Strategy. The Portfolio seeks to achieve its investment goal by investing in a combination of fixed income instruments and derivatives. Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio will invest at least 25% of its total assets in fixed income instruments. For this purpose, fixed income instruments include bonds, debt securities and similar instruments issued by various U.S. and non-U.S. public- or private-sector entities. The Portfolio may also use forward contracts or derivatives such as options, futures contracts, or swap agreements that have economic characteristics similar to the securities mentioned above. In addition, the subadviser employs a VCP (Volatility Control Portfolio) risk management process intended to manage the volatility of the Portfolios annual returns. The Portfolio targets an allocation of approximately 60% of its … Show more… The Portfolio seeks to achieve its investment goal by investing in a combination of fixed income instruments and derivatives. Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio will invest at least 25% of its total assets in fixed income instruments. For this purpose, fixed income instruments include bonds, debt securities and similar instruments issued by various U.S. and non-U.S. public- or private-sector entities. The Portfolio may also use forward contracts or derivatives such as options, futures contracts, or swap agreements that have economic characteristics similar to the securities mentioned above. In addition, the subadviser employs a VCP (Volatility Control Portfolio) risk management process intended to manage the volatility of the Portfolios annual returns. The Portfolio targets an allocation of approximately 60% of its net assets to a component that gains exposure to equity markets primarily by investing in exchange-traded futures contracts and equity swaps (the equity component) and approximately 40% of net assets to a fixed income component. The Portfolios investments in the equity component will be used in part to manage the Portfolios volatility. Volatility is a statistical measure of the frequency and level of changes in the Portfolios returns over time without regard to the direction of those changes. Volatility may result from rapid or dramatic price swings and is not a measure of investment performance. In the equity component, the subadviser gains exposure to a blend of equity indices primarily by investing in exchange-traded future contracts and equity swaps, but may also purchase other derivative instruments. Under normal market conditions, the target allocations for equity exposure in the equity component as a percent of net portfolio assets will be: U.S. Large- and Mid-Cap Equity: 40% Foreign Equity: 15% U.S. Small-Cap Equity: 5% Since these derivatives can be purchased with a fraction of the assets needed to purchase the securities that comprise the indices directly, the remainder of the equity components assets may be invested in short-term fixed income instruments, including, but not limited to, U.S. Treasuries and agencies, mortgage-backed securities, corporate bonds, floating rate instruments and non-U.S. fixed income securities. The subadviser will actively manage the fixed income instruments in the equity component of the Portfolio with a view toward enhancing the Portfolios total return as compared to unmanaged blended equity indices. The subadviser may increase or decrease the equity components net equity exposure to manage the Portfolios volatility. Under normal conditions, the Portfolio targets an approximate 10% annualized volatility level for the Portfolios returns over time. The subadviser monitors the Portfolios forecasted volatility on a daily basis but will generally not take action to manage the Portfolios net equity exposure if the forecasted volatility is near the target. In more volatile market environments, the subadviser may decrease the equity components net equity exposure to attempt to reduce volatility. When market volatility is low, the subadviser may increase the equity components net equity exposure to attempt to enhance returns. The subadviser adjusts the equity components net equity exposure primarily by increasing or decreasing the exposure to U.S. large- and mid-cap equities. The subadviser will seek to reduce exposure to certain downside risks by implementing various hedging transactions. These hedging transactions seek to reduce the Portfolios exposure to certain severe, unanticipated market events that could significantly detract from returns. There can be no assurance that investment decisions made in seeking to manage the Portfolios volatility will achieve the desired results. The Portfolios net equity exposure is primarily adjusted through the use of derivatives, such as futures contracts, equity index swaps and equity options. The subadviser may reduce the Portfolios net equity exposure to approximately 25% of net assets or may increase the Portfolios net equity exposure to approximately 80% of net assets. These limits may prevent the Portfolio from achieving its target volatility. When the Portfolio engages in derivatives transactions to increase the Portfolios net equity exposure, it is using derivatives for speculative purposes and may use leverage. The subadviser manages the portion of the Portfolio allocated to the fixed income component using a total return strategy that attempts to outperform the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The fixed income component will invest primarily in investment grade debt securities, but may also invest in securities with lower ratings (commonly known as junk bonds), which are considered speculative. The subadviser will seek to outperform the index by managing the Portfolios duration, issue selection, sector exposure, and other factors relative to the index. The target exposure to the fixed income component is determined without regard to the level of the Portfolios net equity exposure. The Portfolio may invest up to 15% of its total assets in fixed income instruments of issuers based in countries with developing (or emerging market) economies. The Portfolio may invest up to 30% of its total assets in fixed income instruments denominated in foreign currencies, and may invest beyond this limit in U.S. dollar-denominated fixed income instruments of foreign issuers. The Portfolio will normally limit its foreign currency exposure (from non-U.S. dollar denominated securities or currencies) to 20% of its total assets. The Portfolio may, without limitation, 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 buy backs or dollar rolls). The Portfolio may also invest in short sales. The subadviser may use active trading to achieve its objective. The Portfolio uses derivative instruments as part of its investment strategies. Generally, derivatives are financial contracts whose value depend upon, or are derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index, and may relate to stocks, bonds, interest rates, spreads between different interest rates, currencies or currency exchange rates, commodities, and related indexes. Examples of derivative instruments include options contracts, futures contracts, options on futures contracts and swap agreements (including, but not limited to, credit default swaps and swaps on exchange-traded funds). The subadviser may decide not to employ any of these strategies and there is no assurance that any derivatives strategy used by the Portfolio will succeed. Certain derivative transactions may have a leveraging effect on the Portfolio. For example, a small investment in a derivative instrument may have a significant impact on the Portfolios exposure to interest rates, currency exchange rates or other investments. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a derivative instrument may cause an immediate and substantial loss or gain. The Portfolio may engage in such transactions regardless of whether the Portfolio owns the asset, instrument or components of the index underlying the derivative instrument. The Portfolio may invest a significant portion of its assets in these types of instruments. If it does, the Portfolios investment exposure could far exceed the value of its portfolio securities and its investment performance could be primarily dependent upon securities it does not own. Show less