better), Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (Baa
or better) and/or Standard & Poor's® Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of
S&P Global (BBB or better). In addition, the securities in the Underlying Index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate. Excluded from the Underlying Index are equity-linked securities, securities in legal default, hybrid securitized
corporate bonds, Eurodollar bonds (U.S. dollar-denominated securities not issued in the U.S. domestic market), taxable and tax-exempt U.S. municipal securities and dividends-received-deduction-eligible securities. The Underlying Index is market
capitalization-weighted, and the securities in the Underlying Index are updated on the last calendar day of each month.
Weighted average maturity is a U.S. dollar-weighted average of the remaining term to maturity
of the underlying securities in the Fund's portfolio.
BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better
after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. “Representative sampling” is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities or other instruments that
collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The instruments selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market value and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return
variability, duration
(i.e., an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit
ratings and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the components of the Underlying Index.
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the Underlying Index, and the Fund will invest at
least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities of the types included in the Underlying Index that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. The Fund will invest no more than 10% of its assets in futures, options and swaps contracts that BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index as well as in fixed income securities other than the types
included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of
calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any
collateral received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by ICE Data Indices, LLC (the “Index Provider” or “IDI”), which is independent of the Fund
and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the components of the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For
purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, and securities of state or municipal governments and their political
subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks, including the principal risks noted below any of which may
adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and
ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk factor carefully.
Credit
Risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a fixed-income security may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor
its obligations. The credit rating assigned to a security or its issuer does not necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial condition or an investment’s volatility or liquidity. An actual or perceived decline in an issuer’s creditworthiness may result in a decrease in the value and liquidity of its securities as well as greater price volatility, which may make it difficult to sell the securities. The Fund may be adversely affected if an investment that it holds experiences a downgrade or a default.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk of fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security due to changes in the general
level of interest rates. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation
expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for