issued or that the other party to the
transaction will not meet its obligation. If this occurs, the Fund loses both the investment
opportunity for the assets it set aside to pay for the security and any gain in the
security’s price.
Transactions Risk. The Fund could experience a loss and its liquidity may be negatively impacted when selling securities to
meet redemption requests. The risk of loss increases if the redemption requests are unusually
large or frequent or occur in times of overall market turmoil or declining prices. Similarly,
large purchases of Fund shares may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent
that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Concentration Risk. Because the Fund will, under ordinary circumstances, invest a significant portion of its assets in securities of companies in the financial services
industry, developments affecting the financial services industry may have a disproportionate
impact on the Fund. These risks generally include interest rate risk, credit risk and risk associated with regulatory changes in the financial services industry. In addition, financial services companies are highly
dependent on the supply of short-term financing.
Foreign Securities Risk. Investments in foreign issuers and foreign securities (including depositary receipts) are subject to additional risks, including political and
economic risks, unstable governments, greater volatility, decreased market liquidity, civil
conflicts and war, currency fluctuations, sanctions or other measures by the United States or
other governments, expropriation and nationalization risks, higher transaction costs, delayed
settlement, possible foreign controls on investment and less stringent investor protection and disclosure standards of foreign markets. The securities markets of many foreign countries are relatively small, with a limited number
of companies representing a small number of industries. In certain markets where securities and
other instruments are not traded “delivery versus payment,” the Fund may not receive timely payment for securities or other instruments it has delivered or receive delivery of securities paid for and
may be subject to increased risk that the counterparty will fail to make payments or delivery
when due or default completely. Foreign market trading hours, clearance and settlement procedures, and holiday schedules may limit the Fund's ability to buy and sell securities. Events and evolving conditions in
certain economies or markets may alter the risks associated with investments tied to countries or
regions that historically were perceived as comparatively stable becoming riskier and more volatile.
Industry and Sector Focus Risk. At times, the Fund may increase the relative emphasis of its investments in a particular industry or sector. The prices of securities of issuers in a particular industry or sector may be more susceptible to
fluctuations due to changes in economic or business conditions, government regulations,
availability of basic resources or supplies, contagion risk within a particular industry or sector or to other industries or sectors, or other events that affect that industry or sector more than securities of issuers in other
industries and sectors. To the extent that the Fund increases the relative emphasis of its
investments in a particular industry or sector, the value of the Fund’s shares may fluctuate in response to events affecting that industry or sector.
Floating and Variable
Rate Securities Risk. Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in
the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range
from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that
there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time.
Such securities also may lose value.
Net Asset Value
Risk. There is no assurance that the Fund will meet its investment objective of maintaining a NAV
of $1.00 per share on a continuous basis. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that the
Fund’s affiliates will purchase distressed assets from the Fund, make capital infusions, enter into capital support agreements or take other actions to ensure that the Fund maintains a NAV of $1.00 per share. In the
event any money market fund fails to maintain a stable NAV, other money market funds, including
the Fund, could face a universal risk of increased redemption pressures, potentially jeopardizing the stability of their NAVs. In general, certain other money market funds have in the past failed to maintain
stable NAVs and there can be no assurance that such failures and resulting redemption pressures
will not occur in the future.
Repurchase
Agreement Risk. There is a risk that the counterparty to a repurchase agreement will default or
otherwise become unable to honor a financial obligation and the value of your investment could
decline as a result.
Risk Associated with the
Fund Holding Cash. The Fund will generally hold a portion of its assets in cash, primarily to
meet redemptions. Cash positions may hurt performance and may subject the Fund to additional
risks and costs, such as increased exposure to the custodian bank holding the assets and any fees
imposed for large cash balances.
Interfund Lending Risk. A delay in repayment to the Fund from a borrowing fund could result in lost opportunity costs. Interfund loans are subject to the risk that the
borrowing fund could be unable to repay the loan when due. In the case of a default by a
borrowing fund and to the extent that the loan is collateralized, the Fund could take possession
of collateral that the Fund is not permitted to hold and, therefore, would be required to dispose
of such collateral as soon as possible, which could result in a loss to the Fund.
Prepayment Risk. The issuer of certain securities may repay principal in advance, especially when yields fall. Changes in the
rate at which prepayments or redemptions occur can affect the return on investment of these
securities. When debt obligations are prepaid or when securities are called, the Fund may have to
reinvest in securities with a lower yield. The Fund also may fail to recover additional amounts
(i.e., premiums) paid for securities with higher coupons, resulting in an unexpected capital loss.
Privately Placed Securities Risk. Privately placed securities generally are less liquid than publicly traded securities and the Fund may not always be able to sell such securities without experiencing delays in finding buyers or reducing
the sale price for such securities. The disposition of some of the securities held by the Fund
may be restricted under federal securities laws. As a result, the Fund may not be able to dispose of such investments at a time when, or at a price at which, it desires to do so and may have to bear expenses of
registering these securities, if necessary. These securities may also be difficult to
value.