Strategy. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective through investments in debt instruments offering attractive levels of yield. This Fund expects to invest primarily in U.S. corporate debt securities, non-U.S. corporate debt securities, convertible corporate securities, collateralized debt obligations and other asset-backed securities, loans and loan participation interests that are 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 MacKay Shields LLC (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 to the same instrument for purposes of determining the securitys credit … Show more… The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective through investments in debt instruments offering attractive levels of yield. This Fund expects to invest primarily in U.S. corporate debt securities, non-U.S. corporate debt securities, convertible corporate securities, collateralized debt obligations and other asset-backed securities, loans and loan participation interests that are 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 MacKay Shields LLC (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 to the same instrument for purposes of determining the securitys credit quality, the Fund will use the middle rating when three NRSROs rate the security. For securities where only two NRSROs rate the security, the Fund will use the lower rating. If only one rating is available for a security, the Fund will use that rating. The Fund may invest without limitation in below investment grade securities. The Fund may hold cash or invest in short-term instruments during times when the Subadvisor is unable to identify attractive high income 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 to reduce the risk of loss by hedging certain of its holdings or manage duration. In times of unusual or adverse market, economic or political conditions, the Fund may invest without limit in investment grade securities and may invest in U.S. government securities or other high-quality money market instruments. To the extent the Fund is invested in cash, investment grade debt or other high-quality instruments, the yield on these investments tends to be lower than the yield on other investments normally purchased by the Fund. Although investing heavily in these investments may help to preserve the Funds assets, it may not be consistent with the Funds primary investment objective and may limit the Funds ability to achieve a high level of income. The Fund has adopted a non- fundamental policy that it may invest up to 20% of its net assets in common stocks and other equity-related securities, including in connection with bankruptcies or other corporate restructurings. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its net assets in underlying funds, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds and closed-end funds. 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: The Subadvisor utilizes a top-down and bottom-up approach in its investment decision-making process. The top-down element of the investment process incorporates an analysis of the important economic underpinnings of the markets risk cycle, including monetary policy, credit market conditions, economic indicators, market structure metrics, and issuer-specific metrics. The investment team believes that monetary policy, as dictated by central bank actions, is a significant contributor to credit creation and an important driver of the inflection points in the market cycle. Th e bottom-up component of the investment teams investment process feeds into its macro analysis to help identify significant changes in financial market conditions, real economic developments, including business growth, employment and consumer spending, and areas of credit excess, including high borrowing and leverage. Credits are run through a multi-factor analysis of financial and non-financial risk characteristics seeking to gain a complete picture of the credit profile of an issuer prior to investment. This multi-factor analysis combined with in-depth fundamental analysis leads the investment team to select credits of companies with improving business prospects while avoiding those with excess leverage and subordination. 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, changes in the condition and outlook. Show less