Registration Nos. 002-93707/811-4119
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM N-1A
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 /X/
Post-Effective Amendment No. 55 /X/
and/or
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940 /X/
Amendment No. 52 /X/
T. ROWE PRICE HIGH YIELD FUND, INC.
Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter
100
East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Address of Principal Executive Offices
410-345-2000
Registrant’s
Telephone Number, Including Area Code
David Oestreicher
100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland
21202
Name and Address of Agent for Service
Approximate Date of Proposed Public Offering May 22, 2017
It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):
// Immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
// On (date) pursuant to paragraph (b)
// 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
// On (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
// 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)
/X/ On April 19, 2017 pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485
If appropriate, check the following box:
/X/ This post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.
It will be proposed that this amendment to the registration statement become effective on an earlier date pursuant to Rule 461 and Rule 485(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933.
SUBJECT TO COMPLETION
Information contained herein is subject to completion or amendment. A Registration Statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the Registration Statement becomes effective. This Prospectus shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.
The Registration Statement of the T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund, Inc. (the “Registrant”) on Form N-1A (File Nos.: 002-93707/811-4119) is hereby amended under the Securities Act of 1933 to add one new series and three new classes.
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PROSPECTUS | T. Rowe Price |
TUHYX TUHIX TUHAX | U.S. High Yield Fund Investor Class I Class Advisor Class |
April 19, 2017 | A higher-risk bond fund seeking total return and income through investments in the U.S. below investment-grade bond market. |
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. | |
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Table of Contents
SUMMARY
The fund seeks total return, and secondarily, current income.
Fees and Expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. You may also incur brokerage commissions and other charges when buying or selling shares of the fund, which are not reflected in the table.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Investor Class | I Class | Advisor Class | ||||
Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) | ||||||
Redemption fee (as a percentage of amount redeemed on shares held for 90 days or less) | 2.00 | % | 2.00 | % | 2.00 | % |
Maximum account fee | $20 | a | — | — | ||
Annual
fund operating expenses | ||||||
Management fees | 0.59 | % | 0.59 | % | 0.59 | % |
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees | — | — | 0.25 | |||
Other expenses | 0.68 | b | 0.58 | b,d | 0.74 | b |
Total annual fund operating expenses | 1.27 | 1.17 | 1.58 | |||
Fee waiver/expense reimbursement | (0.48 | )c | (0.53 | )d | (0.64 | )e |
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver/expense reimbursement | 0.79 | c | 0.64 | d | 0.94 | e |
a Subject to certain exceptions, accounts with a balance of less than $10,000 are charged an annual $20 fee.
b Other expenses are estimated for the current fiscal year.
c T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., has agreed (through September 30, 2019) to waive its fees and/or bear any expenses (excluding interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes and brokerage; extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses) that would cause the class’ ratio of expenses to average daily net assets to exceed 0.79%. The agreement may be terminated at any time beyond September 30, 2019, with approval by the fund’s Board of Directors. Fees waived and expenses paid under this agreement are subject to reimbursement to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., by the fund whenever the class’ expense ratio is below 0.79%. However, no reimbursement will be made more than three years after the waiver or payment, or if it would result in the expense ratio exceeding 0.79% (excluding interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes and brokerage; extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses).
d T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., has agreed (through September 30, 2019) to pay the operating expenses of the fund’s I Class excluding management fees; interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes and brokerage; nonrecurring, extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses (“I Class Operating Expenses”), to the extent the I Class Operating Expenses exceed 0.05% of the class’ average daily net assets. Any expenses paid under this agreement are subject to reimbursement to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., by the fund whenever the fund’s I Class Operating Expenses are below 0.05%. However, no reimbursement will be made more than three years after the payment of the I Class Operating Expenses or if such reimbursement would cause the fund’s I Class Operating Expenses to exceed 0.05%. The agreement may be terminated at any time beyond September 30, 2019, with approval by the fund’s Board of Directors.
e T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., has agreed (through September 30, 2019) to waive its fees and/or bear any expenses (excluding interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes and brokerage; extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses) that would cause the class’ ratio of expenses to average daily net assets to
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exceed 0.94%. The agreement may be terminated at any time beyond September 30, 2019, with approval by the fund’s Board of Directors. Fees waived and expenses paid under this agreement are subject to reimbursement to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., by the fund whenever the class’ expense ratio is below 0.94%. However, no reimbursement will be made more than three years after the waiver or payment, or if it would result in the expense ratio exceeding 0.94% (excluding interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes and brokerage; extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses).
Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods, that your investment has a 5% return each year, and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years | |
Investor Class | $81 | $286 | $584 | $1,430 |
I Class | 65 | 242 | 518 | 1,304 |
Advisor Class | 96 | 345 | 711 | 1,744 |
Portfolio Turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when the fund’s shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the portfolio turnover rate of the fund’s predecessor fund, the Henderson High Yield Opportunities Fund (the “Predecessor Fund”), was 174% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets (including any borrowings for investment purposes) in U.S. high yield instruments (commonly referred to as “junk” bonds), which are debt instruments that are, at the time of purchase, rated below investment grade by a credit rating agency (i.e., Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or below BBB- by S&P Global Ratings or Fitch Ratings, Inc.), or, if not rated by any major credit rating agency, deemed to be below investment grade by T. Rowe Price. The fund considers U.S. high yield instruments to include below investment grade bonds, bank loans, and other debt instruments issued by U.S. issuers, as well as bonds denominated in U.S. dollars that are issued by foreign banks and corporations and registered with the SEC for sale in the U.S. (such as Yankee bonds). If a holding is split rated (i.e., rated investment grade by at least one rating agency and below investment grade by another rating agency), the lower rating will be used for purposes of the fund’s 80% investment policy. The fund focuses its investments on high yield corporate bonds but may also invest in other income producing instruments including bank loans, convertible securities, and preferred stocks. In selecting bonds, the portfolio manager generally evaluates the income provided by the bond and the bond’s appreciation potential, as well as the issuer’s ability to make income and principal payments.
Summary | 3 |
High yield instruments tend to provide high income in an effort to compensate investors for their higher risk of default, which is the failure to make required interest or principal payments. High yield bond issuers include small or relatively new companies lacking the history or capital to merit investment grade status, former blue chip companies downgraded because of financial problems, companies electing to borrow heavily to finance or avoid a takeover or buyout, and firms with heavy debt loads.
While high yield corporate bonds are typically issued with a fixed interest rate, bank loans have floating interest rates that reset periodically (typically quarterly or monthly). Bank loans represent amounts borrowed by companies or other entities from banks and other lenders. In many cases, the borrowing companies have significantly more debt than equity and the loans have been issued in connection with recapitalizations, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, or refinancings. The loans held by the fund may be senior or subordinate obligations of the borrower. The fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in bank loans.
The fund may purchase securities of any maturity, and its weighted average maturity and duration will vary with market conditions. In selecting investments, the fund relies extensively on rigorous credit research and analysis.
While most assets will typically be invested in U.S. issued instruments and U.S. dollar-denominated instruments, the fund may also invest in non-U.S. dollar-denominated bonds of foreign issuers (including securities of issuers in emerging markets). The fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in non-U.S. dollar-denominated foreign instruments.
While most assets will typically be invested directly in bonds and other debt instruments, the fund may buy or sell credit default swaps involving a specific issuer or an index in order to adjust the fund’s overall credit quality, to protect against fluctuations in the prices of certain holdings, to gain exposure to a particular issuer or security, or to manage certain investment risks such as changes in an issuer’s creditworthiness.
The fund may sell holdings for a variety of reasons, such as to adjust the portfolio’s average maturity, duration, or credit quality, to shift assets into and out of higher-yielding securities, or to reduce its exposure to certain securities.
Principal Risks As with any mutual fund, there is no guarantee that the fund will achieve its objective. The fund’s share price fluctuates, which means you could lose money by investing in the fund. The principal risks of investing in this fund are summarized as follows:
Active management risks The investment adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value, or potential appreciation of the fund’s investments may prove to be incorrect. If the investments selected and strategies employed by the fund fail to
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produce the intended results, the fund could underperform in comparison to other funds with similar objectives and investment strategies.
Fixed income markets risks Economic and other market developments can adversely affect fixed income securities markets. At times, participants in these markets may develop concerns about the ability of certain issuers of debt securities to make timely principal and interest payments, or they may develop concerns about the ability of financial institutions that make markets in certain debt securities to facilitate an orderly market. Those concerns could cause increased volatility and reduced liquidity in particular securities or in the overall fixed income markets and the related derivatives markets. A lack of liquidity or other adverse credit market conditions may hamper the fund’s ability to sell the debt securities in which it invests or to find and purchase suitable debt instruments.
Interest rate risks This is the risk that the prices of, and the income generated by, the debt instruments held by the fund may be affected by changes in interest rates. A rise in interest rates typically causes the price of a fixed rate debt instrument to fall and its yield to rise. Conversely, a decline in interest rates typically causes the price of a fixed rate debt instrument to rise and the yield to fall. Generally, securities with longer maturities or durations, and funds with longer weighted average maturities or durations, carry greater interest rate risk because a longer maturity or duration is typically associated with an increased sensitivity to interest rates changes. The fund may be subject to greater interest rate risk due to the current period of historically low interest rates and the potential effect of any government fiscal policy initiatives.
While a rise in rates is the principal source of interest rate risk for bond funds, falling rates bring the possibility that a bond may be “called,” or redeemed before maturity, and that the proceeds may be reinvested in lower-yielding securities.
Credit risks An issuer of a debt security could suffer an adverse change in financial condition that results in a payment default, rating downgrade, or inability to meet a financial obligation.
Junk investing risks The fund is exposed to greater credit risk and volatility than other bond funds. High yield bond issuers are more likely to suffer an adverse change in financial condition that would result in the inability to meet a financial obligation. Accordingly, securities issued by such companies carry a higher risk of default and should be considered speculative.
Liquidity risks The fund may not be able to sell a holding in a timely manner at a desired price. Reduced liquidity in the bond markets can result from a number of events, such as limited trading activity, reductions in bond inventory, and rapid or unexpected changes in interest rates. Less liquid markets could lead to greater price volatility and limit the fund’s ability to sell a holding at a suitable price.
Bank loan risks To the extent the fund invests in bank loans, it is exposed to additional risks beyond those normally associated with more traditional debt
Summary | 5 |
securities. The fund’s ability to receive payments in connection with the loan depends primarily on the financial condition of the borrower and whether or not a loan is secured by collateral, although there is no assurance that the collateral securing a loan will be sufficient to satisfy the loan obligation. In addition, bank loans often have contractual restrictions on resale, which can delay the sale and adversely impact the sale price. Bank loans can experience extended settlement periods and may take significantly longer than seven days to settle. As a result, there is a risk that investors redeeming shares from the fund may not receive their proceeds in a timely manner, or that the fund may be forced to incur losses in order to pay redemption proceeds on time. In addition, since bank loans are not typically registered under the federal securities laws like stocks and bonds, investors in loans have less protection against improper practices than investors in registered securities.
Foreign investing risks The fund’s investments in foreign securities may be adversely affected by local, political, social, and economic conditions overseas, greater volatility, reduced liquidity, or decreases in foreign currency values relative to the U.S. dollar. These risks are heightened for the fund’s investments in emerging markets, which are more susceptible to governmental interference, less efficient trading markets, and the imposition of local taxes or restrictions on gaining access to sales proceeds for foreign investors.
Convertible securities and preferred stock risks Investments in convertible securities and preferred stocks subject the fund to risks associated with both equity and fixed income securities, depending on the price of the underlying security and the conversion price. Stocks generally fluctuate in value more than bonds and tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising and falling prices. The value of a stock may decline due to general weakness in the stock market or because of factors that affect a particular company or industry. Convertible securities are typically issued by smaller-capitalized companies whose stock prices are more volatile than companies that have access to more conventional means of raising capital. Preferred stock holders would be paid after corporate bondholders, but before common stockholders, in the event a company fails.
Derivatives risks The fund uses credit default swaps and is therefore exposed to additional volatility in comparison to investing directly in bonds and other debt instruments. These instruments can be illiquid and difficult to value, and may not properly correlate to the underlying securities or index. In addition, derivative instruments not traded on an exchange, are subject to the risk that a counterparty to the transaction will fail to meet its obligations under the derivatives contract. Credit default swaps involve the risk that the creditworthiness of an issuer or likelihood of a credit event will not be accurately predicted, which could significantly harm the fund’s performance. Changes in regulations could significantly impact the fund’s ability to invest in specific types of derivatives, which could limit the fund’s ability to employ certain strategies that use derivatives.
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Portfolio turnover risks The fund may actively and frequently trade its portfolio securities or other instruments to carry out its investment strategies. High portfolio turnover may adversely affect the fund’s performance and increase transaction costs, which could increase the fund’s expenses. High portfolio turnover may also result in the distribution of higher capital gains when compared to a fund with less active trading policies, which could have an adverse tax impact if the fund’s shares are held in a taxable account.
Performance The following performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund by showing the performance history of the Predecessor Fund. It is anticipated that on May 22, 2017, the fund will acquire all of the assets, subject to the liabilities, of the Predecessor Fund through a tax-free reorganization (the “Reorganization”) subject to the approval of the Acquired Fund’s shareholders. If the Reorganization is consummated as anticipated, as a result of the Reorganization, shareholders of the Predecessor Fund’s Class A and Class C shares will receive Advisor Class shares of the fund, and shareholders of the Predecessor Fund’s Class I and Class R6 shares will receive I Class shares of the fund. In addition, as a result of the reorganization, the fund’s Advisor Class will adopt the Predecessor Fund’s Class A performance and accounting history, and the fund’s I Class will adopt the Predecessor Fund’s Class I performance and accounting history. The fund will have substantially similar investment objectives and strategies as the Predecessor Fund, and the fund will be managed by the same portfolio manager as the Predecessor Fund. The performance information represents only past performance (before and after taxes) and is not necessarily an indication of future results.
The following bar chart illustrates how much returns can differ from year to year by showing calendar year returns and the best and worst calendar quarter returns during those years for the Predecessor Fund’s Class A. The returns in the bar chart may have been different if the expenses for the fund’s Advisor Class had been in effect during the periods prior to the Reorganization. In addition, the performance information presented was calculated using the Predecessor Fund’s valuation methodologies, which will differ in some respects from those of the fund. Returns for the Predecessor Fund’s other share classes vary since they had different expenses than the Predecessor Fund’s Class A shares.
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During the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, the fund’s highest and lowest quarterly returns were 5.49% and -4.41% for the quarters ended September 30, 2016, and September 30, 2015, respectively.
The following table reflects the average annual returns that will be shown for the fund, assuming the Reorganization is approved by the Acquired Fund’s shareholders, and also compares the returns with a relevant broad-based market index. The performance information for the fund’s Advisor Class and I Class will be based on the performance history of the Predecessor Fund’s Class A and Class I, respectively, and has not been adjusted to reflect the fees and expenses of the Advisor Class or I Class. The returns presented in the table may have been different if the expenses for the each of the fund’s Advisor Class and I Class had been in effect during the periods prior to the Reorganization. The fund’s Investor Class performance information is not presented since the Investor Class did not assume the performance history of the Predecessor Fund and had not commenced operations as of the date of this prospectus. The Investor Class would have had similar performance to the fund’s Advisor Class because they will share the same portfolio; however, its performance, had it existed over the periods shown, would have been higher since the Investor Class is expected to have lower expenses than the Advisor Class.
In addition, the table shows hypothetical after-tax returns to demonstrate how taxes paid by a shareholder may influence returns. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as a 401(k) account or individual retirement account. After-tax returns are shown only for the Advisor Class and will differ for other share classes.
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Average Annual Total Returns |
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| Periods ended |
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| December 31, 2016 |
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| 1 Year | Since inception | Inception date |
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| Advisor Class* | April 20,2013 |
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| Returns before taxes | 10.58 | % |
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| 4.87 | % |
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| Returns after taxes on distributions | 7.87 |
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| 2.04 |
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| Returns after taxes on distributions |
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| and sale of fund shares | 5.88 |
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| 2.39 |
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| Investor Class | May 19, 2017 |
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| Returns before taxes | — |
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| I Class* | April 20,2013 |
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| Returns before taxes | 16.38 |
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| 6.50 |
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| Bank of America Merrill Lynch US High Yield Constrained Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)* | 17.49 |
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| 4.60 |
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* Reflects the performance information from the inception date of the Predecessor Fund (April 20, 2013).
Updated performance information will be available through troweprice.com.
Management
Investment Adviser T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (T. Rowe Price)
Name | Title | Managed Fund Since | Joined Investment |
Kevin Loome | Portfolio Manager | 2017* | 2017 |
* Managed the Predecessor Fund since its inception in 2013.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The fund generally requires a $2,500 minimum initial investment ($1,000 minimum initial investment if opening an IRA, a custodial account for a minor, or a small business retirement plan account). Additional purchases generally require a $100 minimum. These investment minimums may be waived or modified for financial intermediaries and certain employer-sponsored retirement plans submitting orders on behalf of their customers. Advisor Class shares may generally only be purchased through a financial intermediary or retirement plan.
The I Class generally requires a $1,000,000 minimum initial investment and there is no minimum for additional purchases, although the initial investment minimum may be waived for intermediaries and retirement plans maintaining omnibus accounts, and certain institutional client accounts for which T. Rowe Price or its affiliate has discretionary investment authority.
For investors holding shares of the fund directly with T. Rowe Price, you may purchase, redeem, or exchange fund shares by mail; by telephone (1-800-225-5132 for IRAs and nonretirement accounts; 1-800-492-7670 for small business retirement
Summary | 9 |
plans; and 1-800-638-8790 for institutional investors and financial intermediaries); or, for certain accounts, by accessing your account online through troweprice.com.
If you hold shares through a financial intermediary or retirement plan, you must purchase, redeem, and exchange shares of the fund through your intermediary or retirement plan. You should check with your intermediary or retirement plan to determine the investment minimums that apply to your account.
Tax Information
The fund declares dividends daily and pays them on the first business day of each month. Any capital gains are declared and paid annually, usually in December. Redemptions or exchanges of fund shares and distributions by the fund, whether or not you reinvest these amounts in additional fund shares, may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains unless you invest through a tax-deferred account (in which case you will be taxed upon withdrawal from such account).
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information. However, the fund and its investment adviser do not pay broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries for sales or related services of the I Class shares.
More About the Fund | 2 | |
How is the fund organized?
T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund, Inc. (the “Corporation”) was incorporated in Maryland in 1984. Currently, the Corporation consists of two series, each representing a separate pool of assets with different investment objectives and investment policies. Each series is an “open-end management investment company,” or mutual fund. Mutual funds pool money received from shareholders and invest it to try to achieve specified objectives.
It is anticipated that on May 22, 2017, the fund will acquire all of the assets and liabilities of the Predecessor Fund in a tax-free Reorganization, subject to the approval of the Predecessor Fund’s shareholders. If the Reorganization is consummated as anticipated, as a result of the Reorganization, the performance and accounting history of the Predecessor Fund will be assumed by the fund, and shareholders of the Predecessor Fund who owned Class A or Class C shares will receive Advisor Class shares of the fund, and shareholders who owned Class I or Class R6 shares will receive I Class shares of the fund. Financial and performance information included in this prospectus for periods prior to the date of the Reorganization is that of the Predecessor Fund, which commenced operations on April 20, 2013.
The fund charges a redemption fee of 2% on shares that are held for 90 days or less. However, all shares of the fund received in connection with the Reorganization will not be subject to the redemption fee. Any fund shares purchased after the Reorganization and any shares exchanged from the fund to another fund that charges a redemption fee will be subject to the redemption fee, if applicable, upon redemption.
Shareholders have benefitted from T. Rowe Price’s investment management experience since 1937.
What is meant by “shares”?
As with all mutual funds, investors purchase shares when they put money in the fund. These shares are part of the fund’s authorized capital stock, but share certificates are not issued.
Each share and fractional share entitles the shareholder to:
· Receive a proportional interest in income and capital gain distributions. For funds with multiple share classes, the income dividends for each share class will generally
More About the Fund | 11 |
differ from those of other share classes to the extent that the expense ratios of the classes differ.
· Cast one vote per share on certain fund matters, including the election of the fund’s directors/trustees, changes in fundamental policies, or approval of material changes to the fund’s investment management agreement. Shareholders of each class have exclusive voting rights on matters affecting only that class.
Does the fund have annual shareholder meetings?
The mutual funds that are sponsored and managed by T. Rowe Price (“T. Rowe Price Funds”) are not required to hold regularly scheduled shareholder meetings. To avoid unnecessary costs to the funds’ shareholders, shareholder meetings are only held when certain matters, such as changes in fundamental policies or elections of directors/trustees, must be decided. In addition, shareholders representing at least 10% of all eligible votes may call a special meeting for the purpose of voting on the removal of any fund director or trustee. If a meeting is held and you cannot attend, you can vote by proxy. Before the meeting, the funds will send or make available to you proxy materials that explain the matters to be decided and include instructions on voting by mail, telephone, or the Internet.
Who runs the fund?
General Oversight
The fund is governed by a Board of Directors (the “Board”) that meets regularly to review the fund’s investments, performance, expenses, and other business affairs. The Board elects the fund’s officers. At least 75% of Board members are independent of T. Rowe Price and its affiliates (the “Firm”).
Investment Adviser
T. Rowe Price is the fund’s investment adviser and oversees the selection of the fund’s investments and management of the fund’s portfolio pursuant to an investment management agreement between the investment adviser and the fund. T. Rowe Price is a SEC-registered investment adviser that provides investment management services to individual and institutional investors, and sponsors and serves as adviser and sub-adviser to registered investment companies, institutional separate accounts, and common trust funds. The address for T. Rowe Price is 100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. As of December 31, 2016, the Firm had approximately $810 billion in assets under management and provided investment management services for more than 8 million individual and institutional investor accounts.
Portfolio Management
The following information provides the year that Kevin Loome (the “portfolio manager”) first joined the Firm and his specific business experience during the past five years (although he may have had portfolio management responsibilities for a longer period). Mr. Loome has been the fund’s portfolio manager since the fund’s inception in 2017, and he served as the portfolio manager of the Predecessor Fund from its inception in April 2013. In addition to serving as the Predecessor Fund’s
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portfolio manager, he also served as the Head of U.S. Credit for Henderson Global Investors, the parent company of the Predecessor Fund’s investment advisor, from 2013 until the Reorganization. Prior to working for Henderson Global Investors, he served as Head of High Yield and Bank Loans and a portfolio manager at Delaware Investments. He worked for the Firm from 1996 to 2007 as a research analyst and portfolio manager, and re-joined the Firm in 2017 in conjunction with the Reorganization. The Statement of Additional Information provides additional information about the portfolio manager’s compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio manager, and the portfolio manager’s ownership of the fund’s shares.
The Management Fee
The management fee consists of two components—an “individual fund fee,” which reflects the fund’s particular characteristics, and a “group fee.” The group fee, which is designed to reflect the benefits of the shared resources of the Firm, is calculated daily based on the combined net assets of all T. Rowe Price Funds (except the funds-of-funds, TRP Reserve Funds, Multi-Sector Account Portfolios, and any index or private-label mutual funds). The group fee schedule (in the following table) is graduated, declining as the combined assets of the T. Rowe Price Funds rise, so shareholders benefit from the overall growth in mutual fund assets.
Group Fee Schedule
0.334%* | First $50 billion |
0.305% | Next $30 billion |
0.300% | Next $40 billion |
0.295% | Next $40 billion |
0.290% | Next $60 billion |
0.285% | Next $80 billion |
0.280% | Next $100 billion |
0.275% | Next $100 billion |
0.270% | Next $150 billion |
0.265% | Thereafter |
* Represents a blended group fee rate containing various breakpoints.
The fund’s group fee is determined by applying the group fee rate to the fund’s average daily net assets. On December 31, 2016, the annual group fee rate was 0.29%. The individual fund fee, also applied to the fund’s average daily net assets, is 0.30%.
A discussion about the factors considered by the Board and its conclusions in approving the fund’s investment management agreement (and any sub-advisory agreement, if applicable) will appear in the fund’s annual report to shareholders for the period ended May 31.
More About the Fund | 13 |
Consider your investment goals, your time horizon for achieving them, and your tolerance for risk. If you are a long-term, risk-tolerant investor seeking a high level of current income and some appreciation potential, the fund may be appropriate but should not represent a significant portion of your assets. If you are investing primarily for stability and liquidity, the fund is not appropriate.
The fund could generate higher income than higher-quality bond funds and could have greater potential for capital appreciation. Because the high yield bond and loan markets can be more sensitive to changes in economic growth than interest rates, the fund may outperform high-quality bond funds when the outlook for the economy is positive.
While high yield corporate bonds are typically issued with a fixed interest rate, bank loans have floating interest rates that reset periodically (typically quarterly or monthly). Bank loans represent amounts borrowed by companies or other entities from banks and other lenders. In many cases, the borrowing companies have significantly more debt than equity and the loans have been issued in connection with recapitalizations, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, or refinancings. The loans held by the fund may be senior or subordinate obligations of the borrower, and may or may not be secured by collateral. The fund may acquire bank loans directly from a lender or through the agent, as an assignment from another lender who holds a floating rate loan, or as a participation interest in another lender’s floating rate loan or portion thereof.
The fund’s yield will vary. The fund’s yield is the annualized dividends earned for a given period (typically 30 days for bond funds), divided by the share price at the end of the period. The fund’s total return includes distributions from income and capital gains and the change in share price for a given period.
Credit quality refers to a bond issuer’s expected ability to make all required interest and principal payments on time. Because highly-rated issuers represent less risk, they can borrow at lower interest rates than less-creditworthy issuers. Therefore, a fund investing in high-quality securities should have a lower yield than an otherwise comparable fund investing in lower-quality securities.
Bonds and loans have a stated maturity date when their entire principal value must be repaid to the investor. However, many loans are prepayable at par at the borrower’s discretion and many bonds are “callable,” meaning their principal can be repaid before the stated maturity date. Fixed rate bonds are most likely to be called when interest rates are falling because the issuer can refinance at a lower rate, just as a homeowner refinances a mortgage when interest rates fall. In that environment, a bond’s “effective maturity” is usually its nearest call date. For example, the rate at which homeowners pay down their mortgage principal determines the effective maturity of mortgage-backed bonds.
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A bond fund has no real maturity, but it does have a weighted average maturity and a weighted average effective maturity. Each of these numbers is an average of the stated or effective maturities of the underlying bonds, with each bond’s maturity “weighted” by the percentage of the fund’s assets it represents. (The fund’s average effective maturity takes into consideration the possibility that an issuer may call a bond before its maturity date or, with respect to a pool of mortgages, the likelihood of prepayments on the mortgages.) Some funds utilize effective maturities rather than stated maturities when managing a fund to a certain average maturity, which provides additional flexibility in portfolio management.
Duration is a calculation that seeks to measure the price sensitivity of a bond or a bond fund to changes in interest rates. It is expressed in years, like maturity, but it is a better indicator of price sensitivity than maturity because it takes into account the time value of cash flows generated over the bond’s life. Future interest and principal payments are discounted to reflect their present value and then multiplied by the number of years they will be received to produce a value expressed in years–the duration. “Effective” duration takes into account call features and sinking fund payments that may shorten a bond’s life.
Since duration can be computed for bond funds, you can estimate the effect of interest rate fluctuations on share prices by multiplying the fund’s duration by an expected change in interest rates. For example, the price of a bond fund with a duration of five years would be expected to fall approximately 5% if rates rose by one percentage point. A bond fund with a longer duration will generally be more sensitive to changes in interest rates than a bond fund with a shorter duration. (A bond fund’s duration is shown in its shareholder report.)
Duration measures only sensitivity to interest rate changes—the dominant source of risk for high-quality bond funds. It does not reflect risk from other sources, such as bond defaults. Therefore, duration may not be as significant an indicator of overall risk for a fund such as this one that invests in noninvestment-grade bonds.
In addition to investments in high yield corporate bonds and other income-producing securities, the fund may buy or sell credit default swaps involving a specific issuer or an index in order to adjust the fund’s overall credit quality, to hedge against fluctuations in instruments’ prices, to gain exposure to a particular issuer or security, or to manage certain investment risks.
As with any mutual fund, there is no guarantee the fund will achieve its objective. The fund’s share price fluctuates, which means you could lose money when you sell your shares of the fund. The income level of the fund will change with market conditions and interest rate levels.
Some particular risks affecting the fund include the following:
Market risks The market price of investments owned by the fund may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The fund’s investments may decline in
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value due to factors affecting the overall markets, or particular industries or sectors. The value of a holding may decline due to general market conditions which are not specifically related to a particular issuer, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for an issuer’s financial condition, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. The value of a holding may also decline due to factors which negatively affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages, increased production costs, or competitive conditions within an industry. The fund may experience heavy redemptions that could cause it to liquidate its assets at inopportune times or at a loss or depressed value, which could cause the value of your investment in the fund to decline.
Interest rate risks Prices of bonds and other fixed income securities will increase as interest rates fall and that prices will decrease as interest rates rise (bond prices and interest rates usually move in opposite directions). Prices fall because the bonds and notes in the fund’s portfolio become less attractive to other investors when securities with higher yields become available. Generally, securities with longer maturities or durations and funds with longer weighted average maturities or durations have greater interest rate risk. As a result, in a rising interest rate environment, the net asset value of a fund with a longer weighted average maturity or duration typically decreases at a faster rate than the net asset value of a fund with a shorter weighted average maturity or duration. In addition, some markets have recently experienced negative interest rates on bank deposits, and the debt instruments of certain issuers have traded at negative yields. Extremely low or negative interest rates may increase the fund’s susceptibility to interest rate risk and reduce the fund’s yield.
Call risks This is the risk that during periods of falling interest rates, issuers of callable bonds may redeem securities with higher interest rates before their maturity. The fund would then lose any price appreciation above the bond’s call price and would be forced to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the fund’s income.
Credit risks This is the risk that an issuer of a debt security held by the fund will default (fail to make scheduled payments), potentially reducing the fund’s income and share price. Credit risk is increased when a portfolio security is downgraded or the perceived creditworthiness of an issuer or counterparty deteriorates. Companies issuing high yield bonds are not as strong financially as those with higher credit ratings, so the bonds are usually considered speculative investments. These companies are more vulnerable to financial setbacks and recession than more creditworthy companies, which may impair their ability to make interest and principal payments. Therefore, the credit risk for the fund’s portfolio increases when the U.S. economy slows or enters a recession.
The loans and debt securities held by the fund typically will be noninvestment grade. These investments are usually considered speculative and involve a greater risk of default and price decline due to deterioration in the credit quality of the company or issuer. The companies in which the fund invests are not as strong financially as those
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with higher credit ratings and are more vulnerable to financial setbacks and recession than more creditworthy companies, which may impair their ability to make interest and principal payments. Therefore, the credit risk for the fund’s portfolio increases when the economy slows or enters a recession.
The fund may be more vulnerable to interest rate risk if it is focusing on BB rated bonds since better-quality “junk” bonds follow the investment-grade market to some extent. If the fund focuses on bonds rated B and below, credit risk will probably predominate.
Other risks of “junk” investing The entire noninvestment-grade bond market can experience sudden and sharp price swings due to a variety of factors, including changes in economic forecasts, stock market activity, large sustained sales by major investors, a high-profile default, or a change in the market’s psychology. This type of volatility is usually associated more with stocks than bonds, but “junk” bond investors should be prepared for it.
Any investments in distressed or defaulted securities subject the fund to even greater credit risk than investments in other below investment-grade bonds. Investments in obligations of restructured, distressed and bankrupt issuers, including debt obligations that are already in default, generally trade significantly below par and may be considered illiquid. Defaulted securities might be repaid only after lengthy bankruptcy proceedings, during which the issuer might not make any interest or other payments, and result in only partial recovery of cash payments or no recovery at all. In addition, recovery could involve an exchange of the defaulted obligation for other debt or equity securities of the issuer or its affiliates, which may in turn be illiquid or speculative and be valued by the fund at significantly less than its original purchase price.
Impairment of collateral risks The terms of the floating rate loans held by the fund may require that the borrowing company maintain collateral to support payment of its obligations. However, the value of the collateral securing a floating rate loan can decline or be insufficient to meet the obligations of the company. In addition, collateral securing a loan may be found invalid, may be used to pay other outstanding obligations of the borrower, or may be difficult to liquidate. The fund’s access to the collateral may be limited by bankruptcy, other insolvency laws, or by the type of loan the fund has purchased. For example, if the fund purchases a participation interest instead of an assignment, it would not have direct access to collateral of the borrower. As a result, a floating rate loan may not be fully collateralized and can decline significantly in value.
Liquidity risks The fund may not be able to sell a holding in a timely manner at a desired price. Sectors of the bond market can experience sudden downturns in trading activity. During periods of reduced market liquidity, the spread between the price at which a security can be bought and the price at which it can be sold can widen, and the fund may not be able to sell a holding readily at a price that reflects
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what the fund believes it should be worth. Less liquid securities can also become more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may be the result of, among other things, the reduced number and capacity of traditional broker-dealers to make a market in fixed income securities or the lack of an active market. The potential for price movements related to liquidity risk may be magnified by a rising interest rate environment or other circumstances where selling activity from fixed income investors may be higher than normal, potentially causing increased supply in the market.
Floating rate loans often have contractual restrictions on resale. These restrictions can delay or impede the fund’s ability to sell loans and may adversely affect the price that can be obtained.
Loans and unlisted securities are typically less liquid than securities traded on national exchanges. The secondary market for loans may be subject to irregular trading activity and extended settlement periods, and the liquidity of individual floating rate loans can vary significantly over time. For example, if the credit quality of a floating rate loan unexpectedly declines significantly, secondary market trading in that floating rate loan can also decline. During periods of infrequent trading, valuing a floating rate loan can be more difficult and buying or selling a floating rate loan at an acceptable price may not be possible or may be delayed. A delay in selling a floating rate loan or security can result in a loss and cause the fund’s price to decline.
Foreign investing risks To the extent the fund holds foreign securities, it will be subject to special risks, whether the securities are denominated in U.S. dollars or foreign currencies. These risks include potentially adverse local, political, social, and economic conditions overseas, greater volatility, lower liquidity, and the possibility that foreign currencies will decline against the U.S. dollar, lowering the value of securities denominated in those currencies and possibly the fund’s share price. These risks are heightened for the fund’s investments in emerging markets, which are more susceptible to governmental interference, less efficient trading markets, and the imposition of local taxes or restrictions on gaining access to sales proceeds for foreign investors.
Derivatives risks The fund’s use of credit default swaps and options exposes the fund to additional volatility in comparison to investing directly in bonds and other debt instruments. These instruments can experience reduced liquidity and become difficult to value, and any of these instruments not traded on an exchange are subject to the risk that a counterparty to the transaction will fail to meet its obligations under the derivatives contract. The use of these instruments involves the risks that anticipated changes in the creditworthiness of an issuer or appreciation in an underlying security will not be accurately predicted.
Efforts to reduce risk The portfolio manager may mitigate but not eliminate risk through one or more of the following:
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· Thorough credit research performed by T. Rowe Price analysts;
· Extensive diversification, which helps limit the fund’s exposure to any one industry or issuer;
· Variations in the amount of assets invested in various types of securities; and
· Employing an active sell discipline to reduce unwanted securities.
Additional strategies and risks In addition to the fund’s normal investments, the fund may employ other strategies that are not considered part of its principal investment strategies. Such investments may include other securities including equity securities (such as common stocks), municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, private placements, and, to a limited extent, other types of derivatives than those described in the fund’s principal investment strategies.
Mortgage-backed securities, certain asset-backed securities, and other debt securities that have embedded call options can be negatively impacted when interest rates fall because borrowers tend to refinance and prepay principal. Receiving increasing prepayments in a falling interest rate environment causes the average maturity of the portfolio to shorten, reducing its potential for price gains. It also requires the fund to reinvest proceeds at lower interest rates, which reduces the fund’s total return and yield, and could result in a loss if bond prices fall below the level that the fund paid for them.
Mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities are also subject to extension risk, which is the risk that a rise in interest rates or lack of refinancing opportunities can cause the fund’s average maturity to lengthen unexpectedly due to a drop in expected prepayments of mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, and callable debt securities. This would increase the fund’s sensitivity to rising rates and its potential for price declines.
Private placement securities are considered to be restricted securities since they cannot be resold without registration or an exemption from registration, features that make them difficult to sell and may negatively impact the price at which they can be ultimately sold. In addition, the issuer typically does not have an obligation to provide liquidity to investors by buying the securities back when the investor wants to sell. Since the offering is not registered with the SEC, investors in a private placement have less protection under the federal securities laws against improper practices than investors in registered securities.
Many private placement securities are issued by companies that are not required to file periodic financial reports, leading to challenges in evaluating the company’s overall business prospects and gauging how the investment is likely to perform over time. The more limited financial information and lack of publicly available prices require the fund to determine a fair value for such investments. The assignments of fair value prices to private placements consider a wide variety of factors and are reviewed on a regular basis and updated as additional information becomes available.
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However, the valuation involves a significant amount of judgment and the fair value prices determined for the fund could differ from those of other market participants.
A derivative involves risks different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in the assets on which the derivative is based. Derivatives can be highly volatile, illiquid, and difficult to value. Changes in the value of a derivative may not properly correlate with changes in the value of the underlying asset, reference rate, or index. The fund could be exposed to significant losses if it is unable to close a derivatives position due to the lack of a liquid trading market. Derivatives involve the risk that a counterparty to the derivatives agreement will fail to make required payments or comply with the terms of the agreement. There is also the possibility that limitations or trading restrictions may be imposed by an exchange or government regulation, which could adversely impact the value and liquidity of a derivatives contract subject to such regulation.
Recent regulations have changed the requirements related to the use of certain derivatives. Some of these new regulations have limited the availability of certain derivatives and made their use by funds more costly. The SEC has proposed a rule that would change the regulation of derivatives and how they are used by registered investment companies, such as the T. Rowe Price Funds. If adopted as proposed, the rule could require significant changes to the funds’ use of derivatives. It is expected that additional changes to the regulatory framework will occur, but the extent and impact of additional new regulations are not certain at this time.
The Statement of Additional Information contains more detailed information about the fund and its investments, operations, and expenses.
This section takes a detailed look at some of the types of the fund’s holdings and the various kinds of investment practices that may be used in day-to-day portfolio management. The fund’s investments are subject to further restrictions and risks described in the Statement of Additional Information.
Shareholder approval is required to substantively change the fund’s investment objective. Shareholder approval is also required to change certain investment restrictions noted in the following section as “fundamental policies.” Portfolio managers also follow certain “operating policies” that can be changed without shareholder approval. Shareholders will receive at least 60 days’ prior notice of a change in the fund’s policy requiring it to normally invest at least 80% of its net assets in U.S. high yield instruments.
The fund’s holdings in certain kinds of investments cannot exceed maximum percentages as set forth in this prospectus and the Statement of Additional
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Information. For instance, there are limitations regarding the fund’s investments in certain types of derivatives. While these restrictions provide a useful level of detail about the fund’s investments, investors should not view them as an accurate gauge of the potential risk of such investments. For example, in a given period, a 5% investment in derivatives could have a significantly greater impact on the fund’s share price than its weighting in the portfolio. The net effect of a particular investment depends on its volatility and the size of its overall return in relation to the performance of all other fund investments.
Certain investment restrictions, such as a required minimum or maximum investment in a particular type of security, are measured at the time the fund purchases a security. The status, market value, maturity, duration, credit quality, or other characteristics of the fund’s securities may change after they are purchased, and this may cause the amount of the fund’s assets invested in such securities to exceed the stated maximum restriction or fall below the stated minimum restriction. If any of these changes occur, it would not be considered a violation of the investment restriction and will not require the sale of an investment if it was proper at the time the investment was made (this exception does not apply to the fund’s borrowing policy). However, certain changes will require holdings to be sold or purchased by the fund during the time it is above or below the stated percentage restriction in order for the fund to be in compliance with applicable restrictions.
Changes in the fund’s holdings, the fund’s performance, and the contribution of various investments to the fund’s performance are discussed in the shareholder reports.
Portfolio managers have considerable discretion in choosing investment strategies and selecting securities they believe will help achieve the fund’s objective.
Types of Portfolio Securities
In seeking to meet its investment objective, the fund may invest in any type of security or instrument (including certain potentially high-risk derivatives described in this section) whose investment characteristics are consistent with its investment program. The following pages describe various types of the fund’s holdings and investment management practices.
Diversification As a fundamental policy, the fund will not purchase a security if, as a result, with respect to 75% of its total assets, more than 5% of the fund’s total assets would be invested in securities of a single issuer or more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of the issuer would be held by the fund. These limitations do not apply to the fund’s purchases of securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies, or instrumentalities.
Bonds
A bond is an interest-bearing security. The issuer has a contractual obligation to pay interest at a stated rate on specific dates and to repay principal (the bond’s face value)
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on a specified date. An issuer may have the right to redeem or “call” a bond before maturity, and the investor may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower market rates. Bonds can be issued by U.S. and foreign governments, states, and municipalities, as well as a wide variety of companies.
A bond’s annual interest income, set by its coupon rate, is usually fixed for the life of the bond. Its yield (income as a percent of current price) will fluctuate to reflect changes in interest rate levels. A bond’s price usually rises when interest rates fall and vice versa, so its yield generally stays consistent with current market conditions. High yield bond prices may be less directly responsive to interest rate changes than investment-grade issues and may not always follow this pattern.
Conventional fixed rate bonds offer a coupon rate for a fixed maturity with no adjustment for inflation. Real rate of return bonds also offer a fixed coupon but include ongoing inflation adjustments for the life of the bond.
Bonds may be unsecured (backed by the issuer’s general creditworthiness only) or secured (also backed by specified collateral). Most high yield “junk” bonds are unsecured. Bonds include asset- and mortgage-backed securities.
Certain bonds have floating or variable interest rates that are adjusted periodically based on a particular index. These interest rate adjustments tend to minimize fluctuations in the bonds’ principal values. The maturity of certain floating rate securities may be shortened under certain specified conditions.
Zero Coupon Bonds and Pay-in-Kind Bonds
A zero coupon bond does not make cash interest payments during a portion or all of the life of the bond. Instead, it is sold at a deep discount to face value, and the interest consists of the gradual appreciation in price as the bond approaches maturity. Zero coupon bonds can be an attractive financing method for issuers with near-term cash-flow problems or seeking to preserve liquidity. Pay-in-kind bonds pay interest in cash or additional securities, at the issuer’s option, for a specified period. Like zero coupon bonds, they may help a corporation conserve cash flow. Pay-in-kind prices reflect the market value of the underlying debt plus any accrued interest. Zero coupon bonds and pay-in-kinds can be higher- or lower-quality debt, and both are more volatile than coupon bonds. There is no limit on the fund’s investments in these securities.
The fund is required to distribute to shareholders income imputed to any zero coupon bonds or pay-in-kind investments even though such income may not be received by the fund as distributable cash. Such distributions could reduce the fund’s reserve position and require it to sell securities and incur a gain or loss at a time it may not otherwise want to in order to provide the cash necessary for these distributions.
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Common and Preferred Stocks
Stocks represent shares of ownership in a company. Generally, preferred stocks have a specified dividend rate and rank after bonds and before common stocks in their 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 and profits may be paid out in dividends or reinvested in the company to help it grow. Increases and decreases 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, the fund may decide to purchase preferred stock where the issuer has suspended, or is in danger of suspending, payment of its dividend.
Convertible Securities, Contingent Capital Securities, and Warrants
Investments may be made in debt or preferred equity securities that are convertible into, or exchangeable for, equity securities at specified times in the future and according to a certain exchange ratio. Convertible bonds are typically callable by the issuer, which could in effect force conversion before the holder would otherwise choose. Traditionally, convertible securities have paid dividends or interest at rates higher than common stocks but lower than nonconvertible securities. They generally participate in the appreciation or depreciation of the underlying stock into which they are convertible, but to a lesser degree than common stock. Some convertible securities combine higher or lower current income with options and other features. Contingent capital securities are securities issued by banks and other financial institutions that are intended to provide a buffer (i.e., loss absorption) under scenarios when it may be difficult for the institution to raise new capital. Many of these securities are designed with features to either convert into equity of the issuer or have their principal written down by a predetermined percentage upon the occurrence of certain triggers. The principal write-down features may be triggered upon conditions such as the issuer’s capital ratio falling below a certain level or the financial system being deemed in crisis based on an assessment by regulators or objective indicators such as aggregate losses. Contingent capital securities carry the risk that conditions could cause the principal to be written down to zero and that a coupon could be cancelled at the financial institution’s discretion or at the request of regulators to help the institution absorb losses. Warrants are options to buy, directly from the issuer, a stated number of shares of common stock at a specified price anytime during the life of the warrants (generally, two or more years). Warrants have no voting rights, pay no dividends, and can be highly volatile. In some cases, the redemption value of a warrant could be zero.
Operating policy The fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in equity securities, including no more than 10% of its net assets in warrants.
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Bank Loans and Floating Rate Debt Securities
Floating rate bank loans and floating rate and variable rate debt securities have interest rates that reset periodically. Floating rate loans may include term loans, delayed draw term loans, bridge loans, and synthetic (or funded) letters of credit. Floating rate debt securities include variable rate bonds and notes.
Floating rate loans may be senior or subordinated obligations of the borrower and may be unsecured or secured by collateral of the borrower. Senior floating rate loans have a claim to the assets of the borrower that is senior to certain other creditors of the borrower and to certain other floating rate loans (such as second lien loans). The proceeds of floating rate loans are used by the borrower for a variety of purposes, including financing leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, mergers, acquisitions, stock repurchases, dividends, and to finance internal growth. The fund may invest in loans where a company is in uncertain financial condition, where the borrower has defaulted in the payment of interest or principal or performance of its covenants or agreements, or is involved in bankruptcy proceedings, reorganizations, or financial restructurings.
A term loan is a loan that has a specified repayment schedule. A delayed draw loan is a special feature in a term loan that permits the borrower to withdraw predetermined portions of the total amount borrowed at certain times. A bridge loan is a short-term loan arrangement typically made by a borrower in anticipation of longer-term permanent financing. Most bridge loans are structured so that their interest rates rise the longer the loans remain outstanding. A letter of credit is a guarantee by a bank that the borrower’s payment to the lender will be received on time and for the correct amount. If the fund enters into a commitment with a borrower regarding a delayed draw term loan or bridge loan, the fund will be obligated on one or more dates in the future to lend the borrower monies (up to an aggregate stated amount) if called upon to do so by the borrower.
Floating rate loans may be acquired as an assignment from another lender who holds a direct interest in the loan, as a participation interest in another lender’s portion of the loan, or directly through an agent acting on behalf of the lenders participating in the loan. In addition, the fund may gain exposure to bank loans through investments in another T. Rowe Price Fund that focuses on floating rate loans.
The fund may invest in loans via assignment, which usually means the fund will have direct contractual rights against the borrower. An assignment typically results in the purchaser succeeding to all rights and obligations under the loan agreement between the assigning lender and the borrower. However, assignments may be arranged through private negotiations, and the rights and obligations acquired by the purchaser of an assignment may differ from, and be more limited than, those held by the assigning lender.
The fund may invest in loans by purchasing a participation interest. A participation interest is a fractional interest in a loan, issued by a lender or other financial
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institution. To the extent the fund invests in loans through participation interests, it will be more difficult for the fund to enforce its rights against the borrower because the fund will have established a direct contractual relationship with the seller of the participation interest but not with the borrower. When the fund invests in a loan by participation, it must rely on another party not only for the enforcement of its rights against the borrower, but also for the receipt and processing of payments due under the loan. Investing in a participation interest may also limit the fund’s right to vote on certain matters in connection with the loan, such as changes to the underlying loan agreement. Where the fund is a participant in a loan, it would be a creditor of the lender and not eligible to file a claim directly as a creditor in the event of the borrower’s bankruptcy.
The fund may make investments in a company through the purchase or execution of a privately negotiated note representing the equivalent of a loan. Larger loans to corporations or governments, including governments of less developed countries, may be shared or syndicated among several lenders, usually banks. The fund could participate in such syndicates or could buy part of a loan, becoming a direct lender. These loans may often be obligations of companies or governments in financial distress or in default.
There is no organized exchange or board of trade on which loans are traded. Instead, the secondary market for loans is an unregulated inter-dealer or inter-bank resale market. Market quotations for a particular loan may vary over time, and if the credit quality of a loan unexpectedly declines, secondary trading of that loan may decline or cease. In general, a secondary market may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods, which may impair the fund’s ability to realize full value and thus cause a significant decline in the fund’s net asset value.
Loans in which the fund invests may require the consent of the borrower and/or the agent prior to sale or assignment. These consent requirements can delay or impede the fund’s ability to sell loans and may adversely affect the price that can be obtained.
Operating policy The fund’s investments in bank loans, including loan participations and assignments, are limited to 15% of its total assets.
Trade Claims
Trade claims are non-securitized rights of payment arising from a business transaction, such as a vendor or supplier extending credit to a company by offering payment terms for products or services. As a result of the bankruptcy of a company, payments on trade claims stop and the claims are subject to compromise along with the other debts of the company. Trade claims may be purchased directly from the creditor or through a broker, and are typically bought at a discount to their face value with the size of the discount reflecting the probability of repayment. Trade claims may experience considerable price volatility and are typically considered to be illiquid.
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Operating policy The fund’s investments in trade claims are limited to 5% of its total assets.
Municipal Securities
The fund may invest in municipal notes and bonds, which are interest-bearing securities issued by state and local governments and governmental authorities to pay for public projects and services. The issuer of a municipal security has a contractual obligation to pay interest at a stated rate and to repay principal (the bond’s face value) on a specified date. An issuer may have the right to redeem or “call” a bond before maturity, which could require reinvestment of the proceeds at lower rates. The fund may purchase insured municipal bonds, which provide a guarantee that the bond’s interest and principal will be paid when due if the issuing entity defaults. Municipal bond insurance does not guarantee the price of the bond.
Income received from most municipal securities is exempt from federal income taxes. As a result, the yield on a municipal bond is typically lower than the yield on a taxable bond of similar quality and maturity. Like a taxable bond, a municipal bond’s price usually rises when interest rates fall and vice versa so its yield generally stays consistent with current market conditions.
Foreign Securities
The fund may invest in foreign securities. Foreign securities could include non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities traded outside of the U.S. and U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers traded in the U.S. (such as Yankee bonds). Investing in foreign securities involves special risks that can increase the potential for losses. These include exposure to potentially adverse local, political, social, and economic developments such as war, political instability, hyperinflation, currency devaluations, and overdependence on particular industries; government interference in markets such as nationalization and exchange controls, expropriation of assets, or imposition of punitive taxes; the imposition of international trade and capital barriers, and other protectionist or retaliatory measures; potentially lower liquidity and higher volatility; possible problems arising from accounting, disclosure, settlement, and regulatory practices and legal rights that differ from U.S. standards; and the potential for fluctuations in foreign exchange rates to decrease the investment’s value (favorable changes can increase its value). These risks are heightened for the fund’s investments in emerging markets.
Foreign securities increase fund diversification and may enhance returns, but they involve special risks, especially from emerging markets.
Operating policy The fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets (excluding reserves) in non-U.S. dollar securities but may invest without limit in bonds denominated in U.S. dollars that are issued by foreign banks and corporations, and registered with the SEC for sale in the U.S. (i.e., Yankee bonds). Subject to the overall limit on the fund’s investments in non-U.S. dollar-denominated foreign securities,
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there is no limit on the amount of foreign investments that may be made in emerging markets.
Mortgage-Backed Securities
The fund may invest in a variety of mortgage-backed securities. Mortgage lenders pool individual home mortgages with similar characteristics to back a certificate or bond, which is sold to investors such as the fund. Interest and principal payments generated by the underlying mortgages are passed through to the investors. The “big three” issuers are the Government National Mortgage Association, the Federal National Mortgage Association, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Government National Mortgage Association certificates are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, while others, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation certificates, are only supported by the ability to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or by the credit of the agency. (Since September 2008, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation have operated under conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, an independent federal agency.) Private mortgage bankers and other institutions also issue mortgage-backed securities.
Mortgage-backed securities are subject to scheduled and unscheduled principal payments as homeowners pay down or prepay their mortgages. As these payments are received, they must be reinvested when interest rates may be higher or lower than on the original mortgage security. Therefore, these securities are not an effective means of locking in long-term interest rates. In addition, when interest rates fall, the rate of mortgage prepayments, including refinancings, tends to increase. Refinanced mortgages are paid off at face value or “par,” causing a loss for any investor who may have purchased the security at a price above par. In such an environment, this risk limits the potential price appreciation of these securities and can negatively affect the fund’s net asset value. When interest rates rise, the prices of mortgage-backed securities can be expected to decline. In addition, when interest rates rise and prepayments slow, the effective duration of mortgage-backed securities extends, resulting in increased price volatility.
Other types of mortgage-backed securities in which the fund may invest include:
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations Collateralized mortgage obligations are debt securities that are fully collateralized by a portfolio of mortgages or mortgage-backed securities including Government National Mortgage Association, Federal National Mortgage Association, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and non-agency-backed mortgages. All interest and principal payments from the underlying mortgages are passed through to the collateralized mortgage obligations in such a way as to create different classes with varying risk characteristics, payment structures, and maturity dates. Collateralized mortgage obligation classes may pay fixed or variable rates of interest, and certain classes have priority over others with respect to the receipt of prepayments and allocation of defaults.
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Stripped Mortgage Securities Stripped mortgage securities are created by separating the interest and principal payments generated by a pool of mortgage-backed securities or a collateralized mortgage obligation to create additional classes of securities. Generally, one class receives interest-only payments and another receives principal-only payments. Unlike other mortgage-backed securities and principal-only strips, the value of interest-only strips tends to move in the same direction as interest rates. The fund can use interest-only strips as a hedge against falling prepayment rates (when interest rates are rising) and/or in an unfavorable market environment. Principal-only strips can be used as a hedge against rising prepayment rates (when interest rates are falling) and/or in a favorable market environment. Interest-only strips and principal-only strips are acutely sensitive to interest rate changes and to the rate of principal prepayments.
A rapid or unexpected increase in prepayments can severely depress the price of interest-only strips, while a rapid or unexpected decrease in prepayments could have the same effect on principal-only strips. Of course, under the opposite conditions these securities may appreciate in value. These securities can be very volatile in price and may have less liquidity than most other mortgage-backed securities. Certain non-stripped collateralized mortgage obligation classes may also exhibit these qualities, especially those that pay variable rates of interest that adjust inversely with, and more rapidly than, short-term interest rates. In addition, if interest rates rise rapidly and prepayment rates slow more than expected, certain collateralized mortgage obligation classes, in addition to losing value, can exhibit characteristics of long-term securities and become more volatile. There is no guarantee that the fund’s investments in collateralized mortgage obligations, interest-only strips, or principal-only strips will be successful, and the fund’s total return could be adversely affected as a result.
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities Commercial mortgage-backed securities are securities created from a pool of commercial mortgage loans, such as loans for hotels, shopping centers, office buildings, and apartment buildings. Interest and principal payments from the loans are passed on to the investor according to a schedule of payments. Credit quality depends primarily on the quality of the loans themselves and on the structure of the particular deal. Generally, deals are structured with senior and subordinate classes. The degree of subordination is determined by the rating agencies who rate the individual classes of the structure. Commercial mortgages are generally structured with prepayment penalties, which greatly reduce prepayment risk to the investor. However, the value of these securities may change because of actual or perceived changes in the creditworthiness of the individual borrowers, their tenants, the servicing agents, or the general state of commercial real estate.
Asset-Backed Securities
An underlying pool of assets, such as credit card or automobile trade receivables or corporate loans or bonds, backs these bonds and provides the interest and principal payments to investors. On occasion, the pool of assets may also include a swap
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obligation, which is used to change the cash flows on the underlying assets. As an example, a swap may be used to allow floating rate assets to back a fixed rate obligation. Credit quality depends primarily on the quality of the underlying assets, the level of any credit support provided by the structure or by a third-party insurance wrap or a line of credit, and the credit quality of the swap counterparty, if any. The underlying assets (i.e., loans) are sometimes subject to prepayments, which can shorten the security’s effective maturity and may lower its return. The value of these securities also may change because of actual or perceived changes in the creditworthiness of the individual borrowers, the originator, the servicing agent, the financial institution providing the credit support, or the swap counterparty. The fund will invest the loan proceeds in additional securities and other assets consistent with its investment program. Investments in asset-backed securities can include collateralized loan obligations, which take the form of a special purpose vehicle that owns a pool of loans and receives repayments and cash flows from those loans. The underlying loans are organized into tranches based on their risk profile, with cash flows generated by the underlying loans allocated so that each tranche has its own payment schedule and maturity.
Operating policy The fund’s investments in mortgage- and asset-backed securities are limited to 10% of its total assets.
Derivatives and Leverage
A derivative is a financial instrument whose value is derived from an underlying security, such as a stock or bond, or from a market benchmark, such as an interest rate index. Many types of investments representing a wide range of risks and potential rewards may be considered derivatives, including conventional instruments such as futures and options, as well as other potentially more complex investments such as swaps and structured notes. The use of derivatives can involve leverage. Leverage has the effect of magnifying returns, positively or negatively. The effect on returns will depend on the extent to which an investment is leveraged. For example, an investment of $1, leveraged at 2 to 1, would have the effect of an investment of $2. Leverage ratios can be higher or lower with a corresponding effect on returns. The fund may use derivatives in certain situations to help accomplish any or all of the following: to hedge against a decline in principal value, to increase yield, to manage exposure to changes in interest or currency exchange rates, to invest in eligible asset classes with greater efficiency and at a lower cost than is possible through direct investment, or to adjust portfolio duration or credit risk exposure.
While the fund’s individual investments may involve leverage, it will not invest in any high-risk, highly leveraged derivative instrument that, at the time of entering into the derivative transaction, is expected to cause the overall price volatility of the portfolio to be meaningfully greater than that of a long-term high yield bond.
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Derivatives that may be used include the following instruments, as well as others that combine the risk characteristics and features of futures, options, and swaps:
Futures and Options Futures, a type of potentially high-risk derivative, are often used to manage or hedge risk because they enable the investor to buy or sell an asset in the future at an agreed-upon price. Options, another type of potentially high-risk derivative, may be used to generate additional income, to enhance returns, or as a defensive technique to protect against anticipated declines in the value of an asset. Call options give the investor the right to purchase (when the investor purchases the option), or the obligation to sell (when the investor “writes” or sells the option), an asset at a predetermined price in the future. Put options give the purchaser of the option the right to sell, or the seller (or “writer”) of the option the obligation to buy, an asset at a predetermined price in the future. Futures and options contracts may be bought or sold for any number of reasons, including to manage exposure to changes in interest rates, bond prices, foreign currencies, and credit quality; as an efficient means of increasing or decreasing the fund’s exposure to certain markets; in an effort to enhance income; to improve risk-adjusted returns; to protect the value of portfolio securities; and to serve as a cash management tool. Call or put options may be purchased or sold on securities, futures, financial indexes, and foreign currencies. The fund may choose to continue a futures contract by “rolling over” an expiring futures contract into an identical contract with a later maturity date. This could increase the fund’s transaction costs and portfolio turnover rate.
Futures and options contracts may not always be successful hedges; their prices can be highly volatile; using them could lower the fund’s total return; the potential loss from the use of futures can exceed the fund’s initial investment in such contracts; and the losses from certain options written by the fund could be unlimited.
Operating policies Initial margin deposits on futures and premiums on options used for non-hedging purposes will not exceed 5% of the fund’s net asset value. The total market value of securities covering call or put options may not exceed 25% of the fund’s total assets. No more than 5% of the fund’s total assets will be committed to premiums when purchasing call or put options.
Swaps The fund may invest in interest rate, index, total return, credit default, and other types of swap agreements, as well as options on swaps, commonly referred to as “swaptions,” and interest rate swap futures, which are instruments that provide a way to obtain swap exposure and the benefits of futures in one contract. All of these agreements are considered derivatives and, in certain cases, high-risk derivatives. Interest rate, index, and total return swaps are two-party contracts under which the fund and a counterparty, such as a broker or dealer, agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined investments or indexes. Credit default swaps are agreements where one party (the protection buyer) will make periodic payments to another party (the protection seller) in exchange for protection against specified credit events, such as defaults and bankruptcies related to an issuer or underlying credit instrument. Swap futures are
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futures contracts on interest rate swaps that enable purchasers to settle in cash at a future date at the price determined by a specific benchmark rate at the end of a fixed period. Swaps, swaptions, and swap futures can be used for a variety of purposes, including to manage the fund’s overall exposure to changes in interest or foreign currency exchange rates and credit quality; as an efficient means of adjusting the fund’s exposure to certain markets; in an effort to enhance income or total return or protect the value of portfolio securities; to serve as a cash management tool; and to adjust portfolio duration or credit risk exposure.
There are risks in the use of swaps and related instruments. Swaps could result in losses if interest or foreign currency exchange rates or credit quality changes are not correctly anticipated by the fund. Total return swaps could result in losses if the reference index, security, or investments do not perform as anticipated. Credit default swaps can increase the fund’s exposure to credit risk and could result in losses if evaluation of the creditworthiness of the counterparty, or of the company or government on which the credit default swap is based, is incorrect. The use of swaps, swaptions, and swap futures may not always be successful. Using them could lower the fund’s total return, their prices can be highly volatile, and the potential loss from the use of swaps can exceed the fund’s initial investment in such instruments. Also, the other party to a swap agreement could default on its obligations or refuse to cash out the fund’s investment at a reasonable price, which could turn an expected gain into a loss. Although there should be minimal counterparty risk associated with investments in interest rate swap futures, the fund could experience delays and/or losses due to the bankruptcy of a swap dealer through which the fund engaged in the transaction.
Operating policies A swap agreement with any single counterparty will not be entered into if the net amount owed or to be received under existing contracts with that party would exceed 5% of the fund’s total assets or if the net amount owed or to be received by the fund under all outstanding swap agreements will exceed 10% of its total assets. (Swap agreements that are cleared and settled through a clearinghouse, or traded on an exchange or swap execution facility, are not subject to these limits.) For swaptions, the total market value of securities covering call or put options may not exceed 25% of the fund’s total assets. No more than 5% of the fund’s total assets will be committed to premiums when purchasing call or put swaptions.
