Diversified Bond
Fixed Income
Fixed Income | |
DFA Inflation-Protected Securities Portfolio | 5.0% |
Metropolitan West Total Return Bond | 50.0% |
PIMCO Income | 2.0% |
PIMCO Real Return | 5.0% |
PIMCO Total Return | 35.0% |
Virtus Newfleet Multi-Sector Intermediate Bond | 3.0% |
Underlying Funds (in alphabetical order)
DFA Inflation-Protected Securities Portfolio (DIPSX)
Investment Objective and Principal Strategies
The fund's investment objective is to provide inflation protection and earn current income consistent with inflation-protected securities. The Portfolio seeks its investment objective by investing in a universe of inflation-protected securities that are structured to provide returns linked to the rate of inflation over the long-term. The Inflation-Protected Portfolio ordinarily invests in inflation-protected securities issued by the U.S. Government and its agencies and instrumentalities and the credit quality of such inflation-protected securities will be that of such applicable U.S. government, agency or instrumentality issuer.
As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Portfolio will invest at least 80% of its net assets in inflation-protected securities. Inflation-protected securities (also known as inflation-indexed securities) are securities whose principal and/or interest payments are adjusted for inflation, unlike conventional debt securities that make fixed principal and interest payments. Inflation-protected securities include Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (“TIPS”), which are securities issued by the U.S. Treasury. The principal value of TIPS is adjusted for inflation (payable at maturity) and the semi-annual interest payments by TIPS equal a fixed percentage of the inflation-adjusted principal amount. These inflation adjustments are based upon the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (CPI-U). The original principal value of TIPS is guaranteed. At maturity, TIPS are redeemed at the greater of their inflation-adjusted principal or paramount at original issue. Other types of inflation-protected securities may use other methods to adjust for inflation and other measures of inflation. In addition, inflation-protected securities issued by entities other than the U.S. Treasury may not provide a guarantee of principal value at maturity.
Generally, the Inflation-Protected Portfolio will purchase inflation-protected securities with maturities between five and twenty years from the date of settlement, although it is anticipated that, at times, the Portfolio will purchase securities outside of this range. Under normal circumstances, when determining its duration, the Portfolio will consider an average duration similar to its benchmark, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. TIPS Index, which was approximately 7.49 years as of December 31, 2019. Duration is a measure of the sensitivity of a security’s price to changes in interest rates. The longer a security’s duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates.
The Inflation-Protected Portfolio is authorized to invest more than 25% of its total assets in U.S. Treasury bonds, bills and notes and obligations of U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities. The Portfolio will not shift the maturity of its investments in anticipation of interest rate movements.
The Inflation-Protected Portfolio may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts, to adjust market exposure based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Portfolio. The Portfolio does not intend to sell futures contracts to establish short positions in individual securities or to use derivatives for purposes of speculation or leveraging investment returns.
The Inflation-Protected Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.
Principal Risks
The principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net asset value, yield and total return, are market risk, interest rate risk, inflation-protected securities tax risk, inflation-protected securities interest rate risk, credit risk, risks of investing for inflation protection, income risk, liquidity risk, derivatives risk, securities lending risk, operational risk and cyber security risk.
Metropolitan West Total Return Bond Fund (MWTSX)
Investment Objective and Principal Strategies
The fund's investment objective is to maximize long-term total return. The Fund pursues its objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in investment grade fixed income securities or unrated securities determined by the Adviser to be of comparable quality. Up to 20% of the Fund’s net assets may be invested in securities rated below investment grade (commonly known as “junk bonds”) or unrated securities determined by the Adviser to be of comparable quality. The Fund also invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in fixed income securities it regards as bonds. A bond is a security or instrument having one or more of the following characteristics: a fixed-income security, a security issued at a discount to its face value, a security that pays interest or a security with a stated principal amount that requires repayment of some or all of the principal amount to the holder of the security. The term “bond” is interpreted broadly by the Adviser as an instrument or security evidencing a promise to pay some amount rather than evidencing the corporate ownership of equity, unless that equity represents an indirect or derivative interest in one or more bonds. Under normal circumstances, the Fund’s portfolio duration is two to eight years and the Fund’s dollar-weighted average maturity ranges from two to fifteen years.
Duration is a measure of the expected life of a fixed income security that is used to determine the sensitivity of a security to changes in interest rates.
