Securities Act File No. 333-34844

Investment Company Act File No. 811-9903

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM N-1A

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933      x

PRE-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO.                o

POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 21        x

AND/OR

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940    x

AMENDMENT NO. 23      x

BNY MELLON FUNDS TRUST

(formerly, MELLON FUNDS TRUST)

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

c/o The Dreyfus Corporation

200 Park Avenue

New York, New York 10116

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code: (212) 922-6000

Jeff Prusnofsky, Esq.

200 Park Avenue

New York, New York 10116

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

COPY TO:

David Stephens, Esq.

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP

180 Maiden Lane

New York, New York 10038-4982

and

Donald W. Smith, Esq.

Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP

1601 K Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20006

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box)

	immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
	on (DATE) pursuant to paragraph (b)
	60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a) (1)
	on (DATE) pursuant to paragraph (a) (1)
X	75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a) (2)
	on (DATE) pursuant to paragraph (a) (2) of Rule 485.
If appropriate, check the following box:
	this post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.

The information in this Prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. The Prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

Subject to Completion, Dated July 30, 2008

The BNY Mellon Funds

BNY MELLON MUNICIPAL OPPORTUNITIES FUND

Seeks to maximize total return consisting of

high current income exempt from federal income tax

and capital appreciation

PROSPECTUS _______ __, 2008

As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Not FDIC–Insured • Not Bank Guaranteed • May Lose Value

The BANK of NEW YORK MELLON

CONTENTS

THE FUND

Goal/Approach

Main Risks

Past Performance

Expenses

Management

Financial Highlights

YOUR INVESTMENT

Account Policies and Services

Distributions and Taxes

FOR MORE INFORMATION

See back cover.

NOTE TO INVESTORS

The fund is offering its Class M shares and Investor shares in this prospectus.

Class M shares are generally offered only to Wealth Management clients of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon) that maintain qualified fiduciary, custody, advisory or other accounts with various affiliates of BNY Mellon (Wealth Management Clients). Such qualified fiduciary, custody, advisory or other accounts maintained by Wealth Management Clients with various affiliates of BNY Mellon (BNY Mellon Affiliates) are referred to herein as “Qualified Accounts.”

Investor shares are generally offered only to Wealth Management Clients who terminate their relationship with BNY Mellon Affiliates, and to individuals, corporations, partnerships and other entities that are not Wealth Management Clients and that receive a transfer of fund shares from a Wealth Management Client (collectively, Individual Clients). Investor shares also may be offered to brokerage clients of BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors, a division of MBSC Securities Corporation (BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients), and to certain employee benefit plans, including pension, profit-sharing and other deferred compensation plans, that are approved by BNY Mellon Wealth Management to invest in the fund, that are not Wealth Management Clients and that are serviced by an administrator or recordkeeper with which The Dreyfus Corporation or certain of its affiliates have entered into an agreement (Qualified Employee Benefit Plans).

The fund currently intends to close to new investors after it reaches $___ million in total assets. Holders of fund shares at the time the fund closes (the closing date) may continue to buy fund shares for existing accounts. Investors who do not own shares of the fund at the closing date generally will not be allowed to buy shares of the fund, except that (i) participants in Qualified Employee Benefit Plans (and their successor plans) and (ii) BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients participating in discretionary wrap accounts offered by BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors, may purchase fund shares after the closing date, provided that the fund was established as an investment option under such plan or discretionary wrap account, respectively, before the closing date. In addition, fund shares may be purchased after the closing date by the fund’s primary portfolio managers and Board members who do not hold fund shares on the closing date. The board reserves the right to reopen the fund to new investors after the closing date should circumstances change.

BNY Mellon Municipal Opportunities Fund THE FUND

[ICON] GOAL/APPROACH

The fund seeks to maximize total return consisting of high current income exempt from federal income tax and capital appreciation. This objective may be changed without shareholder approval. To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests at least 80% of its assets in U.S. dollar-denominated fixed-income securities that are exempt from federal income tax (municipal bonds). While the fund typically invests in a diversified portfolio of municipal bonds, it may invest up to 20% of its assets in taxable fixed-income securities, including non-U.S. dollar-denominated foreign debt securities such as Brady bonds and sovereign debt obligations.

The fund invests at least 80% of its assets in fixed-income securities rated investment grade or the unrated equivalent as determined by Dreyfus. For additional yield, the fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in fixed-income securities rated below investment grade (“high yield” or “junk” bonds) or the unrated equivalent as determined by Dreyfus. The fund may invest in bonds of any maturity or duration and does not expect to target any specific range of maturity or duration. The dollar-weighted average maturity of the fund’s portfolio will vary from time to time depending on the portfolio managers’ views on the direction of interest rates.

The fund’s portfolio managers seek to deliver value added excess returns (“alpha”) by applying an investment approach designed to identify and exploit relative value opportunities within the municipal bond market and other fixed-income markets. Although the fund seeks to be diversified by geography and sector, the fund may at times invest a significant portion of its assets in a particular state or region or in a particular sector due to market conditions.

Although the fund normally invests at least 80% of its assets in municipal bonds, the income from which is exempt from federal income tax, up to 50% of the fund’s assets may be invested in municipal bonds that are subject to the federal alternative minimum tax.

The fund may, but is not required to, use derivatives, such as futures, options and swap agreements, as a substitute for investing directly in an underlying asset, to increase returns, to manage duration or interest rate risk, or as part of a hedging strategy. Swap agreements, such as credit default swaps, can be used to transfer the credit risk of a security without actually transferring ownership of the security or to customize exposure to a particular credit. The fund may buy securities that pay interest at rates that float inversely with changes in prevailing interest rates (inverse floaters) and may make forward commitments in which the fund agrees to buy or sell a security in the future at a price agreed upon today. Inverse floaters are created by depositing municipal bonds in a trust which divides the bond’s income stream into two parts: a short-term variable rate demand note and a residual interest bond (the inverse floater) which receives interest based on the remaining cash flow of the trust after payment of interest on the note and various trust expenses. Interest on the inverse floater usually moves in the opposite direction as the interest on the variable rate demand note. The fund also may make forward commitments in which the fund agrees to buy or sell a security in the future at a price agreed upon today.

[Side Bar]

Concepts to understand

Municipal bonds: debt securities that provide income free from federal income tax, and state income tax if you live in the issuing state. Municipal bonds are typically of two types:

• general obligation bonds, which are secured by the full faith and credit of the issuer and its taxing power

• revenue bonds, which are payable from the revenue derived from a specific revenue source, such as charges for water and sewer service or highway tolls

Credit rating: independent rating organizations analyze and evaluate a bond issuer’s, and/or any credit enhancer’s, credit profile and ability to repay debts. Based on their assessment, these rating organizations assign letter grades that reflect the issuer’s, and/or any credit enhancer’s, creditworthiness. AAA or Aaa represents the highest credit rating, AA/Aa the second highest, and so on down to D, for defaulted debt. Bonds rated BBB or Baa and above are considered investment grade.

Dollar-weighted average maturity: an average of the stated maturities of the bonds held by the fund, based on their dollar-weighted proportions in the fund.

Duration: a measure of an investment’s “interest rate risk,” or how sensitive a bond or the fund’s portfolio may be to changes in interest rates. Generally, the longer a bond’s duration, the more likely it is to react to interest rate fluctuations and the greater its long-term risk/return potential.

[ICON] MAIN RISKS

The fund’s principal risks are discussed below. The value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, sometimes dramatically, which means you could lose money.

• Municipal bond market risk. The amount of public information available about municipal bonds is generally less than that for corporate equities or bonds. Special factors, such as legislative changes and local and business developments, may adversely affect the yield and/or value of the fund’s investments in municipal bonds. Other factors include the general conditions of the municipal bond market, the size of the particular offering, the maturity of the obligation and the rating of the issue.

• Interest rate risk. Prices of municipal bonds and other fixed-income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect bond prices and, accordingly, the fund’s share price. The longer the effective maturity and duration of the fund’s portfolio, the more the fund’s share price is likely to react to interest rates.

• Credit risk. Failure of an issuer to make timely interest or principal payments, or a decline or perception of a decline in the credit quality of a bond, can cause the bond’s price to fall, potentially lowering the fund’s share price. Although the fund invests principally in investment grade bonds, it may invest to a limited extent in high yield (“junk”) bonds, which involve greater credit risk, including the risk of default, than investment grade bonds, and are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments. The prices of high yield bonds can fall dramatically in response to bad news about the issuer or its industry, or the economy in general.

• Call risk. Some municipal bonds and other fixed-income securities give the issuer the option to call, or redeem, the bonds before their maturity date. If an issuer “calls” its bond during a time of declining interest rates, the fund might have to reinvest the proceeds in an investment offering a lower yield. During periods of market illiquidity or rising interest rates, prices of the fund’s “callable” issues are subject to increased price fluctuation.

• Liquidity risk. When there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities, it can become more difficult to sell the securities at or near their perceived value. In such a market, the value of such securities and the fund’s share price may fall dramatically. The secondary market for certain municipal bonds tends to be less well developed or liquid than many other securities markets, which may adversely affect the fund’s ability to sell such municipal bonds at attractive prices. Investments in foreign securities tend to have greater exposure to liquidity risk than domestic securities. Liquidity risk also exists when a particular derivative instrument is difficult to purchase or sell. If a derivative transaction is particularly large or if the relevant market is illiquid (as is the case with many privately negotiated derivatives, including swap agreements), it may not be possible to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price.

• Market sector risk. The fund’s overall risk level will depend on the market sectors in which the fund is invested and the current interest rate, liquidity and credit quality of such sectors. The fund may significantly overweight or underweight certain industries or market sectors, which may cause the fund’s performance to be more or less sensitive to developments affecting those industries or sectors.

• Tax risk. To be tax-exempt, municipal bonds generally must meet certain regulatory requirements. Although the fund will normally invest at least 80% of its assets in municipal bonds that pay interest that is exempt, in the opinion of counsel to the issuer (or on the basis of other authority believed by the investment adviser to be reliable), from federal income tax, if any such municipal bond fails to meet these regulatory requirements, the interest received by the fund from its investment in such bonds and distributed to fund shareholders will be taxable.

• Foreign investment risk. To the extent the fund invests in foreign securities, the fund’s performance will be influenced by political, social, and economic factors affecting investments in foreign fixed-income securities. Special risks associated with investments in foreign fixed-income securities include exposure to currency fluctuations, less liquidity, less developed or less efficient trading markets, lack of comprehensive company information, political instability and differing auditing and legal standards. The ability of a foreign sovereign obligor to make timely payments on its external debt obligations will be strongly influenced by the obligor’s balance of payments, including export performance, its access to international credits and investments, fluctuations in interest rates and the extent of its foreign reserves. A governmental obligor may default on its obligations.

• Derivatives risk. The fund may use derivative instruments, such as options, futures and options on futures (including those relating to securities, indexes and interest rates), swaps, inverse floaters and other credit derivatives. Certain derivatives may cause taxable income. A small investment in derivatives could have a potentially large impact on the fund’s performance. The use of derivatives involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying assets. Derivatives can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and there is the risk that changes in the value of a derivative held by the fund will not correlate with the underlying instruments or the fund’s other investments. Derivative instruments also involve the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the failure of the counterparty to the derivative instruments to make required payments or otherwise comply with the derivative instruments’ terms. Credit default swaps and similar instruments involve greater risks than if the fund had invested in the reference obligation directly, since, in addition to general market risks, they are subject to illiquidity risk, counterparty risk and credit risks.

• Leveraging risk. The use of leverage, such as engaging in forward commitment transactions, entering into futures contracts, and investing in inverse floaters, may cause taxable income and may magnify the fund’s gains or losses.

• Non-diversification risk. The fund is non-diversified, which means that a relatively high percentage of the fund’s assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers. Therefore, the fund’s performance may be more vulnerable to changes in the market value of a single issuer or a group of issuers and more susceptible to risks associated with a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence than a diversified fund.

[Side Bar]

Other potential risks

Under adverse market conditions, the fund could invest some or all of its assets in U.S Treasury securities or money market securities and taxable bonds. Although the fund would do this for temporary defensive purposes, it could reduce the benefit from any upswing in the market. During such periods, the fund may not achieve its investment objective.

Although the fund invests at least 80% of its assets in municipal and taxable bonds rated investment grade when purchased by the fund, they may subsequently be downgraded.

The fund may lend its portfolio securities to brokers, dealers and other financial institutions. In connection with such loans, the fund will receive collateral from the borrower equal to at least 100% of the value of the loaned securities. If the borrower of the securities fails financially, there could be delays in recovering the loaned securities or exercising rights to the collateral.

[Left Side Bar]

What this fund is — and isn’t

This fund is a mutual fund: a pooled investment that is professionally managed and gives you the opportunity to participate in financial markets. It strives to reach its stated goal, although as with all mutual funds, it cannot offer guaranteed results.

An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit. It is not insured or guaranteed by The Bank of New York Mellon, any of its affiliates or any other bank, or the FDIC or any other government agency. It is not a complete investment program. You could lose money in the fund, but you also have the potential to make money.

____________________________

[ICON] PAST PERFORMANCE

As a new fund, past performance information is not available for the fund as of the date of this prospectus.

[ICON] EXPENSES

As an investor, you pay certain fees and expenses in connection with the fund, which are described in the table below. Because annual fund operating expenses are paid out of fund assets, their effect is included in the share price. The fund has no sales charge (load) or Rule 12b-1 distribution fees.

Fee table

	Class M shares	Investor shares
Annual fund operating expenses
% of average daily net assets
Investment advisory fees	0.__%	0.__%
Shareholder services fee	none	0.25%
Other expenses	0.__%	0.__%
Total annual fund operating expenses	0.__%	0.__%
Less: Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement*	(0.__)%	(0.__)%
Net operating expenses	0.__%	0.__%

__________________

* The investment adviser has contractually agreed, until December 31, 2009, to waive receipt of its fees and/or assume the expenses of the fund so that the direct expenses of neither class (excluding shareholder services fees, taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, commitment fees on borrowings, and extraordinary expenses) exceed 0.__%.

Expense example
	1 Year	3 Years
Class M shares	$	$
Investor shares	$	$

This example shows what you could pay in expenses over time. It uses the same hypothetical conditions other funds use in their prospectuses: $10,000 initial investment, 5% total return each year and no changes in expenses. The figures shown would be the same whether you sold your shares at the end of a period or kept them. The one-year example and the first year of the three-, five- and ten-years examples are based on net operating expenses, which reflect the expense waiver/reimbursement by the investment adviser. Because actual returns and expenses will be different, the example is for comparison only.

[Right Side Bar]

Concepts to understand

Investment advisory fee: the fee paid to the investment adviser for managing the fund’s portfolio.

Shareholder services fee: the fee paid to the fund’s distributor for providing shareholder services to the holders of Investor shares.

Other expenses: estimated fees to be paid by the fund, including an administration fee of 0.[128]% (based on certain assets of the funds in the BNY Mellon Funds Trust in the aggregate) payable to The Bank of New York Mellon for providing or arranging for fund accounting, transfer agency and certain other fund administration services, and miscellaneous items such as custody and professional service fees. The fund also makes payments to certain financial intermediaries, including affiliates, who provide sub-administration, recordkeeping and/or sub-transfer agency services to beneficial owners of the fund. Actual expenses may be greater or less than the amounts listed in the table above.

__________________________________

[ICON] MANAGEMENT

Investment adviser

The investment adviser for the fund is BNY Mellon Fund Advisers, a division of The Dreyfus Corporation (Dreyfus), 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10166. Founded in 1947, Dreyfus manages approximately $308 billion in approximately 180 mutual fund portfolios. The fund has agreed to pay the investment adviser an investment advisory fee at the annual rate of 0.__% of the fund’s average daily net assets. Dreyfus is the primary mutual fund business of BNY Mellon, a global financial services company focused on helping clients move and manage their financial assets, operating in 34 countries and serving more than 100 markets. BNY Mellon is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, providing asset and wealth management, asset servicing, issuer services, and treasury services through a worldwide client-focused team. BNY Mellon has more than $23 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $1.1 trillion in assets under management, and it services more than $11 trillion in outstanding debt. Additional information is available at www.bnymellon.com.

John F. Flahive, CFA, and Gary Crofton serve as the fund’s co-primary portfolio managers, positions they have held since the fund’s inception. Mr. Flahive has been a portfolio manager at Dreyfus since November 1994 and is a first vice president of The Bank of New York Mellon. Mr. Flahive joined Mellon Trust of New England, N.A. in October 1994. Mr. Crofton [to be provided].

The fund’s Statement of Additional Information (SAI) provides additional information about the portfolio managers’ compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, and the portfolio managers’ ownership of fund shares.

Distributor

The fund’s distributor is MBSC Securities Corporation (MBSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the investment adviser. The investment adviser or MBSC may provide cash payments out of its own resources to financial intermediaries that sell shares of the fund or provide other services. Such payments are separate from any shareholder services fees or other expenses paid by the fund to those intermediaries. Because those payments are not made by you or the fund, the fund’s total expense ratio will not be affected by any such payments. These additional payments may be made to intermediaries, including affiliates, that provide shareholder servicing, sub-administration, recordkeeping and/or sub-transfer agency services, marketing support and/or access to sales meetings, sales representatives and management representatives of the financial intermediary. Cash compensation also may be paid from the investment adviser’s or MBSC’s own resources to intermediaries for inclusion of the fund on a sales list, including a preferred or select sales list or in other sales programs. These payments sometimes are referred to as “revenue sharing.” From time to time, the investment adviser or MBSC also may provide cash or non-cash compensation to financial intermediaries or their representatives in the form of occasional gifts; occasional meals, tickets or other entertainment; support for due diligence trips; educational conference sponsorship; support for recognition programs; and other forms of cash or non-cash compensation permissible under broker-dealer regulations. In some cases, these payments or compensation may create an incentive for a financial intermediary or its employees to recommend or sell shares of the fund to you. Please contact your financial representative for details about any payments they or their firm may receive in connection with the sale of fund shares or the provision of services to the fund.

Code of ethics

The fund, the fund’s investment adviser and MBSC have each adopted a code of ethics that permits its personnel, subject to such code, to invest in securities, including securities that may be purchased or held by the fund. The investment adviser’s code of ethics restricts the personal securities transactions of its employees, and requires portfolio managers and other investment personnel to comply with the code’s preclearance and disclosure procedures. The primary purpose of the code is to ensure that personal trading by employees of the investment adviser does not disadvantage any fund managed by the investment adviser.

________________________________

[ICON] FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

As a new fund, financial highlights information is not available for the fund as of the date of this prospectus.

__________________________________

YOUR INVESTMENT

[ICON] ACCOUNT POLICIES AND SERVICES

Buying shares

The fund is offering its Class M shares and Investor shares in this prospectus. Class M shares are generally offered only to Wealth Management Clients. Class M shares owned by Wealth Management Clients will be held in omnibus accounts, or separate accounts, with the fund’s transfer agent (BNY Mellon Fund Accounts). Investor shares are generally offered only to Individual Clients, BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients and Qualified Employee Benefit Plans. Fund shares owned by Individual Clients will be held in separate accounts (Individual Accounts). Fund shares owned by BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients also will be held in separate accounts (BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Accounts). Investor shares owned by participants in Qualified Employee Benefit Plans generally will be held in accounts maintained by an administrator or recordkeeper retained by the plan sponsor (Qualified Employee Benefit Plan Accounts) and records relating to these accounts generally will not be maintained by the investment adviser, The Bank of New York Mellon or their affiliates.

Wealth Management Clients may transfer Class M shares from a BNY Mellon Fund Account to other existing Wealth Management Clients for their BNY Mellon Fund Accounts. Wealth Management Clients also may transfer shares from a BNY Mellon Fund Account to an Individual Account or a BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Account. Before any such transfer, the Wealth Management Client’s Class M shares will be converted into Investor shares of equivalent value (at the time of conversion) and, accordingly, the Individual Client or BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Client will receive Investor shares. Wealth Management Clients who terminate their relationship with BNY Mellon Affiliates, but who wish to continue to hold fund shares may do so only by establishing Individual Accounts or BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Accounts, and their Class M shares generally will be converted into Investor shares. The conversion of such shareholder’s Class M shares into Investor shares will be at the equivalent net asset value of each class at the time of the conversion. Individual Clients and BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients in the Investor class of the fund who make subsequent investments in the fund will receive Investor shares of the fund. See the SAI for more information.

You pay no sales charges to invest in either share class of the fund. Your price for fund shares is the fund’s net asset value per share (NAV), which is generally calculated as of the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) (usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern time), on days the NYSE is open for regular business.

Your order will be priced at the next NAV calculated after your order is received in proper form by the fund’s transfer agent or other authorized entity. Because the fund seeks tax-exempt income, it is not recommended for purchase by qualified retirement plans or other tax-advantaged accounts.

When calculating the NAV of the fund, the fund’s investments generally are valued by an independent pricing service approved by the fund’s board. The pricing service’s procedures are reviewed under the general supervision of the board. If valuations for investments (received from the pricing service or otherwise) are not readily available, or are determined not to reflect accurately fair value, the fund may value those investments at fair value as determined in accordance with procedures approved by the fund’s board. Fair value of investments may be determined by the fund’s board, its pricing committee or its valuation committee in good faith using such information as it deems appropriate under the circumstances. Using fair value to price investments may result in a value that is different from a security’s most recent closing price and from the prices used by other mutual funds to calculate their net asset values.

Investments in certain municipal bonds and thinly traded securities may provide short-term traders arbitrage opportunities with respect to the fund’s shares. For example, arbitrage opportunities may exist when trading in a portfolio security or securities is halted and does not resume, or the market on which such securities are traded closes before the fund calculates its NAV. If short-term investors in the fund were able to take advantage of these arbitrage opportunities, they could dilute the NAV of fund shares held by long-term investors. Portfolio valuation policies can serve to reduce arbitrage opportunities available to short-term traders, but there is no assurance that such valuation policies will prevent dilution of the fund’s NAV by short-term traders. While the fund has a policy regarding frequent trading, it too may not be completely effective to prevent short-term NAV arbitrage trading, particularly in regard to omnibus accounts. Please see “Your Investment—Account Policies and Services—General Policies” for further information about the fund’s frequent trading policy.

Selling shares

You may sell (redeem) shares at any time. Your shares will be sold at the next NAV calculated after your order is received in proper form by the fund’s transfer agent or other authorized entity. Your order will be processed promptly and you will generally receive the proceeds within a week.

Before selling shares recently purchased by check, TeleTransfer or Automatic Asset Builder, please note that:

• if you send a written request to sell such shares, the fund may delay sending the proceeds for up to eight business days following the purchase of those shares

• the fund will not honor redemption checks, or process wire, telephone, or TeleTransfer redemption requests for up to eight business days following the purchase of those shares

Purchases, redemptions and exchanges through BNY Mellon Fund Accounts and BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Accounts

Persons who hold fund shares through BNY Mellon Fund Accounts or BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Accounts should contact their account officer or financial advisor, respectively, for information concerning purchasing, selling (redeeming), and exchanging fund shares. The policies and fees applicable to these accounts may differ from those described in this prospectus, and different minimum investments or limitations on buying, selling and exchanging shares may apply.

Qualified Employee Benefit Plan Accounts

Persons who hold fund shares through Qualified Employee Benefit Plan Accounts should contact their plan sponsor or administrator for information concerning purchasing, selling (redeeming), and exchanging fund shares. The policies and fees applicable to these accounts may differ from those described in this prospectus, and different minimum investments or limitations on buying, selling and exchanging shares may apply.

Purchases and redemptions through Individual Accounts

Purchasing shares

Individual Accounts generally may be opened only by the transfer of fund shares from a BNY Mellon Fund Account, by Wealth Management Clients who terminate their relationship with BNY Mellon Affiliates, but who wish to continue to hold fund shares, or by exchange from Individual Accounts holding other BNY Mellon funds as described below under “Individual Account services and policies – Exchange privilege.” The minimum initial investment in the fund through an Individual Account is $10,000, and the minimum for subsequent investments is $100. You may purchase additional shares for an Individual Account by mail, wire, electronic check or TeleTransfer, or automatically.

Mail. To purchase additional shares by mail, fill out an investment slip and send the slip and a check with your account number written on it to:

Name of Fund

BNY Mellon Funds

P.O. Box 55268

Boston, MA 02205-8502

Make checks payable to: BNY Mellon Funds.

Wire. To purchase additional shares by wire, have your bank send your investment to The Bank of New York Mellon, with these instructions:

• ABA #011001234

• DDA #00-0388

• the fund name

• the share class

• your account number

• name(s) of investor(s)

Electronic check. To purchase additional shares by electronic check, which will transfer money out of your bank account, follow the instructions for purchases by wire, but insert “569” before your 14-digit account number. Your transaction is entered automatically, but may take up to eight business days to clear. Electronic checks usually are available without a fee at all Automated Clearing House (ACH) banks.

TeleTransfer. To purchase additional shares through TeleTransfer call 1-800-645-6561 (outside the U.S. 516-794-5452) to request your transaction.

Automatically. Call us at 1-800-645-6561 to request a form to add any automatic investing service. Complete and return the forms along with any other required materials. These services are available only for holders of Individual Accounts. See “Individual Account services and policies.”

IRAs. For information on how to purchase additional shares for IRA accounts, call 1-800-645-6561, consult your financial representative, or refer to the SAI.

Selling (redeeming) shares

You may sell (redeem) shares in writing, or by telephone, wire or TeleTransfer, or automatically.

Written sell orders. Some circumstances require written sell orders along with signature guarantees. These include:

• amounts of $10,000 or more on accounts whose address has been changed within the last 30 days

• requests to send the proceeds to a different payee or address

Written sell orders of $100,000 or more must also be signature guaranteed.

A signature guarantee helps protect against fraud. You can obtain one from most banks or securities dealers, but not from a notary public. For joint accounts, each signature must be guaranteed. Please call us to ensure that your signature guarantee will be processed correctly.

In writing or by check. You may sell (redeem) shares by writing a letter of instruction or by writing a redemption check. The letter of instruction or redemption check should include the following information:

• your name(s) and signature(s)

• your account number

• the fund name

• the share class

• the dollar amount you want to sell

• how and where to send the proceeds

Obtain a signature guarantee or other documentation, if required. Mail your request to:

BNY Mellon Funds

P.O. Box 55268

Boston, MA 02205-8502

Telephone. Unless you have declined telephone privileges on your account application, you may also redeem your shares by telephone (maximum $250,000 per day) by calling 1-800-645-6561 (outside the U.S. 516-794-5452). A check will be mailed to your address of record.

Wire or TeleTransfer. To sell (redeem) shares by wire or TeleTransfer (minimum $1,000 and $500, respectively; maximum $500,000 for joint accounts every 30 days), call 1-800-645-6561 (outside the U.S. 516-794-5452) to request your transaction. Be sure the fund has your bank account information on file. Proceeds will be sent to your bank by wire for wire redemptions and by electronic check for TeleTransfer redemptions.

IRAs. For information on how to sell (redeem) shares held in IRA accounts, call 1-800-645-6561, consult your financial representative, or refer to the SAI.

Individual Account services and policies

The services and privileges described in this section are available only to holders of Individual Accounts.

Automatic Services. Buying or selling shares automatically is easy with the services described below. With each service, you select a schedule and amount, subject to certain restrictions. You can set up most of these services with your application, or by calling your financial representative or 1-800-645-6561.

For investing

Automatic Asset Builder®	For making automatic investments from a designated bank account.
Payroll Savings Plan	For making automatic investments through a payroll deduction.
Government Direct Deposit Privilege	For making automatic investments from your federal employment, Social Security or other regular federal government check.
Dividend Sweep	For automatically reinvesting the dividends and distributions from the fund into another BNY Mellon fund (not available for IRAs).
For exchanging shares
Auto-Exchange Privilege	For making regular exchanges from the fund into another BNY Mellon fund.
For selling shares
Automatic Withdrawal Plan	For making regular withdrawals from most BNY Mellon funds.

Checkwriting privilege. Holders of Individual Accounts in the fund may sell (redeem) shares by check. You may write redemption checks against your fund account in amounts of $500 or more. These checks are free. However, a fee will be charged if you request a stop payment or if the transfer agent cannot honor a redemption check due to insufficient funds or another valid reason. Please do not postdate your checks or use them to close your account.

Exchange privilege. You generally can exchange shares of a class of the fund worth $500 or more into shares of the same class of any other BNY Mellon fund. However, each fund account, including those established through exchanges, must meet the minimum account balance requirement of $10,000. You can request your exchange in writing or by phone. Be sure to read the current prospectus for any fund into which you are exchanging before investing. Any new account established through an exchange will generally have the same privileges as your original account (as long as they are available). There is currently no fee for exchanges.

General policies

Unless you decline teleservice privileges on your application, the fund’s transfer agent is authorized to act on telephone or online instructions from any person representing himself or herself to be you and reasonably believed by the transfer agent to be genuine. You may be responsible for any fraudulent telephone or online order as long as the fund’s transfer agent takes reasonable measures to confirm that instructions are genuine.

The fund is designed for long-term investors. Frequent purchases, redemptions and exchanges may disrupt portfolio management strategies and harm fund performance by diluting the value of fund shares and increasing brokerage and administrative costs. As a result, the investment adviser and the fund’s board have adopted a policy of discouraging excessive trading, short-term market timing, and other abusive trading practices (frequent trading) that could adversely affect the fund or its operations. The investment adviser and the fund will not enter into arrangements with any person or group to permit frequent trading.

The fund reserves the right to:

• change or discontinue its exchange privilege, or temporarily suspend the privilege during unusual market conditions

• change its minimum or maximum investment amounts

• delay sending out redemption proceeds for up to seven days (generally applies only during unusual market conditions or in cases of very large redemptions or excessive trading)

• “redeem in kind,” or make payments in securities rather than cash, if the amount redeemed is large enough to affect fund operations (for example, if it exceeds 1% of the fund’s assets)

• refuse any purchase or exchange request, including those from any individual or group who, in the investment adviser’s view, is likely to engage in frequent trading

More than four roundtrips within a rolling 12-month period generally is considered to be frequent trading. A roundtrip consists of an investment that is substantially liquidated within 60 days. Based on the facts and circumstances of the trades, the fund may also view as frequent trading a pattern of investments that are partially liquidated within 60 days.

The investment adviser monitors selected transactions to identify frequent trading. When its surveillance systems identify multiple roundtrips, the investment adviser evaluates trading activity in the account for evidence of frequent trading. The investment adviser considers the investor’s trading history in other accounts under common ownership or control, in other BNY Mellon funds and other funds managed by the investment adviser or its affiliates, and if known, in non-affiliated mutual funds and accounts under common control. These evaluations involve judgments that are inherently subjective, and while the investment adviser seeks to apply the policy and procedures uniformly, it is possible that similar transactions may be treated differently. In all instances, the investment adviser seeks to make these judgments to the best of its abilities in a manner that it believes is consistent with shareholder interests. If the investment adviser concludes the account is likely to engage in frequent trading, the investment adviser may cancel or revoke the purchase or exchange on the following business day. The investment adviser may also temporarily or permanently bar such investor’s future purchases into the fund in lieu of, or in addition to, canceling or revoking the trade. At its discretion, the investment adviser may apply these restrictions across all accounts under common ownership, control, or perceived affiliation.

Fund shares often are held through omnibus accounts maintained by financial intermediaries, such as brokers and retirement plan administrators, where the holdings of multiple shareholders, such as all the clients of a particular broker, are aggregated. The investment adviser’s ability to monitor the trading activity of investors whose shares are held in omnibus accounts is limited and dependent upon the cooperation of the financial intermediary in providing information with respect to individual shareholder transactions. However, the agreements between the distributor and financial intermediaries include obligations to comply with the terms of this prospectus. Further, all intermediaries have been requested in writing to notify the distributor immediately if, for any reason, they cannot meet their commitment to make fund shares available in accordance with the terms of the prospectus and relevant rules and regulations.

To the extent that the fund significantly invests in thinly traded municipal bonds, certain investors may seek to trade fund shares in an effort to benefit from their understanding of the value of these securities (referred to as price arbitrage). Any such frequent trading strategies may interfere with efficient management of the fund’s portfolio to a greater degree than funds that invest in highly liquid securities, in part because the fund may have difficulty selling these portfolio securities at advantageous times or prices to satisfy large and/or frequent redemption requests. Any successful price arbitrage may also cause dilution in the value of fund shares held by other shareholders.

Although the fund’s frequent trading and fair valuation policies and procedures are designed to discourage market timing and excessive trading, none of these tools alone, nor all of them together, completely eliminates the potential for frequent trading.

Transactions made through Automatic Investment Plans, Automatic Withdrawal Plans and Auto-Exchange Privileges generally are not considered to be frequent trading.

[ICON] DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES

The fund earns dividends, interest and other income from its investments, and distributes this income (less expenses) to shareholders as dividends. The fund also realizes capital gains from its investments, and distributes these gains (less any losses) to shareholders as capital gain distributions. The fund normally pays dividends once a month and capital gain distributions annually.

Each share class will generate a different dividend because each has different expenses. For Individual Accounts, dividends and other distributions will be reinvested in fund shares unless you instruct the fund otherwise. For information on reinvestment of dividends and other distributions on BNY Mellon Fund Accounts or BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Accounts, contact your account officer or financial advisor, respectively. There are no fees on reinvestments.

The fund anticipates that virtually all dividends paid to you will be exempt from federal income taxes. However, for federal tax purposes, certain distributions, such as distributions of short-term capital gains, are taxable to you as ordinary income, while long-term capital gains are taxable to you as capital gains.

High portfolio turnover and more volatile markets can result in significant taxable distributions to shareholders, regardless of whether their shares have increased in value. The tax status of any distribution generally is the same regardless of how long you have been in the fund and whether you reinvest your distributions or take them in cash.

If you buy shares of a fund when the fund has realized but not yet distributed income or capital gains, you will be “buying a dividend” by paying the full price for the shares and then receiving a portion back in the form of a taxable distribution.

Your sale of shares, including exchanges into other funds, may result in a capital gain or loss for tax purposes. A capital gain or loss on your investment in the fund generally is the difference between the cost of your shares and the amount you receive when you sell them.

The tax status of your distributions will be detailed in your annual tax statement from the fund. Because everyone’s tax situation is unique, please consult your tax advisor before investing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

BNY Mellon Municipal Opportunities Fund

A series of BNY Mellon Funds Trust

SEC file number: 811-09903

More information on this fund is available free upon request, including the following:

Statement of Additional Information (SAI)

Provides more details about the fund and its policies. A current SAI is available at www.dreyfus.com and is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SAI is incorporated by reference (is legally considered part of this prospectus).

Portfolio Holdings

The fund will disclose its complete schedule of portfolio holdings, as reported on a month-end basis, at www.dreyfus.com, under Mutual Fund Center – Dreyfus Mutual Funds – Mutual Fund Total Holdings. The information will be posted with a one-month lag and will remain accessible until the fund files a report on Form N-Q or Form N-CSR for the period that includes the date as of which the information was current. In addition, fifteen days following the end of each calendar quarter, the fund will publicly disclose at www.dreyfus.com its complete schedule of portfolio holdings as of the end of such quarter.

