The Fund may invest in the securities of issuers of all capitalization sizes and may invest a significant amount of its net assets in the securities of small- and mid-capitalization issuers.
The Fund may invest in securities of foreign issuers including up to 20% of its net assets in securities of issuers located in emerging markets countries, i.e., those that are generally in the early stages of their industrial cycles.
The Fund can invest in derivative instruments, including forward foreign currency contracts. The Fund can use forward foreign currency contracts to hedge against adverse movements in the foreign currencies in which portfolio securities are denominated.
In selecting securities for the Fund, the portfolio manager uses a research-oriented bottom-up investment approach, focusing on issuer fundamentals before considering the impact of overall economic, market or industry trends. This approach includes analysis of a company's financial statements and management structure and consideration of the company's operations, product development, and its industry position. The portfolio manager currently focuses on companies that the portfolio manager believes are characterized by industry leadership, market share growth, high caliber management teams, sustainable competitive advantages, and strong growth themes or new innovative products or services. The portfolio manager monitors individual issuers for changes in the factors above, which may trigger a decision to sell a security, but does not require a decision to do so. The factors considered by the portfolio manager may vary in particular cases and may change over time.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with any mutual fund investment, loss of money is a risk of investing. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. The risks associated with an investment in the Fund can increase during times of significant market volatility. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are:
Market Risk. The market values of the Fund's investments, and therefore the value of the Fund's shares, will go up and down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Market risk may affect a single issuer, industry or section of the economy, or it may affect the market as a whole. The value of the Fund's investments may go up or down due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to the particular issuer, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for revenues or corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, regional or global instability, natural or environmental disasters, widespread disease or other public health issues, war, military conflict, acts of terrorism, economic crisis or adverse investor sentiment generally. During a general downturn in the financial markets, multiple asset classes may decline in value. When markets perform well, there can be no assurance that specific investments held by the Fund will rise in value.
Health Care Sector Risk. Factors such as extensive government regulation, restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising costs of medical products, services and facilities, pricing pressure, an increased emphasis on outpatient services, a limited number of products, industry innovation, costs associated with obtaining and protecting patents, product liability and other claims, changes in technologies and other market developments can adversely affect companies in the health care sector.
Investing in Stocks Risk. The value of the Fund's portfolio may be affected by changes in the stock markets. Stock markets may experience significant short-term volatility and may fall or rise sharply at times. Adverse events in any part of the equity or fixed-income markets may have unexpected negative effects on other market segments. Different stock markets may behave differently from each other and U.S. stock markets may move in the opposite direction from one or more foreign stock markets.
The prices of individual stocks generally do not all move in the same direction at the same time. However, individual stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of certain other types of
investments, such as bonds. A variety of factors can negatively affect the price of a particular company's stock. These factors may include, but are not limited to: poor earnings reports, a loss of customers, litigation against the company, general unfavorable performance of the company's sector or industry, or changes in government regulations affecting the company or its industry. To the extent that securities of a particular type are emphasized (for example foreign stocks, stocks of small- or mid-cap companies, growth or value stocks, or stocks of companies in a particular industry), fund share values may fluctuate more in response to events affecting the market for those types of securities.
Preferred Securities Risk. Preferred securities are subject to issuer-specific and market risks applicable generally to equity securities. Preferred securities also may be subordinated to bonds or other debt instruments, subjecting them to a greater risk of non-payment, may be less liquid than many other securities, such as common stocks, and generally offer no voting rights with respect to the issuer.
Small- and Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies involves greater risk than customarily is associated with investing in larger, more established companies. Stocks of small- and mid-capitalization companies tend to be more vulnerable to changing market conditions, may have little or no operating history or track record of success, and may have more limited product lines and markets, less experienced management and fewer financial resources than larger companies. These companies' securities may be more volatile and less liquid than those of more established companies. They may be more sensitive to changes in a company's earnings expectations and may experience more abrupt and erratic price movements. Smaller companies' securities often trade in lower volumes and in many instances, are traded over-the-counter or on a regional securities exchange, where the frequency and volume of trading is substantially less than is typical for securities of larger companies traded on national securities exchanges. Therefore, the securities of smaller companies may be subject to wider price fluctuations and it might be harder for the Fund to dispose of its holdings at an acceptable price when it wants to sell them. Since small- and mid-cap companies typically reinvest a high proportion of their earnings in their business, they may not pay dividends for some time, particularly if they are newer companies. It may take a substantial period of time to realize a gain on an investment in a small- or mid-cap company, if any gain is realized at all.
Foreign Securities Risk. The Fund's foreign investments may be adversely affected by political and social instability, changes in economic or taxation policies, difficulty in enforcing obligations, decreased liquidity or increased volatility. Foreign investments also involve the risk of the possible seizure, nationalization or expropriation of the issuer or foreign deposits (in which the Fund could lose its entire investments in a certain market) and the possible adoption of foreign governmental restrictions such as exchange controls. Foreign companies generally may be subject to less stringent regulations than U.S. companies, including financial reporting requirements and auditing and accounting controls, and may therefore be more susceptible to fraud or corruption. There may be less public information available about foreign companies than U.S. companies, making it difficult to evaluate those foreign companies. Unless the Fund has hedged its foreign currency exposure, foreign securities risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. Currency hedging strategies, if used, are not always successful.
Emerging Market Securities Risk. Emerging markets (also referred to as developing markets) are generally subject to greater market volatility, political, social and economic instability, uncertain trading markets and more governmental limitations on foreign investment than more developed markets. In addition, companies operating in emerging markets may be
2 Invesco V.I. Health Care Fund