The Fund invests in the U.S. and abroad, including emerging markets, and may purchase securities of varying maturities issued by domestic and foreign corporations and governments. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its assets in foreign securities that are denominated in U.S. dollars. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its assets in securities of foreign issuers that are not denominated in U.S. dollars. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its assets in emerging markets securities. The Adviser focuses the Fund’s portfolio holdings in areas of the bond market that the Adviser believes to be relatively under-valued, based on its analysis of quality, sector, coupon or maturity, and that the Adviser believes offer attractive prospective risk-adjusted returns compared to other segments of the bond market.
The Fund’s investments include various types of bonds and debt securities, including corporate bonds, notes, mortgage-related and asset-backed securities (including collateralized debt obligations, which in turn include collateralized bond obligations and collateralized loan obligations), bank loans, U.S. and non-U.S. money market securities, municipal securities, derivatives including credit default swaps and other swaps, futures, options and currency forward contracts, defaulted debt securities, private placements and restricted securities. The Fund’s fixed income investments may have interest rates that are fixed, variable or floating.
Derivatives are used in an effort to hedge investments, for risk management, or to increase income or gains for the Fund. The Fund may also seek to obtain market exposure to the securities in which it invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or by using other investment techniques.
The Fund may normally short sell up to 25% of the value of its total assets.
Principal Risks
The principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net asset value, yield and total return, are debt securities risk, market risk, interest rate risk, credit risk, price volatility risk, issuer risk, liquidity risk, frequent trading risk, valuation risk, prepayment risk, extension risk, mortgage-backed securities risk, asset-backed securities risk, U.S. treasury obligations risk, U.S. government securities risk, leveraging risk, counterparty risk, derivatives risk, swap agreements risk, futures contracts risk, junk bond risk, unrated securities risk, short sale risk, foreign investing risk, foreign currency risk, emerging markets risk, distressed and defaulted securities risk, securities selection risk, portfolio management risk and public health emergency risks.
PIMCO Income Fund (PIMIX)
Investment Objective and Principal Strategies
The Fund’s primary investment objective is to maximize current income. Long-term capital appreciation is a secondary objective. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objectives by investing under normal circumstances at least 65% of its total assets in a multisector portfolio of Fixed Income Instruments of varying maturities, which may be represented by forwards or derivatives such as options, futures contracts or swap agreements. “Fixed Income Instruments” include bonds, debt securities and other similar instruments issued by various U.S. and non-U.S. public- or private sector entities. The Fund will seek to maintain a high and consistent level of dividend income by investing in a broad array of fixed income sectors and utilizing income efficient implementation strategies. The capital appreciation sought by the Fund generally arises from decreases in interest rates or improving credit fundamentals for a particular sector or security.
The Fund will generally allocate its assets among several investment sectors, without limitation, which may include: (i) high yield securities (“junk bonds”) and investment grade corporate bonds of issuers located in the United States and non-U.S. countries, including emerging market countries; (ii) fixed income securities issued by U.S. and non-U.S. governments (including emerging market governments), their agencies and instrumentalities; (iii) mortgage-related and other asset backed securities; and (iv) foreign currencies, including those of emerging market countries. However, the Fund is not required to gain exposure to any one investment sector, and the Fund’s exposure to any one investment sector will vary over time. The average portfolio duration of this Fund normally varies from zero to eight years based on Pacific Investment Management Company LLC’s (“PIMCO”) market forecasts. Duration is a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a security’s price to changes in interest rates. The longer a security’s duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates.
The Fund may invest up to 50% of its total assets in high yield securities rated below investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services or Fitch, Inc., or if unrated, as determined by PIMCO (except such 50% limitation shall not apply to the Fund’s investments in mortgage and asset-backed securities). In the event that ratings services assign different ratings to the same security, PIMCO will use the highest rating as the credit rating for that security. In addition, the Fund may invest, without limitation, in securities denominated in foreign currencies. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in securities and instruments that are economically tied to emerging market countries (this limitation does not apply to investment grade sovereign debt denominated in the local currency with less than 1 year remaining to maturity, which means the Fund may invest in such instruments without limitation subject to any applicable legal or regulatory limitation). The Fund will normally limit its foreign currency exposure (from non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities or currencies) to 10% of its total assets.
The Fund may invest, without limitation, in derivative instruments, such as options, futures contracts or swap agreements, or in mortgage- or asset-backed securities, subject to applicable law and any other restrictions described in the Fund’s prospectus or Statement of Additional Information. The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis and may engage in short sales. The Fund may, without limitation, seek to obtain market exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or by using other investment techniques (such as buy backs or dollar rolls). The Fund may also invest in contingent convertible securities and up to 10% of its total assets in preferred securities.
