the debt instrument. Duration is expressed
as a number of years. The bigger the duration number, the greater the interest-rate risk or reward for the debt instrument prices. For example, the price of a bond with an average duration of five years would be
expected to fall approximately 5% if interest rates rose by 1%. Conversely, the price of a bond with an average duration of five years would be expected to rise approximately 5% if interest rates drop by 1%.
The Portfolio may also invest
in: preferred stocks; high quality money market instruments; municipal bonds; debt instruments of foreign issuers (including those located in emerging market countries); securities denominated in foreign currencies;
foreign
currencies; mortgage-backed and asset-backed
securities; bank loans and floating rate secured loans (“Senior Loans”); and derivatives including futures, options, and swaps (including credit default swaps, interest rate swaps and total return swaps)
involving securities, securities indices and interest rates, which may be denominated in the U.S. dollar or foreign currencies. The Portfolio typically uses derivatives to reduce exposure to other risks, such as
interest rate or currency risk, to substitute for taking a position in the underlying asset, and/or to enhance returns in the Portfolio.
The Portfolio may seek to obtain
exposure to the securities in which it invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or through other investment techniques such as buy backs and dollar rolls.
The Portfolio may invest in
other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds, to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules, regulations, and exemptive orders thereunder (“1940
Act”).
The Sub-Adviser believes that
relationships between the drivers of debt instrument returns change over time and that recognizing this is key to managing debt instrument assets. Therefore, the Sub-Adviser employs a dynamic investment process that
seeks to balance top-down macro economic considerations and fundamental bottom-up analysis during the steps of its investment process - sector allocation, security selection, duration and yield curve management. This
includes leveraging proprietary qualitative analysis along with quantitative tools throughout the portfolio construction process.
The Sub-Adviser may sell
securities for a variety of reasons, such as to secure gains, limit losses, or redeploy assets into opportunities believed to be more promising, among others.
The Portfolio may lend
portfolio securities on a short-term or long-term basis, up to 33 1⁄3% of its total assets.
Principal Risks
You could lose money on an
investment in the Portfolio. Any of the following risks, among others, could affect Portfolio performance or cause the Portfolio to lose money or to underperform market averages of other funds.
Bank Instruments: Bank instruments include certificates of deposit, fixed time deposits, bankers’ acceptances, and other debt and deposit-type obligations
issued by banks. Changes in economic, regulatory or political conditions, or other events that affect the banking industry may have an adverse effect on bank instruments or banking institutions that serve as
counterparties in transactions with the Portfolio.
Company: The price of a company’s stock could decline or underperform for many reasons including, among others, poor management, financial
problems, reduced demand for company goods or services, regulatory fines and judgments, or business challenges. If a company declares bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, its stock could become worthless.