Large Shareholder
Transactions Risk. The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders
purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions,
which may occur rapidly or unexpectedly, may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund's NAV and liquidity. Similarly, large Fund share purchases
may adversely affect the Fund's performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash or otherwise maintains a larger cash position than it ordinarily would. These transactions may also
accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund's current
expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund's
expense ratio.
Market Risk. The value of the securities in which the Fund invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of
individual companies, particular sectors, governments or countries and/or general economic
conditions throughout the world due to increasingly interconnected global economies and
financial markets. Events such as war, military conflict, geopolitical disputes, acts of terrorism, social or political unrest, natural disasters, recessions, inflation, rapid interest rate changes, supply chain disruptions,
tariffs and other restrictions on trade, sanctions or the spread of infectious illness or other public health threats, or the threat or potential of one or more such events and developments, could also significantly
impact the Fund and its investments.
Municipal Securities Risk. Municipal securities are subject to credit/default risk, interest rate risk and certain additional risks.
The Fund may be more sensitive to adverse economic, business, political, environmental or
other developments if it invests a substantial portion of its assets in the bonds of similar projects (such as those relating to education, health care, housing, transportation, and utilities), industrial development bonds, or in
particular types of municipal securities (such as general obligation bonds, private activity bonds and moral obligation bonds). While interest earned on municipal securities is generally not subject to federal tax, any
interest earned on taxable municipal securities is fully taxable at the federal level and may be subject to tax at the state level.
Other Investment Companies Risk. By investing in other investment companies (including ETFs) indirectly through the Fund, investors will
incur a proportionate share of the expenses of the other investment companies held by the
Fund (including operating costs and investment management fees) in addition to the fees regularly borne by the Fund. In addition, the Fund will be affected by the investment policies, practices and performance of such
investment companies in direct proportion to the amount of assets the Fund invests therein. To the extent the Fund invests in ETFs, the Fund will invest only in ETFs sponsored by GSAM or its affiliates, unless GSAM
determines, in its sole discretion, that no affiliated ETF is available to provide the desired exposure (for example, by sector, industry, credit quality, or duration). GSAM will consider investing in an unaffiliated ETF on
behalf of the Fund only where no affiliated ETF is available to provide the desired exposure. For investments in affiliated ETFs, GSAM has agreed to waive a portion of its management fees in an amount
equal to any management fees it earns as the investment adviser to the affiliated
ETFs.
U.S. Government Securities Risk. The U.S. government may not provide financial support to U.S. government agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored enterprises if it is
not obligated to do so by law. U.S. Government Securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”)
and the Federal Home Loan Banks, are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury and, therefore, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. The maximum potential liability of the issuers of some
U.S. Government Securities held by the Fund may greatly exceed their current resources, including any legal right to support from the U.S. Treasury. It is possible that issuers of U.S. Government Securities will
not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future.
The bar chart and table below provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund by showing: (a) changes in the performance of the Fund’s Class P
Shares from year to year; and (b) how the average annual total returns of the Fund’s Class P Shares compare to those of a regulatorily required broad-based securities market index (Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index) (the
“Regulatory Benchmark”) and the Bloomberg U.S. Credit Index (the “Performance Benchmark”). The
Performance Benchmark is generally more representative of the market sectors and/or types of
investments in which the Fund invests or to which the Fund has exposure and which the Investment Adviser uses to measure the Fund’s performance. The Fund has included in the table below the performance of the
Regulatory Benchmark, which represents a broader measure of market performance, to comply with regulatory requirements. For additional information about these benchmark indices, please see “Additional Performance and Benchmark Information” on page 42 of the
Prospectus. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an
indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no additional cost at am.gs.com or by calling the appropriate phone number on the back cover of the Prospectus.
During the periods shown in the chart above:
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