Principal Risks
It is possible to lose money on an investment in the Fund. The principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net asset value, yield and total return, are interest rate risk, call risk, credit risk, high yield risk, market risk, issuer risk, liquidity risk, derivatives risk, equity risk, mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities risk, foreign (non-U.S.) investment risk, emerging markets risk, sovereign debt risk, currency risk, leverage risk, management risk, short exposure risk, distribution rate risk, contingent convertible securities risk and LIBOR transition risk.
PIMCO Real Return Fund (PRRIX)
Investment Objective and Principal Strategies
The fund's investment objective is maximum real return, consistent with preservation of capital and prudent investment management. The Fund seeks its investment objective by investing under normal circumstances at least 80% of its net assets in inflation-indexed bonds of varying maturities issued by the U.S. and non-U.S. governments, their agencies or instrumentalities, and corporations, which may be represented by forwards or derivatives such as options, futures contracts or swap agreements. Assets not invested in inflation-indexed bonds may be invested in other types of Fixed Income Instruments. “Fixed Income Instruments” include bonds, debt securities and other similar instruments issued by various U.S. and non-U.S. public- or private-sector entities. Inflation-indexed bonds are fixed income securities that are structured to provide protection against inflation. The value of the bond’s principal or the interest income paid on the bond is adjusted to track changes in an official inflation measure. The U.S. Treasury uses the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers as the inflation measure. Inflation-indexed bonds issued by a foreign government are generally adjusted to reflect a comparable inflation index, calculated by that government. “Real return” equals total return less the estimated cost of inflation, which is typically measured by the change in an official inflation measure. Additionally, “real yield” equals “nominal yield” less the market implied rate of inflation, and “nominal yield” is the interest rate that an issuer has promised to pay on an instrument that is not an inflation-linked instrument.
Duration is a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a security’s price to changes in interest rates. The longer a security’s duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates. Effective duration, the most common method of calculating duration, takes into account that for certain bonds expected cash flows will fluctuate as interest rates change and is defined in nominal yield terms, which is market convention for most bond investors and managers. Because market convention for bonds is to use nominal yields to measure effective duration, effective duration for real return bonds, which are based on real yields, are converted through a conversion factor. The resulting nominal effective duration typically can range from 20% and 90% of the respective real effective duration. All security holdings will be measured in nominal effective duration terms. Similarly, the effective duration of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. TIPS Index will be calculated using the same conversion factors. The effective duration of this Fund normally varies within three years (plus or minus) of the effective duration of the securities comprising the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. TIPS Index, as calculated by PIMCO, which as of May 31, 2020 was 7.84 years.
The Fund invests primarily in investment grade securities, but may invest up to 10% of its total assets in high yield securities (“junk bonds”) rated B or higher by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), or equivalently rated by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (“S&P”) or Fitch, Inc. (“Fitch”), or, if unrated, determined by PIMCO to be of comparable quality (except that within such 10% limitation, the Fund may invest in mortgage-related securities rated below B). In the event that ratings services assign different ratings to the same security, PIMCO will use the highest rating as the credit rating for that security.
The Fund also may invest up to 30% of its total assets in securities denominated in foreign currencies, and may invest beyond this limit in U.S. dollar denominated securities of foreign issuers. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its total assets in securities and instruments that are economically tied to emerging market countries (this limitation does not apply to investment grade sovereign debt denominated in the local currency with less than 1 year remaining to maturity, which means the Fund may invest, together with any other investments denominated in foreign currencies, up to 30% of its total assets in such instruments).The Fund will normally limit its foreign currency exposure (from non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities or currencies) to 20% of its total assets.
The Fund may invest, without limitation, in derivative instruments, such as options, futures contracts or swap agreements, or in mortgage- or asset backed securities, subject to applicable law and any other restrictions described in the Fund’s prospectus or Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”). The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis and may engage in short sales. The Fund may, without limitation, seek to obtain market exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or by using other investment techniques (such as buy backs or dollar rolls). The Fund may also invest up to 10% of its total assets in preferred securities.
Principal Risks
The principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net asset value, yield and total return, are interest rate risk, call risk, credit risk, high yield risk, market risk, issuer risk, liquidity risk, derivatives risk, equity risk, mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities risk, foreign (non-U.S.) investment risk, emerging markets risk, sovereign debt risk, currency risk, leveraging risk, management risk, inflation-indexed security risk and short exposure risk.
