485APOS 1 d547774d485apos.htm LEGG MASON ETF INVESTMENT TRUST - WESTERN ASSET TOTAL RETURN ETF Legg Mason ETF Investment Trust - Western Asset Total Return ETF
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As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 10, 2018

Securities Act File No. 333-206784

Investment Company Act File No. 811-23096

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM N-1A

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

  UNDER  
  THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933  
  Pre-Effective Amendment No.  
  Post-Effective Amendment No. 56  
  and/or  
  REGISTRATION STATEMENT  
  UNDER  
  THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940  
  Amendment No. 59  
  (Check appropriate box or boxes)  

 

 

Legg Mason ETF Investment Trust

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

 

 

 

620 Eighth Avenue, 49th Floor, New York, New York   10018
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)   (Zip Code)

Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code (877) 721-1926

 

 

Robert I. Frenkel

Legg Mason ETF Investment Trust

100 First Stamford Place

Stamford, Connecticut 06902

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

 

 

COPY TO:

Benjamin J. Haskin, Esq.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

1875 K Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20006

 

 

Continuous

(Approximate Date of Proposed Offering)

It is proposed that this filing will become effective:

 

 

immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)

 

on                    pursuant to paragraph (b)

 

60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)

 

on                    pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)

 

75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)

 

on                    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.

This filing relates solely to Western Asset Total Return ETF.

 

 

 


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LOGO

 

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This 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, September 10, 2018

Prospectus   LOGO   [    ], 2018

 

LEGG MASON FIXED INCOME

ETFs

 

 

WESTERN ASSET TOTAL RETURN ETF

NASDAQ (Ticker Symbol): WBND

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or determined whether this Prospectus is accurate or complete. Any statement to the contrary is a crime.

 

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: NOT FDIC INSURED • NO BANK GUARANTEE • MAY LOSE VALUE


Table of Contents
Contents  
Investment objective      2  
Fees and expenses of the fund      2  
Principal investment strategies      2  
Principal risks      3  
Performance      8  
Management      9  
Purchase and sale of fund shares      9  
Tax information      9  
Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries      9  
More on the fund’s investment strategies, investments and risks      10  
More on fund management      28  
Shareholder information      30  
Dividends, other distributions and taxes      33  
Creations and redemptions      35  
Financial highlights      37  

Investment objective

Western Asset Total Return ETF (the “fund”) seeks to maximize total return, consistent with prudent investment management and liquidity needs.

Fees and expenses of the fund

The accompanying table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. You may also incur usual and customary brokerage commissions and other charges when buying or selling shares of the fund, which are not reflected in the table. The management agreement between Legg Mason ETF Investment Trust (the “Trust”) and Legg Mason Partners Fund Advisor, LLC (“LMPFA” or the “manager”) (the “Management Agreement”) provides that LMPFA will pay all operating expenses of the fund, except interest expenses, taxes, brokerage expenses, future Rule 12b-1 fees (if any), acquired fund fees and expenses, extraordinary expenses and the management fee payable to LMPFA under the Management Agreement.

 

Shareholder fees
(fees paid directly from your investment)     
     None
  
Annual fund operating expenses (%)
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)     
Management fees    0.49
Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees    0.00
Other expenses1    None
Fees waived and/or reimbursed2    (0.04)
Total annual fund operating expenses    0.45

 

1 

“Other expenses” are estimated for the current fiscal year. Actual expenses may differ from estimates.

 

2

The manager has agreed to waive and/or reimburse management fees so that the ratio of total annual fund operating expenses will not exceed 0.45% (subject to the same exclusions as the Management Agreement). This arrangement cannot be terminated prior to December 31, 2019 without the Board of Trustees’ consent.

Example:

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes:

 

 

You invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated

 

 

Your investment has a 5% return each year and the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that fee waivers or expense reimbursements are reflected only in the 1-year figure)

You may also incur usual and customary brokerage commissions and other charges when buying or selling shares of the fund, which are not reflected in the example.

Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

Number of years you own shares ($)
       1 year      3 years
Western Asset Total Return ETF      46      153

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 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. The fund is newly offered; therefore, it does not have a turnover rate to report for the most recent fiscal year.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal market conditions, the fund will seek its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its assets in a portfolio comprised of fixed income securities, debt instruments,

 

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derivatives, equity securities of any type acquired in reorganizations of issuers of fixed income securities or debt instruments (“work out securities”), non-convertible preferred securities, warrants, cash and cash equivalents, foreign currencies, and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that provide exposure to these investments (“Principal Investments”). Debt instruments include loans and similar debt instruments. However, at the fund’s inception, the fund expects to invest principally in the Principal Investments except for work out securities, non-convertible preferred stock and warrants.

As part of its 80% policy, the fund intends to invest in derivatives that (i) provide exposure to the Principal Investments, (ii) are used to risk manage the fund’s holdings, and/or (iii) are used to enhance returns. The risk management uses of derivatives will include managing (i) investment-related risks, (ii) risks due to fluctuations in securities prices, interest rates, or currency exchanges rates, (iii) risks due to the credit-worthiness of an issuer, and (iv) the effective duration of the fund’s portfolio. The types of derivatives in which the fund will invest include swaps and security-based swaps, futures and options on futures, currency forwards, and currency options and security options. As a result of the fund’s use of derivatives and to serve as collateral, the fund may also hold significant amounts of U.S. Treasury securities, cash and cash equivalents and foreign currencies in which certain derivatives are denominated.

The types of fixed income securities in which the fund may invest include corporate debt securities, U.S. government securities, asset-backed securities (“ABS”), mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) (including commercial MBS (“CMBS”), residential MBS (“RMBS”) and non-agency collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOS”)), collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) and mortgage dollar rolls. The fixed income securities and debt instruments in which the fund may invest may pay fixed, variable or floating rates of interest. The fund will not invest more than 20% of its portfolio in ABS and non-agency, non-government sponsored enterprise and privately-issued MBS or more than 10% of the fund’s total assets in CDOs. The fund will also not invest more than 20% of its total assets in junior loans (e.g., debt instruments that are unsecured and subordinated).

Although the fund may invest in securities and debt instruments of any maturity, the fund expects the normal range of the fund’s effective duration to be approximately 2 to 9 years. Effective duration seeks to measure the expected sensitivity of market price to changes in interest rates, taking into account the anticipated effects of structural complexities (for example, some bonds can be prepaid by the issuer).

The fund may invest up to 30% of its assets in below investment grade fixed income securities or debt instruments. For these purposes, “investment grade” is defined as investments with a rating at the time of purchase in one of the four highest categories of at least one nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”) (e.g., BBB- or higher or Baa3 or higher) or, if unrated, securities of comparable quality at the time of purchase (as determined by the subadviser). Securities rated below investment grade (e.g., BB+ to D or Baa1 to C) or, if unrated, securities of comparable quality at the time of purchase (as determined by the subadviser) are commonly known as “junk bonds” or “high yield securities.”

The fund may invest in securities issued by both U.S. and non-U.S. issuers (including issuers in emerging markets), but the fund will not invest more than 30% of its total assets in securities or debt instruments of non-U.S. issuers or more than 25% of its total assets directly in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities or debt instruments. For purposes of these limitations only, derivatives, warrants and U.S.-listed ETFs that provide indirect exposure to the investments described above will not be counted by the fund in calculating its holdings in non-U.S. issuers or in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities or debt instruments.

Principal risks

Risk is inherent in all investing. The value of your investment in the fund, as well as the amount of return you receive on your investment, may fluctuate significantly. You may lose part or all of your investment in the fund or your investment may not perform as well as other similar investments. An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or by any bank or government agency. The following is an alphabetical list of the principal risks of investing in the fund.

Asset class risk. Securities or other assets in the fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes.

Asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities risk. MBS and ABS are subject to credit, interest rate, prepayment and extension risks. These securities also are subject to risk of default on the underlying mortgage or asset, particularly during periods of economic downturn. When market interest rates increase, the market values of MBS (CMBS and RMBS) decline. At the same time, however, mortgage refinancings and prepayments slow, which lengthens the effective duration of these securities. As a result, the negative effect of the interest rate increase on the market value of MBS is usually more pronounced than it is for other types of fixed income securities, potentially increasing the volatility of the fund. Conversely, when market interest rates decline, while the value of MBS may increase, the rate of prepayment of the underlying mortgages also tends to increase, which shortens the effective duration of these securities. MBS are also subject to the risk that underlying borrowers will be unable to meet their obligations and the value of property that secures the mortgage may decline in value and be insufficient, upon foreclosure, to repay the associated loan. Investments in ABS are subject to similar risks. Payment of principal and interest on ABS is dependent largely on the cash flows generated by the assets backing the securities. The risk of loss due to default on private MBS and ABS is historically higher because neither the U.S. government nor an agency or instrumentality has guaranteed them. MBS and ABS are subject to heightened liquidity risk and the liquidity of MBS and ABS may change over time.

 

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Principal risks cont’d

 

Authorized Participant concentration risk. Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the fund. The fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, in either of these cases, fund shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (“NAV”) and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting.

Cash transactions risk. Unlike most other ETFs, the fund may effect its creations and redemptions primarily for cash, rather than in-kind securities. Paying redemption proceeds in cash rather than through in-kind delivery of portfolio securities may require the fund to dispose of or sell portfolio investments to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds at an inopportune time. This may cause the fund to recognize gains or losses that it might not have incurred if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the fund may pay out higher or lower annual capital gains distributions than ETFs that redeem in-kind. As a practical matter, only institutions and large investors, such as market makers or other large broker-dealers, purchase or redeem Creation Units. Most investors will buy and sell shares of the fund on an exchange.

Credit risk. If an issuer or guarantor of a security held by the fund or a counterparty to a financial contract with the fund defaults or is downgraded, or is perceived to be less creditworthy, or if the value of the assets underlying a security declines, the value of your investment will typically decline. Subordinated securities are more likely to suffer a credit loss than non-subordinated securities of the same issuer and will be disproportionately affected by a default, downgrade or perceived decline in creditworthiness.

Currency risk. The value of investments in securities denominated in foreign currencies increases or decreases as the rates of exchange between those currencies and the U.S. dollar change. Currency conversion costs and currency fluctuations could erase investment gains or add to investment losses. Currency exchange rates can be volatile, and are affected by factors such as general economic conditions, the actions of the U.S. and foreign governments or central banks, the imposition of currency controls and speculation.

Cybersecurity risk. Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause the fund, the manager, the subadviser, Authorized Participants, the relevant listing exchange and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or lose operational functionality.

Derivatives risk. Using derivatives can increase fund losses and reduce opportunities for gains when market prices, interest rates, currencies or the derivatives themselves behave in a way not anticipated by the fund. Using derivatives also can have a leveraging effect and increase fund volatility. Certain derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to sell, unwind or value, and the counterparty may default on its obligations to the fund. Derivatives also tend to involve greater liquidity risk and valuation risk . The fund may be unable to terminate or sell its derivative positions. In fact, many over-the-counter derivatives will not have liquidity beyond the counterparty to the instrument. Derivatives are generally subject to the risks applicable to the assets, rates, indices or other indicators underlying the derivative. The value of a derivative may fluctuate more than the underlying assets, rates, indices or other indicators to which it relates. Use of derivatives may have different tax consequences for the fund than an investment in the underlying security, and those differences may affect the amount, timing and character of income distributed to shareholders. The U.S. government and foreign governments are in the process of adopting and implementing regulations governing derivatives markets, including mandatory clearing of certain derivatives, margin and reporting requirements. The ultimate impact of the regulations remains unclear. Additional regulation of derivatives may make derivatives more costly, limit their availability or utility, otherwise adversely affect their performance or disrupt markets.

Swap agreements tend to shift the fund’s investment exposure from one type of investment to another. For example, the fund may enter into interest rate swaps, which involve the exchange of interest payments by the fund with another party, such as an exchange of floating rate payments for fixed interest rate payments with respect to a notional amount of principal. If an interest rate swap intended to be used as a hedge negates a favorable interest rate movement, the investment performance of the fund would be less than what it would have been if the fund had not entered into the interest rate swap.

Credit default swap contracts involve heightened risks and may result in losses to the fund. Credit default swaps may be illiquid and difficult to value, and they increase credit risk since the fund has exposure to both the issuer whose credit is the subject of the swap and the counterparty to the swap.

The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are: (a) the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by the fund and the price of the futures contract; (b) the possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a futures contract and the resulting inability to close a futures contract when desired; (c) losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited; (d) the subadviser’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors; and (e) the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations.

To the extent that the fund writes or sells an option, in particular a naked option, if the decline or increase in the underlying asset is significantly below or above the exercise price of the written option, the fund could experience a substantial loss.

 

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Extension risk. When interest rates rise, repayments of fixed income securities, particularly ABS and MBS, may occur more slowly than anticipated, extending the effective duration of these fixed income securities at below market interest rates and causing their market prices to decline more than they would have declined due to the rise in interest rates alone. This may cause the fund’s share price to be more volatile.

Equity securities risk. The stock markets are volatile and the market prices of the fund’s equity securities may decline generally. Equity securities may have greater price volatility than other asset classes, such as fixed income securities, and may fluctuate in price based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions. If the market prices of the equity securities owned by the fund fall, the value of your investment in the fund will decline. If the fund holds equity securities in a company that becomes insolvent, the fund’s interests in the company will be subordinated to the interests of debtholders and general creditors of the company.

Foreign investments and emerging market risk. The fund’s investments in securities of foreign issuers or issuers with significant exposure to foreign markets involve additional risk. Foreign countries in which the fund may invest may have markets that are less liquid, less regulated and more volatile than U.S. markets. The value of the fund’s investments may decline because of factors affecting the particular issuer as well as foreign markets and issuers generally, such as unfavorable or unsuccessful government actions, reduction of government or central bank support and political or financial instability. Lack of information may also affect the value of these securities. To the extent the fund focuses its investments in a single country or only a few countries in a particular geographic region, economic, political, regulatory or other conditions affecting such country or region may have a greater impact on fund performance relative to a more geographically diversified fund.

The risks of foreign investments are heightened when investing in issuers in emerging market countries. Emerging market countries tend to have economic, political and legal systems that are less fully developed and are less stable than those of more developed countries. Less developed markets are more likely to experience problems with the clearing and settling of trades and the holding of securities by banks, agents and depositories that are less developed than those in the United States. They are often particularly sensitive to market movements because their market prices tend to reflect speculative expectations. Low trading volumes may result in a lack of liquidity and in extreme price volatility.

Hedging risk. There can be no assurance that the fund will engage in hedging transactions at any given time, even under volatile market conditions, or that any hedging transactions the fund engages in will be successful. Hedging transactions involve costs and may reduce gains or result in losses.

High yield (“junk”) bonds risk. High yield bonds are generally subject to greater credit risks than higher-grade bonds, including the risk of default on the payment of interest or principal. High yield bonds are considered speculative, tend to be less liquid and are more difficult to value than higher grade securities. High yield bonds tend to be volatile and more susceptible to adverse events, credit downgrades and negative sentiments and may be difficult to sell at a desired price, or at all, during periods of uncertainty or market turmoil.

Leveraging risk. The value of your investment may be more volatile if the fund borrows or uses derivatives or other investments that have a leveraging effect on the fund’s portfolio. Other risks also will be compounded. This is because leverage generally magnifies the effect of a change in the value of an asset and creates a risk of loss of value on a larger pool of assets than the fund would otherwise have had. The fund may also have to sell assets at inopportune times to satisfy its obligations. The use of leverage is considered to be a speculative investment practice and may result in the loss of a substantial amount, and possibly all, of the fund’s assets.

Liquidity risk. Some assets held by the fund may be impossible or difficult to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. These illiquid assets may also be difficult to value. Markets may become illiquid when, for instance, there are few, if any, interested buyers or sellers or when dealers are unwilling or unable to make a market for certain securities. As a general matter, dealers recently have been less willing to make markets for fixed income securities. If the fund is forced to sell an illiquid asset to meet redemption requests or other cash needs, the fund may be forced to sell at a loss.

 

The liquidity of certain assets, particularly of privately-issued and non-investment grade MBS, ABS and CDOs, may be difficult to ascertain and may change over time.

Market and interest rate risk. The market prices of the fund’s securities may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions, inflation, changes in interest rates, lack of liquidity in the bond markets or adverse investor sentiment. When market prices fall, the value of your investment will go down. The value of your investment will generally go down when interest rates rise. A rise in rates tends to have a greater impact on the prices of longer term or duration securities. Interest rates have been historically low, so the fund faces a heightened risk that interest rates may rise. A general rise in interest rates may cause investors to move out of fixed income securities on a large scale, which could adversely affect the price and liquidity of fixed income securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund.

Market events risk. In the past decade financial markets throughout the world have experienced increased volatility, depressed valuations, decreased liquidity and heightened uncertainty. Governmental and non-governmental issuers have defaulted on, or been forced to restructure, their debts. These conditions may continue, recur, worsen or spread. Events that have contributed to these market conditions include, but are not limited to major cybersecurity events; measures to address U.S. federal and state budget deficits; downgrading of U.S. long-term sovereign debt; declines in oil and commodity prices; dramatic changes in currency exchange rates; and public sentiment.

 

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Principal risks cont’d

 

The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve, as well as certain foreign governments and central banks, have taken steps to support financial markets, including by keeping interest rates at historically low levels. This and other government intervention may not work as intended, particularly if the efforts are perceived by investors as being unlikely to achieve the desired results. The Federal Reserve has reduced its market support activities and recently has begun raising interest rates. Certain foreign governments and central banks are implementing or discussing so-called negative interest rates (e.g., charging depositors who keep their cash at a bank) to spur economic growth. Further Federal Reserve or other U.S. or non-U.S. governmental or central bank actions, including interest rate increases or contrary actions by different governments, could negatively affect financial markets generally, increase market volatility and reduce the value and liquidity of securities in which the fund invests.

Policy and legislative changes in the United States and in other countries are affecting many aspects of financial regulation, and may in some instances contribute to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the financial markets. The impact of these changes on the markets, and the practical implications for market participants, may not be fully known for some time.

Economies and financial markets throughout the world are increasingly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, terrorism, natural disasters and other circumstances in one country or region could have profound impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries directly affected, the value and liquidity of the fund’s investments may be negatively affected.

Market trading risk. The fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruptions in the creation/redemption process.

Absence of active market. Although shares of the fund are listed for trading on one or more stock exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such shares will develop or be maintained by market makers or Authorized Participants. Authorized Participants are not obligated to execute purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. In periods of market volatility, market makers and/or Authorized Participants may be less willing to transact in fund shares. The absence of an active market for the fund’s shares may contribute to the fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV.

Shares of the fund may trade at prices other than NAV. Shares of the fund trade on stock exchanges at prices at, above or below the fund’s most recent NAV. The NAV of the fund is calculated at the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of the fund’s holdings. The trading price of the fund’s shares fluctuates continuously throughout trading hours based on both market supply of and demand for fund shares and the underlying value of the fund’s portfolio holdings or NAV. As a result, the trading prices of the fund’s shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility, including during periods of significant redemption requests or other unusual market conditions.

ANY OF THESE FACTORS, AMONG OTHERS, MAY LEAD TO THE FUND’S SHARES TRADING AT A PREMIUM OR DISCOUNT TO NAV.

Mortgage dollar rolls risk. Mortgage dollar rolls are transactions in which the fund sells MBS to a dealer and simultaneously agrees to repurchase similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. The fund’s mortgage dollar rolls could lose money if the price of the mortgage-backed securities sold falls below the agreed upon repurchase price, or if the counterparty is unable to honor the agreement. Mortgage dollar roll transactions may have a leveraging effect on the fund, making the value of an investment in the fund more volatile and magnifying any change in the fund’s net asset value.

National closed market trading risk. Where the underlying securities held by the fund trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the securities exchange on which the fund’s shares trade is open, there are likely to be deviations between the current price of such an underlying security (i.e., during the ETF’s domestic trading day) and the last quoted price for the underlying security (i.e., the fund’s quote from the closed foreign market), which in turn could lead to a difference between the price at which the fund has valued the security and the value of the underlying security. This could also result in premiums or discounts to the fund’s NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Portfolio management risk. The value of your investment may decrease if the subadviser’s judgment about the attractiveness or value of, or market trends affecting a particular security, industry, sector or region, or about market movements is incorrect, or if there are imperfections, errors or limitations in the tools and data used by the subadviser. In addition, the fund’s investment strategies or policies may change from time to time. Those changes may not lead to the results intended by the subadviser and could have an adverse effect on the value or performance of the fund. Furthermore, the implementation of the fund’s investment strategies is subject to a number of constraints, which could also adversely affect the fund’s value or performance.

Prepayment or call risk. Many issuers have a right to prepay their securities. If interest rates fall, an issuer may exercise this right. If this happens, the fund will not benefit from the rise in market price that normally accompanies a decline in interest rates, and will be forced to reinvest prepayment proceeds at a time when yields on securities available in the market are lower than the yield on the prepaid security. The fund also may lose any premium it paid on the security.

 

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Trading issues risk. Trading in shares on NASDAQ may be halted in certain circumstances. There can be no assurance that the requirements of NASDAQ necessary to maintain the listing of the fund will continue to be met.

Valuation risk. The sales price the fund could receive for any particular portfolio investment may differ from the fund’s valuation of the investment, particularly for securities that trade in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. Authorized Participants who purchase or redeem fund shares on days when the fund is holding fair-valued securities may receive fewer or more shares or lower or higher redemption proceeds than they would have received if the fund had not fair-valued securities or had used a different valuation methodology. The fund’s ability to value its investments may be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by pricing services or other third party service providers.

These and other risks are discussed in more detail in the Prospectus or in the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

 

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Performance

 

The fund has not yet operated for a full calendar year. Once the fund has a performance record of at least one calendar year, a bar chart and performance table will be included in this Prospectus. The performance information will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund by showing changes in the fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the fund’s average annual returns compare with those of a broad measure of market performance.

The fund will make updated performance information, including its current net asset value, available at www.leggmason.com/etfproducts (select fund), or by calling the fund at 1-877-721-1926.

 

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Management

 

Investment manager: Legg Mason Partners Fund Advisor, LLC (“LMPFA” or the “manager”)

Subadviser: Western Asset Management Company, LLC (formerly known as Western Asset Management Company) (“Western Asset”)

Sub-subadviser: Western Asset Management Company Limited in London (“Western Asset London”), Western Asset Management Company Pte. Ltd. in Singapore (“Western Asset Singapore”) and Western Asset Management Company Ltd in Japan (“Western Asset Japan”). References to “the subadviser” include the subadviser and each applicable sub-subadviser.

Portfolio managers: S. Kenneth Leech (Chief Investment Officer), Mark S. Lindbloom (Portfolio Manager), Julien A. Scholnick (Portfolio Manager), Frederick R. Marki (Portfolio Manager) and John L. Bellows (Portfolio Manager/Research Analyst). Each of Mr. Leech, Mr. Lindbloom, Mr. Scholnick, Mr. Marki and Mr. Bellows has been part of the portfolio management team for the fund since [month] 2018. These investment professionals, all of whom are employed by Western Asset, work together with a broader investment management team.

Purchase and sale of fund shares

The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (commonly referred to as an “ETF”). Individual shares of the fund are listed on a national securities exchange and are redeemable only by Authorized Participants in Creation Units (as defined in this section). Most investors will buy and sell shares of the fund through a broker-dealer. The price of fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The fund will only issue or redeem shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 100,000 shares or multiples thereof (“Creation Units”) to Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the fund’s distributor. The fund will issue or redeem Creation Units in return for a designated portfolio of securities and/or cash that the fund specifies each day.

Tax information

The fund’s distributions are taxable, and will be taxed as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account. Withdrawals from such tax-deferred arrangements may be subject to tax at a later date.

Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), LMPFA or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

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More on the fund’s investment strategies, investments and risks

 

Introduction

The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and shares of the fund are listed for trading on NASDAQ. The market price for a share of the fund may be different from the fund’s most recent net asset value (“NAV”).

ETFs are funds that trade like other publicly traded securities. Unlike shares of a mutual fund, which can be bought and redeemed from the issuing fund by all shareholders at a price based on NAV, shares of the fund may be purchased or redeemed directly from the fund at NAV solely by Authorized Participants (as defined in the “Creations and redemptions” section of this Prospectus). Also unlike shares of a mutual fund, shares of the fund are listed on a national securities exchange and trade in the secondary market at market prices that change throughout the day.

Investment objective

The fund seeks to maximize total return, consistent with prudent investment management and liquidity needs.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal market conditions, the fund will seek its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its assets in a portfolio comprised of fixed income securities, debt instruments, derivatives, equity securities of any type acquired in reorganizations of issuers of fixed income securities or debt instruments (“work out securities”), non-convertible preferred securities, warrants, cash and cash equivalents, foreign currencies, and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that provide exposure to these investments (“Principal Investments”). Debt instruments include loans and similar debt instruments. However, at the fund’s inception, the fund expects to invest principally in the Principal Investments except for work out securities, non-convertible preferred stock and warrants.

As part of its 80% policy, the fund intends to invest in derivatives that (i) provide exposure to the Principal Investments, (ii) are used to risk manage the fund’s holdings, and/or (iii) are used to enhance returns, such as through covered call strategies. The risk management uses of derivatives will include managing (i) investment-related risks, (ii) risks due to fluctuations in securities prices, interest rates, or currency exchanges rates, (iii) risks due to the credit-worthiness of an issuer, and (iv) the effective duration of the fund’s portfolio. The types of derivatives in which the fund will invest include swaps and security-based swaps, futures and options on futures, currency forwards, and currency options and security options. As a result of the fund’s use of derivatives and to serve as collateral, the fund may also hold significant amounts of U.S. Treasury securities, cash and cash equivalents and foreign currencies in which certain derivatives are denominated.

The types of fixed income securities in which the fund may invest include corporate debt securities, U.S. government securities, asset-backed securities (“ABS”), mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) (including commercial MBS (“CMBS”), residential MBS (“RMBS”) and non-agency collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”)), collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) and mortgage dollar rolls. The fixed income securities and debt instruments in which the fund may invest may pay fixed, variable or floating rates of interest. The fund will not invest more than 20% of its portfolio in ABS and non-agency, non-government sponsored enterprise and privately-issued MBS or more than 10% of the fund’s total assets in CDOs. The fund will also not invest more than 20% of its total assets in junior loans (e.g., debt instruments that are unsecured and subordinated).

Although the fund may invest in securities and debt instruments of any maturity, the fund expects the normal range of the fund’s effective duration to be approximately 2 to 9 years. Effective duration seeks to measure the expected sensitivity of market price to changes in interest rates, taking into account the anticipated effects of structural complexities (for example, some bonds can be prepaid by the issuer).

The fund may invest up to 30% of its assets in below investment grade fixed income securities or debt instruments. For these purposes, “investment grade” is defined as investments with a rating at the time of purchase in one of the four highest categories of at least one nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”) (e.g., BBB- or higher or Baa3 or higher) or, if unrated, securities of comparable quality at the time of purchase (as determined by the subadviser). Securities rated below investment grade (e.g., BB+ to D or Baa1 to C) or, if unrated, securities of comparable quality at the time of purchase (as determined by the subadviser) are commonly known as “junk bonds” or “high yield securities.”

The fund may invest in securities issued by both U.S. and non-U.S. issuers (including issuers in emerging markets), but the fund will not invest more than 30% of its total assets in securities or debt instruments of non-U.S. issuers or more than 25% of its total assets directly in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities or debt instruments. For purposes of these limitations only, derivatives, warrants and U.S.-listed ETFs that provide indirect exposure to the investments described above will not be counted by the fund in calculating its holdings in non-U.S. issuers or in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities or debt instruments.

Investment Professionals and Security Selection. Western Asset’s investment process combines top-down and bottom-up analyses. Western Asset’s US Broad Strategy Committee, which is chaired by the Chief Investment Officer, leads the investment process by considering macro-economic and securities-specific insights and ideas covering all major bond market segments from all of its macro-economic and credit research teams around the globe, and formulates the broad top-down investment outlook, including a set of strategies around duration, yield curve, country, currency and sector.

 

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The US Broad Market portfolios team is ultimately responsible for the fund’s portfolio construction, making sure that allocations are consistent with Western Asset’s overall investment themes while adhering to strategy risk/return profiles and specific guidelines. This includes duration, curve, country, currency and sector positioning. The portfolio managers of the fund are S. Kenneth Leech, Mark S. Lindbloom, Julien A. Scholnick, Frederick R. Marki and John L. Bellows. These investment professionals, all of whom are employed by Western Asset, work together with a broader investment management team (collectively, the “Investment Professionals”).

The Investment Professionals conduct bottom-up fundamental research and provide input into the top-down perspectives. “A top-down view” incorporates macro-economic views on growth, inflation, and fiscal and monetary policy, as well as views on sectors (such as corporates which trade at spreads over U.S. Treasuries) and current general market conditions and valuation levels. This top-down view translates into a set of strategies regarding duration, yield curve, country, currency and sector. The Investment Professionals provide fundamental analysis at sector and subsector levels. Incorporating the macro-economic views of the US Broad Strategy Committee and the risk profile of the fund’s portfolio, the Investment Professionals balance these inputs with their industry/issuer insights in setting sector overweights and underweights. “Bottom up fundamental research” involves detailed analysis of individual securities, issuers, sectors and sub-sectors. The Investment Professionals use a security-specific process in order to assess whether securities are mispriced or undervalued in their opinion and select securities for the fund’s portfolio. The Investment Professionals conduct an ongoing assessment of changing credit characteristics and of securities with characteristics such as assets perceived to be overlooked or under-appreciated, floating or fixed interest rates, credit quality and securities issued in mergers, as well as newly-issued securities. Using sector and issue analyses, the Investment Professionals select issues opportunistically in order to exploit perceived mispricings versus long-term fundamental value that exist in the market.

The subadviser monitors a broad set of factors that may prompt it to consider selling or reducing a position focused on the risk/reward characteristics of a credit. Factors include the following: whether total return and/or valuation targets have been realized, whether there have been significant changes in macro/micro economic analyses indicating that sector emphasis should be changed, whether industry conditions have deteriorated, whether the issuer has changed its business strategy, whether credit fundamentals have deteriorated and whether the subadviser finds better relative value elsewhere in the bond market.

More on the fund’s investments

Maturity and duration

The fund may invest in securities of any maturity. The maturity of a fixed income security is a measure of the time remaining until the final payment on the security is due.

The fund expects the normal range of the fund’s effective duration to be approximately 2 to 9 years. The effective duration of the fund may fall outside of its expected range due to market movements. If this happens, the fund’s subadviser will take action to bring the fund’s effective duration back within its expected range within a reasonable period of time.

Effective duration seeks to measure the expected sensitivity of market price to changes in interest rates, taking into account the anticipated effects of structural complexities (for example, some bonds can be prepaid by the issuer). The assumptions that are made about a security’s features and options when calculating effective duration may prove to be incorrect. As a result, investors should be aware that effective duration is not an exact measurement and may not reliably predict a security’s price sensitivity to changes in yield or interest rates.

Generally, the longer a portfolio’s effective duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates. For example, if interest rates rise by 1%, a fund with a two year effective duration would expect the value of its portfolio to decrease by 2% and a fund with a ten year effective duration would expect the value of its portfolio to decrease by 10%, all other factors being equal.

Credit quality

The continued holding of a security downgraded below its rating at the time of purchase will be evaluated on a case by case basis. As a result, the fund may from time to time hold debt securities that are rated below investment grade in excess of the amounts described in its investment limitations. Securities rated below investment grade are commonly known as “junk bonds” or “high yield securities.” To the extent not addressed above, in the event that NRSROs assign different ratings to the same security, the subadviser will treat the security as being rated in the highest rating category received from any one NRSRO. Rating categories may include sub-categories or gradations indicating relative standing.

Derivatives

The fund may engage in a variety of transactions using derivatives, such as swaps and security-based swaps, futures and options on futures, currency forwards, currency options and swaps, swaptions and other synthetic instruments. Derivatives are financial instruments whose value

 

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depends upon, or is derived from, the value of something else, such as one or more underlying investments, indexes or currencies. Derivatives may be used by the fund for any of the following purposes:

 

 

As a means of attempting to manage risk in the fund’s portfolio

 

 

As a means of attempting to enhance returns, such as through covered call strategies

 

 

As a means of providing exposure to Principal Investments

The fund from time to time may sell protection on debt securities by entering into credit default swaps. In these transactions, the fund is generally required to pay the par (or other agreed-upon) value of a referenced debt security to the counterparty in the event of a default on or downgrade of the debt security and/or a similar credit event. In return, the fund receives from the counterparty a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract. If no default occurs, the fund keeps the stream of payments and has no payment obligations. As the seller, the fund would effectively add leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to its net assets, the fund would be subject to loss on the par (or other agreed-upon) value it had undertaken to pay. Credit default swaps may also be structured based on an index or the debt of a basket of issuers, rather than a single issuer, and may be customized with respect to the default event that triggers purchase or other factors (for example, a particular number of defaults within a basket, or defaults by a particular combination of issuers within the basket, may trigger a payment obligation).

The fund may buy credit default swaps to hedge against the risk of default of debt securities held in its portfolio or for other reasons. As the buyer of a credit default swap, the fund would make the stream of payments described in the preceding paragraph to the seller of the credit default swap and would expect to receive from the seller a payment in the event of a default on the underlying debt security or other specified event.

Using derivatives, especially for non-hedging purposes, may involve greater risks to the fund than investing directly in securities, particularly as these instruments may be very complex and may not behave in the manner anticipated by the fund. Certain derivative transactions may have a leveraging effect on the fund.

Use of derivatives or similar instruments may have different tax consequences for the fund than an investment in the underlying security, and those differences may affect the amount, timing and character of income distributed to shareholders.

When the fund enters into derivative transactions, it may be required to segregate assets, or enter into offsetting positions, in accordance with applicable regulations. Such segregation will not limit the fund’s exposure to loss, however, and the fund will have investment risk with respect to both the derivative itself and the assets that have been segregated to cover the fund’s derivative exposure. If the segregated assets represent a large portion of the fund’s portfolio, this may impede portfolio management or the fund’s ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations.

Instead of, and/or in addition to, investing directly in particular securities, the fund may use derivatives and other synthetic instruments that are intended to provide economic exposure to securities, issuers or other measures of market or economic value. The fund may use one or more types of these instruments to the extent consistent with its 80% policy.

The fund’s subadviser may choose not to make use of derivatives.

Fixed income securities

Fixed income securities represent obligations of corporations, governments and other entities to repay money borrowed, usually at the maturity of the security. These securities may pay fixed, variable or floating rates of interest. However, some fixed income securities, such as zero coupon bonds, do not pay current interest but are issued at a discount from their face values. Other fixed income securities, such as certain MBS and ABS (as further described under “Asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities”), make periodic payments of interest and/or principal. Some fixed income securities are partially or fully secured by collateral supporting the payment of interest and principal.

Variable and floating rate securities

Variable rate securities reset at specified intervals, while floating rate securities reset whenever there is a change in a specified index rate. In most cases, these reset provisions reduce the impact of changes in market interest rates on the value of the security. However, the value of these securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as other interest rates. Conversely, these securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. The fund may also invest in inverse floating rate debt instruments (“inverse floaters”). Interest payments on inverse floaters vary inversely with changes in interest rates. Inverse floaters pay higher interest (and therefore generally increase in value) when interest rates decline, and vice versa. An inverse floater may exhibit greater price volatility than a fixed rate obligation of similar credit quality.

 

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Stripped securities

Certain fixed income securities, called stripped securities, represent the right to receive either payments of principal (“POs”) or payments of interest (“IOs”) on underlying pools of mortgages or on government securities. The value of these types of instruments may change more drastically than debt securities that pay both principal and interest during periods of changing interest rates. Interest-only and principal-only MBS are especially sensitive to interest rate changes, which can affect not only their prices but can also change the prepayment assumptions about those investments and income flows the fund receives from them.

Corporate debt

Corporate debt securities are fixed income securities usually issued by businesses to finance their operations. Various types of business entities may issue these securities, including corporations, trusts, limited partnerships, limited liability companies and other types of non-governmental legal entities. Notes, bonds, debentures and commercial paper are the most common types of corporate debt securities, with the primary difference being their maturities and secured or unsecured status. Commercial paper has the shortest term and is usually unsecured. The broad category of corporate debt securities includes debt issued by U.S. or foreign companies of all kinds, including those with small, mid and large capitalizations. Corporate debt may be rated investment grade or below investment grade and may carry variable or floating rates of interest.

Loans

The primary risk in an investment in loans is that borrowers may be unable to meet their interest and/or principal payment obligations. Loans in which the fund invests may be made to finance highly leveraged borrowers which may make such loans especially vulnerable to adverse changes in economic or market conditions. Loans in which the fund may invest may be either collateralized or uncollateralized and senior or subordinate. Investments in uncollateralized and/or subordinate loans entail a greater risk of nonpayment than do investments in loans that hold a more senior position in the borrower’s capital structure and/or are secured with collateral. In addition, loans are generally subject to liquidity risk. The fund may acquire an interest in loans by purchasing participations in and/or assignments of portions of loans from third parties or by investing in pools of loans, such as collateralized debt obligations as further described under “Collateralized debt obligations.” Transactions in loans may settle on a delayed basis. As a result, the proceeds from the sale of a loan may not be available to make additional investments or to meet the fund’s redemption obligations. Bank loans may not be considered securities and therefore, the fund may not have the protections afforded by U.S. federal securities laws with respect to such investments.

Government securities

U.S. government securities are obligations of, or guaranteed by, the U.S. government, its agencies or government-sponsored entities. U.S. government securities include issues by non-governmental entities (like financial institutions) that carry direct guarantees from U.S. government agencies as part of government initiatives in response to the market crisis or otherwise. Although the U.S. government guarantees principal and interest payments on securities issued by the U.S. government and some of its agencies, such as securities issued by the Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”), this guarantee does not apply to losses resulting from declines in the market value of these securities. Some of the U.S. government securities that the fund may hold are not guaranteed or backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, such as those issued by Fannie Mae (formally known as the Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (formally known as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation).

Sovereign debt

The fund may invest in sovereign debt, including emerging market sovereign debt. Sovereign debt securities may include:

 

 

Fixed income securities issued or guaranteed by governments, governmental agencies or instrumentalities and their political subdivisions

 

 

Fixed income securities issued by government-owned, controlled or sponsored entities

 

 

Interests in entities organized and operated for the purpose of restructuring the investment characteristics of instruments issued by any of the above issuers

 

 

Brady Bonds, which are debt securities issued under the framework of the Brady Plan as a means for debtor nations to restructure their outstanding external indebtedness

 

 

Participations in loans between governments and financial institutions

 

 

Fixed income securities issued by supranational entities such as the World Bank. A supranational entity is a bank, commission or company established or financially supported by the national governments of one or more countries to promote reconstruction or development

Sovereign government and supranational debt involve many of the risks of foreign and emerging markets investments as well as the risk of debt moratorium, repudiation or renegotiation and the fund may be unable to enforce its rights against the issuers.

 

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Asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities

MBS represent direct or indirect participations in, or are collateralized by and payable from, mortgage loans secured by real property. MBS may be issued by private issuers, by government-sponsored entities such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or issued or guaranteed by agencies of the U.S. government, such as Ginnie Mae.

Unlike MBS issued or guaranteed by agencies of the U.S. government or government-sponsored entities, MBS issued by private issuers do not have a government or government-sponsored entity guarantee (but may have other credit enhancement), and may, and frequently do, have less favorable collateral, credit risk or other underwriting characteristics.

A RMBS is comprised of a pool of mortgage loans created by banks and other financial institutions. CMBS are a type of MBS backed by commercial mortgages rather than residential real estate.

CMOs are debt obligations collateralized by mortgage loans or mortgage pass-through securities. CMOs are a type of MBS. Typically, CMOs are collateralized by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac Certificates, but may also be collateralized by whole loans or private pass-throughs (referred to as “Mortgage Assets”). Payments of principal and of interest on the Mortgage Assets, and any reinvestment income thereon, provide the funds to pay debt service on the CMOs. In a CMO, a series of bonds or certificates is issued in multiple classes. Each class of CMOs, often referred to as a “tranche,” is issued at a specified fixed or floating coupon rate and has a stated maturity or final distribution date. Principal prepayments on the Mortgage Assets may cause the CMOs to be retired substantially earlier than their stated maturities or final distribution dates. Interest is paid or accrues on all classes of the CMOs on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis. The principal of and interest on the Mortgage Assets may be allocated among the several classes of a series of a CMO in innumerable ways. As market conditions change, and particularly during periods of rapid or unanticipated changes in market interest rates, the attractiveness of the CMO classes and the ability of the structure to provide the anticipated investment characteristics may be significantly reduced. Such changes can result in volatility in the market value, and in some instances reduced liquidity, of the CMO class.

ABS are securities, which may be issued by either a U.S. or foreign entity, that are collateralized by any type of financial asset, such as a consumer-related loan (e.g., credit card receivables, student loans and automobile loans), a lease, or a secured or unsecured receivable. ABS exclude (1) securities collateralized by residential or commercial mortgage loans, MBS, or other financial assets derivatives of MBS and (2) CDOs.

Collateralized debt obligations

CDOs are comprised of collateralized bond obligations (“CBOs”) and collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”). CBOs are securities issued by a trust or other special purpose entity that are backed by a diversified pool of fixed income securities issued by U.S. or foreign governmental entities or fixed income securities issued by U.S. or corporate issuers. CLOs are securities issued by a trust or other special purpose entity that are collateralized by a pool of loans by U.S. banks and participations in loans by U.S. banks that are unsecured or secured by collateral other than real estate. CDOs are distinguishable from ABS because they are collateralized by bank loans or by corporate or government fixed income securities and not by consumer, and other loans made by non-bank lenders, including student loans. Like CMOs, CDOs generally issue separate series or “tranches” which vary with respect to risk and yield. These tranches can experience substantial losses due to actual defaults, increased sensitivity to defaults due to collateral default and disappearance of subordinate tranches, market anticipation of defaults, as well as investor aversion to CDO securities as a class. Interest on certain tranches of a CDO may be paid in kind (paid in the form of obligations of the same type rather than cash), which involves continued exposure to default risk with respect to such payments.

Municipal securities

Municipal securities include general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, housing authority bonds, private activity bonds, industrial development bonds, residual interest bonds, tender option bonds, tax and revenue anticipation notes, bond anticipation notes, tax-exempt commercial paper, municipal leases, participation certificates and custodial receipts. General obligation bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing entity. Revenue bonds are typically used to fund public works projects, such as toll roads, airports and transportation facilities, that are expected to produce income sufficient to make the payments on the bonds, since they are not backed by the full taxing power of the municipality. Housing authority bonds are used primarily to fund low to middle income residential projects and may be backed by the payments made on the underlying mortgages. Tax and revenue anticipation notes are generally issued in order to finance short-term cash needs or, occasionally, to finance construction. Tax and revenue anticipation notes are expected to be repaid from taxes or designated revenues in the related fiscal period, and they may or may not be general obligations of the issuing entity. Bond anticipation notes are issued with the expectation that their principal and interest will be paid out of proceeds from renewal notes or bonds and may be issued to finance such items as land acquisition, facility acquisition and/or construction and capital improvement projects.

 

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Foreign and emerging markets securities

The fund may invest its assets in securities of foreign issuers, including MBS and ABS issued by foreign entities. The value of the fund’s foreign securities may decline because of unfavorable government actions, political instability or the more limited availability of accurate information about foreign issuers. The fund may invest in foreign securities issued by issuers located in emerging market countries. To the extent the fund invests in these securities, the risks associated with investments in foreign issuers will generally be more pronounced.

The fund considers a country to be an emerging market country, if, at the time of investment, it is represented in the J.P. Morgan Emerging Market Bond Index Global or the J.P. Morgan Corporate Emerging Market Bond Index Broad or categorized by the World Bank in its annual categorization as middle- or low-income.

Preferred stock and convertible securities

The fund may invest in preferred stock and convertible securities. Preferred stock represents an interest in a company that generally entitles the holder to receive, in preference to the holders of common stock, dividends and a fixed share of the proceeds resulting from a liquidation of the company. Preferred stocks may pay fixed or adjustable rates of return. Convertible fixed income securities convert into shares of common stock of their issuer. Preferred stock and convertible fixed income securities share investment characteristics of both fixed income and equity securities. However, the value of these securities tends to vary more with fluctuations in the underlying common stock and less with fluctuations in interest rates and tends to exhibit greater volatility.

Equity securities

Although the fund invests principally in fixed income securities and related investments, the fund may from time to time invest in or receive equity securities and equity-like securities, which include warrants, rights, exchange traded and over-the-counter common stocks, baskets of equity securities such as exchange traded funds, depositary receipts, trust certificates, limited partnership interests and shares of other investment companies and real estate investment trusts.

Equity securities represent an ownership interest in the issuing company. Holders of equity securities are not creditors of the company, and in the event of the liquidation of the company, would be entitled to their pro rata share of the company’s assets, if any, after creditors, including the holders of fixed income securities, and holders of any senior equity securities are paid. Equity securities generally have greater price volatility than fixed income securities.

Warrants and rights permit, but do not obligate, their holders to subscribe for other securities. Warrants and rights are subject to the same market risks as stocks, but may be more volatile in price. An investment in warrants or rights may be considered speculative. In addition, the value of a warrant or right does not necessarily change with the value of the underlying securities and a warrant or right ceases to have value if it is not exercised prior to its expiration date.

Securities of other investment companies

The fund may invest in securities of other investment companies to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). The return on investments in other registered investment companies will be reduced by the operating expenses, including investment advisory expenses, of such companies, and by any sales loads or other distribution and/or service fees or charges incurred in purchasing or selling shares of such companies, in addition to the fund’s own fees and expenses. As such, there is a layering of fees and expenses.

Investments by other funds

The fund may be an investment option for other funds, including affiliated funds.

Credit downgrades and other credit events

Credit rating or credit quality of a security is determined at the time of purchase. If, after purchase, the credit rating on a security is downgraded or the credit quality deteriorates, or if the duration of a security is extended, the subadviser will decide whether the security should be held or sold. Upon the occurrence of certain triggering events or defaults on a security held by the fund, or if an obligor of such a security has difficulty meeting its obligations, the fund may obtain a new or restructured security or underlying assets. In that case, the fund may become the holder of securities or other assets that it could not purchase or might not otherwise hold (for example, because they are of lower quality or are subordinated to other obligations of the issuer) at a time when those assets may be difficult to sell or can be sold only at a loss. In addition, the fund may incur expenses in an effort to protect the fund’s interest in securities experiencing these events.

