will be considered to have the higher
credit rating. The Fund may continue to hold securities that are downgraded in credit rating subsequent to their purchase if GW&K believes it would be advantageous to do so. While the Fund may purchase debt
securities of any duration, the Fund currently intends to primarily invest in debt securities so that the overall duration of the Fund’s portfolio will remain +/- 20% of the duration of its benchmark, the
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. As of March 31, 2021, the duration of the benchmark was 6.40 years. The average duration of debt securities in the Fund’s portfolio may, however, be shorter or
longer depending on market conditions.
The Fund may invest in
debt securities issued by any of the following: public and private U.S. companies; the U.S. government and its agencies, such as the Federal Home Loan Bank; and state and local governments issuing taxable municipal
securities. The Fund may also invest in asset-backed and mortgage-backed debt securities. The Fund may also invest in bonds whose proceeds are reserved for financing the implementation of the United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals or other sustainable projects. GW&K’s investment process involves fundamental credit research and GW&K’s analysis of how the Fund’s potential investments are
affected by material environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors. In selecting potential investments for the Fund, GW&K uses top-down research that focuses on managing duration, yield curve,
credit quality, volatility and liquidity, as well as bottom-up research that focuses on fundamental analysis, valuation analysis, technical analysis, and ESG factor analysis. GW&K may adjust its assessment of an
investment based on a number of considerations.
In selecting debt
securities issued by public and private U.S. companies and state and local governments issuing taxable municipal securities, GW&K applies its ESG factor analysis. GW&K has created its own proprietary ESG
Scoring System, which takes into consideration a range of factors, including independent analysis from third parties such as MSCI Inc. and Sustainalytics, as well as its own analysis of material ESG factors. Each of
GW&K’s sector specialists generally assesses the materiality of relevant environmental, social and governance metrics to bond issues during the fundamental research process, depending on the sector and for
corporate issuers the nature of the company’s business. GW&K uses standards developed by the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board to inform these assessments. Environmental assessment may take into account
issues such as carbon emissions, natural resource usage, hazardous waste, chemical safety, water stress and sustainable technology. Social assessment may take into account issues such as human rights, labor relations,
employee safety, product safety, data security and community relations. Governance assessment may take into account issues such as business ethics, board quality, board composition, compensation practices, financial
reporting and stakeholder governance.
GW&K recognizes that
the relative impact of ESG factors on investment performance may vary across market sector, industries and regions, but the firm believes that responsible corporate behavior with respect to ESG factors can contribute
to positive
and sustainable long-term financial
performance. GW&K seeks to identify issuers that GW&K believes are leaders in their industries in effectively addressing exposure to ESG risks through business practices, policies and programs, or issuers
within an industry that have more limited exposure to ESG risks. The goal of the ESG factor analysis is to seek investments with lesser exposure to, or better management of, ESG risks.
Principal Risks
There is the risk that you may lose
money on your investment. All investments carry a certain amount of risk, and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any
bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank, and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency.
Below are some of the
risks of investing in the Fund. The risks are presented in an order intended to facilitate readability and their order does not imply that the realization of one risk is more likely to occur than another risk or
likely to have a greater adverse impact than another risk. The significance of any specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over time, depending on the composition of the Fund’s portfolio, market
conditions, and other factors. You should read all of the risk information presented below carefully, because any one or more of these risks may result in losses to the Fund.
Debt Securities Risk—the value of a debt security changes in response to various factors, including, for example, market-related factors, such as changes in interest rates or changes in the actual or
perceived ability of an issuer to meet its obligations. Investments in debt securities are subject to, among other risks, credit risk, interest rate risk, extension risk, prepayment risk and liquidity risk.
Market Risk—market prices of investments held by the Fund may fall rapidly or unpredictably due to a variety of factors, including economic, political, or market conditions, or other factors
including terrorism, war, natural disasters and the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, including epidemics or pandemics such as the COVID-19 outbreak, or in response to events that affect
particular industries or companies.
Interest Rate Risk—fixed coupon payments (cash flows) of bonds and debt securities may become less competitive with the market in periods of rising interest rates and cause bond prices to decline.
During periods of increasing interest rates, the Fund may experience high levels of volatility and shareholder redemptions, and may have to sell securities at times when it would otherwise not do so, and at
unfavorable prices, which could reduce the returns of the Fund.
Credit Risk—the issuer of bonds or other debt securities may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely interest or principal payments or otherwise honor
its obligations.
High Yield Risk—below investment grade debt securities and unrated securities of similar credit quality (commonly known as “junk bonds” or “high yield securities”) may be
subject to greater levels of interest rate, credit, liquidity, and market risk