497K 1 dreyfustaxsensitiveto-120183.htm SUMMARY PROSPECTUS dreyfustaxsensitiveto-120183.htm - Generated by SEC Publisher for SEC Filing

             

 

Dreyfus Tax Sensitive Total Return Bond Fund

 

Summary Prospectus

February 1, 2018

       
 

Class  Ticker

A  DSDAX
C  DSDCX
I  SDITX
Y  SDYTX

Before you invest, you may want to review the fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund's prospectus and other information about the fund, including the statement of additional information and most recent reports to shareholders, online at http://im.bnymellon.com/literaturecenter. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-DREYFUS (inside the U.S. only) or by sending an e-mail request to info@dreyfus.com. The fund's prospectus and statement of additional information, dated February 1, 2018 (each as revised or supplemented), are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.

Investment Objective

The fund seeks high after-tax total return.

Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the fund or shares of other funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds that are subject to a sales charge. More information about sales charges, including these and other discounts and waivers, is available from your financial professional and in the Shareholder Guide section beginning on page 15 of the prospectus and in the How to Buy Shares section and the Additional Information About How to Buy Shares section beginning on page II-1 and page III-1, respectively, of the fund's Statement of Additional Information.

         

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

 

Class A

Class C

Class I

Class Y

Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases
(as a percentage of offering price)

4.50

none

none

none

Maximum deferred sales charge (load)
(as a percentage of lower of purchase or sale price)

none*

1.00

none

none

         

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

 

Class A

Class C

Class I

Class Y

Management fees

.40

.40

.40

.40

Distribution (12b-1) fees

none

.75

none

none

Other expenses (including shareholder services fees)

.45

.49

.16

.15

Total annual fund operating expenses

.85

1.64

.56

.55

Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement**

(.15)

(.19)

(.11)

(.10)

Total annual fund operating expenses
(after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement)

.70

1.45

.45

.45

Class A shares bought without an initial sales charge as part of an investment of $1 million or more may be charged a deferred sales charge of 1.00% if redeemed within one year.
**The fund's investment adviser, The Dreyfus Corporation, has contractually agreed, until February 1. 2019, to waive receipt of its fees and/or assume the direct expenses of the fund so that the expenses of none of the classes (excluding Rule 12b-1 fees, shareholder services fees, taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, commitment fees on borrowings and extraordinary expenses) exceed .45%. On or after February 1, 2019, The Dreyfus Corporation may terminate this expense limitation at any time.

Example

The 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

   


6935SP0218

 

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. The one-year example and the first year of the three-, five- and ten-years examples are based on net operating expenses, which reflect the expense limitation agreement by The Dreyfus Corporation. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

         
 

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

Class A

$518

$695

$886

$1,439

Class C 

$248

$499

$874

$1,928

Class I

$46

$168

$302

$691

Class Y

$46

$166

$297

$680

You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:

 

         
 

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

Class A

$518

$695

$886

$1,439

Class C

$148

$499

$874

$1,928

Class I

$46

$168

$302

$691

Class Y

$46

$166

$297

$680

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 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 20.30% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategy

To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in bonds (or other instruments with similar economic characteristics). The fund normally invests at least 65% of its net assets in municipal bonds that provide income exempt from federal personal income tax. The fund may invest up to 35% of its net assets in taxable bonds and may invest, without limitation, in municipal bonds, the income from which is subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. The fund invests principally in the following:

· municipal bonds;

· bonds issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities;

· corporate bonds;

· mortgage-related securities;

· asset-backed securities;

· floating rate loans (limited to up to 20% of the fund's net assets) and other floating rate securities; and

· bonds of foreign governments and companies (limited to up to 15% of the fund's assets, including emerging market bonds).

The fund also may invest in money market instruments and other short-term debt instruments.

