PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Prospectus
Share Class: Administrative
PIMCO StocksPLUS® Global Portfolio
This prospectus is intended for use in connection with variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies issued by insurance companies. This prospectus should be read in conjunction with the prospectus of any contract or policy. Both prospectuses should be read carefully and retained for future reference.
Neither the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nor the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved or disapproved these securities, or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
PIMCO StocksPLUS® Global Portfolio
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| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(2) |
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PIMCO Equity Series VIT | Prospectus 1
PIMCO StocksPLUS® Global Portfolio
Principal Risks
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Prospectus
April 30, 2026 | Prospectus 3
PIMCO StocksPLUS® Global Portfolio
Please see “Description of Principal Risks” in the Portfolio's prospectus for a more detailed description of the risks of investing in the Portfolio. An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
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| Institutional Class Return(1) |
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| MSCI World Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes) |
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| 50% MSCI EAFE Net Total Return USD Index/50% S&P 500 Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes) |
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Investment Adviser/Portfolio Managers
PIMCO serves as the investment adviser for the Portfolio. The Portfolio’s portfolio is jointly and primarily managed by Marc Seidner, Jerome Schneider, Bryan Tsu and Jing Yang. Mr. Seidner is CIO Non-traditional Strategies and Managing Director of PIMCO. Messrs. Schneider and Tsu and Ms. Yang are Managing Directors of PIMCO. Ms. Yang and Mr. Tsu have managed the Portfolio since July 2018, and Mr. Seidner has managed the Portfolio since February 2021. Mr. Schneider has managed the Portfolio since August 2025.
Purchase and Sale of Portfolio Shares
Shares of the Portfolio currently are sold to segregated asset accounts (“Separate Accounts”) of insurance companies that fund variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies (“Variable Contracts”) and other funds that serve as underlying investment options for Variable Contracts (i.e., variable insurance funds). Investors do not deal directly with the Portfolio to purchase and redeem shares. Please refer to the prospectus for the Separate Account for information on the allocation of premiums and on transfers of accumulated value among sub-accounts of the Separate Account.
Tax Information
The shareholders of the Portfolio are the insurance companies offering the variable products or other variable insurance funds. Please refer to the prospectus for the Separate Account and the Variable Contract for information regarding the federal income tax treatment of distributions to the Separate Account.
Payments to Insurance Companies and Other Financial Intermediaries
The Portfolio and/or its related companies (including PIMCO) may pay the insurance company and other intermediaries for the sale of the Portfolio and/or other services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the insurance company or intermediary and your salesperson to recommend a Variable Contract and the Portfolio over another investment. Ask your insurance company or salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
April 30, 2026 | Prospectus 5
PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Description of Principal Risks
The value of your investment in the Portfolio changes with the values of the Portfolio’s investments. Many factors can affect those values. The factors that are most likely to have a material effect on the Portfolio’s investments as a whole are called “principal risks.” The principal risks of the Portfolio are identified in the Portfolio Summary and are described in this section. The Portfolio may be subject to additional risks other than those identified and described below because the types of investments made by the Portfolio can change over time. Securities and investment techniques mentioned in this summary that appear in bold type are described in greater detail under “Characteristics and Risks of Securities and Investment Techniques.” That section and “Investment Objectives and Policies” in the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) also include more information about the Portfolio, its investments and the related risks. There is no guarantee that the Portfolio will be able to achieve its investment objective. It is possible to lose money by investing in the Portfolio.
Equity Risk
Equity or equity-related securities represent an ownership interest, or the right to acquire an ownership interest, in an issuer. Equity or equity-related securities also include, among other things, common stocks, preferred securities, convertible stocks and warrants. The values of equity securities, such as common stocks and preferred securities, may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in inflation, interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. They may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as regulatory changes, labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry. Conversely, a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer or industry may adversely impact securities markets as a whole. In addition, preferred securities may be subject to greater credit risk or other risks, such as risks related to deferred and omitted distributions, limited voting rights, liquidity, interest rates, regulatory changes and special redemption rights. Equity or equity-related securities generally have greater price volatility than most fixed income securities. These risks are generally magnified in the case of equity investments in distressed companies.
Acquired Fund Risk
Because the Portfolio may invest its assets in Acquired Funds, the risks associated with investing in the Portfolio may be closely related to the risks associated with the securities and other investments held by the Portfolio. The ability of the Portfolio to achieve its investment objective may depend upon the ability of the Acquired Funds to achieve their respective investment objectives. Investments in Acquired Funds that are exchange-traded funds are also subject to market risk, tracking error, the potential for trading at a discount or premium to their net asset value, bid/ask spread risk as well as the risks of the underlying securities they hold. In addition, the Portfolio’s performance will be reduced by the Portfolio’s proportionate amount of the expenses of any Acquired Funds in which it invests. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of any Acquired Fund will be achieved. Unless a fee waiver or expense reimbursement arrangement fully covers the Portfolio’s investment in an Acquired Fund, shareholders in the Portfolio will indirectly bear fees and expenses charged by the Acquired Funds in addition to the Portfolio’s direct fees and expenses.
The Portfolio’s net asset value (“NAV”) will fluctuate in response to changes in the NAVs or market prices, as applicable, of the Acquired Funds in which it invests. The extent to which the investment performance and risks associated with the Portfolio correlates to those of a particular Acquired Fund will depend upon the extent to which the Portfolio’s assets are allocated from time to time for investment in the Acquired Fund, which may vary.
Mortgage-Related and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk
Mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities represent interests in “pools” of mortgages or other assets such as consumer loans or receivables held in trust and often involve risks that are different from or possibly more acute than risks associated with other types of debt instruments. Generally, rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of fixed rate mortgage-related securities, making them more sensitive to changes in interest rates. Compared to other fixed income investments with similar maturity and credit, mortgage-related securities may increase in value to a lesser extent when interest rates decline and may decline in value to a similar or greater extent when interest rates rise. As a result, in a period of rising interest rates, if the Portfolio holds mortgage-related securities, it may exhibit additional volatility since individual mortgage holders are less likely to exercise prepayment options, thereby putting additional downward pressure on the value of these securities and potentially causing the Portfolio to experience losses. This is known as extension risk. Mortgage-backed securities can be highly sensitive to rising interest rates, such that even small movements can cause the Portfolio to lose value. Mortgage-backed securities, and in particular those not backed by a government guarantee, are subject to credit risk. In addition, adjustable and fixed rate mortgage-related securities are subject to prepayment risk. When interest rates decline, borrowers may pay off their mortgages sooner than expected. This can reduce the returns of the Portfolio because the Portfolio may have to reinvest that money at the lower prevailing interest rates. In addition, the creditworthiness, servicing practices, and financial viability of the servicers of the underlying mortgage pools present significant risks. For instance, a servicer may be required to make advances in respect of delinquent loans underlying the mortgage-related securities; however, servicers experiencing financial difficulties may not be able to perform these obligations. Additionally, both mortgage-related and asset-backed securities are subject to risks associated with fraud or negligence by, or defalcation of, their servicers. These securities are also subject to the risks of the underlying loans. In some circumstances, a servicer’s
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or originator’s mishandling of documentation related to the underlying collateral (e.g., failure to properly document a security interest in the underlying collateral) may affect the rights of security holders in and to the underlying collateral. In addition, the underlying loans may have been extended pursuant to inappropriate underwriting guidelines, to no underwriting guidelines at all, or to fraudulent origination practices. The owner of a mortgage-backed security’s ability to recover against the sponsor, servicer or originator is uncertain and is often limited.
The Portfolio’s investments in other asset-backed securities are subject to risks similar to those associated with mortgage-related securities, as well as additional risks associated with the nature of the assets and the servicing of those assets. Payment of principal and interest on asset-backed securities may be largely dependent upon the cash flows generated by the assets backing the securities, and asset-backed securities may not have the benefit of any security interest in the related assets. The Portfolio may invest in any tranche of mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities, including junior and/or equity tranches (to the extent consistent with the Portfolio's guidelines), which generally carry higher levels of the foregoing risks. Additionally, to the extent the Portfolio invests directly in mortgages and other types of collateral (consistent with its investment guidelines), the Portfolio would be subject to risks similar (and in some cases to a greater degree) to those described above.
Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investment Risk
Foreign (non-U.S.) securities may experience more rapid and extreme changes in value than securities of U.S. issuers or securities that trade exclusively in U.S. markets. The securities markets of many foreign (non-U.S.) countries are relatively small or less developed, with a limited number of companies representing a small number of industries. Additionally, issuers of foreign (non-U.S.) securities are usually not subject to the same degree of regulation as U.S. issuers. Financial reporting, legal, corporate governance, accounting and auditing standards of foreign (non-U.S.) countries differ, in some cases significantly, from U.S. standards. Global economies and financial markets are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. Foreign (non-U.S.) market trading hours, clearance and settlement procedures, and holiday schedules may limit the Portfolio’s ability to buy and sell securities. Investments in foreign (non-U.S.) markets may also be adversely affected by U.S. or foreign governmental actions such as the imposition of capital controls, nationalization of companies or industries, expropriation of assets, or the imposition of punitive taxes. The governments of certain countries may prohibit or impose substantial restrictions on foreign investing in their capital markets or in certain sectors or industries, which can decrease the investment opportunities for the Portfolios subject to such limits. In addition, restrictions may be imposed after the Portfolio has invested in a jurisdiction and potentially force the Portfolio to dispose of an investment at an inopportune time or price. Furthermore, repatriation of investment income, capital and the proceeds of sales by foreign investors may require governmental registration and/or approval in some countries. In addition, a foreign (non-U.S.) government may limit or cause delay in the convertibility or repatriation of its currency which would adversely affect the U.S. dollar value and/or liquidity of investments denominated in that currency. Certain foreign (non-U.S.) investments may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions, or become illiquid after purchase by the Portfolio, particularly during periods of market turmoil and may render holdings in that foreign (non-U.S.) country illiquid or even worthless. A reduction in trading in securities of issuers located in countries whose economies are heavily dependent upon trading with key partners may have an adverse impact on the Portfolio’s investments. Additionally, events and evolving conditions in certain markets or regions may alter the risk profile of investments tied to those markets or regions. This may cause investments tied to such markets or regions to become riskier or more volatile, even when investments in such markets or regions were perceived as comparatively stable historically.
Also, nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, unstable governments, decreased market liquidity, currency blockage, market disruptions, political changes, security suspensions, diplomatic developments, trade restrictions (including tariffs) or the imposition of sanctions or other similar measures could adversely affect the Portfolio’s investments in a foreign (non-U.S.) country and may render holdings in that foreign (non-U.S.) country illiquid or even worthless. In the event of nationalization, expropriation or other confiscation, the Portfolio could lose its entire investment in foreign (non-U.S.) securities. The type and severity of sanctions and other similar measures, including counter sanctions and other retaliatory actions, that may be imposed could vary broadly in scope, and their impact is difficult to ascertain. These types of measures may include, but are not limited to, banning a sanctioned country or certain persons or entities associated with such country from global payment systems that facilitate cross-border payments, restricting securities transactions, restricting dealings with entities that are critical to the infrastructure of securities and related transactions in specific jurisdictions, restricting transactions in specified sectors of certain countries, and freezing the assets of particular countries, entities or persons. The imposition of sanctions and other similar measures could impact a Portfolio’s portfolio holdings by, among other things, reducing their value and/or liquidity or causing a downgrade in credit ratings. In addition, these measures could result in currency devaluation or volatility, increased market volatility, and/or economic disruptions in the sanctioned country or throughout the world. Sanctions and other similar measures could directly or indirectly limit or prevent the Portfolio from buying and selling securities, receiving interest or principal payments due on the securities, significantly delay or prevent the settlement of securities transactions and adversely impact the Portfolio's liquidity and performance and/or prevent the liquidation of the Portfolio holding sanctioned securities. The U.S. government may renegotiate some of its global trade relationships with foreign governments and may impose or threaten to impose significant tariffs. The imposition of tariffs, trade restrictions, currency restrictions or similar actions (or retaliatory measures taken in response to such actions) could contribute to volatility or overall declines in the U.S. and global investment markets. Adverse conditions in a certain region can adversely affect securities of other countries whose economies appear to be unrelated. To the extent that the Portfolio invests a significant portion of its assets in a specific geographic region or in securities denominated
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PIMCO Equity Series VIT
in a particular foreign (non-U.S.) currency, the Portfolio will generally have more exposure to regional economic risks, including weather emergencies and natural disasters, associated with foreign (non-U.S.) investments. Foreign (non-U.S.) securities may also be less liquid (particularly during market closures due to local holidays or other reasons) and more difficult to value than securities of U.S. issuers.
Emerging Markets Risk
Foreign (non-U.S.) investment risk may be particularly high to the extent the Portfolio invests in emerging market securities. Emerging market securities may present market, credit, currency, liquidity, volatility, legal, political, technical, headline, reputational, and other risks different from, and potentially greater than, the risks of investing in securities and instruments economically tied to developed foreign countries. To the extent the Portfolio invests in emerging market securities or other investments that are economically tied to a particular region, country or group of countries, the Portfolio may be more sensitive to adverse political, social, environmental and health events affecting that region, country or group of countries. Economic, business, political or social instability may affect emerging market securities differently, and often more severely, than developed market securities. To the extent the Portfolio focuses its investments in multiple asset classes of emerging market securities, it may have a limited ability to mitigate losses in an environment that is adverse to emerging market securities in general. Emerging market securities may also be more volatile, less liquid (particularly during market closures due to local holidays or other reasons) and more difficult to value than securities economically tied to developed foreign countries. The systems and procedures for trading and settlement of securities in emerging markets are less developed and less transparent and transactions may take longer to settle. Countries with emerging securities markets may additionally experience problems with share registration, settlement and custody, which may result in losses to the Portfolio.
Emerging market countries typically have less established regulatory, disclosure, legal, accounting, recordkeeping and financial reporting systems than those in more developed markets, which may increase the potential for market manipulation or reduce the scope or quality of financial information available to investors. Governments in emerging market countries are often less stable and more likely to take extra-legal action with respect to companies, industries, assets, or foreign ownership than those in more developed markets. Moreover, it can be more difficult for investors to bring litigation or enforce judgments, or to obtain information needed to pursue or enforce such judgments, against issuers in emerging markets or for U.S. regulators to bring enforcement actions against such issuers. In addition, foreign companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements, which may decrease the liquidity and value of the securities. Emerging markets may also be more susceptible to fraud, corruption, money laundering and economic sanctions risk, which may result in negative commercial consequences in relation to the value, liquidity and tradability of investments in or related to those regions. The Portfolio will also be subject to emerging markets risk to the extent it invests in derivatives or other securities or instruments whose value or return are related to the value or returns of emerging markets securities. Rising interest rates, combined with widening credit spreads, could negatively impact the value of emerging market debt and increase funding costs for foreign issuers. In such a scenario, foreign issuers might not be able to service their debt obligations, the market for emerging market debt could suffer from reduced liquidity, and any investing Portfolio could experience losses. The economy of some emerging markets may be particularly exposed to or be affected by a certain industry or sector, and therefore issuers and/or securities of such emerging markets may be more affected by the performance of such industries or sectors.
Sovereign Debt Risk
Sovereign debt risk is the risk that fixed income instruments issued by sovereign entities may decline in value as a result of default or other adverse credit events resulting from an issuer’s inability or unwillingness to make principal or interest payments in a timely fashion. A sovereign entity’s failure to make timely payments on its debt can result from many factors, including, without limitation, insufficient foreign (non-U.S.) currency reserves or an inability to sufficiently manage fluctuations in relative currency valuations, an inability or unwillingness to satisfy the demands of creditors and/or relevant supranational entities regarding debt service or economic reforms, the size of the debt burden relative to economic output and tax revenues, cash flow difficulties, and other political and social considerations. The risk of loss to the Portfolio in the event of a sovereign debt default or other adverse credit event is heightened by the unlikelihood of any formal recourse or means to enforce its rights as a holder of the sovereign debt. In addition, sovereign debt restructurings, which may be shaped by entities and factors beyond the Portfolio’s control, may result in a loss in value of the Portfolio’s sovereign debt holdings.
Market Risk
The market price of securities owned by the Portfolio may fluctuate, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Securities may decline in value due to a variety of factors affecting (or perceiving to affect) securities markets generally or particular industries or sectors or issuers represented in the securities markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, levels of public debt and deficits, changes in inflation, interest or currency rates, financial system instability, adverse changes to credit markets or adverse investor sentiment generally. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may decline in value simultaneously even if the performance of those asset classes is not otherwise historically correlated. Investments may also be negatively impacted by
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market disruptions and by attempts by other market participants to manipulate the prices of particular investments. Equity securities generally have greater price volatility than fixed income securities. Credit ratings downgrades may also negatively affect securities held by the Portfolio. Even when markets perform well, there is no assurance that the investments held by the Portfolio will increase in value along with the broader market.
In addition, market risk includes the risk that geopolitical and other events will disrupt the economy on a national or global level. For instance, actual or threatened war or armed conflicts, terrorism, social unrest, recessions, supply chain disruptions, market manipulation, government defaults, government shutdowns, political and regulatory changes, diplomatic developments or the imposition of sanctions and other similar measures, including the imposition of tariffs, or other U.S. economic policies and any related public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious diseases, pandemics and epidemics) and natural/environmental disasters or events can all negatively impact the securities markets, which could cause the Portfolio to lose value. This includes reliance on global supply chains that are susceptible to disruptions resulting from, among other things, war and other armed conflicts, tariffs, extreme weather events, and natural disasters. These events could reduce consumer demand or economic output, result in market closures, changes in interest rates, inflation/deflation, travel restrictions or quarantines, and significantly adversely impact the economy.
As computing technology and data analytics advance, there has been a trend towards machine driven and artificially intelligent trading systems, particularly with respect to increasing levels of autonomy in trading decision capabilities. Regulators of financial markets have become increasingly focused on the potential impact of artificial intelligence on investment activities and may issue regulations that affect the use of artificial technology in trading activities. Any such regulations may not have the effect on financial markets that regulators intend. Moreover, advancements in artificial intelligence and other technologies may result in the introduction of errors, defects or security vulnerabilities, which can go undetected. Issues in the construction and implementation of artificial intelligence systems and models (including software issues, issues related to the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (“AI”), and other technological issues) may adversely impact the Portfolio. AI systems may contain design flaws or faulty assumptions, rely on incomplete or inaccurate data inputs, and may be difficult to interpret or audit. The potential speed of such trading and other technologies may exacerbate the impact of any such incidents, particularly where such incidents are exploited by other artificially intelligent systems designed to impair or prevent the intervention of human control.
The domestic political environment, as well as political and diplomatic events within the United States and abroad, such as the U.S. budget and deficit reduction plan and foreign policy tensions with foreign nations, including embargoes, tariffs, sanctions, trade wars, and other similar initiatives or developments, has resulted, and may in the future result, in a government shutdown or otherwise adversely affect the U.S. regulatory landscape, the general market environment and/or investor sentiment, which could have an adverse impact on the Portfolio’s investments and operations. Additional and/or prolonged U.S. federal government shutdowns, U.S. foreign policy, the imposition of tariffs, or other U.S. economic policies and any related domestic and/or geopolitical tensions may affect investor and consumer confidence and may adversely impact financial markets and the broader economy, perhaps suddenly and to a significant degree. Governmental and quasi-governmental authorities and regulators throughout the world have previously responded to serious economic disruptions with a variety of significant fiscal and monetary policy changes, including but not limited to, direct capital infusions into companies, new monetary programs and dramatically lower interest rates. An unexpected or sudden reversal of these policies, or the ineffectiveness of these policies, could increase volatility in securities markets, which could adversely affect the Portfolio’s investments. Any market disruptions could also prevent the Portfolio from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner. Portfolios that have focused their investments on a region enduring geopolitical market disruption will face higher risks of loss, although the increasing interconnectivity between global economies and financial markets can lead to events or conditions in one country, region or financial market adversely impacting a different country, region or financial market. Thus, investors should closely monitor current market conditions to determine whether the Portfolio meets their individual financial needs and tolerance for risk.
When inflationary price movements occur, fixed income securities markets may experience heightened levels of interest rate, volatility and liquidity risk. Interest rate increases in the future could cause the value of the portfolio that invests in fixed income securities to decrease, which could force the Portfolio to liquidate investments at disadvantageous times or prices, therefore adversely affecting the Portfolio and its shareholders.
Higher interest rates generally lower the values of real estate-related assets. When this does not occur as expected, it presents an increased risk of a correction or severe downturn in real estate-related asset prices, which could adversely impact the value of other investments such as loans, securitized debt and other fixed income securities. Such an impact could materialize in one real estate sector and not another, or in a different manner in different real estate sectors. Examples of the risks faced by real estate-related assets include: tenant vacancy rates, increased tenant turnover and tenant concentration; general real estate headwinds, including delinquencies and difficulties in collecting rents and other payments (which increases the risk of owners being unable to pay or otherwise defaulting on their own borrowings and obligations); decreases in property values; increases in inflation, upkeep costs and other expenses; fluctuations in rents; and increased concentration in ownership of certain types of properties.
Exchanges and securities markets may close early, close late or issue trading halts on specific securities or generally, which may result in, among other things, the Portfolio being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments at an advantageous time or accurately price its portfolio investments. In addition, the Portfolio may rely on various third-party sources to calculate its NAV. As a result, the Portfolio is subject to certain operational risks associated with reliance on service providers and service providers’ data sources. In particular, errors or systems failures and other
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technological issues may adversely impact the Portfolio’s calculation of its NAV, and such NAV calculation issues may result in inaccurately calculated NAV, delays in NAV calculation and/or the inability to calculate NAVs over extended periods. The Portfolio may be unable to recover any losses associated with such failures.
Issuer Risk
The value of a security may decline for reasons related to the issuer, such as management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies, changes in financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives, financial leverage, reputation or reduced demand for the issuer’s goods or services, as well as the historical and prospective earnings of the issuer and the value of its assets. A change in the financial condition of a single issuer may affect one or more other issuers or securities markets as a whole. These risks can apply to the Portfolio and to the issuers of securities and other instruments in which the Portfolio invests.
Interest Rate Risk
Interest rate risk is the risk that fixed income securities, dividend paying equity securities and other instruments in the Portfolio’s portfolio will fluctuate in value due to changes, or the anticipation of changes, in interest rates. Factors including central bank monetary policy, rising inflation rates, and changes in general economic conditions may cause interest rates to rise, which could cause the value of the Portfolio’s investments to decline. For example, as nominal interest rates rise, the value of certain securities or dividend paying equity securities held by the Portfolio is likely to decrease. A nominal interest rate can be described as the sum of a real interest rate and an expected inflation rate. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable, and the Portfolio may experience losses as a result of movements in interest rates. The Portfolio may not be able to hedge against changes in interest rates or may choose not to do so for cost or other reasons. In addition, any hedges may not work as intended.
