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Mutual Funds | | | | | Fixed-Income | | | | | 12.13.2018 |
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Guggenheim Funds Prospectus |
December 13, 2018, as supplemented January 11, 2019 |
Class R6 |
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Ticker Symbol | Fund Name |
Class R6* | |
GIYRX | Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration Fund |
*Class R6 shares of the Fund are not currently offered for sale.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have not approved or disapproved these securities, or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
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USDF-PRO-R6-0119x0119 | guggenheiminvestments.com |
Table of Contents
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FUND SUMMARY | |
Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration Fund | |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES | |
DESCRIPTIONS OF PRINCIPAL RISKS | |
PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS | |
INVESTMENT MANAGER | |
MANAGEMENT FEES | |
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS | |
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST | |
SUB-ADVISERS | |
BUYING, SELLING AND EXCHANGING FUND SHARES | |
OPENING YOUR ACCOUNT | |
TIPS TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE YOUR ACCOUNT APPLICATION | |
TRANSACTION INFORMATION | |
TRANSACTION CUT-OFF TIMES | |
TRANSACTIONS THROUGH YOUR FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY | |
BUYING FUND SHARES | |
PURCHASE PROCEDURES | |
CANCELED PURCHASE ORDERS | |
SELLING FUND SHARES | |
REDEMPTION PROCEDURES | |
DISTRIBUTIONS FROM QUALIFIED RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS | |
RECEIVING YOUR REDEMPTION PROCEEDS | |
MEDALLION SIGNATURE GUARANTEES | |
UNCASHED CHECK POLICY | |
EXCHANGING FUND SHARES | |
EXCHANGE PROCEDURES | |
DOLLAR-COST AVERAGING | |
ACCOUNT POLICIES | |
SHAREHOLDER IDENTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION | |
CHANGES TO YOUR ACCOUNT | |
TRANSACTIONS OVER TELEPHONE OR INTERNET | |
STATEMENTS & CONFIRMATIONS | |
eDELIVERY SERVICES | |
HOUSEHOLDING |
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GUGGENHEIM INVESTMENTS EXPRESS LINE—800.717.7776 | |
SERVICE AND OTHER FEES | |
RETIREMENT ACCOUNT FEES | |
MARKET TIMING/SHORT-TERM TRADING | |
RIGHTS RESERVED BY THE FUNDS | |
UNCLAIMED PROPERTY LAWS | |
DISTRIBUTION AND SHAREHOLDER SERVICES | |
CLASS R6 SHARES | |
COMPENSATION TO DEALERS | |
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SHAREHOLDER SERVICES | |
SYSTEMATIC WITHDRAWAL PLAN | |
EXCHANGE PRIVILEGE | |
DIVIDENDS AND TAXES | |
DIVIDEND PAYMENT OPTIONS | |
TAX ON DISTRIBUTIONS | |
TAXES ON SALES, REDEMPTIONS OR EXCHANGES | |
MEDICARE TAX | |
BACK-UP WITHHOLDING | |
FOREIGN TAXES | |
FOREIGN SHAREHOLDERS | |
COST BASIS | |
DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE | |
GENERAL INFORMATION | |
SHAREHOLDER INQUIRIES | |
OTHER INFORMATION | |
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS | |
FOR MORE INFORMATION | |
ANNUAL/SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT | |
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION | |
Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration Fund
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration Fund (the “Fund”) seeks a high level of income consistent with the preservation of capital.
FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.
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SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment) | |
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) | None |
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of original purchase price or redemption proceeds, whichever is lower) | None |
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ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) | |
Management Fees | 0.25% |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | None |
Other Expenses1 | 0.17% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.42% |
Fee Waiver (and/or expense reimbursement)2 | -0.09% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver (and/or expense reimbursement) | 0.33% |
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1 | Other expenses are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year. |
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2 | Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC, also known as Guggenheim Investments (the "Investment Manager"), has contractually agreed through February 1, 2020 to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses to the extent necessary to limit the ordinary operating expenses (including distribution (12b-1) fees (if any), but exclusive of brokerage costs, dividends on securities sold short, acquired fund fees and expenses, interest, taxes, litigation, indemnification, and extraordinary expenses) (“Operating Expenses”) of the Fund to the annual percentage of average daily net assets for Class R6 shares to 0.33%. The Investment Manager is entitled to reimbursement by the Fund of fees waived or expenses reimbursed during any of the previous 36 months beginning on the date of the expense limitation agreement, provided that the Operating Expenses do not exceed the then-applicable expense cap. The agreement will expire when it reaches its termination or when the Investment Manager ceases to serve as such and it can be terminated by the Fund’s Board of Trustees, with certain waived fees and reimbursed expenses subject to the recoupment rights of the Investment Manager. |
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. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although the actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs (whether or not you redeem your shares at the end of the given period) would be:
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| 1 Year | $34 |
| 3 Years | $126 |
| 5 Years | $226 |
| 10 Years | $521 |
The above Example reflects applicable contractual fee waiver/expense reimbursement arrangements for the current duration of the arrangements only.
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 Fund 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 Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 74% of the average value of its portfolio. The portfolio turnover rate shown is that of Guggenheim Strategy Fund I (the
“Predecessor Fund”). The Predecessor Fund's policies, guidelines and investment objective were the same as those of the Fund's in all material respects.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund intends to pursue its investment objective by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of investment-grade debt securities and similar instruments while maintaining a low duration portfolio (i.e., a duration normally not exceeding one year). The Fund is not a money market fund and does not seek to maintain a stable net asset value of $1.00 per share.
The Fund’s investments will include: debt securities; financial instruments that are expected to perform similarly to debt securities and investment vehicles that provide exposure to debt securities; and debt-like securities, including individual securities, investment vehicles and derivatives giving exposure to (i.e., with economic characteristics similar to) debt securities or other similar instruments or debt security markets. The Fund may seek to obtain exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests through a variety of investment vehicles, principally affiliated and unaffiliated closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and other funds.
Debt securities and instruments in which the Fund may invest include corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities, securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities (including those not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government), sovereign debt securities, Eurodollar bonds and obligations, mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities, participations in and assignments of bank and bridge loans, commercial paper (including asset-backed commercial paper), zero-coupon bonds, municipal bonds, payment-in-kind securities (such as payment-in-kind bonds), convertible securities, non-registered or restricted securities (including those issued in reliance on Rule 144A and Regulation S securities) and step-up securities (such as step-up bonds). These securities may pay fixed or variable rates of interest. The Fund may also invest in preferred stock and preferred debt securities. Although the Fund will principally invest in debt securities listed, traded or dealt in developed markets, it may also invest without limitation in securities listed, traded or dealt in other markets, including emerging and frontier markets. Such securities may be denominated in foreign currencies.
Although the Fund will invest predominantly in investment grade debt instruments, up to 10% of the Fund’s total assets may be invested in securities that are rated below investment grade (also known as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”) or if unrated, determined by the Investment Manager to be of comparable quality. If nationally recognized statistical rating organizations assign different ratings to a security, the Fund will use the higher rating for purposes of determining the security’s credit quality.
The Fund may invest in repurchase agreements, which are fixed-income securities in the form of agreements backed by collateral. These agreements, which may be viewed as a type of secured lending by the Fund, typically involve the acquisition by the Fund of securities from the selling institution (such as a bank or a broker-dealer), coupled with the agreement that the selling institution will repurchase the underlying securities at a specified price and at a fixed time in the future (or on demand). The Fund may accept a wide variety of underlying securities as collateral for the repurchase agreements entered into by the Fund. Such collateral may include U.S. government securities, corporate obligations, equity securities, municipal debt securities, asset- and mortgage-backed securities, convertible securities and other fixed income securities or a combination thereof. Any such securities serving as collateral are marked-to-market daily in order to maintain full collateralization (typically purchase price plus accrued interest).
With respect to mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) and other asset-backed securities, the Fund may invest in MBS issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and/or U.S. government sponsored instrumentalities, such as the Government National Mortgage Administration, the Federal Housing Administration, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. In addition to securities issued or guaranteed by such agencies or instrumentalities, the Fund may invest in MBS or other asset-backed securities issued or guaranteed by private issuers. The MBS in which the Fund may invest may also include residential mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations and commercial mortgage-backed securities. The other asset-backed securities in which the Fund may invest include collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”). CDOs include collateralized bond obligations (“CBOs”), collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”), commercial real estate CDOs and other similarly structured securities. A CBO is a trust which is backed by a diversified pool of below investment grade fixed-income securities. A CLO is a trust typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include domestic and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or if unrated, determined by the Investment Manager to be of comparable quality.
With respect to bank loans, the Fund may purchase participations in, or assignments of, floating rate bank loans that may be secured by real estate or other assets or lend directly, joining a lending syndicate. These participations or assignments may be acquired from banks or brokers that have made the loan or members of the lending syndicate.
To seek to enhance the Fund’s debt exposure, hedge against investment risk or increase the Fund’s yield, the Fund may engage in derivative transactions, including: foreign exchange forward contracts; futures on securities, indices, currencies and other investments; Eurodollar futures; options; interest rate swaps; cross-currency swaps; total return swaps; and credit default swaps. The Fund may engage in derivative transactions for speculative purposes; to seek to enhance total return; to seek to hedge against fluctuations in securities prices, interest rates or currency rates; to seek to change the effective duration of its portfolio; to seek to manage certain investment risks; and/or as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities or currencies. These transactions may create economic leverage in the Fund. The Fund may seek to obtain market exposure to the instruments in which it primarily invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or by using other investment techniques (such as buy backs, “To Be Announced” (“TBA”) transactions and/or dollar rolls). In a TBA transaction, a seller agrees to deliver MBS to the Fund at a future date, but the seller does not specify the particular security to be delivered. Instead, the Fund agrees to accept any MBS that meets specified terms. The Fund may also engage in securities lending.
The Fund may use leverage to the extent permitted by applicable law by entering into reverse repurchase agreements and borrowing transactions for investment purposes.
The Fund may hold instruments of any duration or maturity but expects, under normal circumstances, to maintain a dollar-weighted average duration of less than one year. Duration is a measure of the price volatility of a debt instrument as a result of changes in market rates of interest, based on the weighted average timing of the instrument’s expected principal and interest payments. Duration differs from maturity in that it considers an instrument’s yield, coupon payments, principal payments and call features in addition to the amount of time until the instrument matures. As the value of an instrument changes over time, so will its duration.
The Investment Manager selects securities and other investments for purchase and sale based on intensive credit research involving extensive due diligence on each investment (including the investment’s structure), issuer, region and sector. The Investment Manager also considers macroeconomic outlook and geopolitical issues.
The Investment Manager may determine to sell an instrument for several reasons, including the following: (1) to adjust the portfolio’s average maturity, or to shift assets into or out of higher-yielding securities; (2) if a security’s credit rating has been changed or for other similar reasons; (3) to meet redemption requests; (4) to take gains; or (5) due to relative value. The Fund does not intend to principally invest in defaulted securities, but if a security defaults subsequent to purchase by the Fund, the Investment Manager will determine in its discretion whether to hold or dispose of such security. Under adverse or unstable market conditions or abnormal circumstances (for example, in the event of credit events, where it is deemed opportune to preserve gains or to preserve the relative value of investments or in the case of large cash inflows or anticipated large redemptions), the Fund can make temporary investments and may be unable to pursue or achieve its investment objective.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
The value of an investment in the Fund will fluctuate and is subject to investment risks, which means investors could lose money. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any governmental agency. The Fund is not a money market fund (or equivalent to a money market fund), does not attempt to maintain a stable net asset value, and is not subject to the rules that govern the quality, maturity, liquidity, and other features of securities that money market funds may purchase. Under normal conditions, the Fund’s investments may be more susceptible than a money market fund to interest rate risk, valuation risk, credit risk, and other risks relevant to the Fund’s investments. The Fund’s net asset value will fluctuate. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below.
Asset-Backed Securities Risk—Investors in asset-backed securities, including residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities and other structured finance investments, generally receive payments that are part interest and part return of principal. These payments may vary based on the rate at which the underlying borrowers pay off their loans. Some asset-backed securities, including mortgage-backed securities, may have structures that make their reaction to interest rates and other factors difficult to predict, causing their prices to be volatile. These instruments are particularly subject to interest rate, credit and liquidity and valuation risks.
Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities—Residential mortgage-backed securities may be particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates given that rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities. As a result, a rising interest rate environment can cause the prices of mortgage-backed securities to be increasingly volatile, which may adversely affect the Fund’s holdings of mortgage-backed securities. In light of the current interest rate environment, the Fund’s investments in these securities may be subject to heightened interest rate risk.
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities—Investments in commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”) are backed by commercial mortgage loans that may be secured by office properties, retail properties, hotels,
mixed use properties or multi-family apartment buildings and are particularly subject to the credit risk of the borrower and the tenants of the properties securing the commercial mortgage loans. CMBS are subject to the risks of asset-backed securities generally and particularly subject to credit risk, interest rate risk, and liquidity and valuation risk.
Collateralized Loan Obligations and Collateralized Debt Obligations Risk—Collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) bear many of the same risks as other forms of asset-backed securities, including interest rate risk, credit risk and default risk. As they are backed by pools of loans, CLOs also bear similar risks to investing in loans directly. CLOs issue classes or “tranches” that vary in risk and yield. CLOs may experience substantial losses attributable to loan defaults. Losses caused by defaults on underlying assets are borne first by the holders of subordinate tranches. The Fund’s investment in CLOs may decrease in market value when the CLO experiences loan defaults or credit impairment, the disappearance of a subordinate tranche, or market anticipation of defaults and investor aversion to CLO securities as a class.
Collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) are structured similarly to CLOs and bear the same risks as CLOs including interest rate risk, credit risk and default risk. CDOs are subject to additional risks because they are backed by pools of assets other than loans including securities (such as other asset-backed securities), synthetic instruments or bonds and may be highly leveraged. Like CLOs, losses incurred by a CDO are borne first by holders of subordinate tranches. Accordingly, the risks of CDOs depend largely on the type of underlying collateral and the tranche of CDOs in which the Fund invests. For example, CDOs that obtain their exposure through synthetic investments entail the risks associated with derivative instruments.
Commercial Paper Risk—The value of the Fund’s investment in commercial paper, which is an unsecured promissory note that generally has a maturity date between one and 270 days and is issued by a U.S. or foreign entity, is susceptible to changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit quality. Investments in commercial paper are usually discounted from their value at maturity. Commercial paper can be fixed-rate or variable rate and can be adversely affected by changes in interest rates.
Convertible Securities Risk—Convertible securities may be subordinate to other securities. The total return for a convertible security depends, in part, upon the performance of the underlying security into which it can be converted. The value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase. Convertible securities generally offer lower interest or dividend yields than non-convertible securities of similar quality.
Counterparty Credit Risk—The Fund makes investments in financial instruments and over-the-counter (“OTC”)-traded derivatives involving counterparties to gain exposure to a particular group of securities, index, asset class or other reference asset without actually purchasing those securities or investments, to hedge a position or for other investment purposes. Through these investments and related arrangements (e.g., prime brokerage or securities lending arrangements or derivative transactions), the Fund is exposed to credit risks that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments or otherwise to meet its contractual obligations. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on (or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling to perform) its payment or other obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount that it is entitled to receive or may experience delays in recovering the collateral or other assets held by, or on behalf of, the counterparty. If this occurs, the value of your shares in the Fund will decrease.
Credit Risk—The Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a fixed-income instrument or a counterparty to a derivatives transaction or other transaction is unable or unwilling, or perceived to be unable or unwilling, to pay interest or repay principal on time or defaults. The issuer, guarantor or counterparty could also suffer a rapid decrease in credit quality rating, which would adversely affect the volatility of the value and liquidity of the instrument. Credit ratings may not be an accurate assessment of liquidity or credit risk.
Currency Risk—Indirect and direct exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, which would cause a decline in the U.S. value of the holdings of the Fund. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political, economic and tax developments in the U.S. or abroad. When the Fund seeks exposure to foreign currencies through foreign currency contracts and related transactions, the Fund becomes particularly susceptible to foreign currency value fluctuations, which may be sudden and significant, and investment decisions tied to currency markets. In addition, these investments are subject to the risks associated with derivatives and hedging and the impact on the Fund of fluctuations in the value of currencies may be magnified.
Derivatives Risk—Derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with investing directly in securities, currencies or other investments, including risks relating to leverage, imperfect correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, high price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty
credit, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. Their use is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. If the Investment Manager is incorrect about its expectations of market conditions, the use of derivatives could also result in a loss, which in some cases may be unlimited. In addition, the Fund’s use of derivatives may cause the Fund to realize higher amounts of short term capital gains (generally taxed at ordinary income tax rates) than if the Fund had not used such instruments. Certain risks also are specific to the derivatives in which the Fund invests.
Swap Agreements Risk—Swap agreements are contracts among the Fund and a counterparty to exchange the return of the pre-determined underlying investment (such as the rate of return of the underlying index). Swap agreements may be negotiated bilaterally and traded OTC between two parties or, in some instances, must be exchange-traded through a futures commission merchant and/or cleared through a clearinghouse that serves as a central counterparty. Risks associated with the use of swap agreements are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions, due in part to the fact they could be considered illiquid and many swaps trade on the OTC market. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty credit, correlation, valuation, liquidity and leveraging risks. Certain standardized swaps are subject to mandatory exchange trading and central clearing. Exchange trading and central clearing are intended to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity but exchange trading and central clearing do not make swap transactions risk-free. Additionally, applicable regulators have adopted rules imposing certain margin requirements, including minimums, on OTC swaps, which may result in the Fund and its counterparties posting higher margin amounts for OTC swaps.
Futures Contracts Risk—Futures contracts are exchange-traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. Risks of futures contracts may be caused by an imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the instruments and the price of the underlying securities. In addition, there is the risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction because of an illiquid market. Exchanges can limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or its Investment Manager, thus limiting the ability to implement the Fund’s strategies. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s net asset value. Futures are also subject to leverage risks and to liquidity risk.
Options Risk—Options or options on futures contracts give the holder of the option the right, but not the obligation, to buy (or to sell) a position in a security or in a contract to the writer of the option, at a certain price. They are subject to correlation risk because there may be an imperfect correlation between the options and the securities markets that cause a given transaction to fail to achieve its objectives. The successful use of options depends on the Investment Manager’s ability to predict correctly future price fluctuations and the degree of correlation between the options and securities markets. Exchanges can limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or its Investment Manager, thus limiting the ability to implement the Fund’s strategies. Options are also particularly subject to leverage risk and can be subject to liquidity risk.
Dollar Roll Transaction Risk—The Fund may enter into dollar roll transactions, in which the Fund sells a mortgage-backed or other security for settlement on one date and buys back a substantially similar security for settlement at a later date. Dollar rolls involve a risk of loss if the market value of the securities that the Fund is committed to buy declines below the price of the securities the Fund has sold.
Emerging Markets Risk—Investments in or exposure to emerging markets are generally subject to a greater level of those risks associated with investing in or being exposed to developed foreign markets, as emerging markets are considered to be less developed than developing countries. Furthermore, investments in or exposure to emerging markets are generally subject to additional risks, including the risks associated with trading in smaller markets, lower volumes of trading, and being subject to lower levels of government regulation and less extensive accounting, financial and other reporting requirements.
Extension Risk—During periods of rising interest rates, an issuer may exercise its right to pay principal on an obligation later than expected, resulting in a decrease in the value of the obligation and in a decline in the Fund’s income.
Foreign Securities and Currency Risk—Foreign securities carry unique or additional risks when compared to U.S. securities, including currency fluctuations, adverse political and economic developments, unreliable or untimely information, less liquidity and more volatility, limited legal recourse and higher transactional costs.
High Yield and Unrated Securities Risk—High yield, below investment grade and unrated high risk debt securities (which also may be known as “junk bonds”) may present additional risks because these securities may be less liquid, and therefore more difficult to value accurately and sell at an advantageous price or time, and present more credit risk than investment grade bonds. The price of high yield securities tends to be subject to greater volatility due to
issuer-specific operating results and outlook and to real or perceived adverse economic and competitive industry conditions. This exposure may be obtained through investments in other investment companies.
Interest Rate Risk—Investments in fixed-income instruments are subject to the possibility that interest rates could rise sharply, causing the value of the Fund’s holdings and share price to decline. Changes in interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the Fund's investments in fixed-income instruments. The risks associated with rising interest rates are heightened given the near historically low interest rate environment as of the date of this prospectus. Interest rates may continue to rise in the future, possibly suddenly and significantly, with unpredictable effects on the financial markets and the Fund’s investments. Fixed-income instruments with longer durations are subject to more volatility than those with shorter durations.
Investments by Investing Funds and Other Large Shareholders—The Fund is subject to the risk that one or more large investors, including other investment companies that are advised by the Investment Manager or its affiliates, purchases or redeems a large percentage of Fund shares at any time. As a result, the Fund’s performance or liquidity may be adversely affected as the Fund may have to hold a large proportion of its assets in cash and may have to sell investments at disadvantageous times or prices to meet large redemption requests. In turn, the Fund may experience increased portfolio turnover, incur higher transaction costs and realize gains or losses at inopportune times. Such large investors may comprise a significant portion of the Fund's shareholders.
