485BPOS 1 d851200d485bpos.htm THRIVENT CORE FUNDS Thrivent Core Funds
Table of Contents
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2020.
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. 14
and/or  
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940
Amendment No. 21
(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) 844-7190

JOHN D. JACKSON
ASSISTANT SECRETARY
THRIVENT CORE 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.
  
EXPLANATORY NOTE

  
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 Post-Effective Amendment No. 14 to the Registration Statement does not affect such other prospectus and statement of additional information of the Registrant.
  


Table of Contents
FEBRUARY 28, 2020
PROSPECTUS
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund    
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund    
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund    
Thrivent Core Low Volatility 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.

 


 

Table of Contents

  PAGE
Summary Section  

2

6

9

12

15

15

16

17

21

22

22

22

22

22

22

23

23

23

23

24

24

25

25

25

26

27
1

 

Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund

Investment Objective
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund (the "Fund") seeks to maximize total return while providing high current income and 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 % of offering price) N/A
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) 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 Expenses 0.04%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.04%
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
$4 $13 $23 $51
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s
performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 32% of the average value of its portfolio.
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 sovereign and corporate debt securities of issuers in emerging market countries. An “emerging market” country is any country determined by Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (“Thrivent Asset Mgt.” or the “Adviser”) to have an emerging market economy, considering factors such as the country’s credit rating, its political and economic stability and the development of its financial and capital markets. These emerging market countries include every nation in the world except the U.S., Canada, Israel, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and all nations typically considered part of Western Europe. At times, the Fund may have a significant amount of its assets invested in a particular country or geographic region. The Fund primarily invests in the emerging market sovereign debt of countries covered by the Bloomberg Barclays EM USD Aggregate Index (the Fund’s benchmark index), but will also invest in the sovereign debt, quasi-sovereign debt and corporate bonds of emerging market countries outside of the benchmark where the Adviser finds attractive opportunities. As a non-diversified fund under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), the Fund focuses its investments in the securities of a relatively few number of issuers. The Fund generally invests only in U.S. dollar-denominated securities, but may invest in securities denominated in foreign currency. Should the Adviser change the investments used for purposes of this 80% threshold, we will notify you at least 60 days prior to the change.
The Fund may invest in investment-grade and high yield (i.e., “junk bond”) securities, which may include the lowest-rated bonds, including those in default.
The Fund may invest in derivatives or other investments whose return is based on the return of an emerging market security, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). 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 interest rate or currency exposure. These derivatives and other instruments may include futures, forward contracts, options, structured securities and credit default swap agreements. The Fund may enter into standardized derivatives contracts traded on domestic or foreign securities exchanges, boards of trade, or similar entities, and non-standardized derivatives contracts traded in the over-the-counter market. ETFs are investment companies generally designed to track the performance of a securities or other index or benchmark.
The Adviser uses fundamental, quantitative, and technical investment research techniques and seeks to maximize the Fund’s
 
2

 

total return through fundamental economic analysis and an assessment of a country’s political situation to determine the creditworthiness, riskiness, and relative value of an issuer’s debt.
Principal Risks
The Fund is subject to the following principal investment risks, which you should review carefully and in entirety. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective and you could lose money by investing in the Fund.
Emerging Markets Risk. The economic and political structures of developing countries in emerging markets, in most cases, do not compare favorably with the U.S. or other developed countries in terms of wealth and stability, and their financial markets often lack liquidity. Fund performance will likely be negatively affected by portfolio exposure to countries and corporations domiciled in or with revenue exposures to countries in the midst of, among other things, hyperinflation, currency devaluation, trade disagreements, sudden political upheaval, or interventionist government policies. Fund performance may also be negatively affected by portfolio exposure to countries and corporations domiciled in or with revenue exposures to countries with less developed legal, tax, regulatory, and accounting systems. Significant buying or selling actions by a few major investors may also heighten the volatility of emerging markets. These factors make investing in emerging market countries significantly riskier than in other countries, and events in any one country could cause the Fund’s share price to decline.
Sovereign Debt Risk. Sovereign debt securities are issued or guaranteed by foreign governmental entities. 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.
Foreign Securities Risk. Foreign securities generally carry more risk and are more volatile than their domestic counterparts, in part because of potential for higher political and economic risks, lack of reliable information and fluctuations in currency exchange rates where investments are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. 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. 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.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer of a debt security to which the Fund is exposed may no longer be able or willing to pay its debt. As a result of such an event, the debt security may decline in price and affect the value of the Fund.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk is the risk that prices of debt securities decline in value when interest rates rise for debt securities that pay a fixed rate of interest. Debt securities with longer durations (a measure of price sensitivity of a bond or bond fund to changes in interest rates) or maturities (i.e., the amount of time until a bond’s issuer must pay its principal or face value) tend to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates than debt securities with shorter durations or maturities. Changes by the Federal Reserve to monetary policies could affect interest rates and the value of some securities. In addition, the phase out of LIBOR (the offered rate for short-term Eurodollar deposits between major international banks) by the end of 2021 could lead to increased volatility and illiquidity in certain markets that currently rely on LIBOR to determine interest rates.
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.
High Yield Risk. High yield securities – commonly known as “junk bonds” – to which the Fund is exposed are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments. If the issuer of the security is in default with respect to interest or principal payments, the value of the Fund may be negatively affected. High yield securities generally have a less liquid resale market.
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. There is also no guarantee that the Adviser will be able to effectively implement the Fund’s investment objective.
Issuer Risk. Issuer risk is the possibility that factors specific to an issuer to which the Fund is exposed will affect the market prices of the issuer’s securities and therefore the value of the Fund.
Derivatives Risk. The use of derivatives (such as futures and credit default 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 Fund utilizes futures on U.S. Treasuries in order to manage duration. 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
3

 

may be magnified by 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. Certain derivatives may also be subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations due to its financial condition, market events, or other reasons.
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. 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 of this decreased liquidity, the Fund may have to accept a lower price to sell a security, sell other securities to raise cash, or give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on performance.
ETF Risk. An ETF is subject to the risks of the underlying investments that it holds. In addition, for index-based ETFs, the performance of an ETF may diverge from the performance of such index (commonly known as tracking error). ETFs are subject to fees and expenses (like management fees and operating expenses) that do not apply to an index, and the Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any such fees and expenses paid by the ETFs in which it invests. Because ETFs trade on an exchange, there is a risk that an ETF will trade at a discount to net asset value or that investors will fail to bring the trading price in line with the underlying shares (known as the arbitrage mechanism).
Non-Diversified Risk. The Fund is not “diversified” within the meaning of the 1940 Act. That means the Fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of any single issuer compared to other funds. A non-diversified portfolio is generally more susceptible than a diversified portfolio to the risk that events or developments affecting a particular issuer or industry will significantly affect the Fund’s performance.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for the one-year period and since inception compared to a broad-based securities market index. The index is the Bloomberg Barclays EM USD Aggregate Index, which is a hard currency emerging markets debt benchmark that includes USD denominated debt from sovereign, quasi-sovereign, and corporate EM issuers. Call 800-847-4836 for performance results current to the most recent month-end.
The bar chart and the table includes the effects of Fund expenses and assumes that you sold your shares at the end of the period. The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those
shown. Returns after taxes on distributions and redemptions may be higher than before tax returns and/or after taxes on distributions shown because they reflect the tax benefit of capital losses realized in the redemption of Fund shares.
How the Fund has performed in the past (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. Performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance over time.
YEAR-BY-YEAR TOTAL RETURN
Best Quarter: Q1 '19 +5.34%
Worst Quarter: Q2 '18 (3.00)%
    
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
(PERIODS ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2019)
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund 1 Year Since
Inception
(9/5/2017)
  14.05% 4.15%
(after taxes on distributions) 12.25% 2.58%
(after taxes on distributions and redemptions) 8.55% 2.62%
Bloomberg Barclays EM USD Aggregate Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
13.11% 4.26%
Management
Investment Adviser(s)
The Fund is managed by Thrivent Asset Mgt.
Portfolio Manager(s)
James B. Carlen, CFA is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Carlen has served as portfolio manager of the Fund since July 2019. Mr. Carlen has been with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (“Thrivent Financial”) since 2019.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of the Fund directly from the Fund.
4

 

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 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.
5

 

Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund

Investment Objective
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets 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 % of offering price) N/A
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) 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 0.20%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.20%
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
$20 $64
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 commenced operations on
February 3, 2020, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate for the most recent fiscal year end is not 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 and equity-related securities of companies in emerging market countries. An “emerging market” country is any country determined by Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (“Thrivent Asset Mgt.” or the “Adviser”) to have an emerging market economy, considering factors such as the country’s credit rating, its political and economic stability and the development of its financial and capital markets. These emerging market countries include every nation in the world except the U.S., Canada, Israel, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and all nations typically considered part of Western Europe. The Fund primarily invests in securities issued by companies in countries covered by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (USD Net Returns) (the Fund’s benchmark index) but will also invest in securities of companies of emerging market countries outside of the benchmark where the Adviser finds attractive opportunities. The Fund may invest in securities denominated in various currencies. At times, the Fund may have a significant amount (i.e., 25% or more under normal market conditions) of its assets invested in a particular country or geographic region.
The Fund may invest in derivatives or other investments whose return is based on the return of an emerging market security, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). 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, security or currency. These derivatives and other instruments may include futures, options and total return swap agreements. The Fund may enter into standardized derivatives contracts traded on domestic or foreign securities exchanges, boards of trade, or similar entities, and non-standardized derivatives contracts traded in the over-the-counter market. ETFs are investment companies generally designed to track the performance of a securities or other index or benchmark.
In buying and selling securities for the Fund, the Adviser uses an active strategy. This strategy consists of a disciplined approach that involves computer-aided, quantitative analysis of fundamental, technical and risk-related factors. The Adviser’s factor model (a method of analyzing and combining multiple data sources) systematically reviews 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.
 
6

 

Principal Risks
The Fund is subject to the following principal investment risks, which you should review carefully and in entirety. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective and you could lose money by investing in the Fund.
Emerging Markets Risk. The economic and political structures of developing countries in emerging markets, in most cases, do not compare favorably with the U.S. or other developed countries in terms of wealth and stability, and their financial markets often lack liquidity. Fund performance will likely be negatively affected by portfolio exposure to countries and corporations domiciled in or with revenue exposures to countries in the midst of, among other things, hyperinflation, currency devaluation, trade disagreements, sudden political upheaval, or interventionist government policies. Fund performance may also be negatively affected by portfolio exposure to countries and corporations domiciled in or with revenue exposures to countries with less developed legal, tax, regulatory, and accounting systems. Significant buying or selling actions by a few major investors may also heighten the volatility of emerging markets. These factors make investing in emerging market countries significantly riskier than in other countries, and events in any one country could cause the Fund’s share price to decline.
Regional Risk. The Fund will generally have more exposure to the specific regional or country economic risks where it has significant investments. In the event of economic or political turmoil or a deterioration of diplomatic relations in a region or country where a substantial portion of the Fund’s assets are invested, the Fund may experience substantial volatility, illiquidity or reduction in the value of the Fund’s investments.
Foreign Securities Risk. Foreign securities generally carry more risk and are more volatile than their domestic counterparts, in part because of potential for higher political and economic risks, lack of reliable information and fluctuations in currency exchange rates where investments are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. 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. 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.
Quantitative Investing Risk. Quantitative Investing Risk is the risk that securities selected according to a quantitative analysis methodology can perform differently from the market as a whole based on the model and the factors used in the analysis, the weight placed on each factor and changes in the factor’s historical trends. Such models are based on assumptions of these and other market factors, and the models may not take into
account certain factors, or perform as intended, and may result in a decline in the value of the Fund’s portfolio.
Equity Security Risk. Equity securities held by the Fund may decline significantly in price, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, over short or extended periods of time, and such declines may occur because of declines in the equity market as a whole, or because of declines in only a particular country, company, industry, or sector of the market. From time to time, the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in a particular country or geographic region which would make the Fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting such country or region. Equity securities are generally more volatile than most debt securities.
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.
Foreign Currency Risk. 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.
Issuer Risk. Issuer risk is the possibility that factors specific to an issuer to which the Fund is exposed will affect the market prices of the issuer’s securities and therefore the value of the Fund.
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. There is also no guarantee that the Adviser will be able to effectively implement the Fund’s investment objective.
ETF Risk. An ETF is subject to the risks of the underlying investments that it holds. In addition, for index-based ETFs, the performance of an ETF may diverge from the performance of such index (commonly known as tracking error). ETFs are subject to fees and expenses (like management fees and operating expenses) that do not apply to an index, and the Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any such fees and expenses paid by the ETFs in which it invests. Because ETFs trade on an exchange, there is a risk that an ETF will trade at a discount to net asset value or that investors will fail to bring the trading price in line with the underlying shares (known as the arbitrage mechanism).
7

 

Derivatives Risk. The use of derivatives (such as futures, options and total return 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 Fund utilizes equity futures in order to increase or decrease its exposure to various asset classes at a lower cost than trading stocks directly. 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 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. Certain derivatives may also be subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations due to its financial condition, market events, or other reasons.
Performance
The index is the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (USD Net Returns), which captures large- and mid-cap representations across 26 emerging markets countries. No performance information for the Fund is provided because it commenced operations on February 3, 2020 and does not yet have a full calendar year of performance history. Call 800-847-4836 for performance results current to the most recent month-end.
How the Fund has performed in the past is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. Performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance over time.
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 been jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund since its inception in January 2020. 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 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 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.
8

