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S000006334 [Member] Investment Strategy - TCW Core Fixed Income Fund
Apr. 30, 2025
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Strategy [Heading] Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block]
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in debt securities. If the Fund changes this investment policy, it will notify shareholders in writing at least 60 days in advance of the change. The Fund may invest in various types of debt securities, including but not limited to securities issued or guaranteed by the United States government or its agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored corporations; corporate obligations (including convertible securities); mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities (which may be privately issued); local currency- or U.S. dollar-denominated foreign debt securities (corporate and government); money market instruments; and other securities bearing fixed or variable interest rates of any maturity.
The Fund invests in the U.S. and abroad, including emerging markets, and may purchase securities of varying maturities issued by domestic and foreign corporations and governments. The Fund may invest in foreign securities that are denominated in U.S. dollars as well as in local currency.
The Fund may invest up to 5% of its net assets in below investment grade bonds (commonly known as “junk bonds”), which are bonds rated below BBB by Fitch Ratings, Inc., below
BBB by S&P Global Ratings and below Baa by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., or, if unrated, bonds deemed by the Fund’s investment advisor to be of comparable quality. The Fund may also invest a portion of its assets in bank loans of companies that have issued high yield securities. High yield portfolio holdings are diversified by industry and issuer in an attempt to reduce the impact of negative events on an industry or issuer.
The Fund may invest in derivative instruments such as options, futures and swap agreements for investment management or hedging purposes. The derivatives in which the Fund may invest also include securities that are commonly referred to as mortgage derivatives, including inverse floaters, interest only (IO) strips, principal-only (PO) strips, inverse IOs and tiered index bonds. The Fund may also purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis.
In managing the Fund’s investments, under normal market conditions, the portfolio managers use a controlled risk approach. The techniques of this approach attempt to control the principal risk components of the fixed income markets and include consideration of:
  security selection within a given sector;
  relative performance of the various market sectors;
  the shape of the yield curve; and
  fluctuations in the overall level of interest rates.
Portfolio securities and other instruments may be sold for a number of reasons, including when the portfolio managers believe that (i) another security or instrument may offer a better investment opportunity, (ii) there has been a deterioration in the credit fundamentals of an issuer, (iii) an individual security or instrument has reached its sell target, or (iv) the portfolio should be rebalanced for diversification or portfolio weighting purposes.