Strategy. The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal bonds, whose interest is, in the opinion of bond counsel for the issuers at the time of issuance, exempt from federal and California income taxes. Municipal bonds are generally debt obligations issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the United States, and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities that provide income free from federal, state and potentially local income taxes. If the interest on a particular municipal bond is exempt from federal and California income taxes, the Fund will treat the bond as qualifying for purposes of the 80% policy even … Show more… The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal bonds, whose interest is, in the opinion of bond counsel for the issuers at the time of issuance, exempt from federal and California income taxes. Municipal bonds are generally debt obligations issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the United States, and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities that provide income free from federal, state and potentially local income taxes. If the interest on a particular municipal bond is exempt from federal and California income taxes, the Fund will treat the bond as qualifying for purposes of the 80% policy even though the issuer of the bond may be located outside of California. Although the Fund may invest in municipal bonds rated in any rating category or in unrated municipal bonds, MacKay Shields LLC (the Subadvisor) intends to invest primarily in investment grade quality bonds as rated by at least one nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO), or, if unrated, judged to be of comparable quality by the Subadvisor. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in municipal bonds that are rated below investment grade as rated by an 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 to the same security, the Fund will use the higher rating for purposes of determining the securitys credit quality. The Fund generally will maintain a portfolio modified duration to worst of 3 to 8 years. 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. 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. Municipal bonds include, among other instruments, general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, industrial revenue bonds, industrial development bonds, private activity bonds, as well as short-term, tax-exempt obligations such as municipal notes and variable rate demand obligations. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in municipal bonds subject to the federal alternative minimum tax and municipal bonds that pay interest that is subject to federal and/or California income taxes. The Fund may invest more than 25% of its total assets in municipal bonds that are related in such a way that an economic, business or political development or change affecting one such security could also affect the other securities. If the supply of California state tax-exempt municipal bonds is insufficient to meet the Funds investment needs, the Fund may invest in municipal bonds issued by other states. Municipal bonds issued by other states purchased by the Fund will generally be exempt from federal income taxes but may not be exempt from California income taxes. In choosing investments, the Subadvisor analyzes the credit quality of issuers and considers the yields available on municipal bonds with different maturities. The Subadvisor uses active management in an effort to identify municipal bonds it believes to be mispriced and to build a consistent yield advantage. The Subadvisor focuses on reducing volatility through a disciplined investment process, which includes fundamental, bottom-up credit research and risk management. In addition, the Subadvisor reviews macroeconomic events, technical in the municipal market, tax policies and analyzes individual municipal securities and sectors. The Subadvisors investment process includes a risk analysis that gives consideration to a variety of security-specific risks, including but not limited to, environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks that may have a material impact on the performance of a security. In addition to proprietary research, the Subadvisor may use screening tools and, to the extent available, third-party data to identify ESG risk factors that may not have been captured through its own research. The Subadvisors consideration of ESG risk is weighed against other criteria and therefore does not mean that any sectors, industries or individual securities are explicitly excluded from the Fund. The Subadvisor may sell a security if it no longer believes 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 and meaningful changes in the issuers financial condition. Show less