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 73.41% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund employs a “passive” management, or indexing, approach, which seeks to match approximately the performance of the Aggregate Bond Index before the deduction of Fund expenses. The Aggregate Bond Index represents a wide spectrum of public,
investment grade, debt securities in the United States, including government, corporate, and international dollar-denominated bonds, as well as mortgage-backed securities (collectively “bonds”). Some of these securities may be purchased with delayed delivery. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in a statistically selected sampling of bonds that are included in or correlated with the Aggregate Bond Index. The Fund does not necessarily Invest in all of the bonds in the index, or in the same weightings. The Fund may invest in bonds not included in the Aggregate Bond Index which are selected to
reflect characteristics such as maturity, duration, or credit quality similar to the Aggregate Bond Index. The Fund also may trade securities in segments of the portfolio to the extent necessary to closely mirror the duration of corresponding segments of the Index. As a result, the Fund may have different levels of interest rate, credit or prepayment risks from the levels of risks in the index. In addition, the Fund may have a higher portfolio turnover rate than that of other “index” funds.
The Fund intends to be diversified in approximately the same proportion as the Aggregate Bond Index is diversified. The Fund may become “nondiversified,” as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 Act, as amended (the “1940 Act”), solely as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more constituents of the Aggregate Bond Index. A “nondiversified” fund generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. Shareholder approval will not be sought if the Fund becomes
nondiversified due solely to a change in the relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more constituents of the Aggregate Bond Index.
The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.
As with any fund, the value of the Fund’s investments—and therefore, the value of Fund shares—may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of:
Interest rate risk – generally, when interest rates go up, the value of debt
securities goes down. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund
invests a substantial portion of its assets in debt securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates are more likely to cause periods of increased volatility and redemptions, and will cause the value of the Fund's investments to decline significantly. The Federal Reserve Board continued to lower interest rates following a period of consistent rate increases, though it is unclear if such lowering will continue. The interest earned on the Fund's investments in debt securities may decline when prevailing
interest rates fall. Declines in interest rates increase the likelihood that debt obligations will be pre-paid, which, in turn, increases these risks. Very low or negative interest rates will impact the yield of the Fund's investments in debt securities and increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund's performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments in debt securities may not keep pace with inflation. Recent and potential future
changes in government policy may affect interest rates.
Credit risk – a bond issuer will default if it is unable to pay the interest or
principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund will lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s
creditworthiness also affect the market price of a bond.
Market risk – the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the
markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. This occurs due to numerous factors, including interest rates, the outlook for corporate profits, the health of the national and world economies, and the fluctuation of other securities markets around the
world. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts, trade disputes and social unrest or rapid technological developments
such as artificial intelligence) adversely interrupt the global economy.