· Fixed-income market risk: The market value of a fixed-income security may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or adverse investor sentiment generally. The fixed-income securities market can be susceptible to increases in volatility and decreases in liquidity. Liquidity can decline unpredictably in response to overall economic conditions or credit tightening. Increases in volatility and decreases in liquidity may be caused by a rise in interest rates (or the expectation of a rise in interest rates). An unexpected increase in fund redemption requests, including requests from shareholders who may own a significant percentage of the fund's shares, which may be triggered by market turmoil or an increase in interest rates, could cause the fund to sell its holdings at a loss or at undesirable prices and adversely affect the fund's share price and increase the fund's liquidity risk, fund expenses and/or taxable distributions. Federal Reserve policy in response to market conditions, including with respect to interest rates, may adversely affect the value, volatility and liquidity of dividend and interest paying securities. Policy and legislative changes worldwide are affecting many aspects of financial regulation. The impact of these changes on the markets and the practical implications for market participants may not be fully known for some time.

· Credit risk: Failure of an issuer of a security to make timely interest or principal payments when due, or a decline or perception of a decline in the credit quality of the security, can cause the security's price to fall, lowering the value of the fund's investment in such security. The lower a security's credit rating, the greater the chance that the issuer of the security will default or fail to meet its payment obligations.

· Issuer risk: A security's market value may decline for a number of reasons which directly relate to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer's products or services, or factors that

affect the issuer's industry, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry.

· Market risk: The value of the securities in which the fund invests may be affected by political, regulatory, economic and social developments, and developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market.  In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed-income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the fund.  Global economies and financial markets are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market.  These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies world-wide.  Local, regional or global events such as war, military conflicts, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, recessions, elevated levels of government debt, changes in trade regulation or economic sanctions, internal unrest and discord, or other events could have a significant impact on the fund and its investments. 

· Liquidity risk: When there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities, it can become more difficult to sell the securities in a timely manner at or near their perceived value. In such a market, the value of such securities and the fund's share price may fall dramatically. Investments that are illiquid or that trade in lower volumes may be more difficult to value. The market for below investment grade securities may be less liquid and therefore these securities may be harder to value, buy or sell at an acceptable price, especially during times of market volatility or decline. Liquidity risk also may refer to the risk that the fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period stated in this prospectus because of unusual market conditions, including those resulting in a significant amount of the fund's assets becoming illiquid, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons.

· Mortgage-related securities risk: Mortgage-related securities are subject to credit, prepayment and extension risk, and may be more volatile, less liquid and more difficult to price accurately than more traditional debt securities. The fund is subject to the credit risk associated with these securities, including the market's perception of the creditworthiness of the issuing federal agency, as well as the credit quality of the underlying assets. Although certain mortgage-related securities are guaranteed as to the timely payment of interest and principal by a third party (such as a U.S. government agency or instrumentality with respect to government-related mortgage securities) the market prices for such securities are not guaranteed and will fluctuate. As with other interest-bearing securities, the prices of certain mortgage-related securities are inversely affected by changes in interest rates. However, although the value of a mortgage-related security may decline when interest rates rise, the converse is not necessarily true, since in periods of declining interest rates the mortgages underlying the security are more likely to be prepaid causing the fund to purchase new securities at current market rates, which usually will be lower. The loss of higher yielding underlying mortgages and the reinvestment of proceeds at lower interest rates, known as prepayment risk, can reduce the fund's potential price gain in response to falling interest rates, reduce the fund's yield and/or cause the fund's share price to fall. When interest rates rise, the effective duration of the fund's mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities may lengthen due to a drop in prepayments of the underlying mortgages or other assets. This is known as extension risk and would increase the fund's sensitivity to rising interest rates and its potential for price declines.

· Government securities risk: Not all obligations of the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury. Some obligations are backed only by the credit of the issuing agency or instrumentality, and in some cases there may be some risk of default by the issuer. Any guarantee by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities of a security held by the fund does not apply to the market value of such security or to shares of the fund itself.