497 1 sai-172.htm FINALIZED SAI sai-035
DREYFUS INVESTMENT PORTFOLIOS 
 
CORE VALUE PORTFOLIO
MIDCAP STOCK PORTFOLIO
SMALL CAP STOCK INDEX PORTFOLIO 
TECHNOLOGY GROWTH PORTFOLIO 
 
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 
MAY 1, 2007
 
(FOR INITIAL AND SERVICE SHARES) 


     This Statement of Additional Information, which is not a prospectus, supplements and should be read in conjunction with the relevant current Prospectus dated May 1, 2007 of the Core Value, MidCap Stock, Small Cap Stock Index and Technology Growth Portfolios (each, a "Portfolio" and collectively, the "Portfolios"), each a separate series of Dreyfus Investment Portfolios (the "Fund"), as each Prospectus may be revised from time to time. To obtain a copy of a Portfolio's Prospectus, please write to the Fund at 144 Glenn Curtiss Boulevard, Uniondale, New York 11556-0144, or call 1-800-554-4611 or 516-338-3300.

     Portfolio shares are offered only to variable annuity and variable life insurance separate accounts established by insurance companies ("Participating Insurance Companies") to fund variable annuity contracts ("VA contracts") and variable life insurance policies ("VLI policies," and together with VA contracts, the "Policies"). Individuals may not purchase shares of any Portfolio directly from the Fund. The Policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by the Participating Insurance Companies.

     Each Portfolio, except the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio, currently offers two classes of shares: Initial shares and Service shares. The Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio offers Service shares only. VA contract holders and VLI policy holders (collectively, "Policyowners") should consult the applicable prospectus of the separate account of the Participating Insurance Company to determine which class of Portfolio shares may be purchased by the separate account.

     The most recent Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report to Shareholders for each Portfolio are separate documents supplied with this Statement of Additional Information, and the financial statements, accompanying notes and report of the independent registered public accounting firm appearing in the Annual Report are incorporated by reference into this Statement of Additional Information.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
    Page 
 
Description of the Fund and Portfolios    B-3 
Management of the Fund    B-25 
Management Arrangements    B-30 
How to Buy Shares    B-37 
Distribution Plan (Service Shares Only)    B-38 
How to Redeem Shares    B-39 
Exchange Privilege    B-40 
Determination of Net Asset Value    B-40 
Dividends, Distributions and Taxes    B-41 
Portfolio Transactions    B-43 
Summary of the Proxy Voting Policy, Procedures and Guidelines     
of the Dreyfus Family of Funds    B-48 
Information About the Fund and Portfolios    B-50 
Counsel and Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm    B-54 
Appendix    A-1 


DESCRIPTION OF THE FUND AND PORTFOLIOS

     The Fund is a Massachusetts business trust that commenced operations on May 1, 1998. Each Portfolio is a separate series of the Fund, an open-end management investment company, known as a mutual fund. Each Portfolio is a diversified fund, which means that, with respect to 75% of the Portfolio's total assets, the Portfolio will not invest more than 5% of its assets in the securities of any single issuer nor hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any single issuer (other than, in each case, securities of other investment companies, and securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities).

The Dreyfus Corporation (the "Manager" or "Dreyfus") serves as each Portfolio's investment adviser.

     Dreyfus Service Corporation (the "Distributor") is the distributor of each Portfolio's shares.

Certain Portfolio Securities

     The following information supplements (except as noted) and should be read in conjunction with the relevant Portfolio's Prospectus.

     Common and Preferred Stocks. (All Portfolios) Stocks represent shares of ownership in a company. Generally, preferred stock has a specified dividend and ranks after bonds and before common stocks in its claim on income for dividend payments and on assets should the company be liquidated. After other claims are satisfied, common stockholders participate in company profits on a pro-rata basis; profits may be paid out in dividends or reinvested in the company to help it grow. Increases and decreased in earnings are usually reflected in a company's stock price, so common stocks generally have the greatest appreciation and depreciation potential of all corporate securities. While most preferred stocks pay a dividend, each Portfolio may purchase preferred stock where the issuer has omitted, or is in danger of omitting, payment of its dividend. Such investments would be made primarily for their capital appreciation potential. Each Portfolio may purchase trust preferred securities which are preferred stocks issued by a special purpose trust subsidiary backed by subordinated debt of the corporate parent. These securities typically bear a market rate coupon comparable to interest rates available on debt of a similarly rated company. Holders of the trust preferred securities have limited voting rights to control the activities of the trust and no voting rights with respect to the parent company.

     Foreign Securities. (All Portfolios, except Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio) Each Portfolio may invest in "foreign securities." These securities include the securities of companies organized under the laws of countries other than the United States and those issued or guaranteed by governments other than the U.S. Government or by foreign supranational entities. They also include securities of companies whose principal trading market is in a country other than the United States or of companies (including those that are located in the U.S. or organized under U.S. law) that derive a significant portion of their revenue or profits from foreign businesses, investments or sales, or that have a majority of their assets outside the United States. They may be traded on foreign securities exchanges or in the foreign over-the-counter markets. Supranational entities include international organizations designed or supported by governmental entities to promote economic reconstruction or development and international banking institutions and related government agencies. Examples include the International Bank for


Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank), the European Coal and Steel Community, the Asian Development Bank and the InterAmerican Development Bank.

     Securities of foreign issuers that are represented by American Depositary Receipts or that are listed on a U.S. securities exchange or traded in the U.S. over-the-counter markets are not considered "foreign securities" for the purpose of the Portfolios' investment allocations, because they are not subject to many of the special considerations and risks, discussed in the relevant Portfolio's Prospectus and this Statement of Additional Information, that apply to foreign securities traded and held abroad.

     Depositary Receipts. (All Portfolios, except Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio) Each of these Portfolios may invest in the securities of foreign issuers in the form of American Depositary Receipts and American Depositary Shares (collectively, "ADRs") and Global Depositary Receipts and Global Depositary Shares (collectively, "GDRs") and other forms of depositary receipts or shares. These securities may not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as the securities into which they may be converted. ADRs are receipts typically issued by a United States bank or trust company which evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign corporation. GDRs are receipts issued outside the United States typically by non-United States banks and trust companies that evidence ownership of either foreign or domestic securities. Generally, ADRs in registered form are designed for use in the United States securities markets and GDRs in bearer form are designed for use outside the United States.

     These securities may be purchased through "sponsored" or "unsponsored" facilities. A sponsored facility is established jointly by the issuer of the underlying security and a depositary. A depositary may establish an unsponsored facility without participation by the issuer of the deposited security. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all the costs of such facilities, and the depositary of an unsponsored facility frequently is under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications received from the issuer of the deposited security or to pass through voting rights to the holders of such receipts in respect of the deposited securities.

     Real Estate Investment Trusts. (Each Portfolio, except Technology Growth Portfolio) Each of these Portfolios may invest in real estate investment trusts ("REITs"). A REIT is a corporation, or a business trust that would otherwise be taxed as a corporation, which meets the definitional requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). The Code permits a qualifying REIT to deduct dividends paid, thereby effectively eliminating corporate level Federal income tax and making the REIT a pass-through vehicle for Federal income tax purposes. To meet the definitional requirements of the Code, a REIT must, among other things, invest substantially all of its assets in interests in real estate (including mortgages and other REITs) or cash and government securities, derive most of its income from rents from real property or interest on loans secured by mortgages on real property, and distribute to shareholders annually a substantial portion of its otherwise taxable income.

     REITs are characterized as equity REITs, mortgage REITs and hybrid REITs. Equity REITs, which may include operating or finance companies, own real estate directly and the value of, and income earned by, the REITs depends upon the income of the underlying properties and the rental income they earn. Equity REITs also can realize capital gains (or losses) by selling properties that have appreciated (or depreciated) in value. Hybrid REITs combine the characteristics of both equity and mortgage REITs, generally by holding both ownership interests and mortgage interests in real estate. The value of securities issued by REITs are affected by tax and regulatory requirements and by perceptions of management skill. They also are subject to


heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers or tenants, self-liquidation and the possibility of failing to qualify for tax-free status under the Code or to maintain exemption from the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act").

     Investment Companies. (All Portfolios) Each Portfolio may invest in securities issued by registered and unregistered investment companies, including exchange-traded funds described below. Under the 1940 Act, a Portfolio's investment in such securities, subject to certain exceptions, currently is limited to (i) 3% of the total voting stock of any one investment company, (ii) 5% of the Portfolio's total assets with respect to any one investment company and (iii) 10% of the Portfolio's total assets in the aggregate. As a shareholder of another investment company, the Portfolio would bear, along with other shareholders, its pro rata portion of the other investment company's expenses, including advisory fees. These expenses would be in addition to the advisory fees and other expenses that the Portfolio bears directly in connection with its own operations. Each Portfolio also may invest its uninvested cash reserves, or cash it receives as collateral from borrowers of its portfolio securities in connection with the Portfolio's securities lending program, in shares of one or more money market funds advised by the Manager. Such investments will not be subject to the limitations described above. See "Lending Portfolio Securities."

     Exchange-Traded Funds. (All Portfolios) Each Portfolio may invest in shares of exchange-traded funds (collectively, "ETFs") which typically are designed to provide investment results corresponding to a securities or (commodities) index. These may include Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts ("SPDRs"), DIAMONDS, Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock (also referred to as "Nasdaq-100 Shares") and iShares exchange-traded funds ("iShares"), such as iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index Fund. ETFs are usually either units of beneficial interest in an investment trust or represent undivided ownership interests in a portfolio of securities, in each case with respect to a portfolio of all or substantially all of the component securities (or commodities) of, and in substantially the same weighting as, the relevant benchmark index. The benchmark indices of SPDRs, DIAMONDS and Nasdaq-100 Shares are the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq-100 Index, respectively. The benchmark index for iShares varies, generally corresponding to the name of the particular iShares fund. ETFs are designed to provide investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the component securities (or commodities) of the benchmark index. ETFs are listed on an exchange and trade in the secondary market on a per-share basis.

     The values of ETFs are subject to change as the values of their respective component securities (or commodities) fluctuate according to market volatility. Investments in ETFs that are designed to correspond to an equity index involve certain inherent risks generally associated with investments in a broadly based portfolio of common stocks, including the risk that the general level of stock prices may decline, thereby adversely affecting the value of ETFs invested in by a Portfolio. Moreover, a Portfolio's investments in ETFs may not exactly match the performance of a direct investment in the respective indices to which they are intended to correspond due to the temporary unavailability of certain index securities in the secondary market or other extraordinary circumstances, such as discrepancies with respect to the weighting of securities.

     Convertible Securities. (All Portfolios, except the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio) Convertible securities may be converted at either a stated price or stated rate into underlying shares of common stock. Convertible securities have characteristics similar to both fixed-income and equity securities. Convertible securities generally are subordinated to other similar but non-


convertible securities of the same issuer, although convertible bonds, as corporate debt obligations, enjoy seniority in right of payment to all equity securities, and convertible preferred stock is senior to common stock, of the same issuer. Because of the subordination feature, however, convertible securities typically have lower ratings than similar non-convertible securities.

     Although to a lesser extent than with fixed-income securities, the market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase and, conversely, tends to increase as interest rates decline. In addition, because of the conversion feature, the market value of convertible securities tends to vary with fluctuations in the market value of the underlying common stock. A unique feature of convertible securities is that as the market price of the underlying common stock declines, convertible securities tend to trade increasingly on a yield basis, and so may not experience market value declines to the same extent as the underlying common stock. When the market price of the underlying common stock increases, the prices of the convertible securities tend to rise as a reflection of the value of the underlying common stock. While no securities investments are without risk, investments in convertible securities generally entail less risk than investments in common stock of the same issuer.

     Convertible securities provide for a stable stream of income with generally higher yields than common stocks, but there can be no assurance of current income because the issuers of the convertible securities may default on their obligations. A convertible security, in addition to providing fixed income, offers the potential for capital appreciation through the conversion feature, which enables the holder to benefit from increases in the market price of the underlying common stock. There can be no assurance of capital appreciation, however, because securities prices fluctuate. Convertible securities generally offer lower interest or dividend yields than non-convertible securities of similar quality because of the potential for capital appreciation.

     Warrants. (All Portfolios, except the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio) A warrant is a form of derivative that gives the holder the right to subscribe to a specified amount of the issuing corporation's capital stock at a set price for a specified period of time. Each Portfolio may invest up to 5% of its net assets in warrants, except that this limitation does not apply to warrants purchased by the Portfolio that are sold in units with, or attached to, other securities.

     Illiquid Securities. (All Portfolios) Each Portfolio may invest up to 15% of the value of its net assets in securities as to which a liquid trading market does not exist, provided such investments are consistent with the Portfolio's investment objective. These securities may include securities that are not readily marketable, such as securities that are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, repurchase agreements providing for settlement in more than seven days after notice, and certain privately negotiated, non-exchange traded options and securities used to cover such options. As to these securities, the Portfolio is subject to a risk that should it desire to sell them when a ready buyer is not available at a price the Portfolio deems representative of their value, the value of the Portfolio's net assets could be adversely affected.

     Money Market Instruments. (All Portfolios) When the Manager determines that adverse market conditions exist, a Portfolio may adopt a temporary defensive position and invest some or all of its assets in money market instruments, including the securities described below ("Money Market Instruments"). Each Portfolio also may purchase Money Market Instruments when it has cash reserves or in anticipation of taking a market position.


U.S. Government Securities—Securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities include U.S. Treasury securities that differ in their interest rates, maturities and times of issuance. Some obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies and instrumentalities are supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury; others by the right of the issuer to borrow from the Treasury; others by discretionary authority of the U.S. Government to purchase certain obligations from the agency or instrumentality; and others only by the credit of the agency or instrumentality. These securities bear fixed, floating or variable rates of interest. While the U.S. Government provides financial support for such U.S. Government-sponsored agencies and instrumentalities, no assurance can be given that it will always do so since it is not obligated by law. A security backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States is guaranteed only as to timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Neither the market value of such securities nor the Portfolio's share price is guaranteed.

Repurchase Agreements—Each Portfolio may enter into repurchase agreements with certain banks or non-bank dealers. In a repurchase agreement, the Portfolio buys, and the seller agrees to repurchase, a security at a mutually agreed upon time and price (usually within seven days). The repurchase agreement thereby determines the yield during the purchaser's holding period, while the seller's obligation to repurchase is secured by the value of the underlying security. The Portfolio's custodian or sub-custodian will have custody of, and will hold in a segregated account, securities acquired by the Portfolio under a repurchase agreement. Repurchase agreements are considered by the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") to be loans by the Portfolio that enters into them. Repurchase agreements could involve risks in the event of a default or insolvency of the other party to the agreement, including possible delays or restrictions upon the Portfolio's ability to dispose of the underlying securities. In an attempt to reduce the risk of incurring a loss on a repurchase agreement, each Portfolio will enter into repurchase agreements only with domestic banks with total assets in excess of $1 billion, or primary government securities dealers reporting to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, with respect to securities of the type in which the Portfolio may invest, and will require that additional securities be deposited with it if the value of the securities purchased should decrease below resale price.

Bank Obligations—Each Portfolio may purchase certificates of deposit ("CDs"), time deposits ("TDs"), bankers' acceptances and other short-term obligations issued by domestic banks, foreign subsidiaries or foreign branches of domestic banks, domestic and foreign branches of foreign banks, domestic savings and loan associations and other banking institutions. With respect to such securities issued by foreign subsidiaries or foreign branches of domestic banks, and domestic and foreign branches of foreign banks, the Portfolio may be subject to additional investment risks that are different in some respects from those incurred by a fund which invests only in debt obligations of U.S. domestic issuers.

     CDs are negotiable certificates evidencing the obligation of a bank to repay funds deposited with it for a specified period of time.

     TDs are non-negotiable deposits maintained in a banking institution for a specified period of time (in no event longer than seven days) at a stated interest rate.

     Bankers' acceptances are credit instruments evidencing the obligation of a bank to pay a draft drawn on it by a customer. These instruments reflect the obligation both of the bank and the drawer to pay the face amount of the instruments upon maturity. The other short-term


obligations may include uninsured, direct obligations bearing fixed, floating or variable interest rates.

Commercial Paper and Other Short-Term Corporate Obligations—Each Portfolio may purchase commercial paper consisting of short-term, unsecured promissory notes issued to finance short-term credit needs. The commercial paper purchased by the Portfolio will consist only of direct obligations which, at the time of their purchase, are rated at least Prime-1 by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. ("Moody's"), A-1 by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services ("S&P") or F-1 by Fitch Ratings ("Fitch" and, together with Moody's and S&P, the "Rating Agencies"), or issued by companies having an outstanding unsecured debt issue currently rated at least A by Moody's, S&P or Fitch, or, if unrated, determined by the Manager to be of comparable quality to those rated obligations which may be purchased by the Portfolio.

     These instruments also include variable amount master demand notes, which are obligations that permit the Portfolio to invest fluctuating amounts at varying rates of interest pursuant to direct arrangements between the Portfolio, as lender, and the borrower. These notes permit daily changes in the amounts borrowed. Because these obligations are direct lending arrangements between the lender and borrower, it is not contemplated that such instruments generally will be traded, and there generally is no established secondary market for these obligations, although they are redeemable at face value, plus accrued interest, at any time. Accordingly, where these obligations are not secured by letters of credit or other credit support arrangements, the Portfolio's right to redeem is dependent on the ability of the borrower to pay principal and interest on demand. Such obligations frequently are not rated by credit rating agencies, and the Portfolio may invest in them only if at the time of an investment the borrower meets the criteria set forth above for other commercial paper issuers.

