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Apr. 30, 2021
AZL MVP Global Balanced Index Strategy Fund
AZL® MVP GLOBAL BALANCED INDEX STRATEGY FUND
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation with preservation of capital as an important consideration.  
Fees and Expenses Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. The Fund is offered exclusively as an investment option for certain Contracts. The table below reflects only Fund expenses and does not reflect Contract fees and expenses. If Contract fees and expenses were included, the fees and expenses in the following table would be higher. Please refer to the Contract prospectus for a description of those fees and expenses.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
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. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, and that you reinvest all dividends and distributions. It does not reflect any Contract fees. If Contract fees were included, the costs shown would be higher. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:  
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. 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 9% of the average value of its portfolio.  
Investments, Risks, and Performance Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund is a fund of funds that, under normal market conditions, seeks to achieve its investment objective primarily by investing in a combination of three underlying funds:FUNDTARGET ALLOCATION•  AZL MSCI Global Equity Index Fund42.5%•  AZL MSCI Emerging Markets Equity Index Fund5%•  AZL Enhanced Bond Index Fund47.5%In addition, under normal market conditions, the Fund will allocate approximately 5% of its assets to the MVP risk management process, described below.These target allocations represent the Fund’s long-term strategic asset allocation, which is not expected to change under normal market conditions. The investment results of the underlying funds will vary. As a result, the Manager monitors the actual allocations to the underlying funds daily and periodically adjusts the actual allocations to attempt to achieve the target allocation. Generally, the Manager will seek to maintain the underlying fund target allocations using the cash flows that result from shareholders buying or selling shares in the Fund. However, if cash flows were insufficient to maintain the target allocations, the Manager would then buy or sell underlying funds as necessary to attempt to return the Fund to the target allocations. Generally, the actual allocations will not be more than 10% above or below the targets.The AZL Enhanced Bond Index Fund, which is subadvised by BlackRock Financial Management, Inc., seeks to exceed the total return of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. Under normal circumstances, it invests in acombination of securities with an overall weighting close to the capitalization weights of its Index. Under normal market conditions, it invests at least 80% of its net assets in investment-grade debt securities (those of medium and high quality) of all types and repurchase agreements for those securities. Further, under normal circumstances, it invests at least 80% of the value of its net assets in securities or other financial instruments that are components of or have economic characteristics similar to the securities included in its Index. The subadviser of the AZL Enhanced Bond Index Fund uses the Index as a guide in structuring the Fund and selecting its investments and manages the Fund to have similar overall interest rate risk to the Index, with the investment objective of seeking to exceed the total return of the Index.The AZL MSCI Global Equity Index Fund, which is subadvised by BlackRock Investment Management, LLC, seeks to match the performance of the MSCI World Index as closely as possible. Under normal circumstances, it generally invests at least 90% of its assets, plus the amount of any borrowing for investment purposes, in securities of its Index and in depositary receipts representing securities of its Index.The AZL MSCI Emerging Markets Equity Index Fund, which is subadvised by BlackRock Investment Management, LLC, seeks to match the performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index as closely as possible. It generally invests at least 90% of its net assets in the securities of its Index and in depositary receipts representing securities in its Index. It may invest the remainder of its assets in other securities, including securities not in its Index, but which the Subadviser believes will help it track its Index, and in other investments, including futures contracts, options on futures contracts, other types of options and swaps related to its Index, as well as cash and cash equivalents. Under normal market conditions, the Fund will allocate approximately 95% of its assets to the underlying funds described above, and approximately 5% of the Fund’s assets may be invested in equity and/or fixed income futures, such as S&P 500 Index futures and U.S. Treasury futures, which generally are liquid.The futures strategy, called the MVP risk management process, seeks to reduce the volatility of the Fund. Volatility refers to the amount by which the price of an investment can change over a period of time. High volatility indicates that the price has changed significantly, up or down, over a short time period; lower volatility indicates that the price is not changing dramatically, but at a steady pace over a period of time. Generally, higher volatility is considered to be more risky.The goal of the MVP process is to achieve Fund volatility at or below 10% on an annualized basis over a full business cycle by either increasing or decreasing the exposure to equities over time. The Fund seeks to accomplish this primarily by selling equity index futures when markets experience heightened volatility, and by buying equity index futures when markets experience normal or lower levels of volatility. Futures are intended to provide the Manager an effective method to reduce volatility of the Fund and limit the need to decrease or increase allocations to the underlying funds. As a result, the MVP process could cause the equity exposure of the Fund to fluctuate significantly but it will generally not be lower than 10%. The MVP process would generally not reduce equity exposure during periods of moderate and low market volatility but during periods of extreme market volatility the MVP process could result in Fund equity exposure that is significantly lower than 10%.Due to market conditions or other factors, the actual or realized volatility of the Fund for any particular period of time may be materially higher than the threshold volatility level. The Fund’s threshold volatility level is not a total return performance target. It is possible for the Fund to maintain its volatility at or under its threshold volatility level while having negative performance returns.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
