497 1 f29799sie497.txt 497 . . . STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SCHWAB ACTIVE EQUITY FUNDS SCHWAB MARKETTRACK PORTFOLIOS(R) SCHWAB LARGE-CAP GROWTH FUND ALL EQUITY PORTFOLIO SCHWAB PREMIER EQUITY FUND TM GROWTH PORTFOLIO (CLOSED TO NEW INVESTORS) BALANCED PORTFOLIO SCHWAB CORE EQUITY FUND TM CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO SCHWAB DIVIDEND EQUITY FUND TM SCHWAB SMALL-CAP EQUITY FUND TM SCHWAB TARGET FUNDS (CLOSED TO NEW INVESTORS) SCHWAB TARGET 2010 FUND SCHWAB HEDGED EQUITY FUND TM SCHWAB TARGET 2020 FUND SCHWAB FINANCIAL SERVICES FUND TM SCHWAB TARGET 2030 FUND SCHWAB HEALTH CARE FUND TM SCHWAB TARGET 2040 FUND SCHWAB TECHNOLOGY FUND TM SCHWAB RETIREMENT INCOME FUND SCHWAB EQUITY INDEX FUNDS SCHWAB VIEWPOINTS FUND TM SCHWAB S&P 500 INDEX FUND (formerly Laudus Balanced MarketMasters Fund TM) SCHWAB INSTITUTIONAL SELECT(R) S&P 500 FUND SCHWAB 1000 INDEX(R) FUND SCHWAB SMALL-CAP INDEX FUND(R) SCHWAB TOTAL STOCK MARKET INDEX FUND(R) SCHWAB INTERNATIONAL INDEX FUND(R)
FEBRUARY 28, 2007 AS AMENDED MAY 7, 2007 The Statement of Additional Information (SAI) is not a prospectus. It should be read in conjunction with each fund's prospectus dated February 28, 2007 (each as amended from time to time). To obtain a free copy of any of the prospectuses, please contact Schwab Funds(R) at 1-800-435-4000. For TDD service call 1-800-345-2550. The prospectuses also may be available on the Internet at: http://www.schwab.com/schwabfunds. Each fund, except for the Schwab 1000 Index Fund, is a series of Schwab Capital Trust (a trust) and the Schwab 1000 Index Fund is a series of Schwab Investments (a trust), (collectively referred to as the "trusts"). The funds are part of the Schwab complex of funds ("Schwab Funds"). In addition to managing a portion of the fund's assets, Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. ("CSIM") acts as a "manager of managers" of the Schwab Viewpoints Fund. In this role, CSIM, subject to approval by the fund's Board of Trustees, hires sub-advisers ("investment managers") to manage portions of the fund's assets. The funds' audited financial statements from the funds' annual reports for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2006, are incorporated by reference into this SAI. A copy of a fund's 2006 annual report is delivered with the SAI. The Schwab Equity Index Funds' shareholder reports include a summary portfolio schedule. Each of these fund's 2006 annual full portfolio schedule from Form N-CSR is a separate document delivered with the SAI and is incorporated by reference into this SAI. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page ---- INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES, RISKS AND LIMITATIONS 3 MANAGEMENT OF THE FUNDS 64 CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES 77 INVESTMENT ADVISORY AND OTHER SERVICES 79 BROKERAGE ALLOCATION AND OTHER PRACTICES 100 DESCRIPTION OF THE TRUSTS 108 PURCHASE, REDEMPTION, DELIVERY OF SHAREHOLDER DOCUMENTS AND PRICING OF SHARES 109 TAXATION 112 APPENDIX A - RATINGS OF INVESTMENT SECURITIES 116 APPENDIX B - DESCRIPTION OF PROXY VOTING POLICY AND PROCEDURES 123
2 INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES, RISKS AND LIMITATIONS INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES The SCHWAB LARGE-CAP GROWTH FUND TM seeks long-term capital growth. The SCHWAB PREMIER EQUITY FUND TM seeks long-term capital growth. The SCHWAB CORE EQUITY FUND TM seeks long-term capital growth. The SCHWAB DIVIDEND EQUITY FUND TM seeks current income and capital appreciation. The SCHWAB SMALL-CAP EQUITY FUND TM seeks long-term capital growth. The SCHWAB HEDGED EQUITY FUND TM seeks long-term capital appreciation over market cycles with lower volatility than the broad equity market. The SCHWAB FINANCIAL SERVICES FUND TM, SCHWAB HEALTH CARE FUND TM, and SCHWAB TECHNOLOGY FUND TM each seek long-term capital growth. The SCHWAB S&P 500 INDEX FUND seeks to track the total return of the Standard & Poor's 500 Composite Stock Price Index (the S&P 500(R)). SCHWAB INSTITUTIONAL SELECT(R) S&P 500 FUND seeks high total return by tracking the performance of the S&P 500(R). The SCHWAB 1000 INDEX(R) FUND seeks to match the total return of the Schwab 1000 Index(R), an index created to represent performance of publicly traded equity securities of the 1,000 largest U.S. companies. The SCHWAB SMALL-CAP INDEX FUND(R) seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures total return of small capitalization U.S. stocks. The SCHWAB TOTAL STOCK MARKET INDEX FUND(R) seeks to track the total return of the entire U.S. stock market. The SCHWAB INTERNATIONAL INDEX FUND(R) seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the total return of large, publicly traded non-U.S. companies from countries with developed equity markets outside of the United States. The SCHWAB S&P 500 INDEX FUND, SCHWAB INSTITUTIONAL SELECT(R) S&P 500 FUND, SCHWAB 1000 INDEX FUND, SCHWAB SMALL-CAP INDEX FUND, SCHWAB TOTAL STOCK MARKET INDEX FUND, and SCHWAB INTERNATIONAL INDEX FUND are collectively referred to as the "EQUITY INDEX FUNDS." The SCHWAB MARKETTRACK ALL EQUITY PORTFOLIO TM seeks high capital growth over the long term. The SCHWAB MARKETTRACK GROWTH PORTFOLIO TM seeks high capital growth with less volatility than an all stock portfolio. The SCHWAB MARKETTRACK BALANCED PORTFOLIO TM seeks maximum total return, including both capital growth and income. 3 The SCHWAB MARKETTRACK CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO TM seeks income and more growth potential than an all bond fund. The SCHWAB MARKETTRACK ALL EQUITY PORTFOLIO, GROWTH PORTFOLIO, BALANCED PORTFOLIO, and CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO are referred to collectively as the "MARKETTRACK PORTFOLIOS(R)." The SCHWAB TARGET 2010, SCHWAB TARGET 2020, SCHWAB TARGET 2030 AND SCHWAB TARGET 2040 FUNDS each seeks to provide capital appreciation and income consistent with its current asset allocation. The SCHWAB RETIREMENT INCOME FUND seeks to provide current income and, as a secondary investment objective, capital appreciation. The SCHWAB TARGET 2010 FUND, SCHWAB TARGET 2020 FUND, SCHWAB TARGET 2030 FUND, SCHWAB TARGET 2040 FUND AND SCHWAB RETIREMENT INCOME FUND are referred to collectively as the "Schwab Target Funds." THE SCHWAB VIEWPOINTS FUND TM seeks capital growth and income. The investment objective for each fund may be changed only by vote of a majority of its outstanding voting shares. A majority of the outstanding voting shares of a fund means the affirmative vote of the lesser of: (a) 67% or more of the voting shares represented at the meeting, if more than 50% of the outstanding voting shares of the fund are represented at the meeting or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding voting shares of a fund. There is no guarantee a fund will achieve its objective. INVESTMENT STRATEGIES The following investment strategies, risks and limitations supplement those set forth in the prospectus and may be changed without shareholder approval unless otherwise noted. Also, policies and limitations that state a maximum percentage of assets that may be invested in a security or other asset, or that set forth a quality standard, shall be measured immediately after and as a result of a fund's acquisition of such security or asset unless otherwise noted. Thus, any subsequent change in values, net assets or other circumstances does not require a fund to sell an investment if it could not then make the same investment. Not all investment securities or techniques discussed below are eligible investments for each fund. THE SCHWAB ACTIVE EQUITY FUNDS: THE SCHWAB LARGE-CAP GROWTH FUND will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in large-cap stocks of U.S. companies. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. Large-cap stocks generally are those with market capitalizations equal to at least $5 billion. For purposes of this policy, net assets means net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. THE PREMIER EQUITY FUND TM will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80 % of its net assets in common stocks. The fund will notify shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. THE CORE EQUITY FUND TM will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of U.S. companies. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. 4 THE DIVIDEND EQUITY FUND TM will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in dividend paying common and preferred stocks. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. Dividend paying stocks are those stocks that historically have paid, or the manager anticipates will pay, a dividend. THE SMALL-CAP EQUITY FUND TM will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in small-cap equity securities. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. Small-cap equity securities generally are securities with market capitalizations of up to $2.5 billion or securities included in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index, each measured at time of purchase by the fund. In addition, small-cap equity securities may include those with market capitalizations of up to $5 billion so long as the purchase of those securities would not cause the average weighted market capitalization of the fund to exceed $2.5 billion. THE HEDGED EQUITY FUND TM will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities, primarily common stocks. The fund will notify shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. THE SCHWAB FINANCIAL SERVICES FUND TM will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities issued by companies in the financial services sector. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. The investments may include, for example, commercial banks, savings and loan associations, insurance companies, brokerage companies, asset management firms, real estate investment trusts and financial services firms. The financial services sector is currently undergoing relatively rapid change as existing distinctions between financial service segments become less clear. For instance, recent business combinations have included insurance, finance, and securities brokerage under single ownership. Some primarily retail corporations have expanded into securities and insurance industries. Moreover, the federal laws generally separating commercial and investment banking were revised to permit a greater level of affiliation between financial services companies. Rule 12d3-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "1940 Act") limits the extent to which a fund may invest in the securities of any one company that derives more than 15% of its revenues from brokerage, underwriting or investment management activities. A fund may purchase securities of an issuer that derived more than 15% of its gross revenues in its most recent fiscal year from securities-related activities, subject to the following conditions: (1) the purchase cannot cause more than 5% of the fund's total assets to be invested in securities of that issuer; (2) for any equity security, the purchase cannot result in the fund owning more than 5% of the issuer's outstanding securities in that class; and (3) for a debt security, the purchase cannot result in the fund owning more than 10% of the outstanding principal amount of the issuer's debt securities. THE SCHWAB HEALTH CARE FUND TM will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities issued by companies in the health care sector. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. The investments may include, for example, companies engaged in the design, manufacture, or sale of products or services used for or in connection with health care or medicine, biotechnology and drug companies, health 5 care facilities operators, medical product manufacturers and suppliers, medical services firms and medical providers. THE SCHWAB TECHNOLOGY FUND TM will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities issued by companies in the technology sector. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. The investments may include, for example, companies that develop, produce, or distribute products or services in the electronic equipment, semiconductor, computer hardware and software, office equipment, Internet and defense and aerospace industries. SCHWAB EQUITY INDEX FUNDS: THE SCHWAB S&P 500 INDEX FUND will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities included in the S&P 500. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. THE SCHWAB INSTITUTIONAL SELECT(R) S&P 500 FUND intends to achieve its objective by tracking the performance of the S&P 500(R) Index. It is the Schwab Institutional Select S&P 500 Fund's policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities included in the benchmark. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. The S&P 500 is, generally, representative of the performance of the U.S. stock market. The index consists of 500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity and industry group representation. It is a market value weighted index (stock price times number of shares outstanding), with each stock's weight in the index proportionate to its market value. The S&P 500 does not contain the 500 largest stocks, as measured by market capitalization. Although many of the stocks in the index are among the largest, it also includes some relatively small companies. Those companies, however, generally are established companies within their industry group. Standard & Poor's (S&P) identifies important industry groups within the U.S. economy and then allocates a representative sample of stocks with each group to the S&P 500. There are four major industry sectors within the index: industrials, utilities, financials and transportation. The fund may purchase securities of companies with which it is affiliated to the extent these companies are represented in its index. The Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund and the Schwab Institutional Select S&P 500 Fund are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P. S&P makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the shareholders of the Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund and the Schwab Institutional Select S&P 500 Fund or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the funds particularly or the ability of the S&P 500 Index to track general stock market performance. S&P's only relationship to the Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund and the Schwab Institutional Select S&P 500 Fund is the licensing of certain trademarks and trade names of S&P and of the S&P 500 Index, which is determined, composed and calculated by S&P without regard to the funds. S&P has no obligation to take the needs of the Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund and the Schwab Institutional Select S&P 500 Fund or their shareholders into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the S&P 500 Index. S&P is not responsible for and has not participated in the determination of the prices and amount of shares in either the Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund or the Schwab Institutional Select S&P 500 Fund or in the determination or calculation of the equation by which each fund's shares are to be converted into cash. S&P has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of each fund's shares. 6 S&P does not guarantee the accuracy and /or the completeness of the S&P 500 Index or any data included therein, and S&P shall have no liability for any errors, omissions or interruptions therein. S&P makes no warranty, express or implied, as to results to be obtained by the Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund, its shareholders or any other person or entity from the use of the S&P 500(R) Index or any data therein. S&P makes no express or implied warranties and expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use with respect to the S&P 500 Index or any data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall S&P have any liability for any special, punitive, indirect or consequential damages (including lost profits), even if notified of the possibility of such damages. THE SCHWAB 1000 INDEX(R) FUND will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities included in the Schwab 1000 Index. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. To be included in the Schwab 1000 Index, a company must satisfy all of the following criteria: (1) it must be an "operating company" (i.e., not an investment company) or real estate investment trust incorporated in the United States, its territories or possessions; (2) a liquid market for its common shares must exist on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), American Stock Exchange (AMEX) or the NASDAQ/NMS and (3) its market value must place it among the top 1,000 such companies as measured by market capitalization (share price times the number of shares outstanding). The fund may purchase securities of companies with which it is affiliated to the extent these companies are represented in its index. As of October 31, 2006, the aggregate market capitalization of the stocks included in the Schwab 1000 Index was approximately $15.7 trillion. This represents approximately 89% of the total market value of all publicly traded U.S. companies, as represented by the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index. THE SCHWAB SMALL-CAP INDEX FUND(R) will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities included in the benchmark index. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. The Schwab Small-Cap Index Fund intends to achieve its investment objective by tracking the price and dividend performance (total return) of the Schwab Small-Cap Index(R) (Small-Cap Index). The Schwab Small-Cap Index was created to represent the performance of equity securities of the second 1,000 largest U.S. companies, ranked by market capitalization (share price times the number of shares outstanding). To be included in the Schwab Small-Cap Index, a company must satisfy all of the following criteria: (1) it must be an "operating company" (i.e., not an investment company) or a real estate investment trust incorporated in the United States, its territories or possessions; (2) a liquid market for its common shares must exist on the NYSE, AMEX or the NASDAQ/NMS and (3) its market value must place it among the second-largest 1,000 such companies as measured by market capitalization (i.e., from the company with a rank of 1,001 through the company with a rank of 2,000). The fund may purchase securities of companies with which it is affiliated to the extent these companies are represented in its index. THE SCHWAB TOTAL STOCK MARKET INDEX FUND(R) will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities included in the benchmark index. The fund will notify its 7 shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. In pursuing its objective, the fund uses the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index to measure the total return of the U.S. stock market. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index is representative of the performance of the entire U.S. stock market. The index measures the performance of all U.S. headquartered equity securities with readily available pricing data. It is a market-value weighted index consisting of approximately 4,999 stocks as of October 31, 2006. The fund may purchase securities of companies with which it is affiliated to the extent these companies are represented in its index. "Dow Jones," "Wilshire," "The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000SM" and "The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite IndexSM" are service marks of Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and Wilshire Associates Incorporated and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. The Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund(R) based on The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index SM, is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Dow Jones or Wilshire and neither Dow Jones nor Wilshire makes any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product. Because it would be too expensive to buy all of the stocks included in the index, the investment adviser may use statistical sampling techniques in an attempt to replicate the total return of the U.S. stock market using a smaller number of securities. These techniques use a smaller number of index securities than that included in the index, which, when taken together, are expected to perform similarly to the index. These techniques are based on a variety of factors, including capitalization, dividend yield, price/earnings ratio, and industry factors. THE SCHWAB INTERNATIONAL INDEX FUND(R) will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets in stocks included in the benchmark index. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. The Schwab International Index Fund intends to achieve its investment objective by tracking the price and dividend performance (total return) of the Schwab International Index(R) (International Index). The International Index was created to represent the performance of common stocks and other equity securities issued by large publicly traded companies from countries around the world with major developed securities markets, excluding the United States. To be included in the International Index the securities must be issued by an operating company (i.e., not an investment company) whose principal trading market is in a country with a major developed securities market outside the United States. In addition, 350 of the largest companies are selected based on the market value of the company's outstanding securities as measured by free-float adjusted market capitalization (share price times the number of shares available for purchase by international investors). The free-float available for purchase by international investors generally excludes shares held by strategic investors (such as governments, corporations, controlling shareholders and management) and shares subject to foreign ownership restrictions. The fund may purchase securities of companies with which it is affiliated to the extent these companies are represented in its index. By tracking the largest companies in developed markets, the index represents the performance of what some analysts deem the "blue chips" of international markets. The index also is designed to provide a broad representation of the international market, by limiting investments by country to no more than 35% of the total market capitalization of the index. The International Index was first made available to the public on July 29, 1993. The Schwab 1000 Index(R), Small-Cap Index and International Index were developed and are maintained by Schwab. Schwab receives no compensation from the funds for maintaining these 8 indices. Schwab reviews and, as necessary, revises the lists of companies whose securities are included in the Schwab 1000 Index, the Small-Cap Index and the International Index usually annually. Companies known by Schwab to meet or no longer meet the inclusion criteria may be added or deleted as appropriate. Schwab also will modify each index as necessary to account for corporate actions (e.g., new issues, repurchases, stock dividends/splits, tenders, mergers, stock swaps, spin-offs or bankruptcy filings made because of a company's inability to continue operating as a going concern). Schwab may change the Schwab 1000 Index and the Small-Cap Index inclusion criteria if it determines that doing so would cause the Schwab 1000 Index and the Small-Cap Index to be more representative of the domestic equity market. Schwab also may change the International Index inclusion criteria if it determines that doing so would cause the International Index to be more representative of the large, publicly traded international company equity market. In the future, the Board of Trustees, may take necessary and timely action to change the benchmark index for the Schwab Small-Cap Index Fund(R), including selecting a new one, should it decide that such changes would better enable the fund to seek its objective of tracking the small-cap U.S. stock sector and taking such action would be in the best interest of the fund's shareholders. The Board of Trustees also may take necessary and timely action to change the benchmark index for the Schwab International Index Fund(R), including selecting a new one, should it decide that such changes would better enable the fund to seek its objective of tracking the international stock sector and taking such action would be in the best interest of the fund's shareholders. The Board of Trustees may select another index for the Schwab 1000 Index(R) Fund, subject to shareholder approval, should it decide that taking such action would be in the best interest of the fund's shareholders. A particular stock's weighting in the Small-Cap Index or the Schwab 1000 Index is based on its relative total market value (i.e., its market price per share times the number of shares outstanding), divided by the total market capitalization of its index. A particular stock's weighting in the International Index is based on its relative free-float adjusted market value, divided by the total free-float adjusted market capitalization of the index. SCHWAB MARKETTRACK PORTFOLIOS(R) AND SCHWAB TARGET FUNDS: Each MarketTrack Portfolio seeks to maintain a defined mix of asset classes over time, and each invests mainly in a combination of other Schwab Funds(R), which are managed using indexing strategies. The MarketTrack Portfolios may invest in various types of underlying funds, which are summarized below. Not all underlying funds discussed below are eligible investments for each MarketTrack Portfolio. Each MarketTrack Portfolio also may invest in securities other than shares of Schwab Funds, such as stocks, bonds and money market securities, and engage in certain investment techniques. For the large-cap allocation, each portfolio may also invest directly in all the stocks which comprise the S&P 500 Index(R) (or other similar index), using an indexing strategy. Each of the Schwab Target Funds seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in a combination of underlying funds in accordance with its target portfolio allocation. These underlying funds invest their assets directly in equity, fixed income, money market and other securities, in accordance with their own investment objectives and policies. The target asset allocation for the Schwab Retirement Income Fund is expected to remain fixed over time. For each target fund, the target asset allocation will be adjusted annually based on the adviser's asset allocation strategy. In general, each target fund's allocation to equity securities will decrease and its allocation to fixed income securities will increase as the fund approaches its target retirement date. At the stated retirement date, each target fund's allocation will be approximately 60% equities, 35% bonds, 4% ultra-short fixed income securities and 1% money market funds. Each 9 Schwab Target Fund will continue to reduce its allocation to equity securities for 20 years beyond the fund's stated retirement date. Each fund intends to invest in a combination of underlying funds; however, each fund may invest directly in equity, fixed income securities, cash equivalents, including money market securities, and futures. These investments and the risks normally associated with these investments are discussed below. MUTUAL FUNDS (open-end mutual funds) are registered investment companies, which issue and redeem their shares on a continuous basis. CLOSED-END FUNDS are registered investment companies that offer a fixed number of shares and are usually listed on an exchange. These funds generally offer investors the advantages of diversification and professional investment management, by combining shareholders' money and investing it in various types of securities, such as stocks, bonds and money market securities. These funds also make various investments and use certain techniques in order to enhance their performance. These may include entering into delayed-delivery and when-issued securities transactions or swap agreements; buying and selling futures contracts, illiquid and restricted securities and repurchase agreements and borrowing or lending money and/or portfolio securities. The risks of investing in these funds generally reflect the risks of the securities in which these funds invest and the investment techniques they may employ. Also, these funds charge fees and incur operating expenses. Each MarketTrack portfolio will normally invest at least 50% of their assets in other Schwab Funds(R), which are registered open-end investment companies. STOCK FUNDS typically seek growth of capital and invest primarily in equity securities. Other investments generally include debt securities, such as U.S. government securities, and some illiquid and restricted securities. Stock funds typically may enter into delayed-delivery or when-issued securities transactions, repurchase agreements, swap agreements and futures and options contracts. Some stock funds invest exclusively in equity securities and may focus on a specialized segment of the stock market, like stocks of small companies or foreign issuers, or may focus on a specific industry or group of industries. The greater a fund's investment in stock, the greater exposure it will have to stock risk and stock market risk. Stock risk is the risk that a stock may decline in price over the short or long term. When a stock's price declines, its market value is lowered even though the intrinsic value of the company may not have changed. Some stocks, like small company and international stocks, are more sensitive to stock risk than others. Diversifying investments across companies can help to lower the stock risk of a portfolio. Market risk is typically the result of a negative economic condition that affects the value of an entire class of securities, such as stocks or bonds. Diversification among various asset classes, such as stocks, bonds and cash, can help to lower the market risk of a portfolio. The Schwab Funds(R) stock funds that the MarketTrack portfolios may currently invest in are the Schwab Institutional Select S&P 500 Fund, Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund, Schwab Small-Cap Index Fund(R), and Schwab International Index Fund(R). The underlying stock funds that the Schwab Target Funds may currently invest in are the Schwab Core Equity Fund, Laudus Rosenberg U.S. Large Capitalization Growth Fund, Schwab Dividend Equity Fund, Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund, Laudus Rosenberg U.S. Discovery Fund, Laudus International MarketMasters Fund and Laudus Rosenberg International Small Capitalization Fund. A stock fund's other investments and use of investment techniques also will affect its performance and portfolio value. While it is the MarketTrack All Equity Portfolio's target allocation to invest 100% in stock investments, it is the portfolio's policy that, under normal circumstances, it will invest at least 80% of its net assets in stock investments. The portfolio will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. For purposes of this policy, net assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. SMALL-CAP STOCK FUNDS typically seek capital growth and invest primarily in equity securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations. Small-cap stock funds generally make similar 10 types of investments and employ similar types of techniques as other stock funds, except that they focus on stocks issued by companies at the lower end of the total capitalization of the U.S. stock market. These stocks tend to be more volatile than stocks of companies of larger capitalized companies. Small-cap stock funds, therefore, tend to be more volatile than stock funds that invest in mid- or large-cap stocks, and are normally recommended for long-term investors. The Schwab Funds(R) small-cap stock fund that the MarketTrack portfolios may currently invest in is the Schwab Small-Cap Index Fund(R). The underlying small-cap stock funds that the Schwab Target Funds may currently invest in are Laudus Rosenberg International Small Capitalization Fund, Laudus Rosenberg U.S. Discovery Fund and the Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund. For a more detailed discussion of the risks of small-cap stocks, please refer to "Small-Cap Stocks" later in the document. INTERNATIONAL STOCK FUNDS typically seek capital growth and invest primarily in equity securities of foreign issuers. Global stock funds invest primarily in equity securities of both domestic and foreign issuers. International and global stock funds generally make similar types of investments and employ similar types of investment techniques as other stock funds, except they focus on stocks of foreign issuers. Some international stock and global stock funds invest exclusively in foreign securities. Some of these funds invest in securities of issuers located in emerging or developing securities markets. These funds have greater exposure to the risks associated with international investing. International and global stock funds also may invest in foreign currencies and depositary receipts and enter into futures and options contracts on foreign currencies and forward foreign currency exchange contracts. The Schwab Funds international stock fund that the MarketTrack portfolios may currently invest in is the Schwab International Index Fund(R). The underlying international stock funds that the Schwab Target Funds may currently invest in are the Laudus Rosenberg International Small Capitalization Fund and Laudus International MarketMasters Fund. For a more detailed discussion of the risks of international stock, please refer to "Foreign Securities" later in the document. BOND FUNDS typically seek high current income by investing primarily in debt securities, including U.S. government securities, corporate bonds, stripped securities and mortgage- and asset-backed securities. Other investments may include some illiquid and restricted securities. Bond funds typically may enter into delayed-delivery or when-issued securities transactions, repurchase agreements, swap agreements and futures contracts. Bond funds are subject to interest rate and income risks as well as credit and prepayment risks. When interest rates fall, the prices of debt securities generally rise, which may affect the values of bond funds and their yields. For example, when interest rates fall, issuers tend to pre-pay their outstanding debts and issue new ones paying lower interest rates. A bond fund holding these securities would be forced to invest the principal received from the issuer in lower yielding debt securities. Conversely, in a rising interest rate environment, prepayment on outstanding debt securities generally will not occur. This risk is known as extension risk and may affect the value of a bond fund if the value of its securities are depreciated as a result of the higher market interest rates. Bond funds also are subject to the risk that the issuers of the securities in their portfolios will not make timely interest and/or principal payments or fail to make them at all. The Schwab Funds(R) bond fund that the MarketTrack portfolios may currently invest in is the Schwab Total Bond Market Fund TM. The underlying bond funds that the Schwab Target Funds may currently invest in are Schwab Total Bond Market Fund and Schwab YieldPlus Fund(R). For a more detailed discussion of the risks of bonds, please refer to "Debt Securities" later in the document. MONEY MARKET FUNDS typically seek current income and a stable share price of $1.00 by investing in money market securities. Money market securities include commercial paper and short-term U.S. government securities, certificates of deposit, bankers' acceptances and repurchase agreements. Some money market securities may be illiquid or restricted securities or purchased on 11 a delayed-delivery or when issued basis. The Schwab Funds money market fund that the MarketTrack portfolios may currently invest in is the Schwab Value Advantage Money Fund(R). The underlying money market fund that the Schwab Target Funds may currently invest in is the Schwab Value Advantage Money Fund(R). For a more detailed discussion of the risks of money market securities, please refer to "Money Market Securities" later in the document. SCHWAB VIEWPOINTS FUND: The Viewpoints Fund, under normal circumstances, will invest at least 25% of its assets in equity securities or investments with similar economic characteristics and at least 25% of its assets in fixed income securities, investments with similar economic characteristics and cash or cash equivalents. For purposes of this policy, assets mean net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. INVESTMENTS, RISKS AND LIMITATIONS The different types of investments that the funds (or, in the case of the MarketTrack Portfolios and Schwab Target Funds, an underlying fund) typically may invest in, the investment techniques they may use and the risks normally associated with these investments are discussed below. However, all of a MarketTrack Portfolio's and Target Fund's underlying funds various types of investments and investment techniques are not currently known. Each MarketTrack Portfolio and Target Fund also may invest in securities other than shares of underlying funds, such as stocks, bonds and money market securities, and engage in certain investment techniques, which are outlined below. For purposes of the descriptions below, references to "a fund" or "the funds" include each portfolio of the MarketTrack Portfolios and each Target Fund, unless otherwise noted. Not all securities or techniques discussed below are eligible investments for each fund. A fund will make investments that are intended to help achieve its investment objective. ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES are securities that are backed by the loans or accounts receivable of an entity, such as a bank or credit card company. These securities are obligations that the issuer intends to repay using the assets backing them (once collected). Therefore, repayment may depend largely on the cash flows generated by the assets backing the securities. The rate of principal payments on asset-backed securities generally depends on the rate of principal payments received on the underlying assets, which in turn may be affected by a variety of economic and other factors. As a result, the yield on any asset-backed security is difficult to predict with precision, and actual yield to maturity may be more or less than the anticipated yield to maturity. Sometimes the credit support for asset-backed securities is limited to the underlying assets, but, in other cases, may be provided by a third party via a letter of credit or insurance guarantee. For purposes of a fund's concentration policy, the fund will determine the industry classification of asset-backed securities based upon the investment adviser's (or sub-adviser's) evaluation of the risks associated with an investment in the underlying assets. For example, asset-backed securities whose underlying assets share similar economic characteristics because, for example, they are funded (or supported) primarily from a single or similar source or revenue stream will be classified in the same industry sector. In contrast, asset-backed securities whose underlying assets represent a diverse mix of industries, business sectors and/or revenue streams will be classified into distinct industries based on their underlying credit and liquidity structures. A fund will limit its investments in each identified industry to less than 25% of its total assets. BANKERS' ACCEPTANCES or notes are credit instruments evidencing a bank's obligation to pay a draft drawn on it by a customer. These instruments reflect the obligation both of the bank and of the 12 drawer to pay the full amount of the instrument upon maturity. A fund will invest only in bankers' acceptances of banks that have capital, surplus and undivided profits in excess of $100 million. BORROWING. A fund may borrow for temporary or emergency purposes; for example, a fund may borrow at times to meet redemption requests rather than sell portfolio securities to raise the necessary cash. In addition, the Hedged Equity Fund may borrow for investment purposes. A fund's borrowings will be subject to interest costs. Borrowing can also involve leveraging when securities are purchased with the borrowed money. Leveraging creates interest expenses that can exceed the income from the assets purchased with the borrowed money. In addition, leveraging may magnify changes in the net asset value of a fund's shares and in its portfolio yield. A fund will earmark or segregate assets to cover such borrowings in accordance with positions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If assets used to secure a borrowing decrease in value, a fund may be required to pledge additional collateral to avoid liquidation of those assets. A fund may establish lines-of-credit (lines) with certain banks by which it may borrow funds for temporary or emergency purposes. A borrowing is presumed to be for temporary or emergency purposes if it is repaid by a fund within 60 days and is not extended or renewed. Each fund may use the lines to meet large or unexpected redemptions that would otherwise force a fund to liquidate securities under circumstances which are unfavorable to a fund's remaining shareholders. In addition, the Hedged Equity Fund may establish lines with certain banks by which it may borrow funds for investment purposes, such as the purchase of securities. Each fund will pay fees to the banks for using its lines. CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT or time deposits are issued against funds deposited in a banking institution for a specified period of time at a specified interest rate. A fund will invest only in certificates of deposit of banks that have capital, surplus and undivided profits in excess of $100 million. COMMERCIAL PAPER consists of short-term, promissory notes issued by banks, corporations and other institutions to finance short-term credit needs. These securities generally are discounted but sometimes may be interest bearing. Commercial paper, which also may be unsecured, is subject to credit risk. CONCENTRATION means that substantial amounts of assets are invested in a particular industry or group of industries. Concentration increases investment exposure to industry risk. For example, the automobile industry may have a greater exposure to a single factor, such as an increase in the price of oil, which may adversely affect the sale of automobiles and, as a result, the value of the industry's securities. Schwab Financial Services Fund TM, Schwab Health Care Fund TM and Schwab Technology Fund TM will, under normal conditions, invest 25% or more of its total assets in the industry or group of industries representing its sector. Each of the Schwab Equity Index Funds will not concentrate its investments, unless its index is so concentrated. Each of the Schwab MarketTrack Portfolios and Schwab Target Funds will not concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries unless its underlying fund investments are so concentrated. The Schwab Core Equity Fund and Schwab Hedged Equity Fund will not concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries, unless the S&P 500 Index is so concentrated. The Schwab Dividend Equity Fund, Schwab Large-Cap Growth Fund and Schwab Premier Equity Fund will not concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries. The Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund will not concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries, unless the S&P SmallCap 600 Index is so concentrated. CREDIT AND LIQUIDITY supports may be employed by issuers to reduce the credit risk of their securities. Credit supports include letters of credit, insurance and guarantees provided by foreign and domestic entities. Liquidity supports include puts and demand features. Most of these 13 arrangements move the credit risk of an investment from the issuer of the security to the support provider. Changes in the credit quality of a support provider could cause losses to a fund, and affect its share price. DEBT SECURITIES are obligations issued by domestic and foreign entities, including governments and corporations, in order to raise money. They are basically "IOUs," but are commonly referred to as bonds or money market securities. These securities normally require the issuer to pay a fixed, variable or floating rate of interest on the amount of money borrowed (the "principal") until it is paid back upon maturity. Debt securities experience price changes when interest rates change. For example, when interest rates fall, the prices of debt securities generally rise. Also, issuers tend to pre-pay their outstanding debts and issue new ones paying lower interest rates. This is especially true for bonds with sinking fund provisions, which commit the issuer to set aside a certain amount of money to cover timely repayment of principal and typically allow the issuer to annually repurchase certain of its outstanding bonds from the open market or at a pre-set call price. Conversely, in a rising interest rate environment, prepayment on outstanding debt securities generally will not occur. This is known as extension risk and may cause the value of debt securities to depreciate as a result of the higher market interest rates. Typically, longer-maturity securities react to interest rate changes more severely than shorter-term securities (all things being equal), but generally offer greater rates of interest. Debt securities also are subject to the risk that the issuers will not make timely interest and/or principal payments or fail to make them at all. This is called credit risk. Corporate debt securities (bonds) tend to have higher credit risk generally than U.S. government debt securities. Debt securities also may be subject to price volatility due to market perception of future interest rates, the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market liquidity (market risk). Investment-grade debt securities are considered medium- or/and high-quality securities, although some still possess varying degrees of speculative characteristics and risks. Debt securities rated below investment-grade are riskier, but may offer higher yields. These securities are sometimes referred to as high yield securities or "junk bonds." The market for these securities has historically been less liquid than for investment-grade securities. See the Appendix for a full description of the various ratings assigned to debt securities by various nationally recognized statistical rating organizations ("NRSRO"s). DELAYED-DELIVERY TRANSACTIONS include purchasing and selling securities on a delayed-delivery or when-issued basis. These transactions involve a commitment to buy or sell specific securities at a predetermined price or yield, with payment and delivery taking place after the customary settlement period for that type of security. When purchasing securities on a delayed-delivery basis, a fund assumes the rights and risks of ownership, including the risk of price and yield fluctuations. Typically, no interest will accrue to a fund until the security is delivered. A fund will earmark or segregate appropriate liquid assets to cover its delayed-delivery purchase obligations. When a fund sells a security on a delayed-delivery basis, a fund does not participate in further gains or losses with respect to that security. If the other party to a delayed-delivery transaction fails to deliver or pay for the securities, a fund could suffer losses. DELAYED FUNDING LOANS AND REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITIES. A fund may enter into, or acquire participations in, delayed funding loans and revolving credit facilities. Delayed funding loans and revolving credit facilities are borrowing arrangements in which the lender agrees to make loans up to a maximum amount upon demand by the borrower during a specified term. A revolving credit facility differs from a delayed funding loan in that as the borrower repays the loan, an amount equal to the repayment may be borrowed again during the term of the revolving credit 14 facility. Delayed funding loans and revolving credit facilities usually provide for floating or variable rates of interest. These commitments may have the effect of requiring a fund to increase its investment in a company at a time when it might not otherwise decide to do so (including at a time when the company's financial condition makes it unlikely that such amounts will be repaid). To the extent that a fund is committed to advance additional funds, it will at all times segregate or "earmark" assets, determined to be liquid in accordance with procedures established by the Board of Trustees, in an amount sufficient to meet such commitments. A fund may invest in delayed funding loans and revolving credit facilities with credit quality comparable to that of issuers of its securities investments. Delayed funding loans and revolving credit facilities may be subject to restrictions on transfer, and only limited opportunities may exist to resell such instruments. As a result, a fund may be unable to sell such investments at an opportune time or may have to resell them at less than fair market value. A fund currently intends to treat delayed funding loans and revolving credit facilities for which there is no readily available market as illiquid for purposes of a fund's limitation on illiquid investments. For a further discussion of the risks involved in investing in Loan Participations and other forms of direct indebtedness see "Loan Participations." Participation interests in revolving credit facilities will be subject to the limitations discussed in "Loan Participations." Delayed funding loans and revolving credit facilities are considered to be debt obligations for purposes of the Trust's investment restriction relating to the lending of funds or assets by a fund. DEMAND FEATURES, which may include guarantees, are used to shorten a security's effective maturity and/or enhance its creditworthiness. If a demand feature provider were to refuse to permit the feature's exercise or otherwise terminate its obligations with respect to such feature, however, the security's effective maturity may be lengthened substantially, and/or its credit quality may be adversely impacted. In either event, a fund may experience an increase in share price volatility. This also could lengthen a fund's overall average effective maturity. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS include American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) as well as other "hybrid" forms of ADRs, including European Depositary Receipts (EDRs) and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), are certificates evidencing ownership of shares of a foreign issuer. Depositary receipts may be sponsored or unsponsored. These certificates are issued by depository banks and generally trade on an established market in the United States or elsewhere. The underlying shares are held in trust by a custodian bank or similar financial institution in the issuer's home country. The depository bank may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services, including forwarding dividends and interest and corporate actions. ADRs are alternatives to directly purchasing the underlying foreign securities in their national markets and currencies. However, ADRs continue to be subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign securities. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers may subject a fund to investment risks that differ in some respects from those related to investments in securities of U.S. issuers. Such risks include future adverse political and economic developments, possible imposition of withholding taxes on income, possible seizure, nationalization or expropriation of foreign deposits, possible establishment of exchange controls or taxation at the source or greater fluctuation in value due to changes in exchange rates. Foreign issuers of securities often engage in business practices different from those of domestic issuers of similar securities, and there may be less information publicly available about foreign issuers. In addition, foreign issuers are, generally speaking, subject to less government supervision and regulation and different accounting treatment than are those in the United States. Although the two types of depositary receipt facilities (unsponsored or sponsored) are similar, there are differences regarding a holder's rights and obligations and the practices of market 15 participants. A depository may establish an unsponsored facility without participation by (or acquiescence of) the underlying issuer; typically, however, the depository requests a letter of non-objection from the underlying issuer prior to establishing the facility. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all the costs of the facility. The depository usually charges fees upon the deposit and withdrawal of the underlying securities, the conversion of dividends into U.S. dollars or other currency, the disposition of non-cash distributions, and the performance of other services. The depository of an unsponsored facility frequently is under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications received from the underlying issuer or to pass through voting rights to depositary receipt holders with respect to the underlying securities. Sponsored depositary receipt facilities are created in generally the same manner as unsponsored facilities, except that sponsored depositary receipts are established jointly by a depository and the underlying issuer through a deposit agreement. The deposit agreement sets out the rights and responsibilities of the underlying issuer, the depository, and the depositary receipt holders. With sponsored facilities, the underlying issuer typically bears some of the costs of the depositary receipts (such as dividend payment fees of the depository), although most sponsored depositary receipts holders may bear costs such as deposit and withdrawal fees. Depositories of most sponsored depositary receipts agree to distribute notices of shareholder meetings, voting instructions, and other shareholder communications and information to the depositary receipt holders at the underlying issuer's request. DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS are commonly defined to include securities or contracts whose values depend on (or "derive" from) the value of one or more other assets such as securities, currencies, or commodities. These "other assets" are commonly referred to as "underlying assets." A derivative instrument generally consists of, is based upon, or exhibits characteristics similar to options or forward contracts. Options and forward contracts are considered to be the basic "building blocks" of derivatives. For example, forward-based derivatives include forward contracts, as well as exchange-traded futures. Option-based derivatives include privately negotiated, over-the-counter (OTC) options (including caps, floors, collars, and options on forward and swap contracts) and exchange-traded options on futures. Diverse types of derivatives may be created by combining options or forward contracts in different ways, and applying these structures to a wide range of underlying assets. Risk management strategies include investment techniques designed to facilitate the sale of portfolio securities, manage the average duration of the portfolio or create or alter exposure to certain asset classes, such as equity, other debt or foreign securities. In addition to the derivative instruments and strategies described in this SAI, the investment adviser or sub-adviser expects to discover additional derivative instruments and other hedging or risk management techniques. The investment adviser or sub-adviser may utilize these new derivative instruments and techniques to the extent that they are consistent with a fund's investment objective and permitted by a fund's investment limitations, operating policies, and applicable regulatory authorities. DIVERSIFICATION involves investing in a wide range of securities and thereby spreading and reducing the risks of investment. Each fund is a series of an open-end investment management company. Each of the Schwab Financial Services Fund TM, Schwab Health Care Fund TM, and the Schwab Technology Fund TM are non-diversified mutual funds, which means that a relatively high percentage of assets of the funds may be invested in the obligations of a limited number of issuers. The value of shares of these funds may be more susceptible to any single economic, political or regulatory occurrence than the shares of a diversified investment company would be. Each of the Schwab Financial Services Fund, Schwab Health Care Fund, and Schwab 16 Technology Fund intends to diversify its investments to the extent required to qualify as a "regulated investment company" under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). The Schwab Equity Index Funds, Schwab MarketTrack Portfolios, Schwab Target Funds, Schwab Core Equity Fund, Schwab Hedged Equity Fund, Schwab Dividend Equity Fund, Schwab Premier Equity Fund, Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund, Schwab Large-Cap Growth Fund and Schwab Viewpoints Fund are diversified mutual funds. DURATION was developed as a more precise alternative to the concept of "maturity." Traditionally, a debt obligation's maturity has been used as a proxy for the sensitivity of the security's price to changes in interest rates (which is the "interest rate risk" or "volatility" of the security). However, maturity measures only the time until a debt obligation provides its final payment, taking no account of the pattern of the security's payments prior to maturity. In contrast, duration incorporates a bond's yield, coupon interest payments, final maturity, call and put features and prepayment exposure into one measure. Duration is the magnitude of the change in the price of a bond relative to a given change in market interest rates. Duration management is one of the fundamental tools used by the investment adviser/sub-advisers for debt portions of the portfolios. EMERGING OR DEVELOPING MARKETS exist in countries that are considered to be in the initial stages of industrialization. The risks of investing in these markets are similar to the risks of international investing in general, although the risks are greater in emerging and developing markets. Countries with emerging or developing securities markets tend to have economic structures that are less stable than countries with developed securities markets. This is because their economies may be based on only a few industries and their securities markets may trade a small number of securities. Prices on these exchanges tend to be volatile, and securities in these countries historically have offered greater potential for gain (as well as loss) than securities of companies located in developed countries. EQUITY SECURITIES represent ownership interests in a company, and are commonly called "stocks." Equity securities historically have outperformed most other securities, although their prices can fluctuate based on changes in a company's financial condition, market conditions and political, economic or even company-specific news. When a stock's price declines, its market value is lowered even though the intrinsic value of the company may not have changed. Sometimes factors, such as economic conditions or political events, affect the value of stocks of companies of the same or similar industry or group of industries, and may affect the entire stock market. Types of equity securities include common stocks, preferred stocks, convertible securities, warrants, ADRs, EDRs, and interests in real estate investment trusts, (for more information on real estate investment trusts, "REITs", see the section entitled "Real Estate Investment Trusts"). Common stocks, which are probably the most recognized type of equity security, represent an equity or ownership interest in an issuer and usually entitle the owner to voting rights in the election of the corporation's directors and any other matters submitted to the corporation's shareholders for voting, as well as to receive dividends on such stock. The market value of common stock can fluctuate widely, as it reflects increases and decreases in an issuer's earnings. In the event an issuer is liquidated or declares bankruptcy, the claims of bond owners, other debt holders and owners of preferred stock take precedence over the claims of common stock owners. Preferred stocks represent an equity or ownership interest in an issuer but do not ordinarily carry voting rights, though they may carry limited voting rights. Preferred stocks normally have preference over the corporation's assets and earnings, however. For example, preferred stocks have preference over common stock in the payment of dividends. Preferred stocks normally pay dividends at a specified rate. However, preferred stock may be purchased where the issuer has 17 omitted, or is in danger of omitting, payment of its dividend. Such investments would be made primarily for their capital appreciation potential. In the event an issuer is liquidated or declares bankruptcy, the claims of bond owners take precedence over the claims of preferred and common stock owners. Certain classes of preferred stock are convertible into shares of common stock of the issuer. By holding convertible preferred stock, a fund can receive a steady stream of dividends and still have the option to convert the preferred stock to common stock. Preferred stock is subject to many of the same risks as common stock and debt securities. Convertible securities are typically preferred stocks or bonds that are exchangeable for a specific number of another form of security (usually the issuer's common stock) at a specified price or ratio. A convertible security generally entitles the holder to receive interest paid or accrued on bonds or the dividend paid on preferred stock until the convertible security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged. A corporation may issue a convertible security that is subject to redemption after a specified date, and usually under certain circumstances. A holder of a convertible security that is called for redemption would be required to tender it for redemption to the issuer, convert it to the underlying common stock or sell it to a third party. The convertible structure allows the holder of the convertible bond to participate in share price movements in the company's common stock. The actual return on a convertible bond may exceed its stated yield if the company's common stock appreciates in value and the option to convert to common stocks becomes more valuable. Convertible securities typically pay a lower interest rate than nonconvertible bonds of the same quality and maturity because of the convertible feature. Convertible securities are also rated below investment grade ("high yield") or are not rated, and are subject to credit risk. Prior to conversion, convertible securities have characteristics and risks similar to nonconvertible debt and equity securities. In addition, convertible securities are often concentrated in economic sectors, which, like the stock market in general, may experience unpredictable declines in value, as well as periods of poor performance, which may last for several years. There may be a small trading market for a particular convertible security at any given time, which may adversely impact market price and a fund's ability to liquidate a particular security or respond to an economic event, including deterioration of an issuer's creditworthiness. Convertible preferred stocks are nonvoting equity securities that pay a fixed dividend. These securities have a convertible feature similar to convertible bonds, but do not have a maturity date. Due to their fixed income features, convertible securities provide higher income potential than the issuer's common stock, but typically are more sensitive to interest rate changes than the underlying common stock. In the event of a company's liquidation, bondholders have claims on company assets senior to those of shareholders; preferred shareholders have claims senior to those of common shareholders. Convertible securities typically trade at prices above their conversion value, which is the current market value of the common stock received upon conversion, because of their higher yield potential than the underlying common stock. The difference between the conversion value and the price of a convertible security will vary depending on the value of the underlying common stock and interest rates. When the underlying value of the common stocks declines, the price of the issuer's convertible securities will tend not to fall as much because the convertible security's income potential will act as a price support. While the value of a convertible security also tends to rise when the underlying common stock value rises, it will not rise as much because their conversion value is more narrow. The value of convertible securities also is affected by changes in interest rates. For example, when interest rates fall, the value of convertible securities may rise because of their fixed income component. 18 Warrants are types of securities usually issued with bonds and preferred stock that entitle the holder to purchase a proportionate amount of common stock at a specified price for a specific period of time. The prices of warrants do not necessarily move parallel to the prices of the underlying common stock. Warrants have no voting rights, receive no dividends and have no rights with respect to the assets of the issuer. If a warrant is not exercised within the specified time period, it will become worthless and a fund will lose the purchase price it paid for the warrant and the right to purchase the underlying security. Initial Public Offering. A fund may purchase shares issued as part of, or a short period after, a company's initial public offering ("IPOs"), and may at times dispose of those shares shortly after their acquisition. A fund's purchase of shares issued in IPOs exposes it to the risks associated with companies that have little operating history as public companies, as well as to the risks inherent in those sectors of the market where these new issuers operate. The market for IPO issuers has been volatile, and share prices of newly-public companies have fluctuated significantly over short periods of time. Master Limited Partnerships ("MLPs") MLPs are limited partnerships in which the common units are publicly traded. MLP common units are freely traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market and are generally registered with the SEC. MLPs often own several properties or businesses (or own interests) that are related to real estate development and oil and gas industries, but they also may finance motion pictures, research and development and other projects. MLPs generally have two classes of owners, the general partner and limited partners. The general partner is typically owned by a major energy company, an investment fund, the direct management of the MLP or is an entity owned by one or more of such parties. The general partner may be structured as a private or publicly traded corporation or other entity. The general partner typically controls the operations and management of the MLP through an up to 2% equity interest in the MLP plus, in many cases, ownership of common units and subordinated units. Limited partners own the remainder of the partnership, through ownership of common units, and have a limited role, if any, in the partnership's operations and management. MLPs are typically structured such that common units and general partner interests have first priority to receive quarterly cash distributions up to an established minimum amount ("minimum quarterly distributions"). Common and general partner interests also accrue arrearages in distributions to the extent the minimum quarterly distribution is not paid. Once common and general partner interests have been paid, subordinated units receive distributions of up to the minimum quarterly distribution; however, subordinated units do not accrue arrearages. Distributable cash in excess of the minimum quarterly distribution paid to both common and subordinated units is distributed to both common and subordinated units generally on a pro rata basis. The general partner is also eligible to receive incentive distributions if the general partner operates the business in a manner which results in distributions paid per common unit surpassing specified target levels. As the general partner increases cash distributions to the limited partners, the general partner receives an increasingly higher percentage of the incremental cash distributions. A common arrangement provides that the general partner can reach a tier where it receives 50% of every incremental dollar paid to common and subordinated unit holders. These incentive distributions are intended to encourage the general partner to streamline costs, increase capital expenditures and acquire assets in order to increase the partnership's cash flow and raise the quarterly cash distribution in order to reach higher tiers. Such results are intended to benefit all security holders of the MLP, however, such incentive distribution payments give rise to potential conflicts of interest between the common unit holders and the general partner. MLP common units represent a limited partnership interest in the MLP. Common units are listed and traded on U.S. securities exchanges or over-the-counter, with their value fluctuating predominantly based on prevailing market conditions and the success of the MLP. The funds 19 may purchase common units in market transactions as well as directly from the MLP or other parties in private placements. Unlike owners of common stock of a corporation, owners of common units have limited voting rights and have no ability to annually elect directors. MLPs generally distribute all available cash flow (cash flow from operations less maintenance capital expenditures) in the form of quarterly distributions. Common units along with general partner units, have first priority to receive quarterly cash distributions up to the minimum quarterly distribution and have arrearage rights. In the event of liquidation, common units have preference over subordinated units, but not debt or preferred units, to the remaining assets of the MLP. MLP subordinated units are typically issued by MLPs to their original sponsors, such as their founders, corporate general partners of MLPs, entities that sell assets to the MLP, and investors. Subordinated units may be purchased directly from these persons as well as newly-issued subordinated units from MLPs themselves. Subordinated units have similar voting rights as common units and are generally not publicly traded. Once the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units, including any arrearages, has been paid, subordinated units receive cash distributions up to the minimum quarterly distribution prior to any incentive payments to the MLP's general partner. Unlike common units, subordinated units do not have arrearage rights. In the event of liquidation, common units and general partner interests have priority over subordinated units. Subordinated units are typically converted into common units on a one-to-one basis after certain time periods and/or performance targets have been satisfied. The purchase or sale price of subordinated units is generally tied to the common unit price less a discount. The size of the discount varies depending on the likelihood of conversion, the length of time remaining to conversion, the size of the block purchased relative to trading volumes, and other factors, including smaller capitalization partnerships or companies potentially having limited product lines, markets or financial resources, lacking management depth or experience, and being more vulnerable to adverse general market or economic development than larger more established companies. General partner interests of MLPs are typically retained by an MLP's original sponsors, such as its founders, corporate partners, entities that sell assets to the MLP and investors. A holder of general partner interests can be liable under certain circumstances for amounts greater than the amount of the holder's investment in the general partner interest. General partner interests often confer direct board participation rights and in many cases, operating control, over the MLP. These interests themselves are not publicly traded, although they may be owned by publicly traded entities. General partner interests receive cash distributions, typically 2% of the MLP's aggregate cash distributions, which are contractually defined in the partnership agreement. In addition, holders of general partner interests typically hold incentive distribution rights, which provide them with a larger share of the aggregate MLP cash distributions as the distributions to limited partner unit holders are increased to prescribed levels. General partner interests generally cannot be converted into common units. The general partner interest can be redeemed by the MLP if the MLP unitholders choose to remove the general partner, typically with a supermajority vote by limited partner unitholders. Additional risks involved with investing in a MLP are risks associated with the specific industry or industries in which the partnership invests, such as the risks of investing in real estate, or oil and gas industries. Certain MLPs are dependent on their parent companies or sponsors for a majority of their revenues. Any failure by a MLP's parents or sponsors to satisfy their payments or obligations would impact the MLP's revenues and cash flows and ability to make distributions. 20 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS ("ETFs") such as Standard and Poor's Depositary Receipts ("SPDRs") Trust, are investment companies that typically are registered under the 1940 Act as open-end funds or unit investment trusts ("UITs"). ETFs are actively traded on national securities exchanges and are generally based on specific domestic and foreign market indices. Shares of an ETF may be bought and sold through the day at market prices, which may be higher or lower than the shares' net asset value. An "index-based ETF" seeks to track the performance of an index holding in its portfolio either the contents of the index or a representative sample of the securities in the index. Because ETFs are based on an underlying basket of stocks or an index, they are subject to the same market fluctuations as these types of securities in volatile market swings. ETFs, like mutual funds, have expenses associated with their operation, including advisory fees. When a fund invests in an ETF, in addition to directly bearing expenses associated with its own operations, it will bear a pro rata portion of the ETF's expenses. As with any exchange listed security, ETF shares purchased in the secondary market are subject to customary brokerage shares. Pursuant to an exemptive order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC)" to iShares and procedures approved by the funds' Board of Trustees, each fund may invest in iShares not to exceed 25% of the fund's total assets, provided that the fund has described exchange-traded fund investments in its prospectuses and otherwise complies with the conditions of the exemptive order and other applicable investment limitations. EVENT-LINKED BONDS. A fund may invest up to 5% of its net assets in "event-linked bonds," which are fixed income securities for which the return of principal and payment of interest is contingent on the non-occurrence of a specific "trigger" event, such as a hurricane, earthquake, or other physical or weather-related phenomenon. Some event-linked bonds are commonly referred to as "catastrophe bonds." If a trigger event occurs, a fund may lose a portion or all of its principal invested in the bond. Event-linked bonds often provide for an extension of maturity to process and audit loss claims where a trigger event has, or possibly has, occurred. An extension of maturity may increase volatility. Event-linked bonds may also expose a fund to certain unanticipated risks including credit risk, adverse regulatory or jurisdictional interpretations, and adverse tax consequences. Event-linked bonds may also be subject to liquidity risk. FIXED TIME DEPOSITS are bank obligations payable at a stated maturity date and bearing interest at a fixed rate. Fixed time deposits may be withdrawn on demand by the investor, but may be subject to early withdrawal penalties, which vary depending upon market conditions and the remaining maturity of the obligation. There are no contractual restrictions on the right to transfer a beneficial interest in a fixed time deposit to a third party, although there is no market for such deposits. A fund will not invest in fixed time deposits, which (1) are not subject to prepayment or (2) provide for withdrawal penalties upon prepayment (other than overnight deposits) if, in the aggregate, more than 15% of its net assets would be invested in such deposits, repurchase agreements maturing in more than seven days and other illiquid assets. FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS. A fund may invest in foreign currency-denominated securities, may purchase and sell foreign currency options and foreign currency futures contracts and related options and may engage in foreign currency transactions either on a spot (cash) basis at the rate prevailing in the currency exchange market at the time or through forward currency contracts ("forwards") with terms generally of less than one year. A fund may engage in these transactions in order to protect against uncertainty in the level of future foreign exchange rates in the purchase and sale of securities. A fund may also use foreign currency options and foreign currency forward contracts to increase exposure to a foreign currency or to shift exposure to foreign currency fluctuations from one country to another. A fund will earmark or segregate assets for any open positions in forwards used for non-hedging purposes and mark to market daily as may be required under the federal securities laws. 21 A forward 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 may be bought or sold to protect a fund against a possible loss resulting from an adverse change in the relationship between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar or to increase exposure to a particular foreign currency. Many foreign securities markets do not settle trades within a time frame that would be considered customary in the U.S. stock market. Therefore, a fund may engage in forward foreign currency exchange contracts in order to secure exchange rates for fund securities purchased or sold, but awaiting settlement. These transactions do not seek to eliminate any fluctuations in the underlying prices of the securities involved. Instead, the transactions simply establish a rate of exchange that can be expected when a fund settles its securities transactions in the future. Forwards involve certain risks. For example, if the counterparties to the contracts are unable to meet the terms of the contracts or if the value of the foreign currency changes unfavorably, a fund could sustain a loss. A fund may engage in forward foreign currency exchange contracts to protect the value of specific portfolio positions, which is called "position hedging." When engaging in position hedging, a fund may enter into forward foreign currency exchange transactions to protect against a decline in the values of the foreign currencies in which portfolio securities are denominated (or against an increase in the value of currency for securities that a fund expects to purchase). Buying and selling foreign currency exchange contracts involves costs and may result in losses. The ability of a fund to engage in these transactions may be limited by tax considerations. Although these techniques tend to minimize the risk of loss due to declines in the value of the hedged currency, they tend to limit any potential gain that might result from an increase in the value of such currency. Transactions in these contracts involve certain other risks. Unanticipated fluctuations in currency prices may result in a poorer overall performance for a fund than if it had not engaged in any such transactions. Moreover, there may be imperfect correlation between a fund's holdings of securities denominated in a particular currency and forward contracts into which a fund enters. Such imperfect correlation may cause a fund to sustain losses, which will prevent it from achieving a complete hedge or expose it to risk of foreign exchange loss. Suitable hedging transactions may not be available in all circumstances and there can be no assurance that a fund will engage in such transactions at any given time or from time to time. Also, such transactions may not be successful and may eliminate any chance for a fund to benefit from favorable fluctuations in relevant foreign currencies. Forwards will be used primarily to adjust the foreign exchange exposure of a fund with a view to protecting the outlook, and a fund might be expected to enter into such contracts under the following circumstances: LOCK IN. When the investment adviser or sub-adviser desires to lock in the U.S. dollar price on the purchase or sale of a security denominated in a foreign currency. CROSS HEDGE. If a particular currency is expected to decrease against another currency, a fund may sell the currency expected to decrease and purchase a currency which is expected to increase against the currency sold in an amount approximately equal to some or all of a fund's portfolio holdings denominated in the currency sold. DIRECT HEDGE. If the investment adviser or sub-adviser wants to a eliminate substantially all of the risk of owning a particular currency, and/or if the investment adviser or sub-adviser thinks that a fund can benefit from price appreciation in a given country's bonds but does not want to 22 hold the currency, it may employ a direct hedge back into the U.S. dollar. In either case, a fund would enter into a forward contract to sell the currency in which a portfolio security is denominated and purchase U.S. dollars at an exchange rate established at the time it initiated the contract. The cost of the direct hedge transaction may offset most, if not all, of the yield advantage offered by the foreign security, but a fund would benefit from an increase in value of the bond. PROXY HEDGE. The investment adviser or sub-adviser might choose to use a proxy hedge, which may be less costly than a direct hedge. In this case, a fund, having purchased a security, will sell a currency whose value is believed to be closely linked to the currency in which the security is denominated. Interest rates prevailing in the country whose currency was sold would be expected to be closer to those in the U.S. and lower than those of securities denominated in the currency of the original holding. This type of hedging entails greater risk than a direct hedge because it is dependent on a stable relationship between the two currencies paired as proxies and the relationships can be very unstable at times. COSTS OF HEDGING. When a fund purchases a foreign bond with a higher interest rate than is available on U.S. bonds of a similar maturity, the additional yield on the foreign bond could be substantially reduced or lost if a fund were to enter into a direct hedge by selling the foreign currency and purchasing the U.S. dollar. This is what is known as the "cost" of hedging. Proxy hedging attempts to reduce this cost through an indirect hedge back to the U.S. dollar. It is important to note that hedging costs are treated as capital transactions and are not, therefore, deducted from a fund's dividend distribution and are not reflected in its yield. Instead such costs will, over time, be reflected in a fund's net asset value per share. TAX CONSEQUENCES OF HEDGING. Under applicable tax law, a fund may be required to limit their gains from hedging in foreign currency forwards, futures, and options. Although a fund is expected to comply with such limits, the extent to which these limits apply is subject to tax regulations as yet unissued. Hedging may also result in the application of the mark-to-market and straddle provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Those provisions could result in an increase (or decrease) in the amount of taxable dividends paid by a fund and could affect whether dividends paid by a fund are classified as capital gains or ordinary income. FOREIGN SECURITIES involve additional risks, including foreign currency exchange rate risks, because they are issued by foreign entities, including foreign governments, banks and corporations or because they are traded principally overseas. Foreign securities in which a fund may invest include foreign entities that are not subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, practices and requirements comparable to those applicable to U.S. corporations. In addition, there may be less publicly available information about foreign entities. Foreign economic, political and legal developments, as well as fluctuating foreign currency exchange rates and withholding taxes, could have more dramatic effects on the value of foreign securities. For example, conditions within and around foreign countries, such as the possibility of expropriation or confiscatory taxation, political or social instability, diplomatic developments, change of government or war could affect the value of foreign investments. Moreover, individual foreign economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross national product, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payments position. Foreign securities typically have less volume and are generally less liquid and more volatile than securities of U.S. companies. Fixed commissions on foreign securities exchanges are generally higher than negotiated commissions on U.S. exchanges, although a fund will endeavor to achieve the most favorable overall results on portfolio transactions. There is generally less government supervision and regulation of foreign securities exchanges, brokers, dealers and listed companies 23 than in the United States, thus increasing the risk of delayed settlements of portfolio transactions or loss of certificates for portfolio securities. There may be difficulties in obtaining or enforcing judgments against foreign issuers as well. These factors and others may increase the risks with respect to the liquidity of a fund, and its ability to meet a large number of shareholder redemption requests. Foreign markets also have different clearance and settlement procedures and, in certain markets, there have been times when settlements have been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct such transactions. Such delays in settlement could result in temporary periods when a portion of the assets of a fund is uninvested and no return is earned thereon. The inability to make intended security purchases due to settlement problems could cause a fund to miss attractive investment opportunities. Losses to a fund arising out of the inability to fulfill a contract to sell such securities also could result in potential liability for a fund. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers may be made and held in foreign currencies. In addition, a fund may hold cash in foreign currencies. These investments may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in currency rates and in exchange control regulations, and may cause a fund to incur costs in connection with conversions between various currencies. The rate of exchange between the U.S. dollar and other currencies is determined by the forces of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market as well as by political and economic factors. Changes in the foreign currency exchange rates also may affect the value of dividends and interest earned, gains and losses realized on the sale of securities, and net investment income and gains, if any, to be distributed to shareholders by a fund. FORWARD CONTRACTS are sales contracts between a buyer (holding the "long" position), and the seller (holding the "short" position) for an asset with delivery deferred to a future date. The buyer agrees to pay a fixed price at the agreed future date and the seller agrees to deliver the asset. The seller hopes that the market price on the delivery date is less than the agreed upon price, while the buyer hopes for the contrary. The change in value of a forward-based derivative generally is roughly proportional to the change in value of the underlying asset. FUTURES CONTRACTS are instruments that represent an agreement between two parties that obligates one party to buy, and the other party to sell, specific instruments at an agreed-upon price on a stipulated future date. In the case of futures contracts relating to an index or otherwise not calling for physical delivery at the close of the transaction, the parties usually agree to deliver the final cash settlement price of the contract. A fund may purchase and sell futures contracts based on securities, securities indices and foreign currencies, interest rates, or any other futures contracts traded on U.S. exchanges or boards of trade that the Commodities Future Trading Commission ("CFTC") licenses and regulates on foreign exchanges. Consistent with CFTC regulations, the trusts have claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term "commodity pool operator" under the Commodity Exchange Act and, therefore, are not subject to registration or regulation as a pool operator under the Commodity Exchange Act. A fund that engages in futures contracts must maintain a small portion of its assets in cash to process shareholder transactions in and out of it to pay its expenses. In order to reduce the effect this otherwise uninvested cash would have on its performance, a fund may purchase futures contracts. Such transactions allow a fund's cash balance to produce a return similar to that of the underlying security or index on which the futures contract is based. Also, a fund may purchase or sell futures contracts on a specified foreign currency to "fix" the price in U.S. dollars of the foreign security it has acquired or sold or expects to acquire or sell. A fund may enter into futures contracts for other reasons as well. 24 When buying or selling futures contracts, a fund must place a deposit with its broker equal to a fraction of the contract amount. This amount is known as "initial margin" and must be in the form of liquid debt instruments, including cash, cash-equivalents and U.S. government securities. Subsequent payments to and from the broker, known as "variation margin" may be made daily, if necessary, as the value of the futures contracts fluctuate. This process is known as "marking-to-market." The margin amount will be returned to a fund upon termination of the futures contracts assuming all contractual obligations are satisfied. Because margin requirements are normally only a fraction of the amount of the futures contracts in a given transaction, futures trading can involve a great deal of leverage. In order to avoid this, a fund will earmark or segregate assets for any outstanding futures contracts as may be required under the federal securities laws. While a fund intends to purchase and sell futures contracts in order to simulate full investment, there are risks associated with these transactions. Adverse market movements could cause a fund to experience substantial losses when buying and selling futures contracts. Of course, barring significant market distortions, similar results would have been expected if a fund had instead transacted in the underlying securities directly. There also is the risk of losing any margin payments held by a broker in the event of its bankruptcy. Additionally, a fund incurs transaction costs (i.e. brokerage fees) when engaging in futures trading. To the extent a fund also invests in futures in order to simulate full investment, these same risks apply. When interest rates are rising or securities prices are falling, a fund may seek, through the sale of futures contracts, to offset a decline in the value of their current portfolio securities. When rates are falling or prices are rising, a fund, through the purchase of futures contracts, may attempt to secure better rates or prices than might later be available in the market when they effect anticipated purchases. Similarly, a fund may sell futures contracts on a specified currency to protect against a decline in the value of that currency and their portfolio securities that are denominated in that currency. A fund may purchase futures contracts on a foreign currency to fix the price in U.S. dollars of a security denominated in that currency that a fund have acquired or expect to acquire. Futures contracts normally require actual delivery or acquisition of an underlying security or cash value of an index on the expiration date of the contract. In most cases, however, the contractual obligation is fulfilled before the date of the contract by buying or selling, as the case may be, identical futures contracts. Such offsetting transactions terminate the original contracts and cancel the obligation to take or make delivery of the underlying securities or cash. There may not always be a liquid secondary market at the time a fund seeks to close out a futures position. If a fund is unable to close out its position and prices move adversely, a fund would have to continue to make daily cash payments to maintain its margin requirements. If a fund had insufficient cash to meet these requirements it may have to sell portfolio securities at a disadvantageous time or incur extra costs by borrowing the cash. Also, a fund may be required to make or take delivery and incur extra transaction costs buying or selling the underlying securities. A fund seeks to reduce the risks associated with futures transactions by buying and selling futures contracts that are traded on national exchanges or for which there appears to be a liquid secondary market. With respect to futures contracts that are not legally required to "cash settle," a fund may cover the open position by setting aside or earmarking liquid assets in an amount equal to the market value of the futures contacts. With respect to futures contracts that are required to "cash settle," however, a fund is permitted to set aside or earmark liquid assets in an amount equal to the fund's daily marked to market (net) obligation, if any, (in other words, the fund's daily net liability, if any) rather than the market value of the futures contracts. By setting aside assets or earmarking equal to only its net obligation under cash-settled futures, a fund will have the ability to employ leverage to a greater extent than if the fund were required to set aside or earmark assets equal to the full market value of the futures contract. 25 HIGH YIELD SECURITIES, also called lower quality bonds ("junk bonds"), are frequently issued by companies without long track records of sales and earnings, or by those of questionable credit strength, and are more speculative and volatile (though typically higher yielding) than investment grade bonds. Adverse economic developments could disrupt the market for high yield securities, and severely affect the ability of issuers, especially highly-leveraged issuers, to service their debt obligations or to repay their obligations upon maturity. Also, the secondary market for high yield securities at times may not be as liquid as the secondary market for higher-quality debt securities. As a result, the investment adviser could find it difficult to sell these securities or experience difficulty in valuing certain high yield securities at certain times. Prices realized upon the sale of such lower rated securities, under these circumstances, may be less than the prices at which a fund purchased them. Thus, high yield securities are more likely to react to developments affecting interest rates and market and credit risk than are more highly rated securities, which primarily react to movements in the general level of interest rates. When economic conditions appear to be deteriorating, medium- to lower-quality debt securities may decline in value more than higher-quality debt securities due to heightened concern over credit quality, regardless of prevailing interest rates. Prices for high yield securities also could be affected by legislative and regulatory developments. These laws could adversely affect a fund's net asset value and investment practices, the secondary market value for high yield securities, the financial condition of issuers of these securities and the value of outstanding high yield securities. HYBRID INSTRUMENTS are a type of potentially high-risk derivative that combines a traditional stock, bond, or commodity with an option or forward contract. Generally, the principal amount, amount payable upon maturity or redemption, or interest rate of a hybrid is tied (positively or negatively) to the price of some commodity, currency or securities index or another interest rate or some other economic factor (each a "benchmark"). The interest rate or (unlike most fixed income securities) the principal amount payable at maturity of a hybrid security may be increased or decreased, depending on changes in the value of the benchmark. An example of a hybrid could be a bond issued by an oil company that pays a small base level of interest with additional interest that accrues in correlation to the extent to which oil prices exceed a certain predetermined level. Such a hybrid instrument would be a combination of a bond and a call option on oil. Hybrids can be used as an efficient means of pursuing a variety of investment goals, including currency hedging, duration management, and increased total return. Hybrids may not bear interest or pay dividends. The value of a hybrid or its interest rate may be a multiple of a benchmark and, as a result, may be leveraged and move (up or down) more steeply and rapidly than the benchmark. These benchmarks may be sensitive to economic and political events, such as commodity shortages and currency devaluations, which cannot be readily foreseen by the purchaser of a hybrid. Under certain conditions, the redemption value of a hybrid could be zero. Thus, an investment in a hybrid may entail significant market risks that are not associated with a similar investment in a traditional, U.S. dollar-denominated bond that has a fixed principal amount and pays a fixed rate or floating rate of interest. The purchase of hybrids also exposes a fund to the credit risk of the issuer of the hybrids. These risks may cause significant fluctuations in the net asset value of a fund. A fund will not invest more than 5% of its total assets in hybrid instruments. Certain hybrid instruments may provide exposure to the commodities markets. These are derivative securities with one or more commodity-linked components that have payment features similar to commodity futures contracts, commodity options, or similar instruments. Commodity-linked hybrid instruments may be either equity or debt securities, and are considered hybrid 26 instruments because they have both security and commodity-like characteristics. A portion of the value of these instruments may be derived from the value of a commodity, futures contract, index or other economic variable. A fund will only invest in commodity-linked hybrid instruments that qualify under applicable rules of the CFTC for an exemption from the provisions of the CEA. Certain issuers of structured products such as hybrid instruments may be deemed to be investment companies as defined in the 1940 Act. As a result, a fund's investments in these products may be subject to limits applicable to investments in investment companies and may be subject to restrictions contained in the 1940 Act. ILLIQUID SECURITIES generally are any securities that cannot be disposed of promptly and in the ordinary course of business at approximately the amount at which a fund has valued the instruments. The liquidity of a fund's investments is monitored under the supervision and direction of the Board of Trustees. Investments currently not considered liquid include repurchase agreements not maturing within seven days and certain restricted securities. INDEXING STRATEGIES involve tracking the securities represented in, and therefore the performance of, an index. Each Schwab Equity Index Fund normally will invest primarily in the securities of its index. Moreover, each of these index funds invests so that its portfolio performs similarly to that of its index. Each of these index funds tries to generally match its holdings in a particular security to its weight in the index. Each index fund will seek a correlation between its performance and that of its index of 0.90 or better. A perfect correlation of 1.0 is unlikely as the index funds incur operating and trading expenses unlike their indices. An index fund may rebalance its holdings in order to track its index more closely. In the event its intended correlation is not achieved, the Board of Trustees will consider alternative arrangements for an index fund. Certain of the Equity Index Funds serve as underlying funds for the MarketTrack Portfolios. INFLATION-INDEXED BONDS are fixed income securities whose principal value is periodically adjusted according to the rate of inflation. Two structures are common. The U.S. Treasury and some other issuers use a structure that accrues inflation into the principal value of the bond. Most other issuers pay out the Consumer Price Index ("CPI") accruals as part of a semiannual coupon. Inflation-indexed securities issued by the U.S. Treasury have maturities of five, ten or thirty years, although it is possible that securities with other maturities will be issued in the future. The U.S. Treasury securities pay interest on a semiannual 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 inflation over the first six months were 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 years' inflation equaling 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 U.S. Treasury inflation-indexed bonds, even during a period of deflation. However, the current market value of the bonds is not guaranteed, and will fluctuate. A fund may also invest in other inflation related bonds, which 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. 27 The value of inflation-indexed bonds 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 inflation were to rise at a faster rate than nominal interest rates, real interest rates might decline, leading to an increase in value of inflation-indexed bonds. In contrast, if nominal interest rates increased at a faster rate than inflation, real interest rates might rise, leading to a decrease in value of inflation-indexed bonds. While these 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-indexed bonds is tied to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers ("CPI-U"), 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-indexed bonds 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 any 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 United States. Any increase in the principal amount of an inflation-indexed bond will be considered taxable ordinary income, even though investors do not receive their principal until maturity. INTERFUND BORROWING AND LENDING. A fund may borrow money from and/or lend money to other funds/portfolios in the Schwab complex ("Schwab Funds(R)"). All loans are for temporary or emergency purposes and the interest rates to be charged will be the average of the overnight repurchase agreement rate and the short term bank loan rate. All loans are subject to numerous conditions designed to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all participating funds/portfolios. The interfund lending facility is subject to the oversight and periodic review of the Board of Trustees of the Schwab Funds. INTERNATIONAL BONDS are certain obligations or securities of foreign issuers, including Eurodollar Bonds, which are U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by foreign issuers payable in Eurodollars (U.S. dollars held in banks located outside the United States, primarily Europe), Yankee Bonds, which are U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign banks and corporations, and EuroBonds, which are bonds denominated in U.S. dollars and usually issued by large underwriting groups composed of banks and issuing houses from many countries. Investments in securities issued by foreign issuers, including American Depositary Receipts and securities purchased on foreign securities exchanges, may subject a fund to additional investment risks, such as adverse political and economic developments, possible seizure, nationalization or expropriation of foreign investments, less stringent disclosure requirements, non-U.S. withholding taxes and the adoption of other foreign governmental restrictions. Additional risks include less publicly available information, the risk that companies may not be subject to the accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and requirements of U.S. companies, the risk that foreign securities markets may have less volume and therefore may be less liquid and their prices more volatile than U.S. securities, and the risk that custodian and transaction costs may be higher. Foreign issuers of securities or obligations are often subject to accounting requirements and engage in business practices different from those respecting domestic issuers of similar securities or obligations. Foreign branches of U.S. banks and foreign 28 banks may be subject to less stringent reserve requirements than those applicable to domestic branches of U.S. banks. LOAN INTERESTS, and other direct debt instruments or interests therein, may be acquired by a fund. A loan interest is typically originated, negotiated, and structured by a U.S. or foreign commercial bank, insurance company, finance company, or other financial institution ("Agent") for a lending syndicate of financial institutions. The Agent typically administers and enforces the loan on behalf of the other lenders in the syndicate. In addition, an institution typically but not always the Agent ("Collateral Bank"), holds collateral (if any) on behalf of the lenders. When a Collateral Bank holds collateral, such collateral typically consists of one or more of the following asset types: inventory, accounts receivable, property, plant and equipment, intangibles, common stock of subsidiaries or other investments. These loan interests may take the form of participation interests in, assignments of or novations of a loan during its second distribution, or direct interests during a primary distribution. Such loan interests may be acquired from U.S. or foreign banks, insurance companies, finance companies, or other financial institutions who have made loans or are members of a lending syndicate or from other holders of loan interests. A fund may also acquire loan interests under which a fund derives its rights directly from the borrower. Such loan interests are separately enforceable by a fund against the borrower and all payments of interest and principal are typically made directly to a fund from the borrower. In the event that a fund and other lenders become entitled to take possession of shared collateral, it is anticipated that such collateral would be held in the custody of the Collateral Bank for their mutual benefit. A fund may not act as an Agent, a Collateral Bank, a guarantor or sole negotiator or structurer with respect to a loan. The investment adviser or sub-adviser will analyze and evaluate the financial condition of the borrower in connection with the acquisition of any Loan Interest. Credit ratings are typically assigned to Loan Interests in the same manner as with other fixed income debt securities, and the investment adviser or sub-adviser analyzes and evaluates these ratings, if any, in deciding whether to purchase a Loan Interest. The investment adviser or sub-adviser also analyzes and evaluates the financial condition of the Agent and, in the case of Loan Interests in which a fund does not have privity with the borrower, those institutions from or through whom a fund derives its rights in a loan ("Intermediate Participants"). In a typical loan, the Agent administers the terms of the loan agreement. In such cases, the Agent is normally responsible for the collection of principal and interest payments from the borrower and the apportionment of these payments to the credit of all the institutions which are parties to the loan agreement. A fund will generally rely upon the Agent or Intermediate Participant to receive and forward to a fund its portion of the principal and interest payments on the loan. Furthermore, unless under the terms of a participation agreement a fund has direct recourse against the borrower, a fund will rely on the Agent and the other members of the lending syndicate to use appropriate credit remedies against the borrower. The Agent is typically responsible for monitoring compliance with covenants contained in the loan agreement based upon reports prepared by the borrower. The seller of the Loan Interest usually does, but is often not obligated to, notify holders of Loan Interests of any failures of compliance. The Agent may monitor the value of the collateral and, if the value of the collateral declines, may accelerate the loan, may give the borrower an opportunity to provide additional collateral or may seek other protection for the benefit of the participants in the loan. The Agent is compensated by the borrower for providing these services under a loan agreement, and such compensation may include special fees paid upon structuring and funding the loan and other fees paid on a continuing basis. With respect to Loan Interests for which the Agent does not perform such administrative and enforcement functions, a fund will perform such tasks on its own behalf, although a Collateral Bank will typically hold any collateral on behalf of a fund and the other holders pursuant to the applicable loan agreement. 