Fixed income securities with longer durations tend to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates, usually making them more volatile than securities with shorter durations. The values of equity and other non-fixed income securities may also decline due to fluctuations in interest rates. Inflation-indexed bonds, including Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (“TIPS”), decline in value when real interest rates rise. In certain interest rate environments, such as when real interest rates are rising faster than nominal interest rates, inflation-indexed bonds may experience greater losses than other fixed income securities with similar durations.
Dividend-paying equity securities, particularly those whose market price is closely related to their yield, may be more sensitive to changes in interest rates. During periods of rising interest rates, the values of such securities may decline and may result in losses to the Portfolio.
Variable and floating rate securities generally are less sensitive to interest rate changes but may decline in value if their interest rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. Inverse floating rate securities may decrease in value due to changes in interest rates. Inverse floating rate securities may also exhibit greater price volatility than a fixed rate obligation with similar credit quality. When the Portfolio holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease (or, in the case of inverse floating rate securities, an increase) in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the NAV of the Portfolio’s shares.
A wide variety of factors can cause interest rates or yields of U.S. Treasury securities (or yields of other types of bonds) to rise, including but not limited to central bank monetary policies, changing inflation or real growth rates, general economic conditions, increasing bond issuances or reduced market demand for low yielding investments. Risks associated with changes in interest rates are heightened under certain market conditions, such as during times when the Federal Reserve raises interest rates or when such rates remain elevated following a period of historically low levels. Additionally, the U.S. and other governments have increased, and are likely to continue increasing, their debt issuances, which may also heighten these risks. There is the risk that the income generated by investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Periods of higher inflation could cause such authorities to raise interest rates, which may adversely affect the Portfolio and its investments. In addition, changes in monetary policy may exacerbate the risks associated with changing interest rates. Further, in market environments where interest rates are rising, issuers may be less willing or able to make principal and interest payments on fixed income investments when due.
Changes in interest rates, including periods of rising or volatile rates, may result in heightened volatility and a decline in value of the Portfolio’s fixed income investments. Further, while U.S. bond markets have steadily grown over time, dealer “market making” capacity has not kept pace with the growth of bond markets and may remain constrained. As a result, dealer inventories of certain types of bonds and similar instruments, which provide a core indication of the ability of financial intermediaries to “make markets,” remain limited relative to the size of the market. Because market makers provide stability to a market through their intermediary services, the significant reduction in dealer inventories could potentially lead to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the fixed income markets, especially during periods of economic uncertainty or market stress. All of these factors, collectively and/or individually, could cause the Portfolio to lose value.
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During periods of very low or negative interest rates, the Portfolio may be unable to maintain positive returns. Certain European countries have previously experienced negative interest rates on certain fixed income instruments. Very low or negative interest rates may magnify interest rate risk. Changing interest rates, including rates that fall below zero, may have unpredictable effects on markets, may result in heightened market volatility and may detract from the Portfolio’s performance to the extent the Portfolio is exposed to such interest rates.
Measures such as average duration may not accurately reflect the true interest rate sensitivity of the Portfolio. This is especially the case if the Portfolio consists of securities with widely varying durations. Therefore, if the Portfolio has an average duration that suggests a certain level of interest rate risk, the Portfolio may in fact be subject to greater interest rate risk than the average would suggest. This risk is greater to the extent the Portfolio uses leverage or derivatives in connection with the management of the Portfolio.
Convexity is an additional measure used to understand a security’s or the Portfolio‘s interest rate sensitivity. Convexity measures the rate of change of duration in response to changes in interest rates. With respect to a security’s price, a larger convexity (positive or negative) may imply more dramatic price changes in response to changing interest rates. Convexity may be positive or negative. Negative convexity implies that interest rate increases result in increased duration, and vice versa, meaning increased sensitivity in prices in response to changes in interest rates. Thus, securities with negative convexity, which may include bonds with traditional call features and certain mortgage-backed securities, may experience greater losses in periods of rising interest rates. Accordingly, if the Portfolio holds such securities, the Portfolio may be subject to a greater risk of losses in periods of rising interest rates.
Call Risk
Call risk refers to the possibility that an issuer may exercise its right to redeem a fixed income security earlier than expected (a call). Issuers may call outstanding securities prior to their maturity for a number of reasons (e.g., declining interest rates, changes in credit spreads and improvements in the issuer’s credit quality), and changes in the rate at which prepayments or redemptions occur can affect the return on investment of these securities. If an issuer calls a security in which the Portfolio has invested, the Portfolio may not recoup the full amount of its initial investment or may not realize the full anticipated earnings from the investment and may be forced to reinvest in lower-yielding securities, securities with greater credit risks or securities with other, less favorable features.
Credit Risk
The Portfolio could experience losses if the issuer or guarantor of a fixed income security (including a security purchased with securities lending collateral), the counterparty to a derivatives contract, a repurchase agreement, a borrower of portfolio securities, or the issuer or guarantor of collateral, is unable or unwilling, or is perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services or otherwise) as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments, or to otherwise honor its obligations. The risk that such issuer, guarantor or counterparty is less willing or able to do so is heightened in market environments where interest rates are changing, notably when rates are rising. The downgrade of the credit rating of a security or of the issuer of a security held by the Portfolio may decrease its value. Securities are subject to varying degrees of credit risk, which are often reflected in credit ratings. Measures such as average credit quality may not accurately reflect the true credit risk of the Portfolio. This is especially the case if the Portfolio consists of securities with widely varying credit ratings. Therefore, if the Portfolio has an average credit rating that suggests a certain credit quality, the Portfolio may in fact be subject to greater credit risk than the average would suggest. Credit risk is greater to the extent the Portfolio uses leverage or derivatives in connection with the management of the Portfolio, which would be magnified in the event that initial or variation margin is not provided by the counterparty to such transaction (or not provided below a certain threshold amount). Municipal bonds are subject to the risk that litigation, legislation or other political events, local business or economic conditions, or the bankruptcy of the issuer could have a significant effect on an issuer’s ability to make payments of principal and/or interest. Debt instruments backed by an issuer's taxing authority may be subject to legal limits on the issuer's power to increase taxes or otherwise to raise revenue or may be dependent on legislative appropriation or government aid. Certain debt instruments are backed only by revenues derived from a particular project or source, rather than by an issuer's taxing authority, and thus may have a greater risk of default. Rising or high interest rates may deteriorate the credit quality of an issuer or a counterparty, particularly if an issuer or a counterparty faces challenges rolling or refinancing its obligations. The Portfolio’s investments may be adversely affected if any of the issuers it is invested in are subject to an actual or perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services or otherwise) deterioration to their credit quality.
Credit risk includes credit spread risk, which is the risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in their actual or perceived credit quality) may increase when the market believes that investments generally have a greater risk of default. Increasing credit spreads may reduce the market values of the Portfolio’s investments. Credit spreads often increase more for lower rated and unrated securities than for investment grade securities. In addition, when credit spreads increase, reductions in market value will generally be greater for longer-maturity securities. Further, credit spread duration (a measure of credit spread risk) can vary significantly from interest rate duration (e.g., for floating rate debt securities, credit spread duration typically will be higher than interest rate duration). The Portfolio may add credit spread duration to its portfolio, for example through the use of derivatives (e.g., credit default swaps), even while it has lower interest rate duration. The credit spread duration of the portfolio may vary, in some cases significantly, from its interest rate duration.
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High Yield Risk
Portfolios that invest in high yield securities and unrated securities of similar credit quality (commonly known as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”) may be subject to greater levels of market risk, credit risk, call risk and liquidity risk than portfolios that do not invest in such securities, which could have a negative effect on the Portfolio. High yield securities may be issued by companies that are restructuring, are smaller and less creditworthy or are more highly leveraged or indebted than other companies, or are financially distressed, and therefore they typically have more difficulty making scheduled payments of principal and interest than issuers of higher rated investments. These securities are considered predominantly speculative by rating agencies with respect to an issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments and their value may be more volatile than other types of securities. High yield securities are particularly sensitive to adverse economic, market, industry or issuer-specific developments, which may result in an increased incidence of default. An economic downturn or individual corporate developments could adversely affect the market for these securities and reduce the Portfolio’s ability to sell these securities at an advantageous time or price. An economic downturn could also generally lead to a higher non-payment rate and, a high yield security may lose significant market value before a default occurs. To the extent the Portfolio may purchase distressed securities that are in default or the issuers of which are in bankruptcy, the Portfolio may be subject to heightened risks.
High yield securities structured as zero-coupon bonds or pay-in-kind securities tend to be especially volatile as they are particularly sensitive to downward pricing pressures from rising interest rates or widening spreads and may require the Portfolio to make taxable distributions of imputed income without receiving the actual cash currency. Issuers of high yield securities may have the right to “call” or redeem the issue prior to maturity, which may result in the Portfolio having to reinvest the proceeds in other high yield securities or similar instruments that may pay lower interest rates. The Portfolio may also be subject to greater levels of liquidity risk than portfolios that do not invest in high yield securities. In addition, the high yield securities in which the Portfolio invests may not be listed on any exchange and a secondary market for such securities may be comparatively illiquid relative to markets for other more liquid fixed income securities. Consequently, transactions in high yield securities may involve greater costs than transactions in more actively traded securities. A lack of publicly-available information, irregular trading activity and wide bid/ask spreads among other factors, may, in certain circumstances, make high yield debt more difficult to sell at an advantageous time or price than other types of securities or instruments. These factors may result in the Portfolio being unable to realize full value for these securities and/or may result in the Portfolio not receiving the proceeds from a sale of a high yield security for an extended period after such sale, each of which could result in losses to the Portfolio. In addition, adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether or not based on fundamental analysis, may decrease the values and liquidity of high yield securities, especially in thinly-traded markets. When secondary markets for high yield securities are less liquid than the market for other types of securities, it may be more difficult to value the securities because such valuation may require more research, and elements of judgment may play a greater role in the valuation because there is less reliable, objective data available. Because of the risks involved in investing in high yield securities, an investment in a portfolio that invests in such securities should be considered speculative.
Currency Risk
If the Portfolio invests directly in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities that trade in, and receive revenues in, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, or in derivatives or other instruments that provide exposure to foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, it will be subject to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar, or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged. Although the Portfolio may attempt to hedge its currency exposure into the U.S. dollar, it may not be successful in reducing the effects of currency fluctuations. The Portfolio may also hedge from one foreign currency to another. In addition, the Portfolio’s use of currency hedging may not be successful and the use of such strategies may lower the Portfolio’s potential returns.
Currency rates in foreign (non-U.S.) countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including due to changes in interest or inflation rates, balance of payments and governmental surpluses or deficits, intervention (or the failure to intervene) by U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) governments, central banks or supranational entities such as the International Monetary Fund, or by the imposition of currency controls or other political or geopolitical developments in the United States or abroad. As a result, the Portfolio’s investments in or exposure to foreign (non-U.S.) currencies and/or foreign (non-U.S.) currency-denominated securities may reduce the returns of the Portfolio.
Devaluation of a currency by a country’s government or banking authority can significantly impact the value of any investments denominated in that currency. The Portfolio may also be adversely impacted by expenses incurred by converting between currencies to purchase and sell securities not valued in the U.S. dollar, as well as by currency restrictions, exchange control regulation, or governmental restrictions that limit or otherwise delay the Portfolio’s ability to convert currencies.
Currency risk may be particularly high to the extent that the Portfolio invests in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or engages in foreign currency transactions that are economically tied to emerging market countries. These currency transactions may present market, credit, currency, liquidity, legal, political and other risks different from, or greater than, the risks of investing in developed foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or engaging in foreign currency transactions that are economically tied to developed foreign countries.
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Liquidity Risk
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) defines liquidity risk as the risk that the Portfolio could not meet requests to redeem shares issued by the Portfolio without significant dilution of remaining investors’ interests in the Portfolio. Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are difficult to purchase or sell. Illiquid investments are investments 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. Illiquid investments may become harder to value, especially in changing markets. The Portfolio’s investments in illiquid investments may reduce the returns of the Portfolio because it may be unable to sell the illiquid investments at an advantageous time or price or possibly require the Portfolio to dispose of other investments at unfavorable times or prices in order to satisfy its obligations, which could prevent the Portfolio from taking advantage of other investment opportunities. Illiquidity can be caused by, among other things, a drop in overall market trading volume, an inability to find a willing buyer, or legal restrictions on the securities’ resale, capital controls, delays or limits on repatriation of local currency, or insolvency of local governments. Additionally, the market for certain investments may become illiquid under adverse market or economic conditions independent of any specific adverse changes in the conditions of a particular issuer, such as during changes in interest rates, elevated volatility, market or geopolitical disruptions, economic uncertainty or public health crises. There can be no assurance that an investment that is deemed to be liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid while it is held by the Portfolio and/or when the Portfolio wishes to dispose of it. Bond markets have consistently grown over time, while the capacity for traditional dealer counterparties to engage in fixed income trading has not kept pace with the growth of bond markets and may remain constrained. As a result, dealer inventories of certain types of bonds and similar instruments, which provide a core indication of the ability of financial intermediaries to “make markets,” remain limited relative to the size of the market. Because market makers seek to provide stability to a market through their intermediary services, the significant reduction in dealer inventories could potentially lead to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the fixed income markets, especially during periods of economic uncertainty or market stress.
In such cases, the Portfolio, due to regulatory limitations on investments in illiquid investments and the difficulty in purchasing and selling such securities or instruments, may be unable to achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain sector. To the extent that the Portfolio’s principal investment strategies involve securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations, foreign (non-U.S.) securities, Rule 144A securities, Regulation S securities, illiquid sectors of fixed income securities, derivatives or securities with substantial market and/or credit risk, the Portfolio will tend to have the greatest exposure to liquidity risk.
Further, fixed income securities with longer durations until maturity face heightened levels of liquidity risk as compared to fixed income securities with shorter durations until maturity. Finally, liquidity risk refers to the risk of unusually high redemption requests, redemption requests by certain large shareholders such as institutional investors or asset allocators, or other unusual market conditions that may make it difficult for the Portfolio to sell investments within the allowable time period to meet redemptions. Meeting such redemption requests could require the Portfolio to sell securities at reduced prices or under unfavorable conditions, which would have an adverse effect on the Portfolio. It may also be the case that other market participants may be attempting to liquidate fixed income holdings at the same time as the Portfolio, causing increased supply in the market and contributing to liquidity risk and downward pricing pressure. Liquidity risk also refers to the risk that the Portfolio may be required to hold additional cash or sell other investments in order to obtain cash to close out derivatives or meet the liquidity demands that derivatives can create to make payments of margin, collateral, or settlement payments to counterparties. The Portfolio may have to sell a security at a disadvantageous time or price to meet such obligations.
The action(s) of governments and regulators may have the effect of reducing market liquidity, market resiliency and money supply. Certain accounts or PIMCO affiliates may from time to time own (beneficially or of record) or control a significant percentage of the Portfolio’s shares. Redemptions by these shareholders of their holdings in the Portfolio may impact the Portfolio’s NAV and the market price and secondary market liquidity of Portfolio shares. These redemptions may also force the Portfolio to sell its securities, which may negatively impact the Portfolio’s brokerage costs.
Leveraging Risk
Certain transactions may give rise to a form of leverage. Such transactions may include, among others, reverse repurchase agreements, loans of portfolio securities, and the use of when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment transactions. The use of derivatives may also create leveraging risk. The Portfolio also may be exposed to leveraging risk by borrowing money for investment purposes. Leverage may cause the Portfolio to liquidate portfolio positions to satisfy its obligations when it may not be advantageous to do so. Leverage, including borrowing, may cause the Portfolio to be more volatile than if the Portfolio had not been leveraged. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Portfolio’s portfolio securities. The use of leverage may also increase the Portfolio’s sensitivity to interest rate risks. Certain types of leveraging transactions, such as short sales that are not “against the box” (i.e., short sales where the Portfolio does not hold the security or have the right to acquire it without payment of further consideration), could theoretically be subject to unlimited losses in cases where the Portfolio, for any reason, is unable to close out the transaction. In addition, to the extent the Portfolio borrows money, interest costs on such borrowings may not be recovered by any appreciation of the securities purchased with the borrowed amounts and could exceed the Portfolio’s investment returns, resulting in greater losses. Moreover, to make payments of interest and other loan costs, the Portfolio may be forced to sell portfolio securities when it is not otherwise advantageous to do so. When the Portfolio reduces or discontinues its use of leverage (“deleveraging”), it
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may be required to sell portfolio securities at inopportune times to repay leverage obligations, which could result in realized losses and a decrease in the Portfolio's net asset value. Deleveraging involves complex operational processes, including the coordination of asset sales, repayment of debt, and potential restructuring of the Portfolio's capital and may involve significant costs, including transaction costs associated with the sale of portfolio securities and prepayment penalties on borrowed funds. Leveraging transactions pursued by the Portfolio may increase its duration and sensitivity to interest rate changes and other market risks. The Portfolio may continue to use leverage even if available financing rates are higher than anticipated returns, including, for example, in cases where deleveraging, including any expenses related thereto, might be viewed as detrimental to the Portfolio.
Management Risk
The Portfolio is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed investment portfolio. PIMCO will apply investment techniques and risk analysis and will, in some cases, rely partially or entirely upon or be informed by one or more quantitative models in making investment decisions for the Portfolio. There can be no guarantee that these decisions will produce the desired results or that the due diligence conducted by PIMCO, or such other investment adviser or sub-adviser, as applicable, will evaluate every factor prior to investing in a company or issuer and expose all material risks associated with an investment. Additionally, PIMCO, or such other investment adviser or sub-adviser, as applicable, may not be able to identify suitable investment opportunities and may face competition from other investment managers when identifying and consummating certain investments, or may determine that certain factors are more significant than others. Certain securities or other instruments in which the Portfolio seeks to invest may not be available in the quantities desired, including in circumstances where other funds for which PIMCO acts as investment adviser, including funds with names, investment objectives and policies, and/or portfolio management teams, similar to the Portfolio, are seeking to invest in the same or similar securities or instruments. In addition, regulatory restrictions, actual or potential conflicts of interest or other considerations may cause PIMCO to restrict or prohibit participation in certain investments. In such circumstances, PIMCO may determine to purchase other securities or instruments as substitutes. Such substitute securities or instruments may not perform as intended, which could result in losses to the Portfolio. To the extent the Portfolio employs strategies targeting perceived pricing inefficiencies, arbitrage strategies or similar strategies, it is subject to the risk that the pricing or valuation of the securities and instruments involved in such strategies may change unexpectedly, which may result in reduced returns or losses to the Portfolio. The Portfolio is also subject to the risk that deficiencies in the internal systems or controls of PIMCO or another service provider will cause losses for the Portfolio or hinder Portfolio operations. For example, trading delays or errors (both human and systemic) could prevent the Portfolio from purchasing a security expected to appreciate in value. Please refer to “Portfolio Managers – Conflicts of Interest” in the SAI for further information. Additionally, actual or potential conflicts of interest, legislative, regulatory, or tax restrictions, policies or developments may affect the investment techniques available to PIMCO in connection with managing the Portfolio may cause PIMCO to restrict or prohibit participation in certain investments and may also adversely affect the ability of the Portfolio to achieve its investment objective. There also can be no assurance that all of the personnel of PIMCO will continue to be associated with PIMCO for any length of time. The loss of services of one or more key employees of PIMCO could have an adverse impact on the Portfolio’s ability to realize its investment objective.
In addition, the Portfolio may rely on various third-party sources to calculate its NAV. As a result, the Portfolio is subject to certain operational risks associated with reliance on service providers and service providers’ data sources. In particular, errors or systems failures and other technological issues may adversely impact the Portfolio’s calculations of its NAV, and such NAV calculation issues may result in inaccurately calculated NAVs, delays in NAV calculation and/or the inability to calculate NAVs over extended periods. The Portfolio may be unable to recover any losses associated with such failures.
Collateralized Loan Obligations Risk
The Portfolio may invest in collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) and other similarly structured investments. A CLO is an asset-backed security 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. In addition to the risks associated with investment in such underlying assets, the structure and characteristics of a CLO present certain additional risks. The Portfolio’s investments in CLOs and other similarly structured investments may expose the Portfolio to heightened credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, market risk and prepayment and extension risk, as well as the risk of default on the underlying asset. In addition, investments in CLOs carry additional risks including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from the 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) risks related to the capability of the servicer of the securitized assets; (iv) the risk that the Portfolio may invest in tranches of CLOs that are subordinate to other tranches; (v) the structure and complexity of the transaction and the legal documents may not be fully understood at the time of investment and could lead to disputes with the issuer or among investors regarding the characterization of proceeds or unexpected investment results; and (vi) the CLO’s manager may perform poorly. CLOs may charge management and other administrative fees, which are in addition to those of the Portfolio.
The cash flows from a CLO are split into portions, called tranches, varying in risk and yield. Losses caused by defaults on underlying assets are borne first by the holders of subordinate tranches. Tranches are categorized as senior, mezzanine and subordinated/equity, according to their degree of risk. Interest on a CLO may be paid in kind or deferred and capitalized (paid in the form of obligations of the same type rather than cash), which involves
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continued exposure to default risk with respect to such payments. If there are defaults or the CLO’s collateral otherwise underperforms, scheduled payments to senior tranches take precedence over those of mezzanine tranches, and scheduled payments to mezzanine tranches take precedence over those of subordinated/equity tranches. The riskiest portion is the “equity” tranche which bears the first loss of any defaults from the underlying bonds or loans although more senior tranches may also bear losses. Since they are partially protected from defaults, senior tranches from a CLO typically have higher ratings and lower yields than their underlying securities, and can be rated investment grade. Despite the protection from the equity tranche, 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 CLO securities as a class.
The risks of an investment in a CLO depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the instrument in which the Portfolio invests. Typically, CLOs are privately offered and sold, and thus, are not registered under the securities laws.
Derivatives Risk
Derivatives and other similar instruments (referred to collectively as “derivatives”) are financial contracts whose value depends on, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index. The various derivative instruments that the Portfolio may use are referenced under “Characteristics and Risks of Securities and Investment Techniques— Derivatives” in this prospectus and described in more detail under “Investment Objectives and Policies” in the SAI. The Portfolio may use derivatives as a substitute for taking a position in the underlying asset, as part of strategies designed to gain exposure to, for example, issuers, portions of the yield curve, indexes, sectors, currencies and/or geographic regions, and/or to manage (which may mean either to increase or decrease) exposure to other risks, such as interest rate, credit or currency risk. The Portfolio may also use derivatives for leverage, in which case their use would involve leveraging risk, and in some cases, may subject the Portfolio to the potential for unlimited loss. The use of derivatives or other similar instruments may cause the Portfolio’s investment returns to be impacted by the performance of assets the Portfolio does not own potentially resulting in the Portfolio’s total investment exposure exceeding the value of its portfolio.
