Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 3.93% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund consists of two main components. First, a majority of its portfolio, referred to herein as the "Core Sleeve," operates as a "fund-of-funds" that invests in the BlackRock Global Allocation V.I. Fund, a series of BlackRock Variable Series Funds, Inc. (the "Underlying Fund"). The Underlying Fund is designed for investors seeking high total investment return. The remainder of the Fund, referred to herein as the "Volatility Overlay," invests in short-term fixed-income securities (or mutual funds that themselves invest in such securities) or is held in cash. In an attempt to manage the volatility of the Fund's portfolio over a full market cycle, the Fund buys and sells stock index futures, which are derivatives. The Fund's short-term fixed-income securities and cash may be used to meet margin requirements and other obligations on the Fund's derivative positions. The combination of the Core Sleeve and the Volatility Overlay is intended to result in a single Fund that is designed to offer a diversified portfolio that invests flexibly across multiple asset classes, regions and sectors, blended with a strategy that seeks to mitigate equity market risk and manage the Fund's volatility over a full market cycle. The Volatility Overlay may not be successful in reducing volatility, in particular, frequent or short-term volatility with little or no sustained market direction, and it is possible that the Volatility Overlay will result in underperformance or losses greater than if the Fund did not implement the Volatility Overlay.
The level of "volatility" of the Fund's portfolio reflects the degree to which the value of the Fund's portfolio may be expected to rise or fall within a period of time. A high level of volatility means that the Fund's value is expected to increase or decrease significantly over a period of time. A lower level of volatility means that the Fund's value is not expected to fluctuate so significantly. The Fund is intended to be used primarily in connection with guaranteed benefits available through variable annuity contracts issued by Nationwide Life Insurance Company and Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company (collectively, "Nationwide Life"), and is designed to help reduce a contract owner's exposure to equity investments when equity markets are more volatile. The purpose of the Volatility Overlay is to minimize the costs and risks to Nationwide Life of supporting these guaranteed benefits. Although the reduction of equity exposure during periods of higher volatility is designed to decrease the risk of loss to your investment, it may prevent you from achieving higher investment returns. Further, the Fund's use of leverage in its strategies may cause the Fund's performance to be more volatile than if the Fund had not been leveraged.
The Underlying Fund invests in a portfolio of equity, debt and money market securities. Generally, the Underlying Fund's portfolio will include both equity and debt securities. Equity securities include common stock, preferred stock, securities convertible into common stock, rights and warrants, or securities or other instruments whose price is linked to the value of common stock. At any given time, however, the Underlying Fund may emphasize either debt securities or equity securities. In selecting equity investments, the Underlying Fund mainly seeks securities that its investment adviser believes are undervalued. The Underlying Fund may buy debt securities of varying maturities, debt securities paying a fixed or fluctuating rate of interest, and debt securities of any kind, including, by way of example, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, and securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities, by foreign governments or international agencies or supranational entities, or by domestic or foreign private issuers. The Underlying Fund also may invest in debt securities convertible into equity securities, inflation-indexed bonds, structured notes, credit-linked notes, loan assignments and loan participations. In addition, the Underlying Fund may invest up to 35% of its total assets in high-yield bonds (commonly known as "junk bonds"), corporate loans and distressed securities. The Underlying Fund also may invest in real estate investment trusts ("REITs") and securities related to real assets (such as real estate- or precious metals-related securities) and stock, bonds or convertible bonds issued by REITs or companies that mine precious metals.
The Underlying Fund relies on the professional judgment of its investment adviser to make decisions about the Underlying Fund's portfolio investments. The Underlying Fund's investment adviser considers various factors, including opportunities for equity or debt investments to increase in value, expected dividends and interest rates. The Underlying Fund generally seeks diversification across markets, industries and issuers as one of its strategies to reduce volatility. The Underlying Fund has no geographic limits on where it may invest. This flexibility allows its investment adviser to look for investments in markets around the world, including emerging markets, that the investment adviser believes will provide the best asset allocation to meet the Underlying Fund's objective. The Underlying Fund may invest in the securities of companies of any market capitalization.
Generally, the Underlying Fund may invest in the securities of corporate and governmental issuers located anywhere in the world. The Underlying Fund may emphasize foreign securities when its investment adviser expects these investments to outperform U.S. securities. When choosing investment markets, the Underlying Fund's investment adviser considers various factors,