Portfolio
Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it
buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not
reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 212% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund pursues its investment objective by investing in both equity and debt securities, including money market securities and other short-term securities or instruments, of issuers located around the world.
Lincoln Financial Investments Corporation serves as the
Fund’s investment adviser. BlackRock Investment Management, LLC (“BlackRock” or “Sub-Adviser”) serves as the Fund’s sub-adviser. In
managing the Fund, BlackRock utilizes affiliated sub-sub-advisers, BlackRock International Limited and BlackRock (Singapore) Limited, which are subsidiaries of BlackRock
(collectively, the “Sub-Adviser”). The Sub-Adviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s assets.
The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests in a portfolio of equity, debt and money
market securities. Generally, the Fund’s portfolio will include both equity and debt securities. Equity securities include common stock, preferred stock, securities
convertible into common stock, rights and warrants, or securities or other instruments whose price is linked to the value of common stock. At any given time, however, the Fund may emphasize either debt securities or equity securities. In selecting equity investments, the Fund mainly seeks securities that the Sub-Adviser believes are undervalued. The Fund may buy debt securities of varying maturities, debt securities paying a fixed or fluctuating rate of interest, and debt securities of any kind, including, by way of example, securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, by foreign governments or international agencies or supranational entities, or by domestic or foreign private issuers, debt securities convertible into equity securities, inflation-indexed bonds, structured notes, credit-linked notes, loan assignments and loan participations. In addition, the Fund may invest up to 35% of its total assets in below investment grade securities (otherwise known as “junk” bonds), corporate loans, and distressed securities. The Fund may also invest in real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and securities related to real assets (like real estate- or precious metals-related securities) such as stock, bonds, or convertible bonds issued by REITs or companies that mine precious metals.
When choosing investments, BlackRock considers various factors, including
opportunities for equity or debt investments to increase in value, expected dividends and interest rates. The Fund generally seeks diversification across markets,
industries and issuers as one of its strategies to reduce volatility. The Fund has no geographic limits on where it may invest. This flexibility allows the Sub-Adviser
to look for investments in markets around the world, including emerging markets, that it believes will provide the best asset allocation to meet the Fund’s objective. The Fund may invest in the securities of companies of any market capitalization.
Generally, the Fund may invest in the securities of corporate and governmental issuers
located anywhere in the world. The Fund may emphasize foreign securities when the Sub-Adviser expects these investments to outperform U.S. securities. When choosing
investment markets, the Sub-Adviser considers various factors, including economic and political conditions, potential for economic growth and possible changes in currency exchange rates. In addition to investing in foreign securities, the Fund actively manages its exposure to foreign currencies through the use of forward currency contracts and other currency derivatives. The Fund may own foreign cash equivalents or foreign bank deposits as part of the Fund’s investment strategy. The Fund will also invest in non-U.S. currencies. The Fund may underweight or overweight a currency based on the Sub-Adviser’s outlook.
The Fund’s composite benchmark is an unmanaged weighted index comprised as follows: 36% of the S&P 500 Index; 24% FTSE World (ex U.S.) Index; 24% ICE BofA Current 5-Year U.S. Treasury Index; and 16% FTSE Non-U.S. Dollar World Government Bond Index. The Fund’s weighting in non-U.S. securities may often exceed the 40% composite benchmark weighting.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund will allocate a substantial amount (approximately 40% or more — unless market conditions are not deemed favorable by BlackRock, in which case the Fund would invest at least 30%) of its total assets in securities of (i) foreign government issuers, (ii) issuers organized or located outside the U.S., (iii) issuers which primarily trade in a market located outside the U.S., or (iv) issuers doing a substantial amount of business outside the U.S., which the Fund considers to be companies that derive at least 50% of their revenue or profits from business outside the U.S. or have at least 50% of their sales or assets outside the U.S. The Fund will allocate its assets among various regions and countries including the United States (but in no less than three different countries). For temporary defensive purposes, the Fund may deviate very substantially from the allocation described above.
The Fund may use derivatives, including options, futures, swaps (including, but not
limited to, total return swaps, some of which may be referred to as contracts for difference) and forward contracts both to seek to increase the return of the Fund and to
hedge (or protect) the value of its assets against adverse movements in currency exchange rates, interest rates and movements in the securities markets. The Fund may invest in indexed securities and inverse securities. The Fund may seek to provide exposure to the investment returns of real assets that trade in the commodity markets through investment in commodity-linked derivative instruments and investment vehicles such as exchange-traded funds that invest exclusively in commodities and are designed to provide this exposure without direct investment in physical commodities. The Fund may also gain exposure to commodity markets by investing up to 25% of its total assets in LVIP BlackRock Global Allocation Fund Cayman, Ltd. (the “Subsidiary”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Fund formed