 

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Zero coupon, pay-in-kind and deferred interest securities

Zero coupon, pay-in-kind and deferred interest securities may be used by issuers to manage cash flow and maintain liquidity. Zero coupon securities pay no interest during the life of the obligation but are issued at prices below their stated maturity value. Because zero coupon securities pay no interest until maturity, their prices may fluctuate more than other types of securities with the same maturity in the secondary market. However, zero coupon bonds may act as a useful tool for managing duration.

Pay-in-kind securities have a stated coupon, but the interest is generally paid in the form of obligations of the same type as the underlying pay-in-kind securities (e.g., bonds) rather than in cash. These securities are more sensitive to the credit quality of the underlying issuer and their secondary market prices may fluctuate more than other types of securities with the same maturity.

Deferred interest securities are obligations that generally provide for a period of delay before the regular payment of interest begins and are issued at a significant discount from face value.

Certain zero coupon, pay-in-kind and deferred interest securities are subject to tax rules applicable to debt obligations acquired with “original issue discount.” The fund would generally have to accrue income on these securities for federal income tax purposes before it receives corresponding cash payments. Because the fund intends to make sufficient annual distributions of its taxable income, including accrued non-cash income, in order to maintain its federal income tax status and avoid fund-level income and excise taxes, the fund might be required to liquidate portfolio securities at a disadvantageous time, or borrow cash, to make these distributions. The fund also accrues income on these securities prior to receipt for accounting purposes. To the extent it is deemed collectible, accrued income is taken into account when calculating the value of these securities and the fund’s NAV per share, in accordance with the fund’s valuation policies.

When-issued securities, delayed delivery, to be announced and forward commitment transactions

The fund may purchase securities under arrangements (called when-issued, delayed delivery, to be announced or forward commitment basis) where the securities will not be delivered or paid for immediately. The fund will set aside assets to pay for these securities at the time of the agreement. Such transactions involve a risk of loss, for example, if the value of the securities declines prior to the settlement date or if the assets set aside to pay for these securities decline in value prior to the settlement date. Therefore, these transactions may have a leveraging effect on the fund, making the value of an investment in the fund more volatile and increasing the fund’s overall investment exposure. Typically, no income accrues on securities the fund has committed to purchase prior to the time delivery of the securities is made, although the fund may earn income on securities it has set aside to cover these positions.

Mortgage dollar roll transactions

In a mortgage dollar roll transaction, there is a simultaneous sale and purchase of an MBS for different settlement dates, where the initial seller agrees to take delivery, upon settlement of the re-purchase transaction, of the same or substantially similar securities. During the roll period, the fund forgoes principal and interest paid on the securities. The fund is compensated by the difference between the current sales price and the forward price for the future purchase as well as by the interest earned on the cash proceeds of the initial sale. The fund may enter into a mortgage dollar roll transaction with the intention of entering into an offsetting transaction whereby, rather than accepting delivery of the security on the specified date, the fund sells the security and agrees to repurchase a similar security at a later time.

Investments in mortgage dollar roll transactions involve a risk of loss if the value of the securities that the fund is obligated to purchase declines below the purchase price prior to the repurchase date. Mortgage dollar roll transactions may have a leveraging effect on the fund (see “When-issued securities, delayed delivery, to be announced and forward commitment transactions”).

Short-term investments

The fund may invest in cash, money market instruments and short-term securities, including repurchase agreements, U.S. government securities, bank obligations and commercial paper. A repurchase agreement is a transaction in which the fund purchases a security from a seller, subject to the obligation of the seller to repurchase that security from the fund at a higher price. The repurchase agreement thereby determines the yield during the fund’s holding period, while the seller’s obligation to repurchase is secured by the value of the underlying security held by the fund.

Borrowings and reverse repurchase agreements

The fund may enter into borrowing transactions. Borrowing may make the value of an investment in the fund more volatile and increase the fund’s overall investment exposure. The fund may be required to liquidate portfolio securities at a time when it would be disadvantageous to do so in order to make payments with respect to any borrowings. Interest on any borrowings will be a fund expense and will reduce the value of the fund’s shares.

 

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The fund may enter into reverse repurchase agreements, which have characteristics like borrowings. In a reverse repurchase agreement, the fund sells securities to a counterparty, in return for cash, and the fund agrees to repurchase the securities at a later date and for a higher price, representing the cost to the fund for the cash received.

Restricted and illiquid securities

Restricted securities are securities subject to legal or contractual restrictions on their resale. An “illiquid security” is any security which may not reasonably be expected to be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Such conditions might prevent the sale of such securities at a time when the sale would otherwise be desirable. The fund will not acquire “illiquid securities” if immediately after the acquisition the value of illiquid securities held by the fund would exceed 15% of the fund’s net assets. The fund may determine that some restricted securities can be more readily sold, for example to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to SEC Rule 144A, and therefore may treat certain such securities as “liquid” for purposes of limitations on the amount of illiquid securities it may own. Investing in these restricted securities could have the effect of increasing the fund’s illiquidity if qualified buyers become, for a time, uninterested in buying these securities. These securities may be difficult to value, and the fund may have difficulty disposing of such securities promptly. The fund does not consider non-U.S. securities to be restricted if they can be freely sold in the principal markets in which they are traded, even if they are not registered for sale in the United States.

Structured notes and indexed securities

The fund may invest in various types of structured instruments, including securities that have demand, tender or put features, or interest rate reset features. These may include instruments issued by structured investment or special purpose vehicles or conduits, and may be ABS or MBS. Structured instruments may take the form of participation interests or receipts in underlying securities or other assets, and in some cases are backed by a financial institution serving as a liquidity provider. The interest rate or principal amount payable at maturity on a structured instrument may vary based on changes in one or more specified reference factors, such as currencies, interest rates, commodities, indices or other financial indicators. Changes in the underlying reference factors may result in disproportionate changes in amounts payable under a structured instrument. Some of these instruments may have an interest rate swap feature which substitutes a floating or variable interest rate for the fixed interest rate on an underlying security. Structured instruments are a type of derivative instrument and the payment and credit qualities of these instruments derive from the assets embedded in the structure. For structured securities that have embedded leverage features, small changes in interest or prepayment rates may cause large and sudden price movements. Structured instruments are often subject to heightened liquidity risk.

Non-U.S. currency transactions

The fund may engage in non-U.S. currency exchange transactions in an effort to protect against uncertainty in the level of future exchange rates or to enhance returns based on expected changes in exchange rates. Non-U.S. currency exchange transactions may take the form of options, futures, options on futures, swaps, warrants, structured notes, forwards or spot (cash) transactions. The value of these non-U.S. currency transactions depends on, and will vary based on fluctuations in, the value of the underlying currency relative to the U.S. dollar.

Inflation-indexed, inflation-protected and related securities

Inflation-indexed and inflation-protected securities are fixed income securities that are structured to provide protection against inflation and whose principal value or coupon (interest payment) is periodically adjusted according to the rate of inflation. If the index measuring inflation falls, the principal value or coupon of these securities will be adjusted downward. Consequently, the interest payable on these securities will be reduced. Also, if the principal value of these securities is adjusted according to the rate of inflation, the adjusted principal value repaid at maturity may be less than the original principal.

Inflation-protected securities denominated in the U.S. dollar include U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (“U.S. TIPS”), as well as other bonds issued by U.S. and non-U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities or corporations and derivatives related to these securities. U.S. TIPS are inflation-protected securities issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury the principal amounts of which are adjusted daily based upon changes in the rate of inflation (as currently represented by the non-seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, calculated with a three-month lag). U.S. TIPS pay interest semiannually, equal to a fixed percentage of the inflation-adjusted principal amount. The interest rate on these bonds is fixed at issuance, but over the life of the bond, this interest may be paid on an increasing or decreasing principal amount that has been adjusted for inflation. The current market value of U.S. TIPS is not guaranteed and will fluctuate.

The value of inflation-indexed and inflation-protected securities held by the fund fluctuates in response to changes in real interest rates. In addition, if nominal interest rates increase at a faster rate than inflation, causing real interest rates to rise, it will lead to a decrease in the value of inflation-indexed or inflation-protected securities.

 

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The fund may invest in other fixed-income securities that the subadviser believes will provide protection against inflation, including floating rate and other short duration securities. Floating rate securities bear interest at rates that are not fixed but vary with changes in specified market rates or indices, such as the prime rate, and at specified intervals.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

The fund may invest in ETFs that are registered as investment companies under the 1940 Act. Typically, an ETF seeks to track (positively or negatively) the performance of an index by holding in its portfolio either the same securities that comprise the index or a representative sample of the index. Investing in an ETF gives the fund exposure to the securities comprising the index on which the ETF is based and the fund will gain or lose value depending on the performance of the index. The fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of the management fees and other expenses that are charged by the ETF in addition to the management fees and other expenses paid by the fund. The fund will also pay brokerage commissions in connection with the purchase and sale of shares of ETFs.

Covered calls

The fund’s covered call strategy focuses on options on U.S. Treasury futures. In entering an options contract, the buyer is purchasing the right to buy (called a call option) or to sell (called a put option) the underlying futures contract. For example, a call option on a 10-year U.S. Treasury Note, gives the buyer the right to assume a long position on it while the seller is obligated to take a short position if the buyer chooses to exercise the option. In the case of a put option, the buyer has the right to a short position in the 10-year U.S. Treasury Note futures contract while the seller in this case must assume a long position in the futures contract. An option is said to be covered if the option writer (seller) holds an offsetting position in the underlying futures contract. For example, a writer of a 10-year U.S Treasury Note futures contract would be called covered if the seller either owns cash market U.S. Treasury Notes or is long on the 10-year U.S. Treasury Note futures contract. The seller’s risk in selling a covered call is limited as the obligation towards the buyer can be met either by the ownership of the futures position or the cash security tied to the underlying futures contract.

Defensive investing

The fund may depart from its principal investment strategies in response to adverse market, economic or political conditions by taking temporary defensive positions, including by investing in any type of money market instruments and short-term debt securities or holding cash without regard to any percentage limitations. Although the subadvisers have the ability to take defensive positions, they may choose not to do so for a variety of reasons, even during volatile market conditions.

Other investments

The fund may also use other strategies and invest in other investments that are described, along with their risks, in the SAI. However, the fund might not use all of the strategies and techniques or invest in all of the types of investments described in this Prospectus or in the SAI.

Percentage and other limitations

The fund’s compliance with its investment limitations (other than the limitation on borrowing) and requirements described in this Prospectus is usually determined at the time of investment. If such a percentage limitation is complied with at the time of an investment, any subsequent change resulting from a change in asset values or characteristics will not constitute a violation of that limitation.

Important information

The fund’s investment objective may be changed by the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) without shareholder approval and on 60 days’ notice to shareholders. There is no assurance that the fund will meet its investment objective.

The fund will consider an issuer to be a “non-U.S. issuer” if the issuer is a non-U.S. government (including any sub-division, agency or instrumentality of a non-U.S. government), a supranational entity or any other issuer (including corporate issuers) organized under the laws of a country outside of the United States and having a principal place of business outside of the United States. The fund will consider all other issuers to be “U.S. issuers.”

The fund will consider the entity that issues the security backed by the pool of assets supporting a MBS or ABS to be the “issuer” for purposes of its investment limitations set forth above.

The fund’s 80% investment policy may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ prior notice to shareholders.

The fund’s other investment strategies and policies may be changed from time to time without shareholder approval, unless specifically stated otherwise in this Prospectus or in the SAI.

 

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More on risks of investing in the fund

Below are descriptions of the main factors that may play a role in shaping the fund’s overall risk profile. The descriptions appear in alphabetical order, not in order of importance.

Asset class risk. Securities or other assets in the fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes. This may cause the fund to underperform other investment vehicles that invest in different asset classes.

Asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities risk. MBS and ABS, like traditional fixed-income securities, are subject to credit, interest rate, prepayment and extension risks.

Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain MBS. The fund’s investments in ABS are subject to risks similar to those associated with mortgage-related securities, as well as additional risks associated with the nature of the assets and the servicing of those assets. These securities also are subject to the risk of default on the underlying mortgage or assets, particularly during periods of economic downturn. The risk of loss due to default on private MBS and ABS is historically higher because neither the U.S. government nor an agency or instrumentality has guaranteed them. Certain CMBS are issued in several classes with different levels of yield and credit protection. The fund’s investments in CMBS with several classes may be in the lower classes that have greater risks than the higher classes, including greater interest rate, credit and prepayment risks. MBS and ABS are subject to heightened liquidity risk and the liquidity of MBS and ABS may change over time.

MBS may be either pass-through securities or CMOs. Pass-through securities represent a right to receive principal and interest payments collected on a pool of mortgages, which are passed through to security holders. CMOs are created by dividing the principal and interest payments collected on a pool of mortgages into several revenue streams (tranches) with different priority rights to portions of the underlying mortgage payments. Certain CMO tranches may represent a right to receive interest only (“IOs”), principal only (“POs”) or an amount that remains after floating-rate tranches are paid (an inverse floater). These securities are frequently referred to as “mortgage derivatives” and may be extremely sensitive to changes in interest rates. Interest rates on inverse floaters, for example, vary inversely with a short-term floating rate (which may be reset periodically). Interest rates on inverse floaters will decrease when short-term rates increase, and will increase when short-term rates decrease. These securities have the effect of providing a degree of investment leverage. In response to changes in market interest rates or other market conditions, the value of an inverse floater may increase or decrease at a multiple of the increase or decrease in the value of the underlying securities. If the fund invests in CMO tranches (including CMO tranches issued by government agencies) and interest rates move in a manner not anticipated by fund management, it is possible that the fund could lose all or substantially all of its investment. Certain MBS in which the fund may invest may also provide a degree of investment leverage, which could cause the fund to lose all or substantially all of its investment.

The mortgage market in the United States has experienced difficulties that may adversely affect the performance and market value of certain of the fund’s mortgage-related investments. Delinquencies and losses on mortgage loans (including subprime and second-lien mortgage loans) generally have increased and may continue to increase, and a decline in or flattening of real-estate values (as has been experienced and may continue to be experienced in many housing markets) may exacerbate such delinquencies and losses. Also, a number of mortgage loan originators have experienced serious financial difficulties or bankruptcy. Reduced investor demand for mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities and increased investor yield requirements have caused limited liquidity in the secondary market for mortgage-related securities, which can adversely affect the market value of mortgage-related securities. It is possible that such limited liquidity in such secondary markets could continue or worsen.

ABS entail certain risks not presented by MBS, including the risk that in certain states it may be difficult to perfect the liens securing the collateral backing certain asset-backed securities. In addition, certain ABS are based on loans that are unsecured, which means that there is no collateral to seize if the underlying borrower defaults.

Assets under management (AUM) risk. From time to time a third party, LMPFA and/or affiliates of LMPFA or the fund may invest in the fund and hold its investment for a specific period of time in order for the fund to achieve size or scale. There can be no assurance that any such entity would not redeem its investment or that the size of the fund would be maintained at such levels.

Authorized Participant concentration risk. Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the fund. The fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business, elect not to transact with the fund, or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting.

Cash management and defensive investing risk. The value of the investments held by the fund for cash management or defensive investing purposes can fluctuate. Like other fixed income securities, they are subject to risk, including market, interest rate and credit risk. If the fund holds cash uninvested it will be subject to the credit risk of the depository institution holding the cash. If the fund holds cash uninvested, the fund will not earn

 

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income on the cash. If a significant amount of the fund’s assets are used for cash management or defensive investing purposes, it may not achieve its investment objective.

Cash transactions risk. Unlike many ETFs, the fund may effect its creations and redemptions primarily for cash, rather than in-kind securities. Other more conventional ETFs generally are able to make in-kind redemptions and avoid realizing gains in connection with transactions designed to meet redemption requests. Effecting all redemptions for cash may cause the fund to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. Such dispositions may occur at an inopportune time resulting in potential losses to the fund and involve transaction costs. If the fund recognizes a capital loss on these sales, the loss will offset capital gains and may result in smaller capital gain distributions from the fund. If the fund recognizes gain on these sales, this generally will cause the fund to recognize gain it might not otherwise have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind or to recognize such gain sooner than would otherwise be required. The fund generally intends to distribute these gains to shareholders to avoid being taxed on this gain at the fund level and otherwise comply with the special tax rules that apply to it. This strategy may cause shareholders to be subject to tax on gains they would not otherwise be subject to, or at an earlier date than, if they had made an investment in a more conventional ETF.

In addition, cash transactions may have to be carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. These brokerage fees and taxes, which will be higher than if the fund sold and redeemed its shares primarily in-kind, will generally be passed on to purchasers and redeemers of Creation Units in the form of creation and redemption transaction fees. To the extent transaction and other costs associated with a redemption exceed the redemption fee, those transaction costs might be borne by the fund’s remaining shareholders. In addition, these factors may result in wider spreads between the bid and the offered prices of the fund’s shares than for more conventional ETFs. As a practical matter, only institutions and large investors, such as market makers or other large broker-dealers, purchase or redeem Creation Units. Most investors will buy and sell shares of the fund on an exchange.

Collateralized debt obligations risk. In addition to the typical risks associated with fixed-income securities and ABS, CDOs 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 NRSRO; (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 returns 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. CDOs are subject to heightened liquidity risk and the liquidity of CDOs may change over time.

Covered call risk. Covered call risk is the risk that the issuer of the call option will forgo any profit from increases in the market value of the underlying security or futures contract covering the call option above the sum of the premium and the strike price of the call but retain the risk of loss if the underlying security or futures contract declines in value. The fund will have no control over the exercise of the option by the option holder and may lose the benefit from any capital appreciation on the underlying security or futures contract. A number of factors may influence the option holder’s decision to exercise the option, including the value of the underlying security or futures contract, price volatility, dividend yield and interest rates. To the extent that these factors increase the value of the call option, the option holder is more likely to exercise the option, which may negatively affect the fund.

Credit risk. If an obligor (such as the issuer itself or a party offering credit enhancement) for a security held by the fund fails to pay, otherwise defaults, is perceived to be less creditworthy, becomes insolvent or files for bankruptcy, a security’s credit rating is downgraded or the credit quality or value of any underlying assets declines, the value of your investment in the fund could decline. If the fund enters into financial contracts (such as certain derivatives, repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, and when-issued, delayed delivery and forward commitment transactions), the fund will be subject to the credit risk presented by the counterparty. In addition, the fund may incur expenses in an effort to protect the fund’s interests or to enforce its rights. Credit risk is broadly gauged by the credit ratings of the securities in which the fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the companies issuing them and are not guarantees as to quality. Securities rated in the lowest category of investment grade BBB-/Baa3 may possess certain speculative characteristics. Credit risk is typically greatest for the fund’s high yield debt securities, which are rated below the BBB-/Baa3 categories or unrated securities of comparable quality (“junk bonds”).

The fund may invest in securities which are subordinated to more senior securities of the issuer, or which represent interests in pools of such subordinated securities. The fund is more likely to suffer a credit loss on subordinated securities than on non-subordinated securities of the same issuer. If there is a default, bankruptcy or liquidation of the issuer, most subordinated securities are paid only if sufficient assets remain after payment of the issuer’s non-subordinated securities. In addition, any recovery of interest or principal may take more time. As a result, even a perceived decline in creditworthiness of the issuer is likely to have a greater impact on subordinated securities.

 

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Currency risk. The value of investments in securities denominated in foreign currencies increases or decreases as the rates of exchange between those currencies and the U.S. dollar change. Currency conversion costs and currency fluctuations could erase investment gains or add to investment losses. Currency exchange rates can be volatile, and are affected by factors such as general economic conditions, the actions of the U.S. and foreign governments or central banks, the imposition of currency controls and speculation.

Cybersecurity risk. Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause the fund, the manager, the subadviser, Authorized Participants, the relevant listing exchange and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality.

Derivatives risk. Derivatives involve special risks and costs and may result in losses to the fund, even when used for hedging purposes. Using derivatives can increase losses and reduce opportunities for gains when market prices, interest rates, currencies or the derivatives themselves behave in a way not anticipated by the fund, especially in abnormal market conditions. Using derivatives also can have a leveraging effect (which may increase investment losses) and increase the fund’s volatility, which is the degree to which the fund’s share price may fluctuate within a short time period. Certain derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment. The other parties to certain derivatives transactions present the same types of credit risk as issuers of fixed income securities. Derivatives also tend to involve greater liquidity risk and they may be difficult to value. The fund may be unable to terminate or sell its derivative positions. In fact, many over-the-counter derivatives will not have liquidity beyond the counterparty to the instrument. Derivatives are generally subject to the risks applicable to the assets, rates, indices or other indicators underlying the derivative. The value of a derivative may fluctuate more than the underlying assets, rates, indices or other indicators to which it relates. Use of derivatives or similar instruments may have different tax consequences for the fund than an investment in the underlying security, and those differences may affect the amount, timing and character of income distributed to shareholders. The fund’s use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders. The U.S. government and foreign governments are in the process of adopting and implementing regulations governing derivatives markets, including mandatory clearing of certain derivatives, margin, and reporting requirements. The ultimate impact of the regulations remains unclear. Additional regulation of derivatives may make derivatives more costly, limit their availability or utility, otherwise adversely affect their performance or disrupt markets. The fund may be exposed to additional risks as a result of the additional regulations. The extent and impact of the additional regulations are not yet fully known and may not be for some time.

Investments by the fund in structured securities, a type of derivative, raise certain tax, legal, regulatory and accounting issues that may not be presented by direct investments in securities. These issues could be resolved in a manner that could hurt the performance of the fund.

Swap agreements tend to shift the fund’s investment exposure from one type of investment to another. For example, the fund may enter into interest rate swaps, which involve the exchange of interest payments by the fund with another party, such as an exchange of floating rate payments for fixed interest rate payments with respect to a notional amount of principal. If an interest rate swap intended to be used as a hedge negates a favorable interest rate movement, the investment performance of the fund would be less than what it would have been if the fund had not entered into the interest rate swap.

Credit default swap contracts involve heightened risks and may result in losses to the fund. Credit default swaps may be illiquid and difficult to value. If the fund buys a credit default swap, it will be subject to the risk that the credit default swap may expire worthless, as the credit default swap would only generate income in the event of a default on the underlying debt security or other specified event. As a buyer, the fund would also be subject to credit risk relating to the seller’s payment of its obligations in the event of a default (or similar event). If the fund sells a credit default swap, it will be exposed to the credit risk of the issuer of the obligation to which the credit default swap relates. As a seller, the fund would also be subject to leverage risk, because it would be liable for the full notional amount of the swap in the event of a default (or similar event).

The absence of a central exchange or market for swap transactions may lead, in some instances, to difficulties in trading and valuation, especially in the event of market disruptions. Recent legislation requires certain swaps to be executed through a centralized exchange or regulated facility and be cleared through a regulated clearinghouse. Although this clearing mechanism is generally expected to reduce counterparty credit risk, it may disrupt or limit the swap market and may not result in swaps being easier to trade or value. As swaps become more standardized, the fund may not be able to enter into swaps that meet its investment needs. The fund also may not be able to find a clearinghouse willing to accept a swap for clearing. In a cleared swap, a central clearing organization will be the counterparty to the transaction. The fund will assume the risk that the clearinghouse may be unable to perform its obligations.

The fund will be required to maintain its positions with a clearing organization through one or more clearing brokers. The clearing organization will require the fund to post margin and the broker may require the fund to post additional margin to secure the fund’s obligations. The amount of margin required may change from time to time. In addition, cleared transactions may be more expensive to maintain than over-the-counter transactions and may require the fund to deposit larger amounts of margin. The fund may not be able to recover margin amounts if the broker has financial difficulties. Also, the broker may require the fund to terminate a derivatives position under certain circumstances. This may cause the fund to lose money.

 

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Futures are standardized, exchange-traded contracts that obligate a purchaser to take delivery, and a seller to make delivery, of a specific amount of an asset at a specified future date at a specified price. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are: (a) the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by the fund and the price of the futures contract; (b) the possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a futures contract and the resulting inability to close a futures contract when desired; (c) losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited; (d) the subadviser’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors; and (e) the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations.

An option is an agreement that, for a premium payment or fee, gives the option holder (the purchaser) the right but not the obligation to buy (a “call option”) or sell (a “put option”) the underlying asset (or settle for cash in an amount based on an underlying asset, rate, or index) at a specified price (the “exercise price”) during a period of time or on a specified date. The fund may write a call or put option where it (i) owns or is short the underlying security in the case of a call or put option, respectively (sometimes referred to as a “covered option”), or (ii) does not own or is not short such security (sometimes referred to as a “naked option”). When the fund purchases an option, it may lose the total premium paid for it if the price of the underlying security or other assets decreased, remained the same or failed to increase to a level at or beyond the exercise price (in the case of a call option) or increased, remained the same or failed to decrease to a level at or below the exercise price (in the case of a put option). If a put or call option purchased by the fund were permitted to expire without being sold or exercised, its premium would represent a loss to the fund. To the extent that the fund writes or sells an option, in particular a naked option, if the decline or increase in the underlying asset is significantly below or above the exercise price of the written option, the fund could experience a substantial loss.

Risks associated with the use of derivatives are magnified to the extent that an increased portion of the fund’s assets are committed to derivatives in general or are invested in just one or a few types of derivatives.

ETFs risk. Unlike shares of typical mutual funds or unit investment trusts, shares of ETFs are traded on an exchange and may trade throughout a trading day. ETFs are bought and sold based on market values and not at NAV, and therefore may trade at either a premium or discount to NAV and may experience volatility in certain market conditions.

Extension risk. When interest rates rise, repayments of fixed income securities, particularly ABS and MBS, may occur more slowly than anticipated, extending the effective duration of these fixed income securities at below market interest rates and causing their market prices to decline more than they would have declined due to the rise in interest rates alone. This may cause the fund’s share price to be more volatile.

Foreign custody risk. Foreign custody risk refers to the risks inherent in the process of clearing and settling trades and to the holding of securities, cash and other assets by banks, agents and depositories in securities markets that are less developed than those in the United States. Low trading volumes and volatile prices in less developed markets make trades harder to complete and settle, and governments or trade groups may compel non-U.S. agents to hold securities in designated depositories that may not be subject to independent evaluation. The laws of certain countries may place limitations on the ability to recover assets if a non-U.S. bank, agent or depository becomes insolvent or enters bankruptcy. Non-U.S. agents are held only to the standards of care of their local markets, and thus may be subject to limited or no government oversight. In general, the less developed a country’s securities market is, or the more difficult communication is with that location, the greater the likelihood of custody problems.

Foreign investments and emerging market risk. The fund’s investments in securities of foreign issuers or issuers with significant exposure to foreign markets involve additional risk. Foreign countries in which the fund may invest may have markets that are less liquid, less regulated and more volatile than U.S. markets. The value of the fund’s investments may decline because of factors affecting the particular issuer as well as foreign markets and issuers generally, such as unfavorable or unsuccessful government actions, reduction of government or central bank support and political or financial instability. Lack of information may also affect the value of these securities. To the extent the fund focuses its investments in a single country or only a few countries in a particular geographic region, economic, political, regulatory or other conditions affecting such country or region may have a greater impact on fund performance relative to a more geographically diversified fund.

The value of the fund’s foreign investments may also be affected by foreign tax laws, special U.S. tax considerations and restrictions on receiving the investment proceeds from a foreign country. Dividends or interest on, or proceeds from the sale or disposition of, foreign securities may be subject to non-U.S. withholding or other taxes.

In some foreign countries, less information is available about issuers and markets because of less rigorous accounting and regulatory standards than in the United States. It may be difficult for the fund to pursue claims against a foreign issuer in the courts of a foreign country. Some securities issued by non-U.S. governments or their subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities may not be backed by the full faith and credit of such governments. Even where a security is backed by the full faith and credit of a government, it may be difficult for the fund to pursue its rights against the government. Some non-U.S. governments have defaulted on principal and interest payments, and more may do so. In certain foreign markets, settlement and clearance procedures may result in delays in payment for or delivery of securities not typically associated with settlement and clearance of U.S. investments.

 

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The risks of foreign investments are heightened when investing in issuers in emerging market countries. Emerging market countries tend to have economic, political and legal systems that are less fully developed and are less stable than those of more developed countries. They are often particularly sensitive to market movements because their market prices tend to reflect speculative expectations. Low trading volumes may result in a lack of liquidity and in extreme price volatility. Investors should be able to tolerate sudden, sometimes substantial, fluctuations in the value of their investments. Emerging market countries may have policies that restrict investment by foreigners or that prevent foreign investors from withdrawing their money at will. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries or regions.

Hedging risk. The decision as to whether and to what extent the fund will engage in hedging transactions to hedge against such risks as credit risk, currency risk and interest rate risk will depend on a number of factors, including prevailing market conditions, the composition of the fund and the availability of suitable transactions. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the fund will engage in hedging transactions at any given time or from time to time, even under volatile market environments, or that any such strategies, if used, will be successful. Hedging transactions involve costs and may reduce gains or result in losses.

High yield (“junk”) bonds risk. High yield bonds, often called “junk” bonds, have a higher risk of issuer default or may be in default and are considered speculative. Changes in economic conditions or developments regarding the individual issuer are more likely to cause price volatility and weaken the capacity of such securities to make principal and interest payments than is the case for higher grade debt securities. The value of lower-quality debt securities often fluctuates in response to company, political, or economic developments and can decline significantly over short as well as long periods of time or during periods of general or regional economic difficulty. High yield bonds may also be less liquid than higher-rated securities, which means the fund may have difficulty selling them at times, and it may have to apply a greater degree of judgment in establishing a price for purposes of valuing fund shares. High yield bonds generally are issued by less creditworthy issuers. Issuers of high yield bonds may have a larger amount of outstanding debt relative to their assets than issuers of investment grade bonds. In the event of an issuer’s bankruptcy, claims of other creditors may have priority over the claims of high yield bond holders, leaving few or no assets available to repay high yield bond holders. The fund may incur expenses to the extent necessary to seek recovery upon default or to negotiate new terms with a defaulting issuer. High yield bonds frequently have redemption features that permit an issuer to repurchase the security from the fund before it matures. If the issuer redeems high yield bonds, the fund may have to invest the proceeds in bonds with lower yields and may lose income.

Leveraging risk. The value of your investment may be more volatile if the fund borrows or uses derivatives or other investments that have a leveraging effect on the fund’s portfolio. Other risks also will be compounded. This is because leverage generally magnifies the effect of a change in the value of an asset and creates a risk of loss of value on a larger pool of assets than the fund would otherwise have had. The fund may also have to sell assets at inopportune times to satisfy its obligations. The use of leverage is considered to be a speculative investment practice and may result in the loss of a substantial amount, and possibly all, of the fund’s assets.

Liquidity risk. Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are impossible or difficult to sell. Although most of the fund’s investments must be liquid at the time of investment, investments may become illiquid after purchase by the fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil. Markets may become illiquid when, for instance, there are few, if any, interested buyers or sellers or when dealers are unwilling or unable to make a market for certain securities. As a general matter, dealers recently have been less willing to make markets for fixed income securities. When the fund holds illiquid investments, the portfolio may be harder to value, especially in changing markets, and if the fund is forced to sell these investments to meet redemption requests or for other cash management needs, the fund may suffer a loss. The fund may experience heavy redemptions that could cause the fund to liquidate its assets at inopportune times or at a loss or depressed value, which could cause the value of your investment to decline. In addition, when there is illiquidity in the market for certain investments, the fund, due to limitations on illiquid investments, may be unable to achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain sector. The liquidity of certain assets, particularly of privately-issued and non-investment grade MBS, ABS and CDOs, may be difficult to ascertain and may change over time.

Market events risk. In the past decade financial markets throughout the world have experienced increased volatility, depressed valuations, decreased liquidity and heightened uncertainty. Governmental and non-governmental issuers have defaulted on, or been forced to restructure, their debts. These conditions may continue, recur, worsen or spread. Events that have contributed to these market conditions include, but are not limited to major cybersecurity events; measures to address U.S. federal and state budget deficits; downgrading of U.S. long-term sovereign debt; declines in oil and commodity prices; dramatic changes in currency exchange rates; and public sentiment.

The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve, as well as certain foreign governments and central banks, have taken steps to support financial markets, including by keeping interest rates at historically low levels. This and other government intervention may not work as intended, particularly if the efforts are perceived by investors as being unlikely to achieve the desired results. The Federal Reserve has reduced its market support activities and recently has begun raising interest rates. Certain foreign governments and central banks are implementing or discussing so-called negative interest rates (e.g., charging depositors who keep their cash at a bank) to spur economic growth. Further Federal Reserve or other U.S.

 

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More on the fund’s investment strategies, investments and risks cont’d

 

or non-U.S. governmental or central bank actions, including interest rate increases or contrary actions by different governments, could negatively affect financial markets generally, increase market volatility and reduce the value and liquidity of securities in which the fund invests.

Policy and legislative changes in the United States and in other countries are affecting many aspects of financial regulation, and may in some instances contribute to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the financial markets. The impact of these changes on the markets, and the practical implications for market participants, may not be fully known for some time.

Economies and financial markets throughout the world are increasingly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, terrorism, natural disasters and other circumstances in one country or region could have profound impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries directly affected, the value and liquidity of the fund’s investments may be negatively affected.

Market and interest rate risk. The market prices of fixed income and other securities owned by the fund may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. If the market prices of the securities owned by the fund fall, the value of your investment in the fund will decline. The value of a security may fall due to general market conditions, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions, inflation, changes in interest or currency rates, lack of liquidity in the bond markets or adverse investor sentiment. Changes in market conditions will not typically have the same impact on all types of securities. The value of a security may also fall due to specific conditions that affect a particular sector of the securities market or a particular issuer.

The market prices of securities may fluctuate significantly when interest rates change. When interest rates rise, the value of fixed income securities, and therefore the value of your investment in the fund, generally goes down. Interest rates have been historically low, so the fund faces a heightened risk that interest rates may rise. Generally, the longer the maturity or duration of a fixed income security, the greater the impact of a rise in interest rates on the security’s value. However, calculations of duration and maturity may be based on estimates and may not reliably predict a security’s price sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Moreover, securities can change in value in response to other factors, such as credit risk. In addition, different interest rate measures (such as short- and long-term interest rates and U.S. and foreign interest rates), or interest rates on different types of securities or securities of different issuers, may not necessarily change in the same amount or in the same direction. When interest rates go down, the fund’s yield will decline. Also, when interest rates decline, investments made by the fund may pay a lower interest rate, which would reduce the income received by the fund.

Market sector risk. The fund may be significantly overweight or underweight in certain companies, industries or market sectors, which may cause the fund’s performance to be more sensitive to developments affecting those companies, industries or market sectors.

Market trading risk.

Absence of active market. Although shares of the fund are listed for trading on one or more stock exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such shares will develop or be maintained by market makers or Authorized Participants. Authorized Participants are not obligated to execute purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. In periods of market volatility, market makers and/or Authorized Participants may be less willing to transact in fund shares. The absence of an active market for the fund’s shares may contribute to the fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV.

Risk of secondary listings. The fund’s shares may be listed or traded on U.S. and non-U.S. stock exchanges other than the U.S. stock exchange where the fund’s primary listing is maintained, and may otherwise be made available to non-U.S. investors through funds or structured investment vehicles similar to depositary receipts. There can be no assurance that the fund’s shares will continue to trade on any such stock exchange or in any market or that the fund’s shares will continue to meet the requirements for listing or trading on any exchange or in any market. The fund’s shares may be less actively traded in certain markets than in others, and investors are subject to the execution and settlement risks and market standards of the market where they or their broker direct their trades for execution. Certain information available to investors who trade fund shares on a U.S. stock exchange during regular U.S. market hours may not be available to investors who trade in other markets, which may result in secondary market prices in such markets being less efficient.

Secondary market trading risk. Shares of the fund may trade in the secondary market at times when the fund does not accept orders to purchase or redeem shares. At such times, shares may trade in the secondary market with more significant premiums or discounts than might be experienced at times when the fund accepts purchase and redemption orders.

Secondary market trading in fund shares may be halted by a stock exchange because of market conditions or for other reasons. In addition, trading in fund shares on a stock exchange or in any market may be subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to “circuit breaker” rules on the stock exchange or market.

 

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Shares of the fund, similar to shares of other issuers listed on a stock exchange, may be sold short and are therefore subject to the risk of increased volatility and price decreases associated with being sold short.

Shares of the fund may trade at prices other than NAV. Shares of the fund trade on stock exchanges at prices at, above or below the fund’s most recent NAV. The NAV of the fund is calculated at the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of the fund’s holdings. The trading price of the fund’s shares fluctuates continuously throughout trading hours based on both market supply of and demand for fund shares and the underlying value of the fund’s portfolio holdings or NAV. As a result, the trading prices of the fund’s shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility, including during periods of significant redemption requests or other unusual market conditions. ANY OF THESE FACTORS, AMONG OTHERS, MAY LEAD TO THE FUND’S SHARES TRADING AT A PREMIUM OR DISCOUNT TO NAV. However, because shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units at NAV, the subadviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of the fund are not likely to be sustained over the long term (unlike shares of many closed-end funds, which frequently trade at appreciable discounts from, and sometimes at premiums to, their NAVs). While the creation/redemption feature is designed to make it more likely that the fund’s shares normally will trade on stock exchanges at prices close to the fund’s next calculated NAV, exchange prices are not expected to correlate exactly with the fund’s NAV due to timing reasons, supply and demand imbalances and other factors. In addition, disruptions to creations and redemptions, including disruptions at market makers, Authorized Participants, or other market participants, and during periods of significant market volatility, may result in trading prices for shares of the fund that differ significantly from its NAV. Authorized Participants may be less willing to create or redeem fund shares if there is a lack of an active market for such shares or its underlying investments, which may contribute to the fund’s shares trading at a discount to NAV.

Costs of buying or selling fund shares. Buying or selling fund shares on an exchange involves two types of costs that apply to all securities transactions. When buying or selling shares of the fund through a broker, you will likely incur a brokerage commission and other charges. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread”; that is, the difference between what investors are willing to pay for fund shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which they are willing to sell fund shares (the “ask” price). There may also be regulatory and other charges that are incurred as a result of trading activity. The spread varies over time for shares of the fund based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally narrower if the fund has more trading volume and market liquidity and wider if the fund has less trading volume and market liquidity. In addition, increased market volatility may cause wider spreads. Because of the costs inherent in buying or selling fund shares, frequent trading may detract significantly from investment results and an investment in fund shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments through a brokerage account.

Mortgage dollar rolls risk. Mortgage dollar rolls are transactions in which the fund sells MBS to a dealer and simultaneously agrees to repurchase similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. The fund’s mortgage dollar rolls could lose money if the price of the mortgage-backed securities sold falls below the agreed upon repurchase price, or if the counterparty is unable to honor the agreement. Mortgage dollar roll transactions may have a leveraging effect on the fund, making the value of an investment in the fund more volatile and magnifying any change in the fund’s net asset value.

National closed market trading risk. Where the underlying securities held by the fund trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the securities exchange on which the fund’s shares trade is open, there are likely to be deviations between the current price of such an underlying security (i.e., during the ETF’s domestic trading day) and the last quoted price for the underlying security (i.e., the fund’s quote from the closed foreign market), which in turn could lead to a difference between the price at which the fund has valued the security and the value of the underlying security. This could also result in premiums or discounts to the fund’s NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Operational risk. Your ability to transact with the fund or the valuation of your investment may be negatively impacted because of the operational risks arising from factors such as processing errors and human errors, inadequate or failed internal or external processes, failures in systems and technology, changes in personnel, and errors caused by third party service providers or trading counterparties. It is not possible to identify all of the operational risks that may affect the fund or to develop processes and controls that completely eliminate or mitigate the occurrence of such failures. The fund and its shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result.

Portfolio management risk. The value of your investment may decrease if the subadviser’s judgment about the attractiveness or value of, or market trends affecting a particular security, industry, sector or region, or about market movements is incorrect, or if there are imperfections, errors or limitations in the tools and data used by the subadviser. In addition, the fund’s investment strategies or policies may change from time to time. Those changes may not lead to the results intended by the subadviser and could have an adverse effect on the value or performance of the fund.

Furthermore, the implementation of the fund’s investment strategies is subject to a number of constraints, which could also adversely affect the fund’s value or performance.

 

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More on the fund’s investment strategies, investments and risks cont’d

 

Preferred stock risk. Preferred stock is subject to many of the risks associated with fixed income securities, including interest rate risk. In addition, preferred stock may not pay a dividend, an issuer may suspend payment of dividends on preferred stock at any time, and in certain situations an issuer may call or redeem its preferred stock or convert it to common stock.

Prepayment or call risk. Many fixed income securities give the issuer the option to repay or call the security prior to its maturity date. Issuers often exercise this right when interest rates fall. Accordingly, if the fund holds a fixed income security subject to prepayment or call risk, it will not benefit fully from the increase in value that other fixed income securities generally experience when interest rates fall. Upon prepayment of the security, the fund would also be forced to reinvest the proceeds at then current yields, which would be lower than the yield of the security that was paid off. In addition, if the fund purchases a fixed income security at a premium (at a price that exceeds its stated par or principal value), the fund may lose the amount of the premium paid in the event of prepayment.

Redemptions by other funds and by other significant investors risk. The fund may be an investment option for other Legg Mason, Inc. sponsored mutual funds and ETFs that are managed as “funds of funds,” unaffiliated mutual funds and ETFs and other investors with substantial investments in the fund. As a result, from time to time, the fund may experience relatively large redemptions and could be required to liquidate its assets at inopportune times or at a loss or depressed value, which could cause the value of your investment to decline.

Risk of investing in fewer issuers. To the extent the fund invests its assets in a small number of issuers, the fund will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those issuers.

Risks relating to inflation-indexed securities. The value of inflation-indexed fixed income securities generally fluctuates in response to changes in real interest rates, which are in turn tied to the relationship between nominal interest rates and the rate of inflation. Therefore, if inflation were to rise at a faster rate than nominal interest rates, real interest rates might decline, leading to an increase in value of inflation-indexed securities. In contrast, if nominal interest rates increased at a faster rate than inflation, real interest rates might rise, leading to a decrease in value of inflation-indexed securities. The principal value of inflation-indexed securities declines in periods of deflation, and holders of such securities may experience a loss. Although the holders of U.S. TIPS receive no less than the par value of the security maturity, if the fund purchases U.S. TIPS in the secondary market whose principal values have been adjusted upward due to inflation since issuance, it may experience a loss if there is a subsequent period of deflation. If inflation is lower than expected during the period the fund holds an inflation-indexed security, the fund may earn less on the security than on a conventional bond.

Any increase in principal value caused by an increase in the index the inflation-indexed securities are tied to is taxable in the year the increase occurs, even though the fund will not receive cash representing the increase at that time. As a result, the fund could be required at times to liquidate other investments, including when it is not advantageous to do so, in order to satisfy its distribution requirements as a regulated investment company under the Code. See “Taxes” in the SAI.

If real interest rates rise (i.e., if interest rates rise for reasons other than inflation, for example, due to changes in currency exchange rates), the value of inflation-indexed securities held by the fund will decline. Moreover, because the principal amount of inflation-indexed securities would be adjusted downward during a period of deflation, the fund will be subject to deflation risk with respect to its investments in these securities. Inflation-indexed securities are tied to indices that are calculated based on rates of inflation for prior periods. There can be no assurance that such indices will accurately measure the actual rate of inflation in the prices of goods and services.

Sovereign debt risk. Sovereign government and supranational debt involve many of the risks of foreign and emerging markets investments as well as the risk of debt moratorium, repudiation or renegotiation and the fund may be unable to enforce its rights against the issuers.

Trading issues risk. Trading in shares of the fund on NASDAQ may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of NASDAQ, make trading in shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in shares on NASDAQ is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to NASDAQ’s “circuit breaker” rules. There can be no assurance that the requirements of NASDAQ necessary to maintain the listing of the fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged.

U.S. government securities risk. Although the U.S. government guarantees principal and interest payments on securities issued by the U.S. government and some of its agencies, such as securities issued by the Ginnie Mae, this guarantee does not apply to losses resulting from declines in the market value of these securities.

Valuation risk. Many factors may influence the price at which the fund could sell any particular portfolio investment. The sales price may well differ—higher or lower—from the fund’s last valuation, and such differences could be significant, particularly for illiquid securities and securities that trade in relatively thin markets and/or markets that experience extreme volatility. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value methodologies. Valuation methodologies may be further impacted by technological issues and/or errors by pricing vendors or their personnel. Authorized Participants who purchase or redeem fund shares on days when the fund is holding fair-valued securities may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they

 

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would have received if the fund had not fair-valued securities or had used a different valuation methodology. The value of foreign securities, certain fixed income securities and currencies, as applicable, may be materially affected by events after the close of the markets on which they are traded, but before the fund determines its NAV. The fund’s ability to value its investments may be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by pricing services or other third party service providers.

Volatility risk. The value of the securities and other assets in the fund’s portfolio may fluctuate, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably. The value of a security or other asset may fluctuate due to factors affecting markets generally or particular industries. The value of a security may also be more volatile than the market as a whole. This volatility may affect the fund’s NAV. Securities or other assets in the fund’s portfolio may be subject to price volatility and the prices may not be any less volatile than the market as a whole and could be more volatile. Events or financial circumstances affecting individual securities or sectors may increase the volatility of the fund.

Warrants and rights risk. Warrants and rights can provide a greater potential for profit or loss than an equivalent investment in the underlying security. Prices of warrants and rights do not necessarily move in tandem with the prices of the underlying securities and therefore are highly volatile and speculative investments. They have no voting rights, pay no dividends and have no rights with respect to the assets of the issuer other than a purchase option. If a warrant or right held by the fund is not exercised by the date of its expiration, the fund would lose the entire purchase price of the warrant or right.

Please note that there are other factors that could adversely affect your investment and that could prevent the fund from achieving its investment objective. More information about risks appears in the SAI. Before investing, you should carefully consider the risks that you will assume.

Portfolio holdings

On each business day, the fund will disclose on www.leggmason.com/etfproducts (click on the name of the fund) the identities and quantities of the fund’s portfolio holdings and other assets held by the fund that will form the basis for the fund’s calculation of its net asset value per share at the end of the business day. A description of the fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of its portfolio holdings is available in the SAI.

 

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More on fund management

 

Legg Mason Partners Fund Advisor, LLC (“LMPFA” or the “manager”) is the fund’s investment manager. LMPFA, with offices at 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10018, also serves as the investment manager of other Legg Mason-sponsored funds. LMPFA provides administrative and certain oversight services to the fund. As of June 30, 2018, LMPFA’s total assets under management were approximately $179.1 billion.