The fund invests principally in bonds rated investment grade (i.e., Baa/BBB or higher) at the time of purchase or, if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality by the fund's subadviser. The fund is permitted to invest up to 25% of its assets, in the aggregate, in fixed-income securities rated below investment grade ("high yield" or "junk" bonds) or, if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality by the fund's subadviser, with up to 15% of the fund's assets in such securities that are taxable and up to 10% of its assets in such securities that are tax exempt.

The fund's portfolio managers seek relative value opportunities within the municipal bond market and to selectively invest in taxable securities that may offer the potential to enhance after-tax total return and/or reduce volatility. In selecting securities, the portfolio managers use a combination of fundamental credit analysis and macro-economic and quantitative inputs. The portfolio managers focus on identifying undervalued sectors and securities and select municipal bonds by (i) using fundamental credit analysis to estimate the relative value and attractiveness of various sectors and securities and to exploit pricing inefficiencies in the municipal bond market, and (ii) investing in various sectors based on apparent relative values. The fund generally maintains an effective portfolio duration of seven years or less. The fund does not have any restrictions on its average effective portfolio maturity or on the maturity or duration of the individual bonds the fund may purchase. A bond's maturity is the length of time

   

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until the principal must be fully repaid with interest.  Average effective portfolio maturity is an average of the maturities of bonds held by the fund directly and the bonds underlying derivative instruments entered into by the fund, if any, adjusted to reflect provisions or market conditions that may cause a bond's principal to be repaid earlier than at its stated maturity.  Duration is an indication of an investment's "interest rate risk," or how sensitive a bond or the fund's portfolio may be to changes in interest rates.

Principal Risks

An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit. It is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. It is not a complete investment program. The fund's share price fluctuates, sometimes dramatically, which means you could lose money.

· Fixed-income market risk. The market value of a fixed-income security may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or adverse investor sentiment generally. The fixed-income securities market can be susceptible to increases in volatility and decreases in liquidity. Liquidity can decline unpredictably in response to overall economic conditions or credit tightening. Increases in volatility and decreases in liquidity may be caused by a rise in interest rates (or the expectation of a rise in interest rates), which currently are at or near historic lows in the United States and in other countries. An unexpected increase in fund redemption requests, including requests from shareholders who may own a significant percentage of the fund's shares, which may be triggered by market turmoil or an increase in interest rates, could cause the fund to sell its holdings at a loss or at undesirable prices and adversely affect the fund's share price and increase the fund's liquidity risk, fund expenses and/or taxable distributions.

· Credit risk. Failure of an issuer of a security to make timely interest or principal payments when due, or a decline or perception of a decline in the credit quality of the security, can cause the security's price to fall, lowering the value of the fund's investment in such security. The lower a security's credit rating, the greater the chance that the issuer of the security will default or fail to meet its payment obligations.

· High yield securities risk. High yield ("junk") securities involve greater credit risk, including the risk of default, than investment grade securities, and are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer's ability to make principal and interest payments. The prices of high yield securities can fall in response to bad news about the issuer or its industry, or the economy in general, to a greater extent than those of higher rated securities.

· Municipal securities risk. The amount of public information available about municipal securities is generally less than that for corporate equities or bonds. Special factors, such as legislative changes, and state and local economic and business developments, may adversely affect the yield and/or value of the fund's investments in municipal securities. Other factors include the general conditions of the municipal securities market, the size of the particular offering, the maturity of the obligation and the rating of the issue. Changes in economic, business or political conditions relating to a particular municipal project, municipality, or state, territory or possession of the United States in which the fund invests may have an impact on the fund's share price.

