may not be conclusive and securities of issuers or countries that may be negatively impacted by such factors may be purchased and retained by the Fund while the Fund may divest or not invest in securities of issuers or countries that may be positively impacted by such factors. The Fund uses a flexible asset allocation approach that permits the adviser to invest in only a small number of strategies/ sectors from time to time although the Fund intends to invest in at least two sectors under normal market conditions. While the Fund seeks to mitigate downside risk, the Fund's risk exposure may vary due to the Fund's flexible allocation approach and a risk associated with an individual strategy or type of investment may become more pronounced when the Fund utilizes a single strategy or type of investment or only a few strategies or types of investments.
The Fund's Main Investment Risks
The Fund is subject to management risk and may not mitigate downside risk or achieve its objective if the adviser's expectations regarding particular instruments or markets are not met. The adviser has great flexibility in selecting investments because the Fund is unconstrained by sectors and strategies. This increased flexibility may present greater investment risk than a Fund with more rigid investment restrictions because the success of the adviser's portfolio selections is dependent upon a greater number of variables.
An investment in this Fund or any other fund may not provide a complete investment program. The suitability of an investment in the Fund should be considered based on the investment objective, strategies and risks described in this prospectus, considered in light of all of the other investments in your portfolio, as well as your risk tolerance, financial goals and time horizons. You may want to consult with a financial advisor to determine if this Fund is suitable for you.
The Fund is subject to the main risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund's performance and ability to meet its investment objective.
General Market Risk. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries or regions. Securities in the Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to securities in general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes due to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), deflation (or expectations for deflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, market instability, debt crises and downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, sanctions and other trade barriers, regulatory events, other governmental trade or market control programs and related geopolitical events. In addition, the value of the Fund's investments may be negatively affected by the occurrence of global events such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters or events, country instability, and infectious disease epidemics or pandemics.
For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 has negatively affected economies, markets and individual companies throughout the world, including those in which the Fund invests. The effects of this pandemic to public health and business and market conditions, including, among other things, reduced consumer
demand and economic output, supply chain disruptions and increased government spending may continue to have a significant negative impact on the performance of the Fund's investments, increase the Fund's volatility, exacerbate pre-existing political, social and economic risks to the Fund, and negatively impact broad segments of businesses and populations. In addition, governments, their regulatory agencies, or self-regulatory organizations have taken or may take actions in response to the pandemic that affect the instruments in which the Fund invests, or the issuers of such instruments, in ways that could have a significant negative impact on the Fund's investment performance. The duration and extent of COVID-19 and associated economic and market conditions and uncertainty over the long-term cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. The ultimate impact of COVID-19 and the extent to which the associated conditions impact the Fund will also depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain, difficult to accurately predict and subject to frequent changes.
Interest Rate Risk. The Fund's investments in bonds and other debt securities will change in value based on changes in interest rates. If rates increase, the value of these investments generally declines. Securities with greater interest rate sensitivity and longer maturities generally are subject to greater fluctuations in value. The Fund may invest in variable and floating rate Loans and other variable and floating rate securities. Although these instruments are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than fixed rate instruments, the value of variable and floating rate Loans and other securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as general interest rates. The Fund may face a heightened level of interest rate risk due to certain changes in monetary policy. During periods when interest rates are low or there are negative interest rates, the Fund's yield (and total return) also may be low or the Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns.
Credit Risk. The Fund's investments are subject to the risk that issuers and/or counterparties will fail to make payments when due or default completely. Prices of the Fund's investments may be adversely affected if any of the issuers or counterparties it is invested in are subject to an actual or perceived deterioration in their credit quality. Credit spreads may increase, which may reduce the market values of the Fund's securities. Credit spread risk is the risk that economic and market conditions or any actual or perceived credit deterioration may lead to an increase in the credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between two securities of similar maturity but different credit quality) and a decline in price of the issuer's securities.
High Yield Securities and Loan Risk. The Fund invests in instruments including junk bonds, Loans and instruments that are issued by companies that are highly leveraged, less creditworthy or financially distressed. These investments are considered to be speculative and may be subject to greater risk of loss, greater sensitivity to economic changes, valuation difficulties and potential illiquidity. Such investments may be subject to additional risks including subordination to other creditors, no collateral or limited rights in collateral, lack of a regular trading market, extended settlement periods, liquidity risks, prepayment risks, potentially less protection under the federal securities laws and lack of publicly available information.