Hybrid Instruments Hybrid instruments (a type of potentially high-risk derivative) can combine the characteristics of securities, futures, and options. For example, the principal amount or interest rate of a hybrid could be tied (positively or negatively) to the price of some commodity, currency, security, or securities index or another interest rate (each a “benchmark”). Hybrids can be used as an efficient means of pursuing a variety of investment goals, including currency hedging, duration management, and increased total return. Hybrids may or may not bear interest or pay dividends. The value of a hybrid or its interest rate may be a multiple of a benchmark and, as a result, may be leveraged and move (up or down) more steeply and rapidly
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than the benchmark. These benchmarks may be sensitive to economic and political events, such as commodity shortages and currency devaluations, which cannot be readily foreseen by the purchaser of a hybrid. Under certain conditions, the redemption value of a hybrid could be zero. Thus, an investment in a hybrid may entail significant market risks that are not associated with a similar investment in a traditional, U.S. dollar-denominated bond that has a fixed principal amount and pays a fixed rate or floating rate of interest. The purchase of hybrids also exposes the fund to the credit risk of the issuer of the hybrid. These risks may cause significant fluctuations in the net asset value of the fund.
Hybrids can have volatile prices and limited liquidity, and their use may not be successful.
Operating policy The fund’s investments in hybrid instruments are limited to 10% of its total assets.
Currency Derivatives A fund that invests in foreign securities may attempt to hedge its exposure to potentially unfavorable currency changes. The primary means of doing this is through the use of forward currency exchange contracts, which are contracts between two counterparties to exchange one currency for another on a future date at a specified exchange rate. The fund may also use these instruments to create a synthetic bond, which is issued in one currency with the currency component transformed into another currency. However, futures, swaps, and options on foreign currencies may also be used. In certain circumstances, the fund may use currency derivatives to substitute a different currency for the currency in which the investment is denominated, a strategy known as proxy hedging. If the fund were to engage in any of these foreign currency transactions, it could serve to protect its foreign securities from adverse currency movements relative to the U.S. dollar, although the fund may also use currency derivatives in an effort to gain exposure to a currency expected to appreciate in value versus other currencies. As a result, the fund could be invested in a currency without holding any securities denominated in that currency. Such transactions involve, among other risks, the risk that anticipated currency movements will not occur, which could reduce the fund’s total return. There are certain markets, including many emerging markets, where it is not possible to engage in effective foreign currency hedging.
Operating policy The fund will not commit more than 20% of its total assets to any combination of currency derivatives.
Investments in Other Investment Companies
The fund may invest in other investment companies, including open-end funds, closed-end funds, and exchange-traded funds.
The fund may purchase the securities of another investment company to temporarily gain exposure to a portion of the market while awaiting purchase of securities or as an efficient means of gaining exposure to a particular asset class. The fund might also
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purchase shares of another investment company to gain exposure to the securities in the investment company’s portfolio at times when the fund may not be able to buy those securities directly. Any investment in another investment company would be consistent with the fund’s objective and investment program.
The risks of owning another investment company are generally similar to the risks of investing directly in the securities in which that investment company invests. However, an investment company may not achieve its investment objective or execute its investment strategy effectively, which may adversely affect the fund’s performance. In addition, because closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds trade on a secondary market, their shares may trade at a premium or discount to the actual net asset value of their portfolio securities and their shares may have greater volatility if an active trading market does not exist.
As a shareholder of another investment company, the fund must pay its pro-rata share of that investment company’s fees and expenses. The fund’s investments in non-T. Rowe Price investment companies are subject to the limits that apply to investments in other funds under the Investment Company Act of 1940 or under any applicable exemptive order.
The fund may also invest in certain other T. Rowe Price Funds as a means of gaining efficient and cost-effective exposure to certain asset classes, provided the investment is consistent with the fund’s investment program and policies.
Investments in other investment companies could allow the fund to obtain the benefits of a more diversified portfolio than might otherwise be available through direct investments in a particular asset class, and will subject the fund to the risks associated with the particular asset class or asset classes in which an underlying fund invests. Examples of asset classes in which other mutual funds (including T. Rowe Price Funds) focus their investments include high yield bonds, inflation-linked securities, floating rate loans, international bonds, emerging market bonds, stocks of companies involved in activities related to real assets, stocks of companies that focus on a particular industry or sector, and emerging market stocks. If the fund invests in another T. Rowe Price Fund, the management fee paid by the fund will be reduced to ensure that the fund does not incur duplicate management fees as a result of its investment.
Illiquid Securities
Some of the fund’s holdings may be considered illiquid because they are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale or because they cannot be sold in the ordinary course of business within seven days at approximately the prices at which they are valued. The determination of liquidity involves a variety of factors. Illiquid securities may include private placements that are sold directly to a small number of investors, usually institutions. Unlike public offerings, such securities are not registered with the SEC. Although certain of these securities may be readily sold (for example, pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933) and therefore
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deemed liquid, others may have resale restrictions and be considered illiquid. The sale of illiquid securities may involve substantial delays and additional costs, and the fund may only be able to sell such securities at prices substantially lower than what it believes they are worth.
Operating policy The fund’s investments in illiquid securities are limited to 15% of its net assets.
Types of Investment Management Practices
Reserve Position
A certain portion of the fund’s assets may be held in reserves. The fund’s reserve positions will primarily consist of: 1) shares of a T. Rowe Price internal money fund or short-term bond fund (which does not charge any management fees); 2) short-term, high-quality U.S. and foreign dollar-denominated money market securities, including repurchase agreements; and 3) U.S. dollar or non-U.S. dollar currencies. In order to respond to adverse market, economic, political, or other conditions, the fund may assume a temporary defensive position that is inconsistent with its principal investment objective and/or strategies and may invest, without limitation, in reserves. If the fund has significant holdings in reserves, it could compromise its ability to achieve its objective. The reserve position provides flexibility in meeting redemptions, paying expenses and managing cash flows into the fund, and can serve as a short-term defense during periods of unusual market volatility. Non-U.S. dollar reserves are subject to currency risk.
Short Sales
The fund may sell a security short as a hedge against portfolio holdings that may be expected to decline in value. In short sales, investors sell borrowed securities in hopes of buying them back later at a lower price. However, if the price rises instead of falls, the investor will lose money when repurchasing the security.
Operating policy The fund’s short sales of specific securities are limited to situations where the fund owns a debt security of a company and sells short a different type of security issued by the same company, such as common or preferred stock or a senior or junior debt security. The total market value of all securities sold short may not exceed 2% of the fund’s net assets.
When-Issued Securities and Forwards
The fund may purchase securities on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis or may purchase or sell securities on a forward commitment basis. There is no limit on the fund’s investments in these securities. The price of these securities is fixed at the time of the commitment to buy, but delivery and payment take place after the customary settlement period for that type of security (often a month or more later). During the interim period, the price and yield of the securities can fluctuate, and typically no interest accrues to the purchaser. At the time of delivery, the market value of the securities may be more or less than the purchase or sale price. To the extent the fund remains fully or almost fully invested (in securities with a remaining maturity of more
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than one year) at the same time it purchases these securities, there will be greater fluctuations in the fund’s net asset value than if the fund did not purchase them.
Borrowing Money and Transferring Assets
The fund may borrow from banks, other persons, and other T. Rowe Price Funds for temporary emergency purposes to facilitate redemption requests, or for other purposes consistent with the fund’s policies as set forth in this prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information. Such borrowings may be collateralized with the fund’s assets, subject to restrictions.
Fundamental policy Borrowings may not exceed 331/3% of the fund’s total assets. This limitation applies at the time of the transaction and continues to the extent required by the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Operating policy The fund will not transfer portfolio securities as collateral except as necessary in connection with permissible borrowings or investments, and then such transfers may not exceed 331/3% of its total assets. The fund will not purchase additional securities when its borrowings exceed 5% of its total assets.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
The fund may lend its securities to broker-dealers, other institutions, or other persons to earn additional income. Risks include the potential insolvency of the broker-dealer or other borrower that could result in delays in recovering securities and capital losses. Additionally, losses could result from the reinvestment of collateral received on loaned securities in investments that decline in value, default, or do not perform as well as expected.
Fundamental policy The value of loaned securities may not exceed 331/3% of the fund’s total assets.
Credit Quality Considerations
The credit quality of many fund holdings is evaluated by rating agencies such as Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (Moody’s), S&P Global Ratings (S&P), and Fitch Ratings, Inc. (Fitch). Credit quality refers to the issuer’s ability and willingness to meet all required interest and principal payments. The highest ratings are assigned to issuers perceived to have the lowest credit risks. T. Rowe Price credit research analysts also evaluate the fund’s holdings, including those rated by outside agencies. Other things being equal, bonds and other debt obligations with lower ratings typically have higher yields due to greater credit risk.
Credit quality ratings are not guarantees. They are estimates of an issuer’s creditworthiness and ability to make interest and principal payments as they come due. Ratings can change at any time due to actual or perceived changes in an issuer’s creditworthiness or financial fundamentals.
Bonds rated Baa and above by Moody’s, and BBB and above by S&P and Fitch, are considered to be “investment grade.” Bonds that are rated below these categories are
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considered to have greater credit risk and are referred to as “below investment grade” or “noninvestment grade.” Bonds rated below investment grade range from speculative to highly speculative with respect to the issuer’s ability or willingness to pay interest and repay principal. The following table summarizes the rating scales and associated credit risk assigned by the major rating agencies. Within these categories, the rating may be modified with a symbol (such as 1, 2, and 3, or a plus or minus) to indicate whether the bond is ranked in the higher or lower end of its rating category. T. Rowe Price generally relies upon its own credit analysis when selecting investments.
Ratings of Debt Securities
Moody’s | S&P | Fitch | Description of Category |
Aaa | AAA | AAA | Lowest level of credit risk with extremely strong capacity to meet financial commitments |
Aa | AA | AA | Very low credit risk with very strong capacity to meet financial commitments |
A | A | A | Low credit risk with strong capacity to meet financial commitments |
Baa | BBB | BBB | Moderate credit risk with adequate capacity to meet financial commitments |
Ba | BB | BB | Subject to substantial credit risk and adverse conditions could lead to inadequate capacity to meet financial commitments |
B | B | B | Subject to high credit risk and adverse conditions will likely impair capacity to meet financial commitments |
Caa | CCC | CCC | Subject to very high credit risk and dependent upon favorable conditions to meet financial commitments |
Ca | CC | CC | Highly vulnerable to nonpayment and likely in, or very near, default with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest |
C | C | C | Typically in default with little prospect for recovery of principal and interest |
— | D | D | In default |
Portfolio Turnover
Turnover is an indication of frequency of trading. The fund will not generally trade in securities for short-term profits, but when circumstances warrant, securities may be purchased and sold without regard to the length of time held. Each time the fund purchases or sells a security, it incurs a cost. This cost is reflected in its net asset value but not in its operating expenses. The higher the turnover rate, the higher the transaction costs and the greater the impact on the fund’s total return. Higher turnover can also increase the possibility of taxable capital gain distributions. The
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Predecessor Fund’s portfolio turnover rates are shown in the Financial Highlights tables.
The Financial Highlights tables, which provide information about financial history of the Predecessor Fund, are based on a single share outstanding throughout the periods shown. As a result of the Reorganization, the performance and accounting history of the Predecessor Fund’s Class I were assumed by the fund’s I Class, and the performance and accounting history of the Predecessor Fund’s Class A were assumed by the fund’s Advisor Class. The total returns in the tables represent the rate that an investor would have earned or lost on an investment in the fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions and no payment of any applicable account or redemption fees). The tables are part of the Predecessor Fund’s financial statements, which are included in its annual report and were audited (except for the period ended January, 31, 2017, which is unaudited) by the Predecessor Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP. The financial statements in the annual report are incorporated by reference into the Statement of Additional Information (available upon request). The unaudited financial statements for the semiannual period ended January 31, 2017 are included in the Predecessor Fund’s semiannual report and are also incorporated by reference into the Statement of Additional Information and were audited by the Predecessor Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The Predecessor Fund had a fiscal year-end of July 31. In connection with the Reorganization, the fund changed its fiscal year-end to May 31. Future financial statements will be audited by the fund’s independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
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Financial Highlights
Advisor Class | Six Months Ended 1/31/2017* |
|
|
|
| ||||||
Net asset value, | $9.60 | $9.68 | $10.38 | $9.98 | $10.00 | ||||||
Income(loss) from investment operations | |||||||||||
Net investment income (loss)1 | 0.29 | 0.52 | 0.51 | 0.59 | 0.15 | ||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)2 | 0.42 | (0.10 | ) | (0.39 | ) | 0.45 | (0.06 | ) | |||
Total from investment operations | 0.71 | 0.42 | 0.12 | 1.04 | 0.09 | ||||||
Less Distributions | |||||||||||
Dividends from net investment income | (0.30 | ) | (0.50 | ) | (0.56 | ) | (0.61 | ) | (0.11 | ) | |
Distributions from net realized capital gains | — | — | (0.26 | ) | (0.03 | ) | — | ||||
Total distributions | (0.30 | ) | (0.50 | ) | (0.82 | ) | (0.64 | ) | (0.11 | ) | |
Net asset value, | $10.01 | $9.60 | $9.68 | $10.38 | $9.98 | ||||||
Total return3 | 7.44 | % | 4.63 | % | 1.19 | % | 10.62 | % | 0.92 | % | |
Net assets, end of period (000) | $11,359 | $7,950 | $1,955 | $2,148 | $1,127 | ||||||
Ratio to average net assets | |||||||||||
Annualized ratio of operating expenses to average net assets | 0.93 | % | 1.00 | % | 1.10 | % | 1.10 | % | 1.10 | % | |
Annualized ratio of net investment income/(loss) to average net assets | 5.94 | % | 5.49 | % | 5.09 | % | 5.66 | % | 6.07 | % | |
Annualized ratio of operating expenses to average net assets without waivers and/or expenses reimbursed | 1.17 | % | 1.30 | % | 1.38 | % | 1.68 | % | 2.82 | % | |
Portfolio turnover rate4 | 88 | % | 174 | % | 201 | % | 340 | % | 136 | % | |
* Unaudited.
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** The Predecessor Funds' custodian, State Street Bank, identified that clients were over-billed for certain "out-of-pocket" (OOP) costs during an 18-year period from 1998 until early November 2015. The amount of the difference in what was and what should have been charged, plus interest, was paid back to clients during the period ended 7/31/2016 as a reimbursement. The amount of the reimbursement was immaterial on a per share basis and would not have impacted the total return of the Fund. The "Annualized ratio of net investment income/(loss) to average net assets" and "Annualized ratio of operating expenses to average net assets" would be unchanged as the change to current period custodian fees was offset against current period expense waivers/reimbursements with no impact to net expenses or net investment income. The "Annualized ratio of operating expenses to average net assets without waivers and/or expenses reimbursed" would have been 0.02% higher had the custodian not reimbursed the Fund.
*** The Predecessor Fund commenced operations on April 30, 2013.
1 Per share data was calculated using average shares outstanding during the period.
2 The amount shown for a share outstanding throughout the period may not be in accordance with the aggregate net realized and unrealized gain (loss) because of the timing of sales and repurchases of Predecessor Fund shares in relation to fluctuating market value of the investments in the Predecessor Fund.
3 Total returns are historical and assume changes in share price, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions and no sales charge. Had certain expenses not been waived/reimbursed during the periods shown, total returns would have been lower. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
4 Not annualized for periods less than one year.
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Financial Highlights
I Class | Six Months Ended 1/31/2017* |
|
|
|
| ||||||
Net asset value, | $9.56 | $9.65 | $10.35 | $9.97 | $10.00 | ||||||
Income(loss) from investment operations | |||||||||||
Net investment income (loss)1 | 0.30 | 0.51 | 0.54 | 0.62 | 0.16 | ||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)2 | 0.42 | (0.08 | ) | (0.39 | ) | 0.43 | (0.06 | ) | |||
Total from investment operations | 0.72 | 0.43 | 0.15 | 1.05 | 0.10 | ||||||
Less Distributions | |||||||||||
Dividends from net investment income | (0.31 | ) | (0.52 | ) | (0.59 | ) | (0.64 | ) | (0.13 | ) | |
Distributions from net realized capital gains | — | — | (0.26 | ) | (0.03 | ) | — | ||||
Total distributions | (0.31 | ) | (0.52 | ) | (0.85 | ) | (0.67 | ) | (0.13 | ) | |
Net asset value, | $9.97 | $9.56 | $9.65 | $10.35 | $9.97 | ||||||
Total return3 | 7.61 | % | 4.76 | % | 1.48 | % | 10.76 | % | 1.06 | % | |
Net assets, end of period (000) | $19,966 | $9,003 | $21,882 | $23,235 | $23,608 | ||||||
Ratio to average net assets | |||||||||||
Annualized ratio of operating expenses to average net assets | 0.68 | % | 0.81 | % | 0.85 | % | 0.85 | % | 0.85 | % | |
Annualized ratio of net investment income/(loss) to average net assets | 6.19 | % | 5.50 | % | 5.37 | % | 6.02 | % | 6.27 | % | |
Annualized ratio of operating expenses to average net assets without waivers and/or expenses reimbursed | 0.90 | % | 1.15 | % | 1.15 | % | 1.38 | % | 1.82 | % | |
Portfolio turnover rate4 | 88 | % | 174 | % | 201 | % | 340 | % | 136 | % | |
* Unaudited.
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** The Predecessor Funds' custodian, State Street Bank, identified that clients were over-billed for certain "out-of-pocket" (OOP) costs during an 18-year period from 1998 until early November 2015. The amount of the difference in what was and what should have been charged, plus interest, was paid back to clients during the period ended 7/31/2016 as a reimbursement. The amount of the reimbursement was immaterial on a per share basis and would not have impacted the total return of the Fund. The "Annualized ratio of net investment income/(loss) to average net assets" and "Annualized ratio of operating expenses to average net assets" would be unchanged as the change to current period custodian fees was offset against current period expense waivers/reimbursements with no impact to net expenses or net investment income. The "Annualized ratio of operating expenses to average net assets without waivers and/or expenses reimbursed" would have been 0.02% higher had the custodian not reimbursed the Fund.
*** The Predecessor Fund commenced operations on April 30, 2013.
1 Per share data was calculated using average shares outstanding during the period.
2 The amount shown for a share outstanding throughout the period may not be in accordance with the aggregate net realized and unrealized gain (loss) because of the timing of sales and repurchases of Predecessor Fund shares in relation to fluctuating market value of the investments in the Predecessor Fund.
3 Total returns are historical and assume changes in share price, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions and no sales charge. Had certain expenses not been waived/reimbursed during the periods shown, total returns would have been lower. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
4 Not annualized for periods less than one year.
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The T. Rowe Price Funds’ full portfolio holdings as of their fiscal year-end are disclosed in their annual shareholder reports and their full portfolio holdings as of their fiscal mid-point are disclosed in their semiannual shareholder reports. The annual and semiannual shareholder reports are filed with the SEC and sent to the funds’ shareholders within 60 days of the period covered. The T. Rowe Price Funds also disclose their full portfolio holdings as of their first and third fiscal quarter-ends on Form N-Q. Form N-Q is filed with the SEC within 60 days of the period covered, but is not sent to the funds’ shareholders. Under certain conditions, the shareholder reports and Form N-Q may include up to 5% of a fund’s holdings under the caption “Miscellaneous Securities” without identifying the specific security or issuer. Generally, a holding would not be individually identified if it is determined that its disclosure could be harmful to the fund or its shareholders. A holding will not be excluded for these purposes from a fund’s SEC filings for more than one year. The money market funds also file detailed month-end portfolio holdings information on Form N-MFP with the SEC each month. Form N-MFP, as well as the shareholder reports and Form N-Q, are publicly available immediately upon filing with the SEC.
In addition, the T. Rowe Price Funds disclose their calendar quarter-end full portfolio holdings on troweprice.com 15 calendar days after each quarter. These holdings reports may exclude the issuer name and other information relating to a holding in order to protect the fund’s interests and prevent harm to the fund or its shareholders. Private placements and other restricted securities may not be individually identified in the calendar quarter-end holdings on troweprice.com, but would be disclosed in any SEC filings. Money market funds also disclose on troweprice.com their month-end full portfolio holdings five business days after each month-end and historical information about fund investments for the previous six months, as of the last business day of the preceding month. This information includes, among other things, the percentage of the fund’s investments in daily and weekly liquid assets, the fund’s weighted average maturity and weighted average life, the fund’s market-based net asset value, and the fund’s net inflows and outflows. The calendar quarter-end portfolio holdings will remain on the website for one year and the month-end money market fund portfolio holdings will remain on the website for six months. In addition, the T. Rowe Price Funds disclose their 10 largest holdings on troweprice.com on the seventh business day after each month-end. These holdings are listed in alphabetical order along with the aggregate percentage of the fund’s total assets that these 10 holdings represent. Each monthly top 10 list will remain on the website for six months. A description of T. Rowe Price’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of portfolio information is available in the Statement of Additional Information.
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The following policies and procedures generally apply to Investor Class, I Class, Advisor Class, and R Class accounts in the T. Rowe Price Funds.
This section of the prospectus explains the basics of investing with T. Rowe Price and describes some of the different share classes that may be available. Certain share classes can be held directly with T. Rowe Price, while other share classes must typically be held through a financial intermediary, such as a bank, broker, retirement plan recordkeeper, or investment adviser.
Each class of a fund’s shares represents an interest in the same fund with the same investment program and investment policies. However, each class is designed for a different type of investor and has a different cost structure primarily due to shareholder services or distribution arrangements that may apply only to that class. For example, certain classes may make payments to financial intermediaries for various administrative services they provide (commonly referred to as administrative fee payments) and/or make payments to certain financial intermediaries for distribution of the fund’s shares (commonly referred to as 12b-1 fee payments). Determining the most appropriate share class depends on many factors, including how much you plan to invest, whether you are investing directly in the fund or through a financial intermediary, and whether you are investing on behalf of a person or an organization.
While many T. Rowe Price Funds are offered in more than one class, not all funds are offered in the classes described in this section. The front cover and Section 1 of this prospectus indicate which share classes are available for the fund. This section generally describes the differences between Investor Class, I Class, Advisor Class, and R Class shares. This section does not describe the policies that apply to accounts in T. Rowe Price institutional funds and certain other types of funds. Policies for these other funds are described in their respective prospectuses and all available share classes for the T. Rowe Price Funds are described more fully in the funds’ Statement of Additional Information.
Investor Class
A T. Rowe Price Fund that does not include the term “institutional” or indicate a specific share class as part of its name is considered to be the Investor Class of that
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fund. The Investor Class is generally designed for individual investors, but is also available to institutions and a wide variety of other types of investors. The Investor Class may be purchased directly from T. Rowe Price or through a retirement plan or financial intermediary. The Investor Class does not impose sales charges and does not make any 12b-1 fee payments to financial intermediaries but may make administrative fee payments at an annual rate of up to 0.15% of the class’ average daily net assets.
I Class
The I Class may be purchased directly from T. Rowe Price or through a financial intermediary. The I Class does not impose sales charges and does not make any administrative fee payments or 12b-1 fee payments to financial intermediaries. However, you may incur brokerage commissions and other charges when buying or selling I Class shares.
I Class shares are designed to be sold to corporations, endowments and foundations, charitable trusts, defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans, brokers, registered investment advisers, banks and bank trust programs, investment companies and other pooled investment vehicles, and certain individuals meeting the investment minimum or other specific criteria. The I Class generally requires a $1,000,000 initial investment minimum, although the minimum may be waived for retirement plans, financial intermediaries maintaining omnibus accounts for their customers, client accounts for which T. Rowe Price or its affiliate has discretionary investment authority, and certain other accounts. For investors holding the I Class through a T. Rowe Price managed account program, the fees and terms and conditions of the managed account program will be applicable. Accounts that are not eligible for the I Class may be converted to the Investor Class following notice to the financial intermediary or investor.
Advisor Class
The Advisor Class is designed to be sold through various financial intermediaries, such as broker-dealers, banks, insurance companies, retirement plan recordkeepers, and financial advisors. The Advisor Class must be purchased through an eligible financial intermediary (except for certain retirement plans held directly with T. Rowe Price). The Advisor Class does not impose sales charges but may make 12b-1 fee payments at an annual rate of up to 0.25% of the class’ average daily net assets and may also separately make administrative fee payments at an annual rate of up to 0.15% of the class’ average daily net assets.
The Advisor Class requires an agreement between the financial intermediary and T. Rowe Price to be executed prior to investment. Purchases of Advisor Class shares for which the required agreement with T. Rowe Price has not been executed or that are not made through an eligible financial intermediary are subject to rejection or cancellation without prior notice to the financial intermediary or investor, and
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accounts that are no longer eligible for the Advisor Class may be converted to the Investor Class following notice to the financial intermediary or investor.
R Class
The R Class is designed to be sold through financial intermediaries for employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans and certain other accounts. The R Class must be purchased through an eligible financial intermediary (except for certain retirement plans held directly with T. Rowe Price). The R Class does not impose sales charges but may make 12b-1 fee payments at an annual rate of up to 0.50% of the class’ average daily net assets and may also separately make administrative fee payments at an annual rate of up to 0.15% of the class’ average daily net assets.
The R Class requires an agreement between the financial intermediary and T. Rowe Price to be executed prior to investment. Purchases of R Class shares for which the required agreement with T. Rowe Price has not been executed or that are not made through an eligible financial intermediary are subject to rejection or cancellation without prior notice to the financial intermediary or investor, and accounts that are no longer eligible for the R Class may be converted to the Investor Class or Advisor Class following notice to the financial intermediary or investor.
Administrative Fee Payments (Investor Class, Advisor Class, and R Class)
Certain financial intermediaries perform recordkeeping and administrative services for their clients that would otherwise be performed by the funds’ transfer agent. T. Rowe Price Funds (other than I Class shares) may make administrative fee payments to retirement plan recordkeepers, broker-dealers, and other financial intermediaries (at an annual rate of up to 0.15% of the fund’s average daily net assets) for transfer agency, recordkeeping, and other administrative services that they provide on behalf of the funds. These administrative services may include maintaining account records for each customer; transmitting purchase and redemption orders; delivering shareholder confirmations, statements, and tax forms; and providing support to respond to customers’ questions regarding their accounts. Except for funds that have an all-inclusive management fee, these separate administrative fee payments are reflected in the “Other expenses” line that appears in a fund’s fee table in Section 1.
12b-1 Fee Payments (Advisor Class and R Class)
Mutual funds are permitted to adopt a 12b-1 plan to pay certain expenses associated with the distribution of the fund’s shares out of the fund’s assets. Each fund offering Advisor and/or R Class shares has adopted a 12b-1 plan under which those classes may make payments (for the Advisor Class, at an annual rate of up to 0.25% of the
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class’ average daily net assets, and for the R Class, at an annual rate of up to 0.50% of the class’ average daily net assets) to various financial intermediaries, such as brokers, banks, insurance companies, investment advisers, and retirement plan recordkeepers for distribution and/or shareholder servicing of the Advisor and R Class shares. The 12b-1 plans provide for the class to pay such fees to the fund’s distributor and for the distributor to then pay such fees to the financial intermediaries that provide services for the class and/or make the class available to investors.
For the Advisor Class, distribution payments may include payments to financial intermediaries for making the Advisor Class shares available to their customers (e.g., providing the fund with “shelf space” or inclusion on a “preferred list” or “supermarket” platform). For the R Class, distribution payments may include payments to financial intermediaries for making the R Class shares available as investment options to retirement plans and retirement plan participants, assisting plan sponsors in conducting searches for investment options, and providing ongoing monitoring of investment options.
Shareholder servicing payments under the plans may include payments to financial intermediaries for providing shareholder support services to existing shareholders of the Advisor and R Class. These payments may be more or less than the costs incurred by the financial intermediaries. Because the fees are paid from the Advisor Class or R Class net assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase the cost of your investment over time. In addition, payments of 12b-1 fees may influence your financial advisor’s recommendation of the fund or of any particular share class of the fund. 12b-1 fee payments are reflected in the “Distribution and service (12b-1) fees” line that appears in a fund’s fee table in Section 1.
Comparison of Fees
The following table summarizes the distribution and shareholder servicing fee arrangements applicable to each class.
Class | 12b-1 Fee Payments | Administrative Fee Payments |
Investor Class | None | Up to 0.15% per year |
I Class | None | None |
Advisor Class | Up to 0.25% per year | Up to 0.15% per year |
R Class | Up to 0.50% per year | Up to 0.15% per year |
Investor Class
In an effort to help offset the disproportionately high costs incurred by the funds in connection with servicing lower-balance accounts that are held directly with the T. Rowe Price Funds’ transfer agent, an annual $20 account service fee (paid to T. Rowe Price Services, Inc., or one of its affiliates) is charged to certain Investor
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Class accounts with a balance below $10,000. The determination of whether a fund account is subject to the account service fee is based on account balances and services selected for accounts as of the last business day of August. The fee may be charged to an account with a balance below $10,000 for any reason, including market fluctuation and recent redemptions. The fee, which is automatically deducted from an account by redeeming fund shares, is typically charged to accounts in early September each calendar year. Such redemption may result in a taxable gain or loss to you.
The account service fee generally does not apply to fund accounts that are held through a financial intermediary, participant accounts in employer-sponsored retirement plans for which T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services provides recordkeeping services, or money market funds that are used as a T. Rowe Price Brokerage sweep account. Regardless of a particular fund account’s balance on the last business day of August, the account service fee is automatically waived for accounts that satisfy any of the following conditions:
· Any accounts for which the shareholder has elected to receive electronic delivery of all of the following: account statements, transaction confirmations, prospectuses, and shareholder reports;
· Any accounts of a shareholder with at least $50,000 in total assets with T. Rowe Price (for this purpose, total assets includes investments through T. Rowe Price Brokerage and investments in T. Rowe Price Funds, except for those held through a retirement plan for which T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services provides recordkeeping services); or
· Any accounts of a shareholder who is a T. Rowe Price Client Services client—visit troweprice.com or call 1-800-537-1098 for more information.
T. Rowe Price reserves the right to authorize additional waivers for other types of accounts or to modify the conditions for assessment of the account service fee. Fund shares held in a T. Rowe Price IRA, Education Savings Account, or small business retirement plan account (including certain 403(b) plan accounts) are subject to the account service fee and may be subject to additional administrative fees when distributing all fund shares from such accounts.
Investor and I Class shares may be purchased directly from T. Rowe Price or through various financial intermediaries. Advisor and R Class shares must be purchased through a financial intermediary (except for certain retirement plans held directly at T. Rowe Price). If you are opening an account through an employer-sponsored retirement plan or other financial intermediary, you should contact the retirement plan or financial intermediary for information regarding its policies on opening an
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account, including the policies relating to purchasing, exchanging, and redeeming shares, and the applicable initial and subsequent investment minimums.
Tax Identification Number
Investors must provide T. Rowe Price with a valid Social Security number or taxpayer identification number on a signed New Account Form or W-9 Form, and financial intermediaries must provide T. Rowe Price with their certified taxpayer identification number. Otherwise, federal law requires the funds to withhold a percentage of dividends, capital gain distributions, and redemptions and may subject you or the financial intermediary to an Internal Revenue Service fine. If this information is not received within 60 days of the account being established, the account may be redeemed at the fund’s then-current net asset value.
Important Information Required to Open a New Account
Pursuant to federal law, all financial institutions must obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person or entity that opens an account. This information is needed not only for the account owner and any other person who opens the account, but also for any person who has authority to act on behalf of the account.
When you open an account, you will be asked for the name, U.S. street address (post office boxes are not acceptable), date of birth, and Social Security number or taxpayer identification number for each account owner and person(s) opening an account on behalf of others, such as custodians, agents, trustees, or other authorized signers. Corporate and other institutional accounts require documents showing the existence of the entity (such as articles of incorporation or partnership agreements) to open an account. Certain other fiduciary accounts (such as trusts or power of attorney arrangements) require documentation, which may include an original or certified copy of the trust agreement or power of attorney, to open an account.
T. Rowe Price will use this information to verify the identity of the person(s)/entity opening the account. An account cannot be opened until all of this information is received. If the identity of the account holder cannot be verified, T. Rowe Price is authorized to take any action permitted by law. (See “Rights Reserved by the Funds” later in this section.)
Institutional investors and financial intermediaries should call Financial Institution Services at 1-800-638-8790 for more information on these requirements, as well as to be assigned an account number and instructions for opening an account. Other investors should call Investor Services at 1-800-638-5660 for more information on these requirements.
The funds are generally available only to investors residing in the United States. However, purchases in state tax-free funds are limited to investors living in states where the fund is available for sale. The address of record on your account must be located in one of these states or you will be restricted from opening an account. In
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addition, nongovernment money market funds that operate as “retail money market funds” pursuant to Rule 2a-7 are required to limit their beneficial owners to natural persons. An investor in a retail money market fund is required to demonstrate eligibility (for example, by providing a valid Social Security number) before an account can be opened.
How and When Shares Are Priced
The trade date for your transaction request depends on the day and time that T. Rowe Price receives your request and will normally be executed using the next share price calculated after your order is received in correct form by T. Rowe Price or its agent (or by your financial intermediary if it has the authority to accept transaction orders on behalf of the fund). The share price, also called the net asset value, for each share class of a fund is calculated as of the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), which is normally 4 p.m. ET, on each day that the NYSE is open for business. Net asset values are not calculated for the funds on days when the NYSE is scheduled to be closed for trading (for example, weekends and certain U.S. national holidays). If the NYSE is unexpectedly closed due to weather or other extenuating circumstances on a day it would typically be open for business, or if the NYSE has an unscheduled early closing on a day it has opened for business, the funds reserve the right to treat such day as a business day and accept purchase and redemption orders and calculate their share price as of the normally scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE for that day.
To calculate the net asset value, a fund’s assets are valued and totaled, liabilities are subtracted, and each class’ proportionate share of the balance, called net assets, is divided by the number of shares outstanding of that class. Market values are used to price portfolio holdings for which market quotations are readily available. Market values generally reflect the prices at which securities actually trade or represent prices that have been adjusted based on evaluations and information provided by the fund’s pricing services. Investments in other mutual funds are valued at the closing net asset value per share of the mutual fund on the day of valuation. If a market value for a portfolio holding is not available or normal valuation procedures are deemed to be inappropriate, the fund will make a good faith effort to assign a fair value to the holding by taking into account various factors and methodologies that have been approved by the fund’s Board. This value may differ from the value the fund receives upon sale of the securities.
Amortized cost is used to price securities held by money market funds and certain short-term debt securities held by other funds. The retail and government money market funds, which seek to maintain a stable net asset value of $1.00, use the amortized cost method of valuation to calculate their net asset value. Amortized cost
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allows the money market funds to value a holding at the fund’s acquisition cost with adjustments for any premiums or discounts, and then round the net asset value per share to the nearest whole cent. The amortized cost method of valuation enables the money market funds to maintain a $1.00 net asset value, but it may also result in periods during which the stated value of a security held by the funds differs from the market-based price the funds would receive if they sold that holding. The current market-based net asset value per share for each business day in the preceding six months is available for the retail and government money market funds through troweprice.com. These market-based net asset values are for informational purposes only and are not used to price transactions.
The funds use various pricing services to provide closing market prices and information used to adjust those prices and to value most fixed income securities. A fund cannot predict how often it will use closing prices and how often it will adjust those prices. As a means of evaluating its fair value process, the fund routinely compares closing market prices, the next day’s opening prices in the same markets, and adjusted prices.
Non-U.S. equity securities are valued on the basis of their most recent closing market prices at 4 p.m. ET, except under the following circumstances. Most foreign markets close before 4 p.m. ET. For example, the most recent closing prices for securities traded in certain Asian markets may be as much as 15 hours old at 4 p.m. ET. If a fund determines that developments between the close of a foreign market and the close of the NYSE will affect the value of some or all of the fund’s securities, the fund will adjust the previous closing prices to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities as of 4 p.m. ET. In deciding whether to make these adjustments, the fund reviews a variety of factors, including developments in foreign markets, the performance of U.S. securities markets, and the performance of instruments trading in U.S. markets that represent foreign securities and baskets of foreign securities.
A fund may also fair value certain securities or a group of securities in other situations—for example, when a particular foreign market is closed but the fund is open. For a fund that has investments in securities that are primarily listed on foreign exchanges which trade on weekends or other days when the fund does not price its shares, the fund’s net asset value may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or redeem the fund’s shares. If an event occurs that affects the value of a security after the close of the market, such as a default of a commercial paper issuer or a significant move in short-term interest rates, a fund may make a price adjustment depending on the nature and significance of the event. The funds also evaluate a variety of factors when assigning fair values to private placements and other restricted securities. Other mutual funds may adjust the prices of their securities by different amounts or assign different fair values than the fair value that the fund assigns to the same security.
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The various ways you can purchase, sell, and exchange shares are explained throughout this section. These procedures differ based on whether you hold your account directly with T. Rowe Price or through an employer-sponsored retirement plan or financial intermediary.
The following policies apply to accounts that are held directly with T. Rowe Price and not through a financial intermediary.
Options for Opening Your Account
If you own other T. Rowe Price Funds, you should consider registering any new account identically to your existing accounts so you can exchange shares among them easily (the name[s] of the account owner[s] and the account type must be identical).
For joint accounts or other types of accounts owned or controlled by more than one party, either owner/party has complete authority to act on behalf of all and give instructions concerning the account without notice to the other party. T. Rowe Price may, in its sole discretion, require written authorization from all owners/parties to act on the account for certain transactions (for example, to transfer ownership). There are multiple ways to establish a new account directly with T. Rowe Price.
Online You can open a new Investor Class account online. (I Class accounts must currently be opened either by telephone or in writing.) Go to troweprice.com/newaccount to choose the type of account you wish to open.
You can exchange shares online from an existing account in one fund to open a new account in another fund. The new account will have the same registration as the account from which you are exchanging, and any services (other than systematic purchase and systematic distribution arrangements) that you have preauthorized will carry over from the existing account to the new account.
To open an account online for the first time or with a different account registration, you must be a U.S. citizen residing in the U.S. or a resident alien and not subject to Internal Revenue Service backup withholding. Additionally, you must provide consent to receive certain documents electronically. You will have the option of providing your bank account information, which will enable you to make electronic funds transfers to and from your bank account. To set up this banking service online, additional steps will be taken to verify your identity.
By Mail If you are sending a check, please make your check payable to T. Rowe Price Funds (otherwise it may be returned) and send the check, together with the applicable New Account Form, to the appropriate address. (Please refer to the appropriate address under “Contacting T. Rowe Price” later in this section to avoid a
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delay in opening your new account.) T. Rowe Price does not accept third-party checks for initial purchases; however, third-party checks are typically accepted for additional purchases to an existing account. In addition, T. Rowe Price does not accept purchases by cash, traveler’s checks, money orders, or credit card checks. For exchanges from an identically registered account, be sure to specify the fund(s) and account number(s) that you are exchanging out of and the fund(s) you wish to exchange into.
By Telephone Direct investors can call Shareholder Services at 1-800-225-5132 (institutional investors should call 1-800-638-8790) to exchange from an existing fund account to open a new identically registered account in another fund. You may also be eligible to open a new account by telephone and provide your bank account information in order to make an initial purchase. To set up the account and banking service by telephone, additional steps will be taken to verify your identity and the authenticity of your bank account. Although the account may be opened and the purchase made, services may be not be established and Internal Revenue Service penalty withholding may occur until we receive the necessary signed form to certify your Social Security number or taxpayer identification number.
In Person You can also open a new account by visiting one of the T. Rowe Price Investor Centers located in downtown Baltimore, Colorado Springs, Owings Mills, Tampa, northern Virginia, or downtown Washington, D.C. Please refer to “Contacting T. Rowe Price” later in this section for the specific locations and phone numbers of the T. Rowe Price Investor Centers.
How Your Trade Date Is Determined
If you invest directly with T. Rowe Price and your request to purchase, sell, or exchange shares is received by T. Rowe Price or its agent in correct form by the close of the NYSE (normally 4 p.m. ET), your transaction will be priced at that business day’s net asset value. If your request is received by T. Rowe Price or its agent in correct form after the close of the NYSE, your transaction will be priced at the next business day’s net asset value.
Note: There may be times when you are unable to contact us by telephone or access your account online due to extreme market activity, the unavailability of the T. Rowe Price website, or other circumstances. Should this occur, your order must still be placed and received in correct form by T. Rowe Price prior to the time the NYSE closes to be priced at that business day’s net asset value. The time at which transactions and shares are priced and the time until which orders are accepted may be changed in case of an emergency or if the NYSE closes at a time other than 4 p.m. ET. The funds reserve the right to not treat an unscheduled intraday disruption or closure in NYSE trading as a closure of the NYSE, and still accept transactions and calculate their net asset value as of 4 p.m. ET.
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Transaction Confirmations
We send immediate confirmations for most of your fund transactions. However, certain transactions, such as systematic purchases and systematic redemptions, dividend reinvestments, checkwriting redemptions from money funds, and transactions in money market funds used as a Brokerage sweep account, do not receive an immediate transaction confirmation but are reported on your account statement. Please review transaction confirmations and account statements as soon as you receive them, and promptly report any discrepancies to Shareholder Services.
Telephone and Online Account Transactions
You may access your accounts and conduct transactions involving Investor Class accounts using the telephone or the T. Rowe Price website at troweprice.com. You can only conduct transactions involving the I Class over the telephone or in writing. The T. Rowe Price Funds and their agents use reasonable procedures to verify the identity of the shareholder. If these procedures are followed, the funds and their agents are not liable for any losses that may occur from acting on unauthorized instructions. Please review your confirmation carefully, and contact T. Rowe Price immediately about any transaction you believe to be unauthorized. Telephone conversations are recorded.
Purchasing Shares
Shares may be purchased in a variety of ways.
By Check Please make your check payable to the T. Rowe Price Funds. Include a New Account Form if establishing a new account, and include either a fund investment slip or a letter indicating the fund and your account number if adding to an existing account. Your transaction will receive the share price for the business day that the request is received by T. Rowe Price or its agent prior to the close of the NYSE (not the day the request is received at the post office box).
By Electronic Transfer Shares may be purchased using the Automated Clearing House system if you have established the service on your account, which allows T. Rowe Price to request payment for your shares directly from your bank account or other financial institution account. You may also arrange for a wire to be sent to T. Rowe Price (wire transfer instructions can be found at troweprice.com/wireinstructions or by calling Shareholder Services). T. Rowe Price must receive the wire by the close of the NYSE to receive that day’s share price. There is no assurance that you will receive the share price for the same day you initiated the wire from your financial institution.
By Exchange You may purchase shares of a fund using the proceeds from the redemption of shares from another fund. The redemption and purchase will receive the same trade date and the new account will have the same registration as the account from which you are exchanging. The purchase must still generally meet the applicable minimum investment requirement.
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Systematic Purchases (Automatic Asset Builder) You can instruct T. Rowe Price to automatically transfer money from your account at your bank or other financial institution at least once per month, or you can instruct your employer to send all or a portion of your paycheck to the fund or funds that you designate. Each systematic purchase must be at least $100 per fund account to be eligible for the Automatic Asset Builder service. To automatically transfer money to your account from a bank account or through payroll deductions, complete the appropriate section of the New Account Form when opening a new account or complete an Account Services Form to add the service to an existing account. Prior to establishing payroll deductions, you must set up the service with T. Rowe Price so that the appropriate instructions can be provided to your employer.
Initial Investment Minimums
Investor Class accounts, other than Summit Funds, require a $2,500 minimum initial investment ($1,000 minimum initial investment for IRAs, certain small business retirement accounts, and custodial accounts for minors, known as Uniform Gifts to Minors Act or Uniform Transfer to Minors Act accounts). Summit Funds require a $25,000 minimum initial investment. I Class accounts generally require a $1,000,000 minimum initial investment, although the minimum may be waived for certain types of accounts. If you request the I Class of a particular fund when you open a new account but the investment amount does not meet the applicable minimum, the purchase will be automatically invested in the Investor Class of the same fund.
Additional Investment Minimums
Investor Class accounts, other than Summit Funds, require a $100 minimum for additional purchases, including those made through Automatic Asset Builder. Summit Funds require a $100 minimum for additional purchases through Automatic Asset Builder and a $1,000 minimum for all other additional purchases. I Class accounts require a $100 minimum for additional purchases through Automatic Asset Builder but do not require a minimum amount for other additional purchases.
Exchanging and Redeeming Shares
Certain T. Rowe Price Funds assess a fee on redemptions of shares (including exchanges out of a fund) that are not held for a specified period of time. Please refer to “Contingent Redemption Fee” later in this section.
Exchanges You can move money from one account to an existing, identically registered account or open a new identically registered account. For taxable accounts, an exchange from one fund to another will be reported to the Internal Revenue Service as a sale for tax purposes. (Exchanges into a state tax-free fund are limited to investors living in states where the fund is available for sale and institutional investors are restricted from exchanging into a fund that operates as a retail money market fund.) You can set up systematic exchanges so that money is automatically moved from one fund account to another on a regular basis.
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Receiving Redemption Proceeds Redemption proceeds can be mailed to your account address by check or sent electronically to your bank account by Automated Clearing House transfer or bank wire. You can set up systematic redemptions and have the proceeds automatically sent via check or Automated Clearing House on a regular basis. If your request is received in correct form by T. Rowe Price or its agent on a business day prior to the close of the NYSE, proceeds are usually sent on the next business day. However, if you request a redemption from a money market fund on a business day prior to noon ET and request to have proceeds sent via bank wire, proceeds are normally sent later that same day.
Proceeds sent by Automated Clearing House transfer are usually credited to your account the second business day after the sale, and there are typically no fees associated with such payments. Proceeds sent by bank wire are usually credited to your account the next business day after the sale (except for wire redemptions from money market funds received prior to noon ET). A $5 fee will be charged for an outgoing wire of less than $5,000, in addition to any fees your financial institution may charge for an incoming wire.
If for some reason your request to exchange or redeem shares cannot be processed because it is not received in correct form, we will attempt to contact you.
If you request to redeem a specific dollar amount and the market value of your account is less than the amount of your request and we are unable to contact you, your redemption will not be processed and you must submit a new redemption request in correct form.
If you change your address on an account, proceeds will not be mailed to the new address for 15 calendar days after the address change, unless we receive a letter of instruction with a Medallion signature guarantee.
Please note that large purchase and redemption requests initiated through the Automated Clearing House may be rejected, and in such instances, the transaction must be placed by calling Shareholder Services.
Checkwriting You may write an unlimited number of free checks on any money market fund and certain bond funds, with a minimum of $500 per check. Keep in mind, however, that a check results in a sale of fund shares; a check written on a bond fund will create a taxable event that must be reported by T. Rowe Price to the Internal Revenue Service as a redemption.
Converting to Another Share Class
You may convert from one share class of a fund to another share class of the same fund. Although the conversion has no effect on the dollar value of your investment in the fund, the number of shares owned after the conversion may be greater or less than the number of shares owned before the conversion, depending on the net asset values of the two share classes. A conversion between share classes of the same fund
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is a nontaxable event. The new account will have the same registration as the account from which you are converting.
T. Rowe Price conducts periodic reviews of account balances and may, if your account balance in a fund exceeds the minimum amount required for the I Class, automatically convert your Investor Class shares to I Class shares. You will be notified before an automatic conversion occurs and will have an opportunity to instruct T. Rowe Price not to effect the conversion.
Maintaining Your Account Balance
Investor Class Due to the relatively high cost to a fund of maintaining small accounts, we ask you to maintain an account balance of at least $1,000 ($10,000 for Summit Funds). If, for any reason, your balance is below this amount for three months or longer, we have the right to redeem your account at the then-current net asset value after giving you 60 days to increase your balance.
I Class To keep operating expenses lower, we ask you to maintain an account balance of at least $1 million. If your investment falls below $1 million (even if due to market depreciation), we have the right to convert your account to a different share class in the same fund with a higher expense ratio or redeem your account at the then-current net asset value after giving you 60 days to increase your balance.
The redemption of your account could result in a taxable gain.
The following policies apply to accounts that are held through a financial intermediary.
Accounts in Investor Class and I Class shares are not required to be held through a financial intermediary, but accounts in Advisor Class and R Class shares must be held through an eligible financial intermediary (except for certain retirement plans held directly with T. Rowe Price). It is important that you contact your retirement plan or financial intermediary to determine the policies, procedures, and transaction deadlines that apply to your account. The financial intermediary may charge a fee for its services.
Opening an Account
The financial intermediary must provide T. Rowe Price with its certified taxpayer identification number. Financial intermediaries should call Financial Institution Services for an account number and wire transfer instructions. In order to obtain an account number, the financial intermediary must supply the name, taxpayer identification number, and business street address for the account. (Please refer to “Contacting T. Rowe Price” later in this section for the appropriate telephone number
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and mailing address.) Financial intermediaries must also enter into a separate agreement with the fund or its agent.
How the Trade Date Is Determined
If you invest through a financial intermediary and your transaction request is received by T. Rowe Price or its agent in correct form by the close of the NYSE, your transaction will be priced at that business day’s net asset value. If your request is received by T. Rowe Price or its agent in correct form after the close of the New York Stock Exchange, your transaction will be priced at the next business day’s net asset value unless the fund has an agreement with your financial intermediary for orders to be priced at the net asset value next computed after receipt by the financial intermediary.
The funds have authorized certain financial intermediaries or their designees to accept orders to buy or sell fund shares on their behalf. When authorized financial intermediaries receive an order in correct form, the order is considered as being placed with the fund and shares will be bought or sold at the net asset value next calculated after the order is received by the authorized financial intermediary. The financial intermediary must transmit the order to T. Rowe Price and pay for such shares in accordance with the agreement with T. Rowe Price, or the order may be canceled and the financial intermediary could be held liable for the losses. If the fund does not have such an agreement in place with your financial intermediary, T. Rowe Price or its agent must receive the request in correct form from your financial intermediary by the close of the NYSE in order for your transaction to be priced at that business day’s net asset value.
Note: The time at which transactions and shares are priced and the time until which orders are accepted by the fund or a financial intermediary may be changed in case of an emergency or if the NYSE closes at a time other than 4 p.m. ET. The funds reserve the right to not treat an unscheduled intraday disruption or closure in NYSE trading as a closure of the NYSE, and still accept transactions and calculate their net asset value as of 4 p.m. ET. Should this occur, your order must still be placed and received in correct form by T. Rowe Price (or by the financial intermediary in accordance with its agreement with T. Rowe Price) prior to the time the NYSE closes to be priced at that business day’s net asset value.
Purchasing Shares
All initial and subsequent investments by financial intermediaries should be made by bank wire or electronic payment. There is no assurance that the share price for the purchase will be the same day the wire was initiated. Purchases by financial intermediaries are typically initiated through the National Securities Clearing Corporation or by calling Financial Institution Services.
Investment Minimums
You should check with your financial intermediary to determine what minimum applies to your initial and additional investments.
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The funds, other than Summit Funds, require a $2,500 minimum initial investment and Summit Funds require a $25,000 minimum initial investment, although the minimum is generally waived or modified for any retirement plans and financial intermediaries establishing accounts in the Investor Class, Advisor Class, or R Class. I Class accounts generally require a $1,000,000 minimum initial investment, although the minimum is waived for certain retirement plans and financial intermediaries maintaining omnibus accounts for their customers.
Investments through a financial intermediary generally do not require a minimum amount for additional purchases.
Redeeming Shares
Certain T. Rowe Price Funds assess a fee on redemptions of shares (including exchanges out of a fund) that are not held for a specified period of time. Please refer to “Contingent Redemption Fee” later in this section.
Unless otherwise indicated, redemption proceeds will be sent via bank wire to the financial intermediary’s designated bank. Redemptions by financial intermediaries are typically initiated through the National Securities Clearing Corporation or by calling Financial Institution Services. Normally, the fund transmits proceeds to financial intermediaries for redemption orders received in correct form on either the next business day or third business day after receipt of the order, depending on the arrangement with the financial intermediary. Proceeds for redemption orders received prior to noon ET for a money market fund may be sent via wire the same business day. You must contact your financial intermediary about procedures for receiving your redemption proceeds.
Please note that certain purchase and redemption requests initiated through the National Securities Clearing Corporation may be rejected, and in such instances, the transaction must be placed by contacting Financial Institution Services.
The following policies and requirements apply generally to accounts in the T. Rowe Price Funds, regardless of whether the account is held directly or indirectly with T. Rowe Price.
The funds generally do not accept orders that request a particular day or price for a transaction or any other special conditions. However, when authorized by the fund, certain institutions, financial intermediaries, or retirement plans purchasing fund shares directly with T. Rowe Price may place a purchase order unaccompanied by payment. Payment for these shares must be received by the time designated by the fund (not to exceed the period established for settlement under applicable regulations). If payment is not received by this time, the order may be canceled. The
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institution, financial intermediary, or retirement plan is responsible for any costs or losses incurred by the fund or T. Rowe Price if payment is delayed or not received.
U.S. Dollars All purchases must be paid for in U.S. dollars; checks must be drawn on U.S. banks. In addition, we request that you give us at least three business days’ notice for any purchase of $5 million or more.
Nonpayment If a check or Automated Clearing House transfer does not clear or payment for an order is not received in a timely manner, your purchase may be canceled. You (or the financial intermediary) will be responsible for any losses or expenses incurred by the fund or its transfer agent, and the fund can redeem shares in your account or another identically registered T. Rowe Price account as reimbursement. The funds and their agents have the right to reject or cancel any purchase, exchange, or redemption due to nonpayment.
State Tax-Free Funds Each state tax-free fund is limited to investors living in certain states where the fund is registered to sell its shares. If the address of record on your account is no longer located in one of these states, you will no longer be permitted to purchase additional shares of the fund.
Retail Money Market Funds The retail money market funds have implemented policies and procedures designed to limit purchases to accounts beneficially owned by a natural person. Purchases of a retail money market fund may be rejected from an investor who has not demonstrated sufficient eligibility to purchase shares of the fund or from a financial intermediary that has not demonstrated adequate procedures to limit investments to natural persons. In addition, purchases may be prohibited or subject to certain conditions during periods where a liquidity fee or redemption gate is in effect.
Contingent Redemption Fee
Short-term trading can disrupt a fund’s investment program and create additional costs for long-term shareholders. For these reasons, all share classes of the T. Rowe Price Funds listed in the following table assess a fee on redemptions (including exchanges out of a fund), which reduces the proceeds from such redemptions by the amounts indicated:
T. Rowe Price Funds With Redemption Fees | ||
Fund | Redemption fee | Holding period |
Africa & Middle East | 2% | 90 days or less |
Asia Opportunities | 2% | 90 days or less |
Credit Opportunities | 2% | 90 days or less |
Emerging Europe | 2% | 90 days or less |
Emerging Markets Bond | 2% | 90 days or less |
Emerging Markets Corporate Bond | 2% | 90 days or less |
Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond | 2% | 90 days or less |
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T. Rowe Price Funds With Redemption Fees | ||
Fund | Redemption fee | Holding period |
Emerging Markets Stock | 2% | 90 days or less |
Emerging Markets Value Stock | 2% | 90 days or less |
Equity Index 500 | 0.5% | 90 days or less |
European Stock | 2% | 90 days or less |
Extended Equity Market Index | 0.5% | 90 days or less |
Floating Rate | 2% | 90 days or less |
Global Growth Stock | 2% | 90 days or less |
Global High Income Bond | 2% | 90 days or less |
Global Real Estate | 2% | 90 days or less |
Global Stock | 2% | 90 days or less |
High Yield | 2% | 90 days or less |
Intermediate Tax-Free High Yield | 2% | 90 days or less |
International Bond | 2% | 90 days or less |
International Concentrated Equity | 2% | 90 days or less |
International Discovery | 2% | 90 days or less |
International Equity Index | 2% | 90 days or less |
International Stock | 2% | 90 days or less |
International Value Equity | 2% | 90 days or less |
Japan | 2% | 90 days or less |
Latin America | 2% | 90 days or less |
New Asia | 2% | 90 days or less |
Overseas Stock | 2% | 90 days or less |
QM Global Equity | 2% | 90 days or less |
QM U.S. Small & Mid-Cap Core Equity | 1% | 90 days or less |
QM U.S. Small-Cap Growth Equity | 1% | 90 days or less |
Real Assets | 2% | 90 days or less |
Real Estate | 1% | 90 days or less |
Small-Cap Value | 1% | 90 days or less |
Spectrum International | 2% | 90 days or less |
Tax-Efficient Equity | 1% | less than 365 days |
Tax-Free High Yield | 2% | 90 days or less |
Total Equity Market Index | 0.5% | 90 days or less |
U.S. Bond Enhanced Index | 0.5% | 90 days or less |
U.S. High Yield | 2% | 90 days or less |
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Redemption fees are paid to the fund (and not to T. Rowe Price) to deter short-term trading, offset costs, and help protect the fund’s long-term shareholders. Subject to the exceptions described on the following pages, all persons holding shares of a T. Rowe Price Fund that imposes a redemption fee are subject to the fee, whether the person is holding shares directly with a T. Rowe Price Fund, through a retirement plan for which T. Rowe Price serves as recordkeeper, or indirectly through a financial intermediary (such as a broker, bank, or investment adviser), recordkeeper for retirement plan participants, or other third party.
Computation of Holding Period When an investor sells shares of a fund that assesses a redemption fee, T. Rowe Price will use the “first-in, first-out” method to determine the holding period for the shares sold. Under this method, the date of redemption or exchange will be compared with the earliest purchase date of shares held in the account. The day after the date of your purchase is considered Day 1 for purposes of computing the holding period. For a fund with a 365-day holding period, a redemption fee will be charged on shares sold before the end of the required holding period. For funds with a 90-day holding period, a redemption fee will be charged on shares sold on or before the end of the required holding period. For example, if you redeem your shares on or before the 90th day from the date of purchase, you will be assessed the redemption fee. If you purchase shares through a financial intermediary, consult your financial intermediary to determine how the holding period will be applied.
Transactions Not Subject to Redemption Fees The T. Rowe Price Funds will not assess a redemption fee with respect to certain transactions. As of the date of this prospectus, the following shares of T. Rowe Price Funds will not be subject to redemption fees:
· Shares redeemed through an automated, systematic withdrawal plan;
· Shares redeemed through or used to establish certain rebalancing, asset allocation, wrap, and advisory programs, as well as non-T. Rowe Price fund-of-funds products, if approved in writing by T. Rowe Price;
· Shares purchased through the reinvestment of dividends or capital gain distributions;*
· Shares converted from one share class to another share class of the same fund;*
· Shares redeemed automatically by a fund to pay fund fees or shareholder account fees (e.g., for failure to meet account minimums);
· Shares purchased by rollover or changes of account registration within the same fund;*
· Shares redeemed to return an excess contribution from a retirement account;
· Shares of T. Rowe Price Funds purchased by another T. Rowe Price Fund and shares purchased by discretionary accounts managed by T. Rowe Price or one of its affiliates (please note that other shareholders of the investing T. Rowe Price Fund are still subject to the policy);
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· Transactions initiated by the trustee or adviser to a donor-advised charitable gift fund as approved by T. Rowe Price;
· Certain transactions in defined benefit and nonqualified plans, subject to prior approval by T. Rowe Price;
· Shares that are redeemed in-kind;
· Shares transferred to T. Rowe Price or a financial intermediary acting as a service provider when the age of the shares cannot be determined systematically;* and
· Shares redeemed in retirement plans or other products that restrict trading to no more frequently than once per quarter or other approved time period, if approved in writing by T. Rowe Price.
* Subsequent exchanges of these shares into funds that assess redemption fees will subject such shares to the fee.
Redemption Fees on Shares Held in Retirement Plans If shares are held in a retirement plan, redemption fees generally will be assessed on shares redeemed by exchange only if they were originally purchased by a participant-directed exchange. However, redemption fees may apply to transactions other than exchanges depending on how shares of the plan are held at T. Rowe Price or how the fees are applied by your plan’s recordkeeper. To determine which of your transactions are subject to redemption fees, you should contact T. Rowe Price or your plan recordkeeper.
Omnibus Accounts If your shares are held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account, T. Rowe Price relies on the financial intermediary to assess the redemption fee on underlying shareholder accounts. T. Rowe Price seeks to enter into agreements with financial intermediaries establishing omnibus accounts that require the intermediary to assess the redemption fees. There are no assurances that T. Rowe Price will be successful in identifying all financial intermediaries or that the intermediaries will properly assess the fees.
Certain financial intermediaries may not apply the exemptions previously listed to the redemption fee policy; all redemptions by persons trading through such intermediaries may be subject to the fee. Certain financial intermediaries may exempt transactions not listed from redemption fees, if approved by T. Rowe Price. Persons redeeming shares through a financial intermediary should check with their respective intermediary to determine which transactions are subject to the fees.
Liquidity Fees and Redemption Gates—Retail Money Market Funds
A money market fund that operates as a retail money market fund pursuant to Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 has the ability to impose liquidity fees of up to 2% of the value of the shares redeemed if the fund’s weekly liquid assets fall below certain thresholds, as specified in Rule 2a-7. A retail money market fund also has the ability to impose a redemption gate, which enables the fund to temporarily suspend redemptions for up to 10 days within a 90-day period if the fund’s weekly liquid assets fall below a certain threshold, as specified in Rule 2a-7. A money market fund’s Board has ultimate discretion to determine whether or not a
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liquidity fee or redemption gate would be in the best interests of the fund’s shareholders and should be imposed.
A money market fund that operates as a government money market fund pursuant to Rule 2a-7 is not required to impose a liquidity fee or redemption gate upon the sale of your shares. The Boards of the T. Rowe Price money market funds that operate as government money market funds have determined that the funds do not intend to impose liquidity fees and redemption gates. However, the Board of a T. Rowe Price government money market fund reserves the right to impose liquidity fees and redemption gates in the future, at which point shareholders would be provided with at least 60 days’ notice prior to such a change.
If a liquidity fee is in place, all exchanges out of the fund will be subject to the liquidity fee, and if a redemption gate is in place, all exchanges out of the fund will be suspended. When a liquidity fee or redemption gate is in place, the fund may elect to not permit the purchase of shares or to subject the purchase of shares to certain conditions, which may include affirmation of the purchaser’s knowledge that a liquidity fee or a redemption gate is in effect.