· Interest rate risk. Prices of bonds and other fixed rate fixed-income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect fixed-income securities and, accordingly, will cause the value of the fund's investments in these securities to decline. During periods of very low interest rates, which occur from time to time due to market forces or actions of governments and/or their central banks, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in the U.S., the fund may be subject to a greater risk of principal decline from rising interest rates. When interest rates fall, the fund's investments in new securities may be at lower yields and may reduce the fund's income. The magnitude of these fluctuations in the market price of fixed-income securities is generally greater for securities with longer effective maturities and durations because such instruments do not mature, reset interest rates or become callable for longer periods of time. The change in the value of a fixed-income security or portfolio can be approximated by multiplying its duration by a change in interest rates. For example, the market price of a fixed-income security with a duration of three years would be expected to decline 3% if interest rates rose 1%. Conversely, the market price of the same security would be expected to increase 3% if interest rates fell 1%. Risks associated with rising interest rates are heightened given that interest rates in the United States and other countries currently are at or near historic lows. The Federal Reserve has raised the federal funds rate several times in recent periods and has signaled additional increases in the near future. Unlike investment grade bonds, however, the prices of high yield ("junk") bonds may fluctuate unpredictably and not necessarily inversely with changes in interest rates. Interest rate changes may have different effects on the values of mortgage-related securities because of prepayment and extension risks. In addition, the rates on floating rate instruments adjust periodically with changes in market interest rates. Although these instruments are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than fixed rate instruments, the value of floating rate loans and other floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as general interest rates.

   

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· Prepayment risk. Some securities give the issuer the option to prepay or call the securities before their maturity date, which may reduce the market value of the security and the anticipated yield-to-maturity. Issuers often exercise this right when interest rates fall. If an issuer "calls" its securities during a time of declining interest rates, the fund might have to reinvest the proceeds in an investment offering a lower yield, and therefore might not benefit from any increase in value as a result of declining interest rates. During periods of market illiquidity or rising interest rates, prices of "callable" issues are subject to increased price fluctuation.

· Mortgage-related securities risk. Mortgage-related securities are complex derivative instruments, subject to credit, prepayment and extension risk, and may be more volatile, less liquid and more difficult to price accurately than more traditional debt securities. The fund is subject to the credit risk associated with these securities, including the market's perception of the creditworthiness of the issuing federal agency, as well as the credit quality of the underlying assets. Although certain mortgage-related securities are guaranteed as to the timely payment of interest and principal by a third party (such as a U.S. government agency or instrumentality with respect to government-related mortgage-backed securities) the market prices for such securities are not guaranteed and will fluctuate. Declining interest rates may result in the prepayment of higher yielding underlying mortgages and the reinvestment of proceeds at lower interest rates can reduce the fund's potential price gain in response to falling interest rates, reduce the fund's yield and/or cause the fund's share price to fall (prepayment risk). Rising interest rates may result in a drop in prepayments of the underlying mortgages, which would increase the fund's sensitivity to rising interest rates and its potential for price declines (extension risk).

· Asset-backed securities risk. General downturns in the economy could cause the value of asset-backed securities to fall. In addition, asset-backed securities present certain risks that are not presented by mortgage-backed securities. Primarily, these securities may provide the fund with a less effective security interest in the related collateral than do mortgage-backed securities. Therefore, there is the possibility that recoveries on the underlying collateral may not, in some cases, be available to support payments on these securities.

· Government securities risk. Not all obligations of the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury. Some obligations are backed only by the credit of the issuing agency or instrumentality, and in some cases there may be some risk of default by the issuer. Any guarantee by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities of a security held by the fund does not apply to the market value of such security or to shares of the fund itself. A security backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States is guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity.

· Foreign investment risk. To the extent the fund invests in foreign securities, the fund's performance will be influenced by political, social and economic factors affecting investments in foreign issuers. Special risks associated with investments in foreign issuers include exposure to currency fluctuations, less liquidity, less developed or less efficient trading markets, lack of comprehensive company information, political and economic instability and differing auditing and legal standards. Investments denominated in foreign currencies are subject to the risk that such currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and affect the value of these investments held by the fund.

· Value investing risk. Value investing involves the risk that investments may never reach their value, either because the market fails to recognize their intrinsic worth or the expected value was misgauged. These investments also may decline in price even though in theory they are already undervalued.