Investment Techniques

     The following information supplements (except as noted) and should be read in conjunction with the relevant Portfolio's Prospectus.

     Foreign Currency Transactions. (All Portfolios, except the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio) Each of these Portfolios may enter into foreign currency transactions for a variety of purposes, including: to fix in U.S. dollars, between trade and settlement date, the value of a security the Portfolio has agreed to buy or sell; to hedge the U.S. dollar value of securities the Portfolio already owns, particularly if it expects a decrease in the value of the currency in which the foreign security is denominated; or to gain exposure to the foreign currency in an attempt to realize gains.

     Foreign currency transactions may involve, for example, the Portfolio's purchase of foreign currencies for U.S. dollars or the maintenance of short positions in foreign currencies. A short position would involve the Portfolio agreeing to exchange an amount of a currency it did not currently own for another currency at a future date in anticipation of a decline in the value of the currency sold relative to the currency the Portfolio contracted to receive. The Portfolio's success in these transactions may depend on the ability of the Manager to predict accurately the future exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar.

     Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. They generally are determined by the forces of supply and demand in the foreign exchange markets and the relative merits of investments in different countries, actual or perceived changes in


interest rates and other complex factors, as seen from an international perspective. Currency exchange rates also can be affected unpredictably by intervention by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks, or the failure to intervene, or by currency controls or political developments in the United States or abroad.

     Borrowing Money. (All Portfolios) Each Portfolio is permitted to borrow to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, which permits an investment company to borrow in an amount up to 33-1/3% of the value of its total assets. The Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio currently intends to borrow money only for temporary or emergency (not leveraging) purposes. While such borrowings exceed 5% of the Portfolio's total assets, the Portfolio will not make any additional investments. Money borrowed will be subject to interest costs. The Core Value, MidCap Stock and Technology Growth Portfolios may borrow money for investment purposes as described below under "Leverage."

     Leverage. (All Portfolios, except the Small Cap Stock Index) Leveraging (buying securities using borrowed money) exaggerates the effect on net asset value of any increase or decrease in the market value of a Portfolio's investments. These borrowings will be subject to interest costs which may or may not be recovered by appreciation of the securities purchased; in certain cases, interest costs may exceed the return received on the securities purchased. For borrowings for investment purposes, the 1940 Act requires the Portfolio to maintain continuous asset coverage (total assets including borrowings, less liabilities exclusive of borrowings) of 300% of the amount borrowed. If the required coverage should decline as a result of market fluctuations or other reasons, the Portfolio may be required to sell some of its portfolio holdings within three days to reduce the amount of its borrowings and restore the 300% asset coverage, even though it may be disadvantageous from an investment standpoint to sell securities at that time. The Portfolio also may be required to maintain minimum average balances in connection with such borrowing or pay a commitment or other fee to maintain a line of credit; either of these requirements would increase the cost of borrowing over the stated interest rate.

     Reverse Repurchase Agreements. (All Portfolios) Each of these Portfolios may enter into reverse repurchase agreements with banks, broker/dealers or other financial institutions. This form of borrowing involves the transfer by the Portfolio of an underlying debt instrument in return for cash proceeds based on a percentage of the value of the security. The Portfolio retains the right to receive interest and principal payments on the security. At an agreed upon future date, the Portfolio repurchases the security at principal plus accrued interest. To the extent a Portfolio enters into a reverse repurchase agreement, the Portfolio will segregate permissible liquid assets at least equal to the aggregate amount of its reverse repurchase obligations, plus accrued interest, in certain cases, in accordance with releases promulgated by the SEC. The SEC views reverse repurchase transactions as collateralized borrowings by a Portfolio. Except for these transactions, borrowings by those Portfolios that may engage in leveraging generally will be unsecured. Reverse repurchase agreements may be preferable to a regular sale and later repurchase of the securities because it avoids certain market risks and transaction costs. Such transactions, however, may increase the risk of potential fluctuations in the market value of the Portfolio's assets. In addition, interest costs on the cash received may exceed the return on the securities purchased.

     Lending Portfolio Securities. (All Portfolios) Each Portfolio may lend securities from its portfolio to brokers, dealers and other financial institutions needing to borrow securities to complete certain transactions. In connection with such loans, the Portfolio remains the owner of the loaned securities and continues to be entitled to payments in amounts equal to the interest,


dividends or other distributions payable on the loaned securities. The Portfolio also has the right to terminate a loan at any time. The Portfolio may call the loan to vote proxies if a material issue affecting the Portfolio's investment is to be voted upon. Loans of portfolio securities may not exceed 33-1/3% of the value of the Portfolio's total assets (including the value of all assets received as collateral for the loan). The Portfolio will receive collateral consisting of cash, U.S. Government securities or irrevocable letters of credit which will be maintained at all times in an amount equal to at least 100% of the current market value of the loaned securities. If the collateral consists of a letter of credit or securities, the borrower will pay the Portfolio a loan premium fee. If the collateral consists of cash, the Portfolio will reinvest the cash and pay the borrower a pre-negotiated fee or "rebate" from any return earned on the investment. The Portfolio may participate in a securities lending program operated by Mellon Bank, N.A., as lending agent (the "Lending Agent"). The Lending Agent will receive a percentage of the total earnings of the Portfolio derived from lending its portfolio securities. Should the borrower of the securities fail financially, the Portfolio may experience delays in recovering the loaned securities or exercising its rights in the collateral. Loans are made only to borrowers that are deemed by the Manager to be of good financial standing. In a loan transaction, the Portfolio will also bear the risk of any decline in value of securities acquired with cash collateral. The Portfolio will minimize this risk by limiting the investment of cash collateral to money market funds advised by the Manager, repurchase agreements or other high quality instruments with short maturities.

     Short-Selling. (Technology Growth Portfolio only) In these transactions, the Portfolio sells a security it does not own in anticipation of a decline in the market value of the security. The Portfolio may make short-sales to hedge positions, for duration and risk management, to maintain portfolio flexibility or to enhance returns. To complete a short-sale transaction, the Portfolio must borrow the security to make delivery to the buyer. The Portfolio is obligated to replace the security borrowed by purchasing it subsequently at the market price at the time of replacement. The price at such time may be more or less than the price at which the security was sold by the Portfolio, which would result in a loss or gain, respectively.

     The Portfolio will not sell securities short if, after effect is given to any such short sale, the total market value of all securities sold short would exceed 25% of the value of the Portfolio's net assets.

     The Portfolio also may make short sales "against the box," in which the Portfolio enters into a short sale of a security it owns, or has the immediate and unconditional right to acquire at no additional cost at the time of the sale. At no time will more than 15% of the value of the Portfolio's net assets be in deposits on short sales against the box.

     Until the Portfolio closes its short position or replaces the borrowed security, the Portfolio will: (a) segregate permissible liquid assets in an amount that, together with the amount provided as collateral, always equals the current value of the security sold short; or (b) otherwise cover its short position.

     Derivatives. (All Portfolios) Each Portfolio may invest in, or enter into, derivatives for a variety of reasons, including to hedge certain market or interest rate risks, to provide a substitute for purchasing or selling particular securities to manage foreign currency risk or to increase potential returns. Generally, derivatives are financial contracts whose value depends upon, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index, and may relate to stocks, bonds, interest rates, currencies or currency exchange rates, commodities, and related indexes. Derivatives may provide a cheaper, quicker or more specifically focused way for a Portfolio to


invest than "traditional" securities would. Examples of derivative instruments the Portfolios (as indicated) may use include options contracts, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, structured notes, and swap agreements. A portfolio manager may decide not to employ any of these strategies and there is no assurance that any derivatives strategy used by a Portfolio will succeed.

     Derivatives can be volatile and involve various types and degrees of risk, depending upon the characteristics of the particular derivative and the portfolio as a whole. Derivatives permit a Portfolio to increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, to which its portfolio is exposed in much the same way as the Portfolio can increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, of its portfolio by making investments in specific securities. However, derivatives may entail investment exposures that are greater than their cost would suggest, meaning that a small investment in derivatives could have a large potential impact on a Portfolio's performance.

     If a Portfolio invests in derivatives at inopportune times or judges market conditions incorrectly, such investments may lower the Portfolio's return or result in a loss. A Portfolio also could experience losses if its derivatives were poorly correlated with its other investments, or if the Portfolio were unable to liquidate its position because of an illiquid secondary market. The market for many derivatives is, or suddenly can become, illiquid. Changes in liquidity may result in significant, rapid and unpredictable changes in the prices for derivatives.

     Derivatives may be purchased on established exchanges or through privately negotiated transactions referred to as over-the-counter derivatives. Exchange-traded derivatives generally are guaranteed by the clearing agency which is the issuer or counterparty to such derivatives. This guarantee usually is supported by a daily variation margin system operated by the clearing agency in order to reduce overall credit risk. As a result, unless the clearing agency defaults, there is relatively little counterparty credit risk associated with derivatives purchased on an exchange. In contrast, no clearing agency guarantees over-the-counter derivatives. Therefore, each party to an over-the-counter derivative bears the risk that the counterparty will default. Accordingly, the Manager will consider the creditworthiness of counterparties to over-the-counter derivatives in the same manner as it would review the credit quality of a security to be purchased by a Portfolio. Over-the-counter derivatives are less liquid than exchange-traded derivatives since the other party to the transaction may be the only investor with sufficient understanding of the derivative to be interested in bidding for it.

     Some derivatives the Portfolios may use involve leverage (e.g., an instrument linked to the value of a securities index may return income calculated as a multiple of the price movement of the underlying index). This economic leverage will increase the volatility of these instruments as they may increase or decrease in value more quickly than the underlying security, index, futures contract, currency or other economic variable. Pursuant to regulations and/or published positions of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a Portfolio may be required to segregate permissible liquid assets to cover its obligations relating to its transactions in derivatives. For example, in the case of futures contracts or forward contracts that are not contractually required to cash settle, the Portfolio must set aside liquid assets equal to such contracts' full notional value (generally, the total numerical value of the asset underlying a future or forward contract at the time of valuation) while the positions are open. With respect to futures contracts or forward contracts that are contractually required to cash settle, however, the Portfolio is permitted to set aside liquid assets in an amount equal to the Portfolio's daily marked-to-market net obligation (i.e., the Portfolio's daily net liability) under the contracts, if any, rather than such contracts' full


notional value. By setting aside assets equal to only its net obligations under cash-settled futures and forward contracts, the Portfolio may employ leverage to a greater extent than if the Portfolio were required to segregate assets equal to the full notional value of such contracts.

     Neither the Fund nor any of the Portfolios will be a commodity pool. The Fund has filed notice with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and National Futures Association of its eligibility, as a registered investment company, for an exclusion from the definition of commodity pool operator and that neither the Fund nor any Portfolio is subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under the Commodity Exchange Act.

Futures Transactions—In General. A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy and sell a security for a set price on a future date. These contracts are traded on exchanges, so that, in most cases, either party can close out its position on the exchange for cash, without delivering the security. An option on a futures contract gives the holder of the option the right to buy from or sell to the writer of the option a position in a futures contract at a specified price on or before a specified expiration date. To the extent described in its Prospectus and this Statement of Additional Information, a Portfolio may invest in futures contracts and options on futures contracts, including those with respect to interest rates, commodities, and security of commodity indexes. To the extent a Portfolio may invest in foreign currency-denominated securities, it also may invest in foreign currency futures contracts and options thereon.

     Although some futures contracts call for making or taking delivery of the underlying securities, generally these obligations are closed out before delivery by offsetting purchases or sales of matching futures contracts (same exchange, underlying security or index, and delivery month). Closing out a futures contract sale is effected by purchasing a futures contract for the same aggregate amount of the specific type of financial instrument with the same delivery date. If an offsetting purchase price is less than the original sale price, the Portfolio realizes a capital gain or if it is more, the Portfolio realizes a capital loss. Conversely, if an offsetting sale price is more than the original purchase price, the Portfolio realizes a capital gain, or if it is less, the Portfolio realizes a capital loss. Transaction costs also are included in these calculations.

     Each Portfolio may enter into futures contracts in U.S. domestic markets, or, except for the MidCap Stock and Small Cap Stock Index Portfolios, on exchanges located outside the United States. Foreign markets may offer advantages such as trading opportunities or arbitrage possibilities not available in the United States. Foreign markets, however, may have greater risk potential than domestic markets. For example, some foreign exchanges are principal markets so that no common clearing facility exists and an investor may look only to the broker for performance of the contract. In addition, any profits a Portfolio might realize in trading could be eliminated by adverse changes in the exchange rate, or the Portfolio could incur losses as a result of those changes. Transactions on foreign exchanges may include commodities which are traded on domestic exchanges or those which are not. Unlike trading on domestic commodity exchanges, trading on foreign commodity exchanges is not regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

     Engaging in these transactions involves risk of loss to a Portfolio which could adversely affect the value of the Portfolio's net assets. Although each Portfolio intends to purchase or sell futures contracts only if there is an active market for such contracts, no assurance can be given that a liquid market will exist for any particular contract at any particular time. Many futures exchanges and boards of trade limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular contract, no


trades may be made that day at a price beyond that limit or trading may be suspended for specified periods during the trading day. Futures contract prices could move to the limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and potentially subjecting the Portfolio to substantial losses.

     Successful use of futures and options by a Portfolio also is subject to the ability of the Manager to predict correctly movements in the direction of the relevant market and, to the extent the transaction is entered into for hedging purposes, to ascertain the appropriate correlation between the position being hedged and the price movements of the futures contract. For example, if a Portfolio uses futures to hedge against the possibility of a decline in the market value of securities held in its portfolio and the prices of such securities instead increase, the Portfolio will lose part or all of the benefit of the increased value of securities which it has hedged because it will have offsetting losses in its futures positions. Furthermore, if in such circumstances the Portfolio has insufficient cash, it may have to sell securities to meet daily variation margin requirements. A Portfolio may have to sell such securities at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.

Specific Futures Transactions. Each Portfolio may purchase and sell stock index futures contracts. A stock index future obligates the Portfolio to pay or receive an amount of cash equal to a fixed dollar amount specified in the futures contract multiplied by the difference between the settlement price of the contract on the contract's last trading day and the value of the index based on the stock prices of the securities that comprise it at the opening of trading in such securities on the next business day.

     Each Portfolio, except the MidCap Stock and Small Cap Stock Index Portfolios may purchase and sell currency futures. A foreign currency future obligates the Portfolio to purchase or sell an amount of a specific currency at a future date at a specific price.

     Each Portfolio, except the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio, may purchase and sell interest rate futures contracts. An interest rate future obligates the Portfolio to purchase or sell an amount of a specific debt security at a future date at a specific price.

     The Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio may invest in, or enter into, derivatives, such as stock index futures, in anticipation of taking a market position when, in the opinion of the Manager, available cash balances do not permit an economically efficient trade in the cash market, to hedge dividend accruals or to meet liquidity needs.

Options—In General. Each Portfolio, except the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio, may invest up to 5% of its assets, represented by the premium paid, in the purchase of call and put options. Each Portfolio, other than the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio, may write (i.e., sell) covered call and put option contracts to the extent of 20% of the value of its net assets at the time such option contracts are written. A call option gives the purchaser of the option the right to buy, and obligates the writer to sell, the underlying security or securities at the exercise price at any time during the option period, or at a specific date. Conversely, a put option gives the purchaser of the option the right to sell, and obligates the writer to buy, the underlying security or securities at the exercise price at any time during the option period, or at a specific date.

     A covered call option written by a Portfolio is a call option with respect to which the Portfolio owns the underlying security or otherwise covers the transaction, such as by segregating permissible liquid assets. A put option written by a Portfolio is covered when,


among other things, the Portfolio segregates permissible liquid assets having a value equal to or greater than the exercise price of the option to fulfill the obligation undertaken or otherwise covers the transaction. The principal reason for writing covered call and put options is to realize, through the receipt of premiums, a greater return than would be realized on the underlying securities alone. A Portfolio receives a premium from writing covered call or put options which it retains whether or not the option is exercised.

     There is no assurance that sufficient trading interest to create a liquid secondary market on a securities exchange will exist for any particular option or at any particular time, and for some options no such secondary market may exist. A liquid secondary market in an option may cease to exist for a variety of reasons. In the past, for example, higher than anticipated trading activity or order flow, or other unforeseen events, at times have rendered certain of the clearing facilities inadequate and resulted in the institution of special procedures, such as trading rotations, restrictions on certain types of orders or trading halts or suspensions in one or more options. There can be no assurance that similar events, or events that may otherwise interfere with the timely execution of customers' orders, will not recur. In such event, it might not be possible to effect closing transactions in particular options. If, as a covered call option writer, the Portfolio is unable to effect a closing purchase transaction in a secondary market, it will not be able to sell the underlying security until the option expires or it delivers the underlying security upon exercise or it otherwise covers its position.

Specific Options Transactions. Each Portfolio, except Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio, may purchase and sell call and put options in respect of specific securities (or groups or "baskets" of specific securities) or stock indices listed on national securities exchanges or traded in the over-the-counter market. An option on a stock index is similar to an option in respect of specific securities, except that settlement does not occur by delivery of the securities comprising the index. Instead, the option holder receives an amount of cash if the closing level of the stock index upon which the option is based is greater than, in the case of a call, or less than, in the case of a put, the exercise price of the option. Thus, the effectiveness of purchasing or writing stock index options will depend upon price movements in the level of the index rather than the price of a particular stock.

     Each Portfolio, except the MidCap Stock and Small Cap Stock Index Portfolios, may purchase and sell call and put options on foreign currency. These options convey the right to buy or sell the underlying currency at a price which is expected to be lower or higher than the spot price of the currency at the time the option is exercised or expires.

