Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in bonds of U.S. issuers, including government, corporate debt, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. Bonds include debt obligations of any maturity, such as bonds, notes, bills and debentures. “U.S. issuers” include entities:

·whose securities are listed or traded principally on a recognized stock exchange or over-the-counter market in the U.S.;

·that derive 50% or more of their total revenue from either goods or services produced or sales made in the U.S.;

·that have 50% or more of their assets in the U.S.; or

·that are organized under the laws of, or with principal offices in, the U.S.

“Bonds of U.S. issuers” also include: (i) securities included in the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index; and (ii) bonds denominated in U.S. dollars issued by foreign banks and corporations, and registered with the SEC for sale in the U.S., such as Yankee bonds. The Fund invests predominantly in investment grade debt securities and, under normal market conditions, is generally expected to have sector, credit and duration exposures comparable to the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index, the Fund’s benchmark index. However, the investment manager makes investment decisions based upon its own fundamental analysis, which affects the Fund’s sector, credit and duration exposures so that they may vary from the benchmark index. Investment grade debt securities are securities that are rated at the time of purchase in the top four ratings categories by one or more independent rating organizations such as S&P® Global Ratings (S&P®) (rated BBB- or better) or Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) (rated Baa3 or higher) or, if unrated, are determined to be of comparable quality by the Fund’s investment manager.

An asset-backed security is a security backed by loans, leases, and other receivables. A mortgage-backed security is an interest in a pool of mortgage loans made by and packaged or “pooled” together by banks, mortgage lenders, various governmental agencies and other financial institutions for sale to investors to finance purchases of homes, commercial buildings and other real estate. The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities include securities that are issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities, which include mortgage pass-through securities representing interests in “pools” of mortgage loans issued or guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). Securities issued by different government agencies or instrumentalities have different levels of

credit support. The Fund also invests in other types of mortgage securities that may be issued or guaranteed by private issuers including commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).

The Fund may purchase or sell mortgage-backed securities on a delayed delivery or forward commitment basis through the “to-be-announced” (TBA) market. With TBA transactions, the particular securities to be delivered must meet specified terms and conditions.

For purposes of pursuing its investment goal, the Fund may enter into various interest rate and credit-related derivatives, principally U.S. Treasury futures, interest rate swaps and credit default swaps. The use of these derivative transactions may allow the Fund to obtain net long or short exposures to select interest rates, durations or credit risks. These derivatives may be used to enhance Fund returns, increase liquidity, gain exposure to certain instruments or markets in a more efficient or less expensive way and/or hedge risks associated with its other portfolio investments. Derivatives that provide exposure to bonds may be used to satisfy the Fund’s 80% policy.

In choosing investments for the Fund, the investment manager selects securities in various market sectors based on its assessment of changing economic, market, industry and issuer conditions. The investment manager uses a “top-down” analysis of macroeconomic trends, combined with a “bottom-up” fundamental analysis of market sectors, industries and issuers, to try to take advantage of varying sector reactions to economic events. The investment manager may utilize quantitative models to identify investment opportunities as part of the portfolio construction process for the Fund. Quantitative models are proprietary systems that rely on mathematical computations to identify investment opportunities. The investment manager may consider selling a security when it believes the security has become fully valued due to either its price appreciation or changes in the issuer’s fundamentals, or when the investment manager believes another security is a more attractive investment opportunity.