Omnibus Accounts If your shares are held through a financial intermediary, T. Rowe Price may rely on the financial intermediary to assess any applicable liquidity fees or impose redemption gates on underlying shareholder accounts. In certain situations, T. Rowe Price enters into agreements with financial intermediaries maintaining omnibus accounts that require the financial intermediary to assess liquidity fees or redemption gates. There are no assurances that T. Rowe Price will be successful in ensuring that all financial intermediaries will properly assess the fees.
Please refer to Sections 1 and 2 of retail money market fund prospectuses for more information regarding liquidity fees and redemption gates.
Large Redemptions
Large redemptions (for example, $250,000 or more) can adversely affect a portfolio manager’s ability to implement a fund’s investment strategy by causing the premature sale of securities that would otherwise be held longer. Therefore, the fund reserves the right (without prior notice) to pay all or part of redemption proceeds with securities from the fund’s portfolio rather than in cash (“redemption in-kind”). If this occurs, the securities will be selected by the fund in its absolute discretion, and the redeeming shareholder or account will be responsible for disposing of the securities and bearing any associated costs and risks (for example, market risks until the securities are disposed of). In addition, we request that you give us at least three business days’ notice for any redemption of $5 million or more. If you continue to hold the securities, you may be subject to any ownership restriction imposed by the issuers. For example, real estate investment trusts often impose ownership restriction on their equity securities.
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Delays in Sending Redemption Proceeds
Under certain circumstances, and when deemed to be in a fund’s best interests, proceeds may not be sent for up to seven calendar days after receipt of a valid redemption order.
In addition, if shares are sold that were just purchased and paid for by check or Automated Clearing House transfer, the fund will process your redemption but will generally delay sending the proceeds for up to 10 calendar days to allow the check or Automated Clearing House transfer to clear. If, during the clearing period, we receive a check drawn against your newly purchased shares, it will be returned marked “uncollected.” (The 10-day hold does not apply to purchases paid for by bank wire or automatic purchases through payroll deduction.)
The Board of a retail money market fund may impose a redemption gate and elect to temporarily suspend redemptions for up to 10 business days in a 90-day period if the fund’s weekly liquid assets fall below 30% of its total assets and the fund’s Board determines that imposing a redemption gate is in the fund’s best interests. In addition, under certain limited circumstances, the Board of a money market fund may elect to permanently suspend redemptions in order to facilitate an orderly liquidation of the fund (subject to any additional liquidation requirements).
Involuntary Redemptions and Share Class Conversions
Since nongovernment money market funds that operate as retail money market funds are required to limit their beneficial owners to natural persons, shares held directly by an investor or through a financial intermediary in these funds that are not eligible to invest in a retail money market fund are subject to involuntary redemption at any time without prior notice.
Shares held by any investors or financial intermediaries that are no longer eligible to invest in the I Class or who fail to meet or maintain their account(s) at the investment minimum are subject to involuntary redemption at any time or conversion to the Investor Class of the same fund (which may have a higher expense ratio). Investments in Advisor Class shares that are no longer held through an eligible financial intermediary may be automatically converted by T. Rowe Price to the Investor Class of the same fund following notice to the financial intermediary or shareholder. Investments in R Class shares that are no longer held on behalf of an employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plan or other eligible R Class account or that are not held through an eligible financial intermediary may be automatically converted by T. Rowe Price to the Investor Class or Advisor Class of the same fund following notice to the financial intermediary or shareholder.
Excessive and Short-Term Trading Policy
Excessive transactions and short-term trading can be harmful to fund shareholders in various ways, such as disrupting a fund’s portfolio management strategies, increasing a fund’s trading and other costs, and negatively affecting its performance. Short-term traders in funds that invest in foreign securities may seek to take advantage of
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developments overseas that could lead to an anticipated difference between the price of the funds’ shares and price movements in foreign markets. While there is no assurance that T. Rowe Price can prevent all excessive and short-term trading, the Boards of the T. Rowe Price Funds have adopted the following trading limits that are designed to deter such activity and protect the funds’ shareholders. The funds may revise their trading limits and procedures at any time as the Boards deem necessary or appropriate to better detect short-term trading that may adversely affect the funds, to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, or to impose additional or alternative restrictions.
Subject to certain exceptions, each T. Rowe Price Fund restricts a shareholder’s purchases (including through exchanges) into a fund account for a period of 30 calendar days after the shareholder has redeemed or exchanged out of that same fund account (the “30-Day Purchase Block”). The calendar day after the date of redemption is considered Day 1 for purposes of computing the period before another purchase may be made.
General Exceptions As of the date of this prospectus, the following types of transactions generally are not subject to the funds’ excessive and short-term trading policy:
· Shares purchased or redeemed in money market funds and ultra short-term bond funds;
· Shares purchased or redeemed through a systematic purchase or withdrawal plan;
· Checkwriting redemptions from bond funds and money market funds;
· Shares purchased through the reinvestment of dividends or capital gain distributions;
· Shares redeemed automatically by a fund to pay fund fees or shareholder account fees;
· Transfers and changes of account registration within the same fund;
· Shares purchased by asset transfer or direct rollover;
· Shares purchased or redeemed through IRA conversions and recharacterizations;
· Shares redeemed to return an excess contribution from a retirement account;
· Transactions in Section 529 college savings plans;
· Certain transactions in defined benefit and nonqualified plans, subject to prior approval by T. Rowe Price;
· Shares converted from one share class to another share class in the same fund;
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· Shares of T. Rowe Price Funds that are purchased by another T. Rowe Price Fund, including shares purchased by T. Rowe Price fund-of-funds products, and shares purchased by discretionary accounts managed by T. Rowe Price or one of its affiliates (please note that shareholders of the investing T. Rowe Price Fund are still subject to the policy); and
· Transactions initiated by the trustee or adviser to a donor-advised charitable gift fund as approved by T. Rowe Price.
Transactions in certain rebalancing, asset allocation, wrap programs, and other advisory programs, as well as non-T. Rowe Price fund-of-funds products, may also be exempt from the 30-Day Purchase Block, subject to prior written approval by T. Rowe Price.
In addition to restricting transactions in accordance with the 30-Day Purchase Block, T. Rowe Price may, in its discretion, reject (or instruct a financial intermediary to reject) any purchase or exchange into a fund from a person (which includes individuals and entities) whose trading activity could disrupt the management of the fund or dilute the value of the fund’s shares, including trading by persons acting collectively (e.g., following the advice of a newsletter). Such persons may be barred, without prior notice, from further purchases of T. Rowe Price Funds for a period longer than 30 calendar days, or permanently.
Financial Intermediary Accounts If you invest in T. Rowe Price Funds through a financial intermediary, you should review the financial intermediary’s materials carefully or consult with the financial intermediary directly to determine the trading policy that will apply to your trades in the funds as well as any other rules or conditions on transactions that may apply. If T. Rowe Price is unable to identify a transaction placed through a financial intermediary as exempt from the excessive trading policy, the 30-Day Purchase Block may apply.
Financial intermediaries may maintain their underlying accounts directly with the fund, although they often establish an omnibus account (one account with the fund that represents multiple underlying shareholder accounts) on behalf of their customers. When financial intermediaries establish omnibus accounts in the T. Rowe Price Funds, T. Rowe Price is not able to monitor the trading activity of the underlying shareholders. However, T. Rowe Price monitors aggregate trading activity at the financial intermediary (omnibus account) level in an attempt to identify activity that indicates potential excessive or short-term trading. If it detects such trading activity, T. Rowe Price may contact the financial intermediary to request personal identifying information and transaction histories for some or all underlying shareholders (including plan participants, if applicable) pursuant to a written agreement that T. Rowe Price has entered into with each financial intermediary. If T. Rowe Price believes that excessive or short-term trading has occurred and there is no exception for such trades under the funds’ Excessive and Short-Term Trading Policy previously described, it will instruct the financial intermediary to impose restrictions to discourage such practices and take appropriate action with respect to
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the underlying shareholder, including restricting purchases for 30 calendar days or longer. Each financial intermediary has agreed to execute such instructions pursuant to a written agreement. There is no assurance that T. Rowe Price will be able to properly enforce its excessive trading policies for omnibus accounts. Because T. Rowe Price generally relies on financial intermediaries to provide information and impose restrictions for omnibus accounts, its ability to monitor and deter excessive trading will be dependent upon the intermediaries’ timely performance of their responsibilities.
T. Rowe Price may allow a financial intermediary or other third party to maintain restrictions on trading in the T. Rowe Price Funds that differ from the 30-Day Purchase Block. An alternative excessive trading policy would be acceptable to T. Rowe Price if it believes that the policy would provide sufficient protection to the T. Rowe Price Funds and their shareholders that is consistent with the excessive trading policy adopted by the funds’ Boards.
Retirement Plan Accounts If
shares are held in a retirement plan, generally the
30-Day Purchase Block applies only to shares
redeemed by a participant-directed exchange to another fund. However, the 30-Day Purchase Block may apply
to transactions other than exchanges depending on how shares of the plan are held at T. Rowe Price
or the excessive trading policy applied by your plan’s recordkeeper. An alternative excessive trading
policy may apply to the T. Rowe Price Funds where a retirement plan has its own policy deemed acceptable
to T. Rowe Price. You should contact T. Rowe Price or your plan recordkeeper to determine which
of your transactions are subject to the funds’ 30-Day Purchase Block or an alternative policy.
There is no guarantee that T. Rowe Price will be able to identify or prevent all excessive or short-term trades or trading practices.
Unclaimed Accounts and Uncashed Checks
If your account has no activity for a certain period of time and/or mail sent to you from T. Rowe Price (or your financial intermediary) is returned by the post office, T. Rowe Price (or your financial intermediary) may be required to transfer your account and any assets related to uncashed checks to the appropriate state under its abandoned property laws. To avoid such action, it is important to keep your account address up to date and periodically communicate with T. Rowe Price by contacting us or logging in to your account at least once every two years.
Delivery of Shareholder Documents
If two or more accounts own the same fund, share the same address, and T. Rowe Price reasonably believes that the two accounts are part of the same household or institution, we may economize on fund expenses by mailing only one shareholder report and prospectus for the fund. If you need additional copies or do not want your mailings to be “householded,” please call Shareholder Services.
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T. Rowe Price can deliver account statements, transaction confirmations, prospectuses, tax forms, and shareholder reports electronically. If you are a registered user of troweprice.com, you can consent to the electronic delivery of these documents by logging in and changing your mailing preferences. You can revoke your consent at any time through troweprice.com, and we will begin to send paper copies of these documents within a reasonable time after receiving your revocation.
Signature Guarantees
A shareholder or financial intermediary may need to obtain a Medallion signature guarantee in certain situations, such as:
· Requests to wire redemption proceeds when bank account information is not already authorized and on file for an account;
· Requests to redeem over a specific dollar amount (varies by share class);
· Remitting redemption proceeds to any person, address, or bank account not on file;
· Establishing certain services after an account is opened; or
· Changing the account registration or broker-dealer of record for an account.
Financial intermediaries should contact T. Rowe Price Financial Institution Services for specific requirements.
The signature guarantee must be obtained from a financial institution that is a participant in a Medallion signature guarantee program. You can obtain a Medallion signature guarantee from most banks, savings institutions, broker-dealers, and other guarantors acceptable to T. Rowe Price. When obtaining a Medallion signature guarantee, please discuss with the guarantor the dollar amount of your proposed transaction. It is important that the level of coverage provided by the guarantor’s stamp covers the dollar amount of the transaction or it may be rejected. We cannot accept guarantees from notaries public or organizations that do not provide reimbursement in the case of fraud.
Responsibility for Unauthorized Transactions
T. Rowe Price and its agents use procedures reasonably designed to confirm that telephone, electronic, and other instructions are genuine. These procedures include recording telephone calls; requiring personalized security codes or other information online and certain identifying information for telephone calls; requiring Medallion signature guarantees for certain transactions and account changes; and promptly sending confirmations of transactions and address changes. If T. Rowe Price and its agents follow these procedures, they are not responsible for any losses that may occur due to unauthorized instructions. For transactions conducted online, we recommend the use of a secure Internet browser. In addition, you should verify the accuracy of your confirmation statements immediately after you receive them and notify T. Rowe Price of any inaccuracies.
T. Rowe Price | 68 |
Fund Operations and Shareholder Services
T. Rowe Price and The Bank of New York Mellon, subject to the oversight of T. Rowe Price, each provide certain accounting services to the T. Rowe Price Funds. T. Rowe Price Services, Inc. acts as the transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent and provides shareholder and administrative services to the funds. T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc. provides recordkeeping, sub-transfer agency, and administrative services for certain types of retirement plans investing in the funds. These companies receive compensation from the funds for their services. The funds may also pay financial intermediaries for performing shareholder and administrative services for underlying shareholders in omnibus accounts. In addition, certain funds serve as an underlying fund in which some fund-of-funds products, the T. Rowe Price Spectrum and Retirement Funds, invest. Subject to approval by each applicable fund’s Board, each underlying fund bears its proportionate share of the direct operating expenses of the T. Rowe Price Spectrum and Retirement Funds. All of the fees discussed above are included in a fund’s financial statements and, except for funds that have an all-inclusive management fee, are also reflected in the “Other expenses” line that appears in a fund’s fee table in Section 1.
Accounts Held Directly With T. Rowe Price
Investors who want to open an account directly with T. Rowe Price or who already have an account held directly with T. Rowe Price (and not through a financial intermediary) should refer to the following information.
Online You can open an account and place most transactions online at troweprice.com.
Telephone If you have questions relating to the opening of a new account (including Traditional, Roth, and Rollover IRAs and most nonretirement accounts) with T. Rowe Price, please call Investor Services at 1-800-638-5660. To place a transaction, report unauthorized activity on your account or a discrepancy on your transaction confirmation, elect out of the “householding” of prospectuses and shareholder reports, or ask a question about an existing account, please call Shareholder Services at 1-800-225-5132. If you find our phones busy during unusually volatile markets, please consider placing your order online.
To access information on fund
performance, prices, account balances, and your latest transactions 24 hours a day, please call T. Rowe
Price Tele*Access®
at
1-800-638-2587. (Please note that transactions cannot be placed through Tele*Access®.)
Information About Accounts in T. Rowe Price Funds | 69 |
If you are an institutional investor opening an account directly with T. Rowe Price or have questions or want to place a transaction on an existing account, please call Financial Institution Services at 1-800-638-8790.
For inquiries regarding funds owned in a small business retirement plan, which include SEP-IRA, SAR-SEP, SIMPLE IRA, individual 401(k), profit sharing, money purchase pension, and certain 403(b) plan accounts, please call T. Rowe Price Retirement Client Services at 1-800-492-7670 or consult your plan administrator. Requests for redemptions from these types of retirement accounts may be required to be in writing.
Funds held through other employer-sponsored retirement plans should call the appropriate telephone number that appears on your retirement plan account statement.
If you hold shares of a T. Rowe Price Fund through a T. Rowe Price Brokerage account and want to place a transaction, please call 1-800-225-7720.
For inquiries or to place a transaction, the
hearing-impaired should call
1-800-367-0763 (1-800-521-0325 if you hold shares in a small business
retirement plan account).
By Mail Please be sure to use the correct address to avoid a delay in opening your account or processing your transaction. These addresses are subject to change at any time, so you may want to consider checking troweprice.com/contactus or calling the appropriate telephone number to ensure that you use the correct mailing address.
Investors (other than institutions and small business retirement plans) opening a new account or making additional purchases by check should use the following addresses:
via U.S. Mail T. Rowe Price Account Services P.O. Box 17300 Baltimore, MD 21297-1300 | via private carriers/overnight services T. Rowe Price Account Services Mail Code 17300 4515 Painters Mill Road Owings Mills, MD 21117-4903 |
Investors (other than institutions and small business retirement plans) requesting an exchange or redemption should use the following addresses:
via U.S. Mail T. Rowe Price Account Services P.O. Box 17468 Baltimore, MD 21298-8275 | via private carriers/overnight services T. Rowe Price Account Services Mail Code 17468 4515 Painters Mill Road Owings Mills, MD 21117-4903 |
T. Rowe Price | 70 |
Investors in a small business retirement plan opening a new account, making a purchase by check, or placing an exchange or redemption should use the following addresses:
via U.S. Mail T. Rowe Price Retirement Client Services | via private carriers/overnight services T. Rowe Price |
Institutional investors opening a new account, making a purchase by check, or placing an exchange or redemption should use the following addresses:
via U.S. Mail T. Rowe Price Financial Institution Services P.O. Box 17300 Baltimore, MD 21297-1603 | via private carriers/overnight services T. Rowe Price Financial Institution Services Mail Code: OM-4232 4515 Painters Mill Road Owings Mills, MD 21117-4842 |
Note: Your transaction will receive the share price for the business day that the request is received by T. Rowe Price or its agent prior to the close of the NYSE (normally 4 p.m. ET), which could differ from the day that the request is received at the post office box.
Investor Centers To place a transaction or to sit down one-on-one with a counselor for investment guidance or to discuss a full range of investment topics, you may visit one of the T. Rowe Price Investor Centers at the following locations:
Baltimore Investor Center 105 East Lombard Street Baltimore, MD 21202 410-345-5757 or toll-free 888-453-7326 | Colorado Springs Investor Center 2260 Briargate Parkway Colorado Springs, CO 80920 719-278-5700 or toll-free 866-728-9925 |
Owings Mills Investor Center Three Financial Center 4515 Painters Mill Road Owings Mills, MD 21117 410-345-5665 or toll-free 877-374-5245 | Tampa Investor Center 4211 W. Boy Scout Boulevard, 8th Floor Tampa, FL 33607 813-554-4000 or toll-free 877-453-6447 |
Tysons Corner Investor Center 1600 Tysons Boulevard, Suite 150 McLean, VA 22102 703-873-1200 or toll-free 866-864-9847 | Washington, D.C., Investor Center 1717 K Street, N.W., Suite A–100 Washington, D.C. 20006 202-466-5000 or toll-free 888-801-0316 |
Accounts Held Through Financial Intermediaries
If you hold shares of a fund through a financial intermediary, you must contact your financial intermediary to determine the requirements for opening a new account and placing transactions. Financial intermediaries should refer to the following information.
Telephone To open a new account, place transactions, or ask any question about an account, please call Financial Institution Services at 1-800-638-8790.
Information About Accounts in T. Rowe Price Funds | 71 |
By Mail Financial intermediaries should send new account agreements and other documentation to the following addresses:
via U.S. Mail T. Rowe Price Financial Institution Services P.O. Box 17300 Baltimore, MD 21297-1603 | via private carriers/overnight services T. Rowe Price Financial Institution Services Mail Code: OM-4232 4515 Painters Mill Road Owings Mills, MD 21117-4842 |
Each fund intends to qualify to be treated each year as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. In order to qualify, a fund must satisfy certain income, diversification, and distribution requirements. A regulated investment company is not subject to U.S. federal income tax at the portfolio level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. However, if a fund were to fail to qualify as a regulated investment company and was ineligible to or otherwise did not cure such failure, the result would be fund-level taxation and, consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to the fund’s shareholders.
To the extent possible, all net investment income and realized capital gains are distributed to shareholders.
Dividends and Other Distributions
Dividend and capital gain distributions are reinvested in additional fund shares in your account unless you select another option. Reinvesting distributions results in compounding, which allows you to receive dividends and capital gain distributions on an increasing number of shares.
Distributions not reinvested may be paid by check or transmitted to your bank account via Automated Clearing House or may be automatically invested into another fund account. If the U.S. Postal Service cannot deliver your check or if your check remains uncashed for six months, the fund reserves the right to reinvest your distribution check in your account at the net asset value on the day of the reinvestment and to reinvest all subsequent distributions in additional shares of the fund. Interest will not accrue on amounts represented by uncashed distributions or redemption checks.
T. Rowe Price | 72 |
The following table provides details on dividend payments:
Dividend Payment Schedule | |
Fund | Dividends |
Money market funds | · Shares purchased via wire that are received by T. Rowe Price by noon ET begin to earn dividends on that day. Shares purchased via a wire received after noon ET and through other methods normally begin to earn dividends on the business day after payment is received by T. Rowe Price. · Dividends are declared daily and paid on the first business day of each month. |
Bond funds | · Shares normally begin to earn dividends on the business day after payment is received by T. Rowe Price. · Dividends are declared daily and paid on the first business day of each month. |
These stock funds only: · Balanced · Dividend Growth · Equity Income · Equity Index 500 · Global Real Estate · Growth & Income · Personal Strategy Balanced · Personal Strategy Income · Real Estate | · Dividends, if any, are declared and paid quarterly, in March, June, September, and December. · Must be a shareholder on the dividend record date. |
Other stock funds | · Dividends, if any, are declared and paid annually, generally in December. · Must be a shareholder on the dividend record date. |
Retirement, Spectrum, and | |
· Retirement
Balanced and | · Shares normally begin to earn dividends on the business day after payment is received by T. Rowe Price. · Dividends are declared daily and paid on the first business day of each month. |
· All others | · Dividends, if any, are declared and paid annually, generally in December. · Must be a shareholder on the dividend record date. |
Shares of the Retirement Balanced Fund, money market funds, and bond funds, including the Spectrum Income Fund, earn dividends through the date of redemption (for redemptions from money market funds where the request is received prior to noon ET and proceeds are sent via wire, shares only earn dividends through the calendar day prior to the date of redemption). Shares redeemed on a Friday or prior to a holiday will continue to earn dividends until the next business day. Generally, if you redeem all of your shares at any time during the month, you will also receive all dividends earned through the date of redemption in the same check. When you redeem only a portion of your shares, all dividends accrued on those shares will be reinvested, or paid in cash, on the next dividend payment date. The
Information About Accounts in T. Rowe Price Funds | 73 |
funds do not pay dividends in fractional cents. Any dividend amount earned for a particular day on all shares held that is one-half of one cent or greater (for example, $0.016) will be rounded up to the next whole cent ($0.02), and any amount that is less than one-half of one cent (for example, $0.014) will be rounded down to the nearest whole cent ($0.01). Please note that if the dividend payable on all shares held is less than one-half of one cent for a particular day, no dividend will be earned for that day.
If you purchase and redeem your shares through a financial intermediary, consult your financial intermediary to determine when your shares begin and stop accruing dividends as the information previously described may vary.
Capital Gain Payments
A capital gain or loss is the difference between the purchase and sale price of a security. If a fund has net capital gains for the year (after subtracting any capital losses), they are usually declared and paid in December to shareholders of record on a specified date that month. If a second distribution is necessary, it is generally paid the following year. A fund may have to make additional capital gain distributions, if necessary, to comply with the applicable tax law. Capital gains are not expected from government or retail money market funds since they are managed to maintain a stable share price. However, if a money market fund unexpectedly has net capital gains for the year (after subtracting any capital losses), the capital gain may be declared and paid in December to shareholders of record.
Tax Information
In most cases, you will be provided information for your tax filing needs no later than mid-February.
If you invest in the fund through a tax-deferred account, such as an IRA or employer-sponsored retirement plan, you will not be subject to tax on dividends and distributions from the fund or the sale of fund shares if those amounts remain in the tax-deferred account. You may receive a Form 1099-R or other Internal Revenue Service forms, as applicable, if any portion of the account is distributed to you.
If you invest in the fund through a taxable account, you generally will be subject to tax when:
· You sell fund shares, including an exchange from one fund to another.
· The fund makes dividend or capital gain distributions.
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Additional information about the taxation of dividends for certain T. Rowe Price Funds is listed below:
Tax-Free and Municipal Funds |
· Regular monthly dividends (including those from the state-specific tax-free funds) are expected to be exempt from federal income taxes. |
· Exemption is not guaranteed, since the fund has the right under certain conditions to invest in nonexempt securities. |
· Tax-exempt dividends paid to Social Security recipients may increase the portion of benefits that is subject to tax. |
· For state-specific funds, the monthly dividends you receive are expected to be exempt from state and local income tax of that particular state. For other funds, a small portion of your income dividend may be exempt from state and local income taxes. |
· If a fund invests in certain “private activity” bonds that are not exempt from the alternative minimum tax, shareholders who are subject to the alternative minimum tax must include income generated by those bonds in their alternative minimum tax calculation. The portion of a fund’s income dividend that should be included in your alternative minimum tax calculation, if any, will be reported to you by mid-February on Form 1099-DIV. |
For individual shareholders, a portion of ordinary
dividends representing “qualified dividend income” received by the fund may be subject to tax
at the lower rates applicable to long-term capital gains rather than ordinary income. You may report
it as “qualified dividend income” in computing your taxes, provided you have held the fund
shares on which the dividend was paid for more than 60 days during the
121-day period beginning 60 days
before the ex-dividend date. Ordinary dividends that do not qualify for this lower rate are generally
taxable at the investor’s marginal income tax rate. This includes the portion of ordinary dividends
derived from interest, short-term capital gains, distributions from nonqualified foreign corporations,
and dividends received by the fund from stocks that were on loan. Little, if any, of the ordinary dividends
paid by the Global Real Estate Fund, Real Estate Fund, bond funds, or money market funds is expected
to qualify for this lower rate.
For corporate shareholders, a portion of ordinary dividends may be eligible for the 70% deduction for dividends received by corporations to the extent the fund’s income consists of dividends paid by U.S. corporations. Little, if any, of the ordinary dividends paid by the international stock funds, bond funds, or money market funds is expected to qualify for this deduction.
A 3.8% net investment income tax is imposed on net investment income, including interest, dividends, and capital gains of U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 (or $250,000 if married filing jointly) and of estates and trusts.
If you hold your fund through a financial intermediary, the financial intermediary is responsible for providing you with any necessary tax forms. You should contact your financial intermediary for the tax information that will be sent to you and reported to the Internal Revenue Service.
Information About Accounts in T. Rowe Price Funds | 75 |
Taxes on Fund Redemptions
When you sell shares in any fund, you may realize a gain or loss. An exchange from one fund to another fund in a taxable account is also a sale for tax purposes. As long as a money market fund maintains a stable share price of $1.00, a redemption or exchange to another fund will not result in a gain or loss for tax purposes. However, an exchange from one fund into a money market fund may result in a gain or loss on the fund from which shares were redeemed.
All or a portion of the loss realized from a sale or exchange of your fund shares may be disallowed under the “wash sale” rule if you purchase substantially identical shares within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the date on which the shares are sold or exchanged. Shares of the same fund you acquire through dividend reinvestment are shares purchased for the purpose of the wash sale rule and may trigger a disallowance of the loss for shares sold or exchanged within the 61-day period of the dividend reinvestment. Any loss disallowed under the wash sale rule is added to the cost basis of the purchased shares.
T. Rowe Price (or your financial
intermediary) will make available to you
Form 1099-B, if applicable, no later than mid-February, indicating
the date and amount of each sale you made in the fund during the prior year. This information will also
be reported to the Internal Revenue Service. For most new accounts or those opened by exchange in 1984
or later, we will provide you with the gain or loss on the shares you sold during the year based on the
average cost single category method. You may calculate the cost basis using other methods acceptable
to the Internal Revenue Service, such as specific identification.
For mutual fund shares acquired after 2011, federal income tax regulations require us to report the cost basis information to you and the Internal Revenue Service on Form 1099-B using a cost basis method selected by you or, in the absence of such selected method, our default method if you acquire your shares directly from us. Our default method is average cost. For any fund shares acquired through a financial intermediary after 2011, you should check with your financial intermediary regarding the applicable cost basis method. You should, however, note that the cost basis information reported to you may not always be the same as what you should report on your tax return because the rules applicable to the determination of cost basis on Form 1099-B may be different from the rules applicable to the determination of cost basis for reporting on your tax return. Therefore, you should save your transaction records to make sure the information reported on your tax return is accurate. To help you maintain accurate records, T. Rowe Price will make available to you a confirmation promptly following each transaction you make (except for systematic purchases and systematic redemptions) and a year-end statement detailing all of your transactions in each fund account during the year. If you hold your fund through a financial intermediary, the financial intermediary is responsible for providing you with transaction confirmations and statements.
T. Rowe Price | 76 |
Taxes on Fund Distributions
T. Rowe Price (or your financial intermediary) will make available to you, as applicable, generally no later than mid-February, a Form 1099-DIV, or other Internal Revenue Service forms, as required, indicating the tax status of any income dividends, dividends exempt from federal income taxes, and capital gain distributions made to you. This information will be reported to the Internal Revenue Service. Taxable distributions are generally taxable to you in the year in which they are paid. A dividend declared in October, November, or December and paid in the following January is generally treated as taxable to you as if you received the distribution in December. Dividends from tax-free funds are generally expected to be tax-exempt for federal income tax purposes. Your bond fund and money market fund dividends for each calendar year will include dividends accrued up to the first business day of the next calendar year. Ordinary dividends and capital gain dividends may also be subject to state and local taxes. You will be sent any additional information you need to determine your taxes on fund distributions, such as the portion of your dividends, if any, that may be exempt from state and local income taxes.
Taxable distributions are subject to tax whether reinvested in additional shares or received in cash.
The tax treatment of a capital gain distribution is determined by how long the fund held the portfolio securities, not how long you held the shares in the fund. Short-term (one year or less) capital gain distributions are taxable at the same rate as ordinary income, and gains on securities held for more than one year are taxed at the lower rates applicable to long-term capital gains. If you realized a loss on the sale or exchange of fund shares that you held for six months or less, your short-term capital loss must be reclassified as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any long-term capital gain distributions received during the period you held the shares. For funds investing in foreign securities, distributions resulting from the sale of certain foreign currencies, currency contracts, and the foreign currency portion of gains on debt securities are taxed as ordinary income. Net foreign currency losses may cause monthly or quarterly dividends to be reclassified as returns of capital.
A fund’s distributions that have exceeded the fund’s earnings and profits for the relevant tax year may be treated as a return of capital to its shareholders. A return of capital distribution is generally nontaxable but reduces the shareholder’s cost basis in the fund, and any return of capital in excess of the cost basis will result in a capital gain.
The tax status of certain distributions may be recharacterized on year-end tax forms, such as your Form 1099-DIV. Distributions made by a fund may later be recharacterized for federal income tax purposes—for example, from taxable ordinary income dividends to returns of capital. A recharacterization of distributions may occur for a number of reasons, including the recharacterization of income received
Information About Accounts in T. Rowe Price Funds | 77 |
from underlying investments, such as real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), and distributions that exceed taxable income due to losses from foreign currency transactions or other investment transactions. Certain funds, including international bond funds and funds that invest significantly in REITs, are more likely to recharacterize a portion of their distributions as a result of their investments.
If the fund qualifies and elects to pass through nonrefundable foreign income taxes paid to foreign governments during the year, your portion of such taxes will be reported to you as taxable income. However, you may be able to claim an offsetting credit or deduction on your tax return for those amounts. There can be no assurance that a fund will meet the requirements to pass through foreign income taxes paid.
If a fund holds certain qualified tax credit bonds and elects to pass through the corresponding interest income and any available tax credits, you will need to report both the interest income and any such tax credits as taxable income. You may be able to claim the tax credits on your federal tax return as an offset to your income tax (including alternative minimum tax) liability, but the tax credits generally are not refundable. There is no assurance, however, that a fund will elect to pass through the income and credits.
If you are subject to backup withholding, we will have to withhold a 28% backup withholding tax on distributions and, in some cases, redemption payments. You may be subject to backup withholding if we are notified by the Internal Revenue Service to withhold, you have failed one or more tax certification requirements, or our records indicate that your tax identification number is missing or incorrect. Backup withholding is not an additional tax and is generally available to credit against your federal income tax liability with any excess refunded to you by the Internal Revenue Service.
The following table provides additional details on distributions for certain funds:
Taxes on Fund Distributions |
Tax-Free and Municipal Funds |
· Gains realized on the sale of market discount bonds with maturities beyond one year may be treated as ordinary income and cannot be offset by other capital losses. · Payments received or gains realized on certain derivative transactions may result in taxable ordinary income or capital gains. · To the extent the fund makes such investments, the likelihood of a taxable distribution will be increased. |
Limited Duration Inflation Focused Bond and Inflation Protected Bond Funds |
· Inflation adjustments on Treasury inflation protected securities that exceed deflation adjustments for the year will be distributed as a short-term capital gain, resulting in ordinary income. · In computing the distribution amount, the funds cannot reduce inflation adjustments by short- or long-term capital losses from the sales of securities. · Net deflation adjustments for a year may result in all or a portion of dividends paid earlier in the year being treated as a return of capital. |
T. Rowe Price | 78 |
Taxes on Fund Distributions |
Retirement, Spectrum, and Target Funds |
· Distributions by the underlying funds and changes in asset allocations may result in taxable distributions of ordinary income or capital gains. |
Tax Consequences of Liquidity Fees
It is currently anticipated that shareholders of retail money funds that impose a liquidity fee may generally treat the liquidity fee as offsetting the shareholder’s amount realized on the redemption (thereby decreasing the shareholder’s gain, or increasing the shareholder’s loss, on the redeemed amount). A fund that imposes a liquidity fee anticipates using 100% of the fee to help repair a market-based net asset value per share that was below $1.00.
Because the retail money funds use amortized cost to maintain a stable share price of $1.00, in the event that a liquidity fee is imposed, a fund may need to distribute to its remaining shareholders sufficient value to prevent the fund from breaking the buck on the upside (i.e., by rounding up to $1.01 in pricing its shares) if the imposition of a liquidity fee causes the fund’s market-based net asset value to reach $1.0050. To the extent that a fund has sufficient earnings and profits to support the distribution, the additional dividends would be taxable as ordinary income to shareholders and would be eligible for deduction by the fund. Any distribution in excess of the fund’s earnings and profits would be treated as a return of capital, which would reduce your cost basis in the fund shares.
Tax Consequences of Hedging
Entering into certain transactions involving options, futures, swaps, and forward currency exchange contracts may result in the application of the mark-to-market and straddle provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. These provisions could result in a fund being required to distribute gains on such transactions even though it did not close the contracts during the year or receive cash to pay such distributions. The fund may not be able to reduce its distributions for losses on such transactions to the extent of unrealized gains in offsetting positions.
Tax Effect of Buying Shares Before an Income Dividend or Capital Gain Distribution
If you buy shares shortly before or on the record date—the date that establishes you as the person to receive the upcoming distribution—you may receive a portion of the money you just invested in the form of a taxable distribution. Therefore, you may wish to find out a fund’s record date before investing. In addition, a fund’s share price may, at any time, reflect undistributed capital gains or income and unrealized appreciation, which may result in future taxable distributions. Such distributions can occur even in a year when the fund has a negative return.
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T. Rowe Price Funds and their agents, in their sole discretion, reserve the following rights: (1) to waive or lower investment minimums; (2) to accept initial purchases by telephone; (3) to refuse any purchase or exchange order; (4) to cancel or rescind any purchase or exchange order placed through a financial intermediary no later than the business day after the order is received by the financial intermediary (including, but not limited to, orders deemed to result in excessive trading, market timing, or 5% ownership); (5) to cease offering fund shares at any time to all or certain groups of investors; (6) to freeze any account and suspend account services when notice has been received of a dispute regarding the ownership of the account, or a legal claim against an account, upon initial notification to T. Rowe Price of a shareholder’s death until T. Rowe Price receives required documentation in correct form, or if there is reason to believe a fraudulent transaction may occur; (7) to otherwise modify the conditions of purchase and modify or terminate any services at any time; (8) to waive any wire, small account, maintenance, or fiduciary fees charged to a group of shareholders; (9) to act on instructions reasonably believed to be genuine; (10) to involuntarily redeem an account at the net asset value calculated the day the account is redeemed, in cases of threatening conduct, suspected fraudulent or illegal activity, or if the fund or its agent is unable, through its procedures, to verify the identity of the person(s) or entity opening an account; and (11) for money funds, to suspend redemptions to facilitate an orderly liquidation.
The fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which contains a more detailed description of the fund’s operations, investment restrictions, policies and practices, has been filed with the SEC. The Statement of Additional Information is incorporated by reference into this prospectus, which means that it is legally part of this prospectus even if you do not request a copy. Further information about the fund’s investments, including a review of market conditions and the manager’s recent investment strategies and their impact on performance during the past fiscal year, is available in the annual and semiannual shareholder reports. These documents and updated performance information are available through troweprice.com. For inquiries about the fund and to obtain free copies of any of these documents, call 1-800-638-5660. If you invest in the fund through a financial intermediary, you should contact your financial intermediary for copies of these documents.
Fund information and Statements of Additional Information are also available from the Public Reference Room of the SEC. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-202-551-8090. Fund reports and other fund information are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at publicinfo@sec.gov, or by writing the Public Reference Room, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549-1520.
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. |
|
1940 Act File No. 811-4119 | 4/19/17 |
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION |
This is the Statement of Additional Information for the T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund (the “fund”). It is divided into two parts (Part I and Part II). Certain information in Parts I and II contains information that generally applies to all of the mutual funds sponsored and managed by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (“Price Funds”).
The date of this Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is April 19, 2017.
T. ROWE PRICE HIGH YIELD FUND, INC., (“High Yield”)
T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund (TUHYX)
T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—Advisor Class (TUHAX)
T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—I Class (TUHIX)
Mailing Address:
T. Rowe
Price Investment Services, Inc.
100 East Pratt Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
1-800-638-5660
This SAI is not a prospectus but should be read in conjunction with the appropriate current fund prospectus, which may be obtained from T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. (“Investment Services”).
The financial statements for the Henderson High Yield Opportunities Fund (the “Predecessor Fund”), for its fiscal year ended July 31, 2016 and its semi-annual period ended January 31, 2017, are hereby incorporated by reference into this SAI.
If you would like a prospectus or an annual or semiannual shareholder report for the fund, please call 1-800-638-5660 and it will be sent to you at no charge. Please read this material carefully.
4/19/17
PART I – TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Principal Holders of Securities | |
Page
Accounting Firm | |
References to the following are as indicated:
Fitch Ratings, Inc. (“Fitch”)
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”)
Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”)
Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”)
Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”)
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“1933 Act”)
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”)
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“1934 Act”)
S & P Global Ratings (“S&P”)
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (“T. Rowe Price”)
T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited (“Price Hong Kong”)
T. Rowe Price International Ltd (“T. Rowe Price International”)
T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. (“Price Singapore”)
While many of the Price Funds are offered in more than one class, not all funds are offered in the classes described below. The front cover of each Price Fund’s prospectus indicates which share classes are available for the fund.
Investor Class
The Investor Class is generally designed for individual investors, but is also available to institutions and a wide variety of other types of investors. The Investor Class may be purchased directly through T. Rowe Price or through a financial intermediary. A Price Fund (other than an Institutional Fund) that does not indicate a specific share class after its name is considered to be the Investor Class of that fund.
I Class
The I Class generally requires a $1,000,000 initial investment minimum, although the minimum may be waived for retirement plans, financial intermediaries maintaining omnibus accounts for their customers, client accounts for which T. Rowe Price or its affiliate has discretionary investment authority, and certain other accounts. I Class shares are designed to be sold to corporations, endowments and foundations, charitable trusts, defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans, brokers, registered investment advisers, banks and bank trust programs, investment companies and other pooled investment vehicles, and certain individuals meeting the investment minimum or other specific criteria.
Advisor Class
The Advisor Class is designed to be sold through various financial intermediaries, such as broker-dealers, banks, insurance companies, retirement plan recordkeepers, and financial advisors. The Advisor Class cannot be purchased directly through T. Rowe Price and must be purchased through an intermediary. The Advisor Class requires an agreement between the financial intermediary and T. Rowe Price to be executed prior to investment.
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Below is a table showing the prospectus and shareholder report dates for the fund. The prospectus date shown for the fund reflects the date that the prospectus will be annually updated once the fund has been in operation at its fiscal year-end.
Fund | Fund Category | Fiscal Year Enda | Annual Report Date | Semiannual Report Date | Prospectus Date |
U.S. High Yield | Taxable Bond | May 31 | May 31 | Nov 30 | Oct 1 |
U.S. High Yield Fund—Advisor Class | Taxable Bond | May 31 | May 31 | Nov 30 | Oct 1 |
U.S High Yield Fund—I Class | Taxable Bond | May 31 | May 31 | Nov 30 | Oct 1 |
(a) The Predecessor Fund’s fiscal year was July 31.
The fund is expected to commence operations on May 19, 2017. On May 19, 2017, it is expected that all of the assets and liabilities of the Predecessor Fund will be transferred to the fund in a tax-free reorganization as set forth in an agreement and plan of reorganization (the “Reorganization”). The Reorganization is expected to occur on May 22, 2017, at which point Predecessor Fund shareholders will receive shares of the fund based on the value of their accounts on May 19, 2017. As a result of the Reorganization, the fund’s Advisor Class will assume the performance and accounting history of the Predecessor Fund’s Class A, and the fund’s I Class will assume the performance and accounting history of the Predecessor Fund’s Class I. Shareholders who own Class A or Class C shares of the Predecessor Fund will receive Advisor Class shares of the fund, and shareholders who owned Class I or Class R6 shares of the Predecessor Fund will receive I Class shares of the fund in the Reorganization. The fund’s fiscal year end is May 31, while the Predecessor Fund’s fiscal year end was July 31.
The officers and directors (the term “director” is used to refer to directors or trustees, as applicable) of the Price Funds are listed on the following pages. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each officer and director is 100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.
The fund is overseen by a Board of Directors (“Board”) that meets regularly to review a wide variety of matters affecting or potentially affecting the fund, including performance, investment programs, compliance matters, advisory fees and expenses, service providers, and business and regulatory affairs. The Board elects the fund’s officers and is responsible for performing various duties imposed on it by the 1940 Act, the laws of Maryland, and other applicable laws. At least 75% of the Board’s members are independent of T. Rowe Price and its affiliates. The directors who are also employees or officers of T. Rowe Price are considered to be inside or interested directors because of their relationships with T. Rowe Price and its affiliates. Each inside director and officer (except as indicated in the tables setting forth the directors’ and officers’ principal occupations during the past five years) has been an employee of T. Rowe Price or its affiliates for five or more years. The Board normally holds five regularly scheduled formal meetings during each calendar year. Although the Board has direct responsibility over various matters (such as approval of advisory contracts and review of fund performance), the Board also exercises certain of its oversight responsibilities through several committees that it has established and which report back to the full Board. The Board believes that a committee structure is an effective means to permit directors to focus on particular operations or issues affecting the fund, including risk oversight. The Board currently has three standing committees, a Committee of Independent Directors, a Joint
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Audit Committee, and an Executive Committee, which are described in greater detail in the following paragraphs.
Edward C. Bernard, an inside director, serves as the Chairman of the Board of the fund. The independent directors of the fund have designated a Lead Independent Director, who functions as a liaison between the Chairman of the Board and the other independent directors. The Lead Independent Director presides at all executive sessions of the independent directors, reviews and provides input on Board meeting agendas and materials, and typically represents the independent directors in discussions with T. Rowe Price management. Anthony W. Deering currently serves as Lead Independent Director of the Board. The fund’s Board has determined that its leadership and committee structure is appropriate because the Board believes that it sets the proper tone for the relationship between the fund, on the one hand, and T. Rowe Price or its affiliates and the fund’s other principal service providers, on the other, and facilitates the exercise of the Board’s independent judgment in evaluating and managing the relationships. In addition, the structure efficiently allocates responsibility among committees and the full Board. The same independent directors currently serve on the Board of all of the Price Funds. This approach is designed to provide effective governance by exposing the independent directors to a wider range of business issues and market trends, allowing the directors to better share their knowledge, background and experience, and permitting the Board to operate more efficiently, particularly with respect to matters common to all Price Funds.
The Committee of Independent Directors, which consists of all of the independent directors of the fund, is responsible for, among other things, seeking, reviewing and selecting candidates to fill independent director vacancies on the fund’s Board, periodically evaluating the compensation payable to the independent directors, and performing certain functions with respect to the governance of the fund. The Lead Independent Director serves as chairman of the committee. The committee will consider written recommendations from shareholders for possible nominees for independent directors. Nominees, like current directors, will be considered based on the ability to review critically, evaluate, question, and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the fund’s management and counsel and the various service providers to the fund, and to exercise reasonable business judgment in the performance of their duties as directors. Nominees will be considered in light of their individual experience, qualifications, attributes, or skills. Nominees will also be considered based on their independence from T. Rowe Price and other principal service providers. Shareholders should submit their recommendations to the secretary of the fund. The committee met 11 times in 2016 in conjunction with the full Board.
The Joint Audit Committee consists of only independent directors. The current members of the committee are Bruce W. Duncan, Robert J. Gerrard, Jr., Paul F. McBride, and Cecilia E. Rouse. Mr. Gerrard serves as chairman of the committee and Mr. Duncan is considered an “audit committee financial expert,” as defined by the SEC. The Joint Audit Committee oversees the pricing processes for the Price Funds and holds three regular meetings during each fiscal year. Two of the meetings include the attendance of the independent registered public accounting firm of the Price Funds as the Joint Audit Committee reviews: (1) the services provided; (2) the findings of the most recent audits; (3) management’s response to the findings of the most recent audits; (4) the scope of the audits to be performed; (5) the accountants’ fees; (6) the qualifications, independence, and performance of the independent registered public accounting firm; and (7) any accounting questions relating to particular areas of the Price Funds’ operations or the operations of parties dealing with the Price Funds, as circumstances indicate. A third meeting is devoted primarily to a review of the risk management program of the fund’s investment adviser. The Joint Audit Committee met four times in 2016.
The Executive Committee, which consists of the fund’s inside directors, has been authorized by its respective Board to exercise all powers of the Board of the fund in the intervals between regular meetings of the Board, except for those powers prohibited by statute from being delegated. All actions of the Executive Committee must be approved in advance by one independent director and reviewed after the fact by the full Board. The Executive Committee for the fund does not hold regularly scheduled meetings. The Executive Committee took action by written consent on behalf of 13 funds during 2016.
Like other mutual funds, the fund is subject to risks, including investment, compliance, operational, and valuation risks, among others. The Board oversees risk as part of its oversight of the fund. Risk oversight is addressed as part of various Board and committee activities. The Board, directly or through its committees,
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interacts with and reviews reports from, among others, the investment adviser or its affiliates, the fund’s Chief Compliance Officer, the fund’s independent registered public accounting firm, legal counsel, and internal auditors for T. Rowe Price or its affiliates, as appropriate, regarding risks faced by the fund and the risk management programs of the investment adviser and certain other service providers. Also, the Joint Audit Committee receives periodic reports from members of the adviser’s Risk Management Oversight Committee on the significant risks inherent to the adviser’s business, including aggregate investment risks, reputational risk, business continuity risk, and operational risk. The actual day-to-day risk management functions with respect to the fund are subsumed within the responsibilities of the investment adviser, its affiliates that serve as investment sub-advisers to the fund, and other service providers (depending on the nature of the risk) that carry out the fund’s investment management and business affairs. Although the risk management policies of T. Rowe Price and its affiliates, and the fund’s other service providers, are reasonably designed to be effective, those policies and their implementation vary among service providers over time, and there is no guarantee that they will always be effective. An investment in a Price Fund may be negatively impacted because of the operational risks arising from factors such as processing errors and human errors, inadequate or failed internal or external processes, failures in systems and technology, changes in personnel and errors caused by third party service providers or trading counterparties. Although the fund attempts to minimize such failures through controls and oversight, it is not possible to identify all of the operational risks that may affect the fund or to develop processes and controls that completely eliminate or mitigate the occurrence of such failures. The fund and its shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result. Processes and controls developed may not eliminate or mitigate the occurrence or effects of all risks, and some risks may be simply beyond any control of the funds, T. Rowe Price and its affiliates, or other service providers.
Each director’s experience, qualifications, attributes, or skills, on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other directors, have led to the conclusion that each director should serve on the Board of the Price Funds. Attributes common to all directors include the ability to review critically, evaluate, question, and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the fund’s management and counsel and the various service providers to the funds, and to exercise reasonable business judgment in the performance of their duties as directors. In addition, the actual service and commitment of the directors during their tenure on the fund’s Board is taken into consideration in concluding that each should continue to serve. A director’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively may have been attained through his or her educational background or professional training; business, consulting, public service, or academic positions; experience from service as a director of the Price Funds, public companies, non-profit entities, or other organizations; or other experiences. Each director brings a diverse perspective to the Board. Set forth below is a brief discussion of the specific experience, qualifications, attributes, or skills of each director that led to the conclusion that he or she should serve as a director.
Edward C. Bernard has been an inside director and Chairman of the Board of all the Price Funds since 2006. Mr. Bernard has more than 25 years of experience in the investment management industry, all of which have been with T. Rowe Price. In addition to his responsibilities with T. Rowe Price and the Price Funds, Mr. Bernard served as chairman (from 2009 to 2011) and is currently the vice chairman of the board of governors of the Investment Company Institute, the national trade association for the mutual fund industry.
William R. Brody had been an independent director of the Price Funds since 2009. Dr. Brody has substantial experience in the public health and research fields, as well as academia. He previously served as president of the Johns Hopkins University, as well as on the Board of John Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Health System, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, BioMed Realty Trust, IBM, and Novartis. He has also served on the Board of a number of other private companies and non-profit entities, including Mesa Biotech, Kool Smiles, Novamed, Radiology Partners, Stanford University, Standard Healthcare, and the Commonwealth Fund, which funds health services research. Dr. Brody retired as independent director of the Price Funds on December 31, 2016.
Anthony W. Deering has been an independent director of the Price Funds for more than 30 years. He currently serves as the Lead Independent Director and was a member of the Joint Audit Committee until September 2014. Mr. Deering brings a wealth of financial services and investment management experience to the Board. He is the former chair and chief executive officer of the Rouse Company and has also served on the Board of a number of public companies, including Deutsche Bank North America, Vornado Realty Trust,
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Brixmor Real Estate Investment Trust, Mercantile Bank, and Under Armour. He has also served on the Board of a number of private companies and non-profit entities, including the Investment Company Institute, Baltimore Museum of Art, Parks & People Foundation, The Rouse Company Foundation, and The Charlesmead Foundation among others.
Bruce W. Duncan has substantial experience in the fields of commercial real estate. He currently serves as chairman of the board of First Industrial Realty and he served as president until September 2016 and chief executive officer until December 2016. In May 2016, Mr. Duncan became a member of the board and compensation committee of Boston Properties. He has been an independent director of the Price Funds since October 2013 and, in September 2014, he became a member of the Joint Audit Committee. In September 2016, Mr. Duncan became a member of the board and finance committee of Marriott Corporation.
Robert J. Gerrard, Jr. has been an independent director of certain Price Funds since 2012 (and all Price Funds since October 2013), and currently serves as a member of the Joint Audit Committee. He has substantial legal and business experience in the industries relating to communications and interactive data services. He has served on the board and compensation committee for Syniverse Holdings and as general counsel to Scripps Networks.
Paul F. McBride has served in various management and senior leadership roles with the Black & Decker Corporation and General Electric Company. He serves on the advisory board of Vizzia Technologies. He led businesses in the materials, industrial, and consumer durable segments. He also has significant global experience. He has served on the Board of a number of private and non-profit entities, including Dunbar Armored, Gilman School, and Living Classrooms Foundation. He has been an independent director of the Price Funds since October 2013 and, in September 2014, he became a member of the Joint Audit Committee.
Brian C. Rogers was an inside director of the domestic equity and international Price Funds for more than 20 years. Mr. Rogers served in a variety of senior leadership roles since joining T. Rowe Price in 1982. Mr. Rogers retired from T. Rowe Price effective March 31, 2017. However, he continues to serve as Director and non-executive Chairman of the Board of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. In addition to his various offices held with T. Rowe Price and its affiliates, he is a Chartered Financial Analyst and served as a member of the T. Rowe Price Asset Allocation Committee. On April 1, 2017, Robert W. Sharps was elected to replace Mr. Rogers as an inside director of the domestic equity and international Price Funds.
Cecilia E. Rouse has been an independent director of certain Price Funds since 2012 (and all Price Funds since October 2013), and became a member of the Joint Audit Committee in September 2014. Dr. Rouse has extensive experience in the fields of higher education and economic research. She has served in a variety of roles at Princeton University, including as a dean, professor, and leader of economic research. She has also served on the board of MDRC, a non-profit education and social policy organization dedicated to improving programs and policies that affect the poor, and as a member of numerous entities, including the American Economic Association, National Bureau of Economic Research, National Academy of Education, and the Association of Public Policy and Management Policy Council.
John G. Schreiber has been an independent director of the Price Funds for more than 20 years and served as a member of the Joint Audit Committee until September 2015. He has significant experience investing in real estate transactions and brings substantial financial services and investment management experience to the Board. He is the president of Centaur Capital Partners, Inc. and a retired partner and co-founder of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors. He previously served as chairman and chief executive officer of JMB Urban Development Co. and executive vice president of JMB Realty Corporation. Mr. Schreiber currently serves on the Board of JMB Realty Corporation, Brixmor Property Group, Hilton Worldwide, and trustee of Loyola University of Chicago, and is a past board member of Urban Shopping Centers, Inc., Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., The Rouse Company, General Growth Properties, AMLI Residential Properties Trust, Blackstone Mortgage Trust, and Hudson Pacific Properties.
Robert W. Sharps was elected as an inside director of the domestic equity and international Price Funds in 2017. Mr. Sharps currently serves as the co-head of Global Equity Division of T. Rowe Price and as a member of the T. Rowe Price Management Committee, International Steering Committee, Equity Steering Committee, Asset Allocation Committee, and Product Strategy Committee. Prior to joining the T. Rowe Price in 1997,
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Mr. Sharps was a senior consultant at KPMG Peat Marwick. In addition to his various offices held with T. Rowe Price and its affiliates, Mr. Sharps is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Mark R. Tercek has been an independent director of the Price Funds since 2009 and served as chairman of the Joint Audit Committee until September 2014. He brings substantial financial services experience to the Board. He was a managing director of Goldman Sachs and is currently president and chief executive officer of The Nature Conservancy.
Edward A. Wiese was elected as an inside director of the domestic fixed income Price Funds in 2015. Mr. Wiese is a Chartered Financial Analyst with over 30 years of investment experience, all of which have been with T. Rowe Price. He currently serves as the Director of Fixed Income for T. Rowe Price and as the Chairperson of the T. Rowe Price Fixed Income Steering Committee, and served as a portfolio manager for various short-term bond and low duration domestic bond strategies until December 2016.
In addition, the following tables provide biographical information for the directors, along with their principal occupations and any directorships they have held of public companies and other investment companies during the past five years.
Independent Directors(a)
Name, Year
of Birth, and Number | Principal Occupation(s) | Directorships |
William R. Brody, M.D., Ph.D.* 1944 0 portfolios | President and Trustee, Salk Institute for Biological Studies (2009 to 2015); Director, BioMed Realty Trust (2013 to 2016); Chairman of the Board, Mesa Biotech, a molecular diagnostic company (March 2016 to present); Director, Radiology Partners, an integrated radiology practice management company (June 2016 to present) | IBM (2007 to 2016); Novartis, Inc. (2009 to 2014); BioMed Realty Trust (2013 to 2016) |
Anthony W. Deering 1945 188 portfolios | Chairman, Exeter Capital, LLC, a private investment firm (2004 to present); Director and Advisory Board Member, Deutsche Bank North America (2004 to present); Director, Brixmor Real Estate Investment Trust (2012 to present) | Vornado Real Estate Investment Trust (2004 to 2012); Deutsche Bank North America (2004 to present); Under Armour (2008 to present); Brixmor Real Estate Investment Trust (2012 to present) |
Bruce W. Duncan 1951 188 portfolios | Chief Executive Officer and Director (2009 to December 2016), Chairman of the Board (January 2016 to present), and President (2009 to September 2016), First Industrial Realty Trust, owner and operator of industrial properties; Chairman of the Board (2005 to September 2016) and Director (1999 to September 2016), Starwood Hotels & Resorts, a hotel and leisure company | Starwood Hotels & Resorts (1999 to September 2016); Boston Properties (May 2016 to present); Marriott International, Inc. (September 2016 to present) |
Robert J. Gerrard, Jr. 1952 188 portfolios | Advisory Board Member, Pipeline Crisis/Winning Strategies, a collaborative working to improve opportunities for young African Americans (1997 to present) | None |
Paul F. McBride 1956 188 portfolios | Advisory Board Member, Vizzia Technologies (2015 to present) | None |
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Name, Year of Birth, and Number | Principal
Occupation(s) | Directorships |
Cecilia E. Rouse, Ph.D. 1963 188 portfolios | Dean, Woodrow Wilson School (2012 to present); Professor and Researcher, Princeton University (1992 to present); Member of National Academy of Education (2010 to present); Director, MDRC, a nonprofit education and social policy research organization (2011 to present); Research Associate of Labor Studies Program (2011 to 2015) and Board Member (2015 to present), National Bureau of Economic Research (2011 to present); Chair of Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economic Profession (2012 to present); Vice President (2015 to present), American Economic Association | None |
John G. Schreiber 1946 188 portfolios | Owner/President, Centaur Capital Partners, Inc., a real estate investment company (1991 to present); Co-founder, Partner, and Co-Chairman of the Investment Committee, Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, L.P. (1992 to 2015); General Growth Properties, Inc. (2010 to 2013); Director, Blackstone Mortgage Trust, a real estate finance company (2012 to 2016); Director and Chairman of the Board, Brixmor Property Group, Inc. (2013 to present); Director, Hilton Worldwide (2013 to present); Director, Hudson Pacific Properties (2014 to 2016) | General Growth Properties, Inc. (2010 to 2013); Blackstone Mortgage Trust (2012 to 2016); Hilton Worldwide (2013 to present); Brixmor Property Group, Inc. (2013 to present); Hudson Pacific Properties (2014 to 2016) |
Mark R. Tercek 1957 188 portfolios | President and Chief Executive Officer, The Nature Conservancy (2008 to present) | None |
* Effective December 31, 2016, Dr. Brody retired as independent director of Price Funds.
(a) All information about the independent directors was current as of December 31, 2016, except for the number of portfolios overseen, which is current as of the date of this SAI.
Inside Directors(a)
The following persons are considered inside directors of the Price Funds because they also serve as employees of T. Rowe Price or its affiliates. No more than two inside directors serve as directors of Price Fund.
The Boards invite nominations from the fund’s investment adviser for persons to serve as inside directors, and the Board reviews and approves these nominations. Each of the current inside directors is a senior executive officer of T. Rowe Price and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., as well as certain of their affiliates. Mr. Bernard has served as a director of all Price Funds and has been Chairman of the Board for all Price Funds since 2006. Mr. Wiese has served as director of certain Price Funds since 2015. The two inside directors serve as members of the fund’s Executive Committee. In addition, specific experience with respect to the inside directors’ occupations and directorships of public companies and other investment companies are set forth in the following table.
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Name, Year of Birth, and Number | Principal
Occupation(s) | Directorships |
Edward C. Bernard 1956 188 portfolios | Director and Vice President, T. Rowe Price; Vice Chairman of the Board, Director, and Vice President, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.; Chairman of the Board, Director, and Vice President, T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. and T. Rowe Price Services, Inc.; Chairman of the Board and Director, T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc.; Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Director, and President, T. Rowe Price International and T. Rowe Price Trust Company Chairman of the Board, all funds | None |
Brian C. Rogers; CFA, CIC* 1955 0 portfolios | Director and Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | United Technologies (January 2016 to present) |
Robert W. Sharps; CFA* 1971 131 portfolios | Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., T. Rowe Price International, and T. Rowe Price Trust Company President, Institutional Equity Funds; Vice President, Equity Income Fund, Personal Strategy Funds, Retirement Funds, Spectrum Funds, and Value Fund | None |
Edward A. Wiese; CFA 1959 57 portfolios | Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., T. Rowe Price International, and T. Rowe Price Trust Company President, Multi-Sector Account Portfolios; Vice President, California Tax-Free Income Trust, State Tax-Free Income Trust, Tax-Exempt Money Fund, and Tax-Free Short-Intermediate Fund | None |
* Mr. Rogers and Mr. Sharps do not serve as inside directors for High Yield Fund.
(a) All information about the inside directors (other than Mr. Sharps) was current as of December 31, 2016 (the information about Mr. Sharps was current as of March 25, 2017), except for the number of portfolios overseen, which is current as of the date of this SAI.
Term of Office and Length of Time Served
The directors serve until retirement, resignation, or election of a successor. The following table shows the year from which each director has served on the Board of the corporation of which the fund is a series.