Investment in Investment Vehicles Risk—Investing in other investment vehicles, including ETFs, closed-end funds and other mutual funds, subjects the Fund to those risks affecting the investment vehicle, including the possibility that the value of the underlying securities held by the investment vehicle could decrease or the portfolio becomes illiquid. Moreover, the Fund and its shareholders will incur its pro rata share of the underlying vehicles’ expenses, which will reduce the Fund’s performance. In addition, investments in an ETF are subject to, among other risks, the risk that the ETF's shares may trade at a discount or premium relative to the net asset value of the shares and the listing exchange may halt trading of the ETF's shares.
Investment in Loans Risk—Investments in loans, including loan syndicates and other direct lending opportunities, involve special types of risks, including credit risk, interest rate risk, counterparty risk and prepayment risk. Loans may offer a fixed or floating interest rate. Loans are often generally below investment grade and may be unrated. The Fund’s investments in loans can also be difficult to value accurately and may be more susceptible to liquidity risk than fixed-income instruments of similar credit quality and/or maturity. The Fund is also subject to the risk that the value of the collateral for the loan may be insufficient or unavailable to cover the borrower’s obligations should the borrower fail to make payments or become insolvent. Participations in loans may subject the Fund to the credit risk of both the borrower and the issuer of the participation and may make enforcement of loan covenants, if any, more difficult for the Fund as legal action may have to go through the issuer of the participations. Transactions in loans are often subject to long settlement periods, thus potentially limiting the ability of the Fund to invest sale proceeds in other investments and to use proceeds to meet its current redemption obligations.
Leverage Risk—The Fund’s use of leverage, through borrowings or instruments such as derivatives, may cause the Fund to be more volatile and riskier than if it had not been leveraged.
Liquidity and Valuation Risk—It may be difficult for the Fund to purchase and sell particular investments within a reasonable time at a fair price, or the price at which it has been valued by the Investment Manager for purposes of the Fund’s net asset value, causing the Fund to be less liquid and unable to realize what the Investment Manager believes should be the price of the investment. Valuation of portfolio investments may be difficult, such as during periods of market turmoil or reduced liquidity, and for investments that may, for example, trade infrequently or irregularly. In these and other circumstances, an investment may be valued using fair value methodologies, which are inherently subjective, reflect good faith judgments based on available information and may not accurately estimate the price at which the Fund could sell the investment at that time. These risks may be heightened for fixed-income instruments because of the near historically low interest rate environment as of the date of this prospectus. Based on its investment strategies, a significant portion of the Fund's investments can be difficult to value and potentially less liquid and thus particularly prone to the foregoing risks.
Management Risk—The Fund is actively managed, which means that investment decisions are made based on investment views. There is no guarantee that the investment views will produce the desired results or expected returns, causing the Fund to fail to meet its investment objective or underperform its benchmark index or funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. Furthermore, active and frequent trading that can accompany active management, also called “high turnover,” may have a negative impact on performance. Active and frequent trading may result in higher brokerage costs or mark-up charges, which are ultimately passed on to shareholders of the Fund. Active and frequent trading may also result in adverse tax consequences.
Market Risk—The value of, or income generated by, the securities held by the Fund may fluctuate rapidly and unpredictably as a result of factors affecting individual companies or changing economic, political, social or financial market conditions throughout the world. The performance of these investments may underperform the general securities markets or other types of securities.
Municipal Securities Risk—Municipal securities are subject to a variety of risks, including credit, interest, prepayment, liquidity, and valuation risks. In addition, municipal securities can be adversely affected by (i) unfavorable legislative, political, or other developments or events, including natural disasters, and (ii) changes in the economic and fiscal conditions of state and municipal issuers or the federal government in case it provides financial support to such issuers. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in securities issued by a particular state or municipality, the Fund will be particularly sensitive to developments and events adversely affecting such issuer. Certain sectors of the municipal bond market have special risks that can affect them more significantly than the market as a whole. Because many municipal instruments are issued to finance similar projects, conditions in these industries can significantly affect the overall municipal market. Municipal securities that are insured by an insurer may be adversely affected by developments relevant to that particular insurer, or more general developments relevant to the market as a whole. Municipal securities can be difficult to value and be less liquid than other investments, which may affect performance or the ability to meet redemption requests.
Preferred Securities Risk—A company’s preferred stock generally pays dividends only after the company makes required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt. For this reason, the value of preferred stock will usually react more strongly than bonds and other debt to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects.
Prepayment Risk—Securities subject to prepayment risk generally offer less potential for gains when interest rates decline, because issuers of the securities may be able to prepay the principal due on the securities. These securities generally offer less potential for gains when interest rates decline and may offer a greater potential for loss when interest rates rise.
Real Estate Securities Risk—The Fund may invest in securities of real estate companies and companies related to the real estate industry, including real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), which are subject to the same risks as direct investments in real estate. The real estate industry is particularly sensitive to economic downturns.
Regulatory and Legal Risk—U.S. and non-U.S. governmental agencies and other regulators regularly implement additional regulations and legislators pass new laws that affect the investments held by the Fund, the strategies used by the Fund or the level of regulation or taxation applying to the Fund (such as regulations related to investments in derivatives and other transactions). These regulations and laws impact the investment strategies, performance, costs and operations of the Fund or taxation of shareholders.
Repurchase Agreements and Reverse Repurchase Agreements Risk—In the event of the insolvency of the counterparty to a repurchase agreement or reverse repurchase agreement, recovery of the repurchase price owed to the Fund or, in the case of a reverse repurchase agreement, the securities sold by the Fund, may be delayed. Because reverse repurchase agreements may be considered to be the practical equivalent of borrowing funds, they constitute a form of leverage. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of a reverse repurchase agreement at a rate lower than the cost of the agreement, entering into the agreement will lower the Fund’s yield.
Restricted Securities Risk—Restricted securities generally cannot be sold to the public and may involve a high degree of business, financial and liquidity risk, which may result in substantial losses to the Fund.
Securities Lending Risk—Securities lending involves a risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities or deliver the proper amount of collateral, which may result in a loss to the Fund. In the event of bankruptcy of the borrower, the Fund could experience losses or delays in recovering the loaned securities.
Sovereign Debt Risk—The debt securities issued by sovereign entities may decline as a result of default or other adverse credit event resulting from a sovereign debtor's unwillingness or inability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner, which may be affected by a variety of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor's policy toward international lenders, and the political constraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject. Sovereign debt risk is increased for emerging market issuers.
Special Situations/Securities in Default Risk—Investments in the securities and debt of distressed issuers or issuers in default involve far greater risk than investing in issuers whose debt obligations are being met and whose debt trade at or close to its “par” or full value because the investments are highly speculative with respect to the issuer’s ability to make interest payments and/or to pay its principal obligations in full and/or on time.
To-Be-Announced (“TBA”) Transactions Risk—The Fund may enter into “To Be Announced” (“TBA”) transactions to purchase or sell mortgage-backed securities for a fixed price at a future date. TBA purchase commitments involve a risk of loss if the value of the securities to be purchased declines prior to settlement date or if the counterparty may not deliver the securities as promised. Selling a TBA involves a risk of loss if the value of the securities to be sold goes up prior to settlement date. Recently finalized FINRA rules include mandatory margin requirements that will require the Fund to post collateral in connection with its TBA transactions, which could increase the cost of TBA transactions to the Fund and impose added operational complexity.
U.S. Government Securities Risk—U.S. government securities may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. U.S. government securities are subject to the risks associated with fixed-income and debt securities, particularly interest rate risk and credit risk.
When Issued, Forward Commitment and Delayed-Delivery Transactions Risk—When-issued, forward-commitment and delayed-delivery transactions involve a commitment to purchase or sell specific securities at a predetermined price or yield in which payment and delivery take place after the customary settlement period for that type of security. When purchasing securities pursuant to one of these transactions, payment for the securities is not required until the delivery date. However, the purchaser assumes the rights and risks of ownership, including the risks of price and yield fluctuations and the risk that the security will not be issued as anticipated.
Zero Coupon and Payment-In-Kind Securities Risk—Zero coupon and payment-in-kind securities pay no cash income and usually are sold at substantial discounts from their value at maturity. Zero coupon and payment-in-kind securities are subject to greater market value fluctuations from changing interest rates than debt obligations of comparable maturities, which make current distributions of cash.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
The Fund is newly organized. The Predecessor Fund, which also was an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, reorganized with and into the Fund, which has adopted the Predecessor Fund’s performance history. Accordingly, the performance information shown below for Institutional Class shares of the Fund reflects the performance of the Predecessor Fund and not that of the Fund. However, the Predecessor Fund’s policies, guidelines and investment objective were the same as those of the Fund’s in all material respects.
The following chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. Because Class R6 shares had not commenced operations as of the date of this Prospectus, the following chart and table show the Fund’s Institutional Class share calendar year performance from year to year and average annual returns for the one and five year and since inception periods, as applicable, for the Fund's Institutional Class shares compared to those of a broad measure of market performance. Class R6 shares and Institutional Class shares of the Fund would have substantially similar performance because they invest in the same portfolio of securities. However, the performance of Class R6 shares would be higher than Institutional Class shares to the extent Class R6 shares pay lower expenses than Institutional Class shares. The returns shown below for the Predecessor Fund have been restated to reflect the fees and expenses applicable to the Institutional Class shares of the Fund, exclusive of any applicable expense limitation agreement. As with all mutual funds, past performance (before and after taxes), including the past performance of the Predecessor Fund, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information will be on the Fund’s website at www.guggenheiminvestments.com or by calling 800.820.0888.
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Highest Quarter Return Q2 2016 0.72% | | Lowest Quarter Return Q3 2015 -0.05% |
Year to date total return as of September 30, 2018 is 1.64%. |
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (for the periods ended December 31, 2017)
After-tax returns shown in the table are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of any state or 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 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts ("IRAs").
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| | | |
| Inception | 1 Year | Since Inception |
Institutional Class | March 11, 2014 | | |
Return Before Taxes | | 1.95% | 1.20% |
Return After Taxes on Distributions | | 1.21% | 0.71% |
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | | 1.11% | 0.69% |
Index |
Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes) | | 0.81% | 0.29% |
MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND
Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC, also known as Guggenheim Investments, serves as the investment manager of the Fund. Since the Predecessor Fund’s inception (March 11, 2014), Guggenheim Investments served as the Predecessor Fund’s investment manager. B. Scott Minerd, Anne B. Walsh, Steven H. Brown, Adam Bloch and Kris L. Dorr are primarily responsible for the day-today management of the Fund. They hold the titles of Global Chief Investment Officer, Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager; Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income, Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager; Managing Director and Portfolio Manager; Director and Portfolio Manager; and Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, respectively, with the Investment Manager. B. Scott Minerd, Anne B. Walsh, Steven H. Brown, Adam Bloch and Kris L. Dorr have managed the Fund since its inception (December 2018). Anne B. Walsh and Steven H. Brown had managed the Predecessor Fund since its inception (March 11, 2014). Adam Bloch and Kris L. Dorr had managed the Predecessor Fund since January 2017.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
You may purchase or redeem Fund shares through your broker/dealer, other financial intermediary that has an agreement with Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC, the Fund’s distributor, or through the Fund’s transfer agent. You may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of any class of the Fund on any day the New York Stock Exchange is open for business.
Class R6 shares are generally available to qualified retirement and benefit plans that only have plan-level or omnibus accounts on the books of the Fund and whose record keeper does not charge service fees to the Fund. Class R6 shares also are generally available to certain plans and platforms sponsored by financial intermediaries that only have plan or platform level or omnibus accounts held in the books of the Fund and do not charge the Fund service or account fees. Certain institutional investors and others deemed appropriate by the Investment Manager may also be eligible to purchase Class R6 shares, subject to a $2,000,000 minimum initial investment, although the Investment Manager may waive this requirement at its discretion.
TAX INFORMATION
Fund distributions are taxable as ordinary income or capital gains (or a combination of both), unless your investment is through an IRA or other tax-advantaged retirement account. Investments through tax-advantaged accounts may sometimes become taxable upon withdrawal.
PAYMENTS TO BROKER/DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Fund shares through a broker/dealer or other financial intermediary, 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 sales person to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your sales person or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
Additional Information Regarding Investment Objectives and Strategies
The Board of Trustees of the Fund may change the Fund's investment objective and strategies at any time without shareholder approval. The Fund will provide written notice to shareholders prior to, or concurrent with, any such change as required by applicable law. As with any investment, there can be no guarantee the Fund will achieve its investment objective.
The Fund may, from time to time and in the discretion of the Investment Manager, take temporary positions that are inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse or unstable market, economic, political, or other conditions or abnormal circumstances, such as large cash inflows or anticipated large redemptions. For example, the Fund may invest some or all of its assets in cash, derivatives, fixed-income instruments, government bonds, money market instruments, repurchase agreements or securities of other investment companies, including money market funds. The Fund may be unable to pursue or achieve its investment objective during that time and temporary investments could reduce the benefit to the Fund from any upswing in the market.
The Fund's holdings of certain types of investments cannot exceed a maximum percentage of assets. Percentage limitations are set forth in this Prospectus and/or the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”). While the percentage limitations provide a useful level of detail about the Fund's investment program, they should not be viewed as an accurate gauge of the potential risk of the investment. For example, in a given period, a 5% investment in futures contracts could have significantly more of an 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 or risk profile in relation to the performance of the Fund’s other investments. The Portfolio Managers of the Fund have considerable leeway in choosing investment strategies and selecting securities, investment vehicles and other types of instruments the Portfolio Managers believe will help the Fund achieve its objective. In seeking to meet its investment objective or to adapt to changing economic or market environments, the Fund may invest in any type of security or instrument whose investment characteristics are considered by the Portfolio Managers to be consistent with the Fund’s investment program, including some that may not be listed in this Prospectus. Investors should be aware that the investments made by the Fund and the results achieved by the Fund at any given time are not expected to be the same as those made by other mutual funds for which the Investment Manager acts as investment adviser, including mutual funds with names, investment objectives and policies similar to the Fund. Also, investment strategies and types of investments will evolve over time, sometimes without prior notice to shareholders.
The Fund's investment policies, limitations and other guidelines typically apply at the time an investment is made. As a result, the Fund generally may continue to hold positions that met a particular investment policy or limitation at the time the investment was made but subsequently do not meet the investment policy or limitation.
The Fund is subject to certain investment policy limitations referred to as “fundamental policies.” The full text of the Fund’s fundamental policies is included in the SAI.
Descriptions of Principal Risks
An investment or type of security specifically identified in this Prospectus generally reflects a principal investment for the Fund. The Fund also may invest in or use certain other types of investments and investing techniques that are described in the SAI. An investment or type of security only identified in the SAI typically is treated as a non-principal investment. Additional information on the principal risks and certain non-principal risks of the Fund is set forth below. The fact that a particular risk was not indicated as a principal risk for the Fund does not mean that the Fund is prohibited from investing its assets in securities that give rise to that risk. It simply means that the risk is not a principal risk for the Fund. Although the Fund will not generally trade for short-term profits, circumstances may warrant a sale without regard to the length of time a security was held. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities. A high turnover rate may increase transaction costs, which decreases the value of investments, and may result in additional taxable gains (including short term gains) for the Fund.
Investors should note that the Fund reserves the right to discontinue offering shares at any time, to merge or reorganize itself or a class of shares, or to cease operations and liquidate at any time. In addition, portfolio managers can change at any time, the investment manager can be replaced, and an investment sub-adviser can be appointed to manage the Fund.
Asset-Backed Securities Risk—The Fund may invest in asset-backed securities issued by legal entities that are sponsored by banks, investment banks, other financial institutions or companies, asset management firms or funds
and are specifically created for the purpose of issuing such asset-backed securities. Investors in asset-backed securities receive payments that are part interest and part return of principal or certain asset-backed securities may be interest-only securities or principal-only securities. These payments typically depend upon the cash flows generated by an underlying pool of assets and vary based on the rate at which the underlying obligors pay off their liabilities under the underlying assets. The pooled assets provide cash flow to the issuer, which then makes interest and principal payments to investors.
Investments in asset-backed securities may be subject to many of the same risks that are applicable to investments in securities generally, including currency risk, geographic emphasis risk, high yield and unrated securities risk, leverage risk, prepayment and extension risk and regulatory risk. Asset-backed securities are particularly subject to interest rate and credit risks. Asset-backed securities are also subject to liquidity and valuation risk and, therefore, may be difficult to value accurately or sell at an advantageous time or price and involve greater transaction costs and wider bid/ask spreads than certain other instruments.
In addition, investments in asset-backed securities entail additional risks relating to the underlying pools of assets, including credit risk, default risk and prepayment and extension risk with respect to the underlying pool or individual assets represented in the pool. With respect to a mortgage loan backing mortgage-backed securities ("MBS"), when an underlying obligor, such as a homeowner, makes a prepayment, an investor in the securities receives a larger portion of its principal investment back, which means that there will be a decrease in monthly interest payments and the investor may not be able to reinvest the principal it receives as a result of such prepayment in a security with a similar risk, return or liquidity profile. In addition to prepayments, the underlying assets owned by an issuer of asset-backed securities are subject to the risk of defaults, and both defaults and prepayments may shorten the securities’ weighted average life and may lower their return, which may adversely affect the Fund’s investment in the asset-backed securities. The value of asset-backed securities held by the Fund also may change because of actual or perceived changes in the creditworthiness of the underlying asset obligors, the originators, the servicing agents, the financial institutions, if any, providing credit support, or swap counterparties in the case of synthetic asset-backed securities.
Further, credit risk retention requirements for asset-backed securities may increase the costs to originators, securitizers and, in certain cases, asset managers of securitization vehicles in which the Fund may invest. Although the impact of these requirements is uncertain, certain additional costs may be passed to the Fund and the Fund’s investments in asset-backed securities may be adversely affected. Many of the other changes required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), or foreign regulatory developments could materially impact the value of the Fund’s assets, expose the Fund to additional costs and require changes to investment practices, thereby adversely affecting the Fund’s performance.
Additional risks relating to investments in asset-backed securities may arise because of the type of asset-backed securities in which the Fund invests, defined by the assets collateralizing the asset-backed securities. For example, collateralized mortgage obligations may have complex or highly variable prepayment terms, such as companion classes, interest only or principal only payments, inverse floaters and residuals. These investments generally entail greater market, prepayment and liquidity risks than other mortgage-backed securities, and may be more volatile or less liquid than other mortgage-backed securities. In addition, asset-backed securities backed by aircraft loans and leases may provide the Fund with a less effective security interest in the related underlying collateral than do mortgage-related securities and, thus, it is possible that recovery on repossessed collateral might be unavailable or inadequate to support payments on these asset-backed securities. In addition to the risks inherent in asset-backed securities generally, risks associated with aircraft securitizations include but are not limited to risks related to commercial aircraft, the leasing of aircraft by commercial airlines and the commercial aviation industry generally. With respect to any one aircraft, the value of such aircraft can be affected by the particular maintenance and operating history for the aircraft or its components, the model and type of aircraft, the jurisdiction of registration (including legal risks, costs and delays in attempting to repossess and export such aircraft following any default under the related loan or lease) and regulatory risk. The Fund may invest in these and other types of asset-backed securities that may be developed in the future.
Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities—Home mortgage loans are typically grouped together into pools by banks and other lending institutions, and interests in these pools are then sold to investors, allowing the bank or other lending institution to have more money available to loan to home buyers. Some of these pools are guaranteed by U.S. government agencies or by government sponsored private corporations-familiarly called “Ginnie Mae,” “Fannie Mae” and “Freddie Mac.” Non-agency MBS is subject to the risk that the value of such security will decline because, among other things, the security is not issued or guaranteed as to principal or interest by the U.S. government or a government sponsored enterprise. These securities are often subject to greater credit risk than agency MBS. In addition, these securities may be less readily marketable than agency MBS as the market for these securities is typically smaller and less liquid than the market for
agency MBS, and these securities may be subject to greater price fluctuation than agency MBS. Home mortgage loans may also be purchased and grouped together by non-lending institutions such as investment banks and hedge funds who will sell interests in such pools to investors. Mortgage-backed securities may be particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates given that rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities. As a result, a rising interest rate environment can cause the prices of mortgage-backed securities to be increasingly volatile, which may adversely affect the Fund’s holdings of mortgage-backed securities. In light of the current interest rate environment, the Fund’s investments in these securities may be subject to heightened interest rate risk.
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities—Commercial mortgage backed securities (“CMBS”) are collateralized by one or more commercial mortgage loans. Banks and other lending institutions typically group the loans into pools and interests in these pools are then sold to investors, allowing the lender to have more money available to loan to other commercial real estate owners. Commercial mortgage loans may be secured by office properties, retail properties, hotels, mixed use properties or multi-family apartment buildings. Investments in CMBS are subject to the risks of asset-backed securities generally and particularly subject to credit risk, interest rate risk, and liquidity and valuation risk.
