Strategy. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Index. The Index utilizes certain environmental, social, and governance ( ESG ) criteria to select from the securities included in the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (the Base Index ), which is designed to broadly capture the U.S. investment grade, taxable fixed income market. The Index is maintained by Bloomberg Index Services Limited ( Bloomberg ) pursuant to an agreement between Bloomberg and MSCI ESG Research LLC ( MSCI ESG Research and, together with Bloomberg, the Index Providers ). Neither the sub-adviser nor its affiliates has any discretion to select Index components or change the Index methodology. As of October 31, 2025, the Index was comprised of 10,748 securities. The … Show more… The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Index. The Index utilizes certain environmental, social, and governance ( ESG ) criteria to select from the securities included in the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (the Base Index ), which is designed to broadly capture the U.S. investment grade, taxable fixed income market. The Index is maintained by Bloomberg Index Services Limited ( Bloomberg ) pursuant to an agreement between Bloomberg and MSCI ESG Research LLC ( MSCI ESG Research and, together with Bloomberg, the Index Providers ). Neither the sub-adviser nor its affiliates has any discretion to select Index components or change the Index methodology. As of October 31, 2025, the Index was comprised of 10,748 securities. The Index draws from the universe defined by the Base Index, which consists of U.S. dollar-denominated, investment grade taxable debt securities with fixed rate coupons that meet certain minimum market value and maturity thresholds as determined by the Index Providers. The Base Index is principally comprised of U.S. government securities (securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities), debt securities issued by U.S. corporations, residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities ( MBS ), asset-backed securities ( ABS ), and U.S. dollar denominated debt securities issued by corporations that are publicly offered for sale in the United States. The Index identifies fixed income securities from the Base Index that satisfy certain ESG criteria, based on ESG performance data collected by MSCI ESG Research. ABS and MBS are included in the Index without reference to ESG criteria; other securities for which ESG performance data is not available are excluded from the Index. With respect to corporate debt securities, ESG performance is measured on an industry-specific basis, with assessment categories varying by industry. Companies are scored and ranked against industry peers using a consistent set of key performance indicators to determine relative ESG strength. Environmental assessment categories can include a companys impact on climate change, natural resource use, and waste management and emission management. Social evaluation categories can include a companys relations with employees and suppliers, product safety and sourcing practices. Governance assessment categories can include governance practices and business ethics. The ESG criteria also consider how well a company adheres to national and international laws and regulations related to ESG matters. Index rules exclude companies with significant activities in the following controversial businesses: alcohol production, tobacco production, nuclear power, gambling, and weapons and firearms production. Companies otherwise eligible for inclusion in the Index that exceed certain carbon-based ownership and emissions thresholds are excluded from the Index. With respect to government securities, U.S. governments receive an ESG rating based on the government issuers performance on six ESG risk factors: Natural Resources, Environmental Externalities & Vulnerability, Human Capital, Economic Environment, Financial Governance and Political Governance. Corporate debt and government securities that meet a minimum ESG rating threshold are eligible for inclusion in the Index. Eligible securities are then market value weighted within each sector, with sector weights in the Index adjusted to mirror the sector exposure of the Base Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally invests in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole. The Index is rebalanced and reconstituted monthly. ESG ratings employed by the Index are generally updated annually on a rolling basis, but may be reviewed more frequently in the Index Providers discretion. The Fund makes corresponding changes to its portfolio shortly after any Index changes are made public. Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in component securities of the Index. To the extent the Index concentrates ( i.e. , holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of companies in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index. Show less