The fund will normally invest in a diversified portfolio of longer duration debt instruments issued by corporations as well as certain noncorporate issuers. While the fund will focus on corporate bonds, the noncorporate debt instruments in which the fund may invest include securities issued by supranational organizations and U.S. and foreign governments and government agencies (including securities of issuers in emerging markets). There is no limit on the fund’s investments in U.S. dollar-denominated foreign securities, but non-U.S.

dollar-denominated foreign debt instruments are limited to 10% of the fund’s total assets. Holdings will mainly consist of investment-grade debt instruments, although the fund has the flexibility to purchase some below investment-grade bonds (commonly referred to as “high yield” or “junk” bonds).

While the fund may invest in debt instruments of any maturity or duration, the fund expects to normally maintain an effective duration within +/-20% of the duration of the Bloomberg U.S. Long Credit Bond Index. As of July 31, 2023, the duration of the Bloomberg U.S. Long Credit Bond Index was 12.76 years. However, the duration of the fund and this index will change over time and could be significantly higher or lower during certain interest rate environments.

Under normal conditions, at least 85% of the fund’s net assets will be rated investment grade (AAA, AA, A, or BBB, or an equivalent rating) at the time of purchase by at least one of the major credit rating agency or, if not rated by any credit rating agency, deemed by the adviser to be of investment-grade quality. Such investment-grade investments could include “split rated” securities, which are securities that are rated as investment grade by at least one credit rating agency but rated below investment grade by another agency. Up to 15% of the fund’s net assets can be invested in below investment-grade securities. Any investments in below investment-grade securities will be focused primarily on the higher-quality range (BB or an equivalent rating) of the high yield market and the fund will not purchase any individual bond that is rated B or below (or equivalent) by any major credit rating agency.

The fund may use a variety of derivatives, such as futures, forwards, and swaps for a number of purposes, such as for exposure or hedging. The fund specifically uses credit default swaps to protect the value of certain portfolio holdings or to manage the fund’s overall exposure to changes in credit quality and interest rate futures to manage the portfolio’s duration or interest rate risk.