rates, global demand for particular
products or resources, market instability, financial system instability, debt crises and
downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, trade wars, retaliatory trade measures, sanctions and other trade
barriers, supply chain disruptions, regulatory events, other governmental trade or market control
programs and related geopolitical events. In addition, the value of the Fund’s investments may be negatively affected by the occurrence of global events such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters
or events, country instability, and infectious disease epidemics or pandemics or the threat or
potential of one or more such factors and occurrences.
Credit Risk. The Fund’s investments are subject to the risk that issuers, guarantors and/or counterparties will fail to make payments when due or default completely. Prices of
the Fund’s investments may be adversely affected if any of the issuers or counterparties it
is invested in are subject to an actual or perceived deterioration in their credit quality. Credit spreads may increase, which may reduce the market values of the Fund’s securities. Credit spread risk is the
risk that economic and market conditions or any actual or perceived credit deterioration may lead
to an increase in the credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between two securities of similar maturity but different credit quality) and a decline in price of the issuer’s securities.
Strategy Risk. The Fund’s strategy of seeking to provide a predictable level of dividend income may not be successful.
The income payable on debt securities in general and the availability of investment opportunities
varies based on market conditions. In addition, the Fund may not be effective in identifying income
producing securities and managing distributions; as a result, the level of dividend income may
fluctuate. The Fund’s investments are subject to various risks including the risk that the
counterparty will not pay income when due which may adversely impact the level and predictability
of dividend income paid by the Fund. The Fund does not guarantee that distributions will always
be paid or paid at a predictable level.
High
Yield Securities and Loan Risk. The Fund invests in instruments including junk bonds, Loans and
instruments that are issued by companies that are highly leveraged, less creditworthy or
financially distressed. These investments are considered to be speculative and may be subject to greater risk of loss (including substantial or total loss), greater sensitivity to economic changes, valuation difficulties
and potential illiquidity. Such investments may be subject to additional risks including
subordination to other creditors, no collateral or limited rights in collateral, lack of a
regular trading market, extended settlement periods, liquidity risks, prepayment risks, potentially less protection under the federal securities laws and lack of publicly available information.
In recent years, there has been a broad trend of weaker or less restrictive covenant protections in both the
Loan and high yield markets. Among other things, under such weaker or less restrictive covenants,
borrowers might be able to exercise more flexibility with respect to certain activities than borrowers who are subject to stronger or more protective covenants. For example, borrowers might be able to incur more debt,
including secured debt, return more capital to shareholders, remove or reduce assets that are
designated as collateral securing Loans or high yield securities, increase the claims against assets that are
permitted against collateral securing Loans
or high yield securities or otherwise manage their business in ways that could impact creditors
negatively. In addition, certain privately held borrowers might be permitted to file less frequent, less detailed or less timely financial reporting or other information, which could negatively impact the value of the Loans
or high yield securities issued by such borrowers. Each of these factors might negatively impact
the Loans and high yield instruments held by the Fund.
High yield securities and Loans that are deemed to be liquid at the time of purchase may become illiquid. No active trading market may exist for some Loans and other
instruments and certain investments may be subject to restrictions on resale. In addition, the
settlement period for Loans is uncertain as there is no standardized settlement schedule applicable to such investments. Certain Loans may take more than seven days to settle. The inability to dispose of the Fund’s
securities and other investments in a timely fashion could result in losses to the Fund. Because
some instruments may have a more limited secondary market, liquidity and valuation risk is more pronounced for the Fund than for funds that invest primarily in other types of fixed income instruments or equity securities.
When Loans and other instruments are prepaid, the Fund may have to reinvest in instruments with a
lower yield or fail to recover additional amounts (i.e., premiums) paid for these instruments, resulting in an unexpected capital loss and/or a decrease in the amount of dividends and yield. Certain Loans may not be
considered securities under the federal securities laws and, therefore, investments in such Loans
may not be subject to certain protections under those laws. In addition, the adviser may not have
access to material non-public information to which other investors may have access.
Covenant Lite Risk. The Fund may invest in, or obtain exposure to, floating rate loans that are “covenant lite.”
Covenants contained in loan and high yield bond documentation are intended to protect lenders by
imposing certain restrictions and other limitations on a borrower’s operations or assets and by providing certain information and consent rights to lenders. Covenant lite loans and certain high yield bonds
may lack financial maintenance covenants that in certain situations can allow lenders to claim a
default on the loan to seek to protect the interests of the lenders. The absence of financial
maintenance covenants in a covenant lite loan or high yield bond might result in a lower recovery
in the event of a default by the borrower, as the lender may not have had the opportunity to
negotiate with the borrower prior to such default. Covenant lite loans and high yield bonds have become much more prevalent in recent years.
Foreign Securities and Emerging Markets Risk. Investments in foreign issuers and foreign securities (including depositary receipts) are subject to additional risks,
including political and economic risks, unstable governments, civil conflicts and war, greater
volatility, decreased market liquidity, expropriation and nationalization risks, sanctions or other measures by the United States or other governments, currency fluctuations, higher transaction costs, delayed settlement,
possible foreign controls on investment, and less stringent investor protection and disclosure
standards of foreign markets. 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