485APOS 1 d445553d485apos.htm THRIVENT CORE FUNDS Thrivent Core Funds
Table of Contents
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 30, 2017.
1933 Act Registration No. 333-218855
1940 Act Registration No. 811-23149
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549

FORM N-1A
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Pre-Effective Amendment No.
Post-Effective Amendment No. 1
and/or  
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940
Amendment No. 5
(Check appropriate box or boxes)  

THRIVENT CORE FUNDS
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

625 FOURTH AVENUE SOUTH
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 55415
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)(Zip Code)
Registrant's Telephone Number, including Area Code: (612) 844-4198

MICHAEL W. KREMENAK
SECRETARY AND CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER
THRIVENT MUTUAL FUNDS
625 FOURTH AVENUE SOUTH
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 55415
(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

It is proposed that this filing will become effective:
immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b):
on (date) pursuant to paragraph (b)
on (date) after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)
on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485.
If appropriate, check the following box:
this post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.
  
In addition to the Fund described in this Registration Statement, the Registrant offers another series pursuant to a separate prospectus and statement of additional information filed only under the Investment Company Act of 1940; the filing of this Registration Statement does not affect such other prospectus and statement of additional information of the Registrant.


Table of Contents
November 14, 2017
PROSPECTUS
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund    
     
The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. Shares of Thrivent Core Funds are subject to investment risk, including possible loss of the principal amount invested.


 


 


 

Thrivent Core International Equity Fund

Investment Objective
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund (the "Fund") seeks long-term capital appreciation. The Fund's investment objective may be changed without shareholder approval.
Fees and Expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.
SHAREHOLDER FEES
(fees paid directly from your investment)
Maximum Sales Charge (load) Imposed On Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) N/A
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the net asset value at time of purchase or redemption, whichever is lower) N/A
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of
the value of your investment)
Management Fees None
Distribution and Shareholder Service (12b-1) Fees None
Other Expenses1 0.09%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.09%
1 These expenses are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.
EXAMPLE
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual cost may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your cost would be:
1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
$9 $29 N/A N/A
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund had not yet commenced
operations prior to the date of this prospectus, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate for the most recent fiscal year end is not yet available.
Principal Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowing for investment purposes) in equity securities. At least 65% of the Fund’s net assets will be invested in equity securities of issuers in international developed market countries. Developed market countries are countries covered by the MSCI EAFE + Canada Index, an international developed markets equity index. The Fund will primarily invest in the common stocks of mid- and large-capitalization companies represented in its benchmark, but may also invest in preferred stocks and small capitalization companies. The Fund will invest in securities denominated in the currency of their primary exchange. Should Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (“Thrivent Asset Mgt.” or the “Adviser”) determine that the Fund would benefit from reducing the percentage of its net assets invested in international developed markets equity securities from 80% to a lesser amount, it will notify shareholders at least 60 days prior to the change.
The Fund may invest in derivatives or other investments whose return is based on the return of developed market equity securities, such as an exchange-traded fund or equity index futures. The Fund expects to use these derivatives or other instruments primarily to increase or decrease exposure to a particular market, segment of the market, country, or security and to increase or decrease currency exposure.
In buying and selling securities for the Fund, the Adviser uses a disciplined approach that involves computer-aided, quantitative analysis of fundamental, technical and risk-related factors. The Adviser’s factor model systematically reviews thousands of stocks, using data such as historical earnings growth and expected future growth, valuation, price momentum, and other quantitative factors to forecast return potential. Then, risk characteristics of potential investments and covariation among securities are analyzed along with the return forecasts in determining the Fund’s holdings.
Principal Risks
The Fund is subject to the following principal investment risks. Shares of the Fund will rise and fall in value and there is a risk that you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund cannot be certain that it will achieve its investment objective.
Derivatives Risk. The use of derivatives (such as futures and swaps) involves additional risks and transaction costs which could leave the Fund in a worse position than if it had not used these instruments. The use of derivatives can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the underlying asset, index or rate, which may be magnified by
 
 
2

 

certain features of the contract. Changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate as intended with the underlying asset, rate or index, and the Fund could lose much more than the original amount invested. Derivatives can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value. Derivatives are also subject to the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations.
Foreign Securities Risk. Foreign securities are generally more volatile than their domestic counterparts, in part because of higher political and economic risks, lack of reliable information and fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Foreign securities may also be more difficult to resell than comparable U.S. securities because the markets for foreign securities are often less liquid. Even when a foreign security increases in price in its local currency, the appreciation may be diluted by adverse changes in exchange rates when the security’s value is converted to U.S. dollars. Foreign withholding taxes also may apply and errors and delays may occur in the settlement process for foreign securities. All of these risks may be heightened for securities of issuers located in, or with significant operations in, emerging market countries.
Investment Adviser Risk. The Fund is actively managed and the success of its investment strategy depends significantly on the skills of the Adviser in assessing the potential of the investments in which the Fund invests. This assessment of investments may prove incorrect, resulting in losses or poor performance, even in rising markets.
Issuer Risk. Issuer risk is the possibility that factors specific to a company to which the Fund's portfolio is exposed will affect the market prices of the company’s securities and therefore the value of the Fund.
Large Cap Risk. Large-sized companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges such as changes in technology. They may also not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk. Liquidity is the ability to sell a security relatively quickly for a price that most closely reflects the actual value of the security. Certain securities (e.g., foreign securities, including emerging markets bonds, and high yield bonds) generally have a less liquid resale market. In addition, dealer inventories of bonds are at or near historic lows in relation to market size, which has the potential to decrease liquidity and increase price volatility in the fixed income markets, particularly during periods of economic or market stress. As a result, the Adviser may have difficulty selling or disposing of securities quickly in certain markets or may only be able to sell the holdings at prices substantially less than what the Adviser believes they are worth.
Market Risk. Over time, securities markets generally tend to move in cycles with periods when security prices rise and periods when security prices decline. The value of the Fund’s investments may move with these cycles and, in some instances, increase or decrease more than the applicable market(s) as measured by the Fund’s benchmark index(es). The securities
markets may also decline because of factors that affect a particular industry.
Mid Cap Risk. Medium-sized companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than larger, more-established companies. These companies tend to have smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer financial resources, and less competitive strength than larger companies.
Portfolio Turnover Rate Risk. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities in implementing its principal investment strategies. A high rate of portfolio turnover (100% or more) involves correspondingly greater expenses which are borne by the Fund and its shareholders and may also result in short-term capital gains taxable to shareholders.
Small Cap Risk. Smaller, less seasoned companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than larger, more established companies. These companies tend to have small revenues, narrower product lines, less management depth and experience, small shares of their product or service markets, fewer financial resources, and less competitive strength than larger companies. Such companies seldom pay significant dividends that could cushion returns in a falling market.
Volatility and Performance
No performance information for the Fund is provided because it commenced operations on November 14, 2017. Call (800) THRIVENT (847-4836) for performance results current to the most recent month-end that takes place after November 14, 2017.
How a Fund has performed in the past is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future.
Management
Investment Adviser(s)
The Fund is managed by Thrivent Asset Mgt.
Portfolio Manager(s)
Noah J. Monsen, CFA and Brian W. Bomgren, CQF have served as portfolio managers of the Fund since its inception in 2017. Mr. Monsen has been with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (“Thrivent Financial”) since 2000 and has served in an investment management capacity since 2008. Mr. Bomgren has been with Thrivent Financial since 2006 and is currently a Senior Equity Portfolio Manager.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of the Fund directly from the Fund.
There are no minimum initial or subsequent investment requirements to invest in the Fund.
Shares may be purchased from or sold back to the Fund on days that the New York Stock Exchange is open for business at the net asset value per share of the Fund next determined after the
3

 

transaction request is communicated by an authorized individual (i.e., the Adviser’s operations personnel) to the Fund’s transfer agent and determined to be in good order.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
Not Applicable.
4

 

More about Investment Strategies and Risks

The Fund’s investment objective and principal strategies are described in the “Summary Section” above. The principal strategies are the strategies that the Adviser believes are most likely to be important in trying to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Please note that the Fund may also use strategies and invest in securities that are not described in this prospectus, but that are described in the statement of additional information.
Information about Certain Principal Investment Strategies
This section provides additional information about some of the securities and other practices in which the Fund may engage, along with their associated risks.
Derivatives. Derivatives, a category that includes options, futures, swaps and hybrid instruments, are financial instruments whose value derives from another security, an index, an interest rate or a currency. The Fund may use derivatives for hedging purposes (attempting to offset a potential loss in one position by establishing an interest in an opposite position). This includes the use of currency-based derivatives for hedging its positions in foreign securities. The Fund may also use derivatives to obtain investment exposure to a certain asset class or for speculation (investing for potential income or capital gain).
While hedging can guard against potential risks, using derivatives adds to the Fund’s expenses and can eliminate some opportunities for gains. There is also a risk that a derivative intended as a hedge may not perform as expected. For example, the price or value of the underlying instrument, asset, index, currency or rate may move in a different direction than expected or such movements may be of a magnitude greater or less than expected.
Another risk with derivatives is that some types can amplify a gain or loss, potentially earning or losing substantially more money than the actual cost (if any) incurred when the derivative is entered into by the Fund. In addition, a derivative used for hedging or replication may not accurately track the value of the underlying asset, index or rate.
With some derivatives, whether used for hedging, replication or speculation, there is also the risk that the counterparty may fail to honor its contract terms, causing a loss for the Fund. In addition, suitable derivative investments for hedging, replication or speculative purposes may not be available.
Derivatives can be difficult to value and illiquid, which means the Fund may not be able to close out a derivatives transaction in a cost-efficient manner. Futures contracts are subject to the risk that an exchange may impose price fluctuation limits, which may make it difficult or impossible for the Fund to close out a position when desired.
Hybrid instruments (a type of potentially high-risk derivative) can combine the characteristics of securities, futures, and options.
For example, the principal amount, redemption, or conversion terms of a security could be related to the market price of some commodity, currency, or securities index. Such securities may bear interest or pay dividends at below market or even relatively nominal rates. Under certain conditions, the redemption value of a hybrid could be zero.
Foreign currency transactions. The Fund may conduct foreign currency exchange transactions, normally either on a spot (i.e., cash) basis at the spot rate prevailing in the foreign currency exchange market, or through entering into forward contracts to purchase or sell foreign currencies. The Fund will generally not enter into a forward contract with a term greater than one year.
Although forward contracts may be used to protect the Fund from adverse currency movements, they also involve the risk that anticipated currency movements will not be accurately predicted, and the Fund’s total returns could be adversely affected as a result.
There are some markets where it is not possible to engage in effective foreign currency hedging. This is generally true, for example, for the currencies of various emerging markets where the foreign exchange markets are not sufficiently developed to permit hedging activity to take place.
Foreign securities. Foreign securities are generally more volatile than their domestic counterparts, in part because of higher political and economic risks, lack of reliable information and fluctuations in currency exchange rates. These risks are usually higher in less developed countries. The Fund may use foreign currencies and related instruments to hedge its foreign investments.
In addition, foreign securities may be more difficult to resell than comparable U.S. securities because the markets for foreign securities may be less efficient. Even where a foreign security increases in price in its local currency, the appreciation may be diluted by the negative effect of exchange rates when the security’s value is converted to U.S. dollars. Foreign withholding taxes also may apply and errors and delays may occur in the settlement process for foreign securities.
Illiquid securities. The Fund may invest up to 15% of net assets in illiquid securities. Any securities that are thinly traded or whose resale is restricted can be difficult to sell at a desired time and price. Some of these securities are new and complex, and trade only among institutions. The markets for these securities are still developing and may not function as efficiently as established markets. Owning a large percentage of illiquid securities could hamper the Fund’s ability to raise cash to meet redemptions. Also, because there may not be an established market price for these securities, the Fund may have to determine their values using fair valuation, which means that their valuation (and, to a much smaller extent, the valuation of the Fund) may have a subjective element.
 
 
5

 

Securities lending. The Fund may seek additional income by lending Fund securities to qualified institutions. By reinvesting any cash collateral it receives in these transactions, the Fund could realize additional gains or losses. If the borrower fails to return the securities and the invested collateral has declined in value, the Fund could lose money.
Short-term trading. The investment strategy for the Fund at times may include short-term trading. While the Fund ordinarily does not trade securities for short-term profits, it will sell any security at any time it believes best, which may result in short-term trading. Short-term trading can increase the Fund’s transaction costs and may increase your tax liability.
Information about Certain Non-Principal Investment Strategies
Defensive investing. In response to market, economic, political or other conditions, the Fund may hold cash or invest without limitation in preferred stocks or investment-grade debt securities for temporary defensive purposes that are not part of the Fund’s principal investment strategies. If the Fund does this, different factors could affect the Fund’s performance and it may not achieve its investment objective.
In-kind redemptions. The Fund may redeem its shares in-kind (i.e., with portfolio securities of the Fund), subject to applicable regulatory requirements, to certain shareholders seeking an in-kind redemption.
Unusual opportunities. The Fund may purchase some securities that do not meet its normal investment criteria when the Adviser perceives an unusual opportunity for gain, which could include a variety of factors, including a change in management, an extraordinary corporate event, or a temporary imbalance in the supply of or demand for the securities. If the anticipated gains do not materialize, the Fund could lose money from such an investment.
Glossary of Principal Risks
The main risks associated with investing in the Fund are summarized in “Summary Section” above. More detailed descriptions of the main risks and additional risks of the Fund are described below. Please note that the Fund also may use strategies and be subject to risks that are not described in this prospectus, but that are described in the statement of additional information.
Cyber Security Risk. With the increased use of the Internet and other technologies, the Fund and its service providers are subject to operational and information security risks resulting from cyber-attacks and/or other technological malfunctions or programming inaccuracies. In general, cyber-attacks are deliberate, but unintentional events may have similar effects. Successful cyber-attacks against, or security breakdowns of, the Fund or any affiliated or third-party service provider may adversely affect the Fund or its shareholders. While the Fund and its service providers have established business continuity plans
and systems designed to prevent cyber-attacks, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified. Similar types of cyber security risks also are present for issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, which could result in material adverse consequences for such issuers, and may cause the Fund’s investment in such securities to lose value.
Derivatives Risk. The use of derivatives (such as futures and swaps) involves additional risks and transaction costs which could leave the Fund in a worse position than if it had not used these instruments. Changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate as intended with the underlying asset, rate or index, and the Fund could lose much more than the original amount invested. Derivatives can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value. Derivatives are also subject to the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations.
The success of the Fund’s derivatives strategies will depend on the Adviser’s ability to assess and predict the impact of market or economic developments on the underlying asset, index or rate and the derivative itself, without the benefit of observing the performance of the derivative under all possible market conditions. Swap agreements may involve fees, commissions or other costs that may reduce the Fund’s gains from a swap agreement or may cause the Fund to lose money. Futures contracts are subject to the risk that an exchange may impose price fluctuation limits, which may make it difficult or impossible for a fund to close out a position when desired.
Foreign Securities Risk. Foreign securities are generally more volatile than their domestic counterparts, in part because of higher political and economic risks, lack of reliable information and fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Foreign securities also may be more difficult to resell than comparable U.S. securities because the markets for foreign securities are often less liquid. Even when a foreign security increases in price in its local currency, the appreciation may be diluted by adverse changes in exchange rates when the security’s value is converted to U.S. dollars. Foreign withholding taxes also may apply and errors and delays may occur in the settlement process for foreign securities.
Securities of foreign companies in which the Fund invests generally carry more risk than securities of U.S. companies. The economies and financial markets of certain regions—such as Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean region—can be highly interdependent and may decline at the same time. Certain European countries in which the Fund may invest have recently experienced significant volatility in financial markets and may continue to do so in the future. The impact of the United Kingdom’s intended departure from the European Union, commonly known as “Brexit,” and the potential departure of one or more other countries from the European Union may have significant political and financial consequences for global markets. These consequences include greater market volatility and illiquidity, currency fluctuations, deterioration in economic activity, a decrease in business confidence and an increased likelihood of a recession in such markets. Uncertainty relating to the withdrawal procedures and timeline may have adverse effects on asset valuations and the renegotiation of current trade
6

 

agreements, as well as an increase in financial regulation in such markets. This may adversely impact Fund performance.
Other risks result from the varying stages of economic and political development of foreign countries; the differing regulatory environments, trading days, and accounting standards of foreign markets; and higher transaction costs. The Fund’s investment in any country could be subject to governmental actions such as capital or currency controls, nationalizing a company or industry, expropriating assets, or imposing punitive taxes that would have an adverse effect on security prices and impair the Fund’s ability to repatriate capital or income. The Fund is also subject to the risk that the value of a foreign currency may decline against the U.S. dollar, which would reduce the dollar value of securities denominated in that currency. The overall impact of such a decline of foreign currency can be significant, unpredictable, and long lasting, depending on the currencies represented, how each one appreciates or depreciates in relation to the U.S. dollar, and whether currency positions are hedged. Under normal conditions, the Fund does not engage in extensive foreign currency hedging programs. Further, exchange rate movements are volatile, and it is not possible to effectively hedge the currency risks of many developing countries.
Futures Contract Risk. The value of a futures contract tends to increase and decrease in tandem with the value of the underlying instrument. The price of futures can be highly volatile; using them could lower total return, and the potential loss from futures can exceed the Fund’s initial investment in such contracts.
Investment Adviser Risk. The Fund is actively managed and the success of its investment strategy depends significantly on the skills of the Adviser in assessing the potential of the investments in which the Fund invests. This assessment of investments may prove incorrect, resulting in losses or poor performance, even in rising markets.
Issuer Risk. Issuer risk is the possibility that factors specific to a company to which the Fund’s portfolio is exposed will affect the market prices of the company’s securities and therefore the value of the Fund. Some factors affecting the performance of a company include demand for the company’s products or services, the quality of management of the company and brand recognition and loyalty. To the extent that the Fund invests in common stock, common stock of a company is subordinate to other securities issued by the company. If a company becomes insolvent, interests of investors owning common stock will be subordinated to the interests of other investors in and general creditors of, the company.
Large Cap Risk. Large cap companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges such as changes in technology. They may also not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Liquidity Risk. Liquidity is the ability to sell a security relatively quickly for a price that most closely reflects the actual value of the security. Certain securities (e.g., small-cap stocks, foreign securities and high-yield bonds) often have a less liquid resale market. As a result, the Adviser may have difficulty selling or
disposing of securities quickly in certain markets or may only be able to sell the holdings at prices substantially less than what the Adviser believes they are worth. Less liquid securities can also become more difficult to value.
Market Risk. Over time, securities markets generally tend to move in cycles with periods when security prices rise and periods when security prices decline. The value of a Fund’s investments may move with these cycles and, in some instances, increase or decrease more than the applicable market(s) as measured by the Fund’s benchmark index(es). The securities markets may also decline because of factors that affect a particular industry.
Price declines may occur in response to general market and economic conditions or events, including conditions and developments outside of the financial markets such as significant changes in interest and inflation rates and the availability of credit. Any investment is subject to the risk that the financial markets as a whole may decline in value, thereby depressing the investment’s price.
Mid Cap Risk. Medium-sized companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than larger, more-established companies. The Fund may have difficulty selling holdings of these companies at a desired time and price. Medium-sized companies tend to have smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer financial resources, and less competitive strength than larger companies. It may be a substantial period of time before the Fund could realize a gain, if any, on an investment in a mid cap company.
Portfolio Turnover Rate Risk. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities in implementing its principal investment strategies. A high rate of portfolio turnover (100% or more) involves correspondingly greater expenses which are borne by the Fund and its shareholders and may also result in short-term capital gains taxable to shareholders. The expenses may include bid-ask spreads, dealer mark-ups, and other transactional costs on the sale of securities and reinvestment in other securities.
Redemption Risk. The Fund may need to sell portfolio securities to meet redemption requests. The Fund could experience a loss when selling portfolio securities to meet redemption requests if there is (i) significant redemption activity by shareholders, including, for example, when a single investor or few large investors make a significant redemption of Fund shares, (ii) a disruption in the normal operation of the markets in which the Fund buys and sells portfolio securities or (iii) the inability of the Fund to sell portfolio securities because such securities are illiquid. In such events, the Fund could be forced to sell portfolio securities at unfavorable prices in an effort to generate sufficient cash to pay redeeming shareholders. The Fund may suspend redemptions or the payment of redemption proceeds when permitted by applicable regulations.
Small Cap Risk. Smaller, less seasoned companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than larger, more established companies. The Fund may have difficulty selling holdings of these companies at a desired time
7

 

and price. Smaller companies tend to have small revenues, narrower product lines, less management depth and experience, small shares of their product or service markets, fewer financial resources, and less competitive strength than larger companies. Such companies seldom pay significant dividends that could cushion returns in a falling market. It may be a substantial period of time before the Fund could realize a gain, if any, on an investment in a small cap company.
Tax Risk. Changes in federal income tax laws or rates may affect both the net asset value of the Fund and the taxable equivalent interest generated from securities in the Fund.
Volatility Risk. Volatility risk is the risk that certain types of securities shift in and out of favor depending on market and economic conditions as well as investor sentiment.
Glossary of Investment Terms
Fundamental Investment Research Techniques. Research techniques that generally assess a company or security’s value
based on a broad examination of financial data, quality of management, business concept and competition.
Quantitative Investment Research Techniques. Research techniques that generally focus on a company’s financial statements and assess a company or security’s value based on appropriate financial ratios that measure revenue, profitability and financial structure.
Technical Investment Research Techniques. Research techniques that generally involve the study of trends and movements in a security’s price, trading volume and other market-related factors in an attempt to discern patterns.
8

 

Management, Organization and Capital Structure

Investment Adviser
Thrivent Asset Mgt., 625 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Thrivent Financial, serves as investment adviser for the Fund. Thrivent Asset Mgt. and its affiliates have been in the investment advisory business since 1986 and managed approximately $106 billion in assets as of December 31, 2016, including approximately $46 billion in mutual fund assets.
Thrivent Asset Mgt. provides investment research and supervision of the assets for the Fund. The Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders discuss the basis for the Board of Trustees approving any investment adviser agreement during the most recent six-month period covered by the report.
Advisory Fees
The Fund does not pay an investment advisory fee to the Adviser because it is currently sold only to other affiliated funds.
Personal Securities Investments
Personnel of Thrivent Asset Mgt. may invest in securities for their own account pursuant to codes of ethics that establish procedures for personal investing and restrict certain transactions. Transactions in securities that may be held by the Fund are permitted by Thrivent Asset Mgt., subject to compliance with applicable provisions under the applicable codes of ethics.
 
 
9

 

Shareholder Information

Pricing Fund Shares
The price of the Fund’s shares is based on the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”). The Fund generally determines its NAV once daily at the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), which is normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. If the NYSE has an unscheduled early close but certain other markets remain open until their regularly scheduled closing time, the NAV may be determined as of the regularly scheduled closing time of the NYSE. If the NYSE and/or certain other markets close early due to extraordinary circumstances (e.g., weather, terrorism, etc.), the NAV may be calculated as of the early close of the NYSE and/or other markets. The NAV generally will not be determined on days when, due to extraordinary circumstances, the NYSE and/or certain other markets do not open for trading. The Fund does not determine NAV on holidays observed by the NYSE or on any other day when the NYSE is closed. The NYSE is regularly closed on Saturdays and Sundays, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
The Fund determines the NAV by dividing the total Fund assets, less all liabilities, by the total number of outstanding shares of that class. To determine the NAV, the Fund generally values its securities at current market value using readily available market prices. If market prices are not available or if the Adviser determines that they do not accurately reflect fair value for a security, the Board has authorized the Adviser to make fair valuation determinations pursuant to policies approved by the Board. Fair valuation of a particular security is an inherently subjective process, with no single standard to utilize when determining a security’s fair value. In each case where a security is fair valued, consideration is given to the facts and circumstances relevant to the particular situation. This consideration includes a review of various factors set forth in the pricing policies adopted by the Board.
Because many foreign markets close before the U.S. markets, significant events may occur between the close of the U.S. markets, when the Fund’s assets are valued, that could have a material impact on the valuation of foreign securities (i.e., available price quotations for these securities may not necessarily reflect the occurrence of the significant event). The Fund, subject to oversight by the Board, evaluates the impact of these significant events and adjusts the valuation of foreign securities to reflect the fair value as of the close of the U.S. markets to the extent that the available price quotations do not, in the Adviser’s opinion, adequately reflect the occurrence of the significant events.
Purchase of Shares
Thrivent Financial Investor Services Inc. (“TFISI”), will process shareholder purchase orders accepted by the Fund. All shares are
purchased at the net asset value per share of the Fund next determined after the purchase request is communicated to the Fund. Shares of the Fund are issued on days on which the NYSE is open, which generally are weekdays other than national holidays.
Redeeming Shares
Shares of the Fund may be redeemed on days on which the NYSE is open for business at the net asset value per share of the Fund next determined after the redemption request is communicated to the Trust and determined to be in good order. TFISI, as transfer agent, will process shareholder redemptions accepted by the Fund.
The Fund generally determines its NAV once daily at the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), which is normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. If the NYSE has an unscheduled early close but certain other markets remain open until their regularly scheduled closing time, the NAV may be determined as of the regularly scheduled closing time of the NYSE.
If the NYSE and/or certain other markets close early due to extraordinary circumstances (e.g., weather, terrorism, etc.), then may be calculated as of the early close of the NYSE and/or other markets. The NAV generally will not be determined on days when, due to extraordinary circumstances, the NYSE and/or certain other markets do not open for trading. The Fund does not determine NAV on holidays observed by the NYSE or on any other day when the NYSE is closed. The NYSE is regularly closed on Saturdays and Sundays, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
The Fund typically expects to pay redemption proceeds within one business day after receipt of a transaction request determined to be in good order. Payment may take up to seven days, subject to the limited exceptions as permitted by the SEC. The Fund typically expects to meet redemption requests with cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund or from proceeds from selling Fund assets in connection with the normal course management of the Fund. The Fund may need to sell portfolio assets, including in stressed or otherwise abnormal market conditions, to meet significant redemption activity by shareholders. In this type of situation, the Fund could be forced to sell portfolio securities at unfavorable prices in an effort to generate sufficient cash to pay redeeming shareholders.
Redemptions will be paid in cash unless the Adviser determines that conditions exist that make payment wholly in cash unwise or undesirable. If such a determination is made by the Adviser, the Fund may, subject to the requirements of the 1940 Act, pay redemptions entirely or partially in securities. There are no redemption charges.
 
 
10

 

Frequent Trading Policies and Monitoring Processes
Because the only shareholders in the Fund are affiliates of the Trust, the Fund does not restrict the frequency of purchases and redemptions.
Disclosure of Fund Holdings
A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of its portfolio securities is available in the Statement of Additional Information for the Fund.
11

 

Distributions

Dividends
Dividends of the Fund, if any, are generally declared and paid monthly.
Income dividends are derived from investment income, including dividends, interest, and certain foreign currency gains received by the Fund.
Capital Gains
Capital gains distributions, if any, usually will be declared and paid in December for the prior twelve-month period ending October 31.
 
 
12

 

Taxes

General
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains. In general, any net investment income and short-term capital gain distributions you receive from the Fund are taxable as ordinary income. To the extent the Fund receives and distributes qualified dividend income, you may be eligible for a tax rate lower than that on other ordinary income distributions. Distributions of other net capital gains by the Fund are generally taxable as capital gains—in most cases, at different rates from those that apply to ordinary income.
The tax you pay on a given capital gains distribution generally depends on how long the Fund has held the Fund securities it sold. It does not depend on how long you have owned your Fund shares or whether you reinvest your distributions or take them in cash.
The sale of shares in your account may produce a gain or loss, which may be a taxable event. For tax purposes, an exchange between funds is the same as a sale. Any loss incurred on the redemption or exchange of the Fund’s shares with a tax holding period of six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions of long-term capital gain with respect to such shares.
Shareholders will be notified after the end of each calendar year of the amount of income dividends and net capital gains distributed and the percentage of the Fund’s income attributable to U.S. Government Securities.
Back-up Withholding
By law, the Fund must withhold 28% of your distributions and proceeds as a prepayment of federal income tax if you have not provided complete, correct taxpayer information. In addition, to the extent that the Fund invests less than 50% of its total assets in municipal bonds, income generated from those bonds and distributed to Fund shareholders would generally be subject to federal income tax.
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund
Foreign investments pose special tax issues for this Fund and its shareholders. For example, certain gains and losses from currency fluctuations may be taxable as ordinary income. Also, certain foreign countries withhold taxes on some interest and dividends that otherwise would be payable to this Fund. If the amount withheld is material, this Fund may elect to pass through a credit to shareholders.
The foregoing discussion is only a summary of certain federal income tax issues generally affecting the Fund and its shareholders. Circumstances among investors may vary and each investor should discuss the tax consequences of an investment in the Fund with a tax adviser.
 