29 A financial institution's appointment as Agent may usually be terminated in the event that it fails to observe the requisite standard of care or becomes insolvent, enters Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") receivership, or, if not FDIC insured, enters into bankruptcy proceedings. A successor agent generally would be appointed to replace the terminated Agent, and assets held by the Agent under the loan agreement should remain available to holders of Loan Interests. However, if assets held by the Agent for the benefit of a fund were determined to be subject to the claims of the Agent's general creditors, a fund might incur certain costs and delays in realizing payment on a Loan Interest, or suffer a loss of principal and/or interest. In situations involving Intermediate Participants, similar risks may arise. Purchasers of Loan Interests depend primarily upon the creditworthiness of the borrower for payment of principal and interest. If a fund does not receive a scheduled interest or principal payment on such indebtedness, a fund's share price and yield could be adversely affected. Loans that are fully secured offer a fund more protections than an unsecured loan in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal. However, there is no assurance that the liquidation of collateral from a secured loan would satisfy the borrower's obligation, or that the collateral can be liquidated. Indebtedness of borrowers whose creditworthiness is poor involves substantially greater risks, and may be highly speculative. Borrowers that are in bankruptcy or restructuring may never pay off their indebtedness, or may pay only a small fraction of the amount owed. Direct indebtedness of developing countries also will involve a risk that the governmental entities responsible for the repayment of the debt may be unable, or unwilling, to pay interest and repay principal when due. The Loan Interests market is in a developing phase with increased participation among several investor types. The dealer community has become increasingly involved in this secondary market. If, however, a particular Loan Interest is deemed to be illiquid, it would be valued using procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees. In such a situation, there is no guarantee that a fund will be able to sell such Loan Interests, which could lead to a decline in the value of the Loan Interests and the value of a fund's shares. LOAN PARTICIPATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS. A fund may purchase participations in commercial loans. Such indebtedness may be secured or unsecured. Loan participations typically represent direct participation in a loan to a corporate borrower, and generally are offered by banks or other financial institutions or lending syndicates. A fund may participate in such syndications, or can buy part of a loan, becoming a part lender. When purchasing loan participations, a fund assumes the credit risk associated with the corporate borrower and may assume the credit risk associated with an interposed bank or other financial intermediary. The participation interests in which a fund intends to invest may not be rated by any nationally recognized rating service. A loan is often administered by an agent bank acting as agent for all holders. The agent bank administers the terms of the loan, as specified in the loan agreement. In addition, the agent bank is normally responsible for the collection of principal and interest payments from the corporate borrower and the apportionment of these payments to the credit of all institutions which are parties to the loan agreement. Unless, under the terms of the loan or other indebtedness, a fund has direct recourse against the corporate borrower, a fund may have to rely on the agent bank or other financial intermediary to apply appropriate credit remedies against a corporate borrower. A financial institution's employment as agent bank might be terminated in the event that it fails to observe a requisite standard of care or becomes insolvent. A successor agent bank would generally be appointed to replace the terminated agent bank, and assets held by the agent bank under the loan agreement should remain available to holders of such indebtedness. However, if assets held by the agent bank for the benefit of a fund were determined to be subject to the claims 30 of the agent bank's general creditors, a fund might incur certain costs and delays in realizing payment on a loan or loan participation and could suffer a loss of principal and/or interest. In situations involving other interposed financial institutions (e.g., an insurance company or governmental agency) similar risks may arise. Purchasers of loans and other forms of direct indebtedness depend primarily upon the creditworthiness of the corporate borrower for payment of principal and interest. If a fund does not receive scheduled interest or principal payments on such indebtedness, a fund's share price and yield could be adversely affected. Loans that are fully secured offer a fund more protection than an unsecured loan in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal. However, there is no assurance that the liquidation of collateral from a secured loan would satisfy the corporate borrower's obligation, or that the collateral can be liquidated. A fund may invest in loan participations with credit quality comparable to that of issuers of its securities investments. Indebtedness of companies whose creditworthiness is poor involves substantially greater risks, and may be highly speculative. Some companies may never pay off their indebtedness, or may pay only a small fraction of the amount owed. Consequently, when investing in indebtedness of companies with poor credit, a fund bears a substantial risk of losing the entire amount invested. A fund limits the amount of its total assets that it will invest in any one issuer or in issuers within the same industry. For purposes of these limits, a fund generally will treat the corporate borrower as the "issuer" of indebtedness held by a fund. In the case of loan participations where a bank or other lending institution serves as a financial intermediary between a fund and the corporate borrower, if the participation does not shift to a fund the direct debtor-creditor relationship with the corporate borrower, SEC interpretations require a fund to treat both the lending bank or other lending institution and the corporate borrower as "issuers" for the purposes of determining whether a fund has invested more than 5% of its assets in a single issuer. Treating a financial intermediary as an issuer of indebtedness may restrict a fund's ability to invest in indebtedness related to a single financial intermediary, or a group of intermediaries engaged in the same industry, even if the underlying borrowers represent many different companies and industries. Loans and other types of direct indebtedness may not be readily marketable and may be subject to restrictions on resale. In some cases, negotiations involved in disposing of indebtedness may require weeks to complete. Consequently, some indebtedness may be difficult or impossible to dispose of readily at what the investment adviser or sub-advisers believes to be a fair price. In addition, valuation of illiquid indebtedness involves a greater degree of judgment in determining a fund's net asset value than if that value were based on available market quotations, and could result in significant variations in a fund's daily share price. At the same time, some loan interests are traded among certain financial institutions and accordingly may be deemed liquid. As the market for different types of indebtedness develops, the liquidity of these instruments is expected to improve. In addition, a fund currently intends to treat indebtedness for which there is no readily available market as illiquid for purposes of a fund's limitation on illiquid investments. Investments in loan participations are considered to be debt obligations for purposes of the Trust's investment restriction relating to the lending of funds or assets by a fund. Investments in loans through a direct assignment of the financial institution's interests with respect to the loan may involve additional risks to a fund. For example, if a loan is foreclosed, a fund could become part owner of any collateral, and would bear the costs and liabilities associated with owning and disposing of the collateral. In addition, it is conceivable that under emerging legal theories of lender liability, a fund could be held liable as co-lender. It is unclear whether loans and other forms of direct indebtedness offer securities law protections against fraud and misrepresentation. In the absence of definitive regulatory guidance, a fund relies on the 31 investment adviser's and sub-advisers' research in an attempt to avoid situations where fraud or misrepresentation could adversely affect a fund. MATURITY OF INVESTMENTS will generally be determined using the portfolio fixed income securities' final maturity dates. However for certain securities, maturity will be determined using the security's effective maturity date. The effective maturity date for a security subject to a put or demand feature is the demand date, unless the security is a variable- or floating-rate security. If it is a variable-rate security, its effective maturity date is the earlier of its demand date or next interest rate change date. For variable-rate securities not subject to a put or demand feature and floating-rate securities, the effective maturity date is the next interest rate change date. The effective maturity of mortgage-backed and certain other asset-backed securities is determined on an "expected life" basis by the investment adviser or sub-adviser. For an interest rate swap agreement, its effective maturity would be equal to the difference in the effective maturity of the interest rates "swapped." Securities being hedged with futures contracts may be deemed to have a longer maturity, in the case of purchases of future contracts, and a shorter maturity, in the case of sales of futures contracts, than they would otherwise be deemed to have. In addition, a security that is subject to redemption at the option of the issuer on a particular date ("call date"), which is prior to, or in lieu of, the security's stated maturity, may be deemed to mature on the call date rather than on its stated maturity date. The call date of a security will be used to calculate average portfolio maturity when the investment adviser reasonably anticipates, based upon information available to it, that the issuer will exercise its right to redeem the security. The average portfolio maturity of a fund is dollar-weighted based upon the market value of a fund's securities at the time of the calculation. A fund may invest in securities with final or effective maturities of any length. MONEY MARKET SECURITIES are high-quality, short term debt securities that may be issued by entities such as the U.S. government, corporations and financial institutions (like banks). Money market securities include commercial paper, certificates of deposit, bankers' acceptances, notes and time deposits. Certificates of deposit and time deposits are issued against funds deposited in a banking institution for a specified period of time at a specified interest rate. Bankers' acceptances are credit instruments evidencing a bank's obligation to pay a draft drawn on it by a customer. These instruments reflect the obligation both of the bank and of the drawer to pay the full amount of the instrument upon maturity. Commercial paper consists of short term, unsecured promissory notes issued to finance short term credit needs. Money market securities pay fixed, variable or floating rates of interest and are generally subject to credit and interest rate risks. The maturity date or price of and financial assets collateralizing a security may be structured in order to make it qualify as or act like a money market security. These securities may be subject to greater credit and interest rate risks than other money market securities because of their structure. Money market securities may be issued with puts or sold separately, sometimes called demand features or guarantees, which are agreements that allow the buyer to sell a security at a specified price and time to the seller or "put provider." When a fund buys a put, losses could occur as a result of the costs of the put or if it exercises its rights under the put and the put provider does not perform as agreed. Standby commitments are types of puts. A fund may keep a portion of its assets in cash for business operations. In order to reduce the effect this otherwise uninvested cash would have on its performance, a fund may invest in money market securities. A fund may also invest in money market securities to the extent it is consistent with its investment objective. MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES ("MBS") and other ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES ("ABS") may be purchased by a fund. MBS represent participations in mortgage loans, and include pass-through securities, collateralized mortgage obligations and stripped mortgage-backed securities. MBS 32 may be issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies or instrumentalities, such as the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or Ginnie Mae) and Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or by private issuers, generally originators and investors in mortgage loans, including savings associations, mortgage banks, commercial banks, and special purpose entities (collectively, "private lenders"). MBS are based on different types of mortgages including those on commercial real estate and residential property. MBS issued by private lenders may be supported by pools of mortgage loans or other MBS that are guaranteed, directly or indirectly, by the U.S. government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities, or they may be issued without any governmental guarantee of the underlying mortgage assets but with some form of credit enhancement. MBS are subject to interest rate risk, like other debt securities, in addition to prepayment and extension risk. Prepayments occur when the holder of an individual mortgage prepays the remaining principal before the mortgage's scheduled maturity date. As a result of the pass-through of prepayments of principal on the underlying securities, mortgage-backed securities are often subject to more rapid prepayment of principal than their stated maturity indicates. Because the prepayment characteristics of the underlying mortgages vary, it is not possible to predict accurately the realized yield or average life of a particular issue of mortgage-backed securities. Prepayment rates are important because of their effect on the yield and price of the securities. Accelerated prepayments adversely impact yields for mortgage-backed securities purchased at a premium (i.e., a price in excess of principal amount) and may involve additional risk of loss of principal because the premium may not be fully amortized at the time the obligation is repaid. The opposite is true for mortgage-backed securities purchased at a discount. The MarketTrack Portfolios and Schwab Target Funds may purchase mortgage-related securities at a premium or at a discount. When interest rates rise, extension risk increases and may affect the value of a fund. Principal and interest payments on the mortgage-related securities are guaranteed by the government however, such guarantees do not extend to the value or yield of the mortgage-related securities themselves or of a fund's shares. ABS have structural characteristics similar to MBS. ABS represent direct or indirect participation in assets such as automobile loans, credit card receivables, trade receivables, home equity loans (which sometimes are categorized as MBS) or other financial assets. Therefore, repayment depends largely on the cash flows generated by the assets backing the securities. The credit quality of most ABS depends primarily on the credit quality of the assets underlying such securities, how well the entity issuing the security is insulated from the credit risk of the originator or any other affiliated entities, and the amount and quality of any credit enhancement of the securities. Payments or distributions of principal and interest on ABS may be supported by credit enhancements including letters of credit, an insurance guarantee, reserve funds and overcollateralization. In the case of privately-issued mortgage-related and asset-backed securities, the Portfolios take the position that such instruments do not represent interests in any particular industry or group of industries. COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES include securities that reflect an interest in, and are secured by, mortgage loans on commercial real property. The market for commercial mortgage-backed securities developed more recently and in terms of total outstanding principal amount of issues is relatively small compared to the market for residential single-family MBS. Many of the risks of investing in commercial MBS reflect the risks of investing in the real estate securing the underlying mortgage loans. These risks reflect the effects of local and other economic conditions on real estate markets, the ability of tenants to make loan payments, and the ability of a property to attract and retain tenants. Commercial MBS may be less liquid and exhibit greater price volatility than other types of mortgage- or asset-backed securities. 33 COLLATERALIZED DEBT OBLIGATIONS. A fund may invest in collateralized debt obligations ("CDOs"), which includes collateralized bond obligations ("CBOs"), collateralized loan obligations ("CLOs") and other similarly structured securities. CBOs and CLOs are types of asset-backed securities. A CBO is a trust which is backed by a diversified pool of high risk, below investment grade fixed income securities. A CLO is a trust typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, domestic and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans. For both CBOs and CLOs, the cashflows from the trust are split into two or more portions, called tranches, varying in risk and yield. The riskiest portion is the "equity" tranche which bears the bulk of defaults from the bonds or loans in the trust and serves to protect the other, more senior tranches from default in all but the most severe circumstances. Since it is partially protected from defaults, a senior tranche from a CBO trust or CLO trust typically have higher ratings and lower yields than their underlying securities, and can be rated investment grade. Despite the protection from the equity tranche, CBO or CLO tranches can experience substantial losses due to actual defaults, increased sensitivity to defaults due to collateral default and disappearance of protecting tranches, market anticipation of defaults, as well as aversion to CBO or CLO securities as a class. 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, CBOs, CLOs 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 discussed elsewhere in this SAI and a fund's prospectuses (e.g., interest rate risk and default risk), CDOs carry additional risks including, but are not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the quality of the collateral may decline in value or default; (iii) a fund may invest in CDOs that are subordinate to other classes; and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and may produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results. COLLATERALIZED MORTGAGE OBLIGATION ("CMO") is a hybrid between a mortgage-backed bond and a mortgage pass-through security. Similar to a bond, interest and prepaid principal is paid, in most cases, on a monthly basis. CMOs may be collateralized by whole mortgage loans, but are more typically collateralized by portfolios of mortgage pass-through securities guaranteed by Ginnie Mae, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and their income streams. CMOs are structured into multiple classes, each bearing a different stated maturity. Actual maturity and average life will depend upon the prepayment experience of the collateral. CMOs provide for a modified form of call protection through a de facto breakdown of the underlying pool of mortgages according to how quickly the loans are repaid. Monthly payment of principal received from the pool of underlying mortgages, including prepayments, is first returned to investors holding the shortest maturity class. Investors holding the longer maturity classes receive principal only after the first class has been retired. An investor is partially guarded against a sooner than desired return of principal because of the sequential payments. In a typical CMO transaction, a corporation ("issuer") issues multiple series (e.g., A, B, C, Z) of CMO bonds ("Bonds"). Proceeds of the Bond offering are used to purchase mortgages or mortgage pass-through certificates ("Collateral"). The Collateral is pledged to a third party trustee as security for the Bonds. Principal and interest payments from the Collateral are used to pay principal on the Bonds in the order A, B, C, Z. The Series A, B, and C Bonds all bear current interest. Interest on the Series Z Bond is accrued and added to principal and a like amount is paid 34 as principal on the Series A, B, or C Bond currently being paid off. When the Series A, B, and C Bonds are paid in full, interest and principal on the Series Z Bond begins to be paid currently. With some CMOs, the issuer serves as a conduit to allow loan originators (primarily builders or savings and loan associations) to borrow against their loan portfolios. The rate of principal payment on MBS and ABS generally depends on the rate of principal payments received on the underlying assets which in turn may be affected by a variety of economic and other factors. As a result, the price and yield on any MBS or ABS is difficult to predict with precision and price and yield to maturity may be more or less than the anticipated yield to maturity. If a fund purchases these securities at a premium, a prepayment rate that is faster than expected will reduce yield to maturity, while a prepayment rate that is slower than expected will have the opposite effect of increasing the yield to maturity. Conversely, if a fund purchases these securities at a discount, a prepayment rate that is faster than expected will increase yield to maturity, while a prepayment rate that is slower than expected will reduce yield to maturity. Amounts available for reinvestment by a fund are likely to be greater during a period of declining interest rates and, as a result, are likely to be reinvested at lower interest rates than during a period of rising interest rates. While many MBS and ABS are issued with only one class of security, many are issued in more than one class, each with different payment terms. Multiple class MBS and ABS are issued as a method of providing credit support, typically through creation of one or more classes whose right to payments on the security is made subordinate to the right to such payments of the remaining class or classes. In addition, multiple classes may permit the issuance of securities with payment terms, interest rates, or other characteristics differing both from those of each other and from those of the underlying assets. Examples include stripped securities, which are MBS and ABS entitling the holder to disproportionate interest or principal compared with the assets backing the security, and securities with classes having characteristics different from the assets backing the securities, such as a security with floating interest rates with assets backing the securities having fixed interest rates. The market value of such securities and CMO's generally is more or less sensitive to changes in prepayment and interest rates than is the case with traditional MBS and ABS, and in some cases such market value may be extremely volatile. CMO RESIDUALS. CMO residuals are mortgage securities issued by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. Government or by private originators of, or investors in, mortgage loans, including savings and loan associations, homebuilders, mortgage banks, commercial banks, investment banks and special purpose entities of the foregoing. The cash flow generated by the mortgage assets underlying a series of CMOs is applied first to make required payments of principal and interest on the CMOs and second to pay the related administrative expenses of the issuer. The residual in a CMO structure generally represents the interest in any excess cash flow remaining after making the foregoing payments. Each payment of such excess cash flow to a holder of the related CMO residual represents income and/or a return of capital. The amount of residual cash flow resulting from a CMO will depend on, among other things, the characteristics of the mortgage assets, the coupon rate of each class of CMO, prevailing interest rates, the amount of administrative expenses and the prepayment experience on the mortgage assets. In particular, the yield to maturity on CMO residuals is extremely sensitive to prepayments on the related underlying mortgage assets, in the same manner as an interest-only ("IO") class of stripped mortgage-backed securities. See "Stripped Mortgage-Backed Securities." In addition, if a series of a CMO includes a class that bears interest at an adjustable rate, the yield to maturity on the related CMO residual will also be extremely sensitive to changes in the level of the index upon which interest rate adjustments are based. As described below with respect to stripped mortgage-backed securities, in certain circumstances a fund may fail to recoup fully its initial investment in a CMO residual. 35 CMO residuals are generally purchased and sold by institutional investors through several investment banking firms acting as brokers or dealers. The CMO residual market has only very recently developed and CMO residuals currently may not have the liquidity of other more established securities trading in other markets. Transactions in CMO residuals are generally completed only after careful review of the characteristics of the securities in question. In addition, CMO residuals may, or pursuant to an exemption therefrom, may not have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"). CMO residuals, whether or not registered under the 1933 Act, may be subject to certain restrictions on transferability, and may be deemed "illiquid" and subject to a fund's limitations on investment in illiquid securities. STRIPPED MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES. SMBS are derivative multi-class mortgage securities. SMBS may be issued by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. Government, or by private originators of, or investors in, mortgage loans, including savings and loan associations, mortgage banks, commercial banks, investment banks and special purpose entities of the foregoing. SMBS are usually structured with two classes that receive different proportions of the interest and principal distributions on a pool of mortgage assets. A common type of SMBS will have one class receiving some of the interest and most of the principal from the mortgage assets, while the other class will receive most of the interest and the remainder of the principal. In the most extreme case, one class will receive all of the interest (the "IO" class), while the other class will receive all of the principal (the principal-only or "PO" class). The yield to maturity on an IO class is extremely sensitive to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the related underlying mortgage assets, and a rapid rate of principal payments may have a material adverse effect on a fund's yield to maturity from these securities. If the underlying mortgage assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, a fund may fail to recoup some or all of its initial investment in these securities even if the security is in one of the highest rating categories. Under certain circumstances these securities may be deemed "illiquid" and subject to a fund's limitations on investment in illiquid securities. MUNICIPAL LEASES are obligations issued to finance the construction or acquisition of equipment or facilities. These obligations may take the form of a lease, an installment purchase contract, a conditional sales contract or a participation interest in any of these obligations. Municipal leases may be considered illiquid investments. Additionally, municipal leases are subject to "nonappropriation risk," which is the risk that the municipality may terminate the lease because funds have not been allocated to make the necessary lease payments. The lessor would then be entitled to repossess the property, but the value of the property may be less to private sector entities than it would be to the municipality. MUNICIPAL SECURITIES are debt securities issued by a state, its counties, municipalities, authorities and other subdivisions, or the territories and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia, including their subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities and corporations. These securities may be issued to obtain money for various public purposes, including the construction of a wide range of public facilities such as airports, bridges, highways, housing, hospitals, mass transportation, public utilities, schools, streets, and water and sewer works. Other public purposes include refunding outstanding obligations, obtaining funds for general operating expenses and obtaining funds to loan to other public institutions and facilities. Municipal securities also may be issued to finance various private activities, including certain types of private activity bonds ("industrial development bonds" under prior law). These securities 36 may be issued by or on behalf of public authorities to obtain funds to provide certain privately owned or operated facilities. Municipal securities may be owned directly or through participation interests, and include general obligation or revenue securities, tax-exempt commercial paper, notes and leases. Municipal securities generally are classified as "general obligation" or "revenue" and may be purchased directly or through participation interests. General obligation securities typically are secured by the issuer's pledge of its full faith and credit and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest. Revenue securities typically are payable only from the revenues derived from a particular facility or class of facilities or, in some cases, from the proceeds of a special tax or other specific revenue source. Private activity bonds and industrial development bonds are, in most cases, revenue bonds and generally do not constitute the pledge of the credit of the issuer of such bonds. The credit quality of private activity bonds is frequently related to the credit standing of private corporations or other entities. Examples of municipal securities that are issued with original maturities of 397 days or less are short term tax anticipation notes, bond anticipation notes, revenue anticipation notes, construction loan notes, pre-refunded municipal bonds and tax-free commercial paper. Tax anticipation notes typically are sold to finance working capital needs of municipalities in anticipation of the receipt of property taxes on a future date. Bond anticipation notes are sold on an interim basis in anticipation of a municipality's issuance of a longer-term bond in the future. Revenue anticipation notes are issued in expectation of the receipt of other types of revenue, such as that available under the Federal Revenue Sharing Program. Construction loan notes are instruments insured by the Federal Housing Administration with permanent financing by Fannie Mae or Ginnie Mae at the end of the project construction period. Pre-refunded municipal bonds are bonds that are not yet refundable, but for which securities have been placed in escrow to refund an original municipal bond issue when it becomes refundable. Tax-free commercial paper is an unsecured promissory obligation issued or guaranteed by a municipal issuer. A fund may purchase other municipal securities similar to the foregoing that are or may become available, including securities issued to pre-refund other outstanding obligations of municipal issuers. A fund also may invest in moral obligation securities, which are normally issued by special purpose public authorities. If the issuer of a moral obligation security is unable to meet its obligation from current revenues, it may draw on a reserve fund. The state or municipality that created the entity has only a moral commitment, not a legal obligation, to restore the reserve fund. The value of municipal securities may be affected by uncertainties with respect to the rights of holders of municipal securities in the event of bankruptcy or the taxation of municipal securities as a result of legislation or litigation. For example, under federal law, certain issuers of municipal securities may be authorized in certain circumstances to initiate bankruptcy proceedings without prior notice to or the consent of creditors. Such action could result in material adverse changes in the rights of holders of the securities. In addition, litigation challenging the validity under the state constitutions of present systems of financing public education has been initiated or adjudicated in a number of states, and legislation has been introduced to effect changes in public school finances in some states. In other instances, there has been litigation challenging the issuance of pollution control revenue bonds or the validity of their issuance under state or federal law, which ultimately could affect the validity of those municipal securities or the tax-free nature of the interest thereon. Municipal securities pay fixed, variable or floating rates of interest, which may be exempt from federal income tax and, typically, personal income tax of a state or locality. Some municipal securities are taxable. These securities are issued by state and local governments and 37 instrumentalities thereof that pay interest that is not exempt from federal income tax. States and municipalities issue taxable instruments for various reasons, relating in some cases to the nature of the project being financed and to various specific ceilings on debt issuance in others. The rate of interest payable on such instruments typically reflects its taxable nature. NON-PUBLICLY TRADED SECURITIES AND PRIVATE PLACEMENTS. A fund may invest in securities that are neither listed on a stock exchange nor traded over-the-counter, including privately placed securities. Such unlisted securities may involve a higher degree of business and financial risk that can result in substantial losses. As a result of the absence of a public trading market for these securities, they may be less liquid than publicly traded securities. Although these securities may be resold in privately negotiated transactions, the prices realized from these sales could be less than those originally paid by a fund or less than what may be considered the fair value of such securities. Furthermore, companies whose securities are not publicly traded may not be subject to the disclosure and other investor protection requirements which might be applicable if their securities were publicly traded. If such securities are required to be registered under the securities laws of one or more jurisdictions before being sold, a fund may be required to bear the expenses of registration. OPTIONS CONTRACTS generally provide the right to buy or sell a security, commodity, futures contract or foreign currency in exchange for an agreed upon price. If the right is not exercised after a specified period, the option expires and the option buyer forfeits the money paid to the option seller. A call option gives the buyer the right to buy a specified number of shares of a security at a fixed price on or before a specified date in the future. For this right, the call option buyer pays the call option seller, commonly called the call option writer, a fee called a premium. Call option buyers are usually anticipating that the price of the underlying security will rise above the price fixed with the call writer, thereby allowing them to profit. If the price of the underlying security does not rise, the call option buyer's losses are limited to the premium paid to the call option writer. For call option writers, a rise in the price of the underlying security will be offset in part by the premium received from the call option buyer. If the call option writer does not own the underlying security, however, the losses that may ensue if the price rises could be potentially unlimited. If the call option writer owns the underlying security or commodity, this is called writing a covered call. All call and put options written by a fund will be covered, which means that a fund will own the securities subject to the option so long as the option is outstanding or a fund will earmark or segregate assets for any outstanding option contracts. A put option is the opposite of a call option. It gives the buyer the right to sell a specified number of shares of a security at a fixed price on or before a specified date in the future. Put option buyers are usually anticipating a decline in the price of the underlying security, and wish to offset those losses when selling the security at a later date. All put options a fund writes will be covered, which means that a fund will earmark or segregate cash, U.S. government securities or other liquid securities with a value at least equal to the exercise price of the put option. The purpose of writing such options is to generate additional income for a fund. However, in return for the option premium, a fund accepts the risk that they may be required to purchase the underlying securities at a price in excess of the securities' market value at the time of purchase. A fund may purchase and write put and call options on any securities in which they may invest or any securities index or basket of securities based on securities in which they may invest. In addition, a fund may purchase and sell foreign currency options and foreign currency futures contracts and related options. A fund may purchase and write such options on securities that are listed on domestic or foreign securities exchanges or traded in the over-the-counter market. Like futures contracts, option contracts are rarely exercised. Option buyers usually sell the option before it expires. Option writers may terminate their obligations under a written call or put option by 38 purchasing an option identical to the one it has written. Such purchases are referred to as "closing purchase transactions." A fund may enter into closing sale transactions in order to realize gains or minimize losses on options they have purchased or wrote. An exchange-traded currency option position may be closed out only on an options exchange that provides a secondary market for an option of the same series. Although a fund generally will purchase or write only those options for which there appears to be an active secondary market, there is no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular option or at any particular time. If a fund is unable to effect a closing purchase transaction with respect to options it has written, it will not be able to sell the underlying securities or dispose of assets earmarked or held in a segregated account until the options expire or are exercised. Similarly, if a fund is unable to effect a closing sale transaction with respect to options it has purchased, it would have to exercise the options in order to realize any profit and will incur transaction costs upon the purchase or sale of underlying securities. Reasons for the absence of a liquid secondary market on an exchange include the following: (1) there may be insufficient trading interest in certain options; (2) an exchange may impose restrictions on opening transactions or closing transactions or both; (3) trading halts, suspensions or other restrictions may be imposed with respect to particular classes or series of options; (4) unusual or unforeseen circumstances may interrupt normal operations on an exchange; (5) the facilities of an exchange or the Options Clearing Corporation ("OCC") may not at all times be adequate to handle current trading volume; or (6) one or more exchanges could, for economic or other reasons, decide or be compelled at some future date to discontinue the trading of options (or a particular class or series of options), although outstanding options on that exchange that had been issued by the OCC as a result of trades on that exchange would continue to be exercisable in accordance with their terms. The ability to terminate over-the-counter options is more limited than with exchange-traded options and may involve the risk that broker-dealers participating in such transactions will not fulfill their obligations. Until such time as the staff of the SEC changes its position, a fund will treat purchased over-the-counter options and all assets used to cover written over-the-counter options as illiquid securities, except that with respect to options written with primary dealers in U.S. government securities pursuant to an agreement requiring a closing purchase transaction at a formula price, the amount of illiquid securities may be calculated with reference to a formula the staff of the SEC approves. Additional risks are involved with options trading because of the low margin deposits required and the extremely high degree of leverage that may be involved in options trading. There may be imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the securities held by a fund and the prices of the options, possible lack of a liquid secondary market, and the resulting inability to close such positions prior to their maturity dates. A fund may write or purchase an option only when the market value of that option, when aggregated with the market value of all other options transactions made on behalf of a fund, does not exceed 5% of its net assets. PROMISSORY NOTES are written agreements committing the maker or issuer to pay the payee a specified amount either on demand or at a fixed date in the future, with or without interest. These are sometimes called negotiable notes or instruments and are subject to credit risk. Bank notes are notes used to represent obligations issued by banks in large denominations. PUTS are agreements that allow the buyer to sell a security at a specified price and time to the seller or "put provider." When a fund buys a security with a put feature, losses could occur if the put 39 provider does not perform as agreed. If a put provider fails to honor its commitment upon a fund's attempt to exercise the put, a fund may have to treat the security's final maturity as its effective maturity. If that occurs, the security's price may be negatively impacted, and its sensitivity to interest rate changes may be increased, possibly contributing to increased share price volatility for a fund. This also could lengthen a fund's overall average effective maturity. Standby commitments are types of puts. QUALITY OF FIXED INCOME INVESTMENTS will be principally investment-grade for a fund's assets. Investment-grade quality securities are rated by at least one NRSRO in one of the four highest rating categories (within which there may be sub-categories or gradations indicating relative standing) or have been determined to be of equivalent quality by the investment adviser or sub-adviser. Sometimes an investment-grade quality security may be downgraded to a below investment-grade quality rating. If a security no longer has at least one investment-quality rating from an NRSRO, the investment adviser or sub-adviser would reanalyze the security in light of the downgrade and determine whether a fund should continue to hold the security. However, such downgrade would not require the investment adviser or sub-advisers to sell the security on behalf of a fund. Sometimes lower-quality securities may be downgraded to an even lower quality. The investment adviser or sub-adviser may also elect to purchase high-yield securities that are rated (at the time of purchase) B or higher or the equivalent by Moody's, S&P or Fitch, Inc. or are determined to be of similar investment quality by the investment manager. REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) are pooled investment vehicles, which invest primarily in income producing real estate or real estate related loans or interests and, in some cases, manage real estate. REITs are sometimes referred to as equity REITs, mortgage REITs or hybrid REITs. An equity REIT invests primarily in properties and generates income from rental and lease properties and, in some cases, from the management of real estate. Equity REITs also offer the potential for growth as a result of property appreciation and from the sale of appreciated property. Mortgage REITs invest primarily in real estate mortgages, which may secure construction, development or long-term loans, and derive income for the collection of interest payments. Hybrid REITS may combine the features of equity REITs and mortgage REITs. REITs are generally organized as corporations or business trusts, but are not taxed as a corporation if they meet certain requirements of Subchapter M of the Code. To qualify, a REIT must, among other things, invest substantially all of its assets in interests in real estate (including other REITs), cash and government securities, distribute at least 95% of its taxable income to its shareholders and receive at least 75% of that income from rents, mortgages and sales of property. Like any investment in real estate, a REIT's performance depends on many factors, such as its ability to find tenants for its properties, to renew leases, and to finance property purchases and renovations. In general, REITs may be affected by changes in underlying real estate values, which may have an exaggerated effect to the extent a REIT concentrates its investment in certain regions or property types. For example, rental income could decline because of extended vacancies, increased competition from nearby properties, tenants' failure to pay rent, or incompetent management. Property values could decrease because of overbuilding, environmental liabilities, uninsured damages caused by natural disasters, a general decline in the neighborhood, losses due to casualty or condemnation, increases in property taxes, or changes in zoning laws. Ultimately, a REIT's performance depends on the types of properties it owns and how well the REIT manages its properties. In general, during periods of rising interest rates, REITs may lose some of their appeal for investors who may be able to obtain higher yields from other income-producing investments, such as long-term bonds. Higher interest rates also mean that financing for property purchases and improvements is more costly and difficult to obtain. During periods of declining interest rates, certain mortgage REITs may hold mortgages that mortgagors elect to prepay, which can 40 reduce the yield on securities issued by mortgage REITs. Mortgage REITs may be affected by the ability of borrowers to repay debts to the REIT when due and equity REITs may be affected by the ability of tenants to pay rent. Like small-cap stocks in general, certain REITs have relatively small market capitalizations and their securities can be more volatile than--and at times will perform differently from--large-cap stocks. In addition, because small-cap stocks are typically less liquid than large-cap stocks, REIT stocks may sometimes experience greater share-price fluctuations than the stocks of larger companies. Further, REITs are dependent upon specialized management skills, have limited diversification, and are therefore subject to risks inherent in operating and financing a limited number of projects. By investing in REITs indirectly through a fund, a shareholder will bear indirectly a proportionate share of the REIT's expenses in addition to their proportionate share of a fund's expenses. Finally, REITs could possibly fail to qualify for tax-free pass-through of income under the Code or to maintain their exemptions from registration under the 1940 Act. REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS are instruments under which a buyer acquires ownership of certain securities (usually U.S. government securities) from a seller who agrees to repurchase the securities at a mutually agreed-upon time and price, thereby determining the yield during the buyer's holding period. Any repurchase agreements a fund enters into will involve a fund as the buyer and banks or broker-dealers as sellers. The period of repurchase agreements is usually short - from overnight to one week, although the securities collateralizing a repurchase agreement may have longer maturity dates. Default by the seller might cause a fund to experience a loss or delay in the liquidation of the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. A fund also may incur disposition costs in liquidating the collateral. In the event of a bankruptcy or other default of a repurchase agreement's seller, a fund might incur expenses in enforcing its rights, and could experience losses, including a decline in the value of the underlying securities and loss of income. A fund will make payment under a repurchase agreement only upon physical delivery or evidence of book entry transfer of the collateral to the account of its custodian bank. RESTRICTED SECURITIES are securities that are subject to legal restrictions on their sale. Restricted securities may be considered to be liquid if an institutional or other market exists for these securities. In making this determination, a fund, under the direction and supervision of the Board of Trustees, will take into account the following factors: (1) the frequency of trades and quotes for the security; (2) the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the security and the number of potential purchasers; (3) dealer undertakings to make a market in the security; and (4) the nature of the security and marketplace trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics of transfer). To the extent a fund invests in restricted securities that are deemed liquid, the general level of illiquidity in a fund's portfolio may be increased if qualified institutional buyers become uninterested in purchasing these securities. REVERSE REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS AND MORTGAGE DOLLAR ROLLS may be used by a fund. A fund may engage in reverse repurchase agreements to facilitate portfolio liquidity, a practice common in the mutual fund industry, or for arbitrage transactions as discussed below. In a reverse repurchase agreement, a fund would sell a security and enter into an agreement to repurchase the security at a specified future date and price. A fund generally retains the right to interest and principal payments on the security. If a fund uses the cash it obtains to invest in other securities, this may be considered a form of leverage and may expose a fund to a greater risk. Leverage tends to magnify the effect of any decrease or increase in the value on a fund's portfolio's securities. Because a fund receives cash upon entering into a reverse repurchase agreement, it may be considered a borrowing. When required by guidelines of the SEC, a fund will set aside permissible liquid assets earmarked or in a segregated account to secure its obligations to repurchase the security. 41 A fund also may enter into mortgage dollar rolls, in which a fund would sell MBS for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contract to purchase substantially similar securities on a specified future date. While a fund would forego principal and interest paid on the MBS during the roll period, a fund would be compensated by the difference between the current sales price and the lower price for the future purchase as well as by any interest earned on the proceeds of the initial sale. A fund also could be compensated through the receipt of fee income equivalent to a lower forward price. At the time a fund would enter into a mortgage dollar roll, it would set aside permissible liquid assets earmarked or in a segregated account to secure its obligation for the forward commitment to buy MBS. Mortgage dollar roll transactions may be considered a borrowing by a fund. The mortgage dollar rolls and reverse repurchase agreements entered into by a fund may be used as arbitrage transactions in which a fund will maintain an offsetting position in short duration investment-grade debt obligations. Since a fund will receive interest on the securities or repurchase agreements in which it invests the transaction proceeds, such transactions may involve leverage. However, since such securities or repurchase agreements will be high quality and short duration, the investment adviser believes that such arbitrage transactions present lower risks to a fund than those associated with other types of leverage. There can be no assurance that a fund's use of the cash it receives from a mortgage dollar roll will provide a positive return. SECURITIES LENDING of portfolio securities is a common practice in the securities industry. A fund will engage in security lending arrangements. For example, a fund may receive cash collateral and may invest it in short-term, interest-bearing obligations, but will do so only to the extent that it will not lose the tax treatment available to regulated investment companies. Lending portfolio securities involves risks that the borrower may fail to return the securities or provide additional collateral. Also, voting rights with respect to loaned securities may pass with the lending of the securities. A fund may loan portfolio securities to qualified broker-dealers or other institutional investors provided: (1) the loan is secured continuously by collateral consisting of U.S. government securities, letters of credit, cash or cash equivalents or other appropriate instruments maintained on a daily marked-to-market basis in an amount at least equal to the current market value of the securities loaned; (2) a fund may at any time call the loan and obtain the return of the securities loaned; (3) a fund will receive any interest or dividends paid on the loaned securities; and (4) the aggregate market value of securities loaned will not at any time exceed one-third of the total assets of a fund, including collateral received from the loan (at market value computed at the time of the loan). Although voting rights with respect to loaned securities pass to the borrower, the lender retains the right to recall a security (or terminate a loan) for the purpose of exercising the security's voting rights. Efforts to recall such securities promptly may be unsuccessful, especially for foreign securities or thinly traded securities such as small-cap stocks. In addition, because recalling a security may involve expenses to a fund, it is expected that a fund will do so only where the items being voted upon are, in the judgment of the investment adviser, either material to the economic value of the security or threaten to materially impact the issuer's corporate governance policies or structure. SECURITIES OF OTHER INVESTMENT COMPANIES. Investment companies generally offer investors the advantages of diversification and professional investment management, by combining shareholders' money and investing it in securities such as stocks, bonds and money market instruments. Investment companies include: (1) open-end funds (commonly called mutual funds) that issue and redeem their shares on a continuous basis, (2) closed-end funds that offer a fixed number of shares, and are usually listed on an exchange, and (3) unit investment trusts that 42 generally offer a fixed number of redeemable shares. Certain open-end funds and unit investment trusts are traded on exchanges. Investment companies may make investments and use techniques designed to enhance their performance. These may include delayed-delivery and when-issued securities transactions; swap agreements; buying and selling futures contracts, illiquid, and/or restricted securities and repurchase agreements; and borrowing or lending money and/or portfolio securities. The risks of investing in a particular investment company will generally reflect the risks of the securities in which it invests and the investment techniques it employs. Also, investment companies charge fees and incur expenses. The funds may buy securities of other investment companies, including those of foreign issuers, in compliance with the requirements of federal law or any SEC exemptive order. A fund may invest in investment companies that are not registered with the SEC or privately placed securities of investment companies (which may or may not be registered), such as hedge funds and offshore funds. Unregistered funds are largely exempt from the regulatory requirements that apply to registered investment companies. As a result, unregistered funds may have a greater ability to make investments, or use investment techniques, that offer a higher potential investment return (for example, leveraging), but which may carry high risk. Unregistered funds, while not regulated by the SEC like registered funds, may be indirectly supervised by the financial institutions (e.g., commercial and investment banks) that may provide them with loans or other sources of capital. Investments in unregistered funds may be difficult to sell, which could cause a fund selling an interest in an unregistered fund to lose money. For example, many hedge funds require their investors to hold their investments for at least one year. Federal law restricts the ability of one registered investment company to invest in another. As a result, the extent to which a fund may invest in another investment company may be limited. With respect to investments in other mutual funds, the SEC has granted the funds an exemption from the limitations of the 1940 Act that restrict the amount of securities of underlying mutual funds a fund may hold, provided that certain conditions are met. The conditions requested by the SEC were designed to address certain abuses perceived to be associated with funds of funds, including unnecessary costs (such as sales loads, advisory fees and administrative costs), and undue influence by a fund of funds over the underlying fund. The conditions apply only when a fund and its affiliates in the aggregate own more than 3% of the outstanding shares of any one underlying fund. Under the terms of the exemptive order, each fund and its affiliates may not control a non-affiliated underlying fund. Under the 1940 Act, any person who owns beneficially, either directly or through one or more controlled companies, more than 25% of the voting securities of a company is assumed to control that company. This limitation is measured at the time the investment is made. SHORT SALES may be used by a fund as part of its overall portfolio management strategies or to offset (hedge) a potential decline in the value of a security. A fund may engage in short sales that are either "against the box" or "uncovered." A short sale is "against the box" if at all times during which the short position is open, a fund owns at least an equal amount of the securities or securities convertible into, or has the right to acquire, at no added cost, the securities of the same issue as the securities that are sold short. A short sale against the box is a taxable transaction to a fund with respect to the securities that are sold short. "Uncovered" short sales are transactions under which a fund sells a security it does not own. To complete such transaction, a fund may borrow the security through a broker to make delivery to the buyer and, in doing so, a fund becomes obligated to replace the security borrowed by purchasing the security at the market price at the time of the replacement. A fund also may have to pay a fee to borrow particular securities, 43 which would increase the cost of the security. In addition, a fund is often obligated to pay any accrued interest and dividends on the securities until they are replaced. The proceeds of the short sale position will be retained by the broker until a fund replaces the borrowed securities. A fund will incur a loss if the price of the security sold short increases between the time of the short sale and the time the fund replaces the borrowed security and, conversely, the fund will realize a gain if the price declines. Any gain will be decreased, and any loss increased, by the transaction costs described above. A short sale creates the risk of an unlimited loss, as the price of the underlying securities could theoretically increase without limit, thus increasing the cost of buying those securities to cover the short position. If a fund sells securities short "against the box," it may protect unrealized gains, but will lose the opportunity to profit on such securities if the price rises. The successful use of short selling as a hedging strategy may be adversely affected by imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the security sold short and the securities being hedged. A fund's obligation to replace the securities borrowed in connection with a short sale will be secured by collateral deposited with the broker that consists of cash or other liquid securities. In addition, a fund will earmark cash or liquid assets or place in a segregated account an amount of cash or other liquid assets equal to the difference, if any, between (1) the market value of the securities sold short, marked-to-market daily, and (2) any cash or other liquid securities deposited as collateral with the broker in connection with the short sale. SINKING FUNDS may be