 

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 % of offering price) N/A
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) 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 Expenses 0.06%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.06%
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
$6 $19 $34 $77
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 89% of the average value of its portfolio.
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. Generally, 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 World Ex-USA Index (Net), an international developed markets equity index (the Fund’s benchmark index). The Fund primarily invests in the common stocks of mid- and large-capitalization companies represented in its benchmark, but may also invest in small-capitalization companies. The Fund may invest in securities denominated in various currencies. Should Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (“Thrivent Asset Mgt.” or the “Adviser”) change the investments used for purposes of this 80% threshold, we will notify you at least 60 days prior to the change.
In buying and selling securities for the Fund, the Adviser uses an active strategy. This strategy consists of a disciplined approach that involves computer-aided, quantitative analysis of fundamental, technical and risk-related factors. The Adviser’s factor model (a method of analyzing and combining multiple data sources) 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, which you should review carefully and in entirety. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective and you could lose money by investing in the Fund.
Equity Security Risk. Equity securities held by the Fund may decline significantly in price, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, over short or extended periods of time, and such declines may occur because of declines in the equity market as a whole, or because of declines in only a particular country, company, industry, or sector of the market. From time to time, the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related sectors or industries which would make the Fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting such sectors or industries. Equity securities are generally more volatile than most debt securities.
Foreign Securities Risk. Foreign securities generally carry more risk and are more volatile than their domestic counterparts, in part because of potential for higher political and economic risks, lack of reliable information and fluctuations in currency exchange rates where investments are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. The Fund’s investment in any country could be subject to governmental actions such as capital or currency
 
9

 

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. 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.
Quantitative Investing Risk. Quantitative Investing Risk is the risk that securities selected according to a quantitative analysis methodology can perform differently from the market as a whole based on the model and the factors used in the analysis, the weight placed on each factor and changes in the factor’s historical trends. Such models are based on assumptions of these and other market factors, and the models may not take into account certain factors, or perform as intended, and may result in a decline in the value of the Fund’s portfolio.
Foreign Currency Risk. 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.
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.
Issuer Risk. Issuer risk is the possibility that factors specific to an issuer to which the Fund is exposed will affect the market prices of the issuer’s securities and therefore the value of the Fund.
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. There is also no guarantee that the Adviser will be able to effectively implement the Fund’s investment objective.
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.
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.
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 soften the impact of a falling market on returns.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for the one-year period and since inception compared to a broad-based securities market index. The index is the MSCI World Ex-USA Index (Net), which captures large- and mid-cap representations across 22 of 23 developed markets countries, excluding the United States. Call 800-847-4836 for performance results current to the most recent month-end.
The bar chart and the table includes the effects of Fund expenses and assumes that you sold your shares at the end of the period. The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. Returns after taxes on distributions and redemptions may be higher than before tax returns and/or after taxes on distributions shown because they reflect the tax benefit of capital losses realized in the redemption of Fund shares.
How the Fund has performed in the past (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. Performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance over time.
10

 

YEAR-BY-YEAR TOTAL RETURN
Best Quarter: Q1 '19 +9.82%
Worst Quarter: Q4 '18 (12.01)%
    
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
(PERIODS ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2019)
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund 1 Year Since
Inception
(11/14/2017)
  18.46% 2.32%
(after taxes on distributions) 16.91% 1.09%
(after taxes on distributions and redemptions) 11.18% 1.34%
MSCI World Ex-USA Index - USD Net Returns
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
22.49% 4.11%
Management
Investment Adviser(s)
The Fund is managed by Thrivent Asset Mgt.
Portfolio Manager(s)
Noah J. Monsen, CFA and Brian W. Bomgren, CQF are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Monsen and Mr. Bomgren have served as portfolio managers of the Fund since November 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 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 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.
11

 

Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity Fund

Investment Objective
Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity Fund (the "Fund") seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation with lower volatility relative to the domestic equity market. 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 % of offering price) N/A
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lower of the original purchase price or current net asset value) 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 Expenses 0.04%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.04%
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
$4 $13 $23 $51
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s
performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 62% of the average value of its portfolio.
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. Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (“Thrivent Asset Mgt.” or the “Adviser”) focuses mainly on the common stocks of domestic companies of any market capitalization, including small- and mid-cap sized companies.
In seeking to achieve the Fund’s investment objective, the Adviser employs investment management techniques to identify securities that exhibit low volatility returns. Volatility refers to the variation in security and market prices over time. Over a full market cycle, the Fund seeks to produce returns similar to the MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index (the Fund’s benchmark index). It is expected that the Fund will generally underperform the domestic equity markets during periods of strong market performance.
In buying and selling securities for the Fund, the Adviser uses an active strategy. This strategy consists of a disciplined approach that involves computer-aided, quantitative analysis of fundamental, technical and risk-related factors. The Adviser’s factor model (a method of analyzing and combining multiple data sources) 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 to produce a portfolio with reduced volatility.
Principal Risks
The Fund is subject to the following principal investment risks, which you should review carefully and in entirety. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective and you could lose money by investing in the Fund.
Equity Security Risk. Equity securities held by the Fund may decline significantly in price, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, over short or extended periods of time, and such declines may occur because of declines in the equity market as a whole, or because of declines in only a particular country, company, industry, or sector of the market. From time to time, the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related sectors or industries which would make the Fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting such sectors or industries. Equity securities are generally more volatile than most debt securities.
Quantitative Investing Risk. Quantitative Investing Risk is the risk that securities selected according to a quantitative analysis
 
12

 

methodology can perform differently from the market as a whole based on the model and the factors used in the analysis, the weight placed on each factor and changes in the factor’s historical trends. Such models are based on assumptions of these and other market factors, and the models may not take into account certain factors, or perform as intended, and may result in a decline in the value of the Fund’s portfolio.
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.
Issuer Risk. Issuer risk is the possibility that factors specific to an issuer to which the Fund is exposed will affect the market prices of the issuer’s securities and therefore the value of the Fund.
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. There is also no guarantee that the Adviser will be able to effectively implement the Fund’s investment objective.
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.
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.
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 soften the impact of a falling market on returns.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for the one-year period and since inception compared to a broad-based securities market index. The index is the MSCI USA Minimum Volatility Index (USD), which aims to reflect the performance characteristics of a minimum
variance strategy applied to the large- and mid-cap USA equity universe. Call 800-847-4836 for performance results current to the most recent month-end.
The bar chart and the table includes the effects of Fund expenses and assumes that you sold your shares at the end of the period. The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown.
How the Fund has performed in the past (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. Performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance over time.
YEAR-BY-YEAR TOTAL RETURN
Best Quarter: Q1 '19 +3.24%
Worst Quarter: Q3 '19 +3.24%
    
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
(PERIODS ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2019)
Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity Fund 1 Year Since
Inception
(2/28/2018)
  28.55% 15.58%
(after taxes on distributions) 26.68% 13.82%
(after taxes on distributions and redemptions) 17.65% 11.51%
MSCI USA Minimum Volatility Index - USD Net Returns
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
27.09% 15.05%
Management
Investment Adviser(s)
The Fund is managed by Thrivent Asset Mgt.
Portfolio Manager(s)
Noah J. Monsen, CFA and Brian W. Bomgren, CQF are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Monsen and Mr. Bomgren have served as
13

 

portfolio managers of the Fund since February 2018. 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 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 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.
14

 

More about Investment Strategies and Risks

The Funds’ investment objectives and principal strategies are described in each Fund’s “Summary Section” above. The principal strategies are the strategies that the Adviser believes are most likely to be important in trying to achieve each Fund’s investment objective. Please note that the Funds 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.
This section provides additional information about some of the securities and other practices in which the Funds may engage, along with their associated risks.
Information about Certain Principal Investment Strategies
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 Funds may use derivatives for hedging (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. Each 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, thereby creating investment exposure greater than the initial investment. For example, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, forward contracts, and options on derivatives can allow the Fund to obtain large investment exposures in return for meeting relatively small margin requirements. As a result, investments in those transactions may be highly leveraged, and a Fund could potentially earn or lose substantially more money than the actual cost (if any) incurred when the derivative is entered into by a Fund. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet any required asset segregation requirements. 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 a 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 a 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 a 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.
Emerging markets countries. An “emerging market” country is any country determined by the Adviser to have an emerging market economy, considering factors such as the country’s credit rating, its political and economic stability and the development of its financial and capital markets. These emerging market countries include every nation in the world except the U.S., Canada, Israel, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and all nations typically considered part of Western Europe.
Exchange traded funds (“ETFs”). An ETF is an investment company that trades on a securities exchange and holds a portfolio of investments generally designed to track the performance of an index, including industry, sector, country and region indexes. An ETF may fail to accurately track the index or benchmark and may trade at a discount to its net asset value.
Generally, investments in other investment companies (including ETFs) are subject to statutory limitations prescribed by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. These limitations include a prohibition on a Fund acquiring more than 3% of the voting shares of any other investment company, and a prohibition on investing more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets in the securities of any one investment company or more than 10% of its total assets, in the aggregate, in investment company securities. Many ETFs, however, have obtained exemptive relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission to permit unaffiliated funds to invest in the ETFs’ shares beyond these statutory limitations, subject to certain conditions and pursuant to a contractual arrangement between the ETFs and the investing Fund. The Funds may rely on these exemptive orders in order to invest in certain ETFs beyond the foregoing statutory limitations.
Foreign currency transactions. Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund, Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund, and Thrivent Core International Equity Fund may conduct foreign currency exchange transactions, normally either on a spot
 
15

 

(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 value of a Fund’s assets as measured in U.S. dollars may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in currency exchange rates and exchange control legislation. The Funds will generally not enter into a forward contract with a term greater than one year.
Under unusual circumstances, certain Funds may commit substantial assets to the consummation of these contracts. Although forward contracts may be used to protect a 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 the potential for higher political and economic risks, lack of reliable information and fluctuations in currency exchange rates. These risks are usually higher in less developed countries. Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund, Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund, and Thrivent Core International Equity 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.
High yield bonds. High yield bonds are debt securities rated below BBB by S&P or Baa by Moody’s or unrated securities deemed to be of comparable quality by the Adviser. To the extent that Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund invests in high yield bonds, it takes on the following risks:
The risk of a bond’s issuer defaulting on principal or interest payments is greater than on higher quality bonds.
Issuers of high yield bonds are less secure financially and are more likely to be hurt by interest rate increases and declines in the health of the issuer or the economy.
Securities ratings. When fixed-income securities are rated by one or more independent rating agencies, Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund uses these ratings to determine bond quality. Investment grade bonds are those that are rated within or above the BBB major rating category by S&P or the Baa major rating category by Moody’s, or unrated but considered
of equivalent quality by the Fund’s adviser. High-yield (i.e., “junk”) bonds are below investment grade bonds in terms of quality.
In cases where a bond is rated in conflicting categories by different rating agencies, Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund may choose to follow the higher rating. If a bond is unrated, Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund may assign it to a given category based on its own credit research. If a rating agency downgrades a security, Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund will determine whether to hold or sell the security, depending on all of the facts and circumstances at that time.
Information about Certain Non-Principal Investment Strategies
Defensive investing. In response to market, economic, political or other conditions, each 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 a Fund does this, different factors could affect the Fund’s performance and it may not achieve its investment objective.
Illiquid investments. A Fund may not acquire an illiquid investment if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund would have invested more than 15% of its net assets in “illiquid investments” that are assets. An illiquid investment is an investment that a Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. 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 investments could hamper a Fund’s ability to raise cash to meet redemptions. Also, because there may not be an established market price for these securities, a Fund may have to estimate their value, which means that their valuation (and, to a much smaller extent, the valuation of the Fund) may have a subjective element.
In-kind purchases. The Funds may be purchased by affiliated Funds through in-kind contributions of portfolio securities held by the affiliated Fund, according to procedures adopted by the Funds’ Board of Trustees (the “Board”) and subject to applicable regulatory requirements. The procedures generally require, among other things, that the in-kind contribution does not favor the affiliated Fund making the contribution over any other shareholder in the receiving Fund and the contribution is in the best interests of the Fund receiving the in-kind contribution. The securities contributed must be valued according to the receiving Fund’s valuation procedures and be of the appropriate type and amount for investment by the Fund receiving the contribution. If these procedures are not followed or the shares purchased decline in value, it could adversely affect the price of Fund shares.
16

 