The price per share of the Fund will fluctuate with changes in value of the investments held by the Fund. You may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its objective. The following is a summary of the principal risks to which the Fund’s portfolio as a whole is subject, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), yield, total return and ability to achieve its investment objective. If changes occur in the Fund’s portfolio holdings, the extent to which the portfolio is subject to each of these risks may also change. • Allocation Risk – The Manager’s decisions regarding how the Fund’s assets should be allocated among the various underlying funds and to futures, may cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives. There can be no guarantee that investment decisions made by the Manager will produce the desired results. Further, because the Manager has limited discretion to change the underlying fund allocations or futures allocations under   normal market conditions, the Fund may underperform comparable funds of funds for which the fund’s manager has such discretion to adjust allocations. • Futures Risk – Because the Fund may utilize futures pursuant to its MVP risk management process, the Fund also is subject to derivatives risk, including risks related to futures. Investing in derivative instruments involves risks that may be different from or greater than the risks associated with investing directly in securities or other traditional investments. The value of futures contracts depend primarily upon the price of the securities, indexes, commodities, currencies or other instruments underlying them. Price movements are also influenced by, among other things, interest rates, changing supply and demand relationships, trade, fiscal, monetary, and exchange control programs and policies of governments, and national and international political and economic events and policies. The cost of futures may also be related, in part, to the degree of volatility of the underlying indices, securities, currencies, or other assets. Accordingly, futures on highly volatile indices, securities, currency, or other assets may be more expensive than futures on other investments. Changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index, and the Fund could lose more than the principal amount invested. • Volatility Risk – Although the Fund’s investment strategy seeks not to exceed a specific volatility level, certain of the Fund’s investments may appreciate or decrease significantly in value over short periods of time, which may cause the Fund’s net asset value per share to experience significant increases or declines in value over short periods of time. The Fund’s volatility strategy may not produce the desired result and there can be no guarantee that the Fund will maintain volatility at or below its threshold volatility level. Additionally, maintenance of the volatility level will not ensure that the Fund will deliver competitive returns. The use of derivatives in connection with the Fund’s volatility strategy may expose the Fund to losses (some of which may be sudden) that it would not have otherwise been exposed to if it had only invested directly in equity and/or fixed income securities. Further, in some market conditions the Fund may either underperform or outperform as a direct result of the MVP process. The Fund may, for example, outperform in downward trending markets when volatility is high (and the equity allocation low) and underperform in upward trending markets when volatility is high (and the equity allocation low). • Quantitative Investing Risk – The value of securities selected using quantitative analysis can react differently to issuer, political, market, and economic developments than the market as a whole or securities selected using only fundamental analysis. The factors used in quantitative analysis and the weight placed on those factors may not be predictive of a security’s value. In addition, factors that affect a security’s value can change over time and these changes may not be reflected in the quantitative model. A quantitative model can be adversely affected by errors or imperfections in the factors or the data on which evaluations are based, or by technical issues with construction or implementation of the model, which in any case may result in a failure of the portfolio to perform as expected or a failure to identify securities that will perform well in the future. Successful operation of a quantitative model is also reliant upon the information technology systems of the Manager or Subadviser, as applicable, and its ability to ensure those systems remain operational and that appropriate disaster recovery procedures are in place. There can be no assurance that the Manager or Sub‑Adviser will be successful in maintaining effective and operational trading models and the related hardware and software systems. • Fund of Funds Risk – The Fund, as a shareholder of the underlying funds, indirectly bears its proportionate share of any investment management fees and other expenses of the underlying funds. Further due to the fees and expenses paid by the Fund, as well as small variations in the Fund’s actual allocations to the underlying funds and any futures and cash held in the Fund’s portfolio, the performance and income distributions of the Fund will not be the same as the performance and income distributions of the underlying funds allocated according to the target allocations described here. In addition, the Fund bears the investment risks of the investments of the underlying funds. The