A complete description of the fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the fund’s portfolio securities is available in the fund’s SAI.

[Left Side Bar]

To obtain information:

By telephone Wealth Management Clients,

please contact your Account Officer or call 1-888-281-7350.

BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients, please contact your financial advisor or call
1-800-830-0549-Option 2.

Individual Account holders, please call Dreyfus at 1-800-645-6561.

Participants in Qualified Employee Benefit Plans, please contact your plan sponsor or administrator
or call 1-877-774-0327

By mail Wealth Management Clients, write to your Account Officer

c/o The Bank of New York Mellon

One Mellon Bank Center

Pittsburgh, PA 15258

BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients, write to your financial advisor

P.O. Box 9012

Hicksville, NY 11802-9012

Individual Account holders and participants in Qualified Employee Benefit Plans,

write to:

BNY Mellon Funds

P.O. Box 55268

Boston, MA 02205-8502

On the Internet Text-only versions of certain fund documents can be viewed online or downloaded from: http://www.sec.gov

You can also obtain copies, after paying a duplicating fee, by visiting the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC (for information, call 1-202-551-8090) or by E-mail request to publicinfo@sec.gov, or by writing to the SEC’s Public Reference Section, Washington, DC 20549-0102.

^© 2008 MBSC Securities Corporation

The information in this Statement of Additional Information is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. The Statement of Additional Information is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

Subject to Completion, July 30, 2008

BNY MELLON FUNDS TRUST

CLASS M SHARES AND INVESTOR SHARES

BNY MELLON MUNICIPAL OPPORTUNITIES FUND

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

_________ __, 2008

This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), which is not a prospectus, supplements and should be read in conjunction with the current Prospectus of BNY Mellon Municipal Opportunities Fund (the “Fund”), dated ________ __, 2008, as the Prospectus may be revised from time to time. The Fund is a separate portfolio of BNY Mellon Funds Trust (the “Trust”), an open-end management investment company that is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). To obtain a copy of the Prospectus, please write to the Trust at 144 Glenn Curtiss Boulevard, Uniondale, New York 11556-0144, visit www.dreyfus.com, or call one of the following numbers: Wealth Management Clients – call toll free 1-888-281-7350 and outside the U.S. call collect 617-248-3014; Individual Account Holders of Class M shares and Investor shares (other than brokerage clients of BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors) – call toll free 1-800-645-6561 and outside the U.S. call collect 516-794-5452; brokerage clients of BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors – call toll free 1-800-803-0549 – Option 2; and participants in Qualified Employee Benefit Plans (as defined under “How to Buy Shares” below) – call toll free 1-877-774-0327.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

DESCRIPTION OF THE TRUST AND FUND	2
THE FUND AND ITS INVESTMENTS	2
THE FUND’S INVESTMENTS, RELATED RISKS AND LIMITATIONS	3
MANAGEMENT OF THE TRUST AND FUND	35
MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS	40
HOW TO BUY SHARES	45
SHAREHOLDER SERVICES PLAN	48
HOW TO REDEEM SHARES	49
SHAREHOLDER SERVICES	52
DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE	55
DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES	56
PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS	62
SUMMARY OF PROXY VOTING POLICY, PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES	66
INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRUST AND FUND	67
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS	68
COUNSEL AND INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM	68
APPENDIX A	A-1

DESCRIPTION OF THE TRUST AND FUND

The Trust is an open-end management investment company organized as an unincorporated business trust under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by a Declaration of Trust dated April 12, 2000. The Trust is authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest, par value $.001 per share. Effective March 20, 2008, the Trust changed its name from “Mellon Funds Trust” to its current name. Prior to December 16, 2002, the Trust’s name was “MPAM Funds Trust”.

The investment objectives, policies, restrictions, practices and procedures of the Fund, unless otherwise specified, may be changed without shareholder approval. As with other mutual funds, there is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

BNY Mellon Fund Advisers, a division of The Dreyfus Corporation (“Dreyfus”), serves as the Fund’s investment manager (the “Investment Adviser”).

MBSC Securities Corporation (the “Distributor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dreyfus, is the distributor of the Fund’s shares.

THE FUND AND ITS INVESTMENTS

The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus. The following summary briefly describes the portfolio securities in which the Fund can invest and the investment techniques they can employ. Additional information about these portfolio securities and investment techniques is provided under “The Fund’s Investments, Related Risks and Limitations.”

The Fund seeks to maximize total return consisting of high current income exempt from federal income tax and capital appreciation.

The Fund invests, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in debt obligations issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the United States and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities, including cities, counties, municipalities, municipal agencies and regional districts, and certain other specified securities, the interest from which is, in the opinion of bond counsel to the respective issuers, exempt from Federal income tax (“Municipal Obligations”). However, the Fund may invest up to 20% of the value of its net assets in taxable fixed-income securities, including non-U.S. dollar-denominated foreign debt securities such as Brady bonds and sovereign debt obligations. The Fund may invest up to 50% of the value of its net assets in obligations the interest on which is an item of tax preference for purposes of the Federal alternative minimum tax (a “Tax Preference Item”).

The Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in fixed-income securities rated investment grade or the unrated equivalent as determined by the Investment Adviser. For additional yield, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in fixed-income securities rated below investment grade (“high yield” or “junk” bonds) or the unrated equivalent as determined by the Investment Adviser. The Fund may invest in bonds of any maturity or duration and does not expect to target any specific range of maturity or duration. The dollar-weighted average maturity of the Fund’s portfolio will vary from time to time depending on the portfolio managers’ views on the direction of interest rates.

The Fund may invest in the following portfolio securities: Municipal Obligations, including municipal bonds, municipal notes, municipal commercial paper, and municipal lease obligations, tender option bonds, floating rate and variable rate obligations, custodial receipts, stand-by commitments, tax-exempt participation interests, illiquid securities, zero coupon, pay-in-kind and step-up securities, taxable investments, corporate debt securities, variable and floating rate securities, U.S. dollar-denominated and non-U.S. dollar-denominated foreign debt securities, including Brady bonds and sovereign debt obligations, other investment companies and money market instruments.

The Fund may utilize the following investment techniques: borrowing, securities lending, when-issued securities and delayed delivery transactions, short selling and derivative instruments (including municipal bond index and interest rate futures contracts, options on municipal bond index and interest rate futures contracts, and swaps, interest rate locks, caps, collars and floors). The Fund’s use of certain of these investment techniques may give rise to taxable income.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE FUND

The Fund is classified as “non-diversified,” as defined under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), and, therefore, the Fund could invest all of its assets in the obligations of a single issuer or relatively few issuers. Because it is non-diversified, the Fund’s share price may fluctuate to a greater degree in response to changes in the financial condition or in the market’s assessment of an individual issuer in which the Fund invests than if the Fund were diversified. However, the Fund intends to conduct its operations so that it will qualify under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), as a “regulated investment company.” To qualify, among other requirements, the Fund will be required to limit its investments so that at the close of each quarter of its taxable year, with respect to at least 50% of its total assets, not more than 5% of such assets will be invested in the securities of a single issuer. In addition, not more than 25% of the value of the Fund’s total assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer at the close of each quarter of the Fund’s taxable year.

THE FUND’S INVESTMENTS, RELATED RISKS AND LIMITATIONS

The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the Fund’s Prospectus and the section entitled “The Fund and Its Investments” above, concerning the Fund’s investments, related risks and limitations. Except as otherwise indicated in the Prospectus or this SAI, the Fund has established no policy limitations on their ability to use the investments or techniques discussed in these documents.

Certain Portfolio Securities

Municipal Obligations.

General. Municipal Obligations generally include debt obligations issued to obtain funds for various public purposes as well as certain private activity bonds issued by or on behalf of public authorities. Municipal Obligations include general obligation bonds, revenue bonds and notes. General obligation bonds are secured by the issuer’s pledge of its full faith, credit and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest. Revenue bonds are payable from the revenue derived from a particular facility or class of facilities or, in some cases, from the proceeds of a special excise or other specific revenue source, but not from the general taxing power. Notes are short-term instruments that are obligations of the issuing municipalities or agencies and are sold in anticipation of a bond sale, collection of taxes or receipt of other revenues. Municipal Obligations also include municipal lease/purchase agreements, which are similar to installment purchase contracts for property or equipment issued by municipalities. Municipal Obligations bear fixed, floating or variable rates of interest, which for the Fund may be determined in some instances by formulas under which the Municipal Obligation’s interest rate will change directly or inversely to changes in interest rates or an index, or multiples thereof, in many cases subject to a maximum and minimum. Certain Municipal Obligations are subject to redemption at a date earlier than their stated maturity pursuant to call options, which may be separated from the related Municipal Obligation and purchased and sold separately.

The yields on Municipal Obligations are dependent on a variety of factors, including general economic and monetary conditions, money market factors, conditions in the Municipal Obligations market, size of a particular offering, maturity of the obligation and rating of the issue. The imposition of the Fund’s management fee, as well as other operating expenses, will have the effect of reducing the yield to investors.

Municipal Obligations may be repayable out of revenue streams generated from economically related projects or facilities or whose issuers are located in the same state. Sizable investments in these obligations could increase risk to the Fund should any of the related projects or facilities experience financial difficulties.

Obligations of issuers of Municipal Obligations are subject to the provisions of bankruptcy, insolvency and other laws affecting the rights and remedies of creditors. In addition, the obligations of such issuers may become subject to laws enacted in the future by Congress, state legislators, or referenda extending the time for payment of principal and/or interest, or imposing other constraints upon enforcement of such obligations or upon municipalities to levy taxes. There is also the possibility that, as a result of litigation or other conditions, the power or ability of any issuer to pay, when due, the principal of and interest on its Municipal Obligations may be materially affected.

Other types of tax-exempt instruments that may become available in the future may be purchased by the Fund as long as the Investment Adviser believes the quality of these instruments meets the Fund’s quality standards.

Municipal Bonds. Municipal bonds, which generally have a maturity of more than one year when issued, have two principal classifications: general obligation bonds and revenue bonds. A private activity bond is a particular kind of revenue bond. The classifications of general obligation bonds, revenue bonds and private activity bonds are discussed below.

1.   General Obligation Bonds. The proceeds of these obligations are used to finance a wide range of public projects, including construction or improvement of schools, highways and roads, and water and sewer systems. General obligation bonds are secured by the issuer’s pledge of its faith, credit, and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest.

2.   Revenue Bonds. Revenue bonds are issued to finance a wide variety of capital projects including: electric, gas, water and sewer systems; highways, bridges and tunnels; port and airport facilities; colleges and universities; and hospitals. The principal security for a revenue bond is generally the net revenues derived from a particular facility, group of facilities or, in some cases, the proceeds of a special excise or other specific revenue source. Although the principal security behind these bonds may vary, many provide additional security in the form of a debt service reserve fund whose money may be used to make principal and interest payments on the issuer’s obligations. Some authorities provide further security in the form of a state’s ability (without obligation) to make up deficiencies in the debt service reserve fund.

3.   Private Activity Bonds. Private activity bonds, which are considered Municipal Obligations if the interest paid thereon is exempt from Federal income tax, are issued by or on behalf of public authorities to raise money to finance various privately operated facilities for business and manufacturing, housing, sports and pollution control. These bonds are also used to finance public facilities such as airports, mass transit systems, ports and parking. The payment of the principal and interest on such bonds is dependent solely on the ability of the facility’s user to meet its financial obligations and the pledge, if any, of real and personal property so financed as security for such payment. As discussed below under “Dividends, Distributions and Taxes,” interest income on these bonds may be a Tax Preference Item.

Municipal Notes. Municipal notes generally are used to provide for short-term capital needs and generally have maturities of thirteen months or less. Municipal notes include:

1.   Tax Anticipation Notes. Tax anticipation notes are issued to finance working capital needs of municipalities. Generally, they are issued in anticipation of various seasonal tax revenue, such as income, sales, use and business taxes, and are payable from these specific future taxes.

2.   Revenue Anticipation Notes. Revenue anticipation notes are issued in expectation of receipt of other kinds of revenue, such as Federal revenues available under Federal Revenue Sharing programs.

3.   Bond Anticipation Notes. Bond anticipation notes are issued to provide interim financing until long-term financing can be arranged. In most cases, the long-term bonds then provide the money for the repayment of the notes.

Municipal Commercial Paper. Issues of municipal commercial paper typically represent short-term, unsecured, negotiable promissory notes. These obligations are issued by agencies of state and local governments to finance seasonal working capital needs of municipalities or to provide interim construction financing and are paid from general revenues of municipalities or are refinanced with long-term debt. In most cases, municipal commercial paper is backed by letters of credit, lending agreements, note repurchase agreements, or other credit facility agreements offered by banks or other institutions.

Municipal Lease Obligations. Municipal leases may take the form of a lease or a certificate of participation in a purchase contract issued by state and local government authorities to obtain funds to acquire a wide variety of equipment and facilities, such as fire and sanitation vehicles, computer equipment and other capital assets. A lease obligation does not constitute a general obligation of the municipality for which the municipality’s taxing power is pledged, although the lease obligation is ordinarily backed by the municipality’s covenant to budget for, appropriate and make payments due under the lease obligation. Municipal leases have special risks not normally associated with municipal bonds. These obligations frequently contain “non-appropriation” clauses that provide that the governmental issuer of the obligation has no obligation to make future payments under the lease or contract unless money is appropriated for such purposes by the legislative body on a yearly or other periodic basis. In addition to the non-appropriation risk, municipal leases represent a type of financing that has not yet developed the depth of marketability associated with municipal bonds; moreover, although the obligations will be secured by the leased equipment, the disposition of the equipment in the event of foreclosure might prove difficult. For purposes of the 15% limitation on the purchase of illiquid securities, the Fund will not consider the municipal lease obligations or certificates of participation in municipal lease obligations in which it invests as liquid, unless the Investment Adviser shall determine, based upon such factors as the frequency of trades and quotes for the obligation, the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the security and the number of other potential buyers, the willingness of dealers to undertake to make a market in the security and the nature of marketplace trades, that a security shall be treated as liquid for purposes of such limitation.

In evaluating the liquidity and credit quality of a lease obligation that is unrated, the Trust’s Board has directed the Investment Adviser to consider (a) whether the lease can be canceled; (b) what assurance there is that the assets represented by the lease can be sold; (c) the strength of the lessee’s general credit (e.g., its debt, administrative, economic, and financial characteristics); (d) the likelihood that the municipality will discontinue appropriating funding for the leased property because the property is no longer deemed essential to the operations of the municipality (e.g., the potential for an “event of nonappropriation”); (e) the legal recourse in the event of failure to appropriate; and (f) such other factors concerning credit quality as the Investment Adviser may deem relevant.

As used within this section, high quality means that the municipal lease obligation meets all of the following criteria: (1) the underlying equipment is for an essential governmental function; (2) the municipality has a documented history of stable financial operations and timely payments of principal and interest on its municipal debt or lease obligation; (3) the lease/purchase agreement contains proper terms and conditions to protect against non-appropriation, substitution of equipment and other more general risks associated with the purchase of securities; (4) the equipment underlying the lease was leased in a proper and legal manner; and (5) the equipment underlying the lease was leased from a reputable equipment vendor. A letter of credit or insurance policy would generally provide that the issuer of the letter of credit or insurance policy would pay the outstanding principal balance of the municipal lease obligations plus any accrued but unpaid interest upon non-appropriation or default by the governmental lessee. However, the terms of each letter of credit or insurance policy may vary significantly and would affect the degree to which such protections increase the liquidity of a particular municipal lease obligation. Changes in the credit quality of the issuer of the letter of credit or insurance policy or other party to a remarketing agreement could cause losses to the Fund and adversely affect its share price.

Tax-Exempt Participation Interests. Tax-exempt participation interests in Municipal Obligations (such as private activity bonds and municipal lease obligations) give the Fund an undivided interest in the Municipal Obligation in the proportion that the Fund’s participation interest bears to the total principal amount of the Municipal Obligation. These instruments may have fixed, floating or variable rates of interest. If the participation interest is unrated, it will be backed by an irrevocable letter of credit or guarantee of a bank that the Trust’s Board has determined meets prescribed quality standards for banks, or the payment obligation otherwise will be collateralized by U.S. government securities. For certain participation interests, the Fund will have the right to demand payment, on not more than seven days’ notice, for all or any part of the Fund’s participation interest in the Municipal Obligation, plus accrued interest. As to these instruments, the Fund intends to exercise its right to demand payment only upon a default under the terms of the Municipal Obligation, as needed to provide liquidity to meet redemptions, or to maintain or improve the quality of its investment portfolio.

Tender Option Bonds. A tender option bond is a Municipal Obligation (generally held pursuant to a custodial arrangement) having a relatively long maturity and bearing interest at a fixed rate substantially higher than prevailing short-term tax-exempt rates, that has been coupled with the agreement of a third party, such as a bank, broker-dealer or other financial institution, pursuant to which such institution grants the security holders the option, at periodic intervals, to tender their securities to the institution and receive the face value thereof. As consideration for providing the option, the financial institution receives periodic fees equal to the difference between the Municipal Obligation’s fixed coupon rate and the rate, as determined by a remarketing or similar agent at or near the commencement of such period, that would cause the securities, coupled with the tender option, to trade at par on the date of such determination. Thus, after payment of this fee, the security holder effectively holds a demand obligation that bears interest at the prevailing short-term tax-exempt rate. The Investment Adviser, on behalf of the Fund, will consider on an ongoing basis the creditworthiness of the issuer of the underlying Municipal Obligation, of any custodian and of the third-party provider of the tender option. In certain instances and for certain tender option bonds, the option may be terminable in the event of a default in payment of principal or interest on the underlying Municipal Obligations and for other reasons. The Fund will not invest more than 15% of the value of its net assets in illiquid securities, which would include tender option bonds for which the required notice to exercise the tender feature is more than seven days if there is no secondary market available for these obligations. The quality of the underlying creditor or of the third-party provider of the tender option, as the case may be, as determined by the Investment Adviser, must be equivalent to the quality standard prescribed for the Fund. In addition, the Investment Adviser monitors the earning power, cash flow and other liquidity ratios of the issuers of such obligations.

The Fund will purchase tender option bonds only when the Investment Adviser is satisfied that the custodial and tender option arrangements, including the fee payment arrangements, will not adversely affect the tax-exempt status of the underlying Municipal Obligations and that payment of any tender fees will not have the effect of creating taxable income for the Fund. Based on the tender option bond agreement, the Fund expects to be able to value the tender option bond at par; however, the value of the instrument will be monitored to assure that it is valued at fair value.

Variable and Floating Rate Demand Notes. Variable and floating rate demand notes and bonds are tax-exempt obligations that ordinarily have stated maturities in excess of one year, but which permit the holder to demand payment of principal at any time or at specified intervals. Variable rate demand notes include master demand notes, which are obligations that permit the Fund to invest fluctuating amounts, at varying rates of interest, pursuant to direct arrangements between the Fund, as lender, and the borrower. These obligations permit daily changes in the amount borrowed. Because these obligations are direct lending arrangements between the lender and borrower, it is not contemplated that such instruments generally will be traded, and generally there is no established secondary market for these obligations, although they are redeemable at face value, plus accrued interest. Accordingly, where these obligations are not secured by letters of credit or other credit support arrangements, the Fund’s right to redeem is dependent on the ability of the borrower to pay principal and interest on demand. Each obligation purchased by the Fund will meet the quality criteria established for the purchase of Municipal Obligations.

Custodial Receipts. Custodial receipts represent the right to receive future principal and interest payments on Municipal Obligations underlying such receipts. A number of different arrangements are possible. In a typical custodial receipt arrangement, an issuer or a third party owner of a Municipal Obligation deposits such obligation with a custodian in exchange for two or more classes of receipts. The two classes have different characteristics, but in each case, payments on the two classes are based on payments received on the underlying Municipal Obligations. One class has the characteristics of a typical auction rate security, where at specified intervals its interest rate is adjusted, and ownership changes, based on an auction mechanism. The interest rate on this class generally is expected to be below the coupon rate of the underlying Municipal Obligations and generally is at a level comparable to that of a Municipal Obligation of similar quality and having a maturity equal to the period between interest rate adjustments. The second class bears interest at a rate that exceeds the interest rate typically borne by a security of comparable quality and maturity; this rate is also adjusted, but in this case inversely to changes in the rate of interest of the first class. In no event will the aggregate interest paid with respect to the two classes exceed the interest paid by the underlying Municipal Obligations. The value of the second class and similar securities should be expected to fluctuate more than the value of a Municipal Obligation of comparable quality and maturity and their purchase by the Fund should increase the volatility of its net asset value and, thus, its price per share. These custodial receipts are sold in private placements. The Fund also may purchase directly from issuers, and not in a private placement, Municipal Obligations having characteristics similar to custodial receipts. These securities may be part of a multi-class offering and the interest rate on certain classes may be subject to a cap or floor. The custodial receipts and the underlying Municipal Obligations are often subject to credit or liquidity enhancement provided by third-party banks, broker-dealers or other financial institutions. The quality of the underlying creditor or of such bank, broker-dealer or other financial institution, as the case may be, as determined by the Investment Adviser, must be equivalent to the quality standard prescribed for the Fund. In addition, the Investment Adviser monitors the earning power, cash flow and other liquidity ratios of the issuers of such obligations, as well as the creditworthiness of such banks, broker-dealers or other financial institutions responsible for paying the amounts due on those obligations and under such credit or liquidity enhancement.

Inverse Floaters. “Inverse floaters” are residual interest Municipal Obligations whose interest rates bear an inverse relationship to the interest rate on another security or the value of an index. An investment in inverse floaters may involve greater risk than an investment in a fixed-rate Municipal Obligation. Because changes in the interest rate on the other security or index inversely affect the residual interest paid on the inverse floater, the value of an inverse floater is generally more volatile than that of a fixed-rate Municipal Obligation. Inverse floaters have interest rate adjustment formulas which generally reduce or, in the extreme, eliminate the interest paid to the Fund when short-term interest rates rise, and increase the interest paid to the Fund when short-term interest rates fall. Investing in inverse floaters involves leveraging which may magnify the Fund’s gains or losses. Although volatile, inverse floaters typically offer the potential for yields exceeding the yields available on fixed-rate Municipal Obligations with comparable credit quality, coupon, call provisions and maturity. These securities usually permit the investor to convert the floating rate to a fixed rate (normally adjusted downward), and this optional conversion feature may provide a partial hedge against the rising rates if exercised at an opportune time.

Inverse floaters typically are derivative instruments created by depositing Municipal Obligations in a special purpose trust which divides the Municipal Obligation’s income stream into two parts: a short-term variable rate demand note and a residual interest bond (the inverse floater) which receives interest based on the remaining cash flow of the special purpose trust after payment of interest on the note and various expenses of the special purpose trust. Interest on the inverse floater usually moves in the opposite direction as the interest on the variable rate demand note. The Fund may either participate in structuring an inverse floater or purchase an inverse floater in the secondary market. When structuring an inverse floater, the Fund will transfer to a special purpose trust fixed rate Municipal Obligations held in the Fund’s portfolio. The special purpose trust then typically issues the inverse floaters and the variable rate demand notes that are collateralized by the cash flows of the fixed rate Municipal Obligations. In return for the transfer of the Municipal Obligations to the special purpose trust, the Fund receives the inverse floaters and cash associated with the sale of the notes from the special purpose trust. As a result of recent changes in the accounting treatment of these transactions, the Fund will treat these transfers as part of a secured borrowing or financing transaction (not a sale), and the interest payments and related expenses due on the notes issued by the special purpose trusts and sold to third parties as liabilities of the relevant Fund. Inverse floaters purchased in the secondary market are treated as the purchase of a security and not as a secured borrowing or financing transaction.

Foreign Bank Deposit Obligations and Foreign Securities. “Foreign securities” include equity and debt securities of companies organized under the laws of countries other than the United States and debt securities issued or guaranteed by one or more foreign governments or any of their political subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities or supranational entities that the Investment Adviser determines to be of comparable quality to the other obligations in which the Fund may invest. They also include securities of companies whose principal trading market is in a country other than the United States or of companies (including those that are located in the United States or organized under U.S. law) that derive a significant portion of their revenue or profits from foreign businesses, investments or sales, or that have a majority of their assets outside the United States. They may be traded on foreign securities exchanges or in the foreign over-the-counter markets. Supranational entities include international organizations designated or supported by governmental entities to promote economic reconstruction or development and international banking institutions and related government agencies. Examples include the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank), the European Coal and Steel Community, the Asian Development Bank and the InterAmerican Development Bank.

Brady Bonds. The Fund may invest in Brady Bonds. Brady Bonds are securities created through the exchange of existing commercial bank loans to public and private entities in certain emerging markets for new bonds in connection with debt restructurings. In light of the history of defaults of countries issuing Brady Bonds on their commercial bank loans, investments in Brady Bonds may be viewed as speculative. Brady Bonds may be fully or partially collateralized or uncollateralized, are issued in various currencies (but primarily in U.S. dollars) and are actively traded in over-the-counter secondary markets. Incomplete collateralization of interest or principal payment obligations results in increased credit risk. U.S. dollar-denominated collateralized Brady Bonds, which may be fixed-rate bonds or floating-rate bonds, generally are collateralized by U.S. Treasury zero coupon bonds having the same maturity as the Brady Bonds. The Fund also may invest in one or more classes of securities (“Structured Securities”) backed by, or representing interests in, Brady Bonds. The cash flow on the underlying instruments may be apportioned among the newly-issued Structured Securities to create securities with different investment characteristics such as varying maturities, payment priorities and interest rate provisions, and the extent of the payments made with respect to Structured Securities is dependent on the extent of the cash flow on the underlying instruments.

Government Obligations. U.S. Treasury obligations can differ in their interest rates, maturities and times of issuance: (a) U.S. Treasury bills have a maturity of one year or less, (b) U.S. Treasury notes have maturities of one to ten years, and (c) U.S. Treasury bonds generally have maturities of greater than ten years.

Government obligations also include obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities that are supported by any of the following: (a) the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury, (b) the right of the issuer to borrow an amount limited to a specific line of credit from the U.S. Treasury, (c) the discretionary authority of the U.S. Treasury to lend to such government agency or instrumentality, or (d) the credit of the instrumentality. (Examples of agencies and instrumentalities are: Federal Land Banks, Federal Housing Administration, Farmers Home Administration, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Central Bank for Cooperatives, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, Federal Home Loan Banks, General Services Administration, Maritime Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, District of Columbia Armory Board, Inter-American Development Bank, Asian-American Development Bank, Student Loan Marketing Association, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Fannie Mae). No assurance can be given that the U.S. government will provide financial support to the agencies or instrumentalities described in (b), (c), and (d) in the future, other than as set forth above, since it is not obligated to do so by law. A security backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States is guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Neither the market value of such securities nor the Fund’s share price is guaranteed.

Illiquid Securities. The Fund will not knowingly invest more than 15% of the value of its net assets in illiquid securities, including time deposits and repurchase agreements having maturities longer than seven days. Securities that have readily available market quotations are not deemed illiquid for purposes of this limitation (irrespective of any legal or contractual restrictions on resale). The Fund may invest in commercial paper issued in reliance on the so-called “private placement” exemption from registration afforded by Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Section 4(2) paper”). The Fund may also purchase securities that are not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, but that can be sold to qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under that Act (“Rule 144A securities”). Liquidity determinations with respect to Section 4(2) paper and Rule 144A securities will be made by the Investment Adviser pursuant to guidelines established by the Board. The Investment Adviser will consider availability of reliable price information and other relevant information in making such determinations. Section 4(2) paper is restricted as to disposition under the federal securities laws, and generally is sold to institutional investors, such as the Fund, that agree that they are purchasing the paper for investment and not with a view to public distribution. Any resale by the purchaser must be pursuant to registration or an exemption therefrom. Section 4(2) paper normally is resold to other institutional investors like the Fund through or with the assistance of the issuer or investment dealers who make a market in the Section 4(2) paper, thus providing liquidity. Rule 144A securities generally must be sold to other qualified institutional buyers. If a particular investment in Section 4(2) paper or Rule 144A securities is not determined to be liquid, that investment will be included within the percentage limitation on investment in illiquid securities. Investing in Rule 144A securities could have the effect of increasing the level of the Fund’s illiquidity to the extent that qualified institutional buyers become, for a time, uninterested in purchasing these securities from the Fund or other holder. As described in “Municipal Obligations,” liquidity determinations for municipal lease obligations and certificates of participation in municipal lease obligations may also be made by the Investment Adviser.

Money Market Instruments. Money market instruments consist of high quality, short-term debt obligations, including U.S. government securities, repurchase agreements, bank obligations and commercial paper. The Fund may purchase money market instruments when it has cash reserves. Where indicated for the Fund in its Prospectus, purchases of money market instruments in excess of cash reserves will be limited to periods when the Investment Adviser determines that adverse market conditions exist, during which the Fund may adopt a temporary defensive position by investing some or all of its assets in money market instruments.

Bank Obligations. Certificates of deposit are short-term negotiable obligations of commercial banks; time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates; and bankers’ acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international transactions. Domestic commercial banks organized under Federal law are supervised and examined by the Comptroller of the Currency and are required to be members of the Federal Reserve System and to be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Domestic banks organized under state law are supervised and examined by state banking authorities but are members of the Federal Reserve System only if they elect to join. As a result of governmental regulations, domestic branches of foreign banks are, among other things, generally required to maintain specified levels of reserves, and are subject to other supervision and regulations designed to promote financial soundness.

Obligations of foreign banks or foreign branches of domestic banks may be general obligations of the parent bank in addition to the issuing branch, or may be limited by the terms of a specific obligation and by governmental regulations. Payment of interest and principal upon obligations of foreign banks and foreign branches of domestic banks may be affected by governmental action in the country of domicile of the branch (generally referred to as sovereign risk). Examples of such action would be the imposition of currency controls, interest limitations, seizure of assets, or the declaration of a moratorium. In addition, there may be less publicly available information about a branch of a foreign bank than about a domestic bank.

Commercial Paper. Commercial paper instruments are short-term obligations issued by banks and corporations that have maturities ranging from two to 270 days. Each instrument may be backed only by the credit of the issuer or may be backed by some form of credit enhancement, typically in the form of a guarantee by a commercial bank. Commercial paper backed by guarantees of foreign banks may involve additional risk due to the difficulty of obtaining and enforcing judgments against such banks and the generally less restrictive regulations to which such banks are subject. The commercial paper purchased by the Fund will consist only of obligations which, at the time of their purchase, are (a) rated at least Prime-1 by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), A-1 by Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”), or F1 by Fitch Ratings (“Fitch” and, together with Moody’s and S&P, the “Rating Agencies”); (b) issued by companies having an outstanding unsecured debt issue currently rated at least Aa by Moody’s, or AA- by S&P or by Fitch; or (c) if unrated, determined by the Investment Adviser to be of comparable quality to those rated obligations which may be purchased by the Fund.

Repurchase Agreements. The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements with member banks of the Federal Reserve System or certain non-bank dealers. Under each repurchase agreement the selling institution will be required to maintain the value of the securities subject to the agreement at not less than their repurchase price. A custodian employed in connection with a tri-party repurchase transaction will have custody of, and will segregate securities acquired by the Fund under a repurchase agreement. If a particular bank or non-bank dealer defaults on its obligation to repurchase the underlying debt instrument as required by the terms of a repurchase agreement, the Fund will incur a loss to the extent that the proceeds it realizes on the sale of the collateral are less than the repurchase price of the instrument. In addition, should the defaulting bank or non-bank dealer file for bankruptcy, the Fund could incur certain costs in establishing that it is entitled to dispose of the collateral and its realization on the collateral may be delayed or limited.

Corporate Obligations. Corporate debt securities include corporate bonds, debentures, notes and other similar instruments, including certain convertible securities. Debt securities may be acquired with warrants attached. Corporate income-producing securities also may include forms of preferred or preference stock. The rate of interest on a corporate debt security may be fixed, floating or variable, and may vary inversely with respect to a reference rate such as interest rates or other financial indicators. The rate of return or return of principal on some debt obligations may be linked or indexed to the level of exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and a foreign currency or currencies.

Asset-Backed Securities. Asset-backed securities are securities that represent direct or indirect participations in, or are secured by and payable from, assets such as motor vehicle installment sales contracts, installment loan contracts, leases of various types of real and personal property, and receivables from revolving credit (credit card) agreements. Such assets are securitized through the use of trusts and special purpose corporations. The value of such securities partly depends on loan repayments by individuals, which may be adversely affected during general downturns in the economy. Payments or distributions of principal and interest on asset-backed securities may be supported by credit enhancements, such as various forms of cash collateral accounts or letters of credit. As discussed at greater length below under “Mortgage-Related Securities,” asset-backed securities are subject to the risk of prepayment. The risk that recovery or repossessed collateral might be unavailable or inadequate to support payments on asset-backed securities, however, is greater than is the case for mortgage-backed securities.

Mortgage-Related Securities.

Adjustable-Rate Mortgage Loans (“ARMs”). ARMs eligible for inclusion in a mortgage pool will generally provide for a fixed initial mortgage interest rate for a specified period of time, generally for either the first three, six, twelve, thirteen, thirty-six, or sixty scheduled monthly payments. Thereafter, the interest rates are subject to periodic adjustments based on changes in an index. ARMs typically have minimum and maximum rates beyond which the mortgage interest rate may not vary over the lifetime of the loans. Certain ARMs provide for additional limitations on the maximum amount by which the mortgage interest rate may adjust for any single adjustment period. Limitations on monthly payments can result in monthly payments that are greater or less than the amount necessary to amortize a negatively amortizing ARM by its maturity at the interest rate in effect during any particular month.

Collateralized Mortgage Pools. Collateralized mortgage pool securities are a form of derivative composed of interests in pools of commercial or residential mortgages. Pools of mortgage loans are assembled as securities for sale to investors by various governmental, government-related and private organizations. These securities may include complex instruments such as collateralized mortgage obligations, stripped mortgage-backed securities, mortgage pass-through securities, interest in real estate mortgage investment conduits (“REMICs”), and ARMs.

Residential Mortgage-Related Securities. Residential mortgage-related securities represent participation interests in pools of one- to four-family residential mortgage loans issued or guaranteed by governmental agencies or instrumentalities, such as the Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”), or issued by private entities. Residential mortgage-related securities have been issued using a variety of structures, including multi-class structures featuring senior and subordinated classes.

Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates. Mortgage pass-through certificates are issued by governmental, government-related and private entities and are backed by pools of mortgages (including those on residential properties and commercial real estate). The mortgage loans are made by savings and loan institutions, mortgage bankers, commercial banks and other lenders. The securities are “pass-through” securities because they provide investors with monthly payments of principal and interest which, in effect, are a “pass-through” of the monthly payments made by the individual borrowers on the underlying mortgages, net of any fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of the pass-through certificates. The principal governmental issuer of such securities is GNMA, which is a wholly-owned U.S. government corporation within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Government-related issuers include FHLMC and FNMA, both government sponsored corporations owned entirely by private stockholders. Commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issues also create pass-through pools of conventional residential and commercial mortgage loans. Such issuers may be the originators of the underlying mortgage loans as well as the guarantors of the mortgage-related securities.

(1) GNMA Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates (“Ginnie Maes”). Ginnie Maes represent an undivided interest in a pool of mortgages that are insured by the Federal Housing Administration or the Farmers Home Administration or guaranteed by the Veterans Administration. Ginnie Maes entitle the holder to receive all payments (including prepayments) of principal and interest owed by the individual mortgagors, net of fees paid to GNMA and to the issuer which assembles the mortgage pool and passes through the monthly payments to the certificate holders (typically, a mortgage banking firm), regardless of whether the individual mortgagor actually makes the payment. Because payments are made to certificate holders regardless of whether payments are actually received on the underlying mortgages, Ginnie Maes are of the “modified pass-through” mortgage certificate type. The GNMA is authorized to guarantee the timely payment of principal and interest on the Ginnie Maes as securities backed by an eligible pool of mortgages. The GNMA guarantee is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, and the GNMA has unlimited authority to borrow funds from the U.S. Treasury to make payments under the guarantee. This is not a guarantee against market decline of the value of these securities or the shares of the Fund. It is possible that the availability (i.e., liquidity) of these securities could be adversely affected by actions of the U.S. government to tighten the availability of its credit. The market for Ginnie Maes is highly liquid because of the size of the market and the active participation in the secondary market of securities dealers and a variety of investors.

(2) FHLMC Mortgage Participation Certificates (“Freddie Macs”). Freddie Macs represent interests in groups of specified first lien residential conventional mortgages underwritten and owned by FHLMC. Freddie Macs entitle the holder to timely payments of interest, which is guaranteed by FHLMC. FHLMC guarantees either ultimate collection or timely payment of all principal payments on the underlying mortgage loans. In cases where FHLMC has not guaranteed timely payment of principal, FHLMC may remit the amount due on account of its guarantee of ultimate payment of principal at any time after default on an underlying mortgage, but in no event later than one year after it becomes payable. Freddie Macs are not guaranteed by the United States or by any of the Federal Home Loan Banks and do not constitute a debt or obligation of the United States or of any Federal Home Loan Bank. The secondary market for Freddie Macs is highly liquid because of the size of the market and the active participation in the secondary market of FHLMC, securities dealers and a variety of investors.

(3) FNMA Guaranteed Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates (“Fannie Maes”). Fannie Maes represent an undivided interest in a pool of conventional mortgage loans secured by first mortgages or deeds of trust, on one family, or two to four family, residential properties. FNMA is obligated to distribute scheduled monthly installments of principal and interest on the mortgages in the pool, whether or not received, plus full principal of any foreclosed or otherwise liquidated mortgages. The obligation of FNMA under its guaranty is solely the obligation of FNMA and is not backed by, nor entitled to, the full faith and credit of the United States.

(4) Private issue mortgage certificates are pass-through securities structured in a similar fashion to Ginnie Maes, Fannie Maes, and Freddie Macs. Private issuer mortgage certificates are generally backed by conventional single family, multi-family and commercial mortgages. Private issuer mortgage certificates typically are not guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities, but generally have some form of credit support in the form of over-collateralization, pool insurance or other form of credit enhancement.

The market value of mortgage-related securities depends on, among other things, the level of interest rates, the certificates’ coupon rates and the payment history of the mortgagors of the underlying mortgages.

Collateralized Mortgage Obligations and Multi-Class Pass-Through Securities. Collateralized mortgage obligations or “CMOs” are multi-class bonds backed by pools of mortgage pass-through certificates or mortgage loans. CMOs in which the Fund may invest may be collateralized by (a) pass-through certificates issued or guaranteed by GNMA, FNMA or FHLMC, (b) unsecuritized mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs or (c) any combination thereof.

Each class of CMOs, often referred to as a “tranche,” is issued at a specific coupon rate and has a stated maturity or final distribution date. Principal prepayments on collateral underlying a CMO may cause it to be retired substantially earlier than the stated maturities or final distribution dates. The principal and interest on the underlying mortgages may be allocated among the several classes of a series of a CMO in many ways. One or more tranches of a CMO may have coupon rates, which reset periodically at a specified increment over an index, such as the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) (or sometimes more than one index). These floating rate CMOs typically are issued with lifetime caps on the coupon rate thereon. The Fund also may invest in inverse floating rate CMOs. Inverse floating rate CMOs constitute a tranche of a CMO with a coupon rate that moves in the reverse direction of an applicable index such as the LIBOR. Accordingly, the coupon rate thereon will increase as interest rates decrease. Inverse floating rate CMOs are typically more volatile than fixed or floating rate tranches of CMOs. Many inverse floating rate CMOs have coupons that move inversely to a multiple of an applicable index such as LIBOR. The effect of the coupon varying inversely to a multiple of an applicable index creates a leverage factor. The markets for inverse floating rate CMOs with highly leveraged characteristics may at times be very thin. The Fund’s ability to dispose of its positions in such securities will depend on the degree of liquidity in the markets for such securities. It is impossible to predict the amount of trading interest that may exist in such securities, and therefore the future degree of liquidity. It should be noted that inverse floaters based on multiples of a stated index are designed to be highly sensitive to changes in interest rates and can subject the holders thereof to extreme reductions of yield and loss of principal.

As CMOs have evolved, some classes of CMO bonds have become more prevalent. The planned amortization class (PAC) and targeted amortization class (TAC), for example, were designed to reduce prepayment risk by establishing a sinking-fund structure. PAC and TAC bonds assure to varying degrees that investors will receive payments over a predetermined period under varying prepayment scenarios. Although PAC and TAC bonds are similar, PAC bonds are better able to provide stable cash flows under various prepayment scenarios than TAC bonds because of the order in which these tranches are paid.

Stripped Mortgage-Backed Securities. Stripped mortgage-backed securities are created by segregating the cash flows from underlying mortgage loans or mortgage securities to create two or more new securities, each with a specified percentage of the underlying security’s principal or interest payments. Mortgage securities may be partially stripped so that each investor class receives some interest and some principal. When securities are completely stripped, however, all of the interest is distributed to holders of one type of security, known as an interest-only security, or IO, and all of the principal is distributed to holders of another type of security known as a principal-only security, or PO. Strips can be created in a pass-through structure or as tranches of a CMO. The yields to maturity on IOs and POs are very sensitive to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the related underlying mortgage assets. If the underlying mortgage assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, the Fund may not fully recoup its initial investment in IOs. Conversely, if the underlying mortgage assets experience less than anticipated prepayments of principal, the yield on POs could be materially and adversely affected.

Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities. Commercial mortgage-backed securities are securities that represent direct or indirect participation in, or are secured by and payable from, pools of loans or leases secured by commercial properties, including but not limited to retail, office or industrial properties, hotels, health-care facilities and multi-family residential properties. Such assets are securitized through the use of trusts and special purpose corporations. The value of such securities partly depends on loan repayments by individual commercial borrowers, which can depend in turn on rent payments from tenants in secured properties, either of which may be adversely affected during general downturns in the economy. Payments or distributions of principal and interest on commercial mortgage-backed securities may be supported by credit enhancements, such as various forms of cash collateral accounts or letters of credit. Like mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities are subject to the risks of prepayment. The risks that recovery or repossessed collateral might be unavailable or inadequate to support payments on commercial mortgage-backed securities, however, is greater than is the case for non-multifamily residential mortgage-backed securities.

Types of Credit Enhancement. To lessen the effect of failures by obligors on mortgage-related securities to make payments, such securities may contain elements of credit enhancement. Such credit enhancement falls into two categories: (1) loss protection and (2) liquidity protection. Loss protection relates to losses resulting after default by an obligor on the underlying assets and collection of all amounts recoverable directly from the obligor and through liquidation of the collateral. Liquidity protection refers to the provision of advances, generally by the entity administering the pool of assets (usually the bank, savings association or mortgage banker that transferred the underlying loans to the issuer of the security), to ensure that the receipt of payments on the underlying pool occurs in a timely fashion. Loss protection ensures ultimate payment of the obligations on at least a portion of the assets in the pool. Such protection may be provided through guarantees, insurance policies or letters of credit obtained by the issuer or sponsor, from third parties, through various means of structuring the transaction or through a combination of such approaches. The Fund will not pay any additional fees for such credit enhancement, although the existence of credit enhancement may increase the price of a security. Credit enhancements do not provide protection against changes in the market value of the security. Examples of credit enhancement arising out of the structure of the transaction include “senior subordinated securities” (multiple class securities with one or more classes subordinate to other classes as to payment of principal thereof and interest thereon, with the result that defaults on the underlying assets are borne first by the holders of the subordinated class), creation of “spread accounts” or “reserve funds” (where cash or investments, sometimes funded from a portion of the payments on the underlying assets, are held in reserve against future losses) and “over collateralization” (where the scheduled payments on, or the principal amount of, the underlying assets exceed that required to make payment of the securities and pay any servicing or other fees). The degree of credit enhancement provided for each issue generally is based on historical information regarding the level of credit risk associated with the underlying assets. Delinquency or loss in excess of that anticipated could adversely affect the return on investment in such a security.

Investment Companies. The Fund may invest in securities issued by registered and unregistered investment companies, to the extent such investments are consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and policies. Under the 1940 Act, the Fund’s investment in securities of other investment companies, subject to certain exceptions, currently is limited to (i) 3% of the total voting stock of any one investment company, (ii) 5% of the Fund’s total assets with respect to any one investment company and (iii) 10% of the Fund’s total assets in the aggregate. As a shareholder of another investment company, the Fund would bear, along with other shareholders, its pro rata portion of the other investment company’s expenses, including advisory fees. These expenses would be in addition to the advisory fees and other expenses that the Fund bears directly in connection with its own operations. The Fund also may invest its uninvested cash reserves, or cash it receives as collateral from borrowers of its portfolio securities in connection with the Fund’s securities lending program, in shares of one or more money market funds advised by Dreyfus. Such investments will not be subject to the limitations described above. See “Securities Lending.”

Taxable Investments. The Fund invests, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets in Municipal Obligations. However, the Fund may invest up to 20% of the value of its net assets in fixed income securities, the income on which is subject to federal income tax. The Fund may temporarily invest more than 20% of the value of its net assets in Federally taxable obligations to maintain a “defensive” posture when, in the opinion of the Investment Adviser, it is advisable to do so because of adverse market conditions affecting the market for Municipal Obligations. Under such circumstances, the Fund typically will invest in the kinds of taxable obligations described above under “Money Market Instruments.” Dividends paid by the Fund that are attributable to income earned by the Fund from taxable obligations will be taxable to investors. See “Dividends, Distributions and Taxes.”

Variable and Floating Rate Securities. The Fund may purchase floating rate and variable rate obligations, including participation interests therein. Floating rate or variable rate obligations provide that the rate of interest is set as a specific percentage of a designated base rate (such as the prime rate at a major commercial bank) and that the Fund can demand payment of the obligation at par plus accrued interest. Variable rate obligations provide for a specified periodic adjustment in the interest rate, while floating rate obligations have an interest rate, which changes whenever there is a change in the external interest rate. Frequently such obligations are secured by letters of credit or other credit support arrangements provided by banks. The quality of the underlying creditor or of the bank, as the case may be, as determined by the Investment Adviser, must be equivalent to the quality standard prescribed for the Fund. In addition, the Investment Adviser monitors the earning power, cash flow and other liquidity ratios of the issuers of such obligations, as well as the creditworthiness of the institution responsible for paying the principal amount of the obligations under the demand feature.

Zero Coupon, Pay-In-Kind and Step-Up Securities. Zero coupon securities are debt securities issued or sold at a discount from their face value that do not entitle the holder to any periodic payment of interest prior to maturity or a specified redemption date (or cash payment date). Pay-in-kind securities are bonds that generally pay interest through the issuance of additional bonds. Step-up coupon bonds are debt securities that typically do not pay interest for a specified period of time and then pay interest at a series of different rates. The market prices of these securities generally are more volatile and are likely to respond to a greater degree to changes in interest rates than the market prices of securities that pay cash interest periodically having similar maturities and credit qualities. In addition, unlike bonds which pay cash interest throughout the period to maturity, the Fund will realize no cash until the cash payment or maturity date unless a portion of such securities are sold and, if the issuer defaults, the Fund may obtain no return at all on its investment. The Code requires the holder of a zero coupon security or of certain pay-in-kind or step-up bonds to accrue income with respect to these securities prior to the receipt of cash payments. To maintain its qualification as a regulated investment company and avoid liability for Federal income tax, the Fund may be required to distribute such income accrued with respect to these securities and may have to dispose of portfolio securities under disadvantageous circumstances in order to generate cash to satisfy this distribution requirement. See “Dividends, Distributions and Taxes.”

Investment Techniques

In addition to the principal investment strategies discussed in the Fund’s Prospectus, to the extent indicated above under “The Fund and Its Investments,” the Fund may utilize the investment techniques described below. The Fund might not use any of these strategies and there can be no assurance that any strategy that is used will succeed. The Fund’s use of certain of these investment techniques may give rise to taxable income.

Borrowing Money. The Fund is permitted to borrow to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, which permits an investment company to borrow in an amount up to 33-1/3% of the value of its total assets. The Fund currently intends to borrow money only for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes. While such borrowings exceed 5% of the Fund’s total assets, the Fund will not make any additional investments. In addition, the Fund may borrow for investment purposes on a secured basis through entering into reverse repurchase agreements, as described below under “Reverse Repurchase Agreements.”

Reverse Repurchase Agreements. The Fund may enter into reverse repurchase agreements with banks, broker/dealers or other financial institutions. This form of borrowing involves the transfer by the Fund of an underlying debt instrument in return for cash proceeds based on a percentage of the value of the security. The Fund retains the right to receive interest and principal payments on the security. At an agreed upon future date, the Fund repurchases the security at principal plus accrued interest. To the extent the Fund enters into a reverse repurchase agreement, the Fund will segregate permissible liquid assets at least equal to the aggregate amount of its reverse repurchase obligations, plus accrued interest, in certain cases, in accordance with releases promulgated by the SEC. The SEC views reverse repurchase transactions as collateralized borrowings by the Fund.

Forward Roll Transactions. To enhance current income, the Fund may enter into forward roll transactions with respect to mortgage-related securities. In a forward roll transaction, the Fund sells mortgage-related securities to a financial institution, such as a bank or broker-dealer, and simultaneously agrees to repurchase a similar security from the institution at a later date at an agreed upon price. The securities that are repurchased will bear the same interest rate as those sold, but generally will be collateralized by different pools or mortgages with different pre-payment histories than those sold. During the period between the sale and repurchase, the Fund will not be entitled to receive interest and principal payments on the securities sold. Proceeds of the sale will be invested in short-term instruments, typically repurchase agreements, and the income from these investments, together with any additional fee income received on the sale is expected to generate income for the Fund exceeding the yield on the securities sold. Forward roll transactions involve the risk that the market value of the securities sold by the Fund may decline below the purchase price of those securities. The Fund will segregate permissible liquid assets at least equal to the amount of the repurchase price (including accrued interest).

The Fund may enter into mortgage “dollar rolls” in which the Fund sells mortgage-related securities for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts to purchase substantially similar securities on a specified future date. The mortgage-related securities that are purchased will be of the same type and will have the same interest rate as those securities sold, but generally will be supported by different pools of mortgages with different prepayment histories than those sold. The Fund forgoes principal and interest paid during the roll period on the securities sold in a dollar roll, but the Fund is compensated by the difference between the current sales price and the lower prices of the future purchase, as well as by any interest earned on the proceeds of the securities sold. The Fund could be compensated also through the receipt of fee income equivalent to a lower forward price. The dollar rolls entered into by the Fund normally will be “covered.” A covered roll is a specific type of dollar roll for which there is an offsetting cash position or a cash equivalent security position that matures on or before the forward settlement date of the related dollar roll transaction. Covered rolls are not treated as borrowings or other senior securities and will be excluded from the calculation of the Fund’s borrowings and other senior securities.

Futures, Options and Other Derivative Instruments.

General. The Fund may invest in, or enter into, derivatives (“Derivative Instruments”) for a variety of reasons, including to hedge certain market and interest rate risks, to provide a substitute for purchasing or selling particular securities, to manage foreign currency risk, or to increase potential returns. Generally, derivatives are financial contracts whose value depends upon, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index, and may relate to stocks, bonds, interest rates, currencies or currency exchange rates, commodities, and related indexes. Derivative Instruments may provide a cheaper, quicker or more specifically focused way for the Fund to invest than “traditional” securities would. The Fund may invest in options contracts, futures contracts, options on futures contracts and swap transactions. A portfolio manager may decide not to employ any of these strategies and there is no assurance that any derivatives strategy used by the Fund will succeed.

Hedging strategies can be broadly categorized as “short hedges” and “long hedges.” A short hedge is a purchase or sale of a Derivative Instrument intended partially or fully to offset potential declines in the value of one or more investments held in the Fund’s portfolio. Thus, in a short hedge the Fund takes a position in a Derivative Instrument whose price is expected to move in the opposite direction of the price of the investment being hedged.

Conversely, a long hedge is a purchase or sale of a Derivative Instrument intended partially or fully to offset potential increases in the acquisition cost of one or more investments that the Fund intends to acquire. Thus, in a long hedge the Fund takes a position in a Derivative Instrument whose price is expected to move in the same direction as the price of the prospective investment being hedged. A long hedge is sometimes referred to as an anticipatory hedge. In an anticipatory hedge transaction, the Fund does not own a corresponding security and, therefore, the transaction does not relate to a security the Fund owns. Rather, it relates to a security that the Fund intends to acquire. If the Fund does not complete the hedge by purchasing the security it anticipated purchasing, the effect on the Fund’s portfolio is the same as if the transaction were entered into for speculative purposes.

Derivative Instruments on securities generally are used to hedge against price movements in one or more particular securities positions that the Fund owns or intends to acquire. Derivative Instruments on indices, in contrast, generally are used to attempt to hedge against price movements in market sectors in which the Fund has invested or expects to invest. Derivative Instruments on debt securities may be used to hedge either individual securities or broad debt market sectors.

The use of Derivative Instruments is subject to applicable regulations of the SEC, the several options and futures exchanges upon which they are traded, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and various state regulatory authorities. In addition, the Fund’s ability to use Derivative Instruments may be limited by tax considerations. See “Dividends, Distributions and Taxes.”

Neither the Trust nor the Fund will be a commodity pool. The Trust has filed notice with the CFTC and National Futures Association of its eligibility, as a registered investment company, for an exclusion from the definition of commodity pool operator and that neither the Trust nor the Fund is subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under the Commodity Exchange Act.

Special Risks. The use of Derivative Instruments involves special considerations and risks, certain of which are described below. Risks pertaining to particular Derivative Instruments are described in the sections that follow.

(1) Successful use of most Derivative Instruments may depend on the ability of the Investment Adviser not only to forecast the direction of price fluctuations of the investment involved in the transaction, but also to predict movements of the overall securities and interest rate markets, which requires different skills than predicting changes in the prices of individual securities. There can be no assurance that any particular strategy will succeed.

(2) There might be imperfect correlation, or even no correlation, between price movements of a Derivative Instrument and price movements of the investments being hedged. For example, if the value of a Derivative Instrument used in a short hedge increased by less than the decline in value of the hedged investment, the hedge would not be fully successful. Such a lack of correlation might occur due to factors unrelated to the value of the investments being hedged, such as speculative or other pressures on the markets in which Derivative Instruments are traded. The effectiveness of hedges using Derivative Instruments on indices will depend on the degree of correlation between price movements in the index and price movements in the securities being hedged.

Because there are a limited number of types of exchange-traded options and futures contracts, it is likely that the standardized contracts available will not match the Fund’s current or anticipated investments exactly. The Fund may invest in options and futures contracts based on securities with different issuers, maturities, or other characteristics from the securities in which it typically invests, which involves a risk that the options or futures position will not track the performance of the Fund’s other investments.

Options and futures prices can also diverge from the prices of their underlying instruments, even if the underlying instruments match the Fund’s investments well. Options and futures prices are affected by such factors as current and anticipated short-term interest rates, changes in volatility of the underlying instrument, and the time remaining until expiration of the contract, which may not affect security prices the same way. Imperfect correlation may also result from differing levels of demand in the options and futures markets and the securities markets, from structural differences in how options and futures and securities are traded, or from imposition of daily price fluctuation limits or trading halts. The Fund may purchase or sell options and futures contracts with a greater or lesser value than the securities it wishes to hedge or intends to purchase in order to attempt to compensate for differences in volatility between the contract and the securities, although this may not be successful in all cases. If price changes in the Fund’s options or futures positions are poorly correlated with its other investments, the positions may fail to produce anticipated gains or result in losses that are not offset by gains in other investments.

(3) If successful, the above-discussed strategies can reduce risk of loss by wholly or partially offsetting the negative effect of unfavorable price movements. However, such strategies can also reduce opportunity for gain by offsetting the positive effect of favorable price movements. For example, if the Fund entered into a short hedge because the Investment Adviser projected a decline in the price of a security in the Fund’s portfolio, and the price of that security increased instead, the gain from that increase might be wholly or partially offset by a decline in the price of the Derivative Instrument. Moreover, if the price of the Derivative Instrument declined by more than the increase in the price of the security, the Fund could suffer a loss. In either such case, the Fund would have been in a better position had it not attempted to hedge at all.

(4) As described below, the Fund might be required to maintain assets as “cover,” maintain segregated accounts or make margin payments when it takes positions in Derivative Instruments involving obligations to third parties (i.e., Derivative Instruments other than purchased options). If the Fund was unable to close out its position in such Derivative Instruments, it might be required to continue to maintain such assets or accounts or make such payments until the position expired or matured. These requirements might impair the Fund’s ability to sell a portfolio security or make an investment at a time when it would otherwise be favorable to do so, or require that the Fund sell a portfolio security at a disadvantageous time. The Fund’s ability to close out a position in a Derivative Instrument prior to expiration or maturity depends on the existence of a liquid secondary market or, in the absence of such a market, the ability and willingness of the other party to the transaction (“counterparty”) to enter into a transaction closing out the position. Therefore, there is no assurance that any position can be closed out at a time and price that is favorable to the Fund.

(5) The purchase and sale of Derivative Instruments could result in a loss if the counterparty to the transaction does not perform as expected, and may increase portfolio turnover rates, which results in correspondingly greater commission expenses and transaction costs and may result in certain tax consequences.

Cover for Derivative Instruments. Some Derivative Instruments the Fund may use involve leverage (e.g., an instrument linked to the value of a securities index may return income calculated as a multiple of the price movement of the underlying index). This economic leverage will increase the volatility of these instruments as they may increase or decrease in value more quickly than the underlying security, index, futures contract, currency or other economic variable. Pursuant to regulations and/or published positions of the SEC, the Fund may be required to segregate permissible liquid assets, or engage in other measures approved by the SEC or its staff, to “cover” the Fund’s obligations relating to its transactions in Derivative Instruments. For example, in the case of futures contracts or forward contracts that are not contractually required to cash settle, the Fund must set aside liquid assets equal to such contracts’ full notional value (generally the total numerical value of the asset underlying a future or forward contract at the time of valuation) while the positions are open. With respect to futures contracts or forward contracts that are contractually required to cash settle, however, the Fund is permitted to set aside liquid assets in an amount equal to the Fund’s daily marked-to-market net obligation (i.e., the Fund’s daily net liability) under the contracts, if any, rather than such contracts’ full notional value. By setting aside assets equal to only its net obligations under cash-settled futures and forward contracts, the Fund may employ leverage to a greater extent than if the Fund were required to segregate assets equal to the full notional value of such contracts.

Assets used as cover or held in a segregated account cannot be sold while the position in the corresponding Derivative Instrument is open, unless they are replaced with other appropriate assets. As a result, the commitment of a large portion of the Fund’s assets to segregated accounts or as cover could impede portfolio management or the Fund’s ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations.

Futures Contracts and Options on Futures Contracts. When the Fund purchases a futures contract, it incurs an obligation to take delivery of a specified amount of the security underlying the futures contract at a specified time in the future for a specified price. When the Fund sells a futures contract, it incurs an obligation to deliver a specified amount of the security underlying the futures contract at a specified time in the future for an agreed upon price. With respect to index futures, no physical transfer of the securities underlying the index is made. Rather, the parties settle by exchanging in cash an amount based on the difference between the contract price and the closing value of the index on the settlement date.

When the Fund writes an option on a futures contract, it becomes obligated, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in a futures contract at a specified exercise price at any time during the term of the option. If the Fund writes a call, it assumes a short futures position. If the Fund writes a put, it assumes a long futures position. When the Fund purchases an option on a futures contract, it acquires the right, in return for the premium it pays, to assume a position in a futures contract (a long position if the option is a call and a short position if the option is a put).

The purchase of futures or call options on futures can serve as a long hedge, and the sale of futures or the purchase of put options on futures can serve as a short hedge. Writing call options on futures contracts can serve as a limited short hedge, using a strategy similar to that used for writing call options on securities or indices. Similarly, writing put options on futures contracts can serve as a limited long hedge.

Futures strategies also can be used to manage the average duration of the Fund’s fixed income portfolio. If the Investment Adviser wishes to shorten the average duration of the Fund’s fixed income portfolio, the Fund may sell an interest rate futures contract or a call option thereon, or purchase a put option on that futures contract. If the Investment Adviser wishes to lengthen the average duration of the Fund’s fixed income portfolio, the Fund may buy an interest rate futures contract or a call option thereon, or sell a put option thereon.

No price is paid upon entering into a futures contract. Instead, at the inception of a futures contract the Fund is required to deposit “initial margin” consisting of cash or U.S. government securities in an amount generally equal to 10% or less of the contract value. Margin must also be deposited when writing a call or put option on a futures contract, in accordance with applicable exchange rules. Unlike margin in securities transactions, initial margin on futures contracts does not represent a borrowing, but rather is in the nature of a performance bond or good-faith deposit that is returned to the Fund at the termination of the transaction if all contractual obligations have been satisfied. Under certain circumstances, such as periods of high volatility, the Fund may be required by an exchange to increase the level of its initial margin payment.

Subsequent “variation margin” payments are made to and from the futures broker daily as the value of the futures position varies, a process known as “marking-to-market.” Variation margin does not involve borrowing, but rather represents a daily settlement of the Fund’s obligations to or from a futures broker. When the Fund purchases an option on a future, the premium paid plus transaction costs is all that is at risk. In contrast, when the Fund purchases or sells a futures contract or writes a call or put option thereon, it is subject to daily variation margin calls that could be substantial in the event of adverse price movements. If the Fund has insufficient cash to meet daily variation margin requirements, it might need to sell securities at a time when such sales are disadvantageous.

Purchasers and sellers of futures contracts and options on futures can enter into offsetting closing transactions, similar to closing transactions on options, by selling or purchasing, respectively, an instrument identical to the instrument purchased or sold. Positions in futures and options on futures may be closed only on an exchange or board of trade that provides a secondary market. Although the Fund intends to enter into futures and options on futures only on exchanges or boards of trade where there appears to be a liquid secondary market, there can be no assurance that such a market will exist for a particular contract at a particular time. In such event, it may not be possible to close a futures contract or options position.

Under certain circumstances, futures exchanges may establish daily limits on the amount that the price of a futures or an option on a futures contract can vary from the previous day’s settlement price; once that limit is reached, no trades may be made that day at a price beyond the limit. Daily price limits do not limit potential losses because prices could move to the daily limit for several consecutive days with little or no trading, thereby preventing liquidation of unfavorable positions.

If the Fund were unable to liquidate a futures or options on futures position due to the absence of a liquid secondary market or the imposition of price limits, it could incur substantial losses. The Fund would continue to be subject to market risk with respect to the position. In addition, except in the case of purchased options, the Fund would continue to be required to make daily variation margin payments and might be required to maintain the position being hedged by the future or option or to maintain cash or securities in a segregated account.

Options. A call option gives the purchaser the right to buy, and obligates the writer to sell, the underlying investment at the agreed upon exercise price during the option period. A put option gives the purchaser the right to sell, and obligates the writer to buy, the underlying investment at the agreed upon exercise price during the option period. A purchaser of an option pays an amount, known as the premium, to the option writer in exchange for rights under the option contract.

Options on indices are similar to options on securities or currencies except that all settlements are in cash and gain or loss depends on changes in the index in question rather than on price movements in individual securities or currencies.

The purchase of call options can serve as a long hedge, and the purchase of put options can serve as a short hedge. Writing put or call options can enable the Fund to enhance income or yield by reason of the premiums paid by the purchasers of such options. However, if the market price of the security or other instrument underlying a put option declines to less than the exercise price on the option, minus the premium received, the Fund would expect to suffer a loss.

Writing call options can also serve as a limited short hedge because declines in the value of the hedged investment would be offset to the extent of the premium received for writing the option. However, if the investment appreciates to a price higher than the exercise price of the call option, it can be expected that the option will be exercised and the Fund will be obligated to sell the investment at less than its market value unless the option is closed out in an offsetting transaction.

Writing put options can serve as a limited long hedge because increases in the value of the hedged investment would be offset to the extent of the premium received for writing the option. However, if the investment depreciates to a price lower than the exercise price of the put option, it can be expected that the put option will be exercised and the Fund will be obligated to purchase the investment at more than its market value.

The value of an option position will reflect, among other things, the current market value of the underlying investment, the time remaining until expiration, the relationship of the exercise price to the market price of the underlying investment, the historical price volatility of the underlying investment and general market conditions. Options that expire unexercised have no value and the Fund would experience losses to the extent of premiums paid for them.

The Fund may effectively terminate its right or obligation under an option by entering into a closing transaction. For example, the Fund may terminate its obligation under a call or put option that it had written by purchasing an identical call or put option; this is known as a closing purchase transaction. Conversely, the Fund may terminate a position in a put or call option it had purchased by writing an identical put or call option; this is known as a closing sale transaction. Closing transactions permit the Fund to realize profits or limit losses on an option position prior to its exercise or expiration.

The Fund may purchase and sell both exchange-traded and over-the-counter (“OTC”) options. Exchange-traded options in the United States are issued by a clearing organization that, in effect, guarantees completion of every exchange-traded option transaction. In contrast, OTC options are contracts between the Fund and its counterparty (usually a securities dealer or a bank) with no clearing organization guarantee. Thus, when the Fund purchases an OTC option, it relies on the counterparty from whom it purchased the option to make or take delivery of the underlying investment upon exercise of the option. Failure by the counterparty to do so would result in the loss of any premium paid by the Fund as well as the loss of any expected benefit of the transaction. The Fund will enter into only those option contracts that are listed on a national securities or commodities exchange or traded in the OTC market for which there appears to be a liquid secondary market.

The Fund will not purchase or write OTC options if, as a result of such transaction, the sum of (i) the market value of outstanding OTC options purchased by the Fund, (ii) the market value of the underlying securities covered by outstanding OTC call options written by the Fund, and (iii) the market value of all other assets of the Fund that are illiquid or are not otherwise readily marketable, would exceed 15% of the Fund’s net assets, taken at market value. However, if an OTC option is sold by the Fund to a primary U.S. government securities dealer recognized by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Fund has the unconditional contractual right to repurchase such OTC option from the dealer at a predetermined price, then the Fund will treat as illiquid such amount of the underlying securities as is equal to the repurchase price less the amount by which the option is “in-the-money” (the difference between the current market value of the underlying securities and the price at which the option can be exercised). The repurchase price with primary dealers is typically a formula price that is generally based on a multiple of the premium received for the option plus the amount by which the option is “in-the-money.”

Generally, the OTC debt and foreign currency options used by the Fund are European style options. This means that the option is only exercisable immediately prior to its expiration. This is in contrast to American style options, which are exercisable at any time prior to the expiration date of the option.

The Fund’s ability to establish and close out positions in exchange-listed options depends on the existence of a liquid market. However, there can be no assurance that such a market will exist at any particular time. Closing transactions can be made for OTC options only by negotiating directly with the counterparty, or by a transaction in the secondary market if any such market exists. Although the Fund will enter into OTC options only with major dealers in unlisted options, there is no assurance that the Fund will in fact be able to close out an OTC option position at a favorable price prior to expiration. In the event of insolvency of the counterparty, the Fund might be unable to close out an OTC option position at any time prior to its expiration.

If the Fund were unable to effect a closing transaction for an option it had purchased, it would have to exercise the option to realize any profit. The inability to enter into a closing purchase transaction for a covered call option written by the Fund could cause material losses because the Fund would be unable to sell the investment used as cover for the written option until the option expires or is exercised. The Fund may write only covered call options on securities. A call option is covered if the Fund owns the underlying security or a call option on the same security with a lower strike price, or otherwise covers the transaction by segregating permissible liquid assets.

The Fund may purchase and sell call and put options in respect of specific securities (or groups or “baskets” of specific securities) or stock indices listed on national securities exchanges or traded in the OTC market. An option on a stock index is similar to an option in respect of specific securities, except that settlement does not occur by delivery of the securities comprising the index. Instead, the option holder receives an amount of cash if the closing level of the stock index upon which the option is based is greater than in the case of a call, or less than in the case of a put, the exercise price of the option. Thus, the effectiveness of purchasing or writing stock index options will depend upon price movements in the level of the index rather than the price of a particular stock.

Municipal Bond Index and Interest Rate Futures Contracts and Options on Municipal Bond Index and Interest Rate Futures Contracts. The Fund may invest in municipal bond index futures contracts and interest rate futures contracts and purchase and sell options on these futures contracts that are traded on a domestic exchange or board of trade. Such investments may be made by the Fund solely for the purpose of hedging against changes in the value of its portfolio securities due to anticipated changes in interest rates and market conditions, and not for purposes of speculation. Further, such investments will be made only in unusual circumstances, such as when the Investment Adviser anticipates an extreme change in interest rates or market conditions.

An interest rate futures contract provides for the future purchase or sale of specified interest rate sensitive debt securities such as United States Treasury bills, bonds and notes, obligations of the GNMA and bank certificates of deposit. Although most interest rate futures contracts require the delivery of the underlying securities, some settle in cash. Each contract designates the price, date, time and place of delivery. Entering into a futures contract to deliver the index or instrument underlying the contract is referred to as entering into a “short” position in the futures contract, whereas entering into a futures contract to take delivery of the index or instrument is referred to as entering into a “long” position in the futures contract. A municipal bond index futures contract is an agreement pursuant to which two parties agree to take or make delivery of an amount of cash equal to a specific dollar amount times the difference between the value of the index at the close of the last trading day of the contract and the price at which the index contract was originally written. No physical delivery of the underlying municipal bonds in the index is made.