established by bond issuers to set aside a certain amount of money to cover timely repayment of bondholders' principal raised through a bond issuance. By creating a sinking fund, the issuer is able to spread repayment of principal to numerous bondholders while reducing reliance on its then current cash flows. A sinking fund also may allow the issuer to annually repurchase certain of its outstanding bonds from the open market or repurchase certain of its bonds at a call price named in a bond's sinking fund provision. This call provision will allow bonds to be prepaid or called prior to a bond's maturity. The likelihood of this occurring is substantial during periods of falling interest rates. SMALL-CAP STOCKS include common stocks issued by operating companies with market capitalizations that place them at the lower end of the stock market, as well as the stocks of companies that are determined to be small based on several factors, including the capitalization of the company and the amount of revenues. Historically, small-cap company stocks have been riskier than stocks issued by large- or mid-cap companies for a variety of reasons. Small-cap companies may have less certain growth prospects and are typically less diversified and less able to withstand changing economic conditions than larger capitalized companies. Small-cap companies also may have more limited product lines, markets or financial resources than companies with larger capitalizations, and may be more dependent on a relatively small management group. In addition, small-cap companies may not be well known to the investing public, may not have institutional ownership and may have only cyclical, static or moderate growth prospects. Most small-cap company stocks pay low or no dividends. These factors and others may cause sharp changes in the value of a small-cap company's stock, and even cause some small-cap companies to fail. Additionally, small-cap stocks may not be as broadly traded as large- or mid-cap stocks, and a fund's positions in securities of such companies may be substantial in relation to the market for such securities. Accordingly, it may be difficult for a fund to dispose of securities of these small-cap companies at prevailing market prices in order to meet redemptions. This lower degree of liquidity can adversely affect the value of these securities. For these reasons and others, the value of a fund's investments in small-cap stocks is expected to be more volatile than other types of investments, including other types of stock investments. While small-cap stocks are generally considered to offer greater growth 44 opportunities for investors, they involve greater risks and the share price of a fund that invests in small-cap stocks may change sharply during the short term and long term. SPREAD TRANSACTIONS may be used for hedging or managing risk. A fund may purchase covered spread options from securities dealers. Such covered spread options are not presently exchange-listed or exchange-traded. The purchase of a spread option gives the fund the right to put, or sell, a security that it owns at a fixed dollar spread or fixed yield spread in relation to another security that the fund does not own, but which is used as a benchmark. The risk to the fund in purchasing covered spread options is the cost of the premium paid for the spread option and any transaction costs. In addition, there is no assurance that closing transactions will be available. The purchase of spread options will be used to protect the fund against adverse changes in prevailing credit quality spreads, i.e., the yield spread between high quality and lower quality securities. Such protection is only provided during the life of the spread option. STOCK SUBSTITUTION STRATEGY is a strategy, whereby each Equity Index Funds may, in certain circumstances, substitute a similar stock for a security in its index. STRIPPED SECURITIES are securities whose income and principal components are detached and sold separately. While risks associated with stripped securities are similar to other fixed income securities, stripped securities are typically subject to greater changes in value. U.S. Treasury securities that have been stripped by the Federal Reserve Bank are obligations of the U.S. Treasury. STRUCTURED NOTES are derivative debt securities, the interest rate or principal of which is determined by an unrelated indicator. Indexed securities include structured notes as well as securities other than debt securities, the interest rate or principal of which is determined by an unrelated indicator. Indexed securities may include a multiplier that multiplies the indexed element by a specified factor and, therefore, the value of such securities may be very volatile. The terms of the structured and indexed securities may provide that in certain circumstances no principal is due at maturity and therefore, may result in a loss of invested capital. Structured and indexed securities may be positively or negatively indexed, so that appreciation of the reference may produce an increase or a decrease in the interest rate or the value of the structured or indexed security at maturity may be calculated as a specified multiple of the change in the value of the reference; therefore, the value of such security may be very volatile. Structured and indexed securities may entail a greater degree of market risk than other types of debt securities because the investor bears the risk of the reference. Structured or indexed securities may also be more volatile, less liquid, and more difficult to accurately price than less complex securities or more traditional debt securities. To the extent a fund invests in these securities, however, PIMCO analyzes these securities in its overall assessment of the effective duration of the fund's portfolio in an effort to monitor the fund's interest rate risk. SWAP AGREEMENTS are privately negotiated over-the-counter derivative products in which two parties agree to exchange payment streams calculated in relation to a rate, index, instrument or certain securities (referred to as the "underlying") and a predetermined amount (referred to as the "notional amount"). The underlying for a swap may be an interest rate (fixed or floating), a currency exchange rate, a commodity price index, a security, group of securities or a securities index, a combination of any of these, or various other rates, assets or indices. Swap agreements generally do not involve the delivery of the underlying or principal, and a party's obligations generally are equal to only the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement based on the relative values of the positions held by each party to the swap agreement. Swap agreements can be structured to increase or decrease a fund's exposure to long or short term interest rates, corporate borrowing rates and other conditions, such as changing security prices and inflation rates. They also can be structured to increase or decrease a fund's exposure to 45 specific issuers or specific sectors of the bond market such as mortgage securities. For example, if a fund agreed to pay a longer-term fixed rate in exchange for a shorter-term floating rate while holding longer-term fixed rate bonds, the swap would tend to decrease a fund's exposure to longer-term interest rates. Swap agreements tend to increase or decrease the overall volatility of a fund's investments and its share price and yield. Changes in interest rates, or other factors determining the amount of payments due to and from a fund, can be the most significant factors in the performance of a swap agreement. If a swap agreement calls for payments from a fund, a fund must be prepared to make such payments when they are due. In order to help minimize risks, a fund will earmark or segregate appropriate assets for any accrued but unpaid net amounts owed under the terms of a swap agreement entered into on a net basis. All other swap agreements will require a fund to earmark or segregate assets in the amount of the accrued amounts owed under the swap. A fund could sustain losses if a counterparty does not perform as agreed under the terms of the swap. A fund will enter into swap agreements with counterparties deemed creditworthy by the investment adviser. In addition, the funds may invest in swaptions, which are privately-negotiated option-based derivative products. Swaptions give the holder the right to enter into a swap. A fund may use a swaption in addition to or in lieu of a swap involving a similar rate or index. For purposes of applying a fund's investment policies and restrictions (as stated in the prospectuses and this SAI) swap agreements are generally valued by the funds at market value. In the case of a credit default swap sold by a fund (i.e., where the fund is selling credit default protection), however, the fund will generally value the swap at its notional amount. The manner in which certain securities or other instruments are valued by the funds for purposes of applying investment policies and restrictions may differ from the manner in which those investments are valued by other types of investors. TEMPORARY DEFENSIVE INVESTMENTS. During unusual economic or market conditions or for temporary defensive or liquidity purposes, the Schwab Core Equity Fund(TM), Schwab Dividend Equity Fund(TM), Schwab Large-Cap Growth Fund(TM), Schwab Hedged Equity Fund(TM), Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund(TM), Schwab Premier Equity Fund(TM), Schwab Financial Services Fund(TM), Schwab Health Care Fund(TM), Schwab Technology Fund(TM), each of the Schwab Target Funds and the Schwab Viewpoints Fund may invest up to 100% of their assets in cash, money market instruments, repurchase agreements and other short-term obligations. U.S. GOVERNMENT SECURITIES are issued by the U.S. Treasury or issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or any of its agencies or instrumentalities. Not all U.S. government securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Some U.S. government securities, such as those issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Student Loan Marketing Association (SLMA or Sallie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLB), are supported by a line of credit the issuing entity has with the U.S. Treasury. Others are supported solely by the credit of the issuing agency or instrumentality such as obligations issued by the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation (FFCB). There can be no assurance that the U.S. government will provide financial support to U.S. government securities of its agencies and instrumentalities if it is not obligated to do so under law. Of course U.S. government securities, including U.S. Treasury securities, are among the safest securities, however, not unlike other debt securities, they are still sensitive to interest rate changes, which will cause their yields and prices to fluctuate. VARIABLE- AND FLOATING-RATE DEBT SECURITIES pay an interest rate, which is adjusted either periodically or at specific intervals or which floats continuously according to a formula or benchmark. Although these structures generally are intended to minimize the fluctuations in 46 value that occur when interest rates rise and fall, some structures may be linked to a benchmark in such a way as to cause greater volatility to the security's value. Some variable-rate securities may be combined with a put or demand feature (variable-rate demand securities) that entitles the holder to the right to demand repayment in full or to resell at a specific price and/or time. While the demand feature is intended to reduce credit risks, it is not always unconditional, and may make the securities more difficult to sell quickly without losses. There are risks involved with these securities because there may be no active secondary market for a particular variable-rate demand security purchased by a fund. In addition, the fund may exercise its demand rights only at certain times. The fund could also suffer losses in the event that the issuer defaults on its obligation. WRAP AGREEMENTS may be entered into by a fund with insurance companies, banks or other financial institutions ("wrapper providers"). A wrap agreement typically obligates the wrapper provider to maintain the value of the assets covered under the agreement ("covered assets") up to a specified maximum dollar amount upon the occurrence of certain specified events. The value is pre-determined using the purchase price of the securities plus interest at a specified rate minus an adjustment for any defaulted securities. The specified interest rate may be adjusted periodically under the terms of the agreement. While the rate typically will reflect movements in the market rates of interest, it may at times be less or more than the actual rate of income earned on the covered assets. The rate also can be impacted by defaulted securities and by purchase and redemption levels in the fund. The fund also pays a fee under the agreement, which reduces the rate as well. Wrap agreements may be used as a risk management technique intended to help minimize fluctuations in the fund's NAV. However, the fund's NAV will typically fluctuate at least minimally, and may fluctuate more at times when interest rates are fluctuating. Additionally, wrap agreements do not protect against losses the fund may incur if the issuers of portfolio securities do not make timely payments of interest and/or principal. A wrap agreement provider also could default on its obligations under the agreement. Therefore, the fund will only invest in a wrap provider with an investment-grade credit rating. There is no active trading market for wrap agreements and none is expected to develop. Therefore, wrap agreements are considered illiquid investments. There is no guarantee that the fund will be able to purchase any wrap agreements or replace ones that defaulted. Wrap agreements are valued using procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees. There are risks that the value of a wrap agreement may not be sufficient to minimize the fluctuations in the fund's NAV. All of these factors might result in a decline in the value of the fund's shares. ZERO-COUPON, STEP-COUPON, AND PAY-IN-KIND SECURITIES are debt securities that do not make regular cash interest payments. Zero-coupon and step-coupon securities are sold at a deep discount to their face value. Pay-in-kind securities pay interest through the issuance of additional securities. Because such securities do not pay current cash income, the price of these securities can be volatile when interest rates fluctuate. While these securities do not pay current cash income, federal income tax law requires the holders of zero-coupon, step-coupon, and pay-in-kind securities to include in income each year the portion of the original issue discount (or deemed discount) and other non-cash income on such securities accruing that year. In order to continue to qualify as a "regulated investment company" or "RIC" under the Code and avoid a certain excise tax, a fund may be required to distribute a portion of such discount and income and may be required to dispose of other portfolio securities, which may occur in periods of adverse market prices, in order to generate cash to meet these distribution requirements. INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS 47 SCHWAB LARGE-CAP GROWTH FUND, SCHWAB DIVIDEND EQUITY FUND TM AND SCHWAB PREMIER EQUITY FUND TM THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS MAY BE CHANGED ONLY BY VOTE OF A MAJORITY OF EACH FUND'S OUTSTANDING VOTING SHARES: EACH FUND MAY NOT: (1) Purchase securities of an issuer, except as consistent with the maintenance of its status as an open-end diversified company under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (2) Concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries, as concentration is defined under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (3) Purchase or sell commodities or real estate, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (4) Make loans to other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (5) Borrow money, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (6) Issue senior securities, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (7) Underwrite securities issued by other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. THE FOLLOWING ARE NON-FUNDAMENTAL INVESTMENT POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS, AND MAY BE CHANGED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. EACH FUND MAY NOT: (1) Sell securities short unless it owns the security or the right to obtain the security or equivalent securities, or unless it covers such short sale as required by current SEC rules and interpretations (transactions in futures contracts, options and other derivative instruments are not considered selling securities short). (2) Purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities and provided that margin deposits in connection with futures contracts, options on futures or other derivative instruments shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin. 48 (3) Invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. (4) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (5) Purchase securities (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if, as a result of such purchase, 25% or more of the value of its total assets would be invested in any industry or group of industries. (6) Purchase or sell commodities, commodity contracts or real estate, including interests in real estate limited partnerships, provided that the fund may (i) purchase securities of companies that deal in real estate or interests therein (including REITs), (ii) purchase or sell futures contracts, options contracts, equity index participations and index participation contracts, and (iii) purchase securities of companies that deal in precious metals or interests therein. (7) Lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties (this restriction does not apply to purchases of debt securities or repurchase agreements). (8) Borrow money except that the fund may (i) borrow money from banks or through an interfund lending facility, if any, only for temporary or emergency purposes (and not for leveraging) and (ii) engage in reverse repurchase agreements with any party; provided that (i) and (ii) in combination do not exceed 33 1/3% of its total assets (any borrowings that come to exceed this amount will be reduced to the extent necessary to comply with the limitation within three business days). SCHWAB CORE EQUITY FUND TM THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS MAY BE CHANGED ONLY BY VOTE OF A MAJORITY OF THE FUND'S OUTSTANDING VOTING SHARES: (1) The fund may not purchase securities of an issuer, except as consistent with the maintenance of its status as an open-end diversified company under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (2) The fund may not concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries, as concentration is defined under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (3) The fund may not purchase or sell commodities or real estate, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (4) The fund may not make loans to other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. 49 (5) The fund may not borrow money, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (6) The fund may not issue senior securities, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (7) The fund may not underwrite securities issued by other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. THE FOLLOWING ARE NON-FUNDAMENTAL INVESTMENT POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS, AND MAY BE CHANGED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. THE FUND MAY NOT: (1) Sell securities short unless it owns the security or the right to obtain the security or equivalent securities, or unless it covers such short sale as required by current SEC rules and interpretations (transactions in futures contracts, options and other derivative instruments are not considered selling securities short). (2) Purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities and provided that margin deposits in connection with futures contracts, options on futures or other derivative instruments shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin. (3) Invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. (4) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (5) Purchase securities (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if, as a result of such purchase, 25% or more of the value of its total assets would be invested in any industry or group of industries (except that the fund may purchase securities to the extent that the S&P 500(R) is also so concentrated). (6) Purchase or sell commodities, commodity contracts or real estate, including interests in real estate limited partnerships, provided that the fund may (i) purchase securities of companies that deal in real estate or interests therein (including REITs), (ii) purchase or sell futures contracts, options contracts, equity index participations and index participation contracts, and (iii) purchase securities of companies that deal in precious metals or interests therein. (7) Lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties (this restriction does not apply to purchases of debt securities or repurchase agreements). (8) Borrow money except that the fund may (i) borrow money from banks or through an interfund lending facility, if any, only for temporary or emergency purposes (and not for leveraging) and (ii) engage in reverse repurchase agreements with any party; provided that (i) and (ii) in combination do not exceed 33 1/3% of its total assets (any borrowings that 50 come to exceed this amount will be reduced to the extent necessary to comply with the limitation within three business days). SCHWAB SMALL-CAP EQUITY FUND TM THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS MAY BE CHANGED ONLY BY VOTE OF A MAJORITY OF THE FUND'S OUTSTANDING VOTING SHARES: (1) The fund may not purchase securities of an issuer, except as consistent with the maintenance of its status as an open-end diversified company under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (2) The fund may not concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries, as concentration is defined under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (3) The fund may not purchase or sell commodities or real estate, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (4) The fund may not make loans to other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (5) The fund may not borrow money, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (6) The fund may not issue senior securities, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (7) The fund may not underwrite securities issued by other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. THE FOLLOWING ARE NON-FUNDAMENTAL INVESTMENT POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS, AND MAY BE CHANGED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. THE FUND MAY NOT: (1) Sell securities short unless it owns the security or the right to obtain the security or equivalent securities, or unless it covers such short sale as required by current SEC rules and interpretations (transactions in futures contracts, options and other derivative instruments are not considered selling securities short). (2) Purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities and provided that margin deposits in 51 connection with futures contracts, options on futures or other derivative instruments shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin. (3) Invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. (4) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (5) Purchase securities (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if, as a result of such purchase, 25% or more of the value of its total assets would be invested in any industry or group of industries (except that the fund may purchase securities to the extent that the S&P SmallCap 600(R) is also so concentrated). (6) Purchase or sell commodities, commodity contracts or real estate, including interests in real estate limited partnerships, provided that the fund may (i) purchase securities of companies that deal in real estate or interests therein (including REITs), (ii) purchase or sell futures contracts, options contracts, equity index participations and index participation contracts, and (iii) purchase securities of companies that deal in precious metals or interests therein. (7) Lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties (this restriction does not apply to purchases of debt securities or repurchase agreements). (8) Borrow money except that the fund may (i) borrow money from banks or through an interfund lending facility, if any, only for temporary or emergency purposes (and not for leveraging) and (ii) engage in reverse repurchase agreements with any party; provided that (i) and (ii) in combination do not exceed 33 1/3% of its total assets (any borrowings that come to exceed this amount will be reduced to the extent necessary to comply with the limitation within three business days). SCHWAB HEDGED EQUITY FUND TM THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS MAY BE CHANGED ONLY BY VOTE OF A MAJORITY OF THE FUND'S OUTSTANDING VOTING SHARES: (1) The fund may not purchase securities of an issuer, except as consistent with the maintenance of its status as an open-end diversified company under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (2) The fund may not concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries, as concentration is defined under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (3) The fund may not purchase or sell commodities or real estate, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. 52 (4) The fund may not make loans to other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (5) The fund may not borrow money, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (6) The fund may not issue senior securities, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (7) The fund may not underwrite securities issued by other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. THE FOLLOWING ARE NON-FUNDAMENTAL INVESTMENT POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS, AND MAY BE CHANGED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. THE FUND MAY NOT: (1) Sell securities short unless it owns the security or the right to obtain the security or equivalent securities, or unless it covers such short sale as required by current SEC rules and interpretations (transactions in futures contracts, options and other derivative instruments are not considered selling securities short). (2) Purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities and provided that margin deposits in connection with futures contracts, options on futures or other derivative instruments shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin. (3) Invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. (4) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (5) Purchase securities (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if, as a result of such purchase, 25% or more of the value of its total assets would be invested in any industry or group of industries (except that the fund may purchase securities to the extent that the S&P 500(R) is also so concentrated). (6) Purchase or sell commodities, commodity contracts or real estate, including interests in real estate limited partnerships, provided that the fund may (i) purchase securities of companies that deal in real estate or interests therein (including REITs), (ii) purchase or sell futures contracts, options contracts, equity index participations and index participation contracts, and (iii) purchase securities of companies that deal in precious metals or interests therein. (7) Lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties (this restriction does not apply to purchases of debt securities or repurchase agreements). 53 (8) Borrow money, except that the fund may (i) borrow money (A) for temporary or emergency purposes or (B) from banks or through an interfund lending facility, if any, and (ii) engage in reverse repurchase agreements with any party; provided that (i) and (ii) in combination do not exceed 33 1/3% of its total assets. SCHWAB FINANCIAL SERVICES FUND TM, SCHWAB HEALTH CARE FUND TM AND SCHWAB TECHNOLOGY FUND TM: THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS MAY BE CHANGED ONLY BY VOTE OF A MAJORITY OF EACH FUND'S OUTSTANDING VOTING SHARES: (1) Each fund will concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries, as concentration is defined under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. The Schwab Financial Fund will concentrate its investments in securities of companies in the financial services sector. The Schwab Health Care Fund will concentrate its investments in securities of companies in the health care sector. The Schwab Technology Fund will concentrate its investments in securities of companies in the technology sector. (2) Each fund may not purchase or sell commodities or real estate, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (3) Each fund may not make loans to other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (4) Each fund may not borrow money, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (5) Each fund may not issue senior securities, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (6) Each fund may not underwrite securities issued by other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS ARE NON-FUNDAMENTAL AND MAY BE CHANGED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. EACH FUND MAY NOT: (1) Invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. (2) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. 54 (3) Sell securities short unless it owns the security or the right to obtain the security or equivalent securities, or unless it covers such short sale as required by current SEC rules and interpretations (transactions in futures contracts, options and other derivative instruments are not considered selling securities short). (4) Purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities and provided that margin deposits in connection with futures contracts, options on futures or other derivative instruments shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin. (5) Purchase or sell commodities, commodity contracts or real estate, including interests in real estate limited partnerships, provided that the fund may (1) purchase securities of companies that deal in real estate or interests therein (including REITs), (2) purchase or sell futures contracts, options contracts, equity index participations and index participation contracts, and (3) purchase securities of companies that deal in precious metals or interests therein. (6) Borrow money except that the fund may (i) borrow money from banks or through an interfund lending facility, if any, only for temporary or emergency purposes (and not for leveraging) and (ii) engage in reverse repurchase agreements with any party; provided that (i) and (ii) in combination do not exceed 33 1/3% of its total assets (any borrowings that come to exceed this amount will be reduced to the extent necessary to comply with the limitation within three business days). (7) Lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties (this restriction does not apply to purchases of debt securities or repurchase agreements). SCHWAB EQUITY INDEX FUNDS THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS MAY BE CHANGED ONLY BY VOTE OF A MAJORITY OF EACH FUND'S OUTSTANDING VOTING SHARES: Each of the Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund, Schwab 1000 Index(R) Fund, Schwab Small-Cap Index Fund(R), and Schwab International Index Fund(R) may not: (1) Borrow money, except to the extent permitted under the Investment Company 1940 Act (the "1940 Act"), the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (2) Make loans to other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (3) Issue senior securities, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (4) Purchase securities of an issuer, except as consistent with the maintenance of its status as an open-end diversified company under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. 55 (5) Concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries, as concentration is defined under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (6) Purchase or sell commodities or real estate, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (7) Underwrite securities issued by other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. IN ADDITION, EACH OF THE SCHWAB S&P 500 INDEX FUND, SCHWAB SMALL-CAP INDEX FUND(R) AND SCHWAB INTERNATIONAL INDEX FUND(R) MAY NOT: (1) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, including any exemptive relief granted by the SEC. IN ADDITION, THE SCHWAB 1000 INDEX(R) FUND MAY NOT: (1) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act. THE SCHWAB TOTAL STOCK MARKET INDEX FUND(R) MAY NOT: (1) Purchase securities of any issuer, except as consistent with the maintenance of its status as a diversified company under the 1940 Act. (2) Concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, or the rules or regulations thereunder. (3) (i) Purchase or sell commodities, commodities contracts, futures or real estate, (ii) lend or borrow money, (iii) issue senior securities, (iv) underwrite securities or (v) pledge, mortgage or hypothecate any of its assets, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, or the rules or regulations thereunder. THE FOLLOWING ARE NON-FUNDAMENTAL INVESTMENT POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS, AND MAY BE CHANGED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. EACH FUND MAY NOT: (1) Sell securities short unless it owns the security or the right to obtain the security or equivalent securities, or unless it covers such short sale as required by current SEC rules and interpretations (transactions in futures contracts, options and other derivative instruments are not considered selling securities short). (2) Purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities and provided that margin deposits in connection with futures contracts, options on futures or other derivative instruments shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin. (3) Borrow money except that the fund may (i) borrow money from banks or through an interfund lending facility, if any, only for temporary or emergency purposes (and not for 56 leveraging) and (ii) engage in reverse repurchase agreements with any party; provided that (i) and (ii) in combination do not exceed 33 1/3% of its total assets (any borrowings that come to exceed this amount will be reduced to the extent necessary to comply with the limitation within three business days). (4) Lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties (this restriction does not apply to purchases of debt securities or repurchase agreements). (5) Purchase securities (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if, as a result of such purchase, 25% or more of the value of its total assets would be invested in any industry or group of industries (except that each fund may purchase securities to the extent that its index is also so concentrated). (6) Purchase or sell commodities, commodity contracts or real estate, including interests in real estate limited partnerships, provided that each fund may (i) purchase securities of companies that deal in real estate or interests therein (including REITs), (ii) purchase or sell futures contracts, options contracts, equity index participations and index participation contracts, and (iii) purchase securities of companies that deal in precious metals or interests therein. (7) Invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. IN ADDITION, THE SCHWAB SMALL-CAP INDEX FUND(R) (1) Intends to achieve its investment objective by tracking the price and dividend performance (total return) of the Schwab Small-Cap Index. IN ADDITION, THE SCHWAB INTERNATIONAL INDEX FUND(R) (1) Intends to achieve its investment objective by tracking the price and dividend performance (total return) of the Schwab International Index. IN ADDITION, THE SCHWAB TOTAL STOCK MARKET INDEX FUND(R) MAY NOT: (1) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. SCHWAB INSTITUTIONAL SELECT(R) S&P 500 FUND THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS MAY BE CHANGED ONLY BY VOTE OF A MAJORITY OF THE FUND'S OUTSTANDING VOTING SHARES: THE SCHWAB INSTITUTIONAL SELECT S&P 500 FUND MAY NOT: (1) Purchase securities of any issuer, except as consistent with the maintenance of its status as a diversified company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "1940 Act"). (2) Concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, or the rules or regulations thereunder. 57 (3) (i) Purchase or sell commodities, commodities contracts, futures contracts or real estate, (ii) lend or borrow money, (iii) issue senior securities, (iv) underwrite securities or (v) pledge, mortgage or hypothecate any of its assets, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, or the rules or regulations thereunder. THE FOLLOWING ARE NON-FUNDAMENTAL INVESTMENT POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS, AND MAY BE CHANGED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. THE FUND MAY NOT: (1) Invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. (2) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (3) Sell securities short unless it owns the security or the right to obtain the security or equivalent securities, or unless it covers such short sale as required by current SEC rules and interpretations (transactions in futures contracts, options and other derivative instruments are not considered selling securities short). (4) Borrow money except that the fund may (i) borrow money from banks or through an interfund lending facility, if any, only for temporary or emergency purposes (and not for leveraging) and (ii) engage in reverse repurchase agreements with any party; provided that (i) and (ii) in combination do not exceed 33 1/3% of its total assets (any borrowings that come to exceed this amount will be reduced to the extent necessary to comply with the limitation within three business days). (5) Purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities and provided that margin deposits in connection with futures contracts, options on futures or other derivative instruments shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin. (6) Purchase securities (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if, as a result of such purchase, 25% or more of the value of its total assets would be invested in any industry or group of industries (except that each fund may purchase securities to the extent that its index is also so concentrated). (7) Lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties (this restriction does not apply to purchases of debt securities or repurchase agreements). (8) Purchase or sell commodities, commodity contracts or real estate, including interests in real estate limited partnerships, provided that the fund may (i) purchase securities of companies that deal in real estate or interests therein (including REITs), (ii) purchase or sell futures contracts, options contracts, equity index participations and index participation contracts, and (iii) purchase securities of companies that deal in precious metals or interests therein. SCHWAB MARKETTRACK PORTFOLIOS(R) 58 THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS MAY BE CHANGED ONLY BY VOTE OF A MAJORITY OF EACH PORTFOLIO'S OUTSTANDING VOTING SHARES: THE ALL EQUITY PORTFOLIO MAY NOT: (1) Purchase securities of any issuer unless consistent with the maintenance of its status as a diversified company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "1940 Act"). (2) Concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries as concentration is defined under the 1940 Act, or the rules or regulations thereunder. (3) (i) Purchase or sell commodities, commodities contracts or real estate, (ii) lend or borrow money, (iii) issue senior securities, (iv) underwrite securities, or (v) pledge, mortgage or hypothecate any of its assets, except as permitted by the 1940 Act or the rules or regulations thereunder. EACH OF THE GROWTH PORTFOLIO, BALANCED PORTFOLIO AND CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO MAY NOT: (1) Purchase securities of an issuer, except as consistent with the maintenance of its status as an open-end diversified company under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (2) Concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries, as concentration is defined under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (3) Purchase or sell commodities or real estate, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (4) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, including any exemptive relief granted by the SEC. (5) Make loans to other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (6) Borrow money, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (7) Issue senior securities, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (8) Underwrite securities issued by other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. THE FOLLOWING ARE NON-FUNDAMENTAL INVESTMENT POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS, AND MAY BE CHANGED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 59 EACH PORTFOLIO MAY NOT: (1) Sell securities short unless it owns the security or the right to obtain the security or equivalent securities, or unless it covers such short sale as required by current SEC rules and interpretations (transactions in futures contracts, options and other derivative instruments are not considered selling securities short). (2) Purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities and provided that margin deposits in connection with futures contracts and options on futures or other derivative instruments shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin. (3) Borrow money except that the portfolio may (i) borrow money from banks or through an interfund lending facility, if any, only for temporary or emergency purposes (and not for leveraging) and (ii) engage in reverse repurchase agreements with any party; provided that (i) and (ii) in combination do not exceed 33 1/3% of its total assets (any borrowings that come to exceed this amount will be reduced to the extent necessary to comply with the limitation within three business days). (4) Lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties (this restriction does not apply to purchases of debt securities or repurchase agreements). (5) Purchase securities (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if, as a result of such purchase, 25% or more of the value of its total assets would be invested in any industry or group of industries. (6) Invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. (7) Purchase or sell commodities, commodity contracts or real estate, including interests in real estate limited partnerships, provided that the portfolio may (i) purchase securities of companies that deal in real estate or interests therein (including REITs), (ii) purchase or sell futures contracts, options contracts, equity index participations and index participation contracts, and (iii) purchase securities of companies that deal in precious metals or interests therein. IN ADDITION, THE ALL EQUITY PORTFOLIO MAY NOT: (1) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. SCHWAB TARGET FUNDS: THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS MAY BE CHANGED ONLY BY VOTE OF A MAJORITY OF EACH FUND'S OUTSTANDING VOTING SHARES: EACH FUND MAY NOT: (1) Concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries, as concentration is defined under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption 60 therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (2) Purchase or sell commodities or real estate, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (3) Make loans to other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (4) Borrow money, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (5) Issue senior securities, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (6) Underwrite securities issued by other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. (7) Purchase securities of an issuer, except as consistent with the maintenance of its status as an open-end diversified company under the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS ARE NON-FUNDAMENTAL AND MAY BE CHANGED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. EACH FUND MAY NOT: (1) Invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. (2) Sell securities short unless it owns the security or the right to obtain the security or equivalent securities, or unless it covers such short sale as required by current SEC rules and interpretations (transactions in futures contracts, options and other derivative instruments are not considered selling securities short). (3) Purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities and provided that margin deposits in connection with futures contracts, options on futures or other derivative instruments shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin. (4) Purchase or sell commodities, commodity contracts or real estate, including interests in real estate limited partnerships, provided that the fund may (1) purchase securities of companies that deal in real estate or interests therein (including REITs), (2) purchase or sell futures contracts, options contracts, equity index participations and index participation contracts, and (3) purchase securities of companies that deal in precious metals or interests therein. 61 (5) Borrow money except that the fund may (i) borrow money from banks or through an interfund lending facility, if any, only for temporary or emergency purposes (and not for leveraging) and (ii) engage in reverse repurchase agreements with any party; provided that (i) and (ii) in combination do not exceed 33 1/3% of its total assets (any borrowings that come to exceed this amount will be reduced to the extent necessary to comply with the limitation within three business days). (6) Lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties (this restriction does not apply to purchases of debt securities or repurchase agreements). (7) Purchase securities (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if, as a result of such purchase, 25% or more of the value of its total assets would be invested in any industry or group of industries. SCHWAB VIEWPOINTS FUND TM: THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS MAY BE CHANGED ONLY BY VOTE OF A MAJORITY OF THE FUND'S OUTSTANDING VOTING SHARES: THE FUND MAY NOT: 1) Purchase securities of any issuer unless consistent with the maintenance of its status as a diversified company under the 1940 Act. 2) Concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries as concentration is defined under the 1940 Act, or the rules or regulations thereunder. 3) Purchase or sell commodities, commodities contracts or real estate, lend or borrow money, issue senior securities, underwrite securities, or pledge, mortgage or hypothecate any of its assets, except as permitted by the 1940 Act or the rules or regulations thereunder. THE FOLLOWING INVESTMENT POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS ARE NON-FUNDAMENTAL AND MAY BE CHANGED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. THE FUND MAY NOT: 1) Invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. 2) Purchase securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time. 3) Sell securities short unless it owns the security or the right to obtain the security or equivalent securities, or unless it covers such short sale as required by current SEC rules and interpretations (transactions in futures contracts, options and other derivative instruments are not considered selling securities short). 4) Purchase securities on margin, except such short term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities and provided that margin deposits in connection with futures contracts, options on futures or other derivative instruments shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin. 62 5) Borrow money except that the fund may (i) borrow money from banks or through an interfund lending facility, if any, only for temporary or emergency purposes (and not for leveraging) and (ii) engage in reverse repurchase agreements with any party; provided that (i) and (ii) in combination do not exceed 33 1/3% of its total assets (any borrowings that come to exceed this amount will be reduced to the extent necessary to comply with the limitation within three business days). 6) Lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties (this restriction does not apply to purchases of debt securities or repurchase agreements). 7) Purchase securities (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if, as a result of such purchase, 25% or more of the value of its total assets would be invested in any industry or group of industries. 8) Purchase or sell commodities, commodity contracts or real estate, including interests in real estate limited partnerships, provided that the fund may (i) purchase securities of companies that deal in real estate or interests therein (including REITs), (ii) purchase or sell futures contracts, options contracts, equity index participations and index participation contracts, and (iii) purchase securities of companies that deal in precious metals or interests therein. THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTIONS OF THE 1940 ACT MAY ASSIST INVESTORS IN UNDERSTANDING THE ABOVE POLICIES AND RESTRICTIONS. Borrowing. The 1940 Act restricts an investment company from borrowing (including pledging, mortgaging or hypothecating assets) in excess of 33 1/3% of its total assets (not including temporary borrowings not in excess of 5% of its total assets). Transactions that are fully collateralized in a manner that does not involve the prohibited issuance of a "senior security" within the meaning of Section 18(f) of the 1940 Act, shall not be regarded as borrowings for the purposes of a fund's investment restriction. Concentration. The SEC has defined concentration as investing 25% or more of an investment company's total assets in an industry or group of industries, with certain exceptions. Diversification. Under the 1940 Act and the rules, regulations and interpretations thereunder, a "diversified company," as to 75% of its total assets, may not purchase securities of any issuer (other than obligations of, or guaranteed by, the U.S. government or its agencies, or instrumentalities or securities of other investment companies) if, as a result, more than 5% of its total assets would be invested in the securities of such issuer, or more than 10% of the issuer's voting securities would be held by the fund. Lending. Under the 1940 Act, an investment company may only make loans if expressly permitted by its investment policies. Real Estate. The 1940 Act does not directly restrict an investment company's ability to invest in real estate, but does require that every investment company have a fundamental investment policy governing such investments. Each fund has adopted a fundamental policy that would permit direct investment in real estate. However, each fund has a non-fundamental investment limitation that prohibits it from investing directly in real estate. This non-fundamental policy may be changed only by vote of a fund's Board of Trustees. 63 Senior Securities. Senior securities may include any obligation or instrument issued by an investment company evidencing indebtedness. The 1940 Act generally prohibits each fund from issuing senior securities, although it provides allowances for certain borrowings and certain other investments, such as short sales, reverse repurchase agreements, firm commitment agreements and standby commitments, when such investments are "covered" or with appropriate earmarking or segregation of assets to cover such obligations. Underwriting. Under the 1940 Act, underwriting securities involves an investment company purchasing securities directly from an issuer for the purpose of selling (distributing) them or participating in any such activity either directly or indirectly. Under the 1940 Act, a diversified fund may not make any commitment as underwriter, if immediately thereafter the amount of its outstanding underwriting commitments, plus the value of its investments in securities of issuers (other than investment companies) of which it owns more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities, exceeds 25% of the value of its total assets. The foregoing restriction does not apply to non-diversified funds. Policies and investment limitations that state a maximum percentage of assets that may be invested in a security or other asset, or that set forth a quality standard shall be measured immediately after and as a result of a fund's acquisition of such security or asset, unless otherwise noted. Except with respect to limitations on borrowing and futures and option contracts, any subsequent change in net assets or other circumstances does not require a fund to sell an investment if it could not then make the same investment. With respect to the limitation on illiquid securities, in the event that a subsequent change in net assets or other circumstances cause a fund to exceed its limitation, the fund will take steps to bring the aggregate amount of illiquid instruments back within the limitations as soon as reasonably practicable. MANAGEMENT OF THE FUNDS The funds are overseen by a Board of Trustees. The trustees are responsible for protecting shareholder interests. The trustees regularly meet to review the investment activities, contractual arrangements and the investment performance of each fund. The trustees met 6 times during the most recent fiscal year. Certain trustees are "interested persons." A trustee is considered an interested person of a trust under the 1940 Act if he or she is an officer, director, or an employee of Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. ("CSIM") or Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab"). A trustee also may be considered an interested person of a trust under the 1940 Act if he or she owns stock of The Charles Schwab Corporation, a publicly traded company and the parent company of the funds' investment adviser and distributor. Each of the officers and/or trustees also serves in the same capacity as described for the trusts, for The Charles Schwab Family of Funds and Schwab Annuity Portfolios. Except as specifically noted below, as used herein the term "Family of Investment Companies" collectively refers to The Charles Schwab Family of Funds, Schwab Investments, Schwab Annuity Portfolios and Schwab Capital Trust which, as of October 31, 2006, included 57 funds. The tables below provide information about the trustees and officers for the trusts, which includes funds in this SAI. The "Fund Complex" includes The Charles Schwab Family of Funds, Schwab Investments, Schwab Capital Trust, Schwab Annuity Portfolios, Laudus Trust, Laudus Variable Insurance Trust, Excelsior Funds, Inc., Excelsior Tax-Exempt Funds, Inc., and Excelsior Funds Trust. As of October 31, 2006, the Fund Complex included 95 funds. The address of each individual listed below is 101 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California 94104. 64
NAME, YEAR OF BIRTH, AND POSITION(S) WITH NUMBER OF THE TRUSTS; PORTFOLIOS IN (TERM OF OFFICE PRINCIPAL FUND COMPLEX AND LENGTH OF OCCUPATIONS DURING OVERSEEN BY OTHER TIME SERVED 1) THE PAST FIVE YEARS THE TRUSTEE DIRECTORSHIPS ------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ ------------- ------------------------------- INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES Mariann Byerwalter Chairman of JDN Corporate Advisory LLC. From 1996 to 95 Board 1 -- Director, Redwood 1960 2001, Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Trust, Inc. Trustee Financial Officer of Stanford University, and in 2001, (Trustee of Schwab Special Advisor to the President of Stanford Board 2 -- Director, PMI Group, Capital Trust and Schwab University. Inc. Investments since 2000.) Donald F. Dorward Chief Executive Officer, Dorward & Associates 57 None. 1931 (corporate management, marketing and communications Trustee consulting firm). From 1996-1999, Executive Vice (Trustee of Schwab President and Managing Director, Grey Advertising. Capital Trust and Schwab Prior to 1996, President and Chief Executive Officer, Investments since 1989.) Allen & Dorward Advertising. William A. Hasler Retired. Dean Emeritus, Haas School of Business, 95 Board 1 -- Director, Mission 1941 University of California, Berkeley. Until February West Properties. Trustee 2004, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Aphton Corp. (Trustee of Schwab (bio-pharmaceuticals). Prior to August 1998, Dean of Board 2 -- Director, TOUSA. Capital Trust and Schwab the Haas School of Business, University of California, Investments since 2000.) Berkeley (higher education). Board 3 -- Director, Harris-Stratex Networks. Board 4 -- Director, Genitope Corp. Board 5 -- Director & Non-Executive Chairman, Solectron Corp. Board 6 -- Director, Ditech Networks.