     Each Portfolio, except the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio, may purchase cash-settled options on equity index swaps (as described below) in pursuit of its investment objective. Equity index swaps involve the exchange by the Portfolio with another party of cash flows based upon the performance of an index or a portion of an index of securities which usually includes dividends. A cash-settled option on a swap gives the purchaser the right, but not the obligation, in return for the premium paid, to receive an amount of cash equal to the value of the underlying swap as of the exercise date. These options typically are purchased in privately negotiated transactions from financial institutions, including securities brokerage firms.

     Successful use by a Portfolio of options will be subject to the ability of the Manager to predict correctly movements in the prices of individual stocks, the stock market generally, foreign currencies or interest rates. To the extent such predictions are incorrect, the Portfolio may incur losses.


Swap Transactions. (All Portfolios, except Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio) Each Portfolio may engage in swap transactions, including equity swaps, currency swaps, index swaps and interest rate swaps. A Portfolio may enter into swaps for both hedging purposes and to seek to increase total return. A Portfolio also may enter into options on swap agreements, sometimes called "swaptions."

     Swap agreements are two party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for periods ranging from a few weeks to more than one year. In a standard "swap" transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined investments or instruments. The gross returns to be exchanged or "swapped" between the parties are generally calculated with respect to a "notional amount," i.e., the return on or increase in value of a particular dollar amount invested at a particular interest rate, or in a particular foreign currency, or in a "basket" of credit default swaps or securities representing a particular index. The "notional amount" of the swap agreement is only used as a basis upon which to calculate the obligations that the parties to a swap agreement have agreed to exchange.

     Most swap agreements entered into by these Portfolios are cash settled and calculate the obligations of the parties to the agreement on a "net basis." Thus, a Portfolio's current obligations (or rights) under a swap agreement generally will be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement based on the relative values of the positions held by each party to the agreement (the "net amount"). A Portfolio's current obligations under a swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owed to the Portfolio) and any accrued but unpaid net amounts owed to a swap counterparty will be covered by the segregation of permissible liquid assets of the Portfolio.

     A swap option is a contract that gives a counterparty the right (but not the obligation) in return for payment of a premium, to enter into a new swap agreement or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement, at some designated future time on specified terms. A cash-settled option on a swap gives the purchaser the right in return for the premium paid, to receive an amount of cash equal to the value of the underlying swap as of the exercise date. These options typically are purchased in privately negotiated transactions from financial institutions, including securities brokerage firms. Depending on the terms of the particular option agreement, a Portfolio generally will incur a greater degree of risk when it writes a swap option than it will incur when it purchases a swap option. When a Portfolio purchases a swap option, it risks losing only the amount of the premium it has paid should it decide to let the option expire unexercised. However, when a Portfolio writes a swap option, upon exercise of the option the Portfolio will become obligated according to the terms of the underlying agreement.

     The use of swap agreements is a highly specialized activity which involves strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio security transactions. If the Manager is incorrect in its forecasts of applicable market factors, or a counterparty defaults, the investment performance of the Portfolio would diminish compared with what it would have been if these techniques were not used. In addition, it is possible that developments in the swap market including potential government regulation, could adversely affect the Portfolio's ability to terminate existing swap agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such agreements.

     A Portfolio will enter into swap agreements only when the Manager believes it would be in the best interest of the Portfolio to do so. In addition, a Portfolio will enter into swap


agreements only with counterparties that meet certain standards of creditworthiness (generally, such counterparties would have to be eligible counterparties under the terms of the Portfolio's repurchase agreement guidelines).

     Future Developments. (All Portfolios) A Portfolio may take advantage of opportunities in options and futures contracts and options on futures contracts and any other derivatives which are not presently contemplated for use by the Portfolio or which are not currently available but which may be developed, to the extent such opportunities are both consistent with the Portfolio's investment objective and legally permissible for the Portfolio. Before entering into such transactions or making any such investment on behalf of a Portfolio, the Fund will provide appropriate disclosure in its Prospectus or Statement of Additional Information.

     Forward Commitments. (All Portfolios, except the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio) Each of these Portfolios may purchase or sell securities on a forward commitment, when-issued or delayed-delivery basis, which means that delivery and payment take place a number of days after the date of the commitment to purchase or sell. The payment obligation and the interest rate receivable on a forward commitment, when-issued or delayed-delivery security are fixed when the Portfolio enters into the commitment, but the Portfolio does not make a payment until it receives delivery from the counter party. The Portfolio will commit to purchase such securities only with the intention of actually acquiring the securities, but the Portfolio may sell these securities before the settlement date if it is deemed advisable. The Portfolio will segregate permissible liquid assets at least equal at all times to the amount of the Portfolio's purchase commitments.

     Securities purchased on a forward commitment, when-issued or delayed-delivery basis are subject to changes in value (generally changing in the same way, i.e., appreciating when interest rates decline and depreciating when interest rates rise) based upon the public's perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and changes, real or anticipated, in the level of interest rates. Securities purchased on a forward commitment, when-issued or delayed-delivery basis may expose a Portfolio to risks because they may experience such fluctuations prior to their actual delivery. Purchasing securities on a forward commitment, when-issued or delayed-delivery basis can involve the additional risk that the yield available in the market when the delivery takes place actually may be higher than that obtained in the transaction itself. Purchasing securities on a forward commitment, when-issued or delayed-delivery basis when a Portfolio is fully or almost fully invested may result in greater potential fluctuation in the value of the Portfolio's net assets and its net asset value per share.

Certain Investment Considerations and Risks

     Equity Securities. (All Portfolios) Equity securities, including common stock, and certain preferred stock, convertible securities and warrants, fluctuate in value, often based on factors unrelated to the value of the issuer of the securities, and such fluctuations can be pronounced. Changes in the value of a Portfolio's investments will result in changes in the value of its shares and thus the Portfolio's total return to investors.

     Each Portfolio may purchase securities of companies in initial public offerings ("IPOs") or shortly thereafter. An IPO is a corporation's first offering of stock to the public. Shares are given a market value reflecting expectations for the corporation's future growth. Special rules of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. apply to the distribution of IPOs. Corporations offering IPOs generally have a limited operating history and may involve greater


risk. The prices of these companies' securities may be very volatile, rising and falling rapidly, sometimes based solely on investor perceptions rather than economic reasons. A Portfolio may purchase securities of companies which have no earnings or have experienced losses. A Portfolio generally will make these investments based on a belief that actual anticipated products or services will produce future earnings. If the anticipated event is delayed or does not occur, or if investor perception about the company changes, the company's stock price may decline sharply and its securities may become less liquid.

     Fixed-Income Securities. (All Portfolios, except the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio) The Core Value Portfolio may invest up to 5% of its net assets in fixed-income securities including those of companies that are close to entering, or already in, reorganization proceedings which are rated below investment grade by the Rating Agencies. The MidCap Stock Portfolio also may invest in corporate obligations rated at least Baa by Moody's or BBB by S&P or Fitch, or, if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by the Manager. Even though interest-bearing securities are investments which promise a stable stream of income, the prices of such securities generally are inversely affected by changes in interest rates and, therefore, are subject to the risk of market price fluctuations. Certain securities that may be purchased by a Portfolio, such as those with interest rates that fluctuate directly or indirectly based on multiples of a stated index, are designed to be highly sensitive to changes in interest rates and can subject the holders thereof to extreme reductions of yield and possibly loss of principal. See "Appendix" for a general description of the Rating Agencies' ratings.

     The values of fixed-income securities also may be affected by changes in the credit rating or financial condition of the issuer. Certain securities that may be purchased by a Portfolio, such as those rated Baa by Moody's and BBB by S&P and Fitch, or, with respect to the Core Value, lower, may be subject to such risk with respect to the issuing entity and to greater market fluctuations than certain lower yielding, higher rated fixed-income securities. Once the rating of a security held by a Portfolio has been changed, the Portfolio will consider all circumstances deemed relevant in determining whether to continue to hold the security.

     Index Investing. (Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio only) The Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio is managed by determining which stocks are to be purchased or sold to match, to the extent feasible, the investment characteristics of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. The Portfolio will attempt to achieve a correlation between its performance and that of the Index, in both rising and falling markets, of at least 0.95, without taking into account expenses. A correlation of 1.00 would indicate perfect correlation, which would be achieved when the Portfolio's net asset value, including the value of its dividends and capital gain distributions, increases or decreases in exact proportion to changes in the Index. The Portfolio's ability to correlate its performance with that of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index, however, may be affected by, among other things, changes in securities markets, the manner in which the total return of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index is calculated, the size of the Portfolio, the amount of cash or cash equivalents held in the Portfolio, and the timing, frequency and size of shareholder purchases and redemptions. The Portfolio will use cash flows from shareholder purchase and redemption activity to maintain, to the extent feasible, the similarity of its portfolio to the securities comprising the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. Inclusion of a security in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index in no way implies an opinion by the sponsor of the Index as to its attractiveness as an investment. In the future, subject to the approval of the Portfolio's shareholders, the Portfolio may select a different index if such a standard of comparison is deemed to be more representative of the performance of the securities the Portfolio seeks to match. The Portfolio is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by the sponsor of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index.


     The Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio may not hold all of the issues that comprise the S&P SmallCap 600 Index because of the costs involved and the illiquidity of certain of the securities which comprise the Index. Instead, the Portfolio will attempt to hold a representative sample of the securities in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index so that, in the aggregate, the investment characteristics of the Portfolio resemble that of the Index. The stocks to be included in the Portfolio will be selected using a statistical process known as "sampling." The process will be used to select stocks so that the market capitalizations, industry weightings, dividend yield, and beta closely approximate those of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. The sampling techniques utilized by the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio are expected to be an effective means of substantially duplicating the investment performance of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index; however, the Portfolio is not expected to track the S&P SmallCap 600 Index with the same degree of accuracy that complete replication of the Index would have provided. Over time, the portfolio composition of the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio will be altered (or "rebalanced") to reflect changes in the composition of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index.

     Technology Sector. Each Portfolio, to the extent described in its Prospectus, may invest in securities issued by companies in the technology sector, which has been among the most volatile sectors of the stock market. Technology companies involve greater risk because their revenues and earnings tend to be less predictable (and some companies may be experiencing significant losses) and their share prices tend to be more volatile. Certain technology companies may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources, or may depend on a limited management group. In addition, these companies are strongly affected by worldwide technological developments, and their products and services may not be economically successful or may quickly become outdated. Investor perception may play a greater role in determining the day-to-day value of technology stocks than it does in other sectors. Portfolio investments made in anticipation of future products and services may decline dramatically in value if the anticipated products or services are delayed or canceled.

     Smaller Company Securities. (MidCap Stock, Small Cap Stock Index and Technology Growth Portfolios only) Each of these Portfolios may purchase securities of smaller capitalization companies, the prices of which may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements than larger, more established companies, because these securities typically are traded in lower volume and the issuers typically are more subject to changes in earnings and prospects. The Technology Growth Portfolio is not limited in the amount it may invest in these securities or companies, and the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio will invest substantially all of its assets in such securities or companies. The Portfolios, together with other investment companies advised by the Manager and its affiliates, may own significant positions in portfolio companies which, depending on market conditions, may affect adversely a Portfolio's ability to dispose of some or all of its position should it desire to do so.

     Lower Rated Securities. (Core Value Portfolio only) The Core Value Portfolio may invest a portion of its assets in higher yielding (and, therefore, higher risk) debt securities such as those rated as low as the lowest rating assigned by a Rating Agency. They may be subject to certain risks with respect to the issuing entity and to greater market fluctuations than certain lower yielding, higher rated fixed-income securities. The retail secondary market for these securities may be less liquid than that of higher rated securities; adverse conditions could make it difficult at times for the Portfolio to sell certain securities or could result in lower prices than those used in calculating the Portfolio's net asset value.


     Bond prices are inversely related to interest rate changes; however, bond price volatility also may be inversely related to coupon. Accordingly, below investment grade securities may be relatively less sensitive to interest rate changes than higher quality securities of comparable maturity, because of their higher coupon. This higher coupon is what the investor receives in return for bearing greater credit risk. The higher credit risk associated with below investment grade securities potentially can have a greater effect on the value of such securities than may be the case with higher quality issues of comparable maturity, and will be a substantial factor in the Portfolio's relative share price volatility. Although ratings may be useful in evaluating the safety of interest and principal payments, they do not evaluate the market value risk of these securities. The Portfolio will rely on the judgment, analysis and experience of the Manager in evaluating the creditworthiness of an issuer.

You should be aware that the market values of many of these securities tend to be more sensitive to economic conditions than are higher rated securities and will fluctuate over time. These securities generally are considered by the Rating Agencies to be, on balance, predominantly speculative with respect to capacity to pay interest and repay principal in accordance with the terms of the obligation and generally will involve more credit risk than securities in the higher rating categories.

     Companies that issue certain of these securities often are highly leveraged and may not have available to them more traditional methods of financing. Therefore, the risk associated with acquiring the securities of such issuers generally is greater than is the case with higher rated securities. For example, during an economic downturn or a sustained period of rising interest rates, highly leveraged issuers of these securities may not have sufficient revenues to meet their interest payment obligations. The issuer's ability to service its debt obligations also may be affected adversely by specific corporate developments, or the issuer's inability to meet specific projected business forecasts, or the unavailability of additional financing. The risk of loss because of default by the issuer is significantly greater for the holders of these securities because such securities generally are unsecured and often are subordinated to other creditors of the issuer.

     Because there is no established retail secondary market for many of these securities, the Fund anticipates that such securities could be sold only to a limited number of dealers or institutional investors. To the extent a secondary trading market for these securities does exist, it generally is not as liquid as the secondary market for higher rated securities. The lack of a liquid secondary market may have an adverse impact on market price and yield and the Portfolio's ability to dispose of particular issues when necessary to meet such Portfolio's liquidity needs or in response to a specific economic event such as a deterioration in the creditworthiness of the issuer. The lack of a liquid security market for certain securities also may make it more difficult for the Portfolio to obtain accurate market quotations for purposes of valuing its portfolio and calculating its net asset value. Adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether or not based on fundamental analysis, may decrease the values and liquidity of these securities. In such cases, judgment may play a greater role in valuation because less reliable, objective data may be available.

     These securities may be particularly susceptible to economic downturns. An economic recession could adversely affect the ability of the issuers of lower rated bonds to repay principal and pay interest thereon and increase the incidence of default for such securities. It is likely that any economic recession also could disrupt severely the market for such securities and have an adverse impact on their value.


     The Portfolio may acquire these securities during an initial offering. Such securities may involve special risks because they are new issues. The Fund has no arrangement with any persons concerning the acquisition of such securities, and the Manager will review carefully the credit and other characteristics pertinent to such new issues.

     The credit risk factors pertaining to lower rated securities also apply to lower rated zero coupon, pay-in-kind and step-up securities. In addition to the risks associated with the credit rating of the issuers, the market prices of these securities may be very volatile during the period no interest is paid.

     The ratings of the Ratings Agencies represent their opinions as to the quality of the obligations which they undertake to rate. Ratings are relative and subjective and, although ratings may be useful in evaluating the safety of interest and principal payments, they do not evaluate the market value risk of such obligations. Although these ratings may be an initial criterion for selection of portfolio investments, the Manager also will evaluate these securities and the ability of the issuers of such securities to pay interest and principal.

     Foreign Securities. (All Portfolios, except the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio). Investing in the securities of foreign issuers, as well as instruments that provide investment exposure to foreign securities and markets, involves risks that are not typically associated with investing in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of domestic issuers. Investments in foreign issuers may be affected by changes in currency rates, changes in foreign or U.S. laws or restrictions applicable to such investments and in exchange control regulations (e.g. currency blockage). A decline in the exchange rate of the currency (i.e., weakening of the currency against the U.S. dollar) in which a portfolio security is quoted or denominated relative to the U.S. dollar would reduce the value of the portfolio security. A change in the value of such foreign currency against the U.S. dollar also will result in a change in the amount of income the Portfolio has available for distribution. Because a portion of a Portfolio's investment income may be received in foreign currencies, the Portfolio will be required to compute its income in U.S. dollars for distribution to shareholders, and therefore the Portfolio will absorb the cost of currency fluctuations. After the Portfolio has distributed income, subsequent foreign currency losses may result in the Portfolio having distributed more income in a particular fiscal period than was available from investment income, which could result in a return of capital to shareholders. In addition, if the exchange rate for the currency in which the Portfolio investing in such securities receives interest payments declines against the U.S. dollar before such income is distributed as dividends to shareholders, the Portfolio may have to sell portfolio securities to obtain sufficient cash to enable the Portfolio to pay such dividends. Commissions on transactions in foreign securities may be higher than those for similar transactions on domestic stock markets and foreign custodial costs are higher than domestic custodial costs. In addition, clearance and settlement procedures may be different in foreign countries and, in certain markets, such procedures have on occasion been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, thus making it difficult to conduct such transactions. Portfolios investing in foreign securities or currencies may be required to pay certain taxes to foreign governments or U.S. possessions. See "Dividends, Distributions and Taxes" for a discussion of these taxes.

     Foreign securities markets generally are not as developed or efficient as those in the United States. Securities of some foreign issuers, including depositary receipts, foreign government obligations and securities of supranational entities, are less liquid and more volatile than securities of comparable U.S. issuers. Similarly, volume and liquidity in most foreign


securities markets are less than in the United States and, at times, volatility of price can be greater than in the United States.

