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METROPOLITAN WEST UNCONSTRAINED BOND FUND
Metropolitan West Unconstrained Bond Fund
Investment Objective
The Unconstrained Bond Fund seeks to provide investors with positive long-term returns irrespective of general securities market conditions.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.
Shareholder Fees (Fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees - METROPOLITAN WEST UNCONSTRAINED BOND FUND - USD ($)
M Class
I Class
Shareholder Fees (Fees paid directly from your investment) none none
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses - METROPOLITAN WEST UNCONSTRAINED BOND FUND
M Class
I Class
Management Fees 0.65% 0.65%
Distribution (12b-1) Fees 0.25% none
Other Expenses 0.14% 0.08%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 1.04% 0.73%
Example
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example - METROPOLITAN WEST UNCONSTRAINED BOND FUND - USD ($)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Class M 106 331 574 1,271
Class I 75 233 406 906
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 33% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund intends to pursue its objective by utilizing a flexible investment approach that allocates investments across a range of global investment opportunities related to credit, currencies and interest rates. Satisfying the Fund’s objective would require it to achieve positive total returns over a full market cycle. Total return includes income and capital gains.

The use of the term “unconstrained” in the Fund’s name means that it is not limited by the types of investments in a particular securities index. The Fund is not managed to be compared to any such index. The Fund also is unconstrained in the sense that it is not limited to any single type of investment strategy.

The portfolio management team expects to actively evaluate each investment idea based on its potential return, its risk level and how it fits within the Fund’s overall portfolio in determining whether to buy or sell investments. The Adviser will also actively manage the Fund’s risks on an on-going basis to mitigate the risks of excessive losses by the portfolio overall.

The Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, which includes borrowings for investment purposes, in securities and instruments it regards as bonds in the U.S. and abroad, including emerging markets, and may purchase securities of varying maturities issued by domestic and foreign corporations and governments. The Fund may invest in both investment grade and high yield fixed income securities (“junk bonds”), subject to investing no more than 50% of its total assets (measured at the time of investment) in securities rated below investment grade by Moody’s, S&P or Fitch, or, if unrated, determined by the Adviser to be of comparable quality. Under normal conditions, the average portfolio duration of the fixed-income portion of the Fund’s portfolio will vary from negative three (-3) years to positive eight (8) years. Duration is a measure of the expected life of a fixed income security that is used to determine the sensitivity of a security to changes in interest rates. As a separate measure, there is no limit on the weighted average maturity of the Fund’s portfolio.

The Fund may invest, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in foreign securities, and up to 50% of the Fund’s total assets may be invested in emerging markets and instruments that are economically tied to emerging market countries. The Fund will normally limit its foreign currency exposure (from non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities or currencies) to 40% of its total assets. The Fund reserves the right to hedge its exposure to foreign currencies to reduce the risk of loss from fluctuations in currency exchange rates, but will be under no obligation to do so under any circumstances.

The Fund may invest, without limitation, in derivative instruments, primarily futures and forward contracts, options, currency futures, and swap agreements (typically interest- and index-linked swaps, total return swaps and credit default swaps). Derivatives will be used in an effort to hedge investments, for risk management or to increase income or gain for the Fund. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its total assets in preferred stock and up to 5% in common stock of domestic and foreign companies.
Principal Risks
Because the Fund holds securities with fluctuating market prices, the value of the Fund’s shares will vary as its portfolio securities increase or decrease in value. Therefore, the value of your investment in the Fund could go down as well as up. You can lose money by investing in the Fund.