Collateralized Loan Obligations and Collateralized Debt Obligations—A collateralized loan obligation (“CLO”) is an asset-backed security whose underlying collateral is a pool of loans. Such loans may include domestic and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans and subordinate corporate loans, some of which may be below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans. Investments in CLOs carry the same risks as investments in loans directly, such as interest rate risk, credit and liquidity and valuation risks, and the risk of default. These investments are also subject to the risks associated with a decrease of market value due to collateral defaults and disappearance of subordinate tranches, market anticipation of defaults, and investor aversion to these types of securities as a class. CLOs issue classes or “tranches” that vary in risk and yield. Losses caused by defaults on underlying assets are borne first by the holders of subordinate tranches. A CLO may experience substantial losses attributable to loan defaults. The Fund’s investment in a CLO may decrease in market value because of (i) loan defaults or credit impairment, (ii) the disappearance of subordinate tranches, (iii) market anticipation of defaults, and (iv) investor aversion to CLO securities as a class. These risks may be magnified depending on the tranche of CLO securities in which the Fund invests. For example, investments in a junior tranche of CLO securities will likely be more sensitive to loan defaults or credit impairment than investments in more senior tranches.
Collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) are structured similarly to CLOs, but are backed by pools of assets that are debt securities rather than only loans, typically including bonds, other structured finance securities (including other asset-backed securities and other CLOs) and/or synthetic instruments. CDOs are often highly leveraged, and like CLOs, the risks of investing in CDOs may be magnified depending on the tranche of CDO securities held by the Fund. The nature of the risks of CDOs depends largely on the type and quality of the underlying collateral and the tranche of CDOs in which the Fund may invest. CDOs collateralized by pools of asset-backed securities carry the same risks as investments in asset-backed securities directly, including losses with respect to the collateral underlying those asset-backed securities. In addition, certain CDOs may not hold their underlying collateral directly, but rather, use derivatives such as swaps to create “synthetic” exposure to the collateral pool. Such CDOs entail the risks associated with derivative instruments.
Commercial Paper Risk—The value of the Fund’s investment in commercial paper, which is an unsecured promissory note that generally has a maturity date between one and 270 days and is issued by a U.S. or foreign entity, is susceptible to changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit quality. Commercial paper is typically repaid with the proceeds from the issuance of new commercial paper. Thus, investments in commercial paper are subject to the risk (commonly referred to as rollover risk) that the issuer will be unable to issue sufficient new commercial paper to meet the repayment obligations under its outstanding commercial paper. Investments in commercial paper are usually discounted from their value at maturity. Commercial paper can be fixed-rate or variable rate and can be adversely affected by changes in interest rates. As with other debt securities, there is a risk that the issuer of commercial paper will default completely on its obligations. Commercial paper is generally unsecured and, thus, is subject to increased credit risk. The Fund may have limited or no recourse against the issuer of commercial paper in the event of default.
Convertible Securities Risk—Convertible securities, debt or preferred equity securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, equity securities, are generally preferred stocks and other securities, including fixed-income securities and warrants that are convertible into or exercisable for common stock. They generally participate in the appreciation or depreciation of the underlying stock into which they are convertible, but to a lesser degree, and are subject to the risks associated with debt and equity securities, including interest rate, market and issuer risks. For example, if market interest rates rise, the value of a convertible security usually falls. Certain convertible securities may combine higher or lower current income with options and other features. Warrants are options to buy a stated
number of shares of common stock at a specified price anytime during the life of the warrants (generally, two or more years). Convertible securities may be lower-rated securities subject to greater levels of credit risk. A convertible security may be converted before it would otherwise be most appropriate, which may have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.
“Synthetic” convertible securities are selected based on the similarity of their economic characteristics to those of a traditional convertible security due to the combination of separate securities that possess the two principal characteristics of a traditional convertible security, i.e., an income-producing security (“income-producing component”) and the right to acquire an equity security (“convertible component”). The income-producing component is achieved by investing in non-convertible, income-producing securities such as bonds, preferred stocks and money market instruments, which may be represented by derivative instruments. The convertible component is achieved by investing in securities or instruments such as warrants or options to buy common stock at a certain exercise price, or options on a stock index. A simple example of a synthetic convertible security is the combination of a traditional corporate bond with a warrant to purchase equity securities of the issuer of the bond. The Fund may also purchase synthetic securities created by other parties, typically investment banks, including convertible structured notes. The income-producing and convertible components of a synthetic convertible security may be issued separately by different issuers and at different times.
Counterparty Credit Risk—Counterparty risk is the risk that a counterparty to the Fund transaction (e.g., prime brokerage or securities lending arrangement or derivatives transaction) will be unable or unwilling to perform its contractual obligation to the Fund. The Fund may invest in financial instruments and derivatives (including equity index swap agreements) involving counterparties for the purpose of seeking to gain exposure to a particular group of securities, index, asset class or reference asset without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or seeking to hedge a position. Such financial instruments may include, among others, total return, index, interest rate, and credit default swap agreements. The Fund may use counterparty agreements to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized in particular predetermined investments or instruments. Through these investments and arrangements, the Fund is exposed to credit risks that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments to meet its contractual or other obligations. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on (or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling to perform) its payment or other obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount that it is entitled to receive or may experience delays in recovering the collateral or other assets held by, or on behalf of, the counterparty. If this occurs, or if exercising contractual rights involves delays or costs for the Fund, the value of your shares in the Fund may decrease.
The Fund bears the risk that counterparties may be adversely affected by legislative or regulatory changes, adverse market conditions, increased competition, and/or wide scale credit losses resulting from financial difficulties or borrowers affecting counterparties.
Credit Risk—The Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a debt instrument or a counterparty to a derivatives transaction or other transaction (such as a repurchase agreement or a loan of portfolio securities) is unable or unwilling, or perceived to be unable or unwilling, to pay interest or repay principal on time or defaults. If an issuer fails to pay interest, the Fund’s income would likely be reduced, and if an issuer fails to repay principal, the value of the instrument likely would fall and the Fund could lose money. This risk is especially acute with respect to high yield, below-investment grade and unrated high risk debt instruments (which also may be known as “junk bonds”). Also, the issuer, guarantor or counterparty may suffer adverse changes in its financial condition or be adversely affected by economic, political or social conditions that could lower the credit quality (or the market’s perception of the credit quality) of the issuer or instrument, leading to greater volatility in the price of the instrument and in shares of the Fund. Although credit quality may not accurately reflect the true credit risk of an instrument, a change in the credit quality rating of an instrument or an issuer can have a rapid, adverse effect on the instrument’s liquidity and make it more difficult for the Fund to sell at an advantageous price or time. Any applicable limitation on the credit quality of an issuer or instrument in which the Fund may invest is applied at the time the Fund purchases the instrument.
The degree of credit risk depends on the particular instrument and the financial condition of the issuer, guarantor or counterparty, which are often reflected in its credit quality. Credit quality is a measure of the issuer’s expected ability to make all required interest and principal payments in a timely manner. An issuer with the highest credit rating has a very strong capacity with respect to making all payments. An issuer with the second-highest credit rating has a strong capacity to make all payments, but the degree of safety is somewhat less. An issuer with the lowest credit quality rating may be in default or have extremely poor prospects of making timely payment of interest and principal. Credit ratings assigned by rating agencies are based on a number of factors and subjective judgments and therefore do not necessarily represent an issuer's actual financial condition or the volatility or liquidity of the security. Although higher-rated securities generally present lower credit risk as compared to lower-rated or unrated securities, an issuer
with a high credit rating may in fact be exposed to heightened levels of credit or liquidity risk. See Appendix A of the SAI for a more complete discussion of the meaning of the different credit quality ratings.
Investment grade instruments are debt instruments that have been determined by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization to have a medium to high probability of being paid (although there is always a risk of default) or, if unrated, have been determined by the Investment Manager to be of comparable quality. Investment grade instruments are designated “BBB”, “A”, “AA” or “AAA” by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group, Fitch Investors Service, Inc., DBRS Ltd., Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC and Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Inc., “Baa”, “A”, “Aa” or “Aaa” by Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”), and “bbb”, “a”, “aa”, or “aaa” by A.M. Best Company, or an equivalent rating by any other nationally recognized statistical rating organization, or have been determined by the Investment Manager to be of comparable quality. If nationally recognized statistical rating organizations assign different ratings to the same instrument, the Fund will use the higher rating for purposes of determining the instrument’s credit quality. The Investment Manager's credit analysis includes looking at factors such as an issuer’s debt service coverage (i.e., its ability to make interest payments on its debt), the issuer’s cash flow, general economic factors and domestic and global market conditions.
The loans and corporate debt instruments in which the Fund may invest include those (i) rated lower than investment grade credit quality, e.g., rated lower than “Baa” category by Moody’s or “BBB” category by Standard & Poor’s Corporation, or have been issued by issuers who have issued other debt instruments which, if rated, would be rated lower than investment grade credit quality or (ii) unrated but the borrowers and their other loans typically are rated below investment grade. Investment decisions will be based largely on the credit risk analysis performed by the Investment Manager and not on rating agency evaluations. This analysis may be difficult to perform. Information about many loans and their issuers generally is not available in the public domain because many issuers have not issued securities to the public and are not subject to reporting requirements under federal securities laws. Thus, little public information typically exists about these companies. Generally, however, these issuers are required to provide certain financial information to lenders, and certain information may be available from other participants or agents in the loan marketplace.
Currency Risk—The Fund’s direct or indirect exposure to foreign currencies, including through ownership of securities of foreign issuers, subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, which would cause a decline in the U.S. value of the holdings of the Fund. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political, economic and tax developments in the U.S. or abroad. When the Fund seeks exposure to foreign currencies through foreign currency contracts and related transactions, the Fund becomes particularly susceptible to foreign currency value fluctuations, which may be sudden and significant, and investment decisions tied to currency markets. In addition, these investments are subject to the risks associated with derivatives and hedging the impact on the Fund of fluctuations in the value of currencies may be magnified. To the extent the Fund seeks to hedge currency risk, the Fund may incur increased implied transaction costs.
Derivatives Risk—The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as swaps, futures contracts and options contracts and other instruments described in the Fund’s principal investment strategies, to pursue its investment objective and to create economic leverage in the Fund, to seek to enhance total return, to seek to hedge against fluctuations in securities prices, interest rates, currency rates, etc., to seek to change the effective duration of the Fund’s portfolio, to seek to manage certain investment risks, and/or as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities or currencies. The use of such derivatives may expose the Fund to risks in addition to and greater than those associated with investing directly in the securities underlying those derivatives, including risks relating to leverage, imperfect correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, high price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty credit, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of such derivatives may also expose the Fund to the performance of securities that the Fund does not own. For derivatives traded on an exchange or through a central counterparty, the Fund is subject to the credit risk of the clearing broker or clearinghouse. Certain derivatives are subject to mandatory exchange trading and/or clearing. Central clearing is intended to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity but does not make derivatives transactions risk-free. The skills necessary to successfully execute derivatives strategies may be different from those for more traditional portfolio management techniques, and if the Investment Manager is incorrect about its expectations of market conditions, the use of derivatives could also result in a loss, which in some cases may be unlimited. Use of derivatives may also cause the Fund to be subject to additional regulations, which may generate additional Fund expenses. These practices also entail transactional expenses and may cause the Fund to realize higher amounts of short-term capital gains than if the Fund had not engaged in such transactions. The markets for certain derivative instruments, and those located in foreign countries, are relatively new and still developing, which may expose the Fund to increased counterparty and liquidity risk. Certain risks also are specific to the derivatives in which the Fund invests.
Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund invests are traded (and privately negotiated) in the over-the-counter ("OTC") market. OTC derivatives are complex and often valued subjectively. Improper valuations can result in increased cash payment requirements to counterparties or a loss of value to the Fund. In addition, OTC derivative instruments are often highly customized and tailored to meet the needs of the Fund and its trading counterparties. If a derivative transaction is particularly large or if the relevant market is illiquid, it may not be possible to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty credit risk with respect to such derivative contracts.
Swap Agreements Risk—Swap agreements are contracts for periods ranging from one day to more than one year and may be negotiated bilaterally and traded OTC between two parties or, in some instances, must be transacted through a futures commission merchant or swap execution facility and cleared through a clearinghouse that serves as a central counterparty. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined investments or instruments. The Fund may enter into swap agreements, including, but not limited to total return swaps, index swaps, interest rate swaps, municipal market data rate locks, and credit default swaps. The Fund may utilize swap agreements in an attempt to gain exposure to certain securities without purchasing those securities, which is speculative, or to hedge a position. Risks associated with the use of swap agreements are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions, due to the fact they could be considered illiquid and many swaps currently trade on the OTC market. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty credit, correlation, valuation, liquidity and leveraging risks.
Certain standardized swaps are subject to mandatory exchange trading and central clearing. Exchange trading and central clearing are expected to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity but do not make swap transactions risk-free. Additionally, applicable regulators have adopted rules imposing certain margin requirements, including minimums, on OTC swaps, which may result in the Fund and its counterparties posting higher margin amounts for OTC swaps. The Dodd-Frank Act and related regulatory developments require the clearing and exchange-trading of many OTC derivative instruments that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") have defined as “swaps.” Mandatory exchange-trading and clearing are occurring on a phased-in basis based on the type of market participant and CFTC approval of contracts for central clearing. The Investment Manager will continue to monitor developments in this area, particularly to the extent regulatory changes affect the Fund’s ability to enter into swap agreements.
Futures Contracts Risk—Futures contracts are exchange-traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement (payment of the gain or loss on the contract). Futures 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 and for other reasons such as to manage exposure to changes in interest rates and bond prices; as an efficient means of adjusting overall exposure to certain markets; in an effort to enhance income; to protect the value of portfolio securities; and to adjust portfolio duration. Risks of futures contracts may be caused by an imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the instruments and the price of the underlying assets. In addition, there is the risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction because of an illiquid market. Futures markets can be highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Exchanges can limit the number of options that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Investment Manager, thus limiting the ability to implement the Fund’s strategies. Futures are also subject to leveraging risk and can be subject to liquidity risk.
Options Contracts Risk—The buyer of an option acquires the right, but not the obligation, to buy (a call option) or sell (a put option) a certain quantity of a security (the underlying security) or instrument, including a futures contract or swap, at a certain price up to a specified point in time. The seller or writer of an option is obligated to sell (a call option) or buy (a put option) the underlying instrument. Options 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 and for other reasons such as to manage exposure to changes in interest rates and bond prices; as an efficient means of adjusting overall exposure to certain markets; in an effort to enhance income; to protect the value of portfolio securities; and to adjust portfolio duration.
Options are subject to correlation risks. The writing and purchase of options is a highly specialized activity as the successful use of options depends on the Investment Manager’s ability to predict correctly future price fluctuations and the degree of correlation between the markets for options and the underlying instruments. Exchanges can limit the number of futures options that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Investment Manager, thus limiting the ability to implement the Fund's strategies. Options are also particularly subject to leverage risk and can be subject to liquidity risk. Because option premiums paid or received by the Fund are
small in relation to the market value of the investments underlying the options, the Fund is exposed to the risk that buying and selling put and call options can be more speculative than investing directly in securities.
The Fund may also purchase or sell call and put options on a “covered” basis. A call option is “covered” if the Fund owns the security underlying the call or has an absolute right to acquire the security without additional cash consideration (or, if additional cash consideration is required, cash or cash equivalents in such amount are segregated by the Fund’s custodian). As a seller of covered call options, the Fund faces the risk that it will forgo the opportunity to profit from increases in the market value of the security covering the call option during an option’s life.
Hybrid Securities—Hybrid instruments combine the characteristics of securities, futures and options. Typically, a hybrid instrument combines a traditional stock, bond or commodity with an option or forward contract. Generally, the principal amount, amount payable upon maturity or redemption, or interest rate of a hybrid is tied to the price of some security, commodity, currency or securities index, or another interest rate or some other economic factor. Hybrid instruments can be used as an efficient means of pursuing a variety of investment goals, including currency hedging and increased total return. The risks of such investments would reflect the risks of investing in futures, options and securities, including volatility and illiquidity. Such securities may bear interest or pay dividends at below market (or even relatively nominal) rates. Under certain conditions, the redemption value of such an investment could be zero.
Dollar Roll Transaction Risk—The Fund may enter into dollar roll transactions, in which the Fund sells a mortgage-backed or other security for settlement on one date and buys back a substantially similar security (but not the same security) for settlement at a later date. The Fund gives up the principal and interest payments on the security, but may invest the sale proceeds, during the “roll period.” When the Fund enters into a dollar roll transaction, any fluctuation in the market value of the security transferred or the securities in which the sales proceeds are invested can affect the market value of the Fund’s assets, and therefore, the Fund’s NAV. Dollar roll transactions may sometimes be considered to be the practical equivalent of borrowing and constitute a form of leverage. Dollar roll transactions also involve the risk that the market value of the securities the Fund is required to deliver may decline below the agreed upon repurchase price of those securities. In addition, in the event that the Fund’s counterparty becomes insolvent or otherwise unable or unwilling to perform its obligations, the Fund’s use of the proceeds may become restricted pending a determination as to whether to enforce the Fund’s obligation to purchase the substantially similar securities.
Emerging Markets Risk—The Fund may invest in securities in emerging markets. Investing in securities in emerging markets countries may entail greater risks than investing in securities in developed markets countries, such as increased economic, political, regulatory or other uncertainties. These risks include: (i) less social, political and economic stability and potentially more volatile currency exchange rates; (ii) the small current size of the markets for such securities and the currently low or nonexistent volume of trading, which result in a lack of liquidity and in greater price volatility; (iii) certain national policies which may restrict the Fund’s investment opportunities, including restrictions on investment in issuers or industries deemed sensitive to national interests, and trade barriers; (iv) foreign taxation; (v) the absence of developed legal systems, including structures governing private or foreign investment or allowing for judicial redress for injury to private property; (vi) lower levels of government regulation and less extensive accounting, financial and other reporting requirements; (vii) high rates of inflation for prolonged periods; and (viii) particular sensitivity to global economic conditions or reliance on international or other forms of aid, including trade, taxation and development policies. Sovereign debt of emerging countries may be in default or present a greater risk of default. Frontier market countries generally have smaller economies and even less developed capital markets than traditional emerging market countries (which themselves have increased investment risk relative to developed market countries) and, as a result, the Fund's exposure to the risks associated with investing in emerging market countries are magnified if the Fund invests in frontier market countries.
Extension Risk—An issuer may exercise its right to pay principal on an obligation later than expected, thereby effectively lengthening the maturity of the obligation and making the obligation more sensitive to interest rate changes and widening or tightening credit spreads. This is more likely to happen when there is a rise in interest rates. Under these circumstances, the value of the obligation will decrease and the Fund’s performance may suffer from its inability to invest in higher yielding securities.
Foreign Securities and Currency Risk—Investing in foreign investments, including investing in foreign securities through American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), involves certain special or additional risks, including, but not limited to: (i) unfavorable changes in currency exchange rates ; (ii) unfavorable changes in applicable regulations; (iii) adverse political and economic developments; (iv) unreliable or untimely information; (v) limited legal recourse; (vi) limited markets; (vii) higher operational expenses; and (viii) illiquidity. These investments are subject to additional risks, including: differing reporting, accounting, and auditing standards;
nationalization, expropriation, or confiscatory taxation; foreign currency fluctuations, currency blockage, or replacement; potential for default on sovereign debt; or other diplomatic developments, which may include the imposition of economic sanctions or other measures by the U.S. or other governments and supranational organizations or changes in trade policies. These risks may even be higher in underdeveloped or emerging markets. The less developed a country's securities market is, the greater the level of risks. The Fund considers a security to be a foreign security if the issuer is organized under the laws of a foreign country or is a foreign government, or a sub-division or agency of such government, or the security is traded in markets outside the United States.
Foreign fixed-income securities may also be negatively affected by rising interest rates, which may cause an increase in funding costs for foreign issuers and make it more difficult for them to service their debt. Rising interest rates, in addition to widening credit spreads, may cause a decline in market liquidity. Foreign investments are normally issued and traded in foreign currencies. As a result, their values may be affected by changes in the exchange rates between particular foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. Foreign investments may be subject to the risks of seizure or other involvement by a foreign government, imposition of restrictions on the exchange or transport of foreign currency, and tax increases. There may also be less information publicly available about a foreign company than about most U.S. companies, and foreign companies are usually not subject to accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and practices comparable to those in the United States. The legal remedies for investors in foreign investments may be more limited than those available in the United States and the Fund may have limited or no legal recourse with respect to foreign securities. Certain foreign investments may be less liquid (harder to buy and sell) and more volatile than domestic investments, which means the Fund may at times be unable to sell its foreign investments at desirable prices. For the same reason, the Fund may at times find it difficult to value its foreign investments. Brokerage commissions and other fees are generally higher for foreign investments than for domestic investments. The procedures and rules for settling foreign transactions may also involve delays in payment, delivery or recovery of money or investments. Foreign withholding taxes may reduce the amount of income available to distribute to shareholders of the Fund.
High Yield and Unrated Securities Risk—High yield debt securities in the lower rating (higher risk) categories of the recognized rating services are commonly referred to as “junk bonds.” High yield securities are debt securities that have been determined by a rating agency to have a lower probability of being paid and have a credit rating of “BB” category or lower by Standard & Poor’s Corporation and Fitch Investors Service, Inc. or “Ba” category or lower by Moody’s Investors Service or have been determined by an Investment Manager to be of comparable quality. The total return and yield of junk bonds can be expected to fluctuate more than the total return and yield of higher-quality bonds. Junk bonds (those rated below investment grade or in default, or unrated securities determined by the Investment Manager to be of comparable quality) are regarded as predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to meet principal and interest payments. High yield securities may be subject to greater levels of credit risk and tend to be less liquid, and therefore more difficult to value accurately and sell at an advantageous price or time and may involve greater transactions costs and wider bid/ask spreads, than higher-quality bonds. The risks associated with high yield securities are heightened during times of weakening economic conditions or rising interest rates.
