impact on the Fund’s risk/return objectives and considers adjustments to the Fund’s allocations as a result.
Investments of the Underlying Funds that invest primarily in debt instruments include investment grade debt securities, including U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds, mortgage-related securities, and other asset-backed securities; foreign debt securities, including emerging market debt; debt instruments of varying duration; convertible securities; high yield/high risk bonds; floating rate loans; and inflation-indexed bonds; and alternative fixed income, including structured credit, and preferred stock.
Investments of the Underlying Funds that invest primarily in equity instruments include domestic and foreign stocks with growth and value characteristics, large-, mid- and small-capitalization stocks, sector-specific stocks, preferred stock, warrants and rights, and stocks of companies with products in the infrastructure, data centers, artificial intelligence, blockchain and quantum computing space and other sector-specific stocks. Underlying Funds that operate as passively managed index funds may invest directly in the component securities of the benchmark index or may seek to replicate the performance of the benchmark index through index sampling.
The Fund is expected to be as fully invested as practical, although it may maintain liquidity reserves to meet redemption requests.
The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.
The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in any single Underlying Fund. The sub-adviser has sole discretion in selecting the Underlying Funds for investment and may adjust the Fund’s allocations to the Underlying Funds, and add or remove Underlying Funds, as it deems appropriate to meet the Fund’s investment goal.
For additional information about the Fund and its Underlying Fund investments, please see the Additional Information About Principal Investment Strategies and Principal Risks section in the Prospectus.
Principal Risks
As with any mutual fund, the value of the Fund’s investments, and therefore the value of your shares, may go up or down and you could lose money. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment goal. Because this Fund has a significant portion of its assets invested in Underlying Funds that invest primarily in debt instruments, this Fund has more exposure to debt instruments risk than other Multi-Asset Funds. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Italicized terms refer to separate Principal Risks that are each defined in the Principal Risks section below.
As a “fund of funds,” the Fund is subject to Asset Allocation Fund of Funds Risk, Conflicts of Interest Risk, ETF Risk and Securities Lending Risk. The Fund is also subject to the risks of the Underlying Funds in which it invests, which may change based on the Fund’s allocations to the Underlying Funds. The principal risks to the Fund from these Underlying Fund investments are described below.
•Asset Allocation Fund of Funds Risk: Asset allocation decisions, techniques, analyses, or models implemented by the sub-adviser may not produce the expected returns, may cause the Fund’s shares to lose value or may cause the Fund to underperform other
funds with similar investment goals. Although the theory behind asset allocation is that diversification among asset classes can help reduce volatility over the long term, you still may lose money and/or experience price volatility. Performance of and the sub-adviser's assumptions about asset classes and Underlying Funds may diverge from historical performance and assumptions used to develop allocations in light of actual market conditions. There is a risk that you could achieve better returns by investing in an individual fund or funds representing a single asset class rather than investing in a fund of funds. The Fund’s performance is also closely related to the Underlying Funds’ performance and ability to meet their investment goals. Fund shareholders bear indirectly the expenses of the Underlying Funds in which the Fund invests in addition to the Fund’s management fee so there is a risk of an additional layer or layers of fees. The Fund’s actual asset class allocations may deviate from the intended allocation because an Underlying Fund’s investments can change due to market movements, the Underlying Fund Manager’s investment decisions or other factors, which could result in the fund’s risk/return target not being met. As a fund of funds, the Fund is exposed to the same risks as the Underlying Funds in proportion to the Fund’s allocation to those Underlying Funds. To the extent that the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in a single Underlying Fund, it may be more susceptible to risks associated with that fund and its investments.
•Conflicts of Interest Risk: The investment adviser and sub-adviser are subject to competing interests that have the potential to influence investment decisions for the Fund. For example, an Underlying Fund managed by an affiliate of the sub-adviser or the investment adviser or that provides greater profitability than another Underlying Fund may create an incentive for the sub-adviser to use that fund as an Underlying Fund. In addition, the sub-adviser may be influenced by its or the investment adviser’s view of the best interests of Underlying Funds, such as a view that an Underlying Fund may benefit from additional assets or could be harmed by redemptions. The sub-adviser seeks to identify and address any potential conflicts in a manner that is fair for Underlying Funds, the Fund and the shareholders of the Fund and Underlying Fund. The sub-adviser has adopted a policy under which investment decisions for the Fund must be made in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders, and the sub-adviser may take into account the interests of an Underlying Fund and its shareholders when making investment decisions for the Fund.
•ETF Risk: Shares of ETFs typically trade on securities exchanges and may at times trade at a premium or discount to their net asset values. If the Fund has to sell shares of an ETF when the shares are trading at a discount, the Fund will receive a price that is less than the ETF’s net asset value per share. In addition, an ETF may not replicate exactly the performance of the benchmark index it seeks to track. An investment in an ETF is an investment in another investment company and therefore, the Fund’s shareholders will indirectly bear a proportionate share of any fees and expenses of the ETFs in which the Fund invests. The Fund will pay brokerage commissions in connection with the purchase and sale of shares of ETFs.
•Securities Lending Risk: To the extent the Fund lends its securities, it may be subject to the following risks: (1) the