The purpose of the acquisition or sale of a municipal bond index futures contract by the Fund, as the holder of long-term municipal securities, is to protect the Fund from fluctuations in interest rates on tax-exempt securities without actually buying or selling long-term municipal securities.

Unlike the purchase or sale of a Municipal Obligation, no consideration is paid or received by the Fund upon the purchase or sale of a futures contract. Initially, the Fund will be required to deposit with the broker an amount of cash or cash equivalents equal to approximately 10% of the contract amount (this amount is subject to change by the board of trade on which the contract is traded and members of such board of trade may charge a higher amount). This amount is known as initial margin and is in the nature of a performance bond or good faith deposit on the contract which is returned to the Fund upon termination of the futures contract, assuming that all contractual obligations have been satisfied. Subsequent payments, known as variation margin, to and from the broker, will be made on a daily basis as the price of the underlying instrument or index fluctuates, making the long and short positions in the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as marking-to-market. At any time prior to the expiration of the contract, the Fund may elect to close the position by taking an opposite position, which will operate to terminate the Fund’s existing position in the futures contract.

There are several risks in connection with the use of a municipal bond index or interest rate futures contract as a hedging device. There can be no assurance that there will be a correlation between movements in the price of the underlying instruments of the municipal bond index and movements in the price of the Municipal Obligations which are the subject of the hedge. The degree of imperfection of correlation depends upon various circumstances, such as variations in speculative market demand for futures contracts and municipal securities, technical influences on futures trading, and differences between the municipal securities being hedged and the municipal securities underlying the municipal bond index or interest rate futures contracts, in such respects as interest rate levels, maturities and creditworthiness of issuers. A decision of whether, when, and how to hedge involves the exercise of skill and judgment and even a well-conceived hedge may be unsuccessful to some degree because of market behavior or unexpected trends in interest rates.

Although the Fund intends to purchase or sell municipal bond index and interest rate futures contracts only if there is an active market for such contracts, there is no assurance that a liquid market will exist for the contracts at any particular time. Most domestic futures exchanges and boards of trade limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular contract, no trades may be made that day at a price beyond that limit. The daily limit governs only price movement during a particular trading day and, therefore, does not limit potential losses because the limit may prevent the liquidation of unfavorable positions. It is possible that futures contract prices could move to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting some futures traders to substantial losses. In such event, it will not be possible to close a futures position and, in the event of adverse price movements, the Fund would be required to make daily cash payments of variation margin. In such circumstances, an increase in the value of the portion of the portfolio being hedged, if any, may partially or completely offset losses on the futures contract. As described above, however, there is no guarantee that the price of Municipal Obligations will, in fact, correlate with the price movements in the municipal bond index or interest rate futures contract and thus provide an offset to losses on a futures contract.

If the Fund has hedged against the possibility of an increase in interest rates adversely affecting the value of the Municipal Obligations held in its portfolio and rates decrease instead, the Fund will lose part or all of the benefit of the increased value of the Municipal Obligations it has hedged because it will have offsetting losses in its futures positions. In addition, in such situations, if the Fund has insufficient cash, it may have to sell securities to meet daily variation margin requirements. Such sales of securities may, but will not necessarily, be at increased prices which reflect the decline in interest rates. The Fund may have to sell securities at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.

The ability of the Fund to trade in municipal bond index or interest rate futures contracts and options on interest rate futures contracts may be materially limited by the requirements of the Code applicable to regulated investment companies. See “Dividends, Distributions and Taxes” below.

The Fund may purchase put and call options on municipal bond index or interest rate futures contracts which are traded on a domestic exchange or board of trade as a hedge against changes in interest rates, and may enter into closing transactions with respect to such options to terminate existing positions. The Fund will sell put and call options on interest rate futures contracts only as part of closing sale transactions to terminate its options positions. There is no guarantee that such closing transactions can be effected.

A put or call on a municipal bond index or interest rate futures contract gives the purchaser the right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a short or long position, respectively, in the underlying futures contract at a specified exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option. The Fund may purchase put and call options on both municipal bond index and interest rate futures contracts. The Fund will sell options on these futures contracts only as part of closing purchase transactions to terminate its options position, although no assurance can be given that closing transactions can be effected.

The Fund may purchase options when the Investment Adviser believes that interest rates will increase and consequently the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities will decrease. The Fund may enter into futures contracts to buy an index or debt security or may purchase call options when the Investment Adviser anticipates purchasing portfolio securities at a time of declining interest rates.

Options on municipal bond index or interest rate futures contracts, as contrasted with the direct investment in such contracts, gives the purchaser the right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in such contracts at a specified exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the options. Upon exercise of an option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer’s futures contract margin account, which represents the amount by which the market price of the futures contract exceeds, in the case of a call, or is less than, in the case of a put, the exercise price of the option on the futures contract. The potential loss related to the purchase of an option is limited to the premium paid for the option (plus transaction costs). Because the value of the option is fixed at the point of sale, there are no daily cash payments to reflect changes in the value of the underlying contract; however, the value of the option does change daily and that change would be reflected in the net asset value of the Fund.

There are several risks relating to options on futures contracts. The ability to establish and close out positions on such options will be subject to the existence of a liquid market. In addition, the Fund’s purchase of put or call options will be based upon predictions as to anticipated interest rate trends by the Investment Adviser, which could prove to be inaccurate. Even if the Investment Adviser’s expectations are correct there may be an imperfect correlation between the change in the value of the options and of the Fund’s portfolio securities.

The Fund may not enter into futures contracts or purchase options on futures contracts if, immediately thereafter, the sum of the amount of margin deposits on the Fund’s existing futures contracts and premiums paid for options would exceed 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets, after taking into account unrealized profits and losses on any existing contracts.

Any income earned by the Fund from transactions in futures contracts and options on futures contracts will be taxable. Accordingly, it is anticipated that such investments will be made by the Fund only in certain circumstances, such as when the Investment Adviser believes there is a compelling investment opportunity or anticipates an extreme change in interest rates or market conditions.

Swaps, Interest Rate Locks, Caps, Collars and Floors. Swap agreements, including interest rate, equity index and currency swaps, caps, collars and floors, may be individually negotiated and structured to include exposure to a variety of different types of investments or market factors. Swaps involve two parties exchanging a series of cash flows at specified intervals. In the case of an interest rate swap, the parties exchange interest payments based on an agreed upon principal amount (referred to as the “notional principal amount”). Under the most basic scenario, Party A would pay a fixed rate on the notional principal amount to Party B, which would pay a floating rate on the same notional principal amount to Party A. Depending on their structure, swap agreements may increase or decrease the Fund’s exposure to long- or short-term interest rates (in the United States or abroad), foreign currency values, mortgage securities, corporate borrowing rates, or other factors. Swap agreements can take many different forms and are known by a variety of names.

In a typical cap or floor agreement, one party agrees to make payments only under specified circumstances, usually in return for payment of a fee by the other party. For example, the buyer of an interest rate cap obtains the right to receive payments to the extent that a specified interest rate exceeds an agreed-upon level, while the seller of an interest rate floor is obligated to make payments to the extent that a specified interest rate falls below an agreed-upon level. An interest rate collar combines elements of buying a cap and selling a floor.

In a typical interest rate lock transaction, if Party A desires to lock in a particular interest rate on a given date it may enter into an agreement to pay, or receive a payment from, Party B based on the yield of a reference index or security, such as a Treasury or municipal bond. At the maturity of the term of the agreement, one party makes a payment to the other party as determined by the relative change in the yield of the reference security or index. A rate lock transaction may be terminated prior to its stated maturity date by calculating the payment due as of the termination date, which generally differs from the make-whole provisions for an early termination of an interest rate swap transaction in which the party terminating the swap early is required to give its counterparty the economic benefit of the transaction.

The Fund will set aside cash or appropriate liquid assets to cover its current obligations under swap transactions. If the Fund enters into a swap agreement on a net basis (that is, the two payment streams are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments), the Fund will maintain cash or liquid assets with a daily value at least equal to the excess, if any, of the Fund’s accrued obligations under the swap agreement over the accrued amount the Fund is entitled to receive under the agreement. If the Fund enters into a swap agreement on other than a net basis, enters into an interest rate lock agreement, or writes a cap, collar or floor, it will maintain cash or liquid assets with a value equal to the full amount of the Fund’s accrued obligations under the agreement.

The most important factor in the performance of swap agreements is the change in the specific interest rate, currency or other factor(s) that determine the amounts of payments due to and from the Fund. If a swap agreement calls for payments by the Fund, the Fund must be prepared to make such payments when due. In addition, if the counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the value of a swap agreement would likely decline, potentially resulting in losses.

The Fund will enter into swaps, interest rate locks, caps, collars and floors only with banks and recognized securities dealers believed by the Investment Adviser to present minimal credit risks. If there is a default by the other party to such a transaction, the Fund will have to rely on its contractual remedies (which may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency or similar laws) pursuant to the agreement relating to the transaction.

The use of swaps is a highly specialized activity which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio security transactions. If the Investment Adviser is incorrect in its forecasts of market values, interest rates and other applicable factors, the investment performance of the Fund would diminish compared with what it would have been if these investment techniques were not used. Moreover, even if the Investment Adviser is correct in its forecasts, there is a risk that the swap position may correlate imperfectly with the price of the position being hedged.

The Fund will enter into swap transactions only when the Investment Adviser believes it would be in the best interests of the Fund’s shareholders to do so. Depending on the circumstances, gains from a swap transaction can be treated either as taxable ordinary income or as short- or long-term capital gains.

The Fund understands that it is the position of the SEC staff that assets involved in swap transactions are illiquid and, therefore, are subject to the limitations on illiquid investments.

Future Developments. The Fund may take advantage of opportunities in the area of options and futures contracts and options on futures contracts, swaps and any other derivatives which are not presently contemplated for use by the Fund or which are not currently available but which may be developed, to the extent such opportunities are both consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and legally permissible for the Fund.

Securities Lending. The Fund may lend securities from its portfolio to brokers, dealers and other financial organizations needing to borrow securities to complete certain transactions. In connection with such loans, the Fund remains the owner of the loaned securities and continues to be entitled to payments in amounts equal to the interest, dividends or other distributions payable on the loaned securities. The Fund also has the right to terminate a loan at any time. The Fund may call the loan to vote proxies if a material issue affecting the Fund’s investment is to be voted upon. Loans of portfolio securities may not exceed 33-1/3% of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including the value of all assets received as collateral for the loan). The Fund will receive collateral consisting of cash, U.S. Government securities or irrevocable letters of credit which will be maintained at all times in an amount equal to 100% of the current market value of the loaned securities. If the collateral consists of a letter of credit or securities, the borrower will pay the Fund a loan premium fee. If the collateral consists of cash, the Fund will reinvest the cash and pay the borrower a pre-negotiated fee or “rebate” from any return earned on the investment. The Fund may participate in a securities lending program operated by The Bank of New York Mellon, as lending agent (the “Lending Agent”). The Lending Agent will receive a percentage of the total earnings of the Fund derived from lending its portfolio securities. Should the borrower of the securities fail financially, the Fund may experience delays in recovering the loaned securities or exercising its rights in the collateral. Loans are made only to borrowers that are deemed by Dreyfus to be of good financial standing. In a loan transaction, the Fund will also bear the risk of any decline in value of securities acquired with cash collateral. The Fund will minimize this risk by limiting the investment of cash collateral to money market funds advised by Dreyfus, repurchase agreements or other high quality instruments with short maturities.

Short-Selling. In these transactions, the Fund sells securities it does not own in anticipation of a decline in the market value of the security. The Fund may make short-sales to hedge positions, for duration and risk management, to maintain portfolio flexibility or to enhance returns. To complete a short-sale transaction, the Fund must borrow the security to make delivery to the buyer. The Fund is obligated to replace the security borrowed by purchasing it subsequently at the market price at the time of replacement. The price at such time may be more or less than the price at which the security was sold by the Fund, which would result in a loss or gain, respectively.

Securities will not be sold short if, after effect is given to any such short sale, the total market value of all securities sold short would exceed 25% of the value of the Fund’s net assets. The Fund may not make a short sale that results in the Fund having sold short in the aggregate more than 5% of the outstanding securities of any class of an issuer. The Fund also may make short sales “against the box,” in which the Fund enters into a short sale of a security it owns or has the immediate and unconditional right to acquire at no additional cost at the time of the sale. At no time will more than 15% of the value of the Fund’s net assets be in deposits on short sales against the box.

Until the Fund closes its short position or replaces the borrowed security, it will: (a) segregate permissible liquid assets in an amount that, together with the amount provided as collateral, always equals the current value of the security sold short; or (b) otherwise cover its short position.

Forward Commitment and When-Issued Securities and Delayed Delivery Transactions. New issues of U.S. Treasury, other government securities and Municipal Obligations are often offered on a forward commitment or when-issued basis. This means that delivery and payment for the securities normally will take place in the future after the date the buyer commits to purchase them. The payment obligation and the interest rate that will be received on securities purchased on a forward commitment or when-issued basis are each fixed at the time the buyer enters into the commitment. The Fund will make commitments to purchase such securities only with the intention of actually acquiring the securities, but the Fund may sell these securities or dispose of the commitment before the settlement date if it is deemed advisable as a matter of investment strategy. Permissible liquid assets having a market value equal to the amount of the above commitments will be segregated on the Fund’s records. For the purpose of determining the adequacy of these securities the segregated securities will be valued at market. If the market value of such securities declines, additional cash or securities will be segregated on the Fund’s records on a daily basis so that the market value of the account will equal the amount of such commitments by the Fund.

When payment for forward commitment or when-issued securities is due, the Fund will meet its obligations from then-available cash flow, the sale of segregated securities, the sale of other securities and/or, although it would not normally expect to do so, from the sale of such forward commitment or when-issued securities themselves (which may have a market value greater or less than the Fund’s payment obligation). The sale of securities to meet such obligations carries with it a greater potential for the realization of capital gains, which are subject to federal income taxes.

To secure advantageous prices or yields, the Fund may purchase or sell securities for delayed delivery. In such transactions, delivery of the securities occurs beyond the normal settlement periods, but no payment or delivery is made by the Fund prior to the actual delivery or payment by the other party to the transaction. The purchase of securities on a delayed delivery basis involves the risk that the value of the securities purchased will decline prior to the settlement date. The sale of securities for delayed delivery involves the risk that the prices available in the market on the delivery date may be greater than those obtained in the sale transaction. The Fund will segregate permissible liquid assets in an amount at least equal at all times to the amounts of its delayed delivery commitments.

Municipal Obligations or other securities purchased on a forward commitment, when-issued or delayed-delivery basis and the securities held by the Fund are subject to changes in market value based upon the public’s perception of changes in the creditworthiness of the issuer and the level of interest rates. Generally, the value of such securities will fluctuate inversely to changes in interest rates, i.e., they will appreciate in value when interest rates decline and decrease in value when interest rates rise. Therefore, if in order to achieve higher interest income the Fund remains substantially fully invested at the same time that it has purchased securities on a forward commitment, when-issued or delayed-delivery basis, there will be a greater possibility of fluctuation in the Fund’s net asset value.

Stand-by Commitments. The Fund may acquire “stand-by commitments” with respect to Municipal Obligations held in its portfolio. Under a stand-by commitment, the Fund obligates a broker, dealer or bank to repurchase, at the Fund’s option, specified securities at a specified price and, in this respect, stand-by commitments are comparable to put options. The exercise of a stand-by commitment, therefore, is subject to the ability of the seller to make payment on demand. The Fund will acquire stand-by commitments solely to facilitate its portfolio liquidity and does not intend to exercise its rights thereunder for trading purposes. The Fund may pay for stand-by commitments if such action is deemed necessary, thus increasing to a degree the cost of the underlying Municipal Obligation and similarly decreasing such security’s yield to investors. Gains realized in connection with stand-by commitments will be taxable. The Fund also may acquire call options on specific Municipal Obligations. The Fund generally would purchase these call options to protect the Fund from the issuer of the related Municipal Obligation redeeming, or other holder of the call option from calling away, the Municipal Obligation before maturity. The sale by the Fund of a call option that it owns on a specific Municipal Obligation could result in its receipt of taxable income.

Special Factors Affecting the Fund

Certain Investments. From time to time, to the extent consistent with relevant investment objectives, policies and restrictions, the Fund may invest in securities of companies with which an affiliate of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (“BNY Mellon”), Dreyfus’ parent company, has a lending relationship.

Municipal Obligations. The Fund may invest more than 25% of the value of its total assets in Municipal Obligations which are related in such a way that an economic, business or political development or change affecting one such security also would affect the other securities; for example, securities the interest upon which is paid from revenues of similar types of projects. As a result, the Fund may be subject to greater risk as compared to a fund that does not follow this practice.

Certain municipal lease obligations in which the Fund may invest may contain “non-appropriation” clauses which provide that the municipality has no obligation to make lease payments in future years unless money is appropriated for such purpose on a yearly basis. Although “non-appropriation” lease obligations are secured by the leased property, disposition of the leased property in the event of foreclosure might prove difficult. In evaluating the credit quality of a municipal lease obligation that is unrated, the Investment Adviser will consider, on an ongoing basis, a number of factors including the likelihood that the issuing municipality will discontinue appropriating funding for the leased property.

Certain Code provisions relating to the issuance of Municipal Obligations may reduce the volume of Municipal Obligations qualifying for Federal tax exemption. One effect of these provisions could be to increase the cost of the Municipal Obligations available for purchase by the Fund and thus reduce available yield. Shareholders should consult their tax advisers concerning the effect of these provisions on an investment in the Fund. Proposals that may restrict or eliminate the income tax exemption for interest on Municipal Obligations may be introduced in the future. If any such proposal were enacted that would reduce the availability of Municipal Obligations for investment by the Fund so as to adversely affect its shareholders, the Fund would reevaluate its investment objective and policies and submit possible changes in its structure to shareholders for their consideration. If legislation were enacted that would treat a type of Municipal Obligation as taxable, the Fund would treat that security as a permissible Taxable Investment within the applicable limits set forth herein.

Portfolio Maturity and Duration. The Fund may invest in bonds of any maturity or duration and does not expect to target any specific range of maturity or duration. The dollar-weighted average maturity of the Fund’s portfolio will vary from time to time depending on the portfolio manager’s views on the direction of interest rates.

Credit Enhancements. Certain instruments in which the Fund may invest, including floating rate securities, tender option bonds, custodial receipts, variable amount master demand notes, municipal lease obligations or certificates of participation in municipal lease obligations and variable rate obligations, may be backed by letters of credit or insured or guaranteed by financial institutions, such as banks or insurance companies, whose credit quality ratings are judged by the Investment Adviser to be comparable in quality to the two highest quality ratings of the Rating Agencies. Changes in the credit quality of banks, broker-dealers and other financial institutions that provide such credit or liquidity enhancements to the Fund’s portfolio securities could cause losses to the Fund, affect its liquidity and affect its share price.

Fixed-Income Securities. Even though interest-bearing securities are investments which promise a stable stream of income, the prices of such securities generally are inversely affected by changes in interest rates and, therefore, are subject to the risk of market price fluctuations. The values of fixed-income securities also may be affected by changes in the credit rating or financial condition of the issuer. Securities rated Baa by Moody’s and BBB by S&P and Fitch, may be subject to such risk with respect to the issuing entity and to greater market fluctuations than certain lower yielding, higher rated fixed-income securities. Once the rating of a portfolio security has been changed, the Fund will consider all circumstances deemed relevant in determining whether to continue to hold the security. See “Appendix A” for a summary of the Rating Agencies’ ratings.

Foreign Securities. Investing in the securities of foreign issuers, as well as instruments that provide investment exposure to foreign securities and markets, involves risks that are not typically associated with investing in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of domestic issuers. Investments in foreign issuers may be affected by changes in currency rates, changes in foreign or U.S. laws or restrictions applicable to such investments and in exchange control regulations (e.g., currency blockage). A decline in the exchange rate of the currency (i.e., weakening of the currency against the U.S. dollar) in which a portfolio security is quoted or denominated relative to the U.S. dollar would reduce the value of the portfolio security. A change in the value of such foreign currency against the U.S. dollar also will result in a change in the amount of income the Fund has available for distribution. Because a portion of the Fund’s investment income may be received in foreign currencies, the Fund will be required to compute its income in U.S. dollars for distribution to shareholders, and therefore the Fund will absorb the cost of currency fluctuations. After the Fund has distributed income, subsequent foreign currency losses may result in the Fund having distributed more income in a particular fiscal period than was available from investment income, which could result in a return of capital to shareholders. In addition, if the exchange rate for the currency in which the Fund receives interest payments declines against the U.S. dollar before such income is distributed as dividends to shareholders, the Fund may have to sell portfolio securities to obtain sufficient cash to enable the Fund to pay such dividends. Commissions on transactions in foreign securities may be higher than those for similar transactions on domestic stock markets and foreign custodial costs are higher than domestic custodial costs. In addition, clearance and settlement procedures may be different in foreign countries and, in certain markets, such procedures have on occasion been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, thus making it difficult to conduct such transactions.

Foreign securities markets generally are not as developed or efficient as those in the United States. Securities of some foreign issuers are less liquid and more volatile than securities of comparable U.S. issuers. Similarly, volume and liquidity in most foreign securities markets are less than in the United States and, at times, volatility of price can be greater than in the United States.

Because evidences of ownership of foreign securities usually are held outside the United States, by investing in foreign securities the Fund will be subject to additional risks which include: possible adverse political and economic developments, seizure or nationalization of foreign deposits and adoption of governmental restrictions which might adversely affect or restrict the payment of principal, interest and dividends on the foreign securities to investors located outside the country of the issuer, whether from currency blockage or otherwise. Foreign securities held by the Fund may trade on days when the Fund does not calculate its net asset value and thus may affect the Fund’s net asset value on days when investors have no access to the Fund.

The risks associated with investing in foreign securities are often heightened for investments in emerging market countries. These heightened risks include (i) greater risks of expropriation, confiscatory taxation, nationalization, and less social, political and economic stability; (ii) the small current size of the markets for securities of emerging market issuers and the currently low or nonexistent volume of trading, resulting in lack of liquidity and price volatility; (iii) certain national policies which may restrict the Fund’s investment opportunities including restrictions on investing in issuers or industries deemed sensitive to relevant national interests; and (iv) the absence of developed legal structures governing private or foreign investment and private property. The Fund’s purchase and sale of portfolio securities in certain emerging market countries may be constrained by limitations as to daily changes in the prices of listed securities, periodic trading or settlement volume and/or limitations on aggregate holdings of foreign investors. In certain cases, such limitations may be computed based upon the aggregate trading by or holdings of the Fund, the Investment Adviser and its affiliates and clients and other service providers. The Fund may not be able to sell securities in circumstances where price, trading or settlement volume limitations have been reached. These limitations may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance and may adversely affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investment to the extent that it invests in certain emerging market countries. In addition, some emerging market countries may have fixed or managed currencies which are not free-floating against the U.S. dollar. Further, certain emerging market countries’ currencies may not be internationally traded. Certain of these currencies have experienced a steady devaluation relative to the U.S. dollar. If the Fund does not hedge the U.S. dollar value of securities it owns denominated in currencies that are devalued, the Fund’s net asset value will be adversely affected. Many emerging market countries have experienced substantial, and in some periods extremely high, rates of inflation for many years. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rate have had, and may continue to have, negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain emerging markets countries.

Ratings as Investment Criteria. The ratings of the Rating Agencies and other nationally recognized statistical rating organizations represent the opinions of these agencies as to the quality of obligations that they rate. It should be emphasized, however, that such ratings are relative and subjective and are not absolute standards of quality. These ratings will be used by the Fund as initial criteria for the selection of portfolio securities, but the Fund will also rely upon the independent advice of the Investment Adviser to evaluate potential investments. Among the factors which will be considered are the long-term ability of the issuer to pay principal and interest and general economic trends. Further information concerning the ratings of the Rating Agencies and their significance is contained in “Appendix A” to this SAI.

After being purchased by the Fund, the rating of an obligation may be reduced below the minimum rating required for purchase by the Fund or the issuer of the obligation may default on its obligations. Although neither event will require the sale of such obligation by the Fund, the Investment Adviser will consider such event in determining whether the Fund should continue to hold the obligation. In addition, if a Rating Agency changes its rating system, the Fund will attempt to use comparable ratings as standards for its investments in accordance with its investment objective and policies. For a discussion of special risks that are associated with bonds not rated investment grade, see “Lower Rated Bonds.”

Lower-Rated Bonds. See “Appendix A” for a general description of the Rating Agencies’ ratings of debt obligations. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in fixed-income securities rated below investment grade. Although ratings may be useful in evaluating the safety of interest and principal payments, they do not evaluate the market value risk of these bonds. The Fund will rely on the judgment, analysis and experience of the Investment Adviser in evaluating the creditworthiness of an issuer.

You should be aware that the market values of bonds below investment grade tend to be more sensitive to economic conditions than are higher rated securities and will fluctuate over time. These bonds generally are considered by the Rating Agencies to be, on balance, predominantly speculative with respect to capacity to pay interest and repay principal in accordance with the terms of the obligation and generally will involve more credit risk than securities in the higher rating categories.

Because there may be no established retail secondary market for some of these securities, it is possible that such securities could be sold only to a limited number of dealers or institutional investors. To the extent a secondary trading market for these bonds does exist, it generally is not as liquid as the secondary market for higher rated securities. The lack of a liquid secondary market may have an adverse impact on market price and yield and the Fund’s ability to dispose of particular issues when necessary to meet the Fund’s liquidity needs or in response to a specific economic event such as a deterioration in the creditworthiness of the issuer. The lack of a liquid secondary market for certain securities also may make it more difficult for the Fund to obtain accurate market quotations for purposes of valuing the Fund’s portfolio and calculating its net asset value. Adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether or not based on fundamental analysis, may decrease the values and liquidity of these securities. In such cases, judgment may play a greater role in valuation because less reliable objective data may be available.

Lower-rated bonds may be particularly susceptible to economic downturns. It is likely that any economic recession could disrupt severely the market for such securities and may have an adverse impact on the value of such securities. In addition, it is likely that any such economic downturn could adversely affect the ability of the issuers of such securities to repay principal and pay interest thereon and increase the incidence of default for such securities.

The credit risk factors pertaining to lower rated securities also apply to lower rated zero coupon bonds. Zero coupon, or delayed interest bonds, carry an additional risk in that unlike an investment in bonds that pay interest throughout the period to maturity, the Fund will realize no cash until the cash payment date unless a portion of the bonds are sold, and if the issuer defaults, the Fund may obtain no return at all on its investment.

Mortgage-Related Securities. Mortgage-related securities can be complex Derivative Instruments, subject to both credit and prepayment risk, and may be more volatile and less liquid than more traditional debt securities. Mortgage-related securities are subject to credit risks associated with the performance of the underlying mortgage properties. Adverse changes in economic conditions and circumstances are more likely to have an adverse impact on mortgage-related securities secured by loans on certain types of commercial properties than on those secured by loans on residential properties. In addition, these securities are subject to prepayment risk, although commercial mortgages typically have shorter maturities than residential mortgages and prepayment protection features. Some mortgage-related securities have structures that make their reactions to interest rate changes and other factors difficult to predict, making their value highly volatile.

In certain instances, the credit risk associated with mortgage-related securities can be reduced by third party guarantees or other forms of credit support. Improved credit risk does not reduce prepayment risk which is unrelated to the rating assigned to the mortgage-related security. Prepayment risk can lead to fluctuations in value of the mortgage-related security which may be pronounced. If a mortgage-related security is purchased at a premium, all or part of the premium may be lost if there is a decline in the market value of the security, whether resulting from changes in interest rates or prepayments on the underlying mortgage collateral. Certain mortgage-related securities that may be purchased by the Fund, such as inverse floating rate collateral mortgage obligations, have coupons that move inversely to a multiple of a specific index which may result in a form of leverage. As with other interest-bearing securities, the prices of certain mortgage-related securities are inversely affected by changes in interest rates. However, although the value of a mortgage-related security may decline when interest rates rise, the converse is not necessarily true, since in periods of declining interest rates the mortgages underlying the security are more likely to be prepaid. For this and other reasons, a mortgage-related security’s stated maturity may be shortened by unscheduled prepayments on the underlying mortgages, and, therefore, it is not possible to predict accurately the security’s return to the Fund. Moreover, with respect to certain stripped mortgage-backed securities, if the underlying mortgage securities experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, the Fund may fail to fully recoup its initial investment even if the securities are rated in the highest rating category by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization. During periods of rapidly rising interest rates, prepayments of mortgage-related securities may occur at slower than expected rates. Slower prepayments effectively may lengthen a mortgage-related security’s expected maturity which generally would cause the value of such security to fluctuate more widely in response to changes in interest rates. Were the prepayments of the Fund’s mortgage-related securities to decrease broadly, the Fund’s effective duration, and thus sensitivity to interest rate fluctuations, would increase.

Master/Feeder Option

The Trust may in the future seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objective by investing all of the Fund’s net investable assets in another investment company having the same investment objective and substantially the same investment policies and restrictions as those applicable to the Fund. Shareholders of the Fund will be given at least 30 days’ prior notice of any such investment. Such investment would be made only if the Trust’s Board determines it to be in the best interest of the Fund and its shareholders. In making that determination, the Trust’s Board will consider, among other things, the benefits to shareholders and/or the opportunity to reduce costs and achieve operational efficiency. Although the Fund believes that the Trust’s Board will not approve an arrangement that is likely to result in higher costs, no assurance is given that risks will be materially reduced if this option is implemented.

Investment Restrictions

Fundamental. The following limitations have been adopted by the Fund. The Fund may not change any of these fundamental investment limitations, without the consent of: (a) 67% or more of the shares present at a meeting of shareholders duly called if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund are present or represented by proxy; or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund, whichever is less. The Fund may not:

1.   Purchase any securities which would cause more than 25% of the value of the Fund’s total assets at the time of such purchase to be invested in the securities of one or more issuers conducting their principal activities in the same industry. (For purposes of this limitation, U.S. government securities and state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered members of any industry.)

2.   Borrow money or issue senior securities as defined in the 1940 Act, except that (a) the Fund may borrow money in an amount not exceeding one-third of the Fund’s total assets at the time of such borrowing, and (b) the Fund may issue multiple classes of shares. The purchase or sale of options, forward contracts, futures contracts, including those relating to indices, and options on futures contracts or indices shall not be considered to involve the borrowing of money or issuance of senior securities.

3.   Make loans or lend securities, if as a result thereof more than one-third of the Fund’s total assets would be subject to all such loans. For purposes of this restriction, debt instruments and repurchase agreements shall not be treated as loans. Any loans of portfolio securities will be made according to guidelines established by the SEC and the Board.

4.   Underwrite securities issued by any other person, except to the extent that the purchase of securities and the later disposition of such securities in accordance with the Fund’s investment program may be deemed an underwriting.

5.   Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this shall not prevent the Fund from investing in securities or other instruments backed by real estate, including mortgage loans, or securities of companies that engage in the real estate business or invest or deal in real estate or interests therein).

6.   Purchase or sell commodities, except that the Fund may enter into options, forward contracts, and futures contracts, including those relating to indices, and options on futures contracts or indices.

The Fund may, notwithstanding any other fundamental investment policy or limitation, invest all of its investable assets in securities of a single, open-end management investment company with substantially the same investment objective, policies, and limitations as the Fund.

Non-fundamental. The Fund’s policy to invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, as described in the “Goal/Approach” section of the Prospectus for the Fund (or in other investments with similar economic characteristics as applicable to the relevant Fund) is a non-fundamental policy of the Fund, which may be changed without shareholder approval. However, the Fund will provide shareholders with at least 60 days’ notice of any change in its policy to so invest 80% of its net assets. The Fund has adopted the following additional non-fundamental investment restrictions. These non-fundamental restrictions also may be changed without shareholder approval, in compliance with applicable law and regulatory policy.

1.   The Fund will not invest more than 15% of the value of its net assets in illiquid securities, including repurchase agreements with remaining maturities in excess of seven days, time deposits with maturities in excess of seven days, and other securities which are not readily marketable. For purposes of this restriction, illiquid securities shall not include commercial paper issued pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, securities which may be resold under Rule 144A under the Act and municipal lease obligations and participations therein, provided that the Board, or its delegate, determines that such securities are liquid, based upon the trading markets for the specific security.

2.   The Fund will not invest in securities of other investment companies, except as they may be acquired as part of a merger, consolidation or acquisition of assets and except to the extent otherwise permitted by the 1940 Act.

3.   The Fund will not purchase securities on margin, except that the Fund may obtain such short-term credits as are necessary for the clearance of transactions, and provided that margin payments in connection with futures contracts and options shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin.

4.   The Fund will not purchase any security while borrowings representing more than 5% of such Fund’s total assets are outstanding.

If a percentage restriction is adhered to at the time of an investment, a later increase or decrease in such percentage resulting from a change in the values of assets will not constitute a violation of such restriction, except as otherwise required by the 1940 Act. With respect to fundamental Investment Restriction No. 2 for the Fund, however, if borrowings exceed 33-1/3% of the value of the Fund’s total assets as a result of a change in values or assets, the Fund must take steps to reduce such borrowings at least to the extent of such excess.

If the Fund’s investment objective, policies, restrictions, practices or procedures change, shareholders should consider whether the Fund remains an appropriate investment in light of the shareholder’s then-current position and needs.

MANAGEMENT OF THE TRUST AND FUND

Trustees and Officers of the Trust

The Trust’s Board is responsible for the management and supervision of the Fund, and approves all significant agreements between the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, and those companies that furnish services to the Fund. These companies are as follows:

BNY Mellon Fund Advisers, a division of The Dreyfus Corporation	Investment Adviser
MBSC Securities Corporation	Distributor
Dreyfus Transfer, Inc.	Transfer Agent
The Bank of New York Mellon	Custodian

Trustees of the Trust

The Trust has a Board composed of seven Trustees. Trustees of the Trust, together with information as to their positions with the Trust, principal occupations and other board memberships and affiliations, are shown below. The Trustee who is an “interested person” of the Trust, as defined in the 1940 Act, is indicated by an asterisk (*).