     Because evidences of ownership of foreign securities usually are held outside the United States, by investing in such securities a Portfolio will be subject to additional risks which include possible adverse political and economic developments, seizure or nationalization of foreign deposits and adoption of governmental restrictions which might adversely affect or restrict the payment of principal and interest on the foreign securities to investors located outside the country of the issuer, whether from currency blockage or otherwise. Foreign securities held by a Portfolio may trade on days when the Portfolio does not calculate its net asset value and thus may affect the Portfolio's net asset value on days when investors have no access to the Portfolio.

     Since foreign securities often are purchased with and payable in currencies of foreign countries, the value of these assets as measured in U.S. dollars may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in currency rates and exchange control regulations.

     State Insurance Regulation. (All Portfolios) The Fund is intended to be a funding vehicle for VA contracts and VLI policies to be offered by Participating Insurance Companies and will seek to be offered in as many jurisdictions as possible. Certain states have regulations concerning concentration of investments, purchase and sale of future contracts and short sales of securities, among other techniques. If applied to a Portfolio, the Portfolio may be limited in its ability to engage in such techniques and to manage its portfolio with the flexibility provided herein. It is the Fund's intention that each Portfolio operate in material compliance with current insurance laws and regulations, as applied, in each jurisdiction in which the Portfolio is offered.

Investment Restrictions

     Under normal circumstances, each of the Core Value, MidCap Stock and Technology Growth Portfolios invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in stocks (or other instruments with similar economic characteristics). These stocks are issued by (i) in the case of MidCap Stock Portfolio, mid-cap companies, and (ii) in the case of Technology Growth Portfolio, companies of any size that the Manager believes to be leading producers or beneficiaries of technological innovation. Each of these Portfolios has adopted a policy to provide its shareholders with at least 60 days' prior notice of any change in its policy to so invest 80% of its assets.

     Each Portfolio's investment objective is a fundamental policy, which cannot be changed without approval by the holders of a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Portfolio's outstanding voting shares. In addition, each Portfolio has adopted certain investment restrictions as fundamental policies and certain other investment restrictions as non-fundamental policies, as described below.

     Core Value Portfolio, MidCap Stock Portfolio and Technology Growth Portfolio only. Each of these Portfolios has adopted investment restrictions numbered 1 through 10 as fundamental policies which cannot be changed, as to a Portfolio, without approval by the holders of a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Portfolio's outstanding voting shares. Investment restrictions numbered 11 through 15 are not fundamental policies and may be changed, as to a Portfolio, by a vote of a majority of the Fund's Board members at any time. None of these Portfolios may:


     1. Invest more than 25% of the value of its total assets in the securities of issuers in any single industry, provided that there shall be no limitation on the purchase of obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities. For purposes of this Investment Restriction with respect to the Technology Growth Portfolio, the technology sector in general is not considered an industry.

     2. Invest more than 5% of its assets in the obligations of any one issuer, except that up to 25% of the value of the Portfolio's total assets may be invested, and securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities may be purchased, without regard to any such limitation.

     3. Purchase the securities of any issuer if such purchase would cause the Portfolio to hold more than 10% of the voting securities of such issuer. This restriction applies only with respect to 75% of the Portfolio's total assets.

     4. Invest in commodities, except that a Portfolio may purchase and sell options, forward contracts, futures contracts, including those relating to indices, and options on futures contracts or indices.

     5. Purchase, hold or deal in real estate, or oil, gas or other mineral leases or exploration or development programs, but a Portfolio may purchase and sell securities that are secured by real estate or issued by companies that invest or deal in real estate or real estate investment trusts.

     6. Borrow money, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act (which currently limits borrowing to no more than 33-1/3% of the value of the Portfolio's total assets). For purposes of this Investment Restriction, the entry into options, forward contracts, futures contracts, including those relating to indices, and options on futures contracts or indices shall not constitute borrowing.

     7. Make loans to others, except through the purchase of debt obligations and the entry into repurchase agreements. However, a Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities in an amount not to exceed 33-1/3% of the value of its total assets. Any loans of portfolio securities will be made according to guidelines established by the SEC and the Fund's Board.

8. Act as an underwriter of securities of other issuers, except to the extent a Portfolio may be deemed an underwriter under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, by virtue of disposing of portfolio securities.

9. Issue any senior security (as such term is defined in Section 18(f) of the 1940 Act), except to the extent the activities permitted in Investment Restriction Nos. 4, 6, 12 and 13 may be deemed to give rise to a senior security.

     10. Purchase securities on margin, but a Portfolio may make margin deposits in connection with transactions in options, forward contracts, futures contracts, including those relating to indices, and options on futures contracts or indices.

     11. Invest in the securities of a company for the purpose of exercising management or control, but the Portfolio will vote the securities it owns as a shareholder in accordance with its views.


     12. Pledge, mortgage or hypothecate its assets, except to the extent necessary to secure permitted borrowings and to the extent related to the purchase of securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis and the deposit of assets in escrow in connection with writing covered put and call options and collateral and initial or variation margin arrangements with respect to options, forward contracts, futures contracts, including those relating to indices, and options on futures contracts or indices.

     13. Purchase, sell or write puts, calls or combinations thereof, except as described in the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information.

     14. Enter into repurchase agreements providing for settlement in more than seven days after notice or purchase securities which are illiquid, if, in the aggregate, more than 15% of the value of its net assets would be so invested.

     15. Purchase securities of other investment companies, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act.

* * *

     Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio. The Portfolio has adopted investment restrictions numbered 1 through 10 as fundamental policies which cannot be changed without approval by the holders of a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Portfolio's outstanding voting shares. Investment restrictions numbered 11 through 13 are not fundamental policies and may be changed by a vote of a majority of the Fund's Board members at any time. The Portfolio may not:

     1. Invest more than 25% of the value of its total assets in the securities of issuers in any single industry (except to the extent such Portfolio's benchmark Index as described in its Prospectus is so concentrated), provided that there shall be no limitation on the purchase of obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities.

     2. Invest more than 5% of its assets in the obligations of any one issuer, except that up to 25% of the value of the Portfolio's total assets may be invested, and securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities may be purchased, without regard to any such limitation.

3. Purchase the securities of any issuer if such purchase would cause the Portfolio to hold more than 10% of the voting securities of such issuer. This restriction applies only with respect to 75% of the Portfolio's total assets.

     4. Invest in commodities, except that the Portfolio may purchase and sell options, forward contracts, futures contracts, including those relating to indices, and options on futures contracts or indices.

     5. Purchase, hold or deal in real estate, or oil, gas or other mineral leases or exploration or development programs, but the Portfolio may purchase and sell securities that are secured by real estate or issued by companies that invest or deal in real estate or real estate investment trusts.


     6. Borrow money, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act (which currently limits borrowing to no more than 33-1/3% of the value of a Portfolio's total assets). For purposes of this Investment Restriction, the entry into options, forward contracts, futures contracts, including those relating to indices, and options on futures contracts or indices shall not constitute borrowing.

     7. Lend any securities or make any other loans if, as a result, more than 33-1/3% of its total assets would be lent to others, except that this limitation does not apply to the purchase of debt obligations and the entry into repurchase agreements. Any loans of portfolio securities will be made according to guidelines established by the SEC and the Fund's Board.

8. Act as an underwriter of securities of other issuers, except to the extent the Portfolio may be deemed an underwriter under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, by virtue of disposing of portfolio securities.

9. Issue any senior security (as such term is defined in Section 18(f) of the 1940 Act), except to the extent the activities permitted in Investment Restriction Nos. 4, 6 and 12 may be deemed to give rise to a senior security.

     10. Purchase securities on margin, but the Portfolio may make margin deposits in connection with transactions in options, forward contracts, futures contracts, including those relating to indices, and options on futures contracts or indices.

     11. Invest in the securities of a company for the purpose of exercising management or control, but the Portfolio will vote the securities it owns as a shareholder in accordance with its views.

     12. Pledge, mortgage or hypothecate its assets, except to the extent necessary to secure permitted borrowings and to the extent related to the purchase of securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis and the deposit of assets in escrow in connection with writing covered put and call options and collateral and initial or variation margin arrangements with respect to options, forward contracts, futures contracts, including those relating to indices, and options on futures contracts or indices.

     13. Enter into repurchase agreements providing for settlement in more than seven days after notice or purchase securities which are illiquid, if, in the aggregate, more than 15% of the value of its net assets would be so invested.

* * *

     In addition, each Portfolio has adopted the following policies as non-fundamental policies. Each Portfolio intends (i) to comply with the diversification requirements prescribed in regulations under Section 817(h) of the Code, and (ii) to comply in all material respects with insurance laws and regulations that the Fund has been advised are applicable to investments of separate accounts of Participating Insurance Companies. As non-fundamental policies, these policies may be changed by vote of a majority of the Board members at any time.

     If a percentage restriction is adhered to at the time of investment, a later change in percentage resulting from a change in values or assets will not constitute a violation of such restriction. With respect to Investment Restriction No. 6, however, if borrowings exceed 33-


1/3% of the value of a Portfolio's total assets as a result of a change in values or assets, the Portfolio must take steps to reduce such borrowings at least to the extent of such excess.

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

     The Fund's Board is responsible for the management and supervision of each Portfolio, and approves all significant agreements with those companies that furnish services to the Fund. These companies are as follows:

The Dreyfus Corporation    Investment Adviser 
Dreyfus Service Corporation    Distributor 
Dreyfus Transfer, Inc    Transfer Agent 
Mellon Bank, N.A    Custodian 
 
Board Members of the Fund1     

     Board members of the Fund, together with information as to their position with the Fund, principal occupations and other board memberships and affiliations, are shown below:

Name (Age)    Principal Occupation     
Position with Fund (Since)    During Past 5 Years    Other Board Memberships and Affiliations 
 
Joseph S. DiMartino (63)    Corporate Director and Trustee    The Muscular Dystrophy Association, Director 
Chairman of the Board (1998)        Century Business Services, Inc., a provider of 
        outsourcing functions for small and medium size 
        companies, Director 
        The Newark Group, a provider of a national market of 
        paper recovery facilities, paperboard mills and 
        paperboard converting plants, Director 
        Sunair Services Corporation, a provider of certain 
        outdoor-related services to homes and businesses, 
        Director 
 
Clifford L. Alexander, Jr. (73)    President of Alexander &    Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, 
Board Member (1998)    Associates, Inc., a management    Director 
    consulting firm     
    (January 1981 – present)     
    Chairman of the Board of Moody's     
    Corporation (October 2000 –     
    October 2003)     
 
Lucy Wilson Benson (79)    President of Benson and Associates,    The International Executive Services Corps., Director 
Board Member (1998)    consultants to business and    Emeritus 
    government (1980 - present)    Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs, Vice Chairperson 
        Council on Foreign Relations, Member 
        Lafayette College Board of Trustees, Trustee Emeritus 
        Atlantic Council of the U.S., Director 
 
David W. Burke (71)    Corporate Director and Trustee    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, Director 
Board Member (2003)         

1 None of the Board members are "interested persons" of the Fund, as defined in the 1940 Act.


Name (Age)    Principal Occupation     
Position with Fund (Since)    During Past 5 Years    Other Board Memberships and Affiliations 
 
 
Whitney I. Gerard (72)    Partner of Chadbourne & Parke    None 
Board Member (2003)    LLP     
 
George L. Perry (73)    Economist and Senior Fellow at    None 
Board Member (2003)    Brookings Institution     

     Board members are elected to serve for an indefinite term. The Fund has standing audit, nominating and compensation committees, each comprised of its Board members who are not "interested persons" of the Fund, as defined in the 1940 Act. The function of the audit committee is (i) to oversee the Fund's accounting and financial reporting processes and the audits of the Portfolio's financial statements and (ii) to assist in the Board's oversight of the integrity of the Portfolio's financial statements, the Fund's compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and the independent registered public accounting firm's qualifications, independence and performance. The Fund's nominating committee, among other things, is responsible for selecting and nominating persons as members of the Board for election or appointment by the Board and for election by shareholders. In evaluating potential nominees, including any nominees recommended by shareholders, the committee takes into consideration various factors listed in the nominating committee charter, including character and integrity, business and professional experience, and whether the committee believes the person has the ability to apply sound and independent business judgment and would act in the interest of the Fund and its shareholders. The nominating committee will consider recommendations for nominees from shareholders submitted to the Secretary of the Fund, c/o The Dreyfus Corporation Legal Department, 200 Park Avenue, 8th Floor East, New York, New York 10166, which includes information regarding the recommended nominee as specified in the nominating committee charter. The function of the compensation committee is to establish the appropriate compensation for serving on the Board. The Fund also has a standing pricing committee comprised of any one Board member. The function of the pricing committee is to assist in valuing the Portfolios' investments. The audit committee met four times during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006. The compensation, pricing and nominating committees had no meetings during the last fiscal year.

     The table below indicates the dollar range of each Board member's ownership of Portfolio shares and shares of other funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds for which he or she is a Board member, in each case as of December 31, 2006.

    Core Value    MidCap Stock    Small Cap Stock 
Name of Board Member    Portfolio    Portfolio    Index Portfolio 




Joseph S. DiMartino    None    None    None 
Clifford L. Alexander, Jr.    None    None    None 
Lucy Wilson Benson    None    None    None 
David W. Burke    None    None    None 
Whitney I. Gerard    None    None    None 
George L. Perry    None    None    None 


        Aggregate Holding 
        of Funds in the 
        Dreyfus Family of 
    Technology    Funds for which 
    Growth    Responsible as a 
Name of Board Member    Portfolio    Board Member 



Joseph S. DiMartino    None    Over $100,000 
Clifford L. Alexander, Jr.    None    Over $100,000 
Lucy Wilson Benson    None    Over $100,000 
David W. Burke    None    Over $100,000 
Whitney I. Gerard    None    Over $100,000 
George L. Perry    None    None 

As of December 31, 2006, none of the Board members or their immediate family members owned securities of the Manager or the Distributor or any person (other than a registered investment company) directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by or under common control with the Manager or the Distributor.

     The Fund pays its Board members its allocated portion of an annual retainer of $60,000 and a fee of $7,500 per meeting (with a minimum of $500 per meeting and per telephone meeting) attended for the Fund and fourteen other funds (comprised of 24 portfolios) in the Dreyfus Family of Funds, and reimburses them for their expenses. The Chairman of the Board receives an additional 25% of such compensation. Emeritus Board members are entitled to receive an annual retainer and a per meeting attended fee of one-half the amount paid to them as Board members. The aggregate amount of compensation paid to each Board member by the Fund and by all funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds for which such person is a Board member (the number of portfolios of such funds is set forth in parenthesis next to each Board member's total compensation) for the year ended December 31, 2006, was as follows:

            Total Compensation 
        Aggregate    From the Fund and Fund 
        Compensation From    Complex Paid to Board 
    Name of Board Member    the Fund*    Member(**) 




Joseph S. DiMartino    $4,384    $857,400    (193) 
Clifford L. Alexander    $3,509    $199,500    (60) 
Lucy Wilson Benson    $3,509    $116,000    (37) 
David W. Burke    $3,509    $285,500    (83) 
Whitney I. Gerard    $3,509    $98,000    (35) 
Arthur A. Hartman***    $2,095    $56,750    (35) 
George L. Perry    $3,494    $97,500    (35) 

*    Amount does not include the cost of office space, secretarial and health benefits for the Chairman and expenses 
    reimbursed to Board members for attending Board meetings, which in the aggregate amounted to $6,871. 
**    Represents the number of separate portfolios comprising the investment companies in the Fund Complex, 


     including the Portfolios, for which the Board members serve.

*** Emeritus Board member as of March 12, 2006.

Officers of the Fund

J. DAVID OFFICER, President since December 2006. Chief Operating Officer, Vice Chairman and a director of the Manager, and an officer of 90 investment companies (comprised of 190 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 58 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since April 1998.

MARK N. JACOBS, Vice President since March 2000. Executive Vice President, Secretary, and General Counsel of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 61 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since June 1977.

JAMES WINDELS, Treasurer since November 2001. Director – Mutual Fund Accounting of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 48 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since April 1985.

MICHAEL A. ROSENBERG, Vice President and Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 47 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since October 1991.

JAMES BITETTO, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 40 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since December 1996.

JONI LACKS CHARATAN, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. She is 51 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since October 1988.

JOSEPH M. CHIOFFI, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 45 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since June 2000.

JANETTE E. FARRAGHER, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. She is 44 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since February 1984.

JOHN B. HAMMALIAN, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 43 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since February 1991.


ROBERT R. MULLERY, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 55 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since May 1986.

JEFF PRUSNOFSKY, Vice President and Assistant Secretary since August 2005. Associate General Counsel of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 41 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since October 1990.

GAVIN C. REILLY, Assistant Treasurer since December 2005. Tax Manager of the Investment Accounting and Support Department of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 38 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since April 1991.

ROBERT S. ROBOL, Assistant Treasurer since August 2005. Senior Accounting Manager – Money Market and Municipal Bond Funds of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 43 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since October 1988.

ROBERT SVAGNA, Assistant Treasurer since December 2002. Senior Accounting Manager -Equity Funds of the Manager, and an officer of 91 investment companies (comprised of 206 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 40 years old and has been an employee of the Manager since November 1990.

WILLIAM GERMENIS, Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer since October 2002. Vice President and Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer of the Distributor, and the Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer of 87 investment companies (comprised of 202 portfolios) managed by the Manager. He is 36 years old and has been an employee of the Distributor since October 1998.

JOSEPH W. CONNOLLY, Chief Compliance Officer since October 2004. Chief Compliance Officer of the Manager and The Dreyfus Family of Funds (91 investment companies, comprised of 206 portfolios). From November 2001 through March 2004, Mr. Connolly was first Vice-President, Mutual Fund Servicing for Mellon Global Securities Services. In that capacity, Mr. Connolly was responsible for managing Mellon's Custody, Fund Accounting and Fund Administration services to third-party mutual fund clients. He is 49 years old and has served in various capacities with the Manager since 1980, including manager of the firms' Fund Accounting Department from 1997 through October 2001.

