noteholders. Examples of assets
supporting asset-backed securities include credit card receivables, retail
installment loans, home equity loans, auto loans, and manufactured housing loans.
Income Risk. Because the Fund can only distribute what it earns, the Fund’s distributions to shareholders may decline when prevailing interest
rates fall or when the Fund experiences defaults on debt securities it holds.
Counterparty Risk. Counterparty risk is the risk that a
counterparty to a security, loan or derivative held by the Fund becomes bankrupt
or otherwise fails to perform its obligations due to financial difficulties. The Fund may experience significant delays in obtaining any recovery in a bankruptcy or other
reorganization proceeding, and there may be no recovery or limited recovery in such
circumstances.
Liquidity Risk. If the active trading market for certain securities becomes limited or non-existent, it can become more difficult to sell the
securities at or near their perceived value. This may cause the value of such securities and the
Fund’s share price to fall dramatically.
Market Risk. The Fund’s share price can fall
because of weakness in the broad market, a particular industry, or specific
holdings or due to adverse social, political or economic developments here or abroad, changes in investor psychology, technological disruptions, or heavy institutional selling and other
conditions or events (including, for example, military confrontations, war,
terrorism, trade wars, disease/virus outbreaks and epidemics). The prices of
individual securities may fluctuate, sometimes dramatically, from day to day. The
prices of stocks and other equity securities tend to be more volatile than those of fixed-income
securities.
Large-Cap Companies
Risk. Large-cap companies tend to go in and out of favor based on market and economic
conditions and tend to be less volatile than companies with smaller market
capitalizations. In exchange for this potentially lower risk, the Fund’s value may not rise as much as the value of funds that emphasize smaller capitalization companies. Larger, more
established companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive
challenges, such as changes in technology and consumer tastes. Larger companies also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful smaller companies, particularly during
extended periods of economic expansion.
Mid-Cap Company Risk. Investing in mid-cap companies carries the risk that due to current market conditions these companies may be out of favor
with investors. Stocks of mid-cap companies may be more volatile than those of
larger companies due to, among
other reasons, narrower product lines, more limited financial resources and fewer experienced
managers.
Money Market Securities Risk. An investment in the Fund is subject to the risk that the value of its investments in high-quality short-term
obligations (“money market securities”) may be subject to changes in interest rates, changes in the rating of any money market security and in the ability of an issuer to make
payments of interest and principal.
Currency Management Strategies Risk. Currency management strategies may substantially change the Fund’s exposure to currency exchange
rates and could result in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the
subadviser expects. In addition, currency management strategies, to the extent that they reduce the Fund’s exposure to currency risks, may also reduce the Fund’s ability to benefit
from favorable changes in currency exchange rates. Using currency management
strategies for purposes other than hedging further increases the Fund’s
exposure to foreign investment losses. Currency markets generally are not as regulated as securities markets. In addition, currency rates may fluctuate significantly over short
periods of time, and can reduce returns.
Securities Lending Risk. Engaging in securities lending could increase the market and credit risk for Fund investments. The Fund may lose money if it
does not recover borrowed securities, the value of the collateral falls, or the
value of investments made with cash collateral declines. The Fund’s loans will be collateralized by securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies and instrumentalities,
which subjects the Fund to the credit risk of the U.S. Government or the issuing
federal agency or instrumentality. If the value of either the cash collateral or the Fund’s investments of the cash collateral falls below the amount owed to a borrower, the Fund also may incur losses that
exceed the amount it earned on lending the security. Securities lending also
involves the risks of delay in receiving additional collateral or possible loss
of rights in the collateral if the borrower fails. Another risk of securities lending is the risk that the loaned portfolio securities may not be available to the Fund on a timely basis and the Fund
may therefore lose the opportunity to sell the securities at a desirable price.
The below bar chart and table illustrate the risks of
investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from
calendar year to calendar year and comparing the Fund’s average annual returns to those of