principal risks of the underlying funds are: • Market Risk – The market value of portfolio securities may go up or down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably. • Issuer Risk – The value of a security may decline for a number of reasons directly related to the issuer of the security. • Selection Risk – Because AZL Enhanced Bond Index Fund is actively managed, there can be no guarantee that investment decisions made for the fund will produce the desired results. Although the fund seeks to provide a total return in excess of the Index, market conditions or implementation of the fund’s investment strategy may result in losses, and the fund may not achieve the desired correlation with and/or may not outperform the Index. • Index Fund Risk – Certain of the Underlying Funds do not attempt to manage market volatility or reduce the effects of poor performance. In addition, factors such as fund expenses, selection of a representative portfolio, changes in the composition of the index, or the timing of purchases or redemptions of fund shares may affect the correlation between the performance of the index and the fund’s performance. • Sovereign Debt Risk – Sovereign debt instruments are subject to the risk that a governmental entity may delay or refuse to pay interest or repay principal on its sovereign debt, due, for example, to cash flow problems, insufficient foreign currency reserves, political considerations, the relative size of the governmental entity’s debt position in relation to the economy or the failure to put in place economic reforms required by the International Monetary Fund or other multilateral agencies. • Treasury Obligations Risk – Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity. However, due to fluctuations in interest rates, the market value of such securities may vary during the period shareholders own shares of the Fund. • U.S. Government Obligations Risk – Certain securities in which the Fund may invest, including securities issued by certain government agencies and government sponsored enterprises, are not guaranteed by the U.S. Government or supported by the full faith and credit of the United States. • Credit Risk – The failure of the issuer of a debt security to pay interest or repay principal in a timely manner may have an adverse impact on a Fund’s earnings. • Interest Rate Risk – Debt securities held by the Fund may decline in value due to rising interest rates. • Call Risk – If interest rates fall, issuers of callable debt securities are more likely to prepay prior to the maturity date. The Fund may not be able to reinvest the proceeds from the prepayment in investments that will generate the same level of income. • Extension Risk – If interest rates rise, debt securities may be paid in full more slowly than anticipated. • Income Risk – Falling interest rates may cause the Fund’s income to decline. • Foreign Securities Risk – Investing in the securities of non‑U.S. issuers involves a number of risks, such as fluctuations in currency values, adverse political, social or economic developments, and differences in social and economic developments or policies. • Depositary Receipt Risk – Depositary receipts involve many of the same risks as those associated with direct investment in foreign securities. • Emerging Markets Risk – Emerging markets may have less developed or more volatile trading markets and greater likelihood of government restrictions, nationalization, or confiscation than developed countries. Companies in emerging market countries may have less developed legal and accounting systems and generally may be subject to less stringent regulatory, disclosure, financial reporting, accounting, auditing and recordkeeping standards than companies in more developed countries. As a result, information, including financial information, about such companies may be less available and reliable which can impede the Fund’s ability to evaluate such companies. Securities law and the enforcement of systems of taxation in many emerging market countries may change quickly and unpredictably, and the ability to bring and enforce actions, or to obtain information needed to pursue or enforce such actions, may be limited. In addition, investments in emerging markets securities may be subject to additional transaction costs, delays in settlement procedures, unexpected market closures, and lack of timely information. Frontier market countries generally have smaller economies or less developed capital markets and, as a result, the risks of investing in emerging market countries are magnified in frontier market countries. • Risks of Investing in China – Investments in companies located or operating in China, including Hong Kong, involve risks not associated with investments in Western nations, such as nationalization, expropriation, or confiscation of property; difficulty in obtaining information necessary for investigations into and/or litigation against Chinese companies, as well as in obtaining and/or enforcing judgments; limited legal remedies for shareholders; alteration or discontinuation of economic reforms; military conflicts, either internal or with other countries; inflation, currency fluctuations and fluctuations in inflation and interest rates that may have negative effects on the economy and securities markets of China; and China’s dependency on the economies of other Asian countries, many of which are developing countries. Further, health events, such as the recent coronavirus outbreak, may cause uncertainty and volatility in the Chinese economy. Certain securities issued by companies located or operating in China are subject to trading restrictions, quota limitations, and clearing and settlement risks. Significant portions of the Chinese securities markets may become rapidly illiquid, as Chinese issuers have the ability to suspend the trading of their equity securities, or as a result of adverse economic, market or political events, or adverse investor perceptions, whether or not accurate. The inability of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) to inspect audit work papers and practices of PCAOB-registered accounting firms in China with respect to their audit work of U.S. reporting companies may impose significant additional risks associated with investments in China. • Currency