The address of each Board member and officer of the Fund is 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10166.

The Fund's Board members and officers, as a group, owned less than 1% of each Portfolio's shares outstanding on March 30, 2007. See "Information About the Fund and Portfolios" for a list of shareholders known by the Fund to own of record 5% or more of a Portfolio's outstanding voting securities as of March 30, 2007.

MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS


     Investment Adviser. The Manager is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mellon Financial Corporation ("Mellon"). Mellon is a global financial holding company incorporated under Pennsylvania law in 1971 and registered under the Federal Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended. Mellon provides a comprehensive range of financial products and services in domestic and selected international markets.

     The Manager provides management services pursuant to a Management Agreement between the Fund and the Manager. As to each Portfolio, the Management Agreement is subject to annual approval by (i) the Fund's Board or (ii) vote of a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the outstanding voting securities of the Portfolio, provided that in either event the continuance also is approved by a majority of the Board members who are not "interested persons" (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund or the Manager, by vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. As to each Portfolio, the Management Agreement is terminable without penalty, on 60 days' notice, by the Fund's Board or by vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of the Portfolio, or, upon not less than 90 days' notice, by the Manager. The Management Agreement will terminate automatically, as to the relevant Portfolio, in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act).

     The following persons are officers and/or directors of the Manager: Jonathan Little, Chair of the Board; Thomas F. Eggers, President, Chief Executive Officer and a director; Jonathan Baum, Vice Chair – Distribution and a director; J. Charles Cardona, Vice Chair and a director; Diane P. Durnin, Vice Chair and a director; Phillip N. Maisano, Chief Investment Officer, Vice Chair and a director; J. David Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Vice Chair and a director; Mark N. Jacobs, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary; Patrice M. Kozlowski, Senior Vice President-Corporate Communications; Jill Gill, Vice President-Human Resources; Anthony Mayo, Vice President-Information Systems; Theodore A. Schachar, Vice President-Tax; Alex G. Sciulli, Vice President; Gary Pierce, Controller; Joseph W. Connolly, Chief Compliance Officer; James Bitetto, Assistant Secretary; and Ronald P. O'Hanley III, director.

     The Manager maintains office facilities on behalf of the Fund, and furnishes statistical and research data, clerical help, accounting, data processing, bookkeeping and internal auditing and certain other required services to the Fund. The Manager, from time to time, may make payments from its own assets, including past profits but not including the management fees paid by the Portfolios, to Participating Insurance Companies in connection with the provision of certain administrative services to one or more Portfolios or servicing and/or maintaining shareholder accounts. The Manager also may make such advertising and promotional expenditures, using its own resources, as it from time to time deems appropriate.

     Portfolio Management. The Manager manages each Portfolio's investments in accordance with the stated policies of the Portfolio, subject to the approval of the Fund's Board. The Manager is responsible for investment decisions and provides the Fund with portfolio managers who are authorized by the Fund's Board to execute purchases and sales of securities for the relevant Portfolio. The portfolio managers of Core Value Portfolio are Brian C. Ferguson and Julianne D. McHugh, each of whom is an employee of Dreyfus and The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC ("TBCAM"). The portfolio managers of MidCap Stock Portfolio are John O'Toole, Ronald Gala and Robert Wilk, each of whom is an employee of Dreyfus and Mellon Equity Associates, LLP ("MEA"). The portfolio manager of Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio is Thomas Durante, who is an employee of Dreyfus and MEA. The portfolio managers


of Technology Growth Portfolio are Mark Herskovitz, Peter Vogel and Joshua Waltuch, each of whom is an employee of Dreyfus and TBCAM. The Manager maintains research departments with professional portfolio managers and securities analysts who provide research services for the Portfolios and for other funds advised by the Manager.

     Mellon and its affiliates may have deposit, loan and commercial banking or other relationships with the issuers of securities purchased by a Portfolio. The Manager has informed the Fund that in making its investment decisions it does not obtain or use material inside information that Mellon or its affiliates may possess with respect to such issuers.

     The Fund, the Manager and the Distributor each have adopted a Code of Ethics that permits its personnel, subject to such respective Code of Ethics, to invest in securities, including securities that may be purchased or held by a Portfolio. The Manager's Code of Ethics subjects its employees' personal securities transactions to various restrictions to ensure that such trading does not disadvantage any fund advised by the Manager. In that regard, portfolio managers and other investment personnel of the Manager must preclear and report their personal securities transactions and holdings, which are reviewed for compliance with the Code of Ethics and also are subject to the oversight of Mellon's Investment Ethics Committee (the "Committee"). Portfolio managers and other investment personnel who comply with the preclearance and disclosure procedures of the Code of Ethics and the requirements of the Committee may be permitted to purchase, sell or hold securities which also may be or are held in fund(s) they manage or for which they otherwise provide investment advice.

     Portfolio Manager Compensation (Core Value and Technology Growth Portfolios only). The portfolio manager's cash compensation is comprised primarily of a market-based salary and incentive compensation plans (annual and long term incentive). The portfolio managers are compensated by TBCAM, an affiliate of the Manager, and not by the Portfolio. Funding for the TBCAM Annual Incentive Plan and Long Term Incentive Plan is through a predetermined fixed percentage of overall TBCAM profitability. Therefore, all bonus awards are based initially on TBCAM's financial performance. The portfolio managers are eligible to receive annual cash bonus awards from the Annual Incentive Plan. Annual incentive opportunities are pre-established for each individual, expressed as a percentage of base salary ("target awards"). Annual awards are determined by applying multiples to this target award (0 – 2 times target award represents a portfolio manager's range of opportunity) and are capped at a maximum range of incentive opportunity for the job category. Awards are 100% discretionary and regardless of performance will be subject to pool funding availability. Awards are paid in cash on an annual basis. A significant portion of the target opportunity awarded is based upon the one-year and three-year (weighted more heavily) pre-tax performance of the portfolio manager's accounts relative to the performance of the appropriate Lipper and Callan peer groups. Other factors considered in determining the award are individual qualitative performance and the asset size and revenue growth of the products managed.

     For research analysts and other investment professionals, awards are distributed to the respective product teams (in the aggregate) based upon product performance relative to TBCAM-wide performance measured on the same basis as described above. Further allocations are made to specific team members by the product portfolio manager based upon sector contribution and other qualitative factors.

All portfolio managers and analysts are also eligible to participate in the TBCAM Long Term Incentive Plan. This plan provides for an annual award, payable in cash after a three-year


cliff vesting period. The value of the award increases during the vesting period based upon the growth in TBCAM's net income (capped at 20%, with a minimum payout equal to the Mellon Bank 3-year CD rate).

     Portfolio Manager Compensation (MidCap Stock and Small Cap Stock Index Portfolios only). The portfolio managers' cash compensation is comprised primarily of a market-based salary and an incentive compensation plan (annual and long term incentive). Funding for the MEA Annual Incentive Plan and Long Term Incentive Plan is through a pre-determined fixed percentage of overall company profitability. Therefore, all bonus awards are based initially on MEA's performance. The investment professionals are eligible to receive annual cash bonus awards from the incentive compensation plan. Annual awards are granted in March for the prior calendar year. Individual awards for investment professionals are discretionary, based on product performance, goals established at the beginning of each calendar year and a subjective evaluation of the portfolio manager's contribution to the overall investment process. Also considered in determining individual awards are team participation and general contributions to MEA.

All portfolio managers are also eligible to participate in the MEA Long Term Incentive Plan. This plan provides for an annual award, payable in deferred cash that cliff vests after three years, with an interest rate equal to the average year over year earnings growth of MEA (capped at 20% per year). Management has discretion with respect to actual participation and award size.

Portfolio managers whose compensation exceeds certain levels may elect to defer portions of their base salaries and/or incentive compensation pursuant to Mellon's elective deferred compensation plan.

     Additional Information About Portfolio Managers. The following table lists the number and types of other accounts advised by each primary portfolio manager and assets under management in those accounts as of the end of the Portfolio's fiscal year:

        Registered                     
        Investment                     
Portfolio        Company    Assets    Pooled    Assets    Other    Assets 
Manager        Accounts    Managed    Accounts    Managed    Accounts    Managed 
 
Brian C. Ferguson    4    $1.2 billion    2    $116.0 million    621    $3.6 billion 
John O'Toole    5    $916.5 million    3    $110.6 million    262    $603.1 million 
Thomas Durante    7    $13.1 billion    4    $229.1 million    133    $757.22 million 
 
Mark Herskovitz    2    $661 million    -0-    -0-    -0-    -0- 



1.     Advisory fees for two of these accounts, which have total assets of approximately $963 million, are based  
    on the performance of the respective account.                  
2     Advisory fees for four of these accounts, which have total assets of approximately $45.7 million, are based  
    on the performance of the respective account.                  
3.     Advisory fees for three of these accounts, which have total assets of approximately $81.9 million, are based  
    on the performance of the respective account.                  

The dollar range of Portfolio shares beneficially owned by the primary portfolio manager are as follows as of the end of the Portfolio's fiscal year:


        Dollar Range of Portfolio 
Portfolio Manager    Portfolio Name    Shares Beneficially Owned 
Brian C. Ferguson    Core Value Portfolio    None 
John O'Toole    MidCap Stock Portfolio    None 
Thomas Durante    Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio    None 
Mark Herskovitz    Technology Growth Portfolio    None 

     Portfolio managers may manage multiple accounts for a diverse client base, including mutual funds, separate accounts (assets managed on behalf of institutions such as pension funds, insurance companies and foundations), bank common trust accounts and wrap fee programs ("Other Accounts").

     Potential conflicts of interest may arise because of Dreyfus' management of the Portfolio and Other Accounts. For example, conflicts of interest may arise with both the aggregation and allocation of securities transactions and allocation of limited investment opportunities, as Dreyfus may be perceived as causing accounts it manages to participate in an offering to increase Dreyfus' overall allocation of securities in that offering, or to increase Dreyfus' ability to participate in future offerings by the same underwriter or issuer. Allocations of bunched trades, particularly trade orders that were only partially filled due to limited availability, and allocation of investment opportunities generally, could raise a potential conflict of interest, as Dreyfus may have an incentive to allocate securities that are expected to increase in value to preferred accounts. Initial public offerings, in particular, are frequently of very limited availability. Additionally, portfolio managers may be perceived to have a conflict of interest if there are a large number of Other Accounts, in addition to the Portfolio, that they are managing on behalf of Dreyfus. Dreyfus periodically reviews each portfolio manager's overall responsibilities to ensure that he or she is able to allocate the necessary time and resources to effectively manage the Portfolio. In addition, Dreyfus could be viewed as having a conflict of interest to the extent that Dreyfus or its affiliates and/or portfolios managers have a materially larger investment in Other Accounts than their investment in the Portfolio.

     Other Accounts may have investment objectives, strategies and risks that differ from those of the Portfolio. For these or other reasons, the portfolio managers may purchase different securities for the Portfolio and the Other Accounts, and the performance of securities purchased for the Portfolio may vary from the performance of securities purchased for Other Accounts. The portfolio managers may place transactions on behalf of Other Accounts that are directly or indirectly contrary to investment decisions made for the Portfolio, which could have the potential to adversely impact the Portfolio, depending on market conditions.

     A potential conflict of interest may be perceived to arise if transactions in one account closely follow related transactions in another account, such as when a purchase increases the value of securities previously purchased by the other account, or when a sale in one account lowers the sale price received in a sale by a second account.

Conflicts of interest similar to those described above arise when portfolio managers are employed by a sub-investment adviser or are dual employees of the Manager and an affiliated entity and such portfolio managers also manage Other Accounts.

Dreyfus' goal is to provide high quality investment services to all of its clients, while meeting Dreyfus' fiduciary obligation to treat all clients fairly. Policies and procedures have been implemented, including brokerage and trade allocation policies and procedures, that


Dreyfus believes address the conflicts associated with managing multiple accounts for multiple clients. In addition, Dreyfus monitors a variety of areas, including compliance with Portfolio guidelines, the allocation of IPOs, and compliance with the firm's Code of Ethics. Furthermore, senior investment and business personnel at Dreyfus periodically review the performance of the portfolio managers for Dreyfus-managed funds.

     Expenses. All expenses incurred in the operation of the Fund (other than with respect to Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio) are borne by the Fund, except to the extent specifically assumed by the Manager (or, if applicable, the Portfolio's Sub-Adviser). The expenses borne by the Fund include: organizational costs, taxes, interest, loan commitment fees, dividends and interest on securities sold short, brokerage fees and commissions, if any, fees of Board members who are not officers, directors, employees or holders of 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the Manager or any of its affiliates, SEC fees, state Blue Sky qualification fees, advisory fees, charges of custodians, transfer and dividend disbursing agents' fees, certain insurance premiums, industry association fees, outside auditing and legal expenses, costs of maintaining the Fund's existence, costs of independent pricing services, costs attributable to investor services (including, without limitation, telephone and personnel expenses), costs of shareholders' reports and meetings, costs of preparing and printing prospectuses and statements of additional information for regulatory purposes and for distribution to existing shareholders, and any extraordinary expenses. In addition, each class of shares bears any class specific expenses allocated to such class, such as expenses related to the distribution and/or shareholder servicing of such class. Each Portfolio's Service shares are subject to an annual distribution fee. See "Distribution Plan (Service Shares Only)." Other than for Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio, expenses attributable to a particular Portfolio are charged against the assets of that Portfolio; other expenses of the Fund are allocated among the Portfolios on the basis determined by the Fund's Board, including, but not limited to, proportionately in relation to the net assets of each Portfolio.

     All expenses incurred in the operation of Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio are borne by the Manager, except management fees, Distribution Plan fees, taxes, interest, brokerage fees and commissions, if any, extraordinary expenses, and the Portfolio's allocated portion of the fees and expenses of Board members who are not "interested persons" (as defined in the 1940 Act) and fees and expenses of independent counsel to the Fund and the Board members who are not "interested persons."

     As compensation for the Manager's services, the Fund has agreed to pay the Manager a monthly fee at the annual rate set forth below as a percentage of the relevant Portfolio's average daily net assets:

Name of Portfolio    Management Fee 
 
Core Value Portfolio    0.75% 
MidCap Stock Portfolio    0.75% 
Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio    0.35%* 
Technology Growth Portfolio    0.75% 

*      With respect to the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio, the Manager has agreed to reduce its management fee in an amount equal to the Portfolio's allocated portion of the accrued fees and expenses of the non-interested Board members and fees and expenses of independent counsel to the Fund and to the non-interested Board members.
 

     For the fiscal periods ended December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006 (except as indicated), the management fees payable by each indicated Portfolio to the Manager, the amounts waived by the Manager and the net fee paid by the indicated Portfolio were as follows:

            Management Fee Payable 
    2004    2005    2006 
Core Value Portfolio    $    571,357    $ 556,502    $ 534,935 
MidCap Stock Portfolio    $2,859,526    $3,246,675    $3,320,946 
Technology Growth Portfolio    $    920,873    $ 914,818    $1,047,830 
Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio    $    837,107    $1,316,618    $1,586,734 
 
            Reduction in Fee 
    2004    2005    2006 
Core Value Portfolio    $0        $ 2,561    $7,397 
MidCap Stock Portfolio    $0        $0    $0 
Technology Growth Portfolio    $0        $0    $0 
Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio    $0        $0    $0 
 
            Net Fee Paid     
    2004    2005    2006 
Core Value Portfolio    $    571,357    $ 553,941    $ 527,538 
MidCap Stock Portfolio    $2,859,526    $3,246,675    $3,320,946 
Technology Growth Portfolio    $    920,873    $ 914,818    $1,047,830 
Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio    $    837,107    $1,316,618    $1,586,734 

     The aggregate of the fees payable to the Manager is not subject to reduction as the value of a Portfolio's assets increases.

     Distributor. The Distributor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Manager, located at 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10166, serves as each Portfolio's distributor on a best efforts basis pursuant to an agreement with the Fund which is renewable annually.

     The Manager or the Distributor may provide cash payments out of its own resources to Participating Insurance Companies and other financial intermediaries that sell shares of the Portfolios or provide other services. Such payments are separate from any 12b-1 fees and/or shareholder services fees or other expenses paid by the Portfolios to those Participating Insurance Companies and other financial intermediaries. Because those payments are not made by the policyowners or the Portfolios, a Portfolio's total expense ratio will not be affected by any such payments. These additional payments may be made to Participating Insurance Companies and other financial intermediaries, including affiliates, that provide shareholder servicing, sub-administration, recordkeeping and/or sub-transfer agency services, marketing support and/or access to sales meetings, sales representatives and management representatives of the Participating Insurance Companies. Cash compensation also may be paid from the Manager's or the Distributor's own resources to Participating Insurance Companies for inclusion of a Portfolio on a sales list, including a preferred or select sales list or in other sales programs. These payments sometimes are referred to as "revenue sharing." In some cases, these payments may create an incentive for the Participating Insurance Company to recommend or sell shares of the Portfolio to you. Please contact your Participating Insurance Company for details about any


payments it may receive in connection with the sale of Fund shares or the provision of services to the Portfolios.

     From time to time, the Manager or the Distributor also may provide cash or non-cash compensation to Participating Insurance Companies in the form of: occasional gifts; occasional meals, tickets, or other entertainment; support for recognition programs; and other forms of cash or non-cash compensation permissible under broker-dealer regulations, as periodically amended.