65
NAME, YEAR OF BIRTH, AND POSITION(S) WITH NUMBER OF THE TRUSTS; PORTFOLIOS IN (TERM OF OFFICE PRINCIPAL FUND COMPLEX AND LENGTH OF OCCUPATIONS DURING OVERSEEN BY OTHER TIME SERVED 1) THE PAST FIVE YEARS THE TRUSTEE DIRECTORSHIPS ------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ ------------- ------------------------------- Robert G. Holmes Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Semloh 57 None. 1931 Financial, Inc. (international financial services and Trustee investment advisory firm). (Trustee of Schwab Capital Trust and Schwab Investments since 1989.) Gerald B. Smith Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and founder of Smith 57 Board 1 -- Board of Cooper 1950 Graham & Co. (investment advisors). Industries. Trustee (Trustee of Schwab Board 2 -- Chairman of the Capital Trust and Schwab Audit Committee of Oneok Investments since 2000.) Partners LP. Donald R. Stephens Managing Partner, D.R. Stephens & Company 57 None. 1938 (investments). Prior to 1996, Chairman and Chief Trustee Executive Officer of North American (real estate (Trustee of Schwab Trust investment trust). Capital Trust and Schwab Investments since 1989.) Michael W. Wilsey Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Wilsey Bennett, 57 None. 1943 Inc. (real estate investment and management, and other Trustee investments). (Trustee of Schwab Capital Trust and Schwab Investments since 1989.) INTERESTED TRUSTEES
66
NAME, YEAR OF BIRTH, AND POSITION(S) WITH NUMBER OF THE TRUSTS; PORTFOLIOS IN (TERM OF OFFICE PRINCIPAL FUND COMPLEX AND LENGTH OF OCCUPATIONS DURING OVERSEEN BY OTHER TIME SERVED 1) THE PAST FIVE YEARS THE TRUSTEE DIRECTORSHIPS ------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ ------------- ------------------------------- Charles R. Schwab 2 Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Director, The 57 None. 1937 Charles Schwab Corporation, Charles Schwab & Co., Chairman and Trustee Inc.; Chairman and Director, Charles Schwab Investment (Chairman and Trustee of Management, Inc., Charles Schwab Bank, N. A.; Chairman Schwab Capital Trust and and Chief Executive Officer, Schwab (SIS) Holdings Schwab Investments Inc. I, Schwab International Holdings, Inc.; Chief since 1989.) Executive Officer and Director, Schwab Holdings, Inc.; Director, U.S. Trust Company, N. A., U.S. Trust Corporation, United States Trust Company of New York. Until May 2003, Co-Chief Executive Officer, The Charles Schwab Corporation. Randall W. Merk 2 Executive Vice President and President, Schwab 95 None. 1954 Financial Products, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.; Trustee Director, Charles Schwab Asset Management (Ireland) (Trustee of Schwab Limited and Charles Schwab Worldwide Funds PLC. From Capital Trust and Schwab September 2002 to July 2004, Chief Executive Officer Investments since 2005.) and President, Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. and Executive Vice President, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Prior to September 2002, President and Chief Investment Officer, American Century Investment Management, and Director, American Century Companies, Inc.
67
NAME, YEAR OF BIRTH, AND POSITION(S) WITH THE TRUSTS; (TERM OF OFFICE AND PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS LENGTH OF TIME SERVED 3) DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICERS Evelyn Dilsaver President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director, Charles Schwab Investment Management, 1955 Inc.; Executive Vice President, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc; President and Chief Executive President and Chief Executive Officer Officer, Laudus Trust and Laudus Variable Insurance Trust; President, Excelsior Funds (Officer of Schwab Capital Trust and Inc., Excelsior Tax-Exempt Funds, Inc., and Excelsior Funds Trust; President, Mutual Schwab Investments since 2004.) Fund Division, UST Advisers, Inc. From June 2003 to July 2004, Senior Vice President, Asset Management Products and Services, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Prior to June 2003, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Administrative Officer, U.S. Trust, a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation. George Pereira Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Charles Schwab Investment Management, 1964 Inc.; Chief Financial Officer, Laudus Trust and Laudus Variable Insurance Trust; Chief Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer, Excelsior Funds Inc., Excelsior (Officer of Schwab Capital Trust and Tax-Exempt Funds, Inc., and Excelsior Funds Trust; Chief Financial Officer, Mutual Fund Schwab Investments since 2004.) Division, UST Advisers, Inc. Director, Charles Schwab Worldwide Fund, PLC and Charles Schwab Asset Management (Ireland) Limited. From December 1999 to November 2004, Sr. Vice President, Financial Reporting, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Koji E. Felton Senior Vice President, Chief Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Charles Schwab Investment 1961 Management, Inc.; Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Charles Schwab & Secretary and Chief Legal Officer Co., Inc. Chief Legal Officer, Laudus Trust, Laudus Variable Insurance Trust. Chief (Officer of Schwab Capital Trust and Legal Officer and Secretary, Excelsior Funds Inc., Excelsior Tax-Exempt Funds, Inc., and Schwab Investments since 1998.) Excelsior Funds Trust. Prior to June 1998, Branch Chief in Enforcement at U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in San Francisco.
68
NAME, YEAR OF BIRTH, AND POSITION(S) WITH THE TRUSTS; (TERM OF OFFICE AND PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS LENGTH OF TIME SERVED 3) DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Randall Fillmore Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, Charles Schwab Investment 1960 Management, Inc.; Senior Vice President, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.; Chief Compliance Chief Compliance Officer and AML Officer Officer, Laudus Trust, Laudus Variable Insurance Trust, Excelsior Funds Inc., Excelsior (Officer of Schwab Capital Trust and Tax-Exempt Funds, Inc., and Excelsior Funds Trust. From 2002 to 2003, Vice President, Schwab Investments since 2002.) Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., and Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. From 2000 to 2002, Vice President, Internal Audit, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Kimon P. Daifotis Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer -- Fixed Income, Charles Schwab 1959 Investment Management, Inc. Prior to 2004, Vice President and Sr. Portfolio Manager, Senior Vice President and Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. Chief Investment Officer -- Fixed Income (Officer of Schwab Capital Trust and Schwab Investments since 2004.) Jeffrey M. Mortimer Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer -- Equities, Charles Schwab 1963 Investment Management, Inc.; Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Laudus Trust Senior Vice President and and Laudus Variable Insurance Trust. Prior to 2004, Vice President and Sr. Portfolio Chief Investment Officer -- Equities Manager, Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. (Officer of Schwab Capital Trust and Schwab Investments since 2004.) Catherine MacGregor Vice President, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc., 1964 and Laudus Trust and Laudus Variable Insurance Trust; since 2006, Chief Counsel, Laudus Vice President Trust and Laudus Variable Insurance Trust; until July 2005, Senior Associate, Paul (Officer of Schwab Capital Trust and Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP. Schwab Investments since 2005 Cathy Sabo Vice President, Compliance, Charles Schwab Investment, Management, Inc., and Laudus 1964 Trust and Laudus Variable Insurance Trust; until September 2004, Vice President, Client, Vice President Sales & Services Controls, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Officer of Schwab Capital Trust and Schwab Investments since 2005 Michael Haydel Vice President, Asset Management Client Services, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.; Vice 1972 President and AML Officer, Laudus Trust and Laudus Variable Insurance Trust. Until March Vice President 2004, Director, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Officer of Schwab Capital Trust and Schwab Investments since 2006
1 Trustees remain in office until they resign, retire or are removed by shareholder vote. The Schwab Funds(R) retirement policy requires that independent trustees elected after January 1, 2000 retire at age 72 or after twenty years as a trustee, whichever comes first. Independent trustees elected prior to January 1, 2000 will retire on the following schedule: Messrs. Holmes and Dorward will retire on December 31, 2007, and Messrs. Stephens and Wilsey will retire on December 31, 2010. 69 2 Mr. Schwab and Mr. Merk are Interested Trustees because they are employees of Schwab and/or the adviser. In addition to their employment with the investment adviser and Schwab, Messrs. Schwab and Merk also own stock of The Charles Schwab Corporation. 3 The President, Treasurer and Secretary hold office until their respective successors are chosen and qualified or until he or she sooner dies, resigns, is removed or becomes disqualified. Each other officer serves at the pleasure of the Board. TRUSTEE COMMITTEES The Board of Trustees has established certain committees and adopted Committee charters with respect to those committees, each as described below: - The Audit and Compliance Committee (formerly the Audit/Portfolio Compliance Committee) has oversight responsibility for the integrity of the Trusts' financial reporting processes and compliance policies, procedures and processes, and for each Trust's overall system of internal controls. This Committee is comprised of at least four Independent Trustees. Currently, Messrs. Hasler, Holmes, Wilsey and Ms. Byerwalter are members of this Committee. The charter directs that the Committee must meet four times annually, with additional meetings as the Committee deems appropriate. The Committee met 4 times during the most recent fiscal year. - The primary purpose of the Governance Committee is to review and make recommendations to the Board regarding Trust governance-related matters, including but not limited to Board compensation practices, retirement policies and term limits, Board self-evaluations, the effectiveness and allocation of assignments and functions by the Board, the composition of committees of the Board, and the training of Trustees. The Committee is also responsible for selecting and nominating candidates to serve as trustees. There are no specific procedures in place to consider nominees recommended by shareholders, but such nominees would be considered if such nominations were submitted in accordance with Rule 14a-8 of the 1934 Act in conjunction with a shareholder meeting to consider the election of Trustees. This Committee is comprised of at least three Independent Trustees. Currently, Messrs. Dorward, Hasler and Holmes and Ms. Byerwalter are members of this Committee. The charter directs that the Committee meets at such times and with such frequency as is deemed necessary or appropriate by the Committee. The Committee met 4 times during the most recent fiscal year. - The primary purpose of the Investment Oversight Committee is to oversee the investment activities of each Trust. This Committee is comprised of at least three Independent Trustees. Currently, Messrs. Smith, Stephens and Wilsey are members of this Committee. The charter directs that the Committee meets at such times and with such frequency as is deemed necessary or appropriate by the Committee. The committee met 4 times during the most recent fiscal year. - The primary purposes of the Marketing, Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Committee are to review matters relating to the marketing of the funds' shares; to oversee the quality and cost of shareholder services provided to the Trusts and their shareholders pursuant to the shareholder servicing and/or administrative service plans; and to oversee the Trusts' distribution-related arrangements, including the distribution-related services provided to the Trusts and their shareholders. This Committee is comprised of at least three Independent Trustees. Currently, Messrs. Dorward, Smith and Stephens are members of this Committee. The charter directs that the Committee meets at such times and with such 70 frequency as is deemed necessary or appropriate by the Committee. The committee met 4 times during the most recent fiscal year. TRUSTEE COMPENSATION The following table provides trustee compensation for the fiscal year ending October 31, 2006. Certain information provided relates to the Fund Complex, which included 95 funds as of October 31, 2006.
Pension or Retirement Benefits ($) Accrued as Total ($) Part of Compensation Aggregate Compensation Fund from Fund Name of Trustee From: Expenses Complex -------------------- --------------------------- ---------- -------------- Schwab Schwab Capital Trust Investments -------------------- ------------- ----------- ---------- -------------- INTERESTED TRUSTEES Charles R. Schwab 0 0 N/A 0 Randall W. Merk 0 0 N/A 0 INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES Mariann Byerwalter $45,564 $30,579 $11,509 $245,867 Donald F. Dorward $45,564 $30,579 N/A $186,975 William A. Hasler $45,564 $30,944 $11,509 $248,367 Robert G. Holmes $45,564 $30,579 N/A $186,975 Gerald B. Smith $45,564 $30,579 N/A $186,975 Donald R. Stephens $42,236 $28,916 N/A $180,750 Michael W. Wilsey $40,498 $27,511 N/A $171,775
SECURITIES BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH TRUSTEE The following tables provide each trustee's equity ownership of a fund and ownership of all registered investment companies overseen by each trustee in the Family of Investment Companies as of December 31, 2006. As of December 31, 2006, the Family of Investment Companies included 57 funds. 71
Aggregate Dollar Range of Trustee Ownership in Dollar Range of Trustee the Family of Investment Name of Trustee Ownership of the: Companies -------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ Schwab Schwab Schwab Financial Health Care Technology Services Fund TM Fund TM Fund TM -------------------- ----------------- ----------- --------------- ------------------------ INTERESTED TRUSTEES Charles R. Schwab None None None Over $100,000 Randall W. Merk None None None Over $100,000 INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES Mariann Byerwalter None None None Over $100,000 Donald F. Dorward None None None Over $100,000 William A. Hasler None None None Over $100,000 Robert G. Holmes None None None Over $100,000 Gerald B. Smith None None $10,001-$50,000 Over $100,000 Donald R. Stephens None None None Over $100,000 Michael W. Wilsey None None None Over $100,000
Aggregate Dollar Range of Trustee Ownership in the Dollar Range of Trustee Family of Investment Name of Trustee Ownership of the: Companies -------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- Schwab Hedged Schwab Core Schwab S&P Equity Fund TM Equity Fund TM 500 Index Fund -------------------- ------------------ ------------------ -------------- -------------------- INTERESTED TRUSTEES Charles R. Schwab Over $100,000 Over $100,000 Over $100,000 Over $100,000 Randall W. Merk None None None Over $100,000 INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES Mariann Byerwalter None None None Over $100,000 Donald F. Dorward None None None Over $100,000 William A. Hasler None None None Over $100,000 Robert G. Holmes None None None Over $100,000 Gerald B. Smith $50,001 - $100,000 $50,001 - $100,000 None Over $100,000 Donald R. Stephens None None None Over $100,000 Michael W. Wilsey None None Over $100,000 Over $100,000
72
Aggregate Dollar Range of Trustee Ownership in the Dollar Range of Trustee Family of Investment Name of Trustee Ownership of the: Companies -------------------- -------------------------------------------- --------------------- Schwab Small- Schwab Total Schwab 1000 Cap Index Stock Market Index(R) Fund Fund(R) Index Fund(R) -------------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- --------------------- INTERESTED TRUSTEES Charles R. Schwab None Over $100,000 Over $100,000 Over $100,000 Randall W. Merk None None None Over $100,000 INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES Mariann Byerwalter None None None Over $100,000 Donald F. Dorward None None None Over $100,000 William A. Hasler None None None Over $100,000 Robert G. Holmes None None None Over $100,000 Gerald B. Smith None None None Over $100,000 Donald R. Stephens None None None Over $100,000 Michael W. Wilsey None None None Over $100,000
73
Aggregate Dollar Range of Trustee Ownership in the Family of Dollar Range of Trustee Investment Name of Trustee Ownership of the: Companies -------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ---------------- Schwab Schwab Small- International Schwab Dividend Cap Equity Index Fund(R) Equity Fund TM Fund TM -------------------- ------------- --------------- ------------- ---------------- INTERESTED TRUSTEES Charles R. Schwab Over $100,000 Over $100,000 Over $100,000 Over $100,000 Randall W. Merk Over $100,000 None None Over $100,000 INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES Mariann Byerwalter None None None Over $100,000 Donald F. Dorward None None None Over $100,000 William A. Hasler None None None Over $100,000 Robert G. Holmes None None None Over $100,000 Gerald B. Smith None None None Over $100,000 Donald R. Stephens None None None Over $100,000 Michael W. Wilsey None None None Over $100,000
Aggregate Dollar Range of Trustee Ownership in the Family of Dollar Range of Trustee Investment Name of Trustee Ownership of the: Companies -------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ ---------------- Schwab Institutional Schwab Large- Select S&P Cap Growth Schwab Premier 500 Fund Fund Equity Fund -------------------- ------------- ------------------ ----------------- ---------------- INTERESTED TRUSTEES Charles R. Schwab None Over $100,000 Over $100,000 Over $100,000 Randall W. Merk None $10,001 - $50,000 $10,001 - $50,000 Over $100,000 INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES Mariann Byerwalter None None None Over $100,000 Donald F. Dorward None None None Over $100,000 William A. Hasler None $50,001 - $100,000 None Over $100,000 Robert G. Holmes None None None Over $100,000 Gerald B. Smith None None $50,000 $100,000 Over $100,000 Donald R. Stephens None None None Over $100,000 Michael W. Wilsey None None Over $100,000 Over $100,000
74
Aggregate Dollar Range of Trustee Ownership in the Family of Dollar Range of Trustee Investment Name of Trustee Ownership of the: Companies -------------------- ------------------------------------------------ ---------------- Schwab Schwab Schwab MarketTrack MarketTrack MarketTrack All Equity Growth Balanced Portfolio TM Portfolio TM Portfolio TM -------------------- ------------- ----------------- ------------- ---------------- INTERESTED TRUSTEES Charles R. Schwab Over $100,000 Over $100,000 None Over $100,000 Randall W. Merk None $10,001 - $50,000 None Over $100,000 INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES Mariann Byerwalter None None None Over $100,000 Donald F. Dorward None None None Over $100,000 William A. Hasler None None None Over $100,000 Robert G. Holmes None None None Over $100,000 Gerald B. Smith None None None Over $100,000 Donald R. Stephens None None None Over $100,000 Michael W. Wilsey None None None Over $100,000
75
Aggregate Dollar Range of Trustee Ownership in the Dollar Range of Trustee Family of Investment Name of Trustee Ownership of the: Companies -------------------- --------------------------- ------------------------- Schwab MarketTrack Schwab Conservative Viewpoints Portfolio(TM) Fund -------------------- ------------- ---------- ------------------------- INTERESTED TRUSTEES Charles R. Schwab Over $100,000 None Over $100,000 Randall W. Merk None None Over $100,000 INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES Mariann Byerwalter None None Over $100,000 Donald F. Dorward None None Over $100,000 William A. Hasler None None Over $100,000 Robert G. Holmes None None Over $100,000 Gerald B. Smith None None Over $100,000 Donald R. Stephens None None Over $100,000 Michael W. Wilsey None None Over $100,000
Aggregate Dollar Range of Trustee Ownership in the Family of Investment Name of Trustee Dollar Range of Trustee Ownership of the: Companies 5 -------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- Retirement Income 2010 Fund 2020 Fund 2030 Fund 2040 Fund Fund -------------------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ------------- ------------- INTERESTED TRUSTEES Charles R. Schwab None None None None Over $100,000 Over $100,000 Randall W. Merk None None None None None Over $100,000 INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES Mariann Byerwalter None None None None None Over $100,000 Donald F. Dorward None None None None None Over $100,000 William A. Hasler None None None None None Over $100,000 Robert G. Holmes None None None None None Over $100,000 Gerald B. Smith None None None None None Over $100,000 Donald R. Stephens None None None None None Over $100,000 Michael W. Wilsey None None None None None Over $100,000
---------- 5 For purposes of this table, the term "Family of Investment Companies" includes The Charles Schwab Family of Funds, Schwab Investments, Schwab Annuity Portfolios, Schwab Capital Trust, Laudus Trust and Laudus Variable Insurance Trust, which consisted of 68 funds as of December 31, 2006. 76 DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN Independent Trustees may enter into a fee deferral plan. Under this plan, deferred fees will be credited to an account established by the trust as of the date that such fees would have been paid to the trustee. The value of this account will equal the value that the account would have if the fees credited to the account had been invested in the shares of Schwab Funds(R) selected by the trustee. Currently, none of the Independent Trustees has elected to participate in this plan. CODE OF ETHICS The funds, their investment adviser and Schwab have adopted a Code of Ethics (Code) as required under the 1940 Act. Subject to certain conditions or restrictions, the Code permits the trustees, directors, officers or advisory representatives of the funds or the investment adviser or the directors or officers of Schwab to buy or sell directly or indirectly securities for their own accounts. This includes securities that may be purchased or held by the funds. Securities transactions by some of these individuals may be subject to prior approval of the investment adviser's Chief Compliance Officer or alternate. Most securities transactions are subject to quarterly reporting and review requirements. In addition, each sub-adviser has adopted a Code of Ethics and, subject to certain conditions, each sub-adviser's Code of Ethics permits directors or officers of the sub-adviser to buy or sell securities for their own account, including securities that may be purchased or held by the Viewpoint Fund. Securities transactions by some of these individuals may be subject to prior approval of the sub-adviser's chief compliance officer or alternate. Most securities transactions are subject to quarterly reporting and review requirements. CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES As of February 1, 2007 the officers and trustees of the trusts, as a group owned, of record or beneficially, less than 1% of the outstanding voting securities of the funds except with respect to the Schwab Hedged Equity Fund and the Schwab Retirement Income Fund, Mr. Schwab owned 1.14% and 2.20% of each fund, respectively. As of February 1, 2007 the following represents persons or entities that owned, of record or beneficially, more than 5% of the outstanding voting securities of any class of each fund: 77 SCHWAB MARKETTRACK BALANCED PORTFOLIO Charles Schwab Trust Company 1 Montgomery St, 17.45% San Francisco, CA 94104 SCHWAB INTERNATIONAL INDEX FUND Schwab MarketTrack All Equity Portfolio 120 Kearny Street, 16.23% San Francisco, CA 94104 Schwab MarketTrack Balanced Portfolio 120 Kearny Street, 8.00% San Francisco, CA 94104 Schwab MarketTrack Growth Portfolio 120 Kearny Street, 14.66% San Francisco, CA 94104 Charles Schwab Trust Company 120 Kearny Street, 12.18% San Francisco, CA 94104 SCHWAB S&P 500 INDEX FUND Charles Schwab Trust Company 1 Montgomery Street, 7th Floor, 69.37% San Francisco, CA 94104 SCHWAB 1000 INDEX FUND Charles Schwab Trust Company 1 Montgomery Street, 7th Floor, 8.00% San Francisco, CA 94104 SCHWAB SMALL CAP INDEX FUND Schwab MarketTrack All Equity Portfolio 120 Kearny Street, 15.05% San Francisco, CA 94104 Schwab MarketTrack Balanced Portfolio 120 Kearny Street, 8.88% San Francisco, CA 94104 Schwab MarketTrack Growth Portfolio 120 Kearny Street, 16.50% San Francisco, CA 94104 Charles Schwab Trust Company 1 Montgomery Street, 7th Floor, 7.61% San Francisco, CA 94104 SCHWAB MARKETTRACK CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO Schwab Fund For Charitable Giving -- P Shares 101 Montgomery St, 100% San Francisco, CA 94104 Charles Schwab Trust Company 1 Montgomery Street, 7th Floor, 20.79% San Francisco, CA 94104 SCHWAB MARKETTRACK BALANCED PORTFOLIO Charles Schwab Trust Company 1 Montgomery Street, 7th Floor, 17.45% San Francisco, CA 94104 SCHWAB MARKETTRACK GROWTH PORTFOLIO Schwab Fund For Charitable Giving -- P Shares 101 Montgomery St, 100% San Francisco, CA 94104 Charles Schwab Trust Company 1 Montgomery Street, 7th Floor, 10.33% San Francisco, CA 94104 SCHWAB INSTITUTIONAL SELECT S&P 500 FUND Schwab MarketTrack All Equity Fund 120 Kearny Street, 9.92% San Francisco, CA 94104 Schwab MarketTrack Growth Fund 120 Kearny Street, 7.37% San Francisco, CA 94104 Charles Schwab Trust Company 1 Montgomery Street, 7th Floor, 27.09% San Francisco, CA 94104 SCHWAB TOTAL STOCK MARKET FUND Charles Schwab Trust Company 1 Montgomery Street, 7th Floor, 10.63% San Francisco, CA 94104
78 INVESTMENT ADVISORY AND OTHER SERVICES INVESTMENT ADVISER AND SUB-ADVISERS CSIM, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation, 101 Montgomery Street, San Francisco CA 94104, serves as the funds' investment adviser and administrator pursuant to Investment Advisory and Administration Agreements (Advisory Agreement) between it and each trust. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Schwab), 101 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94104, is an affiliate of the investment adviser and is the trusts' distributor, shareholder services agent and transfer agent. Charles R. Schwab is the founder, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman, and Director of The Charles Schwab Corporation. As a result of his ownership of and interests in The Charles Schwab Corporation, Mr. Schwab may be deemed to be a controlling person of the investment adviser and Schwab. ADVISORY AGREEMENT The continuation of a fund's Advisory Agreement must be specifically approved at least annually (1) by the vote of the trustees or by a vote of the shareholders of the fund, and (2) by the vote of a majority of the trustees who are not parties to the investment advisory agreement or "interested persons" of any party (the "Independent Trustees"), cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. Each year, the Board of Trustees calls and holds a meeting to decide whether to renew the Advisory Agreement between the Trusts and CSIM with respect to existing funds in the Trusts. In preparation for the meeting, the Board requests and reviews a wide variety of materials provided by the funds' investment adviser, as well as extensive data provided by third parties, and the Independent Trustees receive advice from counsel to the Independent Trustees. The Schwab Viewpoints Fund is actively managed by a team of dedicated investment professionals, led by the investment adviser, who serves as the "manager of managers," and a team of sub-advisers, each of which manages a portion of the assets of the fund. The investment adviser oversees the advisory services provided to the fund. The investment adviser also manages a portion of the fund's assets, including the fund's cash position. Pursuant to separate sub-advisory agreements, and under the supervision of the investment adviser and the fund's Board of Trustees, a number of sub-advisers are responsible for the day-to-day investment management of a discrete portion of the assets of the fund. The sub-advisers also are responsible for managing their employees who provide services to the fund. Subject to Board review, the investment adviser allocates and, when appropriate, reallocates the fund's assets among sub-advisers, monitors and evaluates sub-adviser performance, and oversees sub-adviser compliance with the fund's investment objectives, policies and restrictions. The following are the sub-advisers for the Schwab Viewpoints Fund. GARDNER LEWIS ASSET MANAGEMENT L.P. ("GARDNER LEWIS") serves as a sub-adviser to the Schwab Viewpoints Fund. Gardner Lewis was established as a Delaware corporation in 1990, converted to Pennsylvania limited partnership in 1994 and is controlled by W. Whitfield Gardner. Mr. Gardner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and John L. Lewis, IV, President, are control persons by ownership of Gardner Lewis. Gardner Lewis' principal office is located at 285 Wilmington-West Chester Pike, Chadds Ford, PA 19317. HARRIS ASSOCIATES L.P. ("HARRIS ASSOCIATES") serves as a sub-adviser to the Schwab Viewpoints Fund. It was established as a Delaware limited partnership in 1976 and is a wholly owned 79 subsidiary of IXIS Asset Management U.S. Group North America, L.P. The principal office of Harris Associates is located at Two North LaSalle, Suite 500, Chicago, Illinois 60602-3790. IXIS Asset Management U.S. Group North America, L.P.'s principal office is located at 399 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116. PACIFIC INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY LLC ("PIMCO") serves as a sub-adviser to the Schwab Viewpoints Fund. PIMCO, a Delaware limited liability company, is a majority-owned subsidiary of Allianz Global Investors of America L.P., ("AGI LP"). Allianz SE ("Allianz SE") is the indirect majority owner of AGI LP. Allianz SE is a European-based, multinational insurance and financial services holding company. Allianz AG's principal office is located at Koniginstrasse, 28 D-80802, Munich, Germany. PIMCO's principal office is located at 840 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, California 92660. TCW INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY ("TCW") serves as a sub-adviser to the Schwab Viewpoints Fund. It was organized as a California based corporation in 1987. TCW is a wholly owned subsidiary of The TCW Group, Inc. Societe Generale Asset Management, S.A. ("SGAM") is the majority owner of The TCW Group, Inc. Societe Generale, S.A., a publicly held financial services firm headquartered in Paris, France, owns 100% of SGAM. TCW's and The TCW Group, Inc.'s principal offices are located at 865 South Figueroa Street, Suite 1800, Los Angeles, California 90017. SGAM's principal office is located at 170 place Henri Regnault -- La Defense 6, 92043 Paris-- La Defense Cedex, France. Societe Generale, S.A's principal office is located at 19, Boulevard Hausmann, 75009 Paris, France. As described below, the investment adviser is entitled to receive from each fund, except the Target Funds, a graduated annual fee, payable monthly, for its advisory and administrative services to each fund. The table below sets forth the advisory fees paid by the funds to the investment adviser for the past three fiscal years or, if shorter, the period of the fund's operations. The figures in the "net fees paid" row represent the actual amounts paid to the investment adviser, which include the effect of any reductions due to the application of a fund's expense limitation ("expense cap"). The figures in the "gross fees reduced by" row represent the amount, if any, the advisory fees payable to the investment adviser were reduced due to the application of a fund's expense cap. The expense cap is not intended to cover all fund expenses, and a fund's expenses may exceed the expense cap. For example, the expense cap does not cover investment-related expenses, such as brokerage commissions, interest, taxes and the fees and expenses of pooled investment vehicles, such as ETFs, REITs, and other investment companies, that are held by the funds, nor does it cover extraordinary or non-routine expenses, such as shareholder meeting costs. 80
Fund and Advisory Fee Schedule 2006 2005 2004 Expense Cap* ------------------------------------------ ----------------------- ----------- ------------ ----------- ----------------------- SCHWAB LARGE-CAP GROWTH FUND Net fees paid: $765,000 $16,000 1 N/A Investor Shares: 1.20% Select Shares: 0.99% 0.87% of the fund's average daily net assets not in excess of $500 million; Gross fees reduced by: $64,000 $22,000 N/A 0.85% of such net assets over $500 million but not in excess of $1 billion; 0.83% of such net assets over $1 billion but not in excess of $2 billion; 0.81% of such net assets over $2 billion SCHWAB PREMIER EQUITY FUND Net fees paid: $11,827,000 $2,075,000 2 N/A Investor Shares: 1.30% Select Shares: 1.15% 0.91% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $0 $1,410,000 N/A assets not in excess of $500 million; 0.885% of such net assets over $500 million but not in excess of $1 billion; 0.86% of such net assets over $1 billion SCHWAB CORE EQUITY FUND Net fees paid: $3,740,000 $1,641,000 $1,069,000 0.75% 0.54% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $492,000 $377,000 $324,000 assets not in excess of $500 million, and 0.49% of such net assets over $500 million. SCHWAB DIVIDEND EQUITY FUND 3 Net fees paid: $8,596,000 $6,415,000 $1,603,000 Investor Shares: 1.10% Select Shares: 0.95% 0.775% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $0 $155,000 $1,661,000 assets not in excess of $500 million; 0.77% of such net assets over $500 million but not in excess of $1 billion; 0.76% of such net assets over $1 billion.
---------- * Schwab and the investment manager have agreed to limit "net operating expenses" (excluding interest, taxes, and certain non-routine expenses) to the percentage shown in this column through February 27, 2008. 1 For the period from October 3, 2005 to October 31, 2005. 2 For the period from March 21, 2005 to October 31, 2005. 3 Prior to February 28, 2005, the investment adviser was entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly, of 0.850% of the fund's average daily net assets. 81
Fund and Advisory Fee Schedule 2006 2005 2004 Expense Cap* ------------------------------------------ ----------------------- ----------- ------------ ----------- ----------------------- SCHWAB SMALL-CAP EQUITY FUND 1 Net fees paid: $4,509,000 $1,151,000 $371,000 Investor Shares: 1.30% 0.975% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $0 $130,000 $153,000 assets not Select Shares: 1.12% in excess of $500 million; 0.93% of such net assets over $500 million but not in excess of $1 billion; 0.91% of such net assets over $1 billion. SCHWAB HEDGED EQUITY FUND 2 Net fees paid: $11,335,000 $2,197,000 $778,000 Investor Shares 3: 2.00% 1.675% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $0 $88,000 $144,000 Select Shares 3: 1.77% assets not in excess of $500 million; 1.65% of such net assets over $500 million but not in excess of $1 billion; and 1.63%) of such net assets over $1 billion. SCHWAB FINANCIAL SERVICES FUND Net fees paid: $346,000 $100,000 $68,000 Investor Shares: 1.10% 0.54% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $0 $19,000 $39,000 assets not in excess of $500 million; 0.515% of such net assets over $500 million but not in excess of $1 billion; and 0.49% of such net assets over $1 billion SCHWAB HEALTH CARE FUND Net fees paid: $3,020,000 $1,019,000 $215,000 Investor Shares: 1.10% 0.54% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $0 $0 $9,000 assets not in excess of $500 million; 0.515% of such net assets over $500 million but not in excess of $1 billion; and 0.49% of such net assets over $1 billion
---------- * Schwab and the investment manager have agreed to limit "net operating expenses" (excluding interest, taxes, and certain non-routine expenses) to the percentage shown in this column through February 27, 2008. 1 Prior to February 28, 2005, the investment adviser was entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly, of 1.05% of the fund's average daily net assets. 2 Prior to February 28, 2005, the investment adviser was entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly, of 1.75% of the fund's average daily net assets. 3 The expense caps for this fund also exclude expenses for dividends and interest paid on securities sold short. 82
Fund and Advisory Fee Schedule 2006 2005 2004 Expense Cap* ------------------------------------------ ----------------------- ----------- ------------ ----------- ----------------------- SCHWAB TECHNOLOGY FUND Net fees paid: $382,000 $263,000 $278,000 Investor Shares: 1.10% 0.54% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $0 $0 $1,000 assets not in excess of $500 million; 0.515% of such daily net assets over $500 million but not in excess of $1 billion; and 0.49% of such net assets over $1 billion SCHWAB S&P 500 INDEX FUND 1 Net fees paid: $7,070,000 $9,147,000 $12,243,000 Investor Shares: 0.37% 0.15% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $0 $546,000 $1,591,000 e.Shares: 0.28% assets not in excess of $500 million; 0.09% of such net assets over $500 million Select Shares: 0.19% but not in excess of $5 billion; 0.08% of the Fund's daily net assets over $5 billion but not in excess of $10 billion; and 0.07% of such net assets over $10 billion. SCHWAB INSTITUTIONAL SELECT S&P 500 FUND 2 Net fees paid: $0 $0 $0 0.10% 0.15% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $2,577,000 $1,516,000 $554,000 assets not in excess of $500 million; 0.09% of such net assets over $500 million but not in excess of $5 billion; 0.08% of the Fund's daily net assets over $5 billion but not in excess of $10 billion; and 0.07% of such net assets over $10 billion.
----- * Schwab and the investment manager have agreed to limit "net operating expenses" (excluding interest, taxes, and certain non-routine expenses) to the percentage shown in this column through February 27, 2008. 1 Prior to February 28, 2005, the investment adviser was entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly, of 0.20% of the fund's average daily net assets not in excess of $500 million, and 0.17% of such net assets over $500 million. 2 Prior to January 1, 2007, the investment adviser was entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly, of 0.18% of the fund's average daily net assets not in excess of $1 billion; and 0.15% of such net assets over $1 billion. 83
Fund and Advisory Fee Schedule 2006 2005 2004 Expense Cap* ------------------------------------------ ----------------------- ----------- ------------ ----------- ----------------------- SCHWAB 1000 INDEX FUND 1 Net fees paid: $14,671,000 $14,690,000 $14,335,000 Investor Shares: 0.51% 0.30% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $0 $0 $7,000 Select Shares: 0.36% assets not in excess of $500 million, 0.22% of such net assets over $500 million but not in excess of $5 billion, 0.20% of such net assets over $5 billion but not in excess of $10 billion and 0.18% of such net assets over $10 billion. SCHWAB SMALL-CAP INDEX FUND Net fees paid: $4,907,000 $4,909,000 $4,817,000 Investor Shares: 0.60% 0.33% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $0 $24,000 $139,000 Select Shares: 0.42% assets not in excess of $500 million and 0.28% of such net assets over $500 million. SCHWAB TOTAL STOCK MARKET INDEX FUND Net fees paid: $3,233,000 $3,060,000 $2,739,000 Investor Shares: 0.58% 0.30% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $1,000 $0 $4,000 Select Shares: 0.39% assets not in excess of $500 million; and 0.22% of such net assets over $500 million. SCHWAB INTERNATIONAL INDEX FUND Net fees paid: $5,829,000 $4,875,000 $4,400,000 Investor Shares: 0.69% 0.43% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $212,000 $539,000 $470,000 Select Shares: 0.50% assets not in excess of $500 million and 0.38% of such net assets over $500 million. SCHWAB MARKET TRACK ALL EQUITY PORTFOLIO Net fees paid: $984,000 $889,000 $834,000 Investor Shares: 0.50% 0.44% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $1,196,000 $1,183,000 $1,165,000 assets not in excess of $500 million, and 0.39% of such net assets over $500 million.
----- * Schwab and the investment manager have agreed to limit "net operating expenses" (excluding interest, taxes, and certain non-routine expenses) to the percentage shown in this column through February 27, 2008. 1 Prior to February 28, 2005, the investment adviser was entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly, of 0.30% of the fund's average daily net assets not in excess of $500 million, and 0.22% of such net assets over $500 million. 84
Fund and Advisory Fee Schedule 2006 2005 2004 Expense Cap* ------------------------------------------ ----------------------- ----------- ------------ ----------- ----------------------- SCHWAB MARKETTRACK GROWTH PORTFOLIO Net fees paid: $1,475,000 $1,344,000 $1,231,000 Investor Shares: 0.50% 0.44% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $1,487,000 $1,482,000 $1,411,000 P Shares: 0.35% assets not in excess of $500 million, and 0.39% of such net assets over $500 million. SCHWAB MARKETTRACK BALANCED PORTFOLIO Net fees paid: $1,104,000 $1,091,000 $1,071,000 Investor Shares: 0.50% 0.44% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $1,178,000 $1,252,000 $1,254,000 assets not in excess of $500 million, and 0.39% of such net assets over $500 million. SCHWAB MARKETTRACK CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO Net fees paid: $603,000 $588,000 $573,000 Investor Shares: 0.50% 0.44% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $757,000 $742,000 $720,000 P Shares: 0.35% assets not in excess of $500 million, and 0.39% of such net assets over $500 million. SCHWAB VIEWPOINTS FUND 1 Net fees paid: $890,000 $871,000 $799,000 Investor Shares 2: 1.10% 0.775% of the fund's average daily net Gross fees reduced by: $218,000 $240,000 $273,000 Select Shares 2: 0.95% assets not in excess of $500 million; 0.75% of such net assets over $500 million Fees paid to the $640,000 $675,000 $502,000 but not in excess of $1 billion; and sub-adviser by the 0.725% of such net assets over $1 billion. investment adviser:
----- * Schwab and the investment manager have agreed to limit "net operating expenses" (excluding interest, taxes, and certain non-routine expenses) to the percentage shown in this column through February 27, 2008. 1 Prior to February 28, 2005, the investment adviser was entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly, of 0.85% of the fund's average daily net assets. 2 The expenses for this fund also include expenses for dividends and interest paid on securities sold short. SCHWAB TARGET FUNDS The investment adviser does not receive a fee for the services it performs for the funds. However, the investment adviser is entitled to receive an annual management fee from each of the underlying funds. 85 Through February 27, 2008, Schwab and the investment adviser have agreed to limit each fund's "net operating expenses" (excluding interest, taxes, and certain non-routine expenses) as shown below.
