Delaware Ivy Limited-Term Bond Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in investment grade fixed income securities (80% policy), including, but not limited to, fixed income securities issued or guaranteed by the US government, its agencies or instrumentalities, and by US corporations. The Fund may also invest up to 30% of its net assets in foreign securities, including up to 10% of its net assets in securities of issuers located in emerging markets. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in below-investment-grade securities (also known as high yield or “junk” bonds). Additionally, the Fund may invest in mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by the US government, its agencies or instrumentalities, government-sponsored corporations, and mortgage-backed securities issued by certain private, nongovernment entities. The Fund may also invest in securities that are backed by assets such as receivables on home equity and credit card loans, automobile, mobile home, recreational vehicle and other loans, wholesale dealer floor plans, and leases The Fund will maintain an average effective duration from one to three years.

Investment grade debt securities include those that are rated within the four highest ratings categories by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (Moody’s) or Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (S&P) or that are unrated but determined by Delaware Management Company (Manager), the Fund's investment manager, to be of equivalent quality.

The Fund may use a wide range of derivatives instruments, typically including options, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, forward foreign currency contracts, and swaps. The Fund will use derivatives for both hedging and nonhedging purposes. For example, the Fund may invest in: futures and options to manage duration and for defensive purposes, such as to protect gains or hedge against potential losses in the portfolio without actually selling a security, or to stay fully invested; forward foreign currency contracts to manage foreign currency exposure; interest rate swaps to neutralize the impact of interest rate changes; credit default swaps to hedge against a credit event, to gain exposure to certain securities or markets, or to enhance total return; and index swaps to enhance return or to effect diversification. The Fund will not use derivatives for reasons inconsistent with its investment objective and will limit its investments in derivatives instruments to 20% of its net assets.

The Manager may look at a number of factors in selecting securities for the Fund’s portfolio, beginning with a top-down (assessing the market environment) review of the broad economic and financial trends in the US and world markets. This process aids in the determination of economic fundamentals, which leads to sector allocation. Within a sector, the Manager typically considers the maturity and perceived liquidity of the security, the relative value of the security based on historical yield information, the creditworthiness of the particular issuer (if not backed by the full faith and credit of the Treasury), and prepayment risks for mortgage-backed securities and other debt securities with call provisions.

Generally, in determining whether to sell a security, the Manager uses the same type of analysis that it uses in buying securities, including review of the security’s valuation and the issuer’s creditworthiness. The Manager also may sell a security to take advantage of what it believes are more attractive investment opportunities, to reduce the Fund’s holding in that security or to raise cash.

The Manager may seek investment advice and recommendations from its affiliates: Macquarie Investment Management Europe Limited, Macquarie Investment Management Austria Kapitalanlage AG, and Macquarie Investment Management Global Limited (together, the “Affiliated Sub-Advisors”). The Manager may also permit these Affiliated Sub-Advisors to execute Fund security trades on behalf of the Manager and exercise investment discretion for securities in certain markets where the Manager believes it will be beneficial to utilize an Affiliated Sub-Advisor’s specialized market knowledge.