 
13

 

[THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]

 

Financial Highlights

The Fund commenced operations on or around November 14, 2017. As such, the Fund does not have financial highlights information.
15

 


The Statement of Additional Information, which is incorporated by reference into this prospectus, contains additional information about the Fund. Additional information about the Fund’s investments will be available in the Fund’s annual and semiannual 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 performance of the Fund during its last fiscal year. You may request a free copy of the Statement of Additional Information, the annual report or the semiannual report, or you may make additional requests or inquiries by calling 800.847.4836. You also may review and copy information about the Fund (including the Statement of Additional Information) at the Public Reference Room of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. You may get more information about the Public Reference Room by calling 202.551.8090. You also may get information about the Fund on the EDGAR database at the SEC website (www.sec.gov), and copies of the information may be obtained upon payment of a duplicating fee by writing the Public Reference Section of the SEC, Washington, D.C. 20549-1520, or by sending an email to: publicinfo@sec.gov.
1940 Act File No. 811-23149


Table of Contents
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund
Series of
Thrivent Core Funds
625 FOURTH AVENUE SOUTH
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 55415
(800) 847-4836
Unless the context indicates otherwise, references herein to “each Fund,” “the Fund,” “a Fund,” “the Funds” or “Funds” refers to the Fund listed above.
Statement of Additional Information
Dated November 14, 2017
The above-referenced mutual fund (the “Fund”) is a series of Thrivent Core Funds (the “Trust”). The Trust is a registered open-end management investment company organized as a Delaware statutory trust offering shares of beneficial interest in the investment portfolio of the Fund. Shares of the Fund are offered through the Fund’s prospectus (the “Prospectus”). The Fund is diversified as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”).
This Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”) supplements the information contained in the Fund’s Prospectus dated November 14, 2017. The SAI is not a Prospectus and should be read in conjunction with the Fund’s Prospectus, which may be obtained by calling or writing the Fund at the number or address shown above.
The Fund is making an initial filing. As such, the Fund’s Annual Report to Shareholders does not exist and therefore has not been incorporated by reference into this SAI. The Fund’s Annual Report (when available) will be available without charge, upon request, by calling the number shown above.
The Prospectus and SAI do not purport to create any contractual obligations between the Trust or the Fund and its shareholders. In addition, shareholders are not intended third-party beneficiaries of any contracts entered into by (or on behalf of) the Fund, including contracts with the investment manager or other parties who provide services to the Fund.
1

 


 

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRUST
The Trust was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on March 18, 2016 and is registered as an open-end management investment company under the 1940 Act. Under its Declaration of Trust, the Trust is authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest with a par value (if any) as the Trustees may determine from time to time, which may be divided into one or more series or classes of shares. The Trust currently consists of three series, one of which is the Fund.
The following table provides the inception date of the Fund described in this SAI.
Fund Name   Inception Date
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund

  11/14/2017
Under its Declaration of Trust, the Trust is authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest with a par value (if any) as the Trustees may determine from time to time, which may be divided into one or more series or classes of shares. Each share of any series shall represent an equal proportionate share in the assets of that series with each other share in that series. The Trustees may authorize the creation of additional series of shares and additional classes of shares within any series, subject to the terms of the Declaration of Trust. The Trustees have the power to determine the designations, preferences, privileges, limitations and rights, including voting and dividend rights, of each series and class of shares. As of the date of the SAI, the Trust is comprised of three portfolio series with a single class of shares. Holders of such shares are entitled to receive dividends declared by the Trustees, and receive the assets of the Fund in the event of liquidation. Shareholders do not have preemptive or other rights to subscribe to any additional shares or other securities issued by the Trust, and all shares are fully paid and nonassessable. Shareholders have the right to vote only on matters as expressly required under the 1940 Act or under Chapter 38 of Title 12 of the Delaware Code.
As required under the 1940 Act, shareholders have the right at such times as may be permitted by the Trustees to redeem all or any part of the shareholder’s shares at a redemption price equal to the net asset value per share as determined by the Trustees and as described in this SAI. The Trustees may postpone payment of the redemption price and may suspend the redemption right of shareholders during any period of time when and to the extent permissible under the 1940 Act.
The Declaration of Trust provides that no shareholder shall be subject to any personal liability to any person in connection with Trust property or the debts, liabilities, obligations or expenses of the Trust.
3

 

INVESTMENT POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS
Additional Investment Practices
In addition to those practices stated in the Prospectus, the Fund may purchase the following securities or may engage in the following transactions. Each of these investment practices are non-principal investment strategies except as otherwise noted.
The investment policies described below (i) reflect the current practices of the Fund, (ii) are not fundamental, and (iii) may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval. To the extent consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and other stated policies and restrictions, and unless otherwise indicated, the Fund may invest in the following instruments and may use the following investment techniques:
Other Securities
The Fund also may invest in other types of securities, including bonds, preferred stocks, convertible bonds, convertible preferred stocks, warrants, American Depository Receipts (ADRs), and other debt or equity securities. In addition, the Fund may invest in U.S. Government securities or cash, European Depository Receipts (EDRs) and the securities of foreign investment trusts.
The Fund will not use any minimum level of credit quality. Debt obligations may be rated less than investment grade, which is defined as having a quality rating below “Baa,” as rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), or below “BBB,” as rated by Standard & Poor’s Corporation (“S&P”). For a description of Moody’s and S&P’s ratings, see “Description of Debt Ratings.” Securities rated below investment grade (sometimes referred to as “high yield bonds” or “junk bonds”) are considered to be speculative and involve certain risks, including a higher risk of default and greater sensitivity to economic changes.
Bank Instruments
The Fund may invest in bank instruments in pursuit of its investment objective. These instruments include, but are not limited to, certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances and time deposits. Certificates of deposit are generally short-term (i.e., less than one year), interest-bearing negotiable certificates issued by commercial banks or savings and loan associations against funds deposited in the issuing institution. A banker’s acceptance is a time draft drawn on a commercial bank by a borrower, usually in connection with an international commercial transaction (to finance the import, export, transfer or storage of goods). A banker’s acceptance may be obtained from a domestic or foreign bank including a U.S. branch or agency of a foreign bank. The borrower is liable for payment as well as the bank, which unconditionally guarantees to pay the draft at its face amount on the maturity date. Most acceptances have maturities of six months or less and are traded in secondary markets prior to maturity. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits for a fixed period of time at a stated interest rate.
U.S. branches of foreign banks are offices of foreign banks and are not separately incorporated entities. They are chartered and regulated under federal or state law. U.S. federal branches of foreign banks are chartered and regulated by the Comptroller of the Currency, while state branches and agencies are chartered and regulated by authorities of the respective state or the District of Columbia. U.S. branches of foreign banks may accept deposits and thus are eligible for FDIC insurance; however, not all such branches elect FDIC insurance. U.S. branches of foreign banks can maintain credit balances, which are funds received by the office incidental to or arising out of the exercise of their banking powers and can exercise other commercial functions, such as lending activities.
Investing in foreign branches of U.S. banks and U.S. branches of foreign banks may involve risks. These risks may include future unfavorable political and economic developments, possible withholding or confiscatory taxes, seizure of foreign deposits, currency controls, interest limitations and other governmental restrictions that might affect payment of principal or interest, and possible difficulties pursuing or enforcing claims against banks located outside the U.S. Additionally, foreign issuers are not generally subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards or other regulatory requirements and practices comparable to U.S. issuers, and there may be less public information available about foreign banks and their branches and agencies.
4

 

Repurchase Agreements
The Fund may engage in repurchase agreement transactions in pursuit of its investment objective. A repurchase agreement consists of a purchase and a simultaneous agreement to resell an investment for later delivery at an agreed upon price and rate of interest. The Fund must take possession of collateral either directly or through a third-party custodian. If the original seller of a security subject to a repurchase agreement fails to repurchase the security at the agreed upon time, the Fund could incur a loss due to a drop in the market value of the security during the time it takes the Fund to either sell the security or take action to enforce the original seller’s agreement to repurchase the security. Also, if a defaulting original seller filed for bankruptcy or became insolvent, disposition of such security might be delayed by pending court action. The Fund may only enter into repurchase agreements with banks and other recognized financial institutions such as broker/dealers that are found by the Fund’s investment adviser, Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (“Thrivent Asset Mgt.” or the “Adviser”), to be creditworthy.
Restricted Securities
The Fund may buy or sell restricted securities, including securities that meet the requirements of Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933 (“Rule 144A Securities”). Rule 144A Securities may be resold pursuant to Rule 144A under certain circumstances only to qualified institutional buyers as defined in the rule. Rule 144A Securities may be deemed to be liquid as determined by or in accordance with methods adopted by the Trustees. Under such methods the following factors are considered, among others: the frequency of trades and quotes for the security, the number of dealers and potential purchasers in the market, market making activity, and the nature of the security and marketplace trades. Investments in Rule 144A Securities could have the effect of increasing the level of the Fund’s illiquidity to the extent that qualified institutional buyers become, for a time, uninterested in purchasing such securities. Also, the Fund may be adversely impacted by the subjective valuation of such securities in the absence of an active market for them. Restricted securities that are not resalable under Rule 144A may be subject to risks of illiquidity and subjective valuations to a greater degree than Rule 144A securities. The Fund will not invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities.
Reverse Repurchase Agreements
The Fund also may enter into reverse repurchase agreements, which may be viewed as borrowings made by the Fund. A reverse repurchase agreement is a transaction in which the Fund transfers possession of a portfolio instrument to another person, such as a financial institution, broker or dealer, in return for a percentage of the instrument’s market value in cash, with an agreement that at a stipulated date in the future the Fund will repurchase the portfolio instrument by remitting the original consideration plus interest at an agreed upon rate. The use of reverse repurchase agreements may enable the Fund to avoid selling portfolio instruments at a time when a sale may be deemed to be disadvantageous. However, the ability to enter into reverse repurchase agreements does not assure that the Fund will be able to avoid selling portfolio instruments at a disadvantageous time.
The Fund will engage in reverse repurchase agreements that are not in excess of 60 days to maturity and will do so to avoid borrowing cash and not for the purpose of investment leverage or to speculate on interest rate changes. When effecting reverse repurchase agreements, assets of the Fund in a dollar amount sufficient to make payment of the obligations to be purchased are segregated on the Fund’s records at the trade date and maintained until the transaction is settled.
When-Issued and Delayed Delivery Transactions
The Fund may purchase securities on a when-issued and delayed delivery basis. When-issued and delayed delivery transactions arise when U.S. Government obligations and other types of securities are bought by the Fund with payment and delivery taking place in the future. The settlement dates of these transactions, which may be a month or more after entering into the transaction, are determined by mutual agreement of the parties. There are no fees or other expenses associated with these types of transactions other than normal transaction costs.
To the extent the Fund engages in when-issued and delayed delivery transactions, it will do so for the purpose of acquiring portfolio instruments consistent with its investment objective and policies and not for the purpose of investment leverage. On the
5

 

settlement date, the value of such instruments may be less than the cost thereof. When effecting when-issued and delayed delivery transactions, the Fund will maintain liquid securities, cash, or cash equivalents of a dollar amount sufficient to make payment for the obligations to be purchased until the transaction has been settled.
Dollar Roll Transactions
The Fund may enter into dollar roll transactions with respect to securities issued or to be issued by the Government National Mortgage Association, Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation in which the Funds sell mortgage securities and simultaneously agree to repurchase similar (same type, coupon and maturity) securities at a later date at an agreed upon price. During the period between the sale and repurchase, the Fund forgoes principal and interest paid on the mortgage securities sold. The Fund is compensated by the interest earned on the cash proceeds of the initial sale and from negotiated fees paid by brokers offered as an inducement to the Fund to “roll over” its purchase commitments. While the dollar roll transactions may result in higher transaction costs or higher taxes for the Fund, the Adviser believes that the benefits of investing in such a program will outweigh the potential for such increased costs.
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations and Multi-Class Pass-Through Securities
The Fund may invest in mortgage-backed securities, including collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”) and Multi-Class Pass-Through Securities (“MCPTS”) as a non-principal strategy. CMOs and MCPTS are debt instruments issued by special purpose entities secured by pools of mortgage loans or other mortgage-backed securities. MCPTS are interests in a trust composed of mortgage loans or other mortgage-backed securities. Payments of principal and interest on the underlying collateral provide the money to pay debt service on the CMO or make scheduled distributions on the multi-class pass-through security. MCPTS, CMOs, and classes thereof (including those discussed below) are examples of the types of financial instruments commonly referred to as “derivatives.”
A CMO contains a series of bonds or certificates issued in multiple classes. Each CMO class (referred to as “tranche”) has a specified coupon rate and stated maturity or final distribution date. When people start prepaying the principal on the collateral underlying a CMO (such as mortgages underlying a CMO), some classes may retire substantially earlier than the stated maturity or final distribution dates. The issuer structures a CMO to pay or accrue interest on all classes on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis. The issuer may allocate the principal and interest on the underlying mortgages among the classes in many ways. In a common structure, the issuer applies the principal payments on the underlying mortgages to the classes according to scheduled cash flow priorities.
There are many classes of CMOs. Interest only classes (“IOs”) entitle the class shareholders to receive distributions consisting solely or primarily of all or a portion of the interest in an underlying pool of mortgages or mortgage-backed securities (mortgage assets). Principal only classes (“POs”) entitle the class shareholders to receive distributions consisting solely or primarily of all or a portion of the underlying pool of mortgage assets. In addition, there are “inverse floaters,” which have coupon rates that move in the reverse direction to an applicable index, and accrual (or Z) bonds (described below).
Inverse floating CMO classes are typically more volatile than fixed or adjustable rate CMO classes. The Fund would only invest in inverse floating CMOs to protect against a reduction in the income earned on investments due to a predicted decline in interest rates. In the event interest rates increased, the Fund would lose money on investments in inverse floating CMO classes. An interest rate increase would cause the coupon rate on an inverse CMO class to decrease.
Cash flow and yields on IO and PO classes are extremely sensitive to principal payment rates (including prepayments) on the underlying mortgage loans or mortgage-backed securities. For example, rapid or slow principal payment rates may adversely affect the yield to maturity of IO or PO bonds, respectively. If the underlying mortgage assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, the holder of an IO bond may incur a complete loss in value due to the lost interest stream even if the IO bond has a AAA rating. If the underlying mortgage assets experience slower than anticipated prepayments of principal, the PO bond will incur substantial losses in value due to lost prepayments. Rapid or slow principal payment rates may cause IO and PO bond holders to incur substantially more losses in market value than if they had invested in traditional mortgage-backed securities.
6

 

On the other hand, if interest rates rise, the value of an IO might increase and partially offset other bond value declines in the Fund’s portfolio. If interest rates fall, the value of a PO might increase offsetting lower reinvestment rates in the Fund’s portfolio.
An accrual or Z bondholder does not receive cash payments until one or more of the other classes have received their full payments on the mortgage loans underlying the CMO. During the period when the Z bondholders do not receive cash payments, interest accrues on the Z class at a stated rate. The accrued interest is added to the amount of principal due to the Z class. After the other classes have received their payments in full, the Z class begins receiving cash payments until it receives its full amount of principal (including the accrued interest added to the principal amount) and interest at the stated rate.
Generally, the date when cash payments begin on the Z class depends on the prepayment rate of the mortgage loans underlying the CMO. A faster prepayment rate results in an earlier commencement of cash payments on the Z class. Like a zero coupon bond, during its accrual period the Z class has the advantage of eliminating the risk of reinvesting interest payments at lower rates during a period of declining interest rates. Like a zero coupon bond, the market value of a Z class bond fluctuates more widely with changes in interest rates than would the market value of a bond from a class that pays interest currently. Changing interest rates influence prepayment rates. As noted above, such changes in prepayment rates affect the date at which cash payments begin on a Z tranche, which in turn influences its market value.
Collateralized Debt Obligations
The Fund may invest in collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”), which include collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”), collateralized bond obligations (“CBOs”), and other similarly structured securities. CDOs are types of asset-backed securities. A CLO is ordinarily issued by a trust or other special purpose entity (“SPE”) and is typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, domestic and non-U.S. senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans, held by such issuer. A CBO is ordinarily issued by a trust or other SPE and is typically backed by a diversified pool of fixed income securities (which may include high risk, below investment grade securities) held by such issuer. Although certain CDOs may benefit from 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 CDO issuers 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 SAl. CDOs may charge management fees and administrative expenses, which are in addition to those of the Fund.
For both CLOs and CBOs, the cash flows 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 CLO or CBO typically has higher ratings and lower yields than its underlying securities, and may be rated investment grade. Despite the protection from the equity tranche, CLO or CBO tranches can experience substantial losses due to actual defaults, downgrades of the underlying collateral by rating agencies, forced liquidation of the collateral pool due to a failure of coverage tests, increased sensitivity to defaults due to collateral default and disappearance of protecting tranches, market anticipation of defaults as well as investor aversion to CLO or CBO securities as a class. Interest on certain tranches of a CDO may be paid in kind or deferred and capitalized (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, CLOs, CBOs 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 and asset-backed securities generally discussed elsewhere in this SAI, 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 nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”); (iii) the Fund may invest in tranches of CDOs that are
7

 

subordinate to other tranches; (iv) the structure and complexity of the transaction and the legal documents could lead to disputes among investors regarding the characterization of proceeds; (v) the investment return achieved by the Fund could be significantly different than those predicted by financial models; (vi) the lack of a readily available secondary market for CDOs; (vii) risk of forced “fire sale” liquidation due to technical defaults such as coverage test failures; and (viii) the CDO’s manager may perform poorly.
Senior Loans
The Fund may invest in senior loans. Senior loans hold the most senior position in the capital structure of a business entity, are typically secured with specific collateral and have a claim on the general assets of the borrower that is senior to that held by subordinated debtholders and stockholders of the borrower. The proceeds of senior loans primarily are used to finance leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, mergers, acquisitions, stock repurchases, and, to a lesser extent, to finance internal growth and for other corporate purposes. Senior loans typically have rates of interest which are redetermined either daily, monthly, quarterly or semi-annually by reference to a base lending rate, plus a premium. These base lending rates generally are LIBOR, the prime rate offered by one or more major United States banks or the certificate of deposit rate or other base lending rates used by commercial lenders.
Senior loans may not be rated by a rating organization, will not be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or any state securities commission and generally will not be listed or traded on any national securities exchange. Therefore, if the Fund holds senior loans, it may not be protected by the securities laws, the amount of public information available about senior loans will be limited, and the performance of investments in senior loans will be more dependent on the analytical abilities of the Adviser than would be the case for investments in more widely-rated, registered or exchange-listed or traded securities. In evaluating the creditworthiness of borrowers, the Adviser will consider, and may rely in part, on analyses performed by others. The Adviser generally does not receive material, non-public information about borrowers, which may further limit the information available to the Adviser about senior loans. In the event the Adviser receives material, non-public information about a borrower that also issues public securities, the Adviser may be restricted from trading in such public securities which could adversely impact performance of the Fund. Moreover, certain senior loans will be subject to contractual restrictions on resale and, therefore, will be illiquid.
Structured Securities
The Fund may invest in structured securities. The issuer of a structured security links the security’s coupon, dividend or redemption amount at maturity to some sort of financial indicator. Such financial indicators can include currencies, interest rates, individual securities, commodities and indexes. The coupon, dividend and/or redemption amount at maturity may increase or decrease depending on the value of the linked or underlying instrument.
Investments in structured securities involve certain risks. In addition to the normal credit and interest rate risks inherent with a debt security, the redemption amount may increase or decrease as a result of price changes in the underlying instrument. Depending on how the issuer links the coupon and/or dividend to the underlying instrument, the amount of the dividend may be reduced to zero. Any further declines in the value of the underlying instrument may then reduce the redemption amount at maturity. Structured securities may have more volatility than the price of the underlying instrument.
In addition, structured securities include equity linked notes. An equity linked note is a note whose performance is tied to a single stock, a stock index or a basket of stocks. Equity linked notes can combine the principal protection normally associated with fixed income investments with the potential for capital appreciation normally associated with equity investments. Not all equity linked notes, however, provide principal protection. Upon the maturity of the note, the holder receives, but is not guaranteed, a return of principal based on the capital appreciation of the linked securities. Depending on the terms of the note, equity linked notes may also have a “cap” or “floor” on the maximum principal amount to be repaid to holders, irrespective of the performance of the underlying linked securities. The secondary market for equity linked notes may be limited, and the lack of liquidity in the secondary market may make these securities difficult to dispose of and to value. Equity linked notes will be considered equity securities for purposes of a Fund’s investment objective and policies.
8

 

Variable Rate Demand Notes
The Fund may purchase variable rate master demand notes. Variable rate master demand notes are unsecured instruments that permit the indebtedness thereunder to vary and provide for periodic adjustments in the interest rate. These notes are normally not traded, and there is no secondary market for the notes. However, the Fund may demand payment of the principal for such Fund at any time. If an issuer of a variable rate master demand note defaulted on its payment obligation, the Fund might not be able to dispose of the note due to the absence of a secondary market. The Fund might suffer a loss to the extent of the default.
Lending Securities
Consistent with applicable regulatory requirements, the Fund may from time to time lend the securities it holds to broker-dealers, provided that such loans are made pursuant to written agreements and are initially secured by collateral in the form of cash or domestic securities in an amount equal to at least 102% of the market value or foreign securities in an amount equal to at least 105% of the market value. In electing to engage in securities lending for the Fund, the Adviser will take into account the investment objective and principal strategies of the Fund. For the period during which the securities are on loan, the lending Fund will be entitled to receive the interest and dividends, or amounts equivalent thereto, on the loaned securities and a fee from the borrower or interest on the investment of the cash collateral. The right to terminate the loan will be given to either party subject to appropriate notice. Upon termination of the loan, the borrower will return to the Fund securities identical to the loaned securities.
The primary risk in lending securities is that the borrower may become insolvent on a day on which the loaned security is rapidly increasing in value. In such event, if the borrower fails to return the loaned security, the existing collateral might be insufficient to purchase back the full amount of the security loaned, and the borrower would be unable to furnish additional collateral. The borrower would be liable for any shortage, but the lending Fund would be an unsecured creditor with respect to such shortage and might not be able to recover all or any portion thereof. However, this risk may be minimized by carefully selecting borrowers and securities to be lent and by monitoring collateral.
The Fund may not lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than one-third of its total assets would be lent to other parties.
Non-Standard Warrants
The Fund may use non-standard warrants, including low exercise price warrants or low exercise price options and participatory notes, to gain indirect exposure to issuers in certain countries. Non-standard warrants are different from standard warrants in that they do not give their holders the right to receive a security of the issuer upon exercise. Rather, they pay the holder the difference in price of the underlying security between the date the non-standard warrant was purchased and the date it is sold. Non-standard warrants are generally a type of equity-linked derivative that are traded over-the-counter and constitute general unsecured contractual obligations of the banks or broker-dealers that issue them. Generally, banks and broker-dealers associated with non-U.S.-based brokerage firms buy securities listed on certain foreign exchanges and then issue non-standard warrants that are designed to replicate the performance of certain issuers and markets. The performance results of non-standard warrants will not replicate exactly the performance of the issuers or markets that they seek to replicate due to transaction costs and other expenses. The holder of a non-standard warrant typically does not receive voting or other rights as it would if it directly owned the underlying security, and non-standard warrants present similar risks to investing directly in the underlying security. Additionally, non-standard warrants entail the same risks as other over-the-counter derivatives. These include the risk that the counterparty or issuer of the non-standard warrant may not be able to fulfill its obligations, that the holder and counterparty or issuer may disagree as to the meaning or application of contractual terms, or that the instrument may not perform as expected. Additionally, there is no guarantee that a liquid market will exist for a particular non-standard warrant or that the counterparty or issuer of a non-standard warrant will be willing to repurchase such instrument when the Fund wishes to sell it.
9

 

Put and Call Options
As described below, the Fund may invest in options on another security, an index, a currency, or a futures contract. If the option is described as “covered,” the Fund holds the investment underlying the option or has the right to obtain it at no additional cost. If the option is not covered, the Fund will earmark cash or liquid securities to ensure that the Fund has sufficient assets to meet its obligations in respect of the option. When the Fund sells put options, the earmarked assets must be equal to the purchase obligation of the Fund, less any amount maintained as margin. When the Fund sells a call option, earmarked assets must be equal to the market value of the instruments underlying the call options less any amount maintained as margin.
Selling (“Writing”) Covered Call Options: The Fund may from time to time sell (“write”) covered call options on any portion of its portfolio as a hedge to provide partial protection against adverse movements in prices of securities in the Fund and, subject to the limitations described below, for the non-hedging purpose of attempting to create additional income. A call option gives the buyer of the option, upon payment of a premium, the right to call upon the writer to deliver a specified amount of a security on or before a fixed date at a predetermined (“strike”) price. As the writer of a call option, the Fund assumes the obligation to deliver the underlying security to the holder of the option on demand at the strike price. This obligation is held by the Fund until either the option expires or an offsetting transaction is entered into by the Fund.
If the price of a security hedged by a call option falls below or remains below the strike price of the option, the Fund will generally not be called upon to deliver the security. The Fund will, however, retain the premium received for the option as additional income, offsetting all or part of any decline in the value of the security. If the price of a hedged security rises above or remains above the strike price of the option, the Fund will generally be called upon to deliver the security. In this event, the Fund limits its potential gain by limiting the value it can receive from the security to the strike price of the option plus the option premium.
Buying Call Options: The Fund may also from time to time purchase call options on securities in which the Fund may invest. As the holder of a call option, the Fund has the right (but not the obligation) to purchase the underlying security or currency at the exercise price at any time during the option period (American style) or at the expiration of the option (European style). The Fund generally will purchase such options as a hedge to provide protection against adverse movements in the prices of securities that the Fund intends to purchase. In purchasing a call option, the Fund would realize a gain if, during the option period, the price of the underlying security increased by more than the amount of the premium paid. The Fund would realize a loss equal to all or a portion of the premium paid if the price of the underlying security decreased, remained the same, or did not increase by more than the premium paid.
Selling Put Options: The Fund may from time to time sell (“write”) put options. As the writer of a put option, the Fund assumes the obligation to pay a predetermined (“strike”) price for the option’s underlying security if the holder of the option chooses to exercise it. Until the option expires or a closing transaction is made, the Fund must continue to be prepared to pay the strike price, regardless of price movements in the underlying security.
If the price of the underlying security remains the same or rises above the strike price, the Fund generally will not be called upon to purchase the security. The Fund will, however, retain the premium received for the option as additional income. If the price of the underlying security falls below the strike price, the Fund may be called upon to purchase the security at the strike price.
When the Fund writes a put option on a security, the option must be covered by segregating liquid assets on the Fund’s books with a value equal to or greater than the strike price of the underlying security to secure the Fund’s obligation.
Buying Put Options: The Fund may from time to time purchase put options on any portion of their portfolios. A put option gives the buyer of the option, upon payment of a premium, the right (but not the obligation) to deliver a specified amount of a security to the writer of the option on or before a fixed date at a predetermined (“strike”) price. The Fund generally will purchase such options as a hedge to provide protection against adverse movements in the prices of securities in the Fund. In purchasing a put option, the Fund would realize a gain if, during the option period, the price of the security declined by an amount in excess of
10

 

the premium paid. The Fund would realize a loss equal to all or a portion of the premium paid if the price of the security increased, remained the same, or did not decrease by more than the premium paid.
Options on Foreign Currencies: The Fund may also write covered call options and purchase put and call options on foreign currencies as a hedge against changes in prevailing levels of currency exchange rates.
Index Options: The Fund may also purchase and sell call options and put options on stock and bond indices. Options on securities indices are similar to options on a security except that, upon the exercise of an option on a securities index, settlement is made in cash rather than in specific securities.
Negotiated Transactions: The Fund will generally purchase and sell options traded on a national securities or options exchange. Where options are not readily available on such exchanges, the Fund may purchase and sell options in negotiated transactions. The Fund effects negotiated transactions only with investment dealers and other financial institutions deemed creditworthy by the Adviser. Despite the Adviser’s best efforts to enter into negotiated options transactions with only creditworthy parties, there is always a risk that the opposite party to the transaction may default in its obligation to either purchase or sell the underlying security at the agreed upon time and price, resulting in a possible loss by the Fund. This risk is described more completely in the section of this Statement of Additional Information entitled, “Risks of Transactions in Options and Futures.”
Options written or purchased by the Fund in negotiated transactions are illiquid and there is no assurance that the Fund will be able to effect a closing purchase or closing sale transaction at a time when the Adviser believes it would be advantageous to do so. In the event the Fund is unable to effect a closing transaction with the holder of a call option written by the Fund, the Fund may not sell the security underlying the option until the call written by the Fund expires or is exercised.
Closing Transactions: The Fund may dispose of options that they have written by entering into “closing purchase transactions.” The Fund may dispose of options that they have purchased by entering into “closing sale transactions.” A closing transaction terminates the rights of a holder, or the obligation of a writer, of an option and does not result in the ownership of an option.
The Fund realizes a profit from a closing purchase transaction if the premium paid to close the option is less than the premium received by the Fund from writing the option. The Fund realizes a loss if the premium paid is more than the premium received. The Fund may not enter into a closing purchase transaction with respect to an option it has written after it has been notified of the exercise of such option.
The Fund realizes a profit from a closing sale transaction if the premium received to close out the option is more than the premium paid for the option. The Fund realizes a loss if the premium received is less than the premium paid.
Financial Futures and Options on Futures
Selling Futures Contracts: The Fund may sell financial futures contracts (“futures contracts”) as a hedge against adverse movements in the prices of securities in the Fund. Such contracts may involve futures on items such as U.S. Government Treasury bonds, notes and bills; specified interest rates; mortgage-backed securities; corporate and municipal bonds; stocks; and indices of any of the foregoing. A futures contract sale creates an obligation for the Fund, as seller, to deliver the specific type of instrument called for in the contract (or cash) at a specified future time for a specified price. In selling a futures contract, the Fund would realize a gain on the contract if, during the contract period, the price of the securities underlying the futures contract decreased. Such a gain would be expected to approximately offset the decrease in value of the same or similar securities in the Fund. The Fund would realize a loss if the price of the securities underlying the contract increased. Such a loss would be expected to approximately offset the increase in value of the same or similar securities in the Fund.
Futures contracts have been designed by and are traded on boards of trade that have been designated “contract markets” by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”). These boards of trade, through their clearing corporations, guarantee performance of the contracts. Although the terms of some financial futures contracts specify actual delivery or receipt of securities,
11