Securities lending. Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund, Thrivent Core International Equity Fund, and Thrivent Low Volatility Equity Fund may seek additional income by lending Fund securities to qualified institutions. By reinvesting any cash collateral it receives in these transactions, a 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 each Fund at times may include short-term trading. While a 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 a Fund’s transaction costs and may increase your tax liability.
Unusual opportunities. Each of the Funds 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 each Fund are summarized in each Fund’s respective “Summary Section” above. More detailed descriptions of these and other risks are described below in alphabetical order for ease of reference. Each Fund may be subject to additional risks that are not described in this prospectus but are included in the statement of additional information.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer of a debt security to which the Fund is exposed may no longer be able or willing to pay its debt. As a result of such an event, the debt security may decline in price and affect the value of a Fund. Similarly, there is a risk that the value of a debt security may decline because of concerns about the issuer’s ability or willingness to make interest and/or principal payments. Debt securities are subject to varying degrees of credit risk, which are often reflected in credit ratings. The credit rating of a debt security may be lowered if the issuer suffers adverse changes in its financial condition, which can lead to more volatility in the price of the security and in shares of the Fund.
Cybersecurity Risk. The Funds and their service providers may be susceptible to operational, information security, and related risks. In general, cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. Cyber-attacks include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems to misappropriate assets or sensitive information, corrupt data, or otherwise disrupt operations. Cyber incidents affecting the Adviser or other service providers (including, but not limited to, fund accountants, custodians, and transfer agents) have the ability to disrupt and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, by interfering with the Funds’ ability to calculate their NAV, corrupting data or preventing parties from sharing information necessary for the Funds’ operation, preventing or
slowing trades, stopping shareholders from making transactions, potentially subjecting the Funds or the Adviser to regulatory fines and penalties, and creating additional compliance costs. Similar types of cyber security risks are also present for issuers or securities in which the Funds may invest, which could result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Funds’ investments in such companies to lose value. While the Funds’ service providers have established business continuity plans in the event of such cyber incidents, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems. Additionally, the Funds cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems put in place by their service providers or any other third parties whose operations may affect the Funds or their shareholders. Although each Fund attempts to minimize such failures through controls and oversight, it is not possible to identify all of the operation risks that may affect a Fund or to develop processes and controls that completely eliminate or mitigate the occurrence of such failures or other disruptions in service. The value of an investment in a Fund’s shares may be adversely affected by the occurrence of the operational errors or failures or technological issues or other similar events and a Fund and its shareholders may bear costs tied to these risks.
Derivatives Risk. The use of derivatives (such as futures, options, credit default swaps, and total return swaps) involves additional risks and transaction costs which could leave a 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 a 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.
Some derivatives may give rise to a form of economic leverage, and may expose the Fund to greater risk and increase its costs. Such leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet any required asset segregation requirements. Increases and decreases in the value of the Fund’s portfolio will be magnified when the Fund uses leverage. Futures contracts, options on futures contracts, forward contracts, and options on derivatives can allow the Fund to obtain large investment exposures in return for meeting relatively small margin requirements. As a result, investments in those transactions may be highly leveraged.
The success of a 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 a Fund’s gains from a swap agreement or may cause a 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.
17

 

Emerging Markets Risk. The economic and political structures of developing countries in emerging markets, in most cases, do not compare favorably with the U.S. or other developed countries in terms of wealth and stability, and their financial markets often lack liquidity. Fund performance will likely be negatively affected by portfolio exposure to countries and corporations domiciled in or with revenue exposures to countries in the midst of, among other things, hyperinflation, currency devaluation, trade disagreements, sudden political upheaval or interventionist government policies. Fund performance may also be negatively affected by portfolio exposure to countries and corporations domiciled in or with revenue exposures to countries with less developed legal, tax, regulatory, and accounting systems. There also may be less publicly available information about issuers in emerging markets than would be available about issuers in more developed capital markets, and such issuers may not be subject to accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and requirements comparable to those to which U.S. companies are subject. Emerging markets may also have differing legal systems which make it difficult for the Fund to pursue legal remedies with respect to its investments. Significant buying or selling actions by a few major investors may also heighten the volatility of emerging markets. These factors make investing in emerging market countries significantly riskier than in other countries and events in any one country could cause the Fund’s share price to decline.
Some emerging market countries restrict to varying degrees foreign investment in their securities markets. In some circumstances, these restrictions may limit or preclude investment in certain countries or may increase the cost of investing in securities of particular companies.
Emerging markets generally do not have the level of market efficiency and strict standards in accounting and securities regulation to be on par with advanced economies. Investments in emerging markets come with much greater risk due to political instability, domestic infrastructure problems and currency volatility.
Equity Security Risk. Equity securities held by a Fund may decline significantly in price, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, over short or extended periods of time, and such declines may occur because of declines in the equity market as a whole, or because of declines in only a particular country, company, industry, or sector of the market. From time to time, the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in one particular sector, industry, or geographic region which would make the Fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting such sectors, industries, or geographic regions. Equity securities are generally more volatile than most debt securities. The prices of individual stocks generally do not all move in the same direction at the same time. A variety of factors can negatively affect the price of a particular company’s stock. These factors may include, but are not limited to: poor earnings reports, a loss of customers, litigation against the company, general unfavorable performance of the company’s sector or industry, or changes in government regulations affecting the company or its industry.
ETF Risk. An ETF is subject to the risks of the underlying investments that it holds. For index-based ETFs, while such ETFs seek to achieve the same returns as a particular market index, the performance of an ETF may diverge from the performance of such index (commonly known as tracking error). ETFs are subject to fees and expenses (like management fees and operating expenses) and a Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any such fees and expenses paid by the ETFs in which it invests. In addition, ETF shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value and investors may fail to bring the trading price in line with the underlying shares (known as the arbitrage mechanism). As ETFs trade on an exchange, they are subject to the risks of any exchange-traded instrument, including: (i) an active trading market for its shares may not develop or be maintained, (ii) trading of its shares may be halted by the exchange, and (iii) its shares may be delisted from the exchange.
Foreign Currency Risk. 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.
Foreign Securities Risk. To the extent a Fund is exposed to foreign securities, it is subject to various risks associated with such securities. Foreign securities are generally more volatile than their domestic counterparts, in part because of potential for higher political and economic risks, lack of reliable information and fluctuations in currency exchange rates where investments are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. 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 a 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
18

 

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 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.
High Yield Risk. High yield securities - commonly known as “junk bonds” - are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments. If the issuer of the security is in default with respect to interest or principal payments, the value of the Fund may be negatively affected. High yield securities may be more susceptible to real or perceived adverse economic conditions than investment grade securities, and they generally have more volatile prices and carry more risk to principal. In addition, high yield securities generally are less liquid than investment grade securities.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk is the risk that prices of debt securities decline in value when interest rates rise for debt securities that pay a fixed rate of interest. Debt securities with longer durations or maturities tend to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates than debt securities with shorter durations or maturities. Changes by the Federal Reserve to monetary policies could affect interest rates and the value of some securities. In addition, the phase out of LIBOR (the offered rate for short-term Eurodollar deposits between major international banks) by the end of 2021 could lead to increased volatility and illiquidity in certain markets that currently rely on LIBOR to determine interest rates.
Investment Adviser Risk. The Funds 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 a 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 a 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-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.
Large Shareholder Risk. From time to time, shareholders of a Fund (which may include institutional investors and affiliated Funds) may make relatively large redemptions or purchases of shares. These transactions may cause a Fund to sell securities at disadvantageous prices or invest additional cash, as the case may be. While it is impossible to predict the overall impact of these transactions over time, there could be adverse effects on a Fund’s performance to the extent that a Fund may be required to sell securities or invest cash at times when it would not otherwise do so. Redemptions of a large number of shares also may increase transaction costs or have adverse tax consequences for shareholders of the Fund by requiring a sale of portfolio securities. In addition, a large redemption could result in a Fund's current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund's expense ratio.
LIBOR Risk. The elimination of LIBOR may adversely affect the interest rates on, and value of, certain Fund investments for which the value is tied to LIBOR. Such investments may include bank loans, derivatives, floating rate securities, and other assets or liabilities tied to LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced that it intends to stop compelling or inducing banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. However, it remains unclear if LIBOR will continue to exist in its current, or a modified, form. Actions by regulators have resulted in the establishment of alternative reference rates to LIBOR in most major currencies. The U.S. Federal Reserve, based on the recommendations of the New York Federal Reserve’s Alternative Reference Rate Committee (comprised of major derivative market participants and their regulators), has begun publishing a Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), that is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR. Proposals for alternative reference rates for other currencies have also been announced or have already begun publication. Markets are slowly developing in response to these new rates. Questions around liquidity impacted by these rates, and how to appropriately adjust these rates at the time of transition, remain a concern for the Funds. The effect of any changes to, or discontinuation of, LIBOR on the Fund will vary depending, among other things, on (1) existing fallback or termination provisions in individual contracts and (2) whether, how, and when industry participants develop and adopt new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new products and instruments. Accordingly, it is difficult to predict the full impact of the transition away from LIBOR on the Funds until new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new products, instruments and contracts are commercially accepted.
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
19

 

securities and high-yield bonds) often have a less liquid resale market. Liquid investments may become illiquid after purchase by the Adviser, particularly during periods of market turmoil. 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. In addition, when there is illiquidity in the market for certain securities, the Fund, due to limitations on illiquid investments, may be subject to purchase and sale restrictions.
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. In addition, inventories of municipal bonds held by brokers and dealers have decreased in recent years, lessening their ability to make a market in these securities. As a result of this decreased liquidity, the Adviser may have to accept a lower price to sell a security, sell other securities to raise cash, or give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on performance.
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.
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. 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.
Non-Diversified Risk. A Fund that is not “diversified” within the meaning of the 1940 Act may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of any single issuer compared to other funds. A non-diversified portfolio is generally more susceptible than a diversified portfolio to the risk that events or developments affecting a particular issuer or industry will significantly affect the Fund’s performance.
Quantitative Investing Risk. Quantitative Investing Risk is the risk that securities selected according to a quantitative analysis methodology can perform differently from the market as a whole based on the model and the factors used in the analysis, the
weight placed on each factor and changes in the factor’s historical trends. Such models are based on assumptions of these and other market factors, and the models may not take into account certain factors, or perform as intended, and may result in a decline in the value of the Fund’s portfolio. If models or data used in the models would be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon expose the Fund to potential risks. If incorrect market data is entered into even a well-founded model, the resulting information will be incorrect and could lead to losses for the Fund.
Regional Risk. A Fund will generally have more exposure to the specific regional or country economic risks where it has significant investments. In the event of economic or political turmoil or a deterioration of diplomatic relations in a region or country where a substantial portion of the Fund’s assets are invested, the Fund may experience substantial volatility, illiquidity or reduction in the value of the Fund’s investments.
Regulatory Risk. Legal, tax, and regulatory developments may adversely affect the Funds. Securities and futures markets are subject to comprehensive statutes, regulations, and margin requirements enforced by the SEC, other regulators and self-regulatory organizations, and exchanges authorized to take extraordinary actions in the event of market emergencies. The regulatory environment for the Funds is evolving, and changes in the regulation of investment funds, managers, and their trading activities and capital markets, or a regulator’s disagreement with the Funds’ interpretation of the application of certain regulations, may adversely affect the ability of a Fund to pursue its investment strategy, its ability to obtain leverage and financing, and the value of investments held by the Fund.
Small Cap Risk. Smaller, less seasoned companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity than larger, more established companies. A Fund may have difficulty selling holdings of these companies at a desired time 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 soften the impact of a falling market on returns. It may be a substantial period of time before a Fund could realize a gain, if any, on an investment in a small cap company.
Sovereign Debt Risk. Sovereign debt securities are issued or guaranteed by foreign governmental entities. 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
20

 

bankruptcy proceedings through which all or part of the sovereign debt that a governmental entity has not repaid may be collected.
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.
21

 

Management of the Funds

Investment Adviser
The Funds are managed by Thrivent Asset Mgt., 625 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415. Thrivent Asset Mgt. had approximately $21 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2019. Thrivent Asset Mgt. is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (“Thrivent Financial”). Thrivent Financial and its affiliates have been in the investment advisory business since 1986 and had approximately $132 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2019.
Thrivent Asset Mgt. provides investment research and supervision of the assets for the Funds. A discussion of the Board’s consideration and approval of the investment advisory agreement between the Trust and Thrivent Asset Mgt. will be available in the Funds’ semiannual report to shareholders.
Management Fees
The Funds do not pay a management fee to the Adviser because they are currently sold only to other affiliated entities.
Administrative Service Fee
The Adviser is responsible for providing certain administrative and accounting services to the Funds. Each Fund pays the Adviser a fee equal to the sum of $70,000 plus 0.017% of the Fund’s average daily net assets for providing such services to the Fund. See “Other Services—Administration Contract” in the SAI for additional information.
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 Funds are permitted by Thrivent Asset Mgt., subject to compliance with applicable provisions under the applicable codes of ethics.
Trademarks
BLOOMBERG® is a trademark and service mark of Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates (collectively “Bloomberg”). BARCLAYS® is a trademark and service mark of Barclays Bank Plc (collectively with its affiliates, “Barclays”), used under license. Bloomberg or Bloomberg’s licensors, including Barclays, own all proprietary rights in the Bloomberg Barclays Indices. Neither Bloomberg nor Barclays approves or endorses this material, or guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information herein, or makes any warranty, express or implied, as to the results to be obtained therefrom and, to the maximum extent allowed by law, neither shall have any liability or responsibility for injury or damages arising in connection therewith.
MSCI Inc. (“MSCI”) makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein. The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used as a basis for other indexes or any securities or financial products. This prospectus is not approved, endorsed, reviewed or produced by MSCI. None of the MSCI data is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such.
 