Western Asset Management Company, LLC (formerly known as Western Asset Management Company) (“Western Asset”) provides the day-to-day portfolio management of the fund as subadviser. Western Asset Management Company Limited (“Western Asset London”), Western Asset Management Company Pte. Ltd. (“Western Asset Singapore”) and Western Asset Management Company Ltd (“Western Asset Japan” and, collectively with Western Asset London and Western Asset Singapore, the “sub-subadvisers”) serve as sub-subadvisers to the fund. References to “the subadviser” include the subadviser and each applicable sub-subadviser.

Western Asset, established in 1971, has offices at 385 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91101 and 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10018. Western Asset London was founded in 1984 and has offices at 10 Exchange Square, Primrose Street, London EC2A 2EN. Western Asset Singapore was established in 2000 and has offices at 1 George Street #23-01, Singapore 049145. Western Asset Japan was founded in 1991 and has offices at 36F Shin-Marunouchi Building, 5-1 Marunouchi 1-Chome Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 100-6536, Japan.

Western Asset London, Western Asset Singapore and Western Asset Japan provide certain sub-subadvisory services relating to currency transactions and investments in non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities and related foreign currency instruments. Western Asset London generally manages global and non-U.S. dollar fixed income mandates, Western Asset Singapore generally manages Asian (other than Japan) fixed income mandates and Western Asset Japan generally manages Japanese fixed income mandates. Each office provides services relating to relevant portions of Western Asset’s broader portfolios as appropriate.

Western Asset London, Western Asset Singapore and Western Asset Japan undertake investment-related activities including investment management, research and analysis, and securities settlement.

Western Asset employs a team approach to investment management that utilizes relevant staff in multiple offices around the world. Expertise from Western Asset investment professionals in those offices add local sector investment experience as well as the ability to trade in local markets. Although the investment professionals at Western Asset London, Western Asset Singapore, and Western Asset Japan are responsible for the management of the investments in their local sectors, Western Asset provides overall supervision of their activities for the fund to maintain a cohesive investment management approach.

Western Asset, Western Asset London, Western Asset Singapore and Western Asset Japan act as investment advisers to institutional accounts, such as corporate pension plans, mutual funds and endowment funds. As of June 30, 2018, the total assets under management of Western Asset and its supervised affiliates, including Western Asset London, Western Asset Singapore and Western Asset Japan, were approximately $415.1 billion.

LMPFA, Western Asset, Western Asset London, Western Asset Singapore and Western Asset Japan are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Legg Mason. Legg Mason, whose principal executive offices are at 100 International Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, is a global asset management company. As of June 30, 2018, Legg Mason’s asset management operations, including Western Asset and its supervised affiliates, had aggregate assets under management of approximately $744.6 billion.

Investment professionals

The fund is managed by a broad team of investment professionals. The particular mix of investment professionals involved in developing and implementing investment strategies for the fund depends on the asset classes in which the fund invests. Senior members of the portfolio management team are responsible for the development of investment strategy and oversight for the fund and coordination of other relevant investment team members. They work together with the broader Western Asset investment management team on portfolio structure, duration weighting and term structure decisions.

The individuals responsible for day-to-day portfolio management, development of investment strategy, oversight and coordination of the fund are S. Kenneth Leech (Chief Investment Officer), Mark S. Lindbloom (Portfolio Manager), Julien A. Scholnick (Portfolio Manager), Frederick R. Marki (Portfolio Manager) and John L. Bellows (Portfolio Manager/Research Analyst). Messrs. Leech, Lindbloom, Scholnick, Marki and Bellows have each been employed by Western Asset as an investment professional for at least the past five years. Each of Mr. Leech, Mr. Lindbloom, Mr. Scholnick, Mr. Marki and Mr. Bellows has been part of the portfolio management team for the fund since [month] 2018.

The SAI provides information about the investment professionals’ compensation, other accounts managed by the investment professionals and any fund shares held by the investment professionals.

Management fees

Pursuant to the Management Agreement and subject to the general supervision of the Board, LMPFA provides or causes to be furnished all investment management, supervisory, administrative and other services reasonably necessary for the operation of the fund, including certain

 

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distribution services (provided pursuant to a separate distribution agreement) and investment advisory services (provided pursuant to separate subadvisory agreements) under a unitary fee structure. The fund is responsible for paying interest expenses, taxes, brokerage expenses, future 12b-1 fees (if any), acquired fund fees and expenses, extraordinary expenses and the management fee payable to LMPFA under the Management Agreement.

The fund pays management fees as follows:

 

Name of Fund   Management Fee
Western Asset Total Return ETF   0.49% of average daily net assets

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the fund’s management agreement and subadvisory agreements will be available in the fund’s annual report for the year ending December 31, 2018.

Expense limitation

The manager has agreed to waive and/or reimburse management fees so that the ratio of total annual fund operating expenses will not exceed 0.45% (subject to the same exclusions as the Management Agreement). This arrangement cannot be terminated prior to December 31, 2019 without the Board of Trustees’ consent.

Additional information

The fund enters into contractual arrangements with various parties, including, among others, the fund’s investment manager and the subadvisers, who provide services to the fund. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended (or “third-party”) beneficiaries of, those contractual arrangements.

This Prospectus and the SAI provide information concerning the fund that you should consider in determining whether to purchase shares of the fund. The fund may make changes to this information from time to time. Neither this Prospectus nor the SAI is intended to give rise to any contract rights or other rights in any shareholder, other than rights conferred by federal or state securities laws.

Distribution

Legg Mason Investor Services, LLC (“LMIS”), 100 International Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, serves as the distributor of Creation Units for the fund on an agency basis. LMIS does not maintain a secondary market in the fund’s shares. LMIS has no role in determining the fund’s policies or the securities that are purchased or sold by the fund.

The Board has adopted a distribution and service plan (“Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Under the Plan, the fund is authorized to pay distribution fees in connection with the sale and distribution of its shares and pay service fees in connection with the provision of ongoing services to shareholders of the fund and the maintenance of shareholder accounts in an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year. No Rule 12b-1 fees are currently paid by the fund, and there are no current plans to impose these fees.

Additional payments

Legg Mason or its affiliates make payments to broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks or other intermediaries (together, “intermediaries”) related to marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, or their making shares of the fund available to their customers generally and in certain investment programs. Such payments, which may be significant to the intermediary, are not made by the fund. Rather, such payments are made by Legg Mason or its affiliates from their own resources, which come directly or indirectly in part from fees paid by the fund. A financial intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it recommends or makes available, or the level of services provided, to its customers based on the payments it is eligible to receive. Therefore, such payments to an intermediary create conflicts of interest between the intermediary and its customers and may cause the intermediary to recommend the fund over another investment. More information regarding these payments is contained in the fund’s SAI. Please contact your salesperson or other investment professional for more information regarding any such payments his or her firm may receive from Legg Mason or its affiliates.

 

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Shareholder information

 

Additional shareholder information, including how to buy and sell shares of the fund, is available free of charge by calling toll-free: 877-721-1926 or visiting our website at www.leggmason.com/etfliterature.

Purchasing and selling shares

Shares of the fund may be acquired or redeemed directly from the fund only in Creation Units or multiples thereof, as discussed in the “Creations and redemptions” section of this Prospectus. Only an Authorized Participant (as defined in the “Creations and redemptions” section) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the fund. Once created, shares of the fund generally trade in the secondary market in amounts less than a Creation Unit.

Shares of the fund are listed for trading on the secondary market on NASDAQ. Shares can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like other publicly traded shares. There is no minimum investment. Although shares are generally purchased and sold in “round lots” of 100 shares, brokerage firms typically permit investors to purchase or sell shares in smaller “odd lots” at no per-share price differential. The fund’s shares trade on NASDAQ as follows:

 

Name of Fund   Ticker Symbol
Western Asset Total Return ETF   WBND

Share prices are reported in dollars and cents per share

Buying or selling fund shares on an exchange or other secondary market involves two types of costs that may apply to all securities transactions. When buying or selling shares of the fund through a broker, you may incur a brokerage commission and other charges. The commission is frequently a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell small amounts of shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price. The spread varies over time for shares of the fund based on the fund’s trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size). The fund’s spread may also be impacted by the liquidity of the underlying securities held by the fund, particularly for newly launched or smaller funds or in instances of significant volatility of the underlying securities.

Authorized Participants may acquire shares directly from the fund and may tender their shares for redemption directly to the fund, at NAV per share only in Creation Units.

The fund’s primary listing exchange is NASDAQ. NASDAQ is open for trading Monday through Friday and is closed on weekends and the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by investment companies in the securities of other investment companies. Registered investment companies are permitted to invest in the fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in SEC rules or in an SEC exemptive order issued to the fund. In order for a registered investment company to invest in shares of the fund beyond the limitations of Section 12(d)(1) pursuant to the exemptive relief obtained by the fund, the registered investment company (outside the Legg Mason fund family) must enter into an agreement with the fund.

Frequent purchases and redemptions of fund shares

The Board has evaluated the risks of frequent purchases and redemptions of fund shares (“market timing”) activities by the fund’s shareholders. The Board noted that the fund’s shares can only be purchased and redeemed directly from the fund in Creation Units by Authorized Participants and that the vast majority of trading in the fund’s shares occurs on the secondary market. Because the secondary market trades do not involve the fund directly, it is unlikely those trades would cause many of the harmful effects of market timing, including dilution, disruption of portfolio management, increases in the fund’s trading costs and the realization of capital gains.

With respect to trades directly with the fund, to the extent effected in-kind, those trades do not cause any of the harmful effects (as previously noted) that may result from frequent cash trades. To the extent that the fund permits or requires trades to be effected in whole or in part in cash, the Board noted that those trades could result in dilution to the fund and increased transaction costs, which could negatively impact the fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. However, the Board noted that direct trading by Authorized Participants is critical to ensuring that the fund’s shares trade at or close to NAV. The fund also employs fair valuation pricing to minimize potential dilution from market timing. The fund imposes transaction fees on in-kind purchases and redemptions of fund shares to cover the custodial and other costs incurred by the fund in effecting in-kind trades. These fees may increase if an investor substitutes cash in part or in whole for securities, reflecting the fact that the fund’s trading costs increase in those circumstances. Given this structure, the Board determined that it is not necessary to apply policies and procedures to the fund to detect and deter market timing.

 

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Book entry

Shares are held in book-entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding shares of the fund and is recognized as the owner of all shares for all purposes.

Investors owning shares are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for all shares. Participants in DTC include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other institutions that directly or indirectly maintain a custodial relationship with DTC. As a beneficial owner of shares, you are not entitled to receive physical delivery of stock certificates or to have shares registered in your name, and you are not considered a registered owner of shares. Therefore, to exercise any right as an owner of shares, you must rely upon the procedures of DTC and its participants. These procedures are the same as those that apply to any other stocks that you hold in book entry or “street name” form.

Fund share trading prices

The trading prices of the fund’s shares in the secondary market generally differ from the fund’s daily NAV and are affected by market forces such as the supply of and demand for ETF shares and underlying securities held by the fund, economic conditions and other factors. Information regarding the intraday value of shares of the fund, also known as the “intra-day indicative value” (“IIV”), is disseminated every 15 seconds throughout each trading day by the national securities exchange on which the fund’s shares are listed or by market data vendors or other information providers. The IIV is based on the current market value of the securities and/or cash required to be deposited in exchange for a Creation Unit but does not include a reduction for the fees, operating expenses or transaction costs incurred by the fund. The IIV does not necessarily reflect the precise composition of the current portfolio of securities held by the fund at a particular point in time or the best possible valuation of the current portfolio. Therefore, the IIV should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the fund’s NAV, which is computed only once a day. The IIV is generally determined by using both current market quotations and/or price quotations obtained from broker-dealers and other market intermediaries that may trade in the portfolio securities held by the fund. The quotations of certain fund holdings may not be updated during U.S. trading hours if such holdings do not trade in the United States and thus may not reflect the current fair value of those securities. The fund is not involved in, or responsible for, the calculation or dissemination of the IIV nor makes any representation or warranty as to its accuracy.

Calculation of net asset value

The fund’s NAV per share is the value of its assets minus its liabilities divided by the number of shares outstanding.

The fund calculates its NAV every day the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) is open. The fund generally values its securities and other assets and calculates its NAV as of the scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE, normally at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time). If the NYSE closes at a time other than the scheduled closing time, the fund will calculate its NAV as of the scheduled closing time. The NYSE is closed on certain holidays listed in the SAI.

Valuation of the fund’s securities and other assets is performed in accordance with procedures approved by the Board. These procedures delegate most valuation functions to the manager, which generally, uses independent third party pricing services approved by the Board. Under the procedures, assets are valued as follows:

 

 

Equity securities and certain derivative instruments that are traded on an exchange are valued at the closing price (which may be reported at a different time than the time at which the fund’s NAV is calculated) or, if that price is unavailable or deemed by the manager not representative of market value, the last sale price. Where a security is traded on more than one exchange (as is often the case overseas), the security is generally valued at the price on the exchange considered by the manager to be the primary exchange. In the case of securities not traded on an exchange, or if exchange prices are not otherwise available, the prices are typically determined by independent third party pricing services that use a variety of techniques and methodologies.

 

 

The valuations for fixed income securities and certain derivative instruments are typically the prices supplied by independent third party pricing services, which may use market prices or broker/dealer quotations or a variety of fair valuation techniques and methodologies.

 

 

The valuations of securities traded on foreign markets and certain fixed income securities will generally be based on prices determined as of the earlier closing time of the markets on which they primarily trade, unless a significant event has occurred. When the fund holds securities or other assets that are denominated in a foreign currency, the fund will normally use the currency exchange rates as of 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time). Foreign markets are open for trading on weekends and other days when the fund does not price its shares. Therefore, the value of the fund’s shares may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell the fund’s shares.

 

 

Investments in ETFs and closed-end funds listed on an exchange are valued at the closing sale or official closing price on that exchange. Investments in open-end funds other than ETFs are valued at the net asset value per share of the class of the underlying fund held by the fund as determined on each business day.

 

 

If independent third party pricing services are unable to supply prices for a portfolio investment, or if the prices supplied are deemed by the manager to be unreliable, the market price may be determined by the manager using quotations from one or more broker/dealers. When such

 

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Shareholder information cont’d

 

  prices or quotations are not available, or when the manager believes that they are unreliable, the manager may price securities using fair value procedures approved by the Board. These procedures permit, among other things, the use of a formula or other method that takes into consideration market indices, yield curves and other specific adjustments to determine fair value. Fair value of a security is the amount, as determined by the manager in good faith, that the fund might reasonably expect to receive upon a current sale of the security. The fund may also use fair value procedures if the manager determines that a significant event has occurred between the time at which a market price is determined and the time at which the fund’s NAV is calculated.

Many factors may influence the price at which the fund could sell any particular portfolio investment. The sales price may well differ—higher or lower—from the fund’s last valuation, and such differences could be significant, particularly for securities that trade in relatively thin markets and/or markets that experience extreme volatility. Moreover, valuing securities using fair value methodologies involves greater reliance on judgment than valuing securities based on market quotations. A fund that uses fair value methodologies may value those securities higher or lower than another fund using market quotations or its own fair value methodologies to price the same securities. There can be no assurance that the fund could obtain the value assigned to a security if it were to sell the security at approximately the time at which the fund determines its NAV.

 

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Dividends, other distributions and taxes

 

Dividends and other distributions

The fund pays dividends from any net investment income monthly. Shares will generally begin to earn dividends on the settlement date of purchase. The fund generally distributes capital gain, if any, once a year, typically in December. The fund may pay additional distributions and dividends in order to avoid a federal tax.

Dividends and other distributions on shares of the fund are distributed on a pro rata basis to beneficial owners of such shares. Dividend payments are made through DTC participants and indirect participants to beneficial owners then of record with proceeds received from the fund.

The Board reserves the right to revise the dividend policy or postpone the payment of dividends if warranted in the Board’s judgment due to unusual circumstances.

Reinvestment of distributions

Distributions are paid by the fund in cash. No dividend reinvestment service is provided by the fund. Broker-dealers may make available the DTC book-entry Dividend Reinvestment Service for use by beneficial owners of the fund for reinvestment of their dividend distributions. Beneficial owners should contact their broker to determine the availability and costs of the service and the details of participation therein. Brokers may require beneficial owners to adhere to specific procedures and timetables. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole shares of the fund purchased in the secondary market.

Taxes

The following discussion is very general, applies only to shareholders who are U.S. persons, and does not address shareholders subject to special rules, such as those who hold fund shares through an IRA, 401(k) plan or other tax-advantaged account. Except as specifically noted, the discussion is limited to federal income tax matters, and does not address state, local, foreign or non-income taxes. Further information regarding taxes, including certain federal income tax considerations relevant to non-U.S. persons, is included in the SAI. Because each shareholder’s circumstances are different and special tax rules may apply, you should consult your tax adviser about federal, state, local and/or foreign tax considerations that may be relevant to your particular situation.

Taxes on distributions

In general, dividends and distributions are all taxable events. Distributions of investment income that the fund reports as “qualified dividend income” may be eligible to be taxed to noncorporate shareholders at the reduced rates applicable to long-term capital gain if certain requirements are satisfied. Distributions of net capital gain reported by the fund as capital gain dividends are taxable to you as long-term capital gain regardless of how long you have owned your shares. Noncorporate shareholders ordinarily pay tax at reduced rates on long-term capital gain. Substitute payments received on fund shares that are lent out will be ineligible for being reported as qualified dividend income and for other potentially beneficial tax treatment.

You may want to avoid buying shares when the fund is about to declare a dividend or capital gain distribution because it will be taxable to you even though it may economically represent a return of a portion of your investment.

A Medicare contribution tax is imposed at the rate of 3.8% on the net investment income of U.S. individuals with income exceeding specified thresholds, and on undistributed net investment income of certain estates and trusts. Net investment income generally includes for this purpose dividends and capital gain distributions paid by the fund and gain on the redemption or exchange of fund shares.

A dividend declared by the fund in October, November or December and paid during January of the following year will, in certain circumstances, be treated as paid in December for tax purposes.

Interest received by the fund with respect to non-U.S. securities may give rise to withholding and other taxes imposed by non-U.S. countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If more than 50% of the total assets of the fund at the close of a year consists of securities of non-U.S. corporations, the fund may “pass through” to you certain non-U.S. income taxes (including withholding taxes) paid by the fund. This means that you would be considered to have received as an additional dividend your share of such non-U.S. taxes, but you may be entitled to either a corresponding tax deduction in calculating your U.S. federal taxable income, or, subject to certain limitations, a credit in calculating your U.S. federal income tax.

If you are neither a resident nor a citizen of the United States or if you are a non-U.S. entity, the fund’s ordinary income dividends (which include distributions of net short-term capital gains) will generally be subject to a 30% U.S. federal withholding tax, unless a lower treaty rate applies.

A 30% withholding tax is currently imposed on U.S.-source dividends, interest and other income items and will be imposed on proceeds from the sale of property producing U.S.-source dividends and interest paid after December 31, 2018, to (i) foreign financial institutions, including non-U.S. investment funds, unless they agree to collect and disclose to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) information regarding their direct and

 

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Dividends, other distributions and taxes cont’d

 

indirect U.S. account holders and (ii) certain other foreign entities, unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions will need to (i) enter into agreements with the IRS that state that they will provide the IRS information, including the names, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers of direct and indirect U.S. account holders; comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts; report to the IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained, agree to withhold tax on certain payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information; and determine certain other information concerning their account holders, or (ii) in the event that an applicable intergovernmental agreement and implementing legislation are adopted, provide local revenue authorities with similar account holder information. Other foreign entities may need to report the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner or provide certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership, unless certain exceptions apply.

If you are a resident or a citizen of the United States, by law, back-up withholding will apply to your distributions and proceeds if you have not provided a taxpayer identification number or social security number and made other required certifications.

Taxes when shares are sold

Capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of fund shares is generally treated as a long-term gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of fund shares held for one year or less is generally treated as short-term gain or loss, except that any capital loss on the sale of shares held for six months or less is treated as long-term capital loss to the extent that capital gain dividends were paid with respect to such shares. Any such capital gains, including from sales of fund shares or from capital gain dividends, are included in “net investment income” for purposes of the 3.8% U.S. federal Medicare contribution tax mentioned above.

 

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Creations and redemptions

 

Prior to trading in the secondary market, shares of the fund are “created” at NAV by market makers, large investors and institutions only in block-size Creation Units or multiples thereof. The following table sets forth the number of shares of the fund that constitute a Creation Unit:

 

Fund   Creation unit size
Western Asset Total Return ETF   100,000

Each “creator” or “Authorized Participant” enters into an authorized participant agreement with LMIS, the fund’s distributor. Only an Authorized Participant may create or redeem Creation Units directly with the fund.

The fund generally only accepts cash to purchase Creation Units. The purchaser must transfer cash in an amount equal to the value of the Creation Unit(s) purchased and the applicable transaction fee. However, a creation transaction, which is subject to acceptance by LMIS, may also take place when an Authorized Participant deposits into the fund a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) and a specified amount of cash approximating the holdings of the fund in exchange for a specified number of Creation Units (a “Creation Basket”). Except in limited circumstances, the composition of such portfolio will correspond pro rata to the positions in the fund’s portfolio.

Redemption proceeds will generally be paid in cash. However, shares may also be redeemed in Creation Units for a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) held by the fund (“Fund Securities”) and a specified amount of cash. Except in limited circumstances, the composition of such portfolio will correspond pro rata to the positions in the fund’s portfolio. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, shares are not redeemable by the fund.

The prices at which creations and redemptions occur are based on the next calculation of NAV after a creation or redemption order is received in an acceptable form under the authorized participant agreement.

In the event of a system failure or other interruption, including disruptions at market makers or Authorized Participants, orders to purchase or redeem Creation Units either may not be executed according to the fund’s instructions or may not be executed at all, or the fund may not be able to place or change orders.

To the extent the fund engages in in-kind transactions, the fund intends to comply with the U.S. federal securities laws in accepting securities for deposit and satisfying redemptions with redemption securities by, among other means, assuring that any securities accepted for deposit and any securities used to satisfy redemption requests will be sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “1933 Act”). Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a “qualified institutional buyer,” as such term is defined in Rule 144A under the 1933 Act, will not be able to receive restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A.

Information about the procedures regarding creation and redemption of Creation Units (including the cut-off times for receipt of creation and redemption orders) is included in the fund’s SAI.

Because new shares may be created and issued on an ongoing basis, at any point during the life of the fund a “distribution,” as such term is used in the 1933 Act, may be occurring. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner that could render them statutory underwriters subject to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the 1933 Act. Any determination of whether one is an underwriter must take into account all the relevant facts and circumstances of each particular case.

Broker-dealers should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted to ordinary secondary transactions), and thus dealing with shares that are part of an “unsold allotment” within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the 1933 Act, would be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act. For delivery of prospectuses to exchange members, the prospectus delivery mechanism of Rule 153 under the 1933 Act is available only with respect to transactions on a national securities exchange.

Costs associated with creations and redemptions. Authorized Participants are charged standard creation and redemption transaction fees to offset transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance and redemption of Creation Units. The standard creation and redemption transaction fees are set forth in the table below. The standard creation transaction fee is charged to the Authorized Participant on the day such Authorized Participant creates a Creation Unit, and is the same regardless of the number of Creation Units purchased by the Authorized Participant on the applicable business day. Similarly, the standard redemption transaction fee is charged to the Authorized Participant on the day such Authorized Participant redeems a Creation Unit, and is the same regardless of the number of Creation Units redeemed by the Authorized Participant on the applicable business day. Creations and redemptions for cash (when cash creations and redemptions (in whole or in part) are available or specified) are also subject to an additional charge (up to the maximum amounts shown in the table below). This charge is intended to compensate for brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, market impact and other costs and expenses related to cash transactions. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to acquire or dispose of fund shares may pay fees for such services.

 

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Creations and redemptions cont’d

 

The following table shows, as of July 30, 2018, the approximate value of one Creation Unit of the fund, standard fees and maximum additional charges for creations and redemptions (as described above):

 

      Approximate
Value of a
Creation Unit ($)
   Creation
Unit Size
   Estimated
Standard
Creation/
Redemption
Transaction
Fee ($)
   Maximum
Additional
Charge for
Creations* (%)
  Maximum
Additional Charge
for
Redemptions* (%)
Western Asset Total Return ETF    $2.5 million    100,000    $100    2%   2%

 

*

As a percentage of the NAV per Creation Unit, inclusive, in the case of redemptions, of the standard redemption transaction fee.

 

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Financial highlights

 

As the fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this Prospectus, no financial information is available. The Prospectus will include financial information for the fund once it has issued its first annual report to shareholders that contains audited financial statements.

 

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Legg Mason Fixed Income

ETFs

 

Western Asset Total Return ETF

You may visit www.leggmason.com/etfliterature for a free copy of a Prospectus, Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) or an Annual or Semi-Annual Report.

Shareholder reports Additional information about the fund’s investments will be available in the fund’s Annual and Semi-Annual Reports to shareholders. In the fund’s Annual Report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the fund’s performance during its last fiscal year.

The fund sends only one report to a household if more than one account has the same last name and same address. Contact your Service Agent or the fund if you do not want this policy to apply to you.

Statement of additional information The SAI provides more detailed information about the fund and is incorporated by reference into (is legally a part of) this Prospectus.

You can make inquiries about the fund or obtain shareholder reports or the SAI (without charge) by contacting your Service Agent, by calling the fund at 1-877-721-1926 or by writing to the fund at 100 First Stamford Place, Attn: Shareholder Services – 5th Floor, Stamford, Connecticut 06902.

Information about the fund (including the SAI) can be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-202-551-8090. Reports and other information about the fund are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of this information may be obtained for a duplicating fee by electronic request at the following E-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov, or by writing the SEC’s Public Reference Room, Washington, D.C. 20549-1520.

If someone makes a statement about the fund that is not in this Prospectus, you should not rely upon that information. Neither the fund nor the distributor is offering to sell shares of the fund to any person to whom the fund may not lawfully sell its shares.

 

 

(Investment Company Act

file no. 811-23096)

ETFF411564ST [    ]/18


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The information in this Statement of Additional Information is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This 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, September 10, 2018

[            ], 2018

LEGG MASON ETF INVESTMENT TRUST

WESTERN ASSET TOTAL RETURN ETF

NASDAQ (Ticker Symbol): WBND

620 Eighth Avenue

New York, New York 10018

1-877-721-1926

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This Statement of Additional Information (this “SAI”) is not a prospectus and is meant to be read in conjunction with the Prospectus of Western Asset Total Return ETF (the “fund”), dated [            ], 2018, as amended or supplemented from time to time, and is incorporated by reference in its entirety into the Prospectus.

The fund is a series of Legg Mason ETF Investment Trust (the “Trust”), a Maryland statutory trust.

Additional information about the fund’s investments will be available in the fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. The fund’s Prospectus and copies of the annual and semi-annual reports, when available, may be obtained free of charge by writing the Trust at 100 First Stamford Place, Attn: Shareholder Services—5th Floor, Stamford, Connecticut 06902, by calling the telephone number set forth above, by sending an e-mail request to prospectus@leggmason.com or by visiting www.leggmason.com/etfliterature. Legg Mason Investor Services, LLC (“LMIS” or the “distributor”), a wholly-owned broker/dealer subsidiary of Legg Mason, Inc. (“Legg Mason”), serves as the fund’s sole and exclusive distributor. The fund will only issue or redeem shares that have been aggregated into blocks of shares, called Creation Units, to authorized participants who have entered into agreements with the fund’s distributor. A Creation Unit for the fund is comprised of 100,000 shares.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

ORGANIZATION OF LEGG MASON ETF INVESTMENT TRUST

     1  

MANAGEMENT POLICIES

     2  

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

     2  

INVESTMENT PRACTICES AND RISK FACTORS

     3  

INVESTMENT POLICIES

     39  

MANAGEMENT

     43  

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AND OTHER SERVICES

     51  

CONTINUOUS OFFERING

     61  

BOOK ENTRY ONLY SYSTEM

     62  

CREATIONS AND REDEMPTIONS

     63  

DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

     77  

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS AND BROKERAGE

     77  

DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

     79  

THE TRUST

     79  

TAXES

     82  

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     90  

APPENDIX A—RATINGS OF SECURITIES

     A-1  

APPENDIX B—PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

     B-1  

THIS SAI IS NOT A PROSPECTUS AND IS AUTHORIZED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS ONLY IF PRECEDED OR ACCOMPANIED BY AN EFFECTIVE PROSPECTUS.

No person has been authorized to give any information or to make any representations not contained in the Prospectus or this SAI in connection with the offering made by the Prospectus and, if given or made, such information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorized by the fund or its distributor. The Prospectus and this SAI do not constitute an offering by the fund or by the distributor in any jurisdiction in which such offering may not lawfully be made.


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ORGANIZATION OF LEGG MASON ETF INVESTMENT TRUST

The Trust was organized on June 8, 2015 as a Maryland statutory trust under the laws of the State of Maryland and is an open-end management investment company registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). The Trust’s name was changed from Legg Mason ETF Equity Trust to Legg Mason ETF Investment Trust effective February 15, 2017. The fund is a diversified series of the Trust.

Exchange Listing and Trading

A discussion of exchange listing and trading matters associated with an investment in the fund is contained in the “Shareholder information” section of the Prospectus. The discussion below supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, such section of the Prospectus.

Shares of the fund are listed for trading on NASDAQ (the “Exchange”). The shares trade on the Exchange at prices that may differ to some degree from their net asset value (“NAV”). There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of shares of the fund will continue to be met.

The Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the shares of the fund from listing if: (1) following the initial twelve-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of the fund, there are fewer than 50 beneficial holders of the shares for 30 or more consecutive trading days; (2) the “intra-day indicative value” (“IIV”) of the fund is no longer calculated or available or the fund’s disclosed portfolio is not made available to all market participants at the same time; (3) the Trust has failed to file any filings required by the SEC or the Exchange is aware that the Trust is not in compliance with the conditions of any exemptive order or no-action relief granted by the SEC to the Trust with respect to the fund; or (4) such other event shall occur or condition exists that, in the opinion of the Exchange, makes further dealings on the Exchange inadvisable. In addition, the Exchange will remove the shares of the fund from listing and trading upon termination of the Trust or the fund.

As in the case of other publicly-traded securities, when you buy or sell shares through a broker, you will incur a brokerage commission determined by that broker.

In order to provide additional information regarding the indicative value of shares of the fund, the Exchange or a market data vendor disseminates every 15 seconds through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association, or through other widely disseminated means, an updated IIV for the fund as calculated by an information provider or market data vendor. The Trust is not involved in or responsible for any aspect of the calculation or dissemination of the IIV and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the IIV.

The fund’s IIV is based on a securities component and a cash component which comprises that day’s Fund Deposit (as defined below), as disseminated prior to that Business Day’s (as defined below) commencement of trading. The IIV does not include a reduction for the fees, operating expenses or transaction costs incurred by the fund. The IIV does not necessarily reflect the precise composition of the current portfolio of securities held by the fund at a particular point in time or the best possible valuation of the current portfolio. Therefore, the IIV should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the fund’s NAV, which is computed only once a day. The IIV is generally determined by using both current market quotations and/or price quotations obtained from broker-dealers that may trade in the portfolio securities held by the fund. The quotations of fund holdings may not be updated during U.S. trading hours if such holdings do not trade in the United States and thus does not reflect the current fair value of those securities.

The cash component included in the IIV consists of estimated accrued interest, dividends and other income, less expenses. The fund’s IIV reflects changes in currency exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the applicable currency.

 

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The Trust reserves the right to adjust the share prices of the fund in the future. Any adjustments would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits, which would have no effect on the net assets of the fund or an investor’s equity interest in the fund.

The base and trading currencies of the fund are the U.S. dollar. The base currency is the currency in which the fund’s NAV per share is calculated and the trading currency is the currency in which shares of the fund are listed and traded on the Exchange.

MANAGEMENT POLICIES

The fund offers and issues shares at its NAV per share only in aggregations of a specified number of shares (“Creation Units”), primarily in exchange for cash, or otherwise for a basket of securities and/or instruments (the “Deposit Securities”) together with a deposit of a specified cash payment (the “Cash Component”). Shares are redeemable by the fund only in Creation Units and primarily in exchange for cash, or otherwise for securities and instruments and/or cash. Shares trade in the secondary market and elsewhere at market prices that may be at, above or below NAV. Creation Units typically are a specified number of shares.

The fund may charge creation/redemption transaction fees for each creation and redemption. In all cases, transaction fees will be limited in accordance with the requirements of the SEC applicable to management investment companies offering redeemable securities. See the “Creations and Redemptions” section below.

The principal strategies and risks of investing in the fund are described in the Prospectus. Unless otherwise indicated in the Prospectus or this SAI, the investment objective and policies of the fund may be changed without shareholder approval. The fund may invest in the types of instruments described below, unless otherwise indicated in the Prospectus or this SAI.

The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”). Legg Mason Partners Fund Advisor, LLC (“LMPFA” or the “manager”) serves as investment manager to the fund. Western Asset Management Company, LLC (formerly known as Western Asset Management Company) (“Western Asset”) serves as the subadviser to the fund and provides day-to-day portfolio management of the fund. Western Asset Management Company Limited (“WAML”), Western Asset Management Company Pte. Ltd. (“Western Singapore”) and Western Asset Management Company Ltd (“Western Japan”) (each, a “sub-subadviser” and collectively, the “sub-subadvisers”) serve as sub-subadvisers to the fund. References to the “Subadviser” include the subadviser and each applicable sub-subadviser.

ETFs are funds that trade like other publicly traded securities. Unlike shares of a mutual fund, which can be bought and redeemed from the issuing fund by all shareholders at a price based on NAV, shares of the fund may be purchased or redeemed directly from the fund at NAV solely by Authorized Participants (defined below). Also unlike shares of a mutual fund, shares of the fund are listed on a national securities exchange and trade in the secondary market at market prices that change throughout the day.

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

The fund seeks to maximize total return, consistent with prudent investment management and liquidity needs.

Under normal market conditions, the fund will seek its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its assets in a portfolio comprised of fixed income securities, debt instruments, derivatives, equity securities of any type acquired in reorganizations of issuers of fixed income securities or debt instruments (“work out securities”), non-convertible preferred securities, warrants, cash and cash equivalents, foreign currencies, and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that provide exposure to these investments (“Principal Investments”). Debt instruments include loans and similar debt instruments that are not characterized as “securities” under applicable case law.

 

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However, at the fund’s inception, the fund expects to invest principally in the Principal Investments except for work out securities, non-convertible preferred stock and warrants.

As part of its 80% policy, the fund intends to invest in derivatives that (i) provide exposure to the Principal Investments, (ii) are used to risk manage the fund’s holdings, and/or (iii) are used to enhance returns, such as through covered call strategies. The risk management uses of derivatives will include managing (i) investment-related risks, (ii) risks due to fluctuations in securities prices, interest rates, or currency exchanges rates, (iii) risks due to the credit-worthiness of an issuer, and (iv) the effective duration of the fund’s portfolio. The types of derivatives in which the fund will invest include swaps and security-based swaps, futures and options on futures, currency forwards, and currency options and security options. As a result of the fund’s use of derivatives and to serve as collateral, the fund may also hold significant amounts of U.S. Treasury securities, cash and cash equivalents and foreign currencies in which certain derivatives are denominated.

The types of fixed income securities in which the fund may invest include corporate debt securities, U.S. government securities, asset-backed securities (“ABS”), mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) (including commercial MBS (“CMBS”), residential MBS (“RMBS”) and non-agency collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”)), collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) and mortgage dollar rolls. The fixed income securities and debt instruments in which the fund may invest may pay fixed, variable or floating rates of interest. The fund will not invest more than 20% of its portfolio in ABS and non-agency, non-government sponsored enterprise and privately-issued MBS or more than 10% of the fund’s total assets in CDOs. The fund will also not invest more than 20% of its total assets in junior loans (e.g., debt instruments that are unsecured and subordinated). Debt instruments are comprised primarily of the following: (i) U.S. or foreign loans made by banks and participations in such loans, loans made by commercial non-bank lenders and participations on such loans, loans made by governmental entities and participations in such loans and/or other extensions of credit, such as guarantees made by any of the foregoing lenders; and (ii) U.S. or foreign loans on real estate secured by mortgages and participations in such loans.

Although the fund may invest in securities and debt instruments of any maturity, the fund expects the normal range of the fund’s effective duration to be approximately 2 to 9 years. Effective duration seeks to measure the expected sensitivity of market price to changes in interest rates, taking into account the anticipated effects of structural complexities (for example, some bonds can be prepaid by the issuer).

The fund may invest up to 30% of its assets in below investment grade fixed income securities or debt instruments. For these purposes, “investment grade” is defined as investments with a rating at the time of purchase in one of the four highest categories of at least one nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”) (e.g., BBB- or higher or Baa3 or higher) or, if unrated, securities of comparable quality at the time of purchase (as determined by the subadviser). Securities rated below investment grade (e.g., BB+ to D or Baa1 to C) or, if unrated, securities of comparable quality at the time of purchase (as determined by the subadviser) are commonly known as “junk bonds” or “high yield securities.”

The fund may invest in securities issued by both U.S. and non-U.S. issuers (including issuers in emerging markets), but the fund will not invest more than 30% of its total assets in securities or debt instruments of non-U.S. issuers or more than 25% of its total assets directly in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities or debt instruments. For purposes of these limitations only, derivatives, warrants and U.S.-listed ETFs that provide indirect exposure to the investments described above will not be counted by the fund in calculating its holdings in non-U.S. issuers or in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities or debt instruments.

INVESTMENT PRACTICES AND RISK FACTORS

In addition to the principal investment strategies and the principal risks described in the Prospectus, the fund may employ other investment practices and may be subject to other risks, some of which are described below. The following provides additional information about these principal strategies and describes other investment

 

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strategies and practices that may be used by the fund, which all involve risks of varying degrees. Unless a strategy or policy described below is specifically prohibited by applicable law or by the investment restrictions explained in the fund’s Prospectus or elsewhere in this SAI, the fund may engage in each of the practices listed below.

Non-U.S. Securities

Investing in the securities of issuers in any non-U.S. country, or in securities denominated in a non-U.S. currency, involves special risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in U.S. issuers or U.S. dollar denominated securities. These include risks resulting from differences in accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards; lower liquidity than U.S. securities; the possibility of nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation; adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations (which may include suspension of the ability to transfer currency out of a country); and political instability. In many cases, there is less publicly available information concerning non-U.S. issuers than is available concerning U.S. issuers. Additionally, purchases and sales of non-U.S. securities and dividends and interest payable on those securities may be subject to non-U.S. taxes and tax withholding. Non-U.S. securities generally exhibit greater price volatility and a greater risk of illiquidity.

To the extent the fund purchases securities denominated in a non-U.S. currency, a change in the value of any such currency against the U.S. dollar will result in a change in the U.S. dollar value of the fund’s assets and the fund’s income available for distribution. In addition, the fund is required to compute and distribute its income in U.S. dollars. Therefore, if the exchange rate for a non-U.S. currency declines after the fund’s income has been earned and translated into U.S. dollars (but before payment), the fund could be required to liquidate portfolio securities to make such distributions. Similarly, if an exchange rate declines between the time the fund incurs expenses in U.S. dollars and the time such expenses are paid, the amount of such currency required to be converted into U.S. dollars in order to pay such expenses in U.S. dollars will be greater than the equivalent amount in any such currency of such expenses at the time they were incurred.

The relative performance of various countries’ securities markets historically has reflected wide variations relating to the unique characteristics of each country’s economy. Individual non-U.S. economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payments position. Bank deposit insurance, if any, may be subject to widely varying regulations and limits in non-U.S. countries.

In general, non-U.S. securities purchased by the fund may be listed on non-U.S. exchanges, traded over-the-counter or purchased in private transactions. Transactions on non-U.S. exchanges are usually subject to mark-ups or commissions higher than negotiated commissions on U.S. transactions. There is less government supervision and regulation of exchanges and brokers in many non-U.S. countries than in the United States. Additional costs associated with an investment in non-U.S. securities may include higher custodial fees than apply to domestic custodial arrangements and transaction costs of non-U.S. currency conversions.

Certain of the foregoing risks may also apply to some extent to securities of U.S. issuers that are denominated in non-U.S. currencies or that are traded in non-U.S. markets, or to securities of U.S. issuers having significant non-U.S. operations.

Emerging Market Issuers. The risks of non-U.S. investment, described above, are greater for investments in emerging market issuers, and such investments should therefore be considered speculative. Debt securities of governmental and other issuers in emerging market countries will typically be rated below investment grade or be of comparable quality. For more information about lower-rated securities, see “Fixed Income Securities—Lower-Rated Securities” below.

The fund considers a country to be an emerging market country if, at the time of investment, it is represented in the J.P. Morgan Emerging Market Bond Index Global or the J.P. Morgan Corporate Emerging Market Bond Index Broad or categorized by the World Bank in its annual categorization as middle- or low-income.

 

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Investors are strongly advised to consider carefully the special risks involved in emerging markets, which are in addition to the usual risks of investing in developed markets around the world. Emerging market countries may experience substantial rates of inflation or deflation. Inflation, deflation and rapid fluctuations in such rates have had, and may continue to have, very negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain emerging market countries. While some emerging market countries have sought to develop a number of corrective mechanisms to reduce inflation or deflation or mitigate their effects, inflation and deflation may continue to have significant effects both on emerging market countries and their securities markets. In addition, many of the currencies of emerging market countries have experienced steady devaluations relative to the U.S. dollar, and major devaluations have occurred in certain countries.

Economies in emerging market countries generally are heavily dependent upon international trade and, accordingly, have been and may continue to be affected adversely by economic conditions, trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which they trade.

Because of the high levels of non-U.S. dollar denominated debt owed by many emerging market countries, fluctuating exchange rates can significantly affect the debt service obligations of those countries. This could, in turn, affect local interest rates, profit margins and exports, which are a major source of non-U.S. exchange earnings. Hedging instruments may not be available with respect to investments in emerging market countries and, to the extent they are available, the ongoing and indeterminate nature of the foregoing risks (and the costs associated with hedging transactions) would make it difficult to hedge effectively against such risks.

To the extent an emerging market country faces a liquidity crisis with respect to its non-U.S. exchange reserves, it may increase restrictions on the outflow of any non-U.S. exchange. Repatriation is ultimately dependent on the ability of the fund to liquidate its investments and convert the local currency proceeds obtained from such liquidation into U.S. dollars. Where this conversion must be done through official channels (usually the central bank or certain authorized commercial banks), the ability to obtain U.S. dollars is dependent on the supply of such U.S. dollars through those channels and, if available, upon the willingness of those channels to allocate those U.S. dollars to the fund. In such a case, the fund’s ability to obtain U.S. dollars may be adversely affected by any increased restrictions imposed on the outflow of non-U.S. exchange. If the fund is unable to repatriate any amounts due to exchange controls, it may be required to accept an obligation payable at some future date by the central bank or other governmental entity of the jurisdiction involved. If such conversion can legally be done outside official channels, either directly or indirectly, the fund’s ability to obtain U.S. dollars may not be affected as much by any increased restrictions except to the extent of the price that may be required to be paid for the U.S. dollars.

Many emerging market countries have little experience with the corporate form of business organization, and may not have well-developed corporation and business laws or concepts of fiduciary duty in the business context. The securities markets of emerging market countries are substantially smaller, less developed, less liquid and more volatile than the securities markets of the U.S. and other more developed countries. Disclosure and regulatory standards in many respects are less stringent than in the U.S. and other major markets. There also may be a lower level of monitoring and regulation of an emerging market country’s securities markets and the activities of investors in such markets; enforcement of existing regulations has been extremely limited. Also, any change in the leadership or politics of emerging market countries, or the countries that exercise a significant influence over those countries, may halt the expansion of or reverse the liberalization of non-U.S. investment policies now occurring in some emerging market countries and adversely affect existing investment opportunities.

Some emerging markets have different settlement and clearance procedures, which, for example, may not call for delivery of a security to the fund until well after the fund has paid for such security. In certain markets there have been times when settlements have been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct such transactions. The inability of the fund to make intended securities purchases due to settlement problems could cause the fund to miss attractive investment opportunities. Inability to dispose

 

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of a portfolio security caused by settlement problems could result either in losses to the fund due to subsequent declines in value of the portfolio security or, if the fund has entered into a contract to sell the security, in possible liability to the purchaser.

The risk also exists that an emergency situation may arise in one or more emerging market countries as a result of which trading of securities may cease or may be substantially curtailed and prices for the fund’s portfolio securities in such markets may not be readily available.

Sovereign Debt Securities. Sovereign debt is subject to risks in addition to those relating to non-U.S. investments generally. As a sovereign entity, the issuing government may be immune from lawsuits in the event of its failure or refusal to pay the obligations when due. The debtor’s willingness or ability to repay in a timely manner may be affected by, among other factors, its cash flow situation, the extent of its non-U.S. reserves, the availability of sufficient non-U.S. exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward principal international lenders and the political constraints to which the sovereign debtor may be subject. Sovereign debtors also may be dependent on expected disbursements from foreign governments or multinational agencies, the country’s access to trade and other international credits, and the country’s balance of trade. Some emerging market sovereign debtors have in the past rescheduled their debt payments or declared moratoria on payments, and similar occurrences may happen in the future. There is no bankruptcy proceeding by which sovereign debt on which governmental entities have defaulted may be collected in whole or in part.

Depositary Receipts. American Depositary Receipts, or “ADRs,” are securities issued by a U.S. depositary (usually a bank) and represent a specified quantity of underlying non-U.S. securities on deposit with a custodian bank as collateral. A non-U.S. issuer of the security underlying an ADR is generally not subject to the same reporting requirements in the United States as a domestic issuer. Accordingly, the information available to a U.S. investor will be limited to the information the non-U.S. issuer is required to disclose in its own country and the market value of an ADR may not reflect undisclosed material information concerning the issuer or the underlying security. ADRs may also be subject to exchange rate risks if the underlying securities are denominated in a non-U.S. currency. The fund may also invest in similar non-U.S. instruments issued by non-U.S. banks or trust companies such as European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”). EDRs are non-U.S. dollar denominated receipts similar to ADRs, are issued and traded in Europe and are publicly traded on exchanges or over-the-counter in the United States. GDRs may be offered privately in the United States and also trade in public or private markets in other countries. For purposes of its investment policies, the fund will treat ADRs and similar instruments as equivalent to investment in the underlying securities.

