"Inflation Managed" in the Fund's name does not refer to a type of security in which the Fund invests, but rather describes the Fund's overall strategy of creating a portfolio of inflation-protected securities. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its "Assets" in bonds. "Assets" means net assets, plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes.
As part of its main investment strategy, the Fund may principally invest in corporate bonds, U.S. government and agency debt securities, asset-backed securities, and mortgage-related and mortgage-backed securities. Mortgage-related and mortgage-backed securities may be structured as collateralized mortgage obligations (agency and non-agency), stripped mortgage-backed securities (interest-only or principal-only), commercial mortgage-backed securities, and mortgage pass-through securities. Additional information about these types of investments may be found in "Investment Practices" in the Fund's prospectus. The Fund may invest up to 10% of the Fund's total assets in securities that, at the time of purchase, are rated below investment grade (also known as junk bonds or high yield securities) by Moody's Investor Service, Inc. (Moody's), Standard & Poor's Corporation (S&P), Fitch Rating (Fitch) or the equivalent by another national rating organization, or securities that are unrated but are deemed by the adviser to be of comparable quality. In addition, all securities will be U.S. dollar-denominated although they may be issued by a foreign corporation, government or its agencies and instrumentalities. The Fund may invest a significant portion or all of its assets in mortgage-related and mortgage-backed securities at the adviser's discretion. The Fund expects to invest no more than 10% of its assets in "sub-prime" mortgage-related securities at the time of purchase.
The Fund uses derivatives as a principal strategy. Derivatives are instruments that have a value based on another instrument, exchange rate or index. The Fund uses CPI-U swaps for inflation hedging purposes. In addition to CPI-U swaps, the Fund has flexibility to use swaps (including credit default swaps) and futures for hedging purposes, to increase income and gain to the Fund, and as part of its risk management process by establishing or adjusting exposure to particular securities or markets and/or to manage cash flows. The Fund may use swaps structured as credit default swaps to gain or hedge exposure to investment grade or high yield securities or indexes of investment grade or high yield securities.
The adviser buys and sells securities and investments for the Fund based on its view of individual securities and market sectors. Taking a long-term approach, the adviser looks for individual fixed income investments that it believes will perform well over market cycles. The adviser is value oriented and makes decisions to purchase and sell individual securities and instruments after performing a risk/reward analysis that includes an evaluation of interest rate risk, credit risk, duration, liquidity, legal provisions and the structure of the transaction. As part of its investment process, the adviser seeks to assess the impact of environmental, social and governance ("ESG") factors on certain issuers or countries in the universe in which the Fund may invest. The adviser's assessment is based on an analysis of key opportunities and risks across industries to identify financially material issues on the Fund's investments in issuers and ascertain key issues that merit engagement with issuers. These assessments may not be conclusive and securities 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 that may be positively impacted by such factors.
The Fund's Main Investment Risks
The Fund is subject to management risk and may not achieve its objective if the adviser's expectations regarding particular instruments or markets are not met.
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 net asset value (NAV), market price, 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