Independent Directors | |||||||||
Corporation | Number of portfolios | Brody | Deering | Duncan | Gerrard | McBride | Rouse | Schreiber | Tercek |
High Yield | 2 | 2009 | 1984 | 2013 | 2013 | 2013 | 2013 | 1992 | 2009 |
Corporation | Number of portfolios | Inside Directors | |||
Bernard | Rogers | Sharps | Wiese | ||
High Yield | 2 | 2006 | — | 2017 | 2015 |
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Officers
Corporation | Name | Position Held |
High Yield
| Mark J. Vaselkiv Jason A. Bauer Andrew M. Brooks Michael F. Connelly Michael Della Vedova Carson R. Dickson Stephen M. Finamore Justin T. Gerbereux Andrew P. Jamison Paul M. Massaro Brian A. Rubin Jamie Shin Thomas E. Tewksbury Michael J. Trivino Thea N. Williams Darrell N. Braman Paul J. Krug David Oestreicher John W. Ratzesberger Deborah D. Seidel Catherine D. Mathews Shannon Hofher Rauser John R. Gilner | President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President and Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Treasurer and Assistant Secretary Chief Compliance Officer |
Officers
Name, Year
of Birth, and Principal Occupation(s) | Position(s) Held With Corporation(s) |
Jason A. Bauer, 1979 Vice President, T. Rowe Price and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President, High Yield |
Darrell N. Braman, 1963 Vice President, Price Hong Kong, Price Singapore, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., T. Rowe Price International, T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Services, Inc. | Vice President and Secretary, all funds |
Andrew M. Brooks, 1956 Vice President, T. Rowe Price and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President, High Yield |
Michael F. Connelly, 1977 Vice President, T. Rowe Price and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.; CFA | Vice President, High Yield |
Michael Della Vedova, 1969 Vice President, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. and T. Rowe Price International | Vice President, High Yield |
Carson R. Dickson, 1976 Vice President, T. Rowe Price and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.; CFA, CPA | Vice President, High Yield |
Stephen M. Finamore, 1976 Vice President, T. Rowe Price and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.; CPA | Vice President, High Yield |
Justin T. Gerbereux, 1975 Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company; CFA | Vice President, High Yield |
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Name, Year of Birth, and Principal
Occupation(s) | Position(s) Held With Corporation(s) |
John R. Gilner, 1961 Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President, T. Rowe Price; Vice President, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. and T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. | Chief Compliance Officer, all funds |
Andrew P. Jamison, 1981 Vice President, T. Rowe Price and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President, High Yield |
Paul J. Krug, 1964 Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company; CPA | Vice President, all funds |
Paul M. Massaro, 1975 Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company; CFA | Vice President, High Yield |
Catherine D. Mathews, 1963 Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company | Treasurer and Vice President, all funds |
David Oestreicher, 1967 Director, Vice President, and Secretary, T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc., T. Rowe Price Services, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company; Chief Legal Officer, Vice President, and Secretary, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.; Vice President and Secretary, T. Rowe Price and T. Rowe Price International; Vice President, Price Hong Kong and Price Singapore | Vice President, all funds |
John W. Ratzesberger, 1975 Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company; formerly North American Head of Listed Derivatives Operation, Morgan Stanley (to 2013) | Vice President, all funds |
Shannon H. Rauser, 1987 Employee, T. Rowe Price | Assistant Secretary, all funds |
Brian A. Rubin, 1974 Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company; CPA | Vice President, High Yield |
Deborah D. Seidel, 1962 Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Services, Inc. | Vice President, all funds |
Jamie Shin, 1984 Vice President, T. Rowe Price and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.; CFA | Vice President, High Yield |
Thomas E. Tewksbury, 1961 Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company | Vice President, High Yield |
Michael J. Trivino, 1981 Vice President, T. Rowe Price and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President, High Yield Fund |
Mark J. Vaselkiv, 1958 Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company | President, High Yield |
Thea N. Williams, 1961 Vice President, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company | Vice President, High Yield |
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Directors’ Compensation
Each independent director is paid $300,000 annually for his/her service on the fund’s Board and the chairman of the Committee of Independent Directors is paid an additional $150,000 annually for his/her service as Lead Independent Director. An independent director who serves on the Joint Audit Committee receives $30,000 annually for his/her service as a member of the committee and the Joint Audit Committee chairman receives $40,000 annually for his/her service as chairman of the committee. All of these fees are allocated to each Price Fund on a pro rata basis based on each fund’s net assets relative to the other Price Funds.
The following table shows the total compensation that was received by the independent directors from the Price Funds for the 2016 calendar year. The independent directors of the fund do not receive any pension or retirement benefits from the fund or T. Rowe Price. In addition, the officers and inside directors of the fund do not receive any compensation or benefits from the funds for their service.
Directors | Total Compensation |
Brody | $300,000 |
Deering (Lead) | 456,000 |
Duncan | 330,000 |
Gerrard | 346,000 |
McBride | 336,000 |
Rouse | 330,000 |
Schreiber | 304,500 |
Tercek | 300,000 |
The following table shows the amounts to be paid by the fund to the independent directors, estimated for the period May 22, 2017 through December 31, 2017:
Fund | Aggregate Compensation From Fund | |||||||
Brody | Deering | Duncan | Gerrard | McBride | Rouse | Schreiber | Tercek | |
U.S. High Yield | — | $19 | $14 | $14 | $14 | $14 | $13 | $13 |
Directors’ Holdings in the Price Funds
The following tables set forth the fund’s holdings of the current independent and inside directors (and the aggregate holdings in all Price Funds), as of December 31, 2016, unless otherwise indicated.
Aggregate | Independent Directors | ||||||||
Brody | Deering | Duncan | Gerrard | McBride | Rouse | Schreiber | Tercek | ||
over $100,000 | over $100,000 | over $100,000 | over $100,000 | over $100,000 | over $100,000 | over $100,000 | over $100,000 | ||
U.S. High Yield(a) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
U.S. High Yield Fund—Advisor Class(a) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
U.S. High Yield Fund—I Class(a) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
(a) The directors’ holdings in the fund are not shown since the fund commenced operations in 2017.
Aggregate Holdings, | Inside Directors | ||||||||
Bernard | Rogers | Sharps | Wiese | ||||||
over $100,000 | over $100,000 | over $100,000 | over $100,000 | ||||||
U.S. High Yield(a) | — | — | — | — | |||||
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Aggregate Holdings, | Inside Directors | ||||||||
Bernard | Rogers | Sharps | Wiese | ||||||
over $100,000 | over $100,000 | over $100,000 | over $100,000 | ||||||
U.S. High Yield Fund—Advisor Class(a) | — | — | — | — | |||||
U.S. High Yield Fund—I Class(a) | — | — | — | — | |||||
(a) The directors’ holdings in the fund are not shown since the fund commenced operations in 2017.
Portfolio Manager’s Holdings in the Funds
The following table sets forth ranges of holdings for the fund’s portfolio manager. The portfolio manager has day-to-day responsibility for managing the fund and executing the fund’s investment program. The column entitled “Range of Predecessor Fund Holdings as of July 31, 2016” shows the dollar range of shares beneficially owned in the fund for which he or she serves as portfolio manager, as of the end of that fund’s most recent fiscal year. The column entitled “Range of Holdings in Investment Strategy as of July 31, 2016” shows the dollar range of shares beneficially owned (including shares or units held through the T. Rowe Price 401(k) plan and other T. Rowe Price retirement plans or deferred compensation plans) in the Predecessor Fund, as well as all investment portfolios that are managed by the same portfolio manager and have investment objectives, policies, and strategies that are substantially similar to those of the Predecessor Fund, as of the Predecessor Fund’s most recent fiscal year. Substantially similar portfolios may include mutual funds, such as institutional funds, common trust funds, and non-U.S. pooled investment vehicles, such as Societe d’Investissement a Capital Variable Funds (SICAVs).
| Range of Predecessor Fund Holdings as of July 31, 2016 | Range of Holdings in Investment Strategy as of July 31, 2016 |
Kevin Loome | $100,001–$500,000 | None |
Portfolio Manager Compensation
Portfolio manager compensation consists primarily of a base salary, a cash bonus, and an equity incentive that usually comes in the form of restricted stock grant. Compensation is variable and is determined based on the following factors.
Investment performance over 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods is the most important input. The weightings for these time periods are generally balanced and are applied consistently across similar strategies. T. Rowe Price (and Price Hong Kong, Price Singapore, and T. Rowe Price International, as appropriate), evaluate performance in absolute, relative, and risk-adjusted terms. Relative performance and risk-adjusted performance are typically determined with reference to the broad-based index (e.g., S&P 500 Index) and the Lipper index (e.g., Large-Cap Growth) set forth in the total returns table in the fund’s prospectus, although other benchmarks may be used as well. Investment results are also measured against comparably managed funds of competitive investment management firms. The selection of comparable funds is approved by the applicable investment steering committee (as described under the “Disclosure of Fund Portfolio Information” section) and is the same as the selection presented to the directors of the Price Funds in their regular review of fund performance.
Compensation is viewed with a long-term time horizon. The more consistent a manager’s performance over time, the higher the compensation opportunity. The increase or decrease in a fund’s assets due to the purchase or sale of fund shares is not considered a material factor. In reviewing relative performance for fixed-income funds, a fund’s expense ratio is usually taken into account. Contribution to T. Rowe Price’s overall investment process is an important consideration as well. Leveraging ideas and investment insights across the global investment platform, working effectively with and mentoring others, and other contributions to our clients, the firm or our culture are important components of T. Rowe Price’s long-term success and are highly valued.
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All employees of T. Rowe Price, including portfolio managers, participate in a 401(k) plan sponsored by T. Rowe Price Group. In addition, all employees are eligible to purchase T. Rowe Price common stock through an employee stock purchase plan that features a limited corporate matching contribution. Eligibility for and participation in these plans is on the same basis for all employees. Finally, all vice presidents of T. Rowe Price Group, including all portfolio managers, receive supplemental medical/hospital reimbursement benefits.
This compensation structure is used when evaluating the performance of all portfolios (including the Price Funds) managed by the portfolio manager.
Assets Under Management
The following table sets forth the number and total assets of the mutual funds and accounts managed by the fund’s portfolio manager as of July 31, 2016. There are no accounts for which the advisory fee is based on the performance of the account.
Registered Investment | Other Pooled Investment | Other Accounts | ||||
Name | Number | Total Assets | Number | Total Assets | Number | Total Assets |
Kevin Loome | 1 | 24.98 million | 1 | 97.92 million | 0 | — |
Conflicts of Interest
Portfolio managers at T. Rowe Price and its affiliates may manage multiple accounts. These accounts may include, among others, mutual funds, separate accounts (assets managed on behalf of institutions such as pension funds, colleges and universities, and foundations), offshore funds and common trust funds. Portfolio managers make investment decisions for each portfolio based on the investment objectives, policies, practices, and other relevant investment considerations that the managers believe are applicable to that portfolio. Consequently, portfolio managers may purchase (or sell) securities for one portfolio and not another portfolio. T. Rowe Price and its affiliates have adopted brokerage and trade allocation policies and procedures which they believe are reasonably designed to address any potential conflicts associated with managing multiple accounts for multiple clients. Also, as disclosed under the “Portfolio Manager Compensation” section, the portfolio managers’ compensation is determined in the same manner with respect to all portfolios managed by the portfolio manager. Please see the “Portfolio Transactions” section of this SAI for more information on our brokerage and trade allocation policies.
The Price Funds may, from time to time, own shares of Morningstar, Inc. Morningstar is a provider of investment research to individual and institutional investors, and publishes ratings on mutual funds, including the Price Funds. T. Rowe Price manages the Morningstar retirement plan and T. Rowe Price and its affiliates pay Morningstar for a variety of products and services. In addition, Morningstar may provide investment consulting and investment management services to clients of T. Rowe Price or its affiliates.
As of December 31, 2016, none of the independent directors or their immediate family members owned beneficially or of record any securities of T. Rowe Price (the Price Funds’ investment adviser), Investment Services (the Price Funds’ distributor), or any person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with T. Rowe Price or Investment Services.
Because the fund has not yet commenced operations as of the date of this SAI, the directors and executive officers of the fund, as a group, owned less than 1% of the outstanding shares of the fund, as of the date of this SAI.
As of March 31, 2017, the following shareholders of record owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Predecessor Fund’s Class A and Class I. Shareholders of record with more than 25% of the outstanding
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shares of the Funds are believed to hold shares only as nominee. Shareholders who have the power to vote a large percentage of shares (at least 25%) of a Fund can control the Fund (within the meaning of the Section 2(a)(9) of the 1940 Act) and may be able to determine the outcome of a shareholder meeting.
Name of Fund and Class | Name and Address | Percentage of Total Shares Outstanding (%) | |
Henderson High Yield Opportunities A | Charles Schwab & Company Inc. | 8.69 | |
Special Custody Acct FBO Customers | |||
211 Main Street | |||
San Francisco, CA 94105-1905 | |||
LPL Financial | 7.14 | ||
Omnibus Customer Account | |||
Attn: Mutual Fund Trading | |||
4707 Executive Drive | |||
San Diego, CA 92121-3091 | |||
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney | 8.85 | ||
Harborside Financial Center | |||
Plaza 2, 3rd Floor | |||
Jersey City, NJ 07311 | |||
National Financial Services LLC | 61.92 | ||
For Exclusive Benefit of our Cust. | |||
Attn: Mutual Funds Dept., 4th Floor | |||
499 Washington Boulevard | |||
Jersey City, NJ 07310-1995 | |||
Henderson High Yield Opportunities I | Morgan Stanley Smith Barney | 62.35 | |
Harborside Financial Center | |||
Plaza 2, 3rd Floor | |||
Jersey City, NJ 07311 | |||
Raymond James | 5.25 | ||
Omnibus for Mutual Funds | |||
Attn: Courtney Waller | |||
880 Carillon Pkwy | |||
St. Petersburg, FL 33716-1100 | |||
UBS WM USA | 21.87 | ||
Omni Account M/F | |||
Special Custody A/C EBOC UBSFSI | |||
1000 Harbor Boulevard | |||
Weehawken, NJ 07086-6761 |
T. Rowe Price is the investment adviser for the fund and has executed an Investment Management Agreement with the fund. T. Rowe Price is a wholly owned subsidiary of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.
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Investment Management Services
Under the Investment Management Agreement, T. Rowe Price is responsible for supervising and overseeing investments of the fund in accordance with its investment objective, program, and restrictions as provided in the fund’s prospectus and this SAI. In addition, T. Rowe Price provides the fund with certain corporate administrative services, including: maintaining the fund’s corporate existence and corporate records; registering and qualifying fund shares under federal laws; monitoring the financial, accounting, and administrative functions of the fund; maintaining liaison with the agents employed by the fund such as the fund’s custodians, fund accounting vendor, and transfer agent; assisting the fund in the coordination of such agent’s activities; and permitting employees of T. Rowe Price to serve as officers, directors, and committee members of the fund without cost to the fund. T. Rowe Price is responsible for making discretionary investment decisions on behalf of the fund and is generally responsible for effecting all security transactions, including the negotiation of commissions and the allocation of principal business and portfolio brokerage.
T. Rowe Price and its directors, officers, employees, and certain other persons performing specific functions for the fund will be liable to the fund only for losses resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of duty.
Under the Investment Management Agreement, T. Rowe Price is permitted to utilize the services or facilities of others to provide it or the fund with statistical and other factual information, advice regarding economic factors and trends, advice as to occasional transactions in specific securities, and such other information, advice, or assistance as T. Rowe Price may deem necessary, appropriate, or convenient for the discharge of its obligations under the Investment Management Agreement or otherwise helpful to the fund.
Control of Investment Adviser
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (“Group”) is a publicly owned company and owns 100% of the stock of T. Rowe Price, which in turn owns 100% of T. Rowe Price International, which in turn owns 100% each of Price Hong Kong and Price Singapore. Group was formed in 2000 as a holding company for the T. Rowe Price-affiliated companies.
Management Fees
The fund pays T. Rowe Price a fee (“Fee”) which consists of two components: a Group Management Fee (“Group Fee”) and an Individual Fund Fee (“Fund Fee”). The Fee is paid monthly to T. Rowe Price on the first business day of the next succeeding calendar month and is calculated as described next.
The monthly Group Fee (“Monthly Group Fee”) is the sum of the daily Group Fee accruals (“Daily Group Fee Accruals”) for each month. The Daily Group Fee Accrual for any particular day is computed by multiplying the Price Funds’ group fee accrual as determined below (“Daily Price Funds’ Group Fee Accrual”) by the ratio of the Price Funds’ net assets for that day to the sum of the aggregate net assets of the Price Funds for that day. The Daily Price Funds’ Group Fee Accrual for any particular day is calculated by multiplying the fraction of one (1) over the number of calendar days in the year by the annualized Daily Price Funds’ Group Fee Accrual for that day as determined in accordance with the following schedule:
0.480% | First $1 billion | 0.340% | Next $5 billion | 0.290% | Next $60 billion |
0.450% | Next $1 billion | 0.330% | Next $10 billion | 0.285% | Next $80 billion |
0.420% | Next $1 billion | 0.320% | Next $10 billion | 0.280% | Next $100 billion |
0.390% | Next $1 billion | 0.310% | Next $16 billion | 0.275% | Next $100 billion |
0.370% | Next $1 billion | 0.305% | Next $30 billion | 0.270% | Next $150 billion |
0.360% | Next $2 billion | 0.300% | Next $40 billion | 0.265% | Thereafter |
0.350% | Next $2 billion | 0.295% | Next $40 billion |
For the purpose of calculating the Group Fee, the Price Funds include all the mutual funds distributed by Investment Services (excluding the Funds-of-Funds, TRP Reserve Funds, Multi-Sector Account Portfolios, any Index or private label mutual funds). In addition, any investments by a fund in another Price Fund are excluded from the calculation. For the purpose of calculating the Daily Price Funds’ Group Fee Accrual for
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any particular day, the net assets of each Price Fund are determined in accordance with each fund’s prospectus as of the close of business on the previous business day on which the fund was open for business.
The monthly Fund Fee (“Monthly Fund Fee”) is the sum of the daily Fund Fee accruals (“Daily Fund Fee Accruals”) for each month. The Daily Fund Fee Accrual for any particular day is computed by multiplying the fraction of one (1) over the number of calendar days in the year by the individual fund fee. The product of this calculation is multiplied by the net assets of the fund for that day, as determined in accordance with the fund’s prospectus as of the close of business on the previous business day on which the fund was open for business. The fund’s individual fund fee is 0.30%.
Management Fee Compensation
Pursuant to an investment advisory agreement, Henderson Global Investors (North America) Inc. (“HGINA”) will act as investment adviser to the Predecessor Fund until the Reorganization. The Predecessor Fund paid HGINA a monthly fee for providing investment advisory services at an annual rate of 0.50% of the Predecessor Fund’s average daily net assets.
The following table sets forth the advisory fees incurred by the Predecessor Fund under the investment advisory agreement during the fiscal years indicated:
Fiscal Year Ended | ||
7/31/16 | 7/31/15 | 7/31/14 |
$172,937 | $173,998 | $175,107 |
The following table sets forth the management fees waived by HGINA by for the Predecessor Fund during the fiscal years indicated:
Fiscal Year Ended | ||
7/31/16 | 7/31/15 | 7/31/14 |
$92,141 | $78,611 | $144,930 |
Expense Limitations and Reimbursements
The following chart sets forth contractual expense ratio limitations and the periods for which they are effective. The chart sets forth the expense limitations for the fund and its classes (except the I Class). Except for the I Class, T. Rowe Price, has agreed to bear any fund expenses (other than interest, taxes, brokerage, and other expenditures that are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, extraordinary expenses, and acquired funds fees) which would cause the fund’s ratio of expenses to average daily net assets to exceed the indicated percentage limitation. Fees waived and expenses borne by T. Rowe Price are subject to reimbursement by the fund through the indicated reimbursement date, provided no reimbursement will be made if it would result in the fund’s expense ratio exceeding its applicable limitation.
Fund | Limitation Period | Expense Ratio Limitation % | Reimbursement Date |
U.S. High Yield | May 22, 2017 – September 30, 2019 | 0.79 | (a) |
U.S. High Yield Fund—Advisor Class | May 22, 2017 – September 30, 2019 | 0.94 | (a) |
(a) No reimbursement will be made more than three years after any waiver or payment.
The Investment Management Agreement between the fund and T. Rowe Price provides that the fund will bear all expenses of its operations not specifically assumed by the T. Rowe Price.
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For the purpose of determining whether the fund is entitled to expense limitation, the expenses of the fund are calculated on a monthly basis. If the fund is entitled to expense limitation, that month’s advisory fee will be reduced or waived and/or the fund’s operating expenses will be paid or reimbursed, with any adjustment made after the end of the year.
The fund’s limitation also provides that one or more additional expense limitation periods (of the same or different time periods) may be implemented after the expiration of the current expense limitation, and that with respect to any such additional limitation period, the fund may reimburse T. Rowe Price, provided the reimbursement does not result in the fund’s aggregate expenses exceeding the additional expense limitation.
With respect to the I Class, T. Rowe Price has agreed to pay the operating expenses of the fund’s I Class excluding management fees; interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes and brokerage; nonrecurring, extraordinary expenses; and acquired funds fees and expenses (“I Class Operating Expenses”), to the extent the I Class Operating Expenses exceed 0.05% of the class’ average daily net assets through September 30, 2019. Any expenses paid under the agreement are subject to reimbursement to T. Rowe Price by the fund whenever the fund’s I Class Operating Expenses are below 0.05%. However, no reimbursement will be made more than three years after the payment of the I Class Operating Expenses or if such reimbursement would cause the fund’s I Class Operating Expenses to exceed 0.05%.
Management Related Services
In addition to the management fee, the fund pays for the following: shareholder service expenses; custodial, accounting, legal, and audit fees; costs of preparing and printing prospectuses and reports sent to shareholders; registration fees and expenses; proxy and annual meeting expenses (if any); and directors’ fees and expenses.
T. Rowe Price Services, Inc. (“Services”), a wholly owned subsidiary of T. Rowe Price, acts as the fund’s transfer and dividend disbursing agent and provides shareholder and administrative services. T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc. (“RPS”), also a wholly owned subsidiary, provides recordkeeping, sub-transfer agency, and administrative services for certain types of retirement plans investing in the fund. Pursuant to an agreement between the Price Funds and Services, the fees paid by the fund to Services are based on the costs to Services of providing these services plus a return on capital employed in support of the services.
Pursuant to an agreement between applicable Price Funds and RPS, the fees paid to RPS are based on the percentage of Price Fund assets for which RPS provides recordkeeping and sub-transfer agency services. The fees paid to Services and RPS are set forth in each fund’s shareholder report under “Related Party Transactions.” The address for Services and RPS is 100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.
T. Rowe Price, under a separate agreement with the Price Funds, provides accounting services to the funds. Certain accounting services are provided to the fund by T. Rowe Price and certain account services are provided by The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”), subject to the oversight of T. Rowe Price.
Pursuant to an administration agreement between the Predecessor Fund and its administrator, the Predecessor Fund paid its administrator an administration fee that varied based on a percentage of the average net assets of the Predecessor Fund. The following table shows the administration fees paid by the Predecessor Fund to during the fiscal years indicated.
Fiscal Year Ended | ||
7/31/16 | 7/31/15 | 7/31/14 |
$7,052 | $6,609 | $6,732 |
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Administrative Fee Payments
The fund has adopted an administrative fee payment (“AFP”) program that authorizes the fund to make payments for services provided on behalf of the fund. Under the AFP program, payments by the fund (of up to 0.15% of its average daily net assets per year) may be made to retirement plans, retirement plan recordkeepers, insurance companies, banks, and broker-dealers for transfer agency, recordkeeping, and other administrative services. These services include, but are not limited to: transmitting net purchase and redemption orders; maintaining separate records for shareholders reflecting purchases, redemptions, and share balances; mailing shareholder confirmations and periodic statements; processing dividend payments; and utilizing telephone services in connection with the above.
The Advisor Class has adopted an AFP program under which various third parties, including third parties receiving 12b-1 payments, may receive payments from the class in addition to 12b-1 fees for providing various recordkeeping, transfer agency, and administrative services to the classes and/or shareholders thereof. These services include, but are not limited to: transmitting net purchase and redemption orders; maintaining separate records for shareholders reflecting purchases, redemptions, and share balances; mailing shareholder confirmations and periodic statements; processing dividend payments; and utilizing telephone services in connection with the above. The fund did you pay any fees under the AFP program in the calendar year 2016 since it commenced operations in 2017.
Additional Payments to Financial Intermediaries and Other Third Parties
In addition to the AFP payments made by the fund and the 12b-1 payments made by the Advisor Class, T. Rowe Price may, at its own expense, provide compensation to financial intermediaries that have sold shares of or provide other shareholder services to the Price Funds. These payments would be used to compensate third parties for distribution and non-distribution shareholder services, including sub-accounting, sub-transfer agency, post-sale shareholder servicing, or other services. T. Rowe Price and its affiliates may also provide expense reimbursements and meeting and marketing support payments (out of their own resources and not as an expense of the fund) to financial intermediaries, such as brokers-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks, insurance companies, and retirement plan recordkeepers, in connection with the sale, distribution, marketing, and/or servicing of the Price Funds.
Such expense reimbursements and meeting support payments may include sponsoring (or co-sponsoring) or providing financial support for industry conferences, client seminars, due diligence meetings, sales presentations, and other third-party sponsored events. The primary focus of these events typically is training and education. These payments will generally vary depending upon the nature of the event and may include financial assistance to intermediaries that enable T. Rowe Price or one of its affiliates to participate in and/or present at conferences or seminars, sales or training programs for invited registered representatives and other attendees. Payments could also represent certain entertainment expenses, such as occasional meal expenses or tickets to sporting events that are not preconditioned on achievement of sales targets. Marketing support payments may be made for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to: advertising and marketing opportunities; building brand awareness and educating intermediaries, clients, and prospects about the Price Funds; placement on an intermediary’s list of offered funds or preferred fund list; gaining access to senior management, sales representatives, or wholesalers of an intermediary; receiving detailed reporting packages (such as periodic sales reporting, sales production results, and data on how T. Rowe Price products, including the Price Funds, are used); and inclusion as a recommended individual retirement account provider on the platform of rollover service providers. Payments may also be made to third parties that help facilitate rollovers from employer-sponsored retirement plans to individual retirement accounts.
Reimbursements of retirement plan expenses may be made by T. Rowe Price or its affiliated retirement plan recordkeeper, RPS, in circumstances where the Price Funds are offered as investment options in such plans. These expense reimbursements are provided directly to the retirement plans and are intended to be used by
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plan sponsors to offset recordkeeping fees that RPS receives for providing sub-transfer agent and administrative services to the Price Funds.
The receipt of, or the prospect of receiving, these payments and expense reimbursements from T. Rowe Price and its affiliates may influence intermediaries, plan sponsors and other third parties to offer or recommend Price Funds over other investment options for which an intermediary does not receive additional compensation (or receives lower levels of additional compensation). In addition, if financial intermediaries receive these payments and/or expense reimbursements, they may elevate the prominence of the Price Funds by, for example, placing the Price Funds on a list of preferred or recommended funds and/or provide preferential or enhanced opportunities to promote the Price Funds in various ways. Since these additional payments are not paid by a fund directly, these arrangements do not increase fund expenses and will not change the price that an investor pays for shares of the Price Funds or the amount that a Price Fund receives to invest on behalf of an investor. However, T. Rowe Price’s revenues or profits may in part be derived from fees earned for services provided to and paid for by the Price Funds.
Investment Services, a Maryland corporation formed in 1980 as a wholly owned subsidiary of T. Rowe Price, serves as distributor for all T. Rowe Price mutual funds on a continuous basis. Investment Services is registered as a broker-dealer under the 1934 Act and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”).
Investment Services is located at the same address as the funds and T. Rowe Price–100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.
Investment Services serves as distributor to the fund, pursuant to an Underwriting Agreement (“Underwriting Agreement”), which provides that Underwriter provides all fees and expenses in connection with necessary state filings; preparing, setting in type, printing, and mailing of prospectuses and reports to shareholders; and issuing shares, including expenses of confirming purchase orders.
The Underwriting Agreement also provides that Investment Services will pay all fees and expenses in connection with printing and distributing prospectuses and reports for use in offering and selling fund shares; preparing, setting in type, printing, and mailing all sales literature and advertising; Investment Services’ federal and state registrations as a broker-dealer; and offering and selling shares for the fund, except for those fees and expenses specifically assumed by the fund. Investment Services’ expenses are paid by T. Rowe Price.
Investment Services acts as the agent of the fund, in connection with the sale of fund shares in the various states in which Investment Services is qualified as a broker-dealer. Under the Underwriting Agreement, Investment Services accepts orders for fund shares at net asset value. Other than as described below with respect to the Advisor Class shares, no sales charges are paid by investors or the fund and no compensation is paid to Investment Services.
Advisor Class
Distribution and Shareholder Services Plan
The fund’s directors adopted a plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act with respect to the Advisor Class (the “Class”). The plan provides that the Class may compensate Investment Services or such other persons as the fund or Investment Services designates, to finance any or all of the distribution, shareholder servicing, maintenance of shareholder accounts, and/or other administrative services with respect to Class shares. It is expected that most, if not all, payments under the plan will be made (either directly, or indirectly through Investment Services) to intermediaries other than Investment Services such as broker-dealers, banks, insurance companies, and retirement plan recordkeepers. Under the plan, the Advisor Class pays a fee at the annual rate of up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets. Normally, the full amount of the fee is paid to
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intermediary on shares sold through that intermediary; however, a lesser amount may be paid. In addition, the fee may be split among intermediaries based on the level of services provided by each. Intermediaries may use the payments for, among other purposes, compensating employees engaged in sales and/or shareholder servicing of the Class, as well as for a wide variety of other purposes associated with supporting, distributing, and servicing Class shares. The amount of fees paid by the Class during any year may be more or less than the cost of distribution and other services provided to the Class and its investors. FINRA rules limit the amount of annual distribution and service fees that may be paid by a mutual fund and impose a ceiling on the cumulative distribution fees paid. The plan complies with these rules.
The plan requires that Investment Services provide, or cause to be provided, a quarterly written report identifying the amounts expended by the Class and the purposes for which such expenditures were made to the fund directors for their review.
Prior to approving the plan, the fund considered various factors relating to the implementation of the plan and determined that there is a reasonable likelihood that the plan will benefit the fund, its Class, and the Class’ shareholders. The fund directors noted that to the extent the plan allows the fund to sell Class shares in markets to which it would not otherwise have access, the plan may result in additional sales of fund shares. This may enable the fund to achieve economies of scale that could reduce expenses. In addition, certain ongoing shareholder services may be provided more effectively by intermediaries with which shareholders have an existing relationship.
The plan is renewable from year to year with respect to the fund, so long as its continuance is approved at least annually (1) by the vote of a majority of the fund directors and (2) by a vote of the majority of the fund’s independent directors cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The plan may not be amended to increase materially the amount of fees paid by any Class thereunder unless such amendment is approved by a majority vote of the outstanding shares of such Class and by the fund directors in the manner prescribed by Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The plan is terminable with respect to the Class at any time by a vote of a majority of the independent directors or by a majority vote of the outstanding shares in the Class.
Payments under the 12b-1 plans will still normally be made for funds that are closed to new investors. Such payments are made for the various services provided to existing investors by the intermediaries receiving such payments.
The fund’s Advisor Class will adopt the Predecessor Fund’s accounting and performance history as a result of the Reorganization. For the fiscal years ended July 31, 2016, July 31, 2015, and July 31, 2014, the Predecessor Fund’s Class A paid $6,654, $7,066, and $4,110, respectively, to its distributor pursuant to a plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 to cover expenses incurred in promoting the sale of that class of shares.
Investment or Brokerage Discretion
Decisions with respect to the selection, purchase, and sale of portfolio securities on behalf of the international Price Funds are generally made by T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, or Price Singapore. Decisions with respect to the selection, purchase, and sale of portfolio securities on behalf of all other Price Funds are generally made by T. Rowe Price. T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore are responsible for implementing these decisions for the Price Funds, including, where applicable, the negotiation of commissions, the allocation of portfolio brokerage and principal business, and the use of affiliates to assist in routing orders for execution. Price Singapore delegates actual trade execution to the trading desks of T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, or Price Hong Kong, and may use these affiliated investment advisers for certain other trading-related services.
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How Broker-Dealers Are Selected
With respect to equity and debt securities, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, or Price Singapore may effect principal transactions on behalf of a fund with a broker-dealer that furnishes brokerage and/or research services; designate any such broker-dealer to receive selling concessions, discounts, or other allowances; or otherwise deal with any such broker-dealer in connection with the acquisition of securities in underwritings. T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, or Price Singapore may receive research services in connection with brokerage transactions, including designations in fixed-price offerings.
Debt Securities
In purchasing and selling debt securities, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore ordinarily place transactions with the issuer or a primary market-maker acting as principal for the securities on a net basis, with no stated brokerage commission being paid by the client, although the price usually includes undisclosed compensation to the market-maker. Debt securities may also be purchased from underwriters at prices which include underwriting fees. Any transactions placed through broker-dealers serving as primary market-makers reflect the spread between the bid and ask prices.
Equity Securities
In purchasing and selling equity securities, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore seek to obtain best execution at favorable security prices through responsible broker-dealers and, in the case of agency transactions, at competitive commission rates. However, under certain conditions, higher brokerage commissions may be paid to broker-dealers providing brokerage and research services to T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, and Price Hong Kong than might be paid to other broker-dealers in accordance with Section 28(e) under the 1934 Act and subsequent guidance from regulators.
In selecting broker-dealers to execute the Price Funds’ portfolio transactions, consideration is given to such factors as the price of the security, the rate of the commission, the size and difficulty of the order, the reliability, integrity, general execution, and operational capabilities of competing broker-dealers, their expertise in particular markets, and brokerage and research services provided by them. It is not the policy of T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, or Price Hong Kong to seek the lowest available commission rate where it is believed that a broker-dealer charging a higher commission rate would offer greater reliability, provide better price, or more efficient execution.
As a general practice, transactions involving U.S. equity securities are executed in the primary market with market-makers, or through electronic, “low touch” trading venues. In selecting from among these options, T. Rowe Price generally seeks to select the broker-dealers or electronic venue it believes to be actively and effectively trading the security being purchased or sold. In an effort to obtain best execution, orders for foreign equity securities may be placed through T. Rowe Price International’s or Price Hong Kong’s trading desk.
Transactions on stock exchanges involve the payment of brokerage commissions. In transactions on stock exchanges in the U.S., these commissions are negotiated. Traditionally, commission rates have generally not been negotiated on stock markets outside the U.S. However, an increasing number of overseas stock markets have adopted a system of negotiated rates or ranges of rates, although a small number of markets continue to be subject to an established schedule of minimum commission rates. It is expected that equity securities will ordinarily be purchased in the primary markets, whether over-the-counter (“OTC”) or listed, and that listed securities may be purchased in the OTC market if such market is deemed the primary market. In the case of securities traded on the OTC markets, there is generally no stated commission, but the price usually includes an undisclosed commission or markup. In underwritten offerings, the price includes a disclosed, fixed commission or discount.
The funds may invest in stocks issued by companies of various market capitalizations. Stocks of smaller companies can be more difficult to trade and less liquid than those of larger companies, which may result in higher trading costs.
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Evaluating the Overall Reasonableness of Brokerage Commissions Paid
On a continuing basis, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore seek to determine what levels of commission rates are reasonable in the marketplace for transactions executed on behalf of mutual funds and other institutional clients. In evaluating the reasonableness of commission rates, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore may consider any or all of the following: (a) rates quoted by broker-dealers; (b) the size of a particular transaction, in terms of the number of shares, dollar amount, and number of clients involved; (c) the complexity of a particular transaction in terms of both execution and settlement; (d) the level and type of business conducted with a particular firm over a period of time; (e) the extent to which the broker-dealer has capital at risk in the transaction; (f) historical commission rates; (g) rates paid by other institutional investors based on available public information; and (h) research provided by the broker-dealer.
Commissions Paid to Broker-Dealers for Research
Broker-dealers provide a wide range of research services to T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore.
T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore seek best execution on all trades consistent with fiduciary and regulatory requirements. T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore have adopted a brokerage allocation policy embodying the concepts of Section 28(e) under the 1934 Act. Section 28(e) permits an investment adviser to cause an account to pay a higher commission to a broker-dealer that also provides research services than the commission another broker-dealer would charge, provided the adviser determines in good faith that the commission paid is reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided. An adviser may make such a determination based upon either the particular transaction involved or the overall responsibilities of the adviser with respect to the accounts over which it exercises investment discretion. Therefore, research may not necessarily benefit all accounts paying commissions to such broker-dealers. Broker-dealers may provide proprietary research to T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore in connection with brokerage relationships, including fixed income offerings.
Certain full service broker-dealers (broker-dealers who provide brokerage and execution services) also furnish “bundled” proprietary research services to T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore. “Bundled” research involves an arrangement whereby the underlying commission is informally comprised of both trade execution and other services, most frequently investment research that is intended to assist T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and/or Price Singapore with their internal research processes. Such services are typically not offered on a stand-alone basis by broker-dealers. Proprietary research may include research from an affiliate of the broker-dealer and services that provide access to unaffiliated industry experts. T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore may use full service brokers either directly or through very limited use of “step-outs” or similar transactions with other brokers. Step-out trades, however, are not used to obtain research.
In addition, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore may use equity brokerage commissions to acquire third-party research from independent research providers and broker-dealers through commission-sharing arrangements (“CSAs”). While Price Singapore does not currently participate in the CSA program, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, and Price Hong Kong maintain CSAs with broker-dealers used for a percentage of “low touch” commission business. We generally effect low touch trading through broker-dealers’ electronic venues. We confine the use of CSA credits to obtain only research designed to assist in the investment decision-making process. Our current practice is to not acquire market data services, index data, software and other items with commission dollars, although some of those items are permitted under the SEC’s guidance. Not all clients participate in the CSA program, but the research received through this program is intended to assist T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore with its investment decision making responsibilities regarding its clients overall.
Proprietary and independent third-party research is an important component of T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore’s investment approach. However, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore rely primarily upon their own research efforts and
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subject any outside research services to internal analysis before incorporating such outside research into the investment process. As a practical matter, it would not be possible for T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore to generate all the information and varied opinions provided by broker-dealers. To the extent that broker-dealers provide research services of value, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore are relieved of expenses which they might otherwise bear.
Broker-dealers and independent research providers generally supply the following types of research to T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore: information on the economy, industries, groups of securities, individual companies, statistical information, accounting and tax law interpretations, political developments, legal developments affecting portfolio securities, technical market action, pricing and appraisal services, credit analysis, risk measurement analysis, performance analysis, and analysis of corporate responsibility issues. The research incorporates both domestic and international perspectives. Research services are received primarily in the form of written reports, computer generated data, telephone contacts, and personal meetings with security analysts, corporate and industry executives, and other persons. In addition, research may include the provision of access to unaffiliated individuals with expertise in various industries, businesses, or other related areas. T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore may receive complimentary and customary fixed income research from various broker-dealers, including broker-dealers with whom fixed income transactions are carried out in accordance with T. Rowe Price’s, T. Rowe Price International’s, Price Hong Kong’s, and Price Singapore’s best execution obligations. Such research, however, is not contingent upon specific trades with the providing broker-dealer. Some research may be incorporated into firm-wide systems or communications, thereby allowing, in some instances, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore to access research obtained through commissions generated by an affiliated investment adviser.
At the present time, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore do not recapture commissions, underwriting discounts, or selling-group concessions in connection with debt securities acquired in underwritten offerings. T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore may, however, have the opportunity to designate a portion of the underwriting spread to broker-dealers that participate in the offering.
Directed Brokerage
The Price Funds that invest in U.S. equity securities have adopted a commission recapture program. Under the program, a percentage of commissions generated by the portfolio transactions of those funds is rebated to the funds by the broker-dealers and credited to short-term security gain/loss. Although the Price Funds do not recapture commissions in connection with debt securities acquired in underwritten offerings, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore may have the opportunity to designate a portion of the underwriting spread to broker-dealers that participate in the offering.
Allocation of Brokerage Commissions
T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore have policies of not pre-committing a specific amount of business to any broker-dealer over any specific time period. Historically, brokerage placement has been determined, as appropriate, by the needs of a specific transaction such as market-making, availability of a buyer or seller of a particular security, or specialized execution skills. T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore may choose to allocate brokerage among several broker-dealers that are able to meet the needs of the transaction.
As an ongoing process, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore assess the contributions of the brokerage and research services provided by major broker-dealers and independent research providers in connection with equity transactions, and create a ranking of such broker-dealers. Portfolio managers, research analysts, and the trading department each evaluate the brokerage, execution, and research services they receive from broker-dealers and independent research providers and make judgments as to the quality of such services. In addition, smaller specialty broker-dealers and independent research providers are targeted to receive a suggested dollar amount of equity business based on
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an assessment of services they provide, subject to the fiduciary duties of T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore to seek best execution. Actual commissions received by any firm may not reflect such rankings or suggested targets because brokerage business is allocated on the basis of multiple factors considered in seeking best execution. Accordingly, commission business may be less than the ranking or suggested target, but may also often exceed such suggestions. T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore do not exclude a broker-dealer from receiving business because the broker-dealer does not provide research services. Price Singapore uses low touch or execution-only brokers where deemed appropriate.
Allocation of brokerage business is monitored on a regularly scheduled basis by appropriate personnel and the T. Rowe Price Equity Brokerage and Trading Control Committee. The T. Rowe Price Fixed Income Brokerage and Trading Control Committee provides similar monitoring and oversight with regard to fixed income trading.
Trade Allocation Policies
T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, and Price Hong Kong have developed written trade allocation guidelines for their trading desks. Generally, when the amount of securities available in a public or initial offering or the secondary markets is insufficient to satisfy the volume or price requirements for the participating client portfolios, the guidelines require a pro-rata allocation based upon the relative sizes of the participating client portfolios or the relative sizes of the participating client orders, depending upon the market involved. In allocating trades made on a combined basis, the trading desks seek to achieve the same net unit price of the securities for each participating client. Because a pro-rata allocation may not always adequately accommodate all facts and circumstances, the guidelines provide for exceptions to allocate trades on an adjusted basis, which may include a system-generated random allocation. For example, adjustments may be made: (i) to eliminate de minimis positions or satisfy minimum denomination requirements; (ii) to give priority to accounts with specialized investment policies and objectives; and (iii) to reallocate in light of a participating portfolio’s characteristics (e.g., available cash, industry or issuer concentration, duration, credit exposure). With respect to any private placement transactions, conditions imposed by the issuer or client may limit availability of allocations to client accounts.
Miscellaneous
The brokerage allocation policies for T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore are generally applied to all of their fully discretionary accounts, which represent a substantial majority of all assets under management. Research services furnished by broker-dealers through which T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, or Price Singapore effect securities transactions may be used in servicing all accounts (including non-Price Funds) managed by T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, or Price Singapore. Therefore, research services received from broker-dealers that execute transactions for a particular fund will not necessarily be used by T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, or Price Singapore in connection with the management of that fund. The Price Funds do not allocate business to any broker-dealer on the basis of its sales of the funds’ shares. However, this does not mean that broker-dealers who purchase fund shares for their clients will not receive business from the fund.
Since certain clients of T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore could have similar investment objectives and programs to those of a particular Price Fund, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, or Price Singapore may make recommendations to other clients that result in their purchasing or selling securities simultaneously with the fund. As a result, the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold may increase, and this could have an adverse effect on the price of those securities. It is the policy of T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore not to favor one client over another in making recommendations or in placing orders. T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore frequently follow the practice of grouping orders of various clients for execution. Clients should be aware, however, that the grouping of their orders with other clients’ orders may sometimes result in a more favorable price and at other
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times may result in a less favorable price than if the client orders had not been grouped. Where an aggregate order is executed in a series of transactions at various prices on a given day, each participating client’s proportionate share of such order will reflect the average price paid or received with respect to the total order.
T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore, as applicable, may also include orders on behalf of the Price Funds (including affiliated common trust funds), and the not-for-profit entities, T. Rowe Price Foundation, Inc. and The T. Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving, Inc., in their aggregated orders from time to time.
T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore may give advice and take action for clients, including the Price Funds, which differs from advice given or the timing or nature of action taken for other clients. T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore are not obligated to initiate transactions for clients in any security that their principals, affiliates, or employees may purchase or sell for their own accounts or for other clients.
Purchase and sale transactions may be effected directly among and between non-ERISA client accounts (including affiliated mutual funds), provided no commission is paid to any broker-dealer, the security traded has readily available market quotations, and the transaction is effected at the independent current market price.
The Equity and Fixed Income Brokerage and Trading Control Committees are responsible for developing brokerage policies, monitoring their implementation, and resolving any questions that arise in connection with these policies for T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and Price Singapore.
T. Rowe Price and its affiliated investment advisers have established a general investment policy that they will ordinarily not make additional purchases of a common stock for their clients (including the Price Funds) if, as a result of such purchases, 10% or more of the outstanding common stock of the issuer would be held by clients in the aggregate. Approval may be given for aggregate ownership up to 20%, and in certain instances, higher amounts. All aggregate ownership decisions are reviewed by the appropriate oversight committee. For purposes of monitoring both of these limits, securities held by clients and clients of affiliated advisers are included.
Total Brokerage Commissions
The Price Funds’ bond investments are generally purchased and sold through principal transactions, meaning that a fund normally purchases bonds directly from the issuer or a primary market-maker acting as principal for the bonds, on a net basis. As a result, there is no explicit brokerage commission paid on these transactions, although purchases of new issues from underwriters of bonds typically include a commission or concession paid by the issuer to the underwriter and purchases from dealers serving as market-makers typically include a dealer’s mark-up (i.e., a spread between the bid and the asked prices). Explicit brokerage commissions are paid, however, in connection with opening and closing out futures positions. In addition, the funds do not incur any brokerage commissions when buying and selling shares of other Price Funds or another open-end mutual fund that is not exchange-traded, although a fund will pay brokerage commissions if it purchases or sells shares of an exchange-traded fund.
During its last three fiscal years, the Predecessor Fund did not pay brokerage commissions.
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Fund Holdings in Securities of Brokers and Dealers
The Predecessor Fund did not hold any securities of its regular brokers and dealers as of the end of its last fiscal year.
Portfolio Turnover
The portfolio turnover rates for the Predecessor Fund for the fiscal years indicated are as follows:
Fiscal Year Ended | ||||||
7/31/16 | 7/31/15 | 7/31/14 | ||||
174% | 201% | 340% | ||||
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 100 East Pratt Street, Suite 1900, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, is the independent registered public accounting firm to the fund. Ernst & Young LLP is the independent registered public accounting firm to the Predecessor Fund and audited the Predecessor Fund’s annual financial statements through the date of the Reorganization. The audit services performed by Ernst & Young LLP include audits of the annual financial statements of the Predecessor Fund. Other services provided principally related to filings with the SEC and the preparation of the Predecessor Fund’s tax returns.
The audited financial statements and Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm of the Predecessor Fund included in the Predecessor Fund’s annual report for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016 are incorporated into this SAI by reference. The unaudited financial statements for the semiannual period ended January 31, 2017 are included in the Predecessor Fund’s semiannual report and are also incorporated into this SAI by reference. A copy of the annual report of the Predecessor Fund will accompany this SAI.
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PART II – TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Pricing of Securities | |
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Variable Rate Securities |
Part II of this SAI describes risks, policies, and practices that apply to the Price Funds.
The following information supplements the discussion of the funds’ investment programs and policies discussed in the funds’ prospectuses. You should refer to each fund’s prospectus to determine the types of holdings in which the fund primarily invests. You will then be able to review additional information set forth herein on those types of holdings and their risks, as well as information on other holdings in which the fund may occasionally invest.
Shareholder approval is required to substantively change fund objectives. Unless otherwise specified, the investment programs and restrictions of the funds are not fundamental policies. The fund’s operating policies are subject to change by the funds’ Boards without shareholder approval. The funds’ fundamental policies may not be changed without the approval of at least a majority of the outstanding shares of the fund or, if it is less, 67% of the shares represented at a meeting of shareholders at which the holders of more than 50% of the shares are represented.
You may also refer to the sections entitled “Portfolio Securities” and “Portfolio Management Practices” for discussions of the risks associated with the investments and practices described therein as they apply to the funds.
Risk Factors of Investing in Foreign Securities
General
Foreign securities include both U.S. dollar-denominated and non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers. Foreign securities include securities issued by companies that are organized under the laws of countries other than the U.S. as well as securities that are issued or guaranteed by foreign governments or by
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foreign supranational entities. They also include securities issued by companies whose principal trading market is in a country other than the U.S. and companies 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. Foreign securities may be traded on foreign securities exchanges or in the foreign OTC markets. Foreign securities markets generally are not as developed or efficient as those in the United States.
Investing in foreign securities, 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. Certain of these risks are inherent in any mutual fund investing in foreign securities, while others relate more to the countries and regions in which the funds may invest. Many of the risks are more pronounced for investments in emerging market countries, such as Russia and many of the countries of Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. There are no universally accepted criteria used to determine which countries are considered developed markets and which are considered emerging markets. However, the funds rely on the classification made for a particular country by an unaffiliated, third-party data provider.
· Political, Social, and Economic Risks Foreign investments involve risks unique to the local political, economic, tax, and regulatory structures in place, as well as the potential for social instability, military unrest, or diplomatic developments that could prove adverse to the interests of U.S. investors. The economies of many of the countries in which the funds may invest are not as developed as the U.S. economy and individual foreign economies can differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross national product, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency, and balance of payments position. In addition, war and terrorism have affected many countries, especially those in Africa and the Middle East. Many countries throughout the world are dependent on a healthy U.S. economy and are adversely affected when the U.S. economy weakens or its markets decline. For example, in 2007 and 2008, the meltdown in the U.S. subprime mortgage market quickly spread throughout global credit markets, triggering a liquidity crisis that affected debt and equity markets around the world.
Governments in certain foreign countries continue to participate to a significant degree, through ownership interest or regulation, in their respective economies. Action by these governments could have a significant effect on market prices of securities and payment of dividends. The economies of many foreign countries are heavily dependent upon international trade and are accordingly affected by protective trade barriers and economic conditions of their trading partners. The enactment by these trading partners of protectionist trade legislation could have a significant adverse effect upon the securities markets of such countries.
· Currency Risks Investments in foreign securities will normally be denominated in foreign currencies. Accordingly, a change in the value of any such currency against the U.S. dollar will result in a corresponding change in the U.S. dollar value of the funds’ holdings denominated in that currency. Generally, when a given currency appreciates against the U.S. dollar (e.g., because the U.S. dollar weakens or the particular foreign currency strengthens), the value of the funds’ securities denominated in that currency will rise. When a given currency depreciates against the U.S. dollar (e.g., because the U.S. dollar strengthens or the particular foreign currency weakens), the value of the funds’ securities denominated in that currency will decline. The value of fund assets may also be affected by losses and other expenses incurred in converting between various currencies in order to purchase and sell foreign securities, and by currency restrictions, exchange control regulations, and currency devaluations. In addition, a change in the value of a foreign currency against the U.S. dollar could result in a change in the amount of income available for distribution. If a portion of a fund’s investment income may be received in foreign currencies, the fund will be required to compute its income in U.S. dollars for distribution to shareholders, and therefore the fund will absorb the cost of currency fluctuations.
· Investment and Repatriation Restrictions Foreign investment in the securities markets of certain foreign countries is restricted or controlled to varying degrees. These restrictions limit and, at times, preclude investment in such countries and increase the cost and expenses of the funds. Investments by foreign investors are subject to a variety of restrictions in many emerging market countries. These restrictions may take the form of prior governmental approval, limits on the amount or type of securities held by foreigners, and limits on the types of companies in which foreigners may invest. Additional or different restrictions may be imposed at any
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time by these or other countries in which the funds invest. In addition, the repatriation of both investment income and capital from several foreign countries is restricted and controlled under certain regulations, including in some cases the need for certain government consents.
· Market and Trading Characteristics Foreign securities markets are generally not as developed or efficient as, and more volatile than, those in the United States. While growing in volume, they usually have substantially less volume than U.S. markets and the funds’ foreign portfolio securities may be less liquid, more difficult to value, and subject to more rapid and erratic price movements than securities of comparable U.S. companies. Foreign securities may trade at price/earnings multiples higher than comparable U.S. securities and such levels may not be sustainable. Commissions on foreign securities trades are generally higher than commissions on U.S. exchanges, and while there are an increasing number of overseas securities markets that have adopted a system of negotiated rates, a number are still subject to an established schedule of minimum commission rates. There is generally less government supervision and regulation of foreign securities exchanges, brokers, and listed companies than in the United States.
Moreover, overall settlement practices for transactions in foreign markets may differ from those in U.S. markets. Such differences include delays beyond periods customary in the U.S. and practices, such as delivery of securities prior to receipt of payment, which increase the likelihood of a “failed settlement.” Failed settlements can result in losses to the funds. In certain markets there have been times when settlements have been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct transactions. Delays in clearance and settlement could result in temporary periods when assets of the funds are uninvested and no return is earned. The inability of a fund to make intended security purchases due to clearance and settlement problems could cause the fund to miss attractive investment opportunities. The inability of a fund to sell portfolio securities due to clearance and settlement problems could result either in losses to the fund due to subsequent declines in the value of the portfolio security or, if the fund has entered into a contract to sell the security, liability to the purchaser. Military unrest, war, terrorism, and other factors could result in securities markets closing unexpectedly for an extended period, during which a fund would lose the ability to either purchase or sell securities traded in that market. Finally, certain foreign markets are open for trading on days when the funds do not calculate their net asset value. Therefore, the values of a fund’s holdings in those markets may be affected on days when shareholders have no access to the fund.
· Depositary Receipts It is expected that most foreign securities will be purchased in OTC markets or on securities exchanges located in the countries in which the issuers of the various securities are located, provided that is the best available market. However, the funds may also purchase depositary receipts, such as American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), and European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”), which are certificates evidencing ownership of underlying foreign securities, as alternatives to directly purchasing the foreign securities in their local markets and currencies. An advantage of ADRs, GDRs, and EDRs is that investors do not have to buy shares through the issuing company’s home exchange, which may be difficult or expensive. ADRs, GDRs, and EDRs are subject to many of the same risks associated with investing directly in foreign securities.
Generally, ADRs are denominated in U.S. dollars and are designed for use in the U.S. securities markets. The depositaries that issue ADRs are usually U.S. financial institutions, such as a bank or trust company, but the underlying securities are issued by a foreign issuer.
GDRs may be issued in U.S. dollars or other currencies and are generally designed for use in securities markets outside the United States. GDRs represent shares of foreign securities that can be traded on the exchanges of the depositary’s country. The issuing depositary, which may be a foreign or a U.S. entity, converts dividends and the share price into the shareholder’s home currency. EDRs are generally issued by a European bank and traded on local exchanges.
For purposes of a fund’s investment policies, investments in depositary receipts are deemed to be investments in the underlying securities. For example, an ADR representing ownership of common stock will be treated as common stock.
· Participation Notes The funds may gain exposure to securities in certain foreign markets through investments in participation notes (“P-notes”). For instance, a fund may purchase P-notes while it is awaiting approval
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from a foreign exchange to trade securities directly in that market as well as to invest in foreign markets that restrict foreign investors, such as the funds, from investing directly in individual securities traded on that exchange. P-notes are generally issued by banks or broker-dealers and are designed to offer a return linked to a particular underlying equity security. An investment in a P-note involves additional risks beyond the risks normally associated with a direct investment in the underlying security and the P-note’s performance may differ from the underlying security’s performance. While the holder of a P-note is entitled to receive from the broker-dealer or bank any dividends paid by the underlying security, the holder is not entitled to the same rights (e.g., voting rights) as an owner of the underlying stock. P-notes are considered general unsecured contractual obligations of the banks or broker-dealers that issue them as the counterparty. As such, the funds must rely on the creditworthiness of the counterparty for their investment returns on the P-notes and would have no rights against the issuer of the underlying security. There is also no assurance that there will be a secondary trading market for a P-note or that the trading price of a P-note will equal the value of the underlying security. Additionally, issuers of P-notes and the calculation agent may have broad authority to control the foreign exchange rates related to the P-notes and discretion to adjust the P-note’s terms in response to certain events.
· Investment Funds The funds may invest in investment funds which have been authorized by the governments of certain countries specifically to permit foreign investment in securities of companies listed and traded on the stock exchanges in these respective countries. Investment in these funds is subject to the provisions of the 1940 Act. If a fund invests in such investment funds, shareholders will bear not only their proportionate share of the expenses of the fund (including operating expenses and the fees of the investment manager), but also will indirectly bear similar expenses of the underlying investment funds. In addition, the securities of these investment funds may trade at a premium over their net asset value.
· Financial Information and Governance There is generally less publicly available information about foreign companies when compared to the reports and ratings that are published about companies in the United States. Many foreign companies are not subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, practices, and requirements comparable to those applicable to U.S. companies, and there may be less stringent investor protection and disclosure standards. It also is often more difficult to keep currently informed of corporate actions, which can adversely affect the prices of portfolio securities.
· Taxes The dividends and interest payable on certain of the funds’ foreign portfolio securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes, thus reducing the net amount of income available for distribution to the funds’ shareholders. In addition, some governments may impose a tax on purchases by foreign investors of certain securities that trade in their country.
· Higher Costs Investors should understand that the expense ratios of funds investing primarily in foreign securities can be expected to be higher than funds that invest mainly in domestic securities. Reasons include the higher costs of maintaining custody of foreign securities, higher advisory fee rates paid by funds to investment advisers for researching and selecting foreign securities, and brokerage commission rates and trading costs that tend to be more expensive in foreign markets than in the United States.
· Other Risks With respect to certain foreign countries, especially emerging markets, there is the possibility of adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, limitations on the removal of funds or other assets of the funds, or diplomatic developments which could affect investments by U.S. persons in those countries. Further, the funds may find it difficult or be unable to enforce ownership rights, pursue legal remedies, or obtain judgments in foreign courts. Evidence of securities ownership may be uncertain in many foreign countries. In many of these countries, the most notable of which is Russia, the ultimate evidence of securities ownership is the share register held by the issuing company or its registrar. While some companies may issue share certificates or provide extracts of the company’s share register, these are not negotiable instruments and are not effective evidence of securities ownership. In an ownership dispute, the company’s share register is controlling.
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· Europe
Europe includes both developed and emerging markets. Europe’s economies are diverse, its governments are decentralized, and its cultures vary widely. Unemployment in Europe has historically been higher than in the U.S. and public deficits have been an ongoing concern in many European countries.
Fiscal Constraints Most developed countries in western Europe are members of the European Union (“EU”), and many are also members of the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”). European countries can be significantly affected by the tight fiscal and monetary controls that the EMU imposes on its members and with which candidates for EMU membership are required to comply. Member countries are required to maintain tight controls over inflation, public debt, and budget deficits, and these requirements can severely limit EMU member countries’ ability to implement monetary policy to address local or regional economic conditions. The private and public sectors’ debt problems of a single EU country can pose economic risks to the EU as a whole. The imposition of fiscal and monetary controls by EMU countries can have a significant impact on Europe as a whole. In addition, such controls could prove unsustainable and lead to an abrupt and unexpected elimination of the policy, leading to significant volatility. For instance, the Swiss National Bank had adopted a policy in 2011 to guarantee that the Swiss franc would not be worth more than 1.20 euros. In 2015, the Swiss National Bank determined, with little warning to market participants, that it would no longer cap the Swiss franc’s exchange rate against the euro, which led to significant turmoil throughout the markets not only in Europe but globally.
Eurozone Currency Issues While certain EU countries continue to use their own currency, there is a collective group of EU countries, known as the Eurozone, that use the euro as their currency. Although the Eurozone has adopted a common currency and central bank, there is no fiscal union; therefore, money does not automatically flow from countries with surpluses to those with fiscal deficits. Several Eurozone countries continue to face deficits and budget issues, some of which may have negative long-term effects for the economies of not just Eurozone countries but all of Europe. Rising government debt levels could increase market volatility and the probability of a recession, lead to emergency financing for certain countries, and foster increased speculation that certain countries may require bailouts. Eurozone policymakers have previously struggled to agree on solutions to debt crises, which has stressed the European banking system as lending continued to tighten. Similar crises in the future could place additional stress on the banking system and lead to downgrades of European sovereign debt. There continues to be concern over national-level support for the euro, which could lead to the implementation of currency controls, certain countries leaving the EU, or potentially a breakup of the Eurozone and dissolution of the euro. A breakup of the Eurozone, particularly a disorderly breakup, would pose special challenges for the financial markets and could lead to exchange controls and/or market closures. In the event of a Eurozone default or breakup, some of the most significant challenges faced by the funds with euro-denominated holdings and derivatives involving the euro would include diminished market liquidity, operational issues relating to the settlement of trades, difficulty in establishing the fair values of holdings, and the redenomination of holdings into other currencies.
British Exit from EU (“Brexit”) On June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom voted via referendum to leave the EU, which immediately led to significant market volatility around the world, as well as political, economic, and legal uncertainty. It is expected that the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU will take place within two years after the United Kingdom formally notifies the European Council of its intention to withdraw. However, there is still considerable uncertainty relating to the potential consequences and precise timeframe for the exit, how the negotiations for the withdrawal and new trade agreements will be conducted, and whether the United Kingdom’s exit will increase the likelihood of other countries also departing the EU. During this period of uncertainty, the negative impact on not only the United Kingdom and European economies, but the broader global economy, could be significant, potentially resulting in increased volatility and illiquidity and lower economic growth for companies that rely significantly on Europe for their business activities and revenues. Any further exits from the EU, or the possibility of such exits, would likely cause additional market disruption globally and introduce new legal and regulatory uncertainties.
Emerging Europe, Middle East, and Africa
The economies of the countries of emerging Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, sometimes referred to as “EMEA,” are all considered emerging market economies, and they tend to be highly reliant on the exportation
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of commodities.
Political and Military Instability Many formerly communist, eastern European countries have experienced significant political and economic reform over the past decade, and a continued eastward expansion of the EU could help to further anchor this reform process. However, the democratization process is still relatively new in a number of the smaller states and political turmoil and popular uprisings remain threats. Political risk for Russia remains high and steps that Russia has recently taken and may take in the future to assert its geopolitical influence may increase the tensions in the region and affect economic growth. The U.S. and EU have instituted sanctions against certain Russian officials and Russian entities in response to political and military actions undertaken by Russia. These sanctions, and other intergovernmental actions that may be undertaken against Russia in the future, could result in the devaluation of Russian currency, a downgrade in the country’s credit rating, and/or a significant decline in the value and liquidity of securities issued by Russian companies or the Russian government. Further sanctions against Russia and any retaliatory action by the Russian government could result in the immediate freeze of Russian securities, either by issuer, sector, or the Russian markets as a whole, any of which would significantly impair the ability of the funds to buy, sell, or receive proceeds from those securities. Ongoing sanctions, the continued disruption of the Russian economy, or future military actions by Russia could severely impact the performance of any funds that hold Russian securities or derivatives with exposure to Russian securities or currency.
Many Middle Eastern economies have little or no democratic tradition and are led by family structures. Opposition parties are often banned, leading to dissidence and militancy. Despite a growing trend toward a democratic process, many African nations have a history of dictatorship, military intervention, and corruption. War, terrorism, and military takeovers could result in a securities market unexpectedly closing for an extended period, which would restrict a fund from selling its securities that are traded in that market. In all parts of EMEA, such developments, if they were to recur, could reverse favorable trends toward economic and market reform, privatization, and removal of trade barriers, and result in significant disruptions in securities markets.
Foreign Currency Certain countries in the region may have managed currencies which are pegged to the U.S. dollar or the euro, rather than at levels determined by the market. This type of system can lead to sudden and large adjustments in the currency, which may, in turn, have a disruptive and negative effect on investors. There is no significant foreign exchange market for certain currencies, and it would, as a result, be difficult for the funds to engage in foreign currency transactions designed to protect the value of the funds’ interests in securities denominated in such currencies.