 

in most instances these contracts are closed out before the settlement due date without the making or taking of delivery of the securities. Other financial futures contracts, such as futures contracts on a securities index, by their terms call for cash settlements. The closing out of a futures contract is effected by entering into an offsetting purchase or sale transaction.
When the Fund sells a futures contract, or a call option on a futures contract, it is required to make payments to the commodities broker which are called “margin” by commodities exchanges and brokers.
The payment of “margin” in these transactions is different than purchasing securities “on margin.” In purchasing securities “on margin” an investor pays part of the purchase price in cash and receives an extension of credit from the broker, in the form of a loan secured by the securities, for the unpaid balance. There are two categories of “margin” involved in these transactions: initial margin and variation margin. Initial margin does not represent a loan between the Fund and its broker, but rather is a “good faith deposit” by the Fund to secure its obligations under a futures contract or an option. Each day during the term of certain futures transactions, the Fund will receive or pay “variation margin” equal to the daily change in the value of the position held by the Fund.
Buying Futures Contracts: The Fund may purchase financial futures contracts as a hedge against adverse movements in the prices of securities they intend to purchase. The Fund may buy futures contracts for a number of reasons, including: (1) to manage its exposure to changes in securities prices and foreign currencies as an efficient means of adjusting their overall exposure to certain markets in an effort to enhance income; and (2) to protect the value of portfolio securities.
A futures contract purchase creates an obligation by the Fund, as buyer, to take delivery of the specific type of instrument called for in the contract (or cash) at a specified future time for a specified price. In purchasing a futures contract, the Fund would realize a gain if, during the contract period, the price of the investments underlying the futures contract increased. Such a gain would approximately offset the increase in cost of the same or similar investments that the Fund intends to purchase. The Fund would realize a loss if the price of the investments underlying the contract decreased. Such a loss would approximately offset the decrease in cost of the same or similar investments that the Fund intends to purchase.
Options on Futures Contracts: The Fund may also sell (“write”) and purchase covered call and put options on futures contracts in connection with the above strategies. An option on a futures contract gives the buyer of the option, in return for the premium paid for the option, the right to assume a position in the underlying futures contract (a long position if the option is a call and a short position if the option is a put). The writing of a call option on a futures contract constitutes a partial hedge against declining prices of securities underlying the futures contract to the extent of the premium received for the option. The purchase of a put option on a futures contract constitutes a hedge against price declines below the exercise price of the option and net of the premium paid for the option. The purchase of a call option constitutes a hedge, net of the premium, against an increase in cost of securities that the Fund intends to purchase.
Currency Futures Contracts and Options: The Fund may also sell and purchase currency futures contracts (or options thereon) as a hedge against changes in prevailing levels of currency exchange rates. Such contracts may be traded on U.S. or foreign exchanges. The Fund will not use such contracts or options for leveraging purposes.
Limitations: The Fund may engage in futures transactions, and transactions involving options on futures, only on regulated commodity exchanges or boards of trade. In instances involving the purchase of futures contracts or call options thereon, the Fund will maintain liquid securities, cash, or cash equivalents in an amount equal to the market value of such contracts.
Swap Transactions
The Fund may enter into swap transactions, including, but not limited to, credit default, total return and interest rate swap agreements, and may purchase or sell caps, floors and collars. A credit default swap is an agreement between two parties to exchange the credit risk of a particular issuer or reference entity. In a credit default swap transaction, a buyer pays periodic fees in return for payment by the seller which is contingent upon an adverse credit event occurring in the underlying issuer or reference entity. The seller collects periodic fees from the buyer and profits if the credit of the underlying issuer or reference entity remains
12

 

stable or improves while the swap is outstanding, but the seller in a credit default swap contract would be required to pay an agreed upon amount to the buyer in the event of an adverse credit event in the reference entity. A buyer of a credit default swap is said to buy protection whereas a seller of a credit default swap is said to sell protection. There may be times, however, when the Fund buys a credit default swap, without owning the underlying reference entity or entities, as a potential means of enhancing the Fund’s investment returns. A total return swap is an agreement in which one party makes payments based on a set rate, either fixed or variable, while the other party makes payments based on the return of an underlying asset plus any capital gains and losses over the payment period. The underlying asset is typically an index, loan or a basket of assets. Total return swaps provides the Fund with the additional flexibility of gaining exposure to a market or securities index by using the most cost-effective vehicle available. An interest rate swap involves the exchange by the Fund with another party of their respective commitments to pay or receive interest. The purchase of an interest rate cap entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index exceeds a predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of interest on a contractually-based principal amount from the party selling the interest rate cap. The purchase of an interest rate floor entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index falls below a predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of interest on a contractually-based principal amount from the party selling the interest rate floor. An interest rate collar combines the elements of purchasing a cap and selling a floor. The collar protects against an interest rate rise above the maximum amount but foregoes the benefit of an interest rate decline below the minimum amount.
Such transactions include market risk, risk of default by the other party to the transaction, risk of imperfect correlation and manager risk and may involve commissions or other costs. Swaps generally do not involve delivery of securities, other underlying assets or principal. Accordingly, the risk of loss with respect to swaps generally is limited to the net amount of payments that the Fund is contractually obligated to make, or in the case of the other party to a swap defaulting, the net amount of payments that the Fund is contractually entitled to receive. If there is a default by the counterparty, the Fund may have contractual remedies pursuant to the agreements related to the transaction. Caps, floors and collars are more recent innovations for which standardized documentation has not yet been fully developed and, accordingly, they are less liquid than swaps.
Currency Forward Contracts
The Fund may also sell and purchase currency forward contracts as a hedge against changes in prevailing levels of currency exchange rates. A currency forward contract is an OTC derivative that represents an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, at a price set at the time of the contract and for a period agreed upon by the parties which may be either a window of time or a fixed number of days from the date of the contract. The Fund may lose money on currency forward contracts if changes in currency rates do not occur as anticipated or if the Fund’s counterparty to the contract were to default. The Fund will not use such forward contracts for leveraging purposes.
Central Clearing and Trade Execution Regulations
The Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA”) and related regulations enacted by the CFTC may require the Fund to clear certain derivative contracts (including swaps) through a clearinghouse or central counterparty (a “CCP”). At the present time, only certain interest rate swaps and credit default index swaps are subject to mandatory clearing. To clear a derivative with the CCP, the Fund submits the derivative to, and post margin with a futures commission merchant (“FCM”) that is a clearinghouse member. If the Fund must centrally clear a derivative transaction, the CFTC’s regulations may also require that the Fund enter into (or “execute”) that derivative over a market facility known as a swap execution facility (or “SEF”). The Fund may enter into the swap or other derivative with a financial institution other than the FCM (the “Executing Dealer”) and arrange for the transaction to be transferred to the FCM for clearing. It may also enter into the trade with the FCM itself. The CCP, the FCM, SEF and the Executing Dealer are all subject to regulatory oversight by the CFTC. A default or failure by a CCP or an FCM, or the failure of a swap to be transferred from a SEF or an Executing Dealer to the FCM for clearing, may expose the Fund to losses, increase its costs, or prevent the Fund from entering or exiting swap positions, accessing collateral or margin, or fully implementing its investment strategies. It is likely that in the future the CFTC will require additional types of derivatives to be traded on a SEF. The regulatory requirement to clear certain contracts or execute the contracts over a SEF could, either temporarily or permanently, reduce the liquidity of the derivatives or increase the costs of entering into those derivatives.
13

 

Exclusion from Regulation as a Commodity Pool Operator
With respect to the Fund, the Trust has filed a notice of eligibility claiming exclusion from the definition of commodity pool operator under the Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA”). Accordingly, neither the Trust nor the Adviser is subject to registration or regulation as such under the CEA. Under CFTC Rule 4.5 as currently in effect, the Fund will limit its trading activity in futures, option on futures and swaps (excluding activity for “bona fide hedging purposes,” as defined by the CFTC) such that it meets one of the following tests:
Aggregate initial margin and premiums required to establish its futures, options on futures and swap positions do not exceed 5% of the liquidation value of the Fund’s portfolio, after taking into account unrealized profits and losses on such positions; or
Aggregate net notional value of its futures, options on futures and swap positions does not exceed 100% of the liquidation value of the Fund’s portfolio, after taking into account unrealized profits and losses on such positions.
Hybrid Investments
As part of their investment program and to maintain greater flexibility, the Fund may invest in hybrid instruments (a potentially high-risk derivative) which have the characteristics of futures, options and securities. Such instruments may take a variety of forms, such as debt instruments with interest or principal payments determined by reference to the value of a currency, security index or commodity at a future point in time. The risks of such investments would reflect both the risks of investing in futures, options, currencies and securities, including volatility and illiquidity. Under certain conditions, the redemption value of a hybrid instrument could be zero.
In addition, because the purchase and sale of hybrid instruments could take place in an over-the-counter market or in a private transaction between the Fund and the seller of the hybrid instrument, the creditworthiness of the counterparty to the transaction would be a risk factor which the Fund would have to consider. Hybrid instruments also may not be subject to regulation of the CFTC, which generally regulates the trading of commodity futures by U.S. persons, the SEC, which regulates the offer and sale of securities by and to U.S. persons, or any other governmental regulatory authority.
Risks of Transactions in Options and Futures
There are certain risks involved in the use of futures contracts, options on securities and securities index options, and options on futures contracts, as hedging devices. There is a risk that the movement in the prices of the index or instrument underlying an option or futures contract may not correlate perfectly with the movement in the prices of the assets being hedged. The lack of correlation could render the Fund’s hedging strategy unsuccessful and could result in losses. The loss from investing in futures transactions is potentially unlimited.
There is a risk that Thrivent Asset Mgt. could be incorrect in their expectations about the direction or extent of market factors such as interest rate movements. In such a case, the Fund would have been better off without the hedge. In addition, while the principal purpose of hedging is to limit the effects of adverse market movements, the attendant expense may cause the Fund’s return to be less than if hedging had not taken place. The overall effectiveness of hedging, therefore, depends on the expense of hedging and Thrivent Asset Mgt.'s accuracy in predicting the future market factors, such as changes in interest rate levels and securities price movements.
The Fund will generally purchase and sell options traded on a national securities or options exchange. Where options are not readily available on such exchanges, the Fund may purchase and sell options in negotiated transactions. When the Fund uses negotiated options transactions, it will seek to enter into such transactions involving only those options and futures contracts for which there appears to be an active secondary market.
There is, nonetheless, no assurance that a liquid secondary market, such as an exchange or board of trade, will exist for any particular option or futures contract at any particular time. If a futures market were to become unavailable, in the event of an adverse movement, the Fund would be required to continue to make daily cash payments of maintenance margin if it could not
14

 

close a futures position. If an options market were to become unavailable and a closing transaction could not be entered into, an option holder would be able to realize profits or limit losses only by exercising an option, and an option writer would remain obligated until exercise or expiration.
In addition, exchanges may establish daily price fluctuation limits for options and futures contracts, and may halt trading if a contract’s price moves upward or downward more than the limit in a given day. On volatile trading days when the price fluctuation limit is reached or a trading halt is imposed, it may be impossible for a Fund to enter into new positions or close out existing positions. If the secondary market for a contract is not liquid because of price fluctuation limits or otherwise, it could prevent prompt liquidation of unfavorable positions, and potentially could require the Fund to continue to hold a position until delivery or expiration regardless of changes in its value. As a result, the Fund’s access to other assets held to cover its options or futures positions could also be impaired.
When conducting negotiated options transactions there is a risk that the opposite party to the transaction may default in its obligation to either purchase or sell the underlying security at the agreed upon time and price. In the event of such a default, the Fund could lose all or part of the benefit it would otherwise have realized from the transaction, including the ability to sell securities it holds at a price above the current market price or to purchase a security from another party at a price below the current market price.
Finally, if a broker or clearing member of an options or futures clearing corporation were to become insolvent, the Fund could experience delays and might not be able to trade or exercise options or futures purchased through that broker or clearing member. In addition, the Fund could have some or all of its positions closed out without its consent. If substantial and widespread, these insolvencies could ultimately impair the ability of the clearing corporations themselves.
Leverage Risks
Leverage risk is created when an investment, (which includes, for example, an investment in a futures contract, option, or swap) exposes the Fund to a level of risk that exceeds the amount invested. Changes in the value of such an investment magnify the Fund’s risk of loss and potential for gain. Investments can have these same results if their returns are based on a multiple of a specified index, security, currency, or other benchmark.
Foreign Securities
Foreign securities may include debt, equity and derivative securities that the Adviser determines are “foreign” based on the consideration of an issuer’s domicile, its principal place of business, its primary stock exchange listing, the source of its revenue or other factors. Foreign securities may also include depositary receipts, such as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), European Depositary Receipts (EDRs) and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs). ADRs are U.S. dollar-denominated receipts issued in registered form by a domestic bank or trust company that evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign issuer. EDRs are foreign currency denominated receipts issued in Europe, typically by foreign banks or trust companies and foreign branches of domestic banks, that evidence ownership of foreign or domestic securities. GDRs are receipts structured similarly to ADRs and EDRs and are marketed globally. Depositary receipts will not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as their underlying securities. In general, ADRs, in registered form, are designed for use in the U.S. securities markets, and EDRs, in bearer form, are designed for use in European securities markets. GDRs are tradable both in the United States and in Europe and are designed for use throughout the world. The Fund may invest in depositary receipts through “sponsored” or “unsponsored” facilities. A sponsored facility is established jointly by the issuer of the underlying security and a depositary, whereas a depositary may establish an unsponsored facility without participation by the issuer of the deposited security. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all the costs of such facilities and the depositary of an unsponsored facility frequently is under no obligation to distribute interest-holder communications received from the issuer of the deposited security or to pass through voting rights to the holders of such receipts in respect of the deposited securities. The issuers of unsponsored depositary receipts are not obligated to disclose material information in the United States, and, therefore, there may be limited information available regarding such issuers and/or limited correlation between available information and the market value of the depositary receipts.
15

 

Investing in foreign securities is subject to certain risks. For example, foreign markets can be extremely volatile. Fluctuations in currency exchange rates also may impact the value of foreign securities denominated in foreign currencies or U.S. dollars, without a change in the intrinsic value of those securities. Additionally, the U.S. dollar value of a foreign security tends to decrease when the value of the U.S. dollar rises against the foreign currency in which the security is denominated and tends to increase when the value of the U.S. dollar falls against such currency. The Fund may attempt to minimize the risk from adverse changes in the relationship between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies by purchasing and selling forward foreign currency exchange contracts and foreign currency futures contracts and related options. Foreign securities may be less liquid than domestic securities so that the Fund may, at times, be unable to sell foreign securities at desirable prices. Brokerage commissions, custodial fees and other fees also are generally higher for foreign securities. In addition, foreign governments may impose potentially confiscatory withholding or other taxes, which would reduce the Fund’s return on these securities. Other risks include: possible delays in the settlement of transactions or in the notification of income; generally less publicly available information about companies; adverse impact of political, social or diplomatic events; possible seizure, expropriation or nationalization of a company or its assets; possible imposition of currency exchange controls; and that foreign companies generally are not subject to accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards comparable to those mandated for domestic companies.
Risks associated with investments in foreign securities are increased with respect to investments in emerging market countries. Political and economic structures in many emerging market countries are undergoing significant evolutionary changes and rapid development, and may lack the social, political and economic stability of more developed countries. Investing in emerging market securities also involves risks beyond the risks applicable to foreign investments. For example, some emerging market countries may have fixed or managed currencies that are not free-floating against the U.S. dollar. Further, certain currencies may not be traded internationally, and some countries with emerging securities markets have sustained long periods of very high inflation or rapid fluctuation in inflation rates which can have negative effects on a country’s economy and securities markets.
Frontier markets are among the smallest, least mature and least liquid of the emerging markets; as a result, investments in frontier markets generally are subject to a greater risk of loss than are investments in developed markets or traditional emerging markets. Frontier market countries have smaller economies, less developed capital markets, greater market volatility, lower trading volume, more political and economic instability, greater risk of a market shutdown and more governmental limitations on foreign investments than are typically found in more developed markets.
Foreign Futures and Options
Participation in foreign futures and foreign options transactions involves the execution and clearing of trades on or subject to the rules of a foreign board of trade. Neither the National Futures Association nor any domestic exchange regulates activities of any foreign boards of trade, including the execution, delivery and clearing of transactions, or has the power to compel enforcement of the rules of a foreign board of trade or any applicable foreign law. This is true even if the exchange is formally linked to a domestic market so that a position taken on the market may be liquidated by a transaction on another market. Moreover, such laws or regulations will vary depending on the foreign country in which the foreign futures or foreign options transaction occurs.
For these reasons, customers who trade foreign futures or foreign options contracts may not be afforded certain of the protective measures provided by the Commodity Exchange Act, the CFTC’s regulations and the rules of the National Futures Association and any domestic exchange, including the right to use reparations proceedings before the Commission and arbitration proceedings provided by the National Futures Association or any domestic futures exchange. In particular, funds received from customers for foreign futures or foreign options transactions may not be provided the same protections as funds received in respect of transactions on United States futures exchanges.
In addition, the price of any foreign futures or foreign options contract and, therefore, the potential profit and loss thereon may be affected by any variance in the foreign exchange rate between the time an order is placed and the time it is liquidated, offset or exercised.
16

 

Short Sales Against the Box
The Fund may effect short sales, but only if such transactions are short sale transactions known as short sales “against the box.” A short sale is a transaction in which the Fund sells a security it does not own by borrowing it from a broker, and consequently becomes obligated to replace that security. A short sale against the box is a short sale where the Fund owns the security sold short or has an immediate and unconditional right to acquire that security without additional cash consideration upon conversion, exercise or exchange of options with respect to securities held in its portfolio. The effect of selling a security short against the box is to insulate that security against any future gain or loss. The Fund will incur transaction costs, including interest, in connection with opening, maintaining, and closing short sales against the box.
Foreign Currency Exchange-Related Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions
The Fund may invest in foreign currency exchange-related securities or engage in foreign currency transactions.
Foreign Currency Warrants. Foreign currency warrants are warrants which entitle the holder to receive from their issuer an amount of cash (generally, for warrants issued in the United States, in U.S. dollars). The cash amount is calculated pursuant to a predetermined formula and based on the exchange rate between a specified foreign currency and the U.S. dollar as of the exercise date of the warrant. Foreign currency warrants generally are exercisable upon their issuance and expire as of a specified date and time.
Foreign currency warrants have been issued in connection with U.S. dollar-denominated debt offerings by major corporate issuers in an attempt to reduce the foreign currency exchange risk that, from the point of view of prospective purchasers of the securities, is inherent in the international fixed-income marketplace. Foreign currency warrants may attempt to reduce the foreign exchange risk assumed by purchasers of a security by, for example, providing for a supplemental payment in the event that the U.S. dollar depreciates against the value of a major foreign currency such as the Japanese Yen or German Deutschmark. The formula used to determine the amount payable upon exercise of a foreign currency warrant may make the warrant worthless unless the applicable foreign currency exchange rate moves in a particular direction (e.g., unless the U.S. dollar appreciates or depreciates against the particular foreign currency to which the warrant is linked or indexed). Foreign currency warrants are severable from the debt obligations with which they may be offered and may be listed on exchanges.
Foreign currency warrants may be exercisable only in certain minimum amounts, and an investor wishing to exercise warrants who possesses less than the minimum number required for exercise may be required either to sell the warrants or to purchase additional warrants, thereby incurring additional transaction costs. In the case of any exercise of warrants, there may be a time delay between the time a holder of warrants gives instructions to exercise and the time the exchange rate relating to exercise is determined. During this time the exchange rate could change significantly, thereby affecting both the market and cash settlement values of the warrants being exercised.
The expiration date of the warrants may be accelerated if the warrants should be delisted from an exchange or if their trading should be suspended permanently. This would result in the loss of any remaining “time value” of the warrants (i.e., the difference between the current market value and the exercise value of the warrants), and, in the case the warrants were “out-of-the-money,” in a total loss of the purchase price of the warrants.
Warrants are generally unsecured obligations of their issuers and are not standardized foreign currency options issued by the Options Clearing Corporation (“OCC”). Unlike foreign currency options issued by OCC, the terms of foreign currency warrants generally will not be amended in the event of governmental or regulatory actions affecting exchange rates or in the event of the imposition of other regulatory controls affecting the international currency markets.
The initial public offering price of foreign currency warrants is generally considerably in excess of the price that a commercial user of foreign currencies might pay in the interbank market for a comparable option involving significantly larger amounts of foreign currencies.
17

 

Foreign currency warrants are subject to significant foreign exchange risk, including risks arising from complex political or economic factors.
Foreign Currency Transactions. A forward foreign currency exchange contract involves an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties at a price set at the time of the contract. These contracts are principally traded in the interbank market conducted directly between currency traders (usually large, commercial banks) and their customers. A forward contract generally has no deposit requirement, and no commissions are charged at any stage for trades.
The Fund may enter into forward contracts for a variety of purposes in connection with the management of the foreign securities portion of its portfolio. The Fund’s use of such contracts would include, but not be limited to, the following:
When the Fund enters into a contract for the purchase or sale of a security denominated in a foreign currency, it may desire to “lock in” the U.S. dollar price of the security. By entering into a forward contract for the purchase or sale, for a fixed amount of dollars, of the amount of foreign currency involved in the underlying security transactions, the Fund will be able to protect itself against a possible loss resulting from an adverse change in the relationship between the U.S. dollar and the subject foreign currency during the period between the date the security is purchased or sold and the date on which payment is made or received.
When the Fund determines that one currency may experience a substantial movement against another currency, including the U.S. dollar, the Fund may enter into a forward contract to sell or buy the amount of the former foreign currency, approximating the value of some or all of the Fund’s portfolio securities denominated in such foreign currency.
Alternatively, where appropriate, the Fund may hedge all or part of its foreign currency exposure through the use of a basket of currencies or a proxy currency where such currency or currencies act as an effective proxy for other currencies. In such a case, the Fund may enter into a forward contract where the amount of the foreign currency to be sold exceeds the value of the securities denominated in such currency. The use of this basket hedging technique may be more efficient and economical than entering into separate forward contracts for each currency held in the Fund.
The precise matching of the forward contract amounts and the value of the securities involved will not generally be possible since the future value of such securities in foreign currencies will change as a consequence of market movements in the value of those securities between the date the forward contract is entered into and the date it matures. The projection of short-term currency market movement is extremely difficult, and the successful execution of a short-term hedging strategy is highly uncertain.
Under normal circumstances, currency risk will be considered when deciding whether to buy or sell a security and as part of the overall diversification strategies. However, Thrivent Asset Mgt. has the flexibility to enter into such forward contracts when it determines that the best interests of the Fund will be served.
The Fund may enter into forward contracts for any other purpose consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and program. However, the Fund will not enter into a forward contract, or maintain exposure to any such contract(s), if the amount of foreign currency required to be delivered thereunder would exceed the Fund’s holdings of cash or liquid securities available for cover of the forward contract(s), or other suitable cover as permitted by the SEC. In determining the amount to be delivered under a contract, the Fund may net offsetting positions.
At the maturity of a forward contract, the Fund may sell the portfolio security and make delivery of the foreign currency, or it may retain the security and either extend the maturity of the forward contract (by “rolling” that contract forward) or may initiate a new forward contract.
If the Fund retains the portfolio security and engages in an offsetting transaction, the Fund will incur a gain or a loss (as described below) to the extent that there has been movement in forward contract prices. If the Fund engages in an offsetting transaction, it may subsequently enter into a new forward contract to sell the foreign currency. Should forward prices decline during the period between the Fund’s entering into a forward contract for the sale of a foreign currency and the date it enters into
18

 

an offsetting contract for the purchase of the foreign currency, the Fund will realize a gain to the extent the price of the currency it has agreed to sell exceeds the price of the currency it has agreed to purchase. Should forward prices increase, the Fund will suffer a loss to the extent of the price of the currency it has agreed to purchase exceeds the price of the currency it has agreed to sell.
The Fund’s dealing in forward foreign currency exchange contracts will generally be limited to the transactions described above. However, the Fund reserves the right to enter into forward foreign currency contracts for different purposes and under different circumstances. Of course, the Fund is not required to enter into forward contracts with regard to foreign currency-denominated securities and will not do so unless deemed appropriate. It also should be realized that this method of hedging against a decline in the value of a currency does not eliminate fluctuations in the underlying prices of the securities. It simply establishes a rate of exchange at a future date. Additionally, although such contracts tend to minimize the risk of loss due to a decline in the value of the hedged currency, at the same time, they tend to limit any potential gain that might result from an increase in the value of that currency.
The use of forward contracts involves the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the insolvency or bankruptcy of the other party to the contract or the failure of that party to make required payments or otherwise comply with the terms of the contract. Accordingly, the adviser must assess the creditworthiness of the other party to determine the likelihood that the terms of the contract will be satisfied. In addition, as a general matter, forward contracts are not currently entered into or traded on exchanges and there is currently no central clearing function for these contracts; therefore, a Fund that enters into a forward contract may find it difficult to exit the position.
Although the Fund values its assets daily in terms of U.S. dollars, it does not intend to convert its holdings of foreign currencies into U.S. dollars on a daily basis. It will do so from time to time, and there are costs associated with currency conversion. Although foreign exchange dealers do not charge a fee for conversion, they do realize a profit based on the difference (the “spread”) between the prices at which they are buying and selling various currencies. Thus, a dealer may offer to sell a foreign currency to the fund at one rate, while offering a lesser rate of exchange should the Fund desire to resell that currency to the dealer.
Principal Exchange Rate Linked Securities. Principal exchange rate linked securities are debt obligations the principal on which is payable at maturity in an amount that may vary based on the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and a particular foreign currency at or about that time. The return on “standard” principal exchange rate linked securities is enhanced if the foreign currency to which the security is linked appreciates against the U.S. dollar, and is adversely affected by increases in the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar. “Reverse” principal exchange rate linked securities are like the “standard” securities, except that their return is enhanced by increases in the value of the U.S. dollar and adversely impacted by increases in the value of foreign currency.
Interest payments on the securities are generally made in U.S. dollars at rates that reflect the degree of foreign currency risk assumed or given up by the purchaser of the notes (i.e., at relatively higher interest rates if the purchaser has assumed some of the foreign exchange risk, or relatively lower interest rates if the issuer has assumed some of the foreign exchange risk, based on the expectations of the current market).
Principal exchange rate linked securities may in limited cases be subject to acceleration of maturity (generally, not without the consent of the holders of the securities), which may have an adverse impact on the value of the principal payment to be made at maturity.
Performance Indexed Paper. Performance indexed paper is U.S. dollar-denominated commercial paper the yield of which is linked to certain foreign exchange rate movements. The yield to the investor on performance indexed paper is established at maturity as a function of spot exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and a designated currency as of or about that time (generally, the index maturity two days prior to maturity). The yield to the investor will be within a range stipulated at the time of purchase of the obligation. Generally, the guaranteed minimum rate of return is below, and a potential maximum rate of return that
19

 

is above, market yields on U.S. dollar-denominated commercial paper. In addition, both the minimum and maximum rates of return on the investment generally correspond to the minimum and maximum values of the spot exchange rate two business days prior to maturity.
U.S. Government Securities
The Fund may invest in U.S. government securities. U.S. government securities refer to a variety of debt securities that are issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury, by various agencies of the U.S. government and by various instrumentalities that have been established or sponsored by the U.S. government. The term also refers to repurchase agreements collateralized by such securities.
U.S. Treasury securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Other types of securities issued or guaranteed by Federal agencies and U.S. government-sponsored instrumentalities may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. The U.S. government, however, does not guarantee the market price of any U.S. government securities. In addition, the value of U.S. government securities may be affected by changes in the credit rating of the U.S. government.
In the case of securities not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, the investor must look principally to the agency or instrumentality issuing or guaranteeing the obligation for ultimate repayment. The investor may not be able to assert a claim against the U.S. itself in the event the agency or instrumentality does not meet its commitment.
Foreign Government Securities
The Fund may invest in foreign government securities. Foreign government securities generally consist of fixed-income securities supported by national, state or provincial governments or similar political subdivisions. Foreign government securities also include debt obligations of supranational entities, such as international organizations designed or supported by governmental entities to promote economic reconstruction or development, international banking institutions and related government agencies. Examples of these include, but are not limited to, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank), the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Foreign government securities also include fixed-income securities of quasi-governmental agencies that are either issued by entities owned by a national, state or equivalent government or are obligations of a political unit that are not backed by the national government’s full faith and credit. Further, foreign government securities include mortgage-related securities issued or guaranteed by national, state or provincial governmental instrumentalities, including quasi-governmental agencies.
These investments are subject to the risk that a governmental entity may delay or refuse to pay interest or repay principal on its sovereign debt, due, for example, to cash flow problems, insufficient foreign currency reserves, political considerations, the relative size of the governmental entity’s debt position in relation to the economy or the failure to put in place economic reforms required by the International Monetary Fund or other multilateral agencies. If a governmental entity defaults, it may ask for more time in which to pay or for further loans. There is no legal process for collecting sovereign debts that a government does not pay nor are there bankruptcy proceedings through which all or part of the sovereign debt that a governmental entity has not repaid may be collected.
Other Investment Companies
The Fund may invest in securities of other investment companies, including shares of closed-end investment companies, business development companies, unit investment trusts, open-end investment companies and exchange-traded funds, which represent interests in professionally managed portfolios that may invest in any type of instrument. Investing in other investment companies involves substantially the same risks as investing directly in the underlying instruments, but may involve additional expenses at the investment company-level, such as portfolio management fees and operating expenses which would result in the Fund paying its proportionate share. Certain other investment companies may utilize financial leverage. Certain types of
20

 

investment companies, such as closed-end investment companies, issue a fixed number of shares that trade on a stock exchange or over-the-counter at a premium or a discount to their net asset value. Others are continuously offered at net asset value, but may also be traded in the secondary market. The Fund will not invest in other investment companies for the purpose of gaining control of the investment company. The extent to which the Fund can invest in other investment companies is limited by federal securities laws.
The Fund may invest in other existing or future series of the Thrivent Core Funds, which, like the Fund, are mutual funds that are only offered to affiliates of the Fund and that do not charge an investment advisory fee.
Exchange Traded Funds (“ETFs”)
The Fund may purchase the securities of ETFs. ETFs are a type of index fund bought and sold on a securities exchange. An ETF trades like common stock and represents a fixed portfolio of securities designed to track a particular market index. The Fund could purchase shares of an ETF to temporarily gain exposure to a portion of the U.S. or a foreign market while awaiting purchase of underlying securities. The risks of owning shares in an ETF generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying securities they are designed to track, although lack of liquidity in an ETF could result in it being more volatile and ETFs have management fees which increase their costs. Certain ETFs may utilize financial leverage.
Exchange-Traded Notes
The Fund may invest in exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”). ETNs are generally notes representing debt of the issuer, usually a financial institution. ETNs combine both aspects of bonds and ETFs. An ETN’s returns are based on the performance of one or more underlying assets, reference rates or indexes, minus fees and expenses. Similar to ETFs, ETNs are listed on an exchange and traded in the secondary market. However, unlike an ETF, an ETN can be held until the ETN’s maturity, at which time the issuer will pay a return linked to the performance of the specific asset, index or rate (“reference instrument”) to which the ETN is linked minus certain fees and expenses. Unlike regular bonds, ETNs do not make periodic interest payments, and principal is not protected.
The value of an ETN may be influenced by, among other things, time to maturity, level of supply and demand for the ETN, volatility and lack of liquidity in underlying markets, changes in the applicable interest rates, the performance of the reference instrument, changes in the issuer’s credit rating and economic, legal, political or geographic events that affect the reference instrument. An ETN that is tied to a reference instrument may not replicate the performance of the reference instrument. ETNs also incur certain expenses not incurred by their applicable reference instrument. Some ETNs that use leverage can, at times, be relatively illiquid and, thus, they may be difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price. Levered ETNs are subject to the same risk as other instruments that use leverage in any form. While leverage allows for greater potential return, the potential for loss is also greater. Additional losses may be incurred if the investment loses value because, in addition to the money lost on the investment, the loan still needs to be repaid.
Because the return on the ETN is dependent on the issuer’s ability or willingness to meet its obligations, the value of the ETN may change due to a change in the issuer’s credit rating, despite no change in the underlying reference instrument. The market value of ETN shares may differ from the value of the reference instrument. This difference in price may be due to the fact that the supply and demand in the market for ETN shares at any point in time is not always identical to the supply and demand in the market for the assets underlying the reference instrument that the ETN seeks to track.
There may be restrictions on the Fund’s right to redeem its investment in an ETN, which are generally meant to be held until maturity. The Fund’s decision to sell its ETN holdings may be limited by the availability of a secondary market. An investor in an ETN could lose some or all of the amount invested.
21