Successful investment in lower-medium and lower-rated debt securities involves greater investment risk and is highly dependent on the Investment Manager’s credit analysis. The value of high yield securities is particularly vulnerable to changes in interest rates and a real or perceived economic downturn or higher interest rates could cause a decline in high-yield bond prices by lessening the ability of issuers to make principal and interest payments. These bonds are often thinly traded or subject to irregular trading and can be more difficult to sell and value accurately than higher-quality bonds because there tends to be less public information available about these securities. Because objective pricing data may be less available, judgment may play a greater role in the valuation process. In addition, the entire high yield bond market can experience sudden and sharp price swings due to a variety of factors, including changes in economic forecasts, stock market activity, large or sustained sales by major investors, a high-profile default, or a change in the market’s psychology regarding high yield investments. High yield securities may be more sensitive to adverse specific corporate or general market developments than higher-quality bonds. This type of volatility is usually associated more with stocks than bonds.
Interest Rate Risk—Investments in fixed-income instruments are subject to the possibility that interest rates could rise (or are expected to rise) sharply, causing the value of the Fund’s holdings and NAV per share to decline. Longer term bonds and zero coupon bonds are generally more sensitive to interest rate changes than shorter-term bonds. Generally, the longer the average duration (whether positive or negative) of the bonds held by the Fund or to which the Fund is exposed, the more the Fund’s share price will fluctuate in response to interest rate changes. Duration is a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a security's price to changes in interest rates that incorporates a security's yield, coupon, final maturity and call features, among other characteristics. For example, the NAV per share of a bond fund with an average duration of eight years would be expected to fall approximately 8% if interest rates
rose by one percentage point. Conversely, the NAV per share of a bond fund with an average duration of negative three years would be expected to rise approximately 3% if interest rates rose by one percentage point. The value of securities with negative durations, such as inverse floaters, generally decrease if interest rates decline.
However, duration may not accurately reflect the true interest rate sensitivity of instruments held by the Fund and, in turn, the Fund's susceptibility to changes in interest rates. If an issuer calls or redeems an investment during a time of declining interest rates, the Fund might have to reinvest the proceeds in an investment offering a lower yield, and therefore might not benefit from any increase in value as a result of declining interest rates. Interest only or principal only securities and inverse floaters are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, which may impact the income generated by the security and other features of the security.
Securities with floating interest rates, such as syndicated bank loans, generally are less sensitive to interest rate changes, but may decline in value if their interest rates do not rise as much or as fast as interest rates in general. In a decreasing interest rate environment, the Fund’s investment in securities with floating interest rates may prevent the Fund from taking full advantage of decreasing interest rates in a timely manner. During periods of rising interest rates, issuers of debt securities or asset-backed securities may pay principal later or more slowly than expected, which may reduce the value of the Fund’s investment in such securities and may prevent the Fund from receiving higher interest rates on proceeds reinvested in other instruments.
Changing Fixed-Income Market Conditions—Although the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Federal Reserve”) has started to raise interest rates, interest rates in the U.S. and many parts of the world, including certain European countries, remain near historically low levels. To the extent the Federal Reserve continues to raise the federal funds rate, there is a risk that interest rates across the financial system may rise. Very low or negative interest rates may magnify the Fund’s susceptibility to interest rate risk and diminish yield and performance (e.g., during periods of very low or negative interest rates, the Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns). In addition, certain countries have experienced (or may be expected to experience) negative interest rates on certain fixed-income instruments.
Changes in fixed-income market conditions, including the recent increases and potential for future increases to the federal funds rate or negative interest rates, may expose fixed-income markets to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity for certain Fund investments that may be difficult to sell at favorable prices to meet fund redemption obligations, causing the value of the Fund’s investments and NAV per share to decline. A rise in general interest rates may also result in increased redemptions from the Fund. Very low, negative or changing interest rates may also have unpredictable effects on securities markets in general, directly or indirectly impacting the Fund’s investments, yield and performance. Thus, the Fund currently faces a heightened level of interest rate, liquidity and valuation risks.
The Fund that invests in derivatives tied to fixed-income markets may be more substantially exposed to these risks than a fund that does not invest in derivatives. To the extent the Fund experiences high redemptions because of changes in interest rates, the Fund may experience increased portfolio turnover, which will increase the costs that the Fund incurs and may lower the Fund’s performance. The liquidity levels of the Fund's portfolio may also be affected and the Fund could be required to sell holdings at disadvantageous times or prices in order to meet redemption obligations.
Investments by Investing Funds and Other Large Shareholders—Shares of the Fund are offered as an investment to certain other investment companies (including those advised by the Investment Manager and its affiliates), large retirement plans and other large investors. Such investors may comprise a significant portion of the Fund's shareholders. The Fund is subject to the risk that one or more large investors purchase or redeem a large percentage of Fund shares at any time. To meet large redemption requests, the Fund may have to hold large uninvested cash positions or sell investments to raise the cash needed to satisfy redemption requests at times when it would not otherwise do so. In turn, the Fund’s performance may suffer and the Fund can incur high turnover, incur brokerage costs, realize gains or losses at inopportune times, lose money, hold a less liquid portfolio or experience other adverse consequences. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would. The Fund may also experience adverse tax consequences as a result of a large shareholder transaction. Under certain circumstances, the Fund may also experience frequent large shareholder transactions.
Investment in Investment Vehicles Risk—Investments in investment companies or other investment vehicles may include index-based unit investment trusts such as Standard & Poor’s Depositary Receipts or other index funds and securities of investment companies that are not index-based, including closed-end funds, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and other investment vehicles. Index-based investments sometimes hold substantially all of their assets in securities representing a specific index. The Fund may use index-based investments (including ETFs
designed to track an index) as a way of managing its cash position, or to maintain liquidity while gaining exposure to the equity, commodities or fixed-income markets, or a particular sector of such markets, or to seek to avoid losses in declining market conditions. The Fund may invest in index-based investment vehicles for a variety of other reasons, including to obtain exposure to a specific asset class or investment strategy or to seek to enhance return or yield. In addition, an index-based investment vehicle in which the Fund invests may not replicate exactly the composition or performance of the index it seeks to track for a number of reasons, such as operating expenses, transaction costs and imperfect correlation of holdings relative to the index.
The Fund and its shareholders may incur its pro rata share of the expenses of the underlying investment companies or vehicles in which the Fund invests, such as investment advisory and other management expenses, and shareholders will incur the operating expenses of these investment vehicles. In addition, the Fund will be subject to those risks affecting the investment vehicle, including the effects of business and regulatory developments that affect an underlying investment company or vehicle or the investment company industry generally as well as the possibility that the value of the underlying securities held by the investment vehicle could decrease or the portfolio becomes illiquid. Shares of investment vehicles that trade on an exchange may trade at a discount or premium from their net asset value. The purchase of shares of some investment companies (such as closed-end investment companies and ETFs) may require the payment of substantial premiums above the value of such companies' portfolio securities or NAVs.
An underlying investment vehicle may buy the same securities that another underlying investment vehicle sells. If this happens, an investor in the Fund would indirectly bear the costs of these trades without accomplishing any investment purpose. In addition, certain of the underlying investment vehicles may hold common portfolio positions, thereby reducing the diversification benefits of an asset allocation style. The underlying investment vehicles may engage in investment strategies or invest in specific investments in which the Fund would not engage or invest directly.
The performance of those underlying investment vehicles, in turn, depends upon the performance of the securities in which they invest.
The underlying investment companies or other investment vehicles in which the Fund invests are often institutional funds owned by a small number of shareholders and are thus also subject to the risk that shareholders redeem their shares rapidly, which may adversely affect the performance and liquidity of the underlying investment vehicles and the Fund.
An investment by the Fund in ETFs generally presents the same primary risks as an investment in a mutual fund. In addition, an investment in an ETF may be subject to additional risk, including: the ETF's shares may trade at a discount or premium relative to the net asset value of the shares; an active trading market may not develop for the ETF's shares; the listing exchange may halt trading of the ETF's shares; the ETF may fail to correctly track the referenced asset (if any); and the ETF may hold troubled securities in the referenced index or basket of investments.
Investment in Loans Risk—Loans, such as syndicated bank loans and other direct lending opportunities, senior floating rate loans, secured and unsecured loans, second lien or more junior loans, bridge loans, revolving credit facilities and unfunded commitments, may incur some of the same risks as other debt securities, such as prepayment risk, credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk and risks found with high yield securities. The terms of certain loan agreements may cause certain loans to be particularly sensitive to changes in benchmark interest rates. Although some loans are secured by collateral, the collateral may be difficult to liquidate and the value of the collateral can decline or be insufficient or unavailable to meet the obligation of the borrower. Certain loans have the benefit of restrictive covenants that limit the ability of the borrower to further encumber its assets or incur other debt obligations. To the extent a loan does not have such covenants, an investment in the loan may be particularly sensitive to the risks associated with loan investments. The Fund's interest in a particular loan and/or in a particular collateral securing a loan may be subordinate to the interests of other creditors of the obligor. As a result, a loan may not be fully collateralized (and may be uncollateralized) and can decline significantly in value, which may result in the Fund not receiving payments to which it is entitled on a timely basis or at all. In addition, the Fund may have limited rights to exercise remedies against collateral or against an obligor when payments are delayed or missed.
Loans may offer a fixed rate or floating rate of interest. Loans may decline in value if their interest rates do not rise as much or as fast as interest rates in general. In addition, to the extent the Fund holds a loan through a financial intermediary, or relies on a financial intermediary to administer the loan, the Fund's investment, including receipt of principal and interest relating to the loan, will be subject to the credit risk of the intermediary.
Loans are subject to the risk that the scheduled interest or principal payments will not be paid. Lower-rated loans and debt securities (those of less than investment grade quality) involve greater risk of default on interest and principal payments than higher-rated loans and securities. In the event that a non-payment occurs, the value of that obligation
likely will decline. Loans and other debt instruments rated below “BBB” category by S&P or “Baa” category by Moody’s or unrated but assessed by the Investment Manager of similar quality are considered to have speculative characteristics and are commonly referred to as “junk bonds.” Junk bonds entail default and other risks greater than those associated with higher-rated securities.
Loans are vulnerable to market sentiment such that economic conditions or other events may reduce the demand for loans and cause their value to decline rapidly and unpredictably. Many loan interests are subject to restrictions on transfer that may limit the ability of the Fund to sell the interests at an advantageous time or price. Furthermore, while the resale, or secondary, market for loans is growing, it is currently limited. There is no organized exchange or board of trade on which loans are traded. Loans often trade in large denominations (typically $1 million and higher), and trades can be infrequent. The market has limited transparency so that information about actual trades may be difficult to obtain. Accordingly, some of the loans in which the Fund may invest will be relatively illiquid and difficult to value. Loans are often subject to restrictions on resale or assignment. The Fund may have difficulty in disposing of loans in a favorable or timely fashion, which could result in losses to the Fund. Transactions in loans are often subject to long settlement periods (in excess of the standard T+2 days settlement cycle for most securities and often longer than seven days). As a result, sale proceeds potentially will not be available to the Fund to make additional investments or to use proceeds to meet its current redemption obligations. The Fund thus is subject to the risk of selling other investments at disadvantageous times or prices, taking other actions necessary to raise cash to meet its redemption obligations such as borrowing from a bank or holding additional cash.
Loans may be issued in connection with highly leveraged transactions, such as restructurings, leveraged buyouts, leveraged recapitalizations and acquisition financing. In such highly leveraged transactions, the borrower assumes large amounts of debt in order to have the financial resources to attempt to achieve its business objectives. Accordingly, such loans may be part of highly leveraged transactions and involve a significant risk that the borrower may default or go into bankruptcy or become insolvent. Bankruptcy or other court proceedings may delay, limit or negate the Fund's ability to collect payments on its loan investments or otherwise adversely affect the Fund's rights in collateral relating to the loan and the Fund may need to retain legal or similar counsel to help in seeking to enforce its rights. In addition, if the Fund holds certain loans, the Fund may be required to exercise its rights collectively with other creditors or through an agent or other intermediary acting on behalf of multiple creditors, and the value of the Fund's investment may decline or otherwise be adversely affected by delays or other risks associated with such collective procedures.
The Fund values its assets on each Business Day (as defined below). However, because the secondary market for loans is limited and trading may be irregular, they may be difficult to value. Market quotations may not be readily available for some loans or may be volatile and/or subject to large spreads between bid and ask prices, and valuation may require more research than for other securities. In addition, elements of judgment may play a greater role in valuation than for securities with a more active secondary market, because there is less reliable, objective market value data available.
In certain circumstances, the Investment Manager or its affiliates (including on behalf of clients other than the Fund) or the Fund may be in possession of material non-public information about a borrower as a result of its ownership of a loan and/or corporate debt security of a borrower. Because U.S. laws and regulations generally prohibit trading in securities of issuers while in possession of material, non-public information, the Fund might be unable to trade securities or other instruments issued by the borrower when it would otherwise be advantageous to do so and, as such, could incur a loss. In circumstances when the Investment Manager or the Fund determines not to receive non-public information about a borrower for loan investments, the Fund may be disadvantaged relative to other investors and the Fund may not take advantage of other investment opportunities that it may otherwise have. In addition, loans and other similar instruments may not be considered “securities” and, as a result, the Fund may not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud protections under the federal securities laws and instead may have to resort to state law and direct claims.
The Investment Manager or its affiliates may participate in the primary and secondary market for loans or other transactions with possible borrowers. As a result, the Fund may be legally restricted from acquiring some loans and from participating in a restructuring of a loan or other similar instrument. The Fund is also subject to conflicts of interest that are described in more detail in the SAI.
Leverage Risk—The use of derivatives, reverse repurchase agreements, unfunded commitments, tender option bonds and borrowings may create leveraging risk. For example, because of the low margin deposits required, futures trading involves an extremely high degree of leverage. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in an immediate and substantial impact on the net asset value of the Fund. Leveraging may cause the Fund to be more volatile than if it had not been leveraged. To mitigate leveraging risk and otherwise comply with regulatory requirements, the Fund must segregate or earmark liquid assets to meet its obligations under, or otherwise cover,
the transactions that may give rise to this risk. Applicable law limits the Fund from borrowing in an amount greater than 33 1/3% of its assets.
The Fund is permitted to borrow money for certain purposes. To the extent that the Fund purchases securities while it has outstanding borrowings, it is using leverage, i.e., using borrowed funds for investment. Leveraging will exaggerate the effect on the NAV per share of the Fund of any increase or decrease in the market value of the Fund’s portfolio. Money borrowed for leveraging will be subject to interest and other costs that may or may not be recovered by appreciation of the securities purchased. In addition, if the Fund borrows from a line of credit it will be subject to certain covenants that, if breached, may require the Fund to accelerate its indebtedness and sell portfolio securities when it otherwise would not do so. If the Fund accesses its line of credit to meet shareholder redemption requests, the Fund’s remaining shareholders may bear the cost of the borrowing through interest expenses and other expenses (e.g., commitment fees) that affect the Fund’s performance. Borrowing expenses are excluded from any applicable fee waivers or expense limitation agreements.
Liquidity and Valuation Risk—It may be difficult for the Fund to purchase and sell particular investments within a reasonable time at a favorable price. As a result, the Fund may be unable to achieve its desired level of exposure to certain issuers, asset classes or sectors. The capacity of traditional fixed-income market makers has not kept pace with the consistent growth in the fixed-income markets over the past three decades, which has led to reduced levels in the capacity of these market makers to engage in fixed-income trading and, as a result, dealer inventories of corporate fixed-income and floating rate instruments are at or near historic lows relative to market size. These factors may apply more strongly with respect to high yield fixed-income and floating rate instruments than higher quality fixed-income instruments. Market makers tend to provide stability and liquidity to debt-securities markets through their intermediary services, and their reduced capacity and number could lead to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the financial markets. As a result, the Fund potentially will be unable to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of adverse market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests or other reasons, unless it sells other portfolio investments under unfavorable conditions, thereby adversely impacting the Fund. The Fund's ability to sell an instrument under favorable conditions also may be negatively impacted by, among other things, other market participants selling the same or similar instruments at the same time.
To the extent that there is not an established liquid market for instruments in which the Fund invests, or there is a reduced number or capacity of traditional “market makers” with respect to debt instruments, trading in such instruments may be relatively inactive or irregular. In addition, during periods of reduced market liquidity, market turmoil or in the absence of readily available market quotations for particular investments in the Fund’s portfolio, the ability of the Fund to assign an accurate daily value to these investments may be difficult and the Investment Manager may be required to fair value the investments. Fair value determinations are inherently subjective and reflect good faith judgments based on available information. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the determination of a security’s fair value in accordance with the Fund's valuation procedures will in fact approximate the price at which the Fund could sell that security at that time (i.e., the sale price could differ, sometimes significantly, from the Fund's last valuation for the security). The Fund (or the Investment Manager) relies on various sources of information to value investments and calculate net asset value. The Fund may obtain pricing information from third parties that are believed to be reliable. In certain cases, this information may be unavailable or this information may be inaccurate because of errors by the third parties, technological issues, absence of current market data, or otherwise. As a result, the Fund's ability to effectively value investments or calculate net asset value may be adversely affected.
Investors who purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on days when the Fund is holding fair valued securities may receive fewer or more shares or lower or higher redemption proceeds than they would have received if the Fund had not fair valued the securities or had used a different valuation methodology. These risks may be magnified in a rising interest rate environment and if the Fund holds a significant percentage of fair valued or otherwise difficult to value securities may be particularly susceptible to the risks associated with valuation. For additional information about valuation determinations, see “Determination of Net Asset Value.” Proportions of the Fund's investments that are fair valued or difficult to value vary from time to time. Based on its investment strategies, a significant portion of the Fund's investments can be difficult to value and potentially less liquid and thus particularly prone to the foregoing risks. The Fund's shareholder reports contain detailed information about the Fund's holdings that are fair valued or difficult to value, including values of these holdings as of the dates of the reports. Investors should consider consulting these reports for detailed information.
Management Risk—The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed investment portfolio, which means that investment decisions are made based on investment views. The Investment Manager and each individual portfolio manager will apply investment techniques and risk analysis in making decisions for the Fund, but there is no guarantee that these decisions will produce the desired results or expected returns, causing the Fund to
fail to meet its investment objective or underperform its benchmark index or funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. Additionally, legislative, regulatory or tax restrictions, policies or developments may affect the investment techniques available to the Investment Manager and each individual portfolio manager in connection with managing the Fund and may also adversely affect the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objectives. Active and frequent trading that can accompany active management will increase the costs the Fund incurs because of higher brokerage charges or mark-up charges, which are passed on to shareholders of the Fund and, as a result, may lower the Fund’s performance. However, the Fund is generally less likely to incur brokerage charges or mark-up charges to the extent the Fund invests in fixed-income instruments as opposed to other investments.
Market Risk—The value of, or income generated by, the securities held by the Fund are subject to the possibility of rapid and unpredictable fluctuation. The value of certain securities (e.g., equity securities) tends to fluctuate more dramatically over the shorter term than do the value of other asset classes. These movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, or from broader influences, including real or perceived changes in prevailing interest rates, changes in inflation or expectations about inflation, investor confidence or economic, political, social or financial market conditions that may be temporary or last for extended periods. Different sectors, industries and security types may react differently to such developments and, when the market performs well, there is no assurance that the securities held by the Fund will increase in value along with the broader markets. For example, the value of the Fund's investments in securities or other instruments may be particularly susceptible to changes in commodity prices. As a result, a change in commodity prices may adversely affect the Fund's investments. Volatility of financial markets can expose the Fund to greater market risk, possibly resulting in reduced liquidity. Moreover, changing economic, political, social or financial market conditions in one country or geographic region could adversely affect the market value of the securities held by the Fund in a different country or geographic region because of the increasingly interconnected global economies and financial markets. The Investment Manager potentially will be prevented from executing investment decisions at an advantageous time or price as a result of any domestic or global market disruptions, particularly disruptions causing heightened market volatility and reduced market liquidity. Changes or disruptions in market conditions also may lead to increased regulation of the Fund and the instruments in which the Fund may invest, which may, in turn, affect the Fund’s ability to pursue its investment objective and the Fund’s performance. In general, the securities or other instruments in which the Fund’s Portfolio Managers believe represent an attractive investment opportunity or in which the Fund seeks to invest may be unavailable entirely or in the specific quantities sought by the Fund. As a result, the Fund may need to obtain the desired exposure through a less advantageous investment, forgo the investment at the time or seek to replicate the desired exposure through a derivative transaction or investment in an investment vehicle. This may adversely affect the Fund.