Options, Futures and Other Financial Instruments

General. The fund may utilize futures, options (including options on credit default swaps), swaps including interest rate and credit default swaps (including buying and selling credit default swaps), warrants, foreign currency futures, forwards and other derivative instruments (collectively, “Financial Instruments”). The fund may use Financial Instruments for any purpose, including as a substitute for other investments, to attempt to enhance its portfolio’s return or yield and to alter the investment characteristics of its portfolio (including to attempt to mitigate risk of loss in some fashion, or “hedge”). Except as otherwise provided in the Prospectus, this SAI or by applicable law, the fund may purchase and sell any type of Financial Instrument. The fund may choose not to make use of derivatives for a variety of reasons, and no assurance can be given that any derivatives strategy employed will be successful.

The U.S. government is in the process of adopting and implementing regulations governing derivatives markets, including mandatory clearing of certain derivatives, margin and reporting requirements. The ultimate impact of the regulations remains unclear. Additional regulation of derivatives may make them more costly, may limit their availability, may disrupt markets or may otherwise adversely affect their value or performance.

 

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The use of Financial Instruments may be limited by applicable law and any applicable regulations of the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”), or the exchanges on which some Financial Instruments may be traded. (Note, however, that some Financial Instruments that the fund may use may not be listed on any exchange and may not be regulated by the SEC or the CFTC.) In addition, the fund’s ability to use Financial Instruments may be limited by tax considerations.

In addition to the instruments and strategies discussed in this section, a Subadviser may discover additional opportunities in connection with Financial Instruments and other similar or related techniques. These opportunities may become available as a Subadviser develops new techniques, as regulatory authorities broaden the range of permitted transactions and as new Financial Instruments or other techniques are developed. A Subadviser may utilize these opportunities and techniques to the extent that they are consistent with the fund’s investment objective and permitted by its investment limitations and applicable regulatory authorities. These opportunities and techniques may involve risks different from or in addition to those summarized herein.

This discussion is not intended to limit the fund’s investment flexibility, unless such a limitation is expressly stated, and therefore will be construed by the fund as broadly as possible. Statements concerning what the fund may do are not intended to limit any other activity. Also, as with any investment or investment technique, even when the Prospectus or this discussion indicates that the fund may engage in an activity, it may not actually do so for a variety of reasons, including cost considerations.

Summary of Certain Risks. The use of Financial Instruments involves special considerations and risks, certain of which are summarized below, and may result in losses to the fund. In general, the use of Financial Instruments may increase the volatility of the fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk or exposure assumed. Even a small investment in derivatives may magnify or otherwise increase investment losses to the fund. As noted above, there can be no assurance that any derivatives strategy will succeed.

 

   

Financial Instruments are subject to the risk that the market value of the derivative itself or the market value of underlying instruments will change in a way adverse to the fund’s interest. Many Financial Instruments are complex, and successful use of them depends in part upon a Subadviser’s ability to forecast correctly future market trends and other financial or economic factors or the value of the underlying security, index, interest rate, currency or other instrument or measure. Even if a Subadviser’s forecasts are correct, other factors may cause distortions or dislocations in the markets that result in unsuccessful transactions. Financial Instruments may behave in unexpected ways, especially in abnormal or volatile market conditions.

 

   

The fund may be required to maintain assets as “cover,” maintain segregated accounts, post collateral or make margin payments when it takes positions in Financial Instruments. Assets that are segregated or used as cover, margin or collateral may be required to be in the form of cash or liquid securities, and typically may not be sold while the position in the Financial Instrument is open unless they are replaced with other appropriate assets. The fund will cover the full notional amount of the credit default swaps written by the fund. If markets move against the fund’s position, the fund may be required to maintain or post additional assets and may have to dispose of existing investments to obtain assets acceptable as collateral or margin. This may prevent the fund from pursuing its investment objective. Assets that are segregated or used as cover, margin or collateral typically are invested, and these investments are subject to risk and may result in losses to the fund. These losses may be substantial, and may be in addition to losses incurred by using the Financial Instrument in question. If the fund is unable to close out its positions, it may be required to continue to maintain such assets or accounts or make such payments until the positions expire or mature, and the fund will continue to be subject to investment risk on the assets. In addition, the fund may not be able to recover the full amount of its margin from an intermediary if that intermediary were to experience financial difficulty. Segregation, cover, margin and collateral requirements may 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 the fund to sell a portfolio security or close out a derivatives position at a disadvantageous time or price.

 

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The fund’s ability to close out or unwind a position in a Financial Instrument prior to expiration or maturity depends on the existence of a liquid market or, in the absence of such a market, the ability and willingness of the other party to the transaction (the “counterparty”) to enter into a transaction closing out the position. If there is no market or the fund is not successful in its negotiations, the fund may not be able to sell or unwind the derivative position at a particular time or at an anticipated price. This may also be the case if the counterparty to the Financial Instrument becomes insolvent. The fund may be required to make delivery of portfolio securities or other assets underlying a Financial Instrument in order to close out a position or to sell portfolio securities or assets at a disadvantageous time or price in order to obtain cash to close out the position. While the position remains open, the fund continues to be subject to investment risk on the Financial Instrument. The fund may or may not be able to take other actions or enter into other transactions, including hedging transactions, to limit or reduce its exposure to the Financial Instrument.

 

   

Certain Financial Instruments transactions may have a leveraging effect on the fund, and adverse changes in the value of the underlying security, index, interest rate, currency or other instrument or measure can result in losses substantially greater than the amount invested in the Financial Instrument itself. When the fund engages in transactions that have a leveraging effect, the value of the fund is likely to be more volatile and all other risks also are likely to be compounded. This is because leverage generally magnifies the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of an asset and creates investment risk with respect to a larger pool of assets than the fund would otherwise have. Certain Financial Instruments have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment.

 

   

Many Financial Instruments may be difficult to value, which may result in increased payment requirements to counterparties or a loss of value to the fund.

 

   

Liquidity risk exists when a particular Financial Instrument is difficult to purchase or sell. If a derivative transaction is particularly large or if the relevant market is illiquid, the fund may be unable to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price. Certain Financial Instruments, including certain over-the-counter (“OTC”) options and swaps, may be considered illiquid and therefore subject to the fund’s limitation on illiquid investments.

 

   

In a hedging transaction there may be imperfect correlation, or even no correlation, between the identity, price or price movements of a Financial Instrument and the identity, price or price movements of the investments being hedged. This lack of correlation may cause the hedge to be unsuccessful and may result in the fund incurring substantial losses and/or not achieving anticipated gains. Even if the strategy works as intended, the fund might have been in a better position had it not attempted to hedge at all.

 

   

Financial Instruments used for non-hedging purposes may result in losses which would not be offset by increases in the value of portfolio holdings or declines in the cost of securities or other assets to be acquired. In the event that the fund uses a Financial Instrument as an alternative to purchasing or selling other investments or in order to obtain desired exposure to an index or market, the fund will be exposed to the same risks as are incurred in purchasing or selling the other investments directly, as well as the risks of the transaction itself.

 

   

Certain Financial Instruments involve the risk of loss resulting from the insolvency or bankruptcy of the counterparty or the failure by the counterparty to make required payments or otherwise comply with the terms of the contract. In the event of default by a counterparty, the fund may have contractual remedies pursuant to the agreements related to the transaction, which may be limited by applicable law in the case of the counterparty’s bankruptcy.

 

   

Financial Instruments involve operational risk. There may be incomplete or erroneous documentation or inadequate collateral or margin, or transactions may fail to settle. For Financial Instruments not guaranteed by an exchange or clearinghouse, the fund may have only contractual remedies in the event of a counterparty default, and there may be delays, costs or disagreements as to the meaning of contractual terms and litigation in enforcing those remedies.

 

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Certain Financial Instruments transactions, including certain options, swaps, forward contracts, and certain options on foreign currencies, are entered into directly by the counterparties or through financial institutions acting as market makers (OTC derivatives), rather than being traded on exchanges or in markets registered with the CFTC or the SEC. Many of the protections afforded to exchange participants will not be available to participants in OTC derivatives transactions. For example, OTC derivatives transactions are not subject to the guarantee of an exchange, and only OTC derivatives that are either required to be cleared or submitted voluntarily for clearing to a clearinghouse will enjoy the protections that central clearing provides against default by the original counterparty to the trade. In an OTC derivatives transaction that is not cleared, the fund bears the risk of default by their counterparty. In a cleared derivatives transaction, the fund is instead exposed to the risk of default of the clearinghouse and the risk of default of the broker through which it has entered into the transaction. Information available on counterparty creditworthiness may be incomplete or outdated, thus reducing the ability to anticipate counterparty defaults.

 

   

Financial Instruments transactions conducted outside the United States may not be conducted in the same manner as those entered into on U.S. exchanges, and may be subject to different margin, exercise, settlement or expiration procedures. Many of the risks of OTC derivatives transactions are also applicable to Financial Instruments used outside the United States. Financial Instruments used outside the United States also are subject to the risks affecting foreign securities, currencies and other instruments.

 

   

Financial Instruments involving currency are subject to additional risks. Currency related transactions may be negatively affected by government exchange controls, blockages, and manipulations. Exchange rates may be influenced by factors extrinsic to a country’s economy. Also, there is no systematic reporting of last sale information with respect to foreign currencies. As a result, the information on which trading in currency derivatives is based may not be as complete as, and may be delayed beyond, comparable data for other transactions.

 

   

Use of Financial Instruments involves transaction costs, which may be significant. Use of Financial Instruments also may increase the amount of taxable income to shareholders.

Hedging. Hedging strategies can be broadly categorized as “short hedges” and “long hedges.” A short hedge is a purchase or sale of a Financial 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 Financial 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 Financial 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 Financial 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.

In hedging transactions, Financial Instruments on securities generally are used to attempt to hedge against price movements in one or more particular securities positions that the fund owns or intends to acquire. Financial 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. Financial Instruments on debt securities generally are used to hedge either individual securities or broad debt market sectors.

Additional Risks of Financial Instruments Traded on Non-U.S. Exchanges. Financial Instruments may be traded on non-U.S. exchanges. Such transactions may not be regulated as effectively as similar transactions in the

 

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United States, may not involve a clearing mechanism and related guarantees and are subject to the risk of governmental actions affecting trading in, or the price of, non-U.S. securities. The value of such positions also could be adversely affected by (1) other complex non-U.S. political, legal and economic factors, (2) lesser availability than in the United States of data on which to make trading decisions, (3) delays in the fund’s ability to act upon economic events occurring in non-U.S. markets during non-business hours in the United States, (4) the imposition of different exercise and settlement terms and procedures and margin requirements than in the United States and (5) lesser trading volume.

Options. A call option gives the purchaser the right to buy, and obligates the writer to sell, the underlying instrument at the agreed-upon price during the option period. A put option gives the purchaser the right to sell, and obligates the writer to buy, the underlying instrument at the agreed-upon price during the option period. Purchasers of options pay an amount, known as a premium, to the option writer in exchange for the right under the option contract. The fund may purchase and sell both put options and call options on a variety of underlying instruments, including, but not limited to, specific securities, securities indexes, commodities indexes, futures contracts and foreign currencies.

The fund can use both European-style or American-style options. A European-style 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 may purchase call options for any purpose. For example, a call option may be purchased by the fund as a long hedge. Call options also may be used as a means of participating in an anticipated price increase of an instrument on a more limited risk basis than would be possible if the instrument itself were purchased. In the event of a decline in the price of the underlying instrument, use of this strategy would serve to limit the fund’s potential loss to the option premium paid; conversely, if the market price of the underlying instrument increases above the exercise price and the fund either sells or exercises the option, any profit realized would be reduced by the premium.

The fund may purchase put options for any purpose. For example, a put option may be purchased by the fund as a short hedge. The put option enables the fund to sell the underlying instrument at the predetermined exercise price; thus the potential for loss to the fund below the exercise price is limited to the option premium paid. If the market price of the underlying instrument is higher than the exercise price of the put option, any profit the fund realizes on the sale of the instrument would be reduced by the premium paid for the put option less any amount for which the put option may be sold.

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, the fund may also suffer a loss as a result of writing options. For example, if the market price of the instrument underlying a put option declines to less than the exercise price of the option, minus the premium received, the fund would suffer a loss.

Writing call options can serve as a limited short hedge, because declines in the value of the hedged Instrument would be offset to the extent of the premium received for writing the option. However, if the underlying instrument 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 underlying instrument at less than its market value.

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 underlying instrument 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 underlying instrument at more than its market value.

 

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The value of an option position will reflect, among other things, the current market value of the underlying instrument, the time remaining until expiration, the relationship of the exercise price to the market price of the underlying instrument, the historical price volatility of the underlying instrument and general market conditions.

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.

A type of put that the fund may purchase is an “optional delivery standby commitment,” which is entered into by parties selling debt securities to the fund. An optional delivery standby commitment gives the fund the right to sell the security back to the seller on specified terms. This right is provided as an inducement to purchase the security.

Risks of Options. Options offer large amounts of leverage, which will result in the fund’s net asset value being more sensitive to changes in the value of the related instrument. The fund may purchase or write both exchange-listed and OTC options. Exchange-listed options in the United States are issued by a clearing organization affiliated with the exchange on which the option is listed that, in effect, guarantees completion of every exchange-listed 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’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. There can be 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 at all.

If the fund were unable to effect a closing transaction for an option it had purchased, due to the absence of a secondary market, the imposition of price limits or otherwise, 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.

Options have varying expiration dates. The exercise price of the options may be below, equal to or above the current market value of the underlying instrument. Options purchased by the fund that expire unexercised have no value, and the fund will realize a loss in the amount of the premium paid and any transaction costs. If an option written by the fund expires unexercised, the fund realizes a gain equal to the premium received at the time the option was written. Transaction costs must be included in these calculations.

Options on Indices. Puts and calls on indices are similar to puts and calls on other investments 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, futures contracts or other investments. When the fund writes a call on an index, it receives a premium and agrees that, prior to the expiration date, the purchaser of the call, upon exercise of the call, will receive from the fund an amount of cash if the closing level of the index upon which the call is based is greater than the exercise price of the call. The amount of cash is equal to the difference between the

 

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closing price of the index and the exercise price of the call times a specified multiple (“multiplier”), which determines the total dollar value for each point of such difference. When the fund buys a call on an index, it pays a premium and has the same rights as to such call as are indicated above. When the fund buys a put on an index, it pays a premium and has the right, prior to the expiration date, to require the seller of the put, upon the fund’s exercise of the put, to deliver to the fund an amount of cash if the closing level of the index upon which the put is based is less than the exercise price of the put, which amount of cash is determined by the multiplier, as described above for calls. When the fund writes a put on an index, it receives a premium and the purchaser of the put has the right, prior to the expiration date, to require the fund to deliver to it an amount of cash equal to the difference between the closing level of the index and exercise price times the multiplier if the closing level is less than the exercise price.

Risks of Options on Indices. The risks of investment in options on indices may be greater than options on securities, commodities, futures contracts or other investments. Because index options are settled in cash, when the fund writes a call on an index it cannot provide in advance for its potential settlement obligations by acquiring and holding the underlying instrument. The fund can offset some of the risk of writing a call index option by holding a diversified portfolio of instruments similar to those on which the underlying index is based. However, the fund cannot, as a practical matter, acquire and hold a portfolio containing exactly the same instruments as underlie the index and, as a result, bears a risk that the value of the instrument held will vary from the value of the index.

Even if the fund could assemble a portfolio that exactly reproduced the composition of the underlying index, it still would not be fully covered from a risk standpoint because of the “timing risk” inherent in writing index options. When an index option is exercised, the amount of cash that the holder is entitled to receive is determined by the difference between the exercise price and the closing index level on the date when the option is exercised. As with other kinds of options, the fund as the call writer will not learn that the fund has been assigned until the next business day at the earliest. The time lag between exercise and notice of assignment poses no risk for the writer of a covered call on a specific underlying instrument, such as common stock, because there the writer’s obligation is to deliver the underlying instrument, not to pay its value as of a fixed time in the past. So long as the writer already owns the underlying instrument, it can satisfy its settlement obligations by simply delivering it, and the risk that its value may have declined since the exercise date is borne by the exercising holder. In contrast, even if the writer of an index call holds investments that exactly match the composition of the underlying index, it will not be able to satisfy its assignment obligations by delivering those Instruments against payment of the exercise price. Instead, it will be required to pay cash in an amount based on the closing index value on the exercise date. By the time it learns that it has been assigned, the index may have declined, with a corresponding decline in the value of its portfolio. This “timing risk” is an inherent limitation on the ability of index call writers to cover their risk exposure by holding instrument positions.

If the fund has purchased an index option and exercises it before the closing index value for that day is available, it runs the risk that the level of the underlying index may subsequently change. If such a change causes the exercised option to fall out-of-the-money, the fund will be required to pay the difference between the closing index value and the exercise price of the option (times the applicable multiplier) to the assigned writer.

OTC Options. Unlike exchange-listed options, which are standardized with respect to the underlying instrument, expiration date, contract size, and strike price, the terms of OTC options (options not traded on exchanges) generally are established through negotiation with the other party to the option contract. While this type of arrangement allows the fund great flexibility to tailor the option to its needs, OTC options generally involve greater risk than exchange-listed options, which are guaranteed by the clearing organization of the exchanges where they are traded.

Futures Contracts and Options on Futures Contracts. A financial futures contract sale creates an obligation by the seller to deliver the type of Instrument called for in the contract in a specified delivery month for a stated price. A financial futures contract purchase creates an obligation by the purchaser to take delivery of the type of

 

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Instrument called for in the contract in a specified delivery month at a stated price. The fund may invest in single security futures contracts to the extent permitted by applicable law. Options on futures give the purchaser the right to assume a position in a futures contract at the specified option exercise price at any time during the period of the option. 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 Instruments. Similarly, writing put options on futures contracts can serve as a limited long hedge. Futures contracts and options on futures contracts can also be purchased and sold to attempt to enhance income or yield. To the extent permitted by applicable law, the fund may also write call and put options on futures contracts that are not covered. The fund may invest in futures contracts and options thereon with respect to Instruments including, but not limited to, specific securities, securities indexes and currencies.

In addition, futures strategies can be used to manage the duration of the fund’s fixed-income portfolio. If a Subadviser wishes to shorten the duration of the fund’s fixed-income portfolio, the fund may sell a debt futures contract or a call option thereon, or purchase a put option on that futures contract. If a Subadviser wishes to lengthen the duration of the fund’s fixed-income portfolio, the fund may buy a debt futures contract or a call option thereon, or sell a put option thereon.

Futures contracts may also be used for non-hedging purposes, such as to simulate full investment in underlying instruments while retaining a cash balance for portfolio management purposes, as a substitute for direct investment in the underlying instrument, to facilitate trading, to reduce transaction costs, or to seek higher investment returns when a futures contract or option is priced more attractively than the underlying instrument.

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.” 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, and initial margin requirements might be increased generally in the future by regulatory action.

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 futures contract, the premium paid plus transaction costs is all that is at risk. However, there may be circumstances when the purchase of an option on a futures contract would result in a loss to the fund when the use of a futures contract would not, such as when there is no movement in the value of the securities or currencies being hedged. 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.

Although some futures and options on futures call for making or taking delivery of the underlying instrument, generally those contracts are closed out prior to delivery by offsetting purchases or sales of matching futures or options (involving the same instrument and delivery month). If an offsetting purchase price is less than the original sale price, the fund realizes a gain, or if it is more, the fund realizes a loss. If an offsetting sale price is more than the original purchase price, the fund realizes a gain, or if it is less, the fund realizes a loss. The fund will also bear transaction costs for each contract, which will be included in these calculations. Positions in futures and options on futures may be closed only on an exchange or board of trade that provides a secondary market. However, there can be no assurance that a liquid secondary 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.

 

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Under certain circumstances, futures exchanges may establish daily limits on the amount that the price of a futures contract 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 contract or an option on a futures position due to the absence of a liquid secondary market, the imposition of price limits or otherwise, 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.

Risks of Futures Contracts and Options Thereon. The ordinary spreads between prices in the cash and futures markets (including the options on futures market), due to differences in the natures of those markets, are subject to the following factors, which may create distortions. First, all participants in the futures market are subject to margin deposit and maintenance requirements. Rather than meeting additional margin deposit requirements, investors may close futures contracts through offsetting transactions, which could distort the normal relationship between the cash and futures markets. Second, the liquidity of the futures market depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery. To the extent participants decide to make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced, thus producing distortion. Third, from the point of view of speculators, the deposit requirements in the futures market are less onerous than margin requirements in the securities market. Therefore, increased participation by speculators in the futures market may cause temporary price distortions. Due to the possibility of distortion, a correct forecast of general interest rate, currency exchange rate or stock market trends by a Subadviser may still not result in a successful transaction. Of course, a Subadviser may be incorrect in its expectations as to the extent of various interest rate, currency exchange rate, stock market or other movements or the time span within which the movements take place.

Congress, various exchanges and regulatory and self-regulatory authorities have undertaken reviews of options and futures trading in light of market volatility. Among the actions that have been taken or proposed to be taken are new limits and reporting requirements for speculative positions, new or more stringent daily price fluctuation limits for futures and options transactions, and increased margin requirements for various types of futures transactions. Additional measures are under active consideration and as a result there may be further actions that adversely affect the regulation of the instruments in which the fund invests.

Index Futures. The risk of imperfect correlation between movements in the price of index futures and movements in the price of the Financial Instruments that are the subject of the hedge increases as the composition of the fund’s portfolio diverges from the Financial Instruments included in the applicable index. The price of the index futures may move more than or less than the price of the Financial Instruments being hedged. If the price of the index futures moves less than the price of the Financial Instruments that are the subject of the hedge, the hedge will not be fully effective, but if the price of the Financial Instruments being hedged has moved in an unfavorable direction, the fund would be in a better position than if it had not hedged at all. If the price of the Financial Instruments being hedged has moved in a favorable direction, this advantage will be partially offset by the futures contract. If the price of the futures contract moves more than the price of the underlying instruments, the fund will experience either a loss or a gain on the futures contract that will not be completely offset by movements in the price of the instruments that are the subject of the hedge. To compensate for the imperfect correlation of movements in the price of the instrument being hedged and movements in the price of the index futures, the fund may buy or sell index futures in a greater dollar amount than the dollar amount of the Financial Instruments being hedged if the historical volatility of the prices of such Financial Instruments being hedged is more than the historical volatility of the prices of the Financial Instruments included in the index. It is also possible that, where the fund has sold index futures contracts to hedge against decline in the market, the market

 

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may advance and the value of the Financial Instruments held in the fund may decline. If this occurred, the fund would lose money on the futures contract and also experience a decline in value of its portfolio Financial Instruments. However, while this could occur for a very brief period or to a very small degree, over time the value of a diversified portfolio of instruments will tend to move in the same direction as the market indices on which the futures contracts are based.

Where index futures are purchased to hedge against a possible increase in the price of Financial Instruments before the fund is able to invest in them in an orderly fashion, it is possible that the market may decline instead. If the fund then concludes not to invest in them at that time because of concern as to possible further market decline or for other reasons, it will realize a loss on the futures contract that is not offset by a reduction in the price of the Financial Instruments it had anticipated purchasing.

To the extent such instruments are permitted by applicable law, the fund may invest in security futures. Such investments are expected to be subject to risks similar to those of index future investing.

Non-U.S. Currency Hedging Strategies—Special Considerations. The fund may engage in a variety of non-U.S. currency exchange transactions to protect against uncertainty in the level of future exchange rates or to earn additional income. The fund may use options and futures contracts relating to non-U.S. currencies as described above, and swaps, indexed notes and forward currency contracts, as described below, to attempt to hedge against movements in the values of the non-U.S. currencies in which the fund’s securities are denominated or to attempt to enhance income or yield. Currency hedges can protect against price movements in a security that the fund owns or intends to acquire that are attributable to changes in the value of the currency in which it is denominated. Such hedges do not, however, protect against price movements in the securities that are attributable to other causes.

The fund might seek to hedge against changes in the value of a particular currency when no Financial Instruments on that currency are available or such Financial Instruments are more expensive than certain other Financial Instruments. In such cases, the fund may seek to hedge against price movements in that currency by entering into transactions using Financial Instruments on another currency or a basket of currencies, the value of which the Subadviser(s) believes will have a high degree of correlation to the value of the currency being hedged. The risk that movements in the price of the Financial Instrument will not correlate perfectly with movements in the price of the currency subject to the hedging transaction is magnified when this strategy is used.

The value of Financial Instruments on non-U.S. currencies depends on the value of the underlying currency relative to the U.S. dollar. Because non-U.S. currency transactions occurring in the interbank market might involve substantially larger amounts than those involved in the use of such Financial Instruments, the fund could be disadvantaged by having to deal in the odd lot market (generally consisting of transactions of less than $1 million) for the underlying non-U.S. currencies at prices that are less favorable than for round lots.

There is no systematic reporting of last sale information for non-U.S. currencies or any regulatory requirement that quotations available through dealers or other market sources be firm or revised on a timely basis. Quotation information generally is representative of very large transactions in the interbank market and thus might not reflect odd-lot transactions where rates might be less favorable. The interbank market in non-U.S. currencies is a global, round-the-clock market. To the extent the U.S. options or futures markets are closed while the markets for the underlying currencies remain open, significant price and rate movements might take place in the underlying markets that cannot be reflected in the markets for the Financial Instruments until they reopen.

Settlement of hedging transactions involving non-U.S. currencies might be required to take place within the country issuing the underlying currency. Thus, the fund might be required to accept or make delivery of the underlying non-U.S. currency in accordance with any U.S. or non-U.S. regulations regarding the maintenance of non-U.S. banking arrangements by U.S. residents and might be required to pay any fees, taxes and charges associated with such delivery assessed in the issuing country.

 

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Options on non-U.S. currencies also have the other risks of using options inherent in options generally. See “Risks of Options” above.

Forward Currency Contracts. The Fund may enter into forward currency contracts to purchase or sell non-U.S. currencies for a fixed amount of U.S. dollars or another non-U.S. currency. A forward currency contract involves an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days (term) from the date of the forward currency contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the forward currency contract. These forward currency contracts are traded directly between currency traders (usually large commercial banks) and their customers. Forward currency contracts may be used to attempt to hedge currency exposure or to enhance return or yield.

Such transactions may serve as long hedges; for example, the fund may purchase a forward currency contract to lock in the U.S. dollar price of a security denominated in a non-U.S. currency that the fund intends to acquire. Forward currency contract transactions may also serve as short hedges; for example, the fund may sell a forward currency contract to lock in the U.S. dollar equivalent of the proceeds from the anticipated sale of a security, dividend or interest payment denominated in a non-U.S. currency.

The fund may also use forward currency contracts to hedge against a decline in the value of existing investments denominated in non-U.S. currency. For example, if the fund owned securities denominated in Euros, it could enter into a forward currency contract to sell Euros in return for U.S. dollars to hedge against possible declines in the euro’s value. Such a hedge, sometimes referred to as a “position hedge,” would tend to offset both positive and negative currency fluctuations, but would not offset changes in security values caused by other factors. The fund could also hedge the position by selling another currency expected to perform similarly to the euro. This type of hedge, sometimes referred to as a “proxy hedge,” could offer advantages in terms of cost, yield or efficiency, but generally would not hedge currency exposure as effectively as a simple hedge into U.S. dollars. Proxy hedges may result in losses if the currency used to hedge does not perform similarly to the currency in which the hedged securities are denominated.

The cost to the fund of engaging in forward currency contracts varies with factors such as the currency involved, the length of the contract period and the market conditions then prevailing. Because forward currency contracts are usually entered into on a principal basis, no fees or commissions are involved. When the fund enters into a forward currency contract, it relies on the counterparty to make or take delivery of the underlying currency at the maturity of the contract. Failure by the counterparty to do so would result in the loss of any expected benefit of the transaction.

As is the case with futures contracts, parties to forward currency contracts can enter into offsetting closing transactions, similar to closing transactions on futures contracts, by selling or purchasing, respectively, an instrument identical to the instrument purchased or sold. Secondary markets generally do not exist for forward currency contracts, with the result that closing transactions generally can be made for forward currency contracts only by negotiating directly with the counterparty. Thus, there can be no assurance that the fund will in fact be able to close out a forward currency contract at a favorable price prior to maturity. In addition, in the event of insolvency of the counterparty, the fund might be unable to close out a forward currency contract at any time prior to maturity, if at all. In either event, the fund would continue to be subject to market risk with respect to the position, and would continue to be required to maintain the required cover. The precise matching of forward currency contract amounts and the value of the securities involved generally will not be possible because the value of such securities, measured in the non-U.S. currency, will change after the forward currency contract has been established. Thus, the fund might need to purchase or sell non-U.S. currencies in the spot (cash) market to the extent such non-U.S. currencies are not covered by forward currency contracts. The projection of short-term currency market movements is extremely difficult, and the successful execution of a short-term hedging strategy is highly uncertain. In addition, although forward currency contracts limit the risk of loss due to a decline in the value of the hedged currencies, at the same time they limit any potential gain that might result should the value of the currencies increase.

 

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Successful use of forward currency contracts depends on a Subadviser’s skill in analyzing and predicting currency values. Forward currency contracts may substantially change the fund’s exposure to changes in currency exchange rates and could result in losses to the fund if currencies do not perform as the Subadviser(s) anticipates. There is no assurance that a Subadviser’s use of forward currency contracts will be advantageous to the fund or that the Subadviser will hedge at an appropriate time.

Combined Positions. The fund may purchase and write options in combination with each other, or in combination with other Financial Instruments, to adjust the risk and return characteristics of its overall position. For example, the fund may purchase a put option and write a call option on the same underlying instrument, in order to construct a combined position whose risk and return characteristics are similar to selling a futures contract. Another possible combined position would involve writing a call option at one strike price and buying a call option at a lower price, in order to reduce the risk of the written call option in the event of a substantial price increase. Because combined options positions involve multiple trades, they result in higher transaction costs and may be more difficult to open and close out.

Turnover. The fund’s Financial Instrument activities may affect its turnover rate and brokerage commission payments. For example, the exercise of calls or puts written by the fund, and the sale or purchase of futures contracts, may cause it to sell or purchase related investments, thus increasing its turnover rate. Once the fund has received an exercise notice on an option it has written, it cannot effect a closing transaction in order to terminate its obligation under the option and must deliver or receive the underlying securities at the exercise price. The exercise of puts purchased by the fund may also cause the sale of related investments, also increasing turnover; although such exercise is within the fund’s control, holding a protective put might cause it to sell the related investments for reasons that would not exist in the absence of the put. The fund will pay a brokerage commission each time it buys or sells a put or call or purchases or sells a futures contract. Such commissions may be higher than those that would apply to direct purchases or sales.

Swaps, Caps, Floors and Collars. The fund may enter into swaps, caps, floors and collars to preserve a return or a spread on a particular investment or portion of its portfolio, to protect against any increase in the price of securities the fund anticipates purchasing at a later date or to attempt to enhance yield. A swap typically involves the exchange by the fund with another party of their respective commitments to pay or receive cash flows, e.g., an exchange of floating rate payments for fixed-rate payments. The purchase of a cap entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index exceeds a predetermined value, to receive payments on a notional principal amount from the party selling the cap. The purchase of a floor entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index falls below a predetermined value, to receive payments on a notional principal amount from the party selling the floor. A collar combines elements of a cap and a floor. The fund may engage in swap transactions, including, but not limited to, swap agreements on interest rates, security indexes, specific securities, credit and event-linked swaps and currency exchange rates. Event-linked swaps are a form of event-linked investment exposure. Event-linked exposure results in gains or losses that typically are contingent, or formulaically related to defined trigger events. Examples of trigger events include hurricanes, earthquakes, other weather-related phenomena, or statistics related to such events. The occurrence of a trigger event causes a party to lose some or all of the amount invested in an event-linked swap. For example, if a trigger event occurs, the fund may lose the swap’s notional amount. Event-linked swaps are similar to event-link bonds, which are commonly referred to as “catastrophe bonds.” If a trigger event occurs, the fund may lose a portion of or its entire principal invested in an event-linked bond or notional amount on an event-linked swap. As derivative instruments, event-linked swaps are subject to risks in addition to the risks of investing in event-linked bonds, including counterparty risk and leverage risk. The fund may also enter into options on swap agreements.

Swap agreements, including caps, floors and collars, can be individually negotiated and structured to include exposure to a variety of different types of investments or market factors. Depending on their structure, swap agreements may increase or decrease the overall volatility of the fund’s investments and its share price and yield because, and to the extent, these agreements affect the fund’s exposure to long- or short-term interest rates (in the United States or abroad), non-U.S. currency values, mortgage-backed security values, corporate borrowing rates

 

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or other factors such as security prices, certain specified events, index values or inflation rates. Swap agreements will tend to shift the fund’s investment exposure from one type of investment to another. For example, if the fund agrees to exchange payments in U.S. dollars for payments in non-U.S. currency, the swap agreement would tend to decrease the fund’s exposure to U.S. interest rates and increase its exposure to non-U.S. currency and interest rates. Caps and floors have an effect similar to buying or writing options.

If a counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the value of the agreement would be likely to decline, potentially resulting in losses. If a default occurs by the other party to such transaction, the fund will have contractual remedies pursuant to the agreements related to the transaction, which may be limited by applicable law in the case of a counterparty’s insolvency.

The fund may enter into credit default swap contracts for investment purposes and to add leverage to their investment portfolios. As the seller in a credit default swap contract, the fund would be required to pay the par (or other agreed-upon) value of a referenced debt obligation to the counterparty in the event of a default by a third party, such as a U.S. or non-U.S. corporate issuer, on the debt obligation. In return, the fund would receive from the counterparty a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract provided that no event of default has occurred. If no default occurs, the fund would keep the stream of payments and would have no payment obligations. As the seller, the fund would effectively add leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to its net assets, the fund would be subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap.

The fund may also purchase credit default swap contracts in order to hedge against the risk of default of debt securities held in its portfolio, in which case the fund would function as the counterparty referenced in the preceding paragraph. This would involve the risk that the investment may expire worthless and would only generate income in the event of an actual default by the issuer of the underlying obligation (or, as applicable, a credit downgrade or other indication of financial instability). It would also involve credit risk—that the seller may fail to satisfy its payment obligations to the fund in the event of a default.

The net amount of the excess, if any, of the fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each swap will be accrued on a daily basis, depending on whether a threshold amount (if any) is exceeded, and an amount of cash or liquid assets having an aggregate net asset value approximately equal to the accrued excess will be maintained as collateral.

Cover. Transactions using Financial Instruments, other than purchased options, and certain other transactions, such as reverse repurchase agreements and certain forward commitments (e.g., forward roll transactions) expose the fund to an obligation to another party. The fund will comply with SEC guidelines regarding cover for these instruments and will, if the guidelines so require, segregate on its books cash or liquid assets in the prescribed amount as determined daily. In some cases, (e.g., with respect to futures and forwards that are contractually required to “cash-settle” and most swaps), the fund is permitted under relevant guidance from the SEC or SEC staff to set aside assets with respect to an investment transaction in the amount of its net (marked-to-market) obligations thereunder, rather than the full notional amount of the transaction. The fund will cover the full notional amount of the credit default swaps written by the fund. By setting aside assets equal only to its net obligations, the fund will have the ability to engage to a greater extent in transactions in Financial Instruments, which may increase the risks associated with such investments. Although this SAI describes certain permitted methods of segregating assets or otherwise “covering” such transactions for these purposes, such descriptions are not intended to be comprehensive. The fund may cover such transactions using other methods currently or in the future permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, or orders issued by the SEC thereunder. For these purposes, interpretations and guidance provided by the SEC staff may be taken into account when deemed appropriate by the fund.

Assets used as cover cannot be sold while the position in the corresponding Financial 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 cover in accounts could impede portfolio management or the fund’s ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations.

 

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Commodity Exchange Act Regulation. The fund is operated by persons who have claimed an exclusion, granted to operators of registered investment companies like the fund, from registration as a “commodity pool operator” with respect to the fund under the CEA, and, therefore, are not subject to registration or regulation with respect to the fund under the CEA. As a result, the fund is limited in its ability to trade instruments subject to the jurisdiction of the CFTC, including commodity futures (which include futures on broad-based securities indexes, interest rate futures and currency futures), options on commodity futures, certain swaps or other investments (whether directly or indirectly through investments in other investment vehicles).

Under this exclusion, the fund must satisfy one of the following two trading limitations whenever it enters into a new commodity trading position: (1) the aggregate initial margin and premiums required to establish the fund’s positions in CFTC-regulated instruments may not exceed 5% of the liquidation value of the fund’s portfolio (after accounting for unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such investments); or (2) the aggregate net notional value of such instruments, determined at the time the most recent position was established, may not exceed 100% of the liquidation value of the fund’s portfolio (after accounting for unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such positions). The fund would not be required to consider its exposure to such instruments if they were held for “bona fide hedging” purposes, as such term is defined in the rules of the CFTC. In addition to meeting one of the foregoing trading limitations, the fund may not market itself as a commodity pool or otherwise as a vehicle for trading in the markets for CFTC-regulated instruments.

If the fund’s operators were to lose their ability to claim this exclusion with respect to the fund, such persons would be required to comply with certain CFTC rules regarding commodity pools that could impose additional regulatory requirements, compliance obligations and expenses for the fund.

Preferred Stocks and Convertible Securities

A preferred stock pays dividends at a specified rate and has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of an issuer’s assets but is junior to the debt securities of the issuer in those same respects. The market prices of preferred stocks are subject to changes in interest rates and are more sensitive to changes in an issuer’s creditworthiness than are the prices of debt securities. Shareholders of preferred stock may suffer a loss of value if dividends are not paid. Under ordinary circumstances, preferred stock does not carry voting rights.

A convertible security is a bond, debenture, note, preferred stock or other security that may be converted into or exchanged for a prescribed amount of common stock (or another equity security) of the same or a different issuer within a particular period of time at a specified price or formula. A convertible security entitles the holder to receive interest paid or accrued on debt or the dividend paid on preferred stock until the convertible security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged. Before conversion, convertible securities have characteristics similar to nonconvertible debt securities in that they ordinarily provide a stream of income with generally higher yields than those of common stocks of the same or similar issuers.

Convertible securities are usually subordinated to comparable-tier nonconvertible securities but rank senior to common stock in a corporation’s capital structure.

The value of a convertible security is a function of (1) its yield in comparison with the yields of other securities of comparable maturity and quality that do not have a conversion privilege and (2) its worth, at market value, if converted into the underlying common stock. A convertible security may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a price established in the convertible security’s governing instrument. If a convertible security held by the fund is called for redemption, the fund will be required to (1) permit the issuer to redeem the security, (2) convert it into the underlying common stock or (3) sell it to a third party. Any of these actions could have an adverse effect on the fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.

 

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Fixed Income Securities

The fund may invest in a variety of fixed income securities. These securities share three principal risks: First, the level of interest income generated by the fund’s fixed income investments may decline due to a decrease in market interest rates. Thus, when fixed income securities mature or are sold, they may be replaced by lower-yielding investments. Second, their values fluctuate with changes in interest rates. Thus, a decrease in interest rates will generally result in an increase in the value of the fund’s fixed income investments. Conversely, during periods of rising interest rates, the value of the fund’s fixed income investments will generally decline. The magnitude of these fluctuations will generally be greater when the fund’s duration or average maturity is longer. Changes in the value of portfolio securities will not affect interest income from those securities, but will be reflected in the fund’s net asset value. In addition, certain fixed income securities are subject to credit risk, which is the risk that an issuer of securities will be unable to pay principal and interest when due, or that the value of the security will suffer because investors believe the issuer is unable to pay. The most common types of these instruments, and the associated risks, are described below. Subject to its investment policies and applicable law, the fund may invest in these and other instruments.

U.S. Government Obligations. U.S. Government securities include (1) U.S. Treasury bills (maturity of one year or less), U.S. Treasury notes (maturity of one to ten years) and U.S. Treasury bonds (maturities generally greater than ten years); (2) obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies or instrumentalities which are supported by any of the following: (a) the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government (such as GNMA certificates); (b) the right of the issuer to borrow an amount limited to a specific line of credit from the U.S. Government (such as obligations of the Federal Home Loan Banks); (c) the discretionary authority of the U.S. Government to purchase certain obligations of agencies or instrumentalities (such as securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”)); or (d) only the credit of the instrumentality (such as securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”)) and (3) obligations issued by non-governmental entities (like financial institutions) that carry direct guarantees from U.S. government agencies as part of government initiatives in response to the market crisis or otherwise. In the case of obligations not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, the fund must look principally to the agency or instrumentality issuing or guaranteeing the obligation for ultimate repayment and may not be able to assert a claim against the United States itself in the event the agency or instrumentality does not meet its commitments. Neither the U.S. Government nor any of its agencies or instrumentalities guarantees the market value of the securities they issue. Therefore, the market value of such securities will fluctuate in response to changes in interest rates.

Variable and floating rate securities. Variable and floating rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the obligations. The terms of such obligations provide that interest rates are adjusted periodically based upon an interest rate adjustment index as provided in the respective obligations. The adjustment intervals may be regular, and range from daily up to annually, or may be event based, such as based on a change in the prime rate.

The fund may invest in floating rate debt instruments (“floaters”) and engage in credit spread trades. The interest rate on a floater is a variable rate which is tied to another interest rate, such as a corporate bond index or Treasury bill rate. The interest rate on a floater resets periodically, typically every six months. While, because of the interest rate reset feature, floaters provide the fund with a certain degree of protection against rising interest rates, the fund will participate in any declines in interest rates as well. A credit spread trade is an investment position relating to a difference in the prices or interest rates of two bonds or other securities or currencies, where the value of the investment position is determined by movements in the difference between the prices or interest rates, as the case may be, of the respective securities or currencies.

The fund may also invest in inverse floating rate debt instruments (“inverse floaters”). The interest rate on an inverse floater resets in the opposite direction from the market rate of interest to which the inverse floater is indexed. An inverse floating rate security may exhibit greater price volatility than a fixed rate obligation of similar credit quality.

 

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A floater may be considered to be leveraged to the extent that its interest rate varies by a magnitude that exceeds the magnitude of the change in the index rate of interest. The higher degree of leverage inherent in some floaters is associated with greater volatility in their market values.

Variable and floating rate instruments may include variable amount master demand notes that permit the indebtedness thereunder to vary in addition to providing for periodic adjustments in the interest rate. The absence of an active secondary market with respect to particular variable and floating rate instruments could make it difficult for the fund to dispose of a variable or floating rate note if the issuer defaulted on its payment obligation or during periods that the fund is not entitled to exercise its demand rights, and the fund could, for these or other reasons, suffer a loss with respect to such instruments. In determining average-weighted portfolio maturity, an instrument will be deemed to have a maturity equal to either the period remaining until the next interest rate adjustment or the time the fund can recover payment of principal as specified in the instrument, depending on the type of instrument involved.

Inflation-Indexed Securities. Inflation indexed bonds are fixed income securities whose principal value or coupon (interest payment) is periodically adjusted according to the rate of inflation. Two structures are common. The U.S. Treasury and some other issuers use a structure that accrues inflation into the principal value of the bond. Most other issuers pay out the index-based accruals as part of a semiannual coupon. The fund may also invest in inflation-indexed securities with other structures or characteristics as such securities become available in the market. It is currently expected that other types of inflation-indexed securities would have characteristics similar to those described below.

U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (“U.S. TIPS”) are fixed income securities issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury, the principal amounts of which are adjusted daily based upon changes in the rate of inflation (currently represented by the non-seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”), calculated with a three-month lag). The U.S. Department of Treasury issues U.S. TIPS in maturities of five, ten and thirty years. U.S. TIPS pay interest on a semi-annual basis, equal to a fixed percentage of the inflation-adjusted principal amount. The interest rate on these bonds is fixed at issuance, but over the life of the bond this interest may be paid on an increasing or decreasing principal value that has been adjusted for inflation.

Repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed for U.S. TIPS, even during a period of deflation. However, because the principal amount of U.S. TIPS would be adjusted downward during a period of deflation, the fund will be subject to deflation risk with respect to its investments in these securities. In addition, the current market value of the bonds is not guaranteed, and will fluctuate. If the fund purchases U.S. TIPS in the secondary market whose principal values have been adjusted upward due to inflation since issuance, the fund may experience a loss if there is a subsequent period of deflation. The fund may also invest in other inflation-related bonds which may or may not provide a guarantee of principal. If a guarantee of principal is not provided, the adjusted principal value of the bond repaid at maturity may be less than the original principal amount.

The value of inflation-indexed bonds is expected to fluctuate in response to changes in real interest rates, which are in turn tied to the relationship between nominal interest rates and the rate of inflation. Therefore, if inflation were to rise at a faster rate than nominal interest rates, real interest rates might decline, leading to an increase in value of inflation indexed bonds. In contrast, if nominal interest rates increased at a faster rate than inflation, real interest rates might rise, leading to a decrease in value of inflation indexed bonds. Although the principal value of these securities declines in periods of deflation, holders at maturity receive no less than par. If inflation is lower than expected during the period the fund holds the security, the fund may earn less on the security than on a conventional bond. Any increase in principal value is taxable in the year the increase occurs, even though holders do not receive cash representing the increase at that time. As a result, the fund investing in inflation-indexed securities could be required at times to liquidate other investments, including when it is not advantageous to do so, in order to satisfy its distribution requirements as a regulated investment company and to eliminate any fund-level income tax liability under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

 

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While these securities are expected to be protected from long-term inflationary trends, short-term increases in inflation may lead to a decline in value. If interest rates rise due to reasons other than inflation (for example, due to changes in currency exchange rates), investors in these securities may not be protected to the extent that the increase is not reflected in the bond’s inflation measure.

The U.S. Treasury began issuing inflation-indexed bonds in 1997. Certain non-U.S. governments, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, have a longer history of issuing inflation indexed bonds, and there may be a more liquid market in certain of these countries for these securities. The fund may invest in inflation-indexed securities issued in any country.

The periodic adjustment of U.S. TIPS is currently tied to the CPI-U, which is calculated by the U.S. Department of Treasury. The CPI-U is a measurement of changes in the cost of living, made up of components such as housing, food, transportation and energy. Inflation-indexed bonds issued by a non-U.S. government are generally adjusted to reflect a comparable inflation index, calculated by that government. There can no assurance that the CPI-U or any non-U.S. inflation index will accurately measure the real rate of inflation in the prices of goods and services. In addition, there can be no assurance that the rate of inflation in a non-U.S. country will be correlated to the rate of inflation in the United States. The three-month lag in calculating the CPI-U for purposes of adjusting the principal value of U.S. TIPS may give rise to risks under certain circumstances.