Risk – Investing in securities that trade in and receive revenues in foreign currencies creates risk because foreign currencies may decline relative to the U.S. dollar, resulting in a potential loss to the Fund. In the case of hedging positions, the U.S. dollar may decline in value relative to the currency that has been hedged. • Derivatives Risk – Investing in derivative instruments involves risks that may be different from or greater than the risks associated with investing directly in securities or other traditional investments. Derivatives are subject to a number of other risks, such as liquidity risk, interest rate risk, market risk, credit risk, and selection risk. Derivatives also involve the risk of mispricing or improper valuation and the risk that changes in the value may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate, or index. Using derivatives may result in losses, possibly in excess of the principal amount invested. • Leveraging Risk – A Fund may engage in certain kinds of transactions, including the use of derivatives that may give rise to a form of leverage. The use of leverage may require the Fund to liquidate a portfolio position at a disadvantageous time or may exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. • Capitalization Risk – Investing in small- to mid‑sized companies creates risk because smaller companies may have unpredictable or limited earnings, and their securities may be less liquid or experience more volatile prices than those of large companies. • Financials Sector Risk – The performance of companies in the financials sector may be adversely impacted by many factors, including, among others, changes in government regulations, economic conditions, interest rates, credit rating downgrades, and decreased liquidity in credit markets. The extent to which the Fund may invest in a company that engages in securities-related activities or banking is limited by applicable law. The impact of changes in capital requirements and recent or future regulation of any individual financial company, or of the financials sector as a whole, cannot be predicted. In recent years, cyberattacks and technology malfunctions and failures have become increasingly frequent in this sector and have caused significant losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the Fund. • Liquidity Risk – An investment that is difficult to purchase or sell may have an adverse effect on the Fund’s returns. • Privately Placed Securities Risk – An underlying fund may invest in privately placed securities, which are subject to resale restrictions. • Portfolio Turnover Risk – A Fund may trade its portfolio securities frequently, which could result in higher transaction costs and could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. • Mortgage-Related and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk – Investing in mortgage-related or other asset-backed securities involves a variety of risks associated with the credit markets, such as rising or falling interest rates, increases in the rate of defaults or prepayments, and the quality of the pool of mortgages (subprime risk) or other assets that backs the security. • Repurchase Agreements and Purchase and Sale Contracts Risk – If the other party to a repurchase agreement or purchase and sale contract defaults on its obligation under the agreement, the Fund may suffer delays and incur costs or lose money in exercising its rights under the agreement. If the seller fails to repurchase the security in either situation and the market value of the security declines, the Fund may lose money. • Focused Investments Risk – Investing in a relatively small number of issuers, industries, or regions involves added risk. Changes in the value of a single security or a single economic, political, or regulatory event may have a large impact on the value of the Fund’s portfolio. • Collateralized Debt Obligations Risk – In addition to the typical risks associated with fixed-income securities and asset-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations, including CLOs, carry additional risks including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the risk that the collateral may default or decline in value or be downgraded, if rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization; (iii) the Fund may invest in tranches of CDOs that are subordinate to other tranches; (iv) the structure and complexity of the transaction and the legal documents could lead to disputes among investors regarding the characterization of proceeds; (v) the investment return achieved by the Fund could be significantly different than those predicted by financial models; (vi) the lack of a readily available secondary market for CDOs; (vii) the risk of forced “fire sale” liquidation due to technical defaults such as coverage test failures; and (viii) the CDO’s manager may perform poorly.
Performance Information
The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of an investment in the Fund by showing changes in its performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for one year, five years and   since its inception compare with those of a broad-based measure of market performance, the MSCI World Index. The Fund’s performance also is compared to the returns of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, and the Global Balanced Composite Index, which are relevant to the Fund because they have characteristics similar to the Fund’s investment strategies. The Global Balanced Composite Index is composed of the MSCI World Index (45%), MSCI Emerging Markets Index (5%), and Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (50%). Both the bar chart and the table assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The performance of the Fund will vary from year to year. The Fund’s performance does not reflect the cost of insurance and separate account charges, which are imposed under your Contract. If they were included, performance would be reduced. Past performance does not indicate how the Fund will perform in the future.
Performance Bar Chart and Table Calendar Year Total Return Annual Return %
  Highest and Lowest Quarter Returns (for periods shown in the bar chart) Highest (Q4, 2020)      7.56 %  Lowest (Q1, 2020)      -8.93 % 
Average Annual Total Returns