22

 

Shareholder Information

Pricing Fund Shares
The price of a Fund’s shares is based on the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”). Each 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 Funds generally do 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.
Each Fund determines the NAV by dividing the total Fund assets, less all liabilities, by the total number of outstanding shares. To determine the NAV, each 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 foreign market and the close of the U.S. markets, when the Funds’ 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 Funds, 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 Funds. All shares are
purchased at NAV of a Fund next determined after the purchase request is communicated to the Fund. Shares of the Funds are issued on days on which the NYSE is open, which generally are weekdays other than national holidays. There is no sales load imposed in connection with the purchase of any Fund’s shares and shares are not subject to any Rule 12b-1 fees.
Redeeming Shares
Shares of the Funds may be redeemed on days on which the NYSE is open for business at NAV of a 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 Funds.
Each Fund generally determines its NAV once daily at the close of regular trading on the 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 Funds do 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 Funds typically expect to pay redemption proceeds within one business day after receipt of a redemption request determined to be in good order. Payment may take up to seven days, subject to the limited exceptions as permitted by the SEC. Each Fund typically expects to meet redemption requests with cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund or from proceeds from selling Fund portfolio assets in connection with the normal course management of the Fund. In stressed or otherwise abnormal market conditions, including to meet significant redemption activity by shareholders, a Fund may need to sell portfolio assets. 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.
A Fund may also, particularly in stressed or otherwise abnormal market conditions, meet redemption requests with cash obtained through short-term borrowing arrangements that may be available from time to time. Such borrowing arrangements currently include an interfund lending program maintained pursuant to an exemptive order from the SEC. The Funds are limited under this arrangement as to the amount that each may borrow. The
 
23

 

statement of additional information includes more information about this borrowing arrangement.
Although the Funds typically expect to pay redemption proceeds in cash, if a Fund determines that a cash redemption would be detrimental to remaining shareholders, the Fund may pay all or a portion of redemption proceeds to affiliated shareholders with in-kind distributions of the Fund’s securities, subject to the requirements of the 1940 Act. In this situation, you would typically receive a pro-rata portion (i.e., a proportionate share) of the Fund’s holdings. You may incur brokerage and other transaction costs associated with converting into cash the portfolio securities distributed to you for such in-kind redemptions. The portfolio securities you receive may increase or decrease in value before you convert them into cash. You may incur tax liability when you sell the portfolio securities you receive from an in-kind redemption.
There are no redemption charges.
Frequent Trading Policies and Monitoring Processes
Because the only shareholders in the Funds are affiliates of the Trust, the Funds do not restrict the frequency of purchases and redemptions.
Disclosure of Fund Holdings
A description of the Funds’ policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of their portfolio securities is available in the Statement of Additional Information for the Funds.
24

 

Distributions

Dividends
Dividends of the Funds, if any, are generally declared and paid as follows:
Declared and Paid Monthly • Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund
Declared and Paid Annually • Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund
• Thrivent Core International Equity Fund
• Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity Fund
Income dividends are derived from investment income, including dividends, interest, and certain foreign currency gains, if any, received by the Funds.
Capital Gains
Capital gains distributions, if any, usually will be declared and paid in December for the prior twelve-month period ending October 31.
 
25

 

Taxes

General
The Funds intend 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 a Fund are taxable as ordinary income. To the extent a 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 a 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 a 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 a 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 Funds must withhold 24% 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 a 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 Emerging Markets Debt Fund, Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund, and Thrivent Core International Equity Fund
Foreign investments pose special tax issues for these Funds and their 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 these Funds. If the amount withheld is material, these Funds 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 Funds and their shareholders. Circumstances among investors may vary and each investor should discuss the tax consequences of an investment in a Fund with a tax adviser.
 
26

 

Financial Highlights

The financial highlights tables for each of the Funds are intended to help you understand the Funds’ financial performance for the period of the Funds’ operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned or lost on an investment in a Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). This information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered
public accounting firm, whose reports, along with the Funds’ financial statements, are included in the Annual Report to Shareholders for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2019, which is available upon request. The financial highlights should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto. Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund commenced operations on February 3, 2020, so it does not have financial highlights information to provide.
 
27

 

Thrivent Core Funds
Financial Highlights
  FOR A SHARE OUTSTANDING THROUGHOUT EACH PERIOD*
    Income from Investment Operations   Less Distributions from
  Net Asset
Value,
Beginning
of Period
Net
Investment
Income/(Loss)
Net Realized
and Unrealized
Gain/(Loss) on
Investments(a)
Total from
Investment
Operations
  Net
Investment
Income
Net
Realized
Gain on
Investments
EMERGING MARKETS DEBT FUND
Year Ended 10/31/2019 $ 9.04 $0.44 $ 0.79 $ 1.23   $(0.44) $
Year Ended 10/31/2018 9.86 0.40 (0.82) (0.42)   (0.40)
Year Ended 10/31/2017(c) 10.00 0.05 (0.14) (0.09)   (0.05)
INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Year Ended 10/31/2019 9.28 0.33 0.37 0.70   (0.30)
Year Ended 10/31/2018(d) 10.00 0.31 (1.02) (0.71)   (0.01)
LOW VOLATILITY EQUITY FUND
Year Ended 10/31/2019 10.54 0.24 1.72 1.96   (0.17) (0.23)
Year Ended 10/31/2018(e) 10.00 0.13 0.41 0.54  
(a)
The amount shown may not correlate with the change in aggregate gains and losses of portfolio securities due to the timing of sales and redemptions of portfolio shares.
(c)
Since inception, September 5, 2017.
(a)
The amount shown may not correlate with the change in aggregate gains and losses of portfolio securities due to the timing of sales and redemptions of portfolio shares.
(d)
Since inception, November 14, 2017.
(a)
The amount shown may not correlate with the change in aggregate gains and losses of portfolio securities due to the timing of sales and redemptions of portfolio shares.
(e)
Since inception, February 28, 2018.
(a)
The amount shown may not correlate with the change in aggregate gains and losses of portfolio securities due to the timing of sales and redemptions of portfolio shares.
*
All per share amounts have been rounded to the nearest cent.
28

 

Thrivent Core Funds
Financial Highlights  –  continued
    RATIOS / SUPPLEMENTAL DATA
          Ratio to Average
Net Assets**
Ratios to Average Net Assets
Before Expenses Waived,
Credited or Paid Indirectly**
 
Total
Distributions
  Net Asset
Value,
End of
Period
Total
Return(b)
Net Assets,
End of Period
(in millions)
Expenses Net
Investment
Income/(Loss)
Expenses Net
Investment
Income/(Loss)
Portfolio
Turnover
Rate
                   
$(0.44)   $ 9.83 13.84% $ 849.7 0.04% 4.63% 0.04% 4.63% 32%
(0.40)   9.04 (4.35)% 684.2 0.06% 4.38% 0.06% 4.38% 13%
(0.05)   9.86 (0.94)% 421.8 0.21% 3.48% 0.21% 3.48% 0%
                   
(0.30)   9.68 7.99% 830.8 0.06% 3.54% 0.06% 3.54% 89%
(0.01)   9.28 (7.08)% 798.2 0.08% 3.42% 0.08% 3.42% 73%
                   
(0.40)   12.10 19.42% 1,028.5 0.04% 2.19% 0.04% 2.19% 62%
  10.54 5.40% 873.7 0.06% 1.88% 0.06% 1.88% 40%
(b)
Total investment return assumes dividend reinvestment and does not reflect any deduction for applicable sales charges. Not annualized for periods less than one year.
**
Computed on an annualized basis for periods less than one year
29

 


The Statement of Additional Information, which is incorporated by reference into this prospectus, contains additional information about the Funds. Additional information about the Funds’ investments is available in the Funds’ annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the Funds’ annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the performance of each 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 get information about the Funds on the EDGAR database on the SEC’s internet site at SEC.gov. Copies of the information may also be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by sending an email to publicinfo@sec.gov. The Funds’ address is 625 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55415.
1940 Act File No. 811-23149
 
30


Table of Contents
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund
Thrivent Core Low Volatility 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 Funds listed above.
Statement of Additional Information
Dated February 28, 2020
Each of the above-referenced mutual funds (each a “Fund” and collectively the “Funds”) 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 portfolios of the Funds. Additional series may be subsequently offered by the Trust. Shares of the Funds are offered through the Funds’ prospectus (the “Prospectus”). Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund is non-diversified, and Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund, Thrivent Core International Equity Fund and Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity Fund are diversified, as such terms are defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). A mutual fund is diversified if at least 75% of the value of its total assets is represented by U.S. Government securities (as defined in the 1940 Act), cash and cash items, securities of other investment companies and other securities, excluding investments of more than 5% of the fund’s total assets in any one issuer and investments representing more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer.
This Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”) supplements the information contained in the Prospectus dated February 28, 2020. The SAI is not a prospectus and should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus, which may be obtained by calling or writing the Trust at the number or address shown above.
The Report of the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm and financial statements included in the Annual Report for each of the Funds (other than Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund) for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2019 are separate reports furnished with this SAI and are incorporated herein by reference. Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund commenced operations after the Funds’ most recently completed fiscal year end. As such, an Annual Report to shareholders for Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund does not exist as of the date of this SAI and therefore has not been incorporated by reference into this SAI. The Trust’s Annual Report is 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 any Fund and its shareholders. In addition, shareholders are not intended third-party beneficiaries of any contracts entered into by (or on behalf of) the Funds, including contracts with the investment manager or other parties who provide services to the Funds.
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 Trust’s Board of Trustees (“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 five series, four of which are described in this SAI.
The following table provides the inception dates of the Funds described in this SAI.
Fund Name   Inception Date
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund

  9/5/2017
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund

  1/31/2020
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund

  11/14/2017
Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity Fund

  2/28/2018
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 this SAI, the Trust is comprised of five 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 their respective 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, various Funds may purchase the securities or engage in the transactions described below. Each of these investment practices are non-principal investment strategies except as otherwise noted.
Other Securities
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund also may invest in common stocks, warrants to purchase stocks, bonds or preferred stocks convertible into common stock, and other equity securities.
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund, Thrivent Core International Equity Fund and Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity 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 trusts, including foreign investment trusts.
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund, Thrivent Core International Equity Fund and Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity 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
Each 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
4

 

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.
Repurchase Agreements
Each 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. A 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. A Fund may only enter into repurchase agreements with banks and other recognized financial institutions such as broker/dealers that are found by the Funds’ investment adviser, Thrivent Asset Management, LLC (“Thrivent Asset Mgt.” or the “Adviser”), to be creditworthy.
Restricted Securities
The Funds 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, subject to the discussion of Illiquid Investments below. 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 a Fund’s illiquidity to the extent that qualified institutional buyers become, for a time, uninterested in purchasing such securities. Also, a 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.
Illiquid Investments
In October 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted Rule 22e-4 under the 1940 Act relating to the management of liquidity risk by certain investment companies registered under the 1940 Act, such as each of the Funds. Pursuant to Rule 22e-4, each of the Funds may not acquire any “illiquid investment” if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund would have invested more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments that are assets. An illiquid investment is an investment that a Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Rule 22e-4 may impact the Funds’ performance and ability to achieve their respective investment objectives.
The Funds have implemented a written liquidity risk management program and related procedures (“Liquidity Program”) that are reasonably designed to assess and manage the Funds’ “liquidity risk” (defined by the SEC as the risk that a Fund could not meet requests to redeem shares issued by the Fund without significant dilution of remaining investors’ interests in the Fund) pursuant to Rule 22e-4, as it relates to the Funds. The liquidity of a Fund’s portfolio investments is determined based on relevant market, trading and investment-specific considerations under the Liquidity Program. The adoption of the Liquidity Program is not a guarantee that a Fund will have sufficient liquidity to satisfy its redemption requests in all market conditions or that redemptions can be effected without diluting remaining investors in the Fund.
5

 

Reverse Repurchase Agreements
Each 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 a 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 a 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 Funds 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 a 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
Each 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 a 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 a 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 settlement date, the value of such instruments may be less than the cost thereof. When effecting when-issued and delayed delivery transactions, a 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 Funds 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 Funds are 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 Funds to “roll over” their purchase commitments. While the dollar roll transactions may result in higher transaction costs or higher taxes for the Funds, 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
As described in the Prospectus, the principal strategies of certain Funds include investing in mortgage-backed securities (a type of asset-backed security that is backed by pools of underlying mortgages), including collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”) and Multi-Class Pass-Through Securities (“MCPTS”), and the other Funds may invest in such instruments as a non-principal strategy. CMOs and MCPTS are debt instruments issued, and guaranteed as applicable, by either a U.S. government agency (the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or Ginnie Mae)), a U.S. government sponsored entity (the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or Fannie Mae) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC or Freddie Mac)), or a private financial institution. GNMA is a wholly owned U.S. corporation that is authorized to guarantee, with the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, the timely payment of principal and interest of its securities. Securities guaranteed by FNMA and FHLMC are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Private MBS are not guaranteed. The
6

