Strategy. Delaware Ivy Emerging Markets Local Currency Debt Fund is a non-diversified fund that seeks to achieve its objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in debt securities that are denominated in local currencies of emerging market countries, as well as derivative instruments that provide investment exposure to such debt securities. The Fund may, but is not required to, hedge its exposure to those non-US currencies, which strategy, if utilized, may effectively reduce the Funds exposure to the local currencies of the emerging market countries in which the Fund invests. For purposes of this Fund, emerging market countries include, but are not limited to, those considered to be developing by the International Monetary Fund, the … Show more… Delaware Ivy Emerging Markets Local Currency Debt Fund is a non-diversified fund that seeks to achieve its objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in debt securities that are denominated in local currencies of emerging market countries, as well as derivative instruments that provide investment exposure to such debt securities. The Fund may, but is not required to, hedge its exposure to those non-US currencies, which strategy, if utilized, may effectively reduce the Funds exposure to the local currencies of the emerging market countries in which the Fund invests. For purposes of this Fund, emerging market countries include, but are not limited to, those considered to be developing by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the International Financial Corporation or one of the leading global investment banks. The Manager has broad discretion to identify other countries that it considers to qualify as emerging market countries. The majority of these emerging market countries are likely to be located in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, and Africa. The Fund may invest up to 100% of its net assets in emerging market countries. The Fund also may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities denominated in the US Dollar. The Fund is non-diversified, meaning that it may invest a significant portion of its total assets in a limited number of issuers. The debt securities in which the Fund primarily invests include emerging market sovereign, quasi-sovereign, corporate and supranational agency and organization debt securities. Sovereign debt securities are securities that are issued or guaranteed by foreign sovereign governments, while quasi-sovereign debt securities are securities that are issued by their agencies, authorities or political subdivisions or instrumentalities. The Manager may use structured products such as credit-linked notes and bonds or other transferable securities whose returns may be related to the performance of a particular investment index. Credit-linked notes typically are structured as a limited purpose trust or other vehicle that, in turn, invests in a derivative or basket of derivatives instruments, such as credit default swaps, interest rate swaps and/or other securities, to provide exposure to emerging markets debt securities. The Manager may focus the Funds investments in particular countries and/or currencies. The Fund may invest in debt securities of any maturity, may invest in unlisted debt securities and may invest up to 100% of its total assets in non-investment grade debt securities, commonly called junk bonds, that 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 emerging market debt securities in which the Fund invests may be rated or unrated. In addition, the countries in which the Fund invests may have sovereign ratings that are below investment grade or are unrated. Debt securities in which the Fund may invest may have all types of interest rate payment and reset terms, including fixed-rate, adjustable rate, zero coupon, contingent, deferred, payment in kind and auction rate features. The Fund expects to use a variety of derivative instruments for various purposes. The Funds investments in, and use of, derivatives may be significant. The Fund may, at any given time, use a combination of the following types of derivatives: primarily forward currency contracts and interest rate swaps, but also including, but not limited to, options, futures contracts, forward contracts on financial instruments or on a security or an index of securities, options on futures contracts, over-the-counter (OTC) total return swaps and/or credit default swaps. The Fund may use derivatives in an attempt to hedge various instruments, to hedge an investment in one currency back to another currency, to enhance return, to invest in a position not otherwise available, to take a fundamental position long or short in a particular currency, or to mitigate the impact of rising interest rates. In addition, the Fund may use derivatives as part of its risk management process by establishing or adjusting exposure to particular foreign securities, markets or currencies. With credit default swaps, the Fund may either sell or buy credit protection with respect to bonds or other debt securities pursuant to the terms of these derivative contracts. The Manager uses a multi-staged, systematic investment process in selecting emerging market investments for inclusion in the Funds portfolio. The process combines a top-down (assessing the market environment) and bottom-up (researching individual issuers) analysis in an attempt to invest opportunistically in such instruments that the Manager believes can provide risk-adjusted outperformance. Part of the Managers top-down analysis includes assessing the global risk environment, taking into account a variety of factors, and examining country fundamentals to develop interest rate forecasts and currency forecasts by country. Interest rate factors the Manager will examine include a countrys monetary policy, inflation, growth, fiscal policy and politics. Currency factors examined include a countrys interest rate and growth differential, balance of payments and currency policy. Following its top-down analysis, the Manager conducts a bottom-up analysis and selects investments for inclusion in the Funds portfolio based on the Managers perceived value of an individual investment relative to alternative investments, credit and currency opportunities, duration and yield curve positioning for the interest rate outlook, and an effort to achieve appropriate diversification. The Manager also considers an issuers capitalization, asset quality, management, earnings and liquidity. Generally, in determining whether to sell a security, the Manager continues to analyze the factors considered for buying the security. The Manager may sell a security to reduce the Funds holding in that security, to take advantage of what it believes to be more attractive opportunities or to raise cash. 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 Fund 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