Fund Net Operating Expenses ---- ---------------------- Schwab Target 2010 Fund 0.06% Schwab Target 2020 Fund 0.04% Schwab Target 2030 Fund 0.03% Schwab Target 2040 Fund 0.01% Schwab Retirement Income Fund 0.10%
DISTRIBUTOR Pursuant to a Distribution Agreement, Schwab is the principal underwriter for shares of the funds and is the trusts' agent for the purpose of the continuous offering of the funds' shares. The funds pay for prospectuses and shareholder reports to be prepared and delivered to existing shareholders. Schwab pays such costs when the described materials are used in connection with the offering of shares to prospective investors and for supplemental sales literature and advertising. Schwab receives no fee under the Distribution Agreement. SHAREHOLDER SERVICES AND TRANSFER AGENT Schwab provides fund information to shareholders, including share price, shareholder ownership and account activities and distributes a fund's prospectuses, financial reports and other informational literature about a fund. Schwab maintains the office space, equipment and personnel necessary to provide these services. At its own expense, Schwab may engage third party entities, as appropriate, to perform some or all of these services. For the services performed as transfer agent under its contract with the Schwab Large-Cap Growth Fund(TM), Schwab Premier Equity Fund(TM), Schwab Hedged Equity Fund(TM), Schwab Dividend Equity Fund(TM), Schwab Core Equity Fund(TM), Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund(TM), Schwab Financial Services Fund(TM), Schwab Health Care Fund(TM), and Schwab Technology Fund(TM) and each of the Schwab Equity Index Funds, Schwab MarketTrack Portfolios(R) and Schwab Viewpoints Fund, Schwab is entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly from each fund or by each share class, in the amount of 0.05% of each fund's or share class' average daily net assets. Schwab does not receive a fee from the Schwab Target Funds for the services it performs as transfer agent under its contract with the Schwab Target Funds. For the services performed as shareholder services agent under its contract with the Schwab Core Equity Fund, Schwab Financial Services Fund, Schwab Health Care Fund and Schwab Technology Fund, each of the Schwab MarketTrack Portfolios -- Investor Shares and Schwab Viewpoints Fund -- Investor Shares, Schwab is entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly from each fund, in the amount of 0.20% of each fund's average daily net assets. For the services performed as shareholder services agent, Schwab is entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly, from, the Select Shares(R) of the Schwab Viewpoints Fund, in the amount of 0.15% of the Select Shares average daily net assets. For the services performed as shareholder services agent, Schwab is entitled to receive an annual 86 fee, payable monthly from the P Shares of the Schwab MarketTrack Conservative and Growth Portfolios and the Schwab Institutional Select S&P 500 Fund, in the amount of 0.05% of the fund's daily net assets. For the services performed as shareholder services agent under its contract with the Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund, Schwab Small-Cap Index Fund(R), Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund(R), and Schwab International Index Fund(R), Schwab is entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly from each share class of each fund, in the amount of 0.20% of Investor Shares', 0.05% of Select Shares' and 0.05% of e.Shares'(R) average daily net assets. For the services performed as shareholder services agent under its contract with the Schwab Large-Cap Growth Fund, Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund, Schwab Premier Equity Fund, Schwab Hedged Equity Fund and Schwab Dividend Equity Fund, Schwab is entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly from each share class of each fund, in the amount of 0.20% of Investor Shares' and 0.05% of Select Shares'(R) average daily net assets. Schwab does not receive a fee for the services it performs as shareholder services agent under its contract with the Schwab Target Funds. CUSTODIANS AND FUND ACCOUNTANTS Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., 40 Water Street, Boston, MA, 02109 serves as custodian for the following funds: Schwab Large-Cap Equity Fund Schwab Dividend Equity Fund Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund Schwab Financial Services Fund Schwab Health Care Fund Schwab Technology Fund Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund Schwab Small-Cap Index Fund Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund Schwab International Index Fund Schwab Institutional Select S&P 500 Fund Schwab MarketTrack All Equity Portfolio Schwab MarketTrack Growth Portfolio Schwab MarketTrack Balanced Portfolio Schwab MarketTrack Conservative Portfolio Schwab Target 2010 Fund Schwab Target 2020 Fund Schwab Target 2030 Fund Schwab Target 2040 Fund Schwab Retirement Income Fund State Street Bank and Trust Company, One Lincoln Street, Boston, MA, 02111, serves as custodian for the following funds: Schwab Premier Equity Fund, Schwab Core Equity Fund, Schwab Hedged Equity, Fund, Schwab 1000 Fund, and Schwab Viewpoints Fund. State Street Bank and Trust Company also serves as fund accountant for all funds. The custodians are responsible for the daily safekeeping of securities and cash held or sold by the funds. The fund accountant maintains all books and records related to the funds' transactions. INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM The funds' independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, audit and report on the annual financial statements of the funds and review certain regulatory reports and the funds' federal income tax return. They also perform other professional accounting, auditing, tax and advisory services when the trusts engage them to do so. Their address is 3 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111. The funds' audited financial statements from the funds' annual reports for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2006, are incorporated by reference into this SAI. LEGAL COUNSEL 87 Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP serves as counsel to the Trust. OTHER SERVICES With respect to the Schwab Large-Cap Growth Fund, Schwab Premier Equity Fund TM, Schwab Dividend Equity Fund TM, Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund TM, Schwab Hedged Equity Fund TM, Schwab Core Equity Fund TM, Schwab Financial Services Fund TM, Schwab Health Care Fund TM, Schwab Technology Fund TM, and Schwab Viewpoints Fund, Schwab provides the investment adviser with quantitative analyses of the relative attractiveness of stocks in which these funds might invest. These funds are designed to harness the power of the Schwab Equity Ratings(TM), which evaluates stocks on the basis of a wide variety of investment criteria from four broad categories: fundamentals, valuation, momentum and risk. Specifically with regard to the Schwab Hedged Equity Fund, the fund purchases from among Schwab's higher rated stocks and short stocks from among Schwab's lower rated stocks. Pursuant to an agreement between the investment adviser and Schwab, the investment adviser pays Schwab a fixed annual fee for these services. PORTFOLIO MANAGERS OTHER ACCOUNTS. Each portfolio manager (collectively referred to as the "Portfolio Managers") is responsible for the day-to-day management of certain accounts, as listed below. The accounts listed below are not subject to a performance-based advisory fee. The information below is provided as of October 31, 2006.
REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANIES (THIS AMOUNT INCLUDES THE OTHER POOLED FUNDS IN THIS STATEMENT OF INVESTMENT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION) VEHICLES OTHER ACCOUNTS --------------------------- ----------------- ------------------------- NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER OF TOTAL OF TOTAL OF TOTAL NAME ACCOUNTS ASSETS ACCOUNTS ASSETS ACCOUNTS ASSETS ---------------- -------- ---------------- -------- ------ -------- -------------- Jeff Mortimer 31 $35,456,512,241 0 -- 5,764 $1,134,717,574 Larry Mano 17 $27,981,445,915 0 -- 5,764 $1,134,717,574 Vivienne Hsu 9 $6,959,737,795 0 -- 5,764 $1,134,717,574 Tom Brown 15 $20,159,794,548 0 -- 0 -- Caroline Lee 4 $2,341,299,223 0 -- 0 -- Paul Davis 9 $6,959,737,795 0 -- 5,764 $1,134,717,574 Kim Daifotis 35 $140,496,147,134 0 -- 55 $39,663,378 Matthew Hastings 5 $12,833,495,996 0 -- 0 0 Steven Hung 5 $12,833,495,996 0 -- 0 0 Andrew Tikofsky 5 $12,833,495,996 0 -- 0 0
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. A Portfolio Manager's management of other accounts may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in connection with its management of a fund's investments, on the one hand, and the investments of the other accounts, on the other. These other accounts include separate accounts and other mutual funds advised by CSIM (collectively, the "Other Managed Accounts"). The Other Managed Accounts might have similar investment objectives as a fund, track the same index a fund tracks or otherwise hold, purchase, or sell securities that are eligible to be held, purchased, or sold by a fund. While the Portfolio Managers' management of Other Managed Accounts may give rise to the potential conflicts of interest listed below, CSIM does not believe that the conflicts, if any, are material or, to the extent any such conflicts are material, 88 CSIM believes it has adopted policies and procedures that are designed to manage those conflicts in an appropriate way. KNOWLEDGE OF THE TIMING AND SIZE OF FUND TRADES. A potential conflict of interest may arise as a result of the Portfolio Managers' day-to-day management of a fund. Because of their positions with a fund, the Portfolio Managers know the size, timing, and possible market impact of fund trades. It is theoretically possible that the Portfolio Managers could use this information to the advantage of the Other Managed Accounts they manage and to the possible detriment of a fund. However, CSIM has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to allocate investment opportunities on a fair and equitable basis over time. Moreover, with respect to index funds, which seek to track their benchmark index, much of this information is publicly available. When it is determined to be in the best interest of both accounts, the Portfolio Managers may aggregate trade orders for the Other Managed Accounts, excluding Schwab Personal Portfolio Managed Accounts, with those of a fund. All aggregated orders are subject to CSIM's aggregation and allocation policy and procedures, which provide, among other things, that (i) a Portfolio Manager will not aggregate orders unless he or she believes such aggregation is consistent with his or her duty to seek best execution; (ii) no account will be favored over any other account; (iii) each account that participates in an aggregated order will participate at the average security price with all transaction costs shared on a pro-rata basis; and (iv) if the aggregated order cannot be executed in full, the partial execution is allocated pro-rata among the participating accounts in accordance with the size of each account's order. INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES. A potential conflict of interest may arise as a result of the Portfolio Managers' management of a fund and Other Managed Accounts which, in theory, may allow them to allocate investment opportunities in a way that favors the Other Managed Accounts over a fund, which conflict of interest may be exacerbated to the extent that CSIM or the Portfolio Managers receive, or expect to receive, greater compensation from their management of the Other Managed Accounts than the fund. Notwithstanding this theoretical conflict of interest, it is CSIM's policy to manage each account based on its investment objectives and related restrictions and, as discussed above, CSIM has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to allocate investment opportunities on a fair and equitable basis over time and in a manner consistent with each account's investment objectives and related restrictions. For example, while the Portfolio Managers may buy for an Other Managed Account securities that differ in identity or quantity from securities bought for a fund or refrain from purchasing securities for an Other Managed Account that they are otherwise buying for a fund in an effort to outperform its specific benchmark, such an approach might not be suitable for a fund given its investment objectives and related restrictions. COMPENSATION. Charles Schwab & Co., the trust's distributor, compensates each CSIM Portfolio Manager for his or her management of the funds. Each Portfolio Manager's compensation consists of a fixed annual ("base") salary and a discretionary bonus. The base salary is determined considering compensation payable for a similar position across the investment management industry and an evaluation of the individual Portfolio Manager's overall performance such as the portfolio manager's contribution to the firm's overall investment process, being good corporate citizens, and contributions to the firm's asset growth and business relationships. The discretionary bonus is determined in accordance with the CSIM Portfolio Management Incentive Plan (the "Plan"), which is designed to reward consistent and superior investment performance relative to established benchmarks and/or industry peer groups. The Plan is an annual incentive plan that provides quarterly advances at management's discretion based on their determination of whether funds are available under the Plan as well as factors such as the portfolio manager's contribution to the firm's overall investment process, being good corporate citizens, and contribution to the firm's asset growth and business relationships. 89 The Plan consists of two independent funding components: 75% of the funding is based on fund investment performance and 25% of the funding is based on Schwab's corporate performance. Funding from these two components is pooled into two separate incentive pools (one for Fixed Income portfolio managers and the second for Equity portfolio managers) and then allocated to the plan participants by CSIM senior management. This allocation takes into account fund performance as well as the portfolio manager's leadership, teamwork, and contribution to CSIM goals and objectives. - Fund Investment Performance Funding into this Plan component is determined by fund performance relative to a Lipper Category or an established industry peer group. Peer groups are determined by the CSIM Peer Group Committee and are reviewed on a regular basis. - For all funds except index and money market funds: A fund's investment performance ranking relative to its peer group or respective Lipper Category ("fund ranking") is determined based on its 1-year and 3-year pre-tax return before expenses. In determining a fund ranking, 75% of the weighting is based on the 3-year pre-tax performance and 25% is based on the 1-year pre-tax performance. The 1-year and 3-year performance numbers are calculated based on a calendar year. - For money market and index funds: A money market fund's investment performance ranking ("fund ranking") is determined by its gross yield (i.e., yield before expenses) relative to its iMoney Net category on a calendar year-to-date basis. An index fund's investment performance ranking ("fund ranking") is determined by the fund's tracking error (deviation from the benchmark) relative to its peer group on a calendar year-to-date basis. A composite rating for each Portfolio Manager is then determined, based on a weighted average of all of their individual funds' rankings. The specific weight given to a fund in that calculation is determined by CSIM's senior management. - Schwab Corporate Performance Funding into this Plan component is determined by Schwab corporate performance which is based on two financial performance measures: (1) year-to-date net revenue growth; and (2) Schwab's profit margin. The actual amount of funding into the Plan is discretionary and is determined by Schwab's senior management following the end of each quarter. The Portfolio Managers' compensation is not based on the value of the assets held in a fund's portfolio. OWNERSHIP OF FUND SHARES. The following table shows the dollar amount range of the Portfolio Managers' "beneficial ownership" of shares of the funds they manage as of October 31, 2006. Dollar amount ranges disclosed are established by the SEC. "Beneficial ownership" is determined in accordance with Rule 16a-1(a)(2) under the 1934 Act.
DOLLAR RANGE OF FUND PORTFOLIO MANAGER FUND SHARES OWNED ----------------- ---- ------------ Jeff Mortimer Schwab Premier Equity Fund $100,001 -$500,000 Schwab Health Care Fund $10,001 - $50,000 Schwab Hedged Equity Fund $50,001 -- $100,000 Schwab Small Cap Equity Fund $50,001 -- $100,000 Schwab Technology Fund $50,001 -- $100,000
90 Schwab Viewpoints Fund $100,001 -$500,000 Schwab Large-Cap Growth Fund None Schwab Core Equity Fund None Schwab Financial Services Fund None Schwab Health Care Fund None Schwab Equity Index Funds None Schwab Target Funds None Caroline Lee Schwab Target Funds None Schwab Viewpoints Fund None Larry Mano Schwab 1000 Index Fund $10,001 - $50,000 Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund None Schwab Institutional Select(R) 500 Fund None Schwab Small-Cap Index Fund None Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund None Schwab International Index Fund None Schwab Viewpoints Fund None Schwab Active Equity Funds None Vivienne Hsu Schwab Health Care Fund $10,001 - $50,000 Schwab Hedged Equity Fund $10,001 - $50,000 Schwab Premier Equity Fund $10,001 - $50,000 Schwab Large Cap Growth Fund None Schwab Core Equity Fund None Schwab Dividend Equity Fund None Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund None Schwab Financial Services Fund None Schwab Technology Fund None Schwab Viewpoints Fund None Tom Brown Schwab MarketTrack Portfolios None Schwab Target Funds None Schwab Equity Index Funds None Kimon Daifotis Schwab Target Funds None Steven Hung Schwab MarketTrack Portfolios None Matthew Hastings Schwab MarketTrack Portfolios None Paul Alan Davis Schwab Hedged Equity Fund $1 - $10,001 Schwab Premier Equity Fund $10,001 - $50,000 Schwab Large-Cap Growth Fund None Schwab Core Equity Fund None Schwab Dividend Equity Fund None Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund None Schwab Financial Services Fund None Schwab Health Care Fund None Schwab Technology Fund None Schwab Viewpoints Fund None
91 Andy Tikofsky Schwab MarketTrack Portfolios None
SUB-ADVISER PORTFOLIO MANAGER DISCLOSURE GARDNER LEWIS ASSET MANAGEMENT L.P. ("GARDNER LEWIS") SUB-ADVISES THE SCHWAB VIEWPOINTS FUND (THE "FUND"). OTHER ACCOUNTS. In addition to the Fund, the portfolio managers (working as a team) are responsible for the day-to-day management of certain other accounts as listed below. The information below is provided as of October 31, 2006.
REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANIES (THIS AMOUNT INCLUDES THE SCHWAB OTHER POOLED VIEWPOINTS FUND) INVESTMENT VEHICLES OTHER ACCOUNTS NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NAME ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ---- -------- ------------ -------- ------------ -------- ------------ W. Whitfield Gardner & 6 $875,456,327 5 $153,101,026 2,471 $7,812,834,077 John L. Lewis, IV
Accounts where compensation is based upon account performance:
REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANIES OTHER POOLED INVESTMENT VEHICLES OTHER ACCOUNTS NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NAME ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ---- -------- ------------ -------- ------------ -------- ------------ W. Whitfield Gardner & 0 0 4 $151,155,185 6 $67,991,906 John L. Lewis, IV
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. Mr. Gardner's and Mr. Lewis's management of other accounts may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in connection with their management of the Fund's investments, on the one hand, and the investments of the other accounts, on the other. The other accounts include foundation, endowment, corporate pension, mutual fund and other pooled investment vehicles (collectively, the "Other Accounts"). The Other Accounts might have similar investment objectives as the Fund, track the same index the Fund tracks or otherwise hold, purchase, or sell securities that are eligible to be held, purchased, or sold by the Fund. While the portfolio managers' management of Other Accounts may give rise to the following potential conflicts of interest, Gardner Lewis does not believe that the conflicts, if any, are material or, to the extent any such conflicts are material, Gardner Lewis believes that it has designed policies and procedures that are designed to manage those conflicts in an appropriate way. 92 Knowledge of the Timing and Size of Fund Trades. A potential conflict of interest may arise as a result of the portfolio managers' day-to-day management of the Fund. Because of their positions with the Fund, the portfolio managers know the size, timing, and possible market impact of the Fund's trades. It is theoretically possible that the portfolio managers could use this information to the advantage of other accounts they manage and to the possible detriment of the Fund. However, Gardner Lewis has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to allocate investment opportunities on a fair and equitable basis over time. Investment Opportunities. Gardner Lewis provides investment supervisory services for a number of investment products that have varying investment guidelines. The same portfolio management team works across all investment products. For some of these investment strategies, Gardner Lewis may be compensated based on the profitability of the account. These incentive compensation structures may create a conflict of interest for Gardner Lewis with regard to other client accounts where the Gardner Lewis is paid based on a percentage of assets in that Gardner Lewis may have an incentive to allocate the investment ideas that it believes might be the most profitable to the client accounts where they might share in investment gains. Gardner Lewis has implemented policies and procedures in an attempt to ensure that investment opportunities are allocated in a manner that is fair and appropriate to the various investment strategies based on the firm's investment strategy guidelines and individual client investment guidelines. When an investment opportunity is deemed appropriate for more than one strategy, allocations are generally made on a pro-rata basis. COMPENSATION. The portfolio managers are principals of Gardner Lewis and their compensation varies with the general success of Gardner Lewis as a firm. Each portfolio manager's compensation consists of a fixed annual salary, plus additional remuneration based on the overall profitability of Gardner Lewis for the given time period. The portfolio managers' compensation is not linked to any specific factors, such as the Fund's performance or asset level. OWNERSHIP OF FUND SHARES. As of October 31, 2006, the portfolio managers did not beneficially own any shares of the Fund. HARRIS ASSOCIATES L.P. ("HARRIS ASSOCIATES") SUB-ADVISES THE SCHWAB VIEWPOINTS FUND (THE "FUND"). OTHER ACCOUNTS. In addition to the Fund, the portfolio managers are responsible for the day-to-day management of certain other accounts, as listed below, as of October 31, 2006. There are no accounts with respect to which the advisory fee is based on the performance of the account.
REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANIES OTHER POOLED INVESTMENT VEHICLES OTHER ACCOUNTS NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NAME ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ---- -------- ------------ -------- ------------ -------- ------------ David G. Herro 8 $13,204,023,719 2 $1,869,847,947 14 $3,377,464,445 Chad M. Clark 4 $2,655,700,620 2 $1,816,656,622 11 $2,928,418,300
93 MATERIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. Conflicts of interest may arise in the allocation of investment opportunities and the allocation of aggregated orders among the Funds and the other accounts managed by the portfolio managers. A portfolio manager potentially could give favorable treatment to some accounts for a variety of reasons, including favoring larger accounts, accounts that have a different advisory fee arrangement (including any accounts that pay performance-based fees), accounts of affiliated companies, or accounts in which the portfolio manager has a personal investment. With respect to the allocation of investment opportunities, Harris Associates makes decisions to recommend, purchase, sell or hold securities for all of its client accounts, including the Funds, based on the specific investment objectives, guidelines, restrictions and circumstances of each account. It is Harris Associates' policy to allocate investment opportunities to each account, including the Funds, over a period of time on a fair and equitable basis relative to its other accounts. With respect to the allocation of aggregated orders, each account that participates in the aggregated order will participate at the average share price, and where the order has not been completely filled, each institutional account, including the Funds, will generally participate on a pro rata basis. Harris Associates has compliance policies and procedures in place that it believes are reasonably designed to mitigate these conflicts. However, there is no guarantee that such procedures will detect each and every situation in which an actual or potential conflict may arise. COMPENSATION. David G. Herro and Chad M. Clark are portfolio managers of the Schwab Viewpoints Fund. The Fund's portfolio managers are compensated solely by Harris Associates L.P. (the "Firm"), a subadviser. Compensation for each of the portfolio managers is based on the Firm's assessment of the individual's long-term contribution to the investment success of the firm and is structured as follows: (1) Base salary. The base salary is a fixed amount, and each portfolio manager receives the same base salary. (2) Participation in a discretionary bonus pool. A discretionary bonus pool for each of the Firm's domestic and international investment groups is divided among the senior level employees of each group and is paid out annually. (3) Participation in a long-term compensation plan that provides current compensation to certain key employees of the Firm and deferred compensation to both current and former key employees. The compensation plan consists of bonus units awarded to participants that vest and pay out over a period of time. The determination of the amount of each portfolio manager's participation in the discretionary bonus pool and the compensation plan is based on a variety of qualitative and quantitative factors. The factor given the most significant weight is the subjective assessment of the individual's contribution to the overall investment results of the Firm's domestic or international investment group, whether as a portfolio manager, a research analyst, or both. The quantitative factors considered in evaluating the contribution of portfolio managers include the performance of the portfolios managed by that individual relative to benchmarks, peers and other portfolio managers, as well as the assets under management in the accounts managed by the portfolio manager. The portfolio managers' compensation is not based solely on an evaluation of the performance of the funds or the amount of fund assets. Performance is measured in a number of ways, including by accounts and by strategy, and is compared to one or more of the following benchmarks: S&P500, Russell Mid-Cap Value, Russell 1000 Value, Lipper Balanced, 60/40 S&P/Lehman (60% S&P500 and 40% Lehman Bond Index), Morgan Stanley Capital International World ex U.S. Index, and the Firm's approved lists of stocks, depending on whether 94 the portfolio manager manages accounts in the particular strategy to which these benchmarks would be applicable. Performance is measured over one and three-year periods and on a pre-tax and after-tax basis to the extent such information is available. If a portfolio manager also serves as a research analyst, then his compensation is also based on the contribution made to the Firm in that role. Mr. Herro and Mr. Clark also serve as research analysts. The specific quantitative and qualitative factors considered in evaluating a research analyst's contributions include, among other things, new investment ideas, the performance of investment ideas covered by the analyst during the current year as well as over longer-term periods, the portfolio impact of the analyst's investment ideas, other contributions to the research process, and an assessment of the quality of analytical work. In addition, an individual's other contributions to the Firm, such as a role in investment thought leadership and management, are taken into account in the overall compensation process. OWNERSHIP OF FUND SHARES. As of the end of the Fund's most recently completed fiscal year, no portfolio manager beneficially owned any of the Fund's shares. PACIFIC INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY LLC ("PIMCO") SUB-ADVISES THE SCHWAB VIEWPOINTS FUND (THE "FUND"). OTHER ACCOUNTS. The portfolio manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of certain accounts, as listed below. The information below is provided as of October 31, 2006.
REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANIES (THIS AMOUNT INCLUDES THE FUNDS) OTHER POOLED INVESTMENT VEHICLES OTHER ACCOUNTS NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NAME ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ---- -------- ------------ -------- ------------ -------- ------------ Chris Dialynas 9 $3,099.41 16 $7,272.65 93 $40,101.12
Accounts where compensation is based upon account performance:
REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANIES (THIS AMOUNT INCLUDES THE FUND) OTHER POOLED INVESTMENT VEHICLES OTHER ACCOUNTS NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NAME ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ---- -------- ------------ -------- ------------ -------- ------------ Chris Dialynas 0 0 0 0 10 $3,171.56
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. From time to time, potential conflicts of interest may arise between a portfolio manager's management of the investments of a Fund, on the one hand, and the management of other accounts, on the other. The other accounts might have similar investment objectives or strategies as the Fund, track the same index a Fund tracks or otherwise hold, purchase, or sell securities that are eligible to be held, purchased or sold by the Fund. The other accounts might also have different investment objectives or strategies than the Fund. 95 Knowledge and Timing of Fund Trades. A potential conflict of interest may arise as a result of the portfolio manager's day-to- day management of a Fund. Because of their positions with the Fund, the portfolio managers know the size, timing and possible market impact of a Fund's trades. It is theoretically possible that the portfolio managers could use this information to the advantage of other accounts they manage and to the possible detriment of a Fund. Investment Opportunities. A potential conflict of interest may arise as result of the portfolio manager's management of a number of accounts with varying investment guidelines. Often, an investment opportunity may be suitable for both a Fund and other accounts managed by the portfolio manager, but may not be available in sufficient quantities for both the Fund and the other accounts to participate fully. Similarly, there may be limited opportunity to sell an investment held by a Fund and another account. PIMCO has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to allocate investment opportunities on a fair and equitable basis over time. Under PIMCO's allocation procedures, investment opportunities are allocated among various investment strategies based on individual account investment guidelines and PIMCO's investment outlook. PIMCO has also adopted additional procedures to complement the general trade allocation policy that are designed to address potential conflicts of interest due to the side-by- side management of the Fund and certain pooled investment vehicles, including investment opportunity allocation issues. Performance Fees. A portfolio manager may advise certain accounts with respect to which the advisory fee is based entirely or partially on performance. Performance fee arrangements may create a conflict of interest for the portfolio manager in that the portfolio manager may have an incentive to allocate the investment opportunities that he or she believes might be the most profitable to such other accounts instead of allocating them to a Fund. PIMCO has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to allocate investment opportunities between the Fund and such other accounts on a fair and equitable basis over time. PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMPENSATION. PIMCO has adopted a "Total Compensation Plan" for its professional level employees, including its portfolio managers, that is designed to pay competitive compensation and reward performance, integrity and teamwork consistent with the firm's mission statement. The Total Compensation Plan includes a significant incentive component that rewards high performance standards, work ethic and consistent individual and team contributions to the firm. The compensation of portfolio managers consists of a base salary, a bonus, and may include a retention bonus. Portfolio managers who are Managing Directors of PIMCO also receive compensation from PIMCO's profits. Certain employees of PIMCO, including portfolio managers, may elect to defer compensation through PIMCO's deferred compensation plan. PIMCO also offers its employees a non-contributory defined contribution plan through which PIMCO makes a contribution based on the employee's compensation. PIMCO's contribution rate increases at a specified compensation level, which is a level that would include portfolio managers. Salary and Bonus. Base salaries are determined by considering an individual portfolio manager's experience and expertise and may be reviewed for adjustment annually. Portfolio managers are entitled to receive bonuses, which may be significantly more than their base salary, upon attaining certain performance objectives based on predetermined measures of group or department success. These goals are specific to individual portfolio managers and are mutually agreed upon annually by each portfolio manager and his or her manager. Achievement of these goals is an important, but not exclusive, element of the bonus decision process. In addition, the following non-exclusive list of qualitative criteria (collectively, the "Bonus Factors") may be considered when determining the bonus for portfolio managers: 96 - 3-year, 2-year and 1-year dollar-weighted and account-weighted, pre-tax investment performance as judged against the applicable benchmarks for each account managed by a portfolio manager and relative to applicable industry peer groups; - Appropriate risk positioning that is consistent with PIMCO's investment philosophy and the Investment Committee/CIO approach to the generation of alpha; - Amount and nature of assets managed by the portfolio manager; - Consistency of investment performance across portfolios of similar mandate and guidelines (reward low dispersion); - Generation and contribution of investment ideas in the context of PIMCO's secular and cyclical forums, portfolio strategy meetings, Investment Committee meetings, and on a day-to-day basis; - Absence of defaults and price defaults for issues in the portfolios managed by the portfolio manager; - Contributions to asset retention, gathering and client satisfaction; - Contributions to mentoring, coaching and/or supervising; and - Personal growth and skills added. A portfolio manager's compensation is not based directly on the performance of any portfolio or any other account managed by that portfolio manager. Final bonus award amounts are determined by the PIMCO Compensation Committee. Retention Bonuses. Certain portfolio managers may receive a discretionary, fixed amount retention bonus, based upon the Bonus Factors and continued employment with PIMCO. Each portfolio manager who is a Senior Vice President or Executive Vice President of PIMCO receives a variable amount retention bonus, based upon the Bonus Factors and continued employment with PIMCO. Investment professionals, including portfolio managers, are eligible to participate in a Long Term Cash Bonus Plan ("Cash Bonus Plan"), which provides cash awards that appreciate or depreciate based upon the performance of PIMCO's parent company, Allianz Global Investors, and PIMCO over a three-year period. The aggregate amount available for distribution to participants is based upon Allianz Global Investors's profit growth and PIMCO's profit growth. Participation in the Cash Bonus Plan is based upon the Bonus Factors, and the payment of benefits from the Cash Bonus Plan, is contingent upon continued employment at PIMCO. Profit Sharing Plan. Instead of a bonus, portfolio managers who are Managing Directors of PIMCO receive compensation from a non-qualified profit sharing plan consisting of a portion of PIMCO's net profits. Portfolio managers who are Managing Directors receive an amount determined by the Managing Director Compensation Committee, based upon an individual's overall contribution to the firm and the Bonus Factors. Under his employment agreement, William Gross receives a fixed percentage of the profit sharing plan. Allianz Transaction Related Compensation. In May 2000, a majority interest in the predecessor holding company of PIMCO was acquired by a subsidiary of Allianz AG ("Allianz"). In connection with the transaction, Mr. Gross received a grant of restricted stock of Allianz, the last of which vested on May 5, 2005. From time to time, under the PIMCO Class B Unit Purchase Plan, Managing Directors and certain executive management (including Executive Vice Presidents) of PIMCO may become eligible to purchase Class B Units of PIMCO. Upon their purchase, the Class B Units are immediately exchanged for Class A Units of PIMCO Partners, LLC, a California limited liability company that holds a minority interest in PIMCO and is owned by the Managing Directors and 97 certain executive management of PIMCO. The Class A Units of PIMCO Partners, LLC entitle their holders to distributions of a portion of the profits of PIMCO. The PIMCO Compensation Committee determines which Managing Directors and executive management may purchase Class B Units and the number of Class B Units that each may purchase. The Class B Units are purchased pursuant to full recourse notes issued to the holder. The base compensation of each Class B Unit holder is increased in an amount equal to the principal amortization applicable to the notes given by the Managing Director or member of executive management. Portfolio managers who are Managing Directors also have long-term employment contracts, which guarantee severance payments in the event of involuntary termination of a Managing Director's employment with PIMCO. OWNERSHIP OF FUND SHARES. As of October 31, 2006, the portfolio manager did not beneficially own any share of the Fund. TCW INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY ("TCW") SUB-ADVISES THE SCHWAB VIEWPOINTS FUND (THE "FUND"). OTHER ACCOUNTS. In addition to the Fund, the portfolio managers are responsible for the day-to-day management of certain other accounts, as listed below (data shown below is as of October 31, 2006).
REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANIES (THIS AMOUNT INCLUDES THE SCHWAB VIEWPOINTS FUND) OTHER POOLED INVESTMENT VEHICLES OTHER ACCOUNTS NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NAME ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ---- -------- ------------ -------- ------------ -------- ------------ Diane Jaffee 7 $4,492.7 11 $5,912.1 81 $7,303.9 Matthew Spahn 1 $637.5 0 0 0 0
Accounts where compensation is based upon account performance:
REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANIES OTHER POOLED INVESTMENT VEHICLES OTHER ACCOUNTS NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NAME ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ACCOUNTS TOTAL ASSETS ---- -------- ------------ -------- ------------ -------- ------------ Diane Jaffee 0 0 6 $5,559.2 1 $580.4 Matthew Spahn 0 0 0 0 0 0
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. Actual or potential conflicts of interest may arise when a portfolio manager has management responsibilities to more than one account (including the Fund), such as devotion of unequal time and attention to the management of the accounts, inability to allocate limited investment opportunities across a broad band of accounts and incentive to allocate opportunities to an account where the portfolio manager or TCW has a greater financial incentive, such as a performance fee account or where an account or fund managed by a portfolio manager has a higher 98 fee sharing arrangement than the portfolio manager's fee sharing percentage with respect to the Fund. TCW has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to address these types of conflicts and TCW believes its policies and procedures serve to operate in a manner that is fair and equitable among its clients, including the Fund. COMPENSATION. Portfolio managers of TCW are compensated through a combination of base salary, profit sharing based compensation ("profit sharing") and equity incentive participation in TCW's immediate parent, The TCW Group, Inc. and/or ultimate parent, Societe Generale ("equity incentives"). Profit sharing and equity incentives generally represent most of the portfolio managers' compensation. Profit sharing is linked quantitatively to a fixed percentage of income relating to accounts in the investment strategy area for which the portfolio managers are responsible and is paid quarterly. While it may be determined on a gross basis, without the deduction of expenses, in most cases, revenues are allocated to a pool and profit sharing compensation is paid out after the deduction of group expenses. The profit sharing percentage used to compensate the portfolio managers for management of the Fund is generally the same as that used to compensate them for all other client accounts they manage in the same strategy for TCW and its affiliates under The TCW Group (collectively, "TCW"), with limited exceptions involving grandfathered accounts, firm capital of TCW or accounts sourced through a distinct distribution channel. In general, portfolio managers do not receive discretionary bonuses. In many cases, the profit sharing percentage is subject to increase based on the relative pre-tax performance of the investment strategy composite, net of fees and expenses, to that of a benchmark. The benchmark varies from strategy to strategy but, within a given strategy, it applies to all accounts, including the Funds. The measurement of performance can be based on single year or multiple year metrics, or a combination thereof. Certain accounts of TCW have a performance fee in addition to or in lieu of a flat asset-based fee. These performance fees can be (a) asset-based fees, the percentage of which is tied to the performance of the account relative to a benchmark or (b) a percentage of the net gains of the account over a threshold gain tied to a benchmark. For these accounts, the portfolio managers' profit sharing compensation will apply to such performance fees. The profit sharing percentage in the case of performance fees is generally the same as it is for the profit sharing compensation applicable to the Fund; however, in the case of certain alternative investment products managed by a portfolio manager, the profit sharing percentage may be higher. All portfolio managers participate in equity incentives providing benefits for performance of TCW and its affiliates, through stock ownership or participation and is in stock option or stock appreciation plans of TCW and/or Societe Generale. The TCW 2001 and 2005 TCW Stock Option Plans provide eligible portfolio managers the opportunity to participate in an effective economic interest in TCW, the value of which is tied to TCW's annual financial performance as a whole. TCW portfolio managers also participate in Societe Generale's Stock Option Plan which grants options on its common stock, the value of which may be realized after certain vesting requirements are met. Some portfolio managers are stockholders of TCW and/or Societe Generale, as well. Certain portfolio managers also participate in compensation plans that are allocated a portion of management fees, incentive fees or performance fees payable to TCW in its products, including those not managed by the portfolio managers. Portfolio managers may also participate in deferred compensation programs, the value of which is tied to their tenure at TCW and is payable upon the reaching of certain time-based milestones. 99 OWNERSHIP OF FUND SHARES. The TCW Code of Ethics prohibits TCW employees from purchasing or otherwise acquiring shares of any third party mutual fund advised or sub-advised by TCW. As a result, the portfolio managers do not own any shares of the Funds. BROKERAGE ALLOCATION AND OTHER PRACTICES PORTFOLIO TURNOVER For reporting purposes, a fund's portfolio turnover rate is calculated by dividing the value of purchases or sales of portfolio securities for the fiscal year, whichever is less, by the monthly average value of portfolio securities the fund owned during the fiscal year. When making the calculation, all securities whose maturities at the time of acquisition were one year or less ("short-term securities") are excluded. Short positions that the Schwab Hedged Equity Fund intends to maintain for more than one year are included in the purchases and sales. A 100% portfolio turnover rate would occur, for example, if all portfolio securities (aside from short-term securities) were sold and either repurchased or replaced once during the fiscal year. Typically, funds with high turnover (such as 100% or more) tend to generate higher capital gains and transaction costs, such as brokerage commissions. A fund's portfolio turnover rate is in the financial highlights table in its prospectus. The turnover rate for the Schwab Large-Cap Growth Fund, Schwab Premier Equity Fund TM, Schwab Dividend Equity Fund TM, Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund, Schwab Hedged Equity Fund TM, Schwab Core Equity Fund TM, Schwab Financial Services Fund TM, Schwab Health Care Fund TM Schwab Technology Fund TM and Schwab Viewpoints Fund is largely driven by the quantitative techniques used to help the funds construct their investment portfolio. These quantitative techniques and, in particular, how they affect the portfolio managers' decisions to purchase new securities for a fund's portfolio and/or sell existing securities in a fund's portfolio are primarily responsible for the increase in the Schwab Health Care Fund's portfolio turnover rates for the fiscal year ending 2006 as compared to the fiscal year ending 2005. PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS DISCLOSURE The funds' Board of Trustees has approved policies and procedures that govern the timing and circumstances regarding the disclosure of fund portfolio holdings information to shareholders and third parties. These policies and procedures are designed to ensure that disclosure of information regarding the funds' portfolio securities is in the best interests of fund shareholders, and include procedures to address conflicts between the interests of the funds' shareholders, on the one hand, and those of the funds' investment adviser, principal underwriter or any affiliated person of the funds, its investment adviser, or its principal underwriter, on the other. Pursuant to such procedures, the Board has authorized the president of the funds to authorize the release of the funds' portfolio holdings, as necessary, in conformity with the foregoing principles. The Board exercises on-going oversight of the disclosure of fund portfolio holdings by overseeing the implementation and enforcement of the fund's policies and procedures by the Chief Compliance Officer and by considering reports and recommendations by the Chief Compliance Officer concerning any material compliance matters. The Board will receive periodic updates, at least annually, regarding entities which were authorized to be provided "early disclosure" (as defined below) of the fund's portfolio holdings information. 100 A complete list of each fund's portfolio holdings is published on the Schwab Funds website at www.Schwab.com/Schwabfunds, under "Prospectuses and Reports", typically 60-80 days after the end of each fund's fiscal quarter. The portfolio holdings information available on the Schwab Funds' website is the same that is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form N-Q or Form N-CSR. In addition, each fund's top ten holdings list is posted on the Schwab Funds website monthly, typically with a 10-day lag. In addition to the top ten holdings information, the funds also provide on the website monthly information regarding certain attributes of a fund's portfolio, such as a fund's sector weightings, composition, credit quality and duration and maturity, as applicable. The information on the website is publicly available to all categories of persons. Each fund may disclose portfolio holdings information to certain persons and entities prior to and more frequently than the public disclosure of such information ("early disclosure"). The president may authorize early disclosure of portfolio holdings information to such parties at differing times and/or with different lag times provided that (a) the president of the funds determines that the disclosure is in the best interests of the funds and that there are no conflicts of interest between the fund's shareholders and fund's adviser and distributor; and (b) the recipient is, either by contractual agreement or otherwise by law, required to maintain the confidentiality of the information. In addition, the funds' service providers including, without limitation, the investment adviser, investment sub-advisers, distributor, the custodian, fund accountant, transfer agent, auditor, proxy voting service provider, pricing information venders, publisher, printer and mailing agent may receive early disclosure of portfolio holdings information as frequently as daily in connection with the services they perform for the funds. Service providers will be subject to a duty of confidentiality with respect to any portfolio holdings information whether imposed by the provisions of the service provider's contract with the trust or by the nature of its relationship with the trust. The funds' policies and procedures prohibit the funds, the funds' investment adviser or any related party from receiving any compensation or other consideration in connection with the disclosure of portfolio holdings information. The funds may disclose non-material information including commentary and aggregate information about the characteristics of a fund in connection with or relating to a fund or its portfolio securities to any person if such disclosure is for a legitimate business purpose, such disclosure does not effectively result in the disclosure of the complete portfolio securities of any fund (which can only be disclosed in accordance with the above requirements), and such information does not constitute material non-public information. Such disclosure does not fall within the portfolio securities disclosure requirements outlined above. Whether the information constitutes material non-public information will be made on a good faith determination, which involves an assessment of the particular facts and circumstances. In most cases commentary or analysis would be immaterial and would not convey any advantage to a recipient in making a decision concerning a fund. Commentary and analysis includes, but is not limited to, the allocation of a fund's portfolio securities and other investments among various asset classes, sectors, industries, and countries, the characteristics of the stock components and other investments of a fund, the attribution of fund returns by asset class, sector, industry and country, and the volatility characteristics of a fund. 101 PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS The investment adviser and sub-advisers make decisions with respect to the purchase and sale of portfolio securities on behalf of the funds. The investment adviser and sub-advisers are responsible for implementing these decisions, including the negotiation of commissions and the allocation of principal business and portfolio brokerage. Purchases and sales of securities on a stock exchange or certain riskless principal transactions placed on NASDAQ are typically effected through brokers who charge a commission for their services. Purchases and sales of fixed income securities may be transacted with the issuer, the issuer's underwriter, or a dealer. The funds do not usually pay brokerage commissions on purchases and sales of fixed income securities, although the price of the securities generally includes compensation, in the form of a spread or a mark-up or mark-down, which is not disclosed separately. The prices the funds pay to underwriters of newly-issued securities usually include a commission paid by the issuer to the underwriter. Transactions placed through dealers who are serving as primary market makers reflect the spread between the bid and asked prices. The money market securities in which the funds may invest are traded primarily in the over-the-counter market on a net basis and do not normally involve either brokerage commissions or transfer taxes. It is expected that the cost of executing portfolio securities transactions of the funds will primarily consist of dealer spreads and brokerage commissions. The investment adviser and sub-advisers seek to obtain the best execution for the funds' portfolio transactions. The investment adviser or the sub-advisers may take a number of factors into account in selecting brokers or dealers to execute these transactions. Such factors may include, without limitation, the following: execution price; brokerage commission or dealer spread; size or type of the transaction; nature or character of the markets; clearance or settlement capability; reputation; financial strength and stability of the broker or dealer; efficiency of execution and error resolution; block trading capabilities; willingness to execute related or unrelated difficult transactions in the future; order of call; ability to facilitate short selling; provision of additional brokerage or research services or products; whether a broker guarantees that a fund will receive, on aggregate, prices at least as favorable as the closing prices on a given day when adherence to "market-on-close" pricing aligns with fund objectives; or whether a broker guarantees that a fund will receive the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) for a security for a given trading day (or portion thereof) when the investment adviser or the sub-advisors believe that VWAP execution is in a fund's best interest. In addition, the investment adviser and the sub-advisers have incentive sharing arrangements with certain unaffiliated brokers who guarantee market-on-close pricing: on a day when such a broker executes transactions at prices better, on aggregate, than market-on-close prices, that broker may receive, in addition to his or her standard commission, a portion of the net difference between the actual execution prices and corresponding market-on-close prices for that day. The investment adviser and sub-advisers may cause a fund to pay a higher commission than otherwise obtainable from other brokers or dealers in return for brokerage or research services or products if the investment adviser or a sub-adviser believes that such commission is reasonable in relation to the services provided. In addition to agency transactions, the investment adviser and sub-adviser may receive brokerage and research services or products in connection with certain riskless principal transactions, in accordance with applicable SEC and other regulatory guidelines. In both instances, these services or products may include: economic, industry, or company research reports or investment recommendations; subscriptions to financial publications or research data compilations; compilations of securities prices, earnings, dividends, and similar data; computerized databases; quotation equipment and services; research or analytical computer software and services; products or services that assist in effecting transactions, including services of third-party computer systems developers directly related to research and brokerage activities; and effecting securities transactions and performing functions incidental thereto (such as 102 clearance and settlement). The investment adviser or the sub-advisers may use research services furnished by brokers or dealers in servicing all fund accounts, and not all services may necessarily be used in connection with the account that paid commissions or spreads to the broker or dealer providing such services. The investment adviser or a sub-adviser may receive a service from a broker or dealer that has both a "research" and a "non-research" use. When this occurs, the investment adviser or a sub-adviser will make a good faith allocation, under all the circumstances, between the research and non-research uses of the service. The percentage of the service that is used for research purposes may be paid for with fund commissions or spreads, while the investment adviser or a sub-adviser will use its own funds to pay for the percentage of the service that is used for non-research purposes. In making this good faith allocation, the investment adviser or a sub-adviser faces a potential conflict of interest, but the investment adviser and sub-advisers believe that the costs of such services may be appropriately allocated to their anticipated research and non-research uses. The investment adviser and sub-advisers may purchase for funds, new issues of securities in a fixed price offering. In these situations, the seller may be a member of the selling group that will, in addition to selling securities, provide the investment adviser or sub-advisers with research services, in accordance with applicable rules and regulations permitting these types of arrangements. Generally, the seller will provide research "credits" in these situations at a rate that is higher than that which is available for typical secondary market transactions. These arrangements may not fall within the safe harbor of Section 28(e). The investment adviser and sub-advisers may place orders directly with electronic communications networks or other alternative trading systems. Placing orders with electronic communications networks or other alternative trading systems may enable funds to trade directly with other institutional holders. At times, this may allow funds to trade larger blocks than would be possible trading through a single market maker. The investment adviser and sub-advisers may aggregate securities sales or purchases among two or more funds. The investment adviser and sub-advisers will not aggregate transactions unless it believes such aggregation is consistent with its duty to seek best execution for each affected fund and is consistent with the terms of the investment advisory agreement for such fund. In any single transaction in which purchases and/or sales of securities of any issuer for the account of a fund are aggregated with other accounts managed by the investment adviser and sub-advisers, the actual prices applicable to the transaction will be averaged among the accounts for which the transaction is effected, including the account of the fund. In determining when and to what extent to use Schwab or any other affiliated broker-dealer (including affiliates of the sub-advisers) as its broker for executing orders for the funds on securities exchanges, the investment adviser and the sub-advisers follow procedures, adopted by the funds' Board of Trustees, that are designed to ensure that affiliated brokerage commissions (if relevant) are reasonable and fair in comparison to unaffiliated brokerage commissions for comparable transactions. The Board reviews the procedures annually and approves and reviews transactions involving affiliated brokers quarterly. PROXY VOTING The Boards of Trustees of the Trusts have delegated the responsibility for voting proxies to CSIM through their Advisory Agreements. The Trustees have adopted CSIM's Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures with respect to proxies voted on behalf of the various Schwab Funds portfolios. A description of CSIM's Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures is included in Appendix B. 103 The Trusts are required to disclose annually a fund's complete proxy voting record on Form N-PX. A fund's proxy voting record for the most recent 12 month period ended June 30th is available by visiting the Schwab website at www.schwab.com/schwabfunds. A fund's Form N-PX will also be available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. BROKERAGE COMMISSIONS For each of the last three fiscal years, the funds paid the following brokerage commissions.