 

Passive Foreign Investment Companies
The Fund may purchase the securities of certain foreign entities and foreign investment funds or trusts, treated as passive foreign investment companies for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Such trusts have been the only or primary way to invest in certain countries. In addition to bearing their proportionate share of the trust’s expenses (management fees and operating expenses), shareholders will also indirectly bear similar expenses of such trusts. Capital gains on the sale of such holdings are considered ordinary income regardless of how long the Fund holds its investments.
In addition, the Fund may be subject to corporate income tax and an interest charge on certain dividends and capital gains earned from these investments, regardless of whether such income and gains are distributed to shareholders.
To avoid such tax and interest, the Fund intends to treat these securities as sold on the last day of its fiscal year and recognize any gains for tax purposes at that time; deductions for losses are allowable only to the extent of any gains resulting from these deemed sales for prior taxable years. Such gains and losses will be treated as ordinary income. The Fund will be required to distribute any resulting income even though it has not sold the security and received cash to pay such distributions.
Inflation-Linked Debt Securities
The Fund may invest in inflation linked securities. Inflation-linked securities include fixed and floating rate debt securities of varying maturities issued by the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities, such as Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (“TIPS”), as well as securities issued by other entities such as corporations, municipalities, foreign governments and foreign issuers, including foreign issuers from emerging markets. Typically, such securities are structured as fixed income investments whose principal value is periodically adjusted according to the rate of inflation. The following two structures are common: (i) the U.S. Treasury and some other issuers issue inflation-linked securities that accrue inflation into the principal value of the security and (ii) other issuers may pay out the Consumer Price Index (“CPI”) accruals as part of a semi-annual coupon. Other types of inflation-linked securities exist which use an inflation index other than the CPI.
Inflation-linked securities issued by the U.S. Treasury, such as TIPS, have maturities of varying years. Typically, TIPS pay interest on a semi-annual basis equal to a fixed percentage of the inflation adjusted principal amount. For example, if the Fund purchased an inflation-indexed bond with a par value of $1,000 and a 3% real rate of return coupon (payable 1.5% semi-annually), and the rate of inflation over the first six months was 1%, the mid-year par value of the bond would be $1,010 and the first semi annual interest payment would be $15.15 ($1,010 times 1.5%). If inflation during the second half of the year resulted in the whole year’s inflation of 3%, the end-of-year par value of the bond would be $1,030 and the second semi-annual interest payment would be $15.45 ($1,030 times 1.5%).
If the periodic adjustment rate measuring inflation falls, the principal value of inflation indexed bonds will be adjusted downward, and consequently the interest payable on these securities (calculated with respect to a smaller principal amount) will be reduced. Repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed in the case of TIPS, even during a period of deflation, although the inflation-adjusted principal received could be less than the inflation-adjusted principal that had accrued to the bond at the time of purchase. However, the current market value of the bonds is not guaranteed and will fluctuate. Other inflation-related bonds exist that may or may not provide a similar guarantee. 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.
The value of inflation-linked securities is expected to change in response to changes in real interest rates. Real interest rates in turn are tied to the relationship between nominal interest rates and the rate of inflation. Therefore, if the rate of inflation rises at a faster rate than nominal interest rates, real interest rates might decline, leading to an increase in value of inflation-linked securities.
While inflation-linked 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.
22

 

The periodic adjustment of U.S. inflation-linked securities is tied to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”), which is not seasonably adjusted and which is calculated monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 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-linked securities issued by a foreign government are generally adjusted to reflect a comparable inflation index calculated by that government. There can be no assurance that the CPI-U or a foreign inflation index will accurately measure the real rate of inflation in the prices of goods and services. Moreover, there can be no assurance that the rate of inflation in a foreign country will be correlated to the rate of inflation in the U.S.
Any increase in the principal amount of an inflation-linked security will be considered taxable ordinary income, even though the Fund does not receive their principal until maturity.
Funding Agreements
The Fund may invest in funding agreements, which are contracts issued by insurance companies that provide investors the right to receive a rate of interest and the full return of principal at maturity. Funding agreements often include a put option that allows a fund to terminate the agreement at a specified time prior to maturity. Funding agreements generally offer a higher yield than other securities with similar credit ratings. The primary risks of a funding agreement are the credit quality of the insurance company that issues it and its general lack of liquidity.
Taxable Municipal Bonds
The Fund may invest in taxable municipal bonds. States, local governments and municipalities issue municipal bonds to raise money for certain purposes. Municipal bonds issued to finance activities with a broad public purpose are generally exempt from federal income tax. Taxable municipal bonds are most often used to finance private development projects but can be issued whenever the municipality exhausts its allowed limits of tax-exempt bonds. As such, the interest paid to holders of such bonds is taxable as ordinary income. Many taxable municipal bonds offer yields comparable to those of other taxable bonds, such as corporate and agency bonds. Taxable municipal bonds may be rated investment-grade or below investment-grade and pay interest based on fixed or floating rate coupons. Maturities may range from long-term to short-term. Taxable municipal bonds are subject to much of the same risks to which municipal bonds are subject. These risks include, among others, market risk, credit risk and interest rate risk.
Defensive Investing
In response to market, economic, political or other conditions, the Fund may invest without limitation in cash, preferred stocks, or investment-grade debt securities for temporary defensive purposes that are inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies. If the Fund does this, different factors could affect the Fund’s performance and it may not achieve its investment objective.
Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings
The Trust has adopted, on behalf of the Fund, policies and procedures relating to disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities. The policies and procedures relating to disclosure of portfolio securities are designed to allow disclosure of portfolio holdings information where necessary to the operation of the Fund or useful to the Fund’s shareholders without compromising the integrity or performance of the Fund. Except when there are legitimate business purposes for selective disclosure and other conditions (designed to protect the Fund and its shareholders) are met, the Fund does not provide or permit others to provide information about its portfolio holdings on a selective basis.
The Fund includes portfolio holdings information as required in regulatory filings and shareholder reports, discloses portfolio holdings information as required by federal or state securities laws and may disclose portfolio holdings information in response to requests by governmental authorities. In addition, Thrivent Asset Mgt. may distribute or authorize the distribution of information about the Fund’s portfolio holdings that is not publicly available to its employees and affiliates that provide services to the Fund.
23

 

Thrivent Asset Mgt. may also distribute or authorize distribution of information about the Fund’s portfolio holdings that is not publicly available to the Fund’s service providers who require access to the information in order to fulfill their contractual duties relating to the Fund, including, without limitation, the custodian, accounting system vendor, auditor, proxy voting service provider, pricing service provider, securities lending service provider, and printer. The Fund may also disclose portfolio holdings information to broker/dealers and certain other entities in order to assist the Fund with potential transactions and management of the Fund.
Information may be disclosed with any frequency and any time lag, as appropriate. Thrivent Asset Mgt. does not expect to disclose information about the Fund’s portfolio holdings that is not publicly available to the Fund’s investors or to intermediaries that distribute the Fund’s shares except to the financial printer on a monthly basis.
Before any non-public disclosure of information about the Fund’s portfolio holdings is permitted, however, the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer or a designated attorney in Thrivent Financial’s Asset Management Law Department must determine that the Fund has a legitimate business purpose for providing the portfolio holdings information, that the disclosure is in the best interests of the Fund’s shareholders, and that the recipient agrees or has a duty to keep the information confidential and agrees not to trade directly or indirectly based on the information or to use the information to form a specific recommendation about whether to invest in the Fund or any other security. Under no circumstances may the Fund, Thrivent Financial or their affiliates receive any consideration or compensation for disclosing the information.
In accordance with these policies and procedures, the Fund has ongoing arrangements with the following service providers to provide the Fund’s portfolio holding information:
Service Provider   Service   Frequency
Bloomberg

  Trading System & Data Vendor   Daily
Confluence

  Regulatory Reporting Vendor   Quarterly
Deutsche Bank AG - New York Branch

  Securities Lending Agent   Daily
Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc.

  Regulatory Printer   Quarterly
FactSet Research Systems Inc.

  Systems Vendor   Daily
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.

  Mutual Fund Accounting System Vendor   Daily
ICE Data Services

  Pricing Service   Daily
IHS Markit

  Pricing Service   Daily
Institutional Shareholder Services

  Proxy Voting & Class Action Services Vendor   Daily
ITG Inc.

  Systems Vendor   Daily
Omgeo LLC

  Systems Vendor   Daily
___________________________

  Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm   Annually
PricingDirect Inc.

  Pricing Service   Daily
Securities Evaluations, Inc.

  Pricing Service   Daily
State Street Bank and Trust Company

  Custodian   Daily
Wolters Kluwer

  Systems Vendor   Monthly; three day lag
As part of the annual review of the compliance policies and procedures of the Fund, the Chief Compliance Officer will discuss the operation and effectiveness of this policy and any changes to the Policy that have been made or recommended with the Board.
Investment Limitations
The fundamental investment restrictions for the Fund are set forth below. These fundamental investment restrictions may not be changed without the approval of a majority of the shareholders of the Fund. The Fund may not:
24

 

1. Borrow money, except that the Fund may borrow money (through the issuance of debt securities or otherwise) in an amount not exceeding one-third of the Fund’s total assets immediately after the time of such borrowing.
2. Issue senior securities, except as permitted under the 1940 Act or any exemptive order or rule issued by the SEC.
3. With respect to 75% of its total assets, purchase securities of an issuer (other than the U.S. Government, its agencies, instrumentalities or authorities or repurchase agreements fully collateralized by U.S. Government securities, and other investment companies) if (a) such purchase would, at the time, cause more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets taken at market value to be invested in the securities of such issuer; or (b) such purchase would, at the time, result in more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer being held by the Fund.
4. Buy or sell real estate, except that the Fund may (i) acquire or lease office space for its own use, (ii) invest in securities of issuers that invest in real estate or interests therein, (iii) invest in mortgage-related securities and other securities that are secured by real estate or interests therein, and (iv) hold and sell real estate acquired by the Fund as a result of the ownership of securities.
5. Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that the Fund may purchase and sell derivatives (including but not limited to options, futures contracts and options on futures contracts) whose value is tied to the value of a financial index or a financial instrument or other asset (including, but not limited to, securities indexes, interest rates, securities, currencies and physical commodities).
6. Make loans, except that the Fund may (i) lend portfolio securities, (ii) enter into repurchase agreements, and (iii) purchase all or a portion of an issue of debt securities, bank loan participation interests, bank certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, debentures or other securities, whether or not the purchase is made upon the original issuance of the securities.
7. Underwrite the securities of other issuers, except where the Fund may be deemed to be an underwriter for purposes of certain federal securities laws in connection with the disposition of portfolio securities; with investments in other investment companies; and with loans that the Fund may make pursuant to its fundamental investment restriction on lending.
8. Purchase a security if, after giving effect to the purchase, more than 25% of its total assets would be invested in the securities of one or more issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry, except that this restriction does not apply to Government Securities (as such term is defined in the 1940 Act).
The following nonfundamental investment restriction may be changed without shareholder approval. Under this restriction:
1. The Fund may not purchase any security while borrowings, including reverse repurchase agreements, representing more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets are outstanding. The Fund intends to limit borrowings to amounts borrowed from a bank or reverse repurchase agreements (insofar as they are considered borrowings).
2. The fundamental investment restriction with respect to industry concentration (number 8 above) will be applied pursuant to SEC policy at 25% (instead of “more than 25%”) of the Fund’s total assets.
3. The Fund does not currently intend to purchase securities on margin, except that the Fund may obtain such short-term credits as are necessary for the clearance of transactions, and provided that margin payments in connection with futures contracts and options on futures contracts shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin.
4. The fundamental investment restriction with respect to diversification (number 3 above) will be applied so securities issued by U.S. Government agencies, instrumentalities, or authorities will be eligible for the exception only if those securities qualify as a “Government Security” under the 1940 Act.
5. The exception for exemptive orders in the fundamental investment restriction with respect to senior securities (number 2 above) will be applied only for exemptive orders issued to the Fund.
Section 18(g) of the 1940 Act defines a “senior security” as any bond, debenture, note, or similar obligation constituting a security and evidencing indebtedness. Section 18(f)(1) of the 1940 Act prohibits an open-end investment company from issuing senior securities but permits borrowings from a bank if immediately after the borrowing there is asset coverage of at least 300% and provided further that, in the event that such asset coverage falls below 300%, the investment company will, within 3 days (not
25

 

including Sundays and holidays), reduce the amount of its borrowings to an extent that the asset coverage of such borrowings shall be at least 300%. The SEC staff has taken the position that a fund may engage in certain leveraged transactions, such as short sales and financial futures contracts, without violating Section 18(f)(1) if it segregates fund assets.
The Fund is prohibited from acquiring the securities of any investment company or company relying on Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act in excess of the limits contained in Section 12(d)(1)(A) of the 1940 Act.
26

 

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUNDS
Board of Trustees and Executive Officers
The Board is responsible for overseeing the Adviser and other service providers who manage the Fund’s day-to-day business affairs and for exercising all powers except those reserved to the shareholders. Each Trustee also serves as:
Trustee of Thrivent Mutual Funds, a registered investment company consisting of 23 series;
Director of Thrivent Series Fund, Inc., a registered investment company consisting of 29 Portfolios that serve as underlying funds for variable contracts issued by Thrivent Financial and Thrivent Life Insurance Company (“TLIC”); and
Trustee of Thrivent Cash Management Trust, a registered investment company consisting of one Fund that serves as a cash collateral fund for a securities lending program sponsored by Thrivent Financial.
The Trust, Thrivent Mutual Funds, Thrivent Series Fund, Inc. and Thrivent Cash Management Trust are collectively referred to as the “Fund Complex.”
Leadership Structure and Oversight Responsibilities
Overall responsibility for oversight of the Trust and the Fund rests with the Board. The Board has engaged Thrivent Asset Mgt. to manage the Fund on a day-to-day basis. The Board is responsible for overseeing Thrivent Asset Mgt. and other service providers in the operation of the Trust in accordance with the provisions of the 1940 Act, applicable provisions of Delaware law, other applicable laws and the Trust’s charter documents. The Board is currently composed of ten members, including eight Independent Trustees and two Interested Trustees. An “Independent Trustee” is not an “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust, while an “Interested Trustee” is. The Board conducts regular meetings four times a year. In addition, the Board holds special in-person or telephonic meetings or informal conference calls to discuss specific matters that may arise or require action between regular meetings. The Independent Trustees have engaged independent legal counsel and an industry consultant to assist them in performance of their oversight responsibilities.
The Board has appointed an Independent Trustee to serve in the role of Chairperson. The Chairperson’s role is to preside at all meetings of the Board and to act as a liaison with service providers, officers, attorneys, and other Trustees generally between meetings. The Chairperson may also perform such other functions as may be delegated by the Board from time to time. Except for duties specified herein or pursuant to the Trust’s charter documents, the designation of Chairperson does not impose on such Independent Trustee any duties, obligations or liability that are greater than the duties, obligations or liability imposed on such person as a member of the Board generally. The Board has established five standing committees (described in more detail below) to assist the Board in the oversight and direction of the business and affairs of the Trust, and from time to time may establish informal working groups to review and address the policies and practices of the Trust with respect to certain specified matters. The Board believes that the Board’s current leadership structure is appropriate because it allows the Board to exercise informed and independent judgment over matters under its purview, and it allocates areas of responsibility among committees of the Trustees and the full Board in a manner that enhances effective oversight. The leadership structure of the Board may be changed at any time and in the discretion of the Board, including in response to changes in circumstances or the characteristics of the Trust.
The Trust and the Fund are subject to a number of risks, including investment, compliance, operational, and valuation risks, among others. Day-to-day risk management functions are subsumed within the responsibilities of Thrivent Asset Mgt. and other service providers (depending on the nature of the risk), which carry out the Fund’s investment management and business affairs. Each of Thrivent Asset Mgt. and the other service providers have their own, independent interest in risk management, and their policies and methods of carrying out risk management functions will depend, in part, on their individual priorities, resources and controls.
Risk oversight forms part of the Board’s general oversight of the Trust and the Fund and is addressed as part of various Board and committee activities. The Board recognizes that it is not possible to identify all of the risks that may affect the Fund or to develop processes and controls to eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects. As part of its regular oversight of the Trust, the
27

 

Board, directly or through a committee, interacts with and reviews reports from, among others, Thrivent Asset Mgt., the Chief Compliance Officer of the Trust, the independent registered public accounting firm for the Trust, and internal auditors for Thrivent Asset Mgt., as appropriate, regarding risks faced by the Trust and the Fund, and Thrivent Asset Mgt.’s risk functions.
The Audit Committee of the Board, which is composed of all Independent Trustees, oversees management of financial risks and controls. The Audit Committee serves as the channel of communication between the independent auditors of the Trust and the Board with respect to financial statements and financial reporting processes, systems of internal control, and the audit process. A representative of business risk management, which functions as the Adviser’s internal audit group, meets with the Audit Committee and provides reports to the Committee in writing and in person on an as-needed basis (but at least annually). Although the Audit Committee is responsible for overseeing the management of financial risks, the entire Board is regularly informed of these risks through Committee reports.
The Ethics and Compliance Committee of the Board, which is composed of all Independent Trustees, monitors ethical risks and oversees the legal and regulatory compliance matters of the Fund. A representative of business risk management meets with the Ethics and Compliance Committee and provides reports to the Committee in writing and in person on an as-needed basis (but at least annually). In addition, the Trust’s Anti-Money Laundering Officer meets with the Ethics and Compliance Committee and provides reports to the Committee in writing and in person at least annually. The Anti-Money Laundering Officer’s reports relate to privacy, identity theft prevention, cybersecurity, and anti-money laundering concerns. The Committee also meets with a representative from the Business Continuity Plan area to learn more about that program. Although the Ethics and Compliance Committee is responsible for overseeing ethical and compliance risks, the entire Board is regularly informed of these risks through Committee reports.
The Investment Committee of the Board, which is composed of all Independent Trustees, is designed to review investment policies and risks in conjunction with its review of the Fund’s performance. Although the Investment Committee is responsible for oversight of investment risks, the entire Board will be regularly informed of these risks through Committee reports.
The Contracts Committee and the Governance and Nominating Committee, each of which is comprised of all of the Independent Trustees, oversee matters relating to annual contract review and corporate governance, respectively, and related risks.
The Board has appointed a Chief Compliance Officer who oversees the implementation and testing of the Fund’s compliance program and reports to the Board regarding compliance matters for the Fund and its principal service providers. In addition, as part of the Board’s annual review of the Trust’s advisory and other service provider agreements, the Board considers risk management aspects of these entities’ operations and the functions for which they are responsible. The Board may, at any time and in its discretion, change the manner in which it conducts its risk oversight role.
The Trust’s charter documents do not set forth any specific qualifications to serve as a Trustee. The charter of the Governance and Nominating Committee also does not set forth any specific qualification. However, the Governance and Nominating Committee has adopted qualification guidelines that the Committee may take into account in considering Trustee candidates and a process for evaluating potential candidates. The qualifications that the Committee takes into consideration include, but are not limited to, a candidate’s connections to the Christian community, experience on other boards, occupation, business experience, education, knowledge regarding investment matters, diversity of experience, personal integrity and reputation and willingness to devote time to attend and prepare for Board and Committee meetings. No one factor is controlling, either with respect to the group or any individual.
The Board has concluded, based on each Trustee’s experience, qualifications, attributes or skills, on an individual basis and in combination with those of other Trustees, that each Trustee is qualified to serve on the Board. Among the attributes or skills common to all Trustees are their ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with each of the other Trustees, the Adviser, counsel, the Trust’s independent registered public accounting firm and other service providers, and to exercise effective and independent business judgment in the performance of their duties as Trustees. Each Trustee’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively has been attained through the Trustee’s business, consulting, public service or academic positions and through experience from service as a board member of the Trust and the other
28

 

funds in the Fund Complex, another fund complex, public companies, or non-profit entities or other organizations as set forth below. Each Trustee’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively has been enhanced by his or her educational background, professional training, and/or other experiences. The following is a summary of each Trustee’s particular professional and other experience that qualifies each person to serve as a Trustee of the Trust as of the date of this SAI. Additional details regarding the background of each Trustee are included in the table below this section.
Janice B. Case. Ms. Case has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex since 2011 and as Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee since 2012. She has nearly 40 years of experience in the electric utilities industry, including ten years as an executive officer of a Florida-based electric utility and holding company. Since leaving full-time corporate employment, Ms. Case gained mutual fund industry experience as a former director on the board of another fund complex. While a director on that board, she served on board committees, including as chair of the compensation and proxy voting committees, and as a member of the governance/nominating, contract review and audit committees. Ms. Case has also served as a director on several public corporate and non-profit boards.
Robert J. Chersi. Mr. Chersi has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex and as Chair of the Audit Committee since 2017. He also has been determined by the Board to be an Audit Committee financial expert. Mr. Chersi has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, including four years as the former Chief Financial Officer of Fidelity Investments Financial Services where he led the finance, compliance, risk management, business consulting and strategic new business development functional organizations. He has also been a certified public accountant and a FINRA Series 27 license holder. Mr. Chersi is currently the Executive Director of the Center for Global Governance, Reporting and Regulation of the Lubin School of Business at Pace University. Through his extensive experience, Mr. Chersi has gained deep knowledge of corporate governance, financial reporting and regulatory compliance practices.
Richard A. Hauser. Mr. Hauser has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex since 2004, as Chair of the Board since 2012 and as Chair of the Ethics and Compliance Committee from 2005 through 2011. He is a licensed attorney and was formerly Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for a large publicly traded aerospace company. Mr. Hauser was formerly a partner in a large national law firm and has held senior positions in government, including as deputy White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan and as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He has experience as a director as a former board member and chairman of The Luther Institute and the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation and a former director on the board of Lutheran Brotherhood, the Washington Hospital Center and a public healthcare-related company.
Marc S. Joseph. Mr. Joseph has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex since 2011 and as Chair of the Ethics and Compliance Committee since 2012. He has more than 20 years of experience in the investment industry, including over five years as a portfolio manager for mutual funds and institutional accounts and three years as a chief investment officer. Mr. Joseph is the co-founder of a consulting and advisory firm registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, the regulator of financial service providers in the United Kingdom. As the founder and Managing Director of another private investing and consulting company, he has provided services as a mediator or arbitrator for cases involving disputes with broker-dealers.
Paul R. Laubscher. Mr. Laubscher has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex since 2009 and as Chair of the Investment Committee since 2010. He is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and has over 25 years of experience as a portfolio manager. Mr. Laubscher has served as a senior investment manager of the retirement fund of a large public technology company since 1997.
James A. Nussle. Mr. Nussle has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex since 2011. He has more than 20 years of public service experience, including serving as a Representative from Iowa in the House of Representatives from 1991 through 2007 and as Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Nussle is a founding member, president and chief executive officer of the Nussle Group, a public affairs media and strategic consulting firm, and he also serves as an executive officer of a trade association of credit unions. Mr. Nussle has gained experience as a director on the advisory board of a private equity firm and on the board of several non-profit organizations.
29

 

Verne O. Sedlacek. Mr. Sedlacek has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex since 2017. Mr. Sedlacek has over 35 years of experience in the financial services industry, including eleven years as the former chief executive officer of the Commonfund, an institutional investment firm that provides solutions for strategic investors within the nonprofit and pension investment communities. He has experience as a member on the board of several not-for-profit and for-profit boards, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He also was a certified public accountant.
Constance L. Souders. Ms. Souders has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex since 2007 and as Chair of the Contracts Committee since 2010. She also serves as the Audit Committee financial expert. Ms. Souders has over 20 years of experience in the mutual fund industry, including eight years as the former Treasurer of a mutual fund complex and registered investment adviser and the Financial and Operations General Securities Principal of a mutual fund distributor.
Russell W. Swansen. Mr. Swansen has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex since 2009. He has over 25 years of experience as a portfolio manager and served as a Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of Thrivent Financial from 2003 to 2017. Mr. Swansen has executive and business experience as a former managing director of an investment bank and as a former president of another registered investment adviser. He has gained experience as a director on the board of several companies (both public and private) and a non-profit organization that supports medical research for the treatment and cure of childhood cancers. Mr. Swansen was formerly a director on the board of a mining equipment manufacturer and has been a board member of several private companies.
David S. Royal. Mr. Royal has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex since 2015. He has 20 years of experience advising and working for mutual fund complexes. He is currently the President and Chief Investment Officer of the Fund Complex, and he has served as Chief Investment Officer of Thrivent Financial since 2017. Prior to his current position, Mr. Royal was Deputy General Counsel for Thrivent Financial and the Secretary and Chief Legal Officer of the Fund Complex. Before joining Thrivent Financial, Mr. Royal was a partner at an international law firm based in Chicago. Mr. Royal teaches a course at a law school about the investment management industry. He also serves on the board of directors of a non-profit organization and is currently the Vice Chair.
The following tables provide additional information about the Trustees and officers of the Trust.
Interested Trustees (1)
Name, Address and
Year of Birth
  Position
with Trust
and Length
of Service (2)
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund Complex
Overseen by
Trustee
  Principal Occupation
During Past 5 Years
  Other Directorships
Held Currently
and within Past
Five Years
Russell W. Swansen
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1957)
  Trustee
since 2009
  56   Retired; Chief Investment Officer, Thrivent Financial from 2003 to 2017.   Currently, Director of Twin Bridge Capital Partners, Invenshure LLC, Children’s Cancer Research Fund, and Intellectual Takeout.
David S. Royal
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1971)
  Chief Investment Officer since 2017; Trustee and President since 2015   56   Chief Investment Officer, Thrivent Financial since 2017; VP, President Mutual Funds, Thrivent Financial from 2015 to 2017; Vice President and Deputy General Counsel from 2006 to 2015.   Currently, Fairview Hospital Foundation
30

 

Independent Trustees (3)
Name, Address and
Year of Birth
  Position
with Trust
and Length
of Service (2)
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund Complex
Overseen by
Trustee
  Principal Occupation
During the Past 5 Years
  Other Directorships
Held Currently
and within Past
Five Years
Janice B. Case
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1952)
  Trustee since 2011   56   Retired.   Independent Trustee of North American Electric Reliability Corporation (the electric reliability organization (“ERD”) for North America) since 2008
Robert J. Chersi
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1961)
  Trustee since 2017   56   Founder of Chersi Services LLC (consulting firm) since 2012; Executive Director of Center for Global Governance, Reporting & Regulation and Adjunct Professor of Finance and Economics at Pace University since 2013; Helpful Executive in Research (counseling) in the Department of Accounting & Information Systems at Rutgers University since 2013; Chief Financial Officer of Fidelity Investments Financial Services from 2008 to 2012.   Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Old Mutual Asset Management PLC since 2016; Advisory Board member of the Pace University Lubin School of Business; Trustee of Fidelity Investments Financial Services’ Political Action Committee
Richard A. Hauser
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1943)
  Trustee since 2004   56   Retired; Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, The Boeing Company from 2007 to 2016.   None
Marc S. Joseph
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1960)
  Trustee since 2011   56   Managing Director of Granite Ridge LLP (consulting and advisory firm) since 2009; Managing Director of Triangle Crest (private investing and consulting firm) since 2004.   None
Paul R. Laubscher
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1956)
  Trustee since 2009   56   Portfolio Manager for U.S. private real estate portfolios of IBM Retirement Funds.   None
31

 

Name, Address and
Year of Birth
  Position
with Trust
and Length
of Service (2)
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund Complex
Overseen by
Trustee
  Principal Occupation
During the Past 5 Years
  Other Directorships
Held Currently
and within Past
Five Years
James A. Nussle
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1960)
  Trustee since 2011   56   President and Chief Executive Officer of Credit Union National Association since September 2014; President and Chief Operating Officer of Growth Energy (trade association) from 2010 through August 2014; Advisory Board member of AVISTA Capital Partners (private equity firm) from 2010 to 2015; CEO of The Nussle Group LLC (consulting firm) since 2009.   Advisory Board member of AVISTA Capital Partners and Director of Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRAA) from 2010 to 2015
Verne O. Sedlacek
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1954)
  Trustee since 2017   56   Chief Executive Officer of E&F Advisors LLC (consulting) since 2015; President & Chief Executive Officer of the Commonfund from 2003 to 2015.   Director of Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges since 2007; Trustee of Valparaiso University since 2015; Trustee of Museum of American Finance since 2015; Chairman of the Board of Directors of AGB Institutional Strategies since 2016
Constance L. Souders
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1950)
  Trustee since 2007   56   Retired.   None
Officers
Name, Address and
Year of Birth
  Position
with Trust
and Length
of Service (2)
  Principal Occupation
During the Past 5 Years
David S. Royal
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1971)
  Chief Investment Officer since 2017; Trustee and President since 2015   Chief Investment Officer, Thrivent Financial since 2017; VP, President, Mutual Funds, Thrivent Financial from 2015 to 2017; Vice President and Deputy General Counsel from 2006 to 2015
Gerard V. Vaillancourt
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1967)
  Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer since 2005   Vice President, Mutual Fund Accounting since 2006
32