 

securities are issued in 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.”
FNMA and FHLMC are currently under a conservatorship established by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). If FNMA and FHLMC are taken out of conservatorship, it is unclear whether the U.S. government would continue to enforce its rights or perform its obligations and how the capital structure of FNMA and FHLMC would be constructed post-conservatorship and what effects, if any, this might have on their creditworthiness. Accordingly, should the FHFA take the enterprises out of conservatorship, there could be an adverse impact on the value of their securities which could cause a Fund to lose value.
On June 3, 2019, under the FHFA’s “Single Security Initiative”, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac started issuing uniform mortgage-backed securities (“UMBS”). The Single Security Initiative seeks to align the characteristics of certain Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-based securities and to support the overall liquidity in certain markets. In addition, Freddie Mac has offered investors the opportunity to exchange outstanding legacy mortgage-backed securities for mirror UMBS. The effects that the Single Security Initiative may have on the market and other mortgage-backed securities are uncertain.
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 resulting in a loss of all or part of the premium, if any has been paid. 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 Funds 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 Funds 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. On the other hand, if interest rates rise, the value of an IO might increase and partially offset other bond value declines in a Fund’s portfolio. If interest rates fall, the value of a PO might increase offsetting lower reinvestment rates in a 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
7

 

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 Funds 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 a 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 SAI. CDOs may charge management fees and administrative expenses, which are in addition to those of a 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 a 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 a 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) a Fund may invest in tranches of CDOs that are subordinate to other tranches; (iv) the structure and complexity of the transaction and the legal documents could lead to disputes among investors regarding the characterization of proceeds; (v) the investment return achieved by a 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.
8

 

Senior Loans
The Funds 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 re-determined 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 a 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 a Fund. Moreover, certain senior loans will be subject to contractual restrictions on resale and, therefore, will be illiquid.
Structured Securities
The Funds 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.
Variable Rate Demand Notes
The Funds 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, a Fund may demand payment of the principal for such Fund at
9

 

any time. If an issuer of a variable rate master demand note defaulted on its payment obligation, a Fund might not be able to dispose of the note due to the absence of a secondary market. A Fund might suffer a loss to the extent of the default.
Lending Securities
Consistent with applicable regulatory requirements, each of the Funds may from time to time lend the securities it holds to broker-dealers and other financial institutions, 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 a 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 Funds 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
A 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.
Put and Call Options
As described below, each of the Funds may invest in options on another security, an index, a currency, or a futures contract. If the option is described as “covered,” the applicable 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 a Fund sells put options, the earmarked assets must be equal
10

 

to the purchase obligation of the Fund, less any amount maintained as margin. When a 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 Funds may from time to time sell (“write”) covered call options on any portion of their portfolios as a hedge to provide partial protection against adverse movements in prices of securities in those Funds 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, a 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, a Fund will generally not be called upon to deliver the security. A 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, a 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 Funds may also from time to time purchase call options on securities in which those Funds may invest. As the holder of a call option, a 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). A 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, a 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. A 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 Funds 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 a 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 Funds 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. A 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, a Fund would realize a gain if, during the option period, the price of the security declined by an amount in excess of the premium paid. A 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 Funds 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.
11

 

Index Options: The Funds 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 Funds will generally purchase and sell options traded on a national securities or options exchange. Where options are not readily available on such exchanges, a Fund may purchase and sell options in negotiated transactions. A 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 a Fund in negotiated transactions are illiquid and there is no assurance that a 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 Funds may dispose of options that they have written by entering into “closing purchase transactions.” Those Funds 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.
A 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.
A 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. A Fund realizes a loss if the premium received is less than the premium paid.
Financial Futures and Options on Futures
Selling Futures Contracts: The Funds may sell financial futures contracts as a hedge against adverse movements in the prices of securities in these Funds. 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, 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 a Fund sells a futures contract, or a call option on a futures contract, it is required to make payments to the commodities broker that are called “margin” by commodities exchanges and brokers.
12

 

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 a Fund and its broker, but rather is a good faith deposit by a Fund to secure its obligations under a futures contract or an option. Each day during the term of certain futures transactions, a 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 Funds may purchase financial futures contracts as a hedge against adverse movements in the prices of securities they intend to purchase. A Fund may buy and sell 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 a 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, a 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 securities that a Fund intends to purchase. A 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 a Fund intends to purchase.
Options on Futures Contracts: The Funds 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 a Fund intends to purchase.
Currency Futures Contracts and Options: The Funds 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 Funds 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, a Fund will maintain liquid securities, cash, or cash equivalents in an amount equal to the market value of such contracts.
Swap Transactions
The Funds 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 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 a 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 provide the Funds with the additional flexibility of gaining exposure to a market or securities index by using the most cost-effective
13

 

vehicle available. An interest rate swap involves the exchange by a 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 Funds 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. A 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. A 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 a 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 Funds submit the derivative to, and post margin with a futures commission merchant (“FCM”) that is a clearinghouse member. If a 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 Funds 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.
Exclusion from Regulation as a Commodity Pool Operator
Pursuant to a notice of eligibility claiming exclusion from the definition of commodity pool operator filed with the CFTC and the National Futures Association, neither the Trust, the Adviser, nor any of the individual Funds is deemed to be a “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA”), which, through the CFTC, regulates investments in futures, options on futures and swaps. Accordingly, neither the Trust, the Adviser nor the Funds are subject to registration or regulation as such under the CEA. Under CFTC Rule 4.5 as currently in effect, each 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:
14

 

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 Funds 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 a Fund and the seller of the hybrid instrument, the creditworthiness of the counterparty to the transaction would be a risk factor which a 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, a 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 a 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.
A Fund will generally purchase and sell options traded on a national securities or options exchange. Where options are not readily available on such exchanges, a Fund may purchase and sell options in negotiated transactions. When a 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, a Fund would be required to continue to make daily cash payments of maintenance margin if it could not 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
15

 

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 a Fund to continue to hold a position until delivery or expiration regardless of changes in its value. As a result, a 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, a 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, a 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, a 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 a Fund to a level of risk that exceeds the amount invested. Changes in the value of such an investment magnify a 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. Funds that invest in derivatives have various degrees of leverage risk.
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. A 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.
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, 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. A 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 a Fund may, at times,
16

 

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 a 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.
At a referendum in June 2016, the citizens of the United Kingdom (the “UK”) voted to leave the European Union (“EU”). In March 2017, the UK formally notified the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the EU by invoking article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, beginning a multi-year period of negotiations regarding the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU, commonly known as “Brexit.” The UK and the EU are expected to move forward with a withdrawal agreement providing a period of transition and further negotiation, but there is no guarantee that a negotiated Brexit will be implemented, and it is possible that the UK may leave the EU without a transitional period, a so-called “hard Brexit.” There is uncertainty about the potential impact of these developments on UK, European and global economies and markets. There is also the possibility of withdrawal movements within other EU countries and the possibility of additional political, economic and market uncertainty and instability. Brexit and any similar developments may have negative effects on economies and markets, such as increased volatility and illiquidity and potentially lower economic growth in the UK, EU and globally, which may adversely affect the value of Fund investments.
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.
17

 

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.
Short Sales Against the Box
The Funds 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 a 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 a 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 Funds 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 Funds 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.
18

 

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.
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.
A Fund may enter into forward contracts for a variety of purposes in connection with the management of the foreign securities portion of its portfolio. A Fund’s use of such contracts would include, but not be limited to, the following:
When a 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 a 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, a 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, a 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 a 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.
A Fund may enter into forward contracts for any other purpose consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and program. However, a 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, a 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.
19

 

If a 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 a 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 a Fund’s entering into a forward contract for the sale of a foreign currency and the date it enters into 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.
A Fund’s dealing in forward foreign currency exchange contracts will generally be limited to the transactions described above. However, the Funds reserve the right to enter into forward foreign currency contracts for different purposes and under different circumstances. Of course, the Funds are 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 a 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
20

 

(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 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 Funds 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 Funds 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.
Initial Public Offerings (“IPOs”)
The Funds may invest a portion of their assets in securities of companies offering shares in IPOs. IPOs may have a magnified performance impact on a Fund with a small asset base. The impact of IPOs on a Fund’s performance likely will decrease as the Fund’s asset size increases, which could reduce the Fund’s total returns. IPOs may not be consistently available to a Fund for investing, particularly as the Fund’s asset base grows. Because IPO shares frequently are volatile in price, a Fund may hold IPO
21

 

shares for a very short period of time. This may increase the turnover of a Fund and may lead to increased expenses for the Fund, such as commissions and transaction costs. By selling shares, a Fund may realize taxable gains it will subsequently distribute to shareholders. In addition, the market for IPO shares can be speculative and/or inactive for extended periods of time. The limited number of shares available for trading in some IPOs may make it more difficult for a Fund to buy or sell significant amounts of shares without an unfavorable impact on prevailing prices. Holders of IPO shares (including the Funds) can be affected by substantial dilution in the value of their shares, by sales of additional shares and by concentration of control in existing management and principal shareholders.
A Fund’s investment in IPO shares may include the securities of unseasoned companies (companies with less than three years of continuous operations), which present risks considerably greater than common stocks of more established companies. These companies may have limited operating histories and their prospects for profitability may be uncertain. These companies may be involved in new and evolving businesses and may be vulnerable to competition and changes in technology, markets and economic conditions. These companies may also be more dependent on key managers and third parties and may have limited product lines.
Other Investment Companies
Each Fund may invest in securities, under applicable law and subject to any applicable exemptive orders, 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 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 Funds will not invest in other investment companies for the purpose of gaining control of the investment company. The extent to which a Fund can invest in other investment companies is limited by federal securities laws.
In December 2018, the SEC issued a proposed rulemaking package related to investments in other investment companies that, if adopted, could require the Funds to adjust their investments accordingly. These adjustments may have an impact on the Funds’ performance and may have negative risk consequences on the investing Funds as well as the underlying investment companies.
Exchange Traded Funds (“ETFs”)
The Funds may purchase the securities of ETFs, which 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. Each 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 and other expenses that are incurred by a Fund through its ownership of the ETF. Certain ETFs may utilize financial leverage. ETFs are generally registered under the 1940 Act. Each Fund’s investment in ETFs will be limited by the restrictions imposed by the 1940 Act, but subject to any applicable exemptive orders.
Exchange-Traded Notes
The Funds 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
22

 

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 a Fund’s right to redeem its investment in an ETN, which are generally meant to be held until maturity. A 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.
Passive Foreign Investment Companies
Each 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 a Fund holds its investments.
In addition, the Funds 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 Funds intend 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 Funds 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 Funds 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.
23

 

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 a 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.
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 seasonally 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 Funds may invest in funding agreements, which are short-term, privately placed debt instruments 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 Funds 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
24

 

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, each 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 Funds, policies and procedures relating to disclosure of the Funds’ portfolio securities. The policies and procedures are designed to allow disclosure of portfolio holdings information where necessary to the operation of the Funds or useful to the Funds’ shareholders without compromising the integrity or performance of the Funds. Except when there are legitimate business purposes for selective disclosure and other conditions (designed to protect the Funds and their shareholders) are met, the Funds do not provide or permit others to provide information about a Fund’s portfolio holdings on a selective basis. Under no circumstances may the Funds, Thrivent Asset Mgt. or their affiliates receive any consideration or compensation for disclosing portfolio holdings information.
The Funds include portfolio holdings information as required in regulatory filings and shareholder reports. Each Fund’s portfolio holdings are disclosed on a regular basis in its semiannual and annual reports to shareholders. In addition, the Funds also publicly disclose their complete portfolio holdings as of their first and third fiscal quarter-ends on Form N-PORT. In addition, the Funds may disclose portfolio holdings information in response to requests by governmental authorities.
Thrivent Asset Mgt. may distribute or authorize the distribution of information that is not publicly available about a Fund’s portfolio holdings as follows: (i) to its employees and affiliates that provide services to the Fund, (ii) to the Fund’s service providers who require access to the information in order to fulfill their contractual duties relating to the Funds (such service providers may include the Funds’ custodian, auditor, proxy voting service provider, pricing service vendors, liquidity vendors, securities lending agent, and printer), and (iii) to broker/dealers and certain other entities in order to assist the Fund with potential transactions and management of the Fund.
Before any non-public disclosure of information about a Fund’s portfolio holdings is permitted, however, the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer or Chief Legal Officer must determine that the Fund has a legitimate business purpose for providing the portfolio holdings information, that the release of this information, including the frequency and time lag, will not disadvantage the Fund, that the disclosure is in the best interests of the Fund’s shareholders, and that the recipient agrees or has a duty (i) to keep the information confidential and (ii) not to trade directly or indirectly based on the information. Accordingly, all of the persons with whom an arrangement is made for non-public disclosure will have satisfied the aforementioned requirements.
In accordance with these policies and procedures, the Funds have ongoing arrangements with the following service providers to provide the Funds’ portfolio holdings information:
Service Provider   Service   Frequency
Bloomberg

  Trading System & Data Vendor   Daily
Bloomberg BVAL

  Pricing Service   Daily
Confluence

  Regulatory Reporting Vendor   Quarterly
Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc.

  Regulatory Printer   Quarterly
Ernst and Young

  PFIC analysis   Quarterly
25

 

Service Provider   Service   Frequency
FactSet Research Systems Inc.

  Systems Vendor   Daily
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.

  Mutual Fund Accounting System Vendor   Daily
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.

