JPMORGAN TRUST II
270 PARK AVENUE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10017
VIA EDGAR
June 20, 2012
Vincent J. Di Stefano
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549
Re: | JPMorgan Trust II (Trust); |
File Nos. 2-95973 & 811-4236 Post-Effective Amendment No. 151 |
Dear Mr. Di Stefano:
This letter is in response to the comments you provided to the Trust on June 4, 2012 with respect to the Post Effective Amendment No. 151 filed on behalf of the Trusts series, JPMorgan Limited Duration Bond Fund (the Fund). We will incorporate the changes referenced below into the Trusts Registration Statement in a filing made pursuant to Rule 485(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended (the Rule), which will become automatically effective on or around July 1, 2012 pursuant to the Rule.
Prospectus Comments
1. | Comment: The Risk/Return Summary discloses that the Fund may invest up to 25% of its assets in sub-prime mortgage-related securities at the time of purchase. The More About the Fund section contains additional disclosure about sub-prime securities. Please disclose that such securities are junk bonds that present additional credit risk including greater risk of default. |
Response: We believe that it is not appropriate to define the sub-prime securities in which the Fund may invest as junk bonds. As disclosed in the Risk/Return Summary and the More About the Fund section, the Funds investments at the time of purchase will be rated investment grade or if unrated, deemed by the adviser to be of comparable quality to investment grade securities. As a result, such securities are not junk bonds. Please note that the Fund has disclosed the higher risk of default associated with sub-prime securities. In this respect, the Asset-Backed, Mortgage-
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Related, and Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk discloses that the risk of default, as described under Credit Risk for sub-prime mortgages is generally higher than other types of mortgage-backed securities.
2. | Comment: The More About the Fund section provides that the Fund seeks to maintain a duration of three years or less, although, under certain market conditions, the Funds duration may be longer than three years. Please disclose the types of market conditions under which the Funds duration would be longer than three years. Please describe how much longer the duration would be under such market conditions consistent with the terms Limited Duration in the Funds name. |
Response: The Fund will add the following underlined disclosure, which is already in the Risk/Return Summary, to the More About the Fund section:
The Fund seeks to maintain a duration of three years or less, although, under certain market conditions such as in periods of significant volatility in interest rates and spreads, the Funds duration may be longer than three years.
While the Fund seeks to maintain a duration of three years or less, the Fund cannot predict with certainty the maximum duration the Funds portfolio may have under all market conditions. Therefore, we do not believe that it is appropriate to add a maximum duration to the disclosure.
Statement of Additional Information Comments
3. | Comment: Under Credit Default Swaps, please disclose the Funds asset segregation practices with respect to such instruments. |
Response: The Fund has implemented compliance procedures that are reasonably designed to address the senior security issues referenced in Investment Company Act Release No. 10666. In this respect, the SAI already includes the following disclosure with respect to the Funds asset segregation practices with respect to credit default swaps.
A Fund will earmark and reserve assets, in cash or liquid securities to cover any accrued payment obligations when it is the buyer of a CDS. In cases where a Fund is a seller of a CDS contract, the Fund will earmark and reserve assets, in cash or liquid securities, to cover its obligation.
We do not believe that adding further technical detail to the disclosure about the Funds asset segregation policies is required by Form N-1A nor would such disclosure provide meaningful information to investors.
In connection with your review of the Funds Post-Effective Amendments No. 151 to the Registration Statement filed by the Trust on April 20, 2012, the undersigned hereby acknowledges on behalf of the Trust that: (1) the Trust is responsible for the adequacy
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and the accuracy of the disclosure contained in the Filings; (2) comments of the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Staff), if any, or changes to disclosure in Response to Staff Comments, if any, in the filings reviewed by the Staff do not foreclose the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from taking any action with respect to the filing made; and (3) the Trust may not assert Staff comments, or lack thereof, as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the SEC or any person under the federal securities laws of the United States.
As indicated in the SECs June 24, 2004, release regarding the public release of comment letters and responses, you are requesting such acknowledgements from all companies whose filings are being reviewed and that this request and these acknowledgements should not be construed as suggesting that there is an inquiry or investigation or other matter involving the Trust.
We hope that the Staff finds this letter responsive to the Staffs comments. Should members of the Staff have any questions or comments concerning this letter, please call the undersigned at (614) 248-5749.
Sincerely,
/s/ Jessica K. Ditullio
Jessica K. Ditullio
Assistant Secretary
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