Mortgage-Related Securities. Mortgage-related securities represent an interest in a pool of mortgages made by lenders such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, mortgage bankers and others. Mortgage-related securities may be issued by governmental, government-related or non-governmental entities, and provide regular payments which consist of interest and, in most cases, principal. In contrast, other forms of debt securities normally provide for periodic payment of interest in fixed amounts with principal payments at maturity or specified call dates. In effect, payments on mortgage-related securities are a “pass-through” of the payments made by the individual borrowers on their mortgage loans, net of any fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of such securities. Additional payments to holders of mortgage-related securities are caused by repayments resulting from the sale of the underlying property, refinancing or foreclosure, net of fees or costs that may be incurred.

As prepayment rates of individual pools of mortgage loans vary widely, it is not possible to predict accurately the average life of a particular security. Although mortgage-related securities are issued with stated maturities of up to forty years, unscheduled or early payments of principal and interest on the underlying mortgages may shorten considerably the securities’ effective maturities. The volume of prepayments of principal on a pool of mortgages underlying a particular mortgage-related security will influence the yield of that security, and the principal returned to the fund may be reinvested in instruments whose yield may be higher or lower than that which might have been obtained had such prepayments not occurred. When interest rates are declining, such prepayments usually increase, and reinvestments of such principal prepayments will be at a lower rate than that on the original mortgage-related security. An increase in mortgage prepayments could cause the fund to incur a loss on a mortgage-related security that was purchased at a premium. On the other hand, a decrease in the rate of prepayments, resulting from an increase in market interest rates or other causes, may extend the effective maturities of mortgage-related securities, increasing their sensitivity to changes in market interest rates and potentially increasing the volatility of the fund’s shares. The rate of prepayment may also be affected by general economic conditions, the location and age of the mortgages, and other social and demographic conditions. In determining the average maturity or duration of a mortgage-related security, the Subadviser(s) must apply certain assumptions and projections about the maturity and prepayment of such security; actual prepayment rates may differ. Because of prepayments, mortgage-related securities may have less potential for capital appreciation during periods of declining interest rates than other securities of comparable maturities, although they may have a similar risk of decline in market value during periods of rising interest rates.

Pools often consist of whole mortgage loans or participations in loans. The majority of these loans are made to purchasers of one- to four-family homes. The terms and characteristics of the mortgage instruments are generally uniform within a pool but may vary among pools. For example, in addition to fixed-rate, fixed-term

 

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mortgages, the fund may purchase pools of variable-rate mortgages, growing-equity mortgages, graduated-payment mortgages and other types.

All poolers apply standards for qualification to lending institutions that originate mortgages for the pools. Poolers also establish credit standards and underwriting criteria for individual mortgages included in the pools. In addition, many mortgages included in pools are insured through private mortgage insurance companies.

The average life of mortgage-related securities varies with the maturities and the nature of the underlying mortgage instruments. For example, securities issued by the Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”) tend to have a longer average life than participation certificates (“PCs”) issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”) because there is a tendency for the conventional and privately-insured mortgages underlying FHLMC PCs to repay at faster rates than the Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Administration loans underlying GNMAs. In addition, the term of a security may be shortened by unscheduled or early payments of principal and interest on the underlying mortgages. The occurrence of mortgage prepayments is affected by factors including the level of interest rates, general economic conditions, the location and age of the mortgage and other social and demographic conditions.

Yields on mortgage-related securities are typically quoted based on the maturity of the underlying instruments and the associated average life assumption. Actual prepayment experience may cause the yield to differ from the yield expected on the basis of average life. Reinvestment of the prepayments may occur at higher or lower interest rates than the original investment, thus affecting the yield of the fund. The compounding effect from reinvestments of monthly payments received by the fund will increase the yield to shareholders compared to bonds that pay interest semi-annually.

Government Mortgage-Related Securities. GNMA is the principal federal government guarantor of mortgage-related securities. GNMA is a wholly owned U.S. Government corporation within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. GNMA pass-through securities are considered to have a relatively low risk of default in that (1) the underlying mortgage loan portfolio is comprised entirely of government-backed loans and (2) the timely payment of both principal and interest on the securities is guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government, regardless of whether they have been collected. GNMA pass-through securities are, however, subject to the same interest rate risk as comparable debt securities. Therefore, the effective maturity and market value of the fund’s GNMA securities can be expected to fluctuate in response to changes in interest rate levels.

Residential mortgage loans are also pooled by Freddie Mac, a corporate instrumentality of the U.S. Government. The mortgage loans in Freddie Mac’s portfolio are not government backed; Freddie Mac, not the U.S. Government, guarantees the timely payment of interest and ultimate collection of principal on Freddie Mac securities. Freddie Mac also issues guaranteed mortgage certificates, on which it guarantees semiannual interest payments and a specified minimum annual payment of principal.

Fannie Mae is a government-sponsored corporation owned entirely by private stockholders. It is subject to general regulation by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Fannie Mae purchases residential mortgages from a list of approved seller/servicers, which include savings and loan associations, savings banks, commercial banks, credit unions and mortgage bankers. Pass-through securities issued by Fannie Mae are guaranteed as to timely payment of principal and interest only by Fannie Mae, not the U.S. Government.

Although the U.S. Government has recently provided financial support to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are currently being operated under the conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, there can be no assurance that it will support these or other government-sponsored enterprises in the future.

Privately Issued Mortgage-Related Securities. Mortgage-related securities offered by private issuers include pass-through securities comprised of pools of residential mortgage loans; mortgage-backed bonds which are

 

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considered to be debt obligations of the institution issuing the bonds and are collateralized by mortgage loans; and bonds and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”) which are collateralized by mortgage-related securities issued by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae or GNMA or by pools of mortgages.

CMOs are typically structured with classes or series that have different maturities and are generally retired in sequence. Each class of obligations receives periodic interest payments according to the coupon rate on the obligations. However, all monthly principal payments and any prepayments from the collateral pool are generally paid first to the “Class 1” holders. Thereafter, all payments of principal are generally allocated to the next most senior class of obligations until that class of obligations has been fully repaid. Although full payoff of each class of obligations is contractually required by a certain date, any or all classes of obligations may be paid off sooner than expected because of an increase in the payoff speed of the pool. Other allocation methods may be used. Payment of interest or principal on some classes or series of a CMO may be subject to contingencies or some classes or series may bear some or all of the risk of default on the underlying mortgages.

Mortgage-related securities created by non-governmental issuers generally offer a higher rate of interest than government and government-related securities because there are no direct or indirect government guarantees of payment in the former securities, resulting in higher risks. Where privately issued securities are collateralized by securities issued by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae or GNMA, the timely payment of interest and principal is supported by the government-related securities collateralizing such obligations. The market for conventional pools is smaller and less liquid than the market for the government and government-related mortgage pools.

Certain private mortgage pools are organized in such a way that the SEC staff considers them to be closed-end investment companies. The fund’s investment in such pools may be constrained by federal statute, which restricts investments in the shares of other investment companies. The private mortgage-related securities in which the fund may invest include non-U.S. mortgage pass-through securities (“Non-U.S. Pass-Throughs”), which are structurally similar to the pass-through instruments described above. Such securities are issued by originators of and investors in mortgage loans, including savings and loan associations, mortgage bankers, commercial banks, investment bankers, specialized financial institutions and special purpose subsidiaries of the foregoing. Non-U.S. Pass-Throughs usually are backed by a pool of fixed rate or adjustable-rate mortgage loans. Certain Non-U.S. Pass-Throughs in which the fund invests typically are not guaranteed by an entity having the credit status of GNMA, but generally utilize various types of credit enhancement.

Asset-Backed Securities. ABS are securities, which may be issued by either a U.S. or foreign entity, that are collateralized by any type of financial asset, such as a consumer-related loan (e.g., credit card receivables, student loans and automobile loans), a lease, or a secured or unsecured receivable. ABS exclude (1) securities collateralized by residential or commercial mortgage loans, MBS, or other financial assets derivatives of MBS and (2) CDOs.

Such assets are generally securitized through the use of trusts or special purpose corporations. Asset-backed securities are backed by a pool of assets representing the obligations often of a number of different parties. Certain of such securities may be illiquid.

The principal on asset-backed securities, like that on mortgage-backed securities, may be prepaid at any time. As a result, if such securities are purchased at a premium, a prepayment rate that is faster than expected will reduce yield to maturity, while a prepayment rate that is slower than expected will have the opposite effect. Conversely, if the securities are purchased at a discount, prepayments faster than expected will increase yield to maturity and prepayments slower than expected will decrease it. Accelerated prepayments also reduce the certainty of the yield because the fund must reinvest the assets at the then-current rates. Accelerated prepayments on securities purchased at a premium also impose a risk of loss of principal. On the other hand, a decrease in the rate of prepayments may extend the effective maturities of the securities, increasing their sensitivity to changes in market interest rates and potentially increasing the volatility of the fund’s shares. The rate of prepayment may also be affected by general economic conditions and other social and demographic conditions.

 

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Each type of asset-backed security also entails unique risks depending on the type of assets involved and the legal structure used. For example, credit card receivables are generally unsecured obligations of the credit card holder and the debtors are entitled to the protection of a number of state and federal consumer credit laws, many of which give such debtors the right to set off certain amounts owed on the credit cards, thereby reducing the balance due. There have also been proposals to cap the interest rate that a credit card issuer may charge. In some transactions, the value of the asset-backed security is dependent on the performance of a third party acting as credit enhancer or servicer. Furthermore, in some transactions (such as those involving the securitization of vehicle loans or leases) it may be administratively burdensome to perfect the interest in the underlying collateral, and the underlying collateral may become damaged or stolen.

Most issuers of automobile receivables permit the servicers to retain possession of the underlying obligations. If the servicer were to sell these obligations to another party, there is a risk that the purchaser would acquire an interest superior to that of the holders of the related automobile receivables. In addition, because of the large number of vehicles involved in a typical issuance and technical requirements under state laws, the trustee for the holders of the automobile receivables may not have a proper security interest in all of the obligations backing such receivables. Therefore, there is the possibility that recoveries on repossessed collateral may not, in some cases, be available to support payments on these securities. The market experience in asset-backed securities is limited; therefore, the market’s ability to sustain liquidity through all phases of the market cycle is not certain.

Municipal Obligations. Municipal obligations include obligations issued to obtain funds for various public purposes, including constructing a wide range of public facilities, such as bridges, highways, housing, hospitals, mass transportation, schools and streets. Other public purposes for which municipal obligations may be issued include the refunding of outstanding obligations, the obtaining of funds for general operating expenses and the making of loans to other public institutions and facilities. In addition, certain types of industrial development bonds (“IDBs”) and private activity bonds (“PABs”) are issued by or on behalf of public authorities to finance various privately operated facilities, including certain pollution control facilities, convention or trade show facilities, and airport, mass transit, port or parking facilities.

Municipal obligations also include short-term tax anticipation notes, bond anticipation notes, revenue anticipation notes and other forms of short-term debt obligations. Such notes may be issued with a short-term maturity in anticipation of the receipt of tax payments, the proceeds of bond placements or other revenues. Municipal obligations also include municipal lease obligations and certificates of participation. Municipal lease obligations, which are issued by state and local governments to acquire land, equipment and facilities, typically are not fully backed by the municipality’s credit, and, if funds are not appropriated for the following year’s lease payments, a lease may terminate, with the possibility of default on the lease obligation and significant loss to the fund. Certificates of participation are participations in municipal lease obligations or installment sales contracts. Each certificate represents a proportionate interest in or right to the payments made.

The two principal classifications of municipal obligations are “general obligation” and “revenue” bonds. “General obligation” bonds are secured by the issuer’s pledge of its faith, credit and taxing power. “Revenue” bonds are payable only from the revenues derived from a particular facility or class of facilities or from the proceeds of a special excise tax or other specific revenue source such as the corporate user of the facility being financed. IDBs and PABs are usually revenue bonds and are not payable from the unrestricted revenues of the issuer. The credit quality of IDBs and PABs is usually directly related to the credit standing of the corporate user of the facilities.

The ability of state, county or local governments to meet their obligations will depend primarily on the availability of tax and other revenues to those governments and on their fiscal conditions generally. The amounts of tax and other revenues available to governmental issuers may be affected from time to time by economic, political and demographic conditions within or outside of the particular state. In addition, constitutional or statutory restrictions may limit a government’s power to raise revenues or increase taxes.

 

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The availability of federal, state and local aid to issuers of municipal securities may also affect their ability to meet their obligations. Payments of principal and interest on revenue bonds will depend on the economic condition of the facility or specific revenue source from whose revenues the payments will be made. The facility’s economic status, in turn, could be affected by economic, political and demographic conditions affecting the particular state.

Tender option bonds represent securities issued by a special purpose trust formed for the purpose of holding securities (typically municipal bonds or other municipal securities) that are contributed to the trust by the fund or another third party. The trust typically issues two classes of securities: short-term floating rate interests (sometimes known as “put bonds” or “puttable securities”), which are generally sold to third party investors (often money market funds), and residual interests (also referred to as “inverse floaters”), which are generally held by the entity that contributed securities to the trust. The short-term floating rate interests typically have first priority on the cash flow from the municipal bonds or other securities held by the trust, and the remaining cash flow less certain expenses is paid to holders of the residual interests. Purchasers of short-term floating rate interests issued by a tender option bond trust typically have the option, at periodic intervals or upon the occurrence of certain events, to tender their securities to the trust or a liquidity provider engaged by the trust and to receive the face value thereof. Thus, the security holder would effectively hold a demand obligation that would ordinarily bear interest at the prevailing short-term tax-exempt rate. (See the discussion of Indexed Securities and Structured Notes, below.) Floating rate interests issued by a tender option bond trust are subject to risks generally applicable to fixed income securities, as well as risks (including credit risk and liquidity risk) relating to the underlying municipal securities held by the trust.

Collateralized Debt Obligations. CDOs are comprised of collateralized bond obligations (“CBOs”) and collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”). CBOs are securities issued by a trust or other special purpose entity that are backed by a diversified pool of fixed income securities issued by U.S. or foreign governmental entities or fixed income securities issued by U.S. or corporate issuers. CLOs are securities issued by a trust or other special purpose entity that are collateralized by a pool of loans by U.S. banks and participations in loans by U.S. banks that are unsecured or secured by collateral other than real estate. Although certain CDOs may receive credit enhancement in the form of a senior-subordinate structure, over-collateralization or bond insurance, such enhancement may not always be present, and may fail to protect the fund against the risk of loss on default of the collateral. Certain CDOs may use derivatives contracts to create “synthetic” exposure to assets rather than holding such assets directly, which entails the risks of derivative instruments described elsewhere in this SAI. CDOs may charge management fees and administrative expenses, which are in addition to those of the fund.

For both CBOs and CLOs, the cashflows from the SPE are split into two or more portions, called tranches, varying in risk and yield. The riskiest portion is the “equity” tranche, which bears the first loss from defaults from the bonds or loans in the SPE and serves to protect the other, more senior tranches from default (though such protection is not complete). Since it is partially protected from defaults, a senior tranche from a CBO or CLO typically has higher ratings and lower yields than its underlying securities, and may be rated investment grade. Despite the protection from the equity tranche, CBO or CLO tranches can experience substantial losses due to actual defaults, increased sensitivity to defaults due to collateral default and disappearance of protecting tranches, market anticipation of defaults, as well as investor aversion to CBO or CLO securities as a class. Interest on certain tranches of a CDO may be paid in kind (paid in the form of obligations of the same type rather than cash), which involves continued exposure to default risk with respect to such payments.

The risks of an investment in a CDO depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the CDO in which the fund invests. Normally, CBOs, CLOs and other CDOs are privately offered and sold, and thus, are not registered under the securities laws. As a result, investments in CDOs may be characterized by the fund as illiquid securities. However, an active dealer market may exist for CDOs, allowing a CDO to qualify for Rule 144A transactions. In addition to the normal risks associated with fixed income securities discussed elsewhere in this SAI and the Prospectus (e.g., interest rate risk and credit risk), CDOs carry additional risks including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to

 

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make interest or other payments; (ii) the quality of the collateral may decline in value or default; (iii) the fund may invest in tranches of CDOs that are subordinate to other tranches; (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and may produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results; and (v) the CDO’s manager may perform poorly or defalcate.

Corporate Debt Securities. The fund may invest in debt securities (i.e., bonds, debentures, notes and other similar debt instruments) of domestic or non-U.S. non-governmental issuers. Corporate debt securities may pay fixed or variable rates of interest, or interest at a rate contingent upon some other factor, such as the price of some commodity. These securities may include warrants, may be convertible into preferred or common equity, or may be bought as part of a unit containing common stock.

Lower-Rated Securities. Non-investment grade securities are described as “speculative” by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) and S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) and may be subject to greater market fluctuations and greater risk of loss of income or principal, including a greater possibility of default or bankruptcy of the issuer of such securities, than are more highly rated debt securities. Such securities are commonly referred to as “junk bonds.” The Subadvisers seek to minimize the risks of investing in all securities through diversification, in-depth credit analysis and attention to current developments in interest rates and market conditions and will monitor the ratings of securities held by the fund and the creditworthiness of their issuers. If the rating of a security in which the fund has invested is downgraded or fails to meet criteria established by the manager or the Subadviser(s), the fund will either dispose of that security within a reasonable time or hold the security for so long as the Subadvisers determine appropriate, having due regard for market conditions, tax implications and other applicable factors.

A lower-rated debt security may be callable, i.e., subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a price established in the security’s governing instrument. If a debt security held by the fund is called for redemption, the fund will be required to permit the issuer to redeem the security or sell it to a third party. Either of these actions could have an adverse effect on the fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective because, for example, the fund may be able to reinvest the proceeds only in securities with lower yields or may receive a price upon sale that is lower than it would have received in the absence of the redemption. If the fund experiences unexpected net redemptions, it may be forced to sell its higher-rated securities, resulting in a decline in the overall credit quality of the fund’s investment portfolio and increasing the exposure of the fund to the risks of lower-rated securities.

At certain times in the past, the prices of many lower-rated securities declined, indicating concerns that issuers of such securities might experience financial difficulties. At those times, the yields on lower-rated securities rose dramatically, reflecting the risk that holders of such securities could lose a substantial portion of their value as a result of the issuers’ financial restructuring or default. There can be no assurance that such declines will not recur. The ratings of Moody’s, S&P or other nationally recognized (or non-U.S.) statistical rating organizations (“NRSROs”) represent the opinions of those agencies as to the quality of the debt securities that they rate. Such ratings are relative and subjective, and are not absolute standards of quality. Unrated debt securities are not necessarily of lower quality than rated securities, but they may not be attractive to as many buyers. The Subadviser(s) will consider a security’s quality and credit rating when determining whether such security is an appropriate investment. Subject to its investment objective, policies and applicable law, the fund may purchase a security with the lowest rating.

The market for lower-rated securities may be thinner and less active than that for higher-rated securities, which can adversely affect the prices at which these securities can be sold, and may make it difficult for the fund to obtain market quotations daily. If market quotations are not available, these securities will be valued by a method that the Subadvisers or their affiliates (acting under authority of the Board of Trustees) believe accurately reflects fair market value. Judgment may play a greater role in valuing lower-rated debt securities than is the case with respect to securities for which a broader range of dealer quotations and last-sale information is available. Adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether or not based on fundamental analysis, may also decrease the values and liquidity of lower-rated securities, especially in a thinly traded market.

 

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Although the prices of lower-rated bonds are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than are higher-rated bonds, the prices of lower-rated bonds may be more sensitive to adverse economic changes and developments regarding the individual issuer. Although the market for lower-rated debt securities is not new, and the market has previously weathered economic downturns, there has been in recent years a substantial increase in the use of such securities to fund corporate acquisitions and restructurings. Accordingly, the past performance of the market for such securities may not be an accurate indication of its performance during future economic downturns or periods of rising interest rates. When economic conditions appear to be deteriorating, medium- to lower-rated securities may decline in value due to heightened concern over credit quality, regardless of the prevailing interest rates. Investors should carefully consider the relative risks of investing in high yield securities and understand that such securities are not generally meant for short-term investing.

Adverse economic developments can disrupt the market for lower-rated securities and severely affect the ability of issuers, especially highly leveraged issuers, to service their debt obligations or to repay their obligations upon maturity, which may lead to a higher incidence of default on such securities. Lower-rated securities are especially affected by adverse changes in the industries in which the issuers are engaged and by changes in the financial condition of the issuers. Highly leveraged issuers may also experience financial stress during periods of rising interest rates. In addition, the secondary market for lower-rated securities, which is concentrated in relatively few market makers, may not be as liquid as the secondary market for more highly rated securities. As a result, the fund could find it more difficult to sell these securities or may be able to sell the securities only at prices lower than if such securities were widely traded.

Stripped Mortgage-Backed Securities. Stripped mortgage-backed securities (“SMBS”) are derivative multi-class mortgage securities. SMBS may be issued by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. Government, or by private originators of, or investors in, mortgage loans, including savings and loan associations, mortgage banks, commercial banks, investment banks and special purpose entities of the foregoing.

SMBS are created by separating bonds into their principal and interest components and selling each piece separately (commonly referred to as IOs and POs). The yield to maturity on an IO or PO class of stripped mortgage-backed securities is extremely sensitive not only to changes in prevailing interest rates but also to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the underlying assets. A rapid rate of principal prepayments may have a measurably adverse effect on the fund’s yield to maturity to the extent it invests in IOs. If the assets underlying the IOs experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, the fund may fail to recoup fully its initial investment in these securities. Conversely, POs tend to increase in value if prepayments are greater than anticipated and decline if prepayments are slower than anticipated. The secondary market for stripped securities may be more volatile and less liquid than that for other securities, potentially limiting the fund’s ability to buy or sell those securities at any particular time. Although SMBS are purchased and sold by institutional investors through several investment banking firms acting as brokers or dealers, these securities were developed fairly recently. As a result, established trading markets have not yet developed and, accordingly, these securities may be deemed illiquid.

Zero Coupon and Pay-In-Kind Securities. A zero coupon bond is a security that makes no fixed interest payments but instead is sold at a discount from its face value. The bond is redeemed at its face value on the specified maturity date. Zero coupon bonds may be issued as such, or they may be created by a broker who strips the coupons from a bond and separately sells the rights to receive principal and interest. The prices of zero coupon bonds tend to fluctuate more in response to changes in market interest rates than do the prices of interest-paying debt securities with similar maturities. Zero coupon bonds generally accrue income prior to the receipt of cash payments. Since the fund must distribute substantially all of its income to shareholders to qualify as a regulated investment company under federal income tax law, to the extent that the fund invests in zero coupon bonds, it may have to dispose of other securities, including at times when it may be disadvantageous to do so, to generate the cash necessary for the distribution of income attributable to its zero coupon bonds. Pay-in-kind securities have characteristics similar to those of zero coupon securities, but interest on such securities may be paid in the form of obligations of the same type rather than cash.

 

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Commercial Paper and Other Short-Term Investments

The fund may invest or hold cash or other short-term investments, including commercial paper. Commercial paper represents short-term unsecured promissory notes issued in bearer form by banks or bank holding companies, corporations and finance companies. The fund may purchase commercial paper issued pursuant to the private placement exemption in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933. Section 4(a)(2) paper is restricted as to disposition under federal securities laws in that any resale must similarly be made in an exempt transaction. The fund may or may not regard such securities as illiquid, depending on the circumstances of each case.

The fund may also invest in obligations (including certificates of deposit, demand and time deposits and bankers’ acceptances) of banks and savings and loan institutions. While domestic bank deposits may be insured by an agency of the U.S. Government, the fund would generally assume positions considerably in excess of the insurance limits.

Loans

Loans are negotiated and underwritten by a bank or syndicate of banks and other institutional investors. The fund may acquire an interest in loans through the primary market by acting as one of a group of lenders of a loan. The primary risk in an investment in loans is that the borrower may be unable to meet its interest and/or principal payment obligations. The occurrence of such a default with regard to a loan in which the fund had invested would have an adverse effect on the fund’s net asset value. In addition, a sudden and significant increase in market interest rates may cause a decline in the value of these investments and in the fund’s net asset value. Other factors, such as rating downgrades, credit deterioration, or large downward movement in stock prices, a disparity in supply and demand of certain securities or market conditions that reduce liquidity could reduce the value of loans, impairing the fund’s net asset value. Loans may not be considered “securities” for certain purposes and purchasers, such as the fund, therefore may not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws.

Loans in which the fund may invest may be collateralized or uncollateralized and senior or subordinate. Investments in uncollateralized and/or subordinate loans entail a greater risk of nonpayment than do investments in loans which hold a more senior position in the borrower’s capital structure or that are secured with collateral. In the case of collateralized senior loans, however, there is no assurance that sale of the collateral would raise enough cash to satisfy the borrower’s payment obligation or that the collateral can or will be liquidated. As a result, the fund might not receive payments to which it is entitled and thereby may experience a decline in the value of its investment and its net asset value. In the event of bankruptcy, liquidation may not occur and the court may not give lenders the full benefit of their senior positions. If the terms of a senior loan do not require the borrower to pledge additional collateral, the fund will be exposed to the risk that the value of the collateral will not at all times equal or exceed the amount of the borrower’s obligations under the senior loans. To the extent that a senior loan is collateralized by stock in the borrower or its subsidiaries, such stock may lose all of its value in the event of bankruptcy of the borrower.

The fund may also acquire an interest in loans by purchasing participations (“Participations”) in and/or assignments (“Assignments”) of portions of loans from third parties. By purchasing a Participation, the fund acquires some or all of the interest of a bank or other lending institution in a loan to a borrower. Participations typically will result in the fund’s having a contractual relationship only with the lender and not the borrower. The fund will have the right to receive payments or principal, interest and any fees to which it is entitled only from the lender selling the Participation and only upon receipt by the lender of the payments from the borrower. In connection with purchasing Participations, the fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement relating to the loan, nor any rights of set-off against the borrower, and the fund may not directly benefit from any collateral supporting the loan in which it has purchased the Participation. As a result, the fund will assume the credit risk of both the borrower and the lender that is selling the Participation.

 

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When the fund purchases Assignments from lenders, the fund will acquire direct rights against the borrower on the loan. However, since Assignments are arranged through private negotiations between potential assignees and assignors, the rights and obligations acquired by the fund as the purchaser of an Assignment may differ from, and be more limited than, those held by the lender from which the fund is purchasing the Assignments. Certain of the Participations or Assignments acquired by the fund may involve unfunded commitments of the lenders or revolving credit facilities under which a borrower may from time to time borrow and repay amounts up to the maximum amount of the facility. In such cases, the fund would have an obligation to advance its portion of such additional borrowings upon the terms specified in the loan documentation.

The fund may acquire loans of borrowers that are experiencing, or are more likely to experience, financial difficulty, including loans of borrowers that have filed for bankruptcy protection. Although loans in which the fund will invest generally will be secured by specific collateral, there can be no assurance that liquidation of such collateral would satisfy the borrower’s obligation in the event of nonpayment of scheduled interest or principal, or that such collateral could be readily liquidated. In the event of bankruptcy of a borrower, the fund could experience delays or limitations with respect to its ability to realize the benefits of the collateral securing a senior loan.

In addition, the fund may have difficulty disposing of its investments in loans. The liquidity of such securities is limited and the fund anticipates that such securities could be sold only to a limited number of institutional investors. The lack of a liquid secondary market could have an adverse impact on the value of such securities and on the fund’s ability to dispose of particular loans or Assignments or Participations 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 borrower. The lack of a liquid secondary market for loans may also make it more difficult for the fund to assign a value to those securities for purposes of valuing the fund’s investments and calculating its net asset value.

The issuer of a loan may offer to provide material, non-public information about the issuer to investors, such as the fund. The Subadvisers may avoid receiving this type of information about the issuer of a loan either held by or considered for investment by the fund, because of prohibitions on trading in securities of issuers while in possession of such information. The decision not to receive material, non-public information may place the fund at a disadvantage, relative to other loan investors, in assessing a loan or the loan’s issuer.

Indexed Securities and Structured Notes

The values of indexed securities and structured notes are linked to currencies, other securities, interest rates, commodities, indices or other financial indicators (“reference instruments”). These instruments differ from other types of debt securities in several respects. The interest rate or principal amount payable at maturity may vary based on changes in one or more specified reference instruments, such as a floating interest rate compared with a fixed interest rate or the currency exchange rates between two currencies (neither of which need be the currency in which the instrument is denominated). An indexed security or structured note may be positively or negatively indexed; that is, its value or interest rate may increase or decrease if the value of the reference instrument increases. Further, the change in the principal amount payable with respect to, or the interest rate of, an indexed security or structured note may be a multiple of the percentage change (positive or negative) in the value of the underlying reference instrument(s). Investment in indexed securities and structured notes involves certain risks, including the credit risk of the issuer and the normal risks of price changes in response to changes in interest rates. Further, in the case of certain indexed securities or structured notes, a decline in the reference instrument may cause the interest rate to be reduced to zero, and any further declines in the reference instrument may then reduce the principal amount payable on maturity. Finally, these securities may be less liquid than other types of securities, and may be more volatile than their underlying reference instruments.

 

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Forward Commitments

The fund may enter into commitments to purchase securities on a “forward commitment” basis, including purchases on a “when-issued” basis or a “to be announced” basis. When such transactions are negotiated, certain terms may be fixed at the time the commitment is made, but delivery and payment for the securities takes place at a later date. Such securities are often the most efficiently priced and have the best liquidity in the bond market. During the period between a commitment and settlement, no payment is made by the purchaser for the securities purchased and, thus, no interest accrues to the purchaser from the transaction. In a “to be announced” transaction, the fund commits to purchase securities for which all specific information is not yet known at the time of the trade, particularly the exact face amount in forward commitment mortgage-backed securities transactions.

The fund may sell the securities subject to a forward commitment purchase, which may result in a gain or loss. When the fund purchases securities on a forward commitment basis, it assumes the risks of ownership, including the risk of price fluctuation, at the time of purchase, not at the time of receipt. Purchases of forward commitment securities also involve a risk of loss if the seller fails to deliver after the value of the securities has risen. Depending on market conditions, the fund’s forward commitment purchases could cause its net asset value to be more volatile.

The fund may also enter into a forward commitment to sell securities it owns. The use of forward commitments enables the fund to hedge against anticipated changes in interest rates and prices. In a forward sale, the fund does not participate in gains or losses on the security occurring after the commitment date. Forward commitments to sell securities also involve a risk of loss if the seller fails to take delivery after the value of the securities has declined. Forward commitment transactions involve additional risks similar to those associated with investments in options and futures contracts. See “Risks of Futures Contracts and Options Thereon.”

Restricted and Illiquid Securities

Restricted securities are securities subject to legal or contractual restrictions on their resale, such as private placements. Such restrictions might prevent the sale of restricted securities at a time when the sale would otherwise be desirable. To the extent required by applicable law and SEC guidance, no securities for which there is not a readily available market (“illiquid securities”) will be acquired by the fund if immediately after the acquisition the value of illiquid securities held by the fund would exceed 15% of the fund’s net assets. An illiquid security is any security which may not reasonably be expected to be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. If at any time a Subadviser determines that the value of illiquid securities held by the fund exceeds 15% of its net asset value, the Subadviser will take such steps as it considers appropriate to reduce the percentage as soon as reasonably practicable; the fund may, however, hold any such investments for a substantial period of time. The fund monitors the portion of its total assets that are invested in illiquid securities on an ongoing basis, not only at the time of investment in such securities.

Illiquid securities may be difficult to value, and the fund may have difficulty disposing of such securities promptly. The fund does not consider non-U.S. securities to be restricted if they can be freely sold in the principal markets in which they are traded, even if they are not registered for sale in the U.S.

Liquidity Risk Management

In October 2016, the SEC adopted a liquidity risk management rule requiring open-end funds, including ETFs such as the fund, to establish a liquidity risk management program and enhance disclosures regarding fund liquidity. There are exclusions from certain portions of the liquidity risk management program requirements for “in-kind” ETFs. The fund will be required to comply with the rule by December 1, 2018. The effect the rule will have on the fund, including the fund’s ability to rely on the exclusions, is not yet known, but the rule may impact the fund’s performance and ability to achieve its investment objective.

 

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Equity Securities

The fund may directly or indirectly invest its assets in equity securities. Among other risks, prices of equity securities generally fluctuate more than those of other securities. The fund may experience a substantial or complete loss on an individual stock. These risks may affect a single issuer, industry, or section of the economy or may affect the market as a whole.

Securities of Other Investment Companies

Investments in other investment companies may involve the payment of substantial premiums above the net asset value of such issuers’ portfolio securities, and the total return on such investments will be reduced by the operating expenses and fees of such investment companies, including advisory fees. These fees would be in addition to any fees paid by the fund. The fund may invest in both closed-end and open-end investment companies.

The fund may invest, to the extent permitted by applicable law, all or some of its short-term cash investments in a money market fund or similarly-managed pool advised by the manager or Subadviser that is not required to register with the SEC as an investment company. In connection with any such investments, the fund, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, may pay its share of expenses of a money market fund or other similarly-managed private fund in which it invests, which may result in the fund bearing some additional expenses.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements and Forward Roll Transactions

A reverse repurchase agreement is a portfolio management technique in which the fund temporarily transfers possession of a portfolio instrument to another person, such as a financial institution or broker-dealer, in return for cash. At the same time, the fund agrees to repurchase the instrument at an agreed upon time (normally within seven days) and price, including an interest payment. While engaging in reverse repurchase agreements, the fund will cover its commitment under these instruments with liquid assets or using other methods currently or in the future permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, or orders issued by the SEC thereunder. For these purposes, interpretations and guidance provided by the SEC staff may be taken into account when deemed appropriate by the fund. Reverse repurchase agreements may expose the fund to greater fluctuations in the value of its assets and render the segregated assets unavailable for sale or other disposition. Reverse repurchase agreements have characteristics like borrowings.

The fund may also enter into forward roll transactions in which the fund sells a fixed income security for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts to purchase substantially similar (same type, coupon and maturity) securities at an agreed upon future time. By engaging in the forward roll transaction the fund forgoes principal and interest paid on the security that is sold, but receives the difference between the current sales price and the forward price for the future purchase. The fund would also be able to earn interest on the income that is received from the initial sale.

The obligation to purchase securities on a specified future date involves the risk that the market value of the securities that the fund is obligated to purchase may decline below the purchase price. In addition, in the event the other party to the transaction files for bankruptcy, becomes insolvent or defaults on its obligation, the fund may be adversely affected.

Borrowing

The fund may use borrowed money for any purpose permitted by the 1940 Act. Borrowing by the fund allows it to leverage its portfolio, which exposes it to certain risks. The value of an investment in the fund will be more volatile and all other risks will tend to be compounded.

 

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The 1940 Act requires the fund to maintain asset coverage (that is, total assets less liabilities other than the borrowing and other senior securities) of at least 300% of the amount borrowed, provided that in the event the fund’s asset coverage falls below 300%, the fund is required to reduce the amount of its borrowings so that it meets the 300% asset coverage threshold within three days (no including Sundays and holidays). As a result, the fund may be required to sell some of its holdings within three days to reduce the debt and restore the 300% asset coverage, even though it may be disadvantageous from an investment standpoint to sell securities at that time. Borrowing may increase the effect on net asset value of any increase or decrease in the market value of the fund. See “Additional Information” on page 54 for circumstances under which certain investment transactions will not be deemed to be borrowings.

Money borrowed will be subject to interest costs, which may or may not be recovered by appreciation of the securities purchased. The fund also may be required to maintain minimum average balances in connection with such borrowing or to pay a commitment or other fee to maintain a line of credit; either of these requirements would increase the cost of borrowing over the stated interest rate. The fund may enter into reverse repurchase agreements and forward roll transactions as a method of borrowing.

Repurchase Agreements

Under the terms of a typical repurchase agreement, the fund would acquire one or more underlying debt obligations, frequently obligations issued by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities, for a relatively short period (typically overnight, although the term of an agreement may be many months), subject to an obligation of the seller to repurchase, and the fund to resell, the obligation at an agreed-upon time and price. The repurchase price is typically greater than the purchase price paid by the fund, thereby determining the fund’s yield. A repurchase agreement is similar to, and may be treated as, a secured loan, where the fund loans cash to the counterparty and the loan is secured by the purchased securities as collateral. All repurchase agreements entered into by the fund are required to be collateralized so that at all times during the term of a repurchase agreement, the value of the underlying securities is at least equal to the amount of the repurchase price. Also, the fund or its custodian is required to have control of the collateral, which the Subadviser believes will give the fund a valid, perfected security interest in the collateral.

Repurchase agreements could involve certain risks in the event of default or insolvency of the other party, including possible delays or restrictions upon the fund’s ability to dispose of the underlying securities, the risk of a possible decline in the value of the underlying securities during the period in which the fund seeks to assert its right to them, the risk of incurring expenses associated with asserting those rights and the risk of losing all or part of the income from the agreement. If the fund enters into a repurchase agreement involving securities the fund could not purchase directly, and the counterparty defaults, the fund may become the holder of securities that it could not purchase. These repurchase agreements may be subject to greater risks. In addition, these repurchase agreements may be more likely to have a term to maturity of longer than seven days.

Repurchase agreements maturing in more than seven days are considered to be illiquid.

Recent Market Events

The fixed-income markets are experiencing a period of extreme volatility which has negatively impacted market liquidity conditions. Initially, the concerns on the part of market participants were focused on the sub-prime segment of the mortgage-backed securities market. However, these concerns have since expanded to include a broad range of mortgage-and asset-backed and other fixed income securities (including those rated investment grade), the U.S. and international credit and interbank money markets generally, and a wide range of financial institutions and markets, asset classes and sectors. As a result, fixed income instruments are experiencing liquidity issues, increased price volatility, credit downgrades, and increased credit spreads and risk of default. Securities that are less liquid are more difficult to value and may be hard to dispose of. Domestic and international equity markets have also been experiencing heightened volatility and turmoil, with issuers that have

 

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exposure to the real estate, mortgage and credit markets particularly affected. During times of market turmoil, investors tend to look to the safety of securities issued or backed by the U.S. Treasury, causing the prices of these securities to rise, and the yield to decline. These events and the continuing market upheavals may have an adverse effect on the fund.

Duration

For the simplest fixed income securities, “duration” indicates the average time at which the security’s cash flows are to be received. For simple fixed income securities with interest payments occurring prior to the payment of principal, duration is always less than maturity. For example, a current coupon “bullet” bond with a maturity of 3.5 years (i.e., a bond that pays interest at regular intervals and that will have a single principal payment of the entire principal amount in 3.5 years) might have a duration of approximately three years. In general, the lower the stated or coupon rate of interest of a fixed income security, the closer its duration will be to its final maturity; conversely, the higher the stated or coupon rate of interest of a fixed income security, the shorter its duration will be compared to its final maturity.

Determining duration becomes more complex when fixed income security features like floating or adjustable coupon payments, optionality (for example, the right of the issuer to prepay or call the security), and structuring (for example, the right of the holders of certain securities to receive priority as to the issuer’s cash flows) are considered. The calculation of “effective duration” attempts to take into account optionality and other complex features. Generally, the longer the effective duration of a security, the greater will be the expected change in the percentage price of the security with respect to a change in the security’s own yield. By way of illustration, a security with an effective duration of 3.5 years might normally be expected to go down in price by 35 basis points (“bps”; 100 basis points = 1%) if its yield goes up by 10 bps, while another security with an effective duration of 4.0 years might normally be expected to go down in price by 40 bps if its yield goes up by 10 bps.

The assumptions that are made about a security’s features and options when calculating effective duration may prove to be incorrect. For example, many mortgage pass-through securities may have stated final maturities of 30 years, but current prepayment rates, which can vary widely under different economic conditions, may have a large influence on the pass-through security’s response to changes in yield. In these situations, a Subadviser may consider other analytical techniques that seek to incorporate the security’s additional features into the determination of its response to changes in its yield.

A security may change in price for a variety of reasons. For example, floating rate securities may have final maturities of ten or more years, but their effective durations will tend to be very short. If there is an adverse credit event, or a perceived change in the issuer’s creditworthiness, these securities could experience a far greater negative price movement than would be predicted by the change in the security’s yield in relation to its effective duration.

As a result, investors should be aware that effective duration is not an exact measurement and may not reliably predict a security’s price sensitivity to changes in yield or interest rates.

Portfolio Turnover

The length of time the fund has held a particular security is not generally a consideration in investment decisions. A change in the securities held by the fund is known as “portfolio turnover.” As a result of the fund’s investment policies, under certain market conditions the fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher than that of other mutual funds. Portfolio turnover generally involves some expense to the fund, including brokerage commissions or dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale of securities and reinvestment in other securities. These transactions may result in realization of taxable capital gains. Higher portfolio turnover rates,

 

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such as those above 100%, are likely to result in higher brokerage commissions or other transactions costs and could give rise to a greater amount of taxable capital gains.

Alternative Investment Strategies

At times the Subadviser(s) may judge that conditions in the securities markets make pursuing the fund’s investment strategy inconsistent with the best interests of its shareholders. At such times, the Subadviser(s) may temporarily use alternative strategies, primarily designed to reduce fluctuations in the value of the fund’s assets. In implementing these defensive strategies, the fund may invest without limit in securities that the Subadviser(s) believes present less risk to the fund, including equity securities, debt and fixed income securities, preferred stocks, U.S. Government and agency obligations, cash or money market instruments, or in other securities the Subadviser considers consistent with such defensive strategies, such as, but not limited to, options, futures, warrants or swaps. As a result of these strategies, the fund may invest up to 100% of its assets in securities of U.S. issuers. During periods on which such strategies are used, the duration of the fund may diverge from the duration range disclosed in the Prospectus. It is impossible to predict when, or for how long, the fund will use these alternative strategies. As a result of using these alternative strategies, the fund may not achieve its investment objective.

New Investment Products

New types of mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, derivative instruments, hedging instruments and other securities or instruments are developed and marketed from time to time. Consistent with its investment limitations, the fund expects to invest in those new types of securities and instruments that its Subadviser(s) believes may assist the fund in achieving its investment objective.

Generally, the foregoing is not intended to limit the fund’s investment flexibility, unless such a limitation is expressly stated, and therefore will be construed by the fund as broadly as possible. Statements concerning what the fund may do are not intended to limit other any activity. The fund maintains the flexibility to use the investments described above for any purpose consistent with applicable law and any express limitations in the SAI or the Prospectus.

Investment Policies

Except for investment policies designated as fundamental in the Prospectus or this SAI, the investment policies described in the Prospectus and in this SAI are not fundamental policies. Changes to fundamental investment policies require shareholder approval; the Trustees may change any non-fundamental investment policy without shareholder approval.

Ratings of Debt Obligations

Moody’s, S&P, Fitch Ratings, Inc. (“Fitch”) and other NRSROs are private organizations that provide ratings of the credit quality of debt obligations. Bonds rated Baa3 or above by Moody’s or BBB- or above by S&P and Fitch are considered “investment-grade” securities, bonds rated Baa are considered medium grade obligations subject to moderate credit risk and may possess certain speculative characteristics, while bonds rated BBB are regarded as having adequate capacity to meet financial commitments. The fund may consider these ratings in determining whether to purchase, sell or hold a security. Ratings are not absolute assurances of quality. Consequently, securities with the same maturity, interest rate and rating may have different market prices. Credit rating agencies attempt to evaluate the safety of principal and interest payments and do not evaluate the risks of fluctuations in market value. Also, credit rating agencies receive fees from rated issuers in connection with the issuance of ratings.

 

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Rating agencies may fail to make timely changes in credit ratings in response to subsequent events, so that an issuer’s current financial condition may be better or worse than the rating indicates. Bonds rated lower than Baa3 by Moody’s or BBB- by S&P or Fitch are considered below investment-grade quality and are obligations of issuers that are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal according to the terms of the obligation and, therefore, carry greater investment risk, including the possibility of issuer default and bankruptcy and increased market price volatility. Such securities are commonly referred to as “junk bonds” and are subject to a substantial degree of credit risk. Junk bonds are often issued by smaller, less creditworthy companies or by highly leveraged (indebted) firms, which are generally less able than more financially stable firms to make scheduled payments of interest and principal. The risks posed by securities issued under such circumstances are substantial. Bonds rated below investment-grade tend to be less marketable than higher-quality bonds because the market for them is less broad. The market for unrated bonds is even narrower.

Please see Appendix A of this SAI for a description of each rating category of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch.

Investments by Other Funds and by Other Significant Investors

Certain investment companies, including those that are affiliated with the fund because they are managed by the Manager or an affiliate of the Manager, may invest in the fund and may at times have substantial investments in the fund. Other investors also may at times have substantial investments in the fund.

From time to time, the fund may experience relatively large redemptions or investments due to transactions in fund shares by a fund or other significant investor. The effects of these transactions could adversely affect the fund’s performance. In the event of such redemptions or investments, the fund could be required to sell securities or to invest cash at a time when it is not advantageous to do so. Such transactions may increase brokerage and/or other transaction costs of the fund. A large redemption could cause the fund’s expenses to increase and could result in the fund becoming too small to be economically viable. Redemptions of fund shares could also accelerate the realization of taxable capital gains in the fund if sales of securities result in capital gains. Although the ETF structure of the fund should mitigate these risks to some degree, the impact of these transactions may be significant when a fund or other significant investor purchases, redeems, or owns a substantial portion of the fund’s shares.

The manager and the Subadvisers may be subject to potential conflicts of interest in connection with investments in the fund by an affiliated fund due to their affiliation. Investments by an affiliated fund may give rise to conflicts in connection with the voting of fund shares. The manager, the Subadvisers and/or their advisory affiliates intend to seek to address these potential conflicts of interest in the best interests of the fund’s shareholders, although there can be no assurance that such efforts will be successful. The manager and the Subadvisers will consider how to minimize potential adverse impacts of affiliated fund investments, and, may take such actions as each deems appropriate to address potential adverse impacts.

