Strategy. The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal debt securities, which include debt obligations issued by or on behalf of a government entity or other qualifying entity/issuer that pays interest that is, in the opinion of bond counsel to the issuers, generally excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes (except that the interest may be includable in taxable income for purposes of the federal alternative minimum tax). Municipal debt securities are a financing tool to fund a variety of public and private purposes, including general financing for state and local governments, financing for eligible non-profit organizations, or financing for a specific project or public … Show more… The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal debt securities, which include debt obligations issued by or on behalf of a government entity or other qualifying entity/issuer that pays interest that is, in the opinion of bond counsel to the issuers, generally excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes (except that the interest may be includable in taxable income for purposes of the federal alternative minimum tax). Municipal debt securities are a financing tool to fund a variety of public and private purposes, including general financing for state and local governments, financing for eligible non-profit organizations, or financing for a specific project or public facility. Municipal securities usually pay a fixed, variable, or floating rate of interest, and must repay the amount borrowed, usually at the maturity of the security. The Fund invests in an actively managed, diversified portfolio of tax-exempt municipal debt securities. Municipal debt securities include bonds issued by, or on behalf of, the District of Columbia, the states, the territories (including Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands), commonwealths and possessions of the United States and their political subdivisions, and agencies, authorities and instrumentalities. Municipal debt securities also 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. All distributions by the Fund, including any distributions derived from tax-exempt municipal obligations, may be includible in taxable income for purposes of the federal alternative minimum tax. The Fund invests in investment grade securities as rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO), such as rated BBB- Baa3 or better at the time of purchase, or if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality by MacKay Shields LLC, the Fund's Subadvisor; and invests in commercial paper only if rated in the top two highest rating categories by a NRSRO, such as A-1 to A-2 or Prime-1 to Prime-2 at the time of purchase, or if unrated, determined by the Subadvisor to be of comparable quality. 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 also invest up to 10% of its net assets in taxable municipal debt securities. The Fund's principal investments may have fixed, variable or floating interest rates and include: tax-exempt and taxable municipal securities; obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities; certificates of deposit, time deposits and bankers' acceptances issued by U.S. banks or savings and loan associations; and debt securities issued by corporate entities, governments and agencies, and supranational organizations. The Fund may also invest in municipal debt securities with special features, such as put rights, which allow the Fund to sell a security at a predetermined price. Normally, the Fund will have a dollar-weighted average maturity of three years or less. The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as futures, options and swap agreements to seek enhanced returns or to seek to reduce the risk of loss by hedging certain of its holdings. Investment Process: The Subadvisor seeks to allocate investments primarily across the tax-exempt debt market, but can also utilize the taxable debt markets. Allocations to the tax-exempt and taxable debt markets are based on the current economic environment, the level of absolute and relative yields, and the Subadvisors interest rate outlook. 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 no sectors or industries are explicitly excluded from the Fund. The Subadvisor may sell a security if it no longer believes that the security will contribute to meeting the investment objective of the Fund, which may be determined by an evaluation of economic conditions, the issuer's financial condition, or relative yield and return expectations. Show less