Name (Age) Position with Trust (Since)	Principal Occupation During Past 5 Years	Other Board Memberships and Affiliations
*Patrick J. O’Connor1 (65) Chairman of the Board (2000)	Attorney, Cozen O’Connor since 1973, including Vice Chairman from 1980 and Chief Executive Officer and President from 2002 until 2008	Board of Consultors of Villanova University School of Law, Board Member Temple University, Trustee Philadelphia Police Foundation, Board Member Philadelphia Children’s First Fund, Board Member American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow Historical Society of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Director
Ronald R. Davenport (71) Trustee (2000)	Chairman of Sheridan Broadcasting Corporation since July 1972	American Urban Radio Networks, Co-Chairman
John L. Diederich (71) Trustee (2000)	Chairman of Digital Site Systems, Inc., a privately held software company providing internet service to the construction materials industry, since July 1998	Continental Mills, a dry baking products company, Board Member Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Board Member
Maureen M. Young (62) Trustee (2000)	Director of the Office of Government Relations at Carnegie Mellon University from January 2000 to December 2007	Maglev, Inc., a company seeking a partnership between industry and government in Pennsylvania to create a magnetically levitated high-speed transportation system, Board Member representing Carnegie Mellon University Pennsylvania Association for Individuals with Disabilities, Board Member Oakland Planning and Development Corp., Board Member
Kevin C. Phelan (63) Trustee (2000)	Mortgage Banker, Meredith & Grew, Inc. since March 1978, including Executive Vice President and Director since March 1998	Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Director Fiduciary Trust Company, Director St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center of Boston, Board Member Providence College, Trustee Simmons College, Trustee Newton Country Day School, Chairman of the Board Babson College, Board of Visitors Boston University School of Public Health, Board of Visitors Boston Public Library Foundation, Director Boston Foundation, Director Boston Municipal Research Bureau, Board Member Boys and Girls Club of Boston, Board Member Boston Capital Real Estate Investment Trust, Director
Patrick J. Purcell (60) Trustee (2000)	Owner, President and Publisher of The Boston Herald since February 1994 President and Founder, jobfind.com, an employment search site on the world wide web, since July 1996 President and Chief Executive Officer, Herald Media since 2001	The American Ireland Fund, an organization that raises funds for philanthropic projects in Ireland, Vice Chairman The Genesis Fund, an organization that raises funds for the specialized care and treatment of New England area children born with birth defects, mental retardation and genetic diseases, Board Member United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Board Member Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Board Member
Thomas F. Ryan, Jr. (66) Trustee (2000)	Retired since April 1999 President and Chief Operating Officer of the American Stock Exchange from October 1995 to April 1999	Boston College, Trustee Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Trustee New York State Independent System Operator, a non-profit organization which administers a competitive wholesale market for electricity in New York State, Director RepliGen Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, Director

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1          Mr. O’Connor is considered an “interested person” of the Trust because the law firm of which he is a member, Cozen O’Connor, has represented The Bank of New York Mellon and its affiliates in certain matters.

Board members are elected to serve for an indefinite term. The Trust has standing audit, nominating and compensation committees, each comprised of its Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust, as defined in the 1940 Act. The function of the audit committee is (i) to oversee the Trust’s accounting and financial reporting processes and the audits of the Fund’s financial statements and (ii) to assist in the Board’s oversight of the integrity of the Funds’ financial statements, the Trust’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and the independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications, independence and performance. The Trust’s nominating committee, among other things, is responsible for selecting and nominating persons as members of the Board for election or appointment by the Board and for election by shareholders. In evaluating potential nominees, including any nominees recommended by shareholders, the committee takes into consideration various factors listed in the nominating committee charter, including character and integrity, business and professional experience, and whether the committee believes the person has the ability to apply sound and independent business judgment and would act in the interest of the Fund and its respective shareholders. The nominating committee will consider recommendations for nominees from shareholders submitted to the Secretary of the Trust, c/o The Dreyfus Corporation Legal Department, 200 Park Avenue, 8^th Floor East, New York, New York 10166, which includes information regarding the recommended nominee as specified in the nominating committee charter. The function of the compensation committee is to establish the appropriate compensation for serving on the Board. The Trust also has, with respect to each Fund, a standing pricing committee comprised of any one Board member. The function of the pricing committee is to assist in valuing the investments of the Fund.

The table below indicates the dollar range of each Trustee’s ownership of shares of funds in the Trust as of December 31, 2007. As the Fund has not offered its shares prior to the date of this SAI, none of the Trustees owned any shares of the Fund.

Name of Trustee	Aggregate Holding of Funds in the BNY Mellon Funds
Ronald Davenport	Over $100,000
John Diederich	Over $100,000
Patrick O’Connor	Over $100,000
Thomas Ryan	Over $100,000
Patrick Purcell	Over $100,000
Kevin Phelan	Over $100,000
Maureen M. Young	None

As of December 31, 2007, none of the Trustees who is not an “interested person” of the Trust, as defined in the 1940 Act, or their immediate family members owned securities of Dreyfus, the Distributor or any person (other than a registered investment company) directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by or under common control with Dreyfus or the Distributor.

Currently, the Trust pays its Board members an annual retainer of $48,000 and a fee of $5,000 per meeting (with a minimum of $500 per meeting and per telephone meeting) attended and reimburses them for their expenses. The Chairman of the Board receives an additional annual retainer of $10,000 and the Chairman of the Trust’s Audit Committee receives an additional annual retainer of $8,000. The aggregate amount of compensation estimated to be paid to each Board member by the Trust for the Fund’s fiscal year ending December 31, 2008 for all funds comprising the Trust is as follows:

Name of Trustee	Aggregate Estimated Compensation From the Trust#
Ronald R. Davenport	$68,500
John L. Diederich	$68,500
Maureen M. Young	$68,500
Patrick J. O’Connor	$78,500
Kevin C. Phelan	$68,500
Patrick J. Purcell	$68,500
Thomas F. Ryan Jr.	$71,500

^{_________________________}

#   Amount does not include expenses reimbursed by the Trust to Board members for attending Board meetings, which in the aggregate is estimated to amount to $13,500 for the Trust.

Officers of the Trust

CHRISTOPHER E. SHELDON, President since September 2006. As director of Investment Strategy for BNY Mellon Wealth Management (formerly, Mellon Private Wealth Management group) since April 2003, Mr. Sheldon manages the analysis and development of investment and asset allocation strategies and oversees investment product research and, since June 2006, also oversees the alternative investment groups. Prior to assuming his current position, Mr. Sheldon was West Coast managing director of Mellon’s Private Wealth Management group from 2001 to 2003 and its regional manager from 1998 to 2001. He was previously a Vice President of the Trust. He is 43 years old and has been employed by Mellon Bank since January 1995.

MICHAEL A. ROSENBERG, Vice President and Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He was previously Assistant Secretary of the Trust. He is 48 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since October 1991.

JAMES WINDELS, Treasurer since November 2001. Director-Mutual Fund Accounting of Dreyfus, and an Officer of 77 Investment Companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He is 49 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since April 1985.

JAMES BITETTO, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel and Secretary of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He is 42 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since December 1996.

JONI LACKS CHARATAN, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. She is 52 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since October 1988.

JOSEPH M. CHIOFFI, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He is 46 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since June 2000.

JANETTE E. FARRAGHER, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. She is 45 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since February 1984.

JOHN B. HAMMALIAN, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He is 45 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since February 1991.

ROBERT R. MULLERY, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He is 56 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since May 1986.

JEFF PRUSNOFSKY, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He was previously Secretary of the Trust. He is 43 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since October 1990.

RICHARD S. CASSARO, Assistant Treasurer since January 2008. Senior Accounting Manager – Money Market and Municipal Bond Funds of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He is 49 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since October 1982.

GAVIN C. REILLY, Assistant Treasurer since December 2005. Tax Manager - Investment Accounting and Support Department of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He is 39 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since April 1991.

ROBERT S. ROBOL, Assistant Treasurer since December 2002. Senior Accounting Manager - Money Market Funds of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He is 44 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since October 1988.

ROBERT SALVIOLO, Assistant Treasurer since July 2007. Senior Accounting Manager -- Equity Funds of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He is 41 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since June 1989.

ROBERT J. SVAGNA, Assistant Treasurer since December 2002. Senior Accounting Manager -- Equity Funds of Dreyfus, and an officer of 77 investment companies (comprised of 177 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He is 41 years old and has been an employee of Dreyfus since November 1990.

WILLIAM G. GERMENIS, Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer since September 2002. Vice President and Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer of the Distributor, and the Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer of 73 investment companies (comprised of 173 portfolios) managed by Dreyfus. He is 37 years old and has been an employee of the Distributor since October 1998.

JOSEPH W. CONNOLLY, Chief Compliance Officer since October 2004. Chief Compliance Officer of Dreyfus and The Dreyfus Family of Funds (77 investment companies, comprised of 177 portfolios). From November 2001 through March 2004, Mr. Connolly was first Vice-President, Mutual Fund Servicing for Mellon Global Securities Services. In that capacity, Mr. Connolly was responsible for managing Mellon Bank’s Custody, Fund Accounting and Fund Administration services to third-party mutual fund clients. He is 51 years old and has served in various capacities with Dreyfus since 1980, including manager of the firm’s Fund Accounting Department from 1997 through October 2001.

The address of each Trustee and officer of the Trust is 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10166.

As the Fund has not commenced offering its shares prior to the date of this SAI, no Fund shares were owned by any Trustees or officers of the Trust.

MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS

Investment Adviser. BNY Mellon Fund Advisers is a division of Dreyfus, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BNY Mellon, a global financial services company focused on helping clients move and manage their financial assets, operating in 34 countries and serving more than 100 markets. BNY Mellon is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, providing asset and wealth management, asset servicing, issuer services, and treasury services through a worldwide client-focused team.

Pursuant to an Investment Advisory Agreement with the Trust (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”), the Investment Adviser provides investment management services to each Fund, including the day-to-day management of the Fund’s investments. As to the Fund, the Investment Advisory Agreement will continue until June 1, 2010, and thereafter the Investment Advisory Agreement is subject to annual approval by (i) the Trust’s Board or (ii) vote of a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities, provided that in either event the continuance also is approved by a majority of the Trustees who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust or the Investment Adviser, by vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The Trust may terminate the Investment Advisory Agreement with respect to the Fund upon the vote of a majority of the Board of Trustees or upon the vote of a majority of the respective Fund’s outstanding voting securities on 60 days’ written notice to the Investment Adviser. The Investment Adviser may terminate the Investment Advisory Agreement upon 60 days’ written notice to the Trust. The Investment Advisory Agreement will terminate immediately and automatically upon its assignment.

The following persons are officers and/or directors of Dreyfus: Jonathan Little, Chair of the Board; Jonathan Baum, Chief Executive Officer and a director; J. Charles Cardona, President and a director; Diane P. Durnin, Vice Chair and a director; Phillip N. Maisano, Chief Investment Officer, Vice Chair and a director; J. David Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Vice Chair and a director; Dwight Jacobsen, Executive Vice President; Patrice M. Kozlowski, Senior Vice President-Corporate Communications; Jill Gill, Vice President-Human Resources; Anthony Mayo, Vice President-Information Systems; Theodore A. Schachar, Vice President-Tax; John E. Lane, Vice President; Jeanne M. Login, Vice President; Gary Pierce, Controller; Joseph W. Connolly, Chief Compliance Officer; James Bitetto, Secretary; James Bitetto, Secretary; and Mitchell E. Harris, Ronald P. O’Hanley III and Scott E. Wennerholm, directors.

BNY Mellon and its affiliates may have deposit, loan and commercial banking or other relationships with issuers of securities purchased by the Fund. The Investment Adviser has informed the Trust that in making investment decisions for the relevant Fund it does not obtain or use material inside information that BNY Mellon or its affiliates may possess with respect to such issuers.

The Investment Adviser may pay the Distributor for shareholder services from the Investment Adviser’s own assets, including past profits but not including the management fees paid by the Fund. The Distributor may use part or all of such payments to pay certain financial institutions (which may include banks), securities dealers (“Selected Dealers”) and other industry professionals (collectively, “Service Agents”) in respect of these services. The Investment Adviser may also make such advertising and promotional expenditures, using its own resources, as it from time to time deems appropriate.

The Trust, the Investment Adviser and the Distributor each have adopted a Code of Ethics that permits its personnel, subject to such Code of Ethics, to invest in securities, including securities that may be purchased or held by the Fund. The Code of Ethics subjects the personal securities transactions of the Investment Adviser’s employees to various restrictions to ensure that such trading does not disadvantage any fund advised by the Investment Adviser. In that regard, portfolio managers and other investment personnel of the Investment Adviser must preclear and report their personal securities transactions and holdings, which are reviewed for compliance with the Code of Ethics and also are subject to the oversight of BNY Mellon’s Investment Ethics Committee (the “Committee”). Portfolio managers and other investment personnel who comply with the preclearance and disclosure procedures of the Code of Ethics and the requirements of the Committee may be permitted to purchase, sell or hold securities which also may be or are held in fund(s) they manage or for which they otherwise provide investment advice.

The Fund has agreed to pay the Investment Adviser an investment advisory fee at the annual rate of __% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

As the Fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this SAI, no information is provided on investment advisory fees paid by the Fund.

The aggregate of the fees paid to the Investment Adviser by the Fund is not subject to reduction as the value of the Fund’s net assets increases.

Administration Agreement. The Bank of New York Mellon serves as administrator for the Fund pursuant to an Administration Agreement with the Trust. Pursuant to the Administration Agreement, The Bank of New York Mellon: supplies office facilities, data processing services, clerical, accounting and bookkeeping services, internal auditing and legal services, internal executive and administrative services, stationery and office supplies; prepares reports to shareholders, tax returns and reports to and filings with the SEC and state Blue Sky authorities; pays for transfer agency services; calculates the net asset value of Fund shares; and generally assists in all aspects of Fund operations. The Bank of New York Mellon has entered into a Sub-Administration Agreement with Dreyfus pursuant to which The Bank of New York Mellon pays Dreyfus for performing certain of these administrative services.

The Fund’s administration fee is calculated from the following administration fee schedule based on the level of assets of the funds in the Trust, including the Fund, in the aggregate:

Total Assets	Annual Fee
$0 to $6 billion	0.15%
Greater than $6 billion to $12 billion	0.12%
Greater than $12 billion	0.10%

As the Fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this SAI, no information is provided on administration fees paid by the Fund.

Portfolio Management. The Investment Adviser manages the Fund’s investments in accordance with the stated policies of the Fund, subject to the approval of the Trust’s Board. The Investment Adviser is responsible for investment decisions, and provides the Fund with portfolio managers who are authorized by the Trust’s Board to execute purchases and sales of securities. The Investment Adviser also maintains a research department with a professional staff of portfolio managers and securities analysts who provide research services for the Fund and for other funds advised by the Investment Adviser. The primary portfolio managers of the Fund are John F. Flahive and Gary Crofton.

Portfolio Manager Compensation. The portfolio managers’ compensation is comprised of four components: (i) a market-based salary, (ii) an annual incentive compensation plan, (iii) a long term incentive plan and (iv) benefits that are offered to similarly situated employees of BNY Mellon affiliated firms. The portfolio managers are compensated by The Bank of New York Mellon or its affiliates and not by the Fund.

The incentive compensation plan is comprised of three components: (1) portfolio performance (approximately 70%), (2) individual qualitative performance (approximately 25%) and (3) the overall performance of BNY Mellon Wealth Management (approximately 5%). Portfolio performance is measured by one- and three-year fund and composite performance compared to the appropriate index and peer universe. The one- and three-year performance in each category is weighted at 35% and 65%, respectively. Assets are weighted according to a matrix based on the participant’s job function. Individual qualitative performance measures contributions the participant makes to either the Equity Management or Fixed Income Management group, account manager/client communications and BNY Mellon Wealth Management. Senior management may consider additional factors at its discretion.

Senior portfolio managers may be eligible to participate in the Long Term Incentive Plan of BNY Mellon Wealth Management. A long-term incentive pool is established at the beginning of the plan year. Eighty percent of this pool is allocated to the individual participants as target awards and the remaining 20% is held in reserve until the end of the performance period (3 years). At the end of the performance period, the 20% of the award pool that has been held in reserve may be awarded to participants at management’s discretion. Interest is applied to both the target awards (80%) and the reserve (20%) at the T-note rate used for BNY Mellon’s Elective Deferred Compensation Plan. Individuals participating in the Long Term Incentive Plan of BNY Mellon Wealth Management are not eligible to receive stock options.

Investment professionals, including portfolio managers, may be selected to participate in BNY Mellon’s Long Term Profit Incentive Plan under which they may be eligible to receive options to purchase shares of stock of BNY Mellon. The options permit the investment professional to purchase a specified amount of stock at a strike price equal to the fair market value of BNY Mellon stock on the date of grant. Typically, such options vest over a set period and must be exercised within a ten-year period from the date of grant. Investment professionals may also receive restricted stock as part of their compensation. If granted, restricted stock normally vests and becomes free of restrictions after a period of three years, although the time period could vary. Generally, in the case of either options or restricted stock, if an employee voluntarily terminates employment before vesting, the unvested options and/or restricted stock are forfeited.

Additional Information about Portfolio Managers. The following table lists the number and types of other accounts advised by the Fund’s primary portfolio managers and assets under management in those accounts as of December 31, 2007:

Portfolio Manager	Registered Investment Company Accounts	Assets Managed	Pooled Accounts	Assets Managed	Other Accounts	Assets Managed
John F. Flahive*	12	$5.5B	0	N/A	1,801	$16.5B
Gary Crofton

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^* The information set forth above reflects information about other accounts managed by a team that includes the portfolio manager. The portfolio manager does not individually manage any registered investment companies, pooled investment vehicles or other accounts.

None of the accounts are subject to a performance-based advisory fee.

As the Fund had not offered its shares prior to the date of this SAI, neither of the portfolio managers owned any Fund shares.

Portfolio managers may manage multiple accounts for a diverse client base, including mutual funds, separate accounts (assets managed on behalf of institutions such as pension funds, insurance companies and foundations), bank common trust accounts and wrap fee programs (“Other Accounts”).

Potential conflicts of interest may arise because of Dreyfus’ management of the Fund and Other Accounts. For example, conflicts of interest may arise with both the aggregation and allocation of securities transactions and allocation of limited investment opportunities, as Dreyfus may be perceived as causing accounts it manages to participate in an offering to increase Dreyfus’ overall allocation of securities in that offering, or to increase Dreyfus’ ability to participate in future offerings by the same underwriter or issuer. Allocations of bunched trades, particularly trade orders that were only partially filled due to limited availability, and allocation of investment opportunities generally, could raise a potential conflict of interest, as Dreyfus may have an incentive to allocate securities that are expected to increase in value to preferred accounts. Initial public offerings, in particular, are frequently of very limited availability. Additionally, portfolio managers may be perceived to have a conflict of interest if there are a large number of Other Accounts, in addition to the Fund, that they are managing on behalf of Dreyfus. Dreyfus periodically reviews each portfolio manager’s overall responsibilities to ensure that he or she is able to allocate the necessary time and resources to effectively manage the Fund. In addition, Dreyfus could be viewed as having a conflict of interest to the extent that Dreyfus or its affiliates and/or portfolio managers have a materially larger investment in Other Accounts than their investment in the Fund.

Other Accounts may have investment objectives, strategies and risks that differ from those of the Fund. For these or other reasons, the portfolio manager may purchase different securities for the Fund and the Other Accounts, and the performance of securities purchased for the Fund may vary from the performance of securities purchased for Other Accounts. The portfolio managers may place transactions on behalf of Other Accounts that are directly or indirectly contrary to investment decisions made for the Fund, which could have the potential to adversely impact the Fund, depending on market conditions.

A potential conflict of interest may be perceived to arise if transactions in one account closely follow related transactions in another account, such as when a purchase increases the value of securities previously purchased by the other account, or when a sale in one account lowers the sale price received in a sale by a second account.

Conflicts of interest similar to those described above arise when portfolio managers are employed by a sub-investment adviser or are dual employees of the Investment Adviser and an affiliate entity and such portfolio managers also manage Other Accounts.

The goal of the Investment Adviser is to provide high quality investment services to all of its clients, while meeting its fiduciary obligation to treat all clients fairly. Dreyfus has adopted and implemented policies and procedures, including brokerage and trade allocation policies and procedures, that it believes address the conflicts associated with managing multiple accounts for multiple clients. In addition, Dreyfus monitors a variety of areas, including compliance with Fund guidelines, the allocation of IPOs, and compliance with the firm’s Code of Ethics. Furthermore, senior investment and business personnel at Dreyfus periodically review the performance of the portfolio managers for Dreyfus-managed funds.

Distributor. The Distributor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dreyfus, located at 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10166, serves as the Fund’s distributor on a best efforts basis pursuant to an agreement with the Trust which is renewable annually. The Distributor also acts as distributor for the other funds in the Trust, the funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds and Mellon Institutional Funds. Before June 30, 2007, the Distributor was known as “Dreyfus Service Corporation”.

The Investment Adviser or the Distributor may provide cash payments out of its own resources to financial intermediaries that sell shares of the Fund or provide other services. Such payments are separate from any shareholder services fees and other expenses paid by the Fund to those intermediaries. Because those payments are not made by you or the Fund, the Fund’s total expense ratio will not be affected by any such payments. These additional payments may be made to Service Agents, including affiliates, that provide shareholder servicing, sub-administration, recordkeeping and/or sub-transfer agency services, marketing support and/or access to sales meetings, sales representatives and management representatives of the Service Agent. Cash compensation also may be paid from the Investment Adviser’s or the Distributor’s own resources to Service Agents for inclusion of the Fund on a sales list, including a preferred or select sales list or in other sales programs. These payments sometimes are referred to as “revenue sharing.” From time to time, the Investment Adviser or the Distributor also may provide cash or non-cash compensation to Service Agents in the form of: occasional gifts; occasional meals, tickets, or other entertainment; support for recognition programs; and other forms of cash or non-cash compensation permissible under broker-dealer regulations. In some cases, these payments or compensation may create an incentive for a Service Agent to recommend or sell shares of the Fund to you. Please contact your Service Agent for details about any payments it may receive in connection with the sale of shares of the Fund or the provision of services to the Fund.

Custodian. The Bank of New York Mellon, an affiliate of Dreyfus, located at One Wall Street, New York, New York 10286, acts as custodian for the investments of the Fund. Under the custody agreement with the Trust, the custodian holds the Fund’s portfolio securities and keep all necessary accounts and records. For its custody services, each custodian receives a monthly fee based on the market value of the Fund’s assets held in custody and receives certain securities transaction charges.

The Bank of New York Mellon, directly and through its affiliates, maintains all accounts of Fund shareholders that maintain a qualified fiduciary, advisory, custody or other accounts with various affiliates of BNY Mellon (“BNY Mellon Affiliates”). The Bank of New York Mellon is also responsible for providing ongoing information and communication to Wealth Management Clients (as defined in “How to Buy Shares – General” below) regarding the Fund and their investment in the Fund.

Transfer and Dividend Disbursing Agent. Dreyfus Transfer, Inc. (the “Transfer Agent”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dreyfus, located at 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10166, is the Fund’s transfer and dividend disbursing agent. Under a transfer agency agreement with the Trust, the Transfer Agent arranges for the maintenance of shareholder account records for the Trust, the handling of certain communications between shareholders and the Fund and the payment of dividends and distributions payable by the Fund. For these services, the Transfer Agent receives from The Bank of New York Mellon a monthly fee computed on the basis of the number of shareholder accounts it maintains for the Trust during the month, and is reimbursed by The Bank of New York Mellon for certain out-of-pocket expenses.

Expenses. The Trust has adopted a Shareholder Services Plan with respect to the Investor class of the Fund. Under the Shareholder Services Plan, the Fund pays the Distributor for the provision of certain shareholder services to holders of Investor shares of the Fund a fee at the annual rate of 0.25% of the value of the average daily net assets attributable to Investor shares.

The Investment Adviser and The Bank of New York Mellon bear all expenses in connection with the performance of their services under the Investment Advisory Agreement and Administration Agreement, respectively. All other expenses to be incurred in the operation of the Fund are borne by the Fund, except to the extent specifically assumed by the Investment Adviser or The Bank of New York Mellon. With respect to the Fund, the Investment Adviser has contractually agreed, until December 31, 2009, to waive receipt of its fees and/or assume the expenses of the Fund so that the direct expenses of none of the Fund’s classes (excluding shareholder services fees, taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, commitment fees on borrowings and extraordinary expenses) exceed 0.__% for the Fund.

HOW TO BUY SHARES

General. The Fund consists of two classes of shares – Class M shares and Investor shares. Class M shares and Investor shares differ as to the shareholder services offered to and the expenses borne by each class.

The Trust reserves the right to reject any purchase order. The Fund will not establish an account for a “foreign financial institution,” as that term is defined in Department of the Treasury rules implementing section 312 of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. Foreign financial institutions include: foreign banks (including foreign branches of U.S. depository institutions); foreign offices of U.S. securities broker-dealers, futures commission merchants, and mutual funds; non-U.S. entities that, if they were located in the United States, would be securities broker-dealers, futures commission merchants or mutual funds; and non-U.S. entities engaged in the business of a currency dealer or exchanger or a money transmitter.

Class M shares are generally offered only to: (1) Wealth Management clients of BNY Mellon that maintain qualified fiduciary, custody, advisory or other accounts with BNY Mellon Affiliates (“Wealth Management Clients”), with such qualified fiduciary, custody, advisory or other accounts sometimes being referred to herein as “Qualified Accounts”; (2) BNY Mellon Balanced Fund, for investments by that Fund; (3) Trustees of the Trust; and (4) former shareholders of a series of BNY Hamilton Funds Inc. that was reorganized into a series of the Trust (a “Predecessor Fund”) who received Class M shares of a fund of the Trust pursuant to the reorganization of such Predecessor Fund and who, therefore, are permitted to exchange into Class M shares of the Fund, and to purchase additional Class M shares of the Fund.

Investor shares are generally offered only to: (1) Wealth Management Clients who terminate their relationship with BNY Mellon Affiliates, and who wish to continue to hold Fund shares; (2) individuals or entities who are not Wealth Management Clients, who receive a transfer of Fund shares from a Wealth Management Client; and (3) former shareholders of a Predecessor Fund who received Investor shares of a fund of the Trust pursuant to the reorganization of such Predecessor Fund and who, therefore, are permitted to exchange into Investor shares of the Fund, and to purchase additional Investor shares of the Fund. Such persons and entities described in the preceding provisions (1), (2) and (3) are sometimes referred to collectively herein as “Individual Clients.” Investor shares also may be offered to brokerage clients of BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors, a division of MBSC Securities Corporation, an indirect subsidiary of BNY Mellon (“BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients”), and to certain employee benefit plans, including pension, profit-sharing and other deferred compensation plans, that are approved by BNY Mellon Wealth Management to invest in one or more Funds, that are not Wealth Management Clients and that are serviced by an administrator or recordkeeper with which the Investment Adviser and/or certain of its affiliates have entered into an agreement (“Qualified Employee Benefit Plans”).

Class M shares owned by Wealth Management Clients will be held in omnibus accounts, or separate accounts, with the Fund’s Transfer Agent (“BNY Mellon Accounts”). Class M shares held by persons other than Wealth Management Clients, and Investor shares owned by Individual Clients will be held in separate accounts (“Individual Accounts”). Fund shares owned by BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients also will be held in separate accounts (“BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Accounts”). Investor shares owned by participants in Qualified Employee Benefit Plans generally will be held in accounts maintained by an administrator or recordkeeper retained by the plan sponsor (“Qualified Employee Benefit Plan Accounts”) and records relating to these accounts generally will not be maintained by Dreyfus, The Bank of New York Mellon or their affiliates. Unless otherwise instructed, new purchases by existing shareholders are in the same class of Fund shares that the shareholder then holds. Shares are sold without an initial sales charge. You will be charged a fee if an investment check is returned unpayable. The Fund reserves the right to reject any purchase order.

There is no minimum initial or subsequent investment requirement for holders of BNY Mellon Accounts. Wealth Management Clients may transfer Class M shares to other existing Wealth Management Clients for their BNY Mellon Accounts. Wealth Management Clients also may transfer shares from a BNY Mellon Account to persons or entities that are not Wealth Management Clients to be held in Individual Accounts or BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Accounts. At the time of any such transfer by a Wealth Management Client, the Class M shares transferred will be automatically converted into Investor shares of equivalent value (at the time of the conversion) and, accordingly, the recipient will receive Investor shares. Wealth Management Clients who terminate their relationship with BNY Mellon Affiliates, but who wish to continue to hold Fund shares may only do so by requesting the establishment of Individual Accounts or BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Accounts, and their Class M shares generally will be converted into Investor shares. The conversion of such shareholders’ Class M shares into Investor shares will be at the equivalent net asset value per share (“NAV”) of each class at the time of the conversion. Any subsequent investments by such transferees or former Wealth Management Clients who received Investor shares from the conversion of Class M shares must be in Investor shares.

Initial investments in Individual Accounts must be accompanied by an Account Application. For Individual Accounts, the minimum initial investment, with respect to Class M shares and Investor shares, is $10,000, and subsequent investments must be at least $100. Persons who hold Fund shares through BNY Mellon Accounts or BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Accounts should contact their account officer or financial advisor, respectively, to purchase Fund shares.

To make subsequent investments to an IRA or other retirement account, investors must fill out an investment slip and include their account number on the check, indicating the year the contribution is for. Subsequent investments to an IRA or other retirement account may also be made by wire by your bank and by electronic check. Your bank must send your investment to the Fund’s Custodian with the following information: ABA #, DDA #, the fund name, the share class, the account number, name of investor, the contribution year and dealer number, if applicable. For a subsequent investment by electronic check, “569” must be inserted before your 14-digit account number.

The entity acting as custodian for Keogh Plans, IRAs and other retirement plans, including Qualified Employee Benefit Plans, may charge a fee, the payment of which could result in the liquidation of shares. All fees charged are described in the appropriate form. You should read the prototype retirement plan and the appropriate form of custodial agreement for further details on eligibility, service fees and tax implications, and you should consult a tax adviser.

Management understands that BNY Mellon Affiliates may impose certain conditions on Wealth Management Clients, BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors may impose certain conditions on BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients and the plan sponsor may impose certain conditions on Qualified Employee Benefit Plan Accounts, respectively, that are different from those described in the relevant Prospectus and this SAI, and, to the extent permitted by applicable regulatory authority, may charge their clients direct fees. Holders of BNY Mellon Accounts, BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Accounts or Qualified Employee Benefit Plan Accounts should consult their account officer, financial advisor or plan sponsor (employer or employer organization or both), respectively, in this regard.

Persons who hold Fund shares through Qualified Employee Benefit Plan Accounts should contact their plan sponsor or administrator to purchase, sell (redeem) and exchange Fund shares and to determine the shareholder services available to them with respect to their Fund shares. The policies, fees and shareholder services applicable to these accounts may differ from those described in this SAI, and different minimum investments or limitations on buying, selling and exchanging shares may apply.

Class M shares and Investor shares are sold on a continuous basis at NAV next determined after an order in proper form is received by the Transfer Agent or other entity authorized to receive orders on behalf of the Fund.

NAV is determined as of the close of trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) (usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern time), on each day the NYSE is open for regular business. For purposes of determining NAV, certain options and futures contracts may be valued 15 minutes after the close of trading on the floor of the NYSE. NAV per share of each class is computed by dividing the value of the Fund’s net assets represented by such class (i.e., the value of its assets less liabilities) by the total number of shares of such class outstanding. The Fund’s investments are valued based on market value or, where market quotations are not readily available, based on fair value as determined in good faith by the Trust’s Board. Certain securities may be valued by an independent pricing service approved by the Trust’s Board and are valued at fair value as determined by the pricing service. For information regarding the methods employed in valuing the Fund’s investments, see “Determination of Net Asset Value.”

If an order is received in proper form by the Transfer Agent or other entity authorized to receive orders on behalf of the Fund by the close of regular trading on the floor of the NYSE (usually 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) on a business day, shares of the Fund will be purchased at the NAV determined as of the close of regular trading on the floor of the NYSE on that day. Otherwise, Fund shares will be purchased at the NAV determined as of the close of regular trading on the floor of the NYSE on the next business day.

TeleTransfer Privilege. Holders of Individual Accounts may purchase Fund shares by telephone or online through the TeleTransfer Privilege if they have checked the appropriate box and supplied the necessary information on the Account Application or have filed a Shareholder Services Form with the Transfer Agent. The proceeds will be transferred between the bank account designated in one of these documents and the holder’s Fund account. Only a bank account maintained in a domestic financial institution which is an ACH member may be so designated.

TeleTransfer purchase orders may be made at any time. If purchase orders are received by 4:00 p.m., Eastern time, on any day the Transfer Agent and the NYSE are open for regular business, Fund shares will be purchased at the share price determined on that day. If purchase orders are made after 4:00 p.m., Eastern time, on any day the Transfer Agent and the NYSE are open for regular business, or on Saturday, Sunday or any Fund holiday (e.g., when the NYSE is not open for business), Fund shares will be purchased at the share price determined on the next bank business day following such purchase order. To qualify to use the TeleTransfer Privilege, the initial payment for purchase of Fund shares must be drawn on, and redemption proceeds paid to, the same bank and account as are designated on the Account Application or Shareholder Services Form on file. If the proceeds of a particular redemption are to be sent to an account at any other bank, the request must be in writing and signature-guaranteed. See “How To Redeem Shares - TeleTransfer Privilege.”

In-Kind Purchases. If the following conditions are satisfied, the Fund may at its discretion, permit the purchase of shares through an “in-kind” exchange of securities. Any securities exchanged must meet the investment objective, policies and limitations of the Fund, must have a readily ascertainable market value, must be liquid and must not be subject to restrictions on resale. The market value of any securities exchanged, plus any cash, must be at least equal to $25,000. Shares purchased in exchange for securities generally cannot be redeemed for fifteen days following the exchange in order to allow time for the transfer to settle.

The basis of the exchange will depend upon the relative NAVs of the shares purchased and securities exchanged. Securities accepted by the Fund will be valued in the same manner as the Fund values its assets. Any interest earned on the securities following their delivery to the Fund and prior to the exchange will be considered in valuing the securities. All interest, dividends, subscription or other rights attached to the securities become the property of the Fund, along with the securities. For further information about “in-kind” purchases, Wealth Management Clients may call 1-888-281-7350, holders of Class M shares and Investor shares in Individual Accounts (other than BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients) may call 1-800-645-6561, BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Clients may call 1-800-830-0549 - Option 2 and participants in Qualified Employee Benefit Plans may call 1-877-774-0327.

SHAREHOLDER SERVICES PLAN

Investor shares of the Fund are subject to annual fees for shareholder services.

Shareholder Services Plan—Investor Shares. The Fund has adopted a Shareholder Services Plan with respect to its Investor shares. Under the Shareholder Services Plan, the Fund pays the Distributor for the provision of certain services to holders of Investor shares a fee at an annual rate of 0.25% of the value of the average daily net assets attributable to Investor shares. The services provided may include personal services relating to shareholder accounts, such as answering shareholder inquiries regarding the Fund, and providing reports and other information, and services related to the maintenance of such shareholder accounts. The Shareholder Services Plan allows the Distributor to make payments from the shareholder service fees it collects from the Fund to compensate Service Agents in respect of these services. The Distributor determines the amounts, if any, to be paid to Service Agents under the Shareholder Services Plan and the basis on which such payments are made. With regard to such services, each Service Agent is required to disclose to its clients any compensation payable to it by the Fund and any other compensation payable by its clients in connection with the investment of their assets in Investor shares.

The Shareholder Services Plan is not adopted pursuant to the Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, and the fee under the Shareholder Services Plan is intended to be a “service fee” as defined under the Conduct Rule of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

As the Fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this SAI, no information is provided on fees paid by the Fund pursuant to the Shareholder Services Plan.

