Strategy. The Fund uses a passive management (or indexing) approach to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. ICE 0-5 Year Duration Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index The Index measures the performance of shorter duration U.S. dollar denominated hybrid debt and preferred stock issued in the U.S. domestic market. The Index was developed by ICE Data Indices, LLC (IDI), the Funds index provider (the Index Provider) and an affiliate of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Duration is a measure of a securitys price sensitivity to changes in yields or interest rates and a lower duration indicates less sensitivity to interest rates. For example, the price of a security with a three-year duration would be expected … Show more… The Fund uses a passive management (or indexing) approach to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. ICE 0-5 Year Duration Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index The Index measures the performance of shorter duration U.S. dollar denominated hybrid debt and preferred stock issued in the U.S. domestic market. The Index was developed by ICE Data Indices, LLC (IDI), the Funds index provider (the Index Provider) and an affiliate of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Duration is a measure of a securitys price sensitivity to changes in yields or interest rates and a lower duration indicates less sensitivity to interest rates. For example, the price of a security with a three-year duration would be expected to drop by approximately 3% in response to a 1% increase in interest rates. A securitys option-adjusted duration is a measure of its sensitivity to changes in interest rates, while factoring in the call features associated with such security. The Index is comprised of securities with an option-adjusted duration of less than five years. Preferred stock generally refers to a unit of ownership in a company (like common stock) that has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and in the event of a companys liquidation. Unlike common stocks, preferred stocks are generally not entitled to vote on corporate matters. Preferred stock in the Index includes U.S.-listed and non-listed preferred stock and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) representing preferred stock issued by non-U.S. companies. Hybrid securities are those that have characteristics of both equity and fixed income securities. Hybrid securities typically have preference over an issuers common stock with respect to the payment of dividends and in the event of a companys liquidation and are issued and traded in a similar manner to traditional preferred stock. Holders of hybrid securities may be eligible to receive fixed, periodic payments from the issuer of a hybrid security, although the issuer may have the right to defer such payments or extend the hybrid securitys maturity date. Preferred stocks and hybrid securities generally are issued with a fixed par value and pay dividends based on a percentage of that par value at a fixed or variable rate. Additionally, preferred stocks and hybrid securities often have a liquidation value that generally equals the original purchase price of such security at the date of issuance. The Index may include many different categories of preferred stock and hybrid securities, such as floating and fixed rate preferreds, fixed-to-floating rate securities, callable preferreds, convertible preferreds, cumulative and non-cumulative preferreds, certain capital securities, preferred real estate investment trusts (REITs) or hybrid REITs, trust preferreds or various other preferred stock and hybrid securities. The Index may include preferred and hybrid securities of any quality, including high-yield securities (also known as junk bonds), and securities that are not rated by any rating agencies. The Index uses a market capitalization weighted methodology subject to certain constraints and is rebalanced monthly. At the time of each monthly rebalance and reconstitution of the Index, the Index includes issuances of preferred stocks and notes with at least $100 million face amount outstanding and hybrid securities with at least $250 million face amount outstanding that meet minimum price, liquidity, trading volume, maturity, and other requirements, as applicable, as determined by the Index methodology. To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, corporate hybrid debt must have at least 18 months to final maturity at the time of issuance. Additionally, to qualify for inclusion in the Index a security must be priced at no more than 105% of its face value. Once included in the Index, a security remains eligible for inclusion so long as its option-adjusted duration is less than six years. The Index may include large-, mid- or small-capitalization companies and includes preferred stocks of non-U.S. issuers. As of December 31, 2025, a significant portion of the Index was represented by securities of companies in the financials sector. Also as of December 31, 2025, the Index was comprised of 325 components and had an effective duration of 1.95 years. The Index uses a market capitalization weighted methodology subject to certain constraints, including a maximum allocation of 4.75% to any individual issuer. The Index is rebalanced on the last calendar day of each month, based on closing prices as of three business days prior to the last business day of the month. The Funds Investment Strategy The Fund will generally use a replication strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund generally will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in approximately the same proportion as in the Index. However, the Fund may use a representative sampling strategy, meaning it may invest in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other characteristics closely resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole, when the Funds sub-adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund ( e.g. , when replicating the Index involves practical difficulties or substantial costs, an Index constituent becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable or less liquid, or as a result of legal restrictions or limitations that apply to the Fund but not to the Index). The Fund generally may invest in securities or other investments not included in the Index, but which the Funds sub-adviser believes will help the Fund track the Index. For example, the Fund may invest in securities that are not components of the Index to reflect various corporate actions and other changes to the Index (such as reconstitutions, additions and deletions). To the extent the Index concentrates ( i.e ., holds more than 25% of its total assets) in the securities of a particular industry or group of related industries, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Funds net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, will be invested in preferred and income securities. Show less