Economies and
financial markets throughout the world are increasingly interconnected. Events or circumstances in one or more countries or regions could be highly disruptive to, and have profound impacts on, global economies
or markets. As a result, whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in
or with significant exposure to the countries directly affected, the value and liquidity of
the fund’s investments may go down.
The long-term consequences to the U.S. economy of the continued expansion of U.S.
government debt and deficits are not known. Also, raising the ceiling on U.S. government debt and periodic legislation to fund the government have become increasingly politicized. Any failure to do
either could lead to a default on U.S. government obligations, with unpredictable consequences for the fund’s investments, and generally for economies and markets in the U.S. and
elsewhere.
High-Yield Debt Securities – High-yield debt securities, commonly referred to as “junk” bonds, are securities
that are rated below “investment grade” or are of comparable quality. Changes
in interest rates, the market’s perception of the issuers, the creditworthiness of
the issuers and negative perceptions of the junk bond market generally may significantly affect the value of these bonds. Junk bonds are considered speculative, tend to be volatile, typically have a higher risk of default,
tend to be less liquid and more difficult to value than higher grade securities, and may result in losses for the fund.
Credit
– If an issuer or other obligor (such as a party providing insurance or other credit enhancement) of a security held by the fund or a counterparty to a financial contract with the fund 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 fund may incur
costs and may be hindered or delayed in enforcing its rights against an issuer, obligor or counterparty.
Interest Rate –The value of fixed-income securities generally
goes down when interest rates rise. A rise in rates tends to have a greater impact on the
prices of longer term or duration securities. Changes in interest rates can be sudden and unpredictable and may expose the markets to significant volatility, which also may affect the liquidity of the fund’s
investments and detract from fund performance. A variety of factors can impact interest rates, including central bank monetary policies and inflation rates. A general rise in interest rates may cause investors
to sell fixed-income securities on a large scale, which could adversely affect the price and liquidity of fixed-income securities generally and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund.
Increased redemptions could cause the fund to sell securities at inopportune times or depressed prices and result in further losses. Inflation and interest rates have been volatile and may increase in
the future. Interest rate increases in the future may cause the value of fixed-income securities to decrease and, conversely, interest rate reductions may cause the value of fixed-income securities to
increase.
Fixed-Income Securities – Risks of fixed-income securities
include credit risk, interest rate risk, counterparty risk, prepayment risk, extension
risk, valuation risk, and liquidity risk. The value of fixed-income securities may go up or down, sometimes rapidly
and unpredictably, due
to general market conditions, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions, tariffs and trade disruptions, wars, social unrest, inflation, changes in interest
rates, lack of liquidity in the bond markets or adverse investor sentiment. In addition, the value of a fixed-income security may decline
if the issuer or other obligor of the security fails to pay principal and/or interest, otherwise defaults or has its credit rating downgraded or is perceived to be less creditworthy, or the credit quality
or value of any underlying assets declines. If the value of fixed-income securities owned by the fund falls, the value of your investment will go down. The fund may lose its entire investment in the fixed-income
securities of an issuer.
Liquidity – The fund may make investments that are illiquid or that become illiquid after purchase.
Illiquid investments can be difficult to value, may trade at a discount from comparable, more
liquid investments, and may be subject to wide fluctuations in value. Liquidity risk may be
magnified in rising interest rate or volatile environments. If the fund is forced to sell an illiquid investment to meet redemption requests or other cash needs, the fund may be forced to sell at a substantial loss
or may not be able to sell at all. Liquidity of particular investments, or even entire asset
classes, including U.S. Treasury securities, can deteriorate rapidly, particularly during
times of market turmoil, and those investments may be difficult or impossible for the fund to sell. This may prevent the fund from limiting losses.
Inflation – The value of assets or income from investment
may be worth less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation
increases, the real value of the fund’s assets can decline as can the value of the fund’s distributions.
Distressed or Defaulted Securities – Investments in defaulted securities and obligations of distressed issuers, including securities that are, or may be, involved in reorganizations or other financial restructurings, either out of court
or in bankruptcy, involve substantial risks in addition to the risks of investing in high-yield debt securities. These securities are considered speculative with respect to the issuers’ continuing
ability to make principal and interest payments. The fund may incur costs to protect its investment, and the fund could lose its entire investment. Distressed securities and any securities received in an
exchange for such securities may be subject to restrictions on resale.
Counterparty – The fund could lose money if the counterparties
to derivatives, repurchase agreements and/or other financial contracts entered into for the
fund do not fulfill their contractual obligations. In addition, the fund may incur costs and may be hindered or delayed in enforcing its rights against a counterparty. These risks may be greater to the
extent the fund has more contractual exposure to a counterparty.
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.
Prepayment or Call – Many issuers have a right to prepay
their fixed-income securities. If this happens, the fund will not benefit from the rise in
the market price of the securities that normally accompanies a decline in interest rates and may be forced to reinvest the prepayment proceeds in securities with lower yields.