     Transfer and Dividend Disbursing Agent and Custodian. Dreyfus Transfer, Inc. (the "Transfer Agent"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Manager, 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10166, is the Fund's transfer and dividend disbursing agent. Under a transfer agency agreement with the Fund, the Transfer Agent arranges for the maintenance of shareholder account records for each Portfolio, the handling of certain communications between shareholders and the Fund and the payment of dividends and distributions payable by the Fund. For these services, the Transfer Agent receives a monthly fee computed on the basis of the number of shareholder accounts it maintains for the Fund during the month, and is reimbursed for certain out-of-pocket expenses.

     Mellon Bank, N.A., an affiliate of the Manager, One Mellon Bank Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15258, acts as custodian with respect to each Portfolio. Under a custody agreement with the Fund, Mellon Bank, N.A. holds each Portfolio's securities and keeps all necessary accounts and records. For its custody services, Mellon Bank, N.A. receives a monthly fee based on the market value of each Portfolio's assets held in custody and receives certain securities transaction charges. Mellon Bank, N.A. has no part in determining the investment policies of the Portfolios or which securities are to be purchased or sold by the Portfolios.

HOW TO BUY SHARES

     Each Portfolio, except the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio, offers two classes of shares—Initial shares and Service shares. The Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio offers only Service shares. The classes are identical, except as to the expenses borne by each class which may affect performance. See "Distribution Plan (Service Shares Only)." Portfolio shares currently are offered only to separate accounts of Participating Insurance Companies. Individuals may not place purchase orders directly with the Fund.

     The Fund will not establish an account for a "foreign financial institution," as that term is defined in Department of the Treasury rules implementing section 312 of the USA PATRIOT act of 2001. Foreign financial institutions include: foreign banks (including foreign branches of U.S. depository institutions); foreign offices of U.S. Securities broker-dealers, futures commission merchants, and mutual funds; non-U.S. entities that, if they were located in the United States, would be securities broker-dealers, futures commission merchants or mutual funds; and non-U.S. entities engaged in the business of a currency dealer or exchanger or a money transmitter.

     As discussed under "Management Arrangements – Distributor," Participating Insurance Companies and other financial intermediaries may receive revenue sharing payments from the Manager or the Distributor. The receipt of such payments could create an incentive for a Participating Insurance Company to recommend or sell shares of a Portfolio instead of other mutual funds where such payments are not received. Please contact your Participating Insurance


Company for details about any payments it may receive in connection with the sale of Portfolio shares or the provision of services to the Portfolios.

     Separate accounts of the Participating Insurance Companies place orders based on, among other things, the amount of premium payments to be invested pursuant to Policies. See the prospectus of the separate account of the applicable Participating Insurance Company for more information on the purchase of Portfolio shares and with respect to the availability for investment in specific classes of the Portfolios and in specific Portfolios of the Fund. The Fund does not issue share certificates.

     Purchase orders from separate accounts based on premiums and transaction requests received by the Participating Insurance Company on a given business day in accordance with procedures established by the Participating Insurance Company will be effected at the net asset value of the applicable Portfolio determined on such business day if the orders are received by the Fund in proper form and in accordance with applicable requirements on the next business day and Federal Funds (monies of member banks within the Federal Reserve System which are held on deposit at a Federal Reserve Bank) in the net amount of such orders are received by the Fund on the next business day in accordance with applicable requirements. It is each Participating Insurance Company's responsibility to properly transmit purchase orders and Federal Funds in accordance with applicable requirements. Policyowners should refer to the prospectus for their Policies in this regard.

     Portfolio shares are sold on a continuous basis. Net asset value per share is determined as of the close of trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") (usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern time), on each day that the NYSE is open for regular business. For purposes of determining net asset value, certain options and futures may be valued 15 minutes after the close of trading on the floor of the NYSE. Net asset value per share of each class of shares is computed by dividing the value of a Portfolio's net assets represented by such class (i.e., the value of its assets less liabilities) by the total number of shares of such class outstanding. For information regarding methods employed in valuing each Portfolio's investments, see "Determination of Net Asset Value."

DISTRIBUTION PLAN 
(SERVICE SHARES ONLY) 

     Rule 12b-1 (the "Rule") adopted by the SEC under the 1940 Act provides, among other things, that an investment company may bear expenses of distributing its shares only pursuant to a plan adopted in accordance with the Rule. The Fund's Board has adopted such a plan (the "Distribution Plan") with respect to each Portfolio's Service shares pursuant to which the Portfolio pays the Distributor at an annual rate of 0.25% of the value of the average daily net assets of the Portfolio's Service shares for distributing Service shares, for advertising and marketing related to Service shares and for servicing and/or maintaining accounts of Service class shareholders. Under the Distribution Plan, the Distributor may make payments to Participating Insurance Companies and the principal underwriters for their Policies in respect of these services. The fees payable under the Distribution Plan are payable without regard to actual expenses incurred. The Board believes that there is a reasonable likelihood that the Fund's Distribution Plan will benefit each Portfolio and the holders of its Service shares.

     A quarterly report of the amounts expended under the Distribution Plan, and the purposes for which such expenditures were incurred, must be made to the Fund's Board for its review.


The Distribution Plan provides that it may not be amended to increase materially the costs which holders of Service shares may bear without the approval of the holders of Service shares and that other material amendments of the Distribution Plan must be approved by the Board, and by the Board members who are not "interested persons" (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Distribution Plan or in any agreements entered into in connection with the Distribution Plan, by vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of considering such amendments. The Distribution Plan is subject to annual approval by such vote of the Board members cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on the Distribution Plan. As to each Portfolio, the Distribution Plan may be terminated at any time by vote of a majority of the Board members who are not "interested persons" and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Distribution Plan or in any agreements entered into in connection with the Distribution Plan or by vote of the holders of a majority of such Portfolio's Service shares.

     Set forth below are the amounts paid pursuant to the Plan by each indicated Portfolio, with respect to its Service shares, to the Distributor for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006:

        Payable        Reduction        Net Fee 
Name of Portfolio    To Distributor        In Fee        Paid 
Core Value Portfolio    $    98,359    $    48,539    $    49,820 
MidCap Stock Portfolio    $    220,365    $124,496    $    95,869 
Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio    $1,133,381    $    -0-    $1,133,981 
Technology Growth Portfolio    $    161,874    $    -0-    $    161,874 

HOW TO REDEEM SHARES

     Portfolio shares may be redeemed at any time by the separate accounts of the Participating Insurance Companies. Individuals may not place redemption orders directly with the Fund.

     Redemption requests received by the Participating Insurance Company from separate accounts on a given business day in accordance with procedures established by the Participating Insurance Company will be effected at the net asset value of the applicable Portfolio determined on such business day if the requests are received by the Fund in proper form and in accordance with applicable requirements on the next business day. It is each Participating Insurance Company's responsibility to properly transmit redemption requests in accordance with applicable requirements. Policyowners should consult their Policy prospectus in this regard. The value of the shares redeemed may be more or less than their original cost, depending on the Portfolio's then-current net asset value. No charges are imposed by the Fund when shares are redeemed.

     The Fund ordinarily will make payment for all shares redeemed within seven days after receipt by the Transfer Agent of a redemption request in proper form, except as provided by the rules of the SEC.

     Should any conflict between Policyowners arise which would require that a substantial amount of net assets be withdrawn, orderly portfolio management could be disrupted to the potential detriment the of Policyowners.


     Redemption Commitment. The Fund has committed to pay in cash all redemption requests by any shareholder of record of a Portfolio, limited in amount during any 90-day period to the lesser of $250,000 or 1% of the value of such Portfolio's net assets at the beginning of such period. Such commitment is irrevocable without the prior approval of the SEC. In the case of requests for redemption in excess of such amount, the Fund's Board reserves the right to make payments in whole or in part in securities or other assets of the Portfolio in case of an emergency or any time a cash distribution would impair the liquidity of the Portfolio to the detriment of the existing shareholders. In such event, the securities would be valued in the same manner as the Portfolio's investments are valued. If the recipient sells such securities, brokerage charges would be incurred.

     Suspension of Redemptions. The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed (a) during any period when the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings), (b) when trading in the markets the Fund ordinarily utilizes is restricted, or when an emergency exists as determined by the SEC so that disposal of the Fund's investments or determination of its net asset value is not reasonably practicable, or (c) for such other periods as the SEC by order may permit to protect the Fund's shareholders.

EXCHANGE PRIVILEGE

     Investors can exchange shares of a Portfolio for shares of the same class of any other portfolio or fund managed by the Manager that is offered only to separate accounts established by Participating Insurance Companies to fund Policies, or for shares of any such money market portfolio, subject to the terms and conditions relating to exchanges set forth in the applicable Policy prospectus. Policyowners should refer to the applicable Policy prospectus for more information on exchanging Portfolio shares. The Fund reserves the right to modify or discontinue its exchange program at any time upon 60 days' notice to the Participating Insurance Companies.

DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

     Valuation of Portfolio Securities. Each Portfolio's investments are valued on the basis of market quotation or official closing prices. Each Portfolio's investment securities, including covered call options written by the Portfolio, are valued at the last sale price on the securities exchange or national securities market on which such securities are primarily traded. Securities listed on the Nasdaq National Market System for which market quotations are available are valued at the official closing price or, if there is no official closing price on that day, at the last sale price. Securities not listed on an exchange or national securities market, or securities in which there were no transactions, are valued at the average of the most recent bid and asked prices, except that open short positions are valued at the asked price. Bid price is used when no asked price is available. Market quotations for foreign securities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at the prevailing rates of exchange. Because of the need to obtain prices as of the close of trading on various exchanges throughout the world, the calculation of net asset value may not take place contemporaneously with the determination of prices of certain of the foreign investment securities held by a Portfolio. Certain short-term investments may be carried at amortized cost, which approximates value. Expenses and fees, including the management fee (reduced by any fee waiver or expense reimbursement arrangement), and fees pursuant to the Distribution Plan, with respect to each Portfolio's Service


shares, are accrued daily and taken into account for the purpose of determining the net asset value of the relevant Portfolio's shares.

     Restricted securities, as well as securities or other assets for which recent market quotations or official closing prices are not readily available, are not valued by a independent pricing service approved by the Board, or are determined by the Fund not to reflect accurately fair value (such as when the value of a security has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded (for example, a foreign exchange or market) but before the Fund calculates a Portfolio's NAV), are valued at fair value as determined in good faith based on procedures approved by the Board. Fair value of investments may be determined by the Fund's Board, its pricing committee or its valuation committee in good faith using such information as it deems appropriate. The factors that may be considered when fair valuing a security include fundamental analytical data, the nature and duration of restrictions on disposition, an evaluation of the forces that influence the market in which the securities are purchased or sold, and public trading in similar securities of the issuer or comparable issuers. Fair value of foreign equity securities may be determined with the assistance of a pricing service using correlations between the movement of prices of foreign securities and indices of domestic securities and other appropriate indicators, such as closing market prices of relevant ADRs and futures contracts. The valuation of a security based on a fair value procedures may differ from the security's most recent closing price, and from the prices used by other mutual funds to calculate their net asset values. Foreign securities held by a Portfolio may trade on days that the Portfolio is not open for business, thus affecting the value of the Portfolio's assets on days when Portfolio investors have no access to the Portfolio. Restricted securities which are, or are convertible into, other securities of the same class of securities for which a public market exists usually will be valued at market value less the same percentage discount at which such restricted securities were purchased. This discount will be revised by the Board, if the Board members believe that it no longer reflects the value of the restricted securities. Restricted securities not of the same class as securities for which a public market exists usually will be valued initially at cost. Any subsequent adjustment from cost will be based upon considerations deemed relevant by the Fund's Board.

     NYSE Closings. The holidays (as observed) on which the NYSE is closed currently are: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES

     Management believes that each Portfolio has qualified for treatment as a regulated investment company under the Code for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006. Each Portfolio intends to continue to so qualify, if such qualification is in the best interest of its shareholders. As a regulated investment company, each Portfolio will pay no Federal income tax on net investment income and net realized securities gains to the extent that such income and gains are distributed to shareholders in accordance with applicable provisions of the Code. To qualify as a regulated investment company, the Portfolio must pay out at least 90% of the Portfolio's net income (consisting of net investment income and net short-term capital gain) to its shareholders. The term "regulated investment company" does not imply the supervision of management or investment practices or policies by any government agency.

     Each Portfolio intends to comply with the diversification requirements imposed by section 817(h) of the Code and the regulations thereunder. These requirements place certain


limitations on the proportion of each Portfolio's assets that may be represented by any single investment (which includes all securities of the same issuer). For purposes of section 817(h), all securities of the same issuer, all interests in the same real property project, and all interest in the same commodity are treated as a single investment. In addition, each U.S. Government agency or instrumentality is treated as a separate issuer, while the securities of a particular foreign government and its agencies, instrumentalities and political subdivisions all will be considered securities issued by the same issuer.

     Generally, a regulated investment company must distribute substantially all of its ordinary income and capital gains in accordance with a calendar year distribution requirement in order to avoid a nondeductible 4% excise tax. However, the excise tax does not apply to a fund whose only shareholders are certain tax exempt trusts or segregated asset accounts of life insurance companies held in connection with variable contracts. In order to avoid this excise tax, each Portfolio intends to qualify for this exemption or to make its distributions in accordance with the calendar year.

     In order to maintain its qualifications as a regulated investment company, a Portfolio's ability to invest in certain types of financial instruments (for example, securities issued or acquired at a discount) may be restricted and a Portfolio may be required to maintain or dispose of its investments in certain types of financial instruments beyond the time when it might otherwise be advantageous to do so.

Investment by a Portfolio in securities issued at a discount or providing for deferred interest or for payment of interest in the form of additional obligations could, under special tax rules, affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders by causing a Portfolio to recognize income prior to the receipt of cash payments. For example, the Portfolio could be required to recognize annually a portion of the discount (or deemed discount) at which such securities were issued and to distribute an amount equal to such income in order to maintain its qualification as a regulated investment company. In such case, the Portfolio may have to dispose of securities which it might otherwise have continued to hold in order to generate cash to satisfy these distribution requirements.

     If a Portfolio fails to qualify as a regulated investment company, the Portfolio will be subject to Federal, and possibly state, corporate taxes on its taxable income and gains, distributions to its shareholders will be taxed as ordinary dividend income to the extent of such Portfolio's available earnings and profits, and Policy holders could lose the benefit of tax deferral on distributions made to the separate accounts of Participating Insurance Companies. Similarly, if a Portfolio failed to comply with the diversification requirements of section 817(h) of the Code and the regulations thereunder, Policy holders could be subject to current tax on distributions made to the separate accounts of Participating Insurance Companies.

     Portfolios investing in foreign securities or currencies may be required to pay withholding, income or other taxes to foreign governments or U.S. possessions. Foreign tax withholding from dividends and interest, if any, is generally at a rate between 10% and 35%. The investment yield of any Portfolio that invests in foreign securities or currencies is reduced by these foreign taxes. Policyowners investing in such Portfolios bear the cost of any foreign taxes but will not be able to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction for these foreign taxes. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate these foreign taxes, however, and foreign countries generally do not impose taxes on capital gains in respect of investments by foreign investors.


     Certain Portfolios may invest in an entity that is classified as a "passive foreign investment company" ("PFIC"). For Federal income tax purposes, the operation of certain provisions of the Code applying to PFICs could result in the imposition of certain Federal income taxes on the Portfolios. In addition, gain realized from the sale or other disposition of PFIC securities may be treated as ordinary income.

     The foregoing is only a general summary of some of the important Federal income tax considerations generally affecting the Portfolios and their shareholders. No attempt is made to present a complete explanation of the Federal tax treatment of the Portfolios' activities or to discuss state and local tax matters affecting the Portfolios. Policyowners are urged to consult their own tax advisers for more detailed information concerning tax implications of investments in the Portfolios. For more information concerning the Federal income tax consequences, Policyowners should refer to the prospectus for their Policies.

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS

     General. The Manager assumes general supervision over the placement of securities purchase and sale orders on behalf of the funds it manages. Funds managed by dual employees of the Manager and an affiliated entity, and funds that employ a sub-investment adviser, execute portfolio transactions through the trading desk of the affiliated entity or sub-investment adviser, as applicable (the "Trading Desk"). Those funds use the research facilities, and are subject to the internal policies and procedures, of applicable affiliated entity or sub-investment adviser.

     The Trading Desk generally has the authority to select brokers (for equity securities) or dealers (for fixed income securities) and the commission rates or spreads to be paid. Allocation of brokerage transactions is made in the best judgment of the Trading Desk and in a manner deemed fair and reasonable. In choosing brokers or dealers, the Trading Desk evaluates the ability of the broker or dealer to execute the transaction at the best combination of price and quality of execution.

     In general, brokers or dealers involved in the execution of portfolio transactions on behalf of a fund are selected on the basis of their professional capability and the value and quality of their services. The Trading Desk attempts to obtain best execution for the funds by choosing brokers or dealers to execute transactions based on a variety of factors, which may include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) price; (ii) liquidity; (iii) the nature and character of the relevant market for the security to be purchased or sold; (iv) the quality and efficiency of the broker's or dealer's execution; (v) the broker's or dealer's willingness to commit capital; (vi) the reliability of the broker or dealer in trade settlement and clearance; (vii) the level of counter-party risk (i.e., the broker's or dealer's financial condition); (viii) the commission rate or the spread; (ix) the value of research provided; (x) the availability of electronic trade entry and reporting links; and (xi) the size and type of order (e.g., foreign or domestic security, large block, illiquid security). In selecting brokers or dealers no factor is necessarily determinative; however, at various times and for various reasons, certain factors will be more important than others in determining which broker or dealer to use. Seeking to obtain best execution for all trades takes precedence over all other considerations.