  Personal Trading System Vendor   Daily
Goldman Sachs Bank USA

  Securities Lending Agent   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
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

  Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm   Annually
PricingDirect Inc.

  Pricing Service   Daily
State Street Bank and Trust Company

  Custodian   Daily
State Street Bank and Trust Company

  Systems Vendor   Weekly
Wolters Kluwer

  Systems Vendor   Monthly; three day lag
As part of the annual review of the compliance policies and procedures of the Funds, 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 Funds are set forth below. These fundamental investment restrictions may not be changed without the approval of a majority of the shareholders of the Funds. Under these restrictions, each Fund may not:
1. Borrow money, except that a 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. This restriction does not apply to the Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund, which is “non-diversified” within the meaning of the 1940 Act.
4. Buy or sell real estate, except that any 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 any 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).
26

 

6. Make loans, except that any 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 a 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 U.S. 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. None of the Funds may not purchase any security while borrowings, including reverse repurchase agreements, representing more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets are outstanding. The Funds intend 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 a Fund’s total assets.
3. None of the Funds currently intend to purchase securities on margin, except that a 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 Funds.
The Trust has received an exemptive order (the “Order”) from the SEC that allows the Funds, along with other portfolios managed by the Adviser (each a “Participating Fund”), to engage in an interfund lending program (the “Program”). The Program enables a Participating Fund to lend cash directly to and borrow money from other Participating Funds for temporary purposes. The Program is subject to a number of conditions set forth in the application for the exemptive order, as amended (the “Application”), and the Order, including, among other things, (i) the requirement that the interfund loan rate is more favorable to the lending Participating Fund than the highest current overnight repurchase agreement rate available to the lending Participating Fund (the “Repo Rate”), and more favorable to the borrowing Participating Fund than the rate available that day for cash overdraft from the borrowing Participating Fund’s custodian (the “Bank Loan Rate”); (ii) that no Participating Fund may borrow through the Program on an unsecured basis unless the Participating Fund’s outstanding borrowings from all sources immediately after the interfund borrowing total less than 10% of its total assets; provided that if the Participating Fund has as secured loan outstanding from any other lender, including but not limited to another Participating Fund, the Participating Fund’s interfund borrowing will be secured on at least an equal priority basis with at least an equivalent percentage of collateral to loan value as any outstanding loan that requires collateral; (iii) if a Participating Fund’s total outstanding borrowings immediately after an interfund borrowing would be greater than 10% of its total assets, the Participating Fund may borrow through the Program only on a secured basis; (iv) no Participating Fund may lend money if the loan would cause its aggregate outstanding loans through the Program to exceed 15% of its net assets at the time of the loan; (v) a lending Participating Fund may not loan in excess of 5% of its net assets to any one Participating Fund; and (vi) each interfund loan may be called on one business day’s notice by a lending Participating Fund. The Bank Loan Rate will be determined using a formula established by the Board. The interfund loan rate will be the average of the Repo Rate and the Bank Loan Rate. All interfund loans and borrowings must comply with the conditions set forth in the Application and the Order, which are designed to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all Participating Funds.
27

 

Each Fund may participate in the Program only to the extent that its participation is consistent with the Fund’s investment objectives, limitations, and organizational documents. Upon implementation of the Program, Thrivent Asset Mgt. administers the Program according to procedures approved by the Board.
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 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.
Each 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.
28

 

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 Funds’ day-to-day business affairs and for exercising all powers except those reserved to the shareholders; the Board also has these responsibilities with respect to the other series of the Trust. Each Trustee also serves as:
Trustee of Thrivent Mutual Funds, a registered investment company consisting of 25 series, which offers Class A and Class S shares;
Director of Thrivent Series Fund, Inc., a registered investment company consisting of 29 funds that serve as underlying funds for variable contracts issued by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (“Thrivent Financial”) and separate accounts of insurance companies not affiliated with Thrivent Financial; 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.
David Royal also serves as Trustee of Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund, a closed-end registered investment company for which the Adviser serves as investment adviser. None of the other Trustees serves on the board of the Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund.
The Trust, Thrivent Mutual Funds, Thrivent Series Fund, Inc., Thrivent Cash Management Trust, and Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund are collectively referred to as the “Fund Complex.”
Leadership Structure and Oversight Responsibilities
Overall responsibility for oversight of the Trust and its Funds rests with the Board. The Board has engaged Thrivent Asset Mgt. to manage the Funds 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 nine members, including seven 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 Funds 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 Funds’ investment management and business affairs.
29

 

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 Funds 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 a 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 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 its Funds, and Thrivent Asset Mgt.’s risk management 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 and compliance risks and oversees the legal and regulatory compliance matters of the Funds. The Ethics and Compliance Committee meets with and receives reports from the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer, the Trust’s Anti-Money Laundering Officer and Thrivent Asset Mgt. personnel on matters relating to the compliance program, the anti-money laundering program, privacy, identity theft prevention, cybersecurity, business continuity planning and other areas. 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 strategies and risks in conjunction with its review of the Funds’ 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 of the Board, which is composed of all of the Independent Trustees, assists 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.
The Governance and Nominating Committee of the Board, which is composed of all of the Independent Trustees, assists the Board in fulfilling its duties with respect to the governance of the Trust, including the review and evaluation of the composition and operation of the Board and its committees, the annual self-assessment of the Board and its committees and periodic review and recommendations regarding compensation of the Independent Trustees. The Governance and Nominating Committee makes recommendations regarding nominations for Trustees and will consider nominees suggested by shareholders sent to the attention of the President of the Trust.
The Board oversees the Funds’ liquidity risk through, among other things, receiving periodic reporting and presentations by investment and other personnel of the Adviser. Additionally, as required by Rule 22e-4 under the 1940 Act, the Trust implemented the Liquidity Program pursuant to the provisions of Rule 22e-4, as they relate to the Funds. The Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, approved the designation of a liquidity risk management program administrator (the “Liquidity Program Administrator”) who is responsible for administering the Liquidity Program. The Board reviews, no less frequently than annually, a written report prepared by the Liquidity Program Administrator that addresses the operation of the Liquidity Program and assesses its adequacy and effectiveness of implementation.
30

 

The Board has appointed a Chief Compliance Officer who oversees the implementation and testing of the Funds’ compliance program and reports to the Board and the Ethics and Compliance Committee regarding compliance matters for the Funds and their 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 other 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. 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, not including Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund, since 2011 and as Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee since 2012. She has over 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, not including Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund, 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 and is the founder of Chersi Services LLC, a financial consulting firm. He is currently the Lead Independent Director and Audit Committee Chair at Brightsphere Investment Group plc and a Director of E*TRADE Bank and E*TRADE Financial Corporation. Mr. Chersi is also the Executive Director of the Center for Global Governance, Reporting and Regulation of the Lubin School of Business at Pace University and the Helpful Executive in Reach in the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at Rutgers University.
Marc S. Joseph. Mr. Joseph has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex, not including Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund, 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.
31

 

Paul R. Laubscher. Mr. Laubscher has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex, not including Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund, since 2009, as Chair of the Board since 2019 and as Chair of the Investment Committee from 2010 through 2018. 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, not including Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund, 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 the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Credit Union National Association, a national trade association for America’s 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.
David S. Royal. Mr. Royal has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex, not including Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund, since 2015. He has over 20 years of experience advising and working for mutual fund complexes. He is currently the President and Chief Investment Officer of the Fund Complex, not including Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund, and he has served as Senior Vice President, 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, not including Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund. He has served as President of Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund since 2018. 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 and also serves on the board of directors of a non-profit organization.
Verne O. Sedlacek. Mr. Sedlacek has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex, not including Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund, since 2017 and as Chair of the Investment Committee since 2019. 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, not including Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund, since 2007 and as Chair of the Contracts Committee since 2010. She also served as the Audit Committee financial expert from 2010 through 2016. 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 broker-dealer.
Russell W. Swansen. Mr. Swansen has served as a Trustee on the Board of the Fund Complex, not including Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund, since 2009. He has over 35 years of investment management experience 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 served as a director on the boards 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.
The following tables provide additional information about the Trustees and officers of the Trust.
32

 

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
David S. Royal
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1971)
  Chief Investment Officer since 2017; Trustee and President since 2016   61   Senior Vice President, Chief Investment Officer, Thrivent Financial since 2017; VP, President Mutual Funds, Thrivent Financial from 2015 to 2017; Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Thrivent Financial from 2006 to 2015   Currently, Director of Children’s Cancer Research Fund and Board member of Twin Bridge Capital Partners; Director of Fairview Hospital Foundation until 2017
Russell W. Swansen
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1957)
  Trustee
since 2016
  60   Retired; Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Thrivent Financial from 2003 to 2017   Board member of Twin Bridge Capital Partners, a registered investment advisory firm, since 2005
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 2016   60   Retired   Independent Trustee of North American Electric Reliability Corporation (the electric reliability organization (“ERO”) for North America) since 2008
Robert J. Chersi
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1961)
  Trustee since 2017   60   Founder of Chersi Services LLC (consulting firm) since 2014; Executive Director of Center for Global Governance, Reporting & Regulation and Adjunct Professor of Finance and Economics at Pace University since 2013; Helpful Executive in Reach in the Department of Accounting & Information Systems at Rutgers University since 2013   Director and member of the Audit and Risk Oversight Committees of E*TRADE Financial Corporation and Director of E*TRADE Bank since 2019; Lead Independent Director since 2019 and Director and Audit Committee Chair at Brightsphere Investment Group plc since 2016
33

 

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
Marc S. Joseph
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1960)
  Trustee since 2016   60   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 2016   60   Portfolio Manager for U.S. private real estate and private equity portfolios of IBM Retirement Funds   None
James A. Nussle
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1960)
  Trustee since 2016   60   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; Director of Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRAA) since 2010; CEO of The Nussle Group LLC (consulting firm) since 2009   Advisory Board member of AVISTA Capital Partners (private equity firm) from 2010 to 2015
Verne O. Sedlacek
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1954)
  Trustee since 2017   60   Chief Executive Officer of E&F Advisors LLC (consulting) since 2015; President & Chief Executive Officer of the Commonfund from 2003 to 2015   Trustee of Valparaiso University since 2015; Trustee of Museum of American Finance since 2015; Chairman of the Board of Directors of AGB Institutional Strategies from 2016 to 2019; Director of Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges from 2007 to 2019
Constance L. Souders
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1950)
  Trustee since 2016   60   Retired   None
34

 

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 2016   Senior Vice President, Chief Investment Officer, Thrivent Financial since 2017; VP, President, Mutual Funds, Thrivent Financial from 2015 to 2017; Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Thrivent Financial from 2006 to 2015
Gerard V. Vaillancourt
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1967)
  Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer since 2016   Vice President and Mutual Funds Chief Financial Officer, Thrivent Financial since 2017; Vice President, Mutual Fund Accounting, Thrivent Financial from 2006 to 2017
Michael W. Kremenak
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1978)
  Secretary and Chief Legal Officer since 2016   Vice President, Thrivent Financial since 2015; Senior Counsel, Thrivent Financial from 2013 to 2015
Edward S. Dryden
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1965)
  Chief Compliance Officer since 2016   Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer – Thrivent Funds, Thrivent Financial since 2018; Director, Chief Compliance Officer – Thrivent Funds, Thrivent Financial from 2010 to 2018
Kathleen M. Koelling
4321 North Ballard Road
Appleton, WI
(1977)
  Privacy Officer since 2016   Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Thrivent Financial since 2018; Vice President, Managing Counsel, Thrivent Financial from 2016 to 2018; Privacy Officer, Thrivent Financial since 2011; Anti-Money Laundering Officer, Thrivent Financial from 2011 to 2019; Senior Counsel, Thrivent Financial from 2002 to 2016
Sharon K. Minta
4321 North Ballard Road
Appleton, WI
(1973)
  Anti-Money Laundering Officer since 2019   Director, Compliance, Anti-Money Laundering Officer and Manager of Identity Theft and Customer Fraud/Special Investigations Unit, Thrivent Financial since 2019; Compliance Manager, Anti-Money Laundering, Customer Fraud/Special Investigations Unit and Identity Theft programs, Thrivent Financial from 2014 to 2019
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
Monica L. Kleve
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1969)
  Vice President since 2019   Vice President, Investment Operations, Thrivent Financial since 2019; Director, Investments Systems and Solutions, Thrivent Financial from 2002 to 2019
Kathryn A. Stelter
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1962)
  Vice President since 2016   Vice President, Mutual Funds Chief Operations Officer, Thrivent Financial since 2017; Director, Mutual Fund Operations, Thrivent Financial from 2014 to 2017; Director, Mutual Fund Operations at Hartford Funds from 2006 to 2014
35

 

Name, Address and
Year of Birth
  Position
with Trust
and Length
of Service (2)
  Principal Occupation
During the Past 5 Years
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
John D. Jackson
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1977)
  Assistant Secretary since 2018   Senior Counsel, Thrivent Financial since 2017; Associate General Counsel, RBC Global Asset Management (US) Inc. from 2011 to 2017
Sarah L. Bergstrom
625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
(1977)
  Assistant Treasurer
since 2016
  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.
(3) The Trustees, other than Mr. Royal or Mr. Swansen, 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
Marc S. Joseph
Paul R. Laubscher
James A. Nussle
Verne O. Sedlacek
Constance L. Souders
  The 1940 Act requires that the Trust’s 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
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
36

