rating or maintain it with a particular rating agency. To maintain a
rating, the Sub-Adviser may manage the Portfolio more conservatively than if it was not rated.
Investments of the Portfolio are valued based on the
amortized cost valuation method pursuant to Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“Rule 2a-7”). Obligations in which the Portfolio invests generally have remaining maturities of 397 days or less, although upon satisfying
certain conditions of Rule 2a-7, the Portfolio may, to the extent otherwise permissible, invest in instruments subject to repurchase agreements and certain variable and floating rate obligations that bear longer final maturities. The dollar-weighted
average portfolio maturity of the Portfolio will not exceed 60 days and the dollar-weighted average life to maturity of the Portfolio will not exceed 120 days.
The Portfolio will invest in obligations permitted to be
purchased under Rule 2a-7 including, but not limited to: (i) U.S. government securities and obligations of its agencies or instrumentalities; (ii) commercial paper, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, repurchase agreements, guaranteed investment
contracts, municipal securities, loan participation interests, and medium-term notes; (iii) other money market mutual funds; and (iv) the following domestic, Eurodollar and Yankee Dollar obligations: certificates of deposit, fixed-time deposits,
bankers acceptances, and other promissory notes, including floating and variable rate obligations issued by U.S. or foreign bank holding companies and their bank subsidiaries, branches, and agencies. The Portfolio may significantly invest in
securities issued by financial services companies including, among other entities, banks and bank holding companies, investment banks, trust companies, insurance companies, finance companies, and broker-dealers. The Portfolio may invest more than
25% of its assets in instruments issued by domestic banks.
The Portfolio may invest in other investment companies to
the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules, regulations, and exemptive orders thereunder (“1940 Act”).
The Portfolio may purchase securities on a when-issued
basis and purchase or sell them on a forward commitment basis. The Portfolio may also invest in variable rate master demand obligations, which are unsecured demand notes that permit the underlying indebtedness to vary and provide for periodic
adjustments in the interest rate.
In choosing
investments for the Portfolio, the Sub-Adviser employs a highly disciplined, four-step investment process designed to ensure preservation of capital and liquidity, as well as adherence to regulatory requirements. The four steps are: first, a formal
list of high-quality issuers is actively maintained; second, securities of issuers on the approved list that meet maturity guidelines and are rated first tier (i.e., they are given the highest short-term
rating by at least two nationally recognized statistical rating organizations or by a single rating organization if a security is rated only by that organization, or are determined to be of comparable quality by the Sub-Adviser pursuant to
guidelines
approved by the Portfolio's Board of Trustees) are selected for
investment; third, diversification is continuously monitored to ensure that regulatory limits are not exceeded; and finally, portfolio maturity decisions are made based upon expected cash flows, income opportunities available in the market, and
expectations of future interest rates.
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.
Although the Portfolio seeks to preserve the value of your
investment at $1.00 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Portfolio.
Bank Instruments The Portfolio may invest in certificates of deposit, fixed time deposits, bankers' acceptances, and other debt and deposit-type obligations issued by
banks. Although the Portfolio attempts to invest only with high-quality banking institutions, most banking institutions are dependent on other institutions to fulfill their obligations. As a result, changes in economic, regulatory, political
conditions, or other events that affect the banking industry may have an adverse effect on the banking institutions in which the Portfolio invests or that serve as counterparties in transactions with the Portfolio.
Credit Prices of bonds and other debt instruments can fall if the issuer's actual or perceived financial health deteriorates, whether because of broad
economic or issuer-specific reasons. In certain cases, the issuer could be late in paying interest or principal, or could fail to pay altogether.
Currency To the extent that the Portfolio invests directly in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities denominated in, or that trade in, foreign
(non-U.S.) currencies, it is subject to the risk that those foreign (non-U.S.) currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency
being hedged.
Focused Investing To the extent that the Portfolio invests a substantial portion of its assets in securities related to a particular industry, sector, market segment,
or geographical area, its investments will be sensitive to developments in that industry, sector, market segment, or geographical area. The Portfolio assumes the risk that changing economic conditions; changing political or regulatory conditions; or
natural and other disasters affecting the particular industry, sector, market segment, or geographical area in which the Portfolio focuses its investments could have a significant impact on its investment performance and could ultimately cause the
Portfolio to underperform, or be more volatile than, other funds that invest more broadly.
Foreign Investments Investing in foreign (non-U.S.) securities may result in the Portfolio experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a fund that invests
exclusively in securities of U.S. companies due to: smaller markets; differing reporting, accounting, and auditing standards; nationalization, expropriation,