Energy/Resources Russia, the Middle East, and many African nations are highly reliant on income from oil sales. Oil prices can have a major impact on these economies. Other commodities such as base and precious metals are also important to these economies. As global supply and demand for commodities fluctuates, the EMEA economies can be significantly impacted by the prices of such commodities.
Custody and Settlement Because of the underdeveloped state of Russia’s financial and legal systems, the settlement, clearing, and registration of securities transactions are subject to heightened risks. Equity securities in Russia are issued only in book entry form, and ownership records are maintained in a decentralized fashion by registrars who are under contract with the issuers. Although a fund’s Russian sub-custodian maintains copies of the registrar’s records on its premises, such records may not be legally sufficient to establish ownership of securities. The registrars are not necessarily subject to effective state supervision nor are they licensed with any governmental entity. Although a fund investing in Russian securities seeks to ensure through its custodian that its interest continues to be appropriately recorded, it is possible that a fraudulent act may deprive the fund of its ownership rights or improperly dilute its interest. In addition, it is possible that a registrar could be suspended or its license revoked, which would impact a fund’s holdings at that registrar until the suspension is lifted or the companies’ records are transferred to an alternative registrar. Finally, although applicable Russian regulations impose liability on registrars for losses resulting from their errors, it may be difficult for a fund to enforce any rights it may have against the registrar or issuer of the securities in the event of loss of share registration.
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· Latin America
The majority of Latin American countries have been characterized at various times by high interest and unemployment rates, inflation, an over-reliance on commodity trades, and government intervention.
Inflation Most Latin American countries have experienced, at one time or another, severe and persistent levels of inflation, including, in some cases, hyperinflation. This has, in turn, led to high interest rates, extreme measures by governments to keep inflation in check, and a generally debilitating effect on economic growth. Although inflation in many countries has lessened, there is no guarantee it will remain at lower levels.
Political Instability and Government Control Certain Latin American countries have been marred by political uncertainty, intervention by the military in civilian and economic spheres, and political corruption. Such developments, if they were to recur, could reverse favorable trends toward market and economic reform, privatization, and removal of trade barriers, and result in significant disruption in securities markets. Many Latin American governments have exercised significant influence over their country’s economies, which can have significant effects on companies doing business in Latin America and the securities they issue. These governments have often changed monetary, taxation, credit, tariff, and other policies to alter the direction of their economies. Actions to control inflation have involved the setting of wage and price controls, blocking access to bank accounts, imposing exchange controls, and limiting imports. Investments in Brazilian securities may be subject to certain restrictions on foreign investment. Brazilian law provides that whenever a serious imbalance in Brazil’s balance of payments exists or is anticipated, the Brazilian government may impose temporary restrictions on the remittance to foreign investors, such as the funds, of proceeds from the sale of Brazilian securities.
Foreign Currency Certain Latin American countries may experience sudden and large adjustments in their currency which, in turn, can have a disruptive and negative effect on foreign investors. Certain Latin American countries may impose restrictions on the free conversion of their currency into other currencies, including the U.S. dollar. There is no significant foreign exchange market for many Latin American currencies and it would, as a result, be difficult for the funds to engage in foreign currency transactions designed to protect the value of the funds’ interests in securities denominated in such currencies.
Sovereign Debt A number of Latin American countries have been among the largest debtors of emerging market countries. There have been moratoria on, and reschedulings of, repayment with respect to these debts. Such events can restrict the flexibility of these debtor nations in the international markets and result in the imposition of onerous conditions on their economies.
Foreign Trade Because commodities, such as agricultural products, minerals, oil, and metals, represent a significant percentage of exports of many Latin American countries, the economies of those countries are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in commodity prices, currencies and global demand for commodities.
· Japan
The Japanese economy fell into a recession in the late 2000’s due in part to the global economic crisis during that period. This economic recession was likely compounded by an unstable financial sector, low domestic consumption, and certain corporate structural weaknesses, which remain some of the major issues facing the Japanese economy. Japan’s government has recently implemented significant economic reform aimed at jump-starting the Japanese economy and boosting the competitiveness of Japanese goods in world markets. Through aggressive monetary easing, temporary fiscal stimulus, and overall structural reform, the program is designed to end the recent cycles of deflation, falling prices, and declining wages.
Banking System To help sustain Japan’s economic recovery and improve its economic growth, many believe an overhaul of the nation’s financial institutions is necessary. Banks, in particular, may have to reform themselves to become more competitive. While successful financial sector reform would contribute to Japan’s economic recovery at home and would benefit other economies in Asia, internal conflict over the proper way to reform the banking system currently persists.
Natural Disasters Japan has experienced natural disasters, such as earthquakes and tidal waves, of varying degrees of severity. The risks of such phenomena, and the resulting damage, continue to exist and could have a severe and negative impact on a fund’s holdings in Japanese securities. Japan also has one of the world’s
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highest population densities. A significant percentage of the total population of Japan is concentrated in the metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. Therefore, a natural disaster centered in or very near one of these cities could have a particularly devastating effect on Japan’s financial markets. Japan’s recovery from the recession has been affected by economic distress from the earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck northeastern Japan in March 2011 causing major damage along the coast, including damage to nuclear power plants in the region. Since the earthquake, Japan’s financial markets have fluctuated dramatically.
Energy Importation Japan has historically depended on oil for most of its energy requirements. Almost all of its oil is imported, the majority from the Middle East. In the past, oil prices have had a major impact on the domestic economy, but more recently Japan has worked to reduce its dependence on oil by encouraging energy conservation and use of alternative fuels. In addition, a restructuring of industry, with emphasis shifting from basic industries to processing and assembly type industries, has contributed to the reduction of oil consumption. However, there is no guarantee that this favorable trend will continue.
Foreign Trade Overseas trade is important to Japan’s economy and Japan’s economic growth is significantly driven by its exports. Japan has few natural resources and must export to pay for its imports of these basic requirements. A significant portion of Japan’s trade is conducted with emerging market countries, almost all of which are located in East and Southeast Asia, and it can be affected by conditions in these other countries and currency fluctuations. Because of the concentration of Japanese exports in highly visible products such as automobiles and technology, and the large trade surpluses ensuing therefrom, Japan has had difficult relations with its trading partners, particularly the United States. Japan’s aging and shrinking population increases the cost of the country’s pension and public welfare system and lowers domestic demand, making Japan even more dependent on exports to sustain its economy. It is possible that trade sanctions or other protectionist measures could impact Japan adversely in both the short term and long term.
· Asia (excluding Japan)
Asia includes countries in all stages of economic development, some of which have been characterized at times by over-extension of credit, currency fluctuations, devaluations, restrictions, unstable employment rates, over-reliance on exports, and less efficient markets. Currency fluctuations or devaluations in any one country can have a significant effect on the entire region. Furthermore, increased political and social unrest in some Asian countries could cause further economic and market uncertainty in the entire region.
Political and Social Instability The political history of some Asian countries has been characterized by political uncertainty, intervention by the military in civilian and economic spheres, and political corruption. Such developments, if they continue to occur, could reverse favorable trends toward market and economic reform, privatization, and removal of trade barriers, and could result in significant disruption to securities markets. For example, there is a demilitarized border and hostile relations between North and South Korea, and the Taiwanese economy has been affected by security threats from China. China remains a totalitarian country with continuing risk of nationalization, expropriation, or confiscation of property and its legal system is still developing, making it more difficult to obtain or enforce judgments. At times, religious, cultural, and military disputes within and outside India have caused volatility in the Indian securities markets and such disputes could adversely affect the value and liquidity of a fund’s investments in Indian securities in the future.
Foreign Currency Certain Asian countries may have managed currencies which are maintained at artificial levels to the U.S. dollar rather than at levels determined by the market. This type of system can lead to sudden and large adjustments in the currency which, in turn, can have a disruptive and negative effect on foreign investors. Certain Asian countries also may restrict the free conversion of their currency into foreign currencies, including the U.S. dollar. There is no significant foreign exchange market for certain currencies, and it would, as a result, be difficult for the funds to engage in foreign currency transactions designed to protect the value of the funds’ interests in securities denominated in such currencies.
Interrelated Economies and International Trade A number of Asian companies are highly dependent on foreign loans for their operation, some of which may impose strict repayment term schedules and require significant economic and financial restructuring. The economies of many countries in the region are heavily dependent on international trade and are accordingly affected by protective trade barriers and the economic conditions of their trading partners. China has had an increasingly significant and positive impact on the
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region and the global economy, but its continued success depends on its ability to retain the legal and financial policies that have fostered economic freedom and market expansion. China’s central government has historically exercised substantial control over the Chinese economy through administrative regulation and/or state ownership. Despite economic reforms that have resulted in less direct central and local government control over Chinese businesses, actions of the Chinese central and local government authorities continue to have a substantial effect on economic conditions in China. These activities, which may include central planning, partial state ownership of or government actions designed to substantially influence certain Chinese industries, market sectors or particular Chinese companies, may adversely affect the public and private sector companies in which a fund invests. The Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Chinese economies can be dependent on the economies of other countries and can be significantly affected by currency fluctuations and increasing competition from Asia’s other low-cost emerging economies. These China region economies can also be significantly affected by general social, economic, and political conditions in China and other countries. The willingness and ability of the Chinese government to support the Hong Kong and Chinese economies and markets is uncertain. China has yet to develop comprehensive securities, corporate, or commercial laws, and its market is relatively new and undeveloped. Also, foreign investments may be restricted. Changes in government policy could significantly affect the local markets.
Investments in Local Chinese Stocks Certain funds may invest in local Chinese securities, referred to as China A-shares, through the use of a qualified foreign institutional investor (“QFII”) license. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) has the authority to grant QFII licenses, which allow foreign investments in A-shares on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges and certain other securities historically not eligible for investment by non-Chinese investors. Each QFII is authorized to invest in China A-shares only up to a specified quota established by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”). T. Rowe Price has received a QFII license permitting it to invest a portion of the assets of the Emerging Markets Stock, Institutional Emerging Markets Equity, International Discovery, and New Asia Funds in local Chinese securities. Although the laws of China permit the use of nominee accounts for clients of investment managers who are QFIIs, the Chinese regulators require the securities trading and settlement accounts to be maintained in the name of the QFII on behalf of the funds. Chinese regulators have been made aware that T. Rowe Price is acting as investment manager only and that any assets invested in A-shares belong to the funds. The funds’ custodian bank will maintain a specific sub-account for the A-share investments in the name of each fund. However, there is a risk that creditors of T. Rowe Price may assert that T. Rowe Price, and not the individual fund, is the legal owner of the securities and other assets in the accounts. If a court upholds such an assertion, creditors of T. Rowe Price could seek payment from the funds’ A-share investments.
Additional risks include a potential lack of liquidity, greater price volatility, and restrictions on the repatriation of invested capital. Because of low trading volume and various restrictions on the free flow of capital into the A-share market, the A-share market could be less liquid and trading prices of A-shares could be more volatile than other local securities markets. In addition, net realized profits on fund investments in A-shares may only be repatriated under certain conditions and upon the approval of SAFE.
Other funds may also invest in certain Shanghai-listed securities (“Stock Connect Securities”) through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (“Stock Connect”), which is a securities trading and clearing linked program developed by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (“HKEC”), the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited (“ChinaClear”) to permit mutual stock market access between mainland China and Hong Kong. Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited (“HKSCC”), a clearing house operated by HKEC, acts as nominee for participants, such as the funds, accessing Stock Connect Securities.
Since the relevant regulations governing Stock Connect Securities are relatively new and untested, they are subject to change and there is no certainty as to how they will be applied. In particular, the courts may consider that the nominee or custodian, as registered holder of Stock Connect Securities, has full ownership over the Stock Connect Securities rather than the funds as the underlying beneficial owner. HKSCC, as nominee holder, does not guarantee the title to Stock Connect securities held through it and is under no obligation to enforce title or other rights associated with ownership on behalf of beneficial owners. Consequently, title to these securities, or the rights associated with them such as participation in corporate actions or shareholder meetings, cannot be assured. In the event ChinaClear defaults, HKSCC’s liabilities
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under its market contracts with participants will be limited to assisting participants with claims and a fund may not fully recover its losses or the Stock Connect Securities it owns. Recovery of the funds’ property may also be subject to delays and expenses, which may be material. Further, investors are currently able to trade Stock Connect Securities only up to certain daily maximums. Buy order and sell orders offset for purposes of the daily quota, which is applied to all market participants and not specifically to the funds or investment manager. If the daily quota is reached or a stock is recalled from the scope of eligible stocks for trading via the Stock Connect, a fund’s investment program would be adversely impacted.
Risk Factors of Investing in Taxable Debt Obligations
General
Yields on short-, intermediate-, and long-term debt securities are dependent on a variety of factors, including the general conditions of the money, bond, and foreign exchange markets; the size of a particular offering; the maturity of the obligation; and the credit rating of the issue. Debt securities with longer maturities tend to carry higher yields and are generally subject to greater capital appreciation and depreciation than obligations with shorter maturities and lower yields. The market prices of debt securities usually vary, depending upon available yields. An increase in interest rates will generally reduce the value of portfolio investments, and a decline in interest rates will generally increase the value of portfolio investments. The ability of funds investing in debt securities to achieve their investment objectives is also dependent on the continuing ability of the issuers of the debt securities in which the funds invest to meet their obligations for the payment of interest and principal when due.
After purchase by the funds, a debt security may cease to be rated or its rating may be reduced below the minimum required for purchase by the funds. Neither event will require a sale of such security by the funds. However, such events will be considered in determining whether the funds should continue to hold the security. To the extent that the ratings given by Moody’s, S&P, or others may change as a result of changes in such organizations or their rating systems, the funds will attempt to use comparable ratings as standards for investments in accordance with the investment policies contained in the prospectus. The ratings of Moody’s, S&P, and others represent their opinions as to the quality of securities that they undertake to rate. Ratings are not absolute standards of quality. When purchasing unrated securities, T. Rowe Price, under the supervision of the funds’ Boards, determines whether the unrated security is of a quality comparable to that which the funds are allowed to purchase.
Full Faith and Credit Securities
Securities backed by the full faith and credit of the United States (for example, GNMA and U.S. Treasury securities) are generally considered to be among the most, if not the most, creditworthy investments available. While the U.S. government has honored its credit obligations continuously for the last 200 years, political events have, at times, called into question whether the United States would default on its obligations. Such an event would be unprecedented and there is no way to predict its impact on the securities markets or the funds. However, it is very likely that default by the United States would result in losses to the funds.
Mortgage Securities
Mortgage-backed securities, including Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae” or “GNMA”) securities differ from conventional bonds in that principal is paid back over the life of the security rather than at maturity. As a result, the holder of a mortgage-backed security (i.e., a fund) receives monthly scheduled payments of principal and interest, and may receive unscheduled principal payments representing prepayments on the underlying mortgages. Therefore, GNMA securities may not be an effective means of “locking in” long-term interest rates due to the need for the funds to reinvest scheduled and unscheduled principal payments. The incidence of unscheduled principal prepayments is also likely to increase in mortgage pools owned by the funds when prevailing mortgage loan rates fall below the mortgage rates of the securities underlying the individual pool. The effect of such prepayments in a falling rate environment is to (1) cause the funds to reinvest principal payments at the then lower prevailing interest rate, and (2) reduce the potential for capital appreciation beyond the face amount of the security and adversely affect the return to the funds. Conversely, in a rising interest rate environment, such prepayments can be reinvested at higher prevailing
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interest rates, which will reduce the potential effect of capital depreciation to which bonds are subject when interest rates rise. When interest rates rise and prepayments decline, GNMA securities become subject to extension risk or the risk that the price of the securities will fluctuate more. In addition, prepayments of mortgage securities purchased at a premium (or discount) will cause such securities to be paid off at par, resulting in a loss (gain) to the funds. T. Rowe Price will actively manage the funds’ portfolios in an attempt to reduce the risk associated with investment in mortgage-backed securities.
The market value of adjustable rate mortgage securities (“ARMs”), like other U.S. government securities, will generally vary inversely with changes in market interest rates, declining when interest rates rise and rising when interest rates decline. Because of their periodic adjustment feature, ARMs should be more sensitive to short-term interest rates than long-term rates. They should also display less volatility than long-term mortgage-backed securities. Thus, while having less risk of a decline during periods of rapidly rising rates, ARMs may also have less potential for capital appreciation than other investments of comparable maturities. Interest rate caps on mortgages underlying ARMs may prevent income on the ARMs from increasing to prevailing interest rate levels and cause the securities to decline in value. In addition, to the extent ARMs are purchased at a premium, mortgage foreclosures and unscheduled principal prepayments may result in some loss of the holders’ principal investment to the extent of the premium paid. On the other hand, if ARMs are purchased at a discount, both a scheduled payment of principal and an unscheduled prepayment of principal will increase current and total returns and will accelerate the recognition of income that, when distributed to shareholders, will be taxable as ordinary income.
High-Yield Securities
Special Risks of Investing in Junk Bonds The following special considerations are additional risk factors of funds investing in lower-rated securities.
· Lower-Rated Debt Securities An economic downturn or increase in interest rates is likely to have a greater negative effect on this market, the value of lower-rated debt securities in the funds’ portfolios, the funds’ net asset value, and the ability of the bonds’ issuers to repay principal and interest, meet projected business goals, and obtain additional financing than on higher-rated securities. These circumstances also may result in a higher incidence of defaults than with respect to higher-rated securities. Investment in funds which invest in lower-rated debt securities is more risky than investment in shares of funds which invest only in higher-rated debt securities.
· Sensitivity to Interest Rate and Economic Changes Prices of lower-rated debt securities may be more sensitive to adverse economic changes or corporate developments than higher-rated investments. Debt securities with longer maturities, which may have higher yields, may increase or decrease in value more than debt securities with shorter maturities. Market prices of lower-rated debt securities structured as zero-coupon or pay-in-kind securities are affected to a greater extent by interest rate changes and may be more volatile than securities which pay interest periodically and in cash. Where it deems it appropriate and in the best interests of fund shareholders, the funds may incur additional expenses to seek recovery on a debt security on which the issuer has defaulted and to pursue litigation to protect the interests of security holders of its portfolio companies.
· Liquidity and Valuation Because the market for lower-rated securities may be thinner and less active than for higher-rated securities, there may be market price volatility for these securities and limited liquidity in the resale market. Nonrated securities are usually not as attractive to as many buyers as rated securities are, a factor which may make nonrated securities less marketable. These factors may have the effect of limiting the availability of the securities for purchase by the funds and may also limit the ability of the funds to sell such securities at their fair value, either to meet redemption requests or in response to changes in the economy or the financial markets.
Adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether or not based on fundamental analysis, may decrease the values and liquidity of lower-rated debt securities, especially in a thinly traded market. To the extent the funds own or may acquire illiquid or restricted lower-rated securities, these securities may involve special registration responsibilities, liabilities, costs, and liquidity and valuation difficulties. Changes in values of debt securities which the funds own will affect its net asset value per share. If market quotations are not readily
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available for the funds’ lower-rated or nonrated securities, these securities will be valued by a method that the funds’ Boards believe accurately reflects fair value. Judgment plays a greater role in valuing lower-rated debt securities than with respect to securities for which more external sources of quotations and last sale information are available.
· Taxation Special tax considerations are associated with investing in lower-rated debt securities structured as zero-coupon or pay-in-kind securities. The funds accrue income on these securities prior to the receipt of cash payments. The funds must distribute substantially all of its income to its shareholders to qualify for pass-through treatment under the tax laws and may, therefore, have to dispose of portfolio securities to satisfy distribution requirements.
Cyber Security Risk
As the use of the Internet and other technologies has become more prevalent in the course of business, the funds have become more susceptible to operational and financial risks associated with cyber attacks. Cyber security incidents can result from deliberate attacks, such as gaining unauthorized access to digital systems (e.g., through “hacking” or malicious software coding) for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption, or from unintentional events, such as the inadvertent release of confidential information. Cyber security failures or breaches of the funds, or their service providers or the issuers of securities in which the funds invest, have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, the inability of fund shareholders to transact, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, and/or additional compliance costs. While measures have been developed that are designed to reduce the risks associated with cyber attacks, there is no guarantee that those measures will be effective, particularly since the funds do not directly control the cyber security defenses or plans of their service providers, financial intermediaries and companies in which they invest or with which they do business.
Types of Securities
Set forth below is additional information about certain of the investments described in the funds’ prospectuses.
Equity Securities
Common and preferred stocks both represent an equity or ownership interest in an issuer. Common stock typically entitles the owner to vote on the election of directors and other important matters while preferred stock does not ordinarily carry voting rights. In the event an issuer is liquidated or declares bankruptcy, the claims of secured and unsecured creditors and owners of bonds take precedence over the claims of those who own preferred stock, and the owners of preferred stock take precedence over the claims of those who own common stock.
Although owners of common stock are typically entitled to receive any dividends on such stock, owners of common stock 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. Because increases and decreases in earnings are usually reflected in a company’s stock price, common stocks generally have the greatest appreciation and depreciation potential of all corporate securities.
Preferred stock, unlike common stock, often has a stated dividend rate payable from the corporation’s earnings. Preferred stock dividends may be cumulative or non-cumulative, participating or non-participating, or adjustable rate. Cumulative dividend provisions require all or a portion of prior unpaid dividends to be paid before dividends can be paid to the issuer’s common stock, while a passed dividend on non-cumulative
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preferred stock is generally gone forever. Participating preferred stock may be entitled to a dividend exceeding the declared dividend in certain cases, while non-participating preferred stock is limited to the stipulated dividend. Adjustable rate preferred stock pays a dividend that is adjustable, usually quarterly, based on changes in certain interest rates. Convertible preferred stock is exchangeable for a specified number of common stock shares and is typically more volatile than non-convertible preferred stock, which tends to behave more like a bond.
The funds may make equity investments in companies through initial public offerings and by entering into privately negotiated transactions involving equity securities that are not yet publicly traded on a stock exchange. Stocks may also be purchased on a “when-issued” basis, which is used to refer to a security that has not yet been issued but that will be issued in the future. The term may be used for new stocks and stocks that have split but have not yet started trading.
Debt Securities
· U.S. Government Obligations Bills, notes, bonds, and other debt securities issued by the U.S. Treasury and backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. These are direct obligations of the U.S. government and differ mainly in the length of their maturities. U.S. Treasury Obligations may also include, among other things, the separately traded principal and interest components of securities guaranteed or issued by the U.S. Treasury if such components are traded independently under the Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities program (“STRIPS”), as well as Treasury inflation protected securities (“TIPS”) whose principal value is periodically adjusted according to the rate of inflation.
· U.S. Government Agency Securities Issued or guaranteed by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises and federal agencies. These include securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae” or “FNMA”), GNMA, Federal Home Loan Bank, Federal Land Banks, Farmers Home Administration, Banks for Cooperatives, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, Federal Financing Bank, Farm Credit Banks, the Small Business Association, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Some of these securities are supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury; the remainder are supported only by the credit of the instrumentality, which may or may not include the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury. These may also include securities issued by eligible private institutions that are guaranteed by certain U.S. government agencies under authorized programs.
· Bank Obligations Certificates of deposit, banker’s acceptances, and other short-term debt obligations. Certificates of deposit are short-term obligations of commercial banks. A banker’s acceptance is a time draft drawn on a commercial bank by a borrower, usually in connection with international commercial transactions. Certificates of deposit may have fixed or variable rates. The funds may invest in U.S. banks, foreign branches of U.S. banks, U.S. branches of foreign banks, and foreign branches of foreign banks.
· Savings and Loan Obligations Negotiable certificates of deposit and other short-term debt obligations of savings and loan associations.
· Supranational Agencies Securities of certain supranational entities, such as the International Development Bank.
· Corporate Debt Securities Outstanding corporate debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures). Corporate notes may have fixed, variable, or floating rates.
· Short-Term Corporate Debt Securities Outstanding nonconvertible corporate debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures) which have one year or less remaining to maturity. Corporate notes may have fixed, variable, or floating rates.
· Commercial Paper and Commercial Notes Short-term promissory notes issued by corporations primarily to finance short-term credit needs. Certain notes may have floating or variable rates and may contain options, exercisable by either the buyer or the seller, that extend or shorten the maturity of the note.
· Foreign Government Securities Issued or guaranteed by a foreign government, province, instrumentality, political subdivision, or similar unit thereof.
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· Funding Agreements Obligations of indebtedness negotiated privately between the funds and an insurance company. Often such instruments will have maturities with unconditional put features, exercisable by the funds, requiring return of principal within one year or less.
There are other types of securities that are or may become available that are similar to the foregoing, and the funds may invest in these securities.
Mortgage-Related Securities
· Mortgage-Backed Securities Mortgage-backed securities are securities representing an interest in a pool of mortgages. The mortgages may be of a variety of types, including adjustable rate, conventional 30-year and 15-year fixed rate, and graduated payment mortgages. Principal and interest payments made on the mortgages in the underlying mortgage pool are passed through to the funds. This is in contrast to traditional bonds where principal is normally paid back at maturity in a lump sum. Unscheduled prepayments of principal shorten the securities’ weighted average life and may lower their total return. (When a mortgage in the underlying mortgage pool is prepaid, an unscheduled principal prepayment is passed through to the funds. This principal is returned to the funds at par. As a result, if a mortgage security were trading at a premium, its total return would be lowered by prepayments, and if a mortgage security were trading at a discount, its total return would be increased by prepayments.) The value of these securities also may change because of changes in the market’s perception of the creditworthiness of the federal agency that issued them or a downturn in housing prices. In addition, the mortgage securities market in general may be adversely affected by changes in governmental regulation or tax policies.
· U.S. Government Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities These are obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities, such as GNMA, FNMA, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac” or “FHLMC”), and the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (“Farmer Mac” or “FAMC”). FNMA, FHLMC, and FAMC obligations are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government as GNMA certificates are, but they are supported by the instrumentality’s right to borrow from the U.S. Treasury. On September 7, 2008, FNMA and FHLMC were placed under conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, an independent federal agency. U.S. Government Agency Mortgage-Backed Certificates provide for the pass-through to investors of their pro-rata share of monthly payments (including any prepayments) made by the individual borrowers on the pooled mortgage loans, net of any fees paid to the guarantor of such securities and the servicer of the underlying mortgage loans. Each of GNMA, FNMA, FHLMC, and FAMC guarantees timely distributions of interest to certificate holders. GNMA and FNMA guarantee timely distributions of scheduled principal. FHLMC has in the past guaranteed only the ultimate collection of principal of the underlying mortgage loan; however, FHLMC now issues mortgage-backed securities (FHLMC Gold PCS) which also guarantee timely payment of monthly principal reductions.
· GNMA Certificates GNMA is a wholly owned corporate instrumentality of the United States within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The National Housing Act of 1934, as amended (the “Housing Act”), authorizes GNMA to guarantee the timely payment of the principal of, and interest on, certificates that are based on and backed by a pool of mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration under the Housing Act, or Title V of the Housing Act of 1949, or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs under the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, as amended, or by pools of other eligible mortgage loans. The Housing Act provides that the full faith and credit of the U.S. government is pledged to the payment of all amounts that may be required to be paid under any guaranty. In order to meet its obligations under such guaranty, GNMA is authorized to borrow from the U.S. Treasury with no limitations as to amount.
· FNMA Certificates FNMA is a federally chartered and privately owned corporation organized and existing under the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act of 1938. FNMA Certificates represent a pro-rata interest in a group of mortgage loans purchased by FNMA. FNMA guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on the securities it issues. The obligations of FNMA are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
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· FHLMC Certificates FHLMC is a corporate instrumentality of the United States created pursuant to the Emergency Home Finance Act of 1970, as amended. FHLMC Certificates represent a pro-rata interest in a group of mortgage loans purchased by FHLMC. FHLMC guarantees timely payment of interest and principal on certain securities it issues and timely payment of interest and eventual payment of principal on other securities it issues. The obligations of FHLMC are obligations solely of FHLMC and are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
· FAMC Certificates FAMC is a federally chartered instrumentality of the United States established by Title VIII of the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended. FAMC was chartered primarily to attract new capital for financing of agricultural real estate by making a secondary market in certain qualified agricultural real estate loans. FAMC provides guarantees of timely payment of principal and interest on securities representing interests in, or obligations backed by, pools of mortgages secured by first liens on agricultural real estate. Similar to FNMA and FHLMC, FAMC Certificates are not supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government; rather, FAMC may borrow from the U.S. Treasury to meet its guaranty obligations.
As discussed above, prepayments on the underlying mortgages and their effect upon the rate of return of a mortgage-backed security is the principal investment risk for a purchaser of such securities, like the funds. Over time, any pool of mortgages will experience prepayments due to a variety of factors, including (1) sales of the underlying homes (including foreclosures), (2) refinancings of the underlying mortgages, and (3) increased amortization by the mortgagee. These factors, in turn, depend upon general economic factors, such as level of interest rates and economic growth. Thus, investors normally expect prepayment rates to increase during periods of strong economic growth or declining interest rates, and to decrease in recessions and rising interest rate environments. Accordingly, the life of the mortgage-backed security is likely to be substantially shorter than the stated maturity of the mortgages in the underlying pool. Because of such variation in prepayment rates, it is not possible to predict the life of a particular mortgage-backed security, but FHA statistics indicate that 25- to 30-year single family dwelling mortgages have an average life of approximately 12 years. The majority of GNMA Certificates are backed by mortgages of this type, and, accordingly, the generally accepted practice treats GNMA Certificates as 30-year securities which prepay in full in the 12th year. FNMA and FHLMC Certificates may have differing prepayment characteristics.
Fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities bear a stated “coupon rate” which represents the effective mortgage rate at the time of issuance, less certain fees to GNMA, FNMA, and FHLMC for providing the guarantee, and the issuer for assembling the pool and for passing through monthly payments of interest and principal.
Payments to holders of mortgage-backed securities consist of the monthly distributions of interest and principal less the applicable fees. The actual yield to be earned by a holder of mortgage-backed securities is calculated by dividing interest payments by the purchase price paid for the mortgage-backed securities (which may be at a premium or a discount from the face value of the certificate).
Monthly distributions of interest, as contrasted to semiannual distributions which are common for other fixed interest investments, have the effect of compounding and thereby raising the effective annual yield earned on mortgage-backed securities. Because of the variation in the life of the pools of mortgages which back various mortgage-backed securities, and because it is impossible to anticipate the rate of interest at which future principal payments may be reinvested, the actual yield earned from a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities will differ significantly from the yield estimated by using an assumption of a certain life for each mortgage-backed security included in such a portfolio as described above.
· Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (“CMBS”) These are securities created from a pool of commercial mortgage loans, such as loans for hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, office buildings, and apartment buildings. Interest and principal payments from the underlying loans are passed through to the funds according to a schedule of payments. CMBS are structured similarly to mortgage-backed securities in that both are backed by mortgage payments. However, CMBS involve loans related to commercial property, whereas mortgage-backed securities are based on loans relating to residential property. Because commercial mortgages tend to be structured with prepayment penalties, CMBS generally carry less prepayment risk than loans backed by residential mortgages. Credit quality depends primarily on the quality of the loans themselves and on the structure of the particular deal. However, the value of these securities may change because of actual or
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perceived changes in the creditworthiness of the individual borrowers, their tenants, and servicing agents, or due to deterioration in the general state of commercial real estate or overall economic conditions.
· Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (“CMOs”) CMOs are bonds that are collateralized by whole loan mortgages or mortgage pass-through securities. The bonds issued in a CMO deal are divided into groups, and each group of bonds is referred to as a “tranche.” Under the traditional CMO structure, the cash flows generated by the mortgages or mortgage pass-through securities in the collateral pool are used to first pay interest and then pay principal to the CMO bondholders. The bonds issued under such a CMO structure are retired sequentially as opposed to the pro-rata return of principal found in traditional pass-through obligations. Subject to the various provisions of individual CMO issues, the cash flow generated by the underlying collateral (to the extent it exceeds the amount required to pay the stated interest) is used to retire the bonds. Under the CMO structure, the repayment of principal among the different tranches is prioritized in accordance with the terms of the particular CMO issuance. The “fastest-pay” tranche of bonds, as specified in the prospectus for the issuance, would initially receive all principal payments. When that tranche of bonds is retired, the next tranche, or tranches, in the sequence, as specified in the prospectus, receive all of the principal payments until they are retired. The sequential retirement of bond groups continues until the last tranche, or group of bonds, is retired. Accordingly, the CMO structure allows the issuer to use cash flows of long maturity, monthly pay collateral to formulate securities with short, intermediate, and long final maturities and expected average lives.
New types of CMO tranches continue to evolve such as floating-rate CMOs, planned amortization classes, accrual bonds, and CMO residuals. Some newer structures could affect the amount and timing of principal and interest received by each tranche from the underlying collateral. Under certain structures, given classes of CMOs have priority over others with respect to the receipt of prepayments on the mortgages. Therefore, depending on the type of CMOs in which the funds invest, the investment may be subject to a greater or lesser risk of prepayment than other types of mortgage-related securities.
The primary risk of any mortgage security is the uncertainty of the timing of cash flows. For CMOs, the primary risk results from the rate of prepayments on the underlying mortgages serving as collateral and from the structure of the deal (priority of the individual tranches). An increase or decrease in prepayment rates (resulting from a decrease or increase in mortgage interest rates) will affect the yield, average life, and price of CMOs. The prices of certain CMOs, depending on their structure and the rate of prepayments, can be volatile. Some CMOs may also not be as liquid as other securities.
· U.S. Government Agency Multi-Class Pass-Through Securities Unlike CMOs, U.S. Government Agency Multi-Class Pass-Through Securities, which include FNMA Guaranteed Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit Pass-Through Certificates and FHLMC Multi-Class Mortgage Participation Certificates, are ownership interests in a pool of mortgage assets. Unless the context indicates otherwise, all references herein to CMOs include multi-class pass-through securities.
· Multi-Class Residential Mortgage Securities Such securities represent interests in pools of mortgage loans to residential home buyers made by commercial banks, savings and loan associations, or other financial institutions. Unlike GNMA, FNMA, and FHLMC securities, the payment of principal and interest on Multi-Class Residential Mortgage Securities is not guaranteed by the U.S. government or any of its agencies. Accordingly, yields on Multi-Class Residential Mortgage Securities have been historically higher than the yields on U.S. government mortgage securities. However, the risk of loss due to default on such instruments is higher since they are not guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies. Additionally, pools of such securities may be divided into senior or subordinated segments. Although subordinated mortgage securities may have a higher yield than senior mortgage securities, the risk of loss of principal is greater because losses on the underlying mortgage loans must be borne by persons holding subordinated securities before those holding senior mortgage securities.
· Privately Issued Mortgage-Backed Certificates These are pass-through certificates issued by nongovernmental issuers. Pools of conventional residential or commercial mortgage loans created by such issuers generally offer a higher rate of interest than government and government-related pools because there are no direct or indirect government guarantees of payment. Timely payment of interest and principal of these pools is, however, generally supported by various forms of insurance or guarantees, including individual loan, title, pool, and
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hazard insurance. The insurance and guarantees are issued by government entities, private insurance, or the mortgage poolers. Such insurance and guarantees and the creditworthiness of the issuers thereof will be considered in determining whether a mortgage-related security meets the funds’ quality standards. The funds may buy mortgage-related securities without insurance or guarantees if, through an examination of the loan experience and practices of the poolers, the investment manager determines that the securities meet the funds’ quality standards.
· Stripped Mortgage-Backed Securities These instruments represent interests in a pool of mortgages, the cash flow of which has been separated into its interest and principal components. Interest only securities (“IOs”) receive the interest portion of the cash flow while principal only securities (“POs”) receive the principal portion. IOs and POs are usually structured as tranches of a CMO. Stripped mortgage-backed securities may be issued by U.S. government agencies or by private issuers similar to those described above with respect to CMOs and privately issued mortgage-backed certificates. As interest rates rise and fall, the value of IOs tends to move in the same direction as interest rates. The value of the PO, as with other mortgage-backed securities described herein, and other debt instruments, will tend to move in the opposite direction compared to interest rates. Under the Code, POs may generate taxable income from the current accrual of original issue discount, without a corresponding distribution of cash to the funds.
The cash flows and yields on IO and PO classes are extremely sensitive to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the related underlying mortgage assets. In the case of IOs, prepayments affect the amount of cash flows provided to the investor. In contrast, prepayments on the mortgage pool affect the timing of cash flows received by investors in POs. For example, a rapid or slow rate of principal payments may have a material adverse effect on the prices of IOs or POs, respectively. If the underlying mortgage assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, investors may fail to fully recoup their initial investment in an IO class of a stripped mortgage-backed security, even if the IO class is rated AAA or Aaa or is derived from a full faith and credit obligation. Conversely, if the underlying mortgage assets experience slower than anticipated prepayments of principal, the price on a PO class will be affected more severely than would be the case with a traditional mortgage-backed security.
The determination of whether a particular IO or PO is liquid is made on a case by case basis under guidelines and standards established by the funds’ Boards. The funds’ Boards have delegated to T. Rowe Price the authority to determine the liquidity of these instruments based on a number of factors such as: the type of issuer; type of collateral, including age and prepayment characteristics; rate of interest on coupon relative to current market rates and the effect of the rate on the potential for prepayments; complexity of the issue’s structure, including the number of tranches; and size of the issue and the number of dealers who make a market in the IO or PO.
· Adjustable Rate Mortgage Securities ARMs, like fixed-rate mortgages, have a specified maturity date, and the principal amount of the mortgage is repaid over the life of the mortgage. Unlike fixed-rate mortgages, the interest rate on ARMs is adjusted at regular intervals based on a specified, published interest rate “index” such as a Treasury rate index. The new rate is determined by adding a specific interest amount, the “margin,” to the interest rate of the index. Investment in ARMs allows the funds to participate in changing interest rate levels through regular adjustments in the coupons of the underlying mortgages, resulting in more variable current income and lower price volatility than longer-term fixed-rate mortgage securities. ARMs are a less effective means of locking in long-term rates than fixed-rate mortgages since the income from adjustable rate mortgages will increase during periods of rising interest rates and decline during periods of falling rates.
· TBAs and Dollar Rolls Funds that purchase or sell mortgage-backed securities may choose to purchase or sell certain mortgage-backed securities on a delayed delivery or forward commitment basis through the “to-be announced” (TBA) market. With TBA transactions, the fund would enter into a commitment to either purchase or sell mortgage-backed securities for a fixed price, with payment and delivery at a scheduled future date beyond the customary settlement period for mortgage-backed securities. These transactions are considered to be TBA because the fund commits to buy a pool of mortgages that have yet to be specifically identified but will meet certain standardized parameters (such as yield, duration, and credit quality) and contain similar loan characteristics. For either purchase or sale transactions, a fund may choose to extend the settlement through a “dollar roll” transaction in which it sells mortgage-backed securities to a dealer and
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simultaneously agrees to purchase substantially similar securities in the future at a predetermined price. These transactions have the potential to enhance the fund’s returns and reduce its administrative burdens when compared with holding mortgage-backed securities directly, although these transactions will increase the fund’s portfolio turnover rate. During the roll period, the fund forgoes principal and interest paid on the securities. However, the fund would be compensated by the difference between the current sale price and the forward price for the future purchase, as well as by the interest earned on the cash proceeds of the initial sale.
Although the particular TBA securities must meet industry-accepted “good delivery” standards, there can be no assurance that a security purchased on a forward commitment basis will ultimately be issued or delivered by the counterparty. During the settlement period, the fund will still bear the risk of any decline in the value of the security to be delivered. Dollar roll transactions involve the simultaneous purchase and sale of substantially similar TBA securities for different settlement dates. Because these transactions do not require the purchase and sale of identical securities, the characteristics of the security delivered to the fund may be less favorable than the security delivered to the dealer.
· Other Mortgage-Related Securities Governmental, government-related, or private entities may create mortgage loan pools offering pass-through investments in addition to those described above. The mortgages underlying these securities may be alternative mortgage instruments, that is, mortgage instruments whose principal or interest payments may vary or whose terms to maturity may differ from customary long-term fixed-rate mortgages. As new types of mortgage-related securities are developed and offered to investors, the investment manager will, consistent with the funds’ objectives, policies, and quality standards, consider making investments in such new types of securities.
Asset-Backed Securities
Background The asset-backed securities (“ABS”) market has been one of the fastest growing sectors of the U.S. fixed-income market since its inception in late 1985. Although initial ABS transactions were backed by auto loans and credit card receivables, today’s market has evolved to include a variety of asset types including home equity loans, student loans, equipment leases, stranded utility costs, and collateralized bond/loan obligations. For investors, securitization typically provides an opportunity to invest in high-quality securities with higher credit ratings and less downgrade/event risk than corporate bonds. Unlike mortgages, prepayments on ABS collateral are less sensitive to changes in interest rates. They can also be structured into classes that meet the market’s demand for various maturities and credit quality.
Structure Asset-backed securities are bonds that represent an ownership interest in a pool of receivables sold by originators into a special purpose vehicle (“SPV”). The collateral types can vary, so long as they are secured by homogeneous assets with relatively predictable cash flows. Assets that are transferred through a sale to a SPV are legally separated from those of the seller/servicer, which insulates investors from bankruptcy or other event risk associated with the seller/servicer of those assets. Most senior tranches of ABS are structured to a triple-A rated level through credit enhancement; however, ABS credit ratings range from AAA to non-investment grade. Many ABS transactions are structured to include payout events/performance triggers which provide added protection against deteriorating credit quality.
ABS structures are generally categorized by two distinct types of collateral. Amortizing assets (such as home equity loans, auto loans, and equipment leases) typically pass through principal and interest payments directly to investors, while revolving assets (such as credit card receivables, home equity lines of credit, and dealer floor-plan loans) typically reinvest principal and interest payments in new collateral for a specified period of time. The majority of amortizing transactions are structured as straight sequential-pay transactions. In these structures, all principal amortization and prepayments are directed to the shortest maturity class until it is retired, then to the next shortest class and so on. The majority of revolving assets are structured as bullets, whereby investors receive periodic interest payments and only one final payment of principal at maturity.
Underlying Assets The asset-backed securities that may be purchased include securities backed by pools of mortgage-related receivables known as home equity loans, or of consumer receivables such as automobile loans or credit card loans. Other types of ABS may also be purchased. The credit quality of most asset-backed securities depends primarily on the credit quality of the assets underlying such securities, how well the entity
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issuing the securities is insulated from the credit risk of the originator or any other affiliated entities, and the amount and quality of any credit support provided to the securities. The rate of principal payment on asset-backed securities generally depends on the rate of principal payments received on the underlying assets, which in turn may be affected by a variety of economic and other factors. As a result, the yield and return on any asset-backed security is difficult to predict with precision and actual return or yield to maturity may be more or less than the anticipated return or yield to maturity.
Methods of Allocating Cash Flows While some asset-backed securities are issued with only one class of security, many asset-backed securities are issued in more than one class, each with different payment terms. Multiple class asset-backed securities are issued for two main reasons. First, multiple classes may be used as a method of providing credit support. This is accomplished typically through creation of one or more classes whose right to payments on the asset-backed security is made subordinate to the right to such payments of the remaining class or classes. Second, multiple classes may permit the issuance of securities with payment terms, interest rates, or other characteristics differing both from those of each other and from those of the underlying assets. Asset-backed securities in which the payment streams on the underlying assets are allocated in a manner different than those described above may be issued in the future. The funds may invest in such asset-backed securities if the investment is otherwise consistent with the fund’s investment objectives, policies, and restrictions.
Types of Credit Support Asset-backed securities are typically backed by a pool of assets representing the obligations of a diversified pool of numerous obligors. To lessen the effect of failures by obligors on the ability of underlying assets to make payments, such securities may contain elements of credit support. Such credit support falls into two classes: liquidity protection and protection against ultimate default by an obligor on the underlying assets. Liquidity protection refers to the provision of advances, generally by the entity administering the pool of assets, to ensure that scheduled payments on the underlying pool are made in a timely fashion. Protection against ultimate default ensures ultimate payment of the obligations on at least a portion of the assets in the pool. Such protection may be provided through guarantees, insurance policies, or letters of credit obtained from third parties, “external credit enhancement,” through various means of structuring the transaction, “internal credit enhancement,” or through a combination of such approaches. Examples of asset-backed securities with credit support arising out of the structure of the transaction include:
· Excess Spread Typically, the first layer of protection against losses, equal to the cash flow from the underlying receivables remaining after deducting the sum of the investor coupon, servicing fees, and losses.
· Subordination Interest and principal that would have otherwise been distributed to a subordinate class is used to support the more senior classes. This feature is intended to enhance the likelihood that the holder of the senior class certificate will receive regular payments of interest and principal. Subordinate classes have a greater risk of loss than senior classes.
· Reserve Funds Cash that is deposited and/or captured in a designated account that may be used to cover any shortfalls in principal, interest, or servicing fees.
· Overcollateralization A form of credit enhancement whereby the principal amount of collateral used to secure a given transaction exceeds the principal of the securities issued. Overcollateralization can be created at the time of issuance or may build over time.
· Surety Bonds Typically consist of third-party guarantees to irrevocably and unconditionally make timely payments of interest and ultimate repayment of principal in the event there are insufficient cash flows from the underlying collateral.
The degree of credit support provided on each issue is based generally on historical information respecting the level of credit risk associated with such payments. Depending upon the type of assets securitized, historical information on credit risk and prepayment rates may be limited or even unavailable. Delinquency or loss in excess of that anticipated could adversely affect the return on an investment in an asset-backed security. There is no guarantee that the amount of any type of credit enhancement available will be sufficient to protect against future losses on the underlying collateral.
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Some of the specific types of ABS that the funds may invest in include the following:
· Home Equity Loans These ABS typically are backed by pools of mortgage loans made to subprime borrowers or borrowers with blemished credit histories. The underwriting standards for these loans are more flexible than the standards generally used by banks for borrowers with unblemished credit histories with regard to the borrower’s credit standing and repayment ability. Borrowers who qualify generally have impaired credit histories, which may include a record of major derogatory credit items such as outstanding judgments or prior bankruptcies. In addition, they may not have the documentation required to qualify for a standard mortgage loan.
As a result, the mortgage loans in the mortgage pool are likely to experience rates of delinquency, foreclosure, and bankruptcy that are higher, and that may be substantially higher, than those experienced by mortgage loans underwritten in a more traditional manner. Furthermore, changes in the values of the mortgaged properties, as well as changes in interest rates, may have a greater effect on the delinquency, foreclosure, bankruptcy, and loss experience of the mortgage loans in the mortgage pool than on mortgage loans originated in a more traditional manner.
With respect to first lien mortgage loans, the underwriting standards do not prohibit a mortgagor from obtaining, at the time of origination of the originator’s first lien mortgage loan, additional financing which is subordinate to that first lien mortgage loan, which subordinate financing would reduce the equity the mortgagor would otherwise appear to have in the related mortgaged property as indicated in the loan-to-value ratio.
Risk regarding mortgage rates
The pass-through rates on the adjustable-rate certificates may adjust monthly and are generally based on one-month LIBOR. The mortgage rates on the mortgage loans are either fixed or adjusted semiannually based on six-month LIBOR, which is referred to as a mortgage index. Because the mortgage index may respond to various economic and market factors different than those affecting one-month LIBOR, there is not necessarily a correlation in the movement between the interest rates on those mortgage loans and the pass-through rates of the adjustable rate certificates. As a result, the interest payable on the related interest-bearing certificates may be reduced because of the imposition of a pass-through rate cap called the “net rate cap.”
Yield and reinvestment could be adversely affected by unpredictability of prepayments
No one can accurately predict the level of prepayments that an asset-backed mortgage pool may experience. Factors which influence prepayment behavior include general economic conditions, the level of prevailing interest rates, the availability of alternative financing, the applicability of prepayment charges, and homeowner mobility. Reinvestment risk results from a faster or slower rate of principal payments than expected. A rising interest rate environment and the resulting slowing of prepayments could result in greater volatility of these securities. A falling interest rate environment and the resulting increase in prepayments could require reinvestment in lower yielding securities.
· Credit Card-Backed Securities These ABS are backed by revolving pools of credit card receivables. Due to the revolving nature of these assets, the credit quality could change over time. Unlike most other asset-backed securities, credit card receivables are unsecured obligations of the cardholder and payments by cardholders are the primary source of payment on these securities. The revolving nature of these card accounts generally provides for monthly payments to the trust. In order to issue securities with longer dated maturities, most Credit Card-Backed Securities are issued with an initial “revolving” period during which collections are reinvested in new receivables. The revolving period may be shortened upon the occurrence of specified events which may signal a potential deterioration in the quality of the assets backing the security.
· Automobile Loans These ABS are backed by receivables from motor vehicle installment sales contracts or installment loans secured by motor vehicles. These securities are primarily discrete pools of assets which pay down over the life of the ABS. The securities are not obligations of the seller of the vehicle, or servicer of the loans. The primary source of funds for payments on the securities comes from payment on the underlying trust receivables as well as from credit support.
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Inflation-Linked Securities
Inflation-linked securities are income-generating instruments whose interest and principal payments are adjusted for inflation—a sustained increase in prices that erodes the purchasing power of money. TIPS are inflation-linked securities issued by the U.S. government. Inflation-linked bonds are also issued by corporations, U.S. government agencies, states, and foreign countries. The inflation adjustment, which is typically applied monthly to the principal of the bond, follows a designated inflation index, such as the consumer price index. A fixed coupon rate is applied to the inflation-adjusted principal so that as inflation rises, both the principal value and the interest payments increase. This can provide investors with a hedge against inflation, as it helps preserve the purchasing power of your investment. Because of this inflation-adjustment feature, inflation-protected bonds typically have lower yields than conventional fixed-rate bonds. Municipal inflation bonds generally have a fixed principal amount and the inflation component is reflected in the nominal coupon.
Inflation-protected bonds normally will decline in price when real interest rates rise. (A real interest rate is calculated by subtracting the inflation rate from a nominal interest rate. For example, if a 10-year Treasury note is yielding 5% and the rate of inflation is 2%, the real interest rate is 3%.) If inflation is negative, the principal and income of an inflation-protected bond will decline and could result in losses for the fund.
Inflation adjustments or TIPS that exceed deflation adjustments for the year will be distributed by a fund as a short-term capital gain, resulting in ordinary income to shareholders. Net deflation adjustments for a year could result in all or a portion of dividends paid earlier in the year by a fund being treated as a return of capital.
Collateralized Bond or Loan Obligations
Collateralized Bond Obligations (“CBOs”) are bonds collateralized by corporate bonds, mortgages, or pools of asset-backed securities and Collateralized Loan Obligations (“CLOs”) are bonds collateralized by pools of bank loans. CBOs and CLOs are structured into tranches, and payments are allocated such that each tranche has a predictable cash flow stream and average life. Most CBOs tend to be collateralized by high-yield bonds or loans, with heavy credit enhancement.
Loan Participations and Assignments
Loan participations and assignments (collectively, “participations”) will typically be participating interests in loans made by a syndicate of banks, represented by an agent bank which has negotiated and structured the loan, to corporate borrowers to finance internal growth, mergers, acquisitions, stock repurchases, leveraged buyouts, and other corporate activities. Such loans may also have been made to governmental borrowers, especially governments of developing countries which is referred to as Loans to Developing Countries debt (“LDC debt”). LDC debt will involve the risk that the governmental entity responsible for the repayment of the debt may be unable or unwilling to meet its obligations when they become due. The loans underlying such participations may be secured or unsecured, and the funds may invest in loans collateralized by mortgages on real property or which have no collateral. The loan participations themselves may extend for the entire term of the loan or may extend only for short “strips” that correspond to a quarterly or monthly floating-rate interest period on the underlying loan. Thus, a term or revolving credit that extends for several years may be subdivided into shorter periods.
The loan participations in which the funds will invest will also vary in legal structure. Occasionally, lenders assign to another institution both the lender’s rights and obligations under a credit agreement. Since this type of assignment relieves the original lender of its obligations, it is called a novation. More typically, a lender assigns only its right to receive payments of principal and interest under a promissory note, credit agreement, or similar document. A true assignment shifts to the assignee the direct debtor-creditor relationship with the underlying borrower. Alternatively, a lender may assign only part of its rights to receive payments pursuant to the underlying instrument or loan agreement. Such partial assignments, which are more accurately characterized as “participating interests,” do not shift the debtor-creditor relationship to the assignee, who must rely on the original lending institution to collect sums due and to otherwise enforce its rights against the agent bank which administers the loan or against the underlying borrower.
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The determination of whether particular loan participations are liquid is made on a case by case basis under guidelines and standards established by the funds’ Boards. The funds’ Boards have delegated to T. Rowe Price the authority to determine the liquidity of these investments based on a number of factors. These factors may include: the frequency of trades and quotes for the loan; number of dealers willing to purchase or sell and number of other potential purchasers; nature of the trading market, such as the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and mechanics of the transfer; spreads between the bid and ask prices; and other factors relevant to loan participations taking into consideration their unique and longer settlement requirements.
If the funds purchase a participation interest in another lender’s loan, as opposed to acquiring a loan directly from a lender or through an agent or as an assignment from another lender, the funds will treat both the corporate borrower and the bank selling the participation interest as an issuer for purposes of its fundamental investment restriction on diversification.
Various service fees received by the funds from loan participations may be treated as non-interest income depending on the nature of the fee (commitment, takedown, commission, service, or loan origination). To the extent the service fees are not interest income, they will not qualify as income under Section 851(b) of the Code. Thus the sum of such fees plus any other nonqualifying income earned by the funds cannot exceed 10% of total income.
The Investment Managers will generally choose not to receive material nonpublic information about the issuers of loans who also issue publicly traded securities that a Price Fund owns or may want to own. As a result, the Investment Managers may have less information than other investors about certain of the loans in which they invest or seek to invest on behalf of the Price Funds or other client accounts. In some circumstances, the Investment Managers may receive material nonpublic information about an issuer as a result of a Price Funds’ ownership of a loan involving that issuer. In these situations, a fund may be unable to enter into a transaction in a publicly traded security issued by that borrower when it would otherwise be advantageous to do so due to prohibitions on trading in securities of issuers while in possession of material nonpublic information. Unlike registered securities, such as most stocks and bonds, loans are not registered or regulated under the federal securities laws. As a result, investors in loans have less protection against fraud and other improper practices than investors in registered securities because investors in loans (such as the funds) may not be entitled to rely on the protections of the federal securities laws.
Municipal Securities
Subject to the investment objectives and programs described in the prospectus and the additional investment restrictions described in this SAI, the funds’ portfolios may consist of any combination of the various types of municipal securities described below or other types of municipal securities that may be developed. The amount of the funds’ assets invested in any particular type of municipal security can be expected to vary.
The term “municipal securities” means obligations issued by or on behalf of states, territories, and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia and their political subdivisions, agencies, and instrumentalities, as well as certain other persons and entities, the interest from which is generally exempt from federal income tax. In determining the tax-exempt status of a municipal security, the funds rely on the opinion of the issuer’s bond counsel at the time of the issuance of the security. However, it is possible this opinion could be overturned, and, as a result, the interest received by the funds from a municipal security assumed to be tax-exempt might not be exempt from federal income tax.
Municipal securities are normally classified by maturity as notes, bonds, or adjustable rate securities. Municipal securities include the following:
Municipal notes generally are used to provide short-term operating or capital needs and generally have maturities of one year or less.
· Tax Anticipation Notes Tax anticipation notes are issued to finance working capital needs of municipalities. Generally, they are issued in anticipation of various seasonal tax revenue, such as income, property, use, and business taxes, and are payable from these specific future taxes.
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· Revenue Anticipation Notes Revenue anticipation notes are issued in expectation of receipt of revenues, such as sales taxes, toll revenues, or water and sewer charges, that are used to pay off the notes.
· Bond Anticipation Notes Bond anticipation notes are issued to provide interim financing until long-term financing can be arranged. In most cases, the long-term bonds then provide the money for the repayment of the notes.
· Tax-Exempt Commercial Paper Tax-exempt commercial paper is a short-term obligation with a stated maturity of 270 days or less. It is issued by state and local governments or their agencies to finance seasonal working capital needs or as short-term financing in anticipation of longer-term financing.
Municipal bonds, which meet longer-term capital needs and generally have maturities of more than one year when issued, have two principal classifications: general obligation bonds and revenue bonds. Additional categories of potential purchases include municipal lease obligations, prerefunded/escrowed to maturity bonds, private activity bonds, industrial development bonds, and participation interests.
· General Obligation Bonds Issuers of general obligation bonds include states, counties, cities, towns, and special districts. The proceeds of these obligations are used to fund a wide range of public projects, including construction or improvement of schools, public buildings, highways and roads, and general projects not supported by user fees or specifically identified revenues. The basic security behind general obligation bonds is the issuer’s pledge of its full faith and credit and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest. The taxes that can be levied for the payment of debt service may be limited or unlimited as to the rate or amount of special assessments. In many cases voter approval is required before an issuer may sell this type of bond.
· Revenue Bonds The principal security for a revenue bond is generally the net revenues derived from a particular facility or enterprise or, in some cases, the proceeds of a special charge or other pledged revenue source. Revenue bonds are issued to finance a wide variety of capital projects including: electric, gas, water, and sewer systems; highways, bridges, and tunnels; port and airport facilities; colleges and universities; and hospitals. Revenue bonds are sometimes used to finance various privately operated facilities provided they meet certain tests established for tax-exempt status.
Although the principal security behind these bonds may vary, many provide additional security in the form of a mortgage or debt service reserve fund. Some authorities provide further security in the form of the state’s ability (without obligation) to make up deficiencies in the debt service reserve fund. Revenue bonds usually do not require prior voter approval before they may be issued.
· Municipal Lease Obligations Municipal borrowers may also finance capital improvements or purchases with tax-exempt leases. The security for a lease is generally the borrower’s pledge to make annual appropriations for lease payments. The lease payment is treated as an operating expense subject to appropriation risk and not a full faith and credit obligation of the issuer. Lease revenue bonds and other municipal lease obligations are generally considered less secure than a general obligation or revenue bond and often do not include a debt service reserve fund. To the extent the funds’ Boards determine such securities are illiquid, they will be subject to the funds’ limit on illiquid securities. There have also been certain legal challenges to the use of lease revenue bonds in various states.
The liquidity of such securities will be determined based on a variety of factors which may include, among others: (1) the frequency of trades and quotes for the obligation; (2) the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the security and the number of other potential buyers; (3) the willingness of dealers to undertake to make a market in the security; (4) the nature of the marketplace trades, including the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers, and the mechanics of transfer; and (5) the rating assigned to the obligation by an established rating agency or T. Rowe Price.
· Prerefunded/Escrowed to Maturity Bonds Certain municipal bonds have been refunded with a later bond issue from the same issuer. The proceeds from the later issue are used to defease the original issue. In many cases the original issue cannot be redeemed or repaid until the first call date or original maturity date. In these cases, the refunding bond proceeds typically are used to buy U.S. Treasury securities that are held in an escrow account until the original call date or maturity date. The original bonds then become “prerefunded” or “escrowed to maturity” and are considered high-quality investments. While still tax-exempt, the security is the
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proceeds of the escrow account. To the extent permitted by the SEC and the IRS, a fund’s investment in such securities refunded with U.S. Treasury securities will, for purposes of diversification rules applicable to the funds, be considered an investment in U.S. Treasury securities.
· Private Activity Bonds Under current tax law, all municipal debt is divided broadly into two groups: governmental purpose bonds and private activity bonds. Governmental purpose bonds are issued to finance traditional public purpose projects such as public buildings and roads. Private activity bonds may be issued by a state or local government or public authority but principally benefit private users and are considered taxable unless a specific exemption is provided.
The tax code currently provides exemptions for certain private activity bonds such as not-for-profit hospital bonds, small-issue industrial development revenue bonds, and mortgage subsidy bonds, which may still be issued as tax-exempt bonds. Interest on tax exempt private activity bonds has generally been subject to alternative minimum tax (AMT). However, interest on all private activity bonds issued in 2009 or 2010 will be exempt from AMT. In addition, interest on private activity bonds that were issued after 2003, and refunded during 2009 or 2010, will be exempt from AMT.
· Industrial Development Bonds Industrial development bonds are considered municipal bonds if the interest paid is exempt from federal income tax. They are issued by or on behalf of public authorities to raise money to finance various privately operated facilities for business and manufacturing, housing, sports, and pollution control. These bonds are also used to finance public facilities such as airports, mass transit systems, ports, and parking. The payment of the principal and interest on such bonds is dependent solely on the ability of the facility’s user to meet its financial obligations and the pledge, if any, of real and personal property so financed as security for such payment.
· Build America Bonds The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 created Build America Bonds, which allowed state and local governments to issue taxable bonds to finance any capital expenditures for which they otherwise could issue tax-exempt governmental bonds. State and local governments received a federal subsidy payment for a portion of their borrowing costs on these bonds equal to 35% of the total coupon interest paid to investors. The municipality could elect to either take the federal subsidy or it can pass a 35% tax credit along to bondholders. Investments in these bonds will result in taxable interest income and the funds may elect to pass through to shareholders any corresponding tax credits. The tax credits can generally be used to offset federal income taxes and the AMT, but those tax credits are generally not refundable.
· Participation Interests The funds may purchase from third parties participation interests in all or part of specific holdings of municipal securities. The purchase may take different forms: in the case of short-term securities, the participation may be backed by a liquidity facility that allows the interest to be sold back to the third party (such as a trust, broker, or bank) for a predetermined price of par at stated intervals. The seller may receive a fee from the funds in connection with the arrangement.
In the case of longer-term bonds, the funds may purchase interests in a pool of municipal bonds or a single municipal bond or lease without the right to sell the interest back to the third party.
The funds will not purchase participation interests unless a satisfactory opinion of counsel or ruling of the IRS has been issued that the interest earned from the municipal securities on which the funds hold participation interests is exempt from federal income tax to the funds. However, there is no guarantee the IRS would treat such interest income as tax-exempt.