 

Committee   Members (1)   Function   Meetings Held
During Last
Fiscal Year
Ethics and Compliance   Janice B. Case
Robert J. Chersi
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
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 and Nominating 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
Investment   Janice B. Case
Robert J. Chersi
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.   5

  
(1) All of 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, 2019, 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 Funds   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
37

 

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     Over $100,000   None
Marc S. Joseph   None     $10,001-$50,000   Over $100,000
Paul R. Laubscher   None     $Over $100,000   Over $100,000
James A. Nussle   None     Over $100,000   None
Verne O. Sedlacek   None     Over $100,000   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 $195,000 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 $80,000 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 Investment 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, 2019:
Name, Position (1)   Aggregate
Compensation from
Trust for One Year
Ending October 31, 2019
  Total Compensation
Paid by Trust and
Fund Complex
for One Year
Ending October 31, 2019
Janice B. Case

  $3,915   $225,500
Trustee        
Robert J. Chersi

  $4,262   $245,500
Trustee        
Marc S. Joseph

  $3,915   $225,500
Trustee        
Paul R. Laubscher

  $4,783   $275,500
Trustee        
James A. Nussle

  $3,568   $205,500
Trustee        
Verne O. Sedlacek

  $3,915   $225,500
Trustee        
Constance L. Souders

  $3,915   $225,500
Trustee        

  
38

 

(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 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 compensation paid during the fiscal year ended October 31, 2019, the total amount of deferred compensation payable to the Trustees was $0.
39

 

SIGNIFICANT SHAREHOLDERS
Control Persons and Principal Holders
The shareholders of the Funds are affiliates of the Funds, which are managed by Thrivent Asset Mgt. The shareholders include other mutual funds advised by Thrivent Asset Mgt. or affiliates of Thrivent Financial. The table below identifies the Thrivent sponsored mutual funds that own of record or are known by the Trust to own beneficially 5% or more of any class of a Fund’s outstanding shares (Principal Holders) or 25% or more of a Fund’s outstanding shares (Control Persons). A shareholder who beneficially owns more than 25% of a Fund’s shares is presumed to “control” the Fund, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act, and may have a significant impact on matters submitted to a shareholder vote. A shareholder who beneficially owns more than 50% of a Fund’s outstanding shares may be able to approve proposals, or prevent approval of proposals, without regard to votes by other Fund shareholders. The information provided in the table for each Fund is as of January 31, 2020.
Fund   Shareholder   Percent
Owned
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund   Thrivent Moderate Allocation Portfolio   23.89%
    Thrivent Moderately Conservative Allocation Portfolio   17.51%
    Thrivent Opportunity Income Plus Fund   12.34%
    Thrivent Moderately Aggressive Allocation Portfolio   8.57%
    Thrivent Moderate Allocation Fund   6.43%
    Thrivent Diversified Income Plus Fund   6.08%
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund   Thrivent Moderately Aggressive Allocation Portfolio   25.37%
    Thrivent Financial for Lutherans General Account
625 4th Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55415-1672
  19.09%
    Thrivent Moderate Allocation Portfolio   12.08%
    Thrivent Moderately Aggressive Allocation Fund   10.39%
    Thrivent Financial Defined Benefit Plan Trust
THPF
625 4th Ave S
Minneapolis MN 55415-1672
  8.80%
    Thrivent Aggressive Allocation Portfolio   7.61%
    Thrivent Aggressive Allocation Fund   6.76%
    Thrivent Moderately Conservative Allocation Portfolio   6.16%
Thrivent Low Volatility Equity Fund   Thrivent Moderate Allocation Portfolio   29.03%
    Thrivent Moderately Aggressive Allocation Portfolio   23.39%
    Thrivent Moderately Conservative Allocation Portfolio   11.11%
    Thrivent Moderately Aggressive Allocation Fund   11.09%
    Thrivent Moderate Allocation Fund   7.70%
    Thrivent Aggressive Allocation Portfolio   6.55%
40

 

Fund   Shareholder   Percent
Owned
    Thrivent Aggressive Allocation Fund   6.22%
Management Ownership
As of January 31, 2020, the officers and Trustees as a group owned less than 1% of the shares of each 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 or the principal underwriter for the Funds 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 Funds 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 or principal underwriter of the Funds; the Funds’ investment adviser or principal underwriter; an officer of the Funds’ 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 Funds (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.
41

 

INVESTMENT ADVISER AND PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Investment Adviser
The Funds’ investment adviser, Thrivent Asset Mgt., was organized as a Delaware limited liability company on September 23, 2005. Thrivent Asset Mgt. is a subsidiary of Thrivent Financial Holdings, Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Thrivent Financial. Thrivent Financial Holdings, Inc. owns 100% of Thrivent Asset Mgt.’s membership interests.
Thrivent Asset Mgt., 625 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415, is the investment adviser for each of the Funds. The officers and directors of Thrivent Asset Mgt. who are affiliated with the Trust are set forth below under “Affiliated Persons.”
Investment decisions for each of the Funds 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 each of the Funds’ 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, 2019. None of the Thrivent Asset Mgt. portfolio managers of the Funds managed pooled investment vehicles other than the registered companies noted below.
    Other Registered
Investment Companies (1)
  Other Accounts
Portfolio Manager   # of Accounts
Managed
  Assets
Managed
  # of Accounts
Managed
  Assets
Managed
James B. Carlen

  0   $ 0   1   $ 20,522,575
Brian W. Bomgren

  7   $5,003,199,587   3   $775,939,650
Noah J. Monsen

  10   $8,340,666,357   3   $775,939,650

(1) The “Other Registered Investment Companies” represent 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-, three-, and five-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
The Adviser and its respective affiliates will be subject to certain conflicts of interest with respect to the services provided to the Funds. These conflicts will arise primarily, but not exclusively, from the involvement of the Adviser and the portfolio managers in other activities that from time to time conflict with the activities of the Funds. Portfolio managers at Thrivent Asset
42

 

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).
Managing and providing research to multiple accounts can give rise to potential conflicts of interest if the accounts have different objectives, benchmarks, time horizons, and fees as the portfolio manager must allocate his time and investment ideas across multiple accounts. 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 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.
Additional information about potential conflicts of interest is set forth in the Form ADV of the Adviser. A copy of Part 1 and Part 2A of the Adviser’s Form ADV is available on the SEC’s website (adviserinfo.sec.gov).
Ownership in the Funds
The following table provides information as of October 31, 2019 on the dollar range of beneficial ownership by each portfolio manager for each Fund the portfolio manager manages.
Portfolio Manager   Fund   Fund Ownership
James B. Carlen

  Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund   None
Noah J. Monsen

  Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund   None
    Thrivent Core International Equity Fund   None
    Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity Fund   None
Brian W. Bomgren

  Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Equity Fund   None
    Thrivent Core International Equity Fund   None
    Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity Fund   None
Affiliated Persons
The following officers of the Trust are affiliated with Thrivent Asset Mgt., the Funds’ investment adviser, in the capacities listed:
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   Elected Manager, Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Michael W. Kremenak

  Secretary and Chief Legal Officer   Assistant Secretary
Edward S. Dryden

  Chief Compliance Officer   Chief Compliance Officer
Kathleen M. Koelling

  Privacy Officer   Privacy Officer
43

 

Affiliated Person   Position with Trust   Position with Thrivent Asset Mgt.
Sharon K. Minta

  Anti-Money Laundering Officer   Anti-Money Laundering Officer
Troy A. Beaver

  Vice President   Vice President
Monica L. Kleve

  Vice President   Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
The Advisory Agreement
Thrivent Asset Mgt. serves as the investment adviser to the Funds 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 does not receive a fee for its investment advisory services because it is currently sold only to other affiliated entities.
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 Funds 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.
Proxy Voting Policies
The Board has delegated to Thrivent Asset Mgt., the Trust’s investment adviser, the responsibility for voting any proxies with respect to each Fund in accordance with the proxy voting policies adopted by Thrivent Asset Mgt. The Adviser’s proxy voting policy is 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 SEC.gov where it is filed on form N-PX.
44

 

UNDERWRITING AND DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
The Funds’ 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.”
The Distribution Agreement was initially approved by the Board of Trustees, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, on May 2, 2016 for a two year period, and will continue in effect 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 Funds 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
Gerard V. Vaillancourt

  Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer   Elected Manager and Vice President
Michael W. Kremenak

  Secretary and Chief Legal Officer   Assistant Secretary
Edward S. Dryden

  Chief Compliance Officer   Chief Compliance Officer
Troy A. Beaver

  Vice President   Chief Executive Officer
Kathryn A. Stelter

  Vice President   Chief Operations Officer
John D. Jackson

  Assistant Secretary   Secretary and Chief Legal Officer
45

 

OTHER SERVICES
Custodian
The custodian for the Funds is State Street Bank and Trust Company (the “Custodian”), One Lincoln Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111. The Custodian is responsible for safeguarding the Funds’ assets held in the United States and for serving as the Funds’ 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-Fund basis.
Administration Contract
Thrivent Asset Mgt. provides both administrative and accounting services to the Funds under an Administrative Services Agreement. Under this Agreement, each Fund pays Thrivent Asset Mgt. an annual fee equal to the sum of $70,000 plus 0.017 percent of the Fund’s average daily net assets. Payments made under the Agreement for the past three fiscal years in which the Funds were operational are shown below.
Fund   10/31/2019   10/31/2018   10/31/2017
Thrivent Emerging Markets Debt Fund

  $203,343   $184,827   $21,524
Thrivent International Equity Fund

  224,277   212,192   N/A
Thrivent Low Volatility Equity Fund

  235,851   153,688   N/A
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 45 South Seventh Street, Suite 3400, Minneapolis, MN 55402, 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 review and signing of the annual income tax returns filed on behalf of the Trust.
Securities Lending
Certain Funds may seek to earn additional income through lending their securities to certain qualified broker-dealers and institutions. Pursuant to a Securities Lending Agency Agreement dated December 18, 2017, the Funds have retained Goldman Sachs Bank USA, doing business as Goldman Sachs Agency Lending (“Goldman Sachs”) as securities lending agent.
As securities lending agent to the Funds, Goldman Sachs performs services including, but not limited to, negotiating loans with borrowers, monitoring approved borrowers, processing the return of loaned securities to the Funds, and providing recordkeeping and reporting to the Funds relating to their securities lending activities.
The following table summarizes the income and fees from securities lending activities for the most recent fiscal year for those Funds that participated in securities lending.
46

 

Gross Income from Securities Lending Activities   Fees Paid to Securities Lending Agent from a Revenue Split   Fees Paid for any Cash Collateral Management Service (Including Fees Deducted from a Pooled Cash Collateral Reinvestment Vehicle) that are not Included in the Revenue Split   Administrative Fees not Iincluded in the Revenue Split   Indemnification Fee not Included in the Revenue Split   Rebates (Paid to Borrower)   Other Fees not Included in the Revenue Split   Aggregate Fees/Compensation for Securities Lending Activities   Net Income from Securities Lending Activities
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund
$134,346   $ 1,628   $-   $-   $-   $118,071   $-   $119,699   $ 14,647
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund
$522,089   $31,780   $-   $-   $-   $204,413   $-   $236,193   $285,896
Thrivent Core Low Volatility Fund
$133,852   $12,821   $-   $-   $-   $ 5,643   $-   $ 18,464   $115,388
47

 

BROKERAGE ALLOCATION AND OTHER PRACTICES
Brokerage Transactions
In connection with the management of the investment and reinvestment of the assets of the Funds, 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 Funds. In executing portfolio transactions and selecting brokers or dealers, if any, Thrivent Asset Mgt. will use reasonable efforts to seek on behalf of the Funds 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:
1. the breadth of the market in and the price of the security,
2. the financial condition and execution capability of the broker or dealer, and
3. 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 applicable, the provisions of the European Union’s second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, known as MiFID II, could have an impact on the allocation of brokerage transactions and the receipt and compensation for research services by Thrivent Asset Mgt.
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.
The research obtained by Thrivent Asset Mgt. from a broker or dealer may be used to benefit all accounts managed or advised by Thrivent Asset Mgt., including the Funds, and may not directly benefit the particular accounts that generated the brokerage commissions used to acquire the research product or service, including the Funds.
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 Funds. 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 a 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 a 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
48

 

company or account, including the Funds. In some instances, this investment procedure may affect the price paid or received by a Fund or the size of the position obtainable or sold by a Fund.
Brokerage Commissions
The following table shows the amount of brokerage commissions each Fund paid, if any, in each of the past three fiscal years in which it was operational.
Fund 10/31/2019 10/31/2018 10/31/2017
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund $659 $—  $— 
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund $1,362,739 $1,754,061 $— 
Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity Fund $344,358 $489,466 $— 
The table below indicates the total amount of brokerage commissions paid, if any, by each Fund to firms that provided research services and the aggregate amount of transactions relating to such commissions for the most recent fiscal year ended October 31, 2019. The provision of research services was not necessarily a factor in the placement of brokerage business with these firms.
Fund Name   Commissions   Aggregrate
Transactions
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund

  $ 659   $ 659
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund

  $1,362,739   $1,563,142,837
Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity Fund