Shareholder Services Plan—General. The Trustees of the Trust believe that there is a reasonable likelihood that the Shareholder Services Plan will benefit the Fund and the holders of its Investor shares.

A quarterly report of the amounts expended under the Shareholder Services Plan, and the purposes for which such expenditures were incurred, must be made to the Trustees for their review. The Shareholder Services Plan provides that material amendments must be approved by the Board and by the Trustees who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Shareholder Services Plan or in any agreements entered into in connection with the Shareholder Services Plan, by vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of considering such amendments. The Shareholder Services Plan is subject to annual approval by such vote of the Trustees cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on the Plan. The Shareholder Services Plan may be terminated at any time by vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or in any agreements entered into in connection with the Plan or by vote of the holders of a majority of Investor shares.

A Service Agent entitled to receive compensation for selling and servicing the Fund’s shares may receive different compensation with respect to one class of shares over another. Potential investors should read this SAI in light of the terms governing Selling Agreements (“Agreements”) with their Service Agents. The fees payable under the Shareholder Services Plan described above are payable without regard to actual expenses incurred. The Fund and the Distributor may suspend or reduce payments under the Shareholder Services Plan at any time, and payments are subject to the continuation of the Plan described above. From time to time, the Service Agents, the Distributor and the Fund may voluntarily agree to reduce the maximum fees payable under the Shareholder Services Plan.

HOW TO REDEEM SHARES

General. If you hold the Fund’s shares of more than one class, any request for redemption must specify the class of shares being redeemed. If you fail to specify the class of shares to be redeemed or if you own fewer shares of the class than specified to be redeemed, the redemption request may be delayed until the Transfer Agent receives further instructions.

The Fund imposes no charges when shares are redeemed. Service Agents may charge their clients a fee for effecting redemptions of Fund shares. The value of the shares redeemed may be more or less than their original cost, depending upon the Fund’s then-current NAV per share.

The Fund ordinarily will make payment for all shares redeemed within seven days after receipt by the Transfer Agent of a redemption request in proper form, except as provided by the rules of the SEC. However, if you have purchased the Fund’s shares by check, by TeleTransfer or through Automatic Asset Builder and subsequently submit a written redemption request to the Transfer Agent, the Fund may delay sending the redemption proceeds for up to eight business days after the purchase of such shares. In addition, the Fund will not honor redemption checks (“Checks”) under the Checkwriting Privilege, and will reject requests to redeem shares by wire or telephone, online or pursuant to the TeleTransfer Privilege, for a period of up to eight business days after receipt by the Transfer Agent of the purchase check, the TeleTransfer purchase or the Automatic Asset Builder order against which such redemption is requested. These procedures will not apply if your shares were purchased by wire payment, or if you otherwise have a sufficient collected balance in your account to cover the redemption request. Fund shares may not be redeemed until the Transfer Agent has received your Account Application.

Procedures. Persons who hold Fund shares through BNY Mellon Accounts or BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Accounts should contact their account officer or financial advisor, respectively, and persons who hold Fund shares through Qualified Employee Benefit Plan Accounts should contact their plan sponsor or administrator, to redeem Fund shares.

Holders of Individual Accounts may redeem the Fund’s shares by using the regular redemption procedure through the Transfer Agent, or through the Telephone Redemption Privilege or the Checkwriting Privilege which are granted automatically unless you specifically refuse them by checking the applicable “No” box on the Account Application. The Telephone Redemption Privilege and the Checkwriting Privilege may be established for an existing Individual Account by a separate signed Shareholder Services Form or, with respect to the Telephone Redemption Privilege, by oral request from any of the authorized signatories on the account by calling 1-800-645-6561. Holders of Individual Accounts also may redeem shares through the Wire Redemption Privilege or the TeleTransfer Privilege if you have checked the appropriate box and supplied the necessary information on the Account Application or have filed a Shareholders Services Form with the Transfer Agent. Holders of IRA and other retirement accounts may redeem the Fund’s shares by writing a letter of instruction, which must include the shareholder’s account number and fund name, the dollar amount to sell, how and where to send the proceeds, whether the distribution is qualified or premature, and whether the 10% TEFRA should be withheld. A signature-guarantee is required. To obtain information with respect to signature-guarantees, call 1-800-645-6561. To request instructions to establish the Automatic Withdrawal Plan for a Keogh, IRA or other retirement account, call 1-800-645-6561. If you are a Selected Dealer, you may redeem shares through the Selected Dealer. Other redemption procedures may be in effect for clients of certain Service Agents and institutions. The Fund reserves the right to refuse any request made by telephone or online, including requests made shortly after a change of address, and may limit the amount involved or the number of such requests. The Fund may modify or terminate any redemption privilege at any time or charge a service fee upon notice to shareholders. No such fee currently is contemplated. Shares held under Keogh Plans, IRAs, or other retirement plans are not eligible for the Checkwriting, Wire Redemption, Telephone Redemption or TeleTransfer Privileges.

The Telephone Redemption Privilege, TeleTransfer Privilege or Telephone Exchange Privilege authorizes the Transfer Agent to act on telephone or online instructions from any person representing himself or herself to be you, or a representative of your Service Agent, and reasonably believed by the Transfer Agent to be genuine. The Fund will require the Transfer Agent to employ reasonable procedures, such as requiring a form of personal identification, to confirm that instructions are genuine and, if it does not follow such procedures, the Fund or the Transfer Agent may be liable for any losses due to unauthorized or fraudulent instructions. Neither the Fund nor the Transfer Agent will be liable for following telephone or online instructions reasonably believed to be genuine.

During times of drastic economic or market conditions, you may experience difficulty in contacting the Transfer Agent by telephone to request a redemption or an exchange of the Fund’s shares. In such cases, you should consider using the other redemption procedures described herein. Use of these other redemption procedures may result in your redemption request being processed at a later time than it would have been if telephone redemption had been used. During the delay, the Fund’s NAV may fluctuate.

Checkwriting Privilege. Holders of Individual Accounts may write Checks drawn on their Fund accounts. The Fund provides Checks automatically upon opening an account, unless the investor specifically refuses the Checkwriting Privilege by checking the applicable “No” box on the Account Application. Checks will be sent only to the registered owner(s) of the account and only to the address of record. The Checkwriting Privilege may be established for an existing account by a separate signed Shareholder Services Form. The Account Application or Shareholder Services Form must be manually signed by the registered owner(s). Checks are drawn on the investor’s Fund account and may be made payable to the order of any person in an amount of $500 or more. When a Check is presented to the Transfer Agent for payment, the Transfer Agent, as the investor’s agent, will cause the Fund to redeem a sufficient number of full and fractional shares in the investor’s account to cover the amount of the Check. Potential fluctuations in the NAV of the Fund should be considered in determining the amount of a Check. Dividends are earned until the Check clears. After clearance, a copy of the Check will be returned to the investor. Investors generally will be subject to the same rules and regulations that apply to checking accounts, although election of this Privilege creates only a shareholder-transfer agent relationship with the Transfer Agent.

If the amount of the Check is greater than the value of the shares in an investor’s account, the Check will be returned marked insufficient funds. Checks should not be used to close an account. Checks are free but the Transfer Agent will impose a fee for stopping payment of a Check upon request or if the Transfer Agent cannot honor a Check because of insufficient funds or other valid reason. Investors should date Checks with the current date when writing them. Please do not postdate Checks. If Checks are postdated, the Transfer Agent will honor, upon presentment, even if presented before the date of the Check, all postdated Checks which are dated within six months of presentment for payment, if they are otherwise in good order.

The Checkwriting Privilege will be terminated immediately, without notice, with respect to any account which is, or becomes, subject to backup withholding on redemptions. Any Check written on an account which has become subject to backup withholding on redemptions will not be honored by the Transfer Agent.

Wire Redemption Privilege. Holders of Individual Accounts may redeem Fund shares by wire. By using this Privilege, you authorize the Transfer Agent to act on telephone, letter or online redemption instructions from any person representing himself or herself to be you, or a representative of your Service Agent, and reasonably believed by the Transfer Agent to be genuine. Ordinarily, the Fund will initiate payment for shares redeemed pursuant to this Privilege on the next business day after receipt by the Transfer Agent of the redemption request in proper form. Redemption proceeds (minimum $1,000 and maximum $150,000 per day; $500,000 for joint accounts every 30 days) will be transferred by Federal Reserve wire only to the commercial bank account specified by you on the Account Application or Shareholder Services Form, or to a correspondent bank if your bank is not a member of the Federal Reserve System. Fees ordinarily are imposed by such bank and borne by the investor. Immediate notification by the correspondent bank to your bank is necessary to avoid a delay in crediting the funds to your bank account.

To change the commercial bank or account designated to receive wire redemption proceeds, a written request must be sent to the Transfer Agent. This request must be signed by each shareholder, with each signature guaranteed as described below under “Signatures.”

TeleTransfer Privilege. Holders of Individual Accounts may request by telephone or online that redemption proceeds be transferred between their Fund account and their bank account. Only a bank account maintained in a domestic financial institution which is an ACH member may be designated. Holders of jointly registered Individual Accounts or bank accounts may redeem through the TeleTransfer Privilege for transfer to their bank account not more than $500,000 within any 30-day period. You should be aware that if you have selected the TeleTransfer Privilege, any request for a TeleTransfer transaction will be affected through the ACH system unless more prompt transmittal specifically is requested. Redemption proceeds will be on deposit in your account at an ACH member bank ordinarily two business days after receipt of the redemption request. See “How to Buy Shares – TeleTransfer Privilege.”

Signatures. Written redemption requests must be signed by each shareholder, including each holder of a joint account, and each signature must be guaranteed. The Transfer Agent has adopted standards and procedures pursuant to which signature-guarantees in proper form generally will be accepted from domestic banks, brokers, dealers, credit unions, national securities exchanges, registered securities associations, clearing agencies and savings associations as well as from participants in the NYSE Medallion Signature Program, the Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program and the Stock Exchanges Medallion Program. Guarantees must be signed by an authorized signatory of the guarantor and “Signature-Guaranteed” must appear with the signature. The Transfer Agent may request additional documentation from corporations, executors, administrators, trustees or guardians, and may accept other suitable verification arrangements from foreign investors, such as consular verification. For more information with respect to signature-guarantees, call1-800-645-6561.

Redemption Commitment. The Trust has committed itself to pay in cash all redemption requests by any shareholder of record of the Fund, limited in amount during any 90-day period to the lesser of $250,000 or 1% of the value of the Fund’s net assets at the beginning of such period. Such commitment is irrevocable without the prior approval of the SEC. In the case of requests for redemption from the Fund in excess of such amount, the Trust’s Trustees reserve the right to make payments in whole or in part in securities or other assets in case of an emergency or any time a cash distribution would impair the liquidity of the Fund to the detriment of the existing shareholders. In such event, the securities would be valued in the same manner as the Fund’s portfolio is valued. If the recipient sold such securities, brokerage charges might be incurred.

Suspension of Redemptions. The right to redeem Fund shares may be suspended or the date of payment postponed (a) during any period when the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (b) when trading in the markets the Fund ordinarily utilizes is restricted or when an emergency exists as determined by the SEC so that disposal of the Fund’s investments or determination of its NAV is not reasonably practicable; or (c) for such other periods as the SEC, by order, may permit to protect the Fund’s shareholders.

SHAREHOLDER SERVICES

General. The following shareholder services are available only to holders of Investor shares in Individual Accounts and certain Individual Account holders of Class M shares.

Fund Exchanges. Holders of Class M shares or Investor shares can generally exchange such shares of the Fund worth $500 or more into shares of the same class of any other Fund, to the extent such shares are offered for sale in their state of residence.

To request an exchange, holders of BNY Mellon Accounts must contact their account officer and holders of Individual Accounts, or their Service Agent acting on their behalf, must give exchange instructions to the Transfer Agent in writing, by telephone or online. Before any exchange, you must obtain and should review a copy of the current prospectus of the Fund into which the exchange is being made. Prospectuses may be obtained by calling 1-800-645-6561. For Individual Accounts, shares being exchanged must have a current value of at least $500, and each Fund account, including those established through exchanges, must continue to meet the minimum account balance requirement of $10,000. The ability to issue exchange instructions by telephone or online is given to all holders of Individual Accounts automatically, unless the account holder checks the relevant “No” box on the Account Application, indicating that this privilege is specifically refused. The Telephone Exchange Privilege may be established for an existing Individual Account by written request signed by all shareholders on the account, by a separate signed Shareholder Services Form, available by calling 1-800-645-6561, or by oral request from any of the authorized signatories on the account, also by calling 1-800-645-6561. By using the Telephone Exchange Privilege, the investor authorizes the Transfer Agent to act on telephonic instructions from any person representing himself or herself to be the investor and reasonably believed by the Transfer Agent to be genuine. Telephone exchanges may be subject to limitations as to the amount involved or the number of telephone and online exchanges permitted. No fees currently are charged shareholders directly in connection with exchanges, although the Fund reserves the right, upon not less than 60 days’ written notice, to charge shareholders a nominal fee in accordance with rules promulgated by the SEC.

Exchanges of the Fund’s shares held by a tax-exempt retirement plan may be made only between the investor’s retirement plan account in one Fund and such investor’s retirement plan account in another Fund.

During times of drastic economic or market conditions, the Fund may suspend Fund exchanges temporarily without notice and treat exchange requests based on their separate components — redemption orders with a simultaneous request to purchase the other Fund’s shares. In such a case, the redemption request would be processed at the Fund’s next determined NAV but the purchase order would be effective only at the NAV next determined after the Fund being purchased receives the proceeds of the redemption, which may result in the purchase being delayed.

Auto-Exchange Privilege (Individual Accounts only). The Auto-Exchange Privilege permits an investor to regularly purchase on a semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly or annual basis, in exchange for Class M shares or Investor shares of the Fund, shares of the same Class of another Fund of which the investor is a shareholder. The amount the investor designates, which can be expressed either in terms of a specific dollar or share amount ($100 minimum), will be exchanged automatically on the first and/or fifteenth day of the month according to the schedule the investor has selected. This Privilege is available only for existing accounts. With respect to the Fund’s shares held by a tax-exempt retirement plan, exchanges may be made only between the investor’s retirement plan account in one Fund and such investor’s retirement plan account in another Fund. Shares will be exchanged on the basis of relative NAV per share as described above under “Fund Exchanges.” Enrollment in or modification or cancellation of this Privilege is effective three business days following notification by the investor. An investor will be notified if the investor’s account falls below the amount designated to be exchanged under this Privilege. In this case, an investor’s account will fall to zero unless additional investments are made in excess of the designated amount prior to the next Auto-Exchange transaction. Shares held under IRAs and other retirement plans are eligible for this Privilege. Exchanges of IRA shares may be made between IRA accounts and from regular accounts to IRA accounts, but not from IRA accounts to regular accounts. With respect to all other retirement accounts, exchanges may be made only among those accounts.

The right to exercise this Privilege may be modified or canceled by the Fund or the Transfer Agent. Holders of Class M shares and Investor shares may modify or cancel their exercise of this Privilege at any time by mailing written notification to BNY Mellon Funds, P.O. Box 55268, Boston, MA 02205-8502. The Fund may charge a service fee for the use of this Privilege. No such fee currently is contemplated. For more information concerning this Privilege and the funds eligible to participate in this Privilege, or to obtain an Exchange Authorization Form, please call toll free 1-800-645-6561.

Fund exchanges and the Auto-Exchange Privilege are available to holders of Individual Accounts resident in any state in which shares of the Fund being acquired may legally be sold. Shares may be exchanged only between accounts having identical names and other identifying designations. The exchange of shares of one Fund for shares of another is treated for Federal income tax purposes as a sale of the shares given in exchange and, therefore, an exchanging shareholder (other than a tax-exempt retirement plan) may realize a taxable gain or loss.

The Fund reserves the right to reject any exchange request in whole or in part. The Fund’s exchange service or the Auto-Exchange Privilege may be modified or terminated at any time upon notice to shareholders.

Automatic Asset Builder (Individual Accounts only). Automatic Asset Builder permits the holder of an Individual Account to purchase (minimum of $100 and maximum of $150,000 per transaction) the Fund’s shares at regular intervals selected by you. The Fund’s shares are purchased by transferring funds from the bank account designated by you. Only an account maintained at a domestic financial institution which is an ACH member may be so designated. To establish an Automatic Asset Builder account, you must file an authorization form with the Transfer Agent. You may obtain the necessary authorization form by calling 1-800-645-6561, and the notification will be effective three business days following receipt. The Fund may modify or terminate this Privilege at any time or charge a service fee. No such fee currently is contemplated.

Automatic Withdrawal Plan (Individual Accounts only). The Automatic Withdrawal Plan permits the holder of an Individual Account with a $5,000 minimum account to request withdrawal of a specified dollar amount (minimum of $50) on either a monthly or quarterly basis. Withdrawal payments are the proceeds from sales of the Fund’s shares, not the yield on the shares. If withdrawal payments exceed reinvested dividends and other distributions, the investor’s shares will be reduced and eventually may be depleted. An Automatic Withdrawal Plan may be established by filing an Automatic Withdrawal Plan application with the Transfer Agent or by oral request from any of the authorized signatories on the account by calling 1-800-645-6561. Automatic Withdrawal may be terminated at any time by the investor, the Fund or the Transfer Agent.

Particular tax-exempt retirement plans may permit certain participants to establish an automatic withdrawal plan from such retirement plans. Participants should consult their retirement plan sponsor and tax adviser for details. Such a withdrawal plan is different from the Automatic Withdrawal Plan.

Dividend Options (Individual Accounts only). Dividend Sweep allows holders of Individual Accounts to invest automatically their dividends or dividends and other distributions, if any, from Class M shares and Investor shares of the Fund in shares of the same Class of another Fund of which the investor is a shareholder. Shares of the same Class of other Funds purchased pursuant to this Privilege will be purchased on the basis of relative NAV per share.

Dividend ACH permits holders of Individual Accounts to transfer electronically dividends or dividends and other distributions, if any, from the Fund to a designated bank account. Only an account maintained at a domestic financial institution which is an ACH member may be so designated. Banks may charge a fee for this service.

For more information concerning these Privileges, or to request a Dividend Options Form, call toll free 1-800-645-6561. You may cancel these Privileges by mailing written notification to the BNY Mellon Funds, P.O. Box 55268, Boston, MA 02205-8502. To select a new Fund after cancellation, you must submit a new Dividend Options Form. Enrollment in or cancellation of these Privileges is effective three business days following receipt. These Privileges are available only for Individual Accounts and may not be used to open new accounts. Minimum subsequent investments do not apply for Dividend Sweep. The Fund may modify or terminate these Privileges at any time or charge a service fee. No such fee currently is contemplated.

Government Direct Deposit Privilege (Individual Accounts only). Government Direct Deposit Privilege enables holders of Individual Accounts to purchase (minimum of $100 and maximum of $50,000 per transaction) the Fund’s shares by having Federal salary, Social Security or certain veterans’, military or other payments from the Federal government automatically deposited into your Fund account. You should consider whether Direct Deposit of your entire payment into a fund with fluctuating NAV, such as the Fund, may be appropriate for you. To enroll in Government Direct Deposit, you must file with the Transfer Agent a completed Direct Deposit Sign-Up Form for each type of payment that you desire to include in this Privilege. You may obtain the appropriate form by calling 1-800-645-6561. Death or legal incapacity will terminate your participation in this Privilege. You may elect at any time to terminate your participation by notifying in writing the appropriate Federal agency. Further, the Fund may terminate your participation upon 30 days’ notice to you.

Payroll Savings Plan (Individual Accounts only). Payroll Savings Plan permits holders of Individual Accounts to purchase (minimum $100 per transaction) the Fund’s shares automatically on a regular basis. Depending upon your employer’s direct deposit program, you may have part or all of your paycheck transferred to your existing Fund account electronically through the ACH system at each pay period. To establish a Payroll Savings Plan account, you must file an authorization form with your employer’s payroll department. Your employer must complete the reverse side of the form and return it to the BNY Mellon Funds, P.O. Box 55268, Boston, MA 02205-8502. You may obtain the necessary authorization form by calling 1-800-645-6561. You may change the amount of purchase or cancel the authorization only by written notification to your employer. It is the sole responsibility of your employer, not the Distributor, Dreyfus, the Fund, the Transfer Agent or any other person, to arrange for transactions under the Payroll Savings Plan. The Fund may modify or terminate this Privilege at any time or charge a service fee. No such fee currently is contemplated.

DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

Valuation of Portfolio Securities. The Fund’s debt securities are valued each business day by an independent pricing service (the “Service”) approved by the Trust’s Board. Securities valued by the Service for which quoted bid prices in the judgment of the Service are readily available and are representative of the bid side of the market are valued at the mean between the quoted bid prices (as obtained by the Service from dealers in such securities) and asked prices (as calculated by the Service based upon its evaluation of the market for such securities). The value of other debt securities is determined by the Service based on methods that include consideration of: yields or prices of securities of comparable quality, coupon, maturity and type; indications as to value from dealers; and general market conditions. The Service may employ electronic data processing techniques and/or a matrix system to determine valuations of the Fund’s debt securities. Debt securities that are not valued by the Service are valued at the average of the most recent bid and asked prices in the market in which such investments are primarily traded, or at the last sales price for securities traded primarily on an exchange. Bid price is used when no asked price is available.

Short-term investments of the Fund may be carried at amortized cost, which approximates value.

Expenses and fees, including the investment advisory fee and administration fee, are accrued daily and taken into account for the purpose of determining NAV.

Any assets or liabilities initially expressed in terms of foreign currency will be translated into U.S. dollars at the midpoint of the New York interbank market spot exchange rate as quoted on the day of such translation by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or, if no such rate is quoted on such date, such other quoted market exchange rate as may be determined to be appropriate by the Investment Adviser. Forward currency contracts will be valued at the current cost of offsetting the contract. If the Fund has to obtain prices as of the close of trading on various exchanges throughout the world, the calculation of NAV may not take place contemporaneously with the determination of prices of certain of the Fund’s portfolio securities.

Restricted securities, as well as other securities or assets for which recent market quotations or, as to equity securities, official closing prices are not readily available or are determined by the Trust not to reflect accurately fair value (such as when the value of an equity security has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded (for example, a foreign exchange or market but before the Trust calculates the Fund’s NAV) and that is determined by the Trust to have changed the value of the security), or are not valued by the Service, are valued at fair value as determined in good faith based on procedures approved by the Board. Fair value of the Fund’s investments may be determined by the Trust’s Board, its pricing committee or its valuation committee in good faith using such information as it deems appropriate. The factors that may be considered when fair valuing a security include fundamental analytical data, the nature and duration of restrictions on disposition, an evaluation of the forces that influence the market in which the securities are purchased or sold, and public trading in similar securities of an issuer or comparable issuers. Fair value of the Fund’s foreign equity securities may be determined with the assistance of a pricing service using correlations between the movement of prices of foreign securities and indices of domestic securities and other appropriate indicators, such as closing market prices of relevant ADRs and futures contracts. The valuation of a security based on fair value procedures may differ from a security’s price (or official closing price with respect to an equity security), and from the prices used by other mutual funds to calculate their net asset values. Foreign equity and taxable debt securities held by the Fund may trade on days that the Fund is not open for business, thus affecting the value of the Fund’s assets on days when Fund investors have no access to the Fund. Restricted securities which are, or are convertible into, securities of the same class of securities for which a public market exists usually will be valued at market value less the same percentage discount at which the restricted securities were purchased. This discount will be revised periodically by the Board if the Board members believe that it no longer reflects the value of the restricted securities. Restricted securities not of the same class as securities for which a public market exists usually will be valued initially at cost. Any subsequent adjustment from cost will be based upon considerations deemed relevant by the Board.

New York Stock Exchange Closings. The holidays (as observed) on which the NYSE is currently scheduled to be closed are: New Year’s Day, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES

Distributions

The Fund usually pays dividends on the last business day of each month. The Fund distributes any net capital gains it has realized once a year. Each share class will generate a different dividend because each has different expenses.

The Fund will make distributions from net realized capital gains only if all its capital loss carryovers, if any, have been utilized or have expired. All expenses are accrued daily and deducted before the declaration of dividends to investors. Generally, shares purchased on a day on which the Fund calculates its NAV will begin to accrue dividends on that day, and redemption orders effected on any particular day will receive dividends declared only through the business day prior to the day of redemption.

Holders of Individual Accounts may choose whether to receive dividends and other distributions in cash, to receive dividends in cash and reinvest other distributions in additional Fund shares at NAV or to reinvest both dividends and other distributions in additional Fund shares at NAV. For Individual Accounts, dividends and other distributions will be reinvested in Fund shares unless the shareholder instructs the Fund otherwise. Persons who hold Fund shares through BNY Mellon Accounts or BNY Mellon Wealth Advisors Brokerage Accounts should contact their account officer or financial advisor, respectively, for information on reinvestment of dividends and other distributions.

If you elect to receive dividends and other distributions in cash, and your distribution check is returned to the Fund as undeliverable or remains uncashed for six months, the Fund reserves the right to reinvest that distribution and all future distributions payable to you in additional Fund shares at NAV. No interest will accrue on amounts represented by uncashed distribution or redemption checks.

Any dividend or other distribution paid shortly after an investor’s purchase of shares may have the effect of reducing the NAV of the shares below the cost of his or her investment. Such a dividend or other distribution would be a return of capital in an economic sense, although taxable (to the extent not tax-exempt) as stated under “Dividends, Distributions and Taxes” in the relevant Prospectus.

Taxes

General. The Fund is treated as a separate corporation for Federal income tax purposes. Management expects that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under the Code. The Fund intends to continue to so qualify, if such qualification is in the best interests of its shareholders. Qualification as such will relieve the Fund of any liability for Federal income tax to the extent it distributes its net earnings and realized gains to its shareholders in accordance with applicable provisions of the Code. To qualify for that treatment, the Fund (1) must pay out to its shareholders each taxable year at least 90% of the sum of that income plus its net interest income excludable from gross income under section 103(a) of the Code (“Distribution Requirement”), (2) must derive at least 90% of its annual gross income from specified sources (“Income Requirement”), and (3) must meet certain asset diversification and other requirements. The term “regulated investment company” does not imply the supervision of management or investment practices or policies by any government agency.

If the Fund failed to qualify for treatment as a RIC for any taxable year, (1) it will be taxed as an ordinary corporation on the full amount of its taxable income for that year without being able to deduct the distributions it makes to its shareholders and (2) the shareholders will treat all those distributions, including distributions that otherwise would be “exempt-interest dividends” described below and distributions of net capital gain (i.e., the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss) (“capital gain distributions”), as taxable dividends (that is, ordinary income) to the extent of the Fund’s earnings and profits. In addition, the Fund could be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest and make substantial distributions before requalifying for RIC treatment.

The Fund may be subject to a non-deductible 4% excise tax (“Excise Tax”), measured with respect to certain undistributed amounts of taxable investment income and capital gains.

Tax Consequences of the Fund’s Dividends. If the Fund satisfies the requirement that, at the close of each quarter of its taxable year, at least 50% of the value of its total assets consists of securities the interest on which is excludable from gross income under section 103(a) of the Code, it may pay “exempt-interest dividends” to its shareholders. Those dividends constitute the portion of its aggregate dividends (excluding capital gain distributions) equal to the excess of its excludable interest over certain amounts disallowed as deductions. Exempt-interest dividends are excludable from a shareholder’s gross income for Federal income tax purposes, although the amount of those dividends must be reported on the recipient’s Federal income tax return. Shareholders’ treatment of dividends from the Fund under state and local income tax laws may differ from the treatment thereof under the Code. Investors should consult their tax advisers concerning this matter.

Because the Fund distributes exempt-interest dividends, interest on indebtedness incurred or continued by a shareholder to purchase or carry Fund shares is not deductible for Federal income tax purposes. If a shareholder receives any exempt-interest dividends with respect to Fund shares held for six months or less, then any loss on the redemption or exchange of those shares will be disallowed to the extent of those exempt-interest dividends. In addition, (1) the Code may require a shareholder that receives exempt-interest dividends to treat as taxable income a portion of certain otherwise non-taxable social security and railroad retirement benefit payments, (2) the portion of an exempt-interest dividend paid by the Fund that represents interest from private activity bonds may be taxable in the hands of a shareholder who is a “substantial user” of a facility financed by those bonds or a “related person” thereof (both as defined for Federal income tax purposes) and (3) some or all of the Fund’s dividends may be a Tax Preference Item, or a component of an adjustment item, for purposes of the Federal alternative minimum tax. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisers as to whether they (a) are, or are related to, substantial users of a facility (as so defined) or (b) are subject to the Federal alternative minimum tax or any applicable state alternative minimum tax.

Dividends paid by the Fund derived from the interest income earned on any day are designated as tax-exempt in the same percentage of the day’s dividend as the actual tax-exempt income bears to the total income earned that day. Thus, the percentage of the dividend designated as tax-exempt may vary from day to day.

The Fund may invest in bonds that are purchased, ordinarily not on their original issue, with “market discount” (that is, generally at a price less than the principal amount of the bond or, in the case of a bond that was issued with original issue discount, a price less than the amount of the issue price plus accrued original issue discount) (“market discount bonds”). Gain on the disposition of a market discount bond (other than a bond with a fixed maturity date within one year from its issuance) generally is treated as ordinary (taxable) income, rather than capital gain, to the extent of the bond’s accrued market discount at the time of disposition. In lieu of that treatment, the Fund may elect to include market discount in its gross income currently, for each taxable year to which it is attributable.

Tax Consequences of Other Distributions. Dividends paid by the Fund derived from taxable investments, together with distributions from the excess of net realized short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss, net gains from certain foreign currency transactions and all or a portion of any gains realized from the sale or other disposition of certain market discount bonds (collectively “dividends”), are taxable to its U.S. shareholders as ordinary income (but may qualify, for individual shareholders, to be taxed at the rate for net capital gain, as described below) to the extent of the Fund’s earnings and profits, whether received in cash or reinvested in Fund shares. Distributions from the Fund’s net capital gain for a taxable year (designated as such in a written notice mailed by the Fund to its shareholders after the close of that year) are taxable to its U.S. shareholders as long-term capital gains, regardless of how long they have held their Fund shares and whether those distributions are received in cash or reinvested in additional Fund shares. Dividends and other distributions also may be subject to state and local taxes.

If a shareholder receives any capital gain distributions with respect to Fund shares held for six months or less, then any loss incurred on the redemption or exchange of those shares (that is not disallowed, as described above under “Tax Consequences of the Fund’s Dividends”) will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of those capital gain distributions.

Dividends and other distributions declared by the Fund in October, November or December of any year and payable to shareholders of record on a date in any of those months will be deemed to have been paid by the Fund and received by the shareholders on December 31 of that year if the Fund pays the distributions during the following January. Accordingly, those distributions will be taxed to shareholders for the year in which that December 31 falls.

In general, as a result of legislation enacted in the summer of 2003 (“2003 Act”), dividends (other than capital gain distributions) paid by the Fund to U.S. individual shareholders may be eligible for the 15% maximum Federal tax rate applicable to individuals’ net capital gain to the extent that the Fund’s income consists of dividends paid by U.S. corporations and certain foreign corporations on shares that have been held by the Fund for at least 61 days during the 121-day period commencing 60 days before the shares become ex-dividend (“qualified dividend income”). In order to be eligible for that maximum rate, a shareholder must have held his or her shares in the Fund for at least 61 days during the 121-day period commencing 60 days before the Fund shares become ex-dividend. Additional restrictions on an investor’s qualification for that maximum rate may apply. Payments from borrowers of securities on loan in lieu of dividends would not be eligible for that maximum rate.

In enacting the Code provisions implementing such treatment of qualified dividend income, the 2003 Act failed to include certain conforming amendments to other Code provisions. Such failure leads to certain apparently unintended limitations on a RIC’s ability to designate as qualified dividend income the portion of its income attributable to qualified foreign corporations’ dividends. Dreyfus believes, however, that Congress’ intention was to authorize RICs to designate such dividends as qualified dividend income, and identical bills containing technical corrections to the 2003 Act, which have been filed in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, would amend the Code to clarify that such dividends indeed may be so designated. Dreyfus cannot predict whether those bills will be enacted or, if so, when that will occur.

As a result of the 2003 Act, the Fund’s capital gain distributions are subject to a 15% maximum Federal income tax rate for individual shareholders to the extent the distributions are attributable to net capital gain the Fund recognizes on sales or exchanges of capital assets after May 5, 2003, through its last taxable year beginning before January 1, 2009. In addition, any capital gain an individual shareholder recognizes on a redemption or exchange during that period of his or her Fund shares that have been held for more than one year will qualify for that maximum rate.

The receipt of Fund distributions may affect a foreign corporate shareholder’s Federal “branch profits” tax liability and a Subchapter S corporation shareholder’s Federal “excess net passive income” tax liability. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisers as to whether they are subject to those taxes.

Notice as to the tax status of your dividends and other distributions will be mailed to you annually. You also will receive periodic summaries of your account that will include information as to dividends and other distributions, if any, paid during the year.

The Fund must withhold and remit to the U.S. Treasury 28% of taxable dividends, capital gain distributions and redemption proceeds, regardless of the extent to which gain or loss may be realized, otherwise payable to any individual or certain other non-corporate shareholder if the shareholder fails to certify that the “TIN” furnished to the Fund is correct (“backup withholding”). Backup withholding at that rate also is required from the Fund’s dividends and capital gain distributions payable to such a shareholder if (1) the shareholder fails to certify that he or she has not received notice from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) that the shareholder is subject to backup withholding as a result of a failure to properly report taxable dividend or interest income on a Federal income tax return or (2) the IRS notifies the Fund to institute backup withholding because the IRS determines that the shareholder’s TIN is incorrect or the shareholder has failed to properly report such income. A TIN is either the Social Security number, IRS individual taxpayer identification number or employer identification number of the record owner of the account. Any tax withheld as a result of backup withholding does not constitute an additional tax imposed on the record owner and may be claimed as a credit on the record owner’s Federal income tax return.

Tax Consequences of Certain Investments. Dividends and interest received by the Fund, and gains realized thereby, on foreign securities may be subject to income, withholding or other taxes imposed by foreign countries and U.S. possessions that would reduce the yield and/or total return on those securities. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate these taxes, however, and many foreign countries do not impose taxes on capital gains in respect of investments by foreign investors.

Gains from the sale or other disposition of foreign currencies (except certain gains therefrom that may be excluded by future regulations), and gains from options, futures and forward contracts (collectively, “Derivatives”) derived by the Fund with respect to its business of investing in securities or foreign currencies, will be treated as qualifying income under the Income Requirement.