Municipal Securities Risk—The Fund’s holdings of municipal securities could be significantly affected by events that affect the municipal bond market, which could include unfavorable legislative or political developments, or adverse changes in the financial conditions of state or municipal issuers. Income from municipal bonds held by the Fund could be declared taxable because of changes in tax laws or interpretations by taxing authorities, or as a result of non-compliant conduct of a municipal issuer. Consequently, a portion of the Fund’s otherwise tax-exempt dividends may be taxable to those Fund shareholders subject to the federal alternative minimum tax, or may be fully taxable to all Fund shareholders. To the extent that the Fund invests in municipal securities from a given state or geographic region, its share price and performance could be affected by local, state and regional factors, including erosion of the tax base and changes in the economic climate. Also, municipal securities backed by current or anticipated revenues from a specific project or assets can be negatively affected by the discontinuance of taxation supporting the project or assets or the inability to collect enough revenue. Because many municipal securities are issued to finance similar projects (especially those relating to education, health care, utilities and transportation), conditions in those sectors can affect the overall municipal market, including proposed federal, state or local legislation involving the financing of, or declining markets or needs for, such projects. Certain sectors of the municipal bond market have special risks that can affect them more significantly than the market as a whole. For example, health care can be hurt by rising expenses, dependency on third party reimbursements, legislative changes and reductions in government spending; electric utilities are subject to governmental rate regulation; and private activity bonds rely on project revenues and the creditworthiness of the corporate user as opposed to governmental support. Municipalities and municipal projects that rely directly or indirectly on federal funding mechanisms may be negatively affected by current or future budgetary constraints of the federal government. Other national governmental actions, such as the elimination of tax-exempt status, also could affect performance. In addition, changes in the economic and fiscal condition of an individual municipal issuer can affect the overall municipal market, and market conditions may directly impact the liquidity, marketability and valuation of municipal securities. Also, information related to municipal securities and their risks may be provided by the municipality itself, which may not always be accurate. Investments in municipal securities can be subject to credit, interest rate, prepayment and liquidity risks and can be more volatile than other investments. In addition, certain of the issuers in which the Fund invests may have recently experienced, or may experience, significant financial difficulties and repeated credit rating downgrades.
Certain municipal securities may be insured by an insurer. Adverse developments affecting a particular insurer or, more generally, banks and financial institutions could have a negative effect on the value of the Fund’s holdings. For example, rating agency downgrades of an insurer, or other events in the credit markets that may affect the insured municipal bond market as a whole, may adversely affect the value of the insured municipal bonds held by the Fund. The Fund’s vulnerability to potential losses associated with such developments may be reduced through investing in municipal securities that feature credit enhancements (such as bond insurance).
Although insurance may reduce the credit risk of a municipal security, it does not protect against fluctuations in the value of the Fund’s shares caused by market changes. It is also important to note that, although insurance may increase the credit safety of investments held by the Fund, it decreases the Fund’s yield as the Fund may pay for the insurance directly or indirectly. In addition, while the obligation of a municipal bond insurance company to pay a claim extends over the life of an insured bond, there is no assurance that insurers will meet their claims. A higher-than-anticipated default rate on municipal bonds (or other insurance the insurer provides) could strain the insurer's loss reserves and adversely affect its ability to pay claims to bondholders.
Municipal securities also trade rarely and their valuations may be based on assumptions or unobservable inputs. They can be difficult to liquidate quickly and transaction prices in stressed environments may ultimately be less than their valuations, which will hurt fund performance.
Preferred Securities Risk—Preferred stock represents an equity interest in a company that generally entitles the holder to receive, in preference to the holders of other stocks such as common stocks, dividends and a fixed share of the proceeds resulting from a liquidation of the company. Preferred stocks may pay fixed or adjustable rates of return. Preferred stock is subject to issuer-specific and market risks applicable generally to equity securities. In addition, a company’s preferred stock generally pays dividends (if declared) only after the company makes required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt. For this reason, the value of preferred stock will usually react more strongly than bonds and other debt to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects.
Preferred stock has properties of both an equity and a debt instrument and is generally considered a hybrid instrument. Preferred stock is senior to common stock, but is subordinate to bonds in terms of claims or rights to their share of the assets of the company.
Prepayment Risk—The issuers of securities held by the Fund may be able to prepay principal due on the securities, particularly during periods of declining interest rates. Securities subject to prepayment risk generally offer less potential for gains when interest rates decline, and may offer a greater potential for loss when interest rates rise. In addition, rising interest rates may cause prepayments to occur at a slower than expected rate, thereby effectively lengthening the maturity of the security and making the security more sensitive to interest rate changes as well as limiting the ability of the Fund to invest in securities with higher interest rates. Prepayment risk is a major risk of certain asset-backed securities, including mortgage-backed securities.
Most floating rate loans (such as syndicated bank loans) and fixed-income securities allow for prepayment of principal without penalty. Accordingly, the potential for the value of a floating rate loan or security to increase in response to interest rate declines is limited. Corporate loans or fixed-income securities purchased to replace a prepaid corporate loan or security may have lower yields than the yield on the prepaid corporate loan or security.
Real Estate Securities Risk—The Fund may invest in securities of real estate companies and companies related to the real estate industry, including real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), which are subject to the same risks as direct investments in real estate. These risks include: losses from casualty or condemnation, changes in local and general economic conditions, changes in real estate values and rental income, interest rates, zoning laws, regulatory limitations on rents, property taxes, operating expenses, overbuilding, construction delays and the supply of real estate generally, extended vacancies of properties, and the management skill and credit worthiness of the issuer. In addition, the real estate industry has historically been cyclical and particularly sensitive to economic downturns. The value of a REIT can depend on the structure of and cash flow generated by the REIT. A REIT may invest in a limited number of properties, a narrow geographic area, or a single type of property, which may increase the risk that the Fund could be unfavorably affected by the poor performance of a single investment or investment type. A REIT may be more volatile and/or less liquid than other types of equity securities.
Because REITs are pooled investment vehicles that have expenses of their own, the Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses paid by each REIT in which it invests. REITs are also subject to unique tax requirements which, if not met, could adversely affect dividend payments. In the event of a default of an underlying borrower or lessee, a REIT could experience delays in enforcing its rights as a mortgagee or lessor and may incur substantial costs associated with protecting its investments.
Regulatory and Legal Risk—The Fund's activities may be limited or restricted because of laws and regulations applicable to the Fund or the Investment Manager. U.S. and non-U.S. governmental agencies and other regulators
regularly implement additional regulations and legislators pass new laws that affect the investments held by the Fund, the strategies used by the Fund or the level of regulation or taxation applying to the Fund (such as regulations related to investments in derivatives and other transactions). These regulations and laws impact the investment strategies, performance, costs and operations of the Fund, as well as the way investments in, and shareholders of, the Fund are taxed. The SEC's rules intended to limit, assess and manage liquidity risk may materially affect the securities in which the Fund invests and the Fund's investment strategies and performance.
Repurchase Agreements and Reverse Repurchase Agreements Risk—In the event of the insolvency of the counterparty to a repurchase agreement or reverse repurchase agreement, recovery of the repurchase price owed to the Fund or, in the case of a reverse repurchase agreement, the securities sold by the Fund, may be delayed. In a repurchase agreement, such an insolvency may result in a loss to the extent that the value of the purchased securities decreases during the delay or that value has otherwise not been maintained at an amount equal to the repurchase price. In a reverse repurchase agreement, the counterparty’s insolvency may result in a loss equal to the amount by which the value of the securities sold by the Fund exceeds the repurchase price payable by the Fund; if the value of the purchased securities increases during such a delay, that loss may also be increased. When the Fund enters into a reverse repurchase agreement, any fluctuations in the market value of either the securities transferred to another party or the securities in which the proceeds may be invested would affect the market value of the Fund’s assets. As a result, such transactions may increase fluctuations in the net asset value of the Fund’s shares. Because reverse repurchase agreements may be considered to be the practical equivalent of borrowing funds, they constitute a form of leverage. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of a reverse repurchase agreement at a rate lower than the cost of the agreement, entering into the agreement will lower the Fund’s yield and the amount of exempt-interest dividends that may be paid by the Fund. The credit, liquidity and other risks associated with repurchase agreements are magnified to the extent a repurchase agreement is secured by collateral other than cash, government securities or liquid securities or instruments issued by an issuer that has an exceptionally strong credit quality.
Restricted Securities Risk—Restricted securities cannot be sold to the public without registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”). Unless registered for sale, restricted securities can be sold only in privately negotiated transactions or pursuant to an exemption from registration. Restricted securities may be considered illiquid and, therefore, are subject to the Fund’s limitation on illiquid securities. There is no guarantee that a trading market will exist at any time for a particular restricted security. Thus, the Fund may be unable to sell these securities at an advantageous time or at all.
Restricted securities may involve a high degree of business and financial risk, which may result in substantial losses. These securities may be less liquid and more difficult to value than publicly traded securities. Although these securities may be resold in privately negotiated transactions, the prices realized from these sales could be less than those originally paid by the Fund. The Fund may invest in restricted securities, including securities initially offered and sold without registration pursuant to Rule 144A under the 1933 Act (“Rule 144A Securities”) and securities of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers initially offered and sold outside the United States without registration with the SEC pursuant to Regulation S under the 1933 Act(“Regulation S Securities”). Rule 144A Securities and Regulation S Securities generally may be traded freely among certain qualified institutional investors, such as the Fund, and non-U.S. persons, but resale to a broader base of investors in the United States may be permitted only in significantly more limited circumstances. The Fund may bear certain costs associated with the resale of these securities and may be subject to delays in being permitted to sell these holdings.
Investing in Rule 144A Securities and other restricted and non-registered securities (such as privately placed securities purchased through transactions complying with the requirements in Regulation D or S under the 1933 Act) could have the effect of increasing the amount of the Fund’s assets invested in illiquid securities to the extent that qualified institutional buyers become uninterested, for a time, in purchasing these securities.
Securities Lending Risk—Securities lending involves the lending of portfolio securities owned by the Fund to qualified borrowers, including broker-dealers and financial institutions. Therefore, loans of securities involve the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities or deliver the proper amount of collateral, which may result in a loss to the Fund. In addition, in the event of bankruptcy of the borrower, the Fund could experience losses or delays in recovering the loaned securities. In some cases, these risks may be mitigated by an indemnification provided by the Fund’s lending agent. When lending portfolio securities, the Fund initially will require the borrower to provide the Fund with collateral, most commonly cash, which the Fund will invest. Although the Fund invests this collateral in a conservative manner, it is possible that it could lose money from such an investment or fail to earn sufficient income from its investment to cover the fee or rebate that it has agreed to pay the borrower.
Sovereign Debt Risk—Investments in sovereign debt securities, such as foreign government debt or foreign treasury bills, involve special risks, including the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the government debtor's policy towards the
International Monetary Fund or international lenders, the political constraints to which the debtor may be subject and other political considerations. Periods of economic and political uncertainty may result in the illiquidity and increased price volatility of sovereign debt securities held by the Fund. The governmental authority that controls the repayment of sovereign debt may be unwilling or unable to repay the principal and/or interest when due in accordance with the terms of such securities due to the extent of its foreign reserves. If an issuer of sovereign debt defaults on payments of principal and/or interest, the Fund may have limited or no legal recourse against the issuer and/or guarantor. In certain cases, remedies must be pursued in the courts of the defaulting party itself. For example, there may be no bankruptcy or similar proceedings through which all or part of the sovereign debt that a governmental entity has not repaid may be collected.
Certain issuers of sovereign debt may be dependent on disbursements from foreign governments, multilateral agencies and others abroad to reduce principal and interest arrearages on their debt. Such disbursements may be conditioned upon a debtor’s implementation of economic reforms and/or economic performance and the timely service of such debtor’s obligations. A failure on the part of the debtor to implement such reforms, achieve such levels of economic performance or repay principal or interest when due may result in the cancellation of such third parties’ commitments to lend funds to the debtor, which may impair the debtor’s ability to service its debts on a timely basis. As a holder of sovereign debt, the Fund may be requested to participate in the restructuring of such sovereign indebtedness, including the rescheduling of payments and the extension of further loans to debtors, which may adversely affect the Fund. There can be no assurance that such restructuring will result in the repayment of all or part of the debt. Sovereign debt risk is increased for emerging market issuers and certain emerging market countries have declared moratoria on the payment of principal and interest on external debt. Certain emerging market countries have experienced difficulty in servicing their sovereign debt on a timely basis, which has led to defaults and the restructuring of certain indebtedness.
Special Situation Investments/Securities in Default Risk—Investments in the securities and debt of distressed issuers or issuers in default ("Special Situation Investments") involve a far greater level of risk than investing in issuers whose debt obligations are being met and whose debt trades at or close to its “par” or full value. While offering an opportunity for capital appreciation, Special Situation Investments are highly speculative with respect to the issuer’s ability to make interest payments and/or to pay its principal obligations in full and/or on time. Special Situation Investments can be very difficult to properly value, making them susceptible to a high degree of price volatility and potentially rendering them less liquid than performing debt obligations. Those Special Situation Investments involved in a bankruptcy proceeding can be subject to a high degree of uncertainty with regard to both the timing and the amount of the ultimate settlement. Special Situation Investments may also include debtor-in-possession financing, sub-performing real estate loans and mortgages, privately placed senior, mezzanine, subordinated and junior debt, letters of credit, trade claims, convertible bonds, and preferred and common stocks.
To-Be-Announced (“TBA”) Transactions Risk—The Fund may enter into “To Be Announced” (“TBA”) commitments to purchase or sell mortgage-backed securities for a fixed price at a future date. In TBA commitments, the selling counterparty does not specify the particular mortgage-backed securities to be delivered. Instead, the purchasing counterparty agrees to accept any mortgage-backed security that meets specified terms. TBA purchase commitments may be considered securities in themselves and involve a risk of loss if the value of the security to be purchased declines prior to settlement date, which risk is in addition to the risk of decline in the value of the Fund’s other assets. In addition, the selling counterparty may not deliver the security as promised. Selling a TBA involves a risk of loss if the value of the securities to be sold goes up prior to the settlement date. Recently finalized FINRA rules include mandatory margin requirements that will require the Fund to post collateral in connection with their TBA transactions. There is no similar requirement applicable to the Fund's TBA counterparties. The required collateralization of TBA trades could increase the cost of TBA transactions to the Fund and impose added operational complexity.
U.S. Government Securities Risk—Different types of U.S. government securities have different relative levels of credit risk depending on the nature of the particular government support for that security. U.S. government securities may be supported by: (i) the full faith and credit of the United States government; (ii) the ability of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury; (iii) the credit of the issuing agency, instrumentality or government-sponsored entity; (iv) pools of assets (e.g., mortgage-backed securities); or (v) the United States in some other way. The U.S. government and its agencies and instrumentalities do not guarantee the market value of their securities, which may fluctuate in value and are subject to investment risks, and certain U.S. government securities may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. The value of U.S. government obligations may be adversely affected by changes in interest rates. It is possible that the issuers of some U.S. government securities will not have the funds to timely meet their payment obligations in the future and there is a risk of default. For certain agency issued securities, there is no guarantee the U.S. government will support the agency if it is unable to meet its obligations.
When Issued, Forward Commitment and Delayed-Delivery Transactions Risk—When-issued, forward-commitment and delayed-delivery transactions involve a commitment to purchase or sell specific securities at a predetermined price or yield in which payment and delivery take place after the customary settlement period for that type of security. Typically, no interest accrues to the purchaser until the security is delivered. When purchasing securities pursuant to one of these transactions, payment for the securities is not required until the delivery date. However, the purchaser assumes the rights and risks of ownership, including the risks of price and yield fluctuations and the risk that the security will not be issued as anticipated. When the Fund has sold a security pursuant to one of these transactions, the Fund does not participate in further gains or losses with respect to the security. If the other party to a delayed-delivery transaction fails to deliver or pay for the securities, the Fund could miss a favorable price or yield opportunity or suffer a loss.
Zero Coupon and Payment-In-Kind Securities Risk—The market value of a zero-coupon or payment-in-kind security, which usually trades at a deep discount from its face or par value, is generally more volatile than the market value of, and is more sensitive to changes in interest rates and credit quality than, other fixed income securities with similar maturities and credit quality that pay interest in cash periodically. Zero coupon and payment-in-kind securities also may be less liquid than other fixed-income securities with similar maturities and credit quality that pay interest in cash periodically. Zero coupon securities pay no interest to holders prior to maturity, and payment-in-kind securities pay interest in the form of additional securities. However, a portion of the original issue discount on zero coupon securities and the “interest” on payment-in-kind securities will be included in the investing Fund’s taxable income. Accordingly, for the Fund to qualify for tax treatment as a regulated investment company and to avoid certain taxes, the Fund will generally be required to distribute to its shareholders an amount that is greater than the total amount of cash it actually receives with respect to these securities. These distributions must be made from the Fund’s cash assets or, if necessary, from the proceeds of sales of portfolio securities. The Fund will not be able to purchase additional income-producing securities with cash used to make any such distributions, and its current income ultimately may be reduced as a result. Zero coupon and payment-in-kind securities may be more difficult to value than other fixed income securities with similar maturities and credit quality that pay interest in cash periodically.
The SAI describes the Fund's principal investment risks in more detail and also describes other risks applicable to the Fund. The additional risks include the following:
Cyber Security and Operational Risk—As in other parts of the economy, the Fund and its service providers, as well as exchanges and market participants through or with which the Fund trades and other infrastructures and services on which the Fund or its service providers rely, are susceptible to ongoing risks and threats resulting from and related to cyber incidents. Cyber incidents, which can be perpetrated by a variety of means, may result in actual or potential adverse consequences for critical information and communications technology, systems and networks that are vital to the Fund's or their service providers’ operations. A cyber incident could adversely impact the Fund, its service providers or its shareholders by, among other things, interfering with the processing of shareholder transactions or other operational functionality, impacting the Fund’s ability to calculate its net asset value or other data, causing the release of private or confidential information, impeding trading, causing reputational damage, and subjecting the Fund to fines, penalties or financial losses. These types of adverse consequences could also result from other operational disruptions or failures arising from, for example, processing errors, human errors, and other technological issues. In each case, the Fund’s ability to calculate its net asset value correctly, in a timely manner or process trades or Fund or shareholder transactions may be adversely affected, including over a potentially extended period. The Fund and its service providers may directly bear these risks and related costs.
Redemption Risk—The Fund may need to sell portfolio securities to meet redemption requests. The Fund could experience a loss when selling portfolio securities to meet redemption requests if there is (i) significant redemption activity by shareholders, including, for example, when a single investor or few large investors make a significant redemption of the Fund’s shares, (ii) a disruption in the normal operation of the markets in which the Fund buys and sells portfolio securities or (iii) the inability of the Fund to sell portfolio securities because such securities are illiquid. In such events, the Fund could be forced to sell portfolio securities at unfavorable prices in an effort to generate sufficient cash to pay redeeming shareholders. The Fund may suspend redemptions or the payment of redemption proceeds when permitted by applicable regulations.
Tax Risk—The Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income each tax year from qualifying sources in order to qualify for favorable tax treatment as a RIC. This requirement will limit the ability of the Fund to invest in commodities, derivatives on commodities, or other items that could result in nonqualifying income. Legislative or administrative changes or court decisions relating to the Code may adversely affect the Fund and/or the issuers of securities held by the Fund.
Portfolio Holdings
A description of the Fund's policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund's underlying portfolio securities is available in the SAI.
Investment Manager
Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC (“Guggenheim Partners” or “Guggenheim Investments”, is the “Investment Manager”), located at 100 Wilshire Boulevard, 5th Floor, Santa Monica, California 90401, is the investment manager to the Fund. On September 30, 2018, the aggregate assets under the investment management and supervision of Guggenheim Partners were approximately $192.4 billion.
The Investment Manager makes investment decisions for the assets of the Fund and the Investment Manager continuously reviews, supervises and administers the Fund’s investment program. Guggenheim Partners is registered with the CFTC as a commodity pool operator (“CPO”) and is a member of the National Futures Association in such capacity.
MANAGEMENT FEES
The following chart shows the contractual investment management fees to be paid by the Fund.
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Contractual Management Fees (expressed as a percentage of average net assets) | |
Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration Fund | 0.25 | % |
The Investment Manager has contractually agreed through February 1, 2020, as shown in the Fund's summary section, for the Fund to waive fees and/or reimburse Fund expenses to the extent necessary to limit the ordinary operating expenses (including distribution (12b-1) fees (if any), but exclusive of brokerage costs, dividends on securities sold short, acquired fund fees and expenses, interest, taxes, litigation, indemnification, and extraordinary expenses) (“Operating Expenses”) of the Fund to the annual percentage of average daily net assets for Class R6 shares to 0.33%.
The Fund may have “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver” greater than the expense cap as a result of any acquired fund fees and expenses or other expenses that are excluded from the calculation. The Investment Manager is entitled to reimbursement by the Fund for certain fees waived or expenses reimbursed during any of the previous 36 months beginning on the date of the expense limitation agreement. The Investment Manager may only recoup such reimbursement when the Operating Expenses for the Fund or class do not exceed the then-applicable expense cap.
The Investment Manager has also contractually agreed through February 1, 2020, to waive the amount of the Fund’s management fee to the extent necessary to offset the proportionate share of any management fee paid by the Fund with respect to any Fund investment in an underlying fund for which the Investment Manager or any of its affiliates also serves as investment manager. The Investment Manager is not entitled to reimbursement by the Fund for fees waived under this agreement. This agreement will automatically renew for one-year terms, unless the Investment Manager provides written notice to the Fund of the termination of the agreement.
Each contractual waiver and/or expense reimbursement agreement will expire when it reaches its termination, or when the Investment Manager ceases to serve as such and it may be terminated by the Fund's Board of Trustees, with certain waived fees and reimbursed expenses subject to the recoupment rights of the Investment Manager.