When-Issued Securities
New issues of municipal securities are often offered on a when-issued basis; that is, delivery and payment for the securities normally takes place 15 to 45 days or more after the date of the commitment to purchase. The payment obligation and the interest rate that will be received on the securities are each fixed at the time the buyer enters into the commitment. The funds will only make a commitment to purchase such securities with the intention of actually acquiring the securities. However, the funds may sell these securities before the settlement date if it is deemed advisable as a matter of investment strategy. Each fund will maintain cash, high-
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grade marketable debt securities, or other suitable cover with its custodian bank equal in value to commitments for when-issued securities. Such securities either will mature or, if necessary, be sold on or before the settlement date. Securities purchased on a when-issued basis and the securities held in the funds’ portfolios are subject to changes in market value based upon the public perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and changes in the level of interest rates (which will generally result in similar changes in value, i.e., both experiencing appreciation when interest rates decline and depreciation when interest rates rise). Therefore, to the extent the funds remain fully invested or almost fully invested at the same time that they have purchased securities on a when-issued basis, there will be greater fluctuations in their net asset value than if they solely set aside cash to pay for when-issued securities. In the case of the retail or government money funds, this could increase the possibility that the market value of the funds’ assets could vary from $1.00 per share. In addition, there will be a greater potential for the realization of capital gains, which are not exempt from federal income tax. When the time comes to pay for when-issued securities, the funds will meet their obligations from then-available cash flow, sale of securities, or, although it would not normally expect to do so, from sale of the when-issued securities themselves (which may have a value greater or less than the payment obligation). The policies described in this paragraph are not fundamental and may be changed by the funds upon notice to shareholders.
Adjustable Rate Securities
Generally, the maturity of a security is deemed to be the period remaining until the date (noted on the face of the instrument) on which the principal amount must be paid or, in the case of an instrument called for redemption, the date on which the redemption payment must be made. However, certain securities may be issued with demand features or adjustable interest rates that are reset periodically by predetermined formulas or indexes in order to minimize movements in the principal value of the investment in accordance with Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act. Such securities may have long-term maturities, but may be treated as a short-term investment under certain conditions. Generally, as interest rates decrease or increase, the potential for capital appreciation or depreciation on these securities is less than for fixed rate obligations. These securities may take a variety of forms, including variable rate, floating rate, and put option securities.
Variable Rate Securities Variable rate instruments are those whose terms provide for the adjustment of their interest rates on set dates and which, upon such adjustment, can reasonably be expected to have a market value that approximates its par value. A variable rate instrument, the principal amount of which is scheduled to be paid in 397 days or less, is deemed to have a maturity equal to the period remaining until the next readjustment of the interest rate. A variable rate instrument which is subject to a demand feature entitles the purchaser to receive the principal amount of the underlying security or securities.
Forward Commitment Contracts
The price of such securities, which may be expressed in yield terms, is fixed at the time the commitment to purchase is made, but delivery and payment take place at a later date. Normally, the settlement date occurs within 90 days of the purchase for when-issueds, but may be substantially longer for forwards. During the period between purchase and settlement, no payment is made by the funds to the issuer and no interest accrues to the funds. The purchase of these securities will result in a loss if their values decline prior to the settlement date. This could occur, for example, if interest rates increase prior to settlement. The longer the period between purchase and settlement, the greater the risks. At the time the funds make the commitment to purchase these securities, it will record the transaction and reflect the value of the security in determining its net asset value. The funds will cover these securities by maintaining cash, liquid, high-grade debt securities, or other suitable cover as permitted by the SEC, with its custodian bank equal in value to its commitments for the securities during the time between the purchase and the settlement. Therefore, the longer this period, the longer the period during which alternative investment options are not available to the funds (to the extent of the securities used for cover). Such securities either will mature or, if necessary, be sold on or before the settlement date.
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To the extent the funds remain fully or almost fully invested (in securities with a remaining maturity of more than one year) at the same time they purchase these securities, there will be greater fluctuations in the funds’ net asset value than if the funds did not purchase them.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”)
Investments in REITs may experience many of the same risks involved with investing in real estate directly. These risks include: declines in real estate values, risks related to local or general economic conditions, particularly lack of demand, overbuilding and increased competition, increases in property taxes and operating expenses, changes in zoning laws, heavy cash flow dependency, possible lack of availability of mortgage funds, obsolescence, losses due to natural disasters, condemnation of properties, regulatory limitations on rents and fluctuations in rental income, variations in market rental rates, and possible environmental liabilities. REITs may own real estate properties (“Equity REITs”) and be subject to these risks directly, or may make or purchase mortgages (“Mortgage REITs”) and be subject to these risks indirectly through underlying construction, development, and long-term mortgage loans that may default or have payment problems.
Equity REITs can be affected by rising interest rates that may cause investors to demand a high annual yield from future distributions which, in turn, could decrease the market prices for the REITs. In addition, rising interest rates also increase the costs of obtaining financing for real estate projects. Since many real estate projects are dependent upon receiving financing, this could cause the value of the Equity REITs in which the funds invest to decline.
Mortgage REITs may hold mortgages that the mortgagors elect to prepay during periods of declining interest rates, which may diminish the yield on such REITs. In addition, borrowers may not be able to repay mortgages when due, which could have a negative effect on the funds.
Some REITs have relatively small market capitalizations which could increase their volatility. REITs tend to be dependent upon specialized management skills and have limited diversification so they are subject to risks inherent in operating and financing a limited number of properties. In addition, when the funds invest in REITs, a shareholder will bear his proportionate share of fund expenses and indirectly bear similar expenses of the REITs. REITs depend generally on their ability to generate cash flow to make distributions to shareholders. Certain REITs may be able to pay up to 90% of their dividends in the form of stock instead of cash. Even if a fund receives all or part of a REIT distribution in stock, the fund will still be deemed to have received 100% of the distribution in cash and the entire distribution will be part of the fund’s taxable income. In addition, both Equity and Mortgage REITs are subject to the risks of failing to qualify for tax-free status of income under the Code or failing to maintain their exemptions from the 1940 Act.
Illiquid or Restricted Securities
Some fund holdings may be considered illiquid because they are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale or because they cannot be sold in the ordinary course of business at approximately the price at which the fund values them. The determination of whether a holding is considered liquid or illiquid involves a variety of factors. Certain restricted securities may be sold only in privately negotiated transactions or in a public offering with respect to which a registration statement is in effect under the 1933 Act. Where registration is required, the fund may be obligated to pay all or part of the registration expenses, and a considerable period may elapse between the time of the decision to sell and the time the fund may be permitted to sell a security under an effective registration statement. If, during such a period, adverse market conditions were to develop, the fund might obtain a less favorable price than that which prevailed when it decided to sell. Restricted securities will be priced at fair value as determined in accordance with procedures prescribed by the funds’ Boards. If, through the appreciation of illiquid securities or the depreciation of liquid securities, a fund should be in a position where more than the allowable amount of its net assets is invested in illiquid assets, including restricted securities, the fund will take appropriate steps to the extent possible, to increase the amount of its investments in liquid securities.
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Notwithstanding the above, the funds may purchase securities which, while privately placed, are eligible for purchase and sale under Rule 144A under the 1933 Act. This rule permits certain qualified institutional buyers, such as the funds, to trade in privately placed securities even though such securities are not registered under the 1933 Act. The liquidity of these securities is monitored based on a variety of factors.
Investments in Other Investment Companies
Unaffiliated Investment Companies The funds may invest in other investment companies that are not sponsored by T. Rowe Price, which include open-end funds, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), unit investment trusts, and other investment companies that have elected to be treated as business development companies under the 1940 Act.
The funds may purchase shares of another investment company to temporarily gain exposure to a portion of the market while awaiting purchase of securities or as an efficient means of gaining exposure to a particular asset class. The funds might also purchase shares of another investment company to gain exposure to the securities in the investment company’s portfolio at times when the fund may not be able to buy those securities directly. Any investment in another investment company would be consistent with a fund’s objective and investment program.
Investing in another investment company involves risks similar to those of investing directly in the investment company’s portfolio securities, including the risk that the values of the portfolio securities may fluctuate due to changes in the financial condition of the securities’ issuers and other market factors. An investment company may not achieve its investment objective or execute its investment strategy effectively, which may adversely affect the fund’s performance. In addition, because closed-end funds trade on a stock exchange or in the OTC market and ETFs trade on a securities exchange, their shares may trade at a substantial premium or discount to the actual net asset value of its portfolio securities and their potential lack of liquidity could result in greater volatility.
If a fund invests in a non-T. Rowe Price investment company, the fund must pay its proportionate share of that investment company’s fees and expenses, which are in addition to the management fee and other operational expenses incurred by the fund. The expenses associated with certain investment companies, such as business development companies, may be significant. The fund could also incur a sales charge or redemption fee in connection with purchasing or redeeming an investment company security.
A Price Funds’ investments in non-T. Rowe Price registered investment companies are subject to the limits that apply to such investments under the 1940 Act unless the fund invests in reliance on exemptive relief which permits it to exceed the 1940 Act limits. The 1940 Act generally provides that a fund may invest up to 10% of its total assets in securities of other investment companies. In addition, a fund may not own more than 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of any investment company and not more than 5% of the fund’s total assets may be in invested in a particular investment company.
Affiliated Investment Companies The funds may also invest in certain Price Funds as a means of gaining efficient and cost-effective exposure to specific asset classes, provided the investment is consistent with an investing fund’s investment program and policies. Such an investment could allow the fund to obtain the benefits of a more diversified portfolio than might otherwise be available through direct investments in the asset class, and will subject the fund to the risks associated with the particular asset class. Examples of asset classes in which other Price Funds invest include high yield bonds, floating rate loans, inflation-linked securities, international bonds, emerging market bonds, and emerging market stocks. To ensure that the fund does not incur duplicate management fees as a result of its investment in another Price Fund, the management fee paid by the fund will be reduced in an amount sufficient to offset the fees paid by the underlying fund related to the investment.
Hedge Funds Investments in unregistered hedge funds may be used to gain exposure to certain asset classes. Hedge funds are not subject to the same regulatory requirements as mutual funds and other registered investment companies and an investing fund may not be able to rely on the protections under the 1940 Act that are available to investors in registered investment companies.
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There are often advance notice requirements and withdrawal windows which limit investors’ ability to readily redeem shares of a hedge fund. If a hedge fund were to engage in activity deemed inappropriate by a fund or pursue a different strategy than the fund was led to believe, the fund may not be able to withdraw its investment in a hedge fund promptly after a decision has been made to do so, causing the fund to incur a significant loss and adversely affect its total return.
Hedge funds are not required to provide periodic pricing or valuation information to investors, and often engage in leveraging, short-selling, commodities investing and other speculative investment practices that are not fully disclosed and may increase the risk of investment loss. Their underlying holdings and investment strategies are not as transparent to investors or typically as diversified as those of traditional mutual funds; therefore, an investing fund is unable to look through to the hedge fund’s underlying investments in determining compliance with its own investment restrictions.
For the various reasons cited above, investments in a hedge fund are considered illiquid by an investing fund. Valuations of illiquid securities involve various judgments and consideration of factors that may be subjective, and there is a risk that inaccurate valuations of hedge fund positions could adversely affect the stated value of the fund. Fund investors should be aware that situations involving uncertainties as to the valuation of portfolio positions could have an adverse effect on the fund’s net assets, which, in turn, would affect amounts paid on redemptions of fund shares if the judgments made regarding appropriate valuations should be proven incorrect. If the net asset value of a fund is not accurate, purchasing or redeeming shareholders may pay or receive too little or too much for their shares and the interests of remaining shareholders may become overvalued or diluted.
The funds may use derivatives whose characteristics are consistent with the funds’ investment program.
A derivative is a financial instrument that has a value based on—or “derived from”—the value of other assets, reference rates, or indexes. Derivatives generally take the form of contracts under which the parties agree to payments between them based upon the performance of a wide variety of underlying references, such as stocks, bonds, commodities, interest rates, currency exchange rates, and various domestic and foreign indexes. The main types of derivatives are futures, options, forward contracts, swaps, and hybrid instruments.
Like most other fund investments, derivatives are subject to the risk that the market value of the underlying asset will change in a way detrimental to the funds’ interest. However, the risks associated with the use of derivatives are different from, and potentially much greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in the instruments on which the derivatives are based. Because some derivatives involve leverage, returns can be magnified, either positively or negatively, and adverse changes in the value or level of the underlying asset, reference rate, or index can result in a loss substantially greater than the amount invested in the derivative itself.
The funds may use derivatives for a variety of purposes. Potential uses include, but are not limited to, the following: adjusting duration; managing exposure to changes in interest rates, currency exchange rates, or credit quality; investing in broad segments of the market or certain asset classes with greater efficiency and at a lower cost than is possible through direct investment; enhancing income; improving risk-adjusted returns; expressing positive or negative views on a particular issuer, country, or currency; and managing cash flows into and out of a fund. The funds may use derivatives to take a short position in a currency, which allows a fund to sell a currency in excess of the value of its holdings denominated in that currency or to sell a currency even if it does not hold any assets denominated in the currency. The funds may also use derivatives to take short positions with respect to its exposure to a particular country or market. For example, a fund could sell futures contracts on a particular index where the value of the futures contract exceeds the value of the bonds or stocks represented in the index that are held by the fund, or the fund could sell futures or enter into interest rate swaps with respect to a particular bond market without owning any bonds in that market.
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Some derivatives are traded on exchanges, while other derivatives are privately negotiated and entered into in the OTC market. Exchange-traded derivatives are traded via specialized derivatives exchanges or other securities exchanges. The exchange acts as an intermediary to the transactions and the terms for each type of contract are generally standardized. OTC derivatives are traded between two parties directly without going through a regulated exchange. The terms of the contract are subject to negotiation by the parties to the contract.
Certain OTC derivatives are subject to counterparty risk, whereas the exposure to default for exchange-traded derivatives is assumed by the exchange’s clearinghouse. Counterparty risk is the risk that a party to an OTC derivatives contract may fail to perform on its obligations. A loss may be sustained as a result of the insolvency or bankruptcy of the counterparty, or the failure of the counterparty to make required payments or comply with the terms of the contract. In the event of insolvency of the counterparty, the funds may be unable to liquidate a derivatives position. Because the purchase and sale of an OTC derivative does not have the guarantee of a central clearing organization, the creditworthiness of the counterparty is an additional risk factor that the funds need to consider and monitor.
Futures Contracts
Futures contracts are a type of potentially high-risk derivative.
Transactions in Futures
The funds may enter into futures contracts including stock index, interest rate, and currency futures (“futures” or “futures contracts”).
Interest rate or currency futures contracts may be used as a hedge against changes in prevailing levels of interest rates or currency exchange rates in order to establish more definitely the effective return on securities or currencies held or intended to be acquired by the funds. Interest rate or currency futures can be sold as an offset against the effect of expected increases in interest rates or currency exchange rates and purchased as an offset against the effect of expected declines in interest rates or currency exchange rates.
Futures can also be used as an efficient means of regulating the funds’ exposure to the market.
Index Funds may only enter into futures contracts that are appropriate for their investment programs to provide an efficient means of maintaining liquidity while being invested in the market, to facilitate trading, or to reduce transaction costs. Otherwise, the nature of such futures and the regulatory limitations and risks to which they are subject are the same as those described below.
Stock index futures contracts may be used to provide a hedge for a portion of the funds’ portfolios, as a cash management tool, or as an efficient way to implement either an increase or decrease in portfolio market exposure in response to changing market conditions. The funds may purchase or sell futures contracts with respect to any stock index. Nevertheless, to hedge the funds’ portfolios successfully, the funds must sell futures contracts with respect to indices or subindices whose movements will have a significant correlation with movements in the prices of the funds’ portfolio securities.
The funds will enter into futures contracts that are traded on national (or foreign) futures exchanges and are standardized as to maturity date and underlying financial instrument. A public market exists in futures contracts covering various taxable fixed-income securities as well as municipal bonds. Futures exchanges and trading in the United States are regulated under the Commodity Exchange Act by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”). Although techniques other than the sale and purchase of futures contracts could be used for the above-referenced purposes, futures contracts offer an effective and relatively low cost means of implementing the funds’ objectives in these areas.
Limitations on Futures
If the funds purchase or sell futures contracts or related options which do not qualify as bona fide hedging under applicable CFTC rules, the aggregate initial margin deposits and premium required to establish those positions cannot exceed 5% of the liquidation value of the funds after taking into account unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such contracts they have entered into, provided, however, that in the case of an
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option that is in-the-money at the time of purchase, the in-the-money amount may be excluded in calculating the 5% limitation. For purposes of this policy, options on futures contracts and foreign currency options traded on a commodities exchange will be considered “related options.” This policy may be modified by the Boards without a shareholder vote and does not limit the percentage of the funds’ assets at risk to 5%.
In instances involving the purchase of futures contracts or the writing of call or put options thereon by the funds, an amount of cash, liquid assets, or other suitable cover as permitted by the SEC, equal to the market value of the futures and options contracts thereon (less any related margin deposits), will be identified by the funds to cover the position, or alternative cover (such as owning an offsetting position) will be employed. Assets used as cover or held in an identified account cannot be sold while the position in the corresponding option or future is open, unless they are replaced with similar assets. As a result, the commitment of a large portion of the funds’ assets to cover or identified accounts could impede portfolio management or the funds’ ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations.
If the CFTC or other regulatory authorities adopt different (including less stringent) or additional restrictions, the funds would comply with such new restrictions.
The CFTC’s rules limit the ability of a mutual fund to use commodities, futures, swaps and certain other derivatives if its investment adviser does not register with the CFTC as a commodity pool operator (“CPO”) with respect to the fund. It is expected that all of the Price Funds will normally execute their investment programs within the limits and exemptions prescribed by the CFTC’s rules. As a result, T. Rowe Price does not intend to register with the CFTC as a CPO on behalf of any of the Price Funds. In the event one of the Price Funds engages in transactions that necessitate future registration with the CFTC, T. Rowe Price will register as a CPO and comply with applicable regulations with respect to that fund. Compliance with these additional regulatory requirements could increase the fund’s expenses.
For funds that utilize commodity interests, a notice has been filed on behalf of the funds with the National Futures Association claiming an exclusion from the definition of CPO under the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, pursuant to CFTC Rule 4.5. Accordingly, the Price Funds’ Investment Manager has not been subject to registration or regulation as a CPO.
Trading in Futures Contracts
A futures contract provides for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified amount of a specific financial instrument (e.g., units of a stock index) for a specified price, date, time, and place designated at the time the contract is made. Brokerage fees are incurred when a futures contract is bought or sold and margin deposits must be maintained during the term of the contract. Entering into a contract to buy is commonly referred to as buying or purchasing a contract or holding a long position. Entering into a contract to sell is commonly referred to as selling a contract or holding a short position.
Unlike when the funds purchase or sell a security, no price would be paid or received by the funds upon the purchase or sale of a futures contract. Upon entering into a futures contract, and to maintain the funds’ open positions in futures contracts, the funds would be required to deposit in a segregated account with the clearing broker for the futures contract an amount of cash or liquid assets known as “initial margin.” The margin required for a particular futures contract is set by the exchange on which the contract is traded and may be significantly modified from time to time by the exchange during the term of the contract. Futures contracts are customarily purchased and sold on margins that may range upward from less than 5% of the value of the contract being traded.
Financial futures are valued daily at closing settlement prices. If the price of an open futures contract changes (by increase in the case of a sale or by decrease in the case of a purchase) so that the loss on the futures contract reaches a point at which the margin on deposit does not satisfy margin requirements, the clearing broker will require a payment by the funds (“variation margin”) to restore the margin account to the amount of the initial margin.
Subsequent payments (“mark-to-market payments”) to and from the futures clearing broker are made on a daily basis as the price of the underlying assets fluctuates, making the long and short positions in the futures contract more or less valuable. If the value of the open futures position increases in the case of a sale or
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decreases in the case of a purchase, the funds will pay the amount of the daily change in value to the clearing broker. However, if the value of the open futures position decreases in the case of a sale or increases in the case of a purchase, the clearing broker will pay the amount of the daily change in value to the funds.
Although certain futures contracts, by their terms, require actual future delivery of and payment for the underlying instruments, in practice, most futures contracts are usually closed out before the delivery date. Closing out an open futures contract purchase or sale is effected by entering into an offsetting futures contract sale or purchase, respectively, for the same aggregate amount of the identical securities and the same delivery date. If the offsetting purchase price is less than the original sale price, the funds realize a gain; if it is more, the funds realize a loss. Conversely, if the offsetting sale price is more than the original purchase price, the funds realize a gain; if it is less, the funds realize a loss. The transaction costs must also be included in these calculations. There can be no assurance, however, that the funds will be able to enter into an offsetting transaction with respect to a particular futures contract at a particular time. If the funds are not able to enter into an offsetting transaction, the funds will continue to be required to maintain the margin deposits on the futures contract.
As an example of an offsetting transaction in which the underlying instrument is not delivered, the contractual obligations arising from the sale of one contract of September Treasury bills on an exchange may be fulfilled at any time before delivery of the contract is required (i.e., on a specified date in September, the “delivery month”) by the purchase of one contract of September Treasury bills on the same exchange. In such instance, the difference between the price at which the futures contract was sold and the price paid for the offsetting purchase, after allowance for transaction costs, represents the profit or loss to the funds.
Settlement of a stock index futures contract may or may not be in the underlying security. If not in the underlying security, then settlement will be made in cash, equivalent over time to the difference between the contract price and the actual price of the underlying asset (as adjusted by a multiplier) at the time the stock index futures contract expires.
For example, the S&P 500 Stock Index is made up of 500 selected common stocks, most of which are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). The S&P 500 Index assigns relative weightings to the common stocks included in the index, and the index fluctuates with changes in the market values of those common stocks. In the case of futures contracts on the S&P 500 Index, the contracts are to buy or sell 250 units. Thus, if the value of the S&P 500 Index were $150, one contract would be worth $37,500 (250 units x $150). The stock index futures contract specifies that no delivery of the actual stocks making up the index will take place. Instead, settlement in cash occurs. Over the life of the contract, the gain or loss realized by the funds will equal the difference between the purchase (or sale) price of the contract and the price at which the contract is terminated. For example, if the funds enter into a futures contract to buy 250 units of the S&P 500 Index at a specified future date at a contract price of $150 and the S&P 500 Index is at $154 on that future date, the funds will gain $1,000 (250 units x gain of $4). If the funds enter into a futures contract to sell 250 units of the stock index at a specified future date at a contract price of $150 and the S&P 500 Index is at $152 on that future date, the funds will lose $500 (250 units x loss of $2).
Special Risks of Transactions in Futures Contracts
· Volatility and Leverage The prices of futures contracts are volatile and are influenced, among other things, by actual and anticipated changes in the market and interest rates, which in turn are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and national and international political and economic events.
Most U.S. futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount that the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of futures contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. The daily limit governs only price movement during a particular trading day and therefore does not limit potential losses because the limit may prevent the liquidation of unfavorable positions. Futures contract prices have occasionally moved to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no
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trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting some futures traders to substantial losses.
Margin deposits required on futures trading are low. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial losses, as well as gains, to the investor. For example, if at the time of purchase, 10% of the value of the futures contract is deposited as margin, a subsequent 10% decrease in the value of the futures contract would result in a total loss of the margin deposit, before any deduction for the transaction costs, if the account were then closed out. A 15% decrease would result in a loss equal to 150% of the original margin deposit, if the contract were closed out. Thus, a purchase or sale of a futures contract may result in losses in excess of the amount invested in the futures contract.
· Fellow Customer Risk The funds are subject to “fellow-customer risk,” which is the risk that one or more customers of a futures commission merchant will default on their obligations and that the resulting losses will be so great that the futures commission merchant will default on its obligations and that margin posted by one customer will be used to cover a loss caused by a different customer.
There are rules that generally prohibit the use of one customer’s funds to meet the obligations of another customer, and that limit the ability to use customer margin posted by non-defaulting customers to satisfy losses caused by defaulting customers, by requiring the futures commission merchant to use its own funds to meet a defaulting customer’s obligations. While a customer’s loss would likely need to be substantial before other customers would be exposed to fellow customer risk, these rules nevertheless permit the commingling of margin and do not limit the mutualization of customer losses from investment losses, custodial failures, fraud, or other causes. If the loss is so great that, notwithstanding the application of the futures commission merchant’s own funds, there is a shortfall in the amount of customer funds required to be held in segregation, the futures commission merchant could default and be placed into bankruptcy. In these circumstances, the Bankruptcy Code provides that non-defaulting customers will share pro-rata in any shortfall. A shortfall in customer segregated funds may also make the transfer of the accounts of non-defaulting customers to another futures commission merchant more difficult.
· Liquidity The funds may elect to close some or all of their futures positions at any time prior to their expiration. The funds would do so to reduce exposure represented by long futures positions or short futures positions. The funds may close their position by taking opposite positions, which would operate to terminate the funds’ position in the futures contracts. Final determinations of mark-to-market payments would then be made, additional cash would be required to be paid by or released to the funds, and the funds would realize a loss or a gain.
Futures contracts may be closed out only on the exchange or board of trade where the contracts were initially traded. Although the funds intend to purchase or sell futures contracts only on exchanges or boards of trade where there appears to be an active market, there is no assurance that a liquid market on an exchange or board of trade will exist for any particular contract at any particular time. In such event, it might not be possible to close a futures contract, and in the event of adverse price movements, the funds would continue to be required to make daily mark-to-market and variation margin payments. However, in the event futures contracts have been used to hedge the underlying instruments, the funds would continue to hold the underlying instruments subject to the hedge until the futures contracts could be terminated. In such circumstances, an increase in the price of underlying instruments, if any, might partially or completely offset losses on the futures contract. However, as described next, there is no guarantee that the price of the underlying instruments will, in fact, correlate with the price movements in the futures contract and thus provide an offset to losses on a futures contract.
· Hedging Risk A decision whether, when, and how to hedge involves skill and judgment, and even a well-conceived hedge may be unsuccessful to some degree because of unexpected market or economic events. There are several risks in connection with the use by the funds of futures contracts as a hedging device. One risk arises because of the imperfect correlation between movements in the prices of the futures contracts and movements in the prices of the underlying instruments which are the subject of the hedge. T. Rowe Price will, however, attempt to reduce this risk by entering into futures contracts whose movements, in its judgment, will have a significant correlation with movements in the prices of the funds’ underlying instruments sought to be hedged.
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Successful use of futures contracts by the funds for hedging purposes is also subject to T. Rowe Price’s ability to correctly predict movements in the direction of the market. It is possible that, when the funds have sold futures to hedge their portfolios against a decline in the market, the index, indices, or instruments’ underlying futures might advance, and the value of the underlying instruments held in the funds’ portfolios might decline. If this were to occur, the funds would lose money on the futures and also would experience a decline in value in their underlying instruments. However, while this might occur to a certain degree, T. Rowe Price believes that over time the value of the funds’ portfolios will tend to move in the same direction as the market indices used to hedge the portfolio. It is also possible that, if the funds were to hedge against the possibility of a decline in the market (adversely affecting the underlying instruments held in their portfolios) and prices instead increased, the funds would lose part or all of the benefit of increased value of those underlying instruments that it had hedged because it would have offsetting losses in their futures positions. In addition, in such situations, if the funds have insufficient cash, it might have to sell underlying instruments to meet daily mark-to-market and variation margin requirements. Such sales of underlying instruments might be, but would not necessarily be, at increased prices (which would reflect the rising market). The funds might have to sell underlying instruments at a time when it would be disadvantageous to do so.
In addition to the possibility that there might be an imperfect correlation, or no correlation at all, between price movements in the futures contracts and the portion of the portfolio being hedged, the price movements of futures contracts might not correlate perfectly with price movements in the underlying instruments due to certain market distortions. First, all participants in the futures market are subject to margin deposit and maintenance requirements. Rather than meeting additional margin deposit requirements, investors might close futures contracts through offsetting transactions, which could distort the normal relationship between the underlying instruments and futures markets. Second, the margin requirements in the futures market are less onerous than margin requirements in the securities markets and, as a result, the futures market might attract more speculators than the securities markets. Increased participation by speculators in the futures market might also cause temporary price distortions. Due to the possibility of price distortion in the futures market and also because of imperfect correlation between price movements in the underlying instruments and movements in the prices of futures contracts, even a correct forecast of general market trends by T. Rowe Price might not result in a successful hedging transaction over a very short time period.
Options on Futures Contracts
Options (another type of potentially high-risk derivative) on futures are similar to options on underlying instruments, except that options on futures give the purchaser the right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in a futures contract (a long position if the option is a call and a short position if the option is a put), rather than to purchase or sell the futures contract at a specified exercise price at any time during the period of the option. Upon exercise of the option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by the delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer’s futures margin account, which represents the amount by which the market price of the futures contract, at exercise, exceeds (in the case of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option on the futures contract. Purchasers of options who fail to exercise their options prior to the exercise date suffer a loss of the premium paid. Options on futures contracts are valued daily at the last sale price on its primary exchange at the time at which the net asset value per share of the funds are computed (close of the NYSE, normally at 4 p.m. ET), or, in the absence of such sale, the mean of closing bid and ask prices.
Writing a put option on a futures contract serves as a partial hedge against an increase in the value of securities the funds intend to acquire. If the futures price at expiration of the option is above the exercise price, the funds will retain the full amount of the option premium, which provides a partial hedge against any increase that may have occurred in the price of the debt securities the funds intend to acquire. If the futures price when the option is exercised is below the exercise price, however, the funds will incur a loss, which may be wholly or partially offset by the decrease in the price of the securities the funds intend to acquire.
Funds investing in municipal securities may trade in municipal bond index option futures or similar options on futures developed in the future. In addition, the funds may trade in options on futures contracts on U.S. government securities and any U.S. government securities futures index contract which might be developed.
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From time to time, a single order to purchase or sell futures contracts (or options thereon) may be made on behalf of a fund and other T. Rowe Price funds. Such aggregated orders would be allocated among the fund and the other T. Rowe Price funds in a fair and nondiscriminatory manner.
Call and put options may be purchased or written on financial indices as an alternative to options on futures.
Special Risks of Transactions in Options on Futures Contracts
The risks described under “Special Risks of Transactions in Futures Contracts” are substantially the same as the risks of using options on futures. If the funds were to write an option on a futures contract, it would be required to deposit initial margin and maintain mark-to-market payments in the same manner as a regular futures contract. In addition, where the funds seek to close out an option position by writing or buying an offsetting option covering the same index, underlying instrument, or contract and having the same exercise price and expiration date, their ability to establish and close out positions on such options will be subject to the maintenance of a liquid secondary market. Reasons for the absence of a liquid secondary market on an exchange include the following: (1) there may be insufficient trading interest in certain options; (2) restrictions may be imposed by an exchange on opening transactions, closing transactions, or both; (3) trading halts, suspensions, or other restrictions may be imposed with respect to particular classes or series of options, or underlying instruments; (4) unusual or unforeseen circumstances may interrupt normal operations on an exchange; (5) the facilities of an exchange or a clearing corporation may not at all times be adequate to handle current trading volume; or (6) one or more exchanges could, for economic or other reasons, decide or be compelled at some future date to discontinue the trading of options (or a particular class or series of options), in which event the secondary market on that exchange (or in the class or series of options) would cease to exist, although outstanding options on the exchange that had been issued by a clearing corporation as a result of trades on that exchange would continue to be exercisable in accordance with their terms. There is no assurance that higher-than-anticipated trading activity or other unforeseen events might not, at times, render certain of the facilities of any of the clearing corporations inadequate, and thereby result in the institution by an exchange of special procedures, which may interfere with the timely execution of customers’ orders.
In the event no such market exists for a particular contract in which the funds maintain a position, in the case of a written option, the funds would have to wait to sell the underlying securities or futures positions until the option expires or is exercised. The funds would be required to maintain margin deposits on payments until the contract is closed. Options on futures are treated for accounting purposes in the same way as the analogous option on securities are treated.
In addition, the correlation between movements in the price of options on futures contracts and movements in the price of the securities hedged can only be approximate. This risk is significantly increased when an option on a U.S. government securities future or an option on some type of index future is used as a proxy for hedging a portfolio consisting of other types of securities. Another risk is that if the movements in the price of options on futures contracts and the value of the call increase by more than the increase in the value of the securities held as cover, the funds may realize a loss on the call, which is not completely offset by the appreciation in the price of the securities held as cover and the premium received for writing the call.
The successful use of options on futures contracts requires special expertise and techniques different from those involved in portfolio securities transactions. A decision whether, when, and how to hedge involves skill and judgment, and even a well-conceived hedge may be unsuccessful to some degree because of unexpected market behavior or interest rate trends. During periods when municipal securities market prices are appreciating, the funds may experience poorer overall performance than if it had not entered into any options on futures contracts.
General Considerations Transactions by the funds in options on futures will be subject to limitations established by each of the exchanges, boards of trade, or other trading facilities governing the maximum number of options in each class which may be written or purchased by a single investor or group of investors acting in concert, regardless of whether the options are written on the same or different exchanges, boards of trade, or other trading facilities or are held or written in one or more accounts or through one or more brokers. Thus, the number of contracts which the funds may write or purchase may be affected by contracts
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written or purchased by other investment advisory clients of T. Rowe Price. An exchange, boards of trade, or other trading facility may order the liquidations of positions found to be in excess of these limits, and it may impose certain other sanctions.
Additional Futures and Options Contracts
Although the funds have no current intention of engaging in futures or options transactions other than those described above, it reserves the right to do so. Such futures and options trading might involve risks which differ from those involved in the futures and options described above.
Foreign Futures and Options
Participation in foreign futures and foreign options transactions involves the execution and clearing of trades on, or subject to the rules of, a foreign board of trade. Neither the National Futures Association nor any domestic exchange regulates activities of any foreign boards of trade, including the execution, delivery, and clearing of transactions, or has the power to compel enforcement of the rules of a foreign board of trade or any applicable foreign law. This is true even if the exchange is formally linked to a domestic market so that a position taken on the market may be liquidated by a transaction on another market. Moreover, such laws or regulations will vary depending on the foreign country in which the foreign futures or foreign options transaction occurs. For these reasons, when the funds trade foreign futures or foreign options contracts, it may not be afforded certain of the protective measures provided by the Commodity Exchange Act, the CFTC’s regulations, and the rules of the National Futures Association and any domestic exchange, including the right to use reparations proceedings before the CFTC and arbitration proceedings provided by the National Futures Association or any domestic futures exchange. In particular, proceeds derived from foreign futures or foreign options transactions may not be provided the same protections as proceeds derived from transactions on U.S. futures exchanges. In addition, the price of any foreign futures or foreign options contract and, therefore, the potential profit and loss thereon may be affected by any variance in the foreign exchange rate between the time the funds’ orders are placed and the time they are liquidated, offset, or exercised.
Currency Derivatives
The funds may use currency derivatives for a variety of purposes, such as settling trades in a foreign currency, attempting to protect a fund’s holdings from unfavorable changes in currency exchange rates, and various currency hedging techniques (for example, gaining exposure to a currency expected to appreciate in value versus other currencies).
The funds may settle trades of non-U.S. dollar-denominated holdings on a spot (i.e., cash) basis at the prevailing rate in the foreign currency exchange market. A foreign exchange spot transaction, also known as FX spot, is an agreement between two parties to buy one currency against selling another currency at an agreed price for settlement on the spot date. The exchange rate at which the transaction is done is called the spot exchange rate. Unlike forward currency exchange contracts and currency futures, which involve trading a particular amount of a currency pair at a predetermined price at some point in the future, the underlying currencies in a spot FX are exchanged following the settlement date.
A forward currency exchange contract involves an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. These contracts are principally traded in the interbank market conducted directly between currency traders (usually large, commercial banks) and their customers. A forward contract generally has no deposit requirement, and no commissions are charged at any stage for trades. The funds may enter into forward contracts for a variety of purposes in connection with the management of the foreign securities portion of their portfolios. The funds’ use of such contracts would include, but not be limited to, the following:
First, when the funds enter into a contract for the purchase or sale of a security denominated in a foreign currency, they may desire to “lock in” the U.S. dollar price of the security. By entering into a forward contract for the purchase or sale, for a fixed amount of dollars, of the amount of currency involved in the underlying
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security transactions, the funds will be able to protect themselves against a possible loss resulting from an adverse change in the relationship between the U.S. dollar and the subject foreign currency during the period between the date the security is purchased or sold and the date on which payment is made or received.
Second, when T. Rowe Price believes that one currency may experience a substantial movement against another currency, including the U.S. dollar, it may enter into a forward contract to sell or buy the amount of the former foreign currency, approximating the value of some or all of the funds’ portfolio securities denominated in such foreign currency. Alternatively, where appropriate, the funds may hedge all or part of their foreign currency exposure through the use of a basket of currencies or a proxy currency where such currency or currencies act as an effective proxy for other currencies. In such a case, the funds may enter into a forward contract where the amount of the foreign currency to be sold exceeds the value of the securities denominated in such currency. The use of this basket hedging technique may be more efficient and economical than entering into separate forward contracts for each currency held in the funds. The precise matching of the forward contract amounts and the value of the securities involved will not generally be possible since the future value of such securities in foreign currencies will change as a consequence of market movements in the value of those securities between the date the forward contract is entered into and the date it matures. The projection of short-term currency market movement is extremely difficult, and the successful execution of a short-term hedging strategy is highly uncertain. Under normal circumstances, consideration of the prospect for relative currency values will be incorporated into the longer-term investment decisions made with regard to overall diversification strategies. However, T. Rowe Price believes that it is important to have the flexibility to enter into such forward contracts when it determines that the best interests of the funds will be served.
Third, the funds may use forward contracts when the funds wish to hedge out of the dollar into a foreign currency in order to create a synthetic bond or money market instrument–the security would be issued in U.S. dollars but the dollar component would be transformed into a foreign currency through a forward contract.
At the maturity of a forward contract, the funds may sell the portfolio security and make delivery of the foreign currency, or they may retain the security and either extend the maturity of the forward contract (by “rolling” that contract forward) or may initiate a new forward contract.
If the funds retain the portfolio security and engage in an offsetting transaction, the funds will incur a gain or a loss (as described below) to the extent that there has been movement in forward contract prices. If the funds engage in an offsetting transaction, they may subsequently enter into a new forward contract to sell the foreign currency. Should forward prices decline during the period between the funds’ entering into a forward contract for the sale of a foreign currency and the date they enter into an offsetting contract for the purchase of the foreign currency, the funds will realize a gain to the extent the price of the currency they have agreed to sell exceeds the price of the currency they have agreed to purchase. Should forward prices increase, the funds will suffer a loss to the extent the price of the currency they have agreed to purchase exceeds the price of the currency they have agreed to sell. A fund may net any offsetting positions when calculating its aggregate market exposure to a particular currency and in managing the portfolio within its limit on the use of foreign currency instruments. This may occur, for instance, where a fund has entered into two forward foreign currency exchange contracts with concurrent settlement dates, and one provides for delivery of currency A and receipt of currency B and the other contract provides for delivery of currency B and receipt of currency A.
The funds may also engage in non-deliverable forward transactions to manage currency risk, as well as to gain exposure to a currency, whether or not the fund owns securities denominated in that currency. A non-deliverable forward is a transaction that represents an agreement between a fund and a counterparty to buy or sell a specified amount of a particular currency at an agreed upon foreign exchange rate on a future date. Unlike other currency transactions, there is no physical delivery of the currency on the settlement of a non-deliverable forward transaction. Rather, the fund and the counterparty agree to net the settlement by making a payment in U.S. dollars or another fully convertible currency that represents any difference between the foreign exchange rate agreed upon at the inception of the non-deliverable forward agreement and the actual exchange rate on the agreed upon future date. When currency exchange rates do not move as anticipated, a fund could sustain losses on the non-deliverable forward transaction. This risk is heightened when the transactions involve currencies of emerging market countries.
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The funds may enter into forward contracts for any other purpose consistent with the funds’ investment objectives and programs. However, the funds will not enter into a forward contract, or maintain exposure to any such contract(s), if the amount of foreign currency required to be delivered thereunder would exceed the funds’ holdings of liquid, high-grade debt securities, currency available for cover of the forward contract(s), or other suitable cover as permitted by the SEC. In determining the amount to be delivered under a contract, the funds may net offsetting positions.
If the value of the assets being used as cover declines or the amount of the fund’s commitment increases because of changes in currency rates, the fund may need to provide additional cash or securities to satisfy its commitment under the forward agreement. The fund is also subject to the risk that it may be delayed or prevented from obtaining payments owed to it under the forward transaction as a result of the insolvency or bankruptcy of the counterparty or the failure of the counterparty to comply with the terms of the contract. There is no assurance that a fund would succeed in pursuing any contractual remedies available under the agreement.
Although most currency derivatives will generally be considered liquid investments, the funds may consider derivatives that involve particular currencies to be illiquid. The funds’ dealing in forward foreign currency exchange contracts will generally be limited to the transactions described above. However, the funds reserve the right to enter into forward foreign currency contracts for different purposes and under different circumstances. Of course, the funds are not required to enter into forward contracts with regard to their foreign currency-denominated securities and will not do so unless deemed appropriate by T. Rowe Price. It also should be realized that this method of hedging against a decline in the value of a currency does not eliminate fluctuations in the underlying prices of the securities. It simply establishes a rate of exchange at a future date. Additionally, although such contracts tend to minimize the risk of loss due to a decline in the value of the hedged currency, at the same time, they tend to limit any potential gain which might result from an increase in the value of that currency.
Although the funds value their assets daily in terms of U.S. dollars, they do not intend to convert their holdings of foreign currencies into U.S. dollars on a daily basis. They will do so from time to time, and there are costs associated with currency conversion. Although foreign exchange dealers do not charge a fee for conversion, they do realize a profit based on the difference between the prices at which they are buying and selling various currencies. Thus, a dealer may offer to sell a foreign currency to the funds at one rate, while offering a lesser rate of exchange should the funds desire to resell that currency to the dealer.
Regulation of OTC Derivatives
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), enacted in July 2010, includes provisions that comprehensively regulates OTC derivatives for the first time (including many of the trades previously described, such as forward currency exchange contracts and swap agreements. Dodd-Frank authorizes the SEC and the CFTC to mandate that a substantial portion of OTC derivatives must be executed on exchanges or “swap execution facilities,” and be submitted for clearing to regulated clearinghouses. OTC derivatives submitted for clearing will be subject to minimum initial and variation margin requirements set by the relevant clearinghouse, as well as possible margin requirements mandated by the SEC or the CFTC. OTC derivatives clearing firms typically demand the unilateral ability to increase a customer’s collateral requirements for cleared OTC derivatives beyond any regulatory and clearinghouse minimums. The regulators also have broad discretion to impose margin requirements on non-cleared OTC derivatives and impose new requirements to the holding of customer collateral by OTC derivatives dealers. It is possible that new requirements will increase the amount of collateral the funds are required to provide and the costs associated with providing it.
With respect to cleared OTC derivatives, the funds will not face a clearinghouse directly but rather through a clearing firm that is registered with the CFTC or SEC to act as a clearing member. The funds may face the indirect risk of the failure of another customer of the funds’ clearing firm to meet its obligations to such clearing member. This scenario could be triggered by a customer’s failure to meet its obligations to the clearing member or arise due to a default by the clearing member on its obligations to the clearinghouse.
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The SEC and CFTC will also require most standardized swaps that are currently executed on a bilateral basis in the OTC markets to be executed through a derivatives exchange or a regulated entity created by Dodd-Frank called a swap execution facility. Certain CFTC-regulated derivatives are already subject to these rules and the CFTC expects to subject additional OTC derivatives to such trade execution rules in the future, which could hinder the funds in executing certain investment strategies. The SEC has not indicated when they will impose clearing or trade execution requirements on the OTC derivatives that they regulate. If a fund decides to become a direct member of one or more of these exchanges or execution facilities, such fund would be subject to all of the rules of the exchange or execution facility, which would bring additional risks and liabilities, and potential additional regulatory requirements.
OTC derivative dealers are now required to register with the CFTC and will ultimately be required to register with the SEC. Dealers are subject to new minimum capital and margin requirements, business conduct standards, disclosure requirements, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, transparency requirements, position limits, limitations on conflicts of interest, and other regulatory burdens. These requirements further increase the overall costs for OTC derivative dealers, which costs may be passed along to the funds as market changes continue to be implemented. The overall impact of Dodd-Frank on each fund remains highly uncertain and it is unclear how the OTC derivatives markets will adapt to this new regulatory regime, along with additional, sometimes overlapping, regulatory requirements imposed by non-U.S. regulators.
Federal Tax Treatment of Options, Futures Contracts, and Forward Foreign Exchange Contracts
The funds may enter into certain options, futures, forward foreign exchange contracts, and swaps, including options and futures on currencies. Entering into such transactions can affect the timing and character of the income and gains realized by the funds and the timing and character of fund distributions.
Such contracts, if they qualify as Section 1256 contracts, will be considered to have been closed at the end of the funds’ taxable years and any gains or losses will be recognized for tax purposes at that time. Such gains or losses (as well as gains or losses from the normal closing or settlement of such transactions) will be characterized as 60% long-term capital gain (taxable at a maximum rate of 20%) or loss and 40% short-term capital gain or loss regardless of the holding period of the instrument (ordinary income or loss for foreign exchange contracts). The funds will be required to distribute net gains on such transactions to shareholders even though it may not have closed the transaction and received cash to pay such distributions, although swaps are now generally excluded from the definition of a Section 1256 contract.
Certain options, futures, forward foreign exchange contracts, and swaps, which offset another security in the fund, including options, futures, and forward exchange contracts on currencies, which offset a foreign dollar-denominated bond or currency position, may be considered straddles for tax purposes. Generally, a loss on any position in a straddle will be subject to deferral to the extent of any unrealized gain in an offsetting position. For securities that were held for one year or less at inception of the straddle, the holding period may be deemed not to begin until the straddle is terminated. If securities comprising a straddle have been held for more than one year at inception of the straddle, losses on offsetting positions may be treated as entirely long-term capital losses even if the offsetting positions have been held for less than one year. However, a fund may choose to comply with certain identification requirements for offsetting positions that are components of a straddle. Losses with respect to identified positions are not deferred, rather the basis of the identified position that offset the loss position is increased.
In order for the funds to continue to qualify for federal income tax treatment as regulated investment companies, at least 90% of their gross income for a taxable year must be derived from qualifying income, e.g., generally dividends, interest, income derived from loans of securities, and gains from the sale of securities or currencies. Tax regulations could be issued limiting the extent to which the net gain realized from options, futures, or forward foreign exchange contracts on currencies is qualifying income for purposes of the 90% requirement.
Entering into certain options, futures, forward foreign exchange contracts, or swaps may result in a “constructive sale” of offsetting stocks or debt securities of the funds. In such a case, the funds will be required to realize gain, but not loss, on the deemed sale of such positions as if the position were sold on that date.
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For certain options, futures, forward foreign exchange contracts, or swaps, the IRS has not issued comprehensive rules relating to the timing and character of income and gains realized on such contracts. It is possible that new tax legislations and new IRS regulations could result in changes to the amounts recorded by the funds, potentially resulting in tax consequences to the funds.
Options
Options are a type of potentially high-risk derivative. The funds may buy or sell listed options, also known as exchange-traded options, as well as buy or sell dealer options, also known as OTC options or over-the-counter options.
Writing Call Options
The funds may write (sell) American or European style “covered” call options and purchase options to close out options previously written. In writing covered call options, the funds expect to generate additional premium income, which should serve to enhance the funds’ total return and reduce the effect of any price decline of the security, index, or currency involved in the option. Call options will generally be written on securities, indexes, or currencies which, in T. Rowe Price’s opinion, are not expected to have any major price increases or moves in the near future but which, over the long term, are deemed to be attractive investments for the funds.
A call option gives the holder (buyer) the right to purchase, and the writer (seller) has the obligation to sell, a security or currency at a specified price (the exercise price) at expiration of the option (European style) or at any time until a certain date (the expiration date) (American style). Index options are option contracts in which the underlying value is based on the level of a particular securities index. So long as the obligation of the writer of a call option continues, he may be assigned an exercise notice by the broker-dealer through whom such option was sold, requiring him to deliver the underlying security or currency against payment of the exercise price. This obligation terminates upon the expiration of the call option or such earlier time at which the writer effects a closing purchase transaction by repurchasing an option identical to that previously sold. To secure his obligation to deliver the underlying security or currency in the case of a call option, a writer is required to deposit in escrow the underlying security or currency or other assets in accordance with the rules of a clearing corporation.
The funds generally will write only covered call options. This means that the funds will either own the security or currency subject to the option or an option to purchase the same underlying security or currency having an exercise price equal to or less than the exercise price of the “covered” option. From time to time, the funds will write a call option that is not covered as indicated above (for example, an option on an index) but where the funds will establish and maintain, with its custodian for the term of the option, an account consisting of cash, U.S. government securities, other liquid high-grade debt obligations, or other suitable cover as permitted by the SEC, having a value equal to the fluctuating market value of the optioned securities or currencies or index level. While such an option would be “covered” with sufficient collateral to satisfy SEC prohibitions on issuing senior securities, this type of strategy would expose the funds to the risks of writing uncovered options, which could result in unlimited losses if a fund writes an uncovered call option.
Portfolio securities or currencies on which call options may be written will be purchased solely on the basis of investment considerations consistent with the funds’ investment objectives. The writing of covered call options is a conservative investment technique believed to involve relatively little risk (in contrast to the writing of naked or uncovered options, which the funds generally will not do) but capable of enhancing the funds’ total return. When writing a covered call option, the funds, in return for the premium, give up the opportunity for profit from a price increase in the underlying security or currency above the exercise price, but conversely retain the risk of loss should the price of the security or currency decline. Unlike one that owns securities or currencies not subject to an option, the funds have no control over when they may be required to sell the underlying securities or currencies, since they may be assigned an exercise notice at any time prior to the expiration of its obligation as a writer. If a call option the funds have written expires, the funds will realize a gain in the amount of the premium; however, such gain may be offset by a decline in the market value of the underlying security or currency during the option period. If the call option is exercised, the funds will realize a
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gain or loss from the sale of the underlying security or currency. The funds do not consider a security or currency covered by a call to be “pledged” as that term is used in the funds’ policy, which limits the pledging or mortgaging of assets. If the fund writes an uncovered option on a security as described above, it will bear the risk of having to purchase the security subject to the option at a price higher than the exercise price of the option. As the price of a security could appreciate substantially, the funds’ loss could be significant.
The premium received is the market value of an option. The premium the funds will receive from writing a call option will reflect, among other things, the current market price of the underlying security or currency, the relationship of the exercise price to such market price, the historical price volatility of the underlying security or currency, and the length of the option period. Once the decision to write a call option has been made, T. Rowe Price, in determining whether a particular call option should be written on a particular security or currency, will consider the reasonableness of the anticipated premium and the likelihood that a liquid secondary market will exist for those options. The premium received by the funds for writing covered call options will be recorded as a liability of the funds. This liability will be adjusted daily to the option’s current market value, which will be the latest sale price on its primary exchange at the time at which the net asset values per share of the funds are computed (close of the NYSE, normally 4 p.m. ET) or, in the absence of such sale, the mean of closing bid and ask prices. The option will be terminated upon expiration of the option, the purchase of an identical option in a closing transaction, or delivery of the underlying security or currency upon the exercise of the option.
As the seller of an index call option, the fund receives a premium from the purchaser. The purchaser of an index call option has the right to any appreciation in the value of the index over a fixed price (the exercise price) by the expiration date of the option. If the purchaser does not exercise the option, the fund retains the premium. If the purchaser exercises the option, the fund pays the purchaser the difference between the value of the index and the exercise price of the option. The premium, the exercise price, and the value of the index determine the gain or loss realized by the fund as the seller of the index call option. The fund can also repurchase the call option prior to the expiration date, thereby ending its obligation. In this case, the difference between the cost of repurchasing the option and the premium received will determine the gain or loss realized by the fund.
Closing transactions will be effected in order to realize a profit on an outstanding call option, to prevent an underlying security or currency from being called, or to permit the sale of the underlying security or currency. Furthermore, effecting a closing transaction will permit the funds to write another call option on the underlying security or currency with either a different exercise price, expiration date, or both. If the funds desire to sell a particular security or currency from their portfolios on which they have written a call option or purchased a put option, they will seek to effect a closing transaction prior to, or concurrently with, the sale of the security or currency. There is, of course, no assurance that the funds will be able to effect such closing transactions at favorable prices. If the funds cannot enter into such a transaction, they may be required to hold a security or currency that they might otherwise have sold. When the funds write a covered call option, they run the risk of not being able to participate in the appreciation of the underlying securities or currencies above the exercise price, as well as the risk of being required to hold on to securities or currencies that are depreciating in value. This could result in higher transaction costs. The funds will pay transaction costs in connection with the writing of options to close out previously written options. Such transaction costs are normally higher than those applicable to purchases and sales of portfolio securities.
Call options written by the funds will normally have expiration dates of less than nine months from the date written. The exercise price of the options may be below, equal to, or above the current market values of the underlying securities or currencies at the time the options are written. From time to time, the funds may purchase an underlying security or currency for delivery in accordance with an exercise notice of a call option assigned to it, rather than delivering such security or currency from their portfolios. In such cases, additional costs may be incurred.
The funds will realize a profit or loss from a closing purchase transaction if the cost of the transaction is less or more than the premium received from the writing of the option. Because increases in the market price of a call option will generally reflect increases in the market price of the underlying security or currency, any loss
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resulting from the repurchase of a call option is likely to be offset in whole or in part by appreciation of the underlying security or currency owned by the funds.
The funds will not write a covered call option if, as a result, the aggregate market value of all portfolio securities or currencies covering written call or put options exceeds 25% of the market value of the funds’ total assets. In calculating the 25% limit, the funds will offset the value of securities underlying purchased calls and puts on identical securities or currencies with identical maturity dates.
Writing Put Options
The funds may write American or European style covered put options and purchase options to close out options previously written by the funds. A put option gives the purchaser of the option the right to sell, and the writer (seller) has the obligation to buy, the underlying security, currency, or index option at the exercise price during the option period (American style) or at the expiration of the option (European style). So long as the obligation of the writer continues, he may be assigned an exercise notice by the broker-dealer through whom such option was sold, requiring him to make payment to the exercise price against delivery of the underlying security or currency. The operation of put options in other respects, including their related risks and rewards, is substantially identical to that of call options.
If the funds write put options, they will do so only on a covered basis. This means that the funds would maintain, in a segregated account, cash, U.S. government securities, other liquid high-grade debt obligations, or other suitable cover as determined by the SEC, in an amount not less than the exercise price. Alternatively, the funds will own an option to sell the underlying security or currency subject to the option having an exercise price equal to or greater than the exercise price of the “covered” option at all times while the put option is outstanding. (The rules of a clearing corporation currently require that such assets be deposited in escrow to secure payment of the exercise price.)
The funds would generally write covered put options in circumstances where T. Rowe Price wishes to purchase the underlying security or currency for the funds’ portfolios at a price lower than the current market price of the security or currency. In such event the funds would write a put option at an exercise price which, reduced by the premium received on the option, reflects the lower price it is willing to pay. Since the funds would also receive interest on debt securities or currencies maintained to cover the exercise price of the option, this technique could be used to enhance current return during periods of market uncertainty. The risk in such a transaction would be that the market price of the underlying security or currency would decline below the exercise price, less the premiums received. Such a decline could be substantial and result in a significant loss to the funds. In addition, the funds, because they do not own the specific securities or currencies which they may be required to purchase in exercise of the put, cannot benefit from appreciation, if any, with respect to such specific securities or currencies.
The funds will not write a covered put option if, as a result, the aggregate market value of all portfolio securities or currencies covering put or call options exceeds 25% of the market value of the funds’ total assets. In calculating the 25% limit, the funds will offset the value of securities underlying purchased puts and calls on identical securities or currencies with identical maturity dates.
The premium received by the funds for writing covered put options will be recorded as a liability of the funds. This liability will be adjusted daily to the option’s current market value, which will be the latest sale price on its primary exchange at the time at which the net asset value per share of the funds is computed (close of the NYSE, normally 4 p.m. ET), or, in the absence of such sale, the mean of the closing bid and ask prices.
Purchasing Put Options
The funds may purchase American or European style put options. As the holder of a put option, the funds have the right to sell the underlying security or currency at the exercise price at any time during the option period (American style) or at the expiration of the option (European style). The funds may enter into closing sale transactions with respect to such options, exercise them, or permit them to expire. The funds may purchase put options for defensive purposes in order to protect against an anticipated decline in the value of their securities or currencies.
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The funds may purchase a put option on an underlying security or currency (a “protective put”) owned by the funds as a defensive technique in order to protect against an anticipated decline in the value of the security or currency. Such hedge protection is provided only during the life of the put option when the funds, as holder of the put option, are able to sell the underlying security or currency at the put exercise price regardless of any decline in the underlying security’s market price or currency’s exchange value. For example, a put option may be purchased in order to protect unrealized appreciation of a security or currency where T. Rowe Price deems it desirable to continue to hold the security or currency because of tax considerations. The premium paid for the put option and any transaction costs would reduce any capital gain otherwise available for distribution when the security or currency is eventually sold.
The funds may also purchase put options at a time when they do not own the underlying security or currency. By purchasing put options on a security or currency they do not own, the funds seek to benefit from a decline in the market price of the underlying security or currency. If the put option is not sold when it has remaining value and if the market price of the underlying security or currency remains equal to or greater than the exercise price during the life of the put option, the funds will lose their entire investment in the put option. In order for the purchase of a put option to be profitable, the market price of the underlying security or currency must decline sufficiently below the exercise price to cover the premium and transaction costs, unless the put option is sold in a closing sale transaction.
The funds will not commit more than 5% of total assets to premiums when purchasing put options. The premium paid by the funds when purchasing a put option will be recorded as an asset of the funds in the portfolio of investments. This asset will be adjusted daily to the option’s current market value, which will be the latest sale price on its primary exchange at the time at which the net asset values per share of the funds are computed (close of the NYSE, normally 4 p.m. ET) or, in the absence of such sale, the mean of closing bid and ask prices. This asset will be terminated upon expiration of the option, the selling (writing) of an identical option in a closing transaction, or the delivery of the underlying security or currency upon the exercise of the option.
Purchasing Call Options
The funds may purchase American or European style call options. As the holder of a call option, the funds have the right to purchase the underlying security or currency at the exercise price at any time during the option period (American style) or at the expiration of the option (European style). The funds may enter into closing sale transactions with respect to such options, exercise them, or permit them to expire. The funds may purchase call options for the purpose of increasing their current return or avoiding tax consequences which could reduce their current return. The funds may also purchase call options in order to acquire the underlying securities or currencies. Examples of such uses of call options are provided next.
Call options may be purchased by the funds for the purpose of acquiring the underlying securities or currencies for their portfolios. Utilized in this fashion, the purchase of call options enables the funds to acquire the securities or currencies at the exercise price of the call option plus the premium paid. At times the net cost of acquiring securities or currencies in this manner may be less than the cost of acquiring the securities or currencies directly. This technique may also be useful to the funds in purchasing a large block of securities or currencies that would be more difficult to acquire by direct market purchases. So long as the funds hold such a call option, rather than the underlying security or currency itself, the funds are partially protected from any unexpected decline in the market price of the underlying security or currency and in such event could allow the call option to expire, incurring a loss only to the extent of the premium paid for the option.
The funds may also purchase call options on underlying securities or currencies they own in order to protect unrealized gains on call options previously written by them. A call option would be purchased for this purpose where tax considerations make it inadvisable to realize such gains through a closing purchase transaction. Call options may also be purchased at times to avoid realizing losses.
The funds will not commit more than 5% of total assets to premiums when purchasing call and put options. The premium paid by the funds when purchasing a call option will be recorded as an asset of the funds in the
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portfolio of investments. This asset will be adjusted daily to the option’s current market value, which will be the latest sale price on its primary exchange at the time at which the net asset values per share of the funds are computed (close of the NYSE, normally 4 p.m. ET), or, in the absence of such sale, the mean of closing bid and ask prices.
Dealer (Over-the-Counter) Options
The funds may engage in transactions involving dealer options. Certain risks, including credit risk and counterparty risk, are specific to dealer options. While the funds would look to a clearing corporation to exercise exchange-traded options, if the funds were to purchase a dealer option, they would rely primarily on the dealer from whom they purchased the option to perform if the option were exercised. Failure by the dealer to do so could result in the loss of the premium paid by the funds as well as loss of the expected benefit of the transaction.
Exchange-traded options generally have a continuous liquid market, while dealer options are less liquid or could have no liquidity. Consequently, the funds will generally be able to realize the value of a dealer option they have purchased only by exercising it or reselling it to the dealer who issued it. Under certain conditions, the funds may also be able to resell or assign a purchased dealer option to another dealer on substantially the same terms. Similarly, when the funds write a dealer option, unless they can assign the option to another dealer, they generally will be able to close out the option prior to its expiration only by entering into a closing purchase transaction with the dealer to which the funds originally wrote the option. While the funds will seek to enter into dealer options only with dealers who will agree to and are expected to be capable of entering into closing transactions with the funds, there can be no assurance that the dealers will consent to the closing transaction nor is it assured that the funds will realize a favorable price. Until the funds, as a covered dealer call option writer, are able to effect a closing purchase transaction, they will not be able to liquidate securities (or other assets) or currencies used as cover until the option expires or is exercised. In the event of insolvency of the counter-party, the funds may be unable to liquidate a dealer option. With respect to options written by the funds, the inability to enter into a closing transaction may result in material losses to the funds.
The funds may consider OTC options to be liquid holdings; however, any OTC options that cannot be unwound, reassigned, or sold are generally considered to be illiquid. The funds may treat the cover used for written OTC options as liquid if the dealer agrees that the funds may repurchase the OTC option they have written for a maximum price to be calculated by a predetermined formula. In such cases, the OTC option would be considered illiquid only to the extent the maximum repurchase price under the formula exceeds the intrinsic value of the option.
In addition, for certain types of OTC options that have substantially similar terms to exchange-traded options, the funds may treat such options, and the underlying cover used for written options, as liquid based on factors such as: (1) the frequency and availability of dealer quotes and the comparability to prices available on an options exchange; (2) the number of dealers willing to purchase or accept assignments of such OTC options; and (3) the nature of the OTC options, their settlement terms and their termination provisions (i.e., the time needed to close out or terminate an OTC position, method of soliciting offers, and mechanics of transfer).
Warrants
Warrants can be highly volatile and have no voting rights, pay no dividends, and have no rights with respect to the assets of the corporation issuing them. Warrants basically are options to purchase securities at a specific price valid for a specific period of time. They do not represent ownership of the securities, but only the right to buy them. Warrants differ from call options in that warrants are issued by the issuer of the security which may be purchased on their exercise, whereas call options may be written or issued by anyone. The prices of warrants do not necessarily move parallel to the prices of the underlying securities.