Investments in derivatives may take the form of buying and/or writing (selling) derivatives, and/or the Portfolio may otherwise become an obligor under a derivatives transaction. These transactions may produce short-term capital gains in the form of premiums or other returns for the Portfolio (which may support, constitute and/or increase the distributions paid by, or the yield of, the Portfolio) but create the risk of losses that can significantly exceed such current income or other returns. For example, the premium received for writing a call option may be dwarfed by the losses the Portfolio may incur if the call option is exercised, and derivative transactions where the Portfolio is an obligor can produce an up-front benefit, but the potential for leveraged losses. The distributions, or distribution rate, paid by the Portfolio should not be viewed as the total returns or overall performance of the Portfolio. These strategies may also produce adverse tax consequences (for example, the Portfolio’s income and gain-generating strategies may generate current income and gains taxable as ordinary income) and limit the Portfolio’s opportunity to profit or otherwise benefit from certain gains. The Portfolio may enter into opposing derivative transactions, or otherwise take opposing positions. Such transactions can generate distributable gains (which, as noted elsewhere, may be taxed as ordinary income) and create the risk of losses and NAV declines.
The Portfolio’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. Derivatives may increase market exposure and are subject to a number of risks, such as liquidity risk (which may be heightened for highly-customized derivatives), interest rate risk, market risk, leverage risk, counterparty (including credit) risk, operational risk (such as documentation issues, settlement issues and systems failures), legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract), management risk, governmental risk, sanctions risk, risks arising from changes in applicable regulatory requirements, risks arising from margin requirements, risks arising from mispricing or valuation complexity (including the risk of improper valuation), and risks associated with the underlying asset, reference rate or index. They also involve the risk that changes in the value of a derivative instrument may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index. In this regard, the Portfolio may seek to achieve its investment objective, in part, by investing in derivatives that are designed to closely track the performance of an index on a daily basis. However, the overall investment strategies of the Portfolio are not generally designed or expected to produce returns which replicate the performance of the particular index, and the degree of variation could be substantial, particularly over longer periods. There are a number of factors which may prevent the Portfolio, or the derivatives or other strategies used by the Portfolio, from achieving desired correlation with an index, such as the impact of fees, expenses and transaction costs, the timing of pricing, and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for derivative instruments or securities in which the Portfolio invests. By investing in a derivative instrument, the Portfolio could lose more than the initial amount invested and derivatives may increase the volatility of the Portfolio, especially in unusual or extreme market conditions. Certain derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment. The Portfolio may utilize asset segregation and posting of collateral for risk management or other purposes. The Portfolio may be required to hold additional cash or sell other investments in order to obtain cash to close out a position and changes in the value of a derivative may also create margin delivery or settlement payment obligations for the Portfolio. Also, suitable derivative transactions may not be available in all circumstances and there can be no assurance that the Portfolio will engage in these transactions to reduce exposure to other risks when that would be beneficial or that, if used, such strategies will be successful. In addition, the Portfolio’s use of derivatives may increase or accelerate the amount of taxes payable by shareholders.
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Non-centrally-cleared over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives are also subject to the risk that a counterparty to the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations to the other party, as many of the protections afforded to centrally-cleared derivative transactions might not be available for non-centrally-cleared OTC derivatives. The primary credit risk on derivatives or other similar investments that are exchange-traded or traded through a central clearing counterparty resides with the Portfolio's clearing broker or the clearinghouse. Derivatives that are cleared by a central clearing organization can still be subject to different risks, including the creditworthiness of the central clearing organization and its members. In addition, derivatives that are traded on an exchange are subject to the risk that an exchange may limit the maximum daily price fluctuation of a derivative contract and restrict or suspend trading of a contract that has reached a limit. Such limit governs only price movements of a contract during a particular trading day and therefore does not limit potential losses because the limit may work to prevent the liquidation of unfavorable positions. A daily limit may be reached for several consecutive days with little or no trading.
Participation in the markets for derivative instruments involves investment risks and transaction costs to which the Portfolio may not be subject absent the use of these strategies. The skills needed to successfully execute derivative strategies may be different from those needed for other types of transactions. If the Portfolio incorrectly forecasts the value and/or creditworthiness of securities, currencies, interest rates, counterparties or other economic factors involved in a derivative transaction, the Portfolio might have been in a better position if the Portfolio had not entered into such derivative transaction. In evaluating the risks and contractual obligations associated with particular derivative instruments or other similar investments, it is important to consider that certain derivative transactions, absent a default or termination event, may only be modified or terminated by mutual consent of the Portfolio and its counterparty. Therefore, it may not be possible for the Portfolio to modify, terminate, or offset the Portfolio’s obligations or the Portfolio’s exposure to the risks associated with a derivative transaction prior to its scheduled termination or maturity date, which may create a possibility of increased volatility and/or decreased liquidity to the Portfolio. In such cases, the Portfolio may experience losses.
Because the markets for certain derivative instruments (including markets located in foreign countries) are relatively new and still developing, appropriate derivative transactions may not be available in all circumstances for risk management or other purposes. Upon the expiration of a particular contract, the Portfolio may wish to retain its position in the derivative instrument by entering into a similar contract, but may be unable to do so if the counterparty to the original contract is unwilling to enter into the new contract and no other appropriate counterparty can be found. When such markets are unavailable, the Portfolio will be subject to increased liquidity and investment risk.
When a derivative is used as a hedge against a position that the Portfolio holds, any loss generated by the derivative generally should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged investment, and vice versa. Although hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains. Hedges are sometimes subject to imperfect matching between the derivative and the underlying instrument, and there can be no assurance that the Portfolio’s hedging transactions will be effective. Derivatives used for hedging or risk management may not operate as intended or may expose the Portfolio to additional risks. In addition, derivatives used for hedging may partially protect the Portfolio from the risks they were intended to hedge yet not fully mitigate the impact of such risks.
The regulation of the derivatives markets has increased over time, and additional future regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the availability or reduce the liquidity of derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. Any such adverse future developments could impair the effectiveness or raise the costs of the Portfolio’s derivative transactions, impede the employment of the Portfolio’s derivatives strategies, or adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance and cause the Portfolio to lose value.
Futures Contract Risk
A futures contract is an exchange-traded contract to buy or sell an underlying asset, such as a security, currency or commodity, for a set price on a future date. The risks associated with the Portfolio’s use of derivative instruments, including futures contracts, are discussed in more detail under “Characteristics and Risks of Securities and Investment Techniques – Derivatives” in this prospectus and under “Investment Objectives and Policies” in the SAI. The purchase or sale of a futures contract may result in losses in excess of the amount invested in the futures contract. There can be no guarantee that there will be a correlation between price movements in the futures contract and the underlying asset. In addition, there are significant differences between the futures market and the markets for underlying assets, which could result in an imperfect correlation between the markets. The degree of imperfect correlation depends on circumstances such as variations in speculative market demand for futures and futures options on underlying assets, including technical influences in futures trading and futures options, and differences between the futures contract and underlying asset due to factors such as interest rate levels, maturities, and creditworthiness of issuers.
Futures contracts are traded on exchanges, so that, in most cases, a party can close out its position on the exchange for cash, without delivering the underlying asset. Because the futures utilized by the Portfolio are exchange-traded, the primary credit risk on futures contracts resides with the Portfolio’s clearing broker or the clearinghouse. Changes in regulation relating to a registered fund’s use of derivatives and related instruments could potentially limit or impact the Portfolio’s ability to invest in derivatives, limit the Portfolio’s ability to employ certain strategies that use derivatives and/or adversely affect the value of derivatives and the Portfolio’s performance. Futures exchanges may limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in certain futures contract prices during a single trading day. There can be no assurance that a liquid market will exist at a time when the Portfolio seeks to close out a futures or a futures option position, and the Portfolio would remain obligated to meet margin requirements until the position is closed.
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In addition, certain futures contracts may be relatively new instruments without a significant trading history. As a result, there can be no assurance that an active secondary market will develop or continue to exist.
Short Exposure Risk
The Portfolio’s short sales and short positions, if any, are subject to special risks. A short sale involves the sale by the Portfolio of a security that it does not own with the hope of purchasing the same security at a later date at a lower price. The Portfolio may also enter into a short position through a forward commitment or a short derivative position through a futures contract or swap agreement. If the price of the security or derivative has increased during this time, then the Portfolio will incur a loss equal to the increase in price from the time that the short sale was entered into plus any transaction costs (i.e., premiums and interest) paid to the broker-dealer to borrow securities. Therefore, short sales involve the risk that losses may be exaggerated, potentially losing more money than the actual cost of the investment. By contrast, a loss on a long position arises from decreases in the value of the security and is limited by the fact that a security’s value cannot decrease below zero.
By investing the proceeds received from selling securities short, the Portfolio could be deemed to be employing a form of leverage, which creates special risks. The use of leverage may increase the Portfolio’s exposure to long security positions and make any change in the Portfolio’s NAV greater than it would be without the use of leverage. This could result in increased volatility of returns. There is no guarantee that any leveraging strategy the Portfolio employs will be successful during any period in which it is employed.
In times of unusual or adverse market, economic, regulatory, environmental or political conditions, the Portfolio may not be able, fully or partially, to implement its short selling strategy. Periods of unusual or adverse market, economic, regulatory, environmental or political conditions generally may exist for as long as six months and, in some cases, much longer. In response to market events, the SEC and regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions may adopt (and in certain cases, have adopted) bans on, and/or reporting requirements for, short sales of certain securities, including short positions on such securities acquired through swaps. Restrictions on and/or reporting requirements applicable to short selling and short positions may negatively impact and materially impair the Portfolio's ability to execute certain transactions. Also, there is the risk that the third party to the short sale or short position will not fulfill its contractual obligations, causing a loss to the Portfolio.
Exchange-Traded Fund (“ETF”) Risk
Investments in ETFs entail certain risks. In the case of actively managed ETFs, there is a risk that the ETF may not achieve its investment objective. Investments in ETFs designed to track an index involve the risk that the ETF’s performance may not track the performance of the index the ETF is designed to track. This deviation may occur due to cash inflows and outflows from and to investors buying and redeeming shares or due to occasional differences between the composition of the index and the securities held by the ETF. In addition, investments in ETFs involve the risk that the market prices of ETF shares will fluctuate, sometimes rapidly and materially, in response to changes in the ETF’s NAV, the value of ETF holdings and supply and demand for ETF shares. Although ETFs will generally trade close to NAV, market volatility, lack of an active trading market for ETF shares, disruptions at market participants (such as authorized participants or market makers) and any disruptions in the ordinary functioning of the creation/redemption process may result in ETF shares trading significantly above (at a “premium”) or below (at a “discount”) NAV. Significant losses may result when transacting in ETF shares in these and other circumstances.
Turnover Risk
A change in the securities held by the Portfolio is known as “portfolio turnover.” Higher portfolio turnover involves correspondingly greater expenses to the Portfolio, including brokerage commissions or dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale of securities and reinvestments in other securities. Such sales may also result in realization of taxable capital gains, including short-term capital gains (which are generally taxed as ordinary income when distributed to individual shareholders), and may adversely impact the Portfolio’s after-tax returns. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance.
Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings
Please see “Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings” in the SAI for information about the availability of the complete schedule of the Portfolio’s holdings.
April 30, 2026 | Prospectus 17
PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Management of the Portfolio
Investment Adviser and Administrator
PIMCO serves as the investment adviser and the administrator (serving in its capacity as investment adviser, the “Investment Adviser,” and serving in its capacity as administrator, the “Administrator”) for the Portfolio. Subject to the supervision of the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of PIMCO Equity Series VIT (the “Trust”), PIMCO is responsible for managing the investment activities of the Portfolio and the Portfolio's business affairs and other administrative matters.
PIMCO is located at 650 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660. Organized in 1971, PIMCO provides investment management and advisory services to private accounts of institutional and individual clients and to mutual funds. As of December 31, 2025, PIMCO had approximately $2.26 trillion in assets under management, including $1.84 trillion in third-party client assets. Assets include $81.0 billion (as of September 30, 2025) in assets managed by Prime Real Estate (formerly Allianz Real Estate), an affiliate and wholly-owned subsidiary of PIMCO and PIMCO Europe GmbH, that includes PIMCO Prime Real Estate GmbH, PIMCO Prime Real Estate LLC and their subsidiaries and affiliates. PIMCO Prime Real Estate LLC investment professionals provide investment management and other services as dual personnel through Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. PIMCO Prime Real Estate GmbH operates separately from PIMCO.
Management Fees
The Portfolio pays for the advisory and supervisory and administrative services it requires under what is essentially an all-in fee structure. The Management Fees shown in the Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses table reflect both an advisory fee and a supervisory and administrative fee. The Administrative Class shares of the Portfolio were not operational during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.
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Advisory Fee. The Portfolio pays PIMCO fees in return for providing investment advisory services. The advisory fee for the Portfolio is at the annual rate of 0.30% (stated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the Portfolio).
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Portfolio’s investment advisory contract is available in the Portfolio’s report filed on Form N-CSR for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.
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Supervisory and Administrative Fee. The Portfolio pays for the supervisory and administrative services it requires under what is essentially an all-in fee structure. Administrative Class shareholders of the Portfolio pay a supervisory and administrative fee to PIMCO, computed as a percentage of the Portfolio’s assets attributable in the aggregate to that class of shares. PIMCO, in turn, provides or procures supervisory and administrative services for shareholders and also bears the costs of various third-party services required by the Portfolio, including audit, custodial, portfolio accounting, legal, transfer agency and printing costs. The Portfolio bears other expenses which are not covered under the supervisory and administrative fee which may vary and affect the total level of expenses paid by the Administrative Class shareholders, such as taxes and governmental fees, brokerage fees, commissions and other transaction expenses, (including, without limitation, fees and expenses of outside legal counsel or third-party consultants retained in connection with reviewing, negotiating and structuring specialized loans and other investments made by the Portfolio, and any costs associated with originating loans, asset securitizations, alternative lending-related strategies and so-called “broken-deal costs” (e.g., fees, costs, expenses and liabilities, including, for example, due diligence-related fees, costs, expenses and liabilities, with respect to unconsummated investments))organizational and offering expenses of the Trust and the Portfolio, and any other expenses which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, costs of borrowing money, including interest expenses, extraordinary expenses (such as litigation and indemnification expenses) and fees and expenses of the Trust’s Independent Trustees and their counsel. PIMCO generally earns a profit on the supervisory and administrative fee paid by the Portfolio. Also, under the terms of the supervision and administration agreement, PIMCO, and not Portfolio shareholders, would benefit from any price decreases in third-party services, including decreases resulting from an increase in net assets.
The supervisory and administrative fee for Administrative Class shares of the Portfolio is at the annual rate of 0.31% (stated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the Portfolio).
Expense Limitation Agreement
PIMCO has contractually agreed, through May 1, 2027, to waive a portion of the Portfolio’s supervisory and administrative fees, or reimburse the Portfolio, to the extent that the Portfolio’s organizational expenses, pro rata share of expenses related to obtaining or maintaining a Legal Entity Identifier and pro rata share of Trustee fees exceed 0.0049% (the “Expense Limit”) (calculated as a percentage of average daily net assets attributable to each class). This Expense Limitation Agreement will automatically renew for one-year terms unless PIMCO provides written notice to the Trust at least 30 days prior to the end of the then current term. In any month in which the investment advisory contract or supervision and administration agreement is in effect, PIMCO is entitled to reimbursement by the Portfolio of any portion of the supervisory and administrative fee waived or reimbursed as set forth above (the “Reimbursement Amount”) within thirty-six months of the time of the waiver, provided that such amount paid to PIMCO will not: 1) together with any organizational expenses, pro rata share of expenses related to obtaining or maintaining a Legal
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Prospectus
Entity Identifier and pro rata Trustee fees, exceed, for such month, the Expense Limit (or the amount of the expense limit in place at the time the amount being recouped was originally waived if lower than the Expense Limit); 2) exceed the total Reimbursement Amount; or 3) include any amounts previously reimbursed to PIMCO.
Individual Portfolio Managers
The following individuals have or share primary responsibility for managing the Portfolio.
| Portfolio Manager(s) |
Since |
Recent Professional Experience |
| Jerome Schneider |
8/25 |
Managing Director, PIMCO. Mr. Schneider is the leader of short-term portfolio management and funding. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2008, Mr. Schneider was a senior managing director with Bear Stearns. There he most recently specialized in credit and mortgage-related funding transactions and helped develop one of the first “repo” conduit financing companies. Additionally, during his tenure at Bear Stearns he held various positions on the municipal and fixed income derivatives trading desks. He has 29 years of investment experience and holds an undergraduate degree in economics and international relations from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University. |
| Marc Seidner |
2/21 |
CIO Non-traditional Strategies and Managing Director, PIMCO. Mr. Seidner is a generalist portfolio manager and a member of the Investment Committee. He rejoined PIMCO in November 2014 after serving as head of fixed income at GMO LLC, and previously he was a PIMCO Managing Director, generalist portfolio manager and member of the Investment Committee until January 2014. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2009, he was a managing director and domestic fixed income portfolio manager at Harvard Management Company. Previously, he was director of active core strategies at Standish Mellon Asset Management and a senior portfolio manager at Fidelity Management and Research. He has investment experience since 1988 and holds an undergraduate degree in economics from Boston College. |
| Bryan Tsu |
7/18 |
Managing Director, PIMCO. Mr. Tsu is a portfolio manager in the Newport Beach office. He manages StocksPLUS, multi-sector credit, and securitized strategies. He is also a senior member of the insurance solutions team and a senior commercial mortgage-backed securities specialist. Mr. Tsu currently serves as a rotating member of PIMCO's Americas portfolio committee, which he has previously co-chaired, and he has also served as a rotating member of PIMCO's Investment Committee. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2008, he worked at Bear Stearns in New York. He has investment experience since 2006 and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and operations research from Columbia University. |
| Jing Yang |
7/18 |
Managing Director, PIMCO. Ms. Yang is a portfolio manager in the Newport Beach office. She oversees the asset-backed securities portfolio management team and focuses on StocksPLUS, multi-sector credit, and securitized strategies. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2006, she worked in home equity loan structuring at Morgan Stanley in New York. She has investment experience since 2006 and holds a Ph.D in Bioinformatics and a master’s degree in statistics from the University of Chicago. |
Please see the SAI for additional information about other accounts managed by the portfolio managers, the portfolio managers’ compensation and the portfolio managers’ ownership of shares of the Portfolio.
The Trustees are responsible generally for overseeing the management of the Trust. The Trustees authorize the Trust to enter into service agreements with the Investment Adviser, the Distributor (as defined below), the Administrator and other service providers in order to provide, and in some cases authorize service providers to procure through other parties, necessary or desirable services on behalf of the Trust and the Portfolio. Shareholders are not parties to or third-party beneficiaries of such service agreements. Neither this prospectus nor summary prospectus, the Trust’s SAI, any contracts filed as exhibits to the Trust’s registration statement, nor any other communications, disclosure documents or regulatory filings from or on behalf of the Trust or the Portfolio creates a contract between or among any shareholder of the Portfolio, on the one hand, and the Trust, the Portfolio, a service provider to the Trust or the Portfolio, and/or the Trustees or officers of the Trust, on the other hand. The Trustees (or the Trust and its officers, service providers or other delegates acting under authority of the Trustees) may amend this, or use a new prospectus, summary prospectus or SAI with respect to the Portfolio or the Trust, and/or amend, file and/or issue any other communications, disclosure documents or regulatory filings, and may amend or enter into any contracts to which the Trust or the Portfolio is a party, and interpret the investment objective(s), policies, restrictions and contractual provisions applicable to the Portfolio, without shareholder input or approval, except in circumstances in which shareholder approval is specifically required by law (such as changes to fundamental investment policies) or where a shareholder approval requirement is specifically disclosed in the Trust’s then-current prospectus or SAI.
Distributor
The Trust’s Distributor is PIMCO Investments LLC (the “Distributor”). The Distributor, located at 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019, is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC.
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PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Administrative Class Shares
The Trust offers investors Administrative Class shares of the Portfolio in this prospectus. The Trust does not charge any sales charges (loads) or other fees in connection with purchases or redemptions of Administrative Class shares.
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Service Fees—Administrative Class Shares. The Trust has adopted, pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), an Administrative Services Plan (the “Administrative Plan”) for the Administrative Class shares of the Portfolio. The Administrative Plan allows the Portfolio to use its Administrative Class assets to compensate the Distributor for providing or procuring through financial firms administrative, recordkeeping, and investor services relating to Administrative Class shares.
The Administrative Plan permits the Portfolio to make total payments at an annual rate of 0.15% of the Portfolio’s average daily net assets attributable to its Administrative Class shares. Because these fees are paid out of the Portfolio’s Administrative Class assets on an ongoing basis, over time they will increase the cost of an investment in Administrative Class shares and may cost an investor more than other types of sales charges.
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Servicing Arrangements. Administrative Class shares of the Portfolio may be offered through certain brokers and financial intermediaries (“servicers”) that have established a shareholder servicing relationship with the Trust on behalf of their customers. The Trust pays no compensation to such entities other than Administrative Plan fees paid with respect to Administrative Class shares. Servicers may impose additional or different conditions than the Trust on purchases, redemptions or exchanges of Portfolio shares by their customers. Servicers may also independently establish and charge their customers transaction fees, account fees and other amounts in connection with purchases and redemptions of Portfolio shares in addition to any fees charged by the Trust. These additional fees may vary over time and would increase the cost of the customer’s investment and lower investment returns. Each servicer is responsible for transmitting to its customers a schedule of any such fees and information regarding any additional or different conditions regarding purchases, redemptions and exchanges. Shareholders who are customers of servicers should consult their servicers for information regarding these fees and conditions.
Additional Payments
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Account Services. PIMCO uses its own assets and resources, including its profits from advisory or supervisory and administrative fees paid by the Portfolio, to pay insurance companies, including their affiliates, for services rendered to current and prospective owners of Variable Contracts, including the provision of support services such as providing information about the Trust and the Portfolio, the delivery of Trust documents, and other services. The fees paid to insurance companies will not exceed 0.25% of the total assets of the Portfolio held by the
insurance company, on an annual basis. Although these payments are not intended to compensate the insurance companies or their affiliates for marketing the Portfolio, the payments may provide an additional incentive to insurance companies or their affiliates to actively promote the Portfolio and, depending on the arrangements an insurance company may have in place with other mutual funds or their sponsors at any particular time, an insurance company may have a financial incentive to promote the Portfolio (or share class of the Portfolio) over other mutual fund options (or other share classes of the Portfolio) available under a particular Variable Contract. Additionally, although these payments are made out of PIMCO’s own resources, in some cases the levels of such payments may vary by Portfolio or share class in relation to advisory fees, total annual operating expenses or other payments made by the Portfolio or share class to PIMCO. These payments, taken together in the aggregate, may be material to financial firms relative to other compensation paid by the Portfolio and/or PIMCO and may be in addition to any (a) distribution and/or servicing (12b-1) fees; (b) marketing support, revenue sharing or “shelf space” fees; and (c) event support, other noncash compensation and charitable contributions, as described below and paid to or at the request of such financial firms or their personnel.
