Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in a combination of first- and second-lien senior floating rate loans and other floating rate debt instruments, including both secured loans and “covenant lite” loans which have few or no financial maintenance covenants that would require a borrower to maintain certain financial metrics. These loans are loans made by banks and other large financial institutions to various companies and are senior in the borrowing companies’ capital structure. Coupon rates are generally floating, not fixed, and are tied to a benchmark lending rate or set at a specified floor, whichever is higher.

The fund invests all or substantially all of its assets in first- and second-lien senior floating rate loans, or debt instruments that are rated below investment grade by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s (sometimes referred to as “junk bonds”) or in comparable unrated instruments. The fund may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in any combination of junior debt instruments or instruments with a lien on collateral lower than a senior claim on collateral, high yield fixed-rate bonds, investment grade fixed income debt obligations, asset-backed securities (such as special purpose trusts investing in bank loans), and short-term investments, including money market securities and repurchase agreements. The fund may invest a portion of its assets in instruments that are restricted as to resale.

In selecting investments for purchase and sale, the subadviser will emphasize loans and instruments which are within the segment of the high yield market it has targeted, which are loans and instruments rated below investment grade or unrated loans and instruments that the subadviser believes are of comparable quality. The fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in senior loans made to non-U.S. borrowers provided that no more than 5% of the portfolio’s loans are non-U.S. dollar denominated. There are no limits on the fund’s average-weighted maturity or on the remaining maturities of individual instruments in which the fund may invest. The fund may also engage in certain hedging transactions.

In order to meet short-term liquidity needs, the fund employs a variety of techniques, such as investing in highly-liquid fixed income instruments and holding a portion of its assets in cash. Although not a principal investment strategy, the fund may, under certain market conditions, borrow an amount up to 33 1/3% of its total assets (including the amount borrowed) for investment purposes, to meet redemption requests and for temporary, extraordinary or emergency purposes.

Some types of senior loans in which the fund may invest require that an open loan for a specific amount be continually offered to a borrower. These types of senior loans are commonly referred to as revolvers. Because revolvers contractually obligate the lender (and therefore those with an interest in the loan) to fund the revolving portion of the loan at the borrower’s discretion, the fund must have funds sufficient to cover its contractual obligation. Therefore, the fund will maintain, on a daily basis, high-quality, liquid assets in an amount at least equal in value to its contractual obligation to fulfill the revolving senior loan. The fund will not encumber any assets that are otherwise encumbered.

In addition, to implement its investment strategy, the fund may buy or sell derivative instruments (such as swaps, including credit default swaps, futures, credit linked notes, options and warrants) to use as a substitute for a purchase or sale of a position in the underlying assets and/or as part of a strategy designed to reduce exposure to other risks, such as interest rate or credit risks. The fund may count the value of certain derivatives with floating rate loan or high yield bond characteristics towards its policy to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in a combination of first- and second-lien senior floating rate loans and other floating rate debt instruments.