Foreign Securities

Economic, Political and Social Factors. Certain non-U.S. countries, including emerging markets, may be subject to a greater degree of economic, political and social instability. Such instability may result from, among other things: (i) authoritarian governments or military involvement in political and economic decision making; (ii) popular unrest associated with demands for improved economic, political and social conditions; (iii) internal insurgencies; (iv) hostile relations with neighboring countries; and (v) ethnic, religious and racial disaffection and conflict. Such economic, political and social instability could significantly disrupt the financial markets in such countries and the ability of the issuers in such countries to repay their obligations. In addition, it may be difficult for the fund to pursue claims against a foreign issuer in the courts of a foreign country. Investing in emerging countries also involves the risk of expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property or the imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and on repatriation of capital invested. In the event of such

 

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expropriation, nationalization or other confiscation in any emerging country, the fund could lose its entire investment in that country. Certain emerging market countries restrict or control foreign investment in their securities markets to varying degrees. These restrictions may limit the fund’s investment in those markets and may increase the expenses of the fund. In addition, the repatriation of both investment income and capital from certain markets in the region is subject to restrictions such as the need for certain governmental consents. Even where there is no outright restriction on repatriation of capital, the mechanics of repatriation may affect certain aspects of the fund’s operation. Economies in individual non-U.S. countries may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product, rates of inflation, currency valuation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payments positions. Many non-U.S. countries have experienced substantial, and in some cases extremely high, rates of inflation for many years. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had, and may continue to have, very negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain emerging countries. Economies in emerging countries generally are dependent heavily upon international trade and, accordingly, have been and may continue to be affected adversely by trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which they trade. These economies also have been, and may continue to be, affected adversely and significantly by economic conditions in the countries with which they trade.

Sovereign Government and Supranational Debt. The fund may invest in all types of debt securities of governmental issuers in all countries, including emerging markets. These sovereign debt securities may include: debt securities issued or guaranteed by governments, governmental agencies or instrumentalities and political subdivisions located in emerging market countries; debt securities issued by government owned, controlled or sponsored entities located in emerging market countries; interests in entities organized and operated for the purpose of restructuring the investment characteristics of instruments issued by any of the above issuers; Brady Bonds, which are debt securities issued under the framework of the Brady Plan as a means for debtor nations to restructure their outstanding external indebtedness; participations in loans between emerging market governments and financial institutions; or debt securities issued by supranational entities such as the World Bank. A supranational entity is a bank, commission or company established or financially supported by the national governments of one or more countries to promote reconstruction or development.

Sovereign debt is subject to risks in addition to those relating to non-U.S. investments generally. As a sovereign entity, the issuing government may be immune from lawsuits in the event of its failure or refusal to pay the obligations when due. The debtor’s willingness or ability to repay in a timely manner may be affected by, among other factors, its cash flow situation, the extent of its non-U.S. reserves, the availability of sufficient non-U.S. exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward principal international lenders and the political constraints to which the sovereign debtor may be subject. Sovereign debtors may also be dependent on disbursements or assistance from foreign governments or multinational agencies, the country’s access to trade and other international credits, and the country’s balance of trade. Assistance may be dependent on a country’s implementation of austerity measures and reforms, which measures may limit or be perceived to limit economic growth and recovery. Some sovereign debtors have rescheduled their debt payments, declared moratoria on payments or restructured their debt to effectively eliminate portions of it, and similar occurrences may happen in the future. There is no bankruptcy proceeding by which sovereign debt on which governmental entities have defaulted may be collected in whole or in part.

Europe-Recent Events. A number of countries in Europe have experienced severe economic and financial difficulties. Many non-governmental issuers, and even certain governments, have defaulted on, or been forced to restructure, their debts; many other issuers have faced difficulties obtaining credit or refinancing existing obligations; financial institutions have in many cases required government or central bank support, have needed to raise capital, and/or have been impaired in their ability to extend credit; and financial markets in Europe and elsewhere have experienced extreme volatility and declines in asset values and liquidity. These difficulties may continue, worsen or spread within and without Europe. Responses to the financial problems by European

 

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governments, central banks and others, including austerity measures and reforms, may not work, may result in social unrest and may limit future growth and economic recovery or have other unintended consequences.

Further defaults or restructurings by governments and others of their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets and asset valuations around the world. In addition, on June 23, 2016, voters in the United Kingdom approved withdrawal from the European Union. On March 29, 2017, the United Kingdom formally notified the European Council of its intention to leave the European Union; as a result, the United Kingdom will remain a member state, subject to European Union law with privileges to provide services under the single market directives, for at least two years from that date. Given the size and importance of the United Kingdom’s economy, uncertainty about its legal, political, and economic relationship with the remaining member states of the European Union may continue to be a source of instability. Moreover, other countries may seek to withdraw from the European Union and/or abandon the euro, the common currency of the European Union. A number of countries in Europe have suffered terror attacks, and additional attacks may occur in the future. Ukraine has experienced ongoing military conflict; this conflict may expand and military attacks could occur elsewhere in Europe. Europe has also been struggling with mass migration from the Middle East and Africa.

The ultimate effects of these events and other socio-political or geopolitical issues are not known but could profoundly affect global economies and markets. Whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in Europe or with significant exposure to European issuers or countries, these events could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the fund’s investments.

Cybersecurity Risk

With the increased use of technologies such as mobile devices and Web-based or “cloud” applications, and the dependence on the Internet and computer systems to conduct business, the fund is susceptible to operational, information security and related risks. In general, cybersecurity incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events (arising from external or internal sources) that may cause the fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption, physical damage to a computer or network system or lose operational capacity. Cybersecurity attacks include, but are not limited to, infection by malicious software, such as malware or computer viruses or gaining unauthorized access to digital systems, networks or devices that are used to service the fund’s operations (e.g., through “hacking,” “phishing” or malicious software coding) or other means for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. Cybersecurity attacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as causing denial-of-service attacks on the fund’s website (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users). In addition, authorized persons could inadvertently or intentionally release confidential or proprietary information stored on the fund’s systems.

Cybersecurity incidents affecting the fund’s manager, the Subadvisers, other service providers to the fund or its shareholders (including, but not limited to, fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries), Authorized Participants (defined below) and/or the Exchange have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to both the fund and its shareholders, interference with the fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, impediments to trading, the inability of fund shareholders to transact business and the fund to process transactions (including fulfillment of fund share purchases and redemptions), violations of applicable privacy and other laws (including the release of private shareholder information) and attendant breach notification and credit monitoring costs, regulatory fines, penalties, litigation costs, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, forensic investigation and remediation costs, and/or additional compliance costs. Similar adverse consequences could result from cybersecurity incidents affecting issuers of securities in which the fund invests, counterparties with which the fund engages in transactions, governmental and other regulatory authorities, exchange and other financial market operators, banks, brokers, dealers, insurance companies and other financial institutions (including financial intermediaries and other service providers ) and other parties. In addition, substantial costs

 

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may be incurred in order to safeguard against and reduce the risk of any cybersecurity incidents in the future. In addition to administrative, technological and procedural safeguards, the fund’s manager and the Subadvisers have established business continuity plans in the event of, and risk management systems to prevent or reduce the impact of, such cybersecurity incidents. However, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems, including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified, as well as the rapid development of new threats. Furthermore, the fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems put in place by its service providers or any other third parties whose operations may affect the fund or its shareholders. The fund and its shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result.

INVESTMENT POLICIES

The fund has adopted the fundamental and non-fundamental investment policies below for the protection of shareholders. Fundamental investment policies of the fund may not be changed without the vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of the fund, defined under the 1940 Act as the lesser of (a) 67% or more of the voting power of the fund present at a shareholder meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the voting power of the fund are present in person or represented by proxy, or (b) more than 50% of the voting power of the fund. The Board may change non-fundamental investment policies at any time without shareholder approval.

If any percentage restriction described below (other than the limitation on borrowing) is complied with at the time of an investment, a later increase or decrease in the percentage resulting from a change in asset values or characteristics will not constitute a violation of such restriction, unless otherwise noted below.

Fundamental Investment Policies

The fund’s fundamental investment policies are as follows:

(1) The fund may not borrow money except as permitted by (i) the 1940 Act or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

(2) The fund may not engage in the business of underwriting the securities of other issuers except as permitted by (i) the 1940 Act or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

(3) The fund may lend money or other assets to the extent permitted by (i) the 1940 Act or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

(4) The fund may not issue senior securities except as permitted by (i) the 1940 Act or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

(5) The fund may not purchase or sell real estate except as permitted by (i) the 1940 Act or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

(6) The fund may purchase or sell commodities or contracts related to commodities to the extent permitted by (i) the 1940 Act or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

(7) The fund will not invest more than 25% of its total assets in the securities of one or more issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry, except as permitted by exemptive relief or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction.

 

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With respect to the fundamental policy relating to borrowing money set forth in (1) above, the 1940 Act permits the fund to borrow money in amounts of up to one-third of the fund’s total assets from banks for any purpose, and to borrow up to 5% of the fund’s total assets from banks or other lenders for temporary purposes. (The fund’s total assets include the amounts being borrowed.) To limit the risks attendant to borrowing, the 1940 Act requires the fund to maintain an “asset coverage” of at least 300% of the amount of its borrowings, provided that in the event that the fund’s asset coverage falls below 300%, the fund is required to reduce the amount of its borrowings so that it meets the 300% asset coverage threshold within three days (not including Sundays and holidays). Asset coverage means the ratio that the value of the fund’s total assets (including amounts borrowed), minus liabilities other than borrowings, bears to the aggregate amount of all borrowings. Certain trading practices and investments, such as reverse repurchase agreements, may be considered to be borrowings and thus subject to the 1940 Act restrictions. Borrowing money to increase portfolio holdings is known as “leveraging.” Borrowing, especially when used for leverage, may cause the value of the fund’s shares to be more volatile than if the fund did not borrow. This is because borrowing tends to magnify the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the fund’s portfolio holdings. Borrowed money thus creates an opportunity for greater gains, but also greater losses. To repay borrowings, the fund may have to sell securities at a time and at a price that is unfavorable to the fund. There also are costs associated with borrowing money, and these costs would offset and could eliminate the fund’s net investment income in any given period. Currently, the fund does not have any intention of borrowing money for leverage. The policy in (1) above will be interpreted to permit the fund to engage in trading practices and investments that may be considered to be borrowing to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act. Short-term credits necessary for the settlement of securities transactions and arrangements with respect to securities lending will not be considered to be borrowings under the policy. Practices and investments that may involve leverage but are not considered to be borrowings are not subject to the policy.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to underwriting set forth in (2) above, the 1940 Act does not prohibit the fund from engaging in the underwriting business or from underwriting the securities of other issuers; in fact, the 1940 Act permits the fund to have underwriting commitments of up to 25% of its assets under certain circumstances. Those circumstances currently are that the amount of the fund’s underwriting commitments, when added to the value of the fund’s investments in issuers where the fund owns more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of those issuers, cannot exceed the 25% cap. A fund engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act. Under the 1933 Act, an underwriter may be liable for material omissions or misstatements in an issuer’s registration statement or prospectus. Securities purchased from an issuer and not registered for sale under the 1933 Act are considered restricted securities. There may be a limited market for these securities. If these securities are registered under the 1933 Act, they may then be eligible for sale but participating in the sale may subject the seller to underwriter liability. These risks could apply to a fund investing in restricted securities. Although it is not believed that the application of the 1933 Act provisions described above would cause the fund to be engaged in the business of underwriting, the policy in (2) above will be interpreted not to prevent the fund from engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities, regardless of whether the fund may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to lending set forth in (3) above, the 1940 Act does not prohibit the fund from making loans; however, SEC staff interpretations currently prohibit funds from lending more than one-third of their total assets, except through the purchase of debt obligations or the use of repurchase agreements. (A repurchase agreement is an agreement to purchase a security, coupled with an agreement to sell that security back to the original seller on an agreed-upon date at a price that reflects current interest rates. The SEC frequently treats repurchase agreements as loans.) While lending securities may be a source of income to the fund, as with other extensions of credit, there are risks of delay in recovery or even loss of rights in the underlying securities should the borrower fail financially. However, loans would be made only when the fund’s Subadvisers believe the income justifies the attendant risks. The fund also will be permitted by this policy to make loans of money, including to other funds. The fund would have to obtain exemptive relief from the SEC to make loans to other funds. The policy in (3) above will be interpreted not to prevent the fund from purchasing or investing in debt obligations and loans. In addition, collateral arrangements with respect to options, forward

 

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currency and futures transactions and other derivative instruments, as well as delays in the settlement of securities transactions, will not be considered loans.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to issuing senior securities set forth in (4) above, “senior securities” are defined as fund obligations that have a priority over the fund’s shares with respect to the payment of dividends or the distribution of fund assets. The 1940 Act prohibits the fund from issuing senior securities except that the fund may borrow money in amounts of up to one-third of the fund’s total assets from banks for any purpose. The fund may also borrow up to 5% of the fund’s total assets from banks or other lenders for temporary purposes, and these borrowings are not considered senior securities. The issuance of senior securities by the fund can increase the speculative character of the fund’s outstanding shares through leveraging. Leveraging of the fund’s portfolio through the issuance of senior securities magnifies the potential for gain or loss on monies, because even though the fund’s net assets remain the same, the total risk to investors is increased to the extent of the fund’s gross assets. The policy in (4) above will be interpreted not to prevent collateral arrangements with respect to swaps, options, forward or futures contracts or other derivatives, or the posting of initial or variation margin.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to real estate set forth in (5) above, the 1940 Act does not prohibit the fund from owning real estate; however, the fund is limited in the amount of illiquid assets it may purchase. Investing in real estate may involve risks, including that real estate is generally considered illiquid and may be difficult to value and sell. Owners of real estate may be subject to various liabilities, including environmental liabilities. To the extent that investments in real estate are considered illiquid, the current SEC staff position generally limits the fund’s purchases of illiquid securities to 15% of net assets. The policy in (5) above will be interpreted not to prevent the fund from investing in real estate-related companies, companies whose businesses consist in whole or in part of investing in real estate, instruments (like mortgages) that are secured by real estate or interests therein, or real estate investment trust securities.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to commodities set forth in (6) above, the 1940 Act does not prohibit the fund from owning commodities, whether physical commodities and contracts related to physical commodities (such as oil or grains and related futures contracts), or financial commodities and contracts related to financial commodities (such as currencies and, possibly, currency futures). However, the fund is limited in the amount of illiquid assets it may purchase. To the extent that investments in commodities are considered illiquid, the current SEC staff position generally limits the fund’s purchases of illiquid securities to 15% of net assets. If the fund were to invest in a physical commodity or a physical commodity-related instrument, the fund would be subject to the additional risks of the particular physical commodity and its related market. The value of commodities and commodity-related instruments may be extremely volatile and may be affected either directly or indirectly by a variety of factors. There may also be storage charges and risks of loss associated with physical commodities. The policy in (6) above will be interpreted to permit investments in ETFs that invest in physical and/or financial commodities.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to concentration set forth in (7) above, the 1940 Act does not define what constitutes “concentration” in an industry. The SEC staff has taken the position that investment of 25% or more of a fund’s total assets in one or more issuers conducting their principal activities in the same industry or group of industries constitutes concentration. It is possible that interpretations on concentration could change in the future. A fund that invests a significant percentage of its total assets in a single industry may be particularly susceptible to adverse events affecting that industry and may be more risky than a fund that does not concentrate in an industry. The policy in (7) above will be interpreted to refer to concentration as that term may be interpreted from time to time. The policy also will be interpreted to permit investment without limit in the following: securities of the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities; securities of state, territory, possession or municipal governments and their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and repurchase agreements collateralized by any such obligations. Accordingly, issuers of the foregoing securities will not be considered to be members of any industry. Securities issued by a foreign government will

 

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be considered as an investment in a single industry for concentration purposes. The policy also will be interpreted to give broad authority to the fund as to how to classify issuers within or among industries.

The fund’s fundamental policies will be interpreted broadly. For example, the policies will be interpreted to refer to the 1940 Act and the related rules as they are in effect from time to time, and to interpretations and modifications of or relating to the 1940 Act by the SEC and others as they are given from time to time. When a policy provides that an investment practice may be conducted as permitted by the 1940 Act, the policy will be interpreted to mean either that the 1940 Act expressly permits the practice or that the 1940 Act does not prohibit the practice.

Non-Fundamental Investment Policies

The fund’s non-fundamental investment policies are as follows:

1. The fund may not invest in other registered open-end management investment companies and registered unit investment trusts in reliance upon the provisions of subparagraphs (G) or (F) of Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act. The foregoing investment policy does not restrict the fund from (i) acquiring securities of other registered investment companies in connection with a merger, consolidation, reorganization, or acquisition of assets, or (ii) purchasing the securities of registered investment companies, to the extent otherwise permissible under Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act.

2. The fund may not purchase or otherwise acquire any security if immediately after the acquisition the value of illiquid securities held by the fund would exceed 15% of the fund’s net assets. The fund monitors the portion of the fund’s total assets that is invested in illiquid securities on an ongoing basis, not only at the time of investment in such securities.

Diversification

The fund is currently classified as a diversified fund, as “diversified” is defined under the 1940 Act. In general, this means that the fund may not purchase securities of an issuer (other than obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if, with respect to 75% of its total assets, (a) more than 5% of the fund’s total assets would be invested in securities of that issuer or (b) the fund would hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of that issuer. With respect to the remaining 25% of its total assets, the fund can invest more than 5% of its assets in one issuer. Under the 1940 Act, the fund cannot change its classification from diversified to non-diversified without shareholder approval.

Portfolio Turnover

For reporting purposes, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated by dividing the lesser of purchases or sales of portfolio securities for the fiscal year by the monthly average of the value of the portfolio securities owned by the fund during the fiscal year. In determining such portfolio turnover, all securities whose maturities at the time of acquisition were one year or less are excluded. A 100% portfolio turnover rate would occur, for example, if all of the securities in the fund’s investment portfolio (other than short-term money market securities) were replaced once during the fiscal year.

In the event that portfolio turnover increases, this increase necessarily results in correspondingly greater transaction costs which must be paid by the fund. To the extent the portfolio trading results in realization of net short-term capital gains, shareholders will be taxed on such gains at ordinary tax rates (except shareholders who invest through individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”) and other retirement plans which are not taxed currently on accumulations in their accounts).

Portfolio turnover will not be a limiting factor should a Subadviser, as applicable, deem it advisable to purchase or sell securities.

 

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MANAGEMENT

The business and affairs of the fund are conducted by management under the supervision and subject to the direction of its Board. The business address of each Trustee (including each Trustee of the fund who is not an “interested person” of the fund (an “Independent Trustee”)) is c/o Jane Trust, Legg Mason, 100 International Drive, 11th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202. Information pertaining to the Trustees and officers of the fund is set forth below.

 

Name and

Year of Birth

   Position(s)
with Trust
   Term of
Office* and
Length of
Time
Served**
  

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past 5 Years

   Number of
Funds
in Fund
Complex
Overseen
by Trustee
    

Other Board
Memberships
Held by Trustee
During Past 5 Years

Independent Trustees#:

        

Paul R. Ades

Born 1940

   Trustee    Since 1983    Paul R. Ades, PLLC (law firm) (since 2000)      49      None

Andrew L. Breech

Born 1952

   Trustee    Since 1991    President, Dealer Operating Control Service, Inc. (automotive retail management) (since 1985)      49      None

Dwight B. Crane

Born 1937

   Trustee    Since 1981    Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business School (since 2007); formerly, Professor, Harvard Business School (1969 to 2007); Independent Consultant (since 1969)      49      None

Althea L. Duersten

Born 1951

   Trustee    Since 2014    Retired (since 2011); formerly, Chief Investment Officer, North America, JP Morgan Chase (investment bank) and member of JP Morgan Executive Committee (2007 to 2011)      49      None

Frank G. Hubbard

Born 1937

   Trustee    Since 1993    President, Fealds, Inc. (business development) (since 2016); formerly, President, Avatar International Inc. (business development) (1998 to 2015)      49      None

 

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Name and

Year of Birth

   Position(s)
with Trust
   Term of
Office* and
Length of
Time
Served**
 

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past 5 Years

   Number of
Funds
in Fund
Complex
Overseen
by Trustee
  

Other Board
Memberships
Held by Trustee
During Past 5 Years

Howard J. Johnson

Born 1938

   Chairman
and
Trustee
   From 1981
to 1998
and since
2000
(Chairman
since 2013)
  Chief Executive Officer, Genesis Imaging LLC (technology company) (since 2003)    49    None

Jerome H. Miller

Born 1938

   Trustee    Since 1995   Retired    49    None

Ken Miller

Born 1942

   Trustee    Since 1983   Retired; formerly, President, Young Stuff Apparel Group, Inc. (apparel manufacturer), division of Li & Fung (1963 to 2012)    49    None

John J. Murphy

Born 1944

   Trustee    Since 2002   President (since 2017) and formerly, Founder and Senior Principal (1983 to 2017), Murphy Capital Management (investment management); and Senior Vice President, Peapack-Gladstone Bank (commercial bank) (since 2017)    49    Trustee, UBS Funds (22 funds) (since 2008); Trustee, Consulting Group Capital Markets Funds (11 funds) (since 2002); Director, Fort Dearborn Income Securities, Inc. (since 2013 to 2016)

Thomas F. Schlafly

Born 1948

   Trustee    Since 1983   Chairman, The Saint Louis Brewery, LLC (brewery) (since 2012); formerly, President, The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc. (1989 to 2012); Senior Counsel (since 2017) and formerly, Partner (2009 to 2016), Thompson Coburn LLP (law firm)    49    Director, Citizens National Bank of Greater St. Louis (since 2006)

 

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Name and

Year of Birth

   Position(s)
with Trust
   Term of
Office* and
Length of
Time
Served**
    

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past 5 Years

   Number of
Funds
in Fund
Complex
Overseen
by Trustee
    

Other Board
Memberships
Held by Trustee
During Past 5 Years

Interested Trustee and Officer:

           

Jane Trust, CFA†

Born 1962

   Trustee,
President
and Chief
Executive
Officer
     Since 2015      Managing Director of Legg Mason & Co., LLC (“Legg Mason & Co.”) (since 2016); Officer and/or Trustee/Director of 149 funds associated with LMPFA or its affiliates (since 2015); President and Chief Executive Officer of LMPFA (since 2015); formerly, Senior Vice President of LMPFA (2015); Director of ClearBridge, LLC (formerly, Legg Mason Capital Management, LLC) (2007 to 2014); Managing Director of Legg Mason Investment Counsel & Trust Co. (2000 to 2007)      140      None

 

#

Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the fund within the meaning of Section 2(a)(19) of the 1940 Act.

*

Each Trustee serves until his or her respective successor has been duly elected and qualifies or until his or her earlier death, resignation, retirement or removal.

**

Indicates the earliest year in which the Trustee became a board member for a fund in the Legg Mason fund complex.

Ms. Trust is an “interested person” of the fund, as defined in the 1940 Act, because of her position with LMPFA and/or certain of its affiliates.

 

Name, Year

of Birth and Address

   Position(s)
with Trust
   Term of
Office* and
Length of
Time Served**
  

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past 5 Years

Additional Officers:

Ted P. Becker

Born 1951

Legg Mason

620 Eighth Avenue

49th Floor

New York, NY 10018

   Chief Compliance
Officer
   Since 2007    Director of Global Compliance at Legg Mason (since 2006); Chief Compliance Officer of LMPFA (since 2006); Managing Director of Compliance of Legg Mason & Co. (since 2005); Chief Compliance Officer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2006)

 

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Name, Year

of Birth and Address

   Position(s)
with Trust
   Term of
Office* and
Length of
Time Served**
  

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past 5 Years

Susan Kerr

Born 1949

Legg Mason

620 Eighth Avenue

49th Floor

New York, NY 10018

   Chief Anti-Money
Laundering
Compliance
Officer
   Since 2013    Assistant Vice President of Legg Mason & Co. and LMIS (since 2010); Chief Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2013) and Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer of LMIS (since 2012); Senior Compliance Officer of LMIS (since 2011); formerly, AML Consultant, DTCC (2010); AML Consultant, Rabobank Netherlands (2009); First Vice President, Director of Marketing & Advertising Compliance and Manager of Communications Review Group at Citigroup Inc. (1996 to 2008)

Jenna Bailey

Born 1978

Legg Mason

100 First Stamford Place

5th Floor

Stamford, CT 06902

   Identity Theft
Prevention Officer
   Since 2015    Identity Theft Prevention Officer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2015); Compliance Officer of Legg Mason & Co. (since 2013); Assistant Vice President of Legg Mason & Co. (since 2011)

Robert I. Frenkel

Born 1954

Legg Mason

100 First Stamford Place

6th Floor

Stamford, CT 06902

   Secretary
and Chief
Legal Officer
   Since 2007    Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Legg Mason (since 2006); Managing Director and General Counsel of U.S. Mutual Funds for Legg Mason & Co. (since 2006) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (since 1994); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2006) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (prior to 2006)

Thomas C. Mandia

Born 1962

Legg Mason

100 First Stamford Place

6th Floor

Stamford, CT 06902

   Assistant
Secretary
   Since 2007    Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel of Legg Mason & Co. (since 2005) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (prior to 2005); Secretary of LMPFA (since 2006); Assistant Secretary of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2006) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (prior to 2006); Secretary of LM Asset Services, LLC (“LMAS”) (since 2002) and Legg Mason Fund Asset Management, Inc. (“LMFAM”) (formerly registered investment advisers) (since 2013)

 

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Name, Year

of Birth and Address

   Position(s)
with Trust
   Term of
Office* and
Length of
Time Served**
  

Principal Occupation(s)
During Past 5 Years

Richard F. Sennett

Born 1970

Legg Mason

100 International Drive

7th Floor

Baltimore, MD 21202

   Principal
Financial Officer
   Since 2011    Principal Financial Officer and Treasurer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2011 and since 2013); Managing Director of Legg Mason & Co. and Senior Manager of the Treasury Policy group for Legg Mason & Co.’s Global Fiduciary Platform (since 2011); formerly, Chief Accountant within the SEC’s Division of Investment Management (2007 to 2011); Assistant Chief Accountant within the SEC’s Division of Investment Management (2002 to 2007)

Christopher Berarducci

Born 1974

Legg Mason

620 Eighth Avenue

49th Floor

New York, NY 10018

   Treasurer    Since 2014    Director of Legg Mason & Co. (since 2015); Treasurer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2010); formerly, Vice President of Legg Mason & Co. (2011 to 2015); Assistant Controller of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (prior to 2010)

Jeanne M. Kelly

Born 1951

Legg Mason

620 Eighth Avenue

49th Floor

New York, NY 10018

   Senior
Vice President
   Since 2007    Senior Vice President of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2007); Senior Vice President of LMPFA (since 2006); President and Chief Executive Officer of LMAS and LMFAM (since 2015); Managing Director of Legg Mason & Co. (since 2005) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (prior to 2005); formerly, Senior Vice President of LMFAM (2013 to 2015)

 

*

Each officer serves until his or her respective successor has been duly elected and qualifies or until his or her earlier death, resignation, retirement or removal.

**

Indicates the earliest year in which the officer took such office for a fund in the Legg Mason fund complex.

Each of the Independent Trustees were selected to join the Board based upon the following as to each Trustee: character and integrity; service as a board member of mutual funds in the fund complex; willingness to serve and willingness and ability to commit the time necessary to perform the duties of a Trustee; the fact that service as a Trustee would be consistent with the requirements of the Trust’s retirement policies and the Trustee’s status as not being an “interested person” of the fund, as defined in the 1940 Act. Ms. Trust was selected to join the Board based upon her investment management and risk oversight experience as an executive and portfolio manager and leadership roles with Legg Mason and affiliated entities. The Board also considered her character and integrity, her willingness to serve and willingness and ability to commit the time necessary to perform the duties of a Trustee, the fact that service as a Trustee would be consistent with requirements of the Trust’s retirement policies, and her status as a representative of Legg Mason.

Independent Trustees constitute more than 75% of the Board. Mr. Johnson serves as Chairman of the Board and is an Independent Trustee. Ms. Trust is an interested person of the fund.

 

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The Board believes that each Trustee’s experience, qualifications, attributes or skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees lead to the conclusion that the Board possesses the requisite attributes and skills. The Board believes that the Trustees’ ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the manager, the Subadvisers, other service providers, counsel and the independent registered public accounting firm, and to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties support this conclusion. In addition, the following specific experience, qualifications, attributes and/or skills apply to each Trustee.

Each Trustee, except for Ms. Trust and Ms. Duersten, has served as a board member of the mutual funds in the fund complex for at least eight years. Mr. Ades has substantial experience practicing law and advising clients with respect to various business transactions. Mr. Breech has substantial experience as the chief executive of a private corporation. Mr. Crane has substantial experience as an economist, academic and business consultant. Ms. Duersten has substantial experience as a global investment and trading manager in capital markets across multiple asset classes, including as the chief investment officer for the North American region of a major investment bank and service on its executive committee. Mr. Hubbard has substantial experience in business development and was a senior executive of an operating company. Mr. Johnson has substantial experience as the chief executive of an operating company and in the financial services industry, including as an actuary and pension consultant. Mr. Jerome Miller had substantial experience as an executive in the asset management group of a major broker/dealer. Mr. Ken Miller has substantial experience as a senior executive of an operating company. Mr. Murphy has substantial experience in the asset management business and has current and prior service on the boards of other funds and corporations. Mr. Schlafly has substantial experience practicing law and also serves as the non-executive Chairman of a private corporation and as director of a bank. Ms. Trust has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Trust and other funds in the fund complex since 2015 and has investment management and risk oversight experience as an executive and portfolio manager and in leadership roles with Legg Mason and affiliated entities. References to the experience, qualifications, attributes and skills of Trustees are pursuant to requirements of the SEC, do not constitute holding out of the Board or any Trustee as having any special expertise, and shall not impose any greater responsibility or liability on any such person or on the Board.

The Board has five standing Committees: the Audit Committee, the Contract Committee, the Performance Committee, the Governance Committee, and the Compensation and Nominating Committee (which is a sub-committee of the Governance Committee). Each Committee is chaired by an Independent Trustee. The Audit Committee and the Governance Committee are composed of all of the Independent Trustees. The Contract Committee is composed of four Independent Trustees. The Performance Committee is composed of five Independent Trustees. The Compensation and Nominating Committee is composed of two Independent Trustees. Where deemed appropriate, the Board may constitute ad hoc committees.

The Chairman of the Board and the chairs of the Audit and Performance Committees work with the Chief Executive Officer of the Trust to set the agendas for Board and committee meetings. The Chairman of the Board also serves as a key point person for interaction between management and the other Independent Trustees. Through the committees the Independent Trustees consider and address important matters involving the fund, including those presenting conflicts or potential conflicts of interest for management. The Independent Trustees also regularly meet outside the presence of management and are advised by independent legal counsel. The Board has determined that its committees help ensure that the fund has effective and independent governance and oversight. The Board also has determined that its leadership structure, in which the Chairman of the Board is not affiliated with Legg Mason, is appropriate. The Board also believes that its leadership structure facilitates the orderly and efficient flow of information between the Independent Trustees and management, including the fund’s Subadvisers.

The Audit Committee oversees the scope of the fund’s audit, the fund’s accounting and financial reporting policies and practices and its internal controls. The Audit Committee assists the Board in fulfilling its responsibility for oversight of the integrity of the fund’s accounting, auditing and financial reporting practices,

 

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the qualifications and independence of the fund’s independent registered public accounting firm and the fund’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. The Audit Committee approves, and recommends to the Board for ratification, the selection, appointment, retention or termination of the fund’s independent registered public accounting firm and approves the compensation of the independent registered public accounting firm. The Audit Committee also approves all audit and permissible non-audit services provided to the fund by the independent registered public accounting firm and all permissible non-audit services provided by the fund’s independent registered public accounting firm to its manager and any affiliated service providers if the engagement relates directly to the fund’s operations and financial reporting. The Audit Committee has formed a sub-committee for purposes of reviewing shareholder reports as required under applicable listing standards.

The Contract Committee is charged with assisting the Board in requesting and evaluating such information from the manager and the Subadvisers as may reasonably be necessary to evaluate the terms of the fund’s investment management agreement, subadvisory arrangements and distribution arrangements.

The Performance Committee is charged with assisting the Board in carrying out its oversight responsibilities over the fund and fund management with respect to investment management, objectives, strategies, policies and procedures, performance and performance benchmarks, and the applicable risk management process.

The Governance Committee is charged with overseeing Board governance and related Trustee practices, including selecting and nominating persons for election or appointment by the Board as Trustees of the Trust. The Governance Committee has formed the Compensation and Nominating Committee, the function of which is to recommend to the Board the appropriate compensation for serving as a Trustee on the Board. In addition, the Compensation and Nominating Committee is responsible for, among other things, selecting and recommending candidates to fill vacancies on the Board. The Committee may consider nominees recommended by a shareholder. In evaluating potential nominees, including any nominees recommended by shareholders, the Committee takes into consideration various factors, including, among any others it may deem relevant, 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 shareholders. Shareholders who wish to recommend a nominee should send recommendations to the Trust’s Secretary that include all information relating to such person that is required to be disclosed in solicitations of proxies for the election of Trustees. A recommendation must be accompanied by a written consent of the individual to stand for election if nominated by the Board and to serve if elected by the shareholders.

Service providers to the fund, primarily the fund’s manager, the Subadvisers, and, as appropriate, their affiliates, have responsibility for the day-to-day management of the fund, which includes responsibility for risk management. As an integral part of its responsibility for oversight of the fund, the Board oversees risk management of the fund’s investment program and business affairs. Oversight of the risk management process is part of the Board’s general oversight of the fund and its service providers. The Board has emphasized to the fund’s manager, the Subadvisers the importance of maintaining vigorous risk management. The Board exercises oversight of the risk management process primarily through the Audit Committee and the Performance Committee, and through oversight by the Board itself.

The fund is subject to a number of risks, including investment risk, counterparty risk, valuation risk, reputational risk, risk of operational failure or lack of business continuity, and legal, compliance and regulatory risk. Risk management seeks to identify and address risks, i.e., events or circumstances that could have material adverse effects on the business, operations, shareholder services, investment performance or reputation of the fund. The fund’s manager, the Subadvisers, the affiliates of the manager, the Subadvisers, or various service providers to the fund employ a variety of processes, procedures and controls to identify various of those possible events or circumstances, to lessen the probability of their occurrence and/or to mitigate the effects of such events or circumstances if they do occur. Different processes, procedures and controls are employed with respect to different types of risks. Various personnel, including the fund’s and the manager’s Chief Compliance Officer and the manager’s chief risk officer, as well as personnel of the Subadvisers and other service providers, such as the

 

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fund’s independent registered public accounting firm, make periodic reports to the Audit Committee, the Performance Committee or to the Board with respect to various aspects of risk management, as well as events and circumstances that have arisen and responses thereto.

The Board recognizes that not all risks that may affect the fund can be identified, that it may not be practical or cost-effective to eliminate or mitigate certain risks, that it may be necessary to bear certain risks (such as investment-related risks) to achieve the fund’s goals, and that the processes, procedures and controls employed to address certain risks may be limited in their effectiveness. Moreover, reports received by the Trustees as to risk management matters are typically summaries of the relevant information. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, the Board’s risk management oversight is subject to inherent limitations.

The Board met 8 times during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. The Audit Committee, the Audit Sub-Committee, the Governance Committee and the Performance Committee each met 4 times during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. The Contract Committee and the Compensation and Nominating Committee each met once during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

The following table shows the amount of equity securities owned by the Trustees in the fund and other investment companies in the fund complex overseen by the Trustees as of December 31, 2017.

 

Name of Trustee

   Dollar Range
of Equity
Securities in the Fund ($)
     Aggregate Dollar Range
of Equity Securities In
Registered Investment
Companies Overseen  by
Trustee ($)
 

Independent Trustees

     

Paul R. Ades

     None        Over 100,000  

Andrew L. Breech

     None        Over 100,000  

Dwight B. Crane

     None        Over 100,000  

Althea L. Duersten

     None        Over 100,000  

Frank G. Hubbard

     None        Over 100,000  

Howard J. Johnson

     None        Over 100,000  

Jerome H. Miller

     None        Over 100,000  

Ken Miller

     None        Over 100,000  

John J. Murphy

     None        Over 100,000  

Thomas F. Schlafly

     None        Over 100,000  

Interested Trustee

     

Jane Trust

     None        Over 100,000  

As of December 31, 2017, none of the Independent Trustees or their immediate family members owned beneficially or of record any securities of the manager, the Subadvisers or the distributor of the fund, or of a person (other than a registered investment company) directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by or under common control with the manager, the Subadvisers or the distributor of the fund.

The fund pays a pro rata share of the Trustees’ fees based upon asset size. For serving as a trustee of the fund, each Independent Trustee receives an annual retainer plus fees for attending each regularly scheduled meeting and any special Board meeting they attend in person or by telephone. Those Independent Trustees who serve in leadership positions receive additional compensation. The Board reviews the level of trustee compensation annually, and trustee compensation may change from time to time. The Independent Trustees are reimbursed for all out-of-pocket expenses relating to attendance at such meetings. Ms. Trust, an “interested person” of the fund, as defined in the 1940 Act, does not receive compensation from the fund for her service as Trustee.

Officers of the Trust receive no compensation from the fund.

 

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Information regarding compensation paid to the Trustees is shown below.

 

Name of Trustee

  Aggregate
Compensation
From the
Fund(1) ($)
    Total
Pension or
Retirement
Benefits
Paid as Part
of Fund
Expenses ($)
    Total
Compensation
from Fund
Complex Paid
to Trustee(2)  ($)
    Number of
Portfolios in
Fund Complex
Overseen  by
Trustee(2)
 

Independent Trustees

       

Paul R. Ades

    908       None       303,000       49  

Andrew L. Breech

    833       None       278,000       49  

Dwight B. Crane

    961       None       320,500       49  

Althea L. Duersten

    916       None       305,500       49  

Frank G. Hubbard

    886       None       295,500       49  

Howard J. Johnson

    1,013       None       338,000       49  

Jerome H. Miller

    923       None       308,000       49  

Ken Miller

    916       None       305,500       49  

John J. Murphy

    908       None       303,000       49  

Thomas F. Schlafly

    878       None       293,000       49  

Interested Trustee

       

Jane Trust(3)

    None       None       None       141  

 

(1) 

As the fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this SAI, information is estimated for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018.

(2) 

Information is for the calendar year ended December 31, 2017.

(3) 

Ms. Trust is not compensated for her services as a Trustee because of her affiliations with the manager.

As of July 30, 2018, the Trustees and officers of the Trust, as a group, owned less than 1% of the outstanding shares of the fund.

As of the date of this SAI, Legg Mason or an affiliate owned of record and beneficially 100% of the outstanding shares of the fund, and thus, until the public offering of the shares of the fund commences, will control the fund. Once a public offering of the shares of the fund has commenced, the Trust will not have information concerning the beneficial ownership of shares.

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AND OTHER SERVICES

Manager

LMPFA serves as investment manager to the fund pursuant to an investment management agreement between the Trust and LMPFA with respect to the fund (the “Management Agreement”). LMPFA provides administrative and certain oversight services to the fund. LMPFA, with offices at 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10018, also serves as the investment manager of other Legg Mason-sponsored funds. LMPFA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Legg Mason. Legg Mason, whose principal executive offices are at 100 International Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, is a global asset management company.

LMPFA is responsible for managing the fund consistent with the 1940 Act, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), the fund’s investment objective, policies and restrictions described in the Prospectus and this SAI and in accordance with any exemptive orders issued by the SEC applicable to the fund and any SEC staff no-action letters applicable to the fund. Pursuant to the Management Agreement and subject to the general supervision of the fund’s Board, LMPFA provides or causes to be furnished all investment management, supervisory, administrative and other services reasonably necessary for the operation of the fund,

 

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including: custodians; audit; portfolio accounting; legal; transfer agency and registrar; securities lending; depository; accounting services; indicative optimized portfolio value calculation; printing costs; insurance; certain distribution services (provided pursuant to a separate distribution agreement); and investment advisory services (provided pursuant to separate subadvisory and sub-subadvisory agreements), under a unitary fee structure. The fund bears other expenses which are not covered under the Management Agreement that may vary and will affect the total level of expenses paid by the fund, such as taxes and governmental fees, transaction expenses, costs of borrowing money (including interest expenses), future 12b-1 fees (if any), acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses (such as litigation and indemnification expenses). LMPFA may earn a profit on the fees charged under the Management Agreement and would benefit from any price decreases in third-party services covered by the Management Agreement, including decreases resulting from an increase in net assets.

LMPFA is permitted to enter into contracts with subadvisers or subadministrators, subject to the Board’s approval and to the extent permitted by any exemptive orders or SEC staff no action letters applicable to the fund. The manager has entered into Subadvisory Agreements, as defined and described below.

Pursuant to the Management Agreement, the fund pays LMPFA a management fee calculated daily and paid monthly at the rate of 0.49% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

The Management Agreement provides that LMPFA, its affiliates performing services contemplated by the Management Agreement, and the partners, shareholders, directors, officers and employees of LMPFA and such affiliates, will not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law, for any loss arising out of any investment, or for any act or omission in the execution of securities transactions for the fund, but LMPFA is not protected against any liability to the fund to which LMPFA would be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under the Management Agreement.

After the initial term of two years, the Management Agreement will continue in effect from year to year, provided its continuance is specifically approved at least annually with respect to the fund (a) by the Board or by a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the fund (as defined in the 1940 Act), and (b) in either event, by a majority of the Independent Trustees with such Independent Trustees casting votes in person at a meeting called for such purpose.

The Board or a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the fund (as defined in the 1940 Act) may terminate the Management Agreement, without penalty, on not more than 60 days’ nor less than 30 days’ written notice to LMPFA. LMPFA may terminate the Management Agreement, without penalty, upon not less than 90 days’ written notice to the fund. The Management Agreement may be terminated immediately upon the mutual written consent of all parties to the Agreement. In addition, the Management Agreement terminates automatically upon its assignment.

As the fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this SAI, the fund paid no management fees to LMPFA as of the date of this SAI.

Subadvisory Arrangements

Western Asset. Western Asset, a wholly owned subsidiary of Legg Mason, serves as subadviser to the fund under a subadvisory agreement between Western Asset and LMPFA (the “Western Asset Subadvisory Agreement”).

Under the Western Asset Subadvisory Agreement, Western Asset is responsible, subject to the general supervision of the Trust’s Board of Trustees and LMPFA, for the actual management of the fund’s assets, including the responsibility for making decisions and placing orders to buy, sell or hold a particular security, consistent with the investment objectives and policies described in the Prospectus and this Statement of Additional Information. Western Asset receives from LMPFA for its services an advisory fee equal to 70% of

 

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the management fee paid to LMPFA, net of (i) all fees and expenses incurred by the manager under the Management Agreement (including without limitation any subadvisory fee paid to another subadviser or sub-subadviser to the fund) and (ii) expense waivers and reimbursements.

Under the Western Asset Subadvisory Agreement, Western Asset will not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the fund in connection with the performance of the Western Asset Subadvisory Agreement, except a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on its part in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its obligations or duties thereunder.

Western Asset, established in 1971, has offices at 385 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91101 and 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10018. Western Asset acts as investment adviser to institutional accounts, such as corporate pension plans, mutual funds and endowment funds.

WAML. WAML, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Legg Mason, serves as sub-subadviser to the fund under a sub-subadvisory agreement between Western Asset and WAML (the “WAML Sub-Subadvisory Agreement”).

Under the WAML Sub-Subadvisory Agreement, WAML shall, as requested by Western Asset, regularly provide the fund with investment research, advice, management and supervision and shall furnish a continuous investment program for the fund consistent with the investment objectives, restrictions and policies described in the Prospectus and this SAI. WAML receives from Western Asset 100% of the subadvisory fee paid by LMPFA to Western Asset for portion of the fund’s assets allocated to WAML by Western Asset from time to time.

Under the WAML Sub-Subadvisory Agreement, WAML will not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the fund in connection with the performance of the WAML Sub-Subadvisory Agreement, except a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on its part in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its obligations or duties thereunder.

The WAML Sub-Subadvisory Agreement terminates automatically upon assignment and is terminable at any time without penalty by vote of the Trust’s Board of Trustees, by vote of a majority of the fund’s outstanding voting securities, or by WAML, on not more than 60 days’ notice, and may be terminated immediately upon the mutual written consent of the parties.

Western Singapore. Western Singapore, a wholly owned subsidiary of Legg Mason, serves as sub-subadviser to the fund under a sub-subadvisory agreement between Western Asset and Western Singapore (“Western Singapore Sub-Subadvisory Agreement”).

Under the Western Singapore Sub-Subadvisory Agreement, Western Singapore shall, as requested by Western Asset, regularly provide the fund with investment research, advice, management and supervision and shall furnish a continuous investment program for the fund consistent with the investment objectives, restrictions and policies described in the Prospectus and this SAI. Western Singapore receives from Western Asset 100% of the subadvisory fee paid by LMPFA to Western Asset for portion of the fund’s assets allocated to Western Singapore by Western Asset from time to time.

Under the Western Singapore Sub-Subadvisory Agreement, Western Singapore will not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the fund in connection with the performance of the Western Singapore Sub-Subadvisory Agreement, except a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on its part in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its obligations or duties thereunder.

Western Japan. Western Japan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Legg Mason, serves as sub-subadviser to the fund under a sub-subadvisory agreement between Western Asset and Western Japan (the “Western Japan Sub-Subadvisory Agreement”).

 

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Under the Western Japan Sub-Subadvisory Agreement, Western Japan shall, as requested by Western Asset, regularly provide the fund with investment research, advice, management and supervision and shall furnish a continuous investment program for the fund consistent with the investment objectives, restrictions and policies described in the Prospectus and this SAI. Western Japan receives from Western Asset 100% of the subadvisory fee paid by LMPFA to Western Asset for portion of the fund’s assets allocated to Western Japan by Western Asset from time to time.

Under the Western Japan Sub-Subadvisory Agreement, Western Japan will not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the fund in connection with the performance of the Western Japan Sub-Subadvisory Agreement, except a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on its part in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its obligations or duties thereunder.

Each of the Western Asset Advisory Agreement, WAML Sub-Subadvisory Agreement, Western Singapore Sub-Subadvisory Agreement and Western Japan Sub-Subadvisory Agreement (collectively, the “Subadvisory Agreements”) terminates automatically upon assignment and is terminable at any time without penalty by vote of the Trust’s Board of Trustees, by vote of a majority of the fund’s outstanding voting securities, or by the applicable Subadviser, on not more than 60 days’ notice, and may be terminated immediately upon the mutual written consent of the parties.

WAML, Western Japan and Western Singapore provide certain sub-subadvisory services relating to currency transactions and investments in non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities and related foreign currency instruments. WAML generally manages global and non-U.S. dollar fixed-income mandates, Western Japan generally manages Japanese fixed-income mandates and Western Singapore generally manages Asian (other than Japan) fixed-income mandates. Each office provides services relating to relevant portions of Western Asset’s broader portfolios as appropriate.

Western Asset, Western Japan and Western Singapore undertake investment-related activities including investment management, research and analysis, and securities settlement.