     Investment decisions for one fund or account are made independently from those for other funds or accounts managed by the portfolio managers. Under the Trading Desk's procedures, portfolio managers and their corresponding Trading Desks may seek to aggregate (or


"bunch") orders that are placed or received concurrently for more than one fund or account. In some cases, this policy may adversely affect the price paid or received by a fund or an account, or the size of the position obtained or liquidated. As noted above, certain brokers or dealers may be selected because of their ability to handle special executions such as those involving large block trades or broad distributions, provided that the primary consideration of best execution is met. Generally, when trades are aggregated, each fund or account within the block will receive the same price and commission. However, random allocations of aggregate transactions may be made to minimize custodial transaction costs. In addition, at the close of the trading day, when reasonable and practicable, the completed securities of partially filled orders will generally be allocated to each participating fund and account in the proportion that each order bears to the total of all orders (subject to rounding to "round lot" amounts and other relevant factors).

     Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year as well as within a year. In periods in which extraordinary market conditions prevail, the portfolio managers will not be deterred from changing a Fund's investment strategy as rapidly as needed, in which case higher turnover rates can be anticipated which would result in greater brokerage expenses. The overall reasonableness of brokerage commissions paid is evaluated by the Trading Desk based upon its knowledge of available information as to the general level of commissions paid by other institutional investors for comparable services. Higher portfolio turnover rates usually generate additional brokerage commissions and transaction costs, and any short-term gains realized from these transactions are taxable to shareholders as ordinary income.

     To the extent that a fund invests in foreign securities, certain of such fund's transactions in those securities may not benefit from the negotiated commission rates available to funds for transactions in securities of domestic issuers. For funds that permit foreign exchange transactions, such transactions are made with banks or institutions in the interbank market at prices reflecting a mark-up or mark-down and/or commission.

     The portfolio managers may deem it appropriate for one fund or account they manage to sell a security while another fund or account they manage is purchasing the same security. Under such circumstances, the portfolio managers may arrange to have the purchase and sale transactions effected directly between the funds and/or accounts ("cross transactions"). Cross transactions will be effected in accordance with procedures adopted pursuant to Rule 17a-7 under the 1940 Act.

     Funds and accounts managed by the Manager, an affiliated entity or a sub-investment adviser may own significant positions in portfolio companies which, depending on market conditions, may affect adversely the ability to dispose of some or all of such positions.

     For the fiscal periods ended December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006 amounts paid by the indicated Portfolios for brokerage commissions, gross spreads and concessions on principal transactions none of which was paid directly to the Manager or Sub-Adviser or the Distributor, were as follows:

        Brokerage Commissions Paid 
    2004    2005    2006 
Core Value Portfolio    $175,670    $104,789    $    67,099 
MidCap Stock Portfolio    $918,750    $922,827    $1,258,050 
Technology Growth Portfolio    $294,014    $190,017    $    266,589 
Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio    $155,433    $105,053    $    79,238 


            Concessions on Principal Transactions 
    2004    2005    2006 
Core Value Portfolio    $34,536    $31,870    $37,236 
MidCap Stock Portfolio    $    -0-    $ -0-    $ -0- 
Technology Growth Portfolio    $    -0-    $19,244    $13,335 
Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio    $    -0-    $ -0-    $ -0- 

     With respect to the following Portfolios, the reasons for the difference between the aggregate dollar amount of brokerage commissions paid in the most recent fiscal year and the aggregate amount of brokerage commissions paid in either or both of the prior fiscal years by the Portfolios indicated below is as follows:

Core Value Portfolio: the difference between such amounts paid in 2004 and such amounts paid in 2006 primarily was due to decreased trading activity in 2006. The Portfolio's turnover rate decreased to 44% in 2006 from 76% in 2004.

MidCap Stock Portfolio: the difference between such amounts paid in 2006 and such amounts paid in 2004 and 2005 primarily was due to increased trading activity in 2006. The Portfolio's turnover rate increased to 149% in 2006 from 79% in 2004 and 99% in 2005.

Technology Growth Portfolio: the difference between such amounts paid in 2004 and such amounts paid in 2005 primarily was due to decreased trading activity in 2005. The Portfolio's turnover rate decreased to 49% in 2005 from 62% in 2004. The difference between such amounts paid in 2006 and such amounts paid in 2005 primarily was due to increased trading activity in 2006. The Portfolio's turnover rate increased to 66% in 2006 from 49% in 2005.

Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio: the difference between such amounts paid in 2006 and such amounts paid in 2004 and 2005 primarily was due to an increase in assets from $355 million and $421 million in 2004 and 2005, respectively, to $465 million in 2006.

     The Fund contemplates that, consistent with the policy of seeking best price and execution, brokerage transactions may be conducted through affiliates of the Manager. The Board has adopted procedures in conformity with Rule 17e-1 under the 1940 Act to ensure that all brokerage commissions paid to affiliates of the Manager are reasonable and fair. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006, none of the Portfolios of the Fund paid any brokerage commissions to affiliates of the Manager.

     IPO Allocations. Certain funds advised by the Manager (and where applicable, a sub-adviser or Dreyfus affiliate) may participate in IPOs. In deciding whether to purchase an IPO, the Manager (and where applicable, a sub-adviser or Dreyfus affiliate) generally considers the capitalization characteristics of the security, as well as other characteristics of the security, and targets funds and accounts with investment objectives and strategies consistent with such a purchase. Generally, as more IPOs are for small- and mid-cap companies, the funds and accounts with a small- and mid-cap focus may participate in more IPOs than funds and accounts with a large-cap focus. Within each product group and capitalization category, the Manager (and where applicable, a sub-adviser or Dreyfus affiliate), when consistent with client guidelines, generally will allocate shares of an IPO on a pro rata basis. In the case of "hot" IPOs, where the Manager (and if applicable, a sub-adviser or Dreyfus affiliate) only receives a partial allocation


of the total amount requested, those shares will be distributed fairly and equitably across participating product groups. "Hot" IPOs raise special allocation concerns because opportunities to invest in such issues are limited as they are often oversubscribed. The distribution of the partial allocation across product groups will be based on the percentage of total assets under management of the product to the total assets under management of all product groups participating. Within each product, shares will be allocated on a pro rata basis to all appropriate funds and accounts, subject to a minimum allocation determined by each product group based on trading, custody, and other associated costs. International hot IPOs may not be allocated on a pro rata basis due transaction costs, market liquidity and other factors unique to international markets.

     Soft Dollars. The term "soft dollars" is commonly understood to refer to arrangements where an investment adviser uses client (or fund) brokerage commissions to pay for research and other services to be used by the investment adviser. Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 provides a "safe harbor" that permits investment advisers to enter into soft dollar arrangements if the investment adviser determines in good faith that the amount of the commission is reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided. Eligible products and services under Section 28(e) include those that provide lawful and appropriate assistance to the investment adviser in the performance of its investment decision-making responsibilities.

     Subject to the policy of seeking best execution, Dreyfus-managed funds may execute transactions with brokerage firms that provide research services and products, as defined in Section 28(e). Any and all research products and services received in connection with brokerage commissions will be used to assist the applicable affiliated entity or sub-investment adviser in its investment decision-making responsibilities, as contemplated under Section 28(e). Under certain conditions, higher brokerage commissions may be paid in connection with certain transactions in return for research products and services.

     The products and services provided under these arrangements permit the Trading Desk to supplement its own research and analysis activities, and provide it with information from individuals and research staffs of many securities firms. Such services and products may include, but are not limited to the following: fundamental research reports (which may discuss, among other things, the value of securities, or the advisability of investing in, purchasing or selling securities, or the availability of securities or the purchasers or sellers of securities, or issuers, industries, economic factors and trends, portfolio strategy and performance); current market data and news; technical and portfolio analyses; economic forecasting and interest rate projections; and historical information on securities and companies. The Trading Desk also may defray the costs of certain services and communication systems that facilitate trade execution (such as online quotation systems, direct data feeds from stock exchanges and on-line trading systems with brokerage commissions generated by client transactions) or functions related thereto (such as clearance and settlement). Some of the research products or services received by the Trading Desk may have both a research function and a non-research administrative function (a "mixed use"). If the Trading Desk determines that any research product or service has a mixed use, the Trading Desk will allocate in good faith the cost of such service or product accordingly. The portion of the product or service that the Trading Desk determines will assist it in the investment decision-making process may be paid for in soft dollars. The non-research portion is paid for by the Trading Desk in hard dollars.


     The Trading Desk generally considers the amount and nature of research, execution and other services provided by brokerage firms, as well as the extent to which such services are relied on, and attempts to allocate a portion of the brokerage business of its clients on the basis of that consideration. Neither the services nor the amount of brokerage given to a particular brokerage firm are made pursuant to any agreement or commitment with any of the selected firms that would bind the Trading Desk to compensate the selected brokerage firm for research provided. The Trading Desk endeavors, but is not legally obligated, to direct sufficient commissions to broker/dealers that have provided it with research and other services to ensure continued receipt of research the Trading Desk believes is useful. Actual commissions received by a brokerage firm may be more or less than the suggested allocations.

     There may be no correlation between the amount of brokerage commissions generated by a particular fund or client and the indirect benefits received by that fund or client. The affiliated entity or sub-investment adviser may receive a benefit from the research services and products that is not passed on to a fund in the form of a direct monetary benefit. Further, research services and products may be useful to the affiliated entity or sub-investment adviser in providing investment advice to any of the funds or clients it advises. Likewise, information made available to the affiliated entity or sub-investment adviser from brokerage firms effecting securities transactions for a fund may be utilized on behalf of another fund or client. Information so received is in addition to, and not in lieu of, services required to be performed by the affiliated entity or sub-investment adviser and fees are not reduced as a consequence of the receipt of such supplemental information. Although the receipt of such research services does not reduce the normal independent research activities of the affiliated entity or sub-investment adviser, it enables them to avoid the additional expenses that might otherwise be incurred if it were to attempt to develop comparable information through its own staff.

     The aggregate amount of transactions during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006 in securities effected on an agency basis through a broker for, among other things, research services, and the commissions and concessions related to such transactions were as follows:

Name of Portfolio    Transaction    Commissions and Concessions 
Amount
Core Value Portfolio    $ 3,484,039    $    3,994 
MidCap Stock Portfolio    $183,894,345    $179,346 
Technology Growth Portfolio    $ 31,994,920    $    47,636 
Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio    $ -0-    $    -0- 

     Regular Broker-Dealers. A Portfolio may acquire securities issued by one or more of its "regular brokers or dealers," as defined in Rule 10b-1 under the 1940 Act. Rule 10b-1 provides that a "regular broker or dealer" is one of the ten brokers or dealers that, during the Portfolio's most recent fiscal year (i) received the greatest dollar amount of brokerage commissions from participating, either directly or indirectly, in the Portfolio's portfolio transactions, (ii) engaged as principal in the largest dollar amount of the Portfolio's transactions or (iii) sold the largest dollar amount of the Portfolio's securities. The following is a list of each Portfolio that acquired securities of its regular brokers or dealers for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006 the issuer of the securities and the aggregate value per issuer, as of December 31, 2006 of such securities:


Portfolio    Name of Regular Broker Dealer    Aggregate Value Per Issuer 



Core Value Portfolio    Banc of America Securities, LLC    $2,604,000 
    J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.    $2,096,000 
    Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.    $1,536,000 
    Wachovia Securities, Inc.    $ 957,000 

     Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings. It is the policy of each Portfolio to protect the confidentiality of its portfolio holdings and prevent the selective disclosure of non-public information about such holdings. Each Portfolio will publicly disclose its holdings in accordance with regulatory requirements, such as periodic portfolio disclosure in filings with the SEC. Each Portfolio will publicly disclose its complete schedule of portfolio holdings, as reported on a month-end basis at http://www.dreyfus.com. The information will be posted with a one-month lag and will remain accessible until the Fund files a report on Form N-Q or Form N-CSR for the period that includes the date as of which the information was current. In addition, fifteen days following the end of each calendar quarter, each Portfolio will publicly disclose on the website its complete schedule of portfolio holdings as of the end of the such quarter.

     If portfolio holdings are released pursuant to an ongoing arrangement with any party, the Fund must have a legitimate business purpose for doing so, and neither the Fund, nor the Manager or its affiliates, may receive any compensation in connection with an arrangement to make available information about any Portfolio's portfolio holdings. The Fund may distribute portfolio holdings to mutual fund evaluation services such as S&P's, Morningstar or Lipper Analytical Services; due diligence departments of broker-dealers and wirehouses that regularly analyze the portfolio holdings of mutual funds before their public disclosure; and broker-dealers that may be used by the Portfolio, for the purpose of efficient trading and receipt of relevant research, provided that: (a) the recipient does not distribute the portfolio holdings to persons who are likely to use the information for purposes of purchasing or selling Portfolio shares or portfolio holdings of a Portfolio before the portfolio holdings become public information; and (b) the recipient signs a written confidentiality agreement.

     A Portfolio may also disclose any and all portfolio information to its service providers and others who generally need access to such information in the performance of their contractual duties and responsibilities and are subject to duties of confidentiality, including a duty not to trade on non-public information, imposed by law and/or contract. These services providers include the Fund's custodian, auditors, investment advisers, administrator, and each of their respective affiliates and advisers.

Disclosure of the portfolio holdings of a Portfolio may be authorized only by the Fund's Chief Compliance Officer, and any exceptions to this policy are reported quarterly to the Fund's Board.

SUMMARY OF THE PROXY VOTING POLICY, PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES OF THE DREYFUS FAMILY OF FUNDS

The Board of each fund in the Dreyfus Family of Funds has delegated to the Manager the authority to vote proxies of companies held in the fund's portfolio. The Manager, through its participation on the Mellon Proxy Policy Committee (the "MPPC"), applies Mellon's Proxy Voting Policy, related procedures, and voting guidelines when voting proxies on behalf of the funds.


     The Manager recognizes thatan investment adviser is a fiduc iary that owes its clients, including funds it manages, a duty of utmost good faith and full and fair disclosure of all material facts. An investment adviser's duty of loyalty requires an adviser to vote proxies in a manner consistent with the best interest of its clients and precludes the adviser from subrogating the clients' interests to its own. In addition, an investment adviser voting proxies on behalf of a fund must do so in a manner consistent with the best interests of the fund and its shareholders.

     The Manager seeks to avoid material conflicts of interest by participating in the MPPC, which applies detailed, pre-determined written proxy voting guidelines (the "Voting Guidelines") in an objective and consistent manner across client accounts, based on internal and external research and recommendations provided by a third party vendor, and without consideration of any client relationship factors. Further, the MPPC engages a third party as an independent fiduciary to vote all proxies of funds managed by Mellon or its affiliates (including the Dreyfus Family of Funds), and may engage an independent fiduciary to vote proxies of other issuers at its discretion.

     All proxies received by the funds are reviewed, categorized, analyzed and voted in accordance with the Voting Guidelines. The guidelines are reviewed periodically and updated as necessary to reflect new issues and any changes in Mellon's or the Manager's policies on specific issues. Items that can be categorized under the Voting Guidelines are voted in accordance with any applicable guidelines or referred to the MPPC, if the applicable guidelines so require. Proposals that cannot be categorized under the Voting Guidelines are referred to the MPPC for discussion and vote. Additionally, the MPPC reviews proposals where it has identified a particular company, industry or issue for special scrutiny. With regard to voting proxies of foreign companies, the MPPC weighs the cost of voting and potential inability to sell the securities (which may occur during the voting process) against the benefit of voting the proxies to determine whether or not to vote. With respect to securities lending transactions, the MPPC seeks to balance the economic benefits of continuing to participate in an open securities lending transaction against the inability to vote proxies.

     When evaluating proposals, the MPPC recognizes that the management of a publicly-held company may need protection from the market's frequent focus on short-term considerations, so as to be able to concentrate on such long-term goals as productivity and development of competitive products and services. In addition, the MPPC generally supports proposals designed to provide management with short-term insulation from outside influences so as to enable them to bargain effectively with potential suitors to the extent such proposals are discrete and not bundled with other proposals. The MPPC believes that a shareholder's role in the governance of a publicly-held company is generally limited to monitoring the performance of the company and its management and voting on matters which properly come to a shareholder vote. However, the MPPC generally opposes proposals designed to insulate an issuer's management unnecessarily from the wishes of a majority of shareholders. Accordingly, the MPPC generally votes in accordance with management on issues that the MPPC believes neither unduly limit the rights and privileges of shareholders nor adversely affect the value of the investment.

     On questions of social responsibility where economic performance does not appear to be an issue, the MPPC attempts to ensure that management reasonably responds to the social issues. Responsiveness will be measured by management's efforts to address the particular social issue including, where appropriate, assessment of the implications of the proposal to the ongoing operations of the company. The MPPC will pay particular attention to repeat issues where management has failed in its commitment in the intervening period to take actions on issues.


     In evaluating proposals regarding incentive plans and restricted stock plans, the MPPC typically employs a shareholder value transfer model. This model seeks to assess the amount of shareholder equity flowing out of the company to executives as options are exercised. After determining the cost of the plan, the MPPC evaluates whether the cost is reasonable based on a number of factors, including industry classification and historical performance information. The MPPC generally votes against proposals that permit or are silent on the repricing or replacement of stock options without shareholder approval.

     Information regarding how the Fund voted proxies for each Portfolio is available at "http://www.dreyfus.com/" and on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.govon each Portfolio's Form N-PX filed with the SEC.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND AND PORTFOLIOS

     Each Portfolio's shares are classified into two classes with the exception of Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio, which has one class. Each Portfolio share has one vote and shareholders will vote in the aggregate and not by class, except as otherwise required by law or with respect to any matter which affects only one class. Each Portfolio share, when issued and paid for in accordance with the terms of the offering, is fully paid and non-assessable. Portfolio shares have equal rights as to dividends and in liquidation. Shares have no preemptive, subscription or conversion rights and are freely transferable.

