are considered to be mostly speculative in nature (high risk), subject to greater liquidity risk , and subject to a greater risk of default than higher rated securities. High yield/high risk securities (including loans) may be more volatile than investment grade securities.
• Floating Rate Loan Risk: Floating rate loans (or bank loans) are usually rated below investment grade and thus are subject to high yield/high risk or “junk” securities risk. The market for floating rate loans is a private interbank resale market and thus may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and delayed settlement periods. Purchases and sales of loans are generally subject to contractual restrictions that must be fulfilled before a loan can be bought or sold. These restrictions may hamper the Fund’s ability to buy or sell loans and negatively affect the transaction price. Prices of below investment grade loans are also more volatile, are more sensitive to negative news about the economy or the issuer, and have greater liquidity risk and price volatility. The value and the income streams of interests in loans (including participation interests in lease financings and assignments in secured variable or floating rate loans) will decline if borrowers delay payments or fail to pay altogether. A significant rise in market interest rates could increase this risk. Although loans may be fully collateralized when purchased, such collateral may become illiquid or decline in value.
A significant portion of the floating rate loans held by the Fund may be “covenant lite” loans that contain fewer or less restrictive constraints on the borrower or other borrower-friendly characteristics and offer less protections for investors than covenant loans.
It may take longer than seven days for transactions in loans to settle. This may result in cash proceeds not being immediately available to the Fund, requiring the Fund to borrow cash which would increase the Fund’s expenses. The Fund is also subject to credit risk with respect to the issuer of the loan, and an issuer’s long-term ability to make payments on below investment grade loans is considered speculative. Investments in junior loans involve a higher degree of overall risk.
U.S. federal securities laws afford certain protections against fraud and misrepresentation in connection with the offering or sale of a security, as well as against manipulation of trading markets for securities. However, it is unclear whether these protections are available to an investment in a loan.
• Foreign Investment Risk: Exposure to a foreign market through investments in foreign issuers (companies or other entities) can involve additional risks relating to market, economic, political, regulatory, geopolitical, or other conditions of that market. These factors can make investments in foreign issuers more volatile and less liquid than U.S. investments. Trade disputes and the threat of, or actual imposition of, tariffs may adversely impact the price of foreign securities. Less stringent regulatory, accounting, and disclosure requirements and general supervision for issuers and markets are more common in certain foreign countries. Enforcing legal rights can be difficult, costly, and slow in certain foreign countries, and can be particularly difficult against foreign governments. In addition, foreign markets can react differently to these conditions than the U.S. market. Markets and economies
throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions or events in one market, country or region may adversely impact investments or issuers in, or foreign exchange rates with, another market, country, or region. Foreign securities may include ADRs, EDRs and GDRs. Unsponsored ADRs, EDRs and GDRs are organized independently and without the cooperation of the foreign issuer of the underlying securities. In addition, the issuing bank may deduct shareholder distribution, custody, foreign currency exchange, and other fees from the payment of dividends.
• Emerging Markets Risk: Investments in or exposure to investments in emerging market countries may be riskier than investments in or exposure to investments in U.S. and other developed markets for many reasons, including smaller market capitalizations, greater price volatility, less liquidity, lower credit quality, a higher degree of political and economic instability, the imposition of economic sanctions, less governmental regulation and supervision of the financial industry and markets, and less stringent financial reporting and accounting standards and controls.
• Currency Risk: A decline in the value of a foreign currency relative to the U.S. dollar reduces the value in U.S. dollars of the Fund’s investments denominated in or with exposure to that foreign currency.
• Active Management Risk : A portfolio manager’s judgments about the potential value or price appreciation of an investment may prove to be incorrect or fail to have the intended results, which could negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
• Passive Management Risk: A passively managed (or index) fund generally holds constituent securities of its benchmark index regardless of performance, which could cause the index fund’s return to be lower than an actively managed fund (which generally seeks to outperform a benchmark index). Such fund will also perform poorly when the index performs poorly. In addition, an index fund has operating and other expenses while an index does not. As such, an index fund will tend to underperform the index to some degree over time even though it will attempt to track its index as closely as possible.
• Index Sampling Risk: Because index sampling relies on the securities selected to have economic characteristics similar to securities in the fund’s benchmark index, it may not result in the aggregate in investment performance matching that of that fund’s benchmark index or of other funds that purchased all or substantially all of the securities in the same index in approximately the same proportions as their weightings in the index.
• Liquidity Risk: Certain holdings may be difficult to purchase, sell and value, particularly during adverse market conditions, because there is a limited market for the investment or there are restrictions on resale. The Fund may invest in liquid investments that become illiquid due to financial distress, or geopolitical events such as sanctions, trading halts or wars. The Fund may not be able to sell a holding quickly at the price it has valued the holding, may be unable to take advantage of market opportunities or may be forced to sell other more desirable, more liquid securities or sell less