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Revenue Sharing/Marketing Support. In addition, the Distributor or PIMCO (for purposes of the remainder of this subsection only, collectively, “PIMCO”) makes payments and provides other incentives to insurance companies as compensation for services such as providing the Portfolio with “shelf space,” or a higher profile for the insurance companies’ financial professionals and their customers, placing the Portfolio on the insurance companies’ preferred or recommended fund list or otherwise identifying the Portfolio as being part of a complex to be accorded a higher degree of marketing support than complexes whose distributor or investment adviser is not making such payments, granting PIMCO access to the insurance companies’ financial professionals (including through the insurance companies’ intranet websites or other proprietary communications systems and channels) in order to promote the Portfolio, promotions in communications with current and prospective Variable Contract owners such as in the insurance companies’ internet websites or in customer newsletters, providing assistance in training and educating the insurance companies’ personnel, and furnishing marketing support and other specified services. The actual services provided, and the payments made for such services, vary from company to company. These payments may be significant to the insurance companies and their affiliates.
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Prospectus
and/or all of the portfolios and/or other funds sponsored by PIMCO together or a particular class of shares, during a specified period of time. PIMCO also makes payments to one or more insurance companies based upon factors such as the amount of assets an insurance company’s accounts have invested in the Portfolio and the quality of the insurance company’s relationship with PIMCO and/or its affiliates.
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Event Support; Other Non-Cash Compensation; Charitable Contributions. In addition to the payments described above, PIMCO pays and/or reimburses, at its own expense insurance companies, their affiliates or other financial firms for sponsorship of and/or attendance at conferences, seminars or informational meetings (which may include events held through video technology, to the extent permitted by applicable regulation) (“event support”), provides financial firms or their personnel with occasional tickets to events or other entertainment (which, in some instances, is held virtually), meals and small gifts and pays or provides reimbursement for reasonable travel and lodging expenses for attendees of PIMCO educational events (“other non-cash compensation”), and makes charitable contributions to valid charitable organizations at the request of financial firms (“charitable contributions”) to the extent permitted by applicable law, rules and regulations.
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Visits; Training; Education. In addition to the payments described above, wholesale representatives and employees of PIMCO or its affiliates visit financial firms on a regular basis to educate financial professionals and other personnel about the Portfolio and to encourage the sale or recommendation of Portfolio shares to their clients. PIMCO may also provide (or compensate consultants or other third parties to provide) other relevant training and education to a financial firm’s financial professionals and other personnel.
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Consultant Services. PIMCO may pay investment consultants or their affiliated companies for certain services including technology, operations, tax, or audit consulting services, and may pay such firms for PIMCO’s attendance at investment forums sponsored by such firms (collectively, “consultant services”).
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Payments. Payments for items including event support, platform support, data and consultant services (but not including certain account services), as well as revenue sharing, are, in certain circumstances, bundled and allocated among these categories at PIMCO’s discretion. Portions of such bundled payments allocated by PIMCO to revenue sharing shall remain subject to the percentage limitations on revenue sharing payments disclosed above. The financial firms receiving such bundled payments may characterize or allocate the payments differently from PIMCO’s internal allocation. In addition, payments made by PIMCO to a financial firm and allocated by PIMCO to a particular category of services can in some cases result in benefits related to, or enhance the eligibility of PIMCO or the Portfolio to receive services provided by the financial firm that may be characterized or allocated to one or more other categories of services. In addition,
PIMCO pays certain expenses, which may be a flat fee by Portfolio or share class, such as set-up fees, and printing and mailing charges, incurred by such insurance companies, including their affiliates, in connection with the services described above. These additional servicing payments and set-up fees may differ depending on the Portfolio and share class and may vary from amounts paid to the Trust’s transfer agent for providing similar services to other accounts.
Purchases and Redemptions
Investors do not deal directly with the Portfolio to purchase and redeem shares. Please refer to the prospectus for the Separate Account for information on the allocation of premiums and on transfers of accumulated value among sub-accounts of the Separate Account that invest in the Portfolio.
On any day that regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) closes earlier than scheduled, the Portfolio reserves the right to: (i) advance the time as of which the NAV is calculated and, therefore, also the time by which purchase and redemption orders must be received in order to receive that day’s NAV or (ii) accept purchase and redemption orders until, and calculate its NAV as of, the normally scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE for that day. The Portfolio generally does not accept purchase and redemption orders (or calculate its NAV) on days that the NYSE is closed for business (scheduled or unscheduled). However, on any day that the NYSE is closed when it would normally be open for business, the Portfolio may accept purchase and redemption orders until (and calculate its NAV as of) the normally scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE or such other time that the Portfolio may determine.
Purchasing Shares
As of the date of this prospectus, shares of the Portfolio are offered for purchase either directly or indirectly (i.e., through other variable insurance funds) by Separate Accounts to serve as an investment
April 30, 2026 | Prospectus 21
PIMCO Equity Series VIT
medium for Variable Contracts issued by life insurance companies. All purchase orders are effected at the NAV next determined after a purchase order is received.
While the Portfolio currently does not foresee any disadvantages to Variable Contract Owners if the Portfolio serves as an investment medium for both variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies, due to differences in tax treatment or other considerations, it is theoretically possible that the interest of owners of annuity contracts and insurance policies for which the Portfolio serves as an investment medium might at some time be in conflict. However, the Board and each insurance company with a separate account allocating assets to the Portfolio are required to monitor events to identify any material conflicts between variable annuity contract owners and variable life insurance policy owners, and would have to determine what action, if any, should be taken in the event of such a conflict. If such a conflict occurred, an insurance company participating in the Portfolio might be required to redeem the investment of one or more of its separate accounts from the Portfolio, which might force the Portfolio to sell securities at disadvantageous prices.
The Trust and the Distributor each reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend the offering of shares of the Portfolio or to reject any purchase order, in whole or in part, when, in the judgment of management, such suspension or rejection is in the best interests of the Trust or for reasons such as compliance with anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism or sanctions obligations and requirements. The Trust and Distributor also reserve the right to block, freeze, reject or liquidate, in whole or on a pro rata basis, shares held by a Separate Account, or take any other remedial measures, that the Trust or the Distributor deem necessary or advisable to comply with anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism or sanctions laws. Such actions may have adverse effects on the Separate Account and insurance company, as well as on the Portfolio in which the Separate Account is invested. In addition, the Trust and its Distributor each reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to redeem shares, in whole or in part, when, in the judgment of management, such redemption is necessary in order to maintain qualification under the rules for variable annuities and/or variable life contracts with respect to other shareholders, to maintain qualification as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), or for any reason under terms set by the Trustees, including the failure of a shareholder to supply a personal identification number if required to do so, or to have the minimum investment required, or to pay when due for the purchase of shares issued to the shareholder. The exercise of the Trust's and the Distributor's right to redeem shares in the foregoing circumstances is subject to any applicable provisions of the 1940 Act and the rules thereunder. The offering of shares will be suspended when trading on the NYSE is restricted or during an emergency which makes it impracticable for the Portfolio to dispose of its securities or to determine fairly the value of its net assets, or during any other period as permitted by the SEC for the protection of investors. In the event that the Portfolio ceases offering its shares, any investments allocated to the Portfolio will, subject to any necessary regulatory approvals, be invested in another portfolio.
The Trust generally does not offer or sell its shares outside of the United States, except to certain investors in approved jurisdictions and in conformity with local legal requirements.
Redeeming Shares
Shares may be redeemed without charge on any day that the NAV is calculated. Under normal circumstances, all redemption requests received by the Trust or its designee prior to the close of regular trading on the NYSE (normally 4:00 pm, Eastern time (“NYSE Close”)), on a day the Trust is open for business, are effective on that day. Redemption requests received after that time become effective on the next business day. Redemption requests for Portfolio shares are effected at the NAV per share next determined after receipt of a redemption request by the Trust or its designee. Payment for shares redeemed normally will be made within seven days.
Redemptions of Portfolio shares may be suspended when trading on the NYSE is restricted or during an emergency which makes it impracticable for the Portfolio to dispose of its securities or to determine fairly the value of its net assets, or during any other period as permitted by the SEC for the protection of investors. Under these and other unusual circumstances, the Trust may suspend redemptions or postpone payments for more than seven days, as permitted by law. In consideration of the best interests of the remaining shareholders, the Trust reserves the right to pay redemption proceeds in whole or in part by a distribution in kind of securities held by the Portfolio in lieu of cash. It is highly unlikely that shares would ever be redeemed in kind. If shares are redeemed in kind, however, the redeeming shareholder should expect to incur transaction costs upon the disposition of the securities received in the distribution.
In order to meet redemption requests, the Portfolio typically expects to use a combination of sales of portfolio assets, holdings of cash and cash equivalents (including cash flows into the Portfolio) and financing transactions (such as reverse repurchase agreements). These methods of meeting redemption requests are expected to be used regularly. The Portfolio reserves the right to use other types of borrowings and interfund lending. The use of borrowings (such as a line of credit) and interfund lending in order to meet redemption requests is typically expected to be used only during stressed market conditions, if at all. See “Characteristics and Risks of Securities and Investment Techniques—Reverse Repurchase Agreements, Dollar Rolls and Other Borrowings” and the SAI for more information. The Portfolio's use of redemptions in kind is discussed above.
Frequent or Excessive Purchases, Exchanges and Redemptions
The Trust encourages shareholders to invest in the Portfolio as part of a long-term investment strategy and discourages excessive, short-term trading and other abusive trading practices, sometimes referred to as “market timing.” However, because the Trust will not always be able to detect market timing or other abusive trading activity, investors should not assume that the Trust will be able to detect or prevent all market timing or other trading practices that may disadvantage the Portfolio.
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Certain of the Portfolio’s investment strategies may expose the Portfolio to risks associated with market timing activities. For example, since the Portfolio may invest in non-U.S. securities, it may be subject to the risk that an investor may seek to take advantage of a delay between the change in value of the Portfolio’s non-U.S. portfolio securities and the determination of the Portfolio’s NAV as a result of different closing times of U.S. and non-U.S. markets by buying or selling Portfolio shares at a price that does not reflect their true value. A similar risk exists for the Portfolio’s potential investment in securities of small capitalization companies, securities of issuers located in emerging markets, securities of distressed companies or high yield securities that are thinly traded and therefore may have actual values that differ from their market prices.
To discourage excessive, short-term trading and other abusive trading practices, the Board of the Trust has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to detect and prevent short-term trading activity that may be harmful to the Portfolio and its shareholders. Such activities may have a detrimental effect on the Portfolio and its shareholders. For example, depending upon various factors such as the size of the Portfolio and the amount of its assets maintained in cash, short-term or excessive trading by Portfolio shareholders may interfere with the efficient management of the Portfolio’s investments, increase transaction costs and taxes, and may harm the performance of the Portfolio and its shareholders.
The Trust seeks to deter and prevent abusive trading practices, and to reduce these risks, through several methods. First, to the extent that there is a delay between a change in the value of the Portfolio’s holdings and the time when that change is reflected in the NAV of the Portfolio’s shares, the Portfolio is exposed to the risk that investors may seek to exploit this delay by purchasing or redeeming shares at NAVs that do not reflect appropriate fair value prices. The Trust seeks to deter and prevent this activity, sometimes referred to as “stale price arbitrage,” by the appropriate use of “fair value” pricing of the Portfolio’s securities. See “How Portfolio Shares are Priced” below for more information.
Second, the Trust and PIMCO seek to monitor shareholder account activities in order to detect and prevent excessive and disruptive trading practices. The Trust and PIMCO each reserves the right to restrict or refuse any purchase or exchange transaction if, in the judgment of the Trust or of PIMCO, the transaction may adversely affect the interests of the Portfolio or its shareholders. Among other things, the Trust may monitor for any patterns of frequent purchases and sales that appear to be made in response to short-term fluctuations in share price. Notice of any restrictions or rejections of transactions may vary according to the particular circumstances. When PIMCO notices a pattern of trading that may be indicative of excessive or abusive trading by Variable Contract Owners, the Trust and/or PIMCO will seek the cooperation of insurance companies.
Although the Trust and its service providers seek to use these methods to detect and prevent abusive trading activities, and although the Trust will consistently apply such methods, there can be no assurances that such activities can be mitigated or eliminated. By their nature, insurance
company separate accounts, in which purchases and redemptions of Portfolio shares by Variable Contract Owners are aggregated for presentation to the Portfolio on a net basis, conceal the identity of the individual Variable Contract Owners from the Portfolio. This makes it more difficult for the Trust and/or PIMCO to identify short-term transactions in the Portfolio.
How Portfolio Shares are Priced
The price of the Portfolio’s shares is based on the Portfolio’s NAV. The NAV of the Portfolio, or each of its share classes, as applicable, is determined by dividing the total value of the Portfolio’s portfolio investments and other assets attributable to that Portfolio or class, less any liabilities, by the total number of shares outstanding of that Portfolio or class.
On each day that the NYSE is open, Portfolio shares are ordinarily valued as of the NYSE Close. Information that becomes known to the Portfolio or its agents after the time as of which NAV has been calculated on a particular day will not generally be used to retroactively adjust the price of a security or the NAV determined earlier that day. If regular trading on the NYSE closes earlier than scheduled, the Portfolio reserves the right to either (i) calculate its NAV as of the earlier closing time or (ii) calculate its NAV as of the normally scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE for that day. The Portfolio generally does not calculate its NAV on days during which the NYSE is closed. However, if the NYSE is closed on a day it would normally be open for business, the Portfolio reserves the right to calculate its NAV as of the normally scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE for that day or such other time that the Portfolio may determine.
For purposes of calculating NAV, portfolio securities and other assets for which market quotations are readily available are valued at market value. A market quotation is readily available only when that quotation is a quoted price (unadjusted) in active markets for identical investments that the Portfolio can access at the measurement date, provided that a quotation will not be readily available if it is not reliable. Market value is generally determined on the basis of official closing prices or the last reported sales prices. The Portfolio will normally use pricing data for domestic equity securities received shortly after the NYSE Close and does not normally take into account trading, clearances or settlements that take place after the NYSE Close. A foreign (non-U.S.) equity security traded on a foreign exchange or on more than one exchange is typically valued using pricing information from the exchange considered by PIMCO to be the primary exchange. If market value pricing is used, a foreign (non-U.S.) equity security will be valued as of the close of trading on the foreign exchange, or the NYSE Close, if the NYSE Close occurs before the end of trading on the foreign exchange. Investments for which market quotations are not readily available are valued at fair value as determined in good faith pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act. As a general principle, the fair value of a security or asset is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Pursuant to Rule 2a-5, the Board has designated PIMCO as the valuation designee (“Valuation Designee”) for the Portfolio to perform the fair value determination relating to all Portfolio
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PIMCO Equity Series VIT
investments. PIMCO may carry out its designated responsibilities as Valuation Designee through various teams and committees. The Valuation Designee’s policies and procedures govern the Valuation Designee’s selection and application of methodologies for determining and calculating the fair value of Portfolio investments. The Valuation Designee may value portfolio securities for which market quotations are not readily available and other Portfolio assets utilizing inputs from pricing services, quotation reporting systems, valuation agents and other third-party sources (together, “Pricing Sources”). Domestic and foreign (non-U.S.) fixed income securities, non-exchange-traded derivatives, and equity options are normally valued on the basis of quotes obtained from brokers and dealers or Pricing Sources using data reflecting the earlier closing of the principal markets for those securities. Prices obtained from Pricing Sources may be based on, among other things, information provided by market makers or estimates of market values obtained from yield data relating to investments or securities with similar characteristics. Certain fixed income securities purchased on a delayed-delivery basis are marked to market daily until settlement at the forward settlement date. Exchange-traded options, except equity options, futures and options on futures are valued at the settlement price determined by the relevant exchange. Swap agreements are valued on the basis of bid quotes obtained from brokers and dealers or market-based prices supplied by Pricing Sources. With respect to any portion of the Portfolio’s assets that are invested in one or more open-end management investment companies, other than exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), the Portfolio’s NAV will be calculated based upon the NAVs of such investments.
If a foreign (non-U.S.) equity security’s value has materially changed after the close of the security’s primary exchange or principal market but before the NYSE Close, the security may be valued at fair value. Foreign (non-U.S.) equity securities that do not trade when the NYSE is open are also valued at fair value. With respect to foreign (non-U.S.) equity securities, the Portfolio may determine the fair value of investments based on information provided by Pricing Sources and other third-party vendors, which may recommend fair value or adjustments with reference to other securities, indexes or assets. In considering whether fair valuation is required and in determining fair values, the Valuation Designee may, among other things, consider significant events (which may be considered to include changes in the value of U.S. securities or securities indexes) that occur after the close of the relevant market and before the NYSE Close. The Portfolio may utilize modeling tools provided by third-party vendors to determine fair values of non-U.S. securities. For these purposes, unless otherwise determined by the Valuation Designee, any movement in the applicable reference index or instrument (“zero trigger”) between the earlier close of the applicable foreign market and the NYSE Close may be deemed to be a significant event, prompting the application of the pricing model (effectively resulting in daily fair valuations). Foreign (non-U.S.) exchanges may permit trading in foreign (non-U.S.) equity securities on days when the Trust is not open for business, which may result in the Portfolio’s portfolio investments being affected when you are unable to buy or sell shares.
Investments valued in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are converted to the U.S. dollar using exchange rates obtained from Pricing Sources. As a result, the value of such investments and, in turn, the NAV of the Portfolio’s shares may be affected by changes in the value of currencies in relation to the U.S. dollar. The value of investments traded in markets outside the United States or denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar may be affected significantly on a day that the Trust is not open for business. As a result, to the extent that the Portfolio holds foreign (non-U.S.) investments, the value of those investments may change at times when shareholders are unable to buy or sell shares and the value of such investments will be reflected in the Portfolio’s next calculated NAV.
Fair valuation may require subjective determinations about the value of a security. While the Trust’s and Valuation Designee's policies and procedures are intended to result in a calculation of the Portfolio’s NAV that fairly reflects security values as of the time of pricing, the Trust cannot ensure that fair values accurately reflect the price that the Portfolio could obtain for a security if it were to dispose of that security as of the time of pricing (for instance, in a forced or distressed sale). The prices used by the Portfolio may differ from the value that would be realized if the securities were sold. The Portfolio’s use of fair valuation may also help to deter “stale price arbitrage” as discussed above under “Frequent or Excessive Purchases, Exchanges and Redemptions.”
Tax Consequences
The Portfolio intends to qualify as a regulated investment company annually for federal income tax purposes. As such, the Portfolio generally will not pay federal income tax on the income and gains it pays as dividends to its shareholders.
The Portfolio intends to diversify its investments in a manner intended to comply with tax requirements generally applicable to mutual funds. In addition, the Portfolio will diversify its investments so that on the last day of each quarter of a calendar year, no more than 55% of the value of its total assets is represented by any one investment, no more than 70% is represented by any two investments, no more than 80% is represented by any three investments, and no more than 90% is represented by any four investments. For this purpose, securities of a single issuer are treated as one investment, and each U.S. Government agency or instrumentality is treated as a separate issuer. Any security issued, guaranteed, or insured (to the extent so guaranteed or insured) by the U.S. Government or any agency or instrumentality of the U.S. Government is treated as a security issued by the U.S. Government or its agency or instrumentality, whichever is applicable.
If the Portfolio fails to meet the diversification requirement under Section 817(h) of the Code, income with respect to Variable Contracts invested in the Portfolio at any time during the calendar quarter in which the failure occurred could become currently taxable to the owners of the Variable Contracts and income for prior periods with respect to such contracts also could be taxable, most likely in the year of the failure to achieve the required diversification. Other adverse tax consequences could also ensue.
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Prospectus
The Portfolio’s transactions in derivatives, short sales or similar transactions could affect the amount, timing and character of distributions from the Portfolio. In addition, the Portfolio’s investments in non-U.S. securities (other than equity securities) or foreign currencies may increase or accelerate the Portfolio’s recognition of ordinary income and may affect the timing or amount of the Portfolio’s distributions.
Please refer to the prospectus for the Separate Account and Variable Contract for information regarding the federal income tax treatment of Variable Contracts. See “Taxation” in the SAI for more information on taxes.
This “Tax Consequences” section relates only to federal income tax; the consequences under other tax laws may differ. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors as to the possible application of foreign, state and local income tax laws to Portfolio dividends and capital distributions. Please see “Taxation” in the SAI for additional information regarding the tax aspects of investing in the Portfolio.
Characteristics and Risks of Securities and Investment Techniques
This section provides additional information about some of the principal investments and related risks of the Portfolio described under “Portfolio Summary” and “Description of Principal Risks” above. It also describes characteristics and risks of additional securities and investment techniques that may be used by the Portfolio from time to time. Generally, the characteristics and risks of securities and investment techniques are discretionary, which means that PIMCO can decide whether to use them or not. This prospectus does not attempt to disclose all of the various types of securities and investment techniques that may be used by the Portfolio. As with any fund, investors in the Portfolio rely on the professional investment judgment and skill of PIMCO. Please see “Investment Objectives and Policies” in the SAI for more detailed information about the securities and investment techniques described in this section and about other strategies and techniques that may be used by the Portfolio.
Investors should be aware that the investments made by the Portfolio and the results achieved by the Portfolio at any given time, including for the same or similar instruments, are not expected to be the same as those made by other funds for which PIMCO acts as investment adviser, including funds with names, investment objectives and policies and/or portfolio management teams, similar to the Portfolio. This may be attributable to a wide variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the use of a different strategy or portfolio management team, the execution venue(s) used for a given strategy or Portfolio, when a particular fund commenced operations or the size of a particular fund, in each case as compared to other similar funds.
Significant shareholder purchases and redemptions could be driven by a variety of circumstances, such as changing market and economic conditions, and asset allocations or other decisions by PIMCO. Such transactions may adversely impact the Portfolio’s portfolio management. For example, the Portfolio may be forced to sell a comparatively large portion of its portfolio to meet significant shareholder redemptions, or hold a comparatively large portion of its
portfolio in cash due to significant shareholder purchases, in each case when the Portfolio otherwise would not seek to do so. These shareholder transactions may cause the Portfolio to make investment decisions at inopportune times or prices or miss attractive investment opportunities. Such transactions may also increase the Portfolio’s transaction costs, accelerate the realization of taxable income if such sales of securities resulted in gains, cause the Portfolio to make taxable distributions to its non-redeeming shareholders to a greater extent than the Portfolio otherwise would have, or otherwise cause the Portfolio to perform differently than intended. Similarly, significant shareholder purchases may adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance to the extent the Portfolio is delayed in investing new cash and, as a result, holds a proportionally larger cash position than under ordinary circumstances and such impact may be heightened in funds of funds. While such risks may apply to portfolios of any size, these risks are heightened in portfolios with fewer assets under management. In addition, new portfolios may not be able to fully implement their investment strategy immediately upon commencing investment operations, which could reduce investment performance.
