Strategy. Macquarie VIP High Income Series seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of high-yield, high-risk, fixed-income securities, including secured and unsecured loan assignments, loan participations and other loan instruments (loans), of US and foreign issuers, the risks of which are, in the judgment of Delaware Management Company (Manager) , the Series' investment manager, consistent with the Series objective. The Series invests primarily in lower-quality debt securities, which include debt securities rated BB+ or lower by S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global, Inc. (S&P), or comparably rated by another nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) or, if unrated, determined by the Manager to be of comparable quality. The Series may invest up to 100% … Show more… Macquarie VIP High Income Series seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of high-yield, high-risk, fixed-income securities, including secured and unsecured loan assignments, loan participations and other loan instruments (loans), of US and foreign issuers, the risks of which are, in the judgment of Delaware Management Company (Manager) , the Series' investment manager, consistent with the Series objective. The Series invests primarily in lower-quality debt securities, which include debt securities rated BB+ or lower by S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global, Inc. (S&P), or comparably rated by another nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) or, if unrated, determined by the Manager to be of comparable quality. The Series may invest up to 100% of its total assets in non-investment-grade debt securities, commonly called high-yield or junk bonds, which include debt securities rated BB+ or lower by S&P, or comparably rated by another NRSRO or, if unrated, determined by the Manager to be of comparable quality. The Series may invest in fixed-income securities of any maturity. The Series may invest up to 100% of its total assets in foreign securities that are denominated in U.S. dollars or foreign currencies. Many of the companies in which the Series may invest have diverse operations, with products or services in foreign markets. Therefore, the Series may have indirect exposure to various foreign markets through investments in these companies, even if the Series is not invested directly in such markets. The Series may invest in restricted securities. Although the Manager considers credit ratings in selecting investments for the Series, the Manager bases its investment decisions for a particular instrument primarily on its own credit analysis and not on a NRSROs credit rating. In selecting securities, the Manager may conduct an initial screening of issuers based on characteristics such as yield, performance, maturity and relative value across and within sectors. Following its initial screening, the Manager may look at a number of factors beginning with a primarily bottom-up (researching individual issuers) analysis that includes extensive modeling and talking with a companys management team, industry consultants and sell-side research to help formulate opinions, and progressing to consideration of the current economic environment, the direction and level of interest rates and inflation, and industry fundamentals and trends in the general economy. Other factors considered include a companys financial strength, growth of operating cash flows, strength of management, borrowing requirements, improving credit metrics, potential to improve credit standing, responsiveness to changes in interest rates and business conditions, strength of business model, competitive advantage and capital structure and future capital needs. Initial position sizes are determined based on factors that include size of issue, rating, duration, coupon, call-ability, exposure to a specific industry and leverage. The Manager attempts to optimize the Series risk/reward by investing in the debt portion of the capital structure that the Manager believes to be most attractive, which may include secured and/or unsecured loans, floating rate notes and/or secured and/or unsecured high-yield bonds. For example, if the Manager believes that market conditions are favorable for a particular type of fixed-income instrument, such as high-yield bonds, most or all of the fixed-income instruments in which the Series invests may be high-yield bonds. Similarly, if the Manager believes that market conditions are favorable for loans, most or all of the fixed-income instruments in which the Series invests may be loans, including second-lien loans which typically are lower in the capital structure and less liquid than first-lien loans. Generally, in determining whether to sell a security, the Manager considers the dynamics of an industry and/or company change or anticipated change, a change in strategy by a company, a deterioration of the companys financial model, credit quality or credit standing, and/or a change in managements consideration of its creditors. The Manager also may sell a security if, in the Managers opinion, the price of the security has risen to fully reflect the companys improved creditworthiness and other investments with greater potential exist. The Manager also may sell a security to take advantage of what it believes are more attractive investment opportunities, to reduce the Series holding in that security or to raise cash. At times, the Series may invest in a wholly-owned company acting as an investment vehicle for the Series to effect certain investments consistent with the Series' investment objectives (Subsidiary). The Series' investment in the Subsidiary is expected to provide the Series with exposure to certain investments in accordance with the limits of the federal tax laws. The Series complies with the provisions of the 1940 Act governing investment policies, capital structure and leverage on an aggregate basis with the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary complies with the Investment Company Act of 1940's provisions relating to affiliated transactions and custody of assets. The Manager may seek investment advice and recommendations from its affiliates: Macquarie Investment Management Austria Kapitalanlage AG (MIMAK), Macquarie Investment Management Europe Limited (MIMEL), and Macquarie Investment Management Global Limited (MIMGL) (together, the Affiliated Sub-Advisors). The Manager may also permit these Affiliated Sub-Advisors to execute Series security trades on behalf of the Manager and exercise investment discretion for securities in certain markets where the Manager believes it will be beneficial to utilize an Affiliated Sub-Advisors specialized market knowledge. Show less