PIMCO Total Return Fund (PTTRX)
Investment Objective and Principal Strategies
The fund's investment objective is to seek maximum total return, consistent with preservation of capital and prudent investment management. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing under normal circumstances at least 65% of its total assets in a diversified portfolio of Fixed Income Instruments of varying maturities, which may be represented by forwards or derivatives such as options, futures contracts, or swap agreements. “Fixed Income Instruments” include bonds, debt securities and other similar instruments issued by various U.S. and non-U.S. public- or private-sector entities. The average portfolio duration of this Fund normally varies within two years (plus or minus) of the portfolio duration of the securities comprising the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index, as calculated by PIMCO, which as of May 31, 2020 was 5.75 years. Duration is a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a security’s price to changes in interest rates. The longer a security’s duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates.
The Fund invests primarily in investment-grade debt securities, but may invest up to 20% of its total assets in high yield securities (“junk bonds”), as rated by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (“S&P”) or Fitch, Inc. (“Fitch”), or, if unrated, as determined by PIMCO. In the event that ratings services assign different ratings to the same security, PIMCO will use the highest rating as the credit rating for that security. The Fund may invest up to 30% of its total assets in securities denominated in foreign currencies, and may invest beyond this limit in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its total assets in securities and instruments that are economically tied to emerging market countries (this limitation does not apply to investment grade sovereign debt denominated in the local currency with less than 1 year remaining to maturity, which means the Fund may invest, together with any other investments denominated in foreign currencies, up to 30% of its total assets in such instruments). The Fund will normally limit its foreign currency exposure (from non-U.S. dollar denominated securities or currencies) to 20% of its total assets. The Fund may invest, without limitation, in derivative instruments, such as options, futures contracts or swap agreements, or in mortgage- or asset backed securities, subject to applicable law and any other restrictions described in the Fund’s prospectus or Statement of Additional Information. The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis and may engage in short sales. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its total assets in preferred securities, convertible securities and other equity-related securities.
The Fund may, without limitation, seek to obtain market exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or by using other investment techniques (such as buy backs or dollar rolls). The “total return” sought by the Fund consists of income earned on the Fund’s investments, plus capital appreciation, if any, which generally arises from decreases in interest rates, foreign currency appreciation, or improving credit fundamentals for a particular sector or security.
Principal Risks
The principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net asset value, yield and total return, are interest rate risk, call risk, credit risk, high yield risk, market risk, issuer risk, liquidity risk, derivatives risk, equity risk, mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities risk, foreign (non-U.S.) investment risk, emerging markets risk, sovereign debt risk, currency risk, leveraging risk, management risk, short exposure risk, convertible securities risk and LIBOR transition risk.
Virtus Newfleet Multi-sector Intermediate Bond (VMFRX)
Investment Objective and Principal Strategies
This Fund’s primary investment objective is to maximize current income while preserving capital. The fund seeks to generate high current income and total return while preserving capital by applying extensive credit research and a time-tested approach designed to capitalize on opportunities across undervalued sectors of the bond market. The portfolio seeks diversification among 14 sectors in an effort to increase return potential and reduce risk.
Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds, which are debt securities of various types of issuers. The fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing in a diversified portfolio of primarily intermediate-term bonds having a dollar-weighted average maturity of between three and 10 years and that are in one of the following market sectors:
- Securities issued or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. Government, its agencies, authorities or instrumentalities;
- Collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”), real estate mortgage investment conduits (“REMICs”), and other pass-through securities, including those issued or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. Government, its agencies, authorities or instrumentalities;
- Debt securities issued by foreign issuers, including foreign governments and their political subdivisions and issuers located in emerging markets;
- Investment-grade securities (primarily of U.S. issuers, secondarily of non-U.S. issuers), which are securities with credit ratings within the four highest rating categories of a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, including short-term securities; and
- High-yield/high-risk debt instruments (so-called “junk bonds”), including bank loans (which are generally floating-rate).
The fund may invest in all or some of these sectors.
The fund may use credit default swaps to increase or hedge (decrease) investment exposure to various fixed income sectors and instruments.
Principal Risks
The fund may not achieve its objective(s), and it is not intended to be a complete investment program. The value of the fund’s investments that supports your share value may decrease. If between the time you purchase shares and the time you sell shares the value of the fund’s investments decreases, you will lose money. Investment values can decrease for a number of reasons. Conditions affecting the overall economy, specific industries or companies in which the fund invests can be worse than expected, and investments may fail to perform as the subadviser expects. As a result, the value of your shares may decrease. Purchase and redemption activities by fund shareholders may impact the management of the fund and its ability to achieve its investment objective(s). The principal risks of investing in the fund are credit risk, interest rate risk, high-yield fixed income securities risk, bank loan risk, foreign investing risk, emerging market risk, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities risk, market volatility risk, derivatives risk, income risk, long-term maturities/durations risk, prepayment/call risk, redemption risk, and U.S. government securities risk.