 

Name, Address and
Year of Birth
  Position
with Trust
and Length
of Service (2)
  Principal Occupation
During the Past 5 Years
Michael W. Kremenak
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1978)
  Secretary and Chief Legal Officer since 2015   Vice President, Thrivent Financial since 2015; Senior Counsel, Thrivent Financial from 2013 to 2015; Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at Nuveen Investments from 2011 to 2013
Ted S. Dryden
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1965)
  Chief Compliance Officer since 2010   Investment Company and Investment Adviser Chief Compliance Officer, Thrivent Financial since December 2010
Janice M. Guimond
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1964)
  Vice President since 2005   Vice President, Investment Operations, Thrivent Financial since 2004
Kathleen M. Koelling
4321 North Ballard Road
Appleton, WI
(1977)
  Privacy and Identity Theft and Anti-Money Laundering Officer since 2011   Privacy and Identity Theft and Anti-Money Laundering Officer, Thrivent Financial since 2011; Senior Counsel, Thrivent Financial since 2002
Kathryn A. Stelter
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1962)
  Vice President since 2015   Director, Mutual Fund Operations, Thrivent Financial since 2014; Director, Mutual Fund Operations at Hartford Funds from 2006 to 2014
Troy A. Beaver
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1967)
  Vice President since 2016   Vice President, Mutual Funds Marketing & Distribution, Thrivent Financial since 2015; Vice President, Marketing, American Century Investments from 2006 to 2015
James M. Odland
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1955)
  Assistant Secretary
since 2006
  Vice President, Managing Counsel, Thrivent Financial since 2005
Jill M. Forte
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1974)
  Assistant Secretary
since 2016
  Senior Counsel, Thrivent Financial since 2017; Counsel, Thrivent Financial from 2015 to 2017; Associate Counsel, Ameriprise Financial, Inc. from 2013 to 2015; Manager—Legal Affairs, Ameriprise Financial, Inc. from 2010 to 2013
Sarah L. Bergstrom
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1977)
  Assistant Treasurer
since 2007
  Head of Mutual Fund Accounting, Thrivent Financial since 2017; Director, Fund Accounting Administration, Thrivent Financial from 2007 to 2017

  
(1) “Interested person” of the Trust as defined in the 1940 Act by virtue of a position with Thrivent Financial. Mr. Royal is considered an interested person because of his principal occupation with Thrivent Financial. Mr. Swansen is considered an interested person because of his past occupation with Thrivent Financial.
(2) Each Trustee generally serves an indefinite term until her or his successor is duly elected and qualified. Officers generally serve at the discretion of the board until their successors are duly appointed and qualified.
33

 

(3) The Trustees, other than Mr. Swansen or Mr. Royal, are not “interested persons” of the Trust and are referred to as “Independent Trustees.”
Committees of the Board of Trustees
Committee   Members (1)   Function   Meetings Held
During Last
Fiscal Year
Audit   Janice B. Case
Robert J. Chersi
Richard A. Hauser
Marc S. Joseph
Paul R. Laubscher
James A. Nussle
Verne O. Sedlacek
Constance L. Souders
  The 1940 Act requires that the Trusts’ independent auditors be selected by a majority of those Trustees who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust. The Audit Committee is responsible for recommending the engagement or retention of the Trust’s independent accountants, reviewing with the independent accountants the plan and the results of the auditing engagement, approving professional services, including permitted non-audit services, provided by the independent accountants prior to the performance of such services, considering the range of audit and non-audit fees, reviewing the independence of the independent accountants, reviewing the scope and results of procedures of internal auditing, and reviewing the system of internal accounting control.   6
Contracts   Janice B. Case
Robert J. Chersi
Richard A. Hauser
Marc S. Joseph
Paul R. Laubscher
James A. Nussle
Verne O. Sedlacek
Constance L. Souders
  The function of the Contracts Committee is to assist the Board in fulfilling its duties with respect to the review and approval of contracts between the Trust and other entities, including entering into new contracts and the renewal of existing contracts. The Contracts Committee considers investment advisory, distribution, transfer agency, administrative service and custodial contracts, and such other contracts as the Board deems necessary or appropriate for the continuation of operations of each Fund.   6
Ethics and Compliance   Janice B. Case
Robert J. Chersi
Richard A. Hauser
Marc S. Joseph
Paul R. Laubscher
James A. Nussle
Verne O. Sedlacek
Constance L. Souders
  The function of the Ethics and Compliance Committee is to monitor the ethics of the Adviser and oversee the legal and regulatory compliance matters of the Funds.   4
Governance and Nominating   Janice B. Case
Robert J. Chersi
Richard A. Hauser
Marc S. Joseph
Paul R. Laubscher
James A. Nussle
Verne O. Sedlacek
Constance L. Souders
  The Governance and Nominating Committee assists the Board in fulfilling its duties with respect to the governance of the Trust, including recommendations regarding evaluation of the Board, compensation of the Trustees and composition of the committees and the Board’s membership. The Governance Committee makes recommendations regarding nominations for Trustees and will consider nominees suggested by shareholders sent to the attention of the President of the Trust.   4
34

 

Committee   Members (1)   Function   Meetings Held
During Last
Fiscal Year
Investments   Janice B. Case
Robert J. Chersi
Richard A. Hauser
Marc S. Joseph
Paul R. Laubscher
James A. Nussle
Verne O. Sedlacek
Constance L. Souders
  The Investment Committee assists the Board in its oversight of the investment performance of the Funds; the Funds’ consistency with their investment objectives and styles; management’s selection of benchmarks, peer groups and other performance measures for the Funds; and the range of investment options offered to investors in the Funds. In addition, the Committee assists the Board in its review of investment-related aspects of management’s proposals such as new Funds or Fund reorganizations.   4

  
(1) The Independent Trustees serve as members of each Committee.
Beneficial Interest in the Funds by Trustees
The following tables provide information, as of December 31, 2016, regarding the dollar range of beneficial ownership by each Trustee in each series of the Trust. The dollar range shown in the third column reflects the aggregate amount of each Trustee’s beneficial ownership in all registered investment companies, not including ownership through deferred compensation, within the investment company complex that are overseen by the Trustee. For Independent Trustees only, the last column sets forth the dollar range of each Trustee’s deferred compensation, which is effectively invested in the Thrivent Mutual Funds and allocated among individual Funds as determined by the Trustee. For more information on the deferred compensation plan and for the aggregate amount of each Trustee’s deferred compensation, see “Compensation of Trustees” below.
Interested Trustees
Name of Trustee   Dollar Range of Beneficial Ownership in the Fund   Aggregate Dollar
Range of Beneficial
Ownership in All
Registered Investment
Companies Overseen
by the Trustee
in the Family of
Investment Companies
David S. Royal   None     Over $100,000
Russell W. Swansen   None     Over $100,000
Independent Trustees
Name of Trustee   Dollar Range of Beneficial Ownership in the Funds   Aggregate Dollar
Range of Beneficial
Ownership in All
Registered Investment
Companies Overseen
by the Trustee
in the Family of
Investment Companies
  Dollar Range
through Deferred
Compensation
Janice B. Case     None   Over $100,000   None
Robert J. Chersi     None   None   None
Richard A. Hauser     None   Over $100,000   Over $100,000
Marc S. Joseph     None   $10,001-$50,000   Over $100,000
35

 

Name of Trustee   Dollar Range of Beneficial Ownership in the Funds   Aggregate Dollar
Range of Beneficial
Ownership in All
Registered Investment
Companies Overseen
by the Trustee
in the Family of
Investment Companies
  Dollar Range
through Deferred
Compensation
Paul R. Laubscher     None   $1-$10,000   Over $100,000
James A. Nussle     None   Over $100,000   None
Verne O. Sedlacek     None   None   None
Constance L. Souders     None   None   Over $100,000
Compensation of Trustees
The Trust makes no payments to any of its officers for services performed for the Trust. The Independent Trustees are paid an annual base compensation of $170,000 to serve on the Boards of the Fund Complex. Each Trustee also receives $5,000 for each in-person meeting attended. The Board Chair is compensated an additional $70,000 per year; the Chair of the Audit Committee, who also serves as the Audit Committee Financial Expert, is compensated an additional $40,000 per year; the Chair of the Contracts Committee, the Chair of the Investments Committee, the Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee and the Chair of the Ethics and Compliance Committee are each compensated an additional $20,000 per year. Independent Trustees are reimbursed by the Trust for any expenses they may incur by reason of attending Board meetings or in connection with other services they may perform in connection with their duties as Trustees of the Trust. The Trustees receive no pension or retirement benefits in connection with their service to the Trust.
The following table provides the amounts of compensation paid to the Trustees either directly or in the form of payments made into a deferred compensation plan for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017:
Name, Position (1)   Aggregate
Compensation from
Trust for One Year
Ending October 31, 2017
  Total Compensation
Paid by Trust and the
Investment Company
Complex for One Year
Ending October 31, 2017
Janice B. Case

  $   $
Trustee        
Robert J. Chersi

  $   $
Trustee        
Richard A. Hauser

  $   $
Trustee        
Marc S. Joseph

  $   $
Trustee        
Paul R. Laubscher

  $   $
Trustee        
James A. Nussle

  $   $
Trustee        
Verne O. Sedlacek

  $   $
Trustee        
Constance L. Souders

  $   $
Trustee        

  
(1) The Trust has adopted a deferred compensation plan for the benefit of the Independent Trustees of the Trust who wish to defer receipt of a percentage of eligible compensation which they otherwise are entitled to receive from the Trust. Compensation deferred is effectively invested in the Thrivent Mutual Funds, the allocation of which is determined by the
36

 

individual Trustee. The Trustees participating in the deferred compensation plan do not actually own shares of the Thrivent Mutual Funds through the plan, since deferred compensation is a general liability of the Thrivent Mutual Funds. However, a Trustee’s return on compensation deferred is economically equivalent to an investment in the applicable Thrivent Mutual Funds. For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017, the total amount of deferred compensation payable to _______ was ________.
37

 

SIGNIFICANT SHAREHOLDERS
As of November 14, 2017, the Fund’s officers and the Trustees of the Trust owned less than 1% of the shares of the Fund.
Material Transactions with Independent Trustees
No Independent Trustee of the Trust or any immediate family member of an Independent Trustee has had, during the two most recently completed calendar years, a direct or indirect interest in the investment adviser, the principal underwriter, or in any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by or under common control with the investment adviser, the principal underwriter, or a subadviser for the Fund exceeding $120,000. In addition, no Independent Trustee of the Trust or any of their immediate family members has had, during the two most recently completed calendar years, a direct or indirect material interest in any transaction or series of similar transactions in which the amount involved exceeds $120,000 and to which one of the parties was the Trust; an officer of the Trust; an investment company or an officer of any investment company having the same investment adviser or principal underwriter as the Fund as its investment adviser or principal underwriter or having an investment adviser or principal underwriter that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by or under common control with the investment adviser, subadviser or principal underwriter of the Fund; the Fund’s investment adviser or principal underwriter; an officer of the Fund’s investment adviser or principal underwriter; or a person or an officer of a person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by or under common control with the investment adviser or the principal underwriter of the Fund (an “Associated Person”). No Independent Trustee of the Trust or a member of the immediate family of an Independent Trustee has had, in the two most recently completed calendar years, a direct or indirect relationship with any Associated Person involving an amount in excess of $120,000 and which involved: payments for property or services to or from any Associated Person; provision of legal services to any Associated Person; provision of investment banking services to any Associated Person, other than as a participating underwriter in a syndicate; or, any consulting or other relationship that is substantially similar in nature and scope to these types of relationships.
38

 

INVESTMENT ADVISER AND PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Investment Adviser
The Fund’s investment adviser Thrivent Asset Mgt. was organized as a Delaware limited liability company on September 23, 2005. Thrivent Asset Mgt. is a subsidiary of both Thrivent Financial Holdings, Inc. and TLIC, both of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of Thrivent Financial. Thrivent Financial Holdings, Inc. and TLIC own respectively 80% and 20% of Thrivent Asset Mgt.’s membership interests.
Thrivent Asset Mgt., 625 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415, is the investment adviser for the Fund. The officers and directors of Thrivent Asset Mgt. who are affiliated with the Trust are set forth below under “Affiliated Persons.”
Investment decisions for the Fund are made by Thrivent Asset Mgt., subject to the overall direction of the Board of Trustees. Thrivent Asset Mgt. also provides investment research and supervision of the Fund’s investments and conducts a continuous program of investment evaluation and appropriate disposition and reinvestment of these assets.
Thrivent Asset Mgt. Portfolio Managers
Other Accounts Managed by the Thrivent Asset Mgt. Portfolio Managers
The following table provides information relating to other accounts managed by Thrivent Asset Mgt. portfolio managers as of October 31, 2017:
    Other Registered
Investment Companies (1)
  Other Accounts
Portfolio Manager   # of Accounts
Managed
  Assets
Managed
  # of Accounts
Managed
  Assets
Managed
Noah J. Monsen

      $       $
Brian W. Bomgren

      $       $

(1) The “Other Registered Investment Companies” represent (a) series of Thrivent Mutual Funds and series of Thrivent Series Fund, Inc.
Compensation
Each portfolio manager of Thrivent Asset Mgt. is compensated by an annual base salary and an annual bonus, in addition to the various benefits that are available to all employees of Thrivent Financial. The annual base salary for each portfolio manager is a fixed amount that is determined annually according to the level of responsibility and performance. The annual bonus provides for a variable payment that is attributable to the relative performance of each fund or account managed by the portfolio manager measured for one- and three-year periods against the median performance of other funds in the same peer group, as classified by Lipper, Inc., or an index constructed with comparable criteria. Some portfolio managers also participate in Thrivent Financial’s long-term incentive plan, which provides for an additional variable payment based on the extent to which Thrivent Financial met corporate goals during the previous three-year period.
Conflicts of Interest
Portfolio managers at Thrivent Asset Mgt. typically manage multiple accounts. These accounts may include, among others, mutual funds, proprietary accounts and separate accounts (assets managed on behalf of pension funds, foundations and other investment accounts). The management of multiple funds and accounts may give rise to potential conflicts of interest if the funds and accounts have different objectives, benchmarks, time horizons, and fees. In addition, the side-by-side management of these funds and accounts may raise potential conflicts of interest relating to cross trading, the allocation of investment opportunities and the aggregation and allocation of trades. Thrivent Asset Mgt. seeks to provide best execution of all securities transactions and
39

 

aggregate and then allocate securities to client accounts in a fair and timely manner. To this end, Thrivent Asset Mgt. has developed policies and procedures designed to mitigate and manage the potential conflicts of interest that may arise from side-by-side management.
Ownership in the Fund
The following table provides information as of November 14, 2017 on the dollar range of beneficial ownership by each portfolio manager for the Fund.
Portfolio Manager   Fund   Fund Ownership
Noah J. Monsen

  Thrivent Core International Equity Fund   $0
Brian W. Bomgren

  Thrivent Core International Equity Fund   $0
Affiliated Persons
The following officers of Thrivent Asset Mgt., the Fund’s investment adviser, are affiliated with the Trust:
Affiliated Person   Position with Trust   Position with Thrivent Asset Mgt.
David S. Royal

  Trustee, President and Chief Investment Officer   Elected Manager and President
Gerard V. Vaillancourt

  Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer   Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Edward S. Dryden

  Chief Compliance Officer   Chief Compliance Officer
Janice M. Guimond

  Vice President   Elected Manager and Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Kathleen M. Koelling

  Privacy and Identity Theft and Anti-Money Laundering Officer   Privacy Officer and Anti-Money Laundering Officer
Michael W. Kremenak

  Secretary and Chief Legal Officer   Assistant Secretary
The Advisory Agreement
Thrivent Asset Mgt. serves as the investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to an Advisory Agreement dated as of May 2, 2016, as amended (“Advisory Agreement”), by and between the Adviser and the Trust. Thrivent Asset Mgt. is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Thrivent Financial. The Adviser’s mailing address is 625 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415.
Advisory Fees
The Adviser will not receive a fee for its investment advisory services.
Code of Ethics
The Trust and Thrivent Asset Mgt. have each adopted a code of ethics pursuant to the requirements of the 1940 Act. Under the Codes of Ethics, personnel are only permitted to engage in personal securities transactions in accordance with certain conditions relating to such person’s position, the identity of the security, the timing of the transaction, and similar factors. Transactions in securities that may be held by the Fund are permitted, subject to compliance with applicable provisions of the Code. Personal securities transactions must be reported quarterly and broker confirmations of such transactions must be provided for review.
40

 

Proxy Voting Policies
The Trust has adopted the proxy voting policies of Thrivent Asset Mgt. Those policies are included in Appendix A. Information regarding how the Trust voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available without charge by calling 800.847.4836 or at the SEC website (www.sec.gov).
41

 

UNDERWRITING AND DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
The Fund’s principal underwriter and distributor, Thrivent Distributors, LLC (“Thrivent Distributors”), is a Delaware limited liability company organized in 2015. Thrivent Distributors is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Thrivent Financial and is located at 625 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415. The officers and directors of Thrivent Distributors who are affiliated with the Trust are set forth below under “Affiliated Persons.” Under a Distribution Agreement (the “Distribution Agreement”), Thrivent Investment Mgt. is granted the right to sell shares of the Funds as agent for the Trust in the manner contemplated by the Trust’s registration statement.
The Distribution Agreement was initially approved by the Board of Trustees, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, on May 2, 2016, and will continue in effect until April 30, 2018, and thereafter from year to year so long as its continuance is approved at least annually by the Board of Trustees, including the Independent Trustees.
Underwriting Commissions
Thrivent Distributors does not receive underwriting commissions from the Trust.
12b-1 Distribution Plan
Assets of the Fund are not subject to a Rule 12b-1 fee.
Affiliated Persons
The following officers of Thrivent Distributors are affiliated with the Trust.
Affiliated Person   Position with Trust   Position with Thrivent Distributors
David S. Royal

  Trustee, President and Chief Investment Officer   Elected Manager
Troy A. Beaver

  Vice President   Elected Manager and Chief Executive Officer
Edward S. Dryden

  Chief Compliance Officer   Chief Compliance Officer
Gerard V. Vaillancourt

  Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer   Elected Manager and Chief Financial Officer
Kathryn A. Stelter

  Vice President   Chief Operations Officer
Michael W. Kremenak

  Secretary and Chief Legal Officer   Chief Legal Officer and Secretary
42

 

OTHER SERVICES
Custodian
The custodian for the Fund is State Street Bank and Trust Company (the “Custodian”), One Lincoln Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111. The Custodian is responsible for safeguarding the Fund’s assets held in the United States and for serving as the Fund’s foreign custody manager.
Transfer Agent
Thrivent Financial Investor Services Inc. (“Thrivent Financial Investor Services”), 625 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415, provides transfer agency and dividend payment services necessary to the Trust on a per-account basis.
Administration Contract
Thrivent Asset Mgt. provides both administrative and accounting services to the Fund under an Administrative Services Agreement. Under this Agreement, the Fund pays Thrivent Asset Mgt. an annual fee equal to the sum of $70,000 plus 0.019 percent of the Fund’s average daily net assets. Because the Fund had not yet commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI, payments made by the Fund under the Agreement for the past three fiscal years are not yet available.
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
_______________________________________________________________________, serves as the Trust’s independent registered public accounting firm, providing professional services including audits of the Trust’s annual financial statements, assistance and consultation in connection with Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and preparation, review and signing of the annual income tax returns filed on behalf of the Trust.
43

 

BROKERAGE ALLOCATION AND OTHER PRACTICES
Brokerage Transactions
In connection with the management of the investment and reinvestment of the assets of the Fund, the Advisory Contract authorizes Thrivent Asset Mgt., acting by its own officers, directors or employees to select the brokers or dealers that will execute purchase and sale transactions for the Fund. In executing portfolio transactions and selecting brokers or dealers, if any, Thrivent Asset Mgt. will use reasonable efforts to seek on behalf of the Fund the best overall terms available.
In assessing the best overall terms available for any transaction, Thrivent Asset Mgt. will consider all factors it deems relevant, including:
the breadth of the market in and the price of the security,
the financial condition and execution capability of the broker or dealer, and
the reasonableness of the commission, if any (for the specific transaction and on a continuing basis).
In evaluating the best overall terms available, and in selecting the broker or dealer, if any, to execute a particular transaction, Thrivent Asset Mgt. may also consider the brokerage and research services (as those terms are defined in Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) provided to any other accounts over which Thrivent Asset Mgt. or an affiliate of Thrivent Asset Mgt. exercises investment discretion. Thrivent Asset Mgt. may pay to a broker or dealer who provides such brokerage and research services a commission for executing a portfolio transaction which is in excess of the amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for effecting that transaction if, but only if, Thrivent Asset Mgt. determines in good faith that such commission was reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided.
To the extent that the receipt of the above-described services may supplant services for which Thrivent Asset Mgt. might otherwise have paid, it would, of course, tend to reduce the expenses of Thrivent Asset Mgt.
In certain cases, Thrivent Asset Mgt. may obtain products or services from a broker that have both research and non-research uses. Examples of non-research uses are administrative and marketing functions. These are referred to as “mixed use” products. In each case, Thrivent Asset Mgt. makes a good faith effort to determine the proportion of such products or services that may be used for research and non-research purposes. The portion of the costs of such products or services attributable to research usage may be defrayed by Thrivent Asset Mgt. through brokerage commissions generated by transactions of its clients, including the Fund. Thrivent Asset Mgt. pays the provider in cash for the non-research portion of its use of these products or services.
Thrivent Asset Mgt. may obtain third-party research from broker-dealers or non-broker dealers by entering into a commission sharing arrangement (a “CSA”). Under a CSA, the executing broker-dealer agrees that part of the commissions it earns on certain equity trades will be allocated to one or more research providers as payment for research. CSAs allow Thrivent Asset Mgt. to direct broker-dealers to pool commissions that are generated from orders executed at that broker-dealer, and then periodically direct the broker-dealer to pay third-party research providers for research.
The investment decisions for the Fund are and will continue to be made independently from those of other investment companies and accounts managed by Thrivent Asset Mgt. or its affiliates. Such other investment companies and accounts may also invest in the same securities as the Fund. When purchases and sales of the same security are made at substantially the same time on behalf of such other investment companies and accounts, transactions may be averaged as to the price and available investments allocated as to the amount in a manner which Thrivent Asset Mgt. and its affiliates believe to be equitable to each investment company or account, including the Fund. In some instances, this investment procedure may affect the price paid or received by the Fund or the size of the position obtainable or sold by the Fund.
Brokerage Commissions
The Fund commenced operations on or around November 14, 2017. As such, the Fund does not have brokerage commissions paid in each of the past three fiscal years.
44

 

The Fund commenced operations on or around November 14, 2017. As such, the Fund does not have a total amount of brokerage commissions paid by the Fund to firms that provided research services and the aggregate amount of transactions relating to such commissions for the most recent fiscal year ended.
Portfolio Turnover Rates
The rate of portfolio turnover in the Fund will not be a limiting factor when Thrivent Asset Mgt. deems changes in the Fund’s portfolio appropriate in view of its investment objectives. As a result, while the Fund will not purchase or sell securities solely to achieve short term trading profits, the Fund may sell portfolio securities without regard to the length of time held if consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. A higher degree of equity portfolio activity will increase brokerage costs to the Fund. The portfolio turnover rate is computed by dividing the dollar amount of securities purchased or sold (whichever is smaller) by the average value of securities owned during the year. Short-term investments such as commercial paper and short-term U.S. Government securities are not considered when computing the turnover rate.
Portfolio Turnover Rates
The Fund commenced operations on or around November 14, 2017. As such, the Fund does not have portfolio turnover rates for the last three fiscal years.
Regular Brokers or Dealers
The Fund commenced operations on or around November 14, 2017. As such, the Fund held no securities of its “regular broker or dealers,” as that term is defined in Rule 10b-1 under the 1940 Act, as of October 31, 2017.
45

 

PURCHASE, REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF SHARES
Manner in Which Shares are Offered and Redeemed
Shares of the Fund are being offered to the series of Thrivent Mutual Funds and Thrivent Series Fund, Inc. Because shares are sold directly by the Fund without a distributor, they are not subject to a sales load or redemption fee, and assets of the Fund are not subject to a Rule 12b-1 fee. The Fund will pay redemption requests within seven days following receipt of all required documents, subject to the limited exceptions as permitted by the SEC.
NET ASSET VALUE
The net asset value per share is generally determined at the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”), or any other day as provided by Rule 22c-1 under the 1940 Act. Determination of net asset value may be suspended when the NYSE is closed or if certain emergencies have been determined to exist by the Securities and Exchange Commission, as allowed by the 1940 Act. If the NYSE has an unscheduled early close but certain other markets remain open until their regularly scheduled closing time, the NAV may be determined as of the regularly scheduled closing time of the NYSE. If the NYSE and/or certain other markets close early due to extraordinary circumstances (e.g., weather, terrorism, etc.), the NAV may be calculated as of the early close of the NYSE and/or other markets. The NAV generally will not be determined on days when, due to extraordinary circumstances, the NYSE and/or certain other markets do not open for trading.
Net asset value is determined by adding the market or appraised value of all securities and other assets; subtracting liabilities; and dividing the result by the number of shares outstanding.
The market value of the Fund’s portfolio securities is determined at the close of regular trading of the NYSE on each day the NYSE is open. The value of portfolio securities is determined in the following manner:
Equity securities that are traded on U.S. exchanges, including options, shall be valued at the last sale price on the principle exchange as of the close of regular trading on such exchange. If there have been no sales, the latest bid quotation is used.
Over-the-Counter Securities. NASDAQ National Market® securities shall be valued at the NASDAQ Official Closing Price. All other over-the-counter securities for which reliable quotations are available shall be valued at the latest bid quotation.
Fixed income securities traded on a national securities exchange will be valued at the last sale price on such securities exchange that day. If there have been no sales, the latest bid quotation is used.
Because market quotations are generally not “readily available” for many debt securities, foreign and domestic debt securities held by the Funds may be valued by an Approved Pricing Service (“APS”), using the evaluation or other valuation methodologies used by the APS. If quotations are not available from the APS, the Adviser’s Valuation Committee shall obtain a manual price from a broker or make a fair value determination.
The Fund may value debt securities with a remaining maturity of 60 days or less at amortized cost.
Prices provided by independent pricing services may be determined without relying exclusively on quoted prices and may consider institutional trading in similar groups of securities, yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics and other market data employed in determining valuation for such securities.
All other securities and assets will be appraised at fair value as determined by the Board of Trustees.
Generally, trading in foreign securities, as well as U.S. Government securities, money market instruments and repurchase agreements, is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of the NYSE. The values of such securities used in computing the net asset value of shares of the Fund are determined as of such times. Foreign currency exchange rates are also generally determined prior to the close of the NYSE. Occasionally, events affecting the value of such securities and exchange
46

 

rates may occur between the times at which they are determined and the close of the NYSE, which will not be reflected in the computation of net asset values. If during such periods events occur that materially affect the value of such securities, the securities will be valued at their fair market value as determined in good faith by the Trustees of the Trust.
For purposes of determining the net asset value of shares of the Fund all assets and liabilities initially expressed in foreign currencies will be converted into U.S. dollars based upon an exchange rate quoted by a major bank that is a regular participant in the foreign exchange market or on the basis of a pricing service that takes into account the quotes provided by a number of such major banks.
47

 

TAX STATUS
The Fund’s Tax Status
The Fund expects to pay no federal income tax because it intends to meet requirements of Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code applicable to regulated investment companies and to receive the special tax treatment afforded to such companies. To qualify for this treatment, the Fund must, among other requirements:
derive at least 90% of its gross income from dividends, interest, gains from the sale of securities, and certain other investments;
comply with applicable asset diversification requirements; and
distribute at least 90% of its ordinary income to shareholders.
It is the Fund’s policy to distribute substantially all of its income on a timely basis, including any net realized gains on investments each year.
To avoid payment of a 4% excise tax, the Fund is also generally required to distribute to shareholders at least 98% of its ordinary income earned during the calendar year and 98.2% of its net capital gains realized during the 12-month period ending October 31.
Shareholders’ Tax Status
Information on a shareholder’s tax status is described in the Fund’s Prospectus under “Taxes.”
Capital Gains
While the Fund does not intend to engage in short-term trading, it may dispose of securities held for only a short time if Thrivent Asset Mgt. believes it to be advisable. Such changes may result in the realization of capital gains. The Fund distributes its realized gains in accordance with federal tax regulations. Distributions from any net realized capital gains will usually be declared in December.
48

 

DESCRIPTION OF DEBT RATINGS
A Fund’s investments may range in quality from securities rated in the lowest category in which the Fund is permitted to invest to securities rated in the highest category (as rated by Moody’s, S&P or Fitch, or, if unrated, determined by Thrivent Asset Mgt. to be of comparable quality). The percentage of a Fund’s assets invested in securities in a particular rating category will vary. The following terms are generally used to describe the credit quality of fixed income securities:
High Quality Debt Securities are those rated in one of the two highest rating categories (the highest category for commercial paper) or, if unrated, deemed comparable by Thrivent Asset Mgt.
Investment Grade Debt Securities are those rated in one of the four highest rating categories or, if unrated, deemed comparable by Thrivent Asset Mgt.
Below Investment Grade, High Yield Securities (“Junk Bonds”) are those rated lower than Baa by Moody’s, BBB by S&P or Fitch and comparable securities. They are deemed predominately speculative with respect to the issuer’s ability to repay principal and interest.
The following is a description of Moody’s, S&P’s and Fitch’s rating categories applicable to fixed income securities.
Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.
Global Long-Term Obligation Ratings
Moody’s long-term obligation ratings are opinions of the relative credit risk of fixed-income obligations with an original maturity of one year or more. They address the possibility that a financial obligation will not be honored as promised. Such ratings reflect both the likelihood of default and any financial loss suffered in the event of default.
Aaa: Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the lowest level of credit risk.
Aa: Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.
A: Obligations rated A are considered upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.
Baa: Obligations rated Baa are judged to be medium-grade and subject to moderate credit risk and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics.
Ba: Obligations rated Ba are judged to be speculative and are subject to substantial credit risk.
B: Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.
Caa: Obligations rated Caa are judged to be speculative of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.
Ca: Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest.
C: Obligations rated C are the lowest rated and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.
Moody’s appends numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.
Global Short-Term Ratings
Moody’s short-term ratings are opinions of the ability of issuers to honor short-term financial obligations. Ratings may be assigned to issuers, short-term programs or to individual short-term debt instruments. Such obligations generally have an original maturity not exceeding thirteen months, unless explicitly noted.
49

