Fund does not have a claim on the reference
assets and is subject to enhanced counterparty risk. Derivatives may not perform as expected, so
the Fund may not realize the intended benefits. When used for hedging, the change in value of a
derivative may not correlate as expected with the security or other risk being hedged. In
addition, given their complexity, derivatives expose the Fund to risks of mispricing or improper
valuation. Derivatives also can expose the Fund to derivative liquidity risk, which includes
risks involving the liquidity demands that derivatives can create to make payments of margin,
collateral, or settlement payments to counterparties, legal risk, which includes the risk of loss resulting from insufficient or unenforceable contractual documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of the Fund’s
counterparty and operational risk, which includes documentation or settlement issues, system
failures, inadequate controls and human error. Certain of the Fund’s transactions in
foreign currency derivatives and other derivatives could also affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders which may result in the Fund realizing more ordinary income and short-term
capital gain subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates than it would if it did not engage in
such transactions, which may adversely impact the Fund’s after-tax returns.
Real Estate Securities Risk. The Fund’s investments
in real estate securities, including REITs, are subject to the same risks as direct investments
in real estate and mortgages, and their value will depend on the value of the underlying real estate interests. These risks include default, prepayments, changes in value resulting from changes in interest rates and demand
for real and rental property, and the management skill and credit-worthiness of REIT issuers. The
Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management fees, paid by
each REIT in which it invests in addition to the expenses of the Fund.
Industry and Sector Focus Risk. At times, the Fund may
increase the relative emphasis of its investments in a particular industry or sector. The prices
of securities of issuers in a particular industry or sector may be more susceptible to fluctuations due to changes in economic or business conditions, government regulations, availability of basic resources or
supplies, contagion risk within a particular industry or sector or to other industries or
sectors, or other events that affect that industry or sector more than securities of issuers in other industries and sectors. To the extent that the Fund increases the relative emphasis of its investments in a particular industry or
sector, the value of the Fund’s shares may fluctuate in response to events affecting that
industry or sector.
Technology Sector Risk. Market or economic factors impacting technology companies could have an impact on the value of the Fund’s investments. The value of stocks of
technology companies is particularly vulnerable to rapid changes in technology product cycles,
rapid product obsolescence and frequent new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth
rates, competition for the services of qualified personnel, government regulation and competition, both domestically and internationally, including competition from foreign competitors with lower production costs, all of which
may have an adverse effect on their profit margins. Stocks of technology companies, especially
those of smaller, less-seasoned companies, tend to be more volatile than the overall market.
Technology companies are heavily dependent
on patent and intellectual property rights, the loss or impairment of which may adversely affect
their profitability.
Healthcare Sector Risk. Companies in the healthcare sector are subject to extensive government regulation and their profitability can be significantly affected by
restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising costs of medical products
and services, pricing pressure (including price discounting), limited product lines and an increased emphasis on the delivery of healthcare through outpatient services. Companies in the healthcare sector are heavily
dependent on obtaining and defending patents, which may be time consuming and costly, and the
expiration of patents may also adversely affect the profitability of these companies. Healthcare
companies are also subject to extensive litigation based on product liability and similar claims.
In addition, their products can become obsolete due to industry innovation, changes in
technologies or other market developments. Many new products in the healthcare sector require
significant research and development and may be subject to regulatory approvals, all of which may
be time consuming and costly with no guarantee that any product will come to market.
Financials Sector Risk. Financial services companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation which may limit both the amounts and types of loans and other financial
commitments they can make, the interest rates and fees they can charge, the scope of their
activities, the prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. Profitability is largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital funds and can fluctuate significantly when interest rates
change or due to increased competition. In addition, deterioration of the credit markets
generally may cause an adverse impact in a broad range of markets, including U.S. and international credit and interbank money markets generally, thereby affecting a wide range of financial institutions and markets.
Certain events in the financials sector may cause an unusually high degree of volatility in the
financial markets, both domestic and foreign, and cause certain financial services companies to incur large losses. Securities of financial services companies may experience a dramatic decline in value when such companies
experience substantial declines in the valuations of their assets, take action to raise capital
(such as the issuance of debt or equity securities), or cease operations. Credit losses resulting from financial difficulties of borrowers and financial losses associated with investment activities can negatively impact the
sector. Insurance companies may be subject to severe price competition. Adverse economic,
business or political developments could adversely affect financial institutions engaged in mortgage finance or other lending or investing activities directly or indirectly connected to the value of real
estate.
Transactions Risk. The Fund could experience a loss and its liquidity may be negatively impacted when selling securities or
liquidating other investments to meet redemption requests. The risk of loss increases if the
redemption requests are unusually large or frequent or occur in times of overall market turmoil or
declining prices. Similarly, large purchases of Fund shares may adversely affect the Fund’s
performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to
maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.