More generally, the Portfolio may be adversely affected when a large shareholder purchases or redeems large amounts of shares, which can occur at any time and may impact the Portfolio in the same manner as a high volume of purchase or redemption requests. These large shareholders include, but are not limited to, other funds, institutional investors, and asset allocators who make investment decisions on behalf of underlying clients. Large shareholder transactions may cause the Portfolio to make investment decisions at inopportune times or prices or miss attractive investment opportunities. In addition, such transactions may also cause the Portfolio to sell certain assets in order to meet purchase or redemption requests, which could indirectly affect the liquidity of the Portfolio’s portfolio. Such transactions may also increase the Portfolio’s transaction costs, decrease economies of scale, accelerate the realization of taxable income, or otherwise cause the Portfolio to perform differently than intended. While large shareholder transactions may be more frequent under certain circumstances, the Portfolio is generally subject to the risk that a large shareholder can purchase or redeem a significant percentage of Portfolio shares at any time. Moreover, the Portfolio is subject to the risk that other shareholders may make investment decisions based on the choices of a large shareholder, which could exacerbate any potential negative effects experienced by the Portfolio.
Investment Selection
PIMCO uses a fundamental research driven strategy to select investments for the Portfolio. PIMCO analyzes individual company, industry and general economic factors when selecting investments for the Portfolio, including analysis of a company’s asset value, book value and cash flow and earnings and dividend estimates. There is no guarantee that PIMCO’s investment selection techniques will produce the desired results.
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PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Convertible and Equity Securities
Common stock represents equity ownership in a company and typically provides the common stockholder the power to vote on certain corporate actions, including the election of the company’s directors. Common stockholders participate in company profits through dividends and, in the event of bankruptcy, distributions, on a pro-rata basis after other claims are satisfied. Many factors affect the value of common stock, including earnings, earnings forecasts, corporate events and factors impacting the issuer’s industry and the market generally. Common stock generally has the greatest appreciation and depreciation potential of all corporate securities.
The Portfolio may invest in convertible securities and equity securities, as well as securities related to equities. Equity-related securities include securities having an equity component (e.g., hybrids, bank capital) and equity derivatives. Convertible securities are generally preferred securities and other securities, including fixed income securities and warrants, that are convertible into or exercisable for common stock at a stated price or rate. The price of a convertible security will normally vary in some proportion to changes in the price of the underlying common stock because of this conversion or exercise feature. However, the value of a convertible security may not increase or decrease as rapidly as the underlying common stock. A convertible security will normally also provide income and is subject to interest rate risk. Convertible securities may be lower-rated securities subject to greater levels of credit risk. The Portfolio may be forced to convert a security before it would otherwise choose, which may have an adverse effect on the Portfolio’s ability to achieve its investment objective.
“Synthetic” convertible securities are selected based on the similarity of their economic characteristics to those of a traditional convertible security due to the combination of separate securities that possess the two principal characteristics of a traditional convertible security, i.e., an income-producing security (“income-producing component”) and the right to acquire an equity security (“convertible component”). The income-producing component is achieved by investing in non-convertible, income-producing securities such as bonds, preferred securities and money market instruments, which may be represented by derivative instruments. The convertible component is achieved by investing in securities or instruments such as warrants or options to buy common stock at a certain exercise price, or options on a stock index. A simple example of a synthetic convertible security is the combination of a traditional corporate bond with a warrant to purchase equity securities of the issuer of the bond. The Portfolio may also purchase synthetic securities created by other parties, typically investment banks, including convertible structured notes. The income-producing and convertible components of a synthetic convertible security may be issued separately by different issuers and at different times.
Preferred and other senior securities generally entitle the holder to receive, in preference to the holders of other securities such as common stocks, dividends and a fixed share of the proceeds resulting from a liquidation of the company. Preferred and other senior securities may pay fixed or adjustable rates of return. Preferred and other senior securities are subject to issuer-specific and market risks applicable
generally to equity securities. In addition, a company’s preferred and other senior securities generally pay dividends only after the company makes required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt. For this reason, the value of preferred and other senior securities will usually react more strongly than bonds and other debt to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects.
In addition, preferred and other senior securities often have special redemption rights allowing issuers to redeem such securities at par earlier than scheduled. If these rights are exercised, the Portfolio may have to reinvest proceeds in less attractive securities.
Among other risks described in this prospectus, the following issues are particularly associated with investments in preferred and other senior securities.
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Deferral and Omission of Distributions. Preferred and other senior securities may include features permitting or requiring the issuer to defer or omit distributions. Among other things, such deferral or omission may result in adverse tax consequences for the Portfolio.
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Limited Voting Rights. Preferred and other senior securities generally do not have voting rights with respect to the issuer unless dividends have been in arrears for certain specified periods of time.
In the future, preferred or other senior securities may be offered with features different from those described above, and as such, may entail different risks. Over longer periods of time, certain types of preferred or other senior securities may become more scarce or less liquid as a result of legislative changes. Such events may result in losses to the Portfolio as the prices of securities it holds may be negatively affected. Revisions to bank capital requirements by international regulatory bodies, to the extent they are adopted in the United States, may also negatively impact the market for certain preferred or senior securities.
While some countries or companies may be regarded as favorable investments, pure fixed income opportunities may be unattractive or limited due to insufficient supply, or legal or technical restrictions. In such cases, subject to its applicable investment restrictions, the Portfolio may consider convertible securities or equity securities to gain exposure to such investments.
While the Portfolio may generally invest in equity derivatives, the Portfolio may invest without limitation directly in equity securities, including common stocks, preferred securities, and convertible securities. When investing directly in equity securities, the Portfolio will not be limited to only those equity securities with any particular weighting in the Portfolio’s benchmark index, if any. Generally, the Portfolio may consider investing directly in equity securities when derivatives on the underlying securities appear to be overvalued.At times, in connection with the restructuring of a preferred security or Fixed Income Instrument either outside of bankruptcy court or in the context of bankruptcy court proceedings, the Portfolio may determine or be required to accept equity securities, such as common stocks, in exchange for all or a portion of a preferred security or Fixed Income Instrument. Depending upon, among other things, PIMCO’s evaluation
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Prospectus
of the potential value of such securities in relation to the price that could be obtained by the Portfolio at any given time upon sale thereof, the Portfolio may determine to hold such securities in its portfolio.
Equity securities generally have greater price volatility than fixed income securities. The market price of equity securities owned by the Portfolio may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Equity securities may decline in value due to factors affecting equity securities markets generally or particular industries represented in those markets. The value of an equity security may also decline for a number of reasons that directly relate to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer’s goods or services.
Insurance-Linked and Other Instruments
The Portfolio may invest in insurance-linked instruments and similar investments (which may include, for example, reinsurance contracts through sidecars or otherwise, event-linked bonds, such as catastrophe and resilience bonds, and securities relating to life insurance policies, annuity contracts and premium finance loans). The Portfolio could lose a portion or all of the principal it has invested in these types of investments, and the right to additional interest and/or dividend payments with respect to the investments, upon the occurrence of one or more trigger events, as defined within the terms of an investment. Trigger events may include natural or other perils of a specific size or magnitude that occur in a designated geographic region during a specified time period, and/or that involve losses or other metrics that exceed a specific amount. The Portfolio may also invest in insurance-linked instruments that are subject to “indemnity triggers.” An indemnity trigger is a mechanism where the payout to the investor is based on the actual losses incurred by the insurer and come into play when losses from a specified event exceed a designated level. Insurance-linked instruments subject to indemnity triggers are often regarded as being subject to potential moral hazard, since such insurance-linked investments are triggered by actual losses of the ceding sponsor and the ceding sponsor may have an incentive to take actions and/or risks that would have an adverse effect on the Portfolio. There is no way to accurately predict whether a trigger event will occur and, accordingly, insurance-linked instruments and similar investments carry significant risk. In addition to the specified trigger events, these types of investments may expose the Portfolio to other risks, including but not limited to issuer (credit) default, adverse regulatory or jurisdictional interpretations and adverse tax consequences. The Portfolio may gain exposure to reinsurance contracts (through insurance-linked securities, sidecars or otherwise). This may include exposure to “excess of loss” contracts, wherein liability arises only if and when losses exceed a specified amount, and proportional reinsurance, wherein a portion of the premiums and liabilities of the cedant associated with a specified business or a portfolio of insurance contracts are linked to the Portfolio’s investment. Investments linked to reinsurance transactions may involve significant insurance brokerage fees, fronting fees and other transaction costs. A series of major triggering events could cause the failure of a reinsurer. Similarly, to the extent the Portfolio invests in reinsurance-related securities for which a
triggering event occurs, losses associated with such event will result in losses to the Portfolio and a series of major triggering events affecting a large portion of the reinsurance-related securities held by the Portfolio may result in substantial losses to the Portfolio. In addition, unexpected events such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks could lead to government intervention. Political, judicial and legal developments affecting the reinsurance industry could also create new and expanded theories of liability or regulatory or other requirements; such changes could have a material adverse effect on the Portfolio. In addition, the litigation environment in catastrophe-exposed states or regions could impact the frequency and severity of insurance claims, and litigation costs could decrease the value of the Portfolio's investment in products linked to reinsurance contracts. In recent years capital market participants have been increasingly active in the reinsurance market and markets for related risks. Increased competition could result in fewer submissions, lower premium rates and less favorable policy terms and conditions.
Certain insurance-linked instruments and similar investments may have limited liquidity, or may be illiquid. The Portfolio has limited transparency into the individual contracts underlying certain insurance-linked instruments and similar investments, which may make the risk assessment of them more difficult. These types of investments may be difficult to value.
The aforementioned instruments may include longevity and mortality investments, including indirect investment in pools of insurance-related longevity and mortality investments, including life insurance policies, annuity contracts and premium finance loans. Such investments are subject to “longevity risk” and/or “mortality risk.” Longevity risk is the risk that members of a reference population will live longer, on average, than anticipated. Mortality risk is the risk that members of a reference population will live shorter, on average, than anticipated. Changes in these rates can significantly affect the liabilities and cash needs of life insurers, annuity providers and pension funds. The terms of a longevity bond typically provide that the investor in the bond will receive less than the bond’s par amount at maturity if the actual average longevity (life span) of a specified population of people observed over a specified period of time (typically measured by a longevity index) is higher than a specified level. If longevity is higher than expected, the bond will return less than its par amount at maturity. A mortality bond, in contrast to a longevity bond, typically provides that the investor in the bond will receive less than the bond’s par amount at maturity if the mortality rate of a specified population of people observed over a specified period of time (typically measured by a mortality index) is higher than a specified level.
During their term, both longevity bonds and mortality bonds typically pay a floating rate of interest to investors. Longevity and mortality investments purchased by the Portfolio involve the risk of incorrectly predicting the actual level of longevity or mortality, as applicable, for the reference population of people. With respect to mortality investments held by the Portfolio, there is also the risk that an epidemic or other catastrophic event could strike the reference population, resulting in mortality rates exceeding expectations. The Portfolio may also gain this
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PIMCO Equity Series VIT
type of exposure through event-linked derivative instruments, such as swaps, that are contingent on or formulaically related to longevity or mortality risk.
High Yield Securities and Distressed Companies
Securities rated lower than Baa by Moody’s, or equivalently rated by S&P or Fitch, are sometimes referred to as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds.” Issuers of these securities may be distressed and undergoing restructuring, bankruptcy or other proceedings in an attempt to avoid insolvency. Investing in these securities involves special risks in addition to the risks associated with investments in higher-rated fixed income securities. While offering a greater potential opportunity for capital appreciation and higher yields, high yield and distressed company securities typically entail greater potential price volatility and may be less liquid than higher-rated securities. High yield securities and debt securities of distressed companies may be regarded as predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to meet principal and interest payments. They may also be more susceptible to real or perceived adverse economic and competitive industry conditions than higher-rated securities. Issuers of securities in default may fail to resume principal or interest payments, in which case the Portfolio may lose its entire investment. Investments in distressed securities often involve increased control position risk and litigation risk. PIMCO may take actions in a stressed or distressed situation which results in disputes or litigation, which could impose costs on the Portfolio and could result in actions which decrease the value of the securities held by the Portfolio.
The market values of high yield securities tend to reflect individual developments of the issuer to a greater extent than do higher-quality securities, which tend to react mainly to fluctuations in the general level of interest rates. In addition, lower-quality debt securities tend to be more sensitive to general economic conditions. Certain emerging market governments that issue high yield securities in which the Portfolio may invest are among the largest debtors to commercial banks, foreign governments and supranational organizations, such as the World Bank, and may not be able or willing to make principal and/or interest payments as they come due.
Duration
Duration is a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a security’s price to changes in interest rates that incorporates a security’s yield, coupon, final maturity and call features, among other characteristics. The longer a security’s duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates. Similarly, a portfolio with a longer average portfolio duration will be more sensitive to changes in interest rates than a portfolio with a shorter average portfolio duration. By way of example, the price of a bond fund with an average duration of eight years would be expected to fall approximately 8% if interest rates rose by one percentage point. Conversely, the price of a bond fund with an average duration of negative three years would be expected to rise approximately 3% if interest rates rose by one percentage point. The maturity of a security, another commonly used measure of price sensitivity, measures only the time until final payment is due, whereas
duration takes into account the pattern of all payments of interest and principal on a security over time, including how these payments are affected by prepayments and by changes in interest rates, as well as the time until an interest rate is reset (in the case of variable-rate securities). PIMCO uses an internal model for calculating duration, which may result in a different value for the duration of an index compared to the duration calculated by the index provider or another third party.
U.S. Government Securities
U.S. Government Securities are obligations of, or guaranteed by, the U.S. Government, its agencies or government-sponsored enterprises. The U.S. Government does not guarantee the NAV of the Portfolio’s shares. U.S. Government Securities are subject to market and interest rate risk, as well as varying degrees of credit risk. Some U.S. Government Securities are issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury and are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States. Other types of U.S. Government Securities are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States (but not issued by the U.S. Treasury). These securities may have less credit risk than U.S. Government Securities not supported by the full faith and credit of the United States. Such other types of U.S. Government Securities are: (1) supported by the ability of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury; (2) supported only by the credit of the issuing agency, instrumentality or government-sponsored corporation; or (3) supported by the United States in some other way. These securities may be subject to greater credit risk. U.S. Government Securities include zero coupon securities, which do not distribute interest on a current basis and tend to be subject to greater market risk than interest-paying securities of similar maturities. The U.S. Government Securities in which the Portfolio may invest may pay fixed, floating, variable or adjustable interest rates.
Securities issued by U.S. Government agencies or government-sponsored enterprises may not be guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury. Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), a wholly-owned U.S. Government corporation, is authorized to guarantee, with the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government, the timely payment of principal and interest on securities issued by institutions approved by GNMA and backed by pools of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Government-related guarantors (i.e., not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government) include the Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”). Pass-through securities issued by FNMA are guaranteed as to timely payment of principal and interest by FNMA but are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. FHLMC guarantees the timely payment of interest and ultimate collection of principal, but its participation certificates are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
Municipal Bonds
Municipal Bonds are generally issued by states, territories, possessions and local governments and their agencies, authorities and other instrumentalities. Municipal Bonds are subject to interest rate, credit and market risk, uncertainties related to the tax status of a Municipal
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Prospectus
Bond or the rights of investors invested in these securities. The ability of an issuer to make payments could be affected by litigation, legislation or other political events or the bankruptcy of the issuer. In addition, imbalances in supply and demand in the municipal market may result in a deterioration of liquidity and a lack of price transparency in the market. At certain times, this may affect pricing, execution and transaction costs associated with a particular trade. The secondary market for municipal bonds also tends to be less well-developed and less liquid than many other securities markets, which may adversely affect the ability of the Portfolio to sell its municipal bonds at attractive prices or value municipal bonds. The value of certain municipal securities, in particular general obligation debt, may also be adversely affected by rising health care costs, increasing unfunded pension liabilities, changes in accounting standards and by the phasing out of federal programs providing financial support. Lower-rated Municipal Bonds are subject to greater credit and market risk than higher-quality Municipal Bonds. Municipal Bonds may also have exposure to potential physical risks resulting from climate change, including extreme weather, flooding and fires. Climate risks, if they materialize, can adversely impact a municipal issuer’s financial plans in current or future years including, for example, the physical impairment of a facility or other source generating revenues backing a municipal issuer’s revenue bonds. As a result, the impact of climate risks could adversely impact the value of the Portfolio’s Municipal Bond investments. The types of Municipal Bonds in which the Portfolio may invest include municipal lease obligations, municipal general obligation bonds, municipal essential service revenue bonds, municipal cash equivalents, loans, mortgages, pre-refunded and escrowed to maturity Municipal Bonds and other debt instruments and pools of any of the foregoing. The Portfolio may also invest in industrial development bonds, which are Municipal Bonds issued by a government agency on behalf of a private sector company and, in most cases, are not backed by the credit of the issuing municipality and may therefore involve more risk. The Portfolio may also invest in securities issued by entities whose underlying assets are Municipal Bonds.
Pre-refunded Municipal Bonds are tax-exempt bonds that have been refunded to a call date on or before the final maturity of principal and remain outstanding in the municipal market. The payment of principal and interest of the pre-refunded Municipal Bonds held by the Portfolio is funded from securities in a designated escrow account that holds U.S. Treasury securities or other obligations of the U.S. Government (including its agencies and instrumentalities (“Agency Securities”)). As the payment of principal and interest is generated from securities held in a designated escrow account, the pledge of the municipality has been fulfilled and the original pledge of revenue by the municipality is no longer in place. The escrow account securities pledged to pay the principal and interest of the pre-refunded Municipal Bond do not guarantee the price movement of the bond before maturity. Issuers of municipal bonds refund in advance of maturity the outstanding higher cost debt and issue new, lower cost debt, placing the proceeds of the lower cost issuance into an escrow account to pre-refund the older, higher cost debt. Investment in pre-refunded Municipal Bonds held by the Portfolio may subject the Portfolio to interest rate risk, market risk
and credit risk. In addition, while a secondary market exists for pre-refunded Municipal Bonds, if the Portfolio sells pre-refunded Municipal Bonds prior to maturity, the price received may be more or less than the original cost, depending on market conditions at the time of sale.
The Portfolio may invest in trust certificates issued in tender option bond programs. In these programs, a trust typically issues two classes of certificates and uses the proceeds to purchase municipal securities having relatively long maturities and bearing interest at a fixed interest rate substantially higher than prevailing short-term tax-exempt rates. There is a risk that the Portfolio investing in a tender option bond program will not be considered the owner of a tender option bond for federal income tax purposes, and thus will not be entitled to treat such interest as exempt from federal income tax. Certain tender option bonds may be illiquid or may become illiquid as a result of, among other things, a credit rating downgrade, a payment default or a disqualification from tax-exempt status.
The Portfolio’s investment in the securities issued by a tender option bond trust may involve greater risk and volatility than an investment in a fixed rate bond, and the value of such securities may decrease significantly when market interest rates increase. Tender option bond trusts could be terminated due to market, credit or other events beyond the Portfolio’s control, which could require the Portfolio to dispose of portfolio investments at inopportune times and prices. The Portfolio may use a tender option bond program as a way of achieving leverage in its portfolio, in which case the Portfolio will be subject to leverage risk. The use of tender option bonds typically will impact the Portfolio’s duration and cause the Portfolio to be subject to increased duration and interest rate risk.
Loan Participations and Assignments
The Portfolio may invest in fixed- and floating-rate loans, which investments generally will be in the form of loan participations and assignments of all or portions of such loans. Participations and assignments involve special types of risk, including extension risk, prepayment risk, credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, and the risks of being a lender. Loans are subject to the risk that scheduled interest or principal payments will not be made in a timely manner or at all, either of which may adversely affect the value of the loan. In addition, the collateral underlying a loan may be unavailable or insufficient to satisfy a borrower’s obligation, and the Portfolio could become part owner of any collateral if a loan is foreclosed, subjecting the Portfolio to costs associated with owning and disposing of the collateral. If the Portfolio purchases a participation, it may only be able to enforce its rights through the lender, and may assume the credit risk of the lender in addition to the borrower.
Reinvestment
The Portfolio may be subject to the risk that the returns of the Portfolio will decline during periods of falling interest rates because the Portfolio may have to reinvest the proceeds from matured, traded or called debt obligations at interest rates below the Portfolio’s current earnings rate.
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For instance, when interest rates decline, an issuer of debt obligations may exercise an option to redeem securities prior to maturity, thereby forcing the Portfolio to invest in lower-yielding securities. The Portfolio also may choose to sell higher-yielding portfolio securities and to purchase lower-yielding securities to achieve greater portfolio diversification, because the Portfolio’s portfolio managers believe the current holdings are overvalued or for other investment-related reasons. A decline in the returns received by the Portfolio from its investments is likely to have an adverse effect on the Portfolio’s NAV, yield and total return.
Focused Investment
To the extent that the Portfolio focuses its investments in a particular sector, the Portfolio may be susceptible to loss due to adverse developments affecting that sector. These developments include, but are not limited to, governmental regulation; inflation; rising interest rates; cost increases in raw materials, fuel and other operating expenses; technological innovations that may render existing products and equipment obsolete; competition from new entrants; high research and development costs; contagion risk within a particular industry or sector; increased costs associated with compliance with environmental or other governmental regulations; and other economic, business or political developments specific to that sector. Furthermore, the Portfolio may invest a substantial portion of its assets in companies in related sectors that may share common characteristics, are often subject to similar business risks and regulatory burdens, and whose securities may react similarly to the types of developments described above, which will subject the Portfolio to greater risk. The Portfolio also will be subject to focused investment risk to the extent that it invests a substantial portion of its assets in a particular issuer, market, asset class, country or geographic region.
Variable and Floating Rate Securities
Variable and floating rate securities are securities that pay interest at rates that adjust whenever a specified interest rate changes and/or that reset on predetermined dates (such as the last day of a month or a calendar quarter). In addition to senior loans, variable- and floating-rate instruments may include, without limit, instruments such as catastrophe and other event-linked bonds, bank capital securities, unsecured bank loans, corporate bonds, money market instruments and certain types of mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities. The Portfolio may invest in floating rate debt instruments (“floaters”) and engage in credit spread trades. A credit spread trade is an investment position relating to a difference in the prices or interest rates of two bonds or other securities, in which the value of the investment position is determined by changes in the difference between the prices or interest rates as the case may be, of the respective securities. Variable and floating rate securities generally are less sensitive to interest rate changes but may decline in value if their interest rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. The Portfolio may also invest in inverse floating rate debt instruments (“inverse floaters”). An inverse floater may exhibit greater price volatility than a fixed rate
obligation of similar credit quality. The Portfolio may invest up to 5% of its total assets in any combination of mortgage-related or other asset-backed IO, PO, or inverse floater securities. Additionally, the Portfolio may also invest, without limitation, in residual interest bonds. Residual interest bonds are a type of inverse floater. See “Municipal Bonds.”
Corporate Debt Securities
Corporate debt securities are subject to the risk of the issuer’s inability to meet principal and interest payments on the obligation and may also be subject to price volatility due to such factors as interest rate sensitivity, market perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market liquidity. When interest rates rise, the value of corporate debt securities can be expected to decline. Debt securities with longer maturities tend to be more sensitive to interest rate movements than those with shorter maturities. In addition, certain corporate debt securities may be highly customized and as a result may be subject to, among others, liquidity and pricing transparency risks.