FUNDS 2006 2005 2004 SCHWAB ACTIVE EQUITY FUNDS Schwab Large-Cap Growth Fund TM $63,967 $9,769 1 $0 Schwab Premier Equity Fund TM $1,123,588 $482,178 2 $0 Schwab Core Equity Fund TM $433,058 $228,044 $165,304 Schwab Dividend Equity Fund TM $383,190 $267,583 $198,237 Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund TM $827,118 3 $248,571 $102,431 Schwab Hedged Equity Fund TM $1,582,435 4 $407,687 $63,395 Schwab Financial Services Fund TM $34,913 $12,196 $10,684 Schwab Health Care Fund TM $428,937 5 $164,489 $73,426 Schwab Technology Fund TM $102,185 $55,721 $102,339 SCHWAB EQUITY INDEX FUNDS Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund $300,045 $256,330 $193,566 Schwab Institutional Select S&P 500 $74,085 $53,777 $15,981 Fund Schwab 1000 Index(R) Fund $264,761 $199,910 $179,770 Schwab Small-Cap Index Fund $443,779 $508,087 $1,192,916 Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund $25,530 $20,027 $66,744 Schwab International Index Fund $153,538 $97,795 $51,547 ----------------- 1 for the period from August 9, 2005 to October 31,2005 2 For the period between March 21, 2005 and October 31, 2005 3 The dollar amount of brokerage commission paid by the fund in fiscal year 2006 was greater than in fiscal years 2005 primarily due to a significant increase in the fund's assets. 4 The dollar amount of brokerage commissions paid by the fund in fiscal year 2006 was greater than in fiscal years 2004 and 2005 primarily due to a significant increase in the fund's assets. 5 The dollar amount of brokerage commissions paid by the fund in fiscal year 2006 was greater than in fiscal years 2005 primarily due to a significant increase in the fund's assets.
104 SCHWAB MARKETTRACK PORTFOLIOS(R) All Equity Portfolio $0 $0 $0 Growth Portfolio $859 $2,465 $449 Balanced Portfolio $580 $4,512 $297 Conservative Portfolio $130 $302 $101 SCHWAB TARGET FUNDS $0 $0 $0 Schwab Viewpoints Fund TM $234,063 $317,837 $198,118
REGULAR BROKER-DEALERS A fund's regular broker-dealers during its most recent fiscal year are: (1) the ten broker-dealers that received the greatest dollar amount of brokerage commissions from the fund; (2) the ten broker-dealers that engaged as principal in the largest dollar amount of portfolio transactions; and (3) the ten broker- dealers that sold the largest dollar amount of the fund's shares. During the fiscal year ended October 31, 2006, the following funds purchased securities issued by the following regular broker-dealers: FINANCIAL SERVICES FOCUS FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ JP Morgan Chase & Co. $4,630,000 State Street Bank & Trust $2,627,000 Investment Technology Group $2,265,000 Merrill Lynch & Co. $1,879,000 CitiGroup Global Markets $1,239,000 Morgan Stanley $ 191,000
SCHWAB MARKETTRACK GROWTH PORTFOLIO
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ JP Morgan Chase & Co. $1,656,000 Morgan Stanley $ 833,000 Goldman Sachs & Co. $ 831,000 Merrill Lynch & Co. $ 822,000 Lehman Brothers Inc. $ 405,000 State Street Bank & Trust $ 212,000 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. $ 205,000
SCHWAB MARKETTRACK BALANCED PORTFOLIO
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ CitiGroup Global Markets $1,719,000 JP Morgan Chase & Co. $1,111,000 Merrill Lynch & Co. $ 551,000 Morgan Stanley $ 536,000
105 Lehman Brothers Inc. $280,000 State Street Bank & Trust Co. $141,000 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. $125,000
SCHWAB MARKETTRACK CONSERVATIVE PORTFOLIO
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ CitiGroup Global Markets $390,000 JP Morgan Chase & Co. $254,000 Goldman Sachs & Co. $138,000 Merrill Lynch & Co. $131,000 Morgan Stanley $124,000 Lehman Brothers Inc. $ 62,000 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. $ 39,000 State Street Bank & Trust Co. $ 32,000
SCHWAB S&P 500 FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ CitiGroup Global Markets $166,257,000 JP Morgan Chase & Co. $106,081,000 Goldman Sachs & Co. $ 52,509,000 Morgan Stanley $ 52,419,000 Merrill Lynch & Co. $ 49,855,000 Lehman Brothers Inc. $ 26,684,000 State Street Bank & Trust Co. $ 14,498,000 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. $ 12,038,000
SCHWAB 1000 FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ JP Morgan Chase & Co. $75,161,000 Morgan Stanley $37,347,000 Merrill Lynch $36,197,000 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc $10,577,000 State Street Bank & Trust Co. $10,045,000 Bear Stearns & Co. $ 7,664,000 Jefferies Group, Inc. $ 1,501,000
SCHWAB HEDGE EQUITY FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ Investment Technology Group $6,673,000 JP Morgan Chase & Co. $1,883,000
SCHWAB SMALL-CAP INDEX FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ Investment Technology Group $2,964,000
106 SCHWAB TOTAL STOCK MARKET INDEX FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ CitiGroup Global Markets Inc. $20,680,000 JP Morgan Chase & Co. $14,040,000 Goldman Sachs & Co. $ 7,345,000 Merrill Lynch $ 6,976,000 Morgan Stanley $ 6,902,000 Lehman Brothers Inc. $ 3,716,000 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. $ 2,025,000 State Street Bank & Trust Co. $ 1,798,000 Investment Technology Group $ 222,000
SCHWAB INTERNATIONAL INDEX FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ UBS Warburg LLC. $20,815,000
SCHWAB INSTITUTIONAL SELECT S&P 500 FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ CitiGroup Global Markets Inc. $42,876,000 JP Morgan Chase & Co. $27,413,000 Goldman Sachs & Co. $13,607,000 Morgan Stanley $13,600,000 Merrill Lynch $12,863,000 Lehman Brothers Inc. $ 6,939,000 State Street Bank & Trust Co. $ 3,593,000 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. $ 3,127,000
SCHWAB PREMIER EQUITY FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ State Street Bank & Trust Co. $16,058,000 Investment Technology Group $15,350,000
SCHWAB DIVIDEND EQUITY FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ JP Morgan Chase & Co. $20,427,000 CitiGroup Global Markets $18,058,000
SCHWAB CORE EQUITY FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ JP Morgan Chase & Co. $17,078,000
107 SCHWAB VIEWPOINTS FUND
VALUE OF FUND'S HOLDINGS AS OF Regular Broker-Dealer OCTOBER 31, 2006 --------------------- ------------------------------ JP Morgan Chase & Co. $1,007,000 Merrill Lynch $ 900,000 Goldman Sachs & Co. $ 826,000 Investment Technology Group $ 184,000
DESCRIPTION OF THE TRUSTS Each fund, except the Schwab 1000 Index(R) Fund, is a series of Schwab Capital Trust, an open-end investment management company organized as a Massachusetts business trust on May 7, 1993. The Schwab 1000 Index Fund is a series of Schwab Investments, an open-end investment management company organized as a Massachusetts business trust on October 26, 1990. The funds may hold special shareholder meetings, which may cause the funds to incur non-routine expenses. These meetings may be called for purposes such as electing trustees, changing fundamental policies and amending management contracts. Shareholders are entitled to one vote for each share owned and may vote by proxy or in person. Proxy materials will be mailed to shareholders prior to any meetings, and will include a voting card and information explaining the matters to be voted upon. The bylaws of each trust provide that a majority of shares entitled to vote shall be a quorum for the transaction of business at a shareholders' meeting, except that where any provision of law, or of the Declaration of Trust or of the bylaws permits or requires that (1) holders of any series shall vote as a series, then a majority of the aggregate number of shares of that series entitled to vote shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business by that series, or (2) holders of any class shall vote as a class, then a majority of the aggregate number of shares of that class entitled to vote shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business by that class. Any lesser number shall be sufficient for adjournments. Any adjourned session or sessions may be held, within a reasonable time after the date set for the original meeting, without the necessity of further notice. Each Declaration of Trust specifically authorizes the Board of Trustees to terminate the trust (or any of its funds) by notice to the shareholders without shareholder approval. Under Massachusetts law, shareholders of a Massachusetts business trust could, under certain circumstances, be held personally liable for the trust's obligations. Each Declaration of Trust, however, disclaims shareholder liability for the trust's acts or obligations and requires that notice of such disclaimer be given in each agreement, obligation or instrument entered into or executed by the trust or the trustees. In addition, each Declaration of Trust provides for indemnification out of the property of an investment portfolio in which a shareholder owns or owned shares for all losses and expenses of such shareholder or former shareholder if he or she is held personally liable for the obligations of the trust solely by reason of being or having been a shareholder. Moreover, each trust will be covered by insurance, which the trustees consider adequate to cover foreseeable tort claims. Thus, the risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of shareholder liability is considered remote, because it is limited to circumstances in which a disclaimer is inoperative and the trust itself is unable to meet its obligations. There is a remote possibility that a fund could become liable for a misstatement in the prospectus or SAI about another fund. As more fully described in each Declaration of Trust, the trustees may each year, or more frequently, distribute to the shareholders of each series accrued income less accrued expenses and any net realized capital gains less accrued expenses. Distributions of each year's income of each 108 series shall be distributed pro rata to shareholders in proportion to the number of shares of each series held by each of them. Distributions will be paid in cash or shares or a combination thereof as determined by the trustees. Distributions paid in shares will be paid at the net asset value as determined in accordance with the bylaws. PURCHASE, REDEMPTION, DELIVERY OF SHAREHOLDER DOCUMENTS AND PRICING OF SHARES PURCHASING AND REDEEMING SHARES OF THE FUNDS The funds are open each day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open (business days). The NYSE's trading session is normally conducted from 9:30 a.m. Eastern time until 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, although some days, such as in advance of and following holidays, the NYSE's trading session closes early. The following holiday closings are currently scheduled for 2007: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, Presidents' Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Only orders that are received in good order by a fund's transfer agent no later than the close of the NYSE's trading session will be executed that day at the fund's (or class') share price calculated that day. On any day that the NYSE closes early, the funds reserve the right to advance the time by which purchase, redemption and exchanges orders must be received by the funds' transfer agent that day in order to be executed that day at that day's share price. As long as the funds or Schwab follow reasonable procedures to confirm that an investor's telephone or Internet order is genuine, they will not be liable for any losses the investor may experience due to unauthorized or fraudulent instructions. These procedures may include requiring a form of personal identification or other confirmation before acting upon any telephone or Internet order, providing written confirmation of telephone or Internet orders and tape recording all telephone orders. Share certificates will not be issued in order to avoid additional administrative costs, however, share ownership records are maintained by Schwab. Each Trust's Declaration of Trust provides that shares may be automatically redeemed if held by a shareholder in an amount less than the minimum required by each fund or share class. Each fund's minimum initial investments and minimum balance requirements, if any, are set forth in the prospectus. The minimums may be changed without prior notice. Certain investment managers, including managers in Schwab Institutional, may aggregate the investments of their underlying customer accounts for purposes of meeting the Select Shares and Schwab Institutional Select S&P 500 Fund's initial minimum investment and minimum balance requirements. In order to aggregate investments for these purposes, investment managers must purchase shares through a financial institution, such as a broker, that has been approved by the fund or its distributor and that has the capability to process purchase and redemption orders and to monitor the balances of the managers' underlying customer accounts on an aggregated basis. As explained in more detail in the funds' prospectus, each fund that charges a redemption fee reserves the right to waive its early redemption fee for certain tax-advantaged retirement plans or charitable giving funds, certain fee-based or wrap programs, or in other circumstances when the funds' officers determine that such a waiver is in the best interest of a fund and its shareholders. Each of the funds has made an election with the SEC to pay in cash all redemptions requested by any shareholder of record limited in amount during any 90-day period to the lesser of $250,000 or 1% of its net assets at the beginning of such period. This election is irrevocable without the 109 SEC's prior approval. Redemption requests in excess of these limits may be paid, in whole or in part, in investment securities or in cash, as the Board of Trustees may deem advisable. Payment will be made wholly in cash unless the Board of Trustees believes that economic or market conditions exist that would make such payment a detriment to the best interests of a fund. If redemption proceeds are paid in investment securities, such securities will be valued as set forth in "Pricing of Shares." A redeeming shareholder would normally incur transaction costs if he or she were to convert the securities to cash. Each fund is designed for long-term investing. Because short-term trading activities can disrupt the smooth management of a fund and increase its expenses, each fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to refuse any purchase or exchange order, or large purchase or exchange orders, including any purchase or exchange order which appears to be associated with short-term trading activities or "market timing." Because market timing decisions to buy and sell securities typically are based on an individual investor's market outlook, including such factors as the perceived strength of the economy or the anticipated direction of interest rates, it is difficult for a fund to determine in advance what purchase or exchange orders may be deemed to be associated with market timing or short-term trading activities. The funds and Schwab reserve the right to refuse any purchase or exchange order, including large orders that may negatively impact their operations. More information regarding the funds' policies regarding "market timing' is included in the funds' prospectus. Shares of the funds may be held only through a Schwab account or certain financial intermediaries that have an arrangement with Schwab. If you close your Schwab account, your fund shares may be redeemed unless you first transfer them to such a financial intermediary. In certain circumstances, shares of a fund may be purchased "in kind" (i.e., in exchange for securities, rather than for cash). The securities tendered as part of an in-kind purchase must be liquid securities that are not restricted as to transfer and have a value that is readily ascertainable as evidenced by a listing on the American Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, or Nasdaq. Securities accepted by the fund will be valued, as set forth in the fund's prospectus, as of the time of the next determination of net asset value after such acceptance. The shares of the fund that are issued to the shareholder in exchange for the securities will be determined as of the same time. All dividend, subscription, or other rights that are reflected in the market price of accepted securities at the time of valuation become the property of the fund and must be delivered to the fund by the investor upon receipt from the issuer. A fund will not accept securities in exchange for its shares unless such securities are, at the time of the exchange, eligible to be held by the fund and satisfy such other conditions as may be imposed by the fund's investment adviser. EXCHANGING SHARES OF THE FUNDS An exchange order involves the redemption of all or a portion of the shares of one Schwab Fund and the simultaneous purchase of shares of another Schwab Fund. Exchange orders must meet the minimum investment and any other requirements of the fund or class purchased. Exchange orders may not be executed between shares of Sweep Investments(R) and shares of non-Sweep Investments. Shares of Sweep Investments may be bought and sold automatically pursuant to the terms and conditions of your Schwab account agreement or by direct order as long as you meet the minimums for direct investments. In addition, different exchange policies may apply to Schwab Funds(R) that are bought and sold through third-party investment providers and the exchange privilege between Schwab Funds may not be available through third-party investment providers. 110 The funds and Schwab reserve certain rights with regard to exchanging shares of the funds. These rights include the right to: (i) refuse any purchase or exchange order that may negatively impact a fund's operations; (ii) refuse orders that appear to be associated with short-term trading activities; and (iii) materially modify or terminate the exchange privilege upon 60 days' written notice to shareholders. DELIVERY OF SHAREHOLDER DOCUMENTS Typically once a year, an updated prospectus will be mailed to shareholders describing each fund's investment strategies, risks and shareholder policies. Twice a year, financial reports will be mailed to shareholders describing each fund's performance and investment holdings. In order to eliminate duplicate mailings of shareholder documents, each household may receive one copy of these documents, under certain conditions. This practice is commonly called "householding." If you want to receive multiple copies, you may write or call your fund at the address or telephone number on the front of this SAI. Your instructions will be effective within 30 days of receipt by Schwab. PRICING OF SHARES Each business day, the fund or each share class of a fund calculates its share price, or NAV, as of the close of the NYSE (generally 4 p.m. Eastern time). This means that NAVs are calculated using the values of a fund's portfolio securities as of the close of the NYSE. Such values are required to be determined in one of two ways: securities for which market quotations are readily available are required to be valued at current market value; and securities for which market quotations are not readily available are required to be valued at fair value using procedures approved by the Board of Trustees. Shareholders of funds that invest in foreign securities should be aware that because foreign markets are often open on weekends and other days when the funds are closed, the value of some of a fund's securities may change on days when it is not possible to buy or sell shares of the fund. The funds use approved pricing services to provide values for their portfolio securities. Current market values are generally determined by the approved pricing services as follows: generally securities traded on exchanges are valued at the last-quoted sales price on the exchange on which such securities are primarily traded, or, lacking any sales, at the mean between the bid and ask prices; generally securities traded in the over-the-counter market are valued at the last reported sales price that day, or, if no sales are reported, at the mean between the bid and ask prices. Generally securities listed on the NASDAQ National Market System are valued in accordance with the NASDAQ Official Closing Price. In addition, securities that are primarily traded on foreign exchanges are generally valued at the preceding closing values of such securities on their respective exchanges with these values then translated into U.S. dollars at the current exchange rate. Fixed income securities normally are valued based on valuations provided by approved pricing services. Securities may be fair valued pursuant to procedures approved by the funds' Board of Trustees when a security is de-listed or its trading is halted or suspended; when a security's primary pricing source is unable or unwilling to provide a price; when a security's primary trading market is closed during regular market hours; or when a security's value is materially affected by events occurring after the close of the security's primary trading market. The Board of Trustees regularly reviews fair value determinations made by the funds pursuant to the procedures. In accordance with the 1940 Act, the underlying funds in which the MarketTrack Portfolios, Schwab Target Funds and Schwab Viewpoints Fund invest are valued at their respective net asset values as determined by those funds. The underlying funds that are money market funds may value their portfolio securities based on the value or amortized cost method. The other 111 underlying funds value their portfolio securities based on market quotes if they are readily available. TAXATION FEDERAL TAX INFORMATION FOR THE FUNDS This discussion of federal income tax consequences is based on the Code and the regulations issued thereunder as in effect on the date of this Statement of Additional Information. New legislation, as well as administrative changes or court decisions, may significantly change the conclusions expressed herein, and may have a retroactive effect with respect to the transactions contemplated herein. It is each fund's policy to qualify for taxation as a "regulated investment company" (RIC) by meeting the requirements of Subchapter M of the Code. By qualifying as a RIC, each fund expects to eliminate or reduce to a nominal amount the federal income tax to which it is subject. If a fund does not qualify as a RIC under the Code, it will be subject to federal income tax on its net investment income and any net realized capital gains. Each fund is treated as a separate entity for federal income tax purposes and is not combined with the trust's other funds. Each fund intends to qualify as a RIC so that it will be relieved of federal income tax on that part of its income that is distributed to shareholders. In order to qualify for treatment as a RIC, a fund must distribute annually to its shareholders at least 90% of its investment company taxable income (generally, net investment income plus the excess, if any, of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital losses) and also must meet several additional requirements. Among these requirements are the following: (i) at least 90% of a fund's gross income each taxable year must be derived from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, and gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies, or other income derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock or securities or currencies and net income derived from an interest in a qualified publicly traded partnership; (ii) at the close of each quarter of a fund's taxable year, at least 50% of the value of its total assets must be represented by cash and cash items, U.S. Government securities, securities of other RICs and other securities, with such other securities limited, in respect of any one issuer, to an amount that does not exceed 5% of the value of a Fund's assets and that does not represent more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer; and (iii) at the close of each quarter of a fund's taxable year, not more than 25% of the value of its assets may be invested in securities (other than U.S. Government securities or the securities of other RICs) of any one issuer or of two or more issuers and which are engaged in the same, similar, or related trades or businesses if the fund owns at least 20% of the voting power of such issuers, or the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships. Certain master limited partnerships may qualify as "qualified publicly traded partnerships" for purposes of the Subchapter M diversification rules described above. In order to do so, the master limited partnership must satisfy two requirements during the taxable year. First, the interests of such partnership either must be traded on an established securities market or must be readily tradable on a secondary market (or the substantial equivalent thereof). Second, less than 90% of the partnership's gross income can consist of dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, or gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or securities or foreign currencies, or other income derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock securities or currencies. The Code imposes a non-deductible excise tax on RICs that do not distribute in a calendar year (regardless of whether they otherwise have a non-calendar taxable year) an amount equal to 98% 112 of their "ordinary income" (as defined in the Code) for the calendar year plus 98% of their net capital gain for the one-year period ending on October 31 of such calendar year, plus any undistributed amounts from prior years. The non-deductible excise tax is equal to 4% of the deficiency. For the foregoing purposes, a fund is treated as having distributed any amount on which it is subject to income tax for any taxable year ending in such calendar year. A fund may in certain circumstances be required to liquidate fund investments in order to make sufficient distributions to avoid federal excise tax liability at a time when the investment advisor or sub-adviser might not otherwise have chosen to do so, and liquidation of investments in such circumstances may affect the ability of a fund to satisfy the requirements for qualification as a RIC. A fund's transactions in futures contracts, forward contracts, foreign currency exchange transactions, options and certain other investment and hedging activities may be restricted by the Code and are subject to special tax rules. In a given case, these rules may accelerate income to a fund, defer its losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of a fund's assets, convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses or otherwise affect the character of a fund's income. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders. Each fund will endeavor to make any available elections pertaining to these transactions in a manner believed to be in the best interest of a fund and its shareholders. The status of the swap agreements and other commodity-linked derivative instruments under tests to qualify as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code has been recently addressed in Revenue Ruling 2006-1 and Revenue Ruling 2006-31 which provide that income from commodity-linked swaps in which the Fund invests will not be considered qualifying income as of September 30, 2006. As a result, the Fund will therefore restrict its income from commodity-linked swaps (when combined with its other investments that produce non-qualifying income) to be less than 10 percent of its gross income. With respect to investments in zero coupon securities which are sold at original issue discount and thus do not make periodic cash interest payments, a fund will be required to include as part of its current income the imputed interest on such obligations even though the fund has not received any interest payments on such obligations during that period. Because each fund distributes all of its net investment income to its shareholders, a fund may have to sell fund securities to distribute such imputed income which may occur at a time when the adviser would not have chosen to sell such securities and which may result in taxable gain or loss. FEDERAL INCOME TAX INFORMATION FOR SHAREHOLDERS The discussion of federal income taxation presented below supplements the discussion in each fund's prospectus and only summarizes some of the important federal tax considerations generally affecting shareholders of the funds. Accordingly, prospective investors (particularly those not residing or domiciled in the United States) should consult their own tax advisors regarding the consequences of investing in the funds. Any dividends declared by a fund in October, November or December and paid the following January are treated, for tax purposes, as if they were received by shareholders on December 31 of the year in which they were declared. In general, distributions by a fund of investment company taxable income (including net short-term capital gains), if any, whether received in cash or additional shares, will be taxable to you as ordinary income. A portion of these distributions may be treated as qualified dividend income (eligible for the reduced maximum rate to individuals of 15% (5% for individuals in lower tax brackets)) to the extent that a fund receives qualified dividend income. Qualified dividend income is, in general, dividend income from taxable 113 domestic corporations and certain foreign corporations (e.g., foreign corporations incorporated in a possession of the United States or in certain countries with a comprehensive tax treaty with the United States, or the stock of which is readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States). A dividend will not be treated as qualified dividend income to the extent that (i) the shareholder has not held the shares of the fund on which the dividend was paid for more than 60 days during the 121-day period that begins on the date that is 60 days before the date on which the shares of a fund become ex-dividend with respect to such dividend (and each fund also satisfies those holding period requirements with respect to the securities it holds that paid the dividends distributed to the shareholder), (ii) the shareholder is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to substantially similar or related property, or (iii) the shareholder elects to treat such dividend as investment income under section 163(d)(4)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code. Distributions from net capital gain (if any) that are designated as capital gains dividends are taxable as long-term capital gains without regard to the length of time the shareholder has held shares of a fund. However, if you receive a capital gains dividend with respect to fund shares held for six months or less, any loss on the sale or exchange of those shares shall, to the extent of the capital gains dividend, be treated as a long-term capital loss. Long-term capital gains also will be taxed at a maximum rate of 15%. Absent further legislation, the maximum 15% tax rate on qualified dividend income and long-term capital gains will cease to apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2010. A fund will inform you of the amount of your ordinary income dividends and capital gain distributions, if any, at the time they are paid and will advise you of their tax status for federal income tax purposes, including what portion of the distributions will be qualified dividend income, shortly after the close of each calendar year. For corporate investors in a fund, dividend distributions the fund designates to be from dividends received from qualifying domestic corporations will be eligible for the 70% corporate dividends-received deduction to the extent they would qualify if the fund were a regular corporation. Distributions by a fund also may be subject to state, local and foreign taxes, and its treatment under applicable tax laws may differ from the federal income tax treatment. A fund will be required in certain cases to withhold at the applicable withholding rate and remit to the U.S. Treasury the withheld amount of taxable dividends paid to any shareholder who (1) fails to provide a correct taxpayer identification number certified under penalty of perjury; (2) is subject to withholding by the Internal Revenue Service for failure to properly report all payments of interest or dividends; (3) fails to provide a certified statement that he or she is not subject to "backup withholding;" or (4) fails to provide a certified statement that he or she is a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien). Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amounts withheld may be credited against the shareholder's ultimate U.S. tax liability. Foreign shareholders (i.e., nonresident alien individuals and foreign corporations, partnerships, trusts and estates) are generally subject to U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30% (or a lower tax treaty rate) on distributions derived from net investment income and short-term capital gains; provided, however, that for a fund's taxable year beginning after December 31, 2004 and not beginning after December 31, 2007, interest related dividends and short-term capital gain dividends generally will not be subject to U.S. withholding taxes. Distributions to foreign shareholders of such short-term capital gain dividends, of long-term capital gains and any gains from the sale or other disposition of shares of a fund generally are not subject to U.S. taxation, unless the recipient is an individual who either (1) meets the Code's definition of "resident alien" or (2) is physically present in the U.S. for 183 days or more per year. Different tax consequences may result if the foreign shareholder is engaged in a trade or business within the United States. In 114 addition, the tax consequences to a foreign shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of a tax treaty may be different than those described above. Income that a MarketTrack Portfolio, Schwab Target Fund, Schwab International Index Fund(R), or the Schwab Viewpoints Fund receives from sources within various foreign countries may be subject to foreign income taxes withheld at the source. If a MarketTrack Portfolio, Schwab Target Fund, Schwab International Index Fund or the Schwab Viewpoints Fund has at least 50% of its assets invested in foreign securities at the end of its taxable year, it may elect to "pass through" to its shareholders the ability to take either the foreign tax credit or the deduction for foreign taxes. Pursuant to this election, U.S. shareholders must include in gross income, even though not actually received, their respective pro rata share of foreign taxes, and may either deduct their pro rata share of foreign taxes (but not for alternative minimum tax purposes) or credit the tax against U.S. income taxes, subject to certain limitations described in Code sections 901 and 904. A shareholder who does not itemize deductions may not claim a deduction for foreign taxes. It is expected that the Schwab International Index Fund will have more than 50% of the value of its total assets at the close of its taxable year invested in foreign securities, and it will make this election. It is expected that the MarketTrack Portfolios, Schwab Target Funds, and Schwab Viewpoints Fund will not have 50% of their assets invested in foreign securities at the close of their taxable years, and therefore will not be permitted to make this election. Also, to the extent a MarketTrack Portfolio, Schwab Target Fund or the Schwab Viewpoints Fund invests in an underlying mutual fund that elects to pass through foreign taxes, the MarketTrack Portfolio, Schwab Target Fund or the Schwab Viewpoints Fund will not be able to pass through the taxes paid by the underlying mutual fund. Each shareholder's respective pro rata share of foreign taxes a MarketTrack Portfolio, Schwab Target Fund or the Schwab Viewpoints Fund pays will, therefore, be netted against its share of the MarketTrack Portfolio's, Schwab Target Fund's or the Schwab Viewpoints Fund's gross income. The MarketTrack Portfolios, Schwab Target Funds, Schwab International Index Fund and the Schwab Viewpoints Fund may invest in a non-U.S. corporation, which could be treated as a passive foreign investment company (PFIC) or become a PFIC under the Code. This could result in adverse tax consequences upon the disposition of, or the receipt of "excess distributions" with respect to, such equity investments. To the extent the Schwab International Index Fund(R), Schwab Target Funds, MarketTrack Portfolios and the Schwab Viewpoints Fund do invest in PFICs, it may elect to treat the PFIC as a "qualified electing fund" or mark-to-market its investments in PFICs annually. In either case, the Schwab International Index Fund, Schwab Target Funds, Schwab MarketTrack Portfolios and the Schwab Viewpoints Fund may be required to distribute amounts in excess of realized income and gains. To the extent that the Schwab International Index Fund, Schwab Target Funds, MarketTrack Portfolios and the Schwab Viewpoints Fund do invest in foreign securities which are determined to be PFIC securities and are required to pay a tax on such investments, a credit for this tax would not be allowed to be passed through to the funds' shareholders. Therefore, the payment of this tax would reduce the Schwab International Index Fund's and each of the Schwab MarketTrack Portfolio's, Schwab Target Fund's and the Schwab Viewpoints Fund's economic return from its PFIC shares, and excess distributions received with respect to such shares are treated as ordinary income rather than capital gains. Shareholders are urged to consult their tax advisors as to the state and local tax rules affecting investments in the fund. 115 APPENDIX A - RATINGS OF INVESTMENT SECURITIES From time to time, the fund may report the percentage of its assets that fall into the rating categories set forth below. BONDS MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE Aaa Bonds which are rated Aaa are judged to be of the best quality. They carry the smallest degree of investment risk and are generally referred to as "gilt edged." Interest payments are protected by a large or by an exceptionally stable margin and principal is secure. While the various protective elements are likely to change, such changes as can be visualized are most unlikely to impair the fundamentally strong position of such issues. Aa Bonds which are rated Aa are judged to be of high quality by all standards. Together with the Aaa group they comprise what are generally known as high-grade bonds. They are rated lower than the best bonds because margins of protection may not be as large as in Aaa securities or fluctuation of protective elements may be of greater amplitude or there may be other elements present which make the long term risk appear somewhat larger than the Aaa securities. A Bonds which are rated A possess many favorable investment attributes and are to be considered as upper-medium grade obligations. Factors giving security to principal and interest are considered adequate, but elements may be present which suggest a susceptibility to impairment some time in the future. Baa Bonds which are rated Baa are considered as medium-grade obligations (i.e., they are neither highly protected nor poorly secured). Interest payments and principal security appear adequate for the present but certain protective elements may be lacking or may be characteristically unreliable over any great length of time. Such bonds lack outstanding investment characteristics and in fact have speculative characteristics as well. Ba Bonds which are rated Ba are judged to have speculative elements; their future cannot be considered as well-assured. Often the protection of interest and principal payments may be very moderate and thereby not well safeguarded during both good and bad times over the future. Uncertainty of position characterizes bonds in this class. B Bonds which are rated B generally lack characteristics of the desirable investment. Assurance of interest and principal payments or of maintenance of other terms of the contract over any long period of time may be small. STANDARD & POOR'S CORPORATION INVESTMENT GRADE AAA Debt rated 'AAA' has the highest rating assigned by S&P. Capacity to pay interest and repay principal is extremely strong. AA Debt rated 'AA' has a very strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal and differs from the highest rated debt only in small degree. 116 A Debt rated 'A' has a strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal, although it is somewhat more susceptible to adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than debt in higher-rated categories. BBB Debt rated 'BBB' is regarded as having an adequate capacity to pay interest and repay principal. Whereas it normally exhibits adequate protection parameters, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity to pay interest and repay principal for debt in this category than in higher rated categories. SPECULATIVE GRADE Debt rated 'BB' and 'B' is regarded as having predominantly speculative characteristics with respect to capacity to pay interest and repay principal. While such debt will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these are outweighed by large uncertainties or major risk exposures to adverse conditions. BB Debt rated 'BB' has less near-term vulnerability to default than other speculative grade debt. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions that could lead to inadequate capacity to meet timely interest and principal payments. The 'BB' rating category is also used for debt subordinated to senior debt that is assigned an actual or implied 'BBB-' rating. B Debt rate 'B' has greater vulnerability to default but presently has the capacity to meet interest payments and principal repayments. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions would likely impair capacity or willingness to pay interest and repay principal. The 'B' rating category also is used for debt subordinated to senior debt that is assigned an actual or implied 'BB' or 'BB-' rating. FITCH, INC. INVESTMENT GRADE BOND AAA Bonds considered to be investment grade and of the highest credit quality. The obligor has an exceptionally strong ability to pay interest and repay principal, which is unlikely to be affected by reasonably foreseeable events. AA Bonds considered to be investment grade and of very high credit quality. The obligor's ability to pay interest and repay principal is very strong, although not quite as strong as bonds rated 'AAA'. Because bonds rated in the 'AAA' and 'AA' categories are not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable future developments, short term debt of these issuers is generally rated 'F1+'. A Bonds considered to be investment grade and of high credit quality. The obligor's ability to pay interest and repay principal is considered to be strong, but may be more vulnerable to adverse changes in economic conditions and circumstances than bonds with higher ratings. BBB Bonds considered to be investment grade and of satisfactory credit quality. The obligor's ability to pay interest and repay principal is considered to be adequate. Adverse changes in economic conditions and circumstances, however, are more likely to have adverse impact on these bonds, and therefore impair timely payment. The likelihood that the ratings of these bonds will fall below investment grade is higher than for bonds with higher ratings. 117 SPECULATIVE GRADE BOND BB Bonds are considered speculative. The obligor's ability to pay interest and repay principal may be affected over time by adverse economic changes. However, business and financial alternatives can be identified which could assist the obligor in satisfying its debt service requirements. B Bonds are considered highly speculative. While bonds in this class are currently meeting debt service requirements, the probability of continued timely payment of principal and interest reflects the obligor's limited margin of safety and the need for reasonable business and economic activity throughout the life of the issue. DOMINION BOND RATING SERVICE Bond and Long Term Debt Rating Scale As is the case with all DBRS rating scales, long term debt ratings are meant to give an indication of the risk that the borrower will not fulfill its full obligations in a timely manner with respect to both interest and principal commitments. DBRS ratings do not take factors such as pricing or market risk into consideration and are expected to be used by purchasers as one part of their investment process. Every DBRS rating is based on quantitative and qualitative considerations that are relevant for the borrowing entity. AAA: Highest Credit Quality AA: Superior Credit Quality A: Satisfactory Credit Quality BBB: Adequate Credit Quality BB: Speculative B: Highly Speculative CCC: Very Highly Speculative CC: Very Highly Speculative C: Very Highly Speculative "AAA" Bonds rated "AAA" are of the highest credit quality, with exceptionally strong protection for the timely repayment of principal and interest. Earnings are considered stable, the structure of the industry in which the entity operates is strong, and the outlook for future profitability is favorable. There are few qualifying factors present which would detract from the performance of the entity, the strength of liquidity and coverage ratios is unquestioned and the entity has established a creditable track record of superior performance. Given the extremely tough definition which DBRS has established for this category, few entities are able to achieve a AAA rating. "AA" Bonds rated "AA" are of superior credit quality, and protection of interest and principal is considered high. In many cases, they differ from bonds rated AAA only to a small degree. Given the extremely tough definition which DBRS has for the AAA category (which few companies are able to achieve), entities rated AA are also considered to be strong credits which typically exemplify above-average strength in key areas of consideration and are unlikely to be significantly affected by reasonably foreseeable events. 118 "A" Bonds rated "A" are of satisfactory credit quality. Protection of interest and principal is still substantial, but the degree of strength is less than with AA rated entities. While a respectable rating, entities in the "A" category are considered to be more susceptible to adverse economic conditions and have greater cyclical tendencies than higher rated companies. "BBB" Bonds rated "BBB" are of adequate credit quality. Protection of interest and principal is considered adequate, but the entity is more susceptible to adverse changes in financial and economic conditions, or there may be other adversities present which reduce the strength of the entity and its rated securities. "BB" Bonds rated "BB" are defined to be speculative, where the degree of protection afforded interest and principal is uncertain, particularly during periods of economic recession. Entities in the BB area typically have limited access to capital markets and additional liquidity support and, in many cases, small size or lack of competitive strength may be additional negative considerations. "B" Bonds rated "B" are highly speculative and there is a reasonably high level of uncertainty which exists as to the ability of the entity to pay interest and principal on a continuing basis in the future, especially in periods of economic recession or industry adversity. "CCC" / "CC" / "C" Bonds rated in any of these categories are very highly speculative and are in danger of default of interest and principal. The degree of adverse elements present is more severe than bonds rated "B". Bonds rated below "B" often have characteristics which, if not remedied, may lead to default. In practice, there is little difference between the "C" to "CCC" categories, with "CC" and "C" normally used to lower ranking debt of companies where the senior debt is rated in the "CCC" to "B" range. "D" This category indicates Bonds in default of either interest or principal. ("HIGH", "LOW") grades are used to indicate the relative standing of a credit within a particular rating category. The lack of one of these designations indicates a rating which is essentially in the middle of the category. Note that "high" and "low" grades are not used for the AAA category. COMMERCIAL PAPER AND SHORT-TERM DEBT RATING SCALE Dominion Bond Rating Service As is the case with all DBRS rating scales, commercial paper ratings are meant to give an indication of the risk that the borrower will not fulfill its obligations in a timely manner. DBRS ratings do not take factors such as pricing or market risk into consideration and are expected to be used by purchasers as one part of their investment process. Every DBRS rating is based on quantitative and qualitative considerations which are relevant for the borrowing entity. R-1: Prime Credit Quality R-2: Adequate Credit Quality R-3: Speculative All three DBRS rating categories for short term debt use "high", "middle" or "low" as subset grades to designate the relative standing of the credit within a particular rating category. The following comments provide separate definitions for the three grades in the Prime Credit Quality area, as this is where ratings for active borrowers in Canada continue to be heavily concentrated. 