  $ 344,358   $1,188,022,709
Portfolio Turnover Rates
The rate of portfolio turnover in the Funds will not be a limiting factor when Thrivent Asset Mgt. deems changes in a Fund’s portfolio appropriate in view of its investment objectives. As a result, while a Fund will not purchase or sell securities solely to achieve short term trading profits, a 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 a 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.
The following table shows the portfolio turnover rates of each Fund in each of the past three fiscal years in which it was operational.
Fund   10/31/2019   10/31/2018   10/31/2017
Thrivent Core Emerging Markets Debt Fund

  32%   13%   N/A
Thrivent Core International Equity Fund  (1)

  89%   73%   N/A
Thrivent Core Low Volatility Equity Fund  (2)

  62%   40%   N/A

  
(1) From inception on November 14, 2017 through fiscal year end.
(2) From inception on February 28, 2018 through fiscal year end.
Regular Brokers or Dealers
None of the Funds held securities of their “regular broker or dealers,” as that term is defined in Rule 10b-1 under the 1940 Act, as of October 31, 2019.
49

 

PURCHASE, REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF SHARES
Manner in Which Shares are Offered and Redeemed
Shares of the Funds are being offered to the series of Thrivent Mutual Funds and Thrivent Series Fund, Inc. and other Thrivent entities. Shares of the Funds are not subject to a sales load or redemption fee, and assets of the Funds are not subject to a Rule 12b-1 fee. The Funds 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 each 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 a Fund 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 Funds may value debt securities with a remaining maturity of 60 days or less at amortized cost.
Futures contracts listed on exchanges are valued at their reported settlement price.
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 Funds are determined as of such times. Foreign currency exchange rates are
50

 

also generally determined prior to the close of the NYSE. Occasionally, events affecting the value of such securities and exchange 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 each 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.
51

 

TAX STATUS
The Funds’ Tax Status
The Funds expect to pay no federal income tax because they intend 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, each 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 each Fund’s policy to distribute substantially all of its income on a timely basis, including any net realized gains on investments each year.
Each Fund will be subject to a nondeductible 4% federal excise tax to the extent it fails to distribute by the end of any calendar year an amount at least equal to the sum of: (a) 98% of its ordinary income for that year; (b) 98.2% of its capital gain net income for the one-year period ending on October 31 of that year, except for Thrivent Diversified Income Plus Fund and Thrivent Multidimensional Income Fund, which are for the one-year period ending on December 31 of that year; and (c) certain undistributed amounts from the preceding calendar year. For this and other purposes, dividends declared in October, November or December of any calendar year and made payable to shareholders of record in such month will be deemed to have been received on December 31 of such year if the dividends are paid by the Trust subsequent to December 31 but prior to February 1 of the following year.
Shareholders’ Tax Status
A shareholder’s tax treatment may vary depending upon his or her particular situation. Information on a shareholder’s tax status is described in the Funds’ Prospectus under “Taxes.”
Capital Gains
While the Funds do not intend to engage in short-term trading, they 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. Each Fund distributes its realized gains in accordance with federal tax regulations. Distributions from any net realized capital gains will usually be declared in December.
52

 

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.
53

 

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.
54

 

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.
55

 

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.
56

 

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.
57

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The Annual Report for the Trust for the year ended October 31, 2019, which includes the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm and financial statements, is a separate report furnished with this SAI and is incorporated herein by reference.
58

 

APPENDIX A—PROXY VOTING POLICIES
59


Table of Contents

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 (collectively, “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 for which it 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. Proxies are voted solely in the interests of the client, including Thrivent Fund shareholders, and, 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 Brokerage Practices and Proxy Voting 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 Policies and Procedures, including in relation to recommended changes reflected in the benchmark policy and voting guidelines of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”). As discussed below, Thrivent Financial portfolio management may, with the approval of the Committee, vote proxies other than in accordance with the Policies and Procedures.

 

Ø

HOW PROXIES ARE REVIEWED, PROCESSED AND VOTED

In order to facilitate the proxy voting process, Thrivent Financial has retained ISS as an expert in the proxy voting and corporate governance areas. ISS specializes in providing a variety of fiduciary-level proxy advisory and voting services. These services include research, analysis, and voting recommendations as well as vote execution, reporting, auditing and consulting assistance for the handling of proxy voting responsibilities. ISS

 

1


Table of Contents

analyzes each proxy vote of Thrivent Financial’s clients and prepares a recommendation that reflects ISS’s application of the Policies and Procedures. For items noted as case-by-case, Thrivent Financial generally leverages the research process and voting guidance/recommendation provided by ISS. 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 clients 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. Boards should be sufficiently diverse to ensure consideration of a wide range of perspectives. 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,

 

2


Table of Contents

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 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 and will 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 voting 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 the 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

 

3


Table of Contents

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 Thrivent Financial’s 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 voting rationale of the portfolio manager, executive officer, or director (or person holding an equivalent position) of Thrivent Financial and its affiliates who requests to diverge and provides 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.

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 of 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 CORE FUNDS
PART C: OTHER INFORMATION
Item 28. Exhibits
   
(a)(1) Declaration of Trust, effective as of March 18, 2016, incorporated by reference from the initial registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 811-23149, filed on May 4, 2016.
(b) Not Applicable
(c) None
(d)(1) Investment Advisory Agreement between Thrivent Core Funds and Thrivent Asset Management, LLC, incorporated by reference from the initial registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 811-23149, filed on May 4, 2016.
(d)(2) Amendment No. 1 to Investment Advisory Agreement, 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.
(d)(3) Amendment No. 2 to Investment Advisory Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on August 30, 2017.
(d)(4) Amendment No. 3 to Investment Advisory Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on December 8, 2017.
(d)(5) Amendment No. 4 to Investment Advisory Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on January 31, 2020.
(e)(1) Distribution Agreement between Thrivent Core Funds and Thrivent Distributors, LLC, incorporated by reference from the initial registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 811-23149, filed on May 4, 2016.
(e)(2) Amendment No. 1 to Distribution Agreement, 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.
(e)(3) Amendment No. 2 to Distribution Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on August 30, 2017.
(e)(4) Amendment No. 3 to Distribution Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on December 8, 2017.
(e)(5) Amendment No. 4 to Distribution Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on January 31, 2020.
(f) Not Applicable
(g) Master Custodian Agreement with State Street Bank and Trust Company, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on February 28, 2018.
(h)(1) Transfer Agency and Service Agreement between Thrivent Core Funds, Thrivent Cash Management Trust and Thrivent Financial Investor Services Inc., incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 811-23149, filed on February 28, 2017.
(h)(2) Amendment No. 1 to Transfer Agency and Service Agreement, 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.
(h)(3) Amendment No. 2 to Transfer Agency and Service Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on August 30, 2017.
(h)(4) Amendment No. 3 to Transfer Agency and Service Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on December 8, 2017.
(h)(5) Amendment No. 4 to Transfer Agency and Service Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on January 31, 2020.
(h)(6) Amendment No. 5 to Transfer Agency and Service Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on January 31, 2020.
(h)(7) Administrative Services Agreement between Thrivent Core Funds and Thrivent Asset Management, LLC, incorporated by reference from the initial registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 811-23149, filed on May 4, 2016.
(h)(8) Amendment No. 1 to Administrative Services Agreement, 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.
(h)(9) Amendment No. 2 to Administrative Services Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on August 30, 2017.
(h)(10) Amendment No. 3 to Administrative Services Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on December 8, 2017.
(h)(11) Amendment No. 4 to Administrative Services Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on February 28, 2019.

 

(h)(12) Amendment No. 5 to Administrative Services Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on January 31, 2020.
(h)(13) Securities Lending Agency Agreement with Goldman Sachs Bank USA, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on February 28, 2018.
(h)(14) Amended Schedule 1 dated June 25, 2018 to Securities Lending Agency Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on February 28, 2019.
(h)(15) Amended Schedule 1 dated August 9, 2019 to Securities Lending Agency Agreement, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on August 29, 2019.
(h)(16) Amended Schedule 1 dated February 28, 2020 to Securities Lending Agency Agreement, filed herewith.
(i) Opinion and Consent of Counsel, filed herewith.
(j) Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, filed herewith.
(k) Not Applicable
(l) None
(m) Not Applicable
(n) Not Applicable
(o) Not Applicable
(p) Code of Ethics (Rule 17j-1) for Registrant, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on January 31, 2020.
(q) Powers of Attorney, incorporated by reference from the registration statement of Registrant on Form N-1A, file no. 333-218855/811-23149, filed on February 28, 2019.
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
Thrivent Asset Management, LLC   Investment adviser   Delaware
Thrivent Distributors, LLC   Limited Liability Company   Delaware
Thrivent Advisor Network, LLC   Limited Liability Company   Delaware
White Rose GP I, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
White Rose Fund I Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
White Rose Fund I Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP II, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund II Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund II Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP III, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund III Mezzanine Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware

 

Thrivent Financial Entities   Primary Business   State of
Organization
Thrivent White Rose Fund III Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund III Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP IV, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund IV Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund IV Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP V, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund V Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund V Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP VI, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VI Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VI Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP VII, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VII Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VII Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund GP VIII, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VIII Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund VIII Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose GP IX, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund IX Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund IX Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose GP X, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund X Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund X Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose GP XI, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund XI Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund XI Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose GP XII, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund XII Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund XII Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose GP XIII, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund XIII Equity Direct, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Fund XIII Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware

 

Thrivent Financial Entities   Primary Business   State of
Organization
Thrivent White Rose Opportunity Fund GP, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Opportunity Fund, LP2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Real Estate GP I, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Real Estate Fund I Fund of Funds, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Real Estate GP II, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Real Estate Fund II, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Endurance GP, LLC1   General partner   Delaware
Thrivent White Rose Endurance Fund, L.P.2   Private equity fund   Delaware
Gold Ring Holdings, LLC   Investment subsidiary   Delaware
Twin Bridge Capital Partners, LLC3   Managing member   Delaware
Thrivent Education Funding, LLC   Limited Liability Company   Delaware

1 Thrivent Financial owns an interest in the limited liability company and is also its managing member.
2 The fund is organized for the purpose of holding investments in Thrivent Financial’s general account.
3 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.
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) Thrivent Distributors, LLC serves as principal underwriter and distributor for Thrivent Mutual Funds, Thrivent Core Funds, Thrivent Cash Management Trust, Thrivent Series Fund, Inc. and Thrivent Church Loan and Income Fund.
(b) The managers and executive officers of Thrivent Distributors, LLC are listed below. Unless otherwise indicated, their principal address is 625 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415.
   
Name and Principal Business Address   Positions and Offices with Underwriter   Positions and Offices with Trust
Vibhu R. Sharma   Elected Manager   N/A
David S. Royal   Elected Manager   Trustee, President and Chief Investment Officer
Gerard V. Vaillancourt   Elected Manager and Vice President   Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer
Troy A. Beaver   Chief Executive Officer   Vice President
Jeffrey D. Cloutier   Chief Financial Officer   N/A
Kathryn A. Stelter
 4321 North Ballard Road
 Appleton, Wisconsin 54919-0001
  Chief Operations Officer   Vice President
Edward S. Dryden   Chief Compliance Officer   Chief Compliance Officer
John D. Jackson   Secretary and Chief Legal Officer   Assistant Secretary
Daniel R. Chouanard   Vice President   N/A
Valerie K. Martinson   Vice President   N/A
Michael W. Kremenak   Assistant Secretary   Secretary and Chief Legal Officer
Cynthia J. Nigbur   Assistant Secretary   N/A
Jessica E. English   Assistant Secretary   N/A
(c) Not applicable
Item 33. Location of Accounts and Records
The accounts, books and other documents required to be maintained by Registrant pursuant to Section 31(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the rules promulgated thereunder are in the possession of the following persons:
Registrant: 625 Fourth Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415
  4321 N. Ballard Rd.
Appleton, Wisconsin 54919
Custodian: State Street Bank and Trust Company
One Lincoln Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02111
Sub-Transfer Agent DST Systems, Inc.
430 W. 7th St.
Kansas City, Missouri 64105
Item 34. Management Services
Not Applicable
Item 35. Undertakings
Not Applicable

 

SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, Registrant certifies that it meets all requirements for effectiveness of this registration statement under Rule 485(b) under the Securities Act and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Minneapolis, State of Minnesota, on the 28th day of February, 2020.
THRIVENT CORE FUNDS
/s/ John D. Jackson
John D. Jackson
Assistant Secretary
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated and on the 28th day of February, 2020:
Signature   Title
/s/ David S. Royal   Trustee and President (Principal Executive Officer)
David S. Royal    
/s/ Gerard V. Vaillancourt   Treasurer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)
Gerard V. Vaillancourt    
*   Trustee
Janice B. Case    
*   Trustee
Robert J. Chersi    
*   Trustee
Marc S. Joseph    
*   Trustee
Paul R. Laubscher    
*   Trustee
James A. Nussle    
*   Trustee
Verne O. Sedlacek    
*   Trustee
Constance L. Souders    
*   Trustee
Russell W. Swansen    

* John D. Jackon, by signing his name hereto, does hereby sign this document on behalf of each of the above-named Trustees of Thrivent Core Funds pursuant to the powers of attorney duly executed by such persons.
   
Dated: February 28, 2020 /s/ John D. Jackson
  John D. Jackson
Attorney-in-Fact