· Liquidity risk. When there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities, it can become more difficult to sell the securities in a timely manner at or near their perceived value. In such a market, the value of such securities and the fund's share price may fall dramatically, even during periods of declining interest rates. The secondary market for certain municipal bonds tends to be less well developed or liquid than many other securities markets, which may adversely affect the fund's ability to sell such municipal bonds at attractive prices. Investments that are illiquid or that trade in lower volumes may be more difficult to value. The market for below investment grade securities may be less liquid and therefore these securities may be harder to value or sell at an acceptable price, especially during times of market volatility or decline. Investments in foreign securities, particularly those of issuers located in emerging markets, tend to have greater exposure to liquidity risk than domestic securities. No active trading market may exist for some of the floating rate loans in which the fund invests and certain loans may be subject to restrictions on resale. Because some floating rate loans that the fund invests in may have a more limited secondary market, liquidity risk is more pronounced for the fund than for mutual funds that invest primarily in other types of fixed-income instruments or equity securities. Liquidity risk also may refer to the risk that the fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period stated in this prospectus because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, the fund may be forced to sell securities at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions, which may adversely affect the fund's share price.

· Floating rate loan risk. Unlike publicly traded common stocks which trade on national exchanges, there is no central market or exchange for loans to trade. Loans trade in an over-the-counter market, and confirmation and settlement, which are effected through standardized procedures and documentation, may take significantly longer than seven days to complete. The lack of an

   

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active trading market for certain floating rate loans may impair the ability of the fund to realize full value in the event of the need to sell a floating rate loan and may make it difficult to value such loans. There may be less readily available, reliable information about certain floating rate loans than is the case for many other types of securities, and the fund's portfolio managers may be required to rely primarily on their own evaluation of a borrower's credit quality rather than on any available independent sources. The value of collateral, if any, securing a floating rate loan can decline, and may be insufficient to meet the issuer's obligations in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal or may be difficult to readily liquidate. The floating rate loans in which the fund invests typically will be below investment grade quality and, like other below investment grade securities, are inherently speculative. As a result, the risks associated with such floating rate loans are similar to the risks of below investment grade securities, although senior loans are typically senior and secured in contrast to other below investment grade securities, which are often subordinated and unsecured.

· Issuer risk. A security's market value may decline for a number of reasons which directly relate to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer's products or services, or factors that affect the issuer's industry, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry.

· Non-diversification risk. The fund is non-diversified, which means that the fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. Therefore, the fund's performance may be more vulnerable to changes in the market value of a single issuer or group of issuers and more susceptible to risks associated with a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence than a diversified fund.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the performance of the fund's Class I shares from year to year. Sales charges, if any, are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would have been less than those shown. The table compares the average annual total returns of the fund's shares to those of a broad measure of market performance. The fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. More recent performance information may be available at www.dreyfus.com.

The fund changed its investment strategy on February 21, 2014. Prior to that date, the fund invested in investment grade municipal bonds that provide income exempt from federal personal income tax. Different investment strategies may lead to different performance results. The fund's performance for periods prior to February 21, 2014 reflects the investment strategy in effect prior to that date.

   

Year-by-Year Total Returns as of 12/31 each year (%)

Class I

Best Quarter
Q3, 2009: 6.08%

Worst Quarter
Q4, 2016: -3.52%

After-tax performance is shown only for Class I shares. After-tax performance of the fund's other share classes will vary. 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 the investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown, and the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through U.S. tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. Returns after taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares may be higher than returns before taxes or returns after taxes on distributions due to an assumed tax benefit from losses on a sale of the fund's shares at the end of the period.

For the fund's Class A, C and Y shares, periods prior to the inception date reflect the performance of the fund's Class I shares adjusted to reflect any applicable sales charges. Such performance figures have not been adjusted to reflect applicable class fees and expenses; if such fees and expenses had been reflected, the performance shown for Class A and C shares for such periods would have been lower. Each share class is invested in the same portfolio of securities, and the annual returns would have differed only to the extent that the classes do not have the same expenses.

