Strategy. The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal bonds, whose interest is, in the opinion of bond counsel for the issuers at the time of issuance, exempt from federal and New York income taxes. Municipal bonds 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. Municipal bonds are generally debt obligations issued by or on … Show more… The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal bonds, whose interest is, in the opinion of bond counsel for the issuers at the time of issuance, exempt from federal and New York income taxes. Municipal bonds 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. Municipal bonds are generally debt obligations issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the United States, and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities that provide income free from federal, state and potentially local income taxes. If the interest on a particular municipal bond is exempt from federal and New York income taxes, the Fund will treat the bond as qualifying for purposes of the 80% policy even though the issuer of the bond may be located outside of New York. Municipal bonds 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. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in municipal bonds subject to the federal alternative minimum tax, and municipal bonds that pay interest that is subject to federal and New York income taxes. Although the Fund may invest in municipal bonds rated in any rating category or in unrated municipal bonds, MacKay Shields LLC, the Fund's Subadvisor, intends to invest primarily in investment grade quality bonds as rated by at least one nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) or if unrated, judged to be of comparable quality by the Subadvisor. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in municipal bonds that are rated below investment grade (commonly referred to as high-yield securities or junk bonds) as rated by at least one NRSRO, including up to 10% of its net assets in municipal bonds that are the subject of bankruptcy proceedings, that are in default as to the payment of principal or interest, or that are rated in the lowest rating category by a NRSRO, or if unrated, judged to be of comparable quality by the Subadvisor (distressed securities). If NRSROs assign different ratings to the same security, the Fund will use the higher rating for purposes of determining the security's credit quality. The Fund may invest more than 25% of its total assets in municipal bonds that are related in such a way that an economic, business or political development or change affecting one such security could also affect the other securities. The Fund generally invests in municipal bonds that have a maturity of five years or longer at the time of purchase. If the supply of New York state tax exempt municipal bonds is insufficient to meet the Funds investment needs, the Fund may invest in municipal bonds issued by other states. Municipal bonds issued by other states purchased by the Fund will generally be exempt from federal income taxes, but may not be exempt from New York income taxes. The Fund may invest in derivatives, such as futures, options and swap agreements to seek enhanced returns or to reduce the risk of loss by hedging certain of its holdings. Investment Process: In choosing investments, the Subadvisor analyzes the credit quality of issuers and considers the yields available on municipal bonds with different maturities. The Subadvisor uses active management in an effort to identify municipal bonds it believes to be mispriced and to build a consistent yield advantage. The Subadvisor focuses on reducing volatility through a disciplined investment process, which includes fundamental, bottom-up credit research and risk management. In addition, the Subadvisor reviews macroeconomic events, technicals in the municipal market, tax policies and analyzes individual municipal securities and sectors. 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 the security will contribute to meeting the investment objective of the Fund. In considering whether to sell a security, the Subadvisor may evaluate, among other things, the condition of the economy and meaningful changes in the issuer's financial condition. Show less