The Fund may invest in the stock of “passive foreign investment companies” (“PFICs”). A PFIC is any foreign corporation (with certain exceptions) that, in general, meets either of the following tests: (1) at least 75% of its gross income for the taxable year is passive or (2) an average of at least 50% of its assets produce, or are held for the production of, passive income. Under certain circumstances, the Fund will be subject to Federal income tax on a portion of any “excess distribution” received on the stock of a PFIC or of any gain on disposition of the stock (collectively “PFIC income”), plus interest thereon, even if the Fund distributes the PFIC income as a dividend to its shareholders. The balance of the PFIC income will be included in the Fund’s investment company taxable income and, accordingly, will not be taxable to it to the extent it distributes that income to its shareholders. Fund dividends attributable to PFIC income will not be eligible for the 15% maximum Federal income tax rate on qualified dividend income described above.

If the Fund invests in a PFIC and elects to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” (“QEF”), then in lieu of the foregoing tax and interest obligation, the Fund would be required to include in income each year its pro rata share of the QEF’s annual ordinary earnings and net capital gain--which the Fund likely would have to distribute to satisfy the Distribution Requirement and avoid imposition of the Excise Tax--even if the QEF did not distribute those earnings and gain to the Fund. In most instances it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to make this election because of certain requirements thereof.

The Fund may elect to “mark to market” its stock in any PFIC. “Marking-to-market,” in this context, means including in ordinary income each taxable year the excess, if any, of the fair market value of the stock over the Fund’s adjusted basis therein as of the end of that year. Pursuant to the election, the Fund also may deduct (as an ordinary, not capital, loss) the excess, if any, of its adjusted basis in PFIC stock over the fair market value thereof as of the taxable year-end, but only to the extent of any net mark-to-market gains with respect to that stock included in income by the Fund for prior taxable years under the election (and under regulations proposed in 1992 that provided a similar election with respect to the stock of certain PFICs). The Fund’s adjusted basis in each PFIC’s stock subject to the election would be adjusted to reflect the amounts of income included and deductions taken thereunder.

Gains and losses realized from portfolio transactions ordinarily will be treated as capital gains and losses. However, a portion of the gains and losses from the disposition of foreign currencies and certain non-U.S.-dollar-denominated securities (including debt instruments, certain financial Derivatives and certain preferred stock) may be treated as ordinary income and losses under section 988 of the Code. In addition, all or a portion of any gains realized from the sale or other disposition of certain market discount bonds will be treated as ordinary income. Moreover, all or a portion of the gains realized from engaging in “conversion transactions” may be treated as ordinary income under section 1258 of the Code. “Conversion transactions” are defined to include certain Derivative and straddle transactions, transactions marketed or sold to produce capital gains and transactions described in Treasury regulations to be issued in the future.

Under section 1256 of the Code, any gain or loss realized by the Fund from certain Derivatives will be treated as 60% long-term capital gain or loss and 40% short-term capital gain or loss. Gain or loss will arise on exercise or lapse of those Derivatives as well as from closing transactions. In addition, any such Derivatives remaining unexercised at the end of the Fund’s taxable year will be treated as sold for their then fair market value (i.e., “marked-to-market”), resulting in additional gain or loss to the Fund characterized in the manner described above.

Offsetting positions held by the Fund involving certain Derivatives may constitute “straddles,” which are defined to include offsetting positions in actively traded personal property. In certain circumstances, the Code sections that govern the tax treatment of straddles override or modify sections 988 and 1256 of the Code. As such, all or a portion of any capital gain from certain straddle transactions may be recharacterized as ordinary income. If the Fund were treated as entering into straddles by reason of its engaging in certain Derivatives transactions, those straddles would be characterized as “mixed straddles” if the Derivatives comprising a part of the straddles were governed by section 1256 of the Code. The Fund may make one or more elections with respect to mixed straddles. Depending on which election is made, if any, the results to the Fund may differ. If no election is made, then to the extent the straddle and conversion transaction rules apply to positions established by the Fund, losses realized by it will be deferred to the extent of unrealized gain in the offsetting position. Moreover, as a result of those rules, short-term capital loss on straddle positions may be recharacterized as long-term capital loss and long-term capital gains may be treated as short-term capital gains or ordinary income.

If the Fund has an “appreciated financial position”—generally, an interest (including an interest through a Derivative or short sale) with respect to any stock, debt instrument (other than “straight debt”) or partnership interest the fair market value of which exceeds its adjusted basis--and enters into a “constructive sale” of the position, the Fund will be treated as having made an actual sale thereof, with the result that it will recognize gain at that time. A constructive sale generally consists of a short sale, an offsetting notional principal contract or a futures or forward contract entered into by the Fund or a related person with respect to the same or substantially identical property. In addition, if the appreciated financial position is itself a short sale or such a contract, acquisition of the underlying property or substantially identical property will be deemed a constructive sale. The foregoing will not apply, however, to any transaction by the Fund during any taxable year that otherwise would be treated as a constructive sale if the transaction is closed within 30 days after the end of that year and the Fund holds the appreciated financial position unhedged for 60 days after that closing (i.e., at no time during that 60-day period is the Fund’s risk of loss regarding that position reduced by reason of certain specified transactions with respect to substantially identical or related property, such as having an option to sell, being contractually obligated to sell, making a short sale or granting an option to buy substantially identical stock or securities).

Investment by the Fund in securities issued at a discount (for example, zero coupon, pay-in-kind or step-up securities) could, under special tax rules, affect the amount and timing of distributions to shareholders by causing the Fund to recognize income prior to the receipt of cash payments. For example, the Fund could be required to take into gross income annually a portion of the discount (or deemed discount) at which the securities were issued and to distribute that income to satisfy the Distribution Requirement and avoid the Excise Tax. In that case, the Fund may have to dispose of securities it might otherwise have continued to hold in order to generate cash to make the necessary distribution.

State and Local Taxes. Depending on the extent of the Fund’s activities in states and localities in which it is deemed to be conducting business, it may be subject to the tax laws thereof. Shareholders are advised to consult their tax advisers concerning the application of state and local taxes to them.

Foreign Shareholders — U.S. Federal Income Taxation. U.S. Federal income taxation of a shareholder who, as to the United States, is a nonresident alien individual, a foreign trust or estate, a foreign corporation or a foreign partnership (a “foreign shareholder”) depends on whether the income from the Fund is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business carried on by the shareholder (“effectively connected”) as discussed generally below. Special U.S. Federal income tax rules that differ from those described below may apply to certain foreign persons who invest in the Fund, such as a foreign shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of an applicable tax treaty. Foreign shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisers with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the Fund.

Foreign Shareholders — Dividends. Dividends (other than exempt-interest dividends) distributed to a foreign shareholder that are not effectively connected generally will be subject to a U.S. Federal withholding tax of 30% (or lower treaty rate). If a foreign shareholder’s dividends are effectively connected, however, those dividends will not be subject to such withholding and instead will be subject to U.S. Federal income tax at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens and domestic corporations, as the case may be. Foreign shareholders also may be subject to the Federal branch profits tax.

Capital gains realized by a foreign shareholder on the sale of Fund shares and capital gain distributions to the shareholder generally will not be subject to U.S. Federal income tax unless the shareholder is a nonresident alien individual and is physically present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year. In the case of certain foreign shareholders, the Fund may be required to backup withhold on capital gain distributions and the gross proceeds from a redemption of Fund shares unless the shareholder furnishes the Fund with a certificate regarding the shareholder’s foreign status.

Foreign Shareholders — Estate Tax. Foreign individuals generally are subject to U.S. Federal estate tax on their U.S. situs property, such as Fund shares, that they own at the time of their death. Certain credits against that tax and relief under applicable tax treaties may be available.

***

The foregoing is only a summary of certain Federal tax considerations generally affecting the Fund and its shareholders and is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Investors are urged to consult their tax advisers with specific reference to their own tax situations.

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS

General. The Investment Adviser assumes general supervision over the placement of securities purchase and sale orders on behalf of the funds it manages. Funds managed by dual employees of the Investment Adviser and an affiliated entity, and funds that employ a sub-investment adviser, execute portfolio transactions through the trading desk of the affiliated entity or sub-investment adviser, as applicable (the “Trading Desk”). Those funds use the research facilities, and are subject to the internal policies and procedures, of applicable affiliated entity or sub-investment adviser.

The Trading Desk generally has the authority to select brokers (for equity securities) or dealers (for fixed income securities) and the commission rates or spreads to be paid. Allocation of brokerage transactions is made in the best judgment of the Trading Desk and in a manner deemed fair and reasonable. In choosing brokers or dealers, the Trading Desk evaluates the ability of the broker or dealer to execute the transaction at the best combination of price and quality of execution.

In general, brokers or dealers involved in the execution of portfolio transactions on behalf of a fund are selected on the basis of their professional capability and the value and quality of their services. The Trading Desk attempts to obtain best execution for the funds by choosing brokers or dealers to execute transactions based on a variety of factors, which may include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) price; (ii) liquidity; (iii) the nature and character of the relevant market for the security to be purchased or sold; (iv) the quality and efficiency of the broker’s or dealer’s execution; (v) the broker’s or dealer’s willingness to commit capital; (vi) the reliability of the broker or dealer in trade settlement and clearance; (vii) the level of counter-party risk (i.e., the broker’s or dealer’s financial condition); (viii) the commission rate or the spread; (ix) the value of research provided; (x) the availability of electronic trade entry and reporting links; and (xi) the size and type of order (e.g., foreign or domestic security, large block, illiquid security). In selecting brokers or dealers no factor is necessarily determinative; however, at various times and for various reasons, certain factors will be more important than others in determining which broker or dealer to use. Seeking to obtain best execution for all trades takes precedence over all other considerations.

Investment decisions for one fund or account are made independently from those for other funds or accounts managed by the portfolio managers. Under the Trading Desk’s procedures, portfolio managers and their corresponding Trading Desks may seek to aggregate (or “bunch”) orders that are placed or received concurrently for more than one fund or account. In some cases, this policy may adversely affect the price paid or received by a fund or an account, or the size of the position obtained or liquidated. As noted above, certain brokers or dealers may be selected because of their ability to handle special executions such as those involving large block trades or broad distributions, provided that the primary consideration of best execution is met. Generally, when trades are aggregated, each fund or account within the block will receive the same price and commission. However, random allocations of aggregate transactions may be made to minimize custodial transaction costs. In addition, at the close of the trading day, when reasonable and practicable, the completed securities of partially filled orders will generally be allocated to each participating fund and account in the proportion that each order bears to the total of all orders (subject to rounding to “round lot” amounts and other relevant factors).

Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year as well as within a year. In periods in which extraordinary market conditions prevail, the portfolio managers will not be deterred from changing the Fund’s investment strategy as rapidly as needed, in which case higher turnover rates can be anticipated which would result in greater brokerage expenses. The overall reasonableness of brokerage commissions paid is evaluated by the Trading Desk based upon its knowledge of available information as to the general level of commissions paid by other institutional investors for comparable services. Higher portfolio turnover rates usually generate additional brokerage commissions and transaction costs, and any short-term gains realized from these transactions are taxable to shareholders as ordinary income.

To the extent that a fund invests in foreign securities, certain of such fund’s transactions in those securities may not benefit from the negotiated commission rates available to funds for transactions in securities of domestic issuers. For funds that permit foreign exchange transactions, such transactions are made with banks or institutions in the interbank market at prices reflecting a mark-up or mark-down and/or commission.

The portfolio managers may deem it appropriate for one fund or account they manage to sell a security while another fund or account they manage is purchasing the same security. Under such circumstances, the portfolio managers may arrange to have the purchase and sale transactions effected directly between the funds and/or accounts (“cross transactions”). Cross transactions will be effected in accordance with procedures adopted pursuant to Rule 17a-7 under the 1940 Act.

Funds and accounts managed by the Investment Adviser, an affiliated entity or a sub-investment adviser may own significant positions in portfolio companies which, depending on market conditions, may affect adversely the ability to dispose of some or all of such positions.

As the Fund has not commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI, no information on brokerage fees or commissions paid by the Fund is provided.

The Trust contemplates that, consistent with the policy of seeking best price and execution, brokerage transactions may be conducted through affiliates of the Investment Adviser. The Trust’s Board has adopted procedures in conformity with Rule 17e-1 under the 1940 Act to ensure that all brokerage commissions paid to affiliates of the Investment Adviser are reasonable and fair.

Soft Dollars. The term “soft dollars” is commonly understood to refer to arrangements where an investment adviser uses client (or fund) brokerage commissions to pay for research and other services to be used by the investment adviser. Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 provides a “safe harbor” that permits investment advisers to enter into soft dollar arrangements if the investment adviser determines in good faith that the amount of the commission is reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided. Eligible products and services under Section 28(e) include those that provide lawful and appropriate assistance to the investment adviser in the performance of its investment decision-making responsibilities.

Subject to the policy of seeking best execution, Dreyfus-managed funds may execute transactions with brokerage firms that provide research services and products, as defined in Section 28(e). Any and all research products and services received in connection with brokerage commissions will be used to assist the applicable affiliated entity in its investment decision-making responsibilities, as contemplated under Section 28(e). Under certain conditions, higher brokerage commissions may be paid in connection with certain transactions in return for research products and services.

The products and services provided under these arrangements permit the Trading Desk to supplement its own research and analysis activities, and provide it with information from individuals and research staffs of many securities firms. Such services and products may include, but are not limited to the following: fundamental research reports (which may discuss, among other things, the value of securities, or the advisability of investing in, purchasing or selling securities, or the availability of securities or the purchasers or sellers of securities, or issuers, industries, economic factors and trends, portfolio strategy and performance); current market data and news; technical and portfolio analyses; economic forecasting and interest rate projections; and historical information on securities and companies. The Trading Desk also may defray the costs of certain services and communication systems that facilitate trade execution (such as on-line quotation systems, direct data feeds from stock exchanges and on-line trading systems with brokerage commissions generated by client transactions) or functions related thereto (such as clearance and settlement). Some of the research products or services received by the Trading Desk may have both a research function and a non-research administrative function (a “mixed use”). If the Trading Desk determines that any research product or service has a mixed use, the Trading Desk will allocate in good faith the cost of such service or product accordingly. The portion of the product or service that the Trading Desk determines will assist it in the investment decision-making process may be paid for in soft dollars. The non-research portion is paid for by the Trading Desk in hard dollars.

The Trading Desk generally considers the amount and nature of research, execution and other services provided by brokerage firms, as well as the extent to which such services are relied on, and attempts to allocate a portion of the brokerage business of its clients on the basis of that consideration. Neither the services nor the amount of brokerage given to a particular brokerage firm are made pursuant to any agreement or commitment with any of the selected firms that would bind the Trading Desk to compensate the selected brokerage firm for research provided. The Trading Desk endeavors, but is not legally obligated, to direct sufficient commissions to broker/dealers that have provided it with research and other services to ensure continued receipt of research the Trading Desk believes is useful. Actual commissions received by a brokerage firm may be more or less than the suggested allocations.

There may be no correlation between the amount of brokerage commissions generated by a particular fund or client and the indirect benefits received by that fund or client. The affiliated entity may receive a benefit from the research services and products that is not passed on to a fund in the form of a direct monetary benefit. Further, research services and products may be useful to the affiliated entity in providing investment advice to any of the funds or clients it advises. Likewise, information made available to the affiliated entity from brokerage firms effecting securities transactions for a fund may be utilized on behalf of another fund or client. Information so received is in addition to, and not in lieu of, services required to be performed by the affiliated entity and fees are not reduced as a consequence of the receipt of such supplemental information. Although the receipt of such research services does not reduce the normal independent research activities of the affiliated entity, it enables them to avoid the additional expenses that might otherwise be incurred if it were to attempt to develop comparable information through its own staff.

Portfolio securities ordinarily are purchased from and sold to parties acting either as principal or agent. Newly-issued securities ordinarily are purchased directly from the issuer or from an underwriter; other purchases and sales usually are placed with those dealers from which it appears that the best price or execution will be obtained. Usually no brokerage commissions, as such, are paid by the fund for such purchases and sales, although the price paid usually includes an undisclosed compensation to the dealer acting as agent. The prices paid to underwriters of newly-issued securities usually include a concession paid by the issuer to the underwriter, and purchases of after-market securities from dealers ordinarily are executed at a price between the bid and asked price.

When transactions are executed in the over-the-counter market (i.e., with dealers), the Investment Adviser (and where applicable, a sub-adviser or Dreyfus affiliate) will typically deal with the primary market makers unless a more favorable price or execution otherwise is obtainable.

Regular Broker-Dealers. The Fund may acquire securities issued by one or more of its “regular brokers or dealers,” as defined in Rule 10b-1 under the 1940 Act. Rule 10b-1 provides that a “regular broker or dealer” is one of the ten brokers or dealers that, during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year (i) received the greatest dollar amount of brokerage commissions from participating, either directly or indirectly, in the Fund’s portfolio transactions, (ii) engaged as principal in the largest dollar amount of the Fund’s portfolio transactions or (iii) sold the largest dollar amount of the Fund’s securities.

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings. It is the policy of the Trust to protect the confidentiality of the Fund’s portfolio holdings and prevent the selective disclosure of non-public information about such holdings. The Fund will publicly disclose its holdings in accordance with regulatory requirements, such as periodic portfolio disclosure in filings with the SEC. The Fund will publicly disclose its complete schedule of portfolio holdings, as reported on a month-end basis, at www.dreyfus.com. The information will be posted with a one-month lag and will remain accessible until the Trust files a report on Form N-Q or Form N-CSR for the period that includes the date as of which the information was current. In addition, fifteen days following the end of each calendar quarter, the Fund will publicly disclose on the website its complete schedule of portfolio holdings as of the end of such quarter.

If the Fund’s portfolio holdings are released pursuant to an ongoing arrangement with any party, the Fund must have a legitimate business purpose for doing so, and neither the Fund, nor Dreyfus or its affiliates, may receive any compensation in connection with an arrangement to make available information about the Fund’s portfolio holdings. The Fund may distribute portfolio holdings to mutual fund evaluation services such as Standard & Poor’s, Morningstar or Lipper Analytical Services; due diligence departments of broker-dealers and wirehouses that regularly analyze the portfolio holdings of mutual funds before their public disclosure; and broker-dealers that may be used by the Fund, for the purpose of efficient trading and receipt of relevant research, provided that: (a) the recipient does not distribute the portfolio holdings to persons who are likely to use the information for purposes of purchasing or selling Fund shares or Fund portfolio holdings before the portfolio holdings become public information; and (b) the recipient signs a written confidentiality agreement.

The Fund may also disclose any and all portfolio information to its service providers and others who generally need access to such information in the performance of their contractual duties and responsibilities and are subject to duties of confidentiality, including a duty not to trade on non-public information, imposed by law and/or contract. These service providers include the Fund’s custodians, auditors, investment adviser, administrator, and each of their respective affiliates and advisers.

Disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings may be authorized only by the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer, and any exceptions to this policy are reported quarterly to the Trust’s Board.

SUMMARY OF PROXY VOTING POLICY, PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES

The Trust’s Board has delegated to Dreyfus the authority to vote proxies of companies held in the Fund’s portfolio. Dreyfus, through its participation on the BNY Mellon Proxy Committee (the “PPC”), applies BNY Mellon’s Proxy Voting Policy, related procedures, and voting guidelines when voting proxies on behalf of the Fund.

Dreyfus recognizes that an investment adviser is a fiduciary that owes its clients, including funds it manages, a duty of utmost good faith and full and fair disclosure of all material facts. An investment adviser’s duty of loyalty requires an adviser to vote proxies in a manner consistent with the best interest of its clients and precludes the adviser from subrogating the clients’ interests to its own. In addition, an investment adviser voting proxies on behalf of a fund must do so in a manner consistent with the best interests of the funds and its shareholders.

Dreyfus seeks to avoid material conflicts of interest by participating in the PPC, which applies detailed, pre-determined written proxy voting guidelines (the “Voting Guidelines”) in an objective and consistent manner across client accounts, based on internal and external research and recommendations provided by a third party vendor, and without consideration of any client relationship factors. Further, Dreyfus and its affiliates engage a third party as an independent fiduciary to vote all proxies of funds managed by BNY Mellon or its affiliates (including the Dreyfus Family of Funds and the Funds), and may engage an independent fiduciary to vote proxies of other issuers at its discretion.

All proxies received by the Fund are reviewed, categorized, analyzed and voted in accordance with the Voting Guidelines. The guidelines are reviewed periodically and updated as necessary to reflect new issues and any changes in BNY Mellon’s or Dreyfus’ policies on specific issues. Items that can be categorized under the Voting guidelines are voted in accordance with any applicable guidelines or referred to the PPC, if the applicable guidelines so require. Proposals that cannot be categorized under the Voting Guidelines are referred to the PPC for discussion and vote. Additionally, the PPC reviews proposals where it has identified a particular company, industry or issue for special scrutiny. With regard to voting proxies of foreign companies, Dreyfus weighs the cost of voting and potential inability to sell the securities (which may occur during the voting process) against the benefit of voting the proxies to determine whether or not to vote. With respect to securities lending transactions, Dreyfus seeks to balance the economic benefits of continuing to participate in an open securities lending transaction against the inability to vote proxies.

When evaluating proposals, the PPC recognizes that the management of a publicly-held company may need protection from the market’s frequent focus on short-term considerations, so as to be able to concentrate on such long-term goals as productivity and development of competitive products and services. In addition, the PPC generally supports proposals designed to provide management with short-term insulation from outside influences so as to enable them to bargain effectively with potential suitors to the extent such proposals are discrete and not bundled with other proposals. The PPC believes that a shareholder’s role in the governance of a publicly-held company is generally limited to monitoring the performance of the company and its management and voting on matters which properly come to a shareholder vote. However, the PPC generally opposes proposals designed to insulate an issuer’s management from the wishes of a majority of shareholders. Accordingly, the PPC generally votes in accordance with management on issues that the PPC believes neither unduly limit the rights and privileges of shareholders nor adversely affect the value of the investment.

On questions of social responsibility where economic performance does not appear to be an issue, the PPC attempts to ensure that management reasonably responds to the social issues. Responsiveness will be measured by management’s efforts to address the particular social issue including, where appropriate, assessment of the implications of the proposal to the ongoing operations of the company. The PPC will pay particular attention to repeat issues where management has failed in its commitment in the intervening period to take actions on issues.

In evaluating proposals regarding incentive plans and restricted stock plans, the PPC typically employs a shareholder value transfer model. This model seeks to assess the amount of shareholder equity flowing out of the company to executives as options are exercised. After determining the cost of the plan, the PPC evaluates whether the cost is reasonable based on a number of factors, including industry classification and historical performance information. The PPC generally votes against proposals that permit the repricing or replacement of stock options without surrender approval or that are silent on repricing and the company has a history of repricing stock options in a manner that the PPC believes is detrimental to shareholders.

Information regarding how Dreyfus voted proxies for the Fund is available on the Dreyfus Family of Fund’s website at http://www.dreyfus.com and on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov on the Trust’s Form N-PX filed with the SEC.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRUST AND FUND

Each Fund share has one vote and, when issued and paid for in accordance with the terms of the offering, is fully paid and non-assessable. Fund shares have equal rights in liquidation. Fund shares have a par value of $.001 per share, have no preemptive or subscription rights, and are freely transferable.

The Trust is a “series fund,” which is a mutual fund divided into separate portfolios, each of which is treated as a separate entity for certain matters under the 1940 Act and for other purposes. A shareholder of one portfolio is not deemed to be a shareholder of any other portfolio. For certain matters shareholders vote together as a group; as to others they vote separately by portfolio, or, where matters affect different classes of a portfolio differently, by class. The Trustees have authority to create an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest, par value $.001 per share, in separate series. The Trustees have authority to create additional series at any time in the future without shareholder approval.

On each matter submitted to a vote of the shareholders, all shares of the Fund shall vote together, except as to any matter for which a separate vote of any Fund is required by the 1940 Act and except as to any matter which affects the interests of particular Funds or classes differently, in which case the holders of shares of the one or more affected Funds or classes shall be entitled to vote separately.

The assets received by the Trust for the issue or sale of shares of the Fund and all income, earnings, profits and proceeds thereof, subject only to the rights of creditors, are specifically allocated to the Fund, and are attributed to the applicable class thereof, and constitute the underlying assets of the Fund. The underlying assets of the Fund are required to be segregated on the books of account, and are to be charged with the expenses in respect to the Fund and with a share of the general expenses of the Trust. Any general expenses of the Trust not readily identifiable as belonging to a particular Fund shall be allocated by or under the direction of the Trustees in such manner as the Trustees determine to be fair and equitable, taking into consideration, among other things, the relative sizes of the Funds and the relative difficulty in administering each Fund. Each share of the Fund represents an equal proportionate interest in that Fund with each other share of the same class and is entitled to such dividends and distributions out of the income belonging to such Fund as are declared by the Trustees. Upon any liquidation of the Fund, shareholders thereof are entitled to share pro rata in the net assets belonging to that Fund, attributable to their class, and available for distribution.

The Trust does not hold annual meetings of shareholders. There will normally be no meetings of shareholders for the purpose of electing Trustees unless and until such time as less than a majority of the Trustees holding office have been elected by shareholders, at which time the Trustees then in office will call a shareholders’ meeting for the election of Trustees. Under the 1940 Act, shareholders of record of no less than two-thirds of the outstanding shares of the Trust may remove a Trustee through a declaration in writing or by a vote cast in person or by proxy at a meeting called for that purpose. The Trustees are required to call a meeting of shareholders for the purposes of voting upon the question of removal of any Trustee when requested in writing to do so by the shareholders of record of not less than 10% of the Trust’s outstanding shares.

Rule 18f-2 under the 1940 Act provides that any matter required to be submitted under the provisions of the 1940 Act or applicable state law or otherwise to the holders of the outstanding voting securities of an investment company, such as the Trust, will not be deemed to have been effectively acted upon unless approved by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of each series affected by such matter. Rule 18f-2 further provides that a series shall be deemed to be affected by a matter unless it is clear that the interests of each series in the matter are identical or that the matter does not affect any interest of such series. The Rule exempts the selection of independent accountants and the election of Trustees from the separate voting requirements of the Rule.

Under Massachusetts law, shareholders could, under certain circumstances, be held personally liable for the obligations of the Trust. However, the Agreement and Declaration of Trust disclaims shareholder liability for acts or obligations of the Trust and requires that notice of such disclaimer be given in each agreement, obligation or instrument entered into or executed by the Trust or a Trustee. The Agreement and Declaration of Trust provides for indemnification from the Trust’s property for all losses and expenses of any shareholder held personally liable for the obligations of the Trust. Thus, the risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of shareholder liability is limited to circumstances in which the Trust itself would be unable to meet its obligations, a possibility which the Investment Adviser believes is remote. Upon payment of any liability incurred by the Trust, the shareholder paying such liability will be entitled to reimbursement from the general assets of the Trust. The Trustees intend to conduct the operations of each Fund in such a way so as to avoid, as far as possible, ultimate liability of the shareholders for liabilities of such Fund.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The Fund will send annual and semi-annual financial statements to all of its shareholders of record.

COUNSEL AND INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP, 1601 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006, has passed upon the legality of the shares offered by the Prospectus and this SAI.

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, 180 Maiden Lane, New York, New York 10038-4982, serves as counsel to the non-interested Trustees of the Trust.

KPMG LLP, 345 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10154, an independent registered public accounting firm, has been selected to serve as the independent registered public accounting firm for the Trust.

APPENDIX A

Rating Categories

Description of certain ratings assigned by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (“S&P”), Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) and Thomson Bank Watch, Inc. (“Bank Watch”):

S&P

Long-term

AAA

An obligation rated ‘AAA’ has the highest rating assigned by S&P. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong.

AA

An obligation rated ‘AA’ differs from the highest rated obligations only in small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is very strong.

A

An obligation rated ‘A’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is still strong.

BBB

An obligation rated ‘BBB’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

BB, B, CCC, CC, and C

Obligations rated ‘BB’, ‘B’, ‘CCC’, ‘CC’, and ‘C’ are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. ‘BB’ indicates the least degree of speculation and ‘C’ the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposures to adverse conditions.

BB

An obligation rated ‘BB’ is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions which could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

B

An obligation rated ‘B’ is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated ‘BB’, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

CCC

An obligation rated ‘CCC’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

CC

An obligation rated ‘CC’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment.

C

A subordinated debt or preferred stock obligation rated ‘C’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. The ‘C’ rating may be used to cover a situation where a bankruptcy petition has been filed or similar action taken, but payments on this obligation are being continued. A ‘C’ also will be assigned to a preferred stock issue in arrears on dividends or sinking fund payments, but that is currently paying.

D

An obligation rated ‘D’ is in payment default. The ‘D’ rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due even if the applicable grace period has not expired, unless S&P believes that such payments will be made during such grace period. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action if payments on an obligation are jeopardized.

r

The symbol ‘r’ is attached to the ratings of instruments with significant noncredit risks. It highlights risks to principal or volatility of expected returns which are not addressed in the credit rating. Examples include: obligations linked or indexed to equities, currencies, or commodities; obligations exposed to severe prepayment risk—such as interest-only or principal-only mortgage securities; and obligations with unusually risky interest terms, such as inverse floaters.

N.R.

The designation ‘N.R.’ indicates that no rating has been requested, that there is insufficient information on which to base a rating, or that S&P does not rate a particular obligation as a matter of policy.

Note: The ratings from ‘AA’ to ‘CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign designation to show relative standing within the major rating categories.

Short-term

SP-1

Strong capacity to pay principal and interest. An issue determined to possess a very strong capacity to pay debt service is designated with a plus sign (+).

SP-2

Satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest, with some vulnerability to adverse financial and economic changes over the term of the notes.

SP-3

Speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.

Commercial paper

A-1

This designation indicates that the degree of safety regarding timely payment is strong. Those issues determined to possess extremely strong safety characteristics are denoted with a plus sign (+) designation.

A-2

Capacity for timely payment on issues with this designation is satisfactory. However, the relative degree of safety is not as high as for issues designated ‘A-1’.

A-3

Issues carrying this designation have an adequate capacity for timely payment. The are, however, more vulnerable to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances than obligations carrying the higher designations.

B

Issues rated B are regarded as having only speculative capacity for timely payment.

C

This rating is assigned to short-term debt obligations with a doubtful capacity for payment.

D

Debt rated ‘D’ is payment default. The ‘D’ rating category is used when interest payments or principal payments are not made on the due date, even if the applicable grace period has not expired, unless S&P believes such payments will be made during such grace period.

Moody’s

Long-term

Aaa

Bonds rated ‘Aaa’ are judged to be of the best quality. They carry the smallest degree of investment risk and are generally referred to as “gilt edged.” Interest payments are protected by a large or by an exceptionally stable margin and principal is secure. While the various protective elements are likely to change, such changes as can be visualized are most unlikely to impair the fundamentally strong position of such issues.

Aa

Bonds rated ‘Aa’ are judged to be of high quality by all standards. Together with the ‘Aaa’ group they comprise what are generally known as high-grade bonds. They are rated lower than the best bonds because margins of protection may not be as large as in ‘Aaa’ securities or fluctuation of protective elements may be of greater amplitude or there may be other elements present which make the long-term risk appear somewhat larger than the ‘Aaa’ securities.

A

Bonds rated ‘A’ possess many favorable investment attributes and are to be considered as upper-medium-grade obligations. Factors giving security to principal and interest are considered adequate, but elements may be present which suggest a susceptibility to impairment some time in the future.

Baa

Bonds rated ‘Baa’ are considered as medium-grade obligations (i.e., they are neither highly protected nor poorly secured). Interest payments and principal security appear adequate for the present but certain protective elements may be lacking or may be characteristically unreliable over any great length of time. Such bonds lack outstanding investment characteristics and in fact have speculative characteristics as well.

Ba

Bonds rated ‘Ba’ are judged to have speculative elements; their future cannot be considered as well-assured. Often the protection of interest and principal payments may be very moderate, and thereby not well safeguarded during both good and bad times over the future. Uncertainty of position characterizes bonds in this class.

B

Bonds rated ‘B’ generally lack characteristics of the desirable investment. Assurance of interest and principal payments or of maintenance of other terms of the contract over any long period of time may be small.

Caa

Bonds rated ‘Caa’ are of poor standing. Such issues may be in default or there may be present elements of danger with respect to principal or interest.

Ca

Bonds rated ‘Ca’ represent obligations which are speculative in a high degree. Such issues are often in default or have other marked shortcomings.

C

Bonds rated ‘C’ are the lowest rated class of bonds, and issues so rated can be regarded as having extremely poor prospects of ever attaining any real investment standing.

Note: Moody’s applies numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 in each generic rating classification from ‘Aa’ through ‘Caa’. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.

Prime Rating System

Issuers rated Prime-1 (or supporting institutions) have a superior ability for repayment of senior short-term debt obligations. Prime-1 repayment ability will often be evidenced by many of the following characteristics:

Leading market positions in well-established industries.

High rates of return on funds employed.

Conservative capitalization structure with moderate reliance on debt and ample asset protection.

Broad margins in earnings coverage of fixed financial charges and high internal cash generation.

Well-established access to a range of financial markets and assured sources of alternate liquidity.

Issuers rated Prime-2 (or supporting institutions) have a strong ability for repayment of senior short-term debt obligations. This will normally be evidenced by many of the characteristics cited above but to a lesser degree. Earnings trends and coverage ratios, while sound, may be more subject to variation. Capitalization characteristics, while still appropriate, may be more affected by external conditions. Ample alternate liquidity is maintained.

Issuers rated Prime-3 (or supporting institutions) have an acceptable ability for repayment of senior short-term obligations. The effect of industry characteristics and market compositions may be more pronounced. Variability in earnings and profitability may result in changes in the level of debt protection measurements and may require relatively high financial leverage. Adequate alternate liquidity is maintained.

Issuers rated Not Prime do not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.

MIG/VMIG--U.S. short-term

Municipal debt issuance ratings are designated as Moody’s Investment Grade (MIG) and are divided into three levels -- MIG 1 through MIG 3.

The short-term rating assigned to the demand feature of variable rate demand obligations (VRDOs) is designated as VMIG. When either the long- or short-term aspect of a VRDO is not rated, that piece is designated NR, e.g., Aaa/NR or NR/VMIG 1.

MIG 1/VMIG 1

This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by established cash flows, highly reliable liquidity support, or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing.

MIG 2/VMIG 2

This designation denotes strong credit quality. Margins of protection are ample, although not as large as in the preceding group.

MIG 3/VMIG 3

This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Liquidity and cash-flow protection may be narrow, and market access for refinancing is likely to be less well-established.

SG

This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Debt instruments in this category may lack sufficient margins of protection.

Fitch

Long-term Investment Grade

AAA

Highest credit quality. ‘AAA’ ratings denote the lowest expectation of credit risk. They are assigned only in case of exceptionally strong capacity for timely payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.

AA

Very high credit quality. ‘AA’ ratings denote a very low expectation of credit risk. They indicate very strong capacity for timely payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.

A

High credit quality. ‘A’ ratings denote a low expectation of credit risk. The capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is considered strong. This capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to changes in circumstances or in economic conditions than is the case for higher ratings.