 

Moody’s employs the following designations to indicate the relative repayment ability of rated issuers:
P-1: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-1 have a superior ability to repay short-term debt obligations.
P-2: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-2 have a strong ability to repay short-term debt obligations.
P-3: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-3 have an acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations.
NP: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Not Prime do not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.
US Municipal Short-Term Debt and Demand Obligation Ratings
Short-Term Obligation Ratings
There are three rating categories for short-term municipal obligations that are considered investment grade. These ratings are designated as Municipal Investment Grade (MIG) and are divided into three levels — MIG 1 through MIG 3. In addition, those short-term obligations that are of speculative quality are designated SG, or speculative grade. MIG ratings expire at the maturity of the obligation.
MIG 1: This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by established cash flows, highly reliable liquidity support, or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing.
MIG 2: This designation denotes strong credit quality. Margins of protection are ample, although not as large as in the preceding group.
MIG 3: This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Liquidity and cash-flow protection may be narrow, and market access for refinancing is likely to be less well-established.
SG: This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Debt instruments in this category may lack sufficient margins of protection.
Demand Obligation Ratings
In the case of variable rate demand obligations (VRDOs), a two-component rating is assigned; a long or short-term debt rating and a demand obligation rating. The first element represents Moody’s evaluation of risk associated with scheduled principal and interest payments. The second element represents Moody’s evaluation of risk associated with the ability to receive purchase price upon demand (“demand feature”), using a variation of the MIG rating scale, the Variable Municipal Investment Grade or VMIG rating.
VMIG 1: This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by the superior short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
VMIG 2: This designation denotes strong credit quality. Good protection is afforded by the strong short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
VMIG 3: This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Adequate protection is afforded by the satisfactory short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
SG: This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Demand features rated in this category may be supported by a liquidity provider that does not have an investment grade short-term rating or may lack the structural and/or legal protections necessary to ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
50

 

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services
Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings
Issue credit ratings are based, in varying degrees, on the following considerations:
Likelihood of payment — capacity and willingness of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on an obligation in accordance with the terms of the obligation;
Nature of and provisions of the obligation;
Protection afforded by, and relative position of, the obligation in the event of bankruptcy, reorganization, or other arrangement under the laws of bankruptcy and other laws affecting creditors’ rights.
Issue ratings are an assessment of default risk, but may incorporate an assessment of relative seniority or ultimate recovery in the event of default. Junior obligations are typically rated lower than senior obligations, to reflect the lower priority in bankruptcy, as noted above. (Such differentiation may apply when an entity has both senior and subordinated obligations, secured and unsecured obligations, or operating company and holding company obligations.)
AAA: An obligation rated ‘AAA’ has the highest rating assigned by Standard & Poor’s. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong.
AA: An obligation rated ‘AA’ differs from the highest-rated obligations only to a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is very strong.
A: An obligation rated ‘A’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher-rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is still strong.
BBB: An obligation rated ‘BBB’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
Obligations rated ‘BB’, ‘B’, ‘CCC’, ‘CC’, and ‘C’ are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. ‘BB’ indicates the least degree of speculation and ‘C’ the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposures to adverse conditions.
BB: An obligation rated ‘BB’ is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions which could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
B: An obligation rated ‘B’ is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated ‘BB’, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
CCC: An obligation rated ‘CCC’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
CC: An obligation rated ‘CC’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. The ‘CC’ rating is used when a default has not yet occurred, but Standard & Poor’s expects default to be a virtual certainty, regardless of the anticipated time to default.
C: An obligation rated ‘C’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment, and the obligation is expected to have lower relative seniority or lower ultimate recovery compared to obligations that are rated higher.
51

 

D: An obligation rated ‘D’ is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the ‘D’ rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless Standard & Poor’s believes that such payments will be made within five business days in the absence of a stated grace period or within the earlier of the stated grace period or 30 calendar days. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. An obligation’s rating is lowered to ‘D’ if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.
NR: This indicates that no rating has been requested, that there is insufficient information on which to base a rating, or that Standard & Poor’s does not rate a particular obligation as a matter of policy.
Plus (+) or minus (-): The ratings from ‘AA’ to ‘CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.
Short-Term Issue Credit Ratings
A-1: A short-term obligation rated ‘A-1’ is rated in the highest category by Standard & Poor’s. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is strong. Within this category, certain obligations are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on these obligations is extremely strong.
A-2: A short-term obligation rated ‘A-2’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rating categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is satisfactory.
A-3: A short-term obligation rated ‘A-3’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
B: A short-term obligation rated ‘B’ is regarded as vulnerable and has significant speculative characteristics. The obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments; however, it faces major ongoing uncertainties which could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments.
C: A short-term obligation rated ‘C’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
D: A short-term obligation rated ‘D’ is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the ‘D’ rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless Standard & Poor’s believes that such payments will be made within any stated grace period. However, any stated grace period longer than five business days will be treated as five business days. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. An obligation’s rating is lowered to ‘D’ if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.
Fitch, Inc.
Long-Term Credit Ratings
Investment Grade
AAA: Highest credit quality. ‘AAA’ ratings denote the lowest expectation of credit risk. They are assigned only in case of exceptionally strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.
52

 

AA: Very high credit quality. “AA” ratings denote expectations of very low credit risk. They indicate very strong capacity for timely payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.
A: High credit quality. “A” ratings denote low expectation of credit risk. The capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is considered strong. This capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic conditions than is the case for higher ratings.
BBB: Good credit quality. “BBB” ratings indicate that expectations of credit risk are currently low. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered adequate, but adverse business or economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity.
    
Speculative Grade
BB: Speculative. ‘BB’ ratings indicate an elevated vulnerability to credit risk, particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time; however, business or financial alternatives may be available to allow financial commitments to be met.
B: Highly speculative. ‘B’ ratings indicate that material credit risk is present.
CCC: Substantial credit risk. ‘CCC’ ratings indicate that substantial credit risk is present.
CC: Very high levels of credit risk. ‘CC’ ratings indicate very high levels of credit risk.
C: Exceptionally high levels of credit risk. ‘C’ indicates exceptionally high levels of credit risk.
Short-Term Credit Ratings
A short-term issuer or obligation rating is based in all cases on the short-term vulnerability to default of the rated entity or security stream, and relates to the capacity to meet financial obligations in accordance with the documentation governing the relevant obligation. Short-Term Ratings are assigned to obligations whose initial maturity is viewed as “short term” based on market convention. Typically, this means up to 13 months for corporate, structured and sovereign obligations, and up to 36 months for obligations in US public finance markets.
F1: Highest short-term credit quality. Indicates the strongest intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added “+” to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.
F2: Good short-term credit quality. Good intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.
F3: Fair short-term credit quality. The intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is adequate.
B: Speculative short-term credit quality. Minimal capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, plus heightened vulnerability to near term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.
C: High short-term default risk. Default is a real possibility.
RD: Restricted default. Indicates an entity that has defaulted on one or more of its financial commitments, although it continues to meet other financial obligations. Applicable to entity ratings only.
D: Default. Indicates a broad-based default event for an entity, or the default of a specific short-term obligation.
53

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The Fund does not have financial statements because it has not yet commenced operations.
54

 

APPENDIX A—PROXY VOTING PROCESS AND POLICIES SUMMARY
55


Table of Contents

2/6/2017

 

 

THRIVENT FINANCIAL FOR LUTHERANS and

THRIVENT ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC

PROXY VOTING PROCESS AND POLICIES SUMMARY

 

 

Ø RESPONSIBILITY TO VOTE PROXIES

Overview. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (“Thrivent Financial”) recognize and adhere to the principle that one of the privileges of owning stock in a company is the right to vote in the election of the company’s directors and on matters affecting certain important aspects of the company’s structure and operations that are submitted to shareholder vote. As an investment adviser with a fiduciary responsibility to its clients, Thrivent Financial analyzes the proxy statements of issuers whose stock is owned by the investment companies which it sponsors and serves as investment adviser (“Thrivent Funds”) and by institutional accounts who have requested that Thrivent Financial be involved in the proxy process.

Thrivent Financial has adopted Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures (“Policies and Procedures”) for the purpose of establishing formal policies and procedures for performing and documenting its fiduciary duty with regard to the voting of client proxies.

Fiduciary Considerations. It is the policy of Thrivent Financial that decisions with respect to proxy issues will be made in light of the anticipated impact of the issue on the desirability of investing in the portfolio company from the viewpoint of the particular client or Thrivent Fund. Proxies are voted solely in the interests of the client, Thrivent Fund shareholders or, where employee benefit plan assets are involved, in the interests of plan participants and beneficiaries. Thrivent Financial votes proxies, where possible to do so, in a manner consistent with its fiduciary obligations and responsibilities. Logistics involved may make it impossible at times, and at other times disadvantageous, to vote proxies in every instance.

Consideration Given Management Recommendations. One of the primary factors Thrivent Financial considers when determining the desirability of investing in a particular company is the quality and depth of its management. The Policies and Procedures were developed with the recognition that a company’s management is entrusted with the day-to-day operations of the company, as well as its long-term direction and strategic planning, subject to the oversight of the company’s board of directors. Accordingly, Thrivent Financial believes that the recommendation of management on most issues should be given weight in determining how proxy issues should be voted. However, the position of the company’s management will not be supported in any situation where it is found to be not in the best interests of the client, and Thrivent Financial reserves the right to vote contrary to management when it believes a particular proxy proposal may adversely affect the investment merits of owning stock in a portfolio company.

 

Ø ADMINISTRATION OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Thrivent Financial’s Compliance and Governance Committee (“Committee”) is responsible for establishing positions with respect to corporate governance and other proxy issues, including those involving social responsibility issues. Annually, the Committee reviews the proxy voting policies and procedures. As discussed below, Thrivent Financial portfolio management may, with the approval of the Committee, vote proxies other than in accordance with the proxy voting policies and procedures.

 

Ø HOW PROXIES ARE REVIEWED, PROCESSED AND VOTED

In order to facilitate the proxy voting process, Thrivent Financial has retained Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”), an expert in the proxy voting area. ISS specializes in providing a variety of fiduciary-level proxy advisory and voting services. These services include in-depth research, analysis, and voting recommendations


Table of Contents

as well as vote execution, reporting, auditing and consulting assistance for the handling of proxy voting responsibilities. While the Committee relies upon ISS research in helping to establish Thrivent Financial’s proxy voting guidelines, Thrivent Financial may deviate from ISS recommendations on general policy issues or specific proxy proposals.

Summary of Thrivent Financial’s Voting Policies

Voting guidelines have been adopted by the Committee for routine anti-takeover, executive compensation and corporate governance proposals, as well as other common shareholder proposals. The voting guidelines are available to shareholders upon request. The following is a summary of the significant Thrivent Financial policies:

Board Structure and Composition Issues – Thrivent Financial believes boards are expected to have a majority of directors independent of management. The independent directors are expected to organize much of the board’s work, even if the chief executive officer also serves as chairman of the board. Key committees (audit, compensation, and nominating/corporate governance) of the board are expected to be entirely independent of management. It is expected that boards will engage in critical self-evaluation of themselves and of individual members. Individual directors, in turn, are expected to devote significant amounts of time to their duties, to limit the number of directorships they accept, and to own a meaningful amount of stock in companies on whose boards they serve. As such, Thrivent Financial withholds votes for directors who miss more than one-fourth of the scheduled board meetings. Thrivent Financial votes against management efforts to stagger board member terms because a staggered board may act as a deterrent to takeover proposals. For the same reasons, Thrivent Financial votes for proposals that seek to fix the size of the board.

Executive and Director Compensation – Non-salary compensation remains one of the most sensitive and visible corporate governance issues. Although shareholders have little say about how much the CEO is paid in salary and bonus, they do have a major voice in approving stock option and incentive plans. Stock option plans transfer significant amounts of wealth from shareholders to employees, and in particular to executives and directors. Rightly, the cost of these plans must be in line with the anticipated benefits to shareholders. Clearly, reasonable limits must be set on dilution as well as administrative authority. In addition, shareholders must consider the necessity of the various pay programs and examine the appropriateness of award types. Consequently, the pros and cons of these proposals necessitate a case-by-case evaluation. Generally, Thrivent Financial opposes compensation packages that provide what we view as excessive awards to a few senior executives or that contain excessively dilutive stock option grants based on a number of criteria such as the costs associated with the plan, plan features, and dilution to shareholders.

Ratification of Auditors - Annual election of the outside accountants is standard practice. While it is recognized that the company is in the best position to evaluate the competence of the outside accountants, we believe that outside accountants must ultimately be accountable to shareholders. Given the rash of accounting irregularities that were not detected by audit panels or auditors, shareholder ratification is an essential step in restoring investor confidence. In line with this, Thrivent Financial votes for proposals to ratify auditors, unless an auditor has a financial interest in or association with the company, and is therefore not independent; or there is reason to believe that the independent auditor has rendered an opinion that is neither accurate nor indicative of the company’s financial position.

Mergers and Acquisitions, Anti-Takeover and Corporate Governance Issues - Thrivent Financial votes on mergers and acquisitions on a case-by-case basis, taking the following into account: anticipated financial and operating benefits; offer price (cost vs. premium); prospects of the combined companies; how the deal was negotiated; the opinion of the financial advisor; potential conflicts of interest between management’s interests and shareholders’ interests; and changes in corporate governance and their impact on shareholder rights. Thrivent Financial generally opposes anti-takeover measures since they adversely impact shareholder rights. Also, Thrivent Financial will consider the dilutive impact to shareholders and the effect on shareholder rights when voting on corporate governance proposals.

Social, Environmental and Corporate Responsibility Issues - In addition to moral and ethical considerations intrinsic to many of these proposals, Thrivent Financial recognizes their potential for impact on the economic performance of the company. Thrivent Financial balances these considerations carefully. On proposals which are primarily social, moral or ethical, Thrivent Financial believes it is impossible to vote in a manner that would accurately reflect the views of the beneficial owners of the portfolios that it manages. As such, on these items Thrivent

 

2


Table of Contents

Financial abstains. When voting on matters with apparent economic or operational impacts on the company, Thrivent Financial realizes that the precise economic effect of such proposals is often unclear. Where this is the case, Thrivent Financial relies on management’s assessment, and generally votes with company management.

Shareblocking - Shareblocking is the practice in certain foreign countries of “freezing” shares for trading purposes in order to vote proxies relating to those shares. In markets where shareblocking applies, the custodian or sub-custodian automatically freezes shares prior to a shareholder meeting once a proxy has been voted. Shareblocking typically takes place between one and fifteen (15) days before the shareholder meeting, depending on the market. In markets where shareblocking applies, there is a potential for a pending trade to fail if trade settlement takes place during the blocking period. Thrivent Financial generally abstains from voting shares in shareblocking countries unless the matter has compelling economic consequences that outweigh the loss of liquidity in the blocked shares.

Applying Proxy Voting Policies Foreign Companies – Thrivent Financial applies a two-tier approach to determining and applying global proxy voting policies. The first tier establishes baseline policy guidelines for the most fundamental issues, which apply without regard to a company’s domicile. The second tier takes into account various idiosyncrasies of different countries, making allowances for standard market practices, as long as they do not violate the fundamental goals of good corporate governance. The goal is to enhance shareholder value through effective use of the shareholder franchise, recognizing that applying policies developed for U.S. corporate governance is not appropriate for all markets.

Meeting Notification

Thrivent Financial utilizes ISS’ voting agent services to notify us of upcoming shareholder meetings for portfolio companies held in client accounts and to transmit votes on behalf of our clients. ISS tracks and reconciles Thrivent Financial holdings against incoming proxy ballots. If ballots do not arrive on time, ISS procures them from the appropriate custodian or proxy distribution agent. Meeting and record date information is updated daily in ProxyExchange, ISS’ web-based application. ISS is also responsible for maintaining copies of all proxy statements received by issuers and to promptly provide such materials to Thrivent Financial upon request.

Vote Determination

ISS provides comprehensive summaries of proxy proposals, publications discussing key proxy voting issues, and specific vote recommendations regarding portfolio company proxies to assist in the proxy research process. Upon request, portfolio managers may receive any or all of the above-mentioned research materials to assist in the vote determination process. The final authority and responsibility for proxy voting decisions remains with Thrivent Financial. Decisions with respect to proxy matters are made primarily in light of the anticipated impact of the issue on the desirability of investing in the company from the viewpoint of our clients.

Portfolio managers, executive officers, and directors (or persons holding equivalent positions) of Thrivent Financial and its affiliates may on any particular proxy vote request to diverge from Policies and Procedures. In such cases, the person requesting to diverge from the Policies and Procedures is required to document in writing the rationale for their vote and submit all written documentation to the Committee for review and approval. In determining whether to approve any particular request, the Committee will determine that the request is not influenced by any conflict of interest and is in the best interests of its clients.

Monitoring and Resolving Conflicts of Interest

The Committee is responsible for monitoring and resolving possible material conflicts between the interests of Thrivent Financial and those of its clients with respect to proxy voting.

Application of the Thrivent Financial guidelines to vote client proxies should in most instances adequately address any possible conflicts of interest since the voting guidelines are pre-determined by the Committee using recommendations from ISS.

However, for proxy votes inconsistent with Thrivent Financial guidelines, Investment Operations gathers the documentation with respect to the portfolio manager’s voting rationale and brings it to the Committee for review for possible conflicts of interest. The Committee assesses whether any business or other relationships between Thrivent Financial and a portfolio company could have influenced an inconsistent vote on that company’s proxy.

 

3


Table of Contents

Securities Lending

Thrivent Financial will generally not vote nor seek to recall in order to vote shares on loan, unless it determines that a vote would have a material effect on an investment in such loaned security. Seeking to recall securities in order to vote them even in these limited circumstances may nevertheless not result in Thrivent Financial voting the shares because the securities are unable to be recalled in time from the party with custody of the securities, or for other reasons beyond Thrivent Financial’s control.

 

Ø REPORTING AND RECORD RETENTION

Proxy statements and solicitation materials received from issuers (other than those which are available on the SEC’s EDGAR database) are kept by ISS in its capacity as voting agent and are available upon request. Thrivent Financial retains documentation on shares voted differently than the Thrivent Financial voting guidelines, and any document which is material to a proxy voting decision such as the Thrivent Financial voting guidelines and the Committee meeting materials. In addition, all SEC filings with regard to proxy voting, such as Form N-PX, will be kept. All proxy voting materials and supporting documentation are retained for five years.

ISS provides Vote Summary Reports for each Thrivent Fund. The report specifies the company, ticker, cusip, meeting dates, proxy proposals, and votes which have been cast for the Thrivent Fund during the period, the position taken with respect to each issue and whether the fund voted with or against company management. Information on how each Thrivent Fund voted proxies during the most recent 12-month period ending June 30 is available at the Thrivent Financial web site or the SEC web site.

 

4


Table of Contents

 

THRIVENT FINANCIAL FOR LUTHERANS and

THRIVENT ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC

PROXY VOTING POLICIES

 

1.  BOARD STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION ISSUES

Although a company’s board of directors normally delegates responsibility for the management of the business to the senior executives they select and oversee, directors bear ultimate responsibility for the conduct of the corporation’s business. The role of directors in publicly held corporations has undergone considerable scrutiny and been the subject of legislative and regulatory reform in recent years. Once derided as rubber stamps for management, directors are today expected to serve as guardians of shareholders’ interests.

Boards are expected to have a majority of directors independent of management. The independent directors are expected to organize much of the board’s work, even if the chief executive officer also serves as chairman of the board. Key committees (audit, compensation, and nominating/corporate governance) of the board are expected to be entirely independent of management. It is expected that boards will engage in critical self-evaluation of themselves and of individual members. Individual directors, in turn, are expected to devote significant amounts of time to their duties, to limit the number of directorships they accept, and to own a meaningful amount of stock in companies on whose boards they serve. Directors are ultimately responsible to the corporation’s shareholders. The most direct expression of this responsibility is the requirement that directors be elected to their positions by the shareholders. Shareholders are also asked to vote on a number of other matters regarding the role, structure and composition of the board.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (“TFL”) classifies directors as either inside directors, affiliated outside directors, or independent outside directors. The following chart outlines the requirements for the various classifications:

 

    

DIRECTOR CATEGORIZATION CHART

 

Inside Director:     ☐    employee of the company or one of its affiliates
      ☐    director named in the Summary Compensation Table (excluding former interim officer)
      ☐    beneficial ownership of more than 50% of the company’s voting power (this may be aggregated if voting power is distributed among more than one member of a defined group; e.g. members of a family beneficially own less than 50% individually, but combined own more than 50%)
Affiliated Outside
Director:
    ☐    board attestation that an outside director is not independent
    ☐    former employee of company or its affiliates
      ☐    relative of current or former employee of company or its affiliates
      ☐    provided professional services to company or its affiliates or to its officers either currently or within the past year*
      ☐    has any material transactional relationship with company or its affiliates excluding investments in the company through a private placement*
      ☐    interlocking relationships as defined by the SEC involving members of the board of directors of its Compensation Committee
      ☐    founder of a company but not currently an employee
      ☐    employed by a significant customer or supplier*
      ☐    employed by a charitable or non-profit organization that received grants or endowments from the company or its affiliates*
      ☐    any material relationship with the company
Independent Outside Director:     ☐    no connection to company other than board seat
    ☐    even if a director has served on the board for over ten years, he/she is still considered to be independent; however, the analysis will make note of independent and affiliated directors who have served on the board for over ten years.

*if significant enough to be disclosed in the proxy circular

 

5


Table of Contents

1a.  Uncontested Election of Directors

TFL will withhold support from individual nominees or entire slates if we believe that such action is in the best interests of shareholders. In addition to independence, we monitor attendance, stock ownership, conflicts of interest, and the number of boards on which a director serves.

 

  Votes on individual director nominees are made on a case-by-case basis.
  Votes should be withheld from directors who:
    attend less than 75 percent of the board and committee meetings without a valid excuse for the absences
    implement or renew a dead-hand or modified dead-hand poison pill
    ignore a shareholder proposal that is approved by a majority of the votes outstanding
    ignore a shareholder proposal that is approved by a majority of the votes cast for two consecutive years
    adopt or amend the company’s bylaws or charter in a manner that materially diminishes shareholders’ rights or that could adversely impact shareholders
    have failed to act on takeover offers where the majority of the shareholders have tendered their shares
    are inside directors and sit on the audit, compensation, or nominating committees
    are inside directors and the full board serves as the audit, compensation, or nominating committee or the company does not have one of these committees
  are audit committee members and the non-audit fees are more than 50 percent of the total fees paid to the auditor
    enacted egregious corporate governance policies or failed to replace management as appropriate
    are inside directors or affiliated outside directors and the full board is less than majority independent
    sit on more than five public company boards
    are CEOs and sit on more than two public company boards besides their own

Vote CASE-BY-CASE on Compensation Committee members (or, in exceptional cases, the full board) and the Management Say-on-Pay proposal if the company’s previous say-on-pay proposal received the support of less than 70 percent of votes cast, taking into account:

 

    The company’s response, including disclosure of engagement efforts with major institutional investors regarding the issues that contributed to the low level of support, specific actions taken to address the issues that contributed to the low level of support, other recent compensation actions taken by the company;
    Whether the issues raised are recurring or isolated;
    The company’s ownership structure; and
    Whether the support level was less than 50 percent, which would warrant the highest degree of responsiveness.

1b. Contested Election of Directors

Contested elections of directors frequently occur when a board candidate or slate runs for the purpose of seeking a significant change in corporate policy or control. Competing slates will be evaluated based upon the personal qualifications of the candidates, the economic impact of the policies that they advance, and their expressed and demonstrated commitment to the interests of all shareholders.

 

  Votes in a contested election of directors are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, considering the following factors:
    long-term financial performance of the target company relative to its industry;
    management’s track record;
    background to the contested election;
    nominee qualifications and any compensatory arrangements;
    strategic plan of dissident slate and quality of the critique against management;
    likelihood that the proposed goals and objectives can be achieved (both slates); and
    stock ownership positions

 

6


Table of Contents

1c. Classified Board

Under a classified board structure only one class of directors would stand for election each year, and the directors in each class would generally serve three-year terms.

 

  Vote against proposals to classify the board.
  Vote for proposals to declassify the board.

1d. Shareholder Ability to Remove Directors

Shareholder ability to remove directors, with or without cause, is either prescribed by a state’s business corporation law, an individual company’s articles of incorporation, or its bylaws. Many companies have sought shareholder approval for charter or bylaw amendments that would prohibit the removal of directors except for cause, thus ensuring that directors would retain their directorship for their full-term unless found guilty of self-dealing. By requiring cause to be demonstrated through due process, management insulates the directors from removal even if a director has been performing poorly, not attending meetings, or not acting in the best interests of shareholders.

 

  Vote against proposals that provide that directors may be removed only for cause.
  Vote for proposals to restore shareholder ability to remove directors with or without cause.
  Vote against proposals that provide that only continuing directors may elect replacements to fill board vacancies.
  Vote for proposals that permit shareholders to elect directors to fill board vacancies.

1e. Cumulative Voting

Most corporations provide that shareholders are entitled to cast one vote for each share owned. Under a cumulative voting scheme the shareholder is permitted to have one vote per share for each director to be elected. Shareholders are permitted to apportion those votes in any manner they wish among the director candidates.

 

  Vote against proposals to eliminate cumulative voting.
  Vote for proposals to restore or provide for cumulative voting.

1f. Alter Size of the Board

Proposals which would allow management to increase or decrease the size of the board at its own discretion are often used by companies as a takeover defense. TFL supports management proposals to fix the size of the board at a specific number. This prevents management, when facing a proxy context, from increasing the board size without shareholder approval. By increasing the size of the board, management can make it more difficult for dissidents to gain control of the board. Fixing the size of the board also prevents a reduction in the size of the board as a strategy to oust independent directors. Fixing board size also prevents management from increasing the number of directors in order to dilute the effects of cumulative voting.

 

  Vote for proposals that seek to fix the size of the board.
  Vote on a case-by-case basis on proposals that seek to change the size or range of the board.
  Vote against proposals that give management the ability to alter the size of the board without shareholder approval.

1g. Adopt Director Term Limits

Those who support term limits argue that this requirement would bring new ideas and approaches to a board. However, we prefer to look at directors and their contributions to the board individually rather than impose a strict rule.

 

    Vote with the board on proposals to limit the tenure of outside directors.

 

7


Table of Contents

2.   EXECUTIVE AND DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

Non-salary compensation remains one of the most sensitive and visible corporate governance issues. Although shareholders have little say about how much the CEO is paid in salary and bonus, they do have a major voice in approving stock option and incentive plans.

Stock option plans transfer significant amounts of wealth from shareholders to employees, and in particular to executives and directors. Rightly, the cost of these plans must be in line with the anticipated benefits to shareholders. Clearly, reasonable limits must be set on dilution as well as administrative authority. In addition, shareholders must consider the necessity of the various pay programs and examine the appropriateness of award types. Consequently, the pros and cons of these proposals necessitate a case-by-case evaluation.

Factors that increase the cost (or have the potential to increase the cost) of plans to shareholders include: excessive dilution; options awarded at below-market discounts; restricted stock giveaways that reward tenure rather than results; sales of shares on concessionary terms; blank-check authority for administering committees; option repricing or option replacements; accelerated vesting of awards in the event of defined changes in corporate control; stand-alone stock appreciation rights; loans or other forms of assistance; or evidence of improvident award policies.

Positive plan features that can offset costly features include: plans with modest dilution potential (i.e. appreciably below double-digit levels), bars to repricing, and related safeguards for investor interests. Also favorable are performance programs of two or more year duration; bonus schemes that pay off in non-dilutive, fully deductible cash; 401K and other thrift or profit sharing plans; and tax-favored employee stock purchase plans. In general, we believe that stock plans should afford incentives, not sure-fire, risk-free rewards.

2a. Stock-Based Incentive Plans

 

  Vote case-by-case on certain equity-based compensation plans depending on a combination of certain plan features and equity grant practices, where positive factors may counterbalance negative factors, and vice versa, as evaluated using an “equity plan scorecard” (EPSC) approach with three pillars:

Plan Cost: The total estimated cost of the company’s equity plans relative to industry/market cap peers, measured by the company’s estimated Shareholder Value Transfer (SVT) in relation to peers and considering both:

SVT based on new shares requested plus shares remaining for future grants, plus outstanding unvested/unexercised grants; and

SVT based only on new shares requested plus shares remaining for future grants.

Plan Features:

Automatic single-triggered award vesting upon a change in control (CIC);

Discretionary vesting authority;

Liberal share recycling on various award types;

Lack of minimum vesting period for grants made under the plan;

Dividends payable prior to award vesting.

Grant Practices:

The company’s three-year burn rate relative to its industry/market cap peers;

Vesting requirements in most recent CEO equity grants (3-year look-back);

The estimated duration of the plan (based on the sum of shares remaining available and the new shares requested, divided by the average annual shares granted in the prior three years);

The proportion of the CEO’s most recent equity grants/awards subject to performance conditions;

Whether the company maintains a claw-back policy;

Whether the company has established post-exercise/vesting share-holding requirements.

 

8


Table of Contents
  Generally vote against the plan proposal if the combination of above factors indicates that the plan is not, overall, in shareholders’ interests, or if any of the following egregious factors apply:

Awards may vest in connection with a liberal change-of-control definition;

The plan would permit repricing or cash buyout of underwater options without shareholder approval (either by expressly permitting it – for NYSE and Nasdaq listed companies -- or by not prohibiting it when the company has a history of repricing – for non-listed companies);

The plan is a vehicle for problematic pay practices or a significant pay-for-performance disconnect under certain circumstances; or

Any other plan features are determined to have a significant negative impact on shareholder interests.