The principal risks affecting the Fund that can cause a decline in value are:
  • Market Risk: the risk that returns from the securities in which the Fund invests will underperform returns from the general securities markets or other types of securities.
  • Interest Rate Risk: the risk that debt securities will decline in value because of changes in interest rates.
  • High Yield Risk: the risk that these bonds have a higher degree of default risk and may be less liquid and subject to greater price volatility than investment grade bonds.
  • Issuer/Credit Risk: the risk that a security’s value may decline for reasons directly related to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer’s good or services.
  • Derivatives Risk: the risk of investing in derivative instruments, which includes liquidity, interest rate, market, credit and management risks as well as risks related to mispricing or improper valuation. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, reference rate or index, and the Fund could lose more than the principal amount invested. These investments can create investment leverage and may create additional risks that may subject the Fund to greater volatility and less liquidity than investments in more traditional securities.
  • Swap Agreements Risk: the risk of using swaps, which, in addition to risks applicable to derivatives generally, includes: (1) the inability to assign a swap contract without the consent of the counterparty; (2) potential default of the counterparty to a swap for those not traded through a central counterparty; (3) absence of a liquid secondary market for any particular swap at any time; and (4) possible inability of the Fund to close out a swap transaction at a time that otherwise would be favorable for it to do so.
  • Leverage Risk: the risk that leverage may result from certain transactions, including the use of derivatives and borrowing. This may impair the Fund’s liquidity, cause it to liquidate positions at an unfavorable time, increase its volatility or otherwise cause it not to achieve its intended result. The Fund will reduce leverage risk by either segregating an equal amount of liquid assets or “covering” the transactions that introduce such risk.
  • Foreign Investing Risk: the risk that the value of the Fund’s foreign investments will fluctuate with market conditions, currency exchange rates and the economic and political climates of the foreign countries where the Fund invests or has exposure. Emerging market debt also may be of lower credit quality and subject to greater risk of default.
  • Equities Risk: the risk that equity securities are susceptible to general stock market fluctuations and to volatile increases and decreases in value.
  • Currency Risk: the risk that foreign currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and affect the Fund’s investments in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities that trade in, and receive revenues in, or in derivatives that provide exposure to, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies.
  • Portfolio Management Risk: the risk that an investment strategy may fail to produce the intended results. Also, because the Fund may use multiple investment strategies, it may use a strategy that produces a less favorable result than would have been produced by another strategy.
  • Liquidity Risk: the risk that there may be no willing buyer of the Fund’s portfolio securities and the Fund may have to sell those securities at a lower price or may not be able to sell the securities at all, each of which would have a negative effect on performance. Over recent years, there has been a dramatic decline in the ability of dealers to make markets, which can further constrain liquidity and increase the volatility of portfolio valuations. High levels of redemptions in bond funds in response to market conditions could cause greater losses as a result. Recent changes in regulations such as the Volcker Rule may further constrain the ability of market participants to create liquidity, particularly in times of increased market volatility.
  • Prepayment Risk of Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities: the risk that in times of declining interest rates, the Fund’s higher yielding securities will be prepaid and the Fund will have to replace them with securities having a lower yield.
  • Extension Risk of Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities: the risk that in times of rising interest rates prepayments will slow causing securities considered short or intermediate term to become longer-term securities that fluctuate more widely in response to changes in interest rates than shorter term securities.
  • Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities Investment Risk: the risk that the impairment of the value of the collateral underlying the security in which the Fund invests, such as non-payment of loans, will result in a reduction in the value of the security. The value of these securities may also fluctuate in response to the market’s perception of the value of issuers or collateral.
Please see “Principal Risks” and “Other Risks” for a more detailed description of the risks of investing in the Fund.

Your investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, entity, or person.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The bar chart shows performance of the Fund’s Class M shares. Class M performance is lower than Class I performance because Class I has lower expenses than Class M. The table compares the average annual total returns of the Fund to a broad-based securities market index. Total returns would have been lower if certain fees and expenses had not been waived or reimbursed. The inception date of Class M shares and Class I shares of the Fund is October 1, 2011. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information for the Fund is available on our website at www.tcw.com or by calling (800) 241-4671.
Unconstrained Bond Fund – Class M Shares
Annual Total Returns for Year Ended 12/31
Bar Chart
Year-to-Date Total Return of Class M Shares as of June 30, 2017: 2.28%

Highest:        6.82%    (quarter ended March 31, 2012)
Lowest:        -0.94%    (quarter ended June 30, 2013)
Average Annual Total Returns

(For Periods Ended December 31, 2016)
Average Annual Total Returns - METROPOLITAN WEST UNCONSTRAINED BOND FUND
1 Year
5 Years
Since Inception
Inception Date
Class M 3.50% 4.96% 6.32% Oct. 01, 2011
Class M | After Taxes on Distributions 2.38% 3.77% 5.08% Oct. 01, 2011
Class M | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 1.97% 3.33% 4.40% Oct. 01, 2011
Class I 3.73% 5.22% 6.58% Oct. 01, 2011
BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. LIBOR 3-Month Average Index 0.70% 0.39% 0.39%  
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns are shown for only Class M Shares. After-tax returns for other classes will vary. In some cases, returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares may be higher than returns before taxes because the calculations assume that the investor received a tax deduction for any loss incurred on the sale of the shares.