INVESTMENTS, RISKS, AND PERFORMANCE
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund is a "fund of funds" that seeks to achieve its investment objective by allocating substantially all of its assets among exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") providing exposures to various asset classes. The Fund's investment adviser, MML Investment Advisers, LLC ("MML Advisers"), determines the Fund's asset allocation strategy and implements this strategy by selecting ETFs for investment and determining the amounts of the Fund's assets to be invested in each. The ETFs MML Advisers will consider for investment by the Fund will provide exposures to equity securities or to fixed-income securities. BlackRock Investment Management, LLC ("BlackRock") is the Fund's subadviser, and is responsible solely for the trading and execution of MML Advisers' investment and allocation decisions. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% (and, typically, substantially all) of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in iShares® ETFs*. iShares ETFs are advised by an affiliate of BlackRock.
The Fund typically invests approximately 80% of its net assets in equity ETFs and approximately 20% of its net assets in fixed income ETFs. Equity ETFs may include funds that provide exposures to, among other things, domestic and international equity securities, including common stocks, preferred stocks, securities convertible into common or preferred stock, rights, and warrants, of issuers of any size, as well as real estate investment trusts ("REITs"). Fixed income ETFs may include funds that provide exposures to, among other things, domestic and non-U.S. bonds, U.S. Government securities, non-U.S. sovereign obligations, mortgage-backed securities, securities below investment grade ("junk" or "high yield" bonds, including securities in default), inflation-protected securities, bank loans, and cash or money market instruments.
The Fund's equity allocation may include equity exposures chosen by reference to, for example, style (including both value and growth funds), market capitalization (including both large-cap and small-cap funds), global investments (including domestic and international (including emerging market) funds), or other factors. The Fund's fixed-income allocation may include exposures chosen by reference to, for example, sector
*
iShares® and BlackRock® are registered trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates and are used under license.
(including government, corporate, agency, mortgage-backed securities, and other sectors), duration (a calculation of the average life of a bond which measures its price risk), credit quality (including securities below investment grade ("junk" or "high yield" bonds, including securities in default)), geographic location, or other factors. The percentage allocation to the various types of equity and fixed-income securities are determined at the discretion of MML Advisers.
MML Advisers will typically rebalance to these strategic targets on a quarterly basis. MML Advisers may at any time reassess and make revisions in the Fund's asset allocation strategy consistent with the Fund's investment objective and strategy, including revising the weightings among the investments described above and adding or removing ETFs from the asset allocation strategy. Actual allocations between equity and fixed income investments will typically not vary from the Fund's target asset allocations by more than 10%, although MML Advisers may determine in light of market conditions or other factors that a greater variation is warranted to protect the Fund or achieve its investment goal. BlackRock will place, and oversee the execution of, trades as directed by MML Advisers to implement the asset allocation strategy.
ETFs in which the Fund invests may use derivatives contracts to achieve their investment objectives. Use of derivatives by an ETF may create investment leverage.
An ETF may enter into dollar roll or reverse repurchase agreement transactions. Some investments by an ETF may be restricted as to resale or otherwise considered to be illiquid. The Fund or an ETF may enter into repurchase agreement transactions. The Fund will bear a pro rata share of the ETFs' expenses. The Fund also bears all of the risks associated with the investment strategies used by the ETFs.
Through its investments in ETFs, the Fund may at times have significant exposure to one or more industries or sectors. The Fund may hold a portion of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. A description of the ETFs in which the Fund expects to invest is included in Appendix D of the Statement of Additional Information ("SAI").
Because the Fund will invest substantially all of its assets in ETFs advised by an affiliate of BlackRock, the Fund will not invest in ETFs advised or sponsored by others, even if they are less expensive or have better historical performance