2b. Approval of Cash or Cash-and-Stock Bonus Plans

Cash bonus plans can be an important part of an executive’s overall pay package, along with stock-based plans tied to long-term total shareholder returns. Over the long term, stock prices are an excellent indicator of management performance. However, other factors, such as economic conditions and investor reaction to the stock market in general and certain industries in particular, can greatly impact the company’s stock price. As a result, a cash bonus plan can effectively reward individual performance and the achievement of business unit objectives that are independent of short-term market share price fluctuations.

 

  Vote for plans where the performance measures included under the plan are appropriate, the plan is administered by a committee of independent outsiders, and the preservation of the full deductibility of all compensation paid reduces the company’s corporate tax obligation.

2c. Say on Pay

Non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation (Say on Pay votes) are required by the SEC every one, two, or three years. In addition, a vote to determine the frequency of these votes is required every six years.

 

  Vote case-by-case on advisory votes on executive compensation. With respect to companies in the Russell 3000 index, this analysis considers the following:
  1. Peer Group Alignment:
    The degree of alignment between the company’s TSR rank and the CEO’s total pay rank within a peer group, as measured over a three-year period;
    The multiple of the CEO’s total pay relative to the peer group median.

 

  2. Absolute Alignment: The absolute alignment between the trend in CEO pay and company TSR over the prior five fiscal years – i.e., the difference between the trend in annual pay changes and the trend in annualized TSR during the period.

If the above analysis demonstrates significant unsatisfactory long-term pay-for-performance alignment or, in the case of companies outside the Russell indices, misaligned pay and performance are otherwise suggested, analyze the following qualitative factors to determine how various pay elements may work to encourage or to undermine long-term value creation and alignment with shareholder interests:

    The ratio of performance- to time-based equity awards;
    The ratio of performance-based compensation to overall compensation;
    The completeness of disclosure and rigor of performance goals;
    The company’s peer group benchmarking practices;
    Actual results of financial/operational metrics, such as growth in revenue, profit, cash flow, etc., both absolute and relative to peers;
    Special circumstances related to, for example, a new CEO in the prior fiscal year or anomalous equity grant practices (e.g., biennial awards);
    Realizable pay compared to grant pay; and
    Any other factors deemed relevant.

 

9


Table of Contents
  Regarding votes to determine the frequency of executive compensation proposals, vote for annual advisory votes.
  For externally-managed issuers (EMIs), generally vote against the say on pay proposal when insufficient compensation disclosure precludes a reasonable assessment of pay programs and practices applicable to the EMI’s executives.

2d. Severance Agreements/ Golden Parachutes

Golden and tin parachutes are designed to protect the employees of a corporation in the event of a change in control. With golden parachutes senior level management employees receive a pay out during a change in control at usually two to three times base salary. Increasingly companies that have golden parachute agreements for executives are extending coverage for all their employees via tin parachutes. The SEC requires disclosure of all golden parachutes arrangements in the proxy; such disclosure is not required of tin parachutes.

 

  Vote case-by-case on Golden Parachute proposals, including consideration of existing change-in-control arrangements maintained with named executive officers rather than focusing primarily on new or extended arrangements.

Features that may result in an against recommendation include one or more of the following, depending on the number, magnitude, and/or timing of issue(s):

 

  Single- or modified-single-trigger cash severance;
  Single-trigger acceleration of unvested equity awards;
  Excessive cash severance (>3x base salary and bonus);
  Excise tax gross-ups triggered and payable (as opposed to a provision to provide excise tax gross-ups);
  Excessive golden parachute payments (on an absolute basis or as a percentage of transaction equity value); or
  Recent amendments that incorporate any problematic features (such as those above) or recent actions (such as extraordinary equity grants) that may make packages so attractive as to influence merger agreements that may not be in the best interests of shareholders; or
  The company’s assertion that a proposed transaction is conditioned on shareholder approval of the golden parachute advisory vote.

Recent amendment(s) that incorporate problematic features will tend to carry more weight on the overall analysis. However, the presence of multiple legacy problematic features will also be closely scrutinized.

In cases where the golden parachute vote is incorporated into a company’s advisory vote on compensation (management say-on-pay), ISS will evaluate the say-on-pay proposal in accordance with these guidelines, which may give higher weight to that component of the overall evaluation.

2e. Employee Stock Purchase Plans

Employee stock purchase plans enable employees to become shareholders, which gives them a stake in the company’s growth. However, purchase plans are beneficial only when they are well balanced and in the best interests of all shareholders. From a shareholder’s perspective, plans with offering periods of 27 months or less are preferable. Plans with longer offering periods remove too much of the market risk and could give participants excessive discounts on their stock purchases that are not offered to other shareholders.

 

  Vote for employee stock purchase plans with at least 85 percent of fair market value, an offering period of 27 months or less, and when voting power dilution is ten percent or less.
  Vote against employee stock purchase plans with a fair market value below 85 percent, or with an offering period of greater than 27 months, or voting power dilution of greater than ten percent.

 

10


Table of Contents

2f. Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

 

  Vote for proposals to implement an ESOP or increase authorized shares for existing ESOPs, unless the number of shares allocated to the ESOP is more than five percent of outstanding shares.

2g. 401(k) Employee Benefit Plans

 

  Vote for proposals to implement a 401(k) savings plan for employees.

2h. Outside Director Stock Awards / Options in Lieu of Cash

These proposals seek to pay outside directors a portion of their compensation in stock rather than cash. By doing this, a director’s interest may be more closely aligned with those of shareholders.

 

  Vote for proposals that seek to pay outside directors a portion of their compensation in stock.

2i. Retirement Bonus for Non-Employee Director

 

  Vote against proposals that seek to pay outside directors a retirement bonus. (Consistent with Policy 10d-10)

2j. Incentive Bonus Plans and Tax Deductibility Proposals (OBRA-Related Compensation)

 

  Vote case-by-case on amendments to cash and equity incentive plans.

Addresses administrative features only; or Seeks approval for Section 162(m) purposes only, and the plan administering committee consists entirely of independent outsiders, per ISS’ Categorization of Directors.

Note that if the company is presenting the plan to shareholders for the first time after the company’s initial public offering (IPO), or if the proposal is bundled with other material plan amendments, then the recommendation will be case-by-case (see below).

 

  Vote against proposals to amend executive cash, stock, or cash and stock incentive plans if the proposal

Seeks approval for Section 162(m) purposes only, and the plan administering committee does not consist entirely of independent outsiders, per ISS’ Categorization of Directors.

Vote case-by-case on all other proposals to amend cash incentive plans. This includes plans presented to shareholders for the first time after the company’s IPO and/or proposals that bundle material amendment(s) other than those for Section 162(m) purposes.

 

  Vote case-by-case on all other proposals to amend equity incentive plans, considering the following:

If the proposal requests additional shares and/or the amendments may potentially increase the transfer of shareholder value to employees, the recommendation will be based on the Equity Plan Scorecard evaluation as well as an analysis of the overall impact of the amendments.

If the plan is being presented to shareholders for the first time after the company’s IPO, whether or not additional shares are being requested, the recommendation will be based on the Equity Plan Scorecard evaluation as well as an analysis of the overall impact of any amendments.

If there is no request for additional shares and the amendments are not deemed to potentially increase the transfer of shareholder value to employees, then the recommendation will be based entirely on an analysis of the overall impact of the amendments, and the EPSC evaluation will be shown for informational purposes.

  Vote case-by-case to amend existing plans to increase shares reserved and to qualify for favorable tax treatment under the provisions of Section 162(m).

 

11


Table of Contents

2k. Director and Officer Liability Protection

Management proposals typically seek shareholder approval to adopt an amendment to the company’s charter to eliminate or limit the personal liability of directors to the company and its shareholders for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duty to the fullest extent permitted by state law. While TFL recognizes that a company may have a more difficult time attracting and retaining directors if they are subject to personal monetary liability, TFL believes the great responsibility and authority of directors justifies holding them accountable for their actions. Each proposal addressing director liability will be evaluated consistent with this philosophy. TFL may support these proposals when the company persuasively argues that such action is necessary to attract and retain directors, but TFL may often oppose management proposals and support shareholder proposals in light of our philosophy of promoting director accountability.

 

  Vote against proposals to limit or eliminate entirely directors’ and officers’ liability for monetary damages for violating the duty of care.

2l. Director and Officer Indemnification

Indemnification is the payment by a company of the expenses of directors who become involved in litigation as a result of their service to a company. Proposals to indemnify a company’s directors differ from those to eliminate or reduce their liability because with indemnification directors may still be liable for an act or omission, but the company will bear the expense. TFL may support these proposals when the company persuasively argues that such action is necessary to attract and retain directors, but will generally oppose indemnification when it is being proposed to insulate directors from actions they have already taken.

 

  Vote against indemnification proposals that would expand coverage beyond just legal expenses to acts, such as negligence, that are more serious violations of fiduciary obligations than mere carelessness.
  Vote for only those proposals that provide such expanded coverage in cases when a director’s or officer’s legal defense was unsuccessful if: (1) the director was found to have acted in good faith and in a manner that he reasonably believed was in the best interests of the company, and (2) only if the director’s legal expenses would be covered.

2m. Shareholder Ratification of Director Pay Programs

 

  Vote case-by-case on management proposals seeking ratification of non-employee director compensation, based on the following factors:

If the equity plan under which non-employee director grants are made is on the ballot, whether or not it warrants support; and

An assessment of the following qualitative factors:

The relative magnitude of director compensation as compared to companies of a similar profile;

The presence of problematic pay practices relating to director compensation;

Director stock ownership guidelines and holding requirements;

Equity award vesting schedules;

The mix of cash and equity-based compensation;

Meaningful limits on director compensation;

The availability of retirement benefits or perquisites; and

The quality of disclosure surrounding director compensation.

 

12


Table of Contents

2n. Equity Plans for Non-Employee Directors

 

  Vote case-by-case on compensation plans for non-employee directors, based on:

The total estimated cost of the company’s equity plans relative to industry/market cap peers, measured by the company’s estimated Shareholder Value Transfer (SVT) based on new shares requested plus shares remaining for future grants, plus outstanding unvested/unexercised grants;

The company’s three-year burn rate relative to its industry/market cap peers; and

The presence of any egregious plan features (such as an option repricing provision or liberal CIC vesting risk).

On occasion, director stock plans will exceed the plan cost or burn rate benchmarks when combined with employee or executive stock plans. In such cases, vote case-by-case on the plan taking into consideration the following qualitative factors:

The relative magnitude of director compensation as compared to companies of a similar profile;

The presence of problematic pay practices relating to director compensation;

Director stock ownership guidelines and holding requirements;

Equity award vesting schedules;

The mix of cash and equity-based compensation;

Meaningful limits on director compensation;

The availability of retirement benefits or perquisites; and

The quality of disclosure surrounding director compensation.

3.  RATIFICATION OF AUDITORS

Annual election of the outside accountants is standard practice. While it is recognized that the company is in the best position to evaluate the competence of the outside accountants, we believe that outside accountants must ultimately be accountable to shareholders. Furthermore, audit committees have been the subject of a report released by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Improving the Effectiveness of Corporate Audit Committees in conjunction with the NYSE and the National Association of Securities Dealers. The Blue Ribbon Commission concluded that audit committees must improve their current level of oversight of independent accountants. Given the rash of accounting irregularities that were not detected by audit panels or auditors, shareholder ratification is an essential step in restoring investor confidence.

 

  Vote for proposals to ratify auditors, unless an auditor has a financial interest in or association with the company, and is therefore not independent; fees for non-audit services are not more than 50 percent of the total fees paid; or there is reason to believe that the independent auditor has rendered an opinion that is neither accurate nor indicative of the company’s financial position. (Consistent with Policy 10c-3)

4. MERGERS AND CORPORATE RESTRUCTURINGS

4a. Mergers and Acquisitions

When voting on mergers and acquisitions TFL will consider the following:

  •  anticipated financial and operating benefits;

  •  offer price (cost vs. premium);

  •  prospects of the combined companies;

  •  how the deal was negotiated;

  •  the opinion of the financial advisor;

  •  potential conflicts of interest between management’s interests and shareholders’ interests;

  •  changes in corporate governance and their impact on shareholder rights.

 

  Votes on mergers and acquisitions are considered on a case-by-case basis.

 

13


Table of Contents

4b. Voting on State Takeover Statutes

 

  We review on a case-by-case basis proposals to opt in or out of state takeover statutes (including control share acquisition statutes, control share cash-out statutes, freezeout provisions, fair price provisions, stakeholder laws, poison pill endorsements, severance pay and labor contract provisions, antigreenmail provisions, and disgorgement provisions).

 

  We generally vote for opting into stakeholder protection statutes if they provide comprehensive protections for employees and community stakeholders. We would be less supportive of takeover statutes that only serve to protect incumbent management from accountability to shareholders and which negatively influence shareholder value.

4c. Voting on Reincorporation Proposals

 

  Proposals to change a company’s state of incorporation should be examined on a case-by-case basis. Review management’s rationale for the proposal, changes to the charter/bylaws, and differences in the state laws governing the corporations.

4d. Corporate Restructuring

 

  Votes on corporate restructuring proposals, including minority squeeze-outs, leveraged buyouts, spin-offs, liquidations, and asset sales, should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

4e. Spin-offs

 

  Votes on spin-offs should be considered on a case-by-case basis depending on the tax and regulatory advantages, planned use of sale proceeds, market focus, and managerial incentives.

4f. Asset Purchases

 

  Votes on asset purchases should be made on a case-by-case basis after considering various factors such as purchase price, fairness opinion, financial and strategic benefits, how the deal was negotiated, conflicts of interest, other alternatives for the business, and noncompletion risk.

4g. Asset Sales

 

  Votes on asset sales should be made on a case-by-case basis after considering the impact on the balance sheet/working capital, potential elimination of diseconomies, anticipated financial and operating benefits, anticipated use of funds, value received for the asset, fairness opinion, how the deal was negotiated, and conflicts of interest.

4h. Liquidations

 

  Votes on liquidations should be made on a case-by-case basis after reviewing management’s efforts to pursue other alternatives, appraisal value of assets, and the compensation plan for executives managing the liquidation.

4i. Appraisal Rights

Rights of appraisal provide shareholders who do not approve of the terms of certain corporate transactions the right to demand a judicial review in order to determine the fair value for their shares. The right of appraisal generally applies to mergers, sales of essentially all assets of the corporation, and charter amendments that may have a materially adverse effect on the rights of dissenting shareholders.

 

  Vote for proposals to restore, or provide shareholders with, rights of appraisal.

 

14


Table of Contents

5.  PROXY CONTEST DEFENSES / TENDER OFFER DEFENSES

Corporate takeover attempts come in various guises. Usually, a would-be acquirer makes a direct offer to the board of directors of a targeted corporation. The bidder may offer to purchase the company for cash and/or securities. If the board approves the offer, a friendly transaction is completed and presented to shareholders for approval. If, however, the board of directors rejects the bid, the acquirer can make a tender offer for the shares directly to the targeted corporation’s shareholders. Such offers are referred to as hostile tender bids. Prior to 1968, tender offers were not federally regulated. In 1968, Congress enacted the Williams Act as an amendment to the 1934 Securities and Exchange Act to regulate all tender offers. The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted regulations pursuant to the Williams Act that are intended to promote fairness and prevent fraudulent or manipulative practices. At the same time, many states have enacted statutes that are aimed at protecting incorporated or domiciled corporations from hostile takeovers. Many of these state statutes have been challenged as being unconstitutional on grounds that they violate the Williams Act and the commerce and supremacy clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Most statutes, however, have been upheld. The result is a complex set of federal and state regulation, with federal regulation designed to facilitate transactions and state laws intended to impede them.

Not wishing to wait until they are subjects of hostile takeover attempts, many corporations have adopted anti-takeover measures designed to deter unfriendly bids or buy time. The most common defenses are the shareholders rights protection plan, also known as the poison pill, and charter amendments that create barriers to acceptance of hostile bids. In the U.S., poison pills do not require shareholder approval. Shareholders must approve charter amendments, such as classified boards or supermajority vote requirements. In brief, the very existence of defensive measures can foreclose the possibility of tenders and hence, opportunities to premium prices for shareholders.

5a. Shareholder Ability to Call Special Meeting

Most state corporation statutes allow shareholders to call a special meeting when they want to take action on certain matters that arise between regularly scheduled annual meetings. Sometimes this right applies only if a shareholder or a group of shareholders own a specified percentage of shares, with 10 percent being the most common. Shareholders may lose the ability to remove directors, initiate a shareholder resolution, or respond to a beneficial offer without having to wait for the next scheduled meeting if they are unable to act at a special meeting of their own calling.

 

  Vote for proposals that remove restrictions on the right of shareholders to act independently of management.
  Vote against proposals to restrict or prohibit shareholder ability to call special meetings.

5b. Shareholder Ability to Act by Written Consent

Consent solicitations allow shareholders to vote on and respond to shareholder and management proposals by mail without having to act at a physical meeting. A consent card is sent by mail for shareholder approval and only requires a signature for action. Some corporate bylaws require supermajority votes for consents while at others standard annual meeting rules apply. Shareholders may lose the ability to remove directors, initiate a shareholder resolution, or respond to a beneficial offer without having to wait for the next scheduled meeting if they are unable to act at a special meeting of their own calling.

 

  Vote for proposals to allow or facilitate shareholder action by written consent.
  Vote against proposals to restrict or prohibit shareholder ability to take action by written consent.

5c. Poison Pills

Poison pills are corporate-sponsored financial devices that, when triggered by potential acquirers, do one or more of the following: 1) dilute the acquirer’s equity holdings in the target company; 2) dilute the acquirer’s voting interests in

 

15


Table of Contents

the target company; or 3) dilute the acquirer’s equity holdings in the post-merger company. Poison pills generally allow shareholders to purchase shares from, or sell shares back to, the target company (flip-in pill) and/or the potential acquirer (flip-out pill) at a price far out of line with fair market value. Depending on the type of pill, the triggering event can either transfer wealth from the target company or dilute the equity holdings of current shareholders. Poison pills insulate management from the threat of a change in control and provide the target board with veto power over takeover bids. Because poison pills greatly alter the balance of power between shareholders and management, shareholders should be allowed to make their own evaluation of such plans. (Consistent with Policy 10c-2)

 

  Review on a case-by-case basis management proposals to ratify a poison pill. Look for shareholder friendly features including a two to three year sunset provision, a permitted bid provision, a 20 percent or higher flip-in provision, shareholder redemption feature, and the absence of dead hand features.

5d. Fair Price Provisions

Fair price provisions were originally designed to specifically defend against the most coercive of takeover devises, the two-tiered, front-end loaded tender offer. In such a hostile takeover, the bidder offers cash for enough shares to gain control of the target. At the same time the acquirer states that once control has been obtained, the target’s remaining shares will be purchased with cash, cash and securities or only securities. Since the payment offered for the remaining stock is, by design less valuable than the original offer for the controlling shares, shareholders are forced to sell out early to maximize their value. Standard fair price provisions require that, absent board or shareholder approval of the acquisition, the bidder must pay the remaining shareholders the same price for their shares that brought control.

 

  Vote for fair price proposals, as long as the shareholder vote requirement embedded in the provision is no more than a majority of disinterested shares.

5e. Greenmail

Greenmail payments are targeted share repurchases by management of company stock from individuals or groups seeking control of the company. Since only the hostile party receives payment, usually at a substantial premium over the market value of shares, the practice discriminates against most shareholders. This transferred cash, absent the greenmail payment, could be put to much better use for reinvestment in the company, payment of dividends, or to fund a public share repurchase program.

 

  Vote for proposals to adopt antigreenmail charter or bylaw amendments or otherwise restrict a company’s ability to make greenmail payments.
  Review on a case-by-case basis antigreenmail proposals when they are bundled with other charter or bylaw amendments.

5f. Unequal Voting Rights

Incumbent managers use unequal voting rights with the voting rights of their common shares superior to other shareholders in order to concentrate their power and insulate themselves from the wishes of the majority of shareholders. Dual class exchange offers involve a transfer of voting rights from one group of shareholders to another group of shareholders typically through the payment of a preferential dividend. A dual class recapitalization also establishes two classes of common stock with unequal voting rights, but initially involves an equal distribution of preferential and inferior voting shares to current shareholders.

 

  Vote against proposals to create a new class of common stock with superior voting rights.
  Vote against proposals at companies with dual class capital structures to increase the number of authorized shares of the class of stock that has superior voting rights.
  Vote for proposals to create a new class of nonvoting or subvoting common stock if it is intended for financing purposes with minimal or no dilution to current shareholders and not designed to preserve the voting power of an insider or significant shareholder.

 

16


Table of Contents

5g. Supermajority Shareholder Vote Requirement to Amend Charter or Bylaws

Supermajority provisions violate the principle that a simple majority of voting shares should be all that is necessary to effect change regarding a company.

 

  Vote for proposals to lower supermajority shareholder vote requirements for charter and bylaw amendments.
  Vote against proposals to require a supermajority shareholder vote to approve charter and bylaw amendments.

5h. Supermajority Shareholder Vote Requirement to Approve Mergers

Supermajority provisions violate the principle that a simple majority of voting shares should be all that is necessary to effect change regarding a company.

 

  Vote for proposals to lower supermajority shareholder vote requirements for mergers and other significant business combinations.
  Vote against proposals to require a supermajority shareholder vote to approve mergers and other significant business combinations.

6. CAPITAL STRUCTURE

The equity in a corporate enterprise (that is, the residual value of the company’s assets after the payment of all debts) belongs to the shareholders. Equity securities may be employed, or manipulated, in a manner that will ultimately enhance or detract from shareholder value. As such, certain actions undertaken by management in relation to a company’s capital structure can be of considerable significance to shareholders. Changes in capitalization usually require shareholder approval or ratification.

6a. Common Stock Authorization

State statutes and stock exchanges require shareholder approval for increases in the number of common shares. Corporations increase their supply of common stock for a variety of ordinary business purposes: raising new capital, funding stock compensation programs, business acquisitions, and implementation of stock splits or payment of stock dividends.

Proposals to increase authorized common stock are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the size of the increase, the company’s need for additional shares, and the company’s performance as compared with their industry peers. A company’s need for additional shares is gauged by measuring shares outstanding and reserved as a percentage of the total number of shares currently authorized for issuance. For industry peer comparisons, TFL relies on data compiled by ISS on common stock authorization proposals for companies comprising 98 percent of the investable U.S. equity market. Companies are classified into one of 11 peer groups and each company’s performance is measured on the basis of three-year total shareholder returns.

TFL evaluates on a case-by-case basis on proposals when the company intends to use the additional stock to implement a poison pill or other takeover defense.

 

  Review on a case-by-case basis proposals to increase the number of shares of common stock authorized for issue.
  Vote against proposals that increase authorized common stock for the explicit purpose of implementing a shareholder rights plan (poison pill).
  Vote for proposals to approve increases beyond the allowable increase when a company’s shares are in danger of being delisted or if a company’s ability to continue to operate as a going concern is uncertain.

 

17


Table of Contents

6b. Stock Distributions: Splits and Dividends

Generally vote for management proposals to increase common share authorization for stock split or stock dividend, provided that the effective increase in authorized shares is equal to or is less than the allowable increase calculated in with Common Stock Authorization policy.

6c. Reverse Stock Splits

Reverse splits exchange multiple shares for a lesser amount to increase share price. Increasing share price is sometimes necessary to restore a company’s share price to a level that will allow it to be traded on the national stock exchanges. In addition, some brokerage houses have a policy of not monitoring or investing in very low priced shares. Reverse stock splits help maintain stock liquidity.

  Vote case-by-case on proposals to implement a reverse stock split that do not proportionately reduce the number of shares authorized for issue.
  Vote for proposals to implement a reverse stock split when the number of shares will be proportionately reduced.
  Vote for proposals to implement a reverse stock split to avoid delisting.

6d. Blank Check Preferred Authorization

Preferred stock is an equity security, which has certain features similar to debt instruments, such as fixed dividend payments, seniority of claims to common stock, and in most cases no voting rights. The terms of blank check preferred stock give the board of directors the power to issue shares of preferred stock at their discretion - with voting rights, conversion, distribution and other rights to be determined by the board at time of issue. Blank check preferred stock can be used for sound corporate purposes, but could be used as a devise to thwart hostile takeovers without shareholder approval.

 

  Vote for proposals to create blank check preferred stock in cases when the company expressly states that the stock will not be used as a takeover defense or carry superior voting rights.
  Vote against proposals authorizing the creation of new classes of preferred stock with unspecified voting, conversion, dividend distribution, and other rights.
  Vote against proposals to increase the number of authorized blank check preferred shares. If the company does not have any preferred shares outstanding we will vote against the requested increase.
  Vote case-by-case on proposals to increase the number of blank check preferred shares after analyzing the number of preferred shares available for issue given a company’s industry and performance in terms of shareholder returns.
  Vote for requests to require shareholder approval for blank check authorizations.

6e. Adjustments to Par Value of Common Stock

Stock that has a fixed per share value that is on its certificate is called par value stock. The purpose of par value stock is to establish the maximum responsibility of a stockholder in the event that a corporation becomes insolvent. Proposals to reduce par value come from certain state level requirements for regulatory industries such as banks, and other legal requirements relating to the payment of dividends.

 

  Vote for management proposals to reduce or eliminate the par value of common stock.

 

18


Table of Contents

6f. Preemptive Rights

Preemptive rights permit shareholders to share proportionately in any new issues of stock of the same class. These rights guarantee existing shareholders the first opportunity to purchase shares of new issues of stock in the same class as their own and in the same proportion. The absence of these rights could cause stockholders’ interest in a company to be reduced by the sale of additional shares without their knowledge and at prices unfavorable to them. Preemptive rights, however, can make it difficult for corporations to issue large blocks of stock for general corporate purposes. Both corporations and shareholders benefit when corporations are able to arrange issues without preemptive rights that do not result in a substantial transfer of control.

 

  Review on a case-by-case basis proposals to create or abolish preemptive rights. In evaluating proposals on preemptive rights, we look at the size of a company and the characteristics of its shareholder base.

6g. Corporate Reorganization/Debt Restructuring/Prepackaged Bankruptcy Plans/Reverse Leveraged Buyouts/Wrap Plans

 

  Review on a case-by-case basis proposals to increase common and/or preferred shares and to issue shares as part of a debt restructuring plan, taking into consideration dilution to existing shareholders’ position, terms of the offer, financial issues, management’s efforts to pursue other alternatives, control issues and conflicts of interest.
  Vote for the debt restructuring if it is expected that the company will file for bankruptcy if the transaction is not approved.

6h. Share Repurchase Programs

 

  Vote for management proposals to institute open-market share repurchase plans in which all shareholders may participate on equal terms.

7. MISCELLANEOUS GOVERNANCE PROVISIONS

7a. Confidential Voting

Confidential voting, or voting by secret ballot, is one of the key structural issues in the proxy system. It ensures that all votes are based on the merits of proposals and cast in the best interests of pension plan beneficiaries. In a confidential voting system, only vote tabulators and inspectors of election may examine individual proxies and ballots; management and shareholders are given only vote totals. In an open voting system, management can determine who has voted against its nominees or proposals and then resolicit those votes before the final vote count. As a result, shareholders can be pressured to vote with management at companies with which they maintain, or would like to establish, a business relationship. Confidential voting also protects employee shareholders from retaliation. Shares held by employee stock ownership plans, for example, are important votes that are typically voted by employees.

 

  Vote for proposals to adopt confidential voting.

7b. Bundled Proposals

 

  Review on a case-by-case basis bundled or “conditioned” proxy proposals. In the case of items that are conditioned upon each other, examine the benefits and costs of the packaged items. In instances where the joint effect of the conditioned items is not in shareholders’ best interests, vote against the proposals. If the combined effect is positive, support such proposals.

 

19


Table of Contents

7c. Adjourn Meeting

Companies may ask shareholders to adjourn a meeting in order to solicit more votes. Generally, shareholders already have enough information to make their vote decisions. Once their votes have been cast, there is no justification for spending more money to continue pressing shareholders for more votes.

 

  Vote against proposals to adjourn the meeting absent compelling reasons to support the proposal.
  Vote for proposals to adjourn the meeting when supporting a company merger proposal.

7d. Changing Corporate Name

Proposals to change a company’s name are generally routine matters. Generally, the name change reflects a change in corporate direction or the result of a merger agreement.

 

  Vote for changing the corporate name.

7e. Amend Quorum Requirements

 

  Vote against proposals to reduce quorum requirements for shareholder meetings below a majority of the shares outstanding unless there are compelling reasons to support the proposal.

7f. Amend Bylaws

 

  Vote against proposals giving the board exclusive authority to amend the bylaws.
  Vote for proposals giving the board the ability to amend the bylaws in addition to shareholders.
  Vote for bylaw or charter changes that are of a housekeeping nature (updates or corrections).

7g. Other Business

Other business proposals are routine items to allow shareholders to raise other issues and discuss them at the meeting. Only issues that may be legally discussed at meetings may be raised under this authority. However, shareholders cannot know the content of these issues so they are generally not supported.

 

  Vote against other business proposals.

8. MUTUAL FUND PROXIES

8a. Election of Trustees

Votes on trustee nominees are made on a case-by-case basis, taking the following into consideration:

 

  1) Board structure
  2) Director independence and qualifications
  3) Compensation of directors within the fund and family of funds
  4) Attendance

 

20


Table of Contents

8b. Investment Advisory Agreement

An investment advisory agreement is an agreement between a mutual fund and its financial advisor under which the financial advisor provides investment advice to the fund in return for a fee based on the fund’s net asset size.

 

  Votes on investment advisory agreements should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

8c. Fundamental Investment

Fundamental investment restrictions are limitations within a fund’s articles of incorporation that limit the investment practices of the particular fund.

 

  Votes on amendments to a fund’s fundamental investment restrictions should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

8d. Distribution Agreements

Distribution agreements are agreements between a fund and its distributor which provide that the distributor is paid a fee to promote the sale of the fund’s shares.

