As a matter of fundamental policy, the Fund will invest, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in investments the income from which is exempt from federal income tax, alternative minimum tax, and North Carolina personal income tax (“North Carolina Tax-Exempt Obligations”). The Fund invests, under normal market conditions, primarily in municipal securities of the State of North Carolina and its political subdivisions that provide income exempt from both federal personal income tax and North Carolina personal income tax. Municipal securities in which the Fund will invest include municipal notes and bonds, general obligation bonds, special revenue bonds, private activity bonds, lease obligations, certificates of participation, variable rate demand notes, and tax-exempt commercial paper. The Fund invests in North Carolina municipal securities only if they are “investment grade” (rated at the time of purchase in one of the four highest rating categories by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, or are determined by the portfolio manager to be of comparable quality). The Fund will maintain an average duration of 3.5 to 8 years. The Fund’s dollar-weighted average maturity is expected to be more than 3 years but less than 10 years. Duration is the expected life of a fixed income security and is used to determine the sensitivity of the security’s price to changes in interest rates. Maturity merely measures the time until final payment is due. Unlike maturity, duration accounts for the time until all payments of interest and principal on a security are expected to be made, including how these payments are affected by prepayments and by changes in interest rates.

In managing the Fund’s portfolio, the portfolio manager uses a “top down” investment management approach focusing on interest rates and credit quality. The portfolio manager sets, and continually adjusts, a target for the interest rate sensitivity of the Fund’s portfolio based on expectations about interest rate movements. The portfolio manager then selects securities consistent with this target based on their individual characteristics.

The portfolio manager may consider selling a security owned by the Fund to reposition the Fund along the yield curve, to adjust the Fund’s average maturity or duration, to replace a security with one that the portfolio manager believes offers greater total return potential, or to exit a security whose credit fundamentals are deteriorating.

The Fund is non-diversified and, therefore, may invest in a limited number of issuers.