Additional Information

The fund enters into contractual arrangements with various parties, including, among others, the manager and the Subadvisers, who provide services to the fund. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended (or “third-party”) beneficiaries of, those contractual arrangements.

The Prospectus and this SAI provide information concerning the fund that you should consider in determining whether to purchase shares of the fund. The fund may make changes to this information from time to time. Neither the Prospectus nor this SAI is intended to give rise to any contract rights or other rights in any shareholder, other than any rights conferred explicitly by federal or state securities laws that may not be waived.

Other Accounts Managed By Investment Professionals

The table below identifies, for each named investment professional, the number of accounts (other than the fund) for which the investment professional has day-to-day management responsibilities and the total assets in such accounts, within each of the following categories: registered investment companies, other pooled investment vehicles and other accounts. For each category, the number of accounts and total assets in the accounts where fees are based on performance are also indicated.

Data for other investment companies is shown based on the specific investment professionals that are named in the disclosure documents for other investment companies. Data for private pooled investment vehicles and other separate accounts is reported based on Western Asset’s practice of naming a particular individual to maintain oversight responsibility for each account. Where the named individual has been assigned primary

 

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responsibility for oversight of a private pooled investment vehicle or separate account, that account has been allocated to that individual for disclosure purposes, but not other investment professionals that may be involved in managing that account. All information is reported as of June 30, 2018.

 

    

Type of Account

  Number of
Accounts
Managed
  Total Assets
Managed
(billions) ($)
    Number of Accounts
Managed for which
Advisory Fee is
Performance-Based
  Assets Managed for
which Advisory Fee is
Performance-Based
(billions) ($)

S. Kenneth Leech

   Registered investment companies   95     135.4     0   0
   Other pooled investment vehicles   265     85.3     6   1.6
   Other accounts   596     199.4     28   11.0

Mark S. Lindbloom

   Registered investment companies   20     51.9     0   0
   Other pooled investment vehicles   21     15.5     0   0
  

Other accounts

  181     49.5     8   4.2

Julien A. Scholnick

   Registered investment companies   14     47.0     0   0
   Other pooled investment vehicles   21     15.5     0   0
   Other accounts   166     45.8     6   3.3

John L. Bellows

   Registered investment companies   12     41.6     0   0
   Other pooled investment vehicles   24     15.7     0   0
   Other accounts   173     47.2     6   3.3

Frederick R. Marki

   Registered investment companies   14     45.3     0   0
   Other pooled investment vehicles   24     14.9     0   0
   Other accounts   184     55.9     9   5.9

Compensation of Investment Professionals

With respect to the compensation of investment professionals, each Subadviser’s compensation system assigns each employee a total compensation range, which is derived from annual market surveys that benchmark each role with its job function and peer universe. This method is designed to reward employees with total compensation reflective of the external market value of their skills, experience and ability to produce desired results. Standard compensation includes competitive base salaries, generous employee benefits and a retirement plan.

 

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In addition, each Subadviser’s employees are eligible for bonuses. These are structured to closely align the interests of employees with those of the Subadviser, and are determined by the professional’s job function and pre-tax performance as measured by a formal review process. All bonuses are completely discretionary. The principal factor considered is an investment professional’s investment performance versus appropriate peer groups and benchmarks (e.g., a securities index and with respect to a fund, the benchmark set forth in the fund’s Prospectus to which the fund’s average annual total returns are compared or, if none, the benchmark set forth in the fund’s annual report). Performance is reviewed on a 1, 3 and 5 year basis for compensation—with 3 and 5 years having a larger emphasis. A Subadviser may also measure an investment professional’s pre-tax investment performance against other benchmarks, as it determines appropriate. Because investment professionals are generally responsible for multiple accounts (including the fund) with similar investment strategies, they are generally compensated on the performance of the aggregate group of similar accounts, rather than a specific account. Other factors that may be considered when making bonus decisions include client service, business development, length of service to the Subadviser, management or supervisory responsibilities, contributions to developing business strategy and overall contributions to the Subadviser’s business.

Finally, in order to attract and retain top talent, all professionals are eligible for additional incentives in recognition of outstanding performance. These are determined based upon the factors described above and include Legg Mason stock options and long-term incentives that vest over a set period of time past the award date.

Potential Conflicts of Interest

The Subadvisers have adopted compliance policies and procedures to address a wide range of potential conflicts of interest that could directly impact client portfolios. For example, potential conflicts of interest may arise in connection with the management of multiple portfolios (including portfolios managed in a personal capacity). These could include potential conflicts of interest related to the knowledge and timing of a portfolio’s trades, investment opportunities and broker selection. Portfolio managers are privy to the size, timing, and possible market impact of a portfolio’s trades.

It is possible that an investment opportunity may be suitable for both a portfolio and other accounts managed by a portfolio manager, but may not be available in sufficient quantities for both the portfolio and the other accounts to participate fully. Similarly, there may be limited opportunity to sell an investment held by a portfolio and another account. A conflict may arise where the portfolio manager may have an incentive to treat an account preferentially as compared to a portfolio because the account pays a performance-based fee or the portfolio manager, the Subadvisers or an affiliate have an interest in the account. The Subadvisers have adopted procedures for allocation of portfolio transactions and investment opportunities across multiple client accounts on a fair and equitable basis over time. Eligible accounts that can participate in a trade generally share the same price on a pro-rata allocation basis, taking into account differences based on factors such as cash availability, investment restrictions and guidelines, and portfolio composition versus strategy.

With respect to securities transactions, the Subadvisers determine which broker or dealer to use to execute each order, consistent with their duty to seek best execution of the transaction. However, with respect to certain other accounts (such as pooled investment vehicles that are not registered investment companies and other accounts managed for organizations and individuals), the Subadvisers may be limited by the client with respect to the selection of brokers or dealers or may be instructed to direct trades through a particular broker or dealer. In these cases, trades for a portfolio in a particular security may be placed separately from, rather than aggregated with, such other accounts. Having separate transactions with respect to a security may temporarily affect the market price of the security or the execution of the transaction, or both, to the possible detriment of a portfolio or the other account(s) involved. Additionally, the management of multiple portfolios and/or other accounts may result in a portfolio manager devoting unequal time and attention to the management of each portfolio and/or other account. The Subadvisers’ team approach to portfolio management and block trading approach seeks to limit this potential risk.

 

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The Subadvisers also maintain a gift and entertainment policy to address the potential for a business contact to give gifts or host entertainment events that may influence the business judgment of an employee. Employees are permitted to retain gifts of only a nominal value and are required to make reimbursement for entertainment events above a certain value. All gifts (except those of a de minimus value) and entertainment events that are given or sponsored by a business contact are required to be reported in a gift and entertainment log which is reviewed on a regular basis for possible issues.

Employees of the Subadvisers have access to transactions and holdings information regarding client accounts and the Subadvisers’ overall trading activities. This information represents a potential conflict of interest because employees may take advantage of this information as they trade in their personal accounts. Accordingly, the Subadvisers maintain a Code of Ethics that is compliant with Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act, and Rule 204A-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, to address personal trading. In addition, the Code of Ethics seeks to establish broader principles of good conduct and fiduciary responsibility in all aspects of the Subadvisers’ business. The Code of Ethics is administered by the Legal and Compliance Department and monitored through the Subadvisers’ compliance monitoring program.

The Subadvisers may also face other potential conflicts of interest with respect to managing client assets, and the description above is not a complete description of every conflict of interest that could be deemed to exist. The Subadvisers also maintain a compliance monitoring program and engages independent auditors to conduct a process and procedures review by independent accounting firm on an annual basis. These steps help to ensure that potential conflicts of interest have been addressed.

Investment Professional Ownership of Fund Securities

The table below identifies ownership of equity securities of the fund by the investment professionals responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund as of July 30, 2018.

 

Investment Professional

   Dollar Range of
Ownership of
Securities ($)
 

S. Kenneth Leech

     None  

Mark S. Lindbloom

     None  

Julien A. Scholnick

     None  

Frederick A. Marki

     None  

John L. Bellows

     None  

Expenses

In addition to amounts payable under the Management Agreement, the fund is responsible for the following expenses: taxes and governmental fees; costs (including brokerage commissions, transaction fees or charges, if any, or Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses as such term is defined in Form N-1A as the same may be amended from time to time) in connection with the creation and redemption transactions of the fund’s shares and purchases and sales of the fund’s securities and other investments and losses in connection therewith; costs of borrowing money, including interest expenses; and litigation expenses and any non-recurring or extraordinary expenses as may arise, including, without limitation, those relating to actions, suits or proceedings to which the fund is a party and any legal obligation which the fund may have to indemnify the fund’s Trustees and officers with respect thereto. Extraordinary expenses include (a) any expenses or charges related to litigation, derivative actions, demand related to litigation, regulatory or other government investigations and proceedings, “for cause” regulatory inspections and indemnification or advancement of related expenses or costs, to the extent any such expenses are considered extraordinary expenses for the purposes of fee disclosure in Form N-1A as the same may be amended from time to time; (b) transaction costs (such as brokerage commissions and dealer and underwriter spreads) and taxes; and (c) other extraordinary expenses as determined for the purposes of fee disclosure in Form N-1A, as the same may be amended from time to time.

 

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Without limiting the foregoing, extraordinary expenses are generally those that are unusual or expected to recur only infrequently, and may include such expenses, by way of illustration, as (i) expenses of the reorganization, restructuring, redomiciling or merger of the fund or the acquisition of all or substantially all of the assets of another fund; (ii) expenses of holding, and soliciting proxies for, a meeting of shareholders of the fund (except to the extent relating to routine items such as the election of Trustees or the approval of the independent registered public accounting firm); and (iii) expenses of converting to a new custodian, transfer agent or other service provider, in each case to the extent any such expenses are considered extraordinary expenses for the purposes of fee disclosure in Form N-1A as the same may be amended from time to time.

Management may agree to implement an expense cap, to waive and/or reimburse management fees (subject to the same exceptions as the Management Agreement). Any such waived and/or reimbursed management fees are described in the fund’s Prospectus.

Distributor

LMIS, a wholly-owned broker/dealer subsidiary of Legg Mason, located at 100 International Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, serves as the sole and exclusive distributor of the fund pursuant to a written agreement (the “Distribution Agreement”).

Shares of the fund are continuously offered by the distributor only in Creation Units, as described in the fund’s Prospectus and below in the “Creations and Redemptions” section of this SAI. Fund shares in amounts less than Creation Units are generally not distributed by the distributor or its agent. The distributor or its agent will arrange for the delivery of the fund’s Prospectus and, upon request, this SAI to persons purchasing Creation Units and will maintain records of both orders placed with it or its agents and confirmations of acceptance furnished by it or its agents. The distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”), and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). The distributor is also licensed as a broker-dealer in all fifty U.S. states as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.

The Distribution Agreement is renewable from year to year with respect to the fund if approved (a) by the Board or by a vote of a majority of the fund’s outstanding voting securities, and (b) by the affirmative vote of a majority of Trustees who are not parties to such agreement or interested persons of any party by votes cast in person at a meeting called for such purpose.

The Distribution Agreement is terminable with respect to the fund without penalty by the Board or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the fund, or by the distributor, on not less than 60 days’ written notice to the other party (unless the notice period is waived by mutual consent). The Distribution Agreement will automatically and immediately terminate in the event of its assignment.

Legg Mason or its affiliates may, from time to time and from their own resources, pay, defray or absorb costs relating to distribution, including payments out of their own resources to the distributor, or to otherwise promote the sale of shares.

Legg Mason and/or its affiliates pay certain broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks and other financial intermediaries (“Intermediaries”) for certain activities related to the fund or exchange-traded products in general. Legg Mason and/or its affiliates make these payments from their own assets and not from the assets of the fund. Although a portion of Legg Mason’s revenue comes directly or indirectly in part from fees paid by the fund, these payments do not increase the price paid by investors for the purchase of shares of, or the cost of owning, the fund. Legg Mason and/or its affiliates make payments for Intermediaries’ participation in activities that are designed to make registered representatives, other professionals and individual investors more knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the fund, or for other activities, such as participation in marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of

 

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technology platforms and reporting systems (“Education Costs”). Legg Mason and/or its affiliates also make payments to Intermediaries for certain printing, publishing and mailing costs associated with the fund or materials relating to exchange-traded products in general (“Publishing Costs”). In addition, Legg Mason and/or its affiliates make payments to Intermediaries that make shares of the fund available to their clients, develop new products that feature the fund or otherwise promote the fund. Legg Mason and/or its affiliates may also reimburse expenses or make payments from their own assets to Intermediaries or other persons in consideration of services or other activities that Legg Mason and/or its affiliates believe may benefit the exchange-traded products business or facilitate investment in the fund.

Payments to an Intermediary may be significant to the Intermediary, and amounts that Intermediaries pay to your salesperson or other investment professional may also be significant for your salesperson or other investment professional. Because an Intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it will recommend or make available to its clients or what services to provide for various products based on payments it receives or is eligible to receive, such payments may create conflicts of interest between the Intermediary and its clients and these financial incentives may cause the Intermediary to recommend the fund over other investments. The same conflicts of interest and financial incentives exist with respect to your salesperson or other investment professional if he or she receives similar payments from his or her Intermediary firm. In addition, Legg Mason and/or its affiliates may enter into other contractual arrangements with Intermediaries that Legg Mason and/or its affiliates believe may benefit the ETF business or facilitate investment in Legg Mason-sponsored ETFs. Such agreements may include payments by Legg Mason and/or its affiliates to such Intermediaries for data collection and provision, technology support, platform enhancement, or co-marketing and cross-promotional efforts. Payments made pursuant to such arrangements may vary in any year and may be different for different Intermediaries. In certain cases, the payments described in the preceding sentence may be subject to certain minimum payment levels. Such payments will not be asset- or revenue-based. As of the date of this SAI, no Intermediaries receive such contractual payments.

Legg Mason and/or its affiliates make Education Costs and Publishing Costs payments to other Intermediaries based on any number of metrics. For example, Legg Mason and/or its affiliates may make payments at year-end or other intervals in a fixed amount, an amount based upon an Intermediary’s services at defined levels or an amount based on the Intermediary’s net sales of one or more funds in a year or other period, any of which arrangements may include an agreed-upon minimum or maximum payment, or any combination of the foregoing. Please contact your salesperson or other investment professional for more information regarding any such payments his or her Intermediary firm may receive. Any payments made by Legg Mason and/or its affiliates to an Intermediary may create the incentive for an Intermediary to encourage customers to buy shares of the fund.

The fund may participate in certain market maker incentive programs of a national securities exchange in which an affiliate of the fund would pay a fee to the exchange used for the purpose of incentivizing one or more market makers in the securities of the fund to enhance the liquidity and quality of the secondary market of securities of the fund. The fee would then be credited by the exchange to one or more market makers that meet or exceed liquidity and market quality standards with respect to the securities of the fund. Each market maker incentive program is subject to approval from the SEC. Any such fee payments made to an exchange will be made by an affiliate of the fund solely for the benefit of the fund and will not be paid from any fund assets. Other funds managed by Legg Mason participate in such programs.

Distribution and Service Plan

The Board has adopted a distribution and service plan (“Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Under the Plan, the fund is authorized to pay distribution fees in connection with the sale and distribution of its shares and pay service fees in connection with the provision of ongoing services to shareholders and the maintenance of shareholder accounts in an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year.

 

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No Rule 12b-1 fees are currently paid by the fund, and there are no current plans to impose these fees. However, in the event Rule 12b-1 fees are charged in the future, because these fees would be paid out of the fund’s assets on an ongoing basis, these fees would increase the cost of your investment in the fund. By purchasing shares subject to distribution fees and service fees, you might pay more over time than you would by purchasing shares with other types of sales charge arrangements. Long-term shareholders may pay more than the economic equivalent of the maximum front-end sales charge permitted by the rules of FINRA. The net income attributable to shares will be reduced by the amount of distribution fees and service fees and other expenses of the fund.

Custodian and Transfer Agent

The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNY Mellon”), 225 Liberty Street, New York, New York 10286, serves as the custodian of the fund. BNY Mellon, among other things, maintains a custody account or accounts in the name of the fund, receives and delivers all assets for the fund upon purchase and upon sale or maturity, collects and receives all income and other payments and distributions on account of the assets of the fund and makes disbursements on behalf of the fund. BNY Mellon neither determines the fund’s investment policies nor decides which securities the fund will buy or sell. For its services, BNY Mellon receives a monthly fee based upon the daily average market value of securities held in custody and also receives securities transaction charges, including out-of-pocket expenses. The fund may also periodically enter into arrangements with other qualified custodians with respect to certain types of securities or other transactions such as repurchase agreements or derivatives transactions. BNY Mellon may also act as the fund’s securities lending agent and in that case would receive a share of the income generated by such activities.

The Trust has also entered into an agreement with BNY Mellon to serve as transfer agent to the fund. Under its transfer agency agreement with the Trust, BNY Mellon provides the following services with respect to the fund: (i) performing and facilitating the performance of purchases and redemptions of Creation Units, (ii) preparing and transmitting by means of DTC’s book-entry system payments for dividends and distributions declared by the fund on or with respect to fund shares, (iii) preparing and delivering reports, information and documents as specified in the agreement, (iv) performing the customary services of a transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent, and (v) rendering certain other miscellaneous services as specified in the transfer agency agreement or as otherwise agreed upon.

Counsel

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10019, serves as counsel to the Trust and the fund.

Proskauer Rose LLP, Eleven Times Square, New York, New York 10036, serves as counsel to the Independent Trustees.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP an independent registered public accounting firm, located at 100 East Pratt Street, Suite 1900, Baltimore, MD 21202, has been selected to audit and report upon the fund’s financial statements and financial highlights.

Code of Ethics

Pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act, the fund, the manager, the Subadvisers and the distributor have adopted codes of ethics that permit personnel to invest in securities for their own accounts, including securities that may be purchased or held by the fund. All personnel must place the interests of clients first and avoid activities, interests and relationships that might interfere with the duty to make decisions in the best interests of the clients. All personal securities transactions by employees must adhere to the requirements of the codes of

 

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ethics and must be conducted in such a manner as to avoid any actual or potential conflict of interest, the appearance of such a conflict or the abuse of an employee’s position of trust and responsibility. Copies of the codes of ethics applicable to personnel of the fund, the manager, the Subadvisers and the distributor and to the Independent Trustees of the Trust are on file with the SEC.

Proxy Voting Guidelines and Procedures

Although individual Trustees may not agree with particular policies or votes by the manager, the Board has delegated proxy voting discretion to the manager, believing that the manager should be responsible for voting because it is a matter relating to the investment decision making process.

LMPFA delegates the responsibility for voting proxies for the fund to the Subadvisers through its contract with the Subadvisers. The Subadvisers will use their own proxy voting policies and procedures to vote proxies. Accordingly, LMPFA does not expect to have proxy-voting responsibility for the fund. Should LMPFA become responsible for voting proxies for any reason, such as the inability of the Subadvisers to provide investment advisory services, LMPFA shall utilize the proxy voting guidelines established by the most recent Subadviser to vote proxies until a new subadviser is retained. In the case of a material conflict between the interests of LMPFA (or its affiliates if such conflict is known to persons responsible for voting at LMPFA) and the fund, the Board of Directors of LMPFA shall consider how to address the conflict and/or how to vote the proxies. LMPFA shall maintain records of all proxy votes in accordance with applicable securities laws and regulations, to the extent that LMPFA votes proxies. LMPFA shall be responsible for gathering relevant documents and records related to proxy voting from the Subadvisers and providing them to the fund as required for the fund to comply with applicable rules under the 1940 Act.

The Subadvisers’ proxy voting policies and procedures govern in determining how proxies relating to the fund’s portfolio securities are voted, a copy of which is attached as Appendix B to this SAI. Information regarding how the fund voted proxies (if any) relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available without charge (1) by calling 1-877-721-1926, (2) on www.leggmason.com/etfproducts (click on the name of the fund) and (3) on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

CONTINUOUS OFFERING

The method by which Creation Units are created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units are issued and sold by the fund on an ongoing basis, at any point a “distribution,” as such term is used in the 1933 Act, may occur. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner that could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery requirement and liability provisions of the 1933 Act.

For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Units after placing an order with the distributor, breaks them down into constituent shares and sells such shares directly to customers or if it chooses to couple the creation of new shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for shares. A determination of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the 1933 Act must take into account all of the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular case and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead to a categorization as an underwriter.

Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of shares, generally are required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act is not available in respect of such

 

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transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to shares of the fund are reminded that, pursuant to Rule 153 under the 1933 Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the 1933 Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Exchange generally is satisfied by the fact that the prospectus is available at the Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is available only with respect to transactions on an exchange.

BOOK ENTRY ONLY SYSTEM

DTC acts as securities depositary for the shares. Shares of the fund are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC. Certificates will not be issued for shares.

DTC, a limited-purpose trust company, was created to hold securities of participants of DTC (the “DTC Participants”) and to facilitate the clearance and settlement of securities transactions among the DTC Participants in such securities through electronic book-entry changes in accounts of the DTC Participants, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of securities certificates. DTC Participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and certain other organizations, some of whom (and/or their representatives) own DTC. More specifically, DTC is owned by a number of its DTC Participants and by the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) and FINRA. Access to the DTC system is also available to others such as banks, brokers, dealers and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant, either directly or indirectly (the “Indirect Participants”).

Beneficial ownership of shares is limited to DTC Participants, Indirect Participants and persons holding interests through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants. Ownership of beneficial interests in shares (owners of such beneficial interests are referred to herein as “beneficial owners”) is shown on, and the transfer of ownership is effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to DTC Participants) and on the records of DTC Participants (with respect to Indirect Participants and beneficial owners that are not DTC Participants). Beneficial owners will receive from or through the DTC Participant a written confirmation relating to their purchase of shares.

Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to beneficial owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to the Depositary Agreement between the Trust and DTC, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the shares holdings of each DTC Participant. The Trust shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to the number of beneficial owners holding shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such beneficial owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., as the registered holder of all shares. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall credit immediately DTC Participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in shares as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and beneficial owners of shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a “street name,” and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.

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supervising or reviewing any records relating to such beneficial ownership interests or for any other aspect of the relationship between DTC and the DTC Participants or the relationship between such DTC Participants and the Indirect Participants and beneficial owners owning through such DTC Participants.

DTC may determine to discontinue providing its service with respect to the shares at any time by giving reasonable notice to the Trust and discharging its responsibilities with respect thereto under applicable law.

Under such circumstances, the Trust shall take action either to find a replacement for DTC to perform its functions at a comparable cost or, if such a replacement is unavailable, to issue and deliver printed certificates representing ownership of shares, unless the Trust makes other arrangements with respect thereto satisfactory to the Exchange.

CREATIONS AND REDEMPTIONS

The Trust issues and sells shares of the fund only in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the distributor, without a sales load, at the NAV next determined after receipt of an order in proper form as described in the Participant Agreement (as defined below), on any Business Day (as defined below). A Creation Unit for the fund is comprised of 100,000 shares.

In its discretion, the manager reserves the right to increase or decrease the number of the fund’s shares that constitutes a Creation Unit. The Board reserves the right to declare a split or a consolidation in the number of shares outstanding of the fund, and to make a corresponding change in the number of shares constituting a Creation Unit, in the event that the per share price in the secondary market rises (or declines) to an amount that falls outside the range deemed desirable by the Board.

A “Business Day” with respect to the fund is each day the Trust is open, including any day that the fund is required to be open under Section 22(e) of the 1940 Act, which excludes weekends and the following holidays (or the days on which they are observed): New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Orders from large institutional investors who have entered into agreements with the fund’s distributor (“Authorized Participants”) to create or redeem Creation Units will only be accepted on a Business Day.

Fund Deposit

The consideration for purchase of Creation Units consists of Deposit Securities and/or cash. The Deposit Securities will correspond pro rata to the positions in the fund’s portfolio (including cash positions) except (a) in the case of bonds, for minor differences when it is impossible to break up bonds beyond certain minimum sizes needed for transfer and settlement; (b) for minor differences when rounding is necessary to eliminate fractional shares or lots that are not tradeable round lots; or (c) To Be Announced (“TBA”) transactions, short positions, derivatives and other positions that cannot be transferred in kind. If there is a difference between the NAV attributable to a Creation Unit and the aggregate market value of the Deposit Securities or Redemption Securities (as defined below) exchanged for the Creation Unit, the party conveying the instruments with the lower value will pay to the other an amount in cash equal to that difference (the “Cash Component”). Together, the Deposit Securities and Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of the fund. The Deposit Securities and the securities that will be delivered in an in-kind transfer in a redemption (“Redemption Securities”) will be identical.

Purchases and redemptions of Creation Units may be made in whole or in part on a cash basis, rather than in kind, solely under the following circumstances: (a) to the extent there is a Cash Component, as described above; (b) if, on a given Business Day, the fund announces before the open of trading that all purchases, all redemptions or all purchases and redemptions on that day will be made entirely in cash; (c) if, upon receiving a purchase or

 

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redemption order from an Authorized Participant, the fund determines to require the purchase or redemption, as applicable, to be made entirely in cash; (d) if, on a given Business Day, the fund requires all Authorized Participants purchasing or redeeming shares on that day to deposit or receive (as applicable) cash in lieu of some or all of the Deposit Securities or Redemption Securities, respectively, solely because: (i) such instruments are not eligible for transfer either through the NSCC process or DTC process; or (ii) such instruments are not eligible for trading due to local trading restrictions, local restrictions on securities transfers or other similar circumstances; or (e) if the fund permits an Authorized Participant to deposit or receive (as applicable) cash in lieu of some or all of the Deposit Securities or Redemption Securities, respectively, solely because: (i) such instruments are, in the case of the purchase of a Creation Unit, not available in sufficient quantity; (ii) such instruments are not eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant or the investor on whose behalf the Authorized Participant is acting; or (iii) a holder of shares of the fund would be subject to unfavorable income tax treatment if the holder receives redemption proceeds in kind. A purchase or redemption of shares made in whole or in part on a cash basis in reliance on (e)(i) or (e)(ii) is known as a “Custom Order.”

The fund will cause to be published through the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”), on each Business Day, at or before 9:00 a.m. E.T., the identity and the required number of each Deposit Security and the amount of the Cash Component (if any) to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day).

Procedures for Creating Creation Units

To be eligible to place orders with the distributor and to create a Creation Unit of the fund, an entity must have executed an agreement with the distributor, subject to acceptance by the Transfer Agent, with respect to creations and redemptions of Creation Units (“Participant Agreement”) (discussed below). Each such entity must be either (i) a broker-dealer or other participant in the clearing process through the Continuous Net Settlement System (the “Clearing Process”) of the NSCC, a clearing agency that is registered with the SEC; or (ii) a DTC Participant. Any entity that has executed a Participant Agreement is referred to as an “Authorized Participant.” All shares of the fund, however created, will be entered on the records of DTC in the name of its nominee for the account of a DTC Participant.

The date on which an order to create Creation Units (or an order to redeem Creation Units, as discussed below) is placed is referred to as the “Transmittal Date.” Subject to the terms of the applicable Participant Agreement, all orders to create Creation Units of the fund must be received by the distributor within a one-hour window from 9:00 a.m. E.T. to 10:00 a.m. E.T. in order to receive the NAV determined on the Transmittal Date. Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the distributor pursuant to procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure may impede the ability to reach the distributor or an Authorized Participant. The fund reserves the absolute right to reject a purchase order (see “Acceptance of Creation Orders”).

Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the distributor pursuant to procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure may impede the ability to reach the distributor or an Authorized Participant. The fund reserves the absolute right to reject a purchase order (see “Acceptance of Creation Orders”).

All investor orders to create Creation Units shall be placed with an Authorized Participant in the form required by such Authorized Participant. In addition, an Authorized Participant may request that an investor make certain representations or enter into agreements with respect to an order (to provide for payments of cash). Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not have executed a Participant Agreement and, therefore, orders to create Creation Units of the fund will have to be placed by the investor’s broker through an Authorized Participant. In such cases, there may be additional charges to such investor.

 

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Creation Units may be created in advance of the receipt by the fund of all or a portion of the Fund Deposit. In such cases, the Authorized Participant will remain liable for the full deposit of the missing portion(s) of the Fund Deposit and will be required to post collateral with the fund consisting of cash in an amount not less than 105% of the marked-to-market value of such missing portion(s). The fund may use such collateral to buy the missing portion(s) of the Fund Deposit at any time and will subject such Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost to the fund of purchasing such securities and the value of such collateral. The fund will have no liability for any such shortfall. The fund will return any unused portion of the collateral to the Authorized Participant once the entire Fund Deposit has been properly received by the distributor and deposited into the fund. The Participant Agreement will permit the fund to use such collateral to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time and will subject the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost to the fund of purchasing such securities and the value of the collateral.

Orders for creation that are effected outside the Clearing Process are likely to require transmittal by the DTC Participant earlier on the Transmittal Date than orders effected using the Clearing Process. Those persons placing orders outside the Clearing Process should ascertain the deadlines applicable to DTC and the Federal Reserve Bank wire system by contacting the operations department of the broker or depository institution effectuating such transfer of Deposit Securities and Cash Component.

Subject to the conditions that (i) a properly completed irrevocable purchase order has been submitted by the Authorized Participant (either on its own or another investor’s behalf) not later than the Closing Time on the Transmittal Date and (ii) arrangements satisfactory to the fund are in place for payment of the Cash Component and any other cash amounts which may be due, the fund will accept the order, subject to its right (and the right of the distributor and the manager) to reject any order not submitted in proper form. A Creation Unit of the fund will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the fund of the Deposit Securities and the payment of the Cash Component have been completed. Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent contemplated by a Participant Agreement, Creation Units will be issued to an Authorized Participant notwithstanding the fact that the corresponding Fund Deposits have not been received in part or in whole, in reliance on the undertaking of such Authorized Participant to deliver the missing Deposit Securities as soon as possible, which undertaking shall be secured by such Authorized Participant’s delivery and maintenance of collateral (as discussed above).

As of the date of this SAI, cash purchases will be required for securities traded in Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Egypt, Greece, India, Malaysia, and South Korea.

Placement of Creation Orders Outside Clearing Process

Authorized Participants making payment for orders of Creation Units of shares of the fund must have international trading capabilities and must effect such transactions “outside” the NSCC Clearing Process. Once the Custodian has been notified of an order to purchase, it will provide such information to the relevant sub-custodian(s) of the fund. The Custodian shall cause the sub-custodian(s) of the fund to maintain an account into which the Authorized Participant shall deliver, on behalf of itself or the party on whose behalf it is acting, the Fund Deposit. Deposit Securities must be maintained by the applicable local sub-custodian(s). Following the notice of intention, an irrevocable order to purchase Creation Units, in the form required by the fund, must be received by the distributor, as principal underwriter, from an Authorized Participant on its own or another investor’s behalf by the Closing Time on the Transmittal Date.

The Trust must also receive, on or before the contractual settlement date, immediately available or same day funds estimated by the Custodian to be sufficient to pay the Cash Component next determined after receipt in proper form of the purchase order, together with the creation transaction fee described below.

 

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Acceptance of Creation Orders

The fund and the distributor reserve the absolute right to reject or revoke acceptance of a creation order transmitted to it in respect to the fund, for example, if: (i) the order is not in proper form; (ii) the investor(s), upon obtaining the shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding shares of the fund; (iii) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would have certain adverse tax consequences to the fund; (iv) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of the fund, be unlawful; (v) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would otherwise, in the discretion of the fund or the manager, have an adverse effect on the fund or the rights of beneficial owners of the fund; or (vi) in the event that circumstances outside the control of the fund make it for all practical purposes impossible to process creation orders. Examples of such circumstances include acts of God; public service or utility problems such as fires, floods, extreme weather conditions and power outages resulting in telephone, facsimile and computer failures; market conditions or activities causing trading halts; systems failures involving computer or other information systems affecting the fund, the manager, the Subadvisers, the Custodian, the distributor, DTC, NSCC’s Continuous Net Settlement System, Federal Reserve, the Transfer Agent or any other participant in the creation process, and other extraordinary events. The distributor shall notify the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of the creator of a Creation Unit of its rejection of the order of such person. The fund, the Transfer Agent and the distributor are under no duty, however, to give notification of any defects or irregularities in the delivery of Fund Deposits nor shall any of them incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification.

All questions as to the number of shares of Deposit Securities and the validity, form, eligibility, and acceptance for deposit of any securities to be delivered and the amount and form of the Cash Component, as applicable, shall be determined by the fund, and the fund’s determination shall be final and binding.

Creation Transaction Fee

The fund imposes an estimated creation transaction fee of $100 on each creation transaction regardless of the number of Creation Units purchased in the transaction.

In the case of cash creations or where the fund permits a creator to substitute cash in lieu of depositing a portion of the Deposit Securities, the creator may be assessed an additional variable charge of up to 2% of the value of a Creation Unit to compensate the fund for the costs associated with purchasing the applicable securities.

As a result, in order to seek to replicate the in-kind creation order process, the fund expects to purchase, in the secondary market or otherwise gain exposure to, the portfolio securities that could have been delivered as a result of an in-kind creation order pursuant to local law or market convention, or for other reasons (“Market Purchases”). In such cases where the fund makes Market Purchases, the Authorized Participant will reimburse the fund for, among other things, any difference between the market value at which the securities and/or financial instruments were purchased by the fund and the cash in lieu amount (which amount, at the manager’s discretion, may be capped), applicable registration fees, brokerage commissions and certain taxes. The manager may adjust the transaction fee to the extent the composition of the Deposit Securities changes or cash in lieu is added to the Cash Component to protect ongoing shareholders. Creators of Creation Units are responsible for the costs of transferring the securities constituting the Deposit Securities to the account of the fund.

Redemption of Creation Units

Shares may be redeemed only in Creation Units at their NAV next determined after receipt of a redemption request in proper form on a Business Day and only through an Authorized Participant. Redemption orders for Creation Units in the fund must be received by the distributor within a one-hour window from 9:00 a.m. E.T. to 10:00 a.m. E.T. in order to receive the NAV determined on the Transmittal Date. The fund will not redeem shares in amounts less than Creation Units (except the fund may redeem shares in amounts less than a Creation Unit in the event the fund is being liquidated). Beneficial owners must accumulate enough shares in the

 

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secondary market to constitute a Creation Unit in order to have such shares redeemed by the Trust. However, only Authorized Participants can trade directly with the fund. There can be no assurance that there will be sufficient liquidity in the public trading market at any time to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. Authorized Participants should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of shares to constitute a redeemable Creation Unit. All redemptions are subject to the procedures contained in the applicable Participant Agreement. The fund will not redeem shares in amounts less than Creation Units (except the fund may redeem shares in amounts less than a Creation Unit in the event the fund is being liquidated or for other extraordinary purposes, such as a merger). Beneficial owners must accumulate enough shares in the secondary market to constitute a Creation Unit in order to have such shares redeemed by the Trust. However, only Authorized Participants can trade directly with the fund. There can be no assurance that there will be sufficient liquidity in the public trading market at any time to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. Authorized Participants should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of shares to constitute a redeemable Creation Unit. All redemptions are subject to the procedures contained in the applicable Participant Agreement.

The fund is responsible for making available, through the NSCC, at or before 9:00 a.m. E.T. on each Business Day, the identity of the fund’s Redemption Securities and/or an amount of cash that will be applicable to redemption requests received in proper form (as described below) on that day. The Redemption Securities will be identical to the Deposit Securities.

Redemptions of Creation Units may be made in whole or in part on a cash basis, rather than in kind, solely under the following circumstances: (a) to the extent there is a Cash Component; (b) if, on a given Business Day, the fund announces before the open of trading that all purchases, all redemptions or all purchases and redemptions on that day will be made entirely in cash; (c) if, upon receiving a redemption order from an Authorized Participant, the fund determines to require the redemption to be made entirely in cash; (d) if, on a given Business Day, the fund requires all Authorized Participants redeeming shares on that day to receive cash in lieu of some or all of the Redemption Securities, solely because: (i) such instruments are not eligible for transfer either through the NSCC or DTC; or (ii) such instruments are not eligible for trading due to local trading restrictions, local restrictions on securities transfers or other similar circumstances; or (e) if the fund permits an Authorized Participant to receive cash in lieu of some or all of the Redemption Securities solely because: (i) such instruments are not eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant or the investor on whose behalf the Authorized Participant is acting; or (ii) a holder of shares of the fund would be subject to unfavorable income tax treatment if the holder receives redemption proceeds in kind.

An Authorized Participant, or a beneficial owner of shares for which it is acting, subject to a legal restriction with respect to a particular security included in the redemption of a Creation Unit may be paid an equivalent amount of cash. This would specifically prohibit delivery of Redemption Securities that are not registered in reliance upon Rule 144A under the 1933 Act to a redeeming beneficial owner of shares that is not a “qualified institutional buyer,” as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the 1933 Act. The Authorized Participant may request the redeeming beneficial owner of the shares to complete an order form or to enter into agreements with respect to such matters as compensating cash payment.

The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed with respect to the fund: (i) for any period during which the Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (ii) for any period during which trading on the Exchange is suspended or restricted; (iii) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the shares of the fund or determination of the fund’s NAV is not reasonably practicable; or (iv) in such other circumstances as permitted by the SEC.

Redemption Transaction Fee

The fund imposes an estimated redemption transaction fee of $100 on each redemption transaction regardless of the number of Creation Units being redeemed in the transaction.

 

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An additional variable charge of up to 2% of the value of a Creation Unit for cash redemptions or partial cash redemptions (when cash redemptions are permitted or required for the fund) may also be imposed to compensate the fund for the costs associated with selling the applicable securities.

In order to seek to replicate the in-kind redemption order process, the fund expects to sell, in the secondary market, the portfolio securities or settle any financial instruments that may not be permitted to be re-registered in the name of the Authorized Participant as a result of an in-kind redemption order pursuant to local law or market convention, or for other reasons (“Market Sales”). In such cases where the fund makes Market Sales, the Authorized Participant will reimburse the fund for, among other things, any difference between the market value at which the securities and/or financial instruments were sold or settled by the fund and the cash in lieu amount (which amount, at the manager’s discretion, may be capped), applicable registration fees, brokerage commissions and certain taxes (“Transaction Costs”). The manager may adjust the transaction fee to the extent the composition of the Redemption Securities changes or cash in lieu is added to the Cash Component to protect ongoing shareholders. In no event will fees charged by the fund in connection with a redemption exceed 2% of the value of each Creation Unit. Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may be charged a fee for such services. To the extent the fund cannot recoup the amount of Transaction Costs incurred in connection with a redemption from the redeeming shareholder because of the 2% cap or otherwise, those Transaction Costs will be borne by the fund’s remaining shareholders and negatively affect the fund’s performance.

Placement of Redemption Orders Outside Clearing Process

Redemption orders for Creation Units must be received by the distributor no later than the Closing Time on the Transmittal Date to receive the NAV next determined after receipt of the order in proper form on the Transmittal Date.

Arrangements satisfactory to the fund must be in place for the Authorized Participant to transfer the Creation Units through DTC on or before the settlement date. Redemptions of shares for Redemption Securities will be subject to compliance with applicable U.S. federal and state securities laws and the fund (whether or not it otherwise permits or requires cash redemptions) reserves the right to redeem Creation Units for cash to the extent that the fund could not lawfully deliver specific Redemption Securities upon redemptions or could not do so without first registering the Deposit Securities under such laws.

In connection with taking delivery of shares for Redemption Securities upon redemption of Creation Units, a redeeming shareholder or entity acting on behalf of a redeeming shareholder must maintain appropriate custody arrangements with a qualified broker-dealer, bank or other custody providers in each jurisdiction in which any of the Redemption Securities are customarily traded, to which account such Redemption Securities will be delivered. If neither the redeeming shareholder nor the entity acting on behalf of a redeeming shareholder has appropriate arrangements to take delivery of the Redemption Securities in the applicable foreign jurisdiction and it is not possible to make other such arrangements, or if it is not possible to effect deliveries of the Redemption Securities in such jurisdictions, the fund may, in its discretion, exercise its option to redeem such shares in cash, and the redeeming shareholder will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash.

Regular Foreign Holidays. The fund may effect deliveries of Creation Units and portfolio securities on a basis other than the contractually settled date in order to accommodate local holiday schedules, to account for different treatment among foreign and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates or under certain other circumstances. The ability of the Trust to effect in-kind creations and redemptions by the contractually settled date is subject, among other things, to the condition that, within the time period from the date of the order to the date of delivery of the securities, there are no days that are holidays in the applicable foreign market. For every occurrence of one or more intervening holidays in the applicable foreign market that are not holidays observed in the U.S. equity market, the redemption settlement cycle may be extended by the number of such intervening holidays. In addition to holidays, other unforeseeable closings in a foreign market due to emergencies may also prevent the Trust

 

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from delivering securities within normal settlement periods. The securities delivery cycles currently practicable for transferring portfolio securities to redeeming Authorized Participants, coupled with foreign market holiday schedules, will require a delivery process longer than seven calendar days for the fund, in certain circumstances. The holidays applicable to the fund during such periods are listed below, as are instances where more than seven days will be needed to deliver redemption proceeds. Although certain holidays may occur on different dates in subsequent years, the number of days required to deliver redemption proceeds in any given year is not expected to exceed the maximum number of days listed below for the fund. The proclamation of new holidays, the treatment by market participants of certain days as “informal holidays” (e.g., days on which no or limited securities transactions occur, as a result of substantially shortened trading hours), the elimination of existing holidays, or changes in local securities delivery practices, could affect the information set forth herein at some time in the future. Because the portfolio securities of the fund may trade on days that the Exchange is closed or on days that are not Business Days for the fund, Authorized Participants may not be able to redeem their shares of the fund, or to purchase and sell shares of the fund on the Exchange, on days when the NAV of the fund could be significantly affected by events in the relevant non-U.S. markets.

Calendar Year 2018

 

ARGENTINA

        

January 1

   April 2    July 9    December 25

February 12

   May 1    August 20   

February 13

   May 25    October 12   

March 30

   June 20    November 2   

AUSTRIA

        

January 1

   May 10    October 26    December 26

March 30

   May 21    November 1    December 31

April 2

   May 31    December 24   

May 1

   August 15    December 25   

AUSTRALIA

        

January 1

   April 25    December 25   

January 26

   June 11    December 26   

March 30

   August 6      

April 2

   October 1      

BRAZIL

        

January 1

   March 30    October 12    December 25

January 25

   May 1    November 2   

February 12

   May 31    November 15   

February 13

   September 7    November 20   

CANADA

        

January 1

   July 2    November 12   

February 19

   August 6    December 25   

March 30

   September 3    December 26   

May 21

   October 8      

CHILE

        

January 1

   July 2    September 18    November 1

March 30

   July 16    September 19    November 2

May 1

   August 15    October 15    December 25

May 21

   September 17      

 

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CHINA

        

January 1

   February 21    June 18    October 4

February 15

   April 5    September 24    October 5

February 16

   April 6    October 1    December 25

February 19

   May 1    October 2   

February 20

   May 2    October 3   

COLOMBIA

        

January 1

   May 1    July 20    November 12

January 8

   May 14    August 7    December 25

March 19

   June 4    August 20   

March 29

   June 11    October 15   

March 30

   July 2    November 5   

CZECH REPUBLIC

        

January 1

   May 1    July 6    December 25

March 30

   May 8    September 28    December 26

April 2

   July 5    December 24    December 31

EGYPT

        

January 1

   April 9    July 1    September 12

January 7

   April 25    July 23    November 21

January 25

   May 1    August 22   

April 8

   June 17    August 23   

FRANCE

        

January 1

   May 1      

March 30

   December 25      

April 2

   December 26      

GREECE

        

January 1

   April 9    December 25   

February 19

   May 1    December 26   

March 30

   May 28      

April 2

   August 15      

April 6

   December 24      

HONG KONG

        

January 1

   March 30    June 18    December 24

January 27

   April 2    July 2    December 25

February 15

   April 5    September 25    December 26

February 16

   May 1    October 1    December 31

February 19

   May 22    October 17   

HUNGARY

        

January 1

   April 2    August 20    November 2

March 15

   April 30    October 22    December 24

March 16

   May 1    October 23    December 25

March 30

   May 21    November 1    December 26
         December 31

 

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INDIA

        

January 26

   March 30    August 22    November 7

February 13

   April 30    September 13    November 8

February 19

   May 1    September 20    November 21

March 2

   August 15    October 2    November 23

March 29

   August 17    October 18    December 25

INDONESIA

        

January 1

   June 1    August 17    December 31

February 16

   June 13    August 22   

March 30

   June 14    September 11   

May 1

   June 15    November 20   

May 10

   June 18    December 24   

May 29

   June 19    December 25   

ISRAEL

        

March 1

   July 22    September 19   

April 5

   September 9    September 23   

April 18

   September 10    September 24   

April 19

   September 11    September 30   

May 20

   September 18    October 1   

The Israeli Market is closed every Friday.

