Strategy. The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of the value of its assets (net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in bonds, which include all types of debt securities, such as: debt or debt-related securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. or foreign governments, their agencies or instrumentalities; obligations of international or supranational entities; debt securities issued by U.S. or foreign corporate entities; zero coupon bonds; municipal bonds; mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities; and loan participation interests. The Funds bond investments may have fixed or floating rates of interest. The Fund generally seeks to invest in a broad portfolio of corporate, government, and mortgage-related and asset-backed securities. The Fund may invest up to 30% … Show more… The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of the value of its assets (net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in bonds, which include all types of debt securities, such as: debt or debt-related securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. or foreign governments, their agencies or instrumentalities; obligations of international or supranational entities; debt securities issued by U.S. or foreign corporate entities; zero coupon bonds; municipal bonds; mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities; and loan participation interests. The Funds bond investments may have fixed or floating rates of interest. The Fund generally seeks to invest in a broad portfolio of corporate, government, and mortgage-related and asset-backed securities. The Fund may invest up to 30% of its total assets in securities rated below investment grade by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) (such securities rated lower than BBB- and Baa3), or, if unrated, judged to be of comparable quality by the Subadvisor. Securities that are rated below investment grade by NRSROs are commonly referred to as high-yield securities or junk bonds. If NRSROs assign different ratings for the same security, the Fund will use the higher rating for purposes of determining the credit quality. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities of foreign issuers, including up to 10% of its net assets in securities of emerging market issuers . The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities denominated in a currency other than the U.S. dollar. The Funds investments may also include convertible corporate securities, loans and loan participation interests. The Fund may invest up to 5% of its net assets in common stocks and other equity-related securities. The Fund may seek to hedge against its exposure to changes in the value of foreign currency, but there is no guarantee that such hedging techniques will be successful in reducing any related foreign currency valuation risk. The Fund may also invest in derivatives such as futures, forwards, options, forward commitments and swap agreements, including interest rate, total return and credit default swap agreements, to seek to enhance returns or reduce the risk of loss by hedging certain of its holdings or manage duration. Commercial paper must be, when purchased, rated in the highest rating category by a NRSRO or if unrated, determined by the Subadvisor to be of comparable quality. The Fund will generally seek to maintain a portfolio modified duration to worst within 2.5 years (plus or minus) of the duration of the Core Plus Bond Blended Index, which is a blended index consisting of 80% Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index and 20% ICE BofA U.S. High Yield Constrained Index. Duration is a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a securitys price to changes in interest rates. The longer a securitys duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates. Duration to worst is the duration of a bond computed using the bonds nearest call date or maturity, whichever comes first. This measure ignores future cash flow fluctuations due to embedded optionality. The Fund may invest in mortgage dollar rolls, to-be-announced (TBA) securities transactions, variable rate notes and floating rate notes. The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis. The Fund may, without limitation, seek to obtain market exposure to the securities 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 or dollar rolls). Investment Process: MacKay Shields LLC (MacKay Shields or the Subadvisor) utilizes an investment process that combines a top-down analytical framework with a rigorous bottom-up process. Fundamental economic cycle analysis, credit quality and interest rate trends are the principal factors considered by the Subadvisor in managing the Fund and determining whether to increase or decrease the emphasis placed upon a particular type of security or industry sector within the Funds investment portfolio. The Subadvisors target duration for the Fund is based on a set of investment decisions that take into account a broad range of economic, fundamental and technical indicators. When assessing high yield corporate bonds, the Subadvisor seeks to identify investment opportunities by analyzing individual companies and evaluating each companys competitive position, financial condition, and business prospects. The Fund invests in companies in which the Subadvisor has judged that there is sufficient asset coveragethat is, the Subadvisors subjective appraisal of a companys value compared to the value of its debt, with the intent of maximizing risk-adjusted income and returns. The Subadvisor may sell a security if it no longer believes that the security will contribute to meeting the investment objective of the Fund. In considering whether to sell a security, the Subadvisor may evaluate, among other things, the condition of the economy, meaningful changes in the issuers financial condition and competitiveness, and changes in the condition and outlook in the issuers industry. Show less