Note 1. Significant
Accounting Policies
The Fund utilizes
a fair value hierarchy which prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three broad levels. The Fund’s policy is to recognize transfers into and out of Level 3 at the end of
the reporting period.
• Level 1 – quoted prices in active markets for identical securities (security types generally include listed equities).
• Level 2 – prices determined using other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk,
etc.).
• Level 3 – prices determined using significant unobservable inputs (including the Valuation Committee’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of
investments).
A description
of the valuation techniques applied to the Fund’s major categories of assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis is as follows:
Equity
securities are valued at the official closing price (typically last sale) on the exchange on which the securities are primarily traded or, if no closing price is available, at the last bid price and are categorized as
Level 1 in the hierarchy. Restricted equity securities and private placements that are illiquid, or are internally fair valued by the Valuation Committee, are generally categorized as Level 3 in the hierarchy.
Certain
non-U.S. securities may be fair valued in cases where closing prices are not readily available or are deemed not reflective of readily available market prices. For example, significant events (such as movement in the
U.S. securities market, or other regional and local developments) may occur between the time that non-U.S. markets close (where the security is principally traded) and the time that the Fund calculates its net asset
value (“NAV”) at the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) (generally 4 p.m. Eastern time) that may impact the value of securities traded in these non-U.S. markets.
In such cases, the Fund fair values non-U.S. securities using an independent pricing service which considers the correlation of the trading patterns of the non-U.S. security to the intraday trading in the U.S. markets
for investments such as American Depositary Receipts, financial futures, Exchange Traded Funds (“ETFs”), and certain indexes, as well as prices for similar securities. Such fair valuations are categorized
as Level 2 in the hierarchy. Because the frequency of significant events is not predictable, fair valuation of certain non-U.S. common stocks may occur on a frequent basis.
Debt
securities, including restricted securities, are valued based on evaluated quotations received from independent pricing services or from dealers who make markets in such securities. For most bond types, the pricing
service utilizes matrix pricing that considers one or more of the following factors: yield or price of bonds of comparable quality, coupon, maturity, current cash flows, type, and current day trade information, as
well as dealer supplied prices. These valuations are generally categorized as Level 2 in the hierarchy. Structured debt instruments, such as mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, may also incorporate collateral
analysis and utilize cash flow models for valuation and are generally categorized as Level 2 in the hierarchy. Pricing services do not provide pricing for all securities, and therefore indicative bids from dealers are
utilized which are based on pricing models used by market makers in the security and