Under normal market conditions,
the portfolio managers will manage the Fund’s portfolio to have a weighted average effective duration of eight or more years. Duration is a mathematical calculation of the average life of a debt security (or
portfolio of debt securities) that serves as a measure of its price risk. In general, each year of duration represents an expected 1% change in the value of a security for every 1% immediate change in interest rates.
For example, the price of a debt security with a three-year duration would be expected to drop by approximately 3% in response to a 1% increase in interest rates. Therefore, prices of debt securities with shorter
durations tend to be less sensitive to interest rate changes than debt securities with longer durations. As the value of a debt security changes over time, so will its duration. The Fund’s portfolio managers
will calculate the duration of the portfolio by modeling the cash flows of all the individual holdings, including the impact of prepayment variability and coupon adjustments where applicable, to determine the duration
of each holding and then aggregating based on the size of the position. In performing this duration calculation, the Fund’s portfolio managers will utilize third-party models.
The Fund’s investments in
mortgage-related securities may include investments in fixed or adjustable-rate securities structured as “pass-through” securities and collateralized mortgage obligations, including residential and
commercial mortgage-backed securities, stripped mortgage-backed securities and real estate mortgage investment conduits. The Fund will invest in mortgage-related securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government,
its agencies (such as Ginnie Mae), and U.S. government-sponsored entities (such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). The Fund may purchase government-sponsored mortgage-related securities in TBA Transactions, including
mortgage dollar rolls. In a TBA Transaction, a seller and buyer of securities agree upon a price for delivering a given volume of securities at a specified future date. The characteristic feature of a TBA Transaction
is that the actual identity of the securities to be delivered at settlement is not specified on the trade date. Instead, participants agree upon only the general parameters of the securities to be delivered, including
issuer, maturity, coupon, price, par amount and settlement date. Generally, two days prior to the settlement date, the seller provides the buyer with the identity of the securities it intends to deliver on the
settlement date. In a mortgage dollar roll, the Fund will sell (or buy) mortgage-backed securities for delivery on a specified date and simultaneously contract to repurchase (or sell) substantially similar (same type,
coupon and maturity) securities on a future date. The Fund intends to enter into mortgage dollar rolls only with high quality securities dealers and banks, as determined by the Fund’s portfolio managers.
In addition to its investment in
securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies and government-sponsored entities, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in other types of debt securities, including privately-issued,
non-agency sponsored asset-backed and mortgage-related securities, futures contracts, options, swap agreements, cash and cash equivalents, and ETFs that investment principally in fixed income securities. Further, the
Fund may enter into short sales as part of its overall portfolio management strategy, or to offset a potential decline in the value of a security; however, the Fund does not expect, under normal market conditions, to
engage in short sales with respect to more than 30% of the value of its net assets. To the extent required under applicable federal securities laws, rules, and interpretations thereof, the Fund will “set
aside” liquid assets or engage in other measures to “cover” open positions and short positions held in connection with the foregoing types of transactions.
Although the Fund intends to
invest primarily in investment grade securities, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities of any credit quality, including securities that are below investment grade, which are also known as high
yield securities, or commonly referred to as “junk” bonds, or unrated securities that have not been judged by the portfolio managers to be of comparable quality to rated investment grade securities. In the
case of a split rating between one or more of the nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, the Fund will consider the highest rating.
The Fund is classified as
“non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”).
Principal Risks
You could lose money by
investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. There can be no assurance
that the Fund’s investment objectives will be achieved. The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance of any particular risk factor.
ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES
RISK. Asset-backed securities are debt securities typically created by buying and pooling loans or other receivables other than mortgage loans and creating securities backed by those similar
type assets. As with other debt securities, asset-backed securities are subject to credit risk, extension risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk and valuation risk. These securities are generally not backed by the
full faith and credit of the U.S. government and are subject to the risk of default on the underlying asset or loan, particularly during periods of economic downturn. The impairment of the value of collateral or other
assets underlying an asset-backed security, such as a result of non-payment of loans or non-performance of underlying assets, may result in a reduction in the value of such asset-backed securities and losses to the
Fund.
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT
CONCENTRATION RISK. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. A limited number of institutions act as authorized participants for the Fund. To
the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders and no other authorized participant steps forward to create or redeem, the Fund’s shares may
trade at a premium or discount to the Fund’s net asset value and possibly face delisting.
CALL RISK. Some debt securities may be redeemed, or “called,” at the option of the issuer before their stated maturity date. In general, an issuer will call its debt securities if they
can be refinanced by issuing new debt securities which bear a lower interest rate. The Fund