Foreign (Non-U.S.) Securities
The Portfolio may invest in securities and instruments that are economically tied to foreign (non-U.S.) countries. PIMCO generally considers an instrument to be economically tied to a non-U.S. country if the issuer is a foreign (non-U.S.) government (or any political subdivision, agency, authority or instrumentality of such government), or if the issuer is organized under the laws of a non-U.S. country. The Portfolio’s investments in foreign (non-U.S.) securities may include American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”), Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”) and similar securities that represent interests in a non-U.S. company’s securities that have been deposited with a bank or trust and that trade on a U.S. exchange or over-the-counter. ADRs, EDRs and GDRs may be less liquid or may trade at a different price than the underlying securities of the issuer. In the case of money market instruments other than commercial paper and certificates of deposit, such instruments will be considered economically tied to a non-U.S. country if the issuer of such money market instrument is organized under the laws of a non-U.S. country. In the case of commercial paper and certificates of deposit, such instruments will be considered economically tied to a non-U.S. country if the “country of exposure” of such instrument is a non-U.S. country, as determined by the criteria set forth below. With respect to derivative instruments, PIMCO generally considers such instruments to be economically tied to non-U.S. countries if the underlying assets are foreign currencies (or baskets or indexes of such currencies), instruments or securities that are issued by foreign governments, or issuers organized under the laws of a non-U.S. country (or if the underlying assets are money market instruments other than commercial paper and certificates of deposit, if the issuer of such money market instrument is organized under the laws of a non-U.S. country or, in the case of underlying assets that are commercial paper or certificates of deposit, if the “country of exposure” of such money market instrument is a non-U.S. country). A security’s “country of exposure” is determined by PIMCO using certain factors provided by a third-party analytical service provider. The factors are
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applied in order such that the first factor to result in the assignment of a country determines the “country of exposure.” Both the factors and the order in which they are applied may change at the discretion of PIMCO. The current factors, listed in the order in which they are applied, are: (i) if an asset-backed or other collateralized security, the country in which the collateral backing the security is located; (ii) the “country of risk” of the issuer; (iii) if the security is guaranteed by the government of a country (or any political subdivision, agency, authority or instrumentality of such government), the country of the government or instrumentality providing the guarantee; (iv) the “country of risk” of the issuer’s ultimate parent; or (v) the country where the issuer is organized or incorporated under the laws thereof. “Country of risk” is a separate four-part test determined by the following factors, listed in order of importance: (i) management location; (ii) country of primary listing; (iii) sales or revenue attributable to the country; and (iv) reporting currency of the issuer. For purposes of calculating foreign currency exposure limits (from non-U.S. dollar denominated securities or currencies), the Portfolios, as applicable, will net long and short exposures to the same currency, and for positions involving long and short exposures to different currencies, will count the greater absolute value as between the long and short exposures (after first netting exposure within the same currency).
Investing in foreign (non-U.S.) securities involves special risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities. Investors should consider carefully the substantial risks involved for portfolios that invest in securities issued by foreign companies and governments of foreign countries. These risks include: differences in accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards; generally higher commission rates on foreign portfolio transactions; the possibility of the imposition of sanctions and other similar measures, nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation; adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations; market disruptions; the possibility of security suspensions; and political instability. Individual foreign (non-U.S.) economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product, rates of inflation, capital reinvestment, resources, self-sufficiency and balance of payments position. Other countries' financial infrastructure or settlement systems may be less developed than those of the United States. The securities markets, values of securities, yields and risks associated with foreign (non-U.S.) securities markets may change independently of each other. Also, foreign (non-U.S.) securities and dividends and interest payable on those securities may be subject to foreign taxes, including taxes withheld from payments on those securities. Foreign (non-U.S.) securities often trade with less frequency and volume than domestic securities and therefore may exhibit greater price volatility. Investments in foreign (non-U.S.) securities may also involve higher custodial costs than domestic investments and additional transaction costs with respect to foreign currency conversions. Changes in, or uncertainty concerning, foreign exchange rates also will affect the value of securities denominated or quoted in foreign currencies and in some cases could lead to uncertainty regarding the reliability of issuers’ financial reporting.
The Portfolio also may invest in sovereign debt issued by governments, their agencies or instrumentalities, or other government-related entities.
Holders of sovereign debt may be requested to participate in the rescheduling of such debt and to extend further loans to governmental entities. In addition, there is no bankruptcy proceeding by which defaulted sovereign debt may be collected.
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Emerging Market Securities. The Portfolio may invest in securities and instruments that are economically tied to developing (or “emerging market”) countries. The Portfolio is subject to the limitation on investment in emerging market securities noted in the Portfolio Summary. PIMCO generally considers an instrument to be economically tied to an emerging market country if: the issuer is organized under the laws of an emerging market country; the currency of settlement of the security is a currency of an emerging market country; the security is guaranteed by the government of an emerging market country (or any political subdivision, agency, authority or instrumentality of such government); for an asset-backed or other collateralized security, the country in which the collateral backing the security is located is an emerging market country; or the security’s “country of exposure” is an emerging market country, as determined by the criteria set forth below. With respect to derivative instruments, PIMCO generally considers such instruments to be economically tied to emerging market countries if the underlying assets are currencies of emerging market countries (or baskets or indexes of such currencies), or instruments or securities that are issued or guaranteed by governments of emerging market countries or by entities organized under the laws of emerging market countries or if an instrument’s “country of exposure” is an emerging market country. A security’s “country of exposure” is determined by PIMCO using certain factors provided by a third-party analytical service provider. The factors are applied in order such that the first factor to result in the assignment of a country determines the “country of exposure.” Both the factors and the order in which they are applied may change at the discretion of PIMCO. The current factors, listed in the order in which they are applied, are: (i) if an asset-backed or other collateralized security, the country in which the collateral backing the security is located; (ii) the “country of risk” of the issuer; (iii) if the security is guaranteed by the government of a country (or any political subdivision, agency, authority or instrumentality of such government), the country of the government or instrumentality providing the guarantee; (iv) the “country of risk” of the issuer’s ultimate parent; or (v) the country where the issuer is organized or incorporated under the laws thereof. “Country of risk” is a separate four-part test determined by the following factors, listed in order of importance: (i) management location; (ii) country of primary listing; (iii) sales or revenue attributable to the country; and (iv) reporting currency of the issuer. PIMCO has broad discretion to identify countries that it considers to qualify as emerging markets. In making investments in emerging market securities, the Portfolio emphasizes those countries with relatively low gross national product per capita and with the potential for rapid economic
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growth. Emerging market countries are generally located in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe. PIMCO will select the country and currency composition based on its evaluation of relative interest rates, inflation rates, exchange rates, monetary and fiscal policies, trade and current account balances, legal and political developments and any other specific factors it believes to be relevant. Investing in emerging market securities imposes risks different from, or greater than, risks of investing in domestic securities or in foreign, developed countries. These risks include: smaller market capitalization of securities markets, which may suffer periods of relative illiquidity; significant price volatility; restrictions on foreign investment; possible repatriation of investment income and capital. In addition, foreign investors may be required to register the proceeds of sales; and future economic or political crises could lead to the imposition of sanctions and other similar measures, price controls, forced mergers, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, seizure, nationalization, or creation of government monopolies. The currencies of emerging market countries may experience significant declines against the U.S. dollar, and devaluation may occur subsequent to investments by the Portfolio in these currencies. Many emerging market countries have experienced substantial, and in some periods extremely high, rates of inflation for many years. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had, and may continue to have, negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain emerging market countries. Additional risks of emerging market securities may include: greater social, economic and political uncertainty and instability; more substantial governmental involvement in the economy; less governmental supervision and regulation; unavailability of currency hedging techniques; unreliable financial information regarding companies that are small and/or newly organized; differences in auditing and financial reporting standards, which may result in unavailability of material information about issuers; and less developed legal systems. Emerging securities markets may have different clearance and settlement procedures, which may be unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions or otherwise make it difficult to engage in such transactions. Settlement problems may cause the Portfolio to miss attractive investment opportunities, hold a portion of its assets in cash pending investment, or be delayed in disposing of a portfolio security. Such a delay could result in possible liability to a purchaser of the security. Custody services in many emerging market countries remain undeveloped. The Portfolio may be investing in emerging market countries where the current law and market practice carry fewer safeguards than in more developed markets, including the protection of client securities against claims from general creditors in the event of the insolvency of an agent selected to hold securities on behalf of the Portfolio, and the Portfolio’s custodian and PIMCO have assumed no liability for losses resulting from the Portfolio acting in accordance with such practice.
Foreign (Non-U.S.) Currencies
Direct investments in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities that trade in, or receive revenues in, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies will be subject to currency risk. Foreign currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. They generally are determined by supply and demand in the foreign exchange markets and the relative merits of investments in different countries, actual or perceived changes in interest rates and other complex factors. Currency exchange rates also can be affected unpredictably by intervention (or the failure to intervene) by U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) governments or central banks, or by currency controls or political developments. Currencies in which the Portfolio’s assets are denominated may be devalued against the U.S. dollar, resulting in a loss to the Portfolio. For purposes of calculating foreign currency exposure limits (from non-U.S. dollar denominated securities or currencies) , the Portfolios, as applicable, will net long and short exposures to the same currency, and for positions involving long and short exposures to different currencies, will count the greater absolute value as between the long and short exposures (after first netting exposure within the same currency).
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Foreign Currency Transactions. The Portfolio may invest in securities denominated in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, engage in foreign currency transactions on a spot (cash) basis, enter into forward foreign currency exchange contracts and invest in foreign currency futures contracts and options on foreign currencies and futures. A forward foreign currency exchange contract, which involves an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date at a price set at the time of the contract, reduces the Portfolio’s exposure to changes in the value of the currency it will deliver and increases its exposure to changes in the value of the currency it will receive for the duration of the contract. Certain foreign currency transactions may also be settled in cash rather than the actual delivery of the relevant currency. The effect on the value of the Portfolio is similar to selling securities denominated in one currency and purchasing securities denominated in another currency. Foreign currency transactions, like currency exchange rates, can be affected unpredictably by intervention (or the failure to intervene) by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks, or by currency controls or political developments. Such events may prevent or restrict the Portfolio’s ability to enter into foreign currency transactions, force the Portfolio to exit a foreign currency transaction at a disadvantageous time or price or result in penalties for the Portfolio, any of which may result in a loss to the Portfolio. A contract to sell a foreign currency would limit any potential gain that might be realized if the value of the hedged currency increases. The Portfolio may enter into these contracts to hedge against foreign exchange risk, to increase exposure to a foreign currency or to shift exposure to foreign currency fluctuations from one currency to another. Since some foreign exchange transactions for the Portfolio are directed to the Portfolio’s custodian for execution, execution of such transactions may be better or worse than comparable transactions effected by other intermediaries. Suitable hedging transactions may not be available in all circumstances and there can be no assurance that
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the Portfolio 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 the Portfolio to benefit from favorable fluctuations in relevant foreign currencies. The Portfolio may use one currency (or a basket of currencies) to hedge against adverse changes in the value of another currency (or a basket of currencies) when exchange rates between the two currencies are positively correlated.
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Redenomination. Uncertainty as to the status of the euro and the European Monetary Union (the “EMU”) has at times created significant volatility in currency and financial markets generally. Any partial or complete dissolution of the EMU could have significant adverse effects on currency and financial markets and on the values of the Portfolio’s portfolio investments. If one or more EMU countries were to stop using the euro as its primary currency, the Portfolio’s investments in such countries may be redenominated into a different or newly adopted currency. As a result, the value of those investments could decline significantly and unpredictably. In addition, securities or other investments that are redenominated may be subject to currency risk, liquidity risk and risk of improper valuation to a greater extent than similar investments currently denominated in euros. To the extent a currency used for redenomination purposes is not specified in respect of certain EMU-related investments, or should the euro cease to be used entirely, the currency in which such investments are denominated may be unclear, making such investments particularly difficult to value or dispose of. The Portfolio may incur additional expenses to the extent it is required to seek judicial or other clarification of the denomination or value of such securities. There can be no assurance that if the Portfolio earns income or capital gains in a non-U.S. country or PIMCO otherwise seeks to withdraw the Portfolio’s investments from a given country, capital controls imposed by such country will not prevent, or cause significant expense, or delay in, doing so.
Small-Cap and Mid-Cap Companies
The Portfolio may invest in equity securities of small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies. The Portfolio considers a small-cap company to be a company with a market capitalization of up to $1.5 billion and a mid-cap company to be a company with a market capitalization of between $1.5 billion and $10 billion. Investments in small-cap and mid-cap companies involve greater risk than investments in large-capitalization companies. Small- and mid-cap companies may not have an established financial history, which can present valuation challenges. The equity securities of small- and mid-cap companies may be subject to increased market fluctuations, due to less liquid markets and more limited managerial and financial resources or they depend on a small or inexperienced management group. The Portfolio’s investment in small- and mid-cap companies may increase the volatility of the Portfolio’s portfolio.
Short Sales
The Portfolio may make short sales as part of its overall portfolio management strategies or to offset a potential decline in value of a security. A short sale involves the sale of a security that is borrowed from a broker or other institution to complete the sale. Short sales expose the Portfolio to the risk that it will be required to acquire, convert or exchange securities to replace the borrowed securities (also known as “covering” the short position) at a time when the securities sold short have appreciated in value, thus resulting in a loss to the Portfolio. A short sale is “against the box” to the extent that the Portfolio contemporaneously owns, or has the right to obtain at no added cost, securities identical to those sold short. The Portfolio may engage in short selling to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and rules and interpretations thereunder and other federal securities laws. To the extent the Portfolio engages in short selling in foreign (non-U.S.) jurisdictions, the Portfolio will do so to the extent permitted by the laws and regulations of such jurisdiction.
Repurchase Agreements
The Portfolio may enter into repurchase agreements, in which the Portfolio purchases a security from a bank or broker-dealer that agrees to repurchase the security at the Portfolio’s cost plus interest within a specified time. If the party agreeing to repurchase should default, the Portfolio will seek to sell the securities which it holds. This could involve procedural costs or delays in addition to a loss on the securities if their value should fall below their repurchase price. The security subject to a repurchase agreement may be or become illiquid. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Portfolio.
Derivatives
The Portfolio may, but is not required to, use derivatives and other similar instruments (referred to collectively as “derivatives”) for risk management purposes or as part of its investment strategies. Investments in derivatives may take the form of buying and/or writing (selling) derivatives. Generally, derivatives are financial contracts whose value depends upon, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index, and may relate to stocks, bonds, interest rates, spreads between different interest rates, currencies or currency exchange rates, commodities, and related indexes. Examples of derivative instruments include options contracts, futures contracts, options on futures contracts and swap agreements (including, but not limited to, credit default swaps and swaps on exchange-traded funds). The Portfolio may invest some or all of its assets in derivative instruments, subject to the Portfolio’s objective and policies. A portfolio manager may decide not to employ any of these strategies and there is no assurance that any derivatives strategy used by the Portfolio will succeed. A description of these and other derivative instruments that the Portfolio may use are described under “Investment Objectives and Policies” in the SAI.
The Portfolio’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other more traditional investments. Certain derivative
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transactions may have a leveraging effect on the Portfolio. For example, a small investment in a derivative instrument may have a significant impact on the Portfolio’s exposure to interest rates, currency exchange rates or other investments. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a derivative instrument may cause an immediate and substantial loss or gain. The Portfolio may engage in such transactions regardless of whether the Portfolio owns the asset, instrument or components of the index underlying the derivative instrument. The Portfolio may invest a significant portion of its assets in these types of instruments. If it does, the Portfolio’s investment exposure could far exceed the value of its portfolio securities and its investment performance could be primarily dependent upon securities it does not own. A description of various risks associated with particular derivative instruments is included in “Investment Objectives and Policies” in the SAI. The following provides a more general discussion of important risk factors relating to all derivative instruments that may be used by the Portfolio.
CPI Swap. A CPI swap is a fixed maturity, OTC derivative in which the investor receives the “realized” rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI”) over the life of the swap. The investor in turn pays a fixed annualized rate over the life of the swap. This fixed rate is often referred to as the “breakeven inflation” rate and is generally representative of the difference between treasury yields and TIPS yields of similar maturities at the initiation of the swap. CPI swaps are typically in “bullet” format, where all cash flows are exchanged at maturity. In addition to counterparty risk, CPI swaps are also subject to inflation risk, where the swap can potentially lose value if the realized rate of inflation over the life of the swap is less than the fixed market implied inflation rate (fixed breakeven rate) that the investor agrees to pay at the initiation of the swap.
Management Risk. Derivative products are highly specialized instruments that require investment techniques and risk analyses different from those associated with stocks and bonds. The use of a derivative requires an understanding not only of the underlying instrument but also of the derivative itself, without the benefit of observing the performance of the derivative under all possible market conditions.
Counterparty Risk (including Credit Risk). The use of certain derivative instruments involves the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the failure of another party to the contract (usually referred to as a “counterparty”) to make required payments or otherwise comply with the contract’s terms. Additionally, a short position in a credit default swap could result in losses if the Portfolio does not correctly evaluate the creditworthiness of the company on which the credit default swap is based. Counterparty risk also refers to the risks of having concentrated exposure to a counterparty.
Market and Portfolio Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk exists when a particular derivative instrument is difficult to purchase or sell. If a derivative transaction is particularly large or if the relevant market is illiquid (as is the case with many privately negotiated derivatives), it may not be possible to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price. Liquidity risk also refers to the risk that the
Portfolio may be required to hold additional cash or sell other investments in order to obtain cash to close out derivatives or meet the liquidity demands that derivatives can create to make payments of margin, collateral, or settlement payments to counterparties. The Portfolio may have to sell a security at a disadvantageous time or price to meet such obligations.
Leverage Risk. Because many derivatives have a leverage component, adverse changes in the value or level of the underlying asset, reference rate or index could result in a loss substantially greater than the amount invested in the derivative itself. Certain derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment. When the Portfolio uses derivatives for leverage, investments in the Portfolio will tend to be more volatile, resulting in larger gains or losses in response to market changes. Leveraging transactions pursued by the Portfolio may increase its duration and sensitivity to interest rate changes and other market risks.
Lack of Availability. Because the markets for certain derivative instruments (including markets located in foreign countries) are relatively new and still developing, suitable derivatives transactions may not be available in all circumstances for risk management or other purposes. Upon the expiration of a particular contract, a portfolio manager may wish to retain the Portfolio’s position in the derivative instrument by entering into a similar contract, but may be unable to do so if the counterparty to the original contract is unwilling to enter into the new contract and no other appropriate counterparty can be found. There is no assurance that the Portfolio will engage in derivatives transactions at any time or from time to time. The Portfolio’s ability to use derivatives may also be limited by certain regulatory and tax considerations.
Correlation Risk. In certain cases, the value of derivatives may not correlate perfectly, or at all, with the value of the assets, reference rates or indexes they are designed to closely track. For example, a swap agreement on an exchange-traded fund would not correlate perfectly with the index upon which the exchange-traded fund is based because the fund’s return is net of fees and expenses. In this regard, the Portfolio may seek to achieve its investment objectives, in part, by investing in derivatives positions that are designed to closely track the performance (or inverse performance) of an index on a daily basis. However, the overall investment strategy of the Portfolio are not designed or expected to produce returns which replicate the performance (or inverse performance) of the particular index, and the degree of variation could be substantial, particularly over longer periods. There are a number of factors which may prevent the Portfolio, or derivatives or other strategies used by the Portfolio, from achieving a desired correlation (or inverse correlation) with an index. These may include, but are not limited to: (i) the impact of fund fees, expenses and transaction costs, including borrowing and brokerage costs/bid-ask spreads, which are not reflected in index returns; (ii) differences in the timing of daily calculations of the value of an index and the timing of the valuation of derivatives, securities and other assets held by the Portfolio and the determination of the NAV of Portfolio shares; (iii) disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for derivative instruments or securities in which the Portfolio
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invests; (iv) the Portfolio having exposure to or holding less than all of the securities in the underlying index and/or having exposure to or holding securities not included in the underlying index; (v) large or unexpected movements of assets into and out of the Portfolio (due to share purchases or redemptions, for example), potentially resulting in the Portfolio being over- or under-exposed to the index; (vi) the impact of accounting standards or changes thereto; (vii) changes to the applicable index that are not disseminated in advance; (viii) a possible need to conform the Portfolio’s portfolio holdings to comply with investment restrictions or policies or regulatory or tax law requirements; and (ix) fluctuations in currency exchange rates.
Market and Other Risks. Like most other investments, derivative instruments are subject to the risk that the market value of the instrument will change in a way detrimental to the Portfolio’s interest. If a portfolio manager incorrectly forecasts the values of securities, currencies or interest rates or other economic factors in using derivatives for the Portfolio, the Portfolio might have been in a better position if it had not entered into the transaction at all. While some strategies involving derivative instruments can reduce the risk of loss, they can also reduce the opportunity for gain or even result in losses by offsetting favorable price movements in other Portfolio investments. The regulation of the derivatives markets has increased over the past several years, and additional future regulation of the derivatives markets may make derivatives more costly, may limit the availability or reduce the liquidity of derivatives, or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. Any such adverse future developments could impair the effectiveness or raise the costs of the Portfolio’s derivative transactions, or impede the employment of the Portfolio’s derivatives strategies, or adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance.
Other risks in using derivatives include the risk of mispricing and/or improper valuation of derivatives. Many derivatives, in particular privately negotiated derivatives, are complex and often valued subjectively. Improper valuations can result in increased cash payment requirements to counterparties or a loss of value to the Portfolio. Also, the value of derivatives may not correlate perfectly, or at all, with the value of the assets, reference rates or indexes they are designed to closely track. For example, a swap agreement on an exchange-traded fund would not correlate perfectly with the index upon which the exchange-traded fund is based because the fund’s return is net of fees and expenses. In addition, the Portfolio’s use of derivatives may cause the Portfolio to realize higher amounts of short-term capital gains (generally taxed at ordinary income tax rates) than if the Portfolio had not used such instruments.
Operational and Legal Risks. Using derivatives is also subject to operational and legal risks. Operational risk generally refers to the risk related to potential operational issues, including documentation issues, settlement issues, systems failures, inadequate controls, and human error. Legal risk generally refers to insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of counterparty, or legality or enforceability of a contract.
When-Issued, Delayed Delivery and Forward Commitment Transactions
The Portfolio may purchase or sell securities that it is eligible to purchase or sell on a when-issued basis, may purchase or sell such securities for delayed delivery and may make contracts to purchase or sell such securities for a fixed price at a future date beyond normal settlement time (forward commitments). When-issued transactions, delayed delivery purchases and forward commitments involve a risk of loss if the value of the securities declines prior to the settlement date. This risk is in addition to the risk that the Portfolio’s other assets will decline in value. Therefore, these transactions may result in a form of leverage and increase the Portfolio’s overall investment exposure. Typically, no income accrues on securities the Portfolio has committed to purchase prior to the time delivery of the securities is made. When the Portfolio has sold a security on a when-issued, delayed delivery, or forward commitment basis, the Portfolio does not participate in future gains or losses with respect to the security. If the other party to a transaction fails to pay for the securities, the Portfolio could suffer a loss. Additionally, when selling a security on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis without owning the security, the Portfolio will incur a loss if the security’s price appreciates in value such that the security’s price is above the agreed-upon price on the settlement date.
