risk of default, junk bonds may
be more volatile, less liquid, more difficult to value and more susceptible to
adverse economic conditions or investor perceptions than other bonds.
Interest Rate Risk. Fixed income securities may be subject to volatility due to changes in interest rates. The value of fixed-income securities may decline when interest rates go up or increase when
interest rates go down. The interest earned on fixed-income securities may
decline when interest rates go down or increase when interest rates go up.
Duration is a measure of interest rate risk that indicates how price-sensitive a bond is to changes in interest rates. Longer-term and lower coupon bonds tend to be more sensitive to
changes in interest rates. For example, a bond with a duration of three years
will decrease in value by approximately 3% if interest rates increase by 1%.
Changing interest rates may have unpredictable effects on markets, may result in
heightened market volatility, and could negatively impact the Portfolio’s
performance. Any future changes in monetary policy made by central banks and/or their
governments are likely to affect the level of interest rates.
Call Risk. The risk that an issuer will exercise its right to pay principal on a debt obligation (such as a mortgage-backed security or convertible
security) that is held by the Portfolio earlier than expected. This may happen when
there is a decline in interest rates. Under these circumstances, the Portfolio
may be unable to recoup all of its initial investment and will also suffer from having to
reinvest in lower-yielding securities.
Foreign Currency Risk. The value of the Portfolio’s foreign investments may fluctuate due to changes in currency exchange rates. A decline in the
value of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar generally can be expected
to depress the value of the Portfolio’s non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities.
Illiquidity Risk. An illiquid investment is any
investment that the Portfolio reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in
current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Illiquidity risk exists when particular
investments are difficult to sell. Although most of the Portfolio’s investments must be liquid at the time of investment, investments may lack liquidity after purchase by the
Portfolio, particularly during periods of market turmoil. When the Portfolio holds illiquid investments, its investments may be harder to value, especially in changing markets, and if
the Portfolio is
forced to sell these investments to meet redemption requests or for other cash needs, the
Portfolio may suffer a loss. In addition, when there is illiquidity in the market for certain investments, the Portfolio, due to limitations on illiquid investments, may be unable
to achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain sector. When there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities, it can become more difficult to
sell the securities at or near their perceived value. In such a market, the value of such securities and the Portfolio’s share price may fall dramatically. To the extent that the
Portfolio invests in non-investment grade fixed income securities, it will be
especially subject to the risk that during certain periods, the liquidity of
particular issues or industries, or all securities within a particular investment category, will shrink or disappear suddenly and without warning as a result of adverse economic, market or
political events or adverse investor perceptions whether or not accurate. Derivatives may also
be subject to illiquidity risk.
Market
Risk. The Portfolio’s share price or the market as a whole can decline for many reasons or
be adversely affected by a number of factors, including, without limitation:
weakness in the broad market, a particular industry, or specific holdings; adverse political, regulatory or economic developments in the United States or abroad; changes in investor psychology; heavy
institutional selling; military confrontations, war, terrorism and other armed
conflicts, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics; recessions; taxation and
international tax treaties; currency, interest rate and price fluctuations; and other conditions or events. In addition, the subadviser’s assessment of securities held in the
Portfolio may prove incorrect, resulting in losses or poor performance even in a rising
market.
Securities Selection Risk. A strategy used by the Portfolio, or individual securities selected by the subadviser, may fail to produce the intended return.
Management Risk. The Portfolio is subject to management risk because it is an actively-managed investment portfolio. The Portfolio’s
portfolio managers apply investment techniques and risk analyses in making
investment decisions, but there can be no guarantee that these decisions or the
individual securities selected by the portfolio managers will produce the desired results.
Asset Allocation Risk. The Portfolio’s ability to
achieve its investment goal depends in part on the subadviser’s skill in
determining the Portfolio’s asset class allocations. Although allocation among different asset classes