BBB

Good credit quality. ‘BBB’ ratings indicate that there is currently a low expectation of credit risk. The capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is considered adequate, but adverse changes in circumstances and in economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity. This is the lowest investment-grade category.

Long-term Speculative Grade

BB

Speculative. ‘BB’ ratings indicate that there is a possibility of credit risk developing, particularly as the result of adverse economic change over time; however, business or financial alternatives may be available to allow financial commitments to be met. Securities rated in this category are not investment grade.

B

Highly speculative. ‘B’ ratings indicate that significant credit risk is present, but a limited margin of safety remains. Financial commitments are currently being met; however, capacity for continued payment is contingent upon a sustained, favorable business and economic environment.

CCC, CC, C

High default risk. Default is a real possibility. Capacity for meeting financial commitments is solely reliant upon sustained, favorable business or economic developments. A ‘CC’ rating indicates that default of some kind appears probable. ‘C’ ratings signal imminent default.

DDD, DD, D

Default. The ratings of obligations in this category are based on their prospects for achieving partial or full recovery in a reorganization or liquidation of the obligor. While expected recovery values are highly speculative and cannot be estimated with any precision, the following serve as general guidelines. ‘DDD’ obligations have the highest potential for recovery, around 90% - 100% of outstanding amounts and accrued interest. ‘DD’ ratings indicate potential recoveries in the range of 50% - 90% and ‘D’ the lowest recovery potential, i.e., below 50%.

Entities rated in this category have defaulted on some or all of their obligations. Entities rated ‘DDD’ have the highest prospect for resumption of performance or continued operation with or without a formal reorganization process. Entities rated ‘DD’ and ‘D’ are generally undergoing a formal reorganization or liquidation process; those rated ‘DD’ are likely to satisfy a higher portion of their outstanding obligations, while entities rated ‘D’ have a poor prospect of repaying all obligations.

“+” or “-” Notes to long-term and short -term ratings: A plus (+) or minus (-) sign designation may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories. Such suffixes are not added to the “AAA” long-term rating category, or to categories below ‘CCC’ or to short-term ratings other than ‘F-1.’

Short-term

A short-term rating has a time horizon of less than 12 months for most obligations, or up to three years for U.S. public finance securities, and thus places greater emphasis on the liquidity necessary to meet financial commitments in a timely manner.

F1

Highest credit quality. Indicates the strongest capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added “+” to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.

F2

Good credit quality. A satisfactory capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, but the margin of safety is not as great as in the case of the higher ratings.

F3

Fair credit quality. The capacity for timely payment of financial commitment is adequate; however, near-term adverse changes could result in a reduction non-investment grade.

B

Speculative. Minimal capacity for timely payment of financial commitments plus vulnerability to near-term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.

C
High default risk. Default is a real possibility. Capacity for meeting financial commitments is solely reliant upon a sustained, favorable business and economic environment.

D

Default. Denotes actual or imminent payment default.

‘NR’ indicates that Fitch does not rate the issuer or issue in question.

Notes to long-term and short-term ratings: A plus (+) or minus (-) sign designation may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories. Such suffixes are not added to the ‘AAA’ long-term rating category, to categories below ‘CCC’, or to short-term ratings other than ‘F1.’

Fitch also assigns a rating to certain international and U.S. banks. A Fitch bank rating represents Fitch’s current assessment of the strength of the bank and whether such bank would receive support should it experience difficulties. In its assessment of a bank, Fitch uses a dual rating system comprised of Legal Ratings and Individual Ratings. In addition, Fitch assigns banks Long and Short-Term Ratings as used in the corporate ratings discussed above. Legal Ratings, which range in gradation from 1 through 5, address the question of whether the bank would receive support provided by central banks or the bank’s shareholders if it experienced difficulties, and such ratings are considered by Fitch to be a prime factor in its assessment of credit risk. Individual Ratings, which range in gradations from A through E, represent Fitch’s assessment of a bank’s economic merits and address the question of how the bank would be viewed if it were entirely independent and could not rely on support from state authorities or its owners.

Bank Watch

Commercial Paper Ratings and Short-Term Ratings

TBW-1

Obligations rated TBW-1 are regarded as having the strongest capacity for timely repayment.

In addition to ratings of short-term obligations, Bank Watch assigns a rating to each issuer it rates, in gradations of A through F. Bank Watch examines all segments of the organization including, where applicable, the holding company, member banks or associations, and other subsidiaries. In those instances where financial disclosure is incomplete or untimely, a qualified rating (qr) is assigned to the institution. Bank Watch also assigns, in the case of foreign banks, a country rating which represents an assessment of the overall political and economic stability of the country in which that bank is domiciled.

PART C. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 23.	Exhibits:
(a)(1)		Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust dated June 5, 2000, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a) of Pre-effective Amendment No. 1 to Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A, SEC File No. 333-34844 (the "Registration Statement"), filed on July 7, 2000, as further amended by a Certificate of Amendment to the Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust dated December 17, 2002 and incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 10 to the Registration Statement, SEC File No. 333-34844, filed on December 23, 2004 (the "Registration Statement")
(a)(2)		Articles of Amendment is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a)(2) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 20 to the Registration Statement, filed on March 27, 2008.
(b)		By-Laws dated June 5, 2000, as amended and restated January 2006, are incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 77Q1 of Registrant's Form N-SAR filed on April 26, 2006.
(c)		Instruments defining the rights of holders of Registrant's securities are incorporated herein by reference to Articles III, IV, V, VI, VIII and IX of the Registrant's Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust and Articles 9 and 11 of the Registrant's By-Laws.
(d)		Amended Investment Advisory Agreement.*
(e)		Amended Distribution Agreement.*
(f)		Not applicable.
(g)		Form of Mutual Fund Custody and Services Agreement between Registrant and Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company and Mellon Bank, N.A. is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (g)(1) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 3 to the Registration Statement, filed on December 20, 2001.
(h)(1)		Transfer Agent Agreement dated as of June 14, 2000, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 13(a) of the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-14, SEC File No. 333-63652, filed on June 22, 2001.
(h)(2)		Amendment to Transfer Agent Agreement effective March 6, 2001, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 13(b) of Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-14, SEC File No. 333-63652, filed on June 22, 2001.
(h)(3)		Amended and Restated Administration Agreement.*
(h)(4)		Amended and Restated Fee Waiver Agreement dated May 22, 2002 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h)(4) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 5 to the Registration Statement, filed on May 21, 2002.
(h)(5)		Shareholder Services Plan.*
(i)		Opinion and consent of Registrant's counsel.*
(j)		Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.*
(k)		Not applicable.
(l)		Not applicable.
(m)		Distribution Plan dated as of March 5, 2002, effective as of May 15, 2002, revised December 16, 2002, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (m) of Post- Effective Amendment No. 7 to the Registration Statement.
(n)		Amended and Restated Rule 18f-3 Plan.*
(o)		Not applicable.
(p)		Code of Ethics adopted by Registrant and Registrant's investment adviser and distributor is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (p) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registration Statement, filed on October 27, 2005.

	Other Exhibits
(1)	Certificate of Assistant Secretary is incorporated herein by reference to Other Exhibit 1 of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registration Statement, filed on October 27, 2005.
(2)	Power of Attorney of Christopher E. Sheldon and James Windels is incorporated by reference to Other Exhibits 2 of Post-Effective Amendment No 14 to the Registration Statement, SEC File No. 333-34844, filed on December 22, 2006.

* To be filed by amendment.

Item 24.   Persons Controlled by or Under Common Control with Registrant:

Not Applicable.

Item 25.   Indemnification:

(a)  The Registrant shall indemnify each of its Trustees and officers (including persons who serve at the Registrant's request as directors, officers or trustees of another organization in which the Registrant has any interest as a shareholder, creditor or otherwise) (hereinafter referred to as a "Covered Person") against all liabilities and expenses, including, but not limited to, amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise or as fines and penalties, and counsel fees reasonably incurred by any Covered Person in connection with the defense or disposition of any action, suit or other proceeding, whether civil or criminal, before any court or administrative or legislative body, in which such Covered Person may be or may have been involved as a party or otherwise or with which such person may be or may have been threatened, while in office or thereafter, by reason of being or having been such a Trustee or officer, except with respect to any matter as to which such Covered Person shall have been finally adjudicated in a decision on the merits in any such action, suit or other proceeding not to have acted in good faith in the reasonable belief that such Covered Person's action was in the best interests of the Registrant and except that no Covered Person shall be indemnified against any liability to the Registrant or its shareholders to which such Covered Person would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such Covered Person's office. Expenses, including counsel fees so incurred by any such Covered Person (but excluding amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise or as fines or penalties), may be paid from time to time by the Registrant in advance of the final disposition or any such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such Covered Person to repay amounts so paid to the Registrant if it is ultimately determined that indemnification of such expenses is not authorized under Article 10 of the Registrant's By-Laws, provided that (i) such Covered Person shall provide security for his or her undertaking, (ii) the Registrant shall be insured against losses arising by reason of such Covered Person's failure to fulfill his or her undertaking, or (iii) a majority of the Trustees who are disinterested persons and who are not Interested Persons (as that term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act")) (provided that a majority of such Trustees then in office act on the matter), or independent legal counsel in a written opinion, shall determine, based on a review of readily available facts (but not a full trial-type inquiry), that there is reason to believe such Covered Person ultimately will be entitled to indemnification.

(b)  As to any matter disposed of (whether by a compromise payment, pursuant to a consent decree or otherwise) without an adjudication in a decision on the merits by a court, or by any other body before which the proceeding was brought, that such Covered Person either (i) did not act in good faith in the reasonable belief that such Covered Person's action was in the best interests of the Registrant or (ii) is liable to the Registrant or its shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such Covered Person's office, indemnification shall be provided if (i) approved as in the best interest of the Registrant, after notice that it involves such indemnification, by at least a majority of the Trustees who are disinterested persons and are not Interested Persons (as that term is defined in 1940 Act) (provided that a majority of such Trustees then in office act on the matter), upon a determination, based upon a review of readily available facts (but not a full trial-type inquiry) that such Covered Person acted in good faith in the reasonable belief that such Covered Person's action was in the best interests of the Registrant and is not liable to the Registrant or its shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such Covered Person's office, or (ii) there has been obtained an opinion in writing of independent legal counsel, based upon a review of readily available facts (but not a full trial-type inquiry) to the effect that such Covered Person appears to have acted in good faith in the reasonable belief that such Covered Person's action was in the best interests of the Registrant and that such indemnification would not protect such Covered Person against any liability to the Registrant to which such Covered Person would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his office. Any approval pursuant to this Section shall not prevent the recovery from any Covered Person of any amount paid to such Covered Person in accordance with this Section as indemnification if such Covered Person is subsequently adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction not to have acted in good faith in the reasonable belief that such Covered Person's action was in the best interests of the Registrant or to have been liable to the Registrant or its shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such Covered Person's office.

(c)  The right of indemnification hereby provided shall not be exclusive of or affect any other rights to which any such Covered Person may be entitled. As used Article 10 of the Registrant's By-Laws, the term "Covered Person" shall include such person's heirs, executors and administrators, and a "disinterested person" is a person against whom none of the actions, suits or other proceedings in question or another action, suit, or other proceeding on the same or similar grounds is then or has been pending. Nothing contained in Article 10 of the Registrant's By-Laws shall affect any rights to indemnification to which personnel of the Registrant, other than Trustees and officers, and other persons may be entitled by contract or otherwise under law, nor the power of the Registrant to purchase and maintain liability insurance on behalf of such person.

(d)  Notwithstanding any provisions in the Registrant's Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Registrant and By-Laws pertaining to indemnification, all such provisions are limited by the following undertaking set forth in the rules promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission:

In the event that a claim for indemnification is asserted by a Trustee, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in connection with the registered securities of the Registrant, the Registrant will not make such indemnification unless (i) the Registrant has submitted, before a court or other body, the question of whether the person to be indemnified was liable by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of duties, and has obtained a final decision on the merits that such person was not liable by reason of such conduct or (ii) in the absence of such decision, the Registrant shall have obtained a reasonable determination, based upon review of the facts, that such person was not liable by virtue of such conduct, by (a) the vote of a majority of Trustees who are neither Interested Persons as such term is defined in the 1940 Act, nor parties to the proceeding or (b) an independent legal counsel in a written opinion.

The Registrant will not advance attorneys' fees or other expenses incurred by the person to be indemnified unless (i) the Registrant shall have received an undertaking by or on behalf of such person to repay the advance unless it is ultimately determined that such person is entitled to indemnification and (ii) one of the following conditions shall have occurred: (a) such person shall provide security for his undertaking, (b) the Registrant shall be insured against losses arising by reason of any lawful advances or (c) a majority of the disinterested, non-party Trustees of the Registrant, or an independent legal counsel in a written opinion, shall have determined that based on a review of readily available facts there is reason to believe that such person ultimately will be found entitled to indemnification.

Item 26.   Business and Other Connections of Investment Adviser:

The Dreyfus Corporation and subsidiary companies comprise a financial service organization whose business consists primarily of providing investment management services as the investment adviser and manager for sponsored investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and as an investment adviser to institutional and individual accounts. Dreyfus also serves as sub-investment adviser to and/or administrator of other investment companies. MBSC Securities Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dreyfus, serves primarily as a registered broker-dealer and distributor of other investment companies advised and administered by Dreyfus. Dreyfus Investment Advisors, Inc., another wholly-owned subsidiary, provides investment management services to various pension plans, institutions and individuals.

Officers and Directors of Investment Adviser

Name and Position With Dreyfus	Other Businesses	Position Held	Dates
Jonathan Baum Chief Executive Officer and Director	MBSC Securities Corporation++	Director Executive Vice President	6/07 – Present 6/07 - Present
	Dreyfus Service Corporation++	Director Executive Vice President	8/06 - 6/07 3/06 - 6/07
	Scudder Investments 345 Park Avenue New York, New York 10154	Chief Operating Officer	7/02 - 1/05
	Scudder Distributors, Inc. 345 Park Avenue New York, New York 10154	President Chief Executive Officer	7/02 - 1/05 7/02 - 1/05
J. Charles Cardona President and Director	Dreyfus Investment Advisors, Inc.++	Chairman of the Board	2/02 - Present
	Boston Safe Advisors, Inc.++	Director	10/01 - Present
	MBSC Securities Corporation++	Executive Vice President Director	2/97 – Present 8/00 - Present
Diane P. Durnin Vice Chair and Director	Seven Six Seven Agency, Inc. ++ MBSC Securities Corporation**	Director Executive Vice President Director	4/02 – Present 2/97 – Present 8/00 - Present
Jonathan Little Chair of the Board	Mellon Global Investments	Chief Executive Officer	5/02 - Present 5/02 - Present
	Mellon Fund Managers Limited	Director	5/03 - Present
	Mellon Global Investments (Holdings) Ltd.	Director	9/03 - Present
	Mellon Global Investing Corp.	Director	5/02 - Present
	Mellon International Investment Corp.	Director	4/02 - Present
	Mellon Overseas Investment Corp.	Director	12/02 - Present
	Hamon Investment Group PTE Ltd.	Director	3/02 - Present
	Mellon Chile Holdings, S.A.	Director	7/03 - Present
	Mellon Global Funds, plc	Director	12/00 - Present
	Mellon Global Management Ltd.	Director	11/00 - Present
	Mellon Global Investments Japan Ltd.	Director	6/02 - Present
	Universal Liquidity Funds, plc	Director	11/00 - Present
	Pareto Investment Management Ltd.	Director	11/04 - Present
	Mellon Global Investments (Asia) Ltd.	Director	5/01 - Present
	Mellon Global Investments Australia Ltd.	Director	10/02 - Present
	Mellon Australia Ltd.	Director	7/02 - Present
	Mellon Alternative Strategies Ltd.	Director	10/04 - Present
	NSP Financial Services Group Pty Ltd.	Director	12/01 - Present
	Kiahan Ltd.	Director	12/01 - Present

Phillip N. Maisano Director, Vice Chair and Chief Investment Officer	Mellon Financial Corporation+		Senior Vice President		4/06 - Present
	EACM Advisors LLC 200 Connecticut Avenue Norwalk, CT 06854-1940		Chairman of Board Chief Executive Officer		8/04 – Present 8/04 - 5/06
	Founders Asset Management LLC****		Member, Board of Managers		11/06 - Present
	Standish Mellon Asset Management Company, LLC One Financial Center Boston, MA 02211		Board Member		12/06 - Present
	Mellon Capital Management Corporation***		Director		12/06 - Present
	Mellon Equity Associates, LLP*		Board Member		12/06 - Present
	Newton Management Limited London, England		Board Member		12/06 - Present
	Franklin Portfolio Associates, LLC*		Board Member		12/06 - Present
Mitchell E. Harris Director	Standish Mellon Asset Management Company LLC One Financial Center Boston, MA 02211		Chairman Chief Executive Officer Member, Board of Managers		2/05 – Present 8/04 – Present 10/04 - Present
	Palomar Management London, England		Director		12/97 - Present
	Palomar Management Holdings Limited London, England		Director		12/97 - Present
	Pareto Investment Management Limited London, England		Director		9/04 - Present
	MAM (DE) Trust+++++		President Member of Board of Trustees		10/05 - 1/07 10/05 - 1/07
	MAM (MA) Holding Trust+++++		President Member of Board of Trustees		10/05 - 1/07 10/05 - 1/07
Ronald P. O’Hanley Vice Chair and Director	Mellon Financial Corporation+		Vice Chairman		6/01 - Present
	The Bank of New York Mellon+		Vice Chairman		6/01 - Present
	Mellon Growth Advisors, LLC*		Board Member		1/02 - 7/03
	TBC General Partner, LLC*		President		7/03 - Present
		Standish Mellon Asset Management Holdings, LLC One Financial Center Boston, MA 02211	Board Member	7/01 - 7/03
		Standish Mellon Asset Management Company, LLC One Financial Center Boston, MA 02211	Board Member	7/01 - Present
		Franklin Portfolio Holdings, LLC*	Director	12/00 - Present
		Franklin Portfolio Associates, LLC*	Director	4/97 - Present
		Pareto Partners (NY) 505 Park Avenue NY, NY 10022	Partner Representative	2/00 - Present
		Buck Consultants, Inc.++	Director	7/97 - Present
		Newton Management Limited London, England	Executive Committee Member	10/98 - Present
			Director	10/98 - Present
		Mellon Global Investments Japan Ltd. Tokyo, Japan	Non-Resident Director	11/98 - Present
		TBCAM Holdings, LLC*	Director	1/98 - Present
		Fixed Income (MA) Trust*	Trustee	6/03 - Present
		Fixed Income (DE) Trust*	Trustee	6/03 - Present
		Pareto Partners 271 Regent Street London, England W1R 8PP	Partner Representative	5/97 - Present
		Mellon Capital Management Corporation***	Director	2/97 - Present
		Certus Asset Advisors Corp.**	Director	2/97 - 7/03
		Mellon Bond Associates, LLP+	Executive Committee Member	1/98 - 7/03
			Chairman	1/98 - 7/03
		Mellon Equity Associates, LLP+	Executive Committee Member Chairman	1/98 – Present 1/98 - Present
		Mellon Global Investing Corp.*	Director Chairman Chief Executive Officer	5/97 – Present 5/97 – Present 5/97 - Present

Scott E. Wennerholm Director		Mellon Capital Management Corporation***	Director			10/05 - Present
		Newton Management Limited London, England	Director			1/06 - Present
		Pareto Investment Management Limited	Director			3/06 - Present
		London, England
		Mellon Equity Associates, LLP+	Executive Committee Member			10/05 - Present
		Standish Mellon Asset Management Company, LLC One Financial Center Boston, MA 02211	Member, Board of Managers			10/05 - Present
		The Boston Company Holding, LLC*	Member, Board of Managers			4/06 - Present
		The Bank of New York Mellon+	Senior Vice President			10/05 - Present
		Mellon Trust of New England, N.A.*	Director Senior Vice President			4/06 – Present 10/05 - Present
		MAM (DE) Trust+++++	Member of Board of Trustees			1/07 - Present
		MAM (MA) Holding Trust*	Member of Board of Trustees			1/07 - Present
J. David Officer Vice Chair and Director		MBSC Securities Corporation++	President Director			3/00 – Present 3/99 - Present
		MBSC, LLC++	Manager, Board of Managers President			4/02 – Present 4/02 - Present
		Boston Safe Advisors, Inc. ++	Director			10/01 - Present
		Dreyfus Transfer, Inc. ++	Chairman and Director			2/02 - Present
		Dreyfus Service Organization, Inc.++	Director			3/99 - Present
		Dreyfus Insurance Agency of Massachusetts, Inc.++	Director			5/98 - Present
		Seven Six Seven Agency, Inc.++	Director			10/98 - Present
		Mellon Residential Funding Corp. +	Director			4/97 - Present
		The Bank of New York Mellon+	Executive Vice President			2/94 - Present
		Mellon United National Bank 1399 SW 1st Ave., Suite 400 Miami, Florida	Director			3/98 - Present
		Dreyfus Financial Services Corp. +	Director Chairman Chief Executive Officer			9/96 - 4/02 6/99 - 4/02 6/99 - 4/02
		Dreyfus Investment Services Company LLC+	Manager Chairman Chief Executive Officer			11/01 - 12/02 11/01 - 12/02 11/01 - 12/02
Patrice M. Kozlowski Senior Vice President - Corporate Communications		None
Gary Pierce Controller		Lighthouse Growth Advisors LLC++	Member, Board of Managers			7/05 - 9/05
			Vice President and Treasurer			7/05 - 9/05
		The Dreyfus Trust Company+++	Chief Financial Officer Treasurer			7/05 – Present 7/05 - Present
		MBSC, LLC++	Chief Financial Officer Manager, Board of Managers			7/05 - 6/07 7/05 - 6/07
		MBSC Securities Corporation++	Director Chief Financial Officer			6/07 – Present 6/07 - Present
		Dreyfus Service Corporation++	Director Chief Financial Officer Senior Vice President – Finance Vice President - Finance			7/05 - 6/07 7/05 - 6/07 1/05 - 7/05 3/03 - 1/05
		Founders Asset Management, LLC****	Assistant Treasurer			7/06 - Present
		Dreyfus Consumer Credit Corporation++	Treasurer			7/05 - Present
	Dreyfus Transfer, Inc.++			Chief Financial Officer	7/05 - Present
	Dreyfus Service Organization, Inc.++			Treasurer	7/05 - Present
	Seven Six Seven Agency, Inc.++			Treasurer	4/99 - Present
Joseph W. Connolly Chief Compliance Officer	The Dreyfus Family of Funds ++			Chief Compliance Officer	10/04 - Present
	The Mellon Funds Trust ++			Chief Compliance Officer	10/04 - Present
	Dreyfus Investment Advisors, Inc. ++			Chief Compliance Officer	10/04 - Present
	Lighthouse Growth Advisors, LLC ++			Chief Compliance Officer	10/04 - Present
	MBSC, LLC ++			Chief Compliance Officer	10/04 - Present
	MBSC Securities Corporation ++			Chief Compliance Officer	10/04 - Present
	Boston Service Corporation ++			Chief Compliance Officer	10/04 - Present
	Mellon Securities Services +			First Vice President	11/01 - 2/04
Anthony Mayo Vice President - Information Systems	None

Theodore A. Schachar Vice President - Tax	Lighthouse Growth Advisors LLC++	Assistant Treasurer	9/02 - Present
	Dreyfus Service Corporation++	Vice President - Tax	10/96 - Present
	MBSC, LLC++	Vice President - Tax	4/02 - Present
	The Dreyfus Consumer Credit Corporation ++	Chairman	6/99 - Present
		President	6/99 - Present
	Dreyfus Investment Advisors, Inc.++	Vice President - Tax	10/96 - Present
	Dreyfus Service Organization, Inc.++	Vice President - Tax	10/96 - Present

John E. Lane Vice President	A P Colorado, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	A P East, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	A P Management, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	A P Properties, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	A P Rural Land, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	Allomon Corporation+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	MBC Investments Corporation +	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	MBSC Securities Corporation++	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	MELDEL Leasing Corporation Number 2, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present
	Mellon Capital Management Corporation+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	Mellon Financial Services Corporation #1+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	Mellon Financial Services Corporation #4+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present
	Mellon International Leasing Company+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present
	Mellon Leasing Corporation+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present
	Mellon Trust Company of Illinois+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	MFS Leasing Corp.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present
	MMIP, LLC+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	Pontus, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present

Jeanne M. Login Vice President	A P Colorado, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	A P East, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	A P Management, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	A P Properties, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	A P Rural Land, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	Allomon Corporation+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	APT Holdings Corporation+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	BNY Investment Management Services LLC ++++	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	1/07 - Present
	MBC Investments Corporation+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	MBSC Securities Corporation++	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	MELDEL Leasing Corporation Number 2, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present
	Mellon Capital Management Corporation+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	Mellon Financial Services Corporation #1+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	Mellon Financial Services Corporation #4+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present
	Mellon International Leasing Company+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present
	Mellon Leasing Corporation+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present
	Mellon Trust Company of Illinois+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	MFS Leasing Corp.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present
	MMIP, LLC+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	8/07 - Present
	Pontus, Inc.+	Vice President – Real Estate and Leases	7/07 - Present
James Bitetto Secretary	The TruePenny Corporation++	Secretary	9/98 - Present
	MBSC Securities Corporation++	Assistant Secretary	8/98 - Present
	Dreyfus Investment Advisors, Inc.++	Assistant Secretary	7/98 - Present
	Dreyfus Service Organization, Inc.++	Assistant Secretary	7/98 - Present
	The Dreyfus Consumer Credit Corporation++	Vice President and Director	2/02 - Present

*	The address of the business so indicated is One Boston Place, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108.
**	The address of the business so indicated is One Bush Street, Suite 450, San Francisco, California 94104.
***	The address of the business so indicated is 595 Market Street, Suite 3000, San Francisco, California 94105
****	The address of the business so indicated is 2930 East Third Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80206.
+	The address of the business so indicated is One Mellon Bank Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15258.
++	The address of the business so indicated is 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10166.
+++	The address of the business so indicated is 144 Glenn Curtiss Boulevard, Uniondale, New York 11556-0144.

Item 27. Principal Underwriters:

(a)     Other investment companies for which Registrant's principal underwriter (exclusive distributor) acts as principal underwriter or exclusive distributor:

1. Advantage Funds, Inc.

2. CitizensSelect Funds

3. Dreyfus A Bonds Plus, Inc.

4. Dreyfus Appreciation Fund, Inc.

5. Dreyfus BASIC Money Market Fund, Inc.

6. Dreyfus BASIC U.S. Mortgage Securities Fund

7. Dreyfus BASIC U.S. Government Money Market Fund

8. Dreyfus Bond Funds, Inc.

9. Dreyfus California Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund

10. Dreyfus California Tax Exempt Money Market Fund

11. Dreyfus Cash Management

12. Dreyfus Cash Management Plus, Inc.

13. Dreyfus Connecticut Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund

14. Dreyfus Connecticut Municipal Money Market Fund, Inc.

15. Dreyfus Fixed Income Securities

16. Dreyfus Florida Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund

17. Dreyfus Florida Municipal Money Market Fund

18. Dreyfus Founders Funds, Inc.

19. The Dreyfus Fund Incorporated

20. Dreyfus GNMA Fund, Inc.

21. Dreyfus Government Cash Management Funds

22. Dreyfus Growth and Income Fund, Inc.

23. Dreyfus Growth Opportunity Fund, Inc.

24. Dreyfus Index Funds, Inc.

25. Dreyfus Institutional Cash Advantage Funds

26. Dreyfus Institutional Money Market Fund

27. Dreyfus Institutional Preferred Money Market Funds

28. Dreyfus Insured Municipal Bond Fund, Inc.

29. Dreyfus Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, Inc.

30. Dreyfus International Funds, Inc.

31. Dreyfus Investment Grade Funds, Inc.

32. Dreyfus Investment Portfolios

33. The Dreyfus/Laurel Funds, Inc.

34. The Dreyfus/Laurel Funds Trust

35. The Dreyfus/Laurel Tax-Free Municipal Funds

36. Dreyfus LifeTime Portfolios, Inc.

37. Dreyfus Liquid Assets, Inc.

38. Dreyfus Massachusetts Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund

39. Dreyfus Massachusetts Municipal Money Market Fund

40. Dreyfus Midcap Index Fund, Inc.

41. Dreyfus Money Market Instruments, Inc.

42. Dreyfus Municipal Bond Fund, Inc.

43. Dreyfus Municipal Cash Management Plus

44. Dreyfus Municipal Funds, Inc.

45. Dreyfus Municipal Money Market Fund, Inc.

46. Dreyfus New Jersey Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund

47. Dreyfus New Jersey Municipal Money Market Fund, Inc.

48. Dreyfus New York Municipal Cash Management

49. Dreyfus New York Tax Exempt Bond Fund, Inc.

50. Dreyfus New York Tax Exempt Intermediate Bond Fund

51. Dreyfus New York Tax Exempt Money Market Fund

52. Dreyfus U.S. Treasury Intermediate Term Fund

53. Dreyfus U.S. Treasury Long Term Fund

54. Dreyfus 100% U.S. Treasury Money Market Fund

55. Dreyfus Pennsylvania Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund

56. Dreyfus Pennsylvania Municipal Money Market Fund

57. Dreyfus Premier California Tax Exempt Bond Fund, Inc.

58. Dreyfus Premier Equity Funds, Inc.

59. Dreyfus Premier Fixed Income Funds

60. Dreyfus Premier International Funds, Inc.

61. Dreyfus Premier GNMA Fund

62. Dreyfus Premier Manager Funds I

63. Dreyfus Premier Manager Funds II

64. Dreyfus Premier Municipal Bond Fund

65. Dreyfus Premier New Jersey Municipal Bond Fund, Inc.

66. Dreyfus Premier New York Municipal Bond Fund

67. Dreyfus Premier Opportunity Funds

68. Dreyfus Premier State Municipal Bond Fund

69. Dreyfus Premier Stock Funds

70. The Dreyfus Premier Third Century Fund, Inc.

71. The Dreyfus Premier Value Equity Funds

72. Dreyfus Premier Worldwide Growth Fund, Inc.

73. Dreyfus Short-Intermediate Government Fund

74. Dreyfus Premier Short-Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund

75. The Dreyfus Socially Responsible Growth Fund, Inc.

76. Dreyfus Stock Index Fund, Inc.

77. Dreyfus Tax Exempt Cash Management

78. Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management

79. Dreyfus Treasury Prime Cash Management

80. Dreyfus Variable Investment Fund

81. Dreyfus Worldwide Dollar Money Market Fund, Inc.

82. General California Municipal Money Market Fund

83. General Government Securities Money Market Funds, Inc.

84. General Money Market Fund, Inc.

85. General Municipal Money Market Funds, Inc.

86. General New York Municipal Bond Fund, Inc.

87. General New York Municipal Money Market Fund

88. Mellon Funds Trust

89. Strategic Funds, Inc.

(b)

Name and Principal       Business Address	Positions and Offices with the Distributor	Positions and Offices   with the Registrant
J. David Officer *	President and Director	President
Jon R. Baum*	Executive Vice President and Director	None
Ken Bradle**	Executive Vice President	None
J. Charles Cardona *	Executive Vice President and Director	None
Robert G. Capone*****	Executive Vice President and Director	None
Mark A. Keleher*****	Executive Vice President	None
William H. Maresca*	Executive Vice President	None
Timothy M. McCormick*	Executive Vice President	None
David K. Mossman****	Executive Vice President	None
James Neiland*	Executive Vice President	None
Sean O' Neil****	Executive Vice President	None
Irene Papadoulis**	Executive Vice President and Director	None
Noreen Ross*	Executive Vice President	None
Gary Pierce*	Chief Financial Officer and Director	None
Sue Ann Cormack**	Senior Vice President	None
Marc S. Isaacson**	Senior Vice President	None
Matthew Perrone**	Executive Vice President	None
Bradley J. Skapyak*	Senior Vice President	None
Ronald Jamison*	Chief Legal Officer and Secretary	None
Joseph W. Connolly*	Chief Compliance Officer	Chief Compliance Officer
Stephen Storen*	Chief Compliance Officer	None
Maria Georgopoulos*	Vice President - Facilities Management	None
William Germenis*	Vice President - Compliance	AML Compliance Officer
Jill Gill*	Vice President	None
Tracy Hopkins*	Vice President	None
Mary Merkle*	Vice President - Compliance	None
Jennifer M. Mills*	Vice President - Compliance	None
Paul Molloy*	Vice President	None
James Muir*	Vice President - Compliance	None
Anthony Nunez*	Vice President - Finance	None
David Ray***	Vice President	None
Theodore A. Schachar*	Vice President - Tax	None
William Schalda*	Vice President	None
John Shea*	Vice President - Finance	None
Susan Verbil*	Vice President - Finance	None
William Verity*	Vice President - Finance	None
James Windels *	Vice President	Treasurer
James Bitetto*	Assistant Secretary	VP and Assistant Secretary
Ken Christoffersen***	Assistant Secretary	None

*	Principal business address is 200 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10166.
**	Principal business address is 144 Glenn Curtiss Blvd., Uniondale, NY 11556-0144.
***	Principal business address is 210 University Blvd., Suite 800, Denver, CO 80206.
****	Principal business address is One Mellon Bank Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15258.

Item 28.   Location of Accounts and Records:

1.	The Bank of New York Mellon One Mellon Bank Center Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15258
2.	DST Systems, Inc. 1055 Broadway Kansas City, Missouri 64105
3.	The Dreyfus Corporation 200 Park Avenue New York, New York 10166

Item 29.   Management Services:

Not Applicable.

Item 30.   Undertakings:

None.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Registrant has duly caused this Amendment to the Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of New York, State of New York, on the 30th day of July, 2008.

BNY MELLON FUNDS TRUST
By:	/s/ Christopher E. Sheldon*
	Christopher E. Sheldon President

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this Amendment to the Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the date indicated.

Name		Title	Date
/s/ Christopher E. Sheldon* Christopher E. Sheldon		President (Principal Executive Officer)	July 30, 2008
/s/ James Windels* James Windels		Treasurer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)	July 30, 2008
/s/ Patrick J. O'Connor* Patrick J. O'Connor		Chairman of the Board	July 30, 2008
/s/ John L. Diederich* John L. Diederich		Trustee	July 30, 2008
/s/ Maureen McFalls Young* Maureen McFalls Young		Trustee	July 30, 2008
/s/ Ronald R. Davenport* Ronald R. Davenport		Trustee	July 30, 2008
/s/ Kevin C. Phelan* Kevin C. Phelan		Trustee	July 30, 2008
/s/ Patrick J. Purcell* Patrick J. Purcell		Trustee	July 30, 2008
/s/ Thomas F. Ryan, Jr.* Thomas F. Ryan, Jr.		Trustee	July 30, 2008
*By:	/s/ Jeff Prusnofsky
	Jeff Prusnofsky, Attorney-in-Fact