119 "R-1 (HIGH)" Short term debt rated "R-1 (high)" is of the highest credit quality, and indicates an entity which possesses unquestioned ability to repay current liabilities as they fall due. Entities rated in this category normally maintain strong liquidity positions, conservative debt levels and profitability which is both stable and above average. Companies achieving an "R-1 (high)" rating are normally leaders in structurally sound industry segments with proven track records, sustainable positive future results and no substantial qualifying negative factors. Given the extremely tough definition which DBRS has established for an "R-1 (high)", few entities are strong enough to achieve this rating. "R-1 (MIDDLE)" Short term debt rated "R-1 (middle)" is of superior credit quality and, in most cases, ratings in this category differ from "R-1 (high)" credits to only a small degree. Given the extremely tough definition which DBRS has for the "R-1 (high)" category (which few companies are able to achieve), entities rated "R-1 (middle)" are also considered strong credits which typically exemplify above average strength in key areas of consideration for debt protection. "R-1 (LOW)" Short term debt rated "R-1 (low)" is of satisfactory credit quality. The overall strength and outlook for key liquidity, debt and profitability ratios is not normally as favorable as with higher rating categories, but these considerations are still respectable. Any qualifying negative factors which exist are considered manageable, and the entity is normally of sufficient size to have some influence in its industry. "R-2 (HIGH)", "R-2 (MIDDLE)", "R-2 (LOW)" Short term debt rated "R-2" is of adequate credit quality and within the three subset grades, debt protection ranges from having reasonable ability for timely repayment to a level which is considered only just adequate. The liquidity and debt ratios of entities in the "R-2" classification are not as strong as those in the "R-1" category, and the past and future trend may suggest some risk of maintaining the strength of key ratios in these areas. Alternative sources of liquidity support are considered satisfactory; however, even the strongest liquidity support will not improve the commercial paper rating of the issuer. The size of the entity may restrict its flexibility, and its relative position in the industry is not typically as strong as an "R-1 credit". Profitability trends, past and future, may be less favorable, earnings not as stable, and there are often negative qualifying factors present which could also make the entity more vulnerable to adverse changes in financial and economic conditions. "R-3 (HIGH)", "R-3 (MIDDLE)", "R-3 (LOW)" Short term debt rated "R-3" is speculative, and within the three subset grades, the capacity for timely payment ranges from mildly speculative to doubtful. "R-3" credits tend to have weak liquidity and debt ratios, and the future trend of these ratios is also unclear. Due to its speculative nature, companies with "R-3" ratings would normally have very limited access to alternative sources of liquidity. Earnings would typically be very unstable, and the level of overall profitability of the entity is also likely to be low. The industry environment may be weak, and strong negative qualifying factors are also likely to be present. SHORT TERM NOTES AND VARIABLE RATE DEMAND OBLIGATIONS MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE Short term notes/variable rate demand obligations bearing the designations MIG-1/VMIG-1 are considered to be of the best quality, enjoying strong protection from established cash flows, superior liquidity support or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing. Obligations rated MIG-2/VMIG-3 are of high quality and enjoy ample margins of protection although not as large as those of the top rated securities. 120 STANDARD & POOR'S CORPORATION An S&P SP-1 rating indicates that the subject securities' issuer has a strong capacity to pay principal and interest. Issues determined to possess very strong safety characteristics are given a plus (+) designation. S&P's determination that an issuer has a satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest is denoted by an SP-2 rating. FITCH, INC. Obligations supported by the highest capacity for timely repayment are rated F1+. An F1 rating indicates that the obligation is supported by a very strong capacity for timely repayment. Obligations rated F2 are supported by a good capacity for timely repayment, although adverse changes in business, economic, or financial conditions may affect this capacity. COMMERCIAL PAPER MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE Prime-1 is the highest commercial paper rating assigned by Moody's. Issuers (or related supporting institutions) of commercial paper with this rating are considered to have a superior ability to repay short term promissory obligations. Issuers (or related supporting institutions) of securities rated Prime-2 are viewed as having a strong capacity to repay short term promissory obligations. This capacity will normally be evidenced by many of the characteristics of issuers whose commercial paper is rated Prime-1 but to a lesser degree. STANDARD & POOR'S CORPORATION A Standard & Poor's Corporation ("S&P") A-1 commercial paper rating indicates a strong degree of safety regarding timely payment of principal and interest. Issues determined to possess overwhelming safety characteristics are denoted A-1+. Capacity for timely payment on commercial paper rated A-2 is satisfactory, but the relative degree of safety is not as high as for issues designated A-1. FITCH, INC. F1+ is the highest category, and indicates the strongest degree of assurance for timely payment. Issues rated F1 reflect an assurance of timely payment only slightly less than issues rated F1+. Issues assigned an F2 rating have a satisfactory degree of assurance for timely payment, but the margin of safety is not as great as for issues in the first two rating categories. TAX EFFICIENCY The Schwab 1000 Index(R) Fund and Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund employ specific investment strategies designed to minimize capital gain distributions while achieving each fund's investment objective. These strategies include selling the highest tax cost securities first, not re-balancing the portfolio to reflect changes in their indexes, trading only round-lots or large blocks of securities and focusing on individual tax lots in deciding when and how to manage the realization of capital gains. In addition, the investment adviser monitors, analyzes and evaluates each of these funds' portfolio as well as market conditions to carefully manage necessary trading activity and to determine when there are opportunities to realize capital losses, which offset realized capital gains. These policies will be utilized to the extent they do not have a material effect on each fund's ability to track or match the performance of its index. They may affect the 121 composition of a fund's index holdings as compared to the index. There can be no assurance that the investment adviser will succeed in avoiding realized net capital gains. 122 APPENDIX B - DESCRIPTION OF PROXY VOTING POLICY AND PROCEDURES Charles Schwab Investment Management ("CSIM"), as an investment adviser, is generally responsible for voting proxies with respect to the securities held in accounts of investment companies for which it provides discretionary investment management services. CSIM 's Proxy Committee exercises and documents CSIM's responsibility with regard to voting of client proxies (the "Proxy Committee"). The Proxy Committee is composed of representatives of CSIM's Compliance, Fund Administration, Legal and Portfolio Management Departments, and chaired by CSIM's Chief Investment Officer. The Chairman of the Committee may appoint the remaining members of the Committee. The Proxy Committee reviews and, as necessary, may amend periodically these Procedures to address new or revised proxy voting policies or procedures. The policies stated in these Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures (the "CSIM Proxy Procedures") pertain to all of CSIM's clients. The Boards of Trustees (the "Trustees") of The Charles Schwab Family of Funds, Schwab Investments, Schwab Capital Trust, and Schwab Annuity Portfolios (collectively, the "Funds" or "SchwabFunds") has delegated the responsibility for voting proxies to CSIM through their respective Investment Advisory and Administration Agreements. The Trustees have adopted these Proxy Procedures with respect to proxies voted on behalf of the various SchwabFunds portfolios. CSIM will present amendments to the Trustees for approval. However, there may be circumstances where the Proxy Committee deems it advisable to amend the Proxy Procedures between regular SchwabFunds Board meetings. In such cases, the Trustees will be asked to ratify any changes at the next regular meeting of the Board. To assist CSIM in its responsibility for voting proxies and the overall proxy voting process, CSIM has retained Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") as an expert in the proxy voting and corporate governance area. ISS is an independent company that specializes in providing a variety of proxy-related services to institutional investment managers, plan sponsors, custodians, consultants, and other institutional investors. The services provided by ISS include in-depth research, global issuer analysis, and voting recommendations as well as vote execution, reporting and record keeping. PROXY VOTING POLICY For investment companies and other clients for which CSIM exercises its responsibility for voting proxies, it is CSIM's policy to vote proxies in the manner that CSIM and the Proxy Committee determine will maximize the economic benefit to CSIM's clients. In furtherance of this policy, the Proxy Committee has received and reviewed ISS's written proxy voting policies and procedures ("ISS's Proxy Procedures") and has determined that ISS's Proxy Procedures are consistent with the CSIM Proxy Procedures and CSIM's fiduciary duty with respect to its clients. The Proxy Committee will review any material amendments to ISS's Proxy Procedures to determine whether such procedures continue to be consistent with the CSIM Proxy Voting Procedures, and CSIM's fiduciary duty with respect to its clients. Except under the circumstances described below, the Proxy Committee will delegate to ISS responsibility for voting proxies, including timely submission of votes, on behalf of CSIM's clients in accordance with ISS's Proxy Procedures. For proxy issues that are not addressed by ISS's Proxy Procedures or are determined by the Proxy Committee or the applicable portfolio manager or other relevant portfolio management staff to raise significant concerns with respect to the accounts of CSIM clients, the Proxy Committee will review the analysis and recommendation of ISS. Examples of factors that could cause a matter to 123 raise significant concerns include, but are not limited to: issues whose outcome has the potential to materially affect the company's industry, or regional or national economy, and matters which involve broad public policy developments which may similarly materially affect the environment in which the company operates. The Proxy Committee also will solicit input from the assigned portfolio manager and other relevant portfolio management staff for the particular portfolio security. After evaluating all such recommendations, the Proxy Committee will decide how to vote the shares and will instruct ISS to vote consistent with its decision. The Proxy Committee has the ultimate responsibility for making the determination of how to vote the shares in order to maximize the value of that particular holding. With respect to proxies of an affiliated mutual fund, the Proxy Committee will vote such proxies in the same proportion as the vote of all other shareholders of the fund (i.e., "echo vote"), unless otherwise required by law. When required by law, the Proxy Committee will also "echo vote" proxies of an unaffiliated mutual fund. For example, certain exemptive orders issued to the SchwabFunds by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Section 12(d)(1)(F) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, require the SchwabFunds, under certain circumstances, to "echo vote" proxies of registered investment companies that serve as underlying investments of the SchwabFunds. When not required to "echo vote," the Proxy Committee will delegate to ISS responsibility for voting proxies of an unaffiliated mutual fund in accordance with ISS's Proxy Procedures. Under certain circumstances, ISS may not provide an analysis or recommendation for voting a security's proxy. In that event, and when the following criteria are met, two members of the Proxy Committee, including at least one representative from equity Portfolio Management, may decide how to vote such proxy in order to maximize the value of that particular holding. The following criteria must be met: (1) For each Fund that holds the security in its portfolio, the value of the security must represent less than one tenth of one cent in the Fund's NAV, and (2) the security's value must equal less than $50,000 in the aggregate across all of the Funds and separate accounts that hold this security. Any voting decision made under these circumstances will be reported to the Proxy Committee at its next scheduled meeting. Conflicts of Interest. Except as described above for proxies of mutual funds, for proxy issues that present material conflicts of interest between CSIM, and/or any of its affiliates, and CSIM's clients, CSIM will delegate to ISS responsibility for voting such proxies in accordance with ISS's Proxy Procedures. The CSIM Legal Department is responsible for developing procedures to identify material conflicts of interest. Voting Foreign Proxies. CSIM has arrangements with ISS for voting proxies. However, voting proxies with respect to shares of foreign securities may involve significantly greater effort and corresponding cost than voting proxies with respect to domestic securities, due to the variety of regulatory schemes and corporate practices in foreign countries with respect to proxy voting. Problems voting foreign proxies may include the following: o proxy statements and ballots written in a foreign language; o untimely and/or inadequate notice of shareholder meetings; o restrictions of foreigner's ability to exercise votes; o requirements to vote proxies in person; o the imposition of restrictions on the sale of securities for a period of time in proximity to the shareholder meeting; o requirements to provide local agents with power of attorney to facilitate CSIM's voting instructions. 124 In consideration of the foregoing issues, ISS uses its best-efforts to vote foreign proxies. As part of its ongoing oversight, the Proxy Committee will monitor the voting of foreign proxies to determine whether all reasonable steps are taken to vote foreign proxies. If the Proxy Committee determines that the cost associated with the attempt to vote outweighs the potential benefits clients may derive from voting, the Proxy Committee may decide not to attempt to vote. Sub-Advisory Relationships. For investment companies or other clients that CSIM has delegated day-to-day investment management responsibilities to an investment adviser, CSIM may delegate its responsibility to vote proxies with respect to such investment companies' or other clients' securities. Each Sub-adviser to whom proxy voting responsibility has been delegated will be required to review all proxy solicitation material and to exercise the voting rights associated with the securities as it has been allocated in the best interest of each investment company and its shareholders, or other client. Prior to delegating the proxy voting responsibility, CSIM will review each sub-adviser's proxy voting policy to ensure that each Sub-adviser's proxy voting policy is generally consistent with the maximization of economic benefits to the investment company or other client. REPORTING AND RECORD RETENTION CSIM will maintain, or cause ISS to maintain, records which identify the manner in which proxies have been voted (or not voted) on behalf of CSIM clients. CSIM will comply with all applicable rules and regulations regarding disclosure of its or its clients proxy voting records and procedures. CSIM will retain all proxy voting materials and supporting documentation as required under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the rules and regulations thereunder. PROXY COMMITTEE QUORUM At scheduled meetings of the Proxy Committee, attendance by four members (or their respective designates) constitutes a quorum. Two members of the Committee may make voting decisions under the limited circumstances described above. CONCISE SUMMARY OF ISS 2007 PROXY VOTING GUIDELINES Effective for Meetings on or after Feb. 1, 2007 Updated Dec. 15, 2006 1. AUDITORS AUDITOR RATIFICATION Vote FOR proposals to ratify auditors, unless any of the following apply: - An auditor has a financial interest in or association with the company, and is therefore not independent, - There is reason to believe that the independent auditor has rendered an opinion which is neither accurate nor indicative of the company's financial position; or - Fees for non-audit services ("Other" fees) are excessive. 2. BOARD OF DIRECTORS VOTING ON DIRECTOR NOMINEES IN UNCONTESTED ELECTIONS Vote CASE-BY-CASE on director nominees, examining, but not limited to, the following factors: - Composition of the board and key board committees; - Attendance at board and committee meetings; - Corporate governance provisions and takeover activity; - Disclosures under Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act; 125 - Long-term company performance relative to a market and peer index; - Extent of the director's investment in the company; - Existence of related party transactions; - Whether the chairman is also serving as CEO; - Whether a retired CEO sits on the board; - Number of outside boards at which a director serves; - Majority vote standard for director elections without a provision to allow for plurality voting when there are more nominees than seats. WITHHOLD from individual directors who: - Attend less than 75 percent of the board and committee meetings without a valid excuse (such as illness, service to the nation, work on behalf of the company); - Sit on more than six public company boards; - Are CEOs of public companies who sit on the boards of more than two public companies besides their own-- withhold only at their outside boards. WITHHOLD from the entire board of directors, (except from new nominees, who should be considered on a CASE-BY-CASE basis) if: - The company's proxy indicates that not all directors attended 75% of the aggregate of their board and committee meetings, but fails to provide the required disclosure of the names of the directors involved. If this information cannot be obtained, withhold from all incumbent directors; - The company's poison pill has a dead-hand or modified dead-hand feature. Withhold every year until this feature is removed; - The board adopts or renews a poison pill without shareholder approval since the beginning of 2005, does not commit to putting it to shareholder vote within 12 months of adoption, or reneges on a commitment to put the pill to a vote, and has not yet received a withhold recommendation for this issue; - The board failed to act on a shareholder proposal that received approval by a majority of the shares outstanding the previous year; - The board failed to act on a shareholder proposal that received approval of the majority of shares cast for the previous two consecutive years; - The board failed to act on takeover offers where the majority of the shareholders tendered their shares; - At the previous board election, any director received more than 50 percent withhold votes of the shares cast and the company has failed to address the issue(s) that caused the high withhold rate; - The company is a Russell 3000 company that underperformed its industry group (GICS group) under the criteria discussed in the section "Performance Test for Directors". WITHHOLD from Inside Directors and Affiliated Outside Directors (per the Classification of Directors below) when: - The inside or affiliated outside director serves on any of the three key committees: audit, compensation, or nominating; - The company lacks an audit, compensation, or nominating committee so that the full board functions as that committee; - The company lacks a formal nominating committee, even if board attests that the independent directors fulfill the functions of such a committee; - The full board is less than majority independent. WITHHOLD from the members of the Audit Committee if: - The non - audit fees paid to the auditor are excessive (see discussion under Auditor Ratification); 126 - A material weakness identified in the Section 404 Sarbanes-Oxley Act disclosures rises to a level of serious concern; there are chronic internal control issues and an absence of established effective control mechanisms; - There is persuasive evidence that the audit committee entered into an inappropriate indemnification agreement with its auditor that limits the ability of the company, or its shareholders, to pursue legitimate legal recourse against the audit firm. WITHHOLD from the members of the Compensation Committee if: - There is a negative correlation between the chief executive's pay and company performance (see discussion under Equity Compensation Plans); - The company reprices underwater options for stock, cash or other consideration without prior shareholder approval, even if allowed in their equity plan; - The company fails to submit one-time transfers of stock options to a shareholder vote; - The company fails to fulfill the terms of a burn rate commitment they made to shareholders; - The company has backdated options (see "Options Backdating" policy); - The company has poor compensation practices (see "Poor Pay Practices" policy). Poor pay practices may warrant withholding votes from the CEO and potentially the entire board as well. WITHHOLD from directors, individually or the entire board, for egregious actions or failure to replace management as appropriate. CLASSIFICATION/DECLASSIFICATION OF THE BOARD Vote AGAINST proposals to classify the board. Vote FOR proposals to repeal classified boards, and to elect all directors annually. INDEPENDENT CHAIR (SEPARATE CHAIR/CEO) Generally vote FOR shareholder proposals requiring an independent director fill the position of chair, unless there are compelling reasons to recommend against the proposal, such as a counterbalancing governance structure. This should include all of the following: - Has a designated lead director, elected by and from the independent board members with clearly delineated and comprehensive duties. (The role may alternatively reside with a presiding director, vice chairman, or rotating lead director; however the director must serve a minimum of one year in order to qualify as a lead director.) At a minimum these should include: - Presiding at all meetings of the board at which the chairman is not present, including executive sessions of the independent directors, - Serving as liaison between the chairman and the independent directors, - Approving information sent to the board, - Approving meeting agendas for the board, - Approves meetings schedules to assure that there is sufficient time for discussion of all agenda items, - Having the authority to call meetings of the independent directors, - If requested by major shareholders, ensuring that he is available for consultation and direct communication; - Two-thirds independent board; - All-independent key committees; - Established governance guidelines; - The company does not under-perform its peers*. *Starting in 2007, the industry peer group used for this evaluation will change from the 4-digit GICS group to the average of the 12 companies in the same 6-digit GICS group that are closest in revenue to the company, and identified on the Executive compensation page of proxy analyses. 127 To fail, the company must under-perform its index and industry group on all 4 measures (1 and 3 year performance, on industry peers, and index). MAJORITY VOTE SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS Generally vote FOR precatory and binding resolutions requesting that the board change the company's bylaws to stipulate that directors need to be elected with an affirmative majority of votes cast, provided it does not conflict with the state law where the company is incorporated. Binding resolutions need to allow for a carve-out for a plurality vote standard when there are more nominees than board seats. Companies are strongly encouraged to also adopt a post-election policy (also know as a director resignation policy) that will provide guidelines so that the company will promptly address the situation of a holdover director. 3. PROXY CONTESTS VOTING FOR DIRECTOR NOMINEES IN CONTESTED ELECTIONS Vote CASE-BY-CASE on the election of directors in contested elections, considering the following factors: - Long-term financial performance of the target company relative to its industry; - Management's track record; - Background to the proxy contest; - Qualifications of director nominees (both slates); - Strategic plan of dissident slate and quality of critique against management; - Likelihood that the proposed goals and objectives can be achieved (both slates); - Stock ownership positions. REIMBURSING PROXY SOLICITATION EXPENSES Vote CASE-BY-CASE on proposals to reimburse proxy solicitation expenses. When voting in conjunction with support of a dissident slate, vote FOR the reimbursement of all appropriate proxy solicitation expenses associated with the election. 4. TAKEOVER DEFENSES POISON PILLS Vote FOR shareholder proposals requesting that the company submit its poison pill to a shareholder vote or redeem it UNLESS the company has: (1) A shareholder approved poison pill in place; or (2) The company has adopted a policy concerning the adoption of a pill in the future specifying that the board will only adopt a shareholder rights plan if either: - Shareholders have approved the adoption of the plan; or - The board, in its exercise of its fiduciary responsibilities, determines that it is in the best interest of shareholders under the circumstances to adopt a pill without the delay in adoption that would result from seeking stockholder approval (i.e. the "fiduciary out" provision). A poison pill adopted under this fiduciary out will be put to a shareholder ratification vote within twelve months of adoption or expire. If the pill is not approved by a majority of the votes cast on this issue, the plan will immediately terminate. Vote FOR shareholder proposals calling for poison pills to be put to a vote within a time period of less than one year after adoption. If the company has no non-shareholder approved poison pill in place and has adopted a policy with the provisions outlined above, vote AGAINST the proposal. If these conditions are not met, vote FOR the proposal, but with the caveat that a vote within twelve months would be considered sufficient. Vote CASE-by-CASE on management proposals on poison pill ratification, focusing on the features of the shareholder rights plan. Rights plans should contain the following attributes: - No lower than a 20% trigger, flip-in or flip-over; - A term of no more than three years; 128 - No dead-hand, slow-hand, no-hand or similar feature that limits the ability of a future board to redeem the pill; - Shareholder redemption feature (qualifying offer clause); if the board refuses to redeem the pill 90 days after a qualifying offer is announced, ten percent of the shares may call a special meeting or seek a written consent to vote on rescinding the pill. SUPERMAJORITY VOTE REQUIREMENTS Vote AGAINST proposals to require a supermajority shareholder vote. Vote FOR proposals to lower supermajority vote requirements. 5. MERGERS AND CORPORATE RESTRUCTURINGS For mergers and acquisitions, review and evaluate the merits and drawbacks of the proposed transaction, balancing various and sometimes countervailing factors including: - Valuation - Is the value to be received by the target shareholders (or paid by the acquirer) reasonable? While the fairness opinion may provide an initial starting point for assessing valuation reasonableness, emphasis is placed on the offer premium, market reaction and strategic rationale. - Market reaction - How has the market responded to the proposed deal? A negative market reaction should cause closer scrutiny of a deal. - Strategic rationale - Does the deal make sense strategically? From where is the value derived? Cost and revenue synergies should not be overly aggressive or optimistic, but reasonably achievable. Management should also have a favorable track record of successful integration of historical acquisitions. - Negotiations and process - Were the terms of the transaction negotiated at arm's-length? Was the process fair and equitable? A fair process helps to ensure the best price for shareholders. Significant negotiation "wins" can also signify the deal makers' competency. The comprehensiveness of the sales process (e.g., full auction, partial auction, no auction) can also affect shareholder value. - Conflicts of interest - Are insiders benefiting from the transaction disproportionately and inappropriately as compared to non-insider shareholders? As the result of potential conflicts, the directors and officers of the company may be more likely to vote to approve a merger than if they did not hold these interests. Consider whether these interests may have influenced these directors and officers to support or recommend the merger. The CIC figure presented in the "ISS Transaction Summary" section of this report is an aggregate figure that can in certain cases be a misleading indicator of the true value transfer from shareholders to insiders. Where such figure appears to be excessive, analyze the underlying assumptions to determine whether a potential conflict exists. - Governance - Will the combined company have a better or worse governance profile than the current governance profiles of the respective parties to the transaction? If the governance profile is to change for the worse, the burden is on the company to prove that other issues (such as valuation) outweigh any deterioration in governance. 6. STATE OF INCORPORATION REINCORPORATION PROPOSALS Vote CASE-BY-CASE on proposals to change a company's state of incorporation, taking into consideration both financial and corporate governance concerns, including the reasons for reincorporating, a comparison of the governance provisions, comparative economic benefits, and a comparison of the jurisdictional laws. Vote FOR re-incorporation when the economic factors outweigh any neutral or negative governance changes. 7. CAPITAL STRUCTURE COMMON STOCK AUTHORIZATION Vote CASE-BY-CASE on proposals to increase the number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance using a model developed by ISS. Vote FOR proposals to approve 129 increases beyond the allowable increase when a company's shares are in danger of being de-listed or if a company's ability to continue to operate as a going concern is uncertain. In addition, for capital requests that are less than or equal to 300 percent of the current authorized shares and that marginally fail the calculated allowable cap (i.e., exceed the allowable cap by no more than 5 percent), vote on a CASE-BY-CASE basis, In this situation, , vote FOR the increase based on the company's performance, and whether the company's ongoing use of shares has shown prudence. ISSUE STOCK FOR USE WITH RIGHTS PLAN Vote AGAINST proposals that increase authorized common stock for the explicit purpose of implementing a non-shareholder approved shareholder rights plan (poison pill). PREFERRED STOCK Vote AGAINST proposals authorizing the creation of new classes of preferred stock with unspecified voting, conversion, dividend distribution, and other rights ("blank check" preferred stock). Vote FOR proposals to create "de-clawed" blank check preferred stock (stock that cannot be used as a takeover defense). Vote FOR proposals to authorize preferred stock in cases where the company specifies the voting, dividend, conversion, and other rights of such stock and the terms of the preferred stock appear reasonable. Vote AGAINST proposals to increase the number of blank check preferred stock authorized for issuance when no shares have been issued or reserved for a specific purpose. Vote CASE-BY-CASE on proposals to increase the number of blank check preferred shares after analyzing the number of preferred shares available for issue given a company's industry and performance in terms of shareholder returns. 8. EXECUTIVE AND DIRECTOR COMPENSATION POOR PAY PRACTICES WITHHOLD from compensation committee members, CEO, and potentially the entire board, if the company has poor compensation practices, such as: - Egregious employment contracts (e.g., those containing multi-year guarantees for bonuses and grants); - Excessive perks that dominate compensation (e.g., tax gross-ups for personal use of corporate aircraft); - Huge bonus payouts without justifiable performance linkage or proper disclosure; - Performance metrics that are changed (e.g., canceled or replaced during the performance period without adequate explanation of the action and the link to performance); - Egregious pension/SERP (supplemental executive retirement plan) payouts (e.g., the inclusion of additional years of service not worked or inclusion of performance-based equity awards in the pension calculation); - New CEO awarded an overly generous new hire package (e.g., including excessive "make whole" provisions or any of the poor pay practices listed in this policy); - Excessive severance provisions (e.g., including excessive change in control payments); - Change in control payouts without loss of job or substantial diminution of job duties; - Internal pay disparity; - Options backdating (covered in a separate policy); and EQUITY COMPENSATION PLANS Vote CASE-BY-CASE on equity-based compensation plans. Vote AGAINST the equity plan if any of the following factors apply: - The total cost of the company's equity plans is unreasonable; - The plan expressly permits the repricing of stock options without prior shareholder approval; - There is a disconnect between CEO pay and the company's performance; 130 - The company's three year burn rate exceeds the greater of 2% and the mean plus 1 standard deviation of its industry group; or - The plan is a vehicle for poor pay practices. DIRECTOR COMPENSATION Vote CASE-BY-CASE on compensation plans for non-employee directors, based on the cost of the plans against the company's allowable cap. On occasion, director stock plans that set aside a relatively small number of shares when combined with employee or executive stock compensation plans exceed the allowable cap. Vote for the plan if ALL of the following qualitative factors in the board's compensation are met and disclosed in the proxy statement: - Director stock ownership guidelines with a minimum of three times the annual cash retainer. - Vesting schedule or mandatory holding/deferral period: - A minimum vesting of three years for stock options or restricted stock; or - Deferred stock payable at the end of a three-year deferral period. - Mix between cash and equity: - A balanced mix of cash and equity, for example 40% cash/60% equity or 50% cash/50% equity; or - If the mix is heavier on the equity component, the vesting schedule or deferral period should be more stringent, with the lesser of five years or the term of directorship. - No retirement/benefits and perquisites provided to non-employee directors; and - Detailed disclosure provided on cash and equity compensation delivered to each non-employee director for the most recent fiscal year in a table. The column headers for the table may include the following: name of each non-employee director, annual retainer, board meeting fees, committee retainer, committee-meeting fees, and equity grants. EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLANS--QUALIFIED PLANS Vote CASE-BY-CASE on qualified employee stock purchase plans. Vote FOR employee stock purchase plans where all of the following apply: - Purchase price is at least 85% of fair market value; - Offering period is 27 months or less; and - The number of shares allocated to the plan is ten percent or less of the outstanding shares. EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLANS--NON-QUALIFIED PLANS Vote CASE-by-CASE on nonqualified employee stock purchase plans. Vote FOR nonqualified employee stock purchase plans with all the following features: - Broad-based participation (i.e., all employees of the company with the exclusion of individuals with 5% or more of beneficial ownership of the company); - Limits on employee contribution, which may be a fixed dollar amount or expressed as a percent of base salary; - Company matching contribution up to 25% of employee's contribution, which is effectively a discount of 20% from market value; - No discount on the stock price on the date of purchase, since there is a company matching contribution. OPTIONS BACKDATING In cases where a company has practiced options backdating, WITHHOLD on a CASE-BY-CASE basis from the members of the compensation committee, depending on the severity of the practices and the subsequent corrective actions on the part of the board. WITHHOLD from the compensation committee members who oversaw the questionable options grant practices or from current compensation committee members who fail to respond to the issue proactively, depending on several factors, including, but not limited to: 131 - Reason and motive for the options backdating issue, such as inadvertent vs. deliberate grant date changes; - Length of time of options backdating; - Size of restatement due to options backdating; - Corrective actions taken by the board or compensation committee, such as canceling or repricing backdated options, or recouping option gains on backdated grants; - Adoption of a grant policy that prohibits backdating, and creation of a fixed grant schedule or window period for equity grants going forward. SEVERANCE AGREEMENTS FOR EXECUTIVES/GOLDEN PARACHUTES Vote FOR shareholder proposals to require golden parachutes or executive severance agreements to be submitted for shareholder ratification, unless the proposal requires shareholder approval prior to entering into employment contracts. Vote on a CASE-BY-CASE basis on proposals to ratify or cancel golden parachutes. An acceptable parachute should include, but is not limited to, the following: - The triggering mechanism should be beyond the control of management; - The amount should not exceed three times base amount (defined as the average annual taxable W-2 compensation) during the five years prior to the year in which the change of control occurs; - Change-in-control payments should be double-triggered, i.e., (1) after a change in control has taken place, and (2) termination of the executive as a result of the change in control. Change in control is defined as a change in the company ownership structure. 9. CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY ANIMAL RIGHTS Generally vote AGAINST proposals to phase out the use of animals in product testing unless: - The company is conducting animal testing programs that are unnecessary or not required by regulation; - The company is conducting animal testing when suitable alternatives are accepted and used at peer firms; - The company has been the subject of recent, significant controversy related to its testing programs. DRUG PRICING AND RE-IMPORTATION Generally vote AGAINST proposals requesting that companies implement specific price restraints on pharmaceutical products, unless the company fails to adhere to legislative guidelines or industry norms in its product pricing. Vote CASE-BY-CASE on proposals requesting that the company evaluate their product pricing considering: - The existing level of disclosure on pricing policies; - Deviation from established industry pricing norms; - The company's existing initiatives to provide its products to needy consumers; - Whether the proposal focuses on specific products or geographic regions. Generally vote FOR proposals requesting that companies report on the financial and legal impact of their policies regarding prescription drug re-importation unless such information is already publicly disclosed. Generally vote AGAINST proposals requesting that companies adopt specific policies to encourage or constrain prescription drug re-importation. GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS Vote AGAINST proposals asking companies to voluntarily label genetically engineered (GE) ingredients in their products, or alternatively to provide interim labeling and eventually eliminate GE ingredients due to the costs and feasibility of labeling and/or phasing out the use of GE ingredients. 132 GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS Vote AGAINST proposals asking companies to voluntarily label genetically engineered (GE) ingredients in their products or alternatively to provide interim labeling and eventually eliminate GE ingredients due to the costs and feasibility of labeling and/or phasing out the use of GE ingredients. TOBACCO Most tobacco-related proposals (such as on second-hand smoke, advertising to youth, and spin-offs of tobacco-related business) should be evaluated on a CASE-BY-CASE basis. TOXIC CHEMICALS Generally vote FOR resolutions requesting that a company discloses its policies related to toxic chemicals. Vote CASE-BY-CASE on resolutions requesting that companies evaluate and disclose the potential financial and legal risks associated with utilizing certain chemicals. Generally vote AGAINST resolutions requiring that a company reformulate its products within a certain timeframe, unless such actions are required by law in specific markets. ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Generally vote AGAINST request for reports outlining potential environmental damage from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) unless: - New legislation is adopted allowing development and drilling in the ANWR region; - The company intends to pursue operations in the ANWR; and - The company has not disclosed an environmental risk report for its ANWR operations. CONCENTRATED AREA FEEDING OPERATIONS (CAFOS) Vote FOR resolutions requesting that companies report to shareholders on the risks and liabilities associated with CAFOs, unless: - The company has publicly disclosed guidelines for its corporate and contract farming operations, including compliance monitoring; or - The company does not directly source from CAFOs. GLOBAL WARMING AND KYOTO PROTOCOL COMPLIANCE Generally vote FOR proposals requesting a report on greenhouse gas emissions from company operations and/or products unless this information is already publicly disclosed or such factors are not integral to the company's line of business. Generally vote AGAINST proposals that call for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by specified amounts or within a restrictive time frame unless the company lags industry standards and has been the subject of recent, significant fines or litigation resulting from greenhouse gas emissions. Generally vote FOR resolutions requesting that companies outline their preparations to comply with standards established by Kyoto Protocol signatory markets unless: - The company does not maintain operations in Kyoto signatory markets; - The company already evaluates and substantially discloses such information; or, - Greenhouse gas emissions do not significantly impact the company's core businesses. POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS Vote CASE-BY-CASE on proposals to improve the disclosure of a company's political contributions considering: recent significant controversy or litigation related to the company's political contributions or governmental affairs; and the public availability of a policy on political contributions. Vote AGAINST proposals barring the company from making political contributions. 133 LINK EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION TO SOCIAL PERFORMANCE Vote CASE-BY-CASE on proposals to review ways of linking executive compensation to social factors, such as corporate downsizings, customer or employee satisfaction, community involvement, human rights, environmental performance, predatory lending, and executive/employee pay disparities. OUTSOURCING/OFF-SHORING Vote CASE-BY-CASE on proposals calling for companies to report on the risks associated with outsourcing, considering: the risks associated with certain international markets; the utility of such a report to shareholders; the existence of a publicly available code of corporate conduct that applies to international operations. COUNTRY-SPECIFIC HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS Vote CASE-BY-CASE on requests for reports detailing the company's operations in a particular country and on proposals to implement certain human rights standards at company facilities or those of its suppliers and to commit to outside, independent monitoring. 10. MUTUAL FUND PROXIES ELECTION OF DIRECTORS Vote CASE-BY-CASE on the election of directors and trustees, following the same guidelines for uncontested directors for public company shareholder meetings. However, mutual fund boards do not usually have compensation committees, so do not withhold for the lack of this committee. CONVERTING CLOSED-END FUND TO OPEN-END FUND Vote CASE-BY-CASE on conversion proposals, considering the following factors: - Past performance as a closed-end fund; - Market in which the fund invests; - Measures taken by the board to address the discount; and - Past shareholder activism, board activity, and votes on related proposals. ESTABLISH DIRECTOR OWNERSHIP REQUIREMENT Generally vote AGAINST shareholder proposals that mandate a specific minimum amount of stock that directors must own in order to qualify as a director or to remain on the board. REIMBURSE SHAREHOLDER FOR EXPENSES INCURRED Vote CASE-BY-CASE on shareholder proposals to reimburse proxy solicitation expenses. When supporting the dissidents, vote FOR the reimbursement of the proxy solicitation expenses. 134