Series E (Total Return Bond Series)
Guggenheim Variable Funds Trust
Expense ratio
Net assets1
$190.94M
Holdings1
660
Category
Other
Return

Investment objective & strategy

As of April 24, 2025 · prospectus

Objective. Series E seeks to provide total return, comprised of current income and capital appreciation.

Strategy. The Fund intends to pursue its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its assets (net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in debt securities. Such debt securities may include corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities, securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities (including those not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government), sovereign debt securities, Eurodollar bonds and obligations, agency and non-agency residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and other asset-backed securities (including collateralized mortgage obligations), loans, participations in and assignments of bank and bridge loans, zero-coupon bonds, municipal bonds, payment-in-kind securities (such as payment-in-kind bonds), convertible fixed-income securities, non-registered or restricted securities … The Fund intends to pursue its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its assets (net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in debt securities. Such debt securities may include corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities, securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities (including those not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government), sovereign debt securities, Eurodollar bonds and obligations, agency and non-agency residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and other asset-backed securities (including collateralized mortgage obligations), loans, participations in and assignments of bank and bridge loans, zero-coupon bonds, municipal bonds, payment-in-kind securities (such as payment-in-kind bonds), convertible fixed-income securities, non-registered or restricted securities (including those issued in reliance on Rule 144A and Regulation S securities), certain preferred securities and step-up securities (such as step-up bonds). These securities may pay fixed or variable rates of interest and may include adjustable rate securities. While the Fund will principally invest in debt securities listed, traded or dealt in developed markets countries globally, it may also invest without limitation in securities listed, traded or dealt in other countries, including emerging markets countries. Such securities may be denominated in foreign currencies. Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC, also known as Guggenheim Investments (the "Investment Manager"), may attempt to reduce foreign currency exchange rate risk by entering into contracts with banks, brokers or dealers to purchase or sell securities or foreign currencies at a future date. The Fund may also invest in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) (which include collateralized bond obligations, collateralized loan obligations and other similarly structured instruments), preferred stock and convertible securities. The Fund may seek to obtain exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests through a variety of investment vehicles, principally closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other mutual funds. The Fund may hold fixed-income instruments of any quality, rated or unrated including, those that are rated below investment grade, or if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality (also known as high yield securities or junk bonds). If nationally recognized statistical rating organizations assign different ratings to the same security, the Fund will use the higher rating for purposes of determining the securitys credit quality. However, the Fund may not invest more than 33 1/3% of its total assets in fixed-income securities that are below investment grade. The Fund may hold securities of any duration or maturity. With respect to bank loans, the Fund may purchase participations in, or assignments of, floating rate bank loans that meet certain liquidity standards and will provide for interest rate adjustments at least every 397 days and which may be secured by real estate or other assets. Participations may be interests in, or assignments of, the loan and may be acquired from banks or brokers that have made the loan or members of the lending syndicate. The Fund may also participate in lending syndicates and other direct lending opportunities. The Fund also may seek exposures through derivative transactions, principally: foreign exchange forward contracts; futures on securities, indices, currencies and other investments; Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) futures; options; interest rate swaps; cross-currency swaps; total return swaps; credit default swaps; and other foreign currency contracts and foreign currency-related transactions, which may also create economic leverage in the Fund. The Fund may engage in derivative and foreign currency-related transactions for speculative purposes to enhance total return, to seek to hedge against fluctuations in securities prices, interest rates or currency rates, to change the effective duration of its portfolio, to manage certain investment risks, as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities or currencies and/or to obtain or replicate market exposure. The Fund may seek to obtain market exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or by using other investment techniques (such as To Be Announced (TBA) transactions and/or dollar rolls). The Fund may use leverage to the extent permitted by applicable law by entering into reverse repurchase agreements and transactions equivalent to a borrowing for investment purposes. The Fund also may engage, without limitation, in repurchase agreements. The Fund employs a diversified, multi-sector strategy focused on under-researched areas of the fixed income universe, including sectors not included in benchmark indices. Through its actively managed approach, the Fund seeks to potentially capitalize on changing relative values in fixed-income sectors. The Investment Manager selects securities and other investments for purchase and sale based on intensive credit research involving extensive due diligence on each issuer, region and sector. The Investment Manager also considers macroeconomic outlook and geopolitical issues, and may employ a tactical asset or sector allocation strategy to seek to capitalize on total return potential created by changing market and economic conditions. The Investment Manager may determine to sell a security for several reasons, including but not limited to the following: (1) to adjust the portfolios average maturity or duration, or to shift assets into or out of higher-yielding securities; (2) if a securitys credit rating has been changed, the Investment Managers credit outlook has changed, or for other similar reasons; (3) to meet redemption requests; (4) to take gains; or (5) due to relative value. The Fund does not intend to principally invest in defaulted securities, but if a security defaults subsequent to purchase by the Fund, the Investment Manager will determine in its discretion whether to hold or dispose of such security. Under adverse or unstable market conditions or abnormal circumstances (for example, in the event of credit events, where it is deemed opportune to preserve gains, or to preserve the relative value of investments or in the case of large cash inflows or anticipated large redemptions), the Fund can make temporary investments that are inconsistent with the Funds principal investment strategies and may not be able to pursue or achieve its investment objective.

Top holdings

As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT
SecurityTickerValue% of fund
Guggenheim Variable Insurance Strategy Fund III GFSVX $26.75M 14.01%
FNCL 5 6/24 $14.50M 7.59%
FNCL 3 5/26 $10.95M 5.74%
US TREASURY N/B $5.95M 3.12%
Uniform Mortgage-Backed Security, TBA FNCL $5.83M 3.05%
Government National Mortgage Association, TBA G2SF $5.06M 2.65%
Uniform Mortgage-Backed Security, TBA FNMA $3.54M 1.85%
US TREASURY N/B $3.48M 1.82%
U.S. Treasury Bonds Principal STRIPS $2.77M 1.45%
U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Indexed Notes TII $2.64M 1.38%
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Allocation by sector

As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT
View portfolio breakdown →

Portfolio moves

Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026
Opened
105
Exited
66
Increased
14
Decreased
179
Unchanged
366

How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.

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Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight
FundOverlapNet exp.
Guggenheim Total Return Bond Fund · GIBAX, GIBCX, GIBIX, GIBRX, GIBLX 57% 0.42%
Guggenheim Core Bond Fund · SIUSX, SDICX, GIUSX, SIUPX 50% 0.47%
Guggenheim Active INvestment Series (GAINS)-Core Plus Fund · GUCPX 26% 0.09%
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Advisers

As of December 31, 2025 · N-CEN
FirmRole
Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC Adviser

Footnotes

  1. Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.

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