     Under Massachusetts law, shareholders, under certain circumstances, could be held personally liable for the obligations of the Fund. However, the Fund's Agreement and Declaration of Trust (the "Trust Agreement") disclaims shareholder liability for acts or obligations of the Fund and requires that notice of such disclaimer be given in each agreement, obligation or instrument entered into or executed by the Fund or a Trustee. The Trust Agreement provides for indemnification from the Fund's property for all losses and expenses of any shareholder held personally liable for the obligations of the Fund. Thus, the risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of shareholder liability is limited to circumstances in which the Fund itself would be unable to meet its obligations, a possibility which management believes is remote. Upon payment of any liability incurred by the Fund, the shareholder paying such liability will be entitled to reimbursement from the general assets of the Fund. The Fund intends to conduct its operations in such a way so as to avoid, as far as possible, ultimate liability of the shareholders for liabilities of the Fund.

     Unless otherwise required by the 1940 Act, ordinarily it will not be necessary for the Fund to hold annual meetings of shareholders. As a result, shareholders may not consider each year the election of Board members or the appointment of auditors. However, the holders of at least 10% of the shares outstanding and entitled to vote may require the Fund to hold a special meeting of shareholders for purposes of removing a Board member from office. Shareholders may remove a Board member by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Fund's outstanding voting shares. In addition, the Board will call a meeting of shareholders for the purpose of electing Board members if, at any time, less than a majority of the Board members then holding office have been elected by shareholders.

     The Fund is a "series fund," which is a mutual fund divided into separate portfolios, each of which is treated as a separate entity for certain matters under the 1940 Act and for other purposes. A shareholder of one portfolio is not deemed to be a shareholder of any other


portfolio. For certain matters shareholders vote together as a group; as to others they vote separately by portfolio.

     To date, the Board has authorized the creation of 4 Portfolios of shares. All consideration received by the Fund for shares of one of the Portfolios, and all assets in which such consideration is invested, will belong to that Portfolio (subject only to the rights of creditors of the Fund) and will be subject to the liabilities related thereto. The income attributable to, and the expenses of, one Portfolio would be treated separately from those of the other Portfolios. The Fund has the ability to create, from time to time, new series without shareholder approval.

     Rule 18f-2 under the 1940 Act provides that any matter required to be submitted under the provisions of the 1940 Act or applicable state law or otherwise to the holders of the outstanding voting securities of an investment company, such as the Fund, will not be deemed to have been effectively acted upon unless approved by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of each portfolio affected by such matter. Rule 18f-2 further provides that a portfolio shall be deemed to be affected by a matter unless it is clear that the interests of each portfolio in the matter are identical or that the matter does not affect any interest of such portfolio. The Rule exempts the selection of independent accountants and the election of Board members from the separate voting requirements of the rule.

     Each Portfolio will send annual and semi-annual financial statements to all its shareholders.

     The Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ("S&P"). S&P makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the Portfolio or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Portfolio particularly or the ability of the S&P 600 SmallCap Index to track general stock market performance. S&P's only relationship to the Fund is the licensing of certain trademarks and trade names of S&P and of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index which is determined, composed and calculated by S&P without regard to the Fund or the Portfolio. S&P has no obligation to take the needs of the Fund or the owners of the Portfolio into consideration in determining, composing, or calculating the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. S&P is not responsible for and has not participated in the determination of the prices and amount of the Portfolio or the timing of the issuance or sale of the Portfolio or in the calculation of the equation by which the Portfolio is to be converted into cash. S&P has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Small Cap Stock Index Portfolio.

     S&P DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY AND/OR THE COMPLETENESS OF THE S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN AND S&P SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR INTERRUPTIONS THEREIN. S&P MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY THE FUND, OWNERS OF THE PORTFOLIO, OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FROM THE USE OF THE S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. S&P MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE WITH RESPECT TO THE S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, IN NO EVENT SHALL S&P HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR


ANY SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOST PROFITS), EVEN IF NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

     The following shareholders are known by the Fund to own of record 5% or more of the indicated Portfolio's shares outstanding on March 30, 2007. A shareholder who beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, more than 25% of a Portfolio's voting securities may be deemed a "control person" (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Portfolio.

Shareholder    Portfolio    Percentage 
 
Allianz Life Insurance Co.    Small Cap Stock Index-Service shares    60.89% 
of North America         
5701 Golden Hills Drive         
Minneapolis, MN 55416-1297         
 
 
Allmerica Financial Life &    MidCap Stock – Initial shares    21.03% 
Annuity Co.         
Attn: Separate Accounts         
440 Lincoln Street         
Worchester, MA 01653         
 
First TransAmerica Life Insurance Co.    Core Value-Initial shares    12.99% 
Accounting Department    Technology Growth-Initial shares    9.27% 
4333 Edgewood Road, NE         
Cedar Rapids, IA 52499         
 
Kemper Investors Life Insurance Co.    MidCap Stock – Initial shares    50.28% 
2500 Westfield Drive         
Elgin, IL 60124-7836         
 
Nationwide Insurance Co.    Small Cap Stock Index – Service shares    30.44% 
Portfolio Accounting         
P.O. Box 182029         
Columbus, OH 43218-2029         
 
NYLIAC    Technology Growth-Initial shares    36.84% 
169 Lackawanna Avenue    Technology Growth-Service shares    37.60% 
Parsippany, NJ 07054-1007         
 
The Manufacturers    MidCap Stock-Service shares    48.81% 
Life Insurance Company         
Corporate Accounting         
601 Congress Street         
Boston, MA 02116-3740         


Shareholder    Portfolio    Percentage 
 
TransAmerica Financial    Core Value-Service shares    9.81% 
Life Insurance Company         
4333 Edgewood Road, NE         
Cedar Rapids, IA 52499-0001         
 
 
TransAmerica Occidental Life Ins.    Core Value-Initial shares    79.21% 
Accounting Department    Core Value-Service shares    86.25% 
4333 Edgewood Road, NE    MidCap Stock-Service shares    21.38% 
Cedar Rapids, IA 52499-0001    Technology Growth-Initial shares    23.46% 
    Technology Growth-Service shares    5.01% 
 
 
TransAmerica Life Insurance Co.    Core Value-Initial shares    7.79% 
Accounting Department         
4333 Edgewood Road, NE         
Cedar Rapids, IA 52499-0001         
 
 
Symetra Life Insurance Co.    Midcap Stock-Initial Shares    11.63% 
Attn: RS Accounting    Technology Growth-Initial Shares    9.34% 
P.O. Box 3882         
Seattle, WA 98124-3882         
 
Transamerica Occidental Life    Midcap Stock-Initial Shares    9.34% 
Insurance Company         
Attn: Separate Accounts         
Transamerica Retirement Services         
P.O. Box 30368         
Los Angeles, CA 90030-0368         
 
Ameritas Variable Life Insurance Co.    MidCap Stock-Service shares    8.69% 
5900 O Street         
Lincoln, NE 68510         
 
MetLife and Annuity Company of    MidCap Stock-Service shares    14.10% 
Connecticut         
Attn: Shareholder Accounting Dept.         
P.O. Box 990027         
Hartford, CT 06199-0027         
 
American Enterprise    Technology Growth-Service shares    49.02% 
Life Insurance Co.         
1497 AXP Financial Center         
Minneapolis, MN 55440         


Shareholder    Portfolio    Percentage 
 
 
Annuity Investors Life Insurance Co.    Technology Growth-Initial shares    21.35% 
Attn: Rob Earle         
P.O. Box 5423         
Cincinnati, OH 45201-5423         

COUNSEL AND INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

     Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, 180 Maiden Lane, New York, New York 10038-4982, as counsel for the Fund, has rendered its opinion as to certain legal matters regarding the due authorization and valid issuance of the shares being sold pursuant to the Fund's Prospectuses.

     Ernst & Young, LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, have been selected to serve as the independent registered public accounting firm for the Fund.


APPENDIX

Rating Categories

     Description of certain ratings assigned by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services ("S&P"), Moody's Investors Service, Inc. ("Moody's"), and Fitch Ratings ("Fitch"):

S&P

Long-term

AAA

An obligation rated 'AAA' has the highest rating assigned by S&P. The obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong.

AA

An obligation rated 'AA' differs from the highest rated obligations only in small degree. The obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is very strong.

A

An obligation rated 'A' is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rated categories. However, the obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is still strong.

BBB

An obligation rated 'BBB' exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

BB, B, CCC, CC, and C

Obligations rated 'BB', 'B', 'CCC', 'CC', and 'C' are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. 'BB' indicates the least degree of speculation and 'C' the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposures to adverse conditions.

BB

An obligation rated 'BB' is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions which could lead to the obligor's inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

B

An obligation rated 'B' is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated 'BB', but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor's capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.


CCC

An obligation rated 'CCC' is currently vulnerable to nonpayment, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

CC

An obligation rated 'CC' is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment.

C

A subordinated debt or preferred stock obligation rated 'C' is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. The 'C' rating may be used to cover a situation where a bankruptcy petition has been filed or similar action taken, but payments on this obligation are being continued. A 'C' also will be assigned to a preferred stock issue in arrears on dividends or sinking fund payments, but that is currently paying.

D

An obligation rated 'D' is in payment default. The 'D' rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due even if the applicable grace period has not expired, unless S&P believes that such payments will be made during such grace period. The 'D' rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action if payments on an obligation are jeopardized.

r

The symbol 'r' is attached to the ratings of instruments with significant noncredit risks. It highlights risks to principal or volatility of expected returns which are not addressed in the credit rating. Examples include: obligations linked or indexed to equities, currencies, or commodities; obligations exposed to severe prepayment risk—such as interest-only or principal-only mortgage securities; and obligations with unusually risky interest terms, such as inverse floaters.

N.R.

The designation 'N.R.' indicates that no rating has been requested, that there is insufficient information on which to base a rating, or that S&P does not rate a particular obligation as a matter of policy.

Note: The ratings from 'AA' to 'CCC' may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign designation to show relative standing within the major rating categories.

Short-term

A-1

A short-term obligation rated 'A-1' is rated in the highest category by S&P. The obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is strong. Within this category,


certain obligations are given a plus sign (+) designation. This indicates that the obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on these obligations is extremely strong.

A-2

A short-term obligation rated 'A-2' is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rating categories. However, the obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is satisfactory.

A-3

A short-term obligation rated 'A-3' exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

B

A short-term obligation rated 'B' is regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. The obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation; however, it faces major ongoing uncertainties which could lead to the obligor's inadequate capacity to meet is financial commitment on the obligation.

C

A short-term obligation rated 'C' is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

D

A short-term obligation rated 'D' is in payment default. The 'D' rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due even if the applicable grace period has not expired, unless S&P believes that such payments will be made during such grace period. The 'D' rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action if payments on an obligation are jeopardized.

Moody's

Long-term

Aaa

Bonds rated 'Aaa' are judged to be of the best quality. They carry the smallest degree of investment risk and are generally referred to as "gilt edged." Interest payments are protected by a large or by an exceptionally stable margin and principal is secure. While the various protective elements are likely to change, such changes as can be visualized are most unlikely to impair the fundamentally strong position of such issues.

Aa

Bonds rated 'Aa' are judged to be of high quality by all standards. Together with the 'Aaa' group they comprise what are generally known as high-grade bonds. They are rated lower than the best


bonds because margins of protection may not be as large as in 'Aaa' securities or fluctuation of protective elements may be of greater amplitude or there may be other elements present which make the long-term risk appear somewhat larger than the 'Aaa' securities.

A

Bonds rated 'A' possess many favorable investment attributes and are to be considered as upper-medium-grade obligations. Factors giving security to principal and interest are considered adequate, but elements may be present which suggest a susceptibility to impairment some time in the future.

Baa

Bonds rated 'Baa' are considered as medium-grade obligations (i.e., they are neither highly protected nor poorly secured). Interest payments and principal security appear adequate for the present but certain protective elements may be lacking or may be characteristically unreliable over any great length of time. Such bonds lack outstanding investment characteristics and in fact have speculative characteristics as well.

Ba

Bonds rated 'Ba' are judged to have speculative elements; their future cannot be considered as well-assured. Often the protection of interest and principal payments may be very moderate, and thereby not well safeguarded during both good and bad times over the future. Uncertainty of position characterizes bonds in this class.

B

Bonds rated 'B' generally lack characteristics of the desirable investment. Assurance of interest and principal payments or of maintenance of other terms of the contract over any long period of time may be small.

Caa

Bonds rated 'Caa' are of poor standing. Such issues may be in default or there may be present elements of danger with respect to principal or interest.

Ca

Bonds rated 'Ca' represent obligations which are speculative in a high degree. Such issues are often in default or have other marked shortcomings.

C

Bonds rated 'C' are the lowest rated class of bonds, and issues so rated can be regarded as having extremely poor prospects of ever attaining any real investment standing.

Note: Moody's applies numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 in each generic rating classification from 'Aa' through 'Caa'. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.


Prime rating system (short-term)

Issuers rated Prime-1 (or supporting institutions) have a superior ability for repayment of senior short-term debt obligations. Prime-1 repayment ability will often be evidenced by many of the following characteristics:

Leading market positions in well-established industries.

  High rates of return on funds employed.

Conservative capitalization structure with moderate reliance on debt and ample asset protection.

Broad margins in earnings coverage of fixed financial charges and high internal cash generation.

Well-established access to a range of financial markets and assured sources of alternate liquidity.

Issuers rated Prime-2 (or supporting institutions) have a strong ability for repayment of senior short-term debt obligations. This will normally be evidenced by many of the characteristics cited above but to a lesser degree. Earnings trends and coverage ratios, while sound, may be more subject to variation. Capitalization characteristics, while still appropriate, may be more affected by external conditions. Ample alternate liquidity is maintained.

Issuers rated Prime-3 (or supporting institutions) have an acceptable ability for repayment of senior short-term obligations. The effect of industry characteristics and market compositions may be more pronounced. Variability in earnings and profitability may result in changes in the level of debt protection measurements and may require relatively high financial leverage. Adequate alternate liquidity is maintained.

Issuers rated Not Prime do not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.

Fitch

Long-term investment grade

AAA

Highest credit quality. 'AAA' ratings denote the lowest expectation of credit risk. They are assigned only in case of exceptionally strong capacity for timely payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.

AA

Very high credit quality. 'AA' ratings denote a very low expectation of credit risk. They indicate very strong capacity for timely payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.


A

High credit quality. 'A' ratings denote a low expectation of credit risk. The capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is considered strong. This capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to changes in circumstances or in economic conditions than is the case for higher ratings.

BBB

Good credit quality. 'BBB' ratings indicate that there is currently a low expectation of credit risk. The capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is considered adequate, but adverse changes in circumstances and in economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity. This is the lowest investment-grade category.

Long-term speculative grade

BB

Speculative. 'BB' ratings indicate that there is a possibility of credit risk developing, particularly as the result of adverse economic change over time; however, business or financial alternatives may be available to allow financial commitments to be met. Securities rated in this category are not investment grade.

B

Highly speculative. 'B' ratings indicate that significant credit risk is present, but a limited margin of safety remains. Financial commitments are currently being met; however, capacity for continued payment is contingent upon a sustained, favorable business and economic environment.

CCC, CC, C

High default risk. Default is a real possibility. Capacity for meeting financial commitments is solely reliant upon sustained, favorable business or economic developments. 'CC' ratings indicate that default of some kind appears probable. 'C' ratings signal imminent default.

DDD, DD, D

Default. The ratings of obligations in this category are based on their prospects for achieving partial or full recovery in a reorganization or liquidation of the obligor. While expected recovery values are highly speculative and cannot be estimated with any precision, the following serve as general guidelines. 'DDD' obligations have the highest potential for recovery, around 90% - 100% of outstanding amounts and accrued interest. 'DD' ratings indicate potential recoveries in the range of 50% - 90% and 'D' the lowest recovery potential, i.e., below 50%.

Entities rated in this category have defaulted on some or all of their obligations. Entities rated 'DDD' have the highest prospect for resumption of performance or continued operation with or without a formal reorganization process. Entities rated 'DD' and 'D' are generally undergoing a formal reorganization or liquidation process; those rated 'DD' are likely to satisfy a higher portion of their outstanding obligations, while entities rated 'D' have a poor prospect of repaying all obligations.


Short-term

A short-term rating has a time horizon of less than 12 months for most obligations, or up to three years for U.S. public finance securities, and thus places greater emphasis on the liquidity necessary to meet financial commitments in a timely manner.

F1

Highest credit quality. Indicates the strongest capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added "+" to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.

F2

Good credit quality. A satisfactory capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, but the margin of safety is not as great as in the case of the higher ratings.

F3

Fair credit quality. The capacity for timely payment of financial commitment is adequate; however, near-term adverse changes could result in a reduction non-investment grade.

B

Speculative. Minimal capacity for timely payment of financial commitments plus vulnerability to near-term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.

C

High default risk. Default is a real possibility. Capacity for meeting financial commitments is solely reliant upon a sustained, favorable business and economic environment.

D

Default. Denotes actual or imminent payment default.

'NR' indicates that Fitch does not rate the issuer or issue in question.

Notes to long-term and short-term ratings: A plus (+) or minus (-) sign designation may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories. Such suffixes are not added to the 'AAA' long-term rating category, to categories below 'CCC', or to short-term ratings other than 'F1.'