In addition to any contractual waivers and expense reimbursements, the Investment Manager may waive some or all of its management fee to limit the total operating expenses of the Fund to a specified level. The Investment Manager also may reimburse expenses of the Fund from time to time to help it maintain competitive expense ratios. These arrangements may be voluntary, in which case they may be terminated at any time. The Fund’s fees without reflecting voluntary waivers or reimbursements are shown in the fee tables in the Fund’s summary section.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees approving the investment advisory contract on behalf of the Fund will be available in the Fund's semi-annual report for the fiscal period ending March 31, 2019.
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
The Portfolio Managers of the Investment Manager oversee the day-to-day operations of the Fund. The Portfolio Managers of the Fund are as follows: B. Scott Minerd, Anne B. Walsh, Steven H. Brown, Adam Bloch and Kris L. Dorr are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.
The biographies of the portfolio managers are as follows:
B. Scott Minerd, Chairman, Global Chief Investment Officer, Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Guggenheim Partners. Mr. Minerd joined Guggenheim Partners (or its affiliate or predecessor) in May 1998. Mr. Minerd leads Guggenheim Partners' research on global macroeconomics and guides the firm’s investment strategies. Previously, Mr. Minerd was a Managing Director with Credit Suisse First Boston in charge of trading and risk management for the Fixed Income Credit Trading Group. He was responsible for the corporate bond, preferred stock, money markets, U.S. government agency and sovereign debt, derivatives securities, structured debt and interest rate swaps trading business units. Mr. Minerd is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Investor Advisory Committee on Financial Markets, helping advise the NY Fed President about financial market developments, risks to the financial system and steps that can be taken to understand and mitigate these risks. He is an advisor to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on long-term investments and is a contributing member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and their Global Agenda Council on the Arctic.
Anne B. Walsh, Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income, Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Guggenheim Partners. Ms. Walsh joined Guggenheim Partners (or its affiliate or predecessor) in 2007 is also the head of the Portfolio Construction Group and Portfolio Management. She oversees more than $185 billion in fixed-income investments including Agencies, Credit, Municipals, and Structured Securities. She is responsible for portfolio design, strategy, sector allocation and risk management, as well as conveying Guggenheim Partners' macroeconomic outlook to Portfolio Managers and fixed income Sector Specialists. Ms. Walsh specializes in liability-driven portfolio management. Prior to joining Guggenheim Partners, she served as Chief Investment Officer at Reinsurance Group of America, and also held roles at Zurich Scudder Investments, Lincoln Investment Management and American Bankers Insurance Group. She has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a member of the CFA Institute.
Steven H. Brown, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Guggenheim Partners. Mr. Brown joined Guggenheim Partners (or its affiliate or predecessor) in 2010 and is a Portfolio Manager for Guggenheim Partners' Active Fixed Income and Total Return mandates. He works with the Chief Investment Officers and other members of the Portfolio Management team to develop and execute portfolio strategy. Additionally, he works closely with the Sector Teams and Portfolio Construction Group. Prior to joining Portfolio Management in 2012, Brown worked in Guggenheim Partners' Asset Backed Securities group. His responsibilities on that team included trading and evaluating investment opportunities and monitoring credit performance. Prior to joining Guggenheim Partners in 2010, Mr. Brown held roles within structured products at ABN AMRO and Bank of America in Chicago and London. He has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a member of the CFA Institute.
Adam Bloch, Director and Portfolio Manager of Guggenheim Partners. Mr. Bloch joined Guggenheim Partners in 2012 and is a Portfolio Manager for the firm's Active Fixed Income and Total Return mandates. Mr. Bloch works with the Chief Investment Officers and other Portfolio Managers to develop portfolio strategy that is in line with the firm’s views. He oversees strategy implementation, working with research analysts and traders to generate trade ideas, hedge portfolios, and manage day-to-day risk. Prior to joining Guggenheim Partners, he worked in Leveraged Finance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York where he structured high-yield bonds and leveraged loans for leveraged buyouts, restructurings, and corporate refinancings across multiple industries.
Kris L. Dorr, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Guggenheim Partners. Ms. Dorr joined Guggenheim Partners in 2011 as a portfolio manager and trader focusing on short duration cash management where she is responsible for investing the liquidity portion of mutual funds and affiliated funding vehicles. In this role, Ms. Dorr identifies and implements securities appropriate for inclusion into each mandate utilizing short-term money market and liquidity instruments. Since 2018, Ms. Dorr has extended the scope of her responsibilities to include the oversight of secured funding activities and solutions. Prior to joining Guggenheim Partners, Ms. Dorr was a senior portfolio manager within UBS Global Asset Management, where she was responsible for the management of multiple separate account fixed income portfolios for Institutional, Central Bank and Sovereign clients. Management of these assets included setting investment strategy, sector allocation and curve positioning. Ms. Dorr began her career as a trader in the Options Portfolio Service group at Kidder Peabody, later becoming a portfolio manager on several retail and institutional 2a-7 money market funds. Ms. Dorr brings more than 35 years of fixed income investment experience to the firm. Ms. Dorr holds a B.A. in Economics from Montclair State University.
The SAI provides information about each portfolio manager's compensation, other accounts managed by each portfolio manager, and each portfolio manager's ownership of Fund shares.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
An investment in the Fund is subject to a number of actual or potential conflicts of interest. For example, the Investment Manager and its affiliates are engaged in a variety of business activities that are unrelated to managing
the Fund, which may give rise to actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest in connection with making investment decisions for the Fund. The Fund and the Investment Manager (and its affiliates) have established various policies and procedures that are designed to minimize conflicts and prevent or limit the Fund from being disadvantaged. There can be no guarantee that these policies and procedures will be successful in every instance. In certain circumstances, these various activities may prevent the Fund from participating or restrict the Fund’s participation in an investment decision, disadvantage the Fund or benefit the Investment Manager or its affiliates. For more information about conflicts of interest see the Information Regarding Potential Conflicts of Interest section of the SAI.
Sub-Advisers
The Investment Manager and the Fund have received from the SEC an exemptive order for a multi-manager structure that allows the Investment Manager to hire, replace or terminate unaffiliated sub-advisers without the approval of shareholders. The order also allows the Investment Manager to revise a sub-advisory agreement with an unaffiliated sub-adviser with the approval of the Fund's Board of Trustees, but without shareholder approval. If a new unaffiliated sub-adviser is hired, shareholders will receive information about the new sub-adviser within 90 days of the change. The order allows the Fund to operate more efficiently and with greater flexibility. The Investment Manager provides the following oversight and evaluation services to the Fund that uses a sub-adviser:
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• | Performing initial due diligence on prospective sub-advisers for the Fund; |
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• | Monitoring the performance of the sub-advisers; |
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• | Communicating performance expectations to the sub-advisers; and |
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• | Ultimately recommending to the Board of Trustees whether a sub-adviser’s contract should be renewed, modified or terminated. |
The Investment Manager does not expect to recommend frequent changes of sub-advisers. Although the Investment Manager will monitor the performance of sub-advisers, there is no certainty that any sub-adviser or the Fund will obtain favorable results at any given time.
Buying, Selling and Exchanging Fund Shares
Class R6 shares are offered primarily through qualified retirement and benefit plans. Class R6 shares are also offered through certain other plans and platforms sponsored by financial intermediaries.
Eligible investors for Class R6 shares include the following:
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• | Retirement and Benefit Plans that have plan-level or omnibus accounts held on the books of the Fund and do not collect service or record keeping fees from the Fund, with no minimum initial investment requirement; |
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• | Plans or platforms sponsored by a financial intermediary whereby shares are held on the books of the Fund through omnibus accounts, either at the plan or platform level or the level of the plan administrator, and where an unaffiliated third party intermediary provides administrative, distribution and/or other support services to the plan or platform and do not charge the Fund service, record keeping or sub-transfer agent fees, with no minimum initial investment requirement; |
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• | Institutional investors (including endowments and foundations) and other investors deemed appropriate by Guggenheim Investments that hold shares of the Fund through an account held directly with the Fund and not traded through an intermediary, subject to a minimum initial investment amount of $2,000,000; and |
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• | Investment companies and other accounts managed by Guggenheim Investments and its affiliates, with no minimum initial investment requirement. |
Guggenheim Investments may, in its discretion, waive the minimum initial investment amount applicable to eligible institutional investors (including endowments and foundations) and other appropriate investors that hold shares of the Fund through an account held directly with the Fund and not traded through an intermediary.
The investor eligibility requirements and the minimum initial investment for Class R6 shares may be amended from time to time as reflected in the Fund's then-current prospectus and SAI.
OPENING YOUR ACCOUNT
You will need to open a Guggenheim Investments shareholder account to make share transactions—buy, sell or exchange shares of the Fund. You can obtain an account application or request more information about opening an account by calling Guggenheim Investments Client Services at 800.820.0888 or 301.296.5100. You may also visit www.guggenheiminvestments.com/forms to access “Mutual Fund Forms & Applications.”
The type of application you will need depends on the type of account you want to open. For example, if you are opening a retirement account, you will need to complete a different application than you would if you were opening a taxable account. When you call Guggenheim Investments to request an account application, be sure to let the Client Services representative know what type of account you want to open to ensure that you receive the correct application.
If you open your account through a broker or other financial intermediary, your financial intermediary will ordinarily assist you in completing the necessary application to open your account with Guggenheim Investments.
TIPS TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE YOUR ACCOUNT APPLICATION
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• | You must provide each account holder’s social security number or tax ID number and date of birth on the application to avoid a delay in processing. |
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• | Attach a copy of the trust document when establishing a trust account. |
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• | When establishing an account for your corporation, partnership or self directed retirement plan, please indicate the correct account type to ensure proper tax reporting and provide a copy of one of the following documents: registered articles of incorporation, government-issued business license, partnership papers, plan documents or other official documentation that verifies the entity and lists the authorized individuals. Failure to provide this documentation may result in a delay in processing your application. |
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• | You must provide a street address (Guggenheim Investments does not accept P.O. Box only addresses). If any joint owner has a different address than the account registration, please indicate what it is on the application. |
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• | Be sure to sign the application. |
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• | If you open an account directly with Guggenheim Investments you will receive a confirmation statement by mail confirming your initial purchase. Review this confirmation carefully to ensure that all of the information is correct. Notify us promptly of any errors. |
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• | Any application that is sent to MUFG Investor Services (the "Transfer Agent") does not constitute a purchase order until the Transfer Agent processes the application and receives correct payment by check, wire transfer or ACH. |
TRANSACTION INFORMATION
This section provides important information about the procedures that you must follow when you buy, sell or exchange shares of the Fund. You may submit transaction orders to buy, sell or exchange Fund shares on any day that the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) is open for business (“Business Day”). The Fund's NAV generally is calculated as of the close of normal trading on each Business Day (usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time). On any day that the NYSE has an earlier closing time (scheduled or unscheduled)-or as otherwise permitted by the SEC-the Fund reserves the right to: (i) advance the time the NAV is calculated and, correspondingly, the time by which purchase and redemption orders must be received or (ii) accept purchase and redemption orders until (and calculate its NAV as of) the normally scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE for that day. The Fund generally does not accept purchase and redemption orders (or calculate their respective NAVs) on days that the NYSE is closed for business (scheduled or unscheduled). On any day that the NYSE is closed when it would normally be open for business, the Fund may accept purchase and redemption orders until (and calculate its NAV as of) the normally scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE. On any day that the Fund calculates NAV earlier than normal, Guggenheim Investments reserves the right to advance the time on that day by which shareholder transaction orders must be received. The NYSE holiday schedule is included in the SAI, and Guggenheim Investments will post advance notice of scheduled early closings at www.guggenheiminvestments.com .
TRANSACTION CUT-OFF TIMES
All shareholder transaction orders are processed at the NAV next determined after your transaction order is received with all of the necessary information, sometimes referred to as “good order,” by the Fund's Transfer Agent, Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC (the “Distributor”), or financial intermediary. The following transaction cut-off times have been established in order to allow the Transfer Agent appropriate time to report the current day’s trading activity to the Investment Manager. Any purchase order that is sent to the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary does not constitute a purchase order until received by the Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary in good order.
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Method | | Cut-Off Time |
By Mail | | Market Close |
By Phone | | Market Close |
By Internet | | Market Close |
By Financial Intermediary | | Market Close* |
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* | Each financial intermediary may have its own rules about share transactions, and may have earlier cut-off times for processing your transaction order. |
TRANSACTIONS THROUGH YOUR FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY
If you opened your account through a financial intermediary, you will ordinarily submit your transaction orders through that financial intermediary. Your financial intermediary is responsible for ensuring that your transaction order is in good order, and promptly transmitting your order to the Fund. Transaction orders received in good order by your financial intermediary, which requires that the financial intermediary receives your order before the financial intermediary’s cut off time, will be processed at the Fund’s next determined NAV. Financial intermediaries may charge fees for the services they provide to you in connection with processing your transaction order or maintaining your account with them. Each financial intermediary may also have its own rules about minimum initial investment amounts, minimum account balances, share transactions and limits on the number of share transactions you are permitted to make in a given time period. Authorized financial intermediaries of the Fund may also designate further intermediaries to accept purchase and redemption orders on behalf of the Fund. For more information about your financial intermediary’s rules and procedures, you should contact your financial intermediary directly.
When purchasing shares through a financial intermediary, you may not benefit from certain policies and procedures of the Fund as your eligibility may be dependent upon the policies and procedures of your financial intermediary, including those regarding reductions of sales charges and other features of the share class. In all instances, it is your responsibility to notify your financial intermediary of any relationship or other facts that may qualify your investment for sales charge waivers or other features.
An investor transacting in Class R6 shares may be required to pay a commission to a broker in connection with transactions in Class R6 shares. The Fund makes available other share classes that have different fees and expenses, which are disclosed and described in the prospectus for the applicable share class.
Buying Fund Shares
The Fund offers its shares continuously and investors may submit purchase orders to buy shares on any Business Day. However, Guggenheim Investments reserves the right to reject or refuse, in whole or in part, any purchase order, including those that are in good order, for Fund shares within 3 business days of Guggenheim Investments receiving the purchase order. Purchase orders are subject to the Fund's or your financial intermediary’s transaction cut-off times and will be processed at the NAV next determined after your purchase order is received in good order. The minimum investment requirement for Class R6 shares of the Fund is listed in the Fund's “Fund Summary.”
Newly purchased shares are generally considered covered shares. The Fund is generally required to report cost basis information to you and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) when covered shares are redeemed. The Fund will use a default average cost method for reporting your cost basis for covered shares, unless you instruct us otherwise in writing to use another method. If you wish to choose another default cost basis method for your account, you may select among first-in-first-out ("FIFO"), last-in-first-out ("LIFO") and highest cost-in-first-out ("HIFO").
Accounts opened through a financial intermediary may be subject to different cost basis policies. For more information about your financial intermediary’s rules and procedures, including cost basis methodologies, you should contact your financial intermediary directly.
Fund shareholders should consult with their tax advisors to determine the appropriate cost basis method for their tax situation and to obtain more information about the cost basis reporting rules.
For additional discussion of the average cost method, see “Redemption Procedures.”
PURCHASE PROCEDURES
The Fund offers you the option to submit purchase orders through your financial intermediary or to send purchase orders by mail, fax or internet and to send purchase proceeds by check, wire transfer or ACH to the Fund for accounts
opened directly. The Fund does not accept cash or cash equivalents (such as travelers’ checks and money orders), starter checks, or checks drawn on a line of credit (including credit card convenience checks). The Fund typically does not accept third-party checks. Fund management reserves the right to refuse other payment instruments if, in the sole discretion of Fund management, it is deemed to be in the best interest of the Fund. Any payment instrument not accepted generally will be returned to you within twenty-four (24) hours of Fund management’s determination to not accept such instrument, but in no event later than 3 Business Days after such determination.
Guggenheim Investments generally does not accept purchase orders from or on behalf of non-resident U.S. citizens or non-resident aliens.
Retirement contributions will be considered as current year contributions unless otherwise instructed in writing at the time of the contribution.
You may buy shares and send your purchase proceeds by any of the following methods:
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| | | | |
| | Initial Purchase | | Subsequent Purchases |
| | Complete the account application that corresponds to the type of account you are opening. •Make sure to designate the Fund(s) you want to purchase. •Make sure your investment meets the account minimum. | | Complete the Guggenheim Investments investment slip included with your quarterly statement or send written purchase instructions that include: •Your name •Your shareholder account number •The Fund you want to purchase. |
| | Make your check payable to Guggenheim Investments. |
| | Your check must be drawn on a U.S. bank and payable in U.S. dollars. |
BY MAIL IRA and other retirement accounts require additional paperwork. Call Guggenheim Investments Client Services to request a Retirement Account Investor application kit. | | Include the name of the Fund you want to purchase on your check. If you do not specify the Fund you want to purchase, your investment generally will be credited to the Rydex U.S. Government Money Market Fund, which is offered in a separate prospectus. |
| Mail your application and check to: | | Mail your written purchase instructions and check to: |
| Mailing Addresses: |
| Standard Delivery | | Overnight Delivery |
| Guggenheim Investments P.O. Box 10839 Rockville, MD 20849-0839 | | Guggenheim Investments 805 King Farm Boulevard, Suite 600 Rockville, MD 20850 |
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| | | Initial Purchase | | Subsequent Purchases |
| BY WIRE Guggenheim Investments Client Services phone number: 800.820.0888 or 301.296.5100 | | Complete and submit the account application that corresponds to the type of account you are opening. Contact Client Services at 800.820.0888 to obtain your new account number. Use the Wire Instructions below to send your wire. •Make sure to designate the Fund you want to purchase. •Make sure your investment meets the account minimum. | | Be sure to designate in your wire instructions the Fund(s) you want to purchase. |
| | To obtain “same-day credit” (to get that Business Day’s NAV) for your purchase order, you should call Guggenheim Investments Client Services and provide the following information prior to the transaction cut-off time for the Fund(s) you are purchasing: •Account Number •Fund Name •Amount of Wire •Fed Wire Reference Number (upon request) You will receive a confirmation number to verify that your purchase order has been accepted. If you do not notify Guggenheim Investments Client Services of the incoming wire, your purchase order may not be processed until the Business Day following the receipt of the wire. |
| | Wire Instructions: U.S. Bank Cincinnati, OH Routing Number: 0420-00013 For Account of: Guggenheim Investments Account Number: 48038-9030 [Your Name] [Your shareholder account number] [Your fund designation] If you do not specify the Fund(s) you want to purchase, your investment generally will be credited to the Rydex U.S. Government Money Market Fund, which is offered in a separate prospectus. |
| | | Mailing Addresses |
| | | Standard Delivery | | Overnight Delivery |
| BY ACH (FAX) Guggenheim Investments Fax number: 301.296.5103 | | Guggenheim Investments P.O. Box 10839 Rockville, MD 20849-0839
| | Guggenheim Investments 805 King Farm Boulevard, Suite 600 Rockville, MD 20850
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| BY ACH (MAIL) |
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| BY ACH (INTERNET) | | Purchase payments may be sent via ACH only if you have existing ACH instructions on file. If you have existing ACH instructions on file, log-in to your account at www.TradeRydex.com and click on “Electronic Investing.” If you currently do not have ACH instructions on file, download the Bank Information and Alternate Payee Form from the www.guggenheiminvestments.com site, and follow the instructions for adding bank instructions. |
CANCELED PURCHASE ORDERS
Guggenheim Investments will ordinarily cancel your purchase order under the following circumstances:
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• | If your bank does not honor your check for any reason; |
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• | If the Transfer Agent does not receive your wire transfer; |
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• | If the Transfer Agent does not receive your ACH transfer; or |
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• | If your bank does not honor your ACH transfer. |
If your purchase order is canceled for any of these reasons, you will not be entitled to benefit from any increase in NAV that the Fund may have experienced from the time of your order to the time of its cancellation. In addition, if the Fund's NAV decreases in value from the time of your order to the time of its cancellation, the Fund will hold you liable for any losses that it incurs as a result of your canceled order.
Selling Fund Shares
The Fund redeems its shares continuously and investors may sell their shares back to the Fund on any Business Day. You may redeem all or any portion of your Fund shares at the Fund's next determined NAV calculated after your redemption order is received in good order by your financial intermediary or the Transfer Agent.
The Fund typically expects to meet redemption requests by using holdings of cash or cash equivalents or proceeds from the sale of portfolio holdings (or a combination of these methods) unless it believes that circumstances warrant otherwise. For example, under stressed market conditions, as well as during emergency or temporary circumstances, the Fund may distribute redemption proceeds in-kind (rather than in cash), access a line of credit, or overdraft facility, or borrow through other sources (e.g., reverse repurchase agreements or engage in certain types of derivatives), to meet redemption requests. The Fund may also use these redemption methods if the Fund believes, in its discretion, that it is in the best interests of the Fund and its remaining shareholders. Redemptions in-kind involve the payment of some or all of your redemption proceeds in securities with a market value equal to the redemption amount. If the Fund redeems your shares in kind, you may bear transaction costs and will bear market risks until such time as such securities are converted to cash.
The Fund has entered into a joint committed line of credit with other funds managed by the Investment Manager and a syndicate of banks that the Fund may use to pay your redemption proceeds, as described above.
Please refer to the SAI for more information.
