Notes to Quarterly Schedule of Portfolio Holdings
March 31, 2021
(Unaudited)
NOTE 1—Additional Valuation
Information
Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles ("GAAP") defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date, under current
market conditions. GAAP establishes a hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation methods, giving the highest priority to readily available unadjusted quoted prices in an active market for identical assets
(Level 1) and the lowest priority to significant unobservable inputs (Level 3), generally when market prices are not readily available or are unreliable. Based on the valuation inputs, the securities or other
investments are tiered into one of three levels. Changes in valuation methods may result in transfers in or out of an investment’s assigned level:
Level 1 – Prices are
determined using quoted prices in an active market for identical assets.
Level
2 – Prices are determined using other significant observable inputs. Observable inputs are inputs that other market participants may use in pricing a security. These may include quoted prices for similar
securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, yield curves, loss severities, default rates, discount rates, volatilities and others.
Level
3 – Prices are determined using significant unobservable inputs. In situations where quoted prices or observable inputs are unavailable (for example, when there is little or no market activity for an investment
at the end of the period), unobservable inputs may be used. Unobservable inputs reflect the Fund’s own assumptions about the factors market participants would use in determining fair value of the securities or
instruments and would be based on the best available information.
As of March 31,
2021, all of the securities in this Fund were valued based on Level 1 inputs (see the Schedule of Investments for security categories). The level assigned to the securities valuations may not be an indication of the
risk or liquidity associated with investing in those securities. Because of the inherent uncertainties of valuation, the values reflected in the financial statements may materially differ from the value received upon
actual sale of those investments.
NOTE 2—Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Pandemic
During the first quarter of 2020,
the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a public health emergency. COVID-19 has led to increased short-term market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on U.S. and world economies and
markets in general. COVID-19 may adversely impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective, as stated in the most recent shareholder report. Because of the uncertainties on valuation, the global
economy and business operations, values reflected in the Schedule of Investments may materially differ from the value received upon actual sales of those investments.
The extent of the impact on the
performance of the Fund and its investments will depend on future developments, including the duration and spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, related restrictions and advisories, and the effects on the financial markets
and economy overall, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.