emerging markets. The Fund invests primarily in U.S. dollar denominated securities, although the Fund may also invest in
non-dollar denominated securities. The Fund currently anticipates that it will invest no more than 10% of its
total assets in non-dollar denominated securities, although, from time to time, the Fund may invest a greater
percentage of its assets in non-dollar denominated securities to take advantage of market
conditions.
In connection with managing volatility, the Fund seeks to maintain a duration of ten years or less, although, under certain market conditions such as in periods of significant
volatility in interest rates and spreads, the Fund’s duration may be longer than ten years. Duration is a
measure of the price sensitivity of a debt security or a portfolio of debt securities to relative changes in
interest rates. For instance, a duration of three years means that a security’s or portfolio’s price would be expected to decrease by approximately 3% with a 1% increase in interest rates (assuming a parallel shift in yield curve).
Although the Fund has the flexibility to invest above 65% of its total assets in investments that are rated below investment grade (also known as junk bonds or high yield securities) or the
unrated equivalent to take advantage of market opportunities, under normal market conditions the Fund invests
at least 35% of its total assets in investments that, at the time of purchase, are rated investment grade or
the unrated equivalent.
Below investment grade securities may include so-called “distressed debt.” Distressed debt includes securities of issuers experiencing financial or operating
difficulties, securities where the issuer has defaulted in the payment of interest or principal or in the
performance of its covenants or agreements, securities of issuers that may be involved in bankruptcy proceedings,
reorganizations or financial restructurings or securities of issuers operating in troubled
industries.
A significant portion of the Fund’s assets may be invested in asset-backed securities, mortgage-related securities and mortgage-backed securities. Such securities may be structured
as collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) and stripped mortgage-backed securities, including those
structured such that payments consist of interest-only (IO), principal-only (PO) or principal and interest. The
Fund also may invest in inverse floaters and inverse IOs, which are debt securities with interest rates that
reset in the opposite direction from the market rate to which the security is indexed. The Fund may also invest in structured investments and adjustable rate mortgage loans (ARMs). The Fund may invest a significant amount of its assets
in sub-prime mortgage-related securities.
The Fund may invest in securities issued by the U.S. government and its agencies and instrumentalities including U.S. Treasury securities, treasury receipts and obligations and securities
issued by the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association
(Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac).
The Fund may also invest in mortgage pass-through securities including securities eligible to be sold on the “to-be-announced” or TBA market (mortgage TBAs). The Fund may
enter into dollar rolls, in which the Fund sells mortgage-backed securities including mortgage TBAs and at the
same time contracts to buy back very similar securities on a future date. The Fund may also sell mortgage TBAs
short.
The Fund
may invest in inflation-linked debt securities including fixed and floating rate debt securities of varying maturities issued by the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities, such as Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS).
The Fund may also invest in inflation-linked debt securities issued by other entities such as corporations,
foreign governments and foreign issuers. The Fund may invest in loan participations and assignments (Loans) and
commitments to purchase Loans (Unfunded Commitments). Loans will typically consist of senior floating rate
loans (Senior Loans), but may also include secured and unsecured loans, second lien loans or more junior (Junior
Loans) and bridge loans.
The Fund may
also invest in convertible securities and preferred stock that the adviser believes will produce income or generate return. The Fund also may use bank obligations, commercial paper, corporate debt securities, custodial receipts, inverse
floating rate instruments, municipal securities, private placements, restricted securities and other
unregistered securities, real estate investment trusts (REITs), short-term funding agreements, when-issued
securities, delayed delivery securities and forward commitments, and zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and deferred
payment securities. The securities in which the Fund invests may include debt securities issued by governments and their agencies, supranational organizations, corporations, and banks.
The Fund has flexibility to utilize derivatives and at times, use of such derivatives may be a principal strategy. Derivatives are instruments that have a value based on another instrument,
exchange rate or index. Derivatives will be used primarily for hedging, including duration hedging, but may
also be used as substitutes for securities in which the Fund can invest. Such derivatives may include futures
contracts, options, swaps including interest rate and credit default swaps, and forward contracts. The Fund may
also use derivatives for other hedging purposes (e.g., decreasing or increasing exposure to certain
securities), to increase income and gain to the Fund, as part of its risk management process by establishing or
adjusting exposure to particular securities, markets or currencies and/or to manage cash flows.
As part of its principal investment strategy and for temporary defensive purposes, any portion of the Fund’s assets may be invested in cash and cash equivalents.
In buying and selling investments for the Fund, the adviser uses a flexible, opportunistic approach that combines strategy and sector rotation (asset allocation). Strategy rotation refers
to the shifting of investments among the multiple debt markets in which the Fund may invest. Sector rotation
refers to the shifting of investments from one or more sectors (for example, high yield) into one or more other
sectors (for example, emerging markets). For each strategy/sector, dedicated specialists provide security
research and recommendations to the lead portfolio managers. Buy and sell decisions are based on fundamental,
quantitative and technical analysis, including the expected potential to generate income. As part of its risk
management strategy, the adviser typically will invest in multiple strategies/sectors, but, as part of the
Fund’s opportunistic strategy, the adviser has flexibility to invest in a single or small number of
strategies/sectors from time to time. Due to the Fund’s flexible asset allocation approach, the
Fund’s risk exposure may vary and a risk associated with an individual strategy or type of investment may
become more pronounced when the Fund