 

ITALY

        

January 1

   December 24      

March 30

   December 25      

April 2

   December 26      

May 1

   December 31      

August 15

        

JAPAN

        

January 1

   February 12    May 4    October 8

January 2

   March 21    July 16    November 23

January 3

   April 30    September 17    December 24

January 8

   May 3    September 24    December 31

MALAYSIA

        

January 1

   May 1    August 31    November 20

January 31

   May 29    September 10    December 25

February 1

   June 14    September 11   

February 15

   June 15    September 17   

February 16

   August 22    November 6   

MEXICO

        

January 1

   March 30    November 2   

February 5

   April 2    November 19   

March 19

   April 30    December 12   

March 29

   May 1    December 25   

NEW ZEALAND

        

January 1

   March 30    June 4    December 26

January 2

   April 2    October 22   

February 6

   April 25    December 25   

 

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PERU

        

January 1

   June 29    December 25   

March 29

   August 30      

March 30

   October 8      

May 1

   November 2      

PHILIPPINES

        

January 1

   May 1    November 2   

February 16

   June 12    November 30   

March 29

   August 21    December 24   

March 30

   August 27    December 25   

April 9

   November 1    December 31   

POLAND

        

January 1

   May 1    August 15    December 25

March 30

   May 3    November 1    December 26

April 2

   May 31    December 24    December 31

PORTUGAL

        

January 1

   May 1      

March 30

   December 25      

April 2

   December 26      

RUSSIA

        

January 1

   February 23    May 9   

January 2

   March 8    June 12   

January 8

   May 1    November 5   
      December 31   

SINGAPORE

        

January 1

   May 29    November 6   

February 16

   June 15    December 25   

March 30

   August 9      

May 1

   August 22      

SOUTH AFRICA

        

January 1

   May 1    December 26   

March 21

   August 9      

March 30

   September 24      

April 2

   December 17      

April 27

   December 25      

SWITZERLAND

        

January 1

   May 10      

January 2

   May 21      

March 30

   August 1      

April 2

   December 25      

May 1

   December 26      

THAILAND

        

January 1

   April 13    July 27    October 23

January 2

   April 16    July 30    December 5

March 1

   May 1    August 13    December 10

April 6

   May 29    October 15    December 31

 

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TURKEY

        

January 1

   June 15    August 23   

April 23

   August 21    August 24   

May 1

   August 22    August 30   
      October 29   

UNITED KINGDOM

        

January 1

   August 27      

March 30

   December 25      

April 2

   December 26      

May 7

        

May 28

        

Calendar Year 2019

 

ARGENTINA

        

January 1

   April 2      July 8        December 25  

March 4

   May 1      August 19     

March 5

   May 25      October 14     

March 24

   June 17      December 8     

AUSTRIA

        

January 1

   May 30      November 1     

April 22

   August 15      December 24     

May 1

   October 26      December 25     

AUSTRALIA

        

January 1

   April 22      December 26     

January 28

   June 10      

April 19

   December 25      

BRAZIL

        

January 1

   April 19      November 12        December 31  

January 25

   May 1      November 20     

March 4

   June 20      December 24     

March 5

   July 9      December 25     

CANADA

        

January 1

   July 1      December 25     

February 18

   August 5      December 26     

April 19

   September 2      

May 20

   October 14      

CHILE

        

January 1

   July 16      September 20     

April 19

   August 15      October 31     

May 1

   September 18      November 1     

May 21

   September 19      December 25     

CHINA

        

January 1

   February 8      October 1        October 4  

February 4

   April 5      October 2        October 7  

February 5

   May 1      October 3        December 25  

February 6

   June 17      

February 7

   September 13      

 

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COLOMBIA

        

January 1

   May 1      August 15     

January 7

   May 14      October 14     

March 19

   June 3      November 4     

April 18

   June 24      November 11     

April 19

   July 1      December 25     

CZECH REPUBLIC

        

January 1

   May 1      December 24     

April 19

   May 8      December 25     

April 22

   July 5      December 26     

EGYPT

        

January 1

   April 25      June 6        August 13  

January 7

   May 1      July 23        August 14  

January 25

   June 5      August 12        August 15  

FRANCE

        

January 1

   May 1      

April 19

   December 25      

April 22

   December 26      

GREECE

        

January 1

   May 1      December 26     

March 11

   June 17      

March 25

   August 15      

April 26

   October 28      

April 29

   December 25      

HONG KONG

        

January 1

   April 19      June 17        December 25  

February 5

   April 20      July 1        December 26  

February 6

   May 1      October 1     

February 7

   May 13      October 7     

HUNGARY

        

January 1

   May 1      October 23     

March 15

   June 10      November 1     

April 2

   August 19      December 25     

April 19

   August 20      December 26     

INDIA

        

March 4

   May 1      September 10        October 28  

March 21

   August 12      October 2        November 12  

April 17

   August 15      October 7        December 25  

April 19

   September 2      

INDONESIA

        

January 1

   April 19      June 5     

February 15

   May 1      June 6     

March 7

   May 19      August 12     

April 3

   May 30      December 25     

ISRAEL

        

March 21

   July 22      October 9     

May 9

   September 30      October 14     

June 10

   October 1      October 21     

The Israeli Market is closed every Friday.

 

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ITALY

        

January 1

   December 24      

April 19

   December 25      

April 22

   December 26      

May 1

   December 31      

August 15

        

JAPAN

        

January 1

   February 11      May 6        October 14  

January 2

   March 21      July 15        November 24  

January 3

   April 29      September 16        December 23  

January 14

   May 3      September 23        December 31  

MALAYSIA

        

January 1

   May 1      August 13     

January 21

   May 20      August 31     

February 1

   June 15      December 25     

February 5

   June 16      

February 6

   August 12      

MEXICO

        

January 1

   April 19      December 12     

February 4

   May 1      December 25     

March 18

   September 16      

April 18

   November 18      

NEW ZEALAND

        

January 1

   March 30      June 4        December 26  

January 2

   April 2      October 22     

February 6

   April 25      December 25     

PERU

        

January 1

   July 29      December 25     

April 18

   August 30      

April 19

   October 8      

May 1

   November 1      

PHILIPPINES

        

January 1

   May 1      December 24     

February 5

   June 12      December 25     

April 9

   August 21      December 31     

April 18

   August 26      

April 19

   November 1      

POLAND

        

January 1

   May 3      November 1     

April 22

   June 20      December 25     

May 1

   August 15      December 26     

PORTUGAL

        

January 1

   May 1      

April 19

   December 25      

April 25

        

 

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RUSSIA

        

January 1

   March 8      June 12     

January 2

   May 1      November 5     

January 7

   May 9      

SINGAPORE

        

January 1

   April 19      August 9     

February 15

   May 1      August 12     

February 16

   June 5      December 25     

SOUTH AFRICA

        

January 1

   May 1      December 26     

March 21

   August 9      

April 19

   September 24      

April 22

   December 25      

SWITZERLAND

        

January 1

   May 30      

January 2

   June 10      

April 19

   August 1      

April 22

   December 25      

May 1

   December 26      

THAILAND

        

January 1

   April 16      July 29        December 5  

February 19

   April 17      August 12        December 10  

April 8

   May 1      October 14        December 31  

April 15

   July 17      October 23     

TURKEY

        

January 1

   June 5      August 14     

April 23

   August 12      August 15     

May 1

   August 13      August 30     
        October 29     

UNITED KINGDOM

        

January 1

   August 26      

April 19

   December 25      

April 22

   December 26      

May 6

        

May 27

        

 

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Redemptions. The longest redemption cycle for the fund is a function of the longest redemption cycle among the countries whose securities comprise the fund. In the calendar year 2018 and 2019, the dates of regular holidays affecting the following securities markets present the worst-case (longest) redemption cycle* for the fund as follows:

SETTLEMENT PERIODS GREATER THAN SEVEN DAYS FOR YEAR 2018

 

     Beginning of
Settlement Period
     End of
Settlement Period
     Number of Days in
Settlement Period

China

     2/14/2018        2/23/2018      10
     9/28/2018        10/10/2018      13
     10/1/2018        10/10/2018      10

Indonesia

     6/11/2018        6/20/2018      10
     6/12/2018        6/21/2018      10

Japan

     12/29/2017        1/9/2018      10
     4/27/2018        5/7/2018      11

SETTLEMENT PERIODS GREATER THAN SEVEN DAYS FOR YEAR 2019

 

     Beginning of
Settlement Period
     End of
Settlement Period
     Number of Days in
Settlement Period

China

     2/1/2019        2/11/2019      11
     9/30/2019        10/8/2019      9

 

*

These worst-case redemption cycles are based on information regarding regular holidays, which may be out of date. Based on changes in holidays, longer (worse) redemption cycles are possible.

DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

The NAV per share of the fund is calculated on each day, Monday through Friday, except days on which the NYSE is closed. As of the date of this SAI, the NYSE is normally open for trading every weekday except in the event of an emergency or for the following holidays (or the days on which they are observed): New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Please see the Prospectus for a description of the procedures used by the fund in valuing its assets.

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS AND BROKERAGE

The portfolio turnover rate is computed by dividing the lesser of purchases or sales of securities for the period by the average value of portfolio securities for that period. Short-term securities are excluded from the calculation.

Based on the Subadviser(s)’ assessment of market conditions, the Subadviser(s) may trade the fund’s investments more frequently at some times than at others resulting in a higher portfolio turnover rate. High portfolio turnover rates are likely to result in higher brokerage commissions or other transaction costs and could give rise to a greater amount of taxable capital gains.

Under the Management Agreement and Subadvisory Agreements, the Manager and the Subadvisers are responsible for the execution of the fund’s transactions. The Subadviser(s) places all orders for the purchase and

 

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the sale of portfolio investments with brokers or dealers selected by it in its discretion. Transactions on stock exchanges and other agency transactions involve the payment by the fund of brokerage commissions. There is generally no stated commission in the case of securities, such as U.S. Government securities, traded in the over-the-counter markets, but the price paid by the Trust usually includes an undisclosed dealer commission or markup. In selecting brokers or dealers, the Subadvisers must seek the most favorable price (including the applicable dealer spread) and execution for such transactions. The fund may not always pay the lowest commission or spread available. Rather, in placing orders on behalf of the fund, the Subadvisers will also take into account such factors as size of the order, difficulty of execution, efficiency of the executing broker’s or dealer’s facilities and any risk assumed by the executing broker or dealer.

It is the current policy of the Subadvisers not to give consideration to research, statistical and other non-execution services (except as described below) furnished by brokers or dealers to the Subadvisers in selecting broker dealers to execute fund transactions (commonly known as “soft dollar” commission arrangements). However, a Subadviser may receive research or statistical information from brokers or dealers with whom it executes trades.

The fund may use LMIS, among others, as broker for agency transactions in listed and over-the-counter securities at commission rates and under circumstances consistent with the policy of best execution.

Some securities considered by a Subadviser for purchase by the fund may also be appropriate for other clients served by the Subadviser. To the extent the fund and such other clients purchase the same security, transactions in such security will be allocated among the fund and such other clients in a manner considered fair and reasonable by the Subadviser.

The fund may not buy securities from, or sell securities to, a Subadviser or its affiliated persons as principal, except as permitted by the rules and regulations of the SEC, exemptions therefrom, or interpretations of the SEC staff. Subject to certain conditions, the fund may purchase securities that are offered in underwritings in which an affiliate of a Subadviser is a participant, although the fund may not make such purchases directly from such affiliate.

The Subadvisers will select brokers to execute portfolio transactions. In the over-the-counter market, the fund generally will deal with responsible primary market makers unless a more favorable execution can otherwise be obtained.

Investment decisions for the fund are made independently from those of other funds and accounts advised by the Subadvisers. However, the same security may be held in the portfolios of more than one fund or account. When two or more accounts simultaneously engage in the purchase or sale of the same security, the prices and amounts will be equitably allocated to each account. In some cases, this procedure may adversely affect the price or quantity of the security available to a particular account. In other cases, however, an account’s ability to participate in larger volume transactions may produce better executions and prices. Depending on investment objectives, applicable law, governing documents, current holdings, cash availability, and other factors, the Subadvisers or their affiliates may sell or recommend the sale of a particular security for certain accounts and buy or recommend the purchase of such security for other accounts, and accordingly, transactions for the fund may not be consistent with transactions in other accounts or with the Subadvisers’ investment recommendations.

Western Asset’s Broker Review Committee periodically reviews the fund’s approved broker lists, broker allocation and execution to ensure that they are consistent with the fund’s stated policy.

Aggregate Brokerage Commissions Paid

As the fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this SAI, the fund paid no commissions for brokerage transactions as of the date of this SAI.

 

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In certain instances there may be securities that are suitable as an investment for the fund as well as for one or more of the other clients of the Subadvisers. Investment decisions for the fund and for the Subadvisers’ other clients are made with a view to achieving their respective investment objectives. It may develop that a particular security is bought or sold for only one client even though it might be held by, or bought or sold for, other clients. Likewise, a particular security may be bought for one or more clients when one or more clients are selling the same security. Some simultaneous transactions are inevitable when several clients receive investment advice from the same investment adviser, particularly when the same security is suitable for the investment objectives of more than one client. When two or more clients are simultaneously engaged in the purchase or sale of the same security, the securities are allocated among clients in a manner believed to be equitable to each. It is recognized that in some cases this system could adversely affect the price of or the size of the position obtainable in a security for the fund. When purchases or sales of the same security for the fund and for other portfolios managed by the Subadvisers occur contemporaneously, the purchase or sale orders may be aggregated in order to obtain any price advantages available to large volume purchases or sales.

As the fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this SAI, the fund did not hold securities issued by its regular broker/dealers as of the date of this SAI.

DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

On each Business Day, before the commencement of trading in its shares on the Exchange, the fund will disclose on www.leggmason.com/etfproducts (click on the name of the fund) the identities and quantities of the fund’s portfolio holdings that will form the basis for the fund’s calculation of NAV per share at the end of the Business Day. The manager, the Subadvisers and the fund will not disclose information concerning the identities and quantities of the portfolio securities held by the fund before such information is publicly disclosed and is available to the entire investing public. Personnel of such entities with knowledge about the composition of a Fund Deposit will be prohibited from disclosing such information to any other person, except as authorized in the course of their employment, until such information is made public. The Trust has executed confidentiality agreements with its service providers who are provided information about the Fund Deposit. These agreements include a prohibition on trading while the service provider is in possession of confidential information.

THE TRUST

The certificate of trust to establish Legg Mason ETF Investment Trust (referred to in this section as the “Trust”) was filed with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation of Maryland on June 8, 2015. The Trust’s name was changed from Legg Mason ETF Equity Trust to Legg Mason ETF Investment Trust effective on February 15, 2017.

The Trust is a Maryland statutory trust. A Maryland statutory trust is an unincorporated business association that is established under, and governed by, Maryland law. Maryland law provides a statutory framework for the powers, duties, rights and obligations of the trustees and shareholders of the statutory trust, while the more specific powers, duties, rights and obligations of the trustees and the shareholders are determined by the trustees as set forth in the trust’s declaration of trust. Some of the more significant provisions of the Trust’s declaration of trust (the “Declaration”) are described below.

Shareholder Voting

The Declaration provides for shareholder voting as required by the 1940 Act or other applicable laws, but otherwise permits, consistent with Maryland law, actions by the trustees of the Trust (the “Trustees”) without seeking the consent of shareholders. The Trustees may, without shareholder approval, amend the Declaration or authorize the merger or consolidation of the Trust into another trust or entity, reorganize the Trust or any series

 

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or class into another trust or entity or a series or class of another entity, sell all or substantially all of the assets of the Trust or any series or class to another entity, or a series or class of another entity, or terminate the Trust or any series or class.

A fund is not required to hold an annual meeting of shareholders, but a fund will call special meetings of shareholders whenever required by the 1940 Act or by the terms of the Declaration. The Declaration provides for “dollar-weighted voting” which means that a shareholder’s voting power is determined, not by the number of shares he or she owns, but by the dollar value of those shares determined on the record date. All shareholders of record of all series and classes of the Trust vote together, except where required by the 1940 Act to vote separately by series or by class, or when the Trustees have determined that a matter affects only the interests of one or more series or classes of shares. There is no cumulative voting on any matter submitted to a vote of the shareholders.

Election and Removal of Trustees

The Declaration provides that the Trustees may establish the number of Trustees and that vacancies on the Board may be filled by the remaining Trustees, except when election of Trustees by the shareholders is required under the 1940 Act. Trustees are then elected by a plurality of votes cast by shareholders at a meeting at which a quorum is present. The Declaration also provides that a mandatory retirement age may be set by action of two-thirds of the Trustees and that Trustees may be removed, with or without cause, by a vote of shareholders holding two-thirds of the voting power of the Trust, or by a vote of two-thirds of the remaining Trustees. The provisions of the Declaration relating to the election and removal of Trustees may not be amended without the approval of two-thirds of the Trustees.

Amendments to the Declaration

The Trustees are authorized to amend the Declaration without the vote of shareholders, but no amendment may be made that impairs the exemption from personal liability granted in the Declaration to persons who are or have been shareholders, Trustees, officers or employees of the Trust or that limits the rights to indemnification, advancement of expenses or insurance provided in the Declaration with respect to actions or omissions of persons entitled to indemnification, advancement of expenses or insurance under the Declaration prior to the amendment.

Issuance and Redemption of Shares

A fund may issue an unlimited number of shares for such consideration and on such terms as the Trustees may determine. All shares offered pursuant to the Prospectus of the fund, when issued, will be fully paid and nonassessable. Shareholders are not entitled to any appraisal, preemptive, conversion, exchange or similar rights, except as the Trustees may determine. A fund may involuntarily redeem a shareholder’s shares upon certain conditions as may be determined by the Trustees, including, for example, if the shareholder fails to provide a fund with identification required by law, or if the fund is unable to verify the information received from the shareholder. Additionally, as discussed below, shares may be redeemed in connection with the closing of small accounts.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the Trustees may in their sole discretion determine that shares of any series or class shall be issued and redeemed only in aggregations of such number of shares and at such time as may be determined by, or determined pursuant to procedures or methods prescribed or approved by, the Trustees from time to time with respect to any series or class. The number of shares comprising an aggregation for purposes of issuance or redemption with respect to any series or class are referred to as a “Creation Unit” and, collectively, as “Creation Units” (or such other term as the Trustees shall determine). The Trustees shall have the power, in connection with the issuance of any Creation Unit, to charge such transaction fees or other fees as the Trustees shall determine. In addition, the Trustees may, from time to time in their sole discretion, determine to

 

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change the number of shares constituting a Creation Unit. If the Trustees determine to issue shares of any series or class in Creation Units, then only shares of such series or class comprising a Creation Unit shall be redeemable by the Trust with respect to any applicable series or class. Unless the Trustees otherwise shall determine, there shall be no redemption of any partial or fractional Creation Unit.

Disclosure of Shareholder Holdings

The Declaration specifically requires shareholders, upon demand, to disclose to a fund information with respect to the direct and indirect ownership of shares in order to comply with various laws or regulations, and a fund may disclose such ownership if required by law or regulation, or as the Trustees otherwise decide.

Small Accounts

The Declaration provides that a fund may close out a shareholder’s account by redeeming all of the shares in the account if the account falls below a minimum account size (which may vary by class) that may be set by the Trustees from time to time. Alternately, the Declaration permits a fund to assess a fee for small accounts (which may vary by class) and redeem shares in the account to cover such fees, or convert the shares into another share class that is geared to smaller accounts.

Series and Classes

The Declaration provides that the Trustees may establish series and classes in addition to those currently established and that the Trustees may determine the rights and preferences, limitations and restrictions, including qualifications for ownership, conversion and exchange features, minimum purchase and account size, expenses and charges, and other features of the series and classes. The Trustees may change any of those features, terminate any series or class, combine series with other series in the Trust, combine one or more classes of a series with another class in that series or convert the shares of one class into shares of another class. Each share of a fund, as a series of the Trust, represents an interest in the fund only and not in the assets of any other series of the Trust.

Shareholder, Trustee and Officer Liability

The Declaration provides that shareholders are not personally liable for the obligations of a fund and requires the fund to indemnify a shareholder against any loss or expense arising from any such liability. The fund will assume the defense of any claim against a shareholder for personal liability at the request of the shareholder. The Declaration further provides that a Trustee acting in his or her capacity as a Trustee is not personally liable to any person, other than the Trust or its shareholders, in connection with the affairs of the Trust. Each Trustee is required to perform his or her duties in good faith and in a manner he or she believes to be in the best interests of the Trust. All actions and omissions of Trustees are presumed to be in accordance with the foregoing standard of performance, and any person alleging the contrary has the burden of proving that allegation.

The Declaration limits a Trustee’s liability to the Trust or any shareholder to the fullest extent permitted under current Maryland law by providing that a Trustee is liable to the Trust or its shareholders for monetary damages only (a) to the extent that it is proved that he or she actually received an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services or (b) to the extent that a judgment or other final adjudication adverse to the Trustee is entered in a proceeding based on a finding in the proceeding that the Trustee’s action, or failure to act, was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty and was material to the cause of action adjudicated in the proceeding.

The Declaration requires the Trust to indemnify any persons who are or who have been Trustees, officers or employees of the Trust to the fullest extent permitted by law against liability and expenses in connection with any claim or proceeding in which he or she is involved by virtue of having been a Trustee, officer or employee. In making any determination as to whether any person is entitled to the advancement of expenses in connection

 

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with a claim for which indemnification is sought, such person is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that he or she did not engage in conduct for which indemnification is not available.

The Declaration provides that any Trustee who serves as chair of the Board, a member or chair of a committee of the Board, lead independent Trustee, audit committee financial expert, or in any other similar capacity will not be subject to any greater standard of care or liability because of such position.

Derivative Actions

The Declaration provides a detailed process for the bringing of derivative actions by shareholders in order to permit legitimate inquiries and claims while avoiding the time, expense, distraction, and other harm that can be caused to a fund or its shareholders as a result of spurious shareholder demands and derivative actions. Prior to bringing a derivative action, a demand by no fewer than three unrelated shareholders must be made on the Trustees. The Declaration details information, certifications, undertakings and acknowledgements that must be included in the demand. The Trustees are not required to consider a demand that is not submitted in accordance with the requirements contained in the Declaration. The Declaration also requires that in order to bring a derivative action, the complaining shareholders must be joined in the action by shareholders owning, at the time of the alleged wrongdoing, at the time of demand, and at the time the action is commenced, shares representing at least 5% of the voting power of the affected funds. The Trustees have a period of 90 days, which may be extended by an additional 60 days, to consider the demand. If a majority of the Trustees who are considered independent for the purposes of considering the demand determine that a suit should be maintained, then the Trust will commence the suit and the suit will proceed directly and not derivatively. If a majority of the independent Trustees determines that maintaining the suit would not be in the best interests of the funds, the Trustees are required to reject the demand and the complaining shareholders may not proceed with the derivative action unless the shareholders are able to sustain the burden of proof to a court that the decision of the Trustees not to pursue the requested action was not consistent with the standard of performance required of the Trustees in performing their duties. If a demand is rejected, the complaining shareholders will be responsible for the costs and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by the Trust in connection with the consideration of the demand if, in the judgment of the independent Trustees, the demand was made without reasonable cause or for an improper purpose. If a derivative action is brought in violation of the Declaration, the shareholders bringing the action may be responsible for the funds’ costs, including attorneys’ fees.

The Declaration further provides that a fund shall be responsible for payment of attorneys’ fees and legal expenses incurred by a complaining shareholder only if required by law, and any attorneys’ fees that the fund is obligated to pay shall be calculated using reasonable hourly rates. The Declaration also requires that actions by shareholders against the Trust or a fund be brought only in federal court in Baltimore, Maryland, or if not permitted to be brought in federal court, then in state court in Baltimore, Maryland, and that the right to jury trial be waived to the fullest extent permitted by law.

TAXES

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax considerations regarding the purchase, ownership and disposition of shares of the fund by U.S. persons. This summary does not address all of the potential U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be applicable to the fund or to all categories of investors, some of which may be subject to special tax rules. Current and prospective shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisers with respect to the specific federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences of investing in the fund. The summary is based on the laws in effect on the date of this SAI and existing judicial and administrative interpretations thereof, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect.

Tax reform legislation commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was enacted on December 22, 2017. The Tax Act makes significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules for individuals and

 

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corporations, generally effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. Most of the changes applicable to individuals are temporary and, without further legislation, will not apply after 2025. The application of certain provisions of the Tax Act is uncertain, and the changes in the act may have indirect effects on the fund, its investments and its shareholders that cannot be predicted. In addition, legislative, regulatory or administrative changes could be enacted or promulgated at any time, either prospectively or with retroactive effect. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the implications of the Tax Act on their investment in the fund.

Taxation on Creations and Redemptions of Creation Units

An Authorized Participant generally will recognize either gain or loss upon the exchange of Deposit Securities for Creation Units. This gain or loss is calculated by taking the market value of the Creation Units purchased over the Authorized Participant’s aggregate basis in the Deposit Securities exchanged therefor. However, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) may apply the wash sales rules to determine that any loss realized upon the exchange of Deposit Securities for Creation Units is not currently deductible. Authorized Participants should consult their own tax advisers. Current U.S. federal income tax laws dictate that capital gain or loss realized from the redemption of Creation Units will generally create long-term capital gain or loss if the Authorized Participant holds the Creation Units for more than one year, or short-term capital gain or loss if the Creation Units were held for one year or less, if the Creation Units are held as capital assets.

The Fund and Its Investments

The fund intends to qualify to be treated as a regulated investment company under the Code each taxable year. To so qualify, the fund must, among other things: (a) derive at least 90% of its gross income in each taxable year from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies, other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies and net income derived from interests in QPTPs (i.e., partnerships that are traded on an established securities market or tradable on a secondary market, other than partnerships that derive 90% of their income from interest, dividends, capital gains and other traditionally permitted mutual fund income); and (b) diversify its holdings so that, at the end of each quarter of the fund’s taxable year, (i) at least 50% of the market value of the fund’s assets is represented by cash, securities of other regulated investment companies, U.S. government securities and other securities, with such other securities limited, in respect of any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the fund’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or securities of other regulated investment companies) of any one issuer, any two or more issuers of which 20% or more of the voting stock is held by the fund and that are determined to be engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or related trades or businesses or in the securities of one or more QPTPs.

Although in general the passive loss rules of the Code do not apply to regulated investment companies, such rules do apply to a regulated investment company with respect to items attributable to interests in QPTPs. Fund investments in partnerships, including in QPTPs, may result in the fund being subject to state, local or foreign income, franchise or withholding tax liabilities.

As a regulated investment company, the fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on its net investment income (i.e., income other than its net realized long-term and short-term capital gains) and its net realized long-term and short-term capital gains, if any, that it distributes to its shareholders, provided an amount equal to at least (i) 90% of the sum of its investment company taxable income (i.e., its taxable income minus the excess, if any, of its net realized long-term capital gains over its net realized short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers), plus or minus certain other adjustments as specified in the Code) and (ii) 90% of its net tax-exempt income for the taxable year is distributed to its shareholders in compliance with the Code’s timing and other requirements. However, any taxable income or gain the fund does not distribute will be subject to tax at regular corporate rates.

 

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The Code imposes a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the fund to the extent it does not distribute by the end of any calendar year at least 98% of its ordinary income for that year and at least 98.2% of its capital gain net income (both long-term and short-term) for the one-year period ending, as a general rule, on October 31 of that year. For this purpose, however, any ordinary income or capital gain net income retained by the fund that is subject to corporate income tax will be considered to have been distributed by year-end. In addition, the minimum amounts that must be distributed in any year to avoid the excise tax will be increased or decreased to reflect any underdistribution or overdistribution, as the case may be, from the previous year. The fund anticipates that it will pay such dividends and will make such distributions as are necessary in order to avoid the application of this excise tax.

If, in any taxable year, the fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company under the Code or fails to meet the distribution requirement, it will be taxed in the same manner as an ordinary corporation and distributions to its shareholders will not be deductible by the fund in computing its taxable income. In addition, in the event of a failure to qualify, the fund’s distributions, to the extent derived from the fund’s current or accumulated earnings and profits, will constitute dividends that are taxable to shareholders as ordinary income, even though those distributions might otherwise (at least in part) have been treated in the shareholders’ hands as long-term capital gains. However, such dividends will be eligible (i) to be treated as qualified dividend income in the case of shareholders taxed as individuals and (ii) for the dividends received deduction in the case of corporate shareholders. Moreover, if the fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company in any year, it must pay out its earnings and profits accumulated in that year in order to qualify again as a regulated investment company. If the fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company for a period greater than two taxable years, the fund may be required to recognize any net built-in gains with respect to certain of its assets (i.e., the excess of the aggregate gains, including items of income, over aggregate losses that would have been realized with respect to such assets if the fund had been liquidated) in order to qualify as a regulated investment company in a subsequent year.

The fund’s transactions in foreign currencies, forward contracts, options and futures contracts (including options and futures contracts on foreign currencies) will be subject to special provisions of the Code (including provisions relating to “hedging transactions” and “straddles”) that, among other things, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the fund (i.e., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income to the fund and defer fund losses. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also (a) will require the fund to mark-to-market certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out at the end of each year) and (b) may cause the fund to recognize income without receiving cash with which to pay dividends or make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the distribution requirements for avoiding income and excise taxes. The fund will monitor its transactions, will make the appropriate tax elections and will make the appropriate entries in its books and records when it acquires any foreign currency, forward contract, option, futures contract or hedged investment in order to mitigate the effect of these rules and prevent disqualification of the fund as a regulated investment company.

The fund’s investments in so-called “section 1256 contracts,” such as regulated futures contracts, most foreign currency forward contracts traded in the interbank market and options on most stock indexes, are subject to special tax rules. All section 1256 contracts held by the fund at the end of its taxable year are required to be marked to their market value, and any unrealized gain or loss on those positions will be included in the fund’s income as if each position had been sold for its fair market value at the end of the taxable year. The resulting gain or loss will be combined with any gain or loss realized by the fund from positions in section 1256 contracts closed during the taxable year. Provided such positions were held as capital assets and were not part of a “hedging transaction” nor part of a “straddle,” 60% of the resulting net gain or loss will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss, and 40% of such net gain or loss will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss, regardless of the period of time the positions were actually held by the fund.

As a result of entering into swap contracts, the fund may make or receive periodic net payments. The fund may also make or receive a payment when a swap is terminated prior to maturity through an assignment of the

 

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swap or other closing transaction. Periodic net payments will generally constitute ordinary income or deductions, while termination of a swap will generally result in capital gain or loss (which will be a long-term capital gain or loss if the fund has been a party to the swap for more than one year). With respect to certain types of swaps, the fund may be required to currently recognize income or loss with respect to future payments on such swaps or may elect under certain circumstances to mark such swaps to market annually for tax purposes as ordinary income or loss. The tax treatment of many types of credit default swaps is uncertain.

The fund may be required to treat amounts as taxable income or gain, subject to the distribution requirements referred to above, even though no corresponding amounts of cash are received concurrently, as a result of (a) mark-to-market, constructive sale or rules applicable to PFICs (as defined below) or partnerships or trusts in which the fund invests or to certain options, futures or forward contracts, or “appreciated financial positions” or (b) the inability to obtain cash distributions or other amounts due to currency controls or restrictions on repatriation imposed by a foreign country with respect to the fund’s investments (including through depositary receipts) in issuers in such country or (c) tax rules applicable to debt obligations acquired with “original issue discount,” including zero-coupon or deferred payment bonds and pay-in-kind debt obligations, or to market discount if an election is made with respect to such market discount or if the fund accrues such market discount in its financial statements. The fund may therefore be required to obtain cash to be used to satisfy these distribution requirements by selling securities at times that it might not otherwise be desirable to do so or borrowing the necessary cash, thereby incurring interest expenses.

In certain situations, the fund may, for a taxable year, defer all or a portion of its capital losses and currency losses realized after October (or if there is no net capital loss, then any net long-term or short-term capital loss) and its late-year ordinary losses (defined as the sum of the excess of post-October foreign currency and PFIC losses over post-October foreign currency and PFIC gains plus the excess of post-December ordinary losses over post-December ordinary income) realized after December until the next taxable year in computing its investment company taxable income and net capital gain, which will defer the recognition of such realized losses. Such deferrals and other rules regarding gains and losses realized after October (or December) may affect the tax character of shareholder distributions.

In general, gain or loss on a short sale is recognized when the fund closes the sale by delivering the borrowed property to the lender, not when the borrowed property is sold. Gain or loss from a short sale is generally considered as capital gain or loss to the extent that the property used to close the short sale constitutes a capital asset in the fund’s hands. Except with respect to certain situations where the property used by the fund to close a short sale has a long-term holding period on the date of the short sale, special rules would generally treat the gains on short sales as short-term capital gains. These rules may also terminate the running of the holding period of “substantially identical property” held by the fund. Moreover, a loss on a short sale will be treated as a long-term capital loss if, on the date of the short sale, “substantially identical property” has been held by the fund for more than one year. In general, the fund will not be permitted to deduct payments made to reimburse the lender of securities for dividends paid on borrowed stock if the short sale is closed on or before the 45th day after the short sale is entered into. In the event that the fund were to experience an ownership change as defined under the Code, the fund’s loss carryforwards, if any, may be subject to limitation.

Foreign Investments. Dividends, interest and proceeds from the sale of foreign securities may be subject to non-U.S. withholding income and other taxes, including financial transaction taxes. Even if the fund is entitled to seek a refund in respect of such taxes, it may choose not to. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes in some cases. Foreign taxes paid by the fund will reduce the return from the fund’s investments.

Under Section 988 of the Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the time the fund accrues income or receivables or expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time the fund actually collects such income or pays such liabilities are generally treated as ordinary income or ordinary loss. In general, gains (and losses) realized on debt instruments will be treated as Section 988

 

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gain (or loss) to the extent attributable to changes in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the instruments are denominated. Similarly, gains or losses on foreign currency, foreign currency forward contracts, certain foreign currency options or futures contracts and the disposition of debt securities denominated in foreign currency, to the extent attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the acquisition and disposition dates, are also treated as ordinary income or loss unless the fund were to elect otherwise.

Passive Foreign Investment Companies. If the fund purchases shares in certain foreign investment entities, called “passive foreign investment companies” (“PFICs”), it may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a portion of any “excess distribution” or gain from the disposition of such shares even if such income is distributed as a taxable dividend by the fund to its shareholders. Additional charges in the nature of interest may be imposed on the fund in respect of deferred taxes arising from such distributions or gains.

If the fund were to invest in a PFIC and elect to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” under the Code, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, the fund might be required to include in income each year a portion of the ordinary earnings and net capital gains of the qualified electing fund, even if not distributed to the fund, and such amounts would be subject to the 90% and excise tax distribution requirements described above. In order to make this election, the fund would be required to obtain certain annual information from the PFICs in which it invests, which may be difficult or impossible to obtain.

Alternatively, the fund may, in certain cases, make a mark-to-market election that will result in the fund being treated as if it had sold and repurchased its PFIC stock at the end of each year. In such case, the fund would report any such gains as ordinary income and would deduct any such losses as ordinary losses to the extent of previously recognized gains. The election must be made separately for each PFIC owned by the fund and, once made, would be effective for all subsequent taxable years, unless revoked with the consent of the IRS. By making the election, the fund could potentially ameliorate the adverse tax consequences with respect to its ownership of shares in a PFIC, but in any particular year may be required to recognize income in excess of the distributions it receives from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock. The fund may have to distribute this “phantom” income and gain to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement and to avoid imposition of the 4% excise tax.

The fund will make the appropriate tax elections, if possible, and take any additional steps that are necessary to mitigate the effect of these rules.

Taxation of U.S. Shareholders

Dividends and Distributions. Dividends and other distributions by the fund are generally treated under the Code as received by the shareholders at the time the dividend or distribution is made. However, any dividend declared by the fund in October, November or December of any calendar year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month shall be deemed to have been received by each shareholder on December 31 of such calendar year and to have been paid by the fund not later than such December 31, provided such dividend is actually paid by the fund during January of the following calendar year. The fund intends to distribute annually to its shareholders substantially all of its investment company taxable income, and any net realized long-term capital gains in excess of net realized short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers). However, if the fund retains for investment an amount equal to all or a portion of its net long-term capital gains in excess of its net short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers), it will be subject to a corporate tax (at a flat rate of 21%) on the amount retained. In that event, the fund will designate such retained amounts as undistributed capital gains in a notice to its shareholders who (a) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gains, their proportionate shares of the undistributed amount, (b) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the tax paid by the fund on the undistributed amount against their U.S. federal income tax liabilities, if any, and to claim refunds to the extent their credits exceed their liabilities, if any, and (c) will be entitled to increase their tax basis, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in their shares by an amount equal to the excess of the amount in clause (a) over the amount in clause (b). Organizations or persons not subject to federal income tax on such capital gains will be entitled to a

 

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refund of their pro rata share of such taxes paid by the fund upon filing appropriate returns or claims for refund with the IRS.

Dividends of net investment income and distributions of net realized short-term capital gains are taxable to a U.S. shareholder as ordinary income, whether paid in cash or in shares. Distributions of net realized long-term capital gains, if any, that the fund reports as capital gains dividends are taxable as long-term capital gains, whether paid in cash or in shares and regardless of how long a shareholder has held shares of the fund. Such dividends will not be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Dividends and distributions paid by the fund attributable to dividends on stock of U.S. corporations received by the fund, with respect to which the fund meets certain holding period requirements, will be eligible for the deduction for dividends received by corporations. Special rules apply, however, to regular dividends paid to individuals. Such a dividend may be subject to tax at the rates generally applicable to long-term capital gains for individuals (a maximum of 15% or 20% for individuals, depending on whether their income exceeds certain threshold amounts which are adjusted annually for inflation), provided that the individual receiving the dividend satisfies certain holding period and other requirements. Dividends subject to these special rules are not actually treated as capital gains, however, and thus are not included in the computation of an individual’s net capital gain and generally cannot be used to offset capital losses. The long-term capital gains rates will apply to: (a) 100% of the regular dividends paid by the fund to an individual in a particular taxable year if 95% or more of the fund’s gross income (ignoring gains attributable to the sale of stocks and securities except to the extent net short-term capital gain from such sales exceeds net long-term capital loss from such sales) in that taxable year is attributable to qualified dividend income received by the fund; or (b) the portion of the regular dividends paid by the fund to an individual in a particular taxable year that is attributable to qualified dividend income received by the fund in that taxable year if such qualified dividend income accounts for less than 95% of the fund’s gross income (ignoring gains attributable to the sale of stocks and securities except to the extent net short-term capital gain from such sales exceeds net long-term capital loss from such sales) for that taxable year. For this purpose, “qualified dividend income” generally means income from dividends received by the fund from U.S. corporations and qualified foreign corporations, provided that the fund satisfies certain holding period requirements in respect of the stock of such corporations and has not hedged its position in the stock in certain ways. Also, dividends received by the fund from a REIT or another regulated investment company generally are qualified dividend income only to the extent the dividend distributions are made out of qualified dividend income received by such REIT or other regulated investment company. In addition, the Tax Act permits a direct REIT shareholder to claim a 20% “qualified business income” deduction for ordinary REIT dividends, but does not permit a regulated investment company paying dividends attributable to such income to pass through this special treatment to its shareholders. Unless future legislation provides for a pass-through, investors in such a regulated investment company will treat such distributions as ordinary dividend income, as under prior law, whereas a direct REIT investor would benefit from the special treatment. In the case of securities lending transactions, payments in lieu of dividends are not qualified dividend income.

If an individual receives a regular dividend qualifying for the long-term capital gains rates and such dividend constitutes an “extraordinary dividend,” and the individual subsequently recognizes a loss on the sale or exchange of stock in respect of which the extraordinary dividend was paid, then the loss will be long-term capital loss to the extent of such extraordinary dividend. An “extraordinary dividend” on common stock for this purpose is generally a dividend (a) in an amount greater than or equal to 10% of the taxpayer’s tax basis (or trading value) in a share of stock, aggregating dividends with ex-dividend dates within an 85-day period or (b) in an amount greater than 20% of the taxpayer’s tax basis (or trading value) in a share of stock, aggregating dividends with ex-dividend dates within a 365-day period. Distributions in excess of the fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits will, as to each shareholder, be treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of a shareholder’s basis in his shares of the fund, and as a capital gain thereafter (if the shareholder holds his shares of the fund as capital assets).

Investors considering buying shares just prior to the record date for a taxable dividend or capital gain distribution should be aware that, although the price of shares just purchased at that time may reflect the amount of

 

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the forthcoming distribution, such dividend or distribution may nevertheless be taxable to them. If the fund is the holder of record of any stock on the record date for any dividends payable with respect to such stock, such dividends are included in the fund’s gross income not as of the date received but as of the later of (a) the date such stock became ex-dividend with respect to such dividends (i.e., the date on which a buyer of the stock would not be entitled to receive the declared, but unpaid, dividends) or (b) the date the fund acquired such stock. Accordingly, in order to satisfy its income distribution requirements, the fund may be required to pay dividends based on anticipated earnings, and shareholders may receive dividends in an earlier year than would otherwise be the case.

Under current law, the fund serves to block unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) from being realized by its tax-exempt shareholders. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a tax-exempt shareholder could realize UBTI by virtue of its investment in the fund if shares in the fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Code Section 514(b). Certain types of income received by the fund from REITs, real estate mortgage investment conduits, taxable mortgage pools or other investments may cause the fund to designate some or all of its distributions as “excess inclusion income.” To fund shareholders such excess inclusion income may (a) constitute taxable income, as UBTI for those shareholders who would otherwise be tax-exempt such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) accounts, Keogh plans, pension plans and certain charitable entities; (b) not be offset by otherwise allowable deductions for tax purposes; (c) not be eligible for reduced U.S. withholding for non-U.S. shareholders even from tax treaty countries; and (d) cause the fund to be subject to tax if certain “disqualified organizations” as defined by the Code are fund shareholders. If a charitable remainder annuity trust or charitable remainder unitrust (each as defined in Code Section 664) has UBTI for a tax year, a 100% excise tax on the UBTI is imposed on the trust.

Sales of Shares. Upon the sale or exchange of his shares, a shareholder will realize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and his or her basis in the shares. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in the shareholder’s hands, and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less. Any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition of the shares. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be increased to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss realized by a shareholder on the sale of a fund share held by the shareholder for six months or less will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions or deemed distributions of long-term capital gains received by the shareholder with respect to such share during such six month period.

Backup Withholding. The fund may be required to withhold, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, 24% of the dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds payable to shareholders who fail to provide the fund with their correct taxpayer identification number or to make required certifications, or who have been notified by the IRS that they are subject to backup withholding. Certain shareholders are exempt from backup withholding. Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability.

If the fund is held through a qualified retirement plan entitled to tax exempt treatment for federal income tax purposes, distributions will generally not be taxable currently. Special tax rules apply to such retirement plans. You should consult your tax adviser regarding the tax treatment of distributions (which may include amounts attributable to fund distributions) which may be taxable when distributed from the retirement plan.

Other Taxes

Dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds may also be subject to additional state, local and foreign taxes depending on each shareholder’s particular situation.

 

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If a shareholder recognizes a loss with respect to the fund’s shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a regulated investment company are not excepted. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisers to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

Taxation of Non-U.S. Shareholders

Dividends paid by the fund to non-U.S. shareholders are generally subject to withholding tax at a 30% rate or a reduced rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty to the extent derived from investment income and short-term capital gains. In order to obtain a reduced rate of withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will be required to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN or IRS Form W-8BEN-E certifying its entitlement to benefits under a treaty. The withholding tax does not apply to regular dividends paid to a non-U.S. shareholder who provides a Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the non-U.S. shareholder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax as if the non-U.S. shareholder were a U.S. shareholder. A non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate). A non-U.S. shareholder who fails to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or other applicable form may be subject to backup withholding at the appropriate rate.

In general, U.S. federal withholding tax will not apply to any gain or income realized by a non-U.S. shareholder in respect of any distributions of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses, exempt-interest dividends, or upon the sale or other disposition of shares of the fund.

Properly reported dividends are generally exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax where they (a) are paid in respect of the fund’s “qualified net interest income” (generally, the fund’s U.S. source interest income, other than certain contingent interest and interest from obligations of a corporation or partnership in which the fund is at least a 10% shareholder, reduced by expenses that are allocable to such income) or (b) are paid in respect of the fund’s “qualified short-term capital gains” (generally, the excess of the fund’s net short-term capital gain over the fund’s long-term capital loss for such taxable year). However, depending on its circumstances, the fund may report all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as such qualified net interest income or as qualified short-term capital gains and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an applicable IRS Form W-8 or substitute Form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if the fund reports the payment as qualified net interest income or qualified short-term capital gain. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.

Distributions that the fund reports as “short-term capital gain dividends” or “long-term capital gain dividends” will not be treated as such to a recipient non-U.S. shareholder if the distribution is attributable to gain received from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation and the fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property exceed certain levels. Instead, if the non-U.S. shareholder has not owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of distribution, such distributions will be subject to 30% withholding by the fund and will be treated as ordinary dividends to the non-U.S. shareholder; if the non-U.S. shareholder owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the distribution, such distribution will be treated as real property gain subject to 21% withholding tax and could subject the non-U.S. shareholder to U.S. filing requirements. Additionally, if the fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels, a non-U.S. shareholder realizing gains upon a sale or

 

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exchange of shares could be subject to the 21% withholding tax and U.S. filing requirements unless more than 50% of the fund’s shares were owned by U.S. persons at such time or unless the non-U.S. person had not held more than 5% of the fund’s outstanding shares throughout either such person’s holding period for the redeemed shares or, if shorter, the previous five years.

In addition, the same rules apply with respect to distributions to a non-U.S. shareholder from the fund and redemptions of a non-U.S. shareholder’s interest in the fund attributable to a REIT’s distribution to the fund of gain from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation, if the fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels.

The rules laid out in the previous two paragraphs, other than the withholding rules, will apply notwithstanding the fund’s participation in a wash sale transaction or its payment of a substitute dividend.

Under legislation known as “FATCA” (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), the fund will be required to withhold 30% of certain ordinary dividends it pays and 30% of the gross proceeds of share redemptions and certain capital gain dividends it pays after December 31, 2018, to shareholders that fail to meet prescribed information reporting or certification requirements. In general, no such withholding will be required with respect to a U.S. person or non-U.S. individual that timely provides the certifications required by the fund or its agent on a valid IRS Form W-9 or W-8, respectively. Shareholders potentially subject to withholding include foreign financial institutions (“FFIs”), such as non-U.S. investment funds, and non-financial foreign entities (“NFFEs”). To avoid withholding under FATCA, an FFI generally must enter into an information sharing agreement with the IRS in which it agrees to report certain identifying information (including name, address, and taxpayer identification number) with respect to its U.S. account holders (which, in the case of an entity shareholder, may include its direct and indirect U.S. owners), and an NFFE generally must identify and provide other required information to the fund or other withholding agent regarding its U.S. owners, if any. Such non-U.S. shareholders also may fall into certain exempt, excepted or deemed compliant categories as established by regulations and other guidance. A non-U.S. shareholder resident or doing business in a country that has entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the U.S. to implement FATCA will be exempt from FATCA withholding provided that the shareholder and the applicable foreign government comply with the terms of such agreement.

Non-U.S. investors should consult their own tax advisers regarding the impact of these requirements on their investment in the fund. The tax consequences to a non-U.S. shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of an applicable tax treaty may be different from those described here. Foreign shareholders should consult their own tax advisers with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the fund, including the applicability of non-U.S. taxes.

Shares of the fund held by a non-U.S. shareholder at death will be considered situated in the United States and subject to the U.S. estate tax.

The foregoing is only a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax consequences affecting the fund and its shareholders. Current and prospective shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisers with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the fund.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As the fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this SAI, no financial information is available as of the date of this SAI.

 

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APPENDIX A

DESCRIPTION OF RATINGS

The ratings of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., S&P’s Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings represent their opinions as to the quality of various debt obligations. It should be emphasized, however, that ratings are not absolute standards of quality. Consequently, debt obligations with the same maturity, coupon and rating may have different yields while debt obligations of the same maturity and coupon with different ratings may have the same yield. As described by the rating agencies, ratings are generally given to securities at the time of issuances. While the rating agencies may from time to time revise such ratings, they undertake no obligation to do so.