Investment in Other Investment Companies
The Portfolio may invest in securities of other investment companies, such as open-end or closed-end management investment companies, including exchange-traded funds or in pooled accounts or other unregistered accounts or investment vehicles to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any exemptive relief therefrom. The Portfolio may invest in other investment companies to gain broad market or sector exposure, including during periods when it has large amounts of uninvested cash or when PIMCO believes share prices of other investment companies offer attractive values. As a shareholder of an investment company or other pooled vehicle, the Portfolio may indirectly bear investment advisory fees, supervisory and administrative fees, service fees and other fees which are in addition to the fees the Portfolio pays its service providers. To the extent the Portfolio invests in other investment companies that are advised by PIMCO, PIMCO expects to select such investments without considering or canvassing the universe of available unaffiliated investment companies.
The Portfolio may invest in certain money market funds and/or short-term bond funds (“Central Funds”), to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules thereunder or any exemptive relief therefrom. The Central Funds are registered investment companies created for use solely by the series of registered investment companies advised by PIMCO, in connection with their cash management activities. The main investments of the Central Funds are money market instruments and short maturity Fixed Income Instruments. The Central Funds may incur expenses related to their investment activities, but do not pay investment advisory or supervisory and administrative fees to PIMCO.
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Participation in a cash sweep program where the Portfolio's uninvested cash balance is used to purchase shares of affiliated or unaffiliated money market funds or cash management pooled investment vehicles at the end of each day subjects the Portfolio to the risks associated with the underlying money market funds or cash management pooled investment vehicles, including liquidity risk. As a shareholder of a money market fund or cash management pooled investment vehicle, the Portfolio would indirectly bear the fees and expenses of the underlying fund or account which are in addition to the fees the Portfolio pays its service providers.
Subject to the restrictions and limitations of the 1940 Act, and the rules and regulations thereunder and any exemptive relief therefrom, the Portfolio may, in the future, elect to pursue its investment objective either by investing directly in securities, or by investing in one or more underlying investment vehicles or companies that have substantially similar investment objectives and policies as the Portfolio.
SEC regulations concerning investments by registered investment companies in the securities of other registered investment companies may, among other things, limit investment flexibility and could affect the Portfolio's ability to utilize the Central Funds. This could adversely impact the Portfolio's investment strategies and operations.
Illiquid Investments
The Portfolio may invest up to 15% of its net assets (taken at the time of investment) in illiquid investments that are assets. Certain illiquid investments may require pricing at fair value as determined in good faith under the supervision of the Board. A portfolio manager may be subject to significant delays in disposing of illiquid investments, and transactions in illiquid investments may entail registration expenses and other transaction costs that are higher than those for transactions in liquid investments. The term “illiquid investments” for this purpose means investments 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. Restricted securities, i.e., securities subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may be illiquid. However, some restricted securities (such as securities issued pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and certain commercial paper) may be treated as liquid (i.e., classified by the Portfolio in a liquidity category other than “illiquid” pursuant to the Portfolio’s liquidity risk management procedures), although they may be relatively less liquid than registered securities traded on established secondary markets. Additional discussion of illiquid investments and related regulatory limits and requirements is available under “Investment Objectives and Policies” in the SAI.
Loans of Portfolio Securities
For the purpose of achieving income, the Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to brokers, dealers, and other financial institutions provided that a number of conditions are satisfied, including that the loan is fully collateralized. Please see “Investment Objectives and Policies” in the SAI for details. When the Portfolio lends portfolio securities, its
investment performance will continue to reflect changes in the value of the securities loaned, and the Portfolio will also receive a fee or interest on the collateral. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. The Portfolio may pay lending fees to a party arranging the loan, which may be an affiliate of the Portfolio. Cash collateral received by the Portfolio in securities lending transactions may be invested in short-term liquid fixed income instruments or in money market or short-term mutual funds, or similar investment vehicles, including affiliated money market or short-term mutual funds. As a shareholder of an investment company or other pooled vehicle, the Portfolio may indirectly bear investment advisory fees, supervisory and administrative fees, service fees and other fees which are in addition to the fees the Portfolio pays its service providers. To the extent such cash collateral is invested in an affiliated money market or short-term mutual fund, such fees generally will not be waived, and PIMCO expects to select such an investment without considering or canvassing the universe of available unaffiliated investment companies. The Portfolio bears the risk of such investments.
Reverse Repurchase Agreements, Dollar Rolls and Other Borrowings
The Portfolio may enter into reverse repurchase agreements and dollar rolls, subject to the Portfolio’s limitations on borrowings. A reverse repurchase agreement involves the sale of a security by the Portfolio and its agreement to repurchase the instrument at a specified time and price. A dollar roll is similar except that the counterparty is not obligated to return the same securities as those originally sold by the Portfolio but only securities that are “substantially identical.” Reverse repurchase agreements and dollar rolls may be considered borrowing for some purposes. Reverse repurchase agreements, dollar rolls and other forms of borrowings may create leveraging risk for the Portfolio.
The Portfolio may borrow money to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act. This means that, in general, the Portfolio may borrow money from banks for any purpose in an amount up to 1/3 of the Portfolio’s total assets, less all liabilities and indebtedness not represented by senior securities. The Portfolio may also borrow money for temporary administrative purposes in an amount not to exceed 5% of the Portfolio’s total assets. In addition, the Portfolio may borrow from certain other PIMCO funds in inter-fund lending transactions to the extent permitted by an exemptive order from the SEC.
Portfolio Turnover
The length of time the Portfolio has held a particular security is not generally a consideration in investment decisions. A change in the securities held by the Portfolio is known as “portfolio turnover.” When the portfolio managers deem it appropriate and particularly during periods of volatile market movements, the Portfolio may engage in frequent and active trading of portfolio securities to achieve its investment objective. Higher portfolio turnover (e.g., an annual rate greater than 100% of the average value of the Portfolio’s portfolio) involves correspondingly greater expenses to the Portfolio, including brokerage commissions or dealer markups and other transaction costs
36 Prospectus | PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Prospectus
on the sale of securities and reinvestments in other securities. Such sales may also result in realization of taxable capital gains, including short-term capital gains (which are generally taxed at ordinary income tax rates). The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance. Please see the Portfolio's “Portfolio Summary—Portfolio Turnover” or the “Financial Highlights” in this prospectus for the portfolio turnover rates of the Portfolio.
Temporary Defensive Positions
For temporary defensive purposes, the Portfolio may invest without limit in U.S. debt securities, including taxable securities and short-term money market securities in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, or other conditions, as determined by PIMCO. When the Portfolio engages in such strategies, it may not achieve its investment objective.
From time to time, as the prevailing market and interest rate environments warrant, and at the discretion of its portfolio manager, some portion of the Portfolio’s total net assets may be uninvested. In such cases, Portfolio assets will be held in cash in the Portfolio’s custody account. Cash assets are generally not income-generating and would impact the Portfolio’s performance.
Changes in Investment Objectives and Policies
The investment objective of the Portfolio is non-fundamental and may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval. Unless otherwise stated, all other investment policies of the Portfolio may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval.
Percentage Investment Limitations
Unless otherwise stated, all percentage limitations on Portfolio investments listed in this prospectus will apply at the time of investment. The Portfolio would not violate these limitations unless an excess or deficiency occurs or exists immediately after and as a result of an investment.
Credit Ratings and Unrated Securities
Rating agencies are private services that provide ratings of the credit quality of fixed income securities, including convertible securities. Appendix A to this prospectus describes the various ratings assigned to fixed income securities by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch. Ratings assigned by a rating agency are not absolute standards of credit quality and do not evaluate market risks. Rating agencies may fail to make timely changes in credit ratings and an issuer’s current financial condition may be better or worse than a rating indicates. The Portfolio will not necessarily sell a security when its rating is reduced below its rating at the time of purchase. The ratings of a fixed income security may change over time. Moody’s, S&P and Fitch monitor and evaluate the ratings assigned to securities on an ongoing basis. As a result, debt instruments held by the
Portfolio could receive a higher rating or a lower rating during the period in which they are held by the Portfolio. PIMCO does not rely solely on credit ratings, and develops its own analysis of issuer credit quality.
The Portfolio may purchase unrated securities (which are not rated by a rating agency) if PIMCO determines, in its sole discretion, that the security is of comparable quality to a rated security that the Portfolio may purchase. In making ratings determinations, PIMCO may take into account different factors than those taken into account by rating agencies, and PIMCO’s rating of a security may differ from the rating that a rating agency may have given the same security. Unrated securities may be less liquid than comparable rated securities and involve the risk that the portfolio manager may not accurately evaluate the security’s comparative credit rating. Analysis of the creditworthiness of issuers of high yield securities may be more complex than for issuers of higher-quality fixed income securities. To the extent that the Portfolio invests in high yield and/or unrated securities, the Portfolio’s success in achieving its investment objective may depend more heavily on the portfolio manager's creditworthiness analysis than if the Portfolio invested exclusively in higher-quality and higher-rated securities.
Other Investments and Techniques
The Portfolio may invest in other types of securities and use a variety of investment techniques and strategies that are not described in this prospectus. These securities and techniques may subject the Portfolio to additional risks. Please see the SAI for additional information about the securities and investment techniques described in this prospectus and about additional securities and techniques that may be used by the Portfolio.
Geopolitical Conflicts
The occurrence of geopolitical conflicts, war or terrorist activities could have adverse impacts on markets in various and unpredictable ways. For example, the armed conflict among the United States, Israel, and Iran has caused, and could continue to cause, significant market disruptions and volatility. The conflict has had a particular negative impact on oil and gas markets, which could have a broader adverse effect on many sectors of the global economy in the future. In addition, following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia, and other countries, persons and entities that were viewed as having provided material aid to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, became the subject of economic sanctions and import and export controls imposed by countries throughout the world, including the United States. Such measures have had and may continue to have an adverse effect on the Russian, Belarusian and other securities and economies. Additional examples include, but are not limited to, heightened concerns of trade disputes, which could result in increased tariffs, trade restrictions or other retaliatory countermeasures. The extent, duration and impact of geopolitical conflicts and related market impacts are difficult to ascertain, but could be significant and could have significant adverse effects on regional and global economies and the markets for certain securities and commodities, such as oil, natural gas, steel and aluminum, as well as other sectors, and on the Portfolio’s investments.
April 30, 2026 | Prospectus 37
PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Cyber Security
As the use of complex information technology and communications systems, including cloud-based technology, has become more prevalent and interconnected in the course of business, the Portfolio has become potentially more susceptible to operational and information security risks resulting from breaches in cyber security despite the efforts of PIMCO, the Portfolio, or their service providers to adopt technologies, processes, and practices intended to mitigate these risks. Disruptions or failures that affect services providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by the Portfolio may adversely affect PIMCO or the Portfolio, including by causing losses or impairing PIMCO’s or the Portfolio’s operations. Information relating to the Portfolio’s investments has been and will in the future be delivered electronically, which can give rise to a number of risks, including, but not limited to, the risks that such communications may contain computer viruses or other defects, may not be accurately replicated on other systems, or may be intercepted, deleted or interfered with, without the knowledge of the sender or the intended recipient. A breach in cyber security refers to both intentional and unintentional cyber events that may, among other things, cause the Portfolio to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption and/or destruction or lose operational capacity, result in the unauthorized release or other misuse of confidential information, or otherwise disrupt normal business operations. Geopolitical tensions can increase the scale and sophistication of deliberate cybersecurity attacks, particularly those from nation-states or from entities with nation-state backing, who may desire to use cybersecurity attacks to cause damage or create leverage against geopolitical rivals. Cyber security breaches may involve unauthorized access to the digital information systems that support the Portfolio (e.g., through “hacking,” ransomware or malicious software coding) or outside attacks such as denial-of-service attacks (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users), but may also result from intentionally or unintentionally harmful acts of PIMCO personnel. In addition, cyber security breaches involving third-party service providers that provide services to PIMCO or the Portfolio (including but not limited to vendors, advisers, sub-advisers, administrators, transfer agents, regulatory authorities, custodians, registry operators, distributors and other third parties), trading counterparties and issuers in which the Portfolio invests can also subject the Portfolio to many of the same risks associated with direct cyber security breaches. PIMCO’s use of cloud-based service providers could heighten or change these risks. In addition, work-from-home arrangements by the Portfolio, PIMCO and its service providers could increase all of the above risks, create additional data and information accessibility concerns, and make the Portfolio, PIMCO or its service providers susceptible to operational disruptions, any of which could adversely impact their operations.
Cyber security failures or breaches may result in financial losses to the Portfolio and its shareholders. For example, cyber security failures or breaches involving trading counterparties or issuers in which the Portfolio invests could adversely impact such counterparties or issuers and cause the Portfolio’s investments to lose value. These failures or breaches may also result in disruptions to business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses; interference with the Portfolio’s
ability to calculate its NAV, process shareholder transactions or otherwise transact business with shareholders; impediments to trading; violations of applicable privacy and other laws; regulatory fines; penalties; third-party claims in litigation; reputational damage; reimbursement or other compensation costs; additional compliance and cyber security risk management costs and other adverse consequences. In addition, substantial costs may be incurred in order to prevent any cyber incidents in the future.
Like with operational risk in general, the Portfolio has established business continuity plans and risk management systems designed to reduce the risks associated with cyber security. However, there are inherent limitations in these plans and systems, including that certain risks may not have been identified, in large part because different or unknown threats may emerge in the future. As such, there is no guarantee that such efforts will succeed, especially because the Portfolio does not directly control the cyber security systems of issuers in which the Portfolio may invest, trading counterparties or third-party service providers to the Portfolio. Such entities have experienced cyber attacks and other attempts to gain unauthorized access to systems from time to time, and there is no guarantee that efforts to prevent or mitigate the effects of such attacks or other attempts to gain unauthorized access will be successful. There is also a risk that cyber security breaches may not be detected. The Portfolio and its shareholders may suffer losses as a result of a cyber security breach related to the Portfolio, its service providers, trading counterparties or the issuers in which the Portfolio invests.
Regulatory Changes
Financial entities, such as investment companies and investment advisers, are generally subject to extensive government regulation and intervention. Government regulation and/or intervention may change the way the Portfolio is regulated, affect the expenses incurred directly by the Portfolio and the value of its investments, and limit and/or preclude the Portfolio’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Government regulation may change frequently and may have significant adverse consequences. The Portfolio and the investment adviser have historically been eligible for exemptions from certain regulations. However, there is no assurance that the Portfolio and the investment adviser will continue to be eligible for such exemptions. Actions by governmental entities may also impact certain instruments in which the Portfolio invests.
Moreover, government regulation may have unpredictable and unintended effects. Legislative or regulatory actions to address perceived liquidity or other issues in fixed income markets generally, or in particular markets such as the municipal securities market, may alter or impair the Portfolio’s ability to pursue its investment objective or utilize certain investment strategies and techniques.
38 Prospectus | PIMCO Equity Series VIT
PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help a shareholder understand the Portfolio’s financial performance for the last five fiscal years or, if shorter, the period since the Portfolio or class commenced operations. The information below reflects financial results for Institutional Class shares of the Portfolio, which are offered in a separate prospectus. Administrative Class shares of the Portfolio had not commenced operations during the periods shown. The performance shown below differs from that which would have been achieved by Administrative Class shares of the Portfolio to the extent Administrative Class shares have different expenses than Institutional Class shares. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Portfolio share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned or lost on an investment in the Institutional Class shares of the Portfolio (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). The performance information does not reflect Variable Contract fees or expenses. This information has been derived from financial statements audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, whose report, along with the Portfolio's financial statements, are included in Form N-CSR filed with the SEC, which is available upon request.
| |
|
Investment Operations |
Less Distributions(c) | ||||
| |
|
|
| ||||
| Selected Per Share Data for the Year or Period Ended^: |
Net Asset Value Beginning of Year or Period(a) |
Net Investment Income (Loss)(b) |
Net Realized/ Unrealized Gain (Loss) |
Total |
From Net Investment Income |
From Net Realized Capital Gain |
Total |
| PIMCO StocksPLUS® Global Portfolio |
|
|
| ||||
| Institutional Class |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 12/31/2025 |
$7.73 |
$0.34 |
$1.52 |
$1.86 |
$(0.39) |
$0.00 |
$(0.39) |
| 12/31/2024 |
7.17 |
0.31 |
0.65 |
0.96 |
(0.40) |
0.00 |
(0.40) |
| 12/31/2023 |
6.00 |
0.26 |
1.11 |
1.37 |
(0.20) |
0.00 |
(0.20) |
| 12/31/2022 |
9.73 |
0.09 |
(1.84) |
(1.75) |
(0.09) |
(1.89) |
(1.98) |
| 12/31/2021 |
9.01 |
0.00 |
1.70 |
1.70 |
(0.02) |
(0.96) |
(0.98) |
^
A zero balance may reflect actual amounts rounding to less than $0.01 or 0.01%.
(a)
Net asset value includes adjustments required by U.S. GAAP. These values, and other performance figures relying on them, such as average annual total return data included in the Portfolio’s prospectus and in any shareholder reports, may differ from net asset values and performance reported elsewhere with respect to the Portfolio.
(b)
Per share amounts based on average number of shares outstanding during the year or period.
(c)
The tax characterization of distributions is determined in accordance with Federal income tax regulations. See Note 2, Distributions to Shareholders, in the Notes to Financial Statements for more information.
(d)
Total return figures include adjustments required by U.S. GAAP. These values, and other performance figures relying on them, such as average annual total return data included in the Portfolio’s prospectus and in any shareholder reports, may differ from net asset values and performance reported elsewhere with respect to the Portfolio. Additionally, excludes applicable initial sales charges, contingent deferred sales charges and Variable Contract fees or expenses.
40 Prospectus | PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Prospectus
| |
|
Ratios/Supplemental Data | ||||||
| |
|
|
Ratios to Average Net Assets |
| ||||
| Net Asset Value End of Year or Period(a) |
Total Return(d) |
Net Assets End of Year or Period (000s) |
Expenses |
Expenses Excluding Waivers |
Expenses Excluding Interest Expense |
Expenses Excluding Interest Expense and Waivers |
Net Investment Income (Loss) |
Portfolio Turnover Rate |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| $9.20 |
24.66 % |
$36,581 |
0.68 % |
0.73 % |
0.61 % |
0.66 % |
4.00 % |
225 % |
| 7.73 |
13.56 |
32,247 |
0.62 |
0.66 |
0.61 |
0.65 |
4.07 |
107 |
| 7.17 |
23.02 |
32,119 |
0.66 |
0.71 |
0.61 |
0.66 |
3.90 |
127 |
| 6.00 |
(18.52 ) |
28,321 |
0.62 |
0.66 |
0.61 |
0.65 |
1.21 |
30 |
| 9.73 |
19.51 |
40,250 |
0.62 |
0.65 |
0.62 |
0.65 |
(0.01 ) |
111 |
April 30, 2026 | Prospectus 41
PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Appendix A
Description of Securities Ratings
The Portfolio’s investments may range in quality from securities rated in the lowest category in which the Portfolio is permitted to invest to securities rated in the highest category (as rated by Moody’s, S&P or Fitch, or, if unrated, determined by PIMCO to be of comparable quality) to securities so rated. The percentage of the Portfolio’s assets invested in securities in a particular rating category will vary. The following terms are generally used to describe the credit quality of fixed income securities:
High Quality Debt Securities are those rated in one of the two highest rating categories (the highest category for commercial paper) or, if unrated, deemed comparable by PIMCO.
Investment Grade Debt Securities are those rated in one of the four highest rating categories, or, if unrated, deemed comparable by PIMCO.
Below Investment Grade High Yield Securities (“Junk Bonds”), are those rated lower than Baa by Moody’s, BBB by S&P or Fitch, and comparable securities. They are deemed predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s ability to repay principal and interest.
The following is a description of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch’s rating categories applicable to fixed income securities.
Moody’s Ratings
Global Long-Term Rating Scale
Ratings assigned on Moody’s global long-term rating scale are forward-looking opinions of the relative credit risks of financial obligations issued by non-financial corporates, financial institutions, structured finance vehicles, project finance vehicles, and public sector entities. Long-term ratings are assigned to issuers or obligations with an original maturity of eleven months or more and reflect both on the likelihood of a default or impairment on contractual financial obligations and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default or impairment.
Aaa: Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the lowest level of credit risk.
Aa: Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.
A: Obligations rated A are judged to be upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.
Baa: Obligations rated Baa are judged to be medium-grade and subject to moderate credit risk and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics.
Ba: Obligations rated Ba are judged to be speculative and are subject to substantial credit risk.
B: Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.
Caa: Obligations rated Caa are judged to be speculative of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.
Ca: Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest.
C: Obligations rated C are the lowest rated and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.
Moody’s appends numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category. Additionally, a “(hyb)” indicator is appended to all ratings of hybrid securities issued by banks, insurers, finance companies, and securities firms.*
* By their terms, hybrid securities allow for the omission of scheduled dividends, interest, or principal payments, which can potentially result in impairment if such an omission occurs. Hybrid securities may also be subject to contractually allowable write-downs of principal that could result in impairment. Together with the hybrid indicator, the long-term obligation rating assigned to a hybrid security is an expression of the relative credit risk associated with that security.
Medium-Term Note Program Ratings
Moody’s assigns provisional ratings to medium-term note (MTN) or similar programs and definitive ratings to the individual debt securities issued from them (referred to as drawdowns or notes).
MTN program ratings are intended to reflect the ratings likely to be assigned to drawdowns issued from the program with the specified priority of claim (e.g., senior or subordinated). To capture the contingent nature of a program rating, Moody’s assigns provisional ratings to MTN programs. A provisional rating is denoted by a (P) in front of the rating.
The rating assigned to a drawdown from a rated MTN or bank/deposit note program is definitive in nature, and may differ from the program rating if the drawdown is exposed to additional credit risks besides the issuer’s default, such as links to the defaults of other issuers, or has other structural features that warrant a different rating. In some circumstances, no rating may be assigned to a drawdown.
Moody’s encourages market participants to contact Moody’s Ratings Desks or visit www.moodys.com directly if they have questions regarding ratings for specific notes issued under a medium-term note program. Unrated notes issued under an MTN program may be assigned an NR (not rated) symbol.
Global Short-Term Rating Scale
Ratings assigned on Moody’s global short-term rating scale are forward-looking opinions of the relative credit risks of financial obligations issued by non-financial corporates, financial institutions, structured finance vehicles, project finance vehicles, and public sector entities. Short-term ratings are assigned to obligations with an original maturity of thirteen months or less and reflect both on the likelihood of a default or impairment on contractual financial obligations and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default or impairment.