   

Dreyfus Tax Sensitive Total Return Bond Fund Summary

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Average Annual Total Returns (as of 12/31/17)

Class (Inception Date)

1 Year

5 Years

10 Years

Class I returns before taxes

4.90%

2.49%

3.78%

Class I returns after taxes on distributions

4.81%

2.33%

3.66%

Class I returns after taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares

3.79%

2.38%

3.55%

Class A (3/31/09) returns before taxes

-0.13%

1.30%

3.03%

Class C (3/31/09) returns before taxes

2.81%

1.48%

2.84%

Class Y (7/1/13) returns before taxes

4.85%

2.49%

3.78%

Bloomberg Barclays 3-, 5-, 7-, 10-Year U.S. Municipal Bond Index
reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes

3.75%

2.12%

3.77%

Portfolio Management

The fund's investment adviser is The Dreyfus Corporation (Dreyfus), the primary mutual fund business of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon). The fund's subadviser is BNY Mellon Asset Management North America Corporation (BNY Mellon AMNA), an affiliate of Dreyfus. BNY Mellon AMNA is a specialist multi-asset investment manager formed by the combination of certain BNY Mellon affiliated investment management firms, effective January 31, 2018.

Thomas Casey, Daniel Rabasco and Jeffrey Burger are the fund's primary portfolio managers, positions they have held since April 2010, February 2014 and March 2014, respectively. Mr. Casey is a senior portfolio manager for the Standish Mellon Asset Management (Standish) tax sensitive strategies; Standish was one of investment management firms that combined to form BNY Mellon AMNA. Mr. Rabasco is the chief investment officer for the Standish tax sensitive fixed-income strategies. Mr. Burger is a portfolio manager for the Standish tax sensitive strategies.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

In general, for each share class, other than Class Y, the fund's minimum initial investment is $1,000 and the minimum subsequent investment is $100. For Class Y shares, the minimum initial investment generally is $1,000,000, with no minimum subsequent investment. You may sell (redeem) your shares on any business day by calling 1-800-DREYFUS (inside the U.S. only) or by visiting www.dreyfus.com. If you invested in the fund through a third party, such as a bank, broker-dealer or financial adviser, or through a Retirement Plan (as defined below), you may mail your request to sell shares to Dreyfus Institutional Department, P.O. Box 9882, Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8082. If you invested directly through the fund, you may mail your request to sell shares to Dreyfus Shareholder Services, P.O. Box 9879, Providence, Rhode Island 02940-8079. If you are an Institutional Direct accountholder, please contact your BNY Mellon relationship manager for instructions.

Retirement Plans include qualified or non-qualified employee benefit plans, such as 401(k), 403(b)(7), Keogh, pension, profit-sharing and other deferred compensation plans, whether established by corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, non-profit entities, trade or labor unions, or state and local governments, but do not include IRAs (including, without limitation, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, IRA ″Rollover Accounts″ or IRAs set up under Simplified Employee Pension Plans (SEP-IRAs), Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension Plans (SARSEPs) or Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees (SIMPLE IRAs)).

Tax Information

Dividends paid by the fund will be exempt from federal income taxes to the extent such dividends are derived from interest paid on municipal obligations. However, other fund distributions are taxable as ordinary income or capital gains, except when your investment is through an IRA, Retirement Plan or other U.S. tax-advantaged investment plan (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your investment from such account).

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares (other than Class Y shares) through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund shares and related services. To the extent that the intermediary may receive lesser or no payments in connection with the sale of other investments, the payments from the fund and its related companies may create a potential conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial representative to recommend the fund over the other investments. This potential conflict of interest may be addressed by policies, procedures or practices adopted by the financial intermediary. As there may be many different policies, procedures or

   

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practices adopted by different intermediaries to address the manner in which compensation is earned through the sale of investments or the provision of related services, the compensation rates and other payment arrangements that may apply to a financial intermediary and its representatives may vary by intermediary. Ask your financial representative or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.

   

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This prospectus does not constitute an offer or solicitation in any state or jurisdiction in which, or to any person to whom, such offering or solicitation may not lawfully be made.

   

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