There are, of course, other types of securities that are or may become available that are similar to the foregoing, and the funds may invest in these securities.
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Hybrid Instruments
A hybrid instrument is a debt security, preferred stock, depository share, trust certificate, certificate of deposit, or other evidence of indebtedness on which a portion of or all interest payments, and/or the principal or stated amount payable at maturity, redemption, or retirement is determined by reference to prices, changes in prices, or differences between prices of securities, currencies, intangibles, goods, articles, or commodities (collectively, “underlying assets”) or by another objective index, economic factor, or other measure, such as interest rates, currency exchange rates, commodity indices, and securities indices (collectively, “benchmarks”). Thus, hybrid instruments may take a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, debt instruments with interest or principal payments or redemption terms determined by reference to the value of a currency or commodity or securities index at a future point in time, preferred stock with dividend rates determined by reference to the value of a currency, or convertible securities with the conversion terms related to a particular commodity.
Hybrid instruments can be an efficient means of creating exposure to a particular market, or segment of a market, with the objective of enhancing total return. For example, the funds may wish to take advantage of expected declines in interest rates in several European countries, but avoid the transaction costs associated with buying and currency-hedging the foreign bond positions. One solution would be to purchase a U.S. dollar-denominated hybrid instrument whose redemption price is linked to the average three-year interest rate in a designated group of countries. The redemption price formula would provide for payoffs of greater than par if the average interest rate was lower than a specified level, and payoffs of less than par if rates were above the specified level. Furthermore, the funds could limit the downside risk of the security by establishing a minimum redemption price so that the principal paid at maturity could not be below a predetermined minimum level if interest rates were to rise significantly. The purpose of this arrangement, known as a structured security with an embedded put option, would be to give the funds the desired European bond exposure while avoiding currency risk, limiting downside market risk, and lowering transaction costs. Of course, there is no guarantee that the strategy will be successful, and the funds could lose money if, for example, interest rates do not move as anticipated or credit problems develop with the issuer of the hybrid instruments.
The risks of investing in hybrid instruments reflect a combination of the risks of investing in securities, options, futures, and currencies. Thus, an investment in a hybrid instrument may entail significant risks that are not associated with a similar investment in a traditional debt instrument that has a fixed principal amount, is denominated in U.S. dollars, or bears interest either at a fixed rate or a floating rate determined by reference to a common, nationally published benchmark. The risks of a particular hybrid instrument will, of course, depend upon the terms of the instrument, but may include, without limitation, the possibility of significant changes in the benchmarks or the prices of underlying assets to which the instrument is linked. Such risks generally depend upon factors which are unrelated to the operations or credit quality of the issuer of the hybrid instrument and which may not be readily foreseen by the purchaser, such as economic and political events, the supply of and demand for the underlying assets, and interest rate movements. In addition, the various benchmarks and prices for underlying assets can be highly volatile. Reference is also made to the discussion of futures, options, and forward contracts herein for a discussion of the risks associated with such investments.
Hybrid instruments are potentially more volatile and can carry greater market risks than traditional debt instruments. Depending on the structure of the particular hybrid instrument, changes in a benchmark may be magnified by the terms of the hybrid instrument and have an even more dramatic and substantial effect upon the value of the hybrid instrument. Also, the prices of the hybrid instrument and the benchmark or underlying asset may not move in the same direction or at the same time.
Hybrid instruments may bear interest or pay preferred dividends at below market (or even relatively nominal) rates. Alternatively, hybrid instruments may bear interest at above market rates but bear an increased risk of principal loss (or gain). The latter scenario may result if “leverage” is used to structure the hybrid instrument. Leverage risk occurs when the hybrid instrument is structured so that a given change in a benchmark or underlying asset is multiplied to produce a greater value change in the hybrid instrument, thereby magnifying the risk of loss as well as the potential for gain.
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Hybrid instruments may also carry liquidity risk since the instruments are often “customized” to meet the portfolio needs of a particular investor, and therefore, the number of investors that are willing and able to buy such instruments in the secondary market may be smaller than that for more traditional debt securities. In addition, because the purchase and sale of hybrid instruments could take place in an OTC market without the guarantee of a central clearing organization or in a transaction between the fund and the issuer of the hybrid instrument, the creditworthiness of the counterparty or issuer of the hybrid instrument would be an additional risk factor which the funds would have to consider and monitor. Hybrid instruments also may not be subject to regulation by the CFTC, which generally regulates the trading of commodity futures by U.S. persons, the SEC, which regulates the offer and sale of securities by and to U.S. persons, or any other governmental regulatory authority.
Swap Agreements
A number of the funds may enter into interest rate, index, total return, credit, and, to the extent they may invest in foreign currency-denominated securities, currency rate swap agreements. The funds may also enter into options on swap agreements (“swaptions”) on the types of swaps listed above as well as swap forwards. The funds may enter into swap agreements on either a bilateral basis or cleared basis, although many standardized swaps currently transacted bilaterally will eventually be cleared through regulated clearinghouses. In bilateral swap transactions, all aspects of an agreed trade are dealt with directly between the transacting parties and set forth in the agreements between the parties. Each party takes on the risk, known as counterparty risk, that the other party may default at some time during the life of the contract. Collateral for bilateral agreements is exchanged but subject to negotiations between the counterparties. With centralized clearing, the original buyer and seller of a contract are no longer counterparties to each other. The central clearinghouse becomes the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer. These trades require daily settlements of margin to act as collateral to mitigate counterparty risk.
Swap agreements are typically two-party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for a specified period of time. In a standard bilateral swap transaction, two parties agree on the terms to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on a particular predetermined investment, index, or currency. 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, in a particular foreign currency, or in a basket of securities representing a particular index. A swaption is a contract that gives a counterparty the right (but not the obligation) 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. The funds may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions. A swap forward is an agreement to enter into a swap agreement at some point in the future, usually in 3 to 6 months.
One example of the use of swaps by the funds is to manage the interest rate sensitivity of the funds. The funds might receive or pay a fixed-rate interest rate of a particular maturity and pay or receive a floating rate in order to increase or decrease the duration of the funds. Or, the funds may buy or sell swaptions to effect the same result. The funds may also replicate a security by selling it, placing the proceeds in cash deposits, and receiving a fixed rate in the swap market.
Another example is the use of credit default swaps to buy or sell credit protection. A credit default swap is a contract that enables an investor to buy or sell protection against a predetermined issuer credit event. The seller of a credit default swap may enhance income by guaranteeing the creditworthiness of the debt issuer and the buyer is provided with protection against credit risks of the issuer. Market supply and demand factors may cause distortions between the cash securities market and the default swap market.
Most swap agreements entered into by the funds would calculate the obligations of the parties to the agreement on a “net basis.” Consequently, the funds’ current obligations (or rights) under a swap agreement will generally 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”). The funds’ current obligations under a net swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owed to the funds)
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and any accrued but unpaid net amounts owed to a swap counterparty will be covered by assets determined to be liquid by T. Rowe Price.
The use of swap agreements by the funds entails certain risks. Interest rate and currency swaps could result in losses if interest rate or currency changes are not correctly anticipated by the funds. Total return swaps could result in losses if the reference index, security, or investments do not perform as anticipated by the funds. Credit default swaps could result in losses if the funds do not correctly evaluate the creditworthiness of the company on which the credit default swap is based.
The funds will generally incur a greater degree of risk when it writes a swaption than when it purchases a swaption. When the funds purchase a swaption it risks losing only the amount of the premium they have paid should they decide to let the option expire unexercised. However, when the funds write a swaption they will become obligated, upon exercise of the option, according to the terms of the underlying agreement.
Because swaps are two-party contracts and because they may have terms of greater than seven days, swap agreements may be considered to be illiquid. Moreover, the funds bear the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. The funds will enter into swap agreements only with counterparties that meet certain standards of creditworthiness. The swaps market is largely unregulated. It is possible that developments in the swaps market, including potential government regulation, could adversely affect the funds’ ability to terminate existing swap agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such agreements.
There are other types of securities that are or may become available that are similar to the foregoing, and the funds may invest in these securities.
Lending of Portfolio Securities
Securities loans may be made by the funds to broker-dealers, institutional investors, or other persons pursuant to agreements requiring that the loans be continuously secured by collateral at least equal at all times to the value of the securities lent, marked to market on a daily basis. The collateral received will consist of cash, U.S. government securities, letters of credit, or such other collateral as may be permitted under the funds’ investment program. The collateral, in turn, is invested in short-term securities, including shares of a T. Rowe Price internal money fund or short-term bond fund. While the securities are being lent, the funds making the loan will continue to receive the equivalent of the interest or dividends paid by the issuer on the securities, as well as a portion of the interest on the investment of the collateral. Normally, the funds employ an agent to implement their securities lending program and the agent receives a fee from the funds for its services. The funds have a right to call each loan and obtain the securities within such period of time that coincides with the normal settlement period for purchases and sales of such securities in the respective markets. The funds will not have the right to vote on securities while they are being lent, but they may call a loan in anticipation of any important vote, when practical. The risks in lending portfolio securities, as with other extensions of secured credit, consist of a possible default by the borrower, delay in receiving additional collateral or in the recovery of the securities, or possible loss of rights in the collateral, should the borrower fail financially. Loans will be made only if, in the judgment of T. Rowe Price, the consideration to be earned from such loans would justify the risk. Additionally, the funds bear the risk that the reinvestment of collateral will result in a principal loss. Finally, there is also the risk that the price of the securities will increase while they are on loan and the collateral will not adequately cover their value.
Borrowing and Lending
The Price Funds are parties to an interfund lending exemptive order received from the SEC on December 8, 1998, amended on November 23, 1999, that permits them to borrow money from and/or lend money to other funds in the T. Rowe Price complex to help the funds meet short-term redemptions and liquidity needs. All
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loans are set at an interest rate between the rates charged on overnight repurchase agreements and short-term bank loans. All loans are subject to numerous conditions designed to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all participating funds. The program is subject to the oversight and periodic review of the Boards of the Price Funds.
Repurchase Agreements
The funds may enter into a repurchase agreement through which an investor (such as the funds) purchases securities (known as the “underlying security”) from well-established securities dealers or banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. Any such dealer or bank will be on T. Rowe Price’s approved list. At that time, the bank or securities dealer agrees to repurchase the underlying security at the same price, plus specified interest. Repurchase agreements are generally for a short period of time, often less than a week. Repurchase agreements that do not provide for payment within seven days will be treated as illiquid securities. The funds will enter into repurchase agreements only where (1) the underlying securities are of the type (excluding maturity limitations) which the funds’ investment guidelines would allow them to purchase directly, (2) the market value of the underlying security, including interest accrued, will be at all times equal to or exceed the value of the repurchase agreement, and (3) payment for the underlying security is made only upon physical delivery or evidence of book-entry transfer to the account of the custodian or a bank acting as agent. In the event of a bankruptcy or other default of a seller of a repurchase agreement, the funds could experience both delays in liquidating the underlying security and losses, including: (a) possible decline in the value of the underlying security during the period while the funds seek to enforce their rights thereto; (b) possible subnormal levels of income and lack of access to income during this period; and (c) expenses of enforcing their rights. To the extent required by the 1940 Act, the funds will only enter into repurchase agreements that are fully collateralized, as defined by the 1940 Act.
Reverse Repurchase Agreements
Although the funds have no current intention of engaging in reverse repurchase agreements, they reserve the right to do so. Reverse repurchase agreements are ordinary repurchase agreements in which a fund is the seller of, rather than the investor in, securities and agrees to repurchase them at an agreed upon time and price. Use of a reverse repurchase agreement may be preferable to a regular sale and later repurchase of the securities because it avoids certain market risks and transaction costs. A reverse repurchase agreement may be viewed as a type of borrowing by the funds, subject to Investment Restriction (1). (See “Investment Restrictions.”)
Cash Reserves
The funds may invest their cash reserves primarily in one or more money market funds or short-term bond funds established for the exclusive use of the T. Rowe Price family of mutual funds and other clients of T. Rowe Price. Currently, two such money market funds are in operation and used for cash reserves management: the T. Rowe Price Government Reserve Fund and T. Rowe Price Treasury Reserve Fund. In addition, two such short-term bond funds may be used for cash reserves management: the T. Rowe Price Short-Term Government Fund and T. Rowe Price Short-Term Fund. Cash collateral from securities lending is invested in the T. Rowe Price Short-Term Fund. Each of the four funds is a series of the T. Rowe Price Reserve Investment Funds, Inc. These funds were created and operate under an exemptive order issued by the SEC. Additional money market funds or short-term bond funds may be created in the future.
Government Reserve Fund and Treasury Reserve Fund comply with the requirements of Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act governing money market funds. Short-Term Government Fund and Short-Term Fund are short-term bond funds and are not regulated under Rule 2a-7 and do not use amortized cost in an effort to maintain a stable $1.00 share price. Treasury Reserve Fund and Government Reserve Fund operate as government money market funds in accordance with Rule 2a-7.
The TRP Reserve Funds provide an efficient means of managing the cash reserves of the T. Rowe Price funds. While none of the TRP Reserve Funds pays an advisory fee to T. Rowe Price, each will incur other expenses. However, the TRP Reserve Funds are expected by T. Rowe Price to operate at very low expense ratios. The
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Price Funds will only invest in the TRP Reserve Funds to the extent consistent with their investment objectives and programs.
None of the funds are insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any other government agency. Although the Government Reserve Fund and Treasury Reserve Fund seek to maintain a stable net asset value of $1.00 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in them.
Short Sales
Certain Price Funds, including the fund may make short sales for hedging purposes to protect them against companies whose credit is deteriorating. Short sales are transactions in which the funds sell a security they do not own in anticipation of a decline in the market value of that security. The funds’ short sales would be limited to situations where the funds own a debt security of a company and would sell short the common or preferred stock or another debt security at a different level of the capital structure of the same company. No securities will be sold short if, after the effect is given to any such short sale, the total market value of all securities sold short would exceed 2% of the value of the funds’ net assets.
To complete a short-sale transaction, the funds must borrow the security to make delivery to the buyer. The funds then are obligated to replace the security borrowed by purchasing it 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 fund. Until the security is replaced, the funds are required to pay to the lender amounts equal to any dividends or interest which accrue during the period of the loan. To borrow the security, the funds also may be required to pay a premium, which would increase the cost of the security sold. The proceeds of the short sale will be retained by the broker, to the extent necessary to meet margin requirements, until the short position is closed out. A fund secures its obligation to replace borrowed securities by also depositing collateral with the broker, usually in cash, U.S. government securities or other liquid securities similar to those borrowed.
Until the funds replace a borrowed security in connection with a short sale, the funds will: (a) maintain daily a segregated account, containing cash, U.S. government securities, or other liquid securities as permitted by the SEC, at such a level that the amount deposited in the account plus the amount deposited with the broker as collateral will equal the current value of the security sold short; or (b) otherwise cover its short position.
The funds will incur a loss as a result of the short sale if the price of the security sold short increases between the date of the short sale and the date on which the funds replace the borrowed security. The funds will realize a gain if the security sold short declines in price between those dates. This result is the opposite of what one would expect from a cash purchase of a long position in a security. The amount of any gain will be decreased, and the amount of any loss increased, by the amount of any premium, dividends, or interest the funds may be required to pay in connection with a short sale. Any gain or loss on the security sold short would be separate from a gain or loss on the funds’ security being hedged by the short sale.
The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 requires a mutual fund to recognize gain upon entering into a constructive sale of stock, a partnership interest, or certain debt positions occurring after June 8, 1997. A constructive sale is deemed to occur if the funds enter into a short sale, an offsetting notional principal contract, or a futures or forward contract which is substantially identical to the appreciated position. Some of the transactions in which the funds are permitted to invest may cause certain appreciated positions in securities held by the funds to qualify as a “constructive sale,” in which case it would be treated as sold and the resulting gain subjected to tax or, in the case of a mutual fund, distributed to shareholders. If this were to occur, a fund would be required to distribute such gains even though it would receive no cash until the later sale of the security. Such distributions could reduce the amount of cash available for investment by the funds. Because these rules do not apply to “straight” debt transactions, it is not anticipated that they will have a significant impact on the funds; however, the effect cannot be determined until the issuance of clarifying regulations.
New Liquidity Risk Management Rules
In October 2016, the SEC adopted new liquidity risk management rules that will require significant compliance oversight and potentially change the way open-end mutual funds, such as the Price Funds,
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investing in certain asset classes are currently managed. The rules require open-end mutual funds to adopt liquidity risk management programs, and provide additional disclosures about a fund’s redemptions and liquidity risk. The Price Funds will be required to comply with the new rules by December 1, 2018. The SEC also adopted rules that permit an open-end mutual fund (other than an ETF or a money market fund) to implement “swing pricing,” which allows a fund to adjust its net asset value for the transaction costs related to large subscriptions and redemptions.
Fundamental policies may not be changed without the approval of the lesser of (1) 67% of the fund’s shares present at a meeting of shareholders if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares are present in person or by proxy or (2) more than 50% of the fund’s outstanding shares. Other restrictions in the form of operating policies are subject to change by the fund’s Board without shareholder approval. Any investment restriction which involves a maximum percentage of securities or assets shall not be considered to be violated unless an excess over the percentage occurs immediately after, and is caused by, an acquisition of securities or assets of, or borrowings by, the fund. With the exception of the diversification test required by the Code, calculation of the fund’s total assets for compliance with any of the following fundamental or operating policies or any other investment restrictions set forth in the fund’s prospectuses or SAI will not include collateral held in connection with securities lending activities. For purposes of the tax diversification test, calculation of the fund’s total assets will include investments made with cash received by the funds as collateral for securities loaned. The diversification test required by the Code is set forth in the prospectus of the fund referred to by name in restrictions (8) and (9) below.
Fundamental Policies
As a matter of fundamental policy, the fund may not:
(1) Borrowing Borrow money, except that the fund may (i) borrow for non-leveraging, temporary, or emergency purposes; and (ii) engage in reverse repurchase agreements and make other investments or engage in other transactions, which may involve a borrowing, in a manner consistent with the fund’s investment objective and program, provided that the combination of (i) and (ii) shall not exceed 33⅓% of the value of the fund’s total assets (including the amount borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings) or such other percentage permitted by law. Any borrowings which come to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with applicable law. The fund may borrow from banks, other Price Funds, or other persons to the extent permitted by applicable law;
(2) Commodities Purchase or sell commodities, except to the extent permitted by applicable law;
(3) Industry Concentration Purchase the securities of any issuer if, as a result, more than 25% of the value of the fund’s net assets would be invested in the securities of issuers having their principal business activities in the same industry;
(4) Loans Make loans, although the fund may (i) lend portfolio securities and participate in an interfund lending program with other Price Funds provided that no such loan may be made if, as a result, the aggregate of such loans would exceed 33⅓% of the value of the fund’s total assets; (ii) purchase money market securities and enter into repurchase agreements; and (iii) acquire publicly distributed or privately placed debt securities and purchase debt;
(5) Percent Limit on Assets Invested in Any One Issuer Purchase a security if, as a result, with respect to 75% of the value of the fund’s total assets, more than 5% of the value of the fund’s total assets would be invested in the securities of a single issuer, except for cash, securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies, or instrumentalities and securities of other investment companies;
(6) Percent Limit on Share Ownership of Any One Issuer Purchase a security if, as a result, with respect to 75% of the value of the fund’s total assets, more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any
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issuer would be held by the fund (other than obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies, or instrumentalities);
(7) Real Estate Purchase or sell real estate, including limited partnership interests therein, unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this shall not prevent the fund from investing in securities or other instruments backed by real estate or securities of companies engaged in the real estate business);
(8) Senior Securities Issue senior securities except in compliance with the 1940 Act;
(9) Underwriting Underwrite securities issued by other persons, except to the extent that the fund may be deemed to be an underwriter within the meaning of the 1933 Act in connection with the purchase and sale of fund portfolio securities in the ordinary course of pursuing their investment programs.
NOTES
The following Notes should be read in connection with the above-described fundamental policies. The Notes are not fundamental policies.
With respect to investment restriction (2), the fund may not directly purchase or sell commodities that require physical storage unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments but the fund may invest in any derivatives and other financial instruments that involve commodities or represent interests in commodities to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act or other applicable law.
For purposes of investment restriction (3):
· U.S., state, or local governments, or related agencies or instrumentalities, are not considered an industry.
· Industries are determined by reference to industry classifications set forth in their semiannual and annual reports. T. Rowe Price reserves the right to classify a particular holding into a different industry or sub-industry than the classification made by an index provider in situations where the index provider’s classification does not accurately reflect the company’s principal business activities or is deemed to no longer be appropriate (for example, due to significant changes to the company’s business or operations that were not yet taken into consideration by the index provider).
For purposes of investment restriction (4), the fund will consider the acquisition of a debt security to include the execution of a note or other evidence of an extension of credit with a term of more than nine months.
For purposes of investment restrictions (5) and (6), the fund will treat bonds which are refunded with escrowed U.S. government securities as U.S. government securities.
For purposes of investment restrictions (5) and (6), the fund will consider a repurchase agreement fully collateralized with U.S. government securities to be U.S. government securities.
With respect to investment restrictions (1) and (8), under the 1940 Act, open-end investment companies (such as the Price Funds) can borrow money from a bank provided that immediately after such borrowing there is asset coverage of at least 300% for all borrowings. If the asset coverage falls below 300%, the investment company must, within three days thereafter (not including Sundays and holidays), reduce the amount of its borrowings to satisfy the 300% requirement. Any borrowings by a Price Fund from a bank and transactions by a Price Fund that may be considered to result in the issuance of a senior security will comply with the requirements of the 1940 Act, including any interpretations of the 1940 Act by the Staff or the Commission. In addition, any transactions involving reverse repurchase agreements will be covered in accordance with the 1940 Act and applicable SEC guidance. Any borrowings from other Price Funds will comply with the terms and conditions of the Price Funds’ interfund lending exemptive order.
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Operating Policies
As a matter of operating policy, the fund may not:
(1) Borrowing Purchase additional securities when money borrowed exceeds 5% of its total assets;
(2) Control of Portfolio Companies Invest in companies for the purpose of exercising management or control;
(3) Futures Contracts Purchase a futures contract or an option thereon if, with respect to positions in futures or options on futures which do not represent bona fide hedging, the aggregate initial margin and premiums on such options would exceed 5% of the fund’s net asset value;
(4) Illiquid Securities Purchase illiquid securities if, as a result, more than 15% of net assets would be invested in such securities;
(5) Investment Companies Purchase securities of open-end or closed-end investment companies except (i) securities of the TRP Reserve Funds (provided that the investing fund does not invest more than 25% of its net assets in such funds); (ii) securities of T. Rowe Price institutional funds; or (iii) otherwise consistent with the 1940 Act;
(6) Margin Purchase securities on margin, except (i) for use of short-term credit necessary for clearance of purchases of portfolio securities and (ii) they may make margin deposits in connection with futures contracts or other permissible investments;
(7) Mortgaging Mortgage, pledge, hypothecate, or, in any manner, transfer any security owned by the fund as security for indebtedness, except as may be necessary in connection with permissible borrowings or investments, and then such mortgaging, pledging, or hypothecating may not exceed 33⅓% of the fund’s total assets at the time of borrowing or investment;
(8) Oil and Gas Programs Purchase participations or other direct interests in or enter into leases with respect to oil, gas, or other mineral exploration or development programs if, as a result thereof, more than 5% of the value of the total assets of the fund would be invested in such programs;
(9) Options, etc. Invest in options in excess of the limits set forth in the fund’s prospectus and this SAI;
(10) Short Sales Effect short sales of securities, other than as set forth in the fund’s prospectus and SAI; and
(11) Warrants Invest in warrants if, as a result, more than 10% of the value of the fund’s net assets would be invested in warrants.
NOTES
The following Notes should be read in connection with the above-described operating policies. The Notes are not operating policies.
For purposes of investment restriction (6), margin purchases are not considered borrowings and effecting a short sale will be deemed to not constitute a margin purchase. If a fund is subject to an 80% name test as set forth in its prospectus, the 80% investment policy will be based on the fund’s net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes. For purposes of the fund’s policy to invest at least 80% of its net assets in U.S. high yield instruments, the fund uses the country assigned to a fixed income security by Bloomberg or another unaffiliated third-party data provider. The funds generally follow this same process with respect to the remaining 20% of assets but may occasionally make an exception after assessing various factors relating to a company. The data providers use various criteria to determine the country to which a security is economically tied. Examples include the following: (1) the country under which the issuer is organized; (2) the location of the issuer’s principal place of business or principal office; (3) where the issuer’s securities are listed or traded principally on an exchange or over-the-counter market; and (4) where the issuer conducts the predominant part of its business activities or derives a significant portion (e.g., at least 50%) of its revenues or profits. In addition, for purposes of determining whether a particular country is considered a developed market or an emerging market, the bond funds consider a country to be an emerging market if it is either included in a JP
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Morgan emerging market bond index or not included in the International Monetary Fund’s listing of advanced economies.
A 30% withholding tax will be imposed on any dividends and redemption proceeds that are paid after December 31, 2012, to: (i) foreign financial institutions, including non-U.S. investment funds, unless they agree to collect and disclose to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders; and (ii) certain other foreign entities unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions will need to enter into agreements with the IRS stipulating that they will provide the IRS with certain information (including name, address and taxpayer identification number) for direct and indirect U.S. account holders, comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts, report to the IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained, and agree to withhold tax on certain payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information. Other foreign entities will need to provide the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner or certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership unless certain exceptions apply.
Notwithstanding anything in the previously listed fundamental and operating restrictions to the contrary, the fund may invest all of their assets in a single investment company or a series thereof in connection with a “master-feeder” arrangement. Such an investment would be made where the fund (a “Feeder”), and one or more other funds with the same investment objective and program as the fund, sought to accomplish their investment objectives and programs by investing all of their assets in the shares of another investment company (the “Master”). The Master would, in turn, have the same investment objective and program as the fund. The fund would invest in this manner in an effort to achieve the economies of scale associated with having a Master fund make investments in portfolio companies on behalf of a number of Feeder funds.
Foreign Investments
In addition to the restrictions previously described, some foreign countries limit, or prohibit, all direct foreign investment in the securities of their companies. However, P-notes may sometimes be used to gain access to these markets. In addition, the governments of some countries have authorized the organization of investment funds to permit indirect foreign investment in such securities. For tax purposes, the fund may be known as Passive Foreign Investment Companies. The fund is subject to certain percentage limitations under the 1940 Act relating to the purchase of securities of investment companies, and may be subject to the limitation that no more than 10% of the value of the fund’s total assets may be invested in such securities.
State Street Bank and Trust Company is the custodian for the fund’s U.S. securities and cash, but it does not participate in the fund’s investment decisions. Portfolio securities purchased in the U.S. are maintained in the custody of the bank and may be entered into the Federal Reserve Book Entry System, or the security depository system of the Depository Trust Corporation, or any central depository system allowed by federal law. In addition, funds investing in municipal securities are authorized to maintain certain of their securities, in particular, variable rate demand notes, in uncertificated form, in the proprietary deposit systems of various dealers in municipal securities. State Street Bank’s main office is at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110. State Street Bank maintains shares of the Funds-of-Funds in the book entry system of the funds’ transfer agent, T. Rowe Price Services, Inc.
All funds that can invest in foreign securities have entered into a Custodian Agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, London, pursuant to which portfolio securities which are purchased outside the United States are maintained in the custody of various foreign branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank and such other custodians, including foreign banks and foreign securities depositories as are approved in accordance with regulations under the 1940 Act. The address for JPMorgan Chase Bank, London is Woolgate House, Coleman Street, London, EC2P 2HD, England.
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T. Rowe Price and The Bank of New York Mellon, subject to the oversight of T. Rowe Price, each provide certain fund accounting services to the Price Funds.
The funds, their investment adviser and investment sub-adviser, if applicable, (T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, or Price Singapore), and their principal underwriter (T. Rowe Price Investment Services) have a written Code of Ethics and Conduct which requires persons with access to investment information (“Access Persons”) to obtain prior clearance before engaging in most personal securities transactions. Transactions must be executed within three business days of their clearance. In addition, all Access Persons must report their personal securities transactions within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter. Aside from certain limited transactions involving securities in certain issuers with high trading volumes, Access Persons are typically not permitted to effect transactions in a security if: there are pending client orders in the security; the security has been purchased or sold by a client within seven calendar days; the security is being considered for purchase for a client; a change has occurred in T. Rowe Price’s rating of the security within seven calendar days prior to the date of the proposed transaction; or the security is subject to internal trading restrictions. In addition, Access Persons are prohibited from profiting from short-term trading (e.g., purchases and sales involving the same security within 60 days). Any person becoming an Access Person must file a statement of personal securities holdings within 10 days of this date. All Access Persons are required to file an annual statement with respect to their personal securities holdings. Any material violation of the Code of Ethics is reported to the Boards of the funds. The Boards also review the administration of the Code of Ethics on an annual basis.
The fund’s portfolio holdings are disclosed on a regular basis in its semiannual and annual reports to shareholders as well as Form N-Q which is filed with the SEC within 60 days of the fund’s first and third fiscal quarter-end. In addition, the fund’s Board has adopted policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the fund’s portfolio securities and the disclosure of portfolio commentary and statistical information about the fund’s portfolios and their securities. T. Rowe Price has adopted and implemented policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure compliance with the policies governing the disclosure of portfolio holdings, including the requirement to first confirm that an appropriate non-disclosure agreement has been obtained from each recipient of non-public holdings. The policies relating to the general manner in which the fund’s portfolio securities are disclosed, including the frequency with which portfolio holdings are disclosed and the length of time required between the effective date of the holdings information and the date on which the information is disclosed, are set forth in the fund’s prospectus. In addition, portfolio holdings with respect to periods prior to the most recent quarter-end may be disclosed upon request, subject to the sole discretion of T. Rowe Price.
This SAI sets forth details of the fund’s policy on portfolio holdings disclosure as well as the fund’s policy on disclosing information about the fund’s portfolios. In adopting the policies, the Board of the fund took into account the views of the equity, fixed income and/or international steering committees of the fund’s investment advisers on what information should be disclosed and when and to whom it should be disclosed. The steering committees have oversight responsibilities for managing the T. Rowe Price funds. Each steering committee is comprised of senior investment management personnel of T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price International, Price Hong Kong, and/or Price Singapore. Each committee as a whole determines the fund’s policy on the disclosure of portfolio holdings and related information. The fund’s Board believes the policies they have adopted are in the best interests of the fund and that they strike an appropriate balance between the desire of some persons for information about the fund’s portfolios and the need to protect the fund from potentially harmful disclosures.
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From time to time, officers of the fund, the fund’s investment adviser (and investment sub-adviser, if applicable) or the fund’s distributor (collectively, “TRP”) may express their views orally or in writing on one or more of the fund’s portfolio securities or may state that the fund have recently purchased or sold one or more securities. Such views and statements may be made to members of the press, shareholders in the fund, persons considering investing in the fund or representatives of such shareholders or potential shareholders, such as fiduciaries of a 401(k) plan or a trust and their advisers and rating and ranking organizations such as Lipper Inc. and Morningstar, Inc. The nature and content of the views and statements provided to each of these persons may differ. The securities subject to these views and statements may be ones that were purchased or sold since the fund’s most recent quarter-end and therefore may not be reflected on the list of the fund’s most recent quarter-end portfolio holdings disclosed on the website.
Additionally, TRP may provide oral or written information (“portfolio commentary”) about the funds including, but not limited to, how the fund’s investments are divided among various sectors, industries, countries, value and growth stocks, small-, mid-, and large-cap stocks, and among stocks, bonds, currencies, and cash, types of bonds, bond maturities, bond coupons, and bond credit quality ratings. This portfolio commentary may also include information on how these various weightings and factors contributed to fund performance. TRP may also provide oral or written information (“statistical information”) about various financial characteristics of the fund or its underlying portfolio securities including, but not limited to, alpha, beta, R-squared, duration, maturity, information ratio, Sharpe ratio, earnings growth, payout ratio, price/book value, projected earnings growth, return on equity, standard deviation, tracking error, weighted average quality, market capitalization, percent debt to equity, price to cash flow, dividend yield or growth, default rate, portfolio turnover, and risk and style characteristics. This portfolio commentary and statistical information about the fund may be based on the fund’s most recent quarter-end portfolio or on some other interim period such as month-end. The portfolio commentary and statistical information may be provided to members of the press, shareholders in the fund, persons considering investing in the fund or representatives of such shareholders or potential shareholders, such as fiduciaries of a 401(k) plan or a trust and their advisers and rating and ranking organizations. The content and nature of the information provided to each of these persons may differ.
None of the persons described above will receive any of the information described above if, in the sole judgment of TRP, the information could be used in a manner that would be harmful to the fund. The T. Rowe Price Code of Ethics contains a provision to this effect.
TRP also discloses portfolio holdings in connection with the day-to-day operations and management of the fund. Full portfolio holdings are disclosed to the fund’s custodians, accounting vendors, and auditors. Portfolio holdings are disclosed to the fund’s pricing service vendors and other persons who provide systems or software support in connection with fund operations, including accounting, compliance support, and pricing. Portfolio holdings may also be disclosed to persons assisting the fund in the voting of proxies. In connection with managing the fund, the fund’s investment advisers and investment sub-advisers may use analytical systems provided by third parties who may have access to the fund’s portfolio holdings. In all of these situations, the fund or TRP have entered into an agreement with the outside party under which the party undertakes to maintain the fund’s portfolio holdings on a confidential basis and to refrain from trading on the basis of the information. TRP relies on these non-disclosure agreements in determining that such disclosures are not harmful to the fund. The names of these persons and the services they provide are set forth in the following table under “Fund Service Providers.” The policies and procedures adopted by the fund’s Board require that any additions to the list of “Fund Service Providers” be approved by specified officers at TRP.
In certain limited situations, the fund may provide portfolio holdings to an institutional client (or its custodian or other agent) when the client is effecting a redemption in-kind from one of the Price Funds and T. Rowe Price believes that such disclosure will not be harmful to the fund. In these situations, T. Rowe Price makes it clear through non-disclosure agreements or other means that the recipient must ensure that the confidential information is used only as necessary to effect the redemption-in-kind, and that the recipient will not trade on the information and will maintain the information in a manner designed to protect against unauthorized access or misuse.
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Additionally, when purchasing and selling its securities through broker-dealers, requesting bids on securities, obtaining price quotations on securities as well as in connection with litigation involving the fund’s portfolio securities, the fund may disclose one or more of their securities.
Fund Service Providers
Service Provider | Service |
Algorithmics | Systems Vendor |
Barclays | Fixed Income Analytics |
Bloomberg | Pricing and Data Vendor |
Bloomberg Barclays | Fixed Income Analytics |
Broadridge | Printing and Mailing Vendor |
Broadridge Systems | Systems Vendor |
Charles River | Systems Vendor |
Citigroup | Fixed Income Analytics |
COR-FS Ltd. | Systems Vendor |
DG3 | Typesetting Vendor |
Donnelly Financial Solutions | Printing and Mailing Vendor |
DST Global Solutions | Systems Vendor |
DST Brokerage Solutions | Systems Vendor |
DTCC Derivatives Repository Ltd. | Derivatives Reporting Vendor |
DTI Global | Transcription Vendor |
Eagle | Systems Vendor |
FactSet | Systems Vendor |
Glass Lewis | Proxy and Systems Vendor |
Interactive Data | Pricing and Systems Vendor |
Investor Tools, Inc. | Fixed Income Analytics |
ITG, Inc. | Pricing and Systems Vendor |
Iron Mountain | Records Management Vendor |
JPMorgan Chase | Custodian and Securities Lending Agent |
JW Boarman | Printing Vendor |
Lend Amend | Bank Debt Amendment Data Provider and Service |
Lionbridge | Translation Vendor |
Markit WSO Corporation | Bank Debt Reconciliation, Pricing, and Systems Vendor |
McArdle Printing Company | Printing and Mailing Vendor |
Merrill Communications | Printing and Mailing Vendor |
Omgeo LLC | Systems Vendor |
Portware, LLC | Systems Vendor |
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP | Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm |
RR Donnelley | Systems, Printing, and Mailing Vendor |
SAP | Systems Vendor |
SDL | Translation Vendor |
Serena | Systems Vendor |
SmartStream Technologies | Systems Vendor |
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Service Provider | Service |
SS&C Technologies Holdings | Systems Vendor |
Standard & Poor’s | Pricing Vendor |
State Street Bank | Custodian and Securities Lending Agent |
Style Research | Systems Vendor |
Sybase Inc. | Systems Vendor |
The Bank of New York Mellon | Fund Accounting and Middle Office |
Thomson Reuters | Pricing Vendor |
TriOptima | Derivatives Reconciliation Systems Vendor |
Universal Wilde | Mailing Vendor |
Veritas | Records Management Vendor |
WCI Consulting | Systems Vendor |
Wilshire | Systems Vendor |
Equity securities listed or regularly traded on a securities exchange or in the OTC market are valued at the last quoted sale price or, for certain markets, the official closing price at the time the valuations are made, except for OTC Bulletin Board securities, which are valued at the mean of the latest bid and asked prices. A security that is listed or traded on more than one exchange is valued at the quotation on the exchange determined to be the primary market for such security. Listed securities not traded on a particular day are valued at the mean of the latest bid and asked prices for domestic securities and the last quoted sale price for international securities.
Debt securities are generally traded in the OTC market. Securities with remaining maturities of one year or more at the time of acquisition are valued using prices furnished by dealers who make markets in such securities or by an independent pricing service, which considers the yield or price of bonds of comparable quality, coupon, maturity, and type, as well as prices quoted by dealers who make markets in such securities. Securities with remaining maturities of less than one year at the time of acquisition generally use amortized cost in local currency to approximate fair value. However, if amortized cost is deemed not to reflect fair value or the fund holds a significant amount of such securities with remaining maturities of more than 60 days, the securities are valued at prices furnished by dealers who make markets in such securities, or by an independent pricing service.
Investments in mutual funds are valued at the mutual fund’s closing net asset value per share on the day of valuation. Purchased and written listed options, and OTC options with a listed equivalent, are valued at the mean of the closing bid and asked prices. Exchange-traded options on futures contracts are valued at the closing settlement prices. Foreign currency forward contracts are valued using the prevailing forward exchange rate. Financial futures contracts are valued at closing settlement prices. Swaps are valued at prices furnished by independent swap dealers or by an independent pricing service.
Price Funds Investing in Foreign Securities
Assets, including investments, and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollar values each day at the prevailing exchange rate, using the mean of the bid and asked prices of such currencies against U.S. dollars as quoted by a major bank. Purchases and sales of securities, income, and expenses are translated into U.S. dollars at the prevailing exchange rate on the date of the transaction.
Trading in the portfolio securities of the funds may take place in various foreign markets on certain days (such as Saturday) when the funds are not open for business and do not calculate their net asset value. As a result,
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net asset values may be significantly affected by trading on days when shareholders cannot make transactions. In addition, trading in the funds’ portfolio securities may not occur on days when the funds are open.
If a fund determines that developments between the close of a foreign market and the close of the NYSE, normally 4 p.m. ET, will, in its judgment, materially affect the value of some or all of its portfolio securities, that fund will adjust the previous closing prices to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities as of the close of the NYSE. The fund uses outside pricing services to provide it with quoted prices and information to evaluate and/or adjust those prices. As a means of evaluating its security valuation process, the fund routinely compares closing prices, the next day’s opening prices in the same markets, and adjusted prices.
Price Funds Investing in Hedge Funds
A fund relies primarily on the limited pricing and valuation information provided by the hedge fund managers in order to value its hedge fund investments. The funds attempt, to the extent they are able to do so, to review the valuation methodology utilized by a hedge fund to gauge whether its principles of fair value are consistent with those used by the funds for valuing their own investments. A fund will seek as much information as possible from the hedge fund in order to value its investment and determine the fair value of its interest in the hedge fund based on all relevant circumstances. This may include the most recent estimated net asset value and estimated returns reported by the hedge fund, as well as accrued management fees and any other relevant information available at the time the fund values its assets.
All Price Funds
The values assigned to private placements and other restricted securities, and to those investments for which the valuation procedures previously described are inappropriate, are stated at fair value as determined in good faith by the T. Rowe Price Valuation Committee (the “Valuation Committee”). The Valuation Committee has been established by the funds’ Board to ensure that financial instruments are appropriately priced at fair value in accordance with GAAP and the 1940 Act. Subject to oversight by the Board, the Valuation Committee regularly makes good faith judgments to establish and adjust the fair valuations of certain securities as events occur and circumstances warrant. For instance, in determining the fair value of an equity investment with limited market activity, such as a private placement or a thinly traded public company stock, the Valuation Committee considers a variety of factors, which may include, but are not limited to, the issuer’s business prospects, its financial standing and performance, recent investment transactions in the issuer, new rounds of financing, negotiated transactions of significant size between other investors in the company, relevant market valuations of peer companies, strategic events affecting the company, market liquidity for the issuer, and general economic conditions and events. In consultation with the investment and pricing teams, the Valuation Committee will determine an appropriate valuation technique based on available information, which may include both observable and unobservable inputs. The Valuation Committee typically will afford greatest weight to actual prices in arm’s length transactions, to the extent they represent orderly transactions between market participants; transaction information can be reliably obtained; and prices are deemed representative of fair value. However, the Valuation Committee may also consider other valuation methods such as market-based valuation multiples; a discount or premium from market value of a similar, freely traded security of the same issuer; or some combination. Fair value determinations are reviewed on a regular basis and updated as information becomes available, including actual purchase and sale transactions of the issue. Because any fair value determination involves a significant amount of judgment, there is a degree of subjectivity inherent in such pricing decisions and fair value prices determined by the Valuation Committee could differ from those of other market participants. The Price Funds rely on various sources to calculate their net asset values. The information may be provided by third parties that are believed to be reliable, but the information may not be accurate due to errors by fund accounting providers, pricing sources, technological issues or otherwise.
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The purchase and redemption price of the funds’ shares is equal to the funds’ net asset value per share or share price. The funds determine their net asset value per share by subtracting their liabilities (including accrued expenses and dividends payable) from their total assets (the market value of the securities the funds hold plus cash and other assets, including income accrued but not yet received) and dividing the result by the total number of shares outstanding. The net asset value per share of the funds is calculated as of the close of regular trading on the NYSE, normally 4 p.m. ET, every day the NYSE is open for trading. However, the net asset value may be calculated at a time other than the normal close of the NYSE if trading on the NYSE is restricted, if the NYSE closes earlier, or as may be permitted by the SEC.
Determination of net asset value (and the offering, sale, redemption, and purchase of shares) for the funds may be suspended at times (a) during which the NYSE is closed, other than customary weekend and holiday closings, (b) during which trading on the NYSE is restricted, (c) during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal by the funds of securities owned by them is not reasonably practicable or it is not reasonably practicable for the funds fairly to determine the value of their net assets, or (d) during which a governmental body having jurisdiction over the funds may by order permit such a suspension for the protection of the funds’ shareholders, provided that applicable rules and regulations of the SEC (or any succeeding governmental authority) shall govern as to whether the conditions prescribed in (b), (c), or (d) exist. Under certain limited conditions, a money fund may accept and process purchase and redemption orders during times that the NYSE is not open for trading.
Unless you elect otherwise, capital gain distributions, final quarterly dividends and annual dividends, if any, will be reinvested on the reinvestment date using the net asset values per share on that date. The reinvestment date normally precedes the payment date by one day, although the exact timing is subject to change and can be as great as 10 days.
Redemptions In-Kind
Certain Price Funds have filed with the SEC a notice of election under Rule 18f-1 of the 1940 Act. This election permits a fund to effect a redemption in-kind if, in any 90-day period, a shareholder redeems: (i) more than $250,000 from the fund; or (ii) redeems more than 1% of the fund’s net assets. If either of these conditions is met, the fund has the right to pay the difference between the redemption amount and the lesser of these two figures with securities from the fund’s portfolio rather than in cash.
In the unlikely event a shareholder receives an in-kind redemption of portfolio securities from a fund, it would be the responsibility of the shareholder to dispose of the securities. The shareholder would be subject to the risks that the value of the securities could decline prior to their sale, the securities could be difficult to sell, and brokerage fees could be incurred.
The Price Funds may also redeem securities in-kind to certain affiliates according to procedures adopted by the Price Funds’ Boards. The procedures generally require a pro-rata distribution of a fund’s securities subject to certain limited exceptions.
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Purchases In-Kind
Transactions involving the issuance of fund shares for securities or assets other than cash will be limited to (1) bona fide reorganizations; (2) statutory mergers; or (3) other acquisitions of portfolio securities that: (a) meet the investment objectives and investment policies of the funds; (b) are generally acquired for investment and not for resale; (c) have a value that is readily ascertainable, which may include securities listed or traded in a recognized U.S. or international exchange or market; and (d) are not illiquid. The securities received in-kind must be deemed by the fund’s portfolio manager to be appropriate, in type and amount, for investment by the fund receiving the securities in light of its investment objectives, investment programs and policies, and its current holdings.
The tax discussion in the prospectus and this SAI provides only a brief summary of some of the tax consequences affecting the funds and the shareholders of the funds in general under the U.S. federal income tax law. You may also be subject to foreign, state, and local laws, which are not discussed here. No attempt has been made to discuss tax consequences specifically applicable to any particular shareholder. You should discuss with your tax advisor to determine tax consequences applicable to you and your investments.
Taxation of the Funds
The funds intend to qualify as “regulated investment companies” under Subchapter M of the Code. If, in any taxable year, a fund does not qualify as a regulated investment company under the Code: (1) the fund would be taxed at the normal corporate rates on the entire amount of its taxable income, if any, without a deduction for dividends or other distributions to shareholders; (2) the fund’s distributions, to the extent made out of the fund’s current or accumulated earnings and profits, would be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividends regardless of whether they would otherwise have been considered capital gain dividends; (3) the fund may qualify for the 70% deduction for dividends received by corporations; and (4) foreign tax credits would not “pass through” to shareholders. A fund may avoid losing its qualification as a regulated investment company under certain circumstances by using remedies provided in recent legislation, but such remedies may still result in a significant tax penalty to the fund.
To be entitled to the special tax benefits applicable to regulated investment companies, the funds will be required to distribute the sum of 90% of their investment company taxable income and 90% of their net tax-exempt income, if any, each year. In order to avoid federal income tax, the funds must distribute all of their investment company taxable income and realized long-term capital gains for each fiscal year within 12 months after the end of the fiscal year. To avoid federal excise tax, the funds must declare dividends by December 31 of each year equal to at least 98% of ordinary income (as of December 31) and 98.2% of capital gains (as of October 31) and distribute such amounts prior to February 1 of the following calendar year. Shareholders are required to include such distributions in their income for federal income tax purposes whether dividends and capital gain distributions are paid in cash or in additional shares.
Taxation of Fund Shareholders
For individual shareholders, a portion of the funds’ ordinary dividends representing “qualified dividend income” may be subject to tax at the lower rate applicable to long-term capital gains, rather than ordinary income. “Qualified dividend income” is composed of certain dividends received from domestic and qualified foreign corporations. It excludes dividends representing payments in lieu of dividends related to loaned securities, dividends received on certain hedged positions, dividends on non-qualified foreign corporations, and dividends on stocks the funds have not held for more than 60 days during the 121-day period beginning 60 days before the stock became ex-dividend (90 and 181 days for certain preferred stock). Individual shareholders can only apply the lower rate to the qualified portion of the funds’ dividends if they have held the shares in the funds on which the dividends were paid for the holding period surrounding the ex-dividend date of the funds’ dividends. Little, if any, of the ordinary dividends paid by the Bond Fund, is expected to qualify for this lower rate.
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For corporate shareholders, a portion of the funds’ ordinary dividends may be eligible for the 70% deduction for dividends received by corporations to the extent the funds’ income consists of dividends paid by U.S. corporations. This deduction does not include dividends representing payments in lieu of dividends related to loaned securities, dividends received on certain hedged positions, dividends received from certain foreign corporations, and dividends on stocks the funds have not held for more than 45 days during the 90-day period beginning 45 days before the stock became ex-dividend (90 and 180 days for certain preferred stock). Corporate shareholders can only apply the lower rate to the qualified portion of the funds’ dividends if they have held the shares in the funds on which the dividends were paid for the holding period surrounding the ex-dividend date of the funds’ dividends. Little, if any, of the ordinary dividends paid by the Bond and International is expected to qualify for this deduction. Long-term capital gain distributions paid by the funds are not eligible for the dividends-received deduction.
Dividends and other distributions by a fund are generally treated under the Code as received by the shareholders at the time the dividend or distribution is made. However, any dividend declared by the fund in October, November, or December of any calendar year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month shall be deemed to have been received by each shareholder on December 31 of such calendar year and to have been paid by the fund not later than such December 31, provided such dividend is actually paid by the fund during January of the following calendar year.
Dividends of net investment income and distributions of net realized short-term capital gains are taxable to a U.S. shareholder as ordinary income, whether paid in cash or in shares. Distributions of net realized long-term capital gains, if any, that a fund reports as capital gains dividends are taxable as long-term capital gains, whether paid in cash or in shares and regardless of how long a shareholder has held shares of the fund. Such dividends will not be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Dividends and distributions paid by a fund attributable to dividends on stock of U.S. corporations received by the fund, with respect to which the fund meets certain holding period requirements, will be eligible for the deduction for dividends received by corporations. Special rules apply, however, to regular dividends paid to individuals. Such a dividend may be subject to tax at the rates generally applicable to long-term capital gains for individuals, provided that the individual receiving the dividend satisfies certain holding period and other requirements.
The funds may treat a portion of amounts paid to redeem shares as a distribution of investment company taxable income and realized capital gains that are reflected in net asset value. This practice, commonly referred to as “equalization,” has no effect on redeeming shareholders or a fund’s total return, and reduces the amounts that would otherwise be required to be paid as taxable dividends to the remaining shareholders. Because of uncertainties surrounding some of the technical issues relating to computing the amount of equalization, it is possible that the IRS could challenge the funds’ equalization methodology or calculations, and any such challenge could result in additional tax, interest, or penalties to be paid by the funds.
At the time of your purchase of shares (except in retail and government money market funds), the funds’ net asset value may reflect undistributed income, capital gains, or net unrealized appreciation of securities held by the funds. A subsequent distribution to you of such amounts, although constituting a return of your investment, would be taxable as either dividend or capital gain distributions. The funds may be able to reduce the amount of such distributions by utilizing their capital loss carry-overs, if any. For federal income tax purposes, the funds are permitted to carry forward any net realized capital losses for eight years for any such losses incurred in taxable years beginning on or before December 22, 2010, or indefinitely for any such losses incurred in taxable years beginning after December 22, 2010, and use such losses, subject to applicable limitations, to offset net capital gains up to the amount of such losses without being required to pay taxes on, or distribute, such gains.
However, the amount of capital losses that can be carried forward and used in any single year may be limited if a fund experiences an “ownership change” within the meaning of Section 382 of the Code. An ownership change generally results when the shareholders owning 5% or more of the fund increase their aggregate holdings by more than 50 percentage points over a three-year period. An ownership change could result in capital loss carry-overs from taxable years beginning on or before December 22, 2010, to expire unused, thereby reducing a fund’s ability to offset capital gains with those losses. Capital loss carry-overs generated in years beginning after December 22, 2010, are also subject to the ownership change limitation but will not
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expire. An increase in the amount of taxable gains distributed to a fund’s shareholders could result from an ownership change. The Price Funds undertake no obligation to avoid or prevent an ownership change, which can occur in the normal course of shareholder purchases and redemptions. Moreover, because of circumstances beyond a fund’s control, there can be no assurance that a fund will not experience, or has not already experienced, an ownership change.
Upon the sale or exchange of your shares in a fund, you will realize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and your basis in the shares. A redemption of shares by a fund will be treated as a sale for this purpose. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in your hands, and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less. Any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced, including replacement through the reinvesting of dividends and capital gains distributions in the fund, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition of the shares. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be increased to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss realized by a shareholder on the sale of a fund share held by the shareholder for six months or less will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions or deemed distributions of long-term capital gains received by the shareholder with respect to such share during such six month period.
A 3.8% net investment income tax is imposed on net investment income, including interest, dividends, and capital gain, of U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 (or $250,000 if married filing jointly), and of estates and trusts.
Taxation of Foreign Shareholders
Foreign shareholders may be subject to U.S. tax on the sale of shares in any fund, or on distributions of ordinary income and/or capital gains realized by a fund, depending on a number of factors, including the foreign shareholder’s country of tax residence, its other U.S. operations (if any), and the nature of the distribution received. Foreign shareholders should consult their own tax adviser to determine the precise U.S. and local tax consequences to an investment in any fund.
A 30% withholding tax is currently imposed on all or a portion of any dividends paid, and will be imposed on redemption proceeds paid after December 31, 2018, to: (i) foreign financial institutions, including non-U.S. investment funds and trusts, unless they agree to collect and disclose to the IRS, or in certain cases to their country of residence, information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders or are exempt from these requirements and certify as such; and (ii) certain other foreign entities unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. To avoid withholding, non-exempt foreign financial institutions will need to enter into agreements with the IRS (unless resident in a country that provides for an alternative regime through an intergovernmental agreement with the U.S.) stipulating that they will provide the IRS with certain information (including name, address and taxpayer identification number) for direct and indirect U.S. account holders, comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts, report to the IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained, and agree to withhold tax on certain payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information. Other foreign entities will need to provide the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner or certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership unless certain exceptions apply.
Foreign Income Taxes
Income received by the funds from sources within various foreign countries may be subject to foreign income taxes. Under the Code, if more than 50% of the value of the funds’ total assets at the close of the taxable year comprises securities issued by foreign corporations or governments, the funds may file an election to “pass through” to the funds’ shareholders any eligible foreign income taxes paid by the funds. Certain funds of funds may also be able to pass through foreign taxes paid by other mutual funds in which they are invested if at least 50% of the value of the funds’ total assets at the end of each fiscal quarter comprises interests in such regulated investment companies. There can be no assurance that the funds will be able to do so. Pursuant to this election, shareholders will be required to: (1) include in gross income, even though not actually received,
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their pro-rata share of foreign income taxes paid by the funds; (2) treat their pro-rata share of foreign income taxes as paid by them; and (3) either deduct their pro-rata share of foreign income taxes in computing their taxable income, or use it as a foreign tax credit against U.S. income taxes subject to certain limitations (but not both). A deduction for foreign income taxes may only be claimed by a shareholder who itemizes deductions.
Foreign Currency Gains and Losses
Foreign currency gains and losses, including the portion of gain or loss on the sale of debt securities attributable to foreign exchange rate fluctuations, are taxable as ordinary income. If the net effect of these transactions is a gain, the ordinary income dividend paid by the funds will be increased. If the result is a loss, the ordinary income dividend paid by the funds will be decreased, or, to the extent such dividend has already been paid, it may be classified as a return of capital. Adjustments to reflect these gains and losses will be made at the end of the funds’ taxable year.
Passive Foreign Investment Companies
The funds may purchase, directly or indirectly, the securities of certain foreign investment funds or trusts, called “passive foreign investment companies” for U.S. tax purposes. Sometimes such investments are the only or primary way to invest in companies in certain countries. Some or all of the capital gains on the sale of such holdings may be considered ordinary income regardless of how long the funds held the investment. In addition, the funds may be subject to corporate income tax and/or an interest charge on certain dividends and capital gains earned from these investments, regardless of whether such income and gains are distributed to shareholders.
To avoid such tax and/or interest, the funds may treat these securities, when possible, as sold on the last day of each of their fiscal years and to recognize any gains for tax purposes at that time; deductions for losses may be allowable only to the extent of any gains resulting from these deemed sales in prior taxable years. Such gains and losses will be treated as ordinary income or losses. The funds will be required to distribute any resulting income, even though they have not sold the security and received cash to pay such distributions.
Investing in Mortgage Entities
Special tax rules may apply to the funds’ investments in entities which invest in or finance mortgage debt. Such investments include residual interests in Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits and interests in a REIT which qualifies as a taxable mortgage pool under the Code or has a qualified REIT subsidiary that is a taxable mortgage pool under the Code. Although it is the practice of the funds not to make such investments, there is no guarantee that the funds will be able to sustain this practice or avoid an inadvertent investment.
Such investments may result in the funds receiving excess inclusion income (“EII”) in which case a portion of its distributions will be characterized as EII and shareholders receiving such distributions, including shares held through nominee accounts, will be deemed to have received EII. This can result in the funds being required to pay tax on the portion allocated to disqualified organizations: certain cooperatives, agencies or instrumentalities of a government or international organization, and tax-exempt organizations that are not subject to tax on unrelated business taxable income. In addition, such amounts will be treated as unrelated business taxable income to tax-exempt organizations that are not disqualified organizations, and will be subject to a 30% withholding tax for shareholders who are not U.S. persons, notwithstanding any exemptions or rate reductions in any relevant tax treaties.
The fund’s Charter authorizes the Board to classify and reclassify any and all shares which are then unissued, including unissued shares of capital stock into any number of classes or series; each class or series consisting of such number of shares and having such designations, such powers, preferences, rights, qualifications, limitations, and restrictions as shall be determined by the Board subject to the 1940 Act and other applicable law. The shares of any such additional classes or series might therefore differ from the shares of the present class and series of capital stock and from each other as to preferences, conversions, or other rights, voting
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powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends, qualifications, or terms or conditions of redemption, subject to applicable law, and might thus be superior or inferior to the capital stock or to other classes or series in various characteristics. The Board may increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that the fund has authorized to issue without shareholder approval.
Except to the extent that the fund’s Board might provide that holders of shares of a particular class are entitled to vote as a class on specified matters presented for a vote of the holders of all shares entitled to vote on such matters, there would be no right of class vote unless and to the extent that such a right might be construed to exist under Maryland law. The directors have provided that as to any matter with respect to which a separate vote of any class is required by the 1940 Act, such requirement as to a separate vote by that class shall apply in lieu of any voting requirements established by the Maryland General Corporation Law. Otherwise, holders of each class of capital stock are not entitled to vote as a class on any matter. Accordingly, the preferences, rights, and other characteristics attaching to any class of shares might be altered or eliminated, or the class might be combined with another class or classes, by action approved by the vote of the holders of a majority of all the shares of all classes entitled to be voted on the proposal, without any additional right to vote as a class by the holders of the capital stock or of another affected class or classes.
Shareholders are entitled to one vote for each full share held (and fractional votes for fractional shares held) and will vote in the election of or removal of directors (to the extent hereinafter provided) and on other matters submitted to the vote of shareholders. There will normally be no meetings of shareholders for the purpose of electing directors unless and until such time as less than a majority of the directors holding office have been elected by shareholders, at which time the directors then in office will call a shareholders’ meeting for the election of directors. Except as set forth above, the directors shall continue to hold office and may appoint successor directors. Voting rights are not cumulative, so that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voting in the election of directors can, if they choose to do so, elect all the directors of the fund, in which event the holders of the remaining shares will be unable to elect any person as a director. As set forth in the By-Laws of the Corporation, a special meeting of shareholders of the Corporation shall be called by the secretary of the Corporation on the written request of shareholders entitled to cast (a) in the case of a meeting for the purpose of removing a director, at least 10% and (b) in the case of a meeting for any other purpose, at least 25%, in each case of all the votes entitled to be cast at such meeting, provided that any such request shall state the purpose or purposes of the meeting and the matters proposed to be acted on. Shareholders requesting such a meeting must pay to the Corporation the reasonably estimated costs of preparing and mailing the notice of the meeting. The Corporation, however, will otherwise assist the shareholders seeking to hold the special meeting in communicating to the other shareholders of the Corporation to the extent required by Section 16(c) of the 1940 Act.
The series (and classes) set forth in the following table have been established by the Board under the Articles of Incorporation of the indicated Corporation. The series represents a separate pool of assets of the Corporation’s shares and has different objectives and investment policies. Maryland law provides that the debts, liabilities, obligations, and expenses incurred with respect to a particular series or class are enforceable against the assets associated with that series or class only. The Articles of Incorporation also provide that the Board may issue additional series of shares. Each share of the fund represents an equal proportionate share in that fund with each other share and is entitled to such dividends and distributions of income belonging to that fund as are declared by the directors. In the event of the liquidation of the fund, each share is entitled to a pro-rata share of the net assets of that fund. Classes represent separate shares in the fund but share the same portfolios as the indicated fund. The fund is registered with the SEC under the 1940 Act as an open-end management investment company, commonly known as a “mutual fund.”
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Maryland Corporations | Year of Inception |
T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund, Inc. (corporation) T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund (series) T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—Advisor Class (class) T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—I Class (class) T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund (series) T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund—Advisor Class (class) T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund—I Class (class) | 1984 2013(a) 2013(a) 2013(a) 1984 2000 2015 |
(a) Reflects the inception date of the Predecessor Fund. The fund’s Investor Class will incept in 2017.
T. Rowe Price recognizes and adheres to the principle that one of the privileges of owning stock in a company is the right to vote on issues submitted to shareholder vote—such as election of directors and important matters affecting a company’s structure and operations. As an investment adviser with a fiduciary responsibility to its clients, T. Rowe Price analyzes the proxy statements of issuers whose stock is owned by the U.S.-registered investment companies that it sponsors and for which it serves as investment adviser. T. Rowe Price also is involved in the proxy process on behalf of its common trusts funds and offshore funds, as well as certain institutional and private counsel clients who have requested such service. For those private counsel clients who have not delegated their voting responsibility but who request advice, T. Rowe Price makes recommendations regarding proxy voting. T. Rowe Price reserves the right to decline to vote proxies in accordance with client-specific voting guidelines.
Proxy Administration
The T. Rowe Price Proxy Committee develops our firm’s positions on all major corporate and social responsibility issues, creates guidelines, and oversees the voting process. The Proxy Committee, composed of portfolio managers, investment operations managers, and internal legal counsel, analyzes proxy policies based on whether they would adversely affect shareholders’ interests and make a company less attractive to own. In evaluating proxy policies each year, the Proxy Committee relies upon our own fundamental research, independent proxy research provided by unaffiliated third parties and information presented by company managements and shareholder groups.