The Fund may suspend the right of redemption, or postpone the date of payment or satisfaction upon redemption, of shares for more than seven days (i) for any period (a) during which the NYSE is closed other than customary week-end and holiday closings or (b) during which trading on the NYSE is restricted, (ii) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which (a) disposal by the Fund of securities owned by it is not reasonably practicable or (b) it is not reasonably practicable for the Fund fairly to determine the value of its net assets, or (iii) for such other periods as the SEC may by order permit for the protection of shareholders.
REDEMPTION PROCEDURES
You will ordinarily submit your transaction order through your financial intermediary or other securities dealers through which you opened your shareholder account or through Guggenheim Investments if you opened your account directly with the Fund. The Fund also offers you the option to send redemption orders to Guggenheim Investments by:
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| | Standard Delivery | | Overnight Delivery |
MAIL | | Guggenheim Investments P.O. Box 10839 Rockville, MD 20849-0839 | | Guggenheim Investments 805 King Farm Boulevard, Suite 600 Rockville, MD 20850
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FAX | | 301.296.5103 If you send your redemption order by fax, you must call Guggenheim Investments Client Services at 800.820.0888 or 301.296.5100 to verify that your fax was received and when it will be processed. |
TELEPHONE | | 800.820.0888 or 301.296.5100 (not available for retirement accounts) |
BY ACH | | Redemption proceeds may be sent via ACH only if you have existing ACH instructions on file. If you currently do not have ACH instructions on file, download the Bank Information and Alternate Payee Form from the www.guggenheiminvestments.com site and follow the instructions for adding bank instructions. A maximum of $50,000 is allowed to be redeemed via ACH per day. |
Whether you transmit your redemption order by mail, fax or telephone, you must include the following information in your redemption order:
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• | Your shareholder account number; |
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• | Dollar amount or number of shares you would like to sell of the Fund; |
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• | Whether you want your sale proceeds sent to you by check, wire or ACH (a new alternate payee or new wire instructions may require a Medallion signature guarantee); and |
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• | Signature of account owner(s) (not required for telephone redemptions). |
You may only place a redemption order if you are the registered owner of the account or the registered owner has given Guggenheim Investments written authorization to allow you to make redemptions from the account. You will receive a confirmation number for your redemption. Please retain it for your records.
If you choose not to use the default cost basis method of average cost, you must choose a default cost basis method among FIFO, LIFO or HIFO. Shareholders who choose not to use the default cost basis method (i.e., the average cost basis method) may instead specifically identify the shares to be sold at the time of redemption or exchange. Shareholders using the specific identification method are expected to provide lot selection information along with their redemption or exchange request. For situations where shareholders are unable to or do not provide instructions (i.e., systematic withdrawals and other non-shareholders generated activity) the account level default will be used. Shareholders who wish to use the specific identification method for identifying lots of shares sold, however, are not permitted to use the average cost basis method.
Unless requested otherwise at the time of the transaction, the Fund will redeem or exchange shares in the following order: undated non-covered shares, non-covered shares followed by covered shares using the method in effect for the account.
DISTRIBUTIONS FROM QUALIFIED RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS
Distributions from your tax-qualified plan or individual retirement account ("IRA") may have adverse tax consequences to you. You should consult your tax adviser before redeeming shares and making distributions from your tax-qualified plan or IRA account. All requests for distributions of redemption proceeds from tax-qualified plans and IRA accounts must be in writing. All distributions from tax-qualified plans and IRAs are subject to tax withholding rules.
Distributions from 403(b) accounts may require employer or plan administrator approval.
RECEIVING YOUR REDEMPTION PROCEEDS
The Fund typically expects to pay redemption proceeds to your brokerage account held with a financial intermediary within two business days following receipt of the redemption request. For redemption proceeds that are paid directly to you by the Fund, the Fund generally expects to pay redemption proceeds by check, ACH or wire to you within one business day, following receipt of your redemption request in good order. However, in all cases, it may take the Fund up to seven calendar days to pay redemption proceeds. The Fund also has the right to suspend the right of redemption or postpone the date of payments, as described above. For redemption orders that settle on federal bank holidays, your redemption proceeds will be sent on the next Business Day following the holiday. For investments made by check or ACH (not wire purchases), purchases will be on hold for up to 10 Business Days before a payment of redemption proceeds may be made.
All redemptions will be mailed to your address of record, sent electronically via ACH, or wired to your bank account of record. You may request overnight mail service for an additional fee. If redemption proceeds are transmitted by ACH or wire and the payee instructions are not valid, the proceeds may be re-invested into shares of the Rydex U.S. Government Money Market Fund, which are offered in a separate prospectus, as of the date of the redemption.
If you request payment of redemption proceeds to a third party or to a location other than your address of record, alternate address on file, or bank account(s) of record, your redemption request should be in writing and include a Medallion signature guarantee and may not be faxed. You may not send redemption proceeds to an address of record that was changed within the last 10 business days unless your request is Medallion signature guaranteed. For certain exceptions (e.g., accounts managed by financial professionals and requests to transfer between accounts), you may not be required to provide a Medallion signature guarantee. Please contact Guggenheim Investments Client Services at 800.820.0888 if you have any questions about your redemption request.
MEDALLION SIGNATURE GUARANTEES
Medallion signature guarantees help protect you and your account against fraud. You can obtain a Medallion signature guarantee at most banks and financial intermediaries. A notary public cannot provide a Medallion signature guarantee. You may not use fax to transmit a Medallion signature guarantee to the Fund.
UNCASHED CHECK POLICY
Any dividend, capital gain or partial redemption check that has remained outstanding for a period of 90 days from the issuance date will be canceled and re-issued. If a re-issued check is not cashed within 90 days, the check will be canceled and the proceeds will be deposited into the shareholder’s account as of the cancellation date.
For dividend and capital gain checks, the proceeds will be reinvested into the appropriate share class of the Fund, or if the Fund position has subsequently been redeemed in full, the distribution will be reinvested into shares of the Rydex U.S. Government Money Market Fund, which are offered in a separate prospectus. The account also will have
the distribution payout option adjusted so that all future distributions are reinvested into the appropriate share class of the Fund.
For partial redemption checks, the proceeds will be deposited into shares of the Rydex U.S. Government Money Market Fund.
Any full redemption check (one that brings your account balance to $0.00) that has remained outstanding for a period of 90 days from the issuance date will be canceled and re-issued one time.
Any redemption check from a retirement account (IRA, Roth, SEP, for example) that has remained outstanding for a period of 90 days from the issuance date will be canceled and re-issued one time.
For checks returned in the mail, the Fund will attempt to contact the client. If no contact is made, the check will be processed according to the procedures mentioned above.
Exchanging Fund Shares
An exchange is when you sell shares of the Fund and use the proceeds from that sale to purchase shares of another fund within the Family of Funds. Investors may make exchanges on any Business Day of shares of the Fund for corresponding shares of any other fund within the Family of Funds on the basis of the respective NAVs of the shares involved.
Exchange requests, like any other share transaction, will be processed at the NAV next determined after your exchange order is received in good order. Exchanges involving other funds not included in this Prospectus may be subject to different transaction cut-off times. All exchange requests must be received by the Fund's Transfer Agent or your financial intermediary prior to the cut-off time of the fund you are exchanging out of or the fund you are exchanging into, whichever is earlier, to be processed at that Business Day’s NAV.
The exchange privilege may be modified or discontinued at any time.
EXCHANGE PROCEDURES
You will ordinarily submit your transaction order through your financial intermediary or other securities dealers through which you opened your shareholder account or through Guggenheim Investments directly. The Fund also offers you the option to send exchange requests to Guggenheim Investments by:
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| | | | |
| | Standard Delivery | | Overnight Delivery |
MAIL | | Guggenheim Investments P.O. Box 10839 Rockville, MD 20849-0839 | | Guggenheim Investments 805 King Farm Boulevard, Suite 600 Rockville, MD 20850
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FAX | | 301.296.5103 If you send your exchange request by fax, you must call Guggenheim Investments Client Services at 800.820.0888 to verify that your fax was received and when it will be processed. |
TELEPHONE | | 800.820.0888 or 301.296.5100 |
INTERNET | | Follow the directions on the Guggenheim Investments web site—Visit www.TradeRydex.com |
Whether you transmit your exchange request by mail, fax, telephone or internet, you must include the following information in your exchange request:
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• | Your shareholder account number; |
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• | Fund name(s) you are exchanging out of (selling) and fund name(s) you are exchanging into (buying); |
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• | Dollar amount, number of shares or percentage of Fund position involved in the exchange; and |
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• | Signature of account owner(s) (not required for telephone or internet exchanges). |
You may only place exchange orders if you are the registered owner of the account or the registered owner has given Guggenheim Investments written authorization to allow you to trade the account. You will receive a confirmation number for your exchange. Please retain it for your records.
DOLLAR-COST AVERAGING
Shareholders may elect to engage in dollar-cost averaging, which allows shareholders to make periodic exchanges of shares from one fund to one or more other funds at regular intervals. With dollar-cost averaging, the cost of the securities is averaged over time and possibly over various market cycles.
Dollar-cost averaging does not guarantee profits, nor does it assure that a shareholder will not have losses. Shareholders should contact Guggenheim Investments Client Services to enroll in dollar-cost averaging. Shareholders will need to choose whether amounts are to be exchanged on the basis of a specific dollar amount or a specific number of shares. Guggenheim Investments will exchange shares as requested on the date of your choosing. If the date selected falls on a weekend or holiday, your request will be processed on the previous Business Day.
The Investment Manager will make exchanges until the value of the shareholder’s fund from which exchanges are being made is depleted or until the shareholder instructs Guggenheim Investments to terminate dollar-cost averaging. Dollar-cost averaging may be terminated at any time by a shareholder by written request or by phone.
Account Policies
SHAREHOLDER IDENTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION
Federal regulations may require the Fund to obtain your name, your date of birth (for a natural person), your residential street address or principal place of business and your Social Security Number, Employer Identification Number or other government issued identification when you open an account. Additional information may be required in certain circumstances or to open accounts for corporations or other entities, and certain information regarding beneficial ownership will be verified, including information about beneficial owners of such entities. The Fund may use this information to attempt to verify your identity and, for legal entities, the identity of beneficial owners. The Fund may not be able to establish an account if the necessary information is not received. The Fund may also place limits on account transactions while it is in the process of attempting to verify your identity and, for legal entities, the identity of beneficial owners. Additionally, if the Fund is unable to verify the identity or you or your beneficial owners after your account is established, the Fund may be required to redeem your shares and close your account. If your account is closed for this reason, your shares will be redeemed at the NAV next calculated on the date your account is closed, and you bear the risk of loss.
Guggenheim Investments provides accounts for resident U.S. citizens and resident aliens. We generally will not open a new account for any non-resident aliens (natural person or entity) or non-resident U.S. citizens. Guggenheim Investments generally will not accept any investments from non-resident aliens (natural person or entity) or non-resident U.S. citizens. If you are unsure of your status please consult your tax adviser.
Customer identification and verification is part of the Fund's overall obligation to deter money laundering under applicable law. The Fund has adopted an anti-money laundering compliance program designed to prevent the Fund from being used for money laundering or the financing of terrorist activities. In this regard, the Fund reserves the right to (i) refuse, cancel or rescind any purchase or exchange order, (ii) freeze any account and/or suspend account services or (iii) involuntarily close your account in cases of threatening conduct or suspected fraudulent or illegal activity. These actions will be taken when, in the sole discretion of Fund management, they are deemed to be in the best interest of the Fund or in cases when the Fund is requested or compelled to do so by governmental or law enforcement authority. If your account is closed at the request of governmental or law enforcement authority, you may not receive proceeds of the redemption if the Fund is required to withhold such proceeds.
CHANGES TO YOUR ACCOUNT
For information on what is required to make changes and/or additions to your account and to obtain the appropriate forms, please visit the Guggenheim Investments web site at www.guggenheiminvestments.com or call 800.820.0888 or 301.296.5100. If you own shares that are registered in your financial intermediary’s name, and you want to transfer the registration of your shares to another financial intermediary or want the shares registered in your name, then you should contact your financial intermediary for instructions on how to make this change.
TRANSACTIONS OVER TELEPHONE OR INTERNET
Internet and telephone transactions are extremely convenient, but are not risk free. To ensure that your internet and telephone transactions are safe, secure, and as risk-free as possible, the Fund has instituted certain safeguards and procedures for determining the identity of web site users (including the use of secure passwords and 128-bit encryption technology) and telephone callers and authenticity of instructions. As a result, neither the Fund nor its Transfer Agent will be responsible for any loss, liability, cost, or expense for following internet, telephone or wire instructions they reasonably believe to be genuine. If you or your intermediaries make exchange requests by telephone or internet, you will generally bear the risk of any loss. Neither the Fund nor its Transfer Agent are responsible for internet transactions that are not received.
During periods of unusually high market activity or other times, it may be difficult to reach Guggenheim Investments by telephone or access our internet site. Guggenheim Investments and its affiliates will not be liable for any losses resulting from a cause over which Guggenheim Investments or its affiliates do not have direct control, including but not limited to the failure of electronic or mechanical equipment or communication lines, telephone or other interconnect problems (e.g., if you are unable to access your online service provider), input errors on the internet, severe weather, facilities emergencies, earthquakes, floods and strikes or other labor problems. If you are unable to reach Guggenheim Investments by telephone, fax, or internet, consider sending written instructions.
STATEMENTS AND CONFIRMATIONS
You will receive a confirmation for every trade you initiate. We will also send you a statement each quarter, and we will post your monthly statement online. You may choose to receive your trade confirmations and quarterly statements by mail or electronically (see “eDelivery Services” below).
Please review your trade confirmations and statements carefully. It is important that you contact Guggenheim Investments immediately with any questions you may have about any transaction reflected on any confirmation or statement. Guggenheim Investments will consider the transactions properly processed if any discrepancies are not reported promptly. If there are any discrepancies, call Guggenheim Investments Client Services at 800.820.0888.
eDELIVERY SERVICES
eDelivery offers shareholders the convenience of receiving most communications (such as trade confirmations, statements, prospectuses and shareholder reports, etc.) from the Fund through the web via email notification. For more information on eDelivery, please visit the Guggenheim Investments web site at www.guggenheiminvestments.com. The Fund reserves the right to discontinue your eDelivery service if two (2) or more e-mail notices are returned as undeliverable.
HOUSEHOLDING
Householding is an option that may be available to certain Fund investors through their financial intermediary. Householding is a method of delivery, based on the preference of the individual investor, in which a single copy of certain shareholder documents can be delivered to investors who share the same address, even if their accounts are registered under different names. Please contact your broker-dealer or other financial intermediary if you are interested in enrolling in householding and receiving a single copy of prospectuses and other shareholder documents, or if you are currently enrolled in householding and wish to change your householding status.
GUGGENHEIM INVESTMENTS EXPRESS LINE—800.717.7776
You may access information about the Fund and your Guggenheim Investments account anytime with the Guggenheim Investments Express Line. This automated line gives you telephone access to Fund information including NAVs, daily factors, fund assets and distributions as well as balance and history information on your Guggenheim Investments account.
SERVICE AND OTHER FEES
Guggenheim Investments may charge the following administrative fees on accounts held directly through the Fund's Transfer Agent for services associated with the following:
| |
• | $15 for wire transfers of redemption proceeds under $5,000; |
| |
• | $50 on checks returned for insufficient funds; |
| |
• | $25 to stop payment of a redemption check within 10 Business Days of the settlement date; |
| |
• | $15 for standard overnight packages (fee may be higher for special delivery options); |
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• | $25 for bounced draft checks or ACH transactions; and |
| |
• | Client requests for historical account transcripts or the retrieval of a significant amount of documentation may be honored to the extent that those records are readily available. The Fund reserves the right, upon notice, to charge you a fee to cover the costs of special requests for information that require extensive research or employee resources. Such requests could include a request for historical account transcripts or the retrieval of a significant number of documents. |
Guggenheim Investments reserves the right to change any of these fees or add additional service fees at any time.
RETIREMENT ACCOUNT FEES
An annual maintenance fee of $15 will be charged on the following retirement plans: IRA, SEP, Roth IRA, 403(b), Simple, Coverdell-ESA and Guggenheim Investments prototype money purchase plan and profit sharing plan accounts. You may pay the annual fee at any time during the calendar year by sending Guggenheim Investments a check. If the annual maintenance fee is not paid separately prior to December, it will be deducted automatically from your account.
An account closing fee of $15 will be charged upon liquidation of the following retirement accounts: IRA, SEP, Roth IRA, 403(b), Simple and Coverdell-ESA. This fee will be deducted from the proceeds of your redemption. Guggenheim Investments will waive the annual maintenance fee if a liquidation fee is being charged.
Guggenheim Investments also may waive the annual maintenance fee and any applicable account closing fee for certain 403(b) retirement plan accounts. For more information about the applicability of these fees, please contact Guggenheim Investments Client Services at 800.820.0888.
For additional information on fees for employee accounts please refer to the SAI.
MARKET TIMING/SHORT-TERM TRADING
The Fund is intended to be used by investors as a short-term investment or for cash management purposes. The Fund believes that frequent or short-term trading in the Fund's shares will not have a material adverse effect on the Fund or its shareholders. Accordingly, the Board has not adopted policies or procedures to monitor or prevent frequent or short-term trading, although it reserves the right to adopt such a policy in the future if it determines that such policy is necessary or appropriate for the protection of shareholders. It is possible, however, that under certain market conditions, such frequent or short-term trading or certain sized trades or other trading practices could have material adverse consequences for the Fund or its shareholders, particularly long-term shareholders. The Fund reserves the right to refuse any purchase or exchange request for any reason.
RIGHTS RESERVED BY THE FUND
In addition to the rights expressly set forth in the Prospectus and SAI, the Fund reserves the right to close your account or redeem your shares in cases of (i) actual or suspected threatening conduct against the Fund or actual or suspected fraudulent, illegal or suspicious activity by you or any other individual associated with your account or (ii) your failure to provide information to the Fund (or their agent) related to your account or otherwise comply with or meet Fund policies or share class eligibility requirements. This action may be taken when, in the sole discretion of Fund management, it is deemed to be in the best interest of the Fund or in cases where the Fund is requested or compelled to do so by applicable law. If your account is closed or your shares are redeemed at the request of governmental or law enforcement authority or pursuant to applicable law, you may not receive proceeds of the redemption if the Fund is required to withhold such proceeds. Neither the Fund, the Investment Manager (or its affiliates) nor the Board of Trustees will be responsible for any loss in your account or tax liability resulting from such a redemption.
UNCLAIMED PROPERTY LAWS
In certain circumstances, mutual fund accounts can be considered unclaimed or abandoned property under applicable state law. If your account is left unattended for a statutorily-prescribed period of time — generally, three or five years — Guggenheim Investments may be legally required to escheat (or transfer) your account to the state of your last known mailing address in accordance with applicable unclaimed or abandoned property (escheatment) laws, which vary by state. In order to avoid the possibility of escheatment to the state, you should from time to time initiate activity in your account or contact Guggenheim Investments to review your account information. In addition, you should maintain a current and valid mailing address on record with your account to prevent any delays or interruptions of purchases, redemptions or exchanges of your shares. To initiate activity in your account(s) or update your mailing
address, you should contact Guggenheim Investments at 800.820.0888 or 301.296.5100 or, if applicable, the financial intermediary through which you purchased (or hold) your shares.
Shareholders that reside in the state of Texas may designate a representative to receive escheatment notifications by completing and submitting a designation form that can be found on the website of the Texas Comptroller.
Distribution and Shareholder Services
CLASS R6 SHARES
No compensation is paid to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries from Fund assets on sales of Class R6 shares and for related services. Class R6 shares do not carry sales commissions or pay 12b-1 fees, or make payments to financial intermediaries to assist in, or in connection with, the sale of Class R6 shares of the Fund or for shareholder services.
COMPENSATION TO DEALERS
The Investment Manager, at its expense and out of its own resources, may provide compensation to financial intermediaries for the sale of Fund shares. Such payments, commonly referred to as “revenue sharing,” do not increase Fund expenses and are not reflected in the fees and expenses listed in the Fund's expense tables in this Prospectus. These payments may be made, at the discretion of the Investment Manager, to certain dealers who have sold shares of the Fund. The level of payments made to dealers will generally vary, but may be significant. The Investment Manager determines the extent of such payments in its sole discretion in response to requests from dealer firms, based on factors it deems relevant, such as the dealer’s sales, assets, share class utilized and the quality of the dealer’s relationship with the Investment Manager. The Investment Manager periodically determines the advisability of continuing these payments. The Investment Manager may also pay expenses associated with meetings that facilitate educating financial advisers and shareholders about the Fund that are conducted by dealers. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker/dealer or other intermediary and your sales person to recommend the Fund over another investment. Shareholders should inquire of an intermediary how the intermediary will be compensated for investments made in the Fund.
Shareholder Services
SYSTEMATIC WITHDRAWAL PLAN
Shareholders who wish to receive regularly scheduled payments may establish a Systematic Withdrawal Plan. Please refer to the Systematic Withdrawal Plan Request form for additional payment options. The form can be found within the Customer Service section of the www.guggenheiminvestments.com website. Shares are liquidated at NAV. The Program may be terminated upon notification, or it will terminate automatically if all shares are liquidated or redeemed from the account.
