is unable or unwilling to meet its financial obligations, or is downgraded or perceived to be less creditworthy (whether by market participants, ratings agencies, pricing services or otherwise), or if the value of any underlying assets declines, the value of your investment will typically decline. A decline may be rapid and/or significant, particularly in certain market environments. In addition, the portfolio may incur costs and may be hindered or delayed in enforcing its rights against an issuer, obligor or counterparty.
Currency - The value of a portfolio's investments in securities denominated in foreign currencies increases or decreases as the rates of exchange between those currencies and the U.S. dollar change. U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers may also be affected by currency risk. Currency exchange rates can be volatile and may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. Currency conversion costs and currency fluctuations could reduce or eliminate investment gains or add to investment losses. A portfolio may be unable or may choose not to hedge its foreign currency exposure or any hedge may not be effective.
Currency Hedging - The portfolio may hedge its currency risk using currency futures, forwards or options. However, hedging strategies and/or these instruments may not always work as intended, and a portfolio may be worse off than if it had not used a hedging strategy or instrument. Certain countries may also impose restrictions on the exchange or export of currency or adverse currency exchange rates and may be characterized by a lack of available currency hedging instruments.
Cybersecurity - Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to portfolio assets, portfolio or shareholder data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the portfolio or its service providers (including, but not limited to, the portfolio's investment manager, any sub-adviser(s), transfer agent, distributor, custodian, fund accounting agent and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality, or prevent portfolio investors from purchasing, redeeming or exchanging shares, receiving distributions or receiving timely information regarding the portfolio or their investment in the portfolio. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the portfolio and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in order to prevent or mitigate any future cybersecurity incidents.
Emerging Markets - Investments in securities of issuers located or doing business in emerging markets are subject to heightened foreign investments risks and may experience rapid and extreme changes in value. Emerging market countries tend to have less developed and less stable economic, political and legal systems and regulatory and accounting standards, may have policies that restrict investment by foreigners or that prevent foreign investors such as the portfolio from withdrawing their money at will, and are more likely to experience nationalization, expropriation and confiscatory taxation. Emerging market securities may have low trading volumes and may be or become illiquid. In addition, there may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against issuers located in or operating in emerging market countries, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies.
Extension - When interest rates rise, payments of fixed-income securities, including asset- and mortgage-backed securities, may occur more slowly than anticipated, causing their market prices to decline.
Floating Rate Loans - Floating rate loans are often made to borrowers whose financial condition is troubled or highly leveraged. These loans frequently are rated below investment grade and are therefore subject to "High-Yield Debt Securities" risk. There is no public market for floating rate loans and the loans may trade infrequently and be subject to wide bid/ask spreads. Many floating rate loans are subject to restrictions on resale. Floating rate loans held by the portfolio may be "covenant lite" loans that contain fewer or less restrictive constraints on the borrower or other borrower-friendly characteristics and offer fewer protections for lenders. Floating rate loans may have trade settlement periods in excess of seven days, which may result in the portfolio not receiving proceeds from the sale of a loan for an extended period. As a result, the portfolio may be subject to greater "Liquidity" risk than a fund that does not invest in floating rate loans and the portfolio may be constrained in its ability to meet its obligations (including obligations to redeeming shareholders). The lack of an active trading market may also make it more difficult to value floating rate loans. Rising interest rates can lead to increased default rates as payment obligations increase.
Focused Investing - To the extent the portfolio invests in a limited number of countries, regions, sectors, industries or market segments, in a limited number of issuers, or in issuers in related businesses or that are subject to related operating risks, the portfolio will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those countries, regions, sectors, industries, segments or issuers, and the value of its shares may be more volatile than if it invested more widely.
Foreign Investments - Investing in securities of foreign issuers or issuers with significant exposure to foreign markets involves additional risks. Foreign markets can be less liquid, less regulated, less transparent and more volatile than U.S. markets. The value of the portfolio's foreign investments may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, because of factors affecting the particular issuer as well as foreign markets and issuers generally, such as unfavorable government actions, including nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, reduction of government or central bank support, tariffs and trade disruptions, sanctions, political or financial instability, social unrest or other adverse economic or political developments. Foreign investments may also be subject to different accounting practices and different regulatory, legal, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping standards and practices, and may be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers. Certain foreign clearance and settlement procedures may result in an inability to execute transactions or delays in settlement.
Frontier Markets - Frontier market countries generally have smaller economies and even less developed capital markets than emerging market countries. As a result, the risks of investing in emerging market countries are magnified in frontier market countries.
Growth Stocks - Returns on growth stocks may not move in tandem with returns on other categories of stocks or the market as a whole. Growth stocks typically are particularly sensitive to market movements and may involve larger price swings because their market prices tend to reflect future expectations. When it