Moody’s employs the following designations to indicate the relative repayment ability of rated issuers:
A-1 Prospectus | PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Prospectus
P-1: Ratings of Prime-1 reflect a superior ability to repay short-term obligations.
P-2: Ratings of Prime-2 reflect a strong ability to repay short-term obligations.
P-3: Ratings of Prime-3 reflect an acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations.
NP: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Not Prime do not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.
National Scale Long-Term Ratings
Moody’s long-term National Scale Ratings (NSRs) are opinions of the relative creditworthiness of issuers and financial obligations within a particular country. NSRs are not designed to be compared among countries; rather, they address relative credit risk within a given country. Moody’s assigns national scale ratings in certain local capital markets in which investors have found the global rating scale provides inadequate differentiation among credits or is inconsistent with a rating scale already in common use in the country.
In each specific country, the last two characters of the rating indicate the country in which the issuer is located or the financial obligation was issued (e.g., Aaa.ke for Kenya).
Aaa.n: Issuers or issues rated Aaa.n demonstrate the strongest creditworthiness relative to other domestic issuers and issuances.
Aa.n: Issuers or issues rated Aa.n demonstrate very strong creditworthiness relative to other domestic issuers and issuances.
A.n: Issuers or issues rated A.n demonstrate above-average creditworthiness relative to other domestic issuers and issuances.
Baa.n: Issuers or issues rated Baa.n demonstrate average creditworthiness relative to other domestic issuers and issuances.
Ba.n: Issuers or issues rated Ba.n demonstrate below-average creditworthiness relative to other domestic issuers and issuances.
B.n: Issuers or issues rated B.n demonstrate weak creditworthiness relative to other domestic issuers and issuances.
Caa.n: Issuers or issues rated Caa.n demonstrate very weak creditworthiness relative to other domestic issuers and issuances.
Ca.n: Issuers or issues rated Ca.n demonstrate extremely weak creditworthiness relative to other domestic issuers and issuances.
C.n: Issuers or issues rated C.n demonstrate the weakest creditworthiness relative to other domestic issuers and issuances.
Moody’s appends numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.
National Scale Short-Term Ratings
Moody’s short-term NSRs are opinions of the ability of issuers or issuances in a given country, relative to other domestic issuers or issuances, to repay debt obligations that have an original maturity not
exceeding thirteen months. Short-term NSRs in one country should not be compared with short-term NSRs in another country, or with Moody’s global ratings. There are four categories of short-term national scale ratings, generically denoted N-1 through N-4 as defined below.
In each specific country, the first two letters indicate the country in which the issuer is located (e.g., KE-1 through KE-4 for Kenya).
N-1: N-1 issuers or issuances represent the strongest likelihood of repayment of short-term debt obligations relative to other domestic issuers or issuances.
N-2: N-2 issuers or issuances represent an above average likelihood of repayment of short-term debt obligations relative to other domestic issuers or issuances.
N-3: N-3 issuers or issuances represent an average likelihood of repayment of short-term debt obligations relative to other domestic issuers or issuances.
N-4: N-4 issuers or issuances represent a below average likelihood of repayment of short-term debt obligations relative to other domestic issuers or issuances.
The short-term rating symbols P-1.za, P-2.za, P-3.za and NP.za are used in South Africa.
US Municipal Short-Term Debt Ratings
The Municipal Investment Grade (MIG) scale is used for U.S. municipal cash flow notes, bond anticipation notes and certain other short-term obligations, which typically mature in three years or less.
MIG 1: This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by established cash flows, highly reliable liquidity support, or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing.
MIG 2: This designation denotes strong credit quality. Margins of protection are ample, although not as large as in the preceding group.
MIG 3: This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Liquidity and cash-flow protection may be narrow, and market access for refinancing is likely to be less well-established.
SG: This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Debt instruments in this category may lack sufficient margins of protection.
Demand Obligation Ratings
For variable rate demand obligations (VRDOs), a two-component rating is assigned. Moody’s assigns both a long-term rating and a short-term payment obligation rating. The long-term rating addresses the issuer’s ability to meet scheduled principal and interest payments. The short-term payment obligation rating addresses the ability of the issuer or the liquidity provider to meet any purchase price payment obligation resulting from optional tenders (“on demand”) and/or mandatory tenders of the VRDO. The short-term payment obligation rating uses the Variable Municipal Investment Grade (VMIG) scale.
April 30, 2026 | Prospectus A-2
PIMCO Equity Series VIT
For VRDOs, Moody's typically assigns a VMIG rating if the frequency of the payment obligation is less than every three years. If the frequency of the payment obligation is less than three years, but the obligation is payable only with remarketing proceeds, the VMIG short-term rating is not assigned and it is denoted as “NR”.
VMIG 1: This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by the superior short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections.
VMIG 2: This designation denotes strong credit quality. Good protection is afforded by the strong short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections.
VMIG 3: This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Adequate protection is afforded by the satisfactory short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections.
SG: This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Demand features rated in this category may be supported by a liquidity provider that does not have a sufficiently strong short-term rating or may lack the structural or legal protections.
S&P Global Ratings
Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings*
Issue credit ratings are based, in varying degrees, on S&P Global Ratings’ (“S&P”) analysis of the following considerations:
■
Likelihood of payment—capacity and willingness of the obligor to meet its financial commitments on an obligation in accordance with the terms of the obligation;
■
Nature and provisions of the financial obligation and the promise S&P imputes; and
■
Protection afforded by, and relative position of, the financial obligation in the event of a bankruptcy, reorganization, or other arrangement under the laws of bankruptcy and other laws affecting creditors’ rights.
Issue ratings are an assessment of default risk, but may incorporate an assessment of relative seniority or ultimate recovery in the event of default. Junior obligations are typically rated lower than senior obligations, to reflect lower priority in bankruptcy, as noted above. (Such differentiation may apply when an entity has both senior and subordinated obligations, secured and unsecured obligations, or operating company and holding company obligations).
Investment Grade
AAA: An obligation rated ‘AAA’ has the highest rating assigned by S&P. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is extremely strong.
AA: An obligation rated ‘AA’ differs from the highest-rated obligations only to a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is very strong.
A: An obligation rated ‘A’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher-rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is still strong.
BBB: An obligation rated ‘BBB’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to weaken the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
Speculative Grade
Obligations rated ‘BB’, ‘B’, ‘CCC’, ‘CC’, and ‘C’ are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. ‘BB’ indicates the least degree of speculation and ‘C’ the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposure to adverse conditions.
BB: An obligation rated ‘BB’ is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
B: An obligation rated ‘B’ is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated ‘BB’, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
CCC: An obligation rated ‘CCC’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitments on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
CC: An obligation rated ‘CC’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. The ‘CC’ rating is used when a default has not yet occurred but S&P expects default to be a virtual certainty, regardless of the anticipated time to default.
C: An obligation rated ‘C’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment, and the obligation is expected to have lower relative seniority or lower ultimate recovery compared with obligations that are rated higher.
D: An obligation rated ‘D’ is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the ‘D’ rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P believes that such payments will be made within the next five business days in the absence of a stated grace period or within the earlier of the stated grace period or the next 30 calendar days. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. A rating on an obligation is lowered to ‘D’ if it is subject to a distressed debt restructuring.
A-3 Prospectus | PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Prospectus
*Ratings from ‘AA’ to ‘CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the rating categories.
Short-Term Issue Credit Ratings
A-1: A short-term obligation rated ‘A-1’ is rated in the highest category by S&P. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is strong. Within this category, certain obligations are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on these obligations is extremely strong.
A-2: A short-term obligation rated ‘A-2’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rating categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is satisfactory.
A-3: A short-term obligation rated ‘A-3’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to weaken an obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
B: A short-term obligation rated ‘B’ is regarded as vulnerable and has significant speculative characteristics. The obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments; however, it faces major ongoing uncertainties that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments.
C: A short-term obligation rated ‘C’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
D: A short-term obligation rated ‘D’ is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the ‘D’ rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P believes that such payments will be made within any stated grace period. However, any stated grace period longer than five business days will be treated as five business days. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. A rating on an obligation is lowered to ‘D’ if it is subject to a distressed debt restructuring.
Dual Ratings: Dual ratings may be assigned to debt issues that have a put option or demand feature. The first component of the rating addresses the likelihood of repayment of principal and interest as due, and the second component of the rating addresses only the demand feature. The first component of the rating can relate to either a short-term or long-term transaction and accordingly use either short-term or long-term rating symbols. The second component of the rating relates to the put option and is assigned a short-term rating symbol (for example, ‘AAA/A-1+‘ or ‘A-1+/ A-1’). With U.S. municipal short-term demand debt, the U.S. municipal short-term note rating symbols are used for the first component of the rating (for example, ‘SP-1+/A-1+‘).
Active Qualifiers
S&P uses the following qualifiers that limit the scope of a rating. The structure of the transaction can require the use of a qualifier such as a ‘p’ qualifier, which indicates the rating addresses the principal portion of the obligation only. A qualifier appears as a suffix and is part of the rating.
L: Ratings qualified with ‘L’ apply only to amounts invested up to federal deposit insurance limits.
p: This suffix is used for issues in which the credit factors, the terms, or both, that determine the likelihood of receipt of payment of principal are different from the credit factors, terms, or both that determine the likelihood of receipt of interest on the obligation. The ‘p’ suffix indicates that the rating addresses the principal portion of the obligation only and that the interest is not rated.
prelim: Preliminary ratings, with the ‘prelim’ suffix, may be assigned to obligors or obligations, including financial programs, in the circumstances described below. Assignment of a final rating is conditional on the receipt by S&P of appropriate documentation. S&P reserves the right not to issue a final rating. Moreover, if a final rating is issued, it may differ from the preliminary rating.
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Preliminary ratings may be assigned to obligations, most commonly structured and project finance issues, pending receipt of final documentation and legal opinions.
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Preliminary ratings may be assigned to obligations that will likely be issued upon the obligor’s emergence from bankruptcy or similar reorganization, based on late-stage reorganization plans, documentation, and discussions with the obligor. Preliminary ratings may also be assigned to the obligors. These ratings consider the anticipated general credit quality of the reorganized or post-bankruptcy issuer as well as attributes of the anticipated obligation(s).
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Preliminary ratings may be assigned to entities that are being formed or that are in the process of being independently established when, in S&P’s opinion, documentation is close to final. Preliminary ratings may also be assigned to the obligations of these entities.
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Preliminary ratings may be assigned when a previously unrated entity is undergoing a well-formulated restructuring, recapitalization, significant financing or other transformative event, generally at the point that investor or lender commitments are invited. The preliminary rating may be assigned to the entity and to its proposed obligation(s). These preliminary ratings consider the anticipated general credit quality of the obligor, as well as attributes of the anticipated obligation(s), assuming successful completion of the transformative event. Should the transformative event not occur, S&P would likely withdraw these preliminary ratings.
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A preliminary recovery rating may be assigned to an obligation that has a preliminary issue credit rating.
April 30, 2026 | Prospectus A-4
PIMCO Equity Series VIT
t: This symbol indicates termination structures that are designed to honor their contracts to full maturity or, should certain events occur, to terminate and cash settle all their contracts before their final maturity date.
cir: This symbol indicates a Counterparty Instrument Rating (CIR), which is a forward-looking opinion about the creditworthiness of an issuer in a securitization structure with respect to a specific financial obligation to a counterparty (including interest rate swaps, currency swaps, and liquidity facilities). The CIR is determined on an ultimate payment basis; these opinions do not take into account timeliness of payment.
Inactive Qualifiers (no longer applied or outstanding)
*: This symbol indicated that the rating was contingent upon S&P receipt of an executed copy of the escrow agreement or closing documentation confirming investments and cash flows. Discontinued use in August 1998.
c: This qualifier was used to provide additional information to investors that the bank may terminate its obligation to purchase tendered bonds if the long-term credit rating of the issuer was lowered to below an investment-grade level and/or the issuer’s bonds were deemed taxable. Discontinued use in January 2001.
G: The letter ‘G’ followed the rating symbol when a fund’s portfolio consisted primarily of direct U.S. government securities.
i: This suffix was used for issues in which the credit factors, terms, or both that determine the likelihood of receipt of payment of interest are different from the credit factors, terms, or both that determine the likelihood of receipt of principal on the obligation. The 'i' suffix indicated that the rating addressed the interest portion of the obligation only. The 'i' suffix was always used in conjunction with the 'p' suffix, which addresses likelihood of receipt of principal. For example, a rated obligation could have been assigned a rating of 'AAApNRi' indicating that the principal portion was rated 'AAA' and the interest portion of the obligation was not rated.
pi: This qualifier was used to indicate ratings that were based on an analysis of an issuer’s published financial information, as well as additional information in the public domain. Such ratings did not, however, reflect in-depth meetings with an issuer’s management and therefore, could have been based on less comprehensive information than ratings without a ‘pi’ suffix. Discontinued use as of December 2014 and as of August 2015 for Lloyd’s Syndicate Assessments.
pr: The letters ‘pr’ indicate that the rating was provisional. A provisional rating assumed the successful completion of a project financed by the debt being rated and indicates that payment of debt service requirements was largely or entirely dependent upon the successful, timely completion of the project. This rating, however, while addressing credit quality subsequent to completion of the project, made no comment on the likelihood of or the risk of default upon failure of such completion.
q: A ‘q’ subscript indicates that the rating is based solely on quantitative analysis of publicly available information. Discontinued use in April 2001.
r: The ‘r’ modifier was assigned to securities containing extraordinary risks, particularly market risks, that are not covered in the credit rating. The absence of an ‘r’ modifier should not be taken as an indication that an obligation would not exhibit extraordinary noncredit-related risks. S&P discontinued the use of the ‘r’ modifier for most obligations in June 2000 and for the balance of obligations (mainly structured finance transactions) in November 2002.
Fitch Ratings
Long-Term Credit Ratings
Investment Grade
Investment Grade
Rated entities in a number of sectors, including financial and non-financial corporations, sovereigns, insurance companies and certain sectors within public finance, are generally assigned Issuer Default Ratings (“IDRs”). IDRs are also assigned to certain entities or enterprises in global infrastructure, project finance and public finance. IDRs opine on an entity’s relative vulnerability to default (including by way of a distressed debt exchange) on financial obligations. The threshold default risk addressed by the IDR is generally that of the financial obligations whose non-payment would best reflect the uncured failure of that entity. As such, IDRs also address relative vulnerability to bankruptcy, administrative receivership or similar concepts.
In aggregate, IDRs provide an ordinal ranking of issuers based on the agency’s view of their relative vulnerability to default, rather than a prediction of a specific percentage likelihood of default.
AAA: Highest credit quality. ‘AAA’ ratings denote the lowest expectation of default risk. They are assigned only in cases of exceptionally strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.
AA: Very high credit quality. ‘AA’ ratings denote expectations of very low default risk. They indicate very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.
A: High credit quality. ‘A’ ratings denote expectations of low default risk. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered strong. This capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic conditions than is the case for higher ratings.
BBB: Good credit quality. ‘BBB’ ratings indicate that expectations of default risk are currently low. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered adequate, but adverse business or economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity.
Speculative Grade
BB: Speculative. ‘BB’ ratings indicate an elevated vulnerability to default risk, particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time; however, business or financial flexibility exists that supports the servicing of financial commitments.
A-5 Prospectus | PIMCO Equity Series VIT
Prospectus
B: Highly speculative. ‘B’ ratings indicate that material default risk is present, but a limited margin of safety remains. Financial commitments are currently being met; however, capacity for continued payment is vulnerable to deterioration in the business and economic environment.
CCC: Substantial credit risk. Very low margin for safety. Default is a real possibility.
CC: Very high levels of credit risk. Default of some kind appears probable.
C: Near default.
A default or default-like process has begun, or for a closed funding vehicle, payment capacity is irrevocably impaired. Conditions that are indicative of a ‘C’ category rating for an issuer include:
a. the issuer has entered into a grace or cure period following non-payment of a material financial obligation;
b. the formal announcement by the issuer or their agent of a distressed debt exchange;
c. a closed financing vehicle where payment capacity is irrevocably impaired such that it is not expected to pay interest and/or principal in full during the life of the transaction, but where no payment default is imminent.
RD: Restricted default. ‘RD’ ratings indicate an issuer that in Fitch’s opinion has experienced an uncured payment default or distressed debt exchange on a bond, loan or other material financial obligation but has not entered into bankruptcy filings, administration, receivership, liquidation or other formal winding-up procedure, and has not otherwise ceased operating. This would include:
i. the selective payment default on a specific class or currency of debt;
ii. the uncured expiry of any applicable original grace period, cure period or default forbearance period following a payment default on a bank loan, capital markets security or other material financial obligation.
D: Default. ‘D’ ratings indicate an issuer that in Fitch’s opinion has entered into bankruptcy filings, administration, receivership, liquidation or other formal winding-up procedure or that has otherwise ceased business and debt is still outstanding. Default ratings are not assigned prospectively to entities or their obligations; within this context, non-payment on an instrument that contains a deferral feature or grace period will generally not be considered a default until after the expiration of the deferral or grace period, unless a default is otherwise driven by bankruptcy or other similar circumstance, or by a distressed debt exchange.
In all cases, the assignment of a default rating reflects the agency’s opinion as to the most appropriate rating category consistent with the rest of its universe of ratings, and may differ from the definition of default under the terms of an issuer’s financial obligations or local commercial practice.
The modifiers ‘+’ or ‘-’ may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories. For example, the rating category ‘AA’ has three notch-specific rating levels (’AA+‘; ’AA’; ‘AA-’; each a rating level). Such suffixes are not added to ‘AAA’ ratings and ratings below the ‘CCC’ category.
Recovery Ratings
Recovery Ratings are assigned to selected individual securities and obligations, most frequently for individual obligations of corporate finance issuers with IDRs in speculative grade categories.
Among the factors that affect recovery rates for securities are the collateral, the seniority relative to other obligations in the capital structure (where appropriate), and the expected value of the company or underlying collateral in distress.
The Recovery Rating scale is based on the expected relative recovery characteristics of an obligation upon the curing of a default, emergence from insolvency or following the liquidation or termination of the obligor or its associated collateral.
Recovery Ratings are an ordinal scale and do not attempt to precisely predict a given level of recovery. As a guideline in developing the rating assessments, the agency employs broad theoretical recovery bands in its ratings approach based on historical averages and analytical judgment, but actual recoveries for a given security may deviate materially from historical averages.
RR1: Outstanding recovery prospects given default. ‘RR1’ rated securities have characteristics consistent with securities historically recovering 91%-100% of current principal and related interest.
RR2: Superior recovery prospects given default. ‘RR2’ rated securities have characteristics consistent with securities historically recovering 71%-90% of current principal and related interest.
RR3: Good recovery prospects given default. ‘RR3’ rated securities have characteristics consistent with securities historically recovering 51%-70% of current principal and related interest.
RR4: Average recovery prospects given default. ‘RR4’ rated securities have characteristics consistent with securities historically recovering 31%-50% of current principal and related interest.
RR5: Below average recovery prospects given default. ‘RR5’ rated securities have characteristics consistent with securities historically recovering 11%-30% of current principal and related interest.
RR6: Poor recovery prospects given default. ‘RR6’ rated securities have characteristics consistent with securities historically recovering 0%-10% of current principal and related interest.
Short-Term Credit Ratings
A short-term issuer or obligation rating is based in all cases on the short-term vulnerability to default of the rated entity and relates to the capacity to meet financial obligations in accordance with the documentation governing the relevant obligation. Short-term deposit ratings may be adjusted for loss severity. Short-Term Ratings are assigned to obligations whose initial maturity is viewed as “short term” based on market convention (a long-term rating can also be used to rate
April 30, 2026 | Prospectus A-6
PIMCO Equity Series VIT
an issue with short maturity). Typically, this means a timeframe of up to 13 months for corporate, sovereign, and structured obligations, and up to 36 months for obligations in U.S. public finance markets.
F1: Highest short-term credit quality. Indicates the strongest intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added ‘+’ to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.
F2: Good short-term credit quality. Good intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.
F3: Fair short-term credit quality. The intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is adequate.
B: Speculative short-term credit quality. Minimal capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, plus heightened vulnerability to near term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.
C: High short-term default risk. Default is a real possibility.
RD: Restricted default. Indicates an entity that has defaulted on one or more of its financial commitments, although it continues to meet other financial obligations. Typically applicable to entity ratings only.
D: Default. Indicates a broad-based default event for an entity, or the default of a short-term obligation.
For the short-term rating category of ‘F1’, a ‘+’ may be appended. For VRs, the modifiers ‘+’ or ‘–‘ may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within categories from ‘aa’ to ‘ccc’. For Derivative Counterparty Ratings, the modifiers ‘+’ or ‘–’ may be appended to the ratings within ‘AA(dcr)’ to ‘CCC(dcr)’ categories.
A-7 Prospectus | PIMCO Equity Series VIT
INVESTMENT ADVISER AND ADMINISTRATOR
PIMCO, 650 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660
DISTRIBUTOR
PIMCO Investments LLC, 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
CUSTODIAN
State Street Bank & Trust Co., 2323 Grand Boulevard, 5th Floor, Kansas City, MO 64108
TRANSFER AGENT
SS&C Global Investor & Distribution Solutions, Inc., 80 Lamberton Road, Windsor, CT 06095
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 1100 Walnut Street, Suite 1300, Kansas City, MO 64106-2197
LEGAL COUNSEL
Dechert LLP, 1900 K Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006
PIMCO Equity Series VIT
650 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
650 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
The Trust’s SAI, Form N-CSR and annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders include additional information about the Portfolio. The SAI is incorporated by reference into this prospectus, which means it is part of this prospectus for legal purposes. The SAI contains detailed information about Portfolio purchase, redemption and exchange options and procedures and other information about the Portfolio. The Portfolio's annual report discusses the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Portfolio’s performance during its last fiscal year. In Form N-CSR, you will find the Portfolio's annual and semi-annual financial statements.
You may get free copies of any of these materials or request other information about the Portfolio by calling the Trust at 1-800-927-4648, by visiting www.pimco.com/pvit or by writing to:
PIMCO Equity Series VIT
650 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
650 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Reference the Trust’s Investment Company Act file number in your correspondence.
Daily updates on the NAV of the Portfolio may be obtained by calling 1-888-87-PIMCO.
Paper copies of the Portfolio's shareholder reports are required to be provided free of charge by the insurance company upon request. You may access reports and other information about the Trust on the EDGAR Database on the Commission’s website at www.sec.gov. You may get copies of additional information about the Trust, including its SAI, with payment of a duplication fee, by e-mailing your request to publicinfo@sec.gov. You can also visit our website at www.pimco.com/pvit for additional information about the Portfolio, including the SAI, Form N-CSR, the annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders, and other information such as Portfolio financial statements, which are available for download free of charge.
Investment Company Act File Number: 811-22376
PSVT1968F_043026