EXCHANGE PRIVILEGE
Shareholders of the Fund may exchange their shares for shares of other funds distributed by the Distributor. An exchange is two transactions: a sale of shares of one fund and the purchase of shares of another fund. In general, the same policies that apply to purchases and sales apply to exchanges, including the Fund’s right to reject any order to purchase shares.
Class R6 shares of the Fund may be exchanged only for Class R6 shares of another available fund.
Exchanges may be made only in those states where shares of the fund into which an exchange is to be made are qualified for sale. No service fee or sales charge is presently imposed on such an exchange. Any applicable contingent deferred sales charge will be imposed upon redemption of the shares acquired through the exchange and calculated from the date of the initial purchase. For tax purposes, an exchange is a sale of shares which may result in a taxable gain or loss. Special rules may apply to determine the amount of gain or loss on an exchange occurring within 90 days after purchase of the exchanged shares. Before exchanging your shares for shares of another mutual fund that is distributed by the Distributor and offered through another prospectus, you should request the prospectus of the mutual fund into which you are contemplating exchanging your shares and review it carefully, as the other mutual fund may be subject to fees, charges or expenses that are different from the shares that you are exchanging. A current
prospectus of the fund into which an exchange is made will be given to each shareholder exercising this privilege if the shareholder does not currently hold shares in that fund.
The terms of an employee-sponsored retirement plan may affect a shareholder’s right to exchange shares as described above. Contact your plan sponsor or administrator to determine if all of the exchange options discussed above are available under your plan.
A shareholder may exchange shares by telephone by calling the Fund at 800.820.0888, on weekdays (except holidays) between the hours of 8:30 am and 5:30 pm Eastern Time. Exchange requests received by telephone after the close of the NYSE (normally 4:00 pm Eastern Time) will be treated as if received on the next Business Day. The exchange privilege, including telephone exchanges, dollar cost averaging and asset rebalancing may be changed or discontinued at any time by either the Investment Manager or the Fund upon 60 days notice to shareholders.
The exchange privilege is not intended as a vehicle for short-term or excessive trading. Because excessive trading by a shareholder can hurt the Fund’s performance and its other shareholders, the Fund reserves the right to limit the amount or number of exchanges or discontinue this privilege if (1) the Fund or the Investment Manager believes that the Fund would be harmed or unable to invest effectively, or (2) the Fund receives or anticipates simultaneous orders that may significantly affect the Fund. The Fund also may reject future investments from a shareholder if the shareholder engages in, or is suspected of engaging in, short-term or excessive trading.
Exchanges into the Rydex U.S. Government Money Market Fund. The Fund’s shares may be exchanged into the Money Market Class shares of the Rydex U.S. Government Money Market Fund, which is offered in a separate prospectus that you can obtain upon request and that you should consult prior to an exchange. The Money Market Class shares of the Rydex U.S. Government Money Market Fund have no distribution and shareholder service (12b-1) fees, initial (up-front) sales charges, initial investment minimum and minimum balance requirements.
For additional information, see the prospectus for the Rydex U.S. Government Money Market Fund.
Dividends and Taxes
The Fund declares dividends from investment income daily. The Fund pays shareholder dividends from net investment income monthly and distribute any net capital gains realized at least annually. If you are a direct shareholder of the Fund, your dividends and distributions will be reinvested in the Fund unless you instruct the Transfer Agent for the Fund otherwise. There are no fees on reinvestments. Please see “Uncashed Check Policy” above for more information concerning uncashed dividend and distribution checks.
DIVIDEND PAYMENT OPTIONS
Dividends and distributions will be paid in the form of additional Fund shares unless you have elected to receive payment in cash. If you did not elect to receive cash payments of dividends and distributions on your application, you must notify the Fund in writing to change your election prior to the date of the next distribution. Your election will become effective for dividends paid after the Fund receives your written notice. To cancel your election, simply send written notice to the Fund. Dividends and distributions with values of $25 or less may be automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares. If applicable, please contact your financial intermediary for their policies and procedures regarding dividend and distribution payment options as well as changes to your elections.
If you elect to receive dividends and distributions in cash and you have not provided the Fund with a current and valid mailing address or the U.S. Postal Service or another carrier has returned mailings sent to you as undeliverable, the Fund reserves the right to reinvest such dividends or distributions payable to you in additional Fund shares and to reinvest all subsequent dividends and distributions in additional Fund shares (in each case, reinvested at the NAV per share on the day of reinvestment). Interest will not accrue on the amount of your uncashed check. When reinvested, those amounts are subject to the risk of loss like any other investment in the Fund. In addition, unclaimed accounts may be subject to state escheatment laws. See “Unclaimed Property Laws” above for more information.
TAX ON DISTRIBUTIONS
Fund dividends and distributions are taxable to shareholders whether you reinvest your dividends or distributions or take them in cash.
In addition to federal tax, dividends and distributions may be subject to state and local taxes. If the Fund declares a dividend or distribution in October, November or December of a calendar year but pays it in January of the following calendar year, you may be taxed on that dividend or distribution as if you received it in the calendar year in which the dividend or distribution is declared.
The maximum individual federal income tax rate applicable to “qualified dividend income” and long-term capital gains ranges from 0% to 20%, depending on whether the individual’s income exceeds certain threshold amounts. These rate reductions do not apply to corporate taxpayers or to foreign shareholders. Distributions of earnings from dividends paid by certain “qualified foreign corporations” can also qualify for the lower federal income tax rates on qualifying dividends. A shareholder will also have to satisfy a more than 60-day holding period as well as other requirements with respect to any distributions of qualifying dividends in order to obtain the benefit of the lower tax rate. Distributions of earnings from non-qualifying dividends, interest income, other types of ordinary income and short-term capital gains will be taxed at the ordinary income tax rate applicable to the taxpayer. Based on the investment strategies of the Fund, the Fund is not expected to derive significant amounts of qualifying dividend income that would be eligible for the lower rate on qualifying dividends.
Tax-deferred retirement accounts generally do not incur a tax liability with respect to the Fund's dividends or other distributions unless you are taking a distribution or making a withdrawal.
Your share of interest earned by the Fund from bonds and other debt securities generally will be taxed at ordinary income rates. The Fund generally has “short-term capital gains” when it sells assets at a gain within one year after buying them. Your share of the Fund’s net short-term capital gains generally will be taxed at ordinary income rates. The Fund generally has “long-term capital gains” when it sells assets at a gain that it has owned for more than one year. Distributions reported by the Fund as long-term capital gain distributions will be taxable to you at your long-term capital gains rate no matter how long you have held your Fund shares.
The Fund will mail you information concerning the tax status of the distributions shortly after the end of each calendar year.
TAXES ON SALES, REDEMPTIONS OR EXCHANGES
You may be taxed on any sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares. Generally, gain or loss realized upon the sale, redemption or exchange of Fund shares will be capital gain or loss if you hold the shares as capital assets and will be taxable as long-term capital gain or loss if you held the shares for more than one year, or as short-term capital gain or loss if you held the shares as capital assets for one year or less, at the time of the sale, redemption or exchange.
If your tax basis in your shares held as capital assets exceeds the amount of proceeds you received from a sale, exchange or redemption of shares, you will generally recognize a capital loss on the sale of shares of the Fund. Any loss recognized on shares held for six months or less will be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of any long-term capital gain distributions that were received with respect to the shares. Additionally, any loss realized on a sale, redemption or exchange of shares of the Fund may be disallowed under “wash sale” rules to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced with other shares of the Fund within a period of 61 days beginning thirty days before and ending thirty days after shares are disposed of, such as pursuant to a dividend reinvestment in shares of the Fund. If disallowed, the loss will be reflected in an adjustment to the tax basis of the shares acquired.
MEDICARE TAX
An additional 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on certain net investment income (including ordinary dividends and capital gain distributions received from the Fund and net gains from redemptions or other taxable dispositions of Fund shares) of U.S. individuals, estates and trusts to the extent that such person’s “modified adjusted gross income” (in the case of an individual) or “adjusted gross income” (in the case of an estate or trust) exceeds certain threshold amounts.
BACK-UP WITHHOLDING
The Fund may be required to withhold federal income tax at the rate of 24% of all taxable distributions payable to you if you fail to provide the Fund with your correct taxpayer identification number or to make required certifications or if you have been notified by the IRS that you are subject to back-up withholding. Back-up withholding is not an additional tax; rather, it is a way in which the IRS ensures it will collect taxes otherwise due. Any amounts withheld may be credited against your U.S. federal income tax liability.
FOREIGN TAXES
If more than 50% of the value of the Fund’s total assets at the close of its taxable year consists of securities of foreign corporations, the Fund will be eligible and may elect to treat a proportionate amount of certain foreign taxes paid by it as a distribution to each shareholder which would generally permit each shareholder either (1) to credit this amount (subject to applicable limitations) or (2) to deduct this amount for purposes of computing its U.S. federal income tax liability. The Fund will notify you if it makes this election.
FOREIGN SHAREHOLDERS
Shareholders other than U.S. persons may be subject to different U.S. federal income tax treatment, including withholding tax at the rate of 30% on amounts treated as ordinary dividends from the Fund, as discussed in more detail in the SAI.
COST BASIS
The Fund (or its administrative agents) or, for a shareholder that purchased Fund shares through a financial intermediary, the financial intermediary, is generally required to report to the IRS and furnish to Fund shareholders cost basis and holding period information upon a redemption of “covered shares” (those generally purchased on or after January 1, 2012, and sold on or after that date).
The Fund will permit shareholders to elect from among several cost basis methods, including average cost, FIFO, LIFO and HIFO. In the absence of an election, the Fund will use a default cost basis method which is the average cost method. The cost basis method elected by a shareholder (or the cost basis method applied by default) for each sale of Fund shares may not be changed after the close of business on the trade date of each such sale of Fund shares.
Fund shareholders should consult with their tax advisers prior to making redemptions to determine the appropriate cost basis method for their tax situation and to obtain more information about the cost basis reporting rules.
You should consult your tax professional about federal, state and local tax consequences to you of an investment in the Fund. Please see the SAI for additional tax information.
Determination of Net Asset Value
The price at which you buy, sell and exchange shares is the net asset value per share, which also is known as NAV. The Fund calculates its NAV by:
•Taking the current market value of its total assets;
•Subtracting any liabilities; and
•Dividing that amount by the total number of shares owned by shareholders.
The Fund generally calculates its NAV once each Business Day as of the regularly scheduled close of normal trading on the NYSE (normally, 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time). The NYSE is open Monday through Friday, except on observation of the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President’s Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. If the NYSE has an earlier closing time (scheduled or unscheduled), such as on days in advance of holidays generally observed by the NYSE-the Fund may calculate its NAV as of the earlier closing time or calculate its NAV as of the normally scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE for that day, so long as the Investment Manager believes there generally remains an adequate market to obtain reliable and accurate market quotations. The Fund generally does not calculate its NAV on any non-Business Day. However, if the NYSE is closed for any other reason on a day it would normally be open for business, the Fund may calculate its NAV as of the normally scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE for that day, so long as the Investment Manager believes there generally remains an adequate market to obtain reliable and accurate market quotations. The Fund discloses its NAV on a daily basis. For more information, or to obtain the Fund’s NAV, please call 800.820.0888 or visit the Guggenheim Investments website-www.guggenheiminvestments.com.
When calculating the NAV, the Fund will value the portfolio securities and assets of the Fund for which market quotations are readily available at the current market price of those securities and assets. With respect to portfolio securities and assets of the Fund for which market quotations are not readily available, or which cannot be accurately valued under the Fund's valuation procedures, the Fund will fair value those securities and assets.
Equity securities traded on a domestic securities exchange (including ETFs) will usually be valued at the last sale price on the security's primary U.S. exchange or market on the day the valuation is made, provided, however, that securities listed on NASDAQ will usually be valued at the NASDAQ Official Closing Price, which may not necessarily represent the last sale price. If no sale is reported, then the last bid price is used.
Discount notes with a maturity greater than 60 days at the time of purchase will usually be valued based on pricing services approved by the Board of Trustees, when available. Prices obtained from pricing services use various inputs, methods, models and assumptions, which may include information provided by broker-dealers and other market makers. Discount notes with a maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost, unless it is deemed that amortized cost does not represent fair value, in which case the applicable asset will be valued using prices obtained
from pricing services. If prices obtained from pricing services are unavailable, then securities are generally fair valued. Certain securities may also be valued based on broker bid prices.
With respect to an underlying open-end mutual fund (“underlying mutual fund”) in which the Fund may invest (other than ETFs), the Fund values the shares of the underlying mutual fund at the underlying mutual fund’s NAV and the prospectus for the underlying mutual fund explains the circumstances under which the underlying mutual fund will use fair value pricing and the effects of fair value pricing.
For foreign securities and other assets that are priced in a currency other than U.S. dollars, the Fund will convert the security or asset from the local currency into U.S. dollars using the relevant current exchange rate. Foreign securities may trade in their primary markets on weekends or other days when the Fund does not price its shares and, therefore, the value of portfolio securities of the Fund may change on days when shareholders will be unable to purchase or redeem the Fund's shares.
If market quotations are not readily available, are unreliable, or a significant event has occurred, securities are priced at fair value as determined in good faith using methods approved by the Board of Trustees. For example, market prices may be unavailable if trading in a particular portfolio security was halted during the day and did not resume prior to the Fund’s NAV calculation. The Investment Manager may view market prices as unreliable when the value of a security has been materially affected by events occurring after the market closes, but prior to the time as of which the Fund calculates its NAV.
The use of fair valuation in pricing a security involves the consideration of a number of subjective factors and therefore, is susceptible to the unavoidable risk that the valuation may be higher or lower than the price at which the security might actually trade if a reliable market price were readily available.
More information about the valuation of the Fund's holdings can be found in the SAI and the Fund's shareholder reports.
General Information
SHAREHOLDER INQUIRIES
Shareholders who have questions concerning their account or wish to obtain additional information may call the Fund (see back cover for address and telephone numbers) or contact their securities dealer. Client requests for historical account transcripts or the retrieval of a significant amount of documentation may be honored to the extent that those records are readily available. The Fund reserves the right, upon notice, to charge you a fee to cover the costs of special requests for information that require extensive research or employee resources.
OTHER INFORMATION
The Prospectus and SAI, related regulatory filings, and any other Fund communications or disclosure documents do not purport to create any contractual obligations between the Fund and shareholders. The Fund may amend any of these documents or enter into (or amend) a contract on behalf of the Fund without shareholder approval except where shareholder approval is specifically required. Further, shareholders are not intended third-party beneficiaries of any contracts entered into by (or on behalf of) the Fund, including contracts with the Investment Manager or other parties who provide services to the Fund.
The Fund offers other classes of shares not included in this prospectus that have different expense levels, performance history and eligibility requirements from the share classes offered in this prospectus. You may not be eligible for every share class. Your financial intermediary may not offer or otherwise make available all share classes of the Fund. As such, the share class you or your intermediary select may have higher fees than other classes of shares available through other financial intermediaries. Your financial intermediary may receive different compensation for selling one class of shares than for selling another class, which may depend on, among other things, the type of investor account and the policies, procedures and practices adopted by your financial intermediary. For more information, please contact your financial intermediary, visit the Fund's website at www.guggenheiminvestments.com or call Guggenheim Investments at 800.820.0888.
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights tables are intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five complete fiscal years, or the period since commencement of the Fund or share class, if shorter. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions).
The Fund is newly organized. Guggenheim Strategy Fund I (the "Predecessor Fund"), previously a series of Guggenheim Strategy Funds Trust, which also was an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, reorganized with and into the Fund, which has adopted the Predecessor Fund's performance, financial and other historical information. Accordingly, the performance information shown below for Institutional Class shares of the Fund reflects the performance of the Predecessor Fund and not of the Fund, however the Predecessor Fund’s policies, guidelines and investment objective were the same as the Fund’s in all material respects. Because Class R6 shares did not commence operations prior to the end of the most recently completed fiscal year, no information for Class R6 shares is shown.
The information provided below has been derived from financial statements that have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, the Predecessor Fund's independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Predecessor Fund's financial statements and related notes, are included in the Predecessor Fund's 2018 Annual Report. The 2018 Annual Report is available upon request and is incorporated by reference in the SAI.
Financial Highlights
Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration Fund
This table is presented to show selected data for a share outstanding throughout each period and to assist shareholders in evaluating the Fund’s performance for the periods presented.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended September 30, 2018g |
| Year Ended September 30, 2017g |
| Year Ended September 30, 2016g |
| Year Ended September 30, 2015g |
| Period Ended September 30, 2014a,g |
|
Per Share Data | | | | | |
Net asset value, beginning of period |
| $10.04 |
|
| $9.99 |
|
| $9.95 |
|
| $9.96 |
|
| $9.99 |
|
Income (loss) from investment operations: | | | | | |
Net investment income (loss)b | .24 |
| .17 |
| .14 |
| .11 |
| .04 |
|
Net gain (loss) on investments (realized and unrealized) | — |
| .06 |
| .04 |
| (.01 | ) | — |
|
Total from investment operations | .24 |
| .23 |
| .18 |
| .10 |
| .04 |
|
Less distributions from: | | | | | |
Net investment income | (.27 | ) | (.18 | ) | (.14 | ) | (.11 | ) | (.05 | ) |
Net realized gains | —f |
| — |
| — |
| — |
| (.02 | ) |
Total distributions | (.27 | ) | (.18 | ) | (.14 | ) | (.11 | ) | (.07 | ) |
Net asset value, end of period | $ | 10.01 |
| $ | 10.04 |
| $ | 9.99 |
| $ | 9.95 |
| $ | 9.96 |
|
| | | | | |
Total Returnc | 2.48 | % | 2.24 | % | 1.95 | % | 1.06 | % | 0.25 | % |
Ratios/Supplemental Data | | | | | |
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) | $ | 356,128 |
| $ | 426,592 |
| $ | 407,371 |
| $ | 957,190 |
| $ | 659,541 |
|
Ratios to average net assets: | | | | | |
Net investment income (loss) | 2.44 | % | 1.73 | % | 1.37 | % | 1.14 | % | 0.82 | % |
Total expensesd | 0.07 | % | 0.08 | % | 0.07 | % | 0.04 | % | 0.06 | % |
Net expensesd,e | 0.07 | % | 0.08 | % | 0.07 | % | 0.04 | % | 0.05 | % |
Portfolio turnover rate | 74 | % | 65 | % | 66 | % | 46 | % | 34 | % |
| |
a | Since commencement of operations: March 11, 2014. Percentage amounts for the period, except total return and portfolio turnover rate, have been annualized. |
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b | Net investment income (loss) per share was computed using average shares outstanding throughout the period. |
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c | Total return does not reflect the impact of any applicable sales charges. |
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d | Does not include expenses of the underlying funds in which the Fund invests. |
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e | Net expense information reflects the expense ratios after expense waivers. |
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f | Distributions from realized gains are less than $0.01 per share. |
| |
g | The per share data has been restated to reflect the reorganization of the Guggenheim Strategy Fund I with and into the Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration Fund effective November 30, 2018. In conjunction with the reorganization, Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration Fund issued 2.501601322 shares for every 1 share of Guggenheim Strategy Fund I. |
For More Information
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By Telephone—Call 800.820.0888 By Mail—Write to: Guggenheim Investments 805 King Farm Boulevard, Suite 600 Rockville, MD 20850 On the Internet—Reports and other information about the Fund can be viewed online or downloaded from: SEC: The EDGAR Database at http://www.sec.gov Guggenheim Investments: http://www.guggenheiminvestments.com Copies may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov. |
ANNUAL/SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT
Additional information about the Fund's investments will be available in the Fund's annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the Fund's annual reports, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year.
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The SAI, which includes additional information about the Fund and the Fund's annual or semi-annual reports are available, without charge, upon request by calling the Fund's toll-free telephone number 800.820.0888. Shareholder inquiries should be addressed to Guggenheim Investments, 805 King Farm Boulevard, Suite 600, Rockville, Maryland 20850, or by calling the Fund's toll-free telephone number listed above. The SAI is incorporated into this Prospectus by reference.
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The Fund’s Investment Company Act file number is listed below: | |
Guggenheim Funds Trust | 811-01136 |
• Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration Fund | |
Family of Funds, for disclosure purposes in this Prospectus, include—series of Guggenheim Funds Trust: Guggenheim Alpha Opportunity Fund, Guggenheim Diversified Income Fund, Guggenheim Floating Rate Strategies Fund, Guggenheim High Yield Fund, Guggenheim Investment Grade Bond Fund, Guggenheim Large Cap Value Fund, Guggenheim Limited Duration Fund, Guggenheim Macro Opportunities Fund, Guggenheim Market Neutral Real Estate Fund, Guggenheim Mid Cap Value Fund, Guggenheim Mid Cap Value Institutional Fund, Guggenheim Municipal Income Fund, Guggenheim Risk Managed Real Estate Fund, Guggenheim Small Cap Value Fund, Guggenheim StylePlus—Large Core Fund, Guggenheim StylePlus—Mid Growth Fund, Guggenheim Total Return Bond Fund, Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration Fund and Guggenheim World Equity Income Fund; the Transparent Value Funds; the Rydex Series Funds; and the Rydex Dynamic Funds.
702 King Farm Boulevard, Suite 200
Rockville, Maryland 20850
800 820 0888
guggenheiminvestments.com