Once the Proxy Committee establishes its recommendations, they are distributed to the firm’s portfolio managers as voting guidelines. Ultimately, the portfolio manager decides how to vote on the proxy proposals of companies in his or her portfolio. Because portfolio managers may have differences of opinion on portfolio companies and their proxies, or their portfolios may have different investment objectives, these factors, among others, may lead to different votes between portfolios on the same proxies. When portfolio managers cast votes that are counter to the Proxy Committee’s guidelines, they are required to document their reasons in writing to the Proxy Committee. Annually, the Proxy Committee reviews T. Rowe Price’s proxy voting process, policies, and voting records.
In order to facilitate the proxy voting process, T. Rowe Price has retained Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC (“Glass Lewis”), an expert in the proxy voting and corporate governance area, to provide proxy advisory and voting services. These services include in-depth research, analysis, and voting recommendations as well as vote execution, reporting, auditing and consulting assistance for the handling of proxy voting responsibility and corporate governance-related efforts. In order to reflect T. Rowe Price’s issue-by-issue voting guidelines as approved each year by the Proxy Committee, Glass Lewis maintains and implements a custom voting policy for the Price Funds and other client accounts. While the Proxy Committee relies upon Glass Lewis research in establishing T. Rowe Price’s voting guidelines—many of which are consistent with Glass Lewis positions—T. Rowe Price deviates from Glass Lewis recommendations on some general policy issues and a number of specific proxy proposals.
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Fiduciary Considerations
T. Rowe Price’s decisions with respect to proxy issues are made in light of the anticipated impact of the issue on the desirability of investing in the portfolio company. Proxies are voted solely in the interests of the client, Price Fund shareholders or, where employee benefit plan assets are involved, in the interests of plan participants and beneficiaries. Practicalities and costs involved with international investing may make it impossible at times, and at other times disadvantageous, to vote proxies in every instance. For example, we might refrain from voting if we or our agents are required to appear in person at a shareholder meeting or if the exercise of voting rights results in the imposition of trading or other ownership restrictions.
Consideration Given Management Recommendations
One of the primary factors T. Rowe Price considers when determining the desirability of investing in a particular company is the quality and depth of its management. We recognize that a company’s management is entrusted with the day-to-day operations of the company, as well as its long-term direction and strategic planning, subject to the oversight of the company’s board of directors. Accordingly, our proxy voting guidelines are not intended to substitute our judgment for management’s with respect to the company’s day-to-day operations. Rather, our voting guidelines are designed to promote accountability of a company’s management and board of directors to its shareholders, to align the interests of management with those of shareholders, and to encourage companies to adopt best practices in terms of their corporate governance. In addition to our voting guidelines, we rely on a company’s disclosures, its board’s recommendations, a company’s track record, country-specific best practices codes, our research providers and, most importantly, our investment professionals’ views, in making voting decisions.
T. Rowe Price Voting Policies
Specific voting guidelines have been established by the Proxy Committee for recurring issues that appear on proxies. The following is a summary of the more significant T. Rowe Price policies:
Election of Directors
For U.S. companies, T. Rowe Price generally supports slates with a majority of independent directors. However, T. Rowe Price may vote against outside directors that do not meet certain criteria relating to their independence, particularly when they serve on key board committees, such as compensation and nominating committees, for which we believe that all directors should be independent. Outside the U.S., we expect companies to adhere to the minimum independence standard established by regional corporate governance codes. At a minimum, however, we believe boards in all regions should include a blend of executive and non-executive members, and we are likely to vote against senior executives at companies without any independent directors. We also vote against directors who are unable to dedicate sufficient time to their board duties due to their commitment to other boards. We may vote against certain directors who have served on company boards where we believe there has been a gross failure in governance or oversight. Additionally, we may vote against directors for failing to establish a formal nominating committee and compensation committee members who approve excessive executive compensation or severance arrangements. We support efforts to elect all board members annually because boards with staggered terms act as deterrents to takeover proposals. To strengthen boards’ accountability to shareholders, T. Rowe Price generally supports proposals calling for a majority vote threshold for the election of directors and we may withhold votes from an entire board if they fail to implement shareholder proposals that receive majority support.
Executive Compensation
Our goal is to assure that a company’s equity-based compensation plan is aligned with shareholders’ long-term interests. We evaluate plans on a case-by-case basis, using a proprietary, scorecard-based approach that employs a number of factors, including dilution to shareholders, problematic plan features, burn rate, and the equity compensation mix. Plans that are constructed to effectively and fairly align executives’ and shareholders’ incentives generally earn our approval. Conversely, we oppose compensation packages that provide what we view as excessive awards to few senior executives, contain the potential for excessive dilution relative to the company’s peers, or rely on an inappropriate mix of options and full-value awards. We also may
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oppose equity plans at any company where we deem the overall compensation practices to be problematic. We generally oppose plans that give a company the ability to reprice options or to grant options at below market prices, unless such plans appropriately balance shareholder and employee interests, and the retention of key personnel has become a genuine risk to the company’s business. For companies with particularly egregious pay practices such as excessive severance packages, executives with outsized pledged/hedged stock positions, executive perks, and bonuses that are not adequately linked to performance, we may vote against compensation committee members. We analyze management proposals requesting ratification of a company’s executive compensation. Finally, we may withhold votes from compensation committee members or even the entire board if we have cast votes against a company’s “Say-on-Pay” vote in consecutive years.
Mergers and Acquisitions
T. Rowe Price considers takeover offers, mergers, and other extraordinary corporate transactions on a case-by-case basis to determine if they are beneficial to shareholders’ current and future earnings stream and to ensure that the Price Funds and our clients are receiving fair compensation in exchange for their investment. We generally oppose proposals for the ratification of executive severance packages (“Say on Golden Parachute” proposals) in conjunction with merger transactions because we believe these arrangements are, by and large, unnecessary, and they reduce the alignment of executives’ incentives with shareholders’ interests.
Anti-takeover, Capital Structure, and Corporate Governance Issues
T. Rowe Price generally opposes anti-takeover measures since they adversely impact shareholder rights and limit the ability of shareholders to act on possible value-enhancing transactions. Such anti-takeover mechanisms include classified boards, supermajority voting requirements, dual share classes, and poison pills. We also generally oppose proposals that give management a “blank check” to create new classes of stock with disparate rights and privileges. When voting on capital structure proposals, we will consider the dilutive impact to shareholders and the effect on shareholder rights. We may support shareholder proposals that call for the separation of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer positions if we determine that insufficient governance safeguards are in place at the company.
Social and Corporate Responsibility Issues
T. Rowe Price generally votes with a company’s management on social, environmental, and corporate responsibility issues unless they have substantial investment implications for the company’s business and operations that have not been adequately addressed by management. T. Rowe Price supports well-targeted shareholder proposals on environmental and other public policy issues that are particularly relevant to a company’s businesses.
Monitoring and Resolving Conflicts of Interest
The Proxy Committee is also responsible for monitoring and resolving possible material conflicts between the interests of T. Rowe Price and those of its clients with respect to proxy voting. We have adopted safeguards to ensure that our proxy voting is not influenced by interests other than those of our fund shareholders. While membership on the Proxy Committee is diverse, it does not include individuals whose primary duties relate to client relationship management, marketing, or sales. Since our voting guidelines are predetermined by the Proxy Committee using recommendations from RMG, an independent third party, application of the T. Rowe Price guidelines to vote clients’ proxies should in most instances adequately address any possible conflicts of interest. However, for proxy votes inconsistent with T. Rowe Price guidelines, the Proxy Committee reviews all such proxy votes in order to determine whether the portfolio manager’s voting rationale appears reasonable. The Proxy Committee also assesses whether any business or other relationships between T. Rowe Price and a portfolio company could have influenced an inconsistent vote on that company’s proxy. Issues raising possible conflicts of interest are referred to designated members of the Proxy Committee for immediate resolution prior to the time T. Rowe Price casts its vote. With respect to personal conflicts of interest, T. Rowe Price’s Code of Ethics requires all employees to avoid placing themselves in a “compromising position” where their interests may conflict with those of our clients and restricts their ability to engage in certain outside business activities. Portfolio managers or Proxy Committee members with a personal conflict of interest regarding a particular proxy vote must recuse themselves and not participate in the voting decisions with respect to that proxy.
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Index, Spectrum Funds, and Target Date
Voting of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., common stock (sym: TROW) by certain T. Rowe Price index funds will be done in all instances in accordance with T. Rowe Price policy, and votes inconsistent with policy will not be permitted. The Spectrum Funds and Target Date Funds own shares in underlying T. Rowe Price funds. If an underlying T. Rowe Price fund has a shareholder meeting, the Spectrum Funds and Target Date Funds normally would vote their shares in the underlying fund in the same proportion as the votes of the other shareholders of the underlying fund. This is known as “echo voting” and is designed to avoid any potential for a conflict of interest. This same process would be followed with respect to any Price Funds owning shares of other Price Funds (other than the TRP Reserve Funds).
T. Rowe Price Proxy Vote Disclosure
The Price Funds make broad disclosure of their proxy votes on troweprice.com and on the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov. All funds, regardless of their fiscal years, must file with the SEC by August 31 and file their proxy voting records for the most recent 12-month period ended June 30. Proxy voting records for the Predecessor Fund may be accessed through http://www.sec.gov.
The funds’ shares are registered for sale under the 1933 Act. Registration of the fund’s shares are not required under any state law, but the funds are required to make certain filings with and pay fees to the states in order to sell their shares in the states.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, whose address is 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10019, is legal counsel to the funds.
Moody’s P-1 superior capacity for repayment. P-2 strong capacity for repayment. P-3 acceptable capacity for repayment of short-term promissory obligations.
S&P A-1 highest category, degree of safety regarding timely payment is strong. Those issues determined to possess extremely strong safety characteristics are denoted with a plus sign (+) designation. A-2 satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest. A-3 adequate capacity for timely payment, but are more vulnerable to adverse effects of changes in circumstances than higher-rated issues. B and C speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.
Fitch F-1+ exceptionally strong credit quality, strongest degree of assurance for timely payment. F-1 very strong credit quality. F-2 good credit quality, having a satisfactory degree of assurance for timely payment. F-3 fair credit quality, assurance for timely payment is adequate, but adverse changes could cause the securities to be rated below investment grade.
Moody’s The rating of Prime-1 is the highest commercial paper rating assigned by Moody’s. Among the factors considered by Moody’s in assigning ratings are the following: valuation of the management of the issuer; economic evaluation of the issuer’s industry or industries and an appraisal of speculative-type risks which may be inherent in certain areas; evaluation of the issuer’s products in relation to competition and customer acceptance; liquidity; amount and quality of long-term debt; trend of earnings over a period of 10 years; financial strength of the parent company and the relationships which exist with the issuer; and
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recognition by the management of obligations which may be present or may arise as a result of public interest questions and preparations to meet such obligations. These factors are all considered in determining whether the commercial paper is rated P-1, P-2, or P-3.
S&P Commercial paper rated A (highest quality) by S&P has the following characteristics: liquidity ratios are adequate to meet cash requirements; long-term senior debt is rated “A” or better, although in some cases “BBB” credits may be allowed. The issuer has access to at least two additional channels of borrowing. Basic earnings and cash flow have an upward trend with allowance made for unusual circumstances. Typically, the issuer’s industry is well established and the issuer has a strong position within the industry. The reliability and quality of management are unquestioned. The relative strength or weakness of the above factors determines whether the issuer’s commercial paper is rated A-1, A-2, or A-3.
Fitch Fitch 1–Highest grade Commercial paper assigned this rating is regarded as having the strongest degree of assurance for timely payment. Fitch 2–Very good grade Issues assigned this rating reflect an assurance of timely payment only slightly less in degree than the strongest issues.
Moody’s
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.”
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.
A–Bonds rated A possess many favorable investment attributes and are to be considered as upper medium-grade obligations.
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 futures 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 the characteristics of a 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 repayment of principal or payment of 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 represent the lowest rated and have extremely poor prospects of attaining investment standing.
S&P
AAA–This is the highest rating assigned by Standard & Poor’s to a debt obligation and indicates an extremely strong capacity to pay principal and interest.
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AA–Bonds rated AA also qualify as high-quality debt obligations. Capacity to pay principal and interest is very strong.
A–Bonds rated A have a strong capacity to pay principal and interest, although they are somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions.
BBB–Bonds rated BBB are regarded as having an adequate capacity to pay principal and interest. Whereas they normally exhibit adequate protection parameters, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity to pay principal and interest for bonds in this category than for bonds in the A category.
BB, B, CCC, CC, C–Bonds rated BB, B, CCC, CC, and C are regarded on balance as predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. BB indicates the lowest degree of speculation and C the highest degree of speculation. While such bonds will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these are outweighed by large uncertainties or major risk exposures to adverse conditions.
D–In default.
Fitch
AAA–High grade, broadly marketable, suitable for investment by trustees and fiduciary institutions, and liable to slight market fluctuation other than through changes in the money rate. The prime feature of an AAA bond is the showing of earnings several times or many times interest requirements for such stability of applicable interest that safety is beyond reasonable question whenever changes occur in conditions. Other features may enter, such as wide margin of protection through collateral, security, or direct lien on specific property. Sinking funds or voluntary reduction of debt by call or purchase are often factors, while guarantee or assumption by parties other than the original debtor may influence the rating.
AA–Of safety virtually beyond question and readily salable. Their merits are not greatly unlike those of AAA class, but a bond so rated may be junior, though of strong lien, or the margin of safety is less strikingly broad. The issue may be the obligation of a small company, strongly secured, but influenced as to rating by the lesser financial power of the enterprise and more local type of market.
A–Bonds rated A are considered to be investment grade and of high credit quality. The obligor’s ability to pay interest and repay principal is considered to be strong but may be more vulnerable to adverse changes in economic conditions and circumstances than bonds with higher ratings.
BBB–Bonds rated BBB are considered to be investment grade and of satisfactory credit quality. The obligor’s ability to pay interest and repay principal is considered to be adequate. Adverse changes in economic conditions and circumstances, however, are more likely to have adverse impact on these bonds and therefore impair timely payment. The likelihood that the ratings of these bonds will fall below investment grade is higher than for bonds with higher ratings.
BB, B, CCC, CC, and C–Bonds rated BB, B, CCC, CC, and C are regarded on balance as predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal in accordance with the terms of the obligation for bond issues not in default. BB indicates the lowest degree of speculation and C the highest degree of speculation. The rating takes into consideration special features of the issue, its relationship to other obligations of the issuer, and the current and prospective financial condition and operating performance of the issuer.
Moody’s VMIG-1/MIG-1 the best quality. VMIG-2/MIG-2 high quality, with margins of protection ample, though not so large as in the preceding group. VMIG-3/MIG-3 favorable quality, with all security elements
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accounted for, but lacking the undeniable strength of the preceding grades. Market access for refinancing, in particular, is likely to be less well established. SG adequate quality, but there is specific risk.
S & P SP-1 very strong or strong capacity to pay principal and interest. Those issues determined to possess overwhelming safety characteristics will be given a plus (+) designation. SP-2 satisfactory capacity to pay interest and principal. SP-3 speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.
Fitch F-1+ exceptionally strong credit quality, strongest degree of assurance for timely payment. F-1 very strong credit quality. F-2 good credit quality, having a satisfactory degree of assurance for timely payment. F-3 fair credit quality, assurance for timely payment is adequate, but adverse changes could cause the securities to be rated below investment grade.
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PART C
OTHER INFORMATION
Item 28. Exhibits
(a)(1) Articles of Incorporation of Registrant, dated October 9, 1984 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 15 dated April 25, 1994)
(a)(2) Articles Supplementary of Registrant, on behalf of T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund—Advisor Class, dated March 14, 2000 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 23 dated March 27, 2000)
(a)(3) Articles Supplementary of Registrant, on behalf of T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund and T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund—Advisor Class, dated May 19, 2004 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 28 dated September 29, 2004)
(a)(4) Articles Supplementary of Registrant, dated April 5, 2007 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 31 dated September 19, 2007)
(a)(5) Articles Supplementary of Registrant, dated February 7, 2012 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 38 dated September 27, 2012)
(a)(6) Articles Supplementary of Registrant, on behalf of T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund—I Class, dated July 23, 2015 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 45 dated August 12, 2015)
(a)(7) Articles Supplementary of Registrant, on behalf of T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund, T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—Advisor Class, and T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—I Class, dated March 20, 2017
(b) By-Laws of Registrant, as amended January 21, 1988, April 20, 1990, July 1, 1991, July 20, 1993, January 18, 1994, July 21, 1999, October 16, 2002, February 5, 2003, April 21, 2004, February 8, 2005, July 22, 2008, and October 17, 2011 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 38 dated September 27, 2012)
(c) Article SEVENTH, Section I—Issue of the Corporation's Shares and Section II--Redemption and Repurchase of the Corporation's Shares, in their entirety, from the Registrant's Articles of Incorporation, is hereby incorporated by reference from Amendment No. 15, electronically filed and dated April 25, 1994 and Article II, Shareholders, in its entirety, and Article VIII, Capital Stock, from the Registrant's By-Laws, are also incorporated by reference from Amendment No. 15 electronically filed and dated April 25, 1994
(d)(1) Investment Management Agreement between Registrant and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., dated July 1, 1987 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 15 dated April 25, 1994)
(d)(2) Amended Investment Management Agreement between Registrant and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., dated August 1, 2004 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 28 dated September 29, 2004)
(d)(3) Investment Management Agreement between Registrant and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., on behalf of T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund, T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—Advisor Class, and T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—I Class, dated ..February 6, 2017
(e) Underwriting Agreement between Registrant and T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., dated May 1, 2003 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 30 dated September 26, 2003)
(f) Inapplicable
(g) Custody Agreements
(g)(1) Custodian Agreement between T. Rowe Price Funds and State Street Bank and Trust Company, dated January 28, 1998, as amended November 4, 1998, April 21, 1999, February 9, 2000, April 19, 2000, July 18, 2000, October 25, 2000, February 7, 2001, June 7, 2001, July 24, 2001, April 24, 2002, July 24, 2002, September 4, 2002, July 23, 2003, October 22, 2003, February 4, 2004, September 20, 2004, March 2, 2005, April 19, 2006, July 19, 2006, October 18, 2006, April 24, 2007, June 12, 2007, July 24, 2007, October 23, 2007, February 6, 2008, July 22, 2008, October 21, 2008, April 22, 2009, August 28, 2009, October 20, 2009, February 10, 2010, April 29, 2010, July 6, 2010, July 21, 2010, October 21, 2010, April 15, 2011, April 20, 2011, October 17, 2011, February 9, 2012, April 24, 2012, September 9, 2012,
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November 7, 2012, March 14, 2013, April 4, 2013, April 22, 2013, July 1, 2013, July 24, 2013, February 4, 2014, March 19, 2014, May 14, 2014, June 5, 2014, August 5, 2014, November 21, 2014, June 8, 2015, July 16, 2015, July 30, 2015, July 31, 2015, August 3, 2015, September 16, 2015, September 18, 2015, October 27, 2015, February 23, 2016, April 8, 2016, May 2, 2016, July 12, 2016, August 1, 2016, and October 3, 2016
(g)(2) Global Custody Agreement between JPMorgan Chase Bank and T. Rowe Price Funds, dated January 3, 1994, as amended April 18, 1994, August 15, 1994, November 28, 1994, May 31, 1995, November 1, 1995, July 31, 1996, July 23, 1997, September 3, 1997, October 29, 1997, December 15, 1998, October 6, 1999, February 9, 2000, April 19, 2000, July 18, 2000, October 25, 2000, July 24, 2001, April 24, 2002, July 24, 2002, July 23, 2003, October 22, 2003, September 20, 2004, December 14, 2005, April 19, 2006, October 18, 2006, April 24, 2007, July 24, 2007, October 23, 2007, February 6, 2008, July 22, 2008, October 21, 2008, April 22, 2009, October 1, 2009, October 20, 2009, December 16, 2009, February 10, 2010, April 29, 2010, July 21, 2010, February 3, 2011, April 21, 2011, July 29, 2011, October 17, 2011, February 8, 2012, April 24, 2012, February 5, 2013, March 5, 2013, July 24, 2013, December 10, 2013, February 4, 2014, July 17, 2014, December 22, 2014, July 31, 2015, February 26, 2016, April 21, 2016, July 15, 2016, and July 26, 2016
(h) Other Agreements
(h)(1) Transfer Agency and Service Agreement between T. Rowe Price Services, Inc. and T. Rowe Price Funds, dated January 1, 2017, as amended April 10, 2017
(h)(2) Agreement between T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and T. Rowe Price Funds for Fund Accounting Services, dated January 1, 2014, as amended February 4, 2014, April 29, 2014, November 1, 2014, December 29, 2014, January 20, 2015, July 1, 2015, and July 27, 2015 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 47 dated September 23, 2015)
(h)(3) Agreement between T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and the T. Rowe Price Funds for Fund Accounting and Related Administrative Services, dated August 1, 2015, as amended November 3, 2015, April 27, 2016, July 19, 2016, August 1, 2016, October 25, 2016, and April 18, 2017
(h)(4) Fund Accounting Agreement between T. Rowe Price Funds, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and The Bank of New York Mellon, dated August 1, 2015, as amended December 9, 2015, February 23, 2016, April 27, 2016, April 30, 2016, July 19, 2016, August 1, 2016, September 28, 2016, and October 25, 2016
(h)(5) Fund Accounting Agreement Side Letter between T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and the T. Rowe Price Funds in connection with the Fund Accounting Agreement between the T. Rowe Price Funds, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and The Bank of New York Mellon dated August 1, 2015, as amended November 3, 2015, April 18, 2016, July 19, 2016, August 1, 2016, and October 25, 2016
(h)(6) Agreement between T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc. and the T. Rowe Price Funds, dated January 1, 2017, as amended April 10, 2017
(h)(7) I Class Expense Limitation Agreement between T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and the T. Rowe Price Funds listed on Exhibit A of the Agreement, dated July 27, 2015 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 45 dated August 12, 2015)
(h)(8) Expense Limitation Agreement between T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and Registrant, on behalf of the T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund, T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—Advisor Class, and T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—I Class, dated February 6, 2017
(i) Legal Opinion
(j) Other Opinions
(j)(1) Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
(j)(2) Power of Attorney
(k) Inapplicable
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(l) Inapplicable
(m)(1) Rule 12b-1 Plan for T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund—Advisor Class, dated May 1, 2003 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 30 dated September 26, 2003)
(m)(2) Rule 12b-1 Rule for T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—Advisor Class, dated May 22, 2017 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 51 dated February 17, 2017)
(m)(3) Form of Selling Agreement to be used by T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. (electronically filed with Amendment No. 23 dated March 27, 2000)
(n)(1) Rule 18f-3 Plan for T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund, T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund—Advisor Class, and T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund—I Class, dated February 9, 2000 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 23 dated March 27, 2000)
(n)(2) Amended and Restated Rule 18f-3 Plan for T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund, T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund—Advisor Class, and T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund—I Class, dated August 28, 2015 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 45 dated August 12, 2015)
(n)(3) Rule 18f-3 Plan for T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund, T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—Advisor Class, and T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund—I Class, dated May 22, 2017 (electronically filed with Amendment No. 51 dated February 17, 2017)
(p) Code of Ethics and Conduct, dated March 1, 2017
Item 29. Persons Controlled by or Under Common Control With Registrant
None
Item 30. Indemnification
The Registrant maintains comprehensive Errors and Omissions and Officers and Directors insurance policies written by ICI Mutual. These policies provide coverage for T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (“Manager”), and its subsidiaries and affiliates as listed in Item 31 of this Registration Statement and all other investment companies in the T. Rowe Price family of mutual funds. In addition to the corporate insureds, the policies also cover the officers, directors, and employees of the Manager, its subsidiaries, and affiliates. The premium is allocated among the named corporate insureds in accordance with the provisions of Rule 17d-1(d)(7) under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
General. The Charter of the Corporation provides that to the fullest extent permitted by Maryland or federal law, no director or officer of the Corporation shall be personally liable to the Corporation or the holders of Shares for money damages and each director and officer shall be indemnified by the Corporation; provided, however, that nothing therein shall be deemed to protect any director or officer of the Corporation against any liability to the Corporation of the holders of Shares to which such director or officer would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office.
Article X, Section 10.01 of the Registrant’s By-Laws provides as follows:
Section 10.01. Indemnification and Payment of Expenses in Advance: The Corporation shall indemnify any individual (“Indemnitee”) who is a present or former director, officer, employee, or agent of the Corporation, or who is or has been serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, who, by reason of his position was, is, or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending, or completed action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative (hereinafter collectively referred to as a “Proceeding”) against any judgments, penalties, fines, settlements, and reasonable expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by such Indemnitee in connection with any Proceeding, to the fullest extent that such indemnification may be lawful under Maryland law. The Corporation shall pay any reasonable expenses so incurred by such Indemnitee in defending a Proceeding in advance of the final disposition thereof to the fullest extent that such advance payment may be lawful under Maryland law. Subject to any applicable limitations and requirements set forth in the Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation and in these By-Laws, any payment of indemnification or advance of expenses shall be made in accordance with the procedures set forth in Maryland law.
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing herein shall protect or purport to protect any Indemnitee against any liability to which he would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his office (“Disabling Conduct”).
Anything in this Article X to the contrary notwithstanding, no indemnification shall be made by the Corporation to any Indemnitee unless:
(a) there is a final decision on the merits by a court or other body before whom the Proceeding was brought that the Indemnitee was not liable by reason of Disabling Conduct; or
(b) in the absence of such a decision, there is a reasonable determination, based upon a review of the facts, that the Indemnitee was not liable by reason of Disabling Conduct, which determination shall be made by:
(i) the vote of a majority of a quorum of directors who are neither “interested persons” of the Corporation as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Investment Company Act, nor parties to the Proceeding; or
(ii) an independent legal counsel in a written opinion.
Anything in this Article X to the contrary notwithstanding, any advance of expenses by the Corporation to any Indemnitee shall be made only upon the undertaking by such Indemnitee to repay the advance unless it is ultimately determined that such Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification as above provided, and only if one of the following conditions is met:
(a) the Indemnitee provides a security for his undertaking; or
(b) the Corporation shall be insured against losses arising by reason of any lawful advances; or
(c) there is a determination, based on a review of readily available facts, that there is reason to believe that the Indemnitee will ultimately be found entitled to indemnification, which determination shall be made by:
(i) a majority of a quorum of directors who are neither “interested persons” of the Corporation as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Investment Company Act, nor parties to the Proceeding; or
(ii) an independent legal counsel in a written opinion.
Section 10.02. Insurance of Officers, Directors, Employees, and Agents. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable Maryland law and by Section 17(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as from time to time amended, the Corporation may purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of the Corporation, or who is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee, or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, or other enterprise, against any liability asserted against him and incurred by him in or arising out of his position, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify him against such liability.
Insofar as indemnification for liability arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers, and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer, or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit, or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer, or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
Item 31. Business and Other Connections of Investment Manager
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (“T. Rowe Price Group”) is an independent asset management firm that is committed to serving the needs of investors worldwide and owns 100% of the stock of T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. T. Rowe Price Group is a Maryland corporation and was formed in 2000 as a holding company for the T. Rowe Price affiliated companies. T. Rowe Price Group is the direct or indirect owner of multiple subsidiaries.
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T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (“Price Associates”), a wholly owned subsidiary of T. Rowe Price Group, was incorporated in Maryland in 1947. Price Associates serves as investment adviser to individual and institutional investors, including managing private counsel client accounts, serving as adviser and sub-adviser to U.S. and foreign registered investment companies, and providing investment advice to T. Rowe Price Trust Company as trustee of several Maryland-registered domestic common trust funds. Price Associates is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
T. Rowe Price International Ltd (“Price International”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Price Associates, was organized in 2000 as a United Kingdom limited company. In 2010, the company changed its name from T. Rowe Price Global Investment Services Limited to T. Rowe Price International Ltd. Price International is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and is also authorized and regulated by the FCA, and licensed by the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, and the Financial Services Agency of Japan, among other global regulators. Price International sponsors and serves as adviser to foreign collective investment schemes and is, along with T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited and T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. (as defined later), responsible for marketing and client servicing for non-U.S. clients. Price International provides investment management services to registered investment companies and other institutional investors, and may delegate investment management responsibilities to Price Associates, T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited, and/or T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. Price International also acts as sponsor, investment manager, and primary distributor of collective investment schemes domiciled in Luxembourg and Australia. Price International is headquartered in London and has several branch offices around the world.
T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited (“Price Hong Kong”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Price International, was organized as a Hong Kong limited company in 2010. Price Hong Kong is responsible for marketing and client servicing of non-US clients based in certain Asian countries, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. Price Hong Kong is licensed with the SFC and is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Price Hong Kong serves as a sub-adviser to registered investment companies and other commingled products for which Price International serves as adviser, and provides investment management services for other clients who seek to primarily invest in securities markets of the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan and Australia).
T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. (“Price Singapore”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Price International, was organized as a Singapore limited private company in 2010. Price Singapore is responsible for marketing and client servicing of non-U.S. clients based in Singapore and certain other Asian countries. Price Singapore holds a Capital Markets Service License in Fund Management with the MAS and is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Price Singapore may serve as a sub-adviser to registered investment companies, and may provide investment management services for institutional clients and certain commingled products for which Price International serves as adviser.
T. Rowe Price (Switzerland) GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Price International, was organized as a Swiss limited company in 2011. It is licensed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA to distribute collective investment schemes. T. Rowe Price (Switzerland) GmbH is responsible for marketing and client servicing for institutional clients.
T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. (“Investment Services”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Price Associates, was incorporated in Maryland in 1980 for the specific purpose of acting as principal underwriter and distributor of the registered investment companies for which Price Associates serves as sponsor and investment adviser (the “Price Funds”). Investment Services also serves as distributor of interests in certain section 529 college savings plans managed by Price Associates. Investment Services is registered as a broker-dealer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. Investment Services’ Brokerage Division acts as an introducing broker-dealer for customers who want to buy and sell individual securities.
T. Rowe Price Services, Inc. (“Price Services”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Price Associates, was incorporated in Maryland in 1982 and is registered as a transfer agent under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Price Services provides transfer agent, dividend disbursing, and certain other services, including accounting and shareholder services, to the Price Funds and section 529 college savings plans, and also provides shareholder services to certain affiliates of Price Associates.
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T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc. (“RPS”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Price Associates, was incorporated in Maryland in 1991 and is registered as a transfer agent under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. RPS provides administrative and recordkeeping services to employee benefit plan clients.
T. Rowe Price Trust Company (“Trust Company”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Price Associates, was incorporated in 1983 as a Maryland-chartered limited-service trust company for the purpose of providing fiduciary services. Under its charter, the Trust Company is not permitted to accept deposits or make commercial loans. The Trust Company serves as directed trustee and/or custodian for certain retirement plans and accounts, including Price Fund individual retirement accounts and certain pre-approved retirement plans offered through Trust Company affiliates. The Trust Company has established and maintains common trust funds (also known as collective investment funds) that are available to qualified and government retirement plans.
TRPH Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Price Associates, was incorporated in 1997 and is an owner of investment interests in certain outside corporate entities.
T. Rowe Price (Canada), Inc. (“TRP Canada”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Price Associates, was incorporated in Maryland in 1988 and is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. TRP Canada is also registered with the Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick Securities Commissions, the Saskatchewan Financial Services Commission, the Autorite des Marches Financiers in Quebec, and the Office of the Superintendent of Securities in Prince Edward Island. TRP Canada provides advisory services to institutional clients residing in Canada and delegates investment management services to Price Associates, Price International, Price Hong Kong, and/or Price Singapore.
T. Rowe Price Insurance Agency, Inc. was dissolved on December 31, 2016.
TRP Suburban, Inc. (“TRP Suburban”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Price Associates, was incorporated in Maryland in 1990. TRP Suburban entered into agreements with McDonogh School and CMANE-McDonogh-Rowe Limited Partnership to construct an office building in Owings Mills, Maryland, which currently houses Price Associates investment technology personnel.
TRP Suburban Second, Inc., a wholly owned Maryland subsidiary of Price Associates, was incorporated in 1995 to primarily engage in the development and ownership of real property located in Owings Mills, Maryland. The corporate campus houses transfer agent, plan administrative services, retirement plan services, and operations support functions.
TRP Colorado Springs, LLC, a wholly owned Maryland subsidiary of Price Associates, was formed in 2006 to primarily engage in the development and ownership of real property located in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
TRP Office Florida, LLC, a wholly owned Maryland subsidiary of Price Associates, was formed in 2009 to primarily engage in the development and ownership of real property located in Tampa, Florida.
T. Rowe Price Advisory Services, Inc., (“Advisory Services”), a wholly owned subsidiary of T. Rowe Price Group, was incorporated in Maryland in 2000. Advisory Services is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and provides investment advisory services to individuals, including shareholders of the Price Funds.
T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) Management SARL (“SARL”), a Luxembourg Societe a responsabilite limitee, organized on April 5, 1990 (and purchased by T. Rowe Price Group on May 23, 2003). It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Price International. SARL acts as the management company of certain Luxembourg Funds, a UK fund and a Cayman fund, and is charged with the administration and management of the funds. SARL is registered with the Luxembourg Commercial Register and is regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier. SARL outsources functions associated with such administration and management.
Directors of T. Rowe Price Group
Listed below are the directors and executive officers of T. Rowe Price Group who have other substantial businesses, professions, vocations, or employment aside from their association with Price Associates:
Mark S. Bartlett, Director of T. Rowe Price Group. Prior to retiring in 2012, Mr. Bartlett started his career at Ernst & Young in 1972, earned the designation of certified public accountant, became a partner in 1985, and the Baltimore
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Office Managing Partner in June 1998. Mr. Bartlett also serves on the boards of directors of Rexnord Corporation, FTI Consulting and The Baltimore Life Insurance Company. Mr. Bartlett’s address is 1206 Scotts Knoll Court, Lutherville, Maryland 21093.
Mary K. Bush, Director of T. Rowe Price Group. Ms. Bush has served as president of Bush International, LLC, which advises U.S. corporations and foreign governments on international capital markets, strategic business, and economic matters, since 1991. She is also a senior managing director of Brock Capital Group, a corporate advisory and consulting firm. Ms. Bush serves on the boards of directors of Discover Financial Services, ManTech International Corporation, Marriott International, Inc., and Bloom Energy. Ms. Bush’s address is 3509 Woodbine Street, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815.
H. Lawrence Culp, Director of T. Rowe Price Group. Mr. Culp was chief executive officer and president of Danaher Corporation from 2001 to 2014 and is now a senior advisor to the company. He serves as chair of the Board of Visitors and Governors for Washington College and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Wake Forest University. Mr. Culp recently joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School as a senior lecturer. Mr. Culp holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington College and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School. Mr. Culp’s address is 863 Alvermar Ridge Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102.
Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, Director of T. Rowe Price Group. Mr. Hrabowski has served as President of the University of Maryland since 1992. He serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Academies, and universities and school systems nationally. He also serves on the boards of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, France-Merrick Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation (Chair), The Urban Institute, the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education, McCormick & Company, and the Baltimore Equitable Society. Mr. Hrabowski’s address is 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, Maryland 21250.
Robert F. MacLellan, Director of T. Rowe Price Group. Mr. MacLellan is non-executive chairman of Northleaf Capital Partners. He also serves as Chairman of Yellow Media, Inc. and is a member of the board of directors of Wind Mobile, Right to Play and the Toronto Community Foundation. Mr. MacLellan’s address is 79 Wellington Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5K 1N9.
Olympia J. Snowe, Director of T. Rowe Price Group. Ms. Snowe is chairman and chief executive officer of Olympia Snowe, LLC, a policy and communications consulting firm, and a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, where she serves on its board of directors and co-chairs its Commission on Political Reform. Ms. Snowe also served as Senator in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2013, and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1995. Ms. Snowe serves on the boards of Aetna, Inc., Synchrony Financial, and Synchrony Bank. Ms. Snowe’s address is One Canal Plaza, Suite 501, Portland, Maine 04101.
Dwight S. Taylor, Director of T. Rowe Price Group. From 1998 to 2009, Mr. Taylor was president of COPT Development and Construction, LLC, a commercial real estate developer that is a subsidiary of Corporate Office Properties Trust. Mr. Taylor is a founding member of Associated Black Charities of Maryland and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute Foundation, Teach for America, The Y of Central Maryland and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Lincoln University. Mr. Taylor’s address is 22 Stone Gate Court, Pikesville, Maryland 21208.
Anne Marie Whittemore, Director of T. Rowe Price Group. Ms. Whittemore is a partner of the law firm of McGuireWoods, L.L.P. and a Director of Owens & Minor, Inc. Ms. Whittemore’s address is One James Center, Richmond, Virginia 23219.
Sandra S. Wijnberg, Director of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. Ms. Wijnberg is an executive advisor of Aquiline Capital Partners LLC, a private equity investment firm specializing in the financial services sector. Ms. Wijnberg currently serves on the Board of Directors of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. and from 2003 to 2016 served on the Board of Directors of Tyco International PLC. She is also a director of Seeds of Peace, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, Spark MicroGrants, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
Alan D. Wilson, Director of T. Rowe Price Group. Mr. Wilson is currently executive chairman of McCormick & Company, Inc. He was chairman and chief executive officer of McCormick & Company, Inc. from 2008 - 2016. He serves on the boards of directors of the WestRock Company, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Greater Baltimore Committee. Mr. Wilson also serves on the Board of Visitors of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County as well as the Advisory Council for the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business. Mr. Wilson
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holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tennessee and received an honorary doctorate in science from the Maryland University of Integrative Health. Mr. Wilson’s address is 18 Loveton Circle, Sparks, Maryland 21152.
Independent Manager of T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) Management SÀRL
Alfred Francois (Freddy) Brausch, Manager of T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) Management SÀRL. Mr. Brausch was a managing partner of Linklaters LLP Luxembourg until April 2016. He serves as Vice Chairman and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Luxembourg Investment Fund Association (“ALFI”). Mr. Brausch also serves as a member of the Haut Comité Juridique de la Place Financière, and several advisory committees to the Luxembourg Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (“CSSF”). Mr. Brausch’s address is 35 Avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855, Luxembourg.
The following are directors or executive officers of T. Rowe Price Group and/or the investment managers to the Price Funds (Price Associates, Price Hong Kong, Price International, and Price Singapore):
Name | Company Name | Position
Held |
Christopher D. Alderson | T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President |
T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price International Ltd | Director Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. | Vice President | |
Oliver D. Bell | T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) | Director |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price International Ltd | Vice President |
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Name | Company Name | Position Held |
Edward C. Bernard | T. Rowe Price Advisory Services, Inc. | Chairman of the Board Director Vice President |
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | Director Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice Chairman of the Board Director Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Insurance Agency, Inc. | Director President | |
T. Rowe Price International Ltd | Chairman of the Board Chief Executive Officer Director President | |
T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. | Chairman of the Board Director Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc. | Chairman of the Board Director | |
T. Rowe Price Services, Inc. | Chairman of the Board Director Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Trust Company | Chairman of the Board Chief Executive Officer Director President | |
Jeremy M. Fisher | T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) | Vice President Authorized Signer – Regulatory |
T. Rowe Price (Switzerland) GmbH | Director Managing Officer | |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited | Chief Compliance Officer Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price International Ltd | Chief Compliance Officer Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. | Chief Compliance Officer Vice President | |
John R. Gilner | T. Rowe Price (Canada), Inc. | Vice President |
T. Rowe Price Advisory Services, Inc. | Chief Compliance Officer | |
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | Chief Compliance Officer Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. | Vice President | |
Robert C.T. Higginbotham | T. Rowe Price (Canada), Inc. | Chairman of the Board Director President |
T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) | Director | |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price International Ltd | Director Vice President | |
Scott E. Keller | T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President |
T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited | Director | |
T. Rowe Price International Ltd | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. | Director Vice President |
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Name | Company Name | Position Held |
Ian D. Kelson | T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President |
T. Rowe Price International Ltd | Director Vice President | |
Kenneth V. Moreland | T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | Chief Financial Officer Vice President |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Chief Financial Officer Vice President Treasurer | |
T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) | Authorized Signer – Accounts | |
TRP Colorado Springs, LLC | President | |
TRP Office Florida, LLC | President | |
TRP Suburban Second, Inc. | Director President | |
TRP Suburban, Inc. | Director President | |
TRPH Corporation | Director President | |
Christine M. Morgan | T. Rowe Price (Canada), Inc. | Director Vice President |
T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) | Director Vice President Authorized Signer | |
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price International Ltd | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Trust Company | Vice President |
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Name | Company Name | Position Held |
David Oestreicher | T. Rowe Price (Canada), Inc. | Secretary Vice President |
T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) | Director Vice President Authorized Signer | |
T. Rowe Price Advisory Services, Inc. | Director Secretary | |
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | Secretary Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Secretary Vice President Chief Legal Officer | |
T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Insurance Agency, Inc. | Director Secretary Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price International Ltd | Secretary Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. | Director Secretary Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc. | Director Secretary Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Services, Inc. | Director Secretary Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Trust Company | Director Secretary Vice President | |
TRP Colorado Springs, LLC | Secretary | |
TRP Office Florida, LLC | Secretary | |
TRP Suburban Second, Inc. | Secretary | |
TRP Suburban, Inc. | Secretary | |
TRPH Corporation | Director Secretary Vice President | |
Brian C. Rogers | T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Director |
Robert W. Sharps | T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | Vice President |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Chief Investment Officer Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Trust Company | Vice President | |
William J. Stromberg | T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | Director President |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Chief Executive Officer Director President | |
T. Rowe Price International Ltd | Vice President | |
Christine Po Kwan To | T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President |
T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited | Director Vice President |
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Name | Company Name | Position Held |
Keswaralingam Visuvalingam | T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President |
T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited | Director Vice President Responsible Officer | |
T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. | Chief Executive Officer Director Vice President | |
Paul W. Wojcik | T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) | Director |
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President Chief Risk Officer | |
T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price International Ltd | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. | Vice President | |
T. Rowe Price Trust Company | Vice President | |
Ernest C. Yeung | T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | Vice President |
T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited | Director Vice President Responsible Officer |
Certain directors and officers of T. Rowe Price Group and T. Rowe Price Associates are also officers and/or directors of one or more of the Price Funds and/or one or more of the affiliated entities listed herein.
See also “Management of the Funds,” in Registrant’s Statement of Additional Information.
Item 32. Principal Underwriters
(a) The principal underwriter for the Registrant is Investment Services. Investment Services acts as the principal underwriter for the mutual funds sponsored and managed by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., including the following investment companies:
T. Rowe Price Balanced Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price California Tax-Free Income Trust |
T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Fund |
T. Rowe Price Capital Opportunity Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Corporate Income Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Credit Opportunities Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Diversified Mid-Cap Growth Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Equity Income Fund |
T. Rowe Price Equity Series, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Financial Services Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Fixed Income Series, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Floating Rate Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Global Allocation Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Global Multi-Sector Bond Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Global Real Estate Fund, Inc. |
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T. Rowe Price Global Technology Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price GNMA Fund |
T. Rowe Price Government Money Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Growth & Income Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Growth Stock Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Index Trust, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Inflation Protected Bond Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Institutional Equity Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Institutional Income Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Institutional International Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Intermediate Tax-Free High Yield Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price International Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price International Index Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price International Series, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Limited Duration Inflation Focused Bond Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Media & Telecommunications Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Value Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Multi-Sector Account Portfolios, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price New America Growth Fund |
T. Rowe Price New Era Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price New Horizons Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price New Income Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Quantitative Management Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Real Assets Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Real Estate Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Reserve Investment Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Retirement Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Science & Technology Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Short-Term Bond Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Value Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Spectrum Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price State Tax-Free Income Trust |
T. Rowe Price Summit Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Summit Municipal Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Tax-Efficient Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Tax-Exempt Money Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Tax-Free High Yield Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Tax-Free Income Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Tax-Free Short-Intermediate Fund, Inc. |
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T. Rowe Price Total Return Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price U.S. Bond Enhanced Index Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price U.S. Large-Cap Core Fund, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price U.S. Treasury Funds, Inc. |
T. Rowe Price Value Fund, Inc. |
Investment Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., is registered as a broker-dealer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. Investment Services has been formed for the limited purpose of distributing the shares of the Price Funds and will not engage in the general securities business. Investment Services will not receive any commissions or other compensation for acting as principal underwriter.
(b) The address of each of the directors and officers of Investment Services listed below is 100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.
Name | Positions and Offices | Positions and Offices With Registrant |
Edward C. Bernard | Chairman of the Board, Director, and Vice President | Chairman of the Board |
Scott B. David | Director and President | None |
Timothy S. Dignan | Treasurer and Vice President | None |
Stephanie P. Mumford | Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President | None |
Barbara A. O’Connor | Controller and Vice President | None |
David Oestreicher | Director, Vice President, and Secretary | Vice President |
Constante R. Abaya | Vice President | None |
Brent A. Andersen | Vice President | None |
Cheryl L. Armitage | Vice President | None |
Andrew Astley | Vice President | None |
Christopher P. Augelli | Vice President | None |
Andrew L. Baird | Vice President | None |
Steven J. Banks | Vice President | None |
Antonio Bass | Vice President | None |
Thomas E. Bauer | Vice President | None |
Katherine Keene Becker | Vice President | None |
Cheri M. Belski | Vice President | None |
Sukhvinder K. Bhogal | Vice President | None |
Bryan K. Blackmon | Vice President | None |
Thomas J. Bonner | Vice President | None |
Matthew W. Boren | Vice President | None |
Darrell N. Braman | Vice President | Vice President and Secretary |
Jaime M. Branstetter | Vice President | None |
Anne Whitescarver Brown | Vice President | None |
Martin P. Brown | Vice President | None |
Barbara J. Burdett | Vice President | None |
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Name | Positions and Offices | Positions and Offices With Registrant |
Sheila P. Callahan | Vice President | None |
Christopher E. Carpenter | Vice President | None |
Cameron H. Carty | Vice President | None |
Danielle M. Chaisson | Vice President | None |
Laura H. Chasney | Vice President | None |
Jerome A. Clark | Vice President | None |
Basil Clarke | Vice President | None |
Kathleen M. Coates | Vice President | None |
Adam Cohen | Vice President | None |
Roberta V. Cordova | Vice President | None |
Anne M. Coveney | Vice President | None |
Mark Cover | Vice President | None |
Robert A. Craft | Vice President | None |
J. Lawrence Cronin, Jr. | Vice President | None |
Keith M. Crouse | Vice President | None |
Joseph A. Crumbling | Vice President | None |
Valerie A. D’Agostino | Vice President | None |
Martha Brock Daniel | Vice President | None |
Michael Davis | Vice President | None |
Terrence L. Davis | Vice President | None |
Benjamin P. DeFelice | Vice President | None |
Patrick M. Delaney | Vice President | None |
Peter A. DeLibro | Vice President | None |
Lauren D. DeLuca | Vice President | None |
Sanjeev K. Dev | Vice President | None |
David E. Donahoo | Vice President | None |
Jean M. Dunn | Vice President | None |
Heather C. Dzielak | Vice President | None |
David J. Eikenberg | Vice President | None |
Dennis J. Elliott | Vice President | None |
James P. Erceg | Vice President | None |
John H. Escario | Vice President | None |
Wayne C. Ewan | Vice President | None |
Christopher D. Ferrara | Vice President | None |
David Jonathan Fineman | Vice President | None |
Derek W. Fisher | Vice President | None |
Mary L. Fletcher | Vice President | None |
Andrew Fluet | Vice President | None |
Abraham Fu | Vice President | None |
Christopher M. Gaeng | Vice President | None |
Thomas A. Gannon | Vice President | None |
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Name | Positions and Offices | Positions and Offices With Registrant |
Romi D. Garvey | Vice President | None |
Michele J. Giangrande | Vice President | None |
John R. Gilner | Vice President | Chief Compliance Officer |
Andrew C. Goeller | Vice President | None |
Jason L. Gounaris | Vice President | None |
Leah B. Greenstein | Vice President | None |
Seth Gusman | Vice President | None |
Noel Hainsselin | Vice President | None |
John Halaby | Vice President | None |
Philip E. Hauser | Vice President | None |
Jeffrey J. Hill | Vice President | None |
Todd Hiller | Vice President | None |
Jason P. Horenci | Vice President | None |
Christopher J. Hufman | Vice President | None |
Karen J. Igler | Vice President | None |
Robert C. Ihle | Vice President | None |
Daniel M. Jarrett | Vice President | None |
Audra M. Jones | Vice President | None |
Heidi C. Kaney | Vice President | None |
Thomas E. Kazmierczak, Jr. | Vice President | None |
David M. Kittredge | Vice President | None |
Matthew Ko | Vice President | None |
Jeffrey A. Krawczak | Vice President | None |
Michael K. Krawczyk | Vice President | None |
Michael J. Kubik | Vice President | None |
Douglas C. Lambert | Vice President | None |
Steven A. Larson | Vice President | None |
Lorie Latham | Vice President | None |
Christy H. Lausch | Vice President | None |
Jonathan N. Lepore | Vice President | None |
Keith W. Lewis | Vice President | None |
Benjamin M. Livingston | Vice President | None |
William J. Luecking | Vice President | None |
Sean M. Lynch | Vice President | None |
Benjamin W. Lythgoe | Vice President | None |
Christopher B. Macon | Vice President | None |
Edward M. Martin | Vice President | None |
Vinnett M. Mason | Vice President | None |
Karan McClimans | Vice President | None |
Michael A. McKenna | Vice President | None |
Carey J. McKenzie | Vice President | None |
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Name | Positions and Offices | Positions and Offices With Registrant |
Eric Milano | Vice President | None |
Sebastian J. Mitchell | Vice President | None |
Daniella Moiseyev-Cunniffe | Vice President | None |
Gwendolyn Moody | Vice President | None |
Thomas R. Morelli | Vice President | None |
Dana P. Morgan | Vice President | None |
James P. Murphy, Jr. | Vice President | None |
T. Michael Murphy | Vice President | None |
Paul Musante | Vice President | None |
Susan L. Nakai | Vice President | None |
Robert H. Nicholson | Vice President | None |
Kevin M. O’Brien | Vice President | None |
Olutokunbo A. Ojo-Ade | Vice President | None |
Anna T. Onishi | Vice President | None |
Michael J. Park | Vice President | None |
Wayne Park | Vice President | None |
Glenn A. Pendleton | Vice President | None |
John E. Pflieger | Vice President | None |
Gregory L. Phillips | Vice President | None |
Samantha J. Pilon | Vice President | None |
Matthew Pisanelli | Vice President | None |
Victor M. Pita | Vice President | None |
Fran M. Pollack-Matz | Vice President | None |
Brian R. Poole | Vice President | None |
Jacob V. Pruitt | Vice President | None |
Seamus A. Ray | Vice President | None |
Margaret H. Raymond | Vice President | None |
Jennifer L. Richardson | Vice President | None |
Suzanne J. Ricklin | Vice President | None |
George D. Riedel | Vice President | None |
Mary H. Roosevelt Long | Vice President | None |
Mark B. Ruhe | Vice President | None |
Megan Keyser Rumney | Vice President | None |
Kevin C. Savage | Vice President | None |
Dorothy C. Sawyer | Vice President | None |
Michael R. Saylor | Vice President | None |
Jason M. Scarborough | Vice President | None |
Deborah D. Seidel | Vice President | Vice President |
Robert A. Seidel | Vice President | None |
Rania B. Selfani | Vice President | None |
Brandon Shea | Vice President | None |
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Name | Positions and Offices | Positions and Offices With Registrant |
Erin C. Sheehan | Vice President | None |
Karen M. Sheehan | Vice President | None |
Nicholas A. Sheppard | Vice President | None |
Scott L. Sherman | Vice President | None |
John E. Shetterly | Vice President | None |
Ren Ruan Shi | Vice President | None |
Jae M. Shin | Vice President | None |
Sheila Simmons Schubarth | Vice President | None |
Carole Hofmeister Smith | Vice President | None |
Danielle Nicholson Smith | Vice President | None |
Ian M. Smith | Vice President | None |
Andrew W. Snyder | Vice President | None |
Mark Sobolak | Vice President | None |
Craig J. St. Thomas | Vice President | None |
Sandra L. Stinson | Vice President | None |
Christopher J. Theall | Vice President | None |
John M. Townsend | Vice President | None |
Lauren B. Tripolitis | Vice President | None |
Alan P. Valenca | Vice President | None |
Todd R. Valles | Vice President | None |
Adam J. Varga | Vice President | None |
Stephen B. Vaughan | Vice President | None |
Bryan W. Venable | Vice President | None |
Eric P. Wagner | Vice President | None |
Sara Walcott | Vice President | None |
Jacob Walker | Vice President | None |
John H. Wallick | Vice President | None |
William R. Weker, Jr. | Vice President | None |
Paula A. Wendt | Vice President | None |
Mark P. Whiskeyman | Vice President | None |
Mary E. Whiteman | Vice President | None |
Natalie C. Widdowson | Vice President | None |
Jonathan Wilkinson | Vice President | None |
Barrett Wragg | Vice President | None |
Lea B. Wray | Vice President | None |
John Mitchell (Mitch) Wurzer | Vice President | None |
Paul A. Zettl | Vice President | None |
Kelly L. Zimmerman | Vice President | None |
James Zurad | Vice President | None |
Kristen L. Alliger | Assistant Vice President | None |
Kimberly S. Abramshe | Assistant Vice President | None |
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Name | Positions and Offices | Positions and Offices With Registrant |
Daniel Michael Alderman | Assistant Vice President | None |
Lorraine J. Andrews | Assistant Vice President | None |
Ashish L. Arora | Assistant Vice President | None |
Brendan C. Asaff | Assistant Vice President | None |
Chad L. Baker | Assistant Vice President | None |
Ryan N. Barker | Assistant Vice President | None |
Jason L. Bandel | Assistant Vice President | None |
Andrew A. Beliveau | Assistant Vice President | None |
Matthew J. Bender | Assistant Vice President | None |
Catherine L. Berkenkemper | Assistant Vice President | None |
Robert R. Biden | Assistant Vice President | None |
Chase B. Bower | Assistant Vice President | None |
Brennan C. Brammer | Assistant Vice President | None |
Christopher D. Browne | Assistant Vice President | None |
Michael T. Buberl | Assistant Vice President | None |
Heather C. Buchanan | Assistant Vice President | None |
Gregory J. Burkavage | Assistant Vice President | None |
Nicole J. Burroughs | Assistant Vice President | None |
Jason N. Butler | Assistant Vice President | None |
Casey S. Cartun | Assistant Vice President | None |
Kathleen N. Carullo | Assistant Vice President | None |
Thomas F. Casperite | Assistant Vice President | None |
Cynthia M. Ciangio | Assistant Vice President | None |
Kevin S. Clapper | Assistant Vice President | None |
Frank J. Clarkson | Assistant Vice President | None |
Victor Coward | Assistant Vice President | None |
Jonathan J. Crooks | Assistant Vice President | None |
Lawrence C. D’Alessandra | Assistant Vice President | None |
Susan M. D’Angelo | Assistant Vice President | None |
David B. Daniel | Assistant Vice President | None |
Heather R. Demsky | Assistant Vice President | None |
Daniel S. Dier | Assistant Vice President | None |
Ashley Echols | Assistant Vice President | None |
Keith Darren Matthew Falcao | Assistant Vice President | None |
Jeffrey S. Fedan | Assistant Vice President | None |
Robin Feil | Assistant Vice President | None |
Tara L. Finney | Assistant Vice President | None |
Brooks J. Fisher | Assistant Vice President | None |
Donald T. Fisher | Assistant Vice President | None |
Laura Toner Fitzpatrick | Assistant Vice President | None |
Ginny Lee Foran | Assistant Vice President | None |
Page 20
Name | Positions and Offices | Positions and Offices With Registrant |
Daniel J. Funk | Assistant Vice President | None |
Kristine Anne Garofalo | Assistant Vice President | None |
April D. Gelwicks | Assistant Vice President | None |
Avery Gordon Gerald | Assistant Vice President | None |
Tyler M. Ghingher | Assistant Vice President | None |
David M. Gonzalez | Assistant Vice President | None |
Christine A. Gorham | Assistant Vice President | None |
Jason E. Hammond | Assistant Vice President | None |
James C. Hebert | Assistant Vice President | None |
Kristina Cowden Hoard | Assistant Vice President | None |
Sara Hodges Ismart | Assistant Vice President | None |
Lloyd Brendan James | Assistant Vice President | None |
Victoria Y. Kagler | Assistant Vice President | None |
Christopher Keelan | Assistant Vice President | None |
Patrick A. Kelly | Assistant Vice President | None |
Taneka F. Lawrence | Assistant Vice President | None |
Paul M. Lichtinger | Assistant Vice President | None |
MariaCarla Lurz | Assistant Vice President | None |
Amanda E. Malone Klink | Assistant Vice President | None |
Patrick R. Maloney | Assistant Vice President | None |
Taylor L.B. Mayo | Assistant Vice President | None |
Shawn P. McConnon | Assistant Vice President | None |
Robert P. McDavid | Assistant Vice President | None |
Michael McDonnell | Assistant Vice President | None |
Erica M. McGinnes | Assistant Vice President | None |
Keith McGurrin | Assistant Vice President | None |
Gregory Moro | Assistant Vice President | None |
James V. Morrow | Assistant Vice President | None |
Lauren M. Neilsen | Assistant Vice President | None |
Erik Nelson | Assistant Vice President | None |
William Nicholas Nolan | Assistant Vice President | None |
David V. Norris | Assistant Vice President | None |
Michael J. Norton | Assistant Vice President | None |
Kelly M. Nowlan | Assistant Vice President | None |
Michael S. Olshefski | Assistant Vice President | None |
Michael D. Oroszi | Assistant Vice President | None |
Rachel N. Petersen | Assistant Vice President | None |
Paul J. Pfeiffer | Assistant Vice President | None |
Lori Pleasant | Assistant Vice President | None |
Anthony D. Polichemi | Assistant Vice President | None |
Matthew T. Pope | Assistant Vice President | None |
Page 21
Name | Positions and Offices | Positions and Offices With Registrant |
Jennifer J. Pyne | Assistant Vice President | None |
John K. Ramirez | Assistant Vice President | None |
Daniel Rauenzahn | Assistant Vice President | None |
David Ray | Assistant Vice President | None |
Caitlin Reilly | Assistant Vice President | None |
Sean P. Rentch | Assistant Vice President | None |
Erik C. Ronne | Assistant Vice President | None |
Dorian M. Royal | Assistant Vice President | None |
Laura L. Russell | Assistant Vice President | None |
Meredith J. Russell | Assistant Vice President | None |
Melissa J. Sacks | Assistant Vice President | None |
Keon Franklin Scott | Assistant Vice President | None |
Heather L.H. Seabeck | Assistant Vice President | None |
Shurid Sen | Assistant Vice President | None |
Daniel T. Shively | Assistant Vice President | None |
Garrett S. Siperko | Assistant Vice President | None |
Robert A. Skaare II | Assistant Vice President | None |
Cory B. Stearman | Assistant Vice President | None |
Jennifer L. Suess | Assistant Vice President | None |
Ali Tajdar | Assistant Vice President | None |
Jill M. Talbott | Assistant Vice President | None |
Nathan G. Tawes | Assistant Vice President | None |
Nathan A. Taylor | Assistant Vice President | None |
Anthony J. Theodore | Assistant Vice President | None |
Christopher N. Thuku | Assistant Vice President | None |
David S. Tondreault | Assistant Vice President | None |
Jaclyn S. Tondreault | Assistant Vice President | None |
Ryan Uhle | Assistant Vice President | None |
William Maitland Walton | Assistant Vice President | None |
Timothy M. White | Assistant Vice President | None |
Nicole S. Whitman | Assistant Vice President | None |
Amy E. Williams | Assistant Vice President | None |
Mary G. Williams | Assistant Vice President | None |
Jennifer A. Woodhouse | Assistant Vice President | None |
Joseph Zimmerman | Assistant Vice President | None |
Virginia G. Connolly | Assistant Secretary | None |
Joan E. Flister | Assistant Secretary | None |
(c) Not applicable. Investment Services will not receive any compensation with respect to its activities as underwriter for the Price Funds.
Page 22
Item 33. Location of Accounts and Records
All accounts, books, and other documents required to be maintained by the Registrant under Section 31(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the rules thereunder will be maintained by the Registrant at its offices at 100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Transfer, dividend disbursing, and shareholder service activities are performed by T. Rowe Price Services, Inc., at 4515 Painters Mill Road, Owings Mills, Maryland 21117. Custodian activities for the Registrant are performed at State Street Bank and Trust Company’s Service Center (State Street South), 1776 Heritage Drive, Quincy, Massachusetts 02171.
Custody of Registrant’s portfolio securities which are purchased outside the United States is maintained by JPMorgan Chase Bank, London, in its foreign branches, with other banks or foreign depositories. JPMorgan Chase Bank, London, is located at Woolgate House, Coleman Street, London EC2P 2HD England.
Item 34. Management Services
Registrant is not a party to any management-related service contract, other than as set forth in the Prospectus or Statement of Additional Information.
Item 35. Undertakings
(a) Not applicable
Page 23
Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, duly authorized, in the City of Baltimore, State of Maryland, this April 18, 2017.
T. ROWE PRICE HIGH YIELD FUND, INC.
/s/Edward C. Bernard
By: Edward C. Bernard
Chairman of the Board
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated:
Signature | Title | Date |
/s/Edward C. Bernard | Chairman of the Board | April 18, 2017 |
Edward C. Bernard | (Chief Executive Officer) | |
/s/Catherine D. Mathews | Treasurer | April 18, 2017 |
Catherine D. Mathews | (Chief Financial Officer) | |
and Vice President | ||
* | ||
Anthony W. Deering | Director | April 18, 2017 |
* | ||
Bruce W. Duncan | Director | April 18, 2017 |
* | ||
Robert J. Gerrard, Jr. | Director | April 18, 2017 |
* | ||
Paul F. McBride | Director | April 18, 2017 |
* | ||
Cecilia E. Rouse | Director | April 18, 2017 |
* | ||
John G. Schreiber | Director | April 18, 2017 |
* | ||
Mark. R. Tercek | Director | April 18, 2017 |
/s/Edward A. Wiese | ||
Edward A. Wiese | Director | April 18, 2017 |
Page 24
*/s/David Oestreicher | ||
David Oestreicher | Vice President and | April 18, 2017 |
Attorney-In-Fact | ||