 

  Votes on distribution agreements should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

8e. Convert Closed-End Fund to Open-End Fund

The benefits of open-ending include eliminating the discount to net asset value (NAV) at which closed-end equity fund shares often trade. Once this discount is eliminated the open-end fund is free to sell shares at any time, and this structure thus facilitates investment in, and growth of, the fund. The disadvantages arising from changing the fund’s structure include: (1) the possibility that many investors will sell out of the fund in order to realize the benefit of instantly eliminating the discount to NAV; and (2) the increased expense ratio that could result from a depleted asset base. Management fees for closed-end funds are generally lower than fees for open-end funds on a percentage basis, but with a decrease in assets, per share management costs arise.

 

  Vote on a case-by-case basis on proposals to convert a closed-end fund to an open-end fund.

8f. Mirror Voting

In the event of Thrivent Funds issuing proxies, Asset Allocation funds and portfolios shall vote their proxies in proportion to the voting instructions received from the remaining holders of shares of such funds.

9. SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS - SOCIAL & ENVIRONMENTAL

In addition to moral and ethical considerations intrinsic to many of these proposals, TFL recognizes their potential for impact on the economic performance of the company. TFL balances these considerations carefully. On proposals which are primarily social, moral or ethical, TFL believes it is impossible to vote in a manner that would accurately reflect the views of the beneficial owners of the portfolios that it manages. As such, on these items TFL abstains. When voting on matters with apparent economic or operational impacts on the company, TFL realizes that the precise economic effect of such proposals is often unclear. Where this is the case, TFL relies on management’s assessment, and generally votes with company management.

 

21


Table of Contents

9A. DIVERSITY AND WORKPLACE ISSUES

9a-1. Add Women and Minorities to Board: Vote abstain.

9a-2. Report on Distribution of Stock Options by Gender and Race: Vote abstain.

9a-3. Prepare Report/Promote EEOC-Related Activities: Vote abstain.

9a-4. Report on Progress Toward Glass Ceiling Commission Recommendations: Vote abstain.

9a-5. Prohibit Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation: Vote abstain.

9a-6. Report on/Eliminate Use of Racial Stereotypes in Advertising: Vote abstain.

9B. CODES OF CONDUCT, LABOR STANDARDS & HUMAN RIGHTS

9b-1. Codes of Conduct and Vendor Standards

 

  Vote abstain on proposals to implement human rights standards and workplace codes of conduct.
  Vote abstain on proposals calling for the implementation and reporting on ILO codes of conduct, SA 8000 Standards, or the Global Sullivan Principles.
  Vote abstain on proposals that call for the adoption of principles or codes of conduct relating to company investment in countries with patterns of human rights abuses (Northern Ireland, Burma, former Soviet Union, and China).
  Vote abstain on proposals which mandate outside, independent monitoring, which may entail sizable costs to the company.
  Vote abstain on proposals that seek publication of a “Code of Conduct” to the company’s foreign suppliers and licensees, requiring they satisfy all applicable standards and laws protecting employees’ wages, benefits, working conditions, freedom of association, and other rights.
  Vote abstain on proposals for reports outlining vendor standards compliance.
  Vote abstain on proposals to adopt labor standards for foreign and domestic suppliers to ensure that the company will not do business with foreign suppliers that manufacture products for sale in the U.S. using forced labor, child labor, or that fail to comply with applicable laws protecting employee’s wages and working conditions.

9b-2. Operations in High Risk Markets

 

  Vote with the board on proposals seeking reports on operations in “high risk” markets, such as terrorism-sponsoring state or politically/socially unstable region.

9b-3. Operations in Burma/Myanmar

 

  Vote with the board on proposals to adopt labor standards in connection with involvement in Burma.
  Vote with the board on proposals seeking reports on Burmese operations and reports on costs of continued involvement in the country.
  Vote with the board on proposals to pull out of Burma.

9b-4. MacBride Principles

 

  Vote with the board on proposals to report on or to implement the MacBride Principles.

 

22


Table of Contents

9b-5. China Principles

 

  Vote with the board on proposals to implement the China Principles.

9b-6. Prepare Report on Maquiladoras

 

  Vote with the board on proposals to prepare reports on a company’s Maquiladora operation.

9b-7. Prepare Report on Company Activities Affecting Indigenous Peoples’ Rights

 

  Vote with the board on proposals to prepare reports on a company’s impact on indigenous communities.

9b-8. Product Sales to Repressive Regimes

 

  Vote with the board on proposals requesting that companies cease product sales to repressive regimes that can be used to violate human rights.
  Vote with the board on proposals to report on company efforts to reduce the likelihood of product abuses in this manner.

9b-9. Report on the Impacts of Pandemics on Company Operations

 

  Vote with the board on proposals asking companies to report on the impacts of pandemics, such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, on their business strategies.

9b-10. Outsourcing

 

  Vote with the board on proposals asking companies to report on the risks associated with outsourcing or offshoring.
  Vote with the board on proposals seeking greater disclosure on plant closing criteria if such information has not been provided by the company.

9b-11. Adopt Holy Land Principles

 

  Vote with the board on proposals adopting Holy Land Principles.

9C. ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

9c-1. Environmental Report (General)

 

  Vote with the board on reports disclosing the company’s environmental policies unless it already has well-documented environmental management systems that are available to the public.

9c-2. Prepare Report on Global Warming/Greenhouse Gas Emissions

 

  Vote with the board on proposals calling for the reduction of greenhouse gas.
  Vote with the board on reports on the level of greenhouse gas emissions from the company’s operations and/or products.
  Vote with the board on proposals requesting that companies outline their preparations to comply with standards established by Kyoto Protocol signatory markets.

 

23


Table of Contents

9c-3. Invest in Clean/Renewable Energy

 

  Vote with the board on proposals seeking the preparation of a report on a company’s activities related to the development of renewable energy sources.
  Vote with the board on proposals seeking increased investment in renewable energy sources.

9c-4. Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

 

  Vote with the board on proposals asking companies to prepare a feasibility report or to adopt a policy not to mine, drill, or log in environmentally sensitive areas such as ANWR.
  Vote with the board on proposals seeking to prohibit or reduce the sale of products manufactured from materials extracted from environmentally sensitive areas such as old growth forests.

9c-5. Adopt/Implement CERES Principles

 

  Vote with the board on proposals to study or implement the CERES principles.

9c-6. Phase Out Chlorine-Based Chemicals

 

  Vote with the board on proposals to prepare a report on the phase-out of chlorine bleaching in paper production.
  Vote with the board on proposals asking companies to cease or phase-out the use of chlorine bleaching.

9c-7. Report/Reduce Toxic Emissions and Assess Community Impact

 

  Vote with the board on proposals that seek to prepare a report on the company’s procedures for reducing or preventing pollution and/or the impact of the company’s pollution on the surrounding communities.
  Vote with the board on proposals calling on the company to establish a plan to reduce toxic emissions.

9c-8. Land Procurement and Development

 

  Vote with the board on proposals requesting that companies report on or adopt policies for land procurement and use that incorporate social and environmental factors.

9c-9. Report on the Sustainability of Concentrated Area Feeding Operations

 

  Vote with the board on proposals requesting that companies report on the sustainability and the environmental impacts of both company-owned and contract livestock operations.

9c-10. Adopt a Comprehensive Recycling Policy

 

  Vote with the board on proposals requesting the preparation of a report on the company’s recycling efforts.
  Vote with the board on proposals that ask companies to increase their recycling efforts or to adopt a formal recycling policy.

9c-11. Report on the Feasibility of Removing “Harmful” Ingredients from Cosmetic Products

 

  Vote with the board on proposals asking companies report on the feasibility of removing, or substituting with safer alternatives, all “harmful” ingredients used in company products.

 

24


Table of Contents

9c-12. Nuclear Energy

 

  Vote with the board on proposals seeking the preparation of a report on a company’s nuclear energy procedures.
  Vote with the board on proposals that ask the company to cease the production of nuclear power.

9D. WEAPONS

9d-1. Handgun Safety Initiatives

 

  Vote with the board on reports on a company’s efforts to promote handgun safety.

9d-2. Landmine Production

 

  Vote with the board on proposals asking a company to renounce future involvement in antipersonnel landmine and cluster bomb production.

9d-3. Prepare Report on Foreign Military Sales

 

  Vote with the board on reports on foreign military sales or offsets.
  Vote with the board on proposals that call for outright restrictions on foreign military sales.

9d-4. Spaced-Based Weaponization

 

  Vote with the board on reports on a company’s involvement in spaced-based weaponization.

9E. CONSUMER ISSUES, PUBLIC SAFETY & MISCELLANEOUS

9e-1. Phase-out or Label Products Containing Genetically Modified Organisms (“GMOS”)

 

  Vote with the board on proposals to voluntarily label genetically modified ingredients in the company’s products, or alternatively to do interim labeling and eventual elimination of GMOs
  Vote with the board on proposals asking for a report on the feasibility of labeling products containing GMOs.
  Vote with the board on proposals to completely phase out GMOS from the company’s products.
  Vote with the board on reports outlining the steps necessary to eliminate GMOs from the company’s products.
  Vote with the board on proposals seeking a report on the health effects of GMOs.

9e-2. Tobacco-related Proposals

 

  Vote with the board on proposals seeking to limit the sale of tobacco products to children.
  Vote with the board on proposals asking producers of tobacco product components (such as filters, adhesives, flavorings, and paper products) to halt sales to tobacco companies.
  Vote with the board on proposals that ask restaurants to adopt smoke-free policies.
  Vote with the board on proposals seeking a report on a tobacco company’s advertising approach.
  Vote with the board on proposals prohibiting investment in tobacco equities.
  Vote with the board on proposals asking producers of cigarette components for a report outlining the risks and potential liabilities of the production of these components.
  Vote with the board on proposals calling for tobacco companies to cease the production of tobacco products.
  Vote with the board on proposals seeking stronger product warning.

 

25


Table of Contents

9e-3. Adopt Policy/Report on Predatory Lending Practices

 

  Vote with the board on reports on the company’s procedures for preventing predatory lending, including the establishment of a board committee for oversight.

9e-4. Disclosure on Credit in Developing Countries (LDCs)

 

    Vote with the board on proposals asking for disclosure on lending practices in developing countries.

9e-5. Forgive LDC Debt

 

    Vote with the board on proposals asking banks to forgive loans outright.
    Vote with the board on proposals asking for loan forgiveness at banks that have failed to make reasonable provisions for non-performing loans.
    Vote with the board on proposals to restructure and extend the terms of non-performing loans.

9e-6. Adopt Policy/Report on Drug Pricing

 

  Vote with the board on proposals to prepare a report on drug pricing or access to medicine policies.
  Vote with the board on proposals to adopt a formal policy on drug pricing.
  Vote with the board on reports on the financial and legal impact of prescription drug re-importation policies.
  Vote with the board on proposals requesting that companies adopt policies to encourage or constrain prescription drug re-importation.

9e-7. Animal Testing and Welfare

 

  Vote with the board on proposals for reports on a company’s animal welfare standards or animal welfare-related risks.
  Vote with the board on proposals that seek to limit unnecessary animal testing where alternative testing methods are feasible or not required by law.
  Vote with the board on proposals asking companies to report on the operational costs and liabilities associated with selling animals.

9e-8. Control over Charitable Contributions

 

    Vote with the board on proposals giving criteria or to require shareholder ratification of grants.

9e-9. Disclosure on Prior Government Service

Shareholders have asked companies to disclose the identity of any senior executive and/or other high-level employee, consultant, lobbyist, attorney, or investment banker who has served in government. Although the movement of individuals between government and the private sector may benefit both, the potential also exists for conflicts of interest, especially in industries that have extensive dealings with government agencies.

 

    Vote with the board on proposals calling for the disclosure of prior government service of the company’s key executives.

9e-10. Lobbying Expenditures/Initiatives

 

   

Vote with the board on proposals requesting information on a company’s lobbying initiatives.

 

 

26


Table of Contents

10. SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS - MISCELLANEOUS

10A. SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS/HOUSEKEEPING ISSUES

10a-1. Rotate Annual Meeting:  The argument in favor of rotating annual meeting location sites is to enable a greater number of shareholders to attend and participate in the meeting.

 

  Vote on a case-by-case basis to rotate the annual meeting of shareholders or change the date and time of the meeting.

10B. BOARD-RELATED ISSUES

10b-1. Separate Chairman and CEO: Shareholder proposal that would require the positions of chairman and CEO to be held by different persons.

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals requiring that the positions of chairman and CEO be held by different persons.

10b-2. Majority of Independent Directors: Independent outside directors can bring objectivity and a fresh perspective to the issues facing the company. Outside directors bring new contacts and skills to their boards. The conflict of interest problem boards face in designing executive compensation policies, and responding to takeover offers, is much less severe for outsiders than it is for executive officers. Perhaps the most important role of outside directors is to objectively evaluate the performance of top management. That same objectivity cannot be exercised by directors inside the company because they may be too close to the problem to see it clearly, they may be part of the problem, or they may see it but be reluctant to “blow the whistle” for fear of losing their directorship or their job.

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals asking that a majority of directors be independent.

10b-3. Majority Elections

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals calling for directors to be elected with an affirmative majority of votes cast provided binding proposals include a carve-out for plurality voting when there are more nominees than board seats.

10b-4. Independent Committees:  Most corporate governance experts agree that the key board committees (audit, compensation, and nominating/corporate governance) of a corporation should include only independent directors. The independence of key committees has been encouraged by regulation. For example, the NYSE requires that the audit committees of listed companies to be entirely “independent.” SEC proxy rules require disclosure of any members of a compensation committee who have significant business relationships with the company or interlocking directorships.

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals that request that the board audit, compensation and/or nominating committees include independent directors exclusively.

10b-5. Implement Director Share Ownership Requirement:  Corporate directors should own some amount of stock of the companies on which they serve as board members. It is a simple way to align the interests of directors and shareholders. However, many highly qualified individuals such as academics and clergy might not be able to meet this requirement. A preferred solution is to look at the board nominees individually and take stock ownership into consideration when voting on candidates. Vote with the board on shareholder proposals requiring directors to own a minimum amount of company stock in order to qualify as a director or to remain on the board.

 

  Vote with the board on shareholder proposals that seek to establish mandatory share ownership requirements for directors.

 

27


Table of Contents
  Vote case-by-case on shareholder proposals that ask directors to accept a certain percentage of their annual retainer in the form of stock.
  Vote case-by-case on shareholder proposals asking companies to limit director compensation to a stock-only plan.

10C. SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS & BOARD ACCOUNTABILITY

10c-1. Remove Antitakeover Provisions:  There are numerous antitakeover mechanisms available to corporations that can make takeovers prohibitively expensive for a bidder or at least guarantee that all shareholders are treated equally. The debate over antitakeover devices centers on whether these devices enhance or detract from shareholder value. One theory argues that a company’s board, when armed with these takeover protections, may use them as negotiating tools to obtain a higher premium for shareholders. The opposing view maintains that management afforded such protection are more likely to become entrenched than to actively pursue the best interests of shareholders. Such takeover defenses also serve as obstacles to the normal functioning of the marketplace which, when operating efficiently, should replace incapable and poorly performing management.

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals that seek to remove antitakeover provisions.

10c-2. Submit Poison Pill (Shareholder Rights Plan) to a Vote:  Shareholder rights plans, typically known as poison pills, take the form of rights or warrants issued to shareholders and are triggered when a potential acquiring stockholder reaches a certain threshold of ownership. Generally, poison pills insulate management from the threat of a change in control and provide the target board with veto power over takeover bids. Because poison pills greatly alter the balance of power between shareholders and management, shareholders should be allowed to make their own evaluation of such plans. (Consistent with Policy 5c)

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals requesting that the company submit its poison pill to a shareholder vote.
  Vote case-by-case on shareholder proposals to redeem a company’s poison pill.
  Vote case-by-case on shareholder proposals to amend an existing shareholder rights plan.

10c-3. Elect Auditors/ Ensure Auditor Independence:  These shareholder proposals request that the board allow shareholders to elect the company’s auditor at each annual meeting. Annual election of the outside accountants is standard practice. While it is recognized that the company is in the best position to evaluate the competence of the outside accountants, we believe that outside accountants must ultimately be accountable to shareholders. (Consistent with Policy 3)

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals that would allow shareholders to elect the auditors.
  Vote case-by-case on shareholder proposals asking companies to prohibit or limit the auditors from engaging in non-audit services.
  Vote case-by-case on shareholder proposals asking for audit firm rotation, taking into account the tenure of the audit firm, the length of rotation specified in the proposal, any significant audit-related issues at the company, the number of Audit Committee meetings held each year, the number of financial experts serving on the committee, and whether the company has a periodic renewal process where the auditor is evaluated for both audit quality and competitive price.

10c-4. Non-Partisanship/ Political Contributions:  Proponents are concerned about the amount of money given to political action committees (PACs). They argue that companies spending scarce resources on expensive lobbying efforts and donating to PACs would be better off spending that money on new procedures that will better position them to deal with the coming regulations. An example would be a company spending money on R&D to reduce its air emissions instead of funding a campaign to change certain provisions in the Clean Air Act.

 

  Vote with the board on proposals calling for a company to disclose its political contributions.
  Vote with the board on proposals calling for a company to refrain from making any political contributions.

 

28


Table of Contents

10D. COMPENSATION ISSUES

10d-1. Executive and Director Pay

 

  Vote with the board on shareholder proposals seeking additional disclosure on executive and director pay information.
  Vote with the board on all other shareholder proposals regarding executive and director pay.

10d-2. Prohibit/Require Shareholder Approval for Option Repricing:  Repricing involves the reduction of the original exercise price of a stock option after the fall in share price. TFL does not support repricing since it undermines the incentive purpose of the plan. The use of options as incentive means that employees must bear the same risks as shareholders in holding these options. Shareholder resolutions calling on companies to abandon the practice of repricing or to submit repricing to a shareholder vote will be supported.

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals seeking to limit option repricing.
  Vote for shareholder proposals asking the company to have option repricings submitted for shareholder ratification.

10d-3. Severance Agreements/ Golden Parachutes:  Golden and tin parachutes are designed to protect the employees of a corporation in the event of a change in control. With golden parachutes senior level management employees receive a pay out during a change in control at usually two to three times base salary. Increasingly companies that have golden parachute agreements for executives are extending coverage for all their employees via tin parachutes. The SEC requires disclosure of all golden parachutes arrangements in the proxy; such disclosure is not required of tin parachutes.

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals to have golden and tin parachutes submitted for shareholder ratification.
  Vote case-by-case on proposals to ratify or cancel golden parachutes. An acceptable parachute should include the following:
    The triggering mechanism should be beyond the control of management
    The amount should not exceed three times base salary plus guaranteed benefits
    The change in control payments should be double-triggered, i.e., (1) after a change in control has taken place, and (2) termination of the executive as a result of the change in control

10d-4. Cash Balance Plans

  Vote on a case-by-case basis on shareholder proposals calling for non-discrimination in retirement benefits.
  Vote on a case-by-case basis on shareholder proposals asking a company to give employees the option of electing to participate in either a cash balance plan or in a defined benefit plan.

10d-5. Performance-Based Options/Indexed Options:  Performance-Based Option/Indexed Options is defined as compensating of executives at a reasonable rate and that executive compensation should be correlated to performance.

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals advocating the use of performance-based stock options (indexed, premium-priced, and performance-vested options).

10d-6. Option Expensing

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals asking the company to expense stock options, unless the company has already publicly committed to expensing options by a specific date.

 

29


Table of Contents

10d-7. Pension Plan Income Accounting

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals to exclude pension plan income in the calculation of earnings used in determining executive bonuses/compensation.

10d-8. Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans (SERPs)

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals to requesting to put extraordinary benefits contained in SERP agreements to a shareholder vote unless the company’s executive pension plans do not contain excessive benefits beyond what is offered under employee-wide plans.

10d-9. Link Compensation to Non-Financial Factors:  Proponents of these proposals feel that social criteria should be factored into the formulas used in determining compensation packages for executives. These shareholders are looking for companies to review current compensation practices and to include social performance criteria, such as increasing investment in order to revitalize “distressed areas,” meeting environmental goals, and accounting for “poor corporate citizenship” when evaluating executive compensation. One of the companies cited by proponents as an example sets annual goals such as employee satisfaction, corporate responsibility, diversity and customer satisfaction as part of a written policy used in linking compensation with financial performance and non-financial bases for evaluation. Proponents believe that many of these factors such as poor environmental performance, workplace lawsuits, etc. are likely to have an impact on the company’s financial performance in the future if they are not addressed adequately today. As a result, shareholders believe they should be considered along with traditional financial considerations when determining executive pay.

 

  Vote on a case-by-case basis for shareholder proposals calling for the preparation of a report on the feasibility of linking executive pay to nonfinancial factors, such as social and environmental goals.
  Vote on a case-by-case basis for shareholder proposals seeking to link executive pay to non-financial factors.

10d-10. Eliminate Outside Directors’ Retirement Benefits

 

  Vote for shareholder proposals seeking to eliminate outside directors’ retirement benefits. (Consistent with Policy 2i)

10d-11. Hold Equity Past Retirement or for a Significant Period of Time

 

  Vote on a case-by-case basis for shareholder proposals asking companies to adopt policies requiring senior executive officers to retain a portion of net shares acquired through compensation plans, taking into account:
    The percentage/ratio of net shares required to be retained
    The time period required to retain the shares
    Whether the company has equity retention, holding period, and/or stock ownership requirements in place and the robustness of such requirements
    Whether the company has any other policies aimed at mitigating risk taking by executives
    Executives’ actual stock ownership and the degree to which it meets or exceeds the proponent’s suggested holding period/retention ratio or the company’s existing requirements
    Problematic pay practices, current and past, which may demonstrate a short-term versus long-term focus

10E. STRATEGIC ISSUES

10e-1. Maximize shareholder value

Shareholder value maximization proposals that suggest exploring alternatives, including a sale or merger, should be considered on a case-by-case basis. While under normal circumstances the decision to buy, sell, or engage in a merger

 

30


Table of Contents

is best left in the hands of management and the board, it is recognized that certain situations may justify the adoption of such proposals, such as a prolonged period of poor or sluggish performance with no turnaround in sight. Support of such proposals is further justified in cases where the board and management have become entrenched. Adoption of poison pills, golden parachutes, and other antitakeover provisions in the face of an attractive offer may be signs of entrenchment.

 

  Vote on a case-by-case basis for proposals that request the company to maximize shareholder value by hiring a financial advisor to explore strategic alternatives, selling the company, or liquidating the company and distributing the proceeds to shareholders.

 

31


Table of Contents
THRIVENT CORE FUNDS
PART C: OTHER INFORMATION
Item 28. Exhibits
   
(a)(1) Declaration of Trust, effective as of March 18, 2016 (1)
(b) Not Applicable
(c) None
(d)(1) Investment Advisory Agreement between Thrivent Core Funds and Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (1)
(d)(2) Amendment No. 1 to Investment Advisory Agreement (3)
(d)(3) Amendment No. 2 to Investment Advisory Agreement (*)
(e)(1) Distribution Agreement between Thrivent Core Funds and Thrivent Distributors, LLC (1)
(e)(2) Amendment No. 1 to Distribution Agreement (3)
(e)(3) Amendment No. 2 to Distribution Agreement (*)
(f) Not Applicable
(g)(1) Master Custodian Agreement with State Street Bank and Trust (1)
(g)(2) Amendment to Master Custodian Agreement dated December 17, 2015 (3)
(g)(3) Letter dated April 6, 2016 amending the Master Custodian Agreement to add Thrivent Core Funds (1)
(g)(4) Amendment to Master Custodian Agreement dated February 8, 2017 (3)
(h)(1) Transfer Agency and Service Agreement between Thrivent Core Funds, Thrivent Cash Management Trust and Thrivent Financial Investor Services Inc. (2)
(h)(2) Amendment No. 1 to Transfer Agency and Service Agreement (3)
(h)(3) Amendment No. 2 to Transfer Agency and Service Agreement (*)
(h)(4) Administrative Services Agreement between Thrivent Core Funds and Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (1)
(h)(5) Amendment No. 1 to Administrative Services Agreement (3)
(h)(6) Amendment No. 2 to Administrative Services Agreement (*)
(i) Opinion and Consent of Counsel (*)
(j) None
(k) Not Applicable
(l) None
(m) Not Applicable
(n) Not Applicable
(o) Not Applicable
(p) Code of Ethics (Rule 17j-1) for Registrant (2)
(q) Powers of Attorney (3)

(1) Incorporated by reference from the initial registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 811-23149, filed on May 4, 2016.
(2) Incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 811-23149, filed on February 28, 2017.
(3) Incorporated by reference from the initial registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on June 21, 2017.
* Filed herewith
Item 29. Persons Controlled by or under Common Control with Registrant
Registrant is a Delaware statutory trust organized on March 18, 2016. Registrant’s sponsor, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (“Thrivent Financial”), is a fraternal benefit society organized under the laws of the State of Wisconsin and is owned by and operated for its members. It has no stockholders and is not subject to the control of any affiliated persons.
The following list shows the relationship of each wholly owned direct and indirect subsidiary to Thrivent Financial, except as indicated below. Financial statements of Thrivent Financial will be presented on a consolidated basis.

 

Thrivent Financial Entities   Primary Business   State of
Organization
Thrivent Financial   Fraternal benefit society offering financial services and products   Wisconsin
Thrivent Financial Holdings, Inc.   Holding company with no independent operations   Delaware
Thrivent Trust Company   Federally chartered limited purpose trust bank   Federal Charter
Thrivent Investment Management Inc.   Broker-dealer and investment adviser   Delaware
North Meadows Investment Ltd.   Organized for the purpose of holding and investing in real estate   Wisconsin
Thrivent Financial Investor Services Inc.   Transfer agent   Pennsylvania
Thrivent Insurance Agency Inc.   Licensed life and health agency   Minnesota
Newman Financial Services, LLC   Limited Liability Company   Minnesota
NewLife Insurance Agency, LLC5   Limited Liability Company   Minnesota
Thrivent Life Insurance Company   Life insurance company   Minnesota
Thrivent Asset Management, LLC1   Investment adviser   Delaware
Thrivent Distributors, LLC   Limited Liability Company   Delaware
cuLearn, LLC6   Limited Liability Company   Delaware
PREPARE/ENRICH, LLC   Limited Liability Company   Delaware
Thrivent Education Finance Group, LLC   Limited Liability Company   Delaware
White Rose GP I, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
White Rose Fund I Equity Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
White Rose Fund I Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP II, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund II Equity Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund II Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP III, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund III Mezzanine Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund III Equity Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund III Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP IV, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund IV Equity Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund IV Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP V, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund V Equity Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund V Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP VI, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VI Equity Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VI Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP VII, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VII Equity Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VII Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware

 

Thrivent Financial Entities   Primary Business   State of
Organization
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP VIII, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VIII Equity Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VIII Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose GP IX, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund IX Equity Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund IX Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose GP X, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund X Equity Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund X Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Real Estate GP I, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Real Estate Fund I Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose GP XI, LLC2   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund XI Equity Direct, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund XI Fund of Funds, L.P.3   Private equity fund   Delaware
Gold Ring Holdings, LLC   Investment subsidiary   Delaware
Twin Bridge Capital Partners, LLC4   Managing member   Delaware
Thrivent Education Funding, LLC   Limited Liability Company   Delaware

1 Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (“TAM”) is a subsidiary of both Thrivent Financial Holdings, Inc. (“TFH”) and Thrivent Life Insurance Company (“TLIC”), both of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of Thrivent Financial. TFH and TLIC own respectively 80% and 20% of TAM’s membership interests.
2 Thrivent Financial owns an interest in the limited liability company and is also its managing member.
3 The Fund is organized for the purpose of holding investments in Thrivent Financial’ general account.
4 Thrivent Financial owns 49% of the managing member’s membership interests. Twin Bridge Capital Partners, LLC is the managing member of a general partner of limited partnerships.
5 Newman Financial Services, LLC owns a 50% membership interest in NewLife Insurance Agency, LLC.
6 Thrivent Financial Holdings, Inc. owns 90% membership interest in cuLearn, LLC.
Item 30. Indemnification
Under Article IX of the Registrant’s Declaration of Trust, the Trust shall indemnify any indemnitee for covered expenses (expenses, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by an indemnitee in connection with a covered proceeding) in any covered proceeding (any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, to which an indemnitee is or was a party or is threatened to be made a party), whether or not there is an adjudication of liability as to such indemnitee, if a determination has been made that the indemnitee was not liable by reason of disabling conduct by (i) a final decision of the court or other body before which the covered proceeding was brought; or (ii) in the absence of such decision, a reasonable determination, based on a review of the facts, by either (a) the vote of a majority of a quorum of Trustees who are neither “interested persons,” as defined in the 1940 Act, nor parties to the covered proceeding or (b) an independent legal counsel in a written opinion; provided that such Trustees or counsel, in reaching such determination, may need not presume the absence of disabling conduct on the part of the indemnitee by reason of the manner in which the covered proceeding was terminated.
Covered expenses incurred by an indemnitee in connection with a covered proceeding shall be advanced by the Trust to an indemnitee prior to the final disposition of a covered proceeding upon the request of the indemnitee for such advance and the undertaking by or on behalf of the indemnitee to repay the advance unless it is ultimately determined that the indemnitee is entitled to indemnification thereunder, but only if one or more of the following is the case: (i) the indemnitee shall provide a

 

security for such undertaking; (ii) the Trust shall be insured against losses arising out of any lawful advances; or (iii) here shall have been a determination, based on a review of the readily available facts (as opposed to a fully trial-type inquiry) that there is a reason to believe that the indemnitee ultimately will be found entitled to indemnification by either independent legal counsel in a written opinion or by the vote of a majority of a quorum of trustee who are neither “interested persons” as defined in the 1940 Act, nor parties to the covered proceeding.
Item 31. Business and Other Connections of the Investment Adviser
Thrivent Asset Management, LLC is the investment adviser and administrator of Registrant. Information about Thrivent Asset Management’s financial industry activities or affiliations, as well as the business and other connections of the directors and officers of Thrivent Asset Management, is included on the Form ADV that Thrivent Asset Management has on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (file No. 801-64988).
Item 32. Principal Underwriters
(a) Not applicable.