485BPOS
May 1, 2024
Prospectus
 
•
Voya Retirement Conservative Portfolio
Class/Ticker: ADV/IRCAX; I/IRCPX
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Voya Retirement Growth Portfolio
Class/Ticker: ADV/IRGPX; I/IIRGX
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Voya Retirement Moderate Growth Portfolio
Class/Ticker: ADV/IRMGX; I/IRGMX
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Voya Retirement Moderate Portfolio
Class/Ticker: ADV/IRMPX; I/IRMIX
 
Each Portfolio's shares may be offered to insurance company separate accounts serving as investment options under variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies (“Variable Contracts”), qualified pension and retirement plans (“Qualified Plans”), custodial accounts, and certain investment advisers and their affiliates in connection with the creation or management of the Portfolios, other investment companies, and other permitted investors.
NOT ALL PORTFOLIOS MAY BE AVAILABLE IN ALL JURISDICTIONS, UNDER ALL VARIABLE CONTRACTS OR UNDER ALL QUALIFIED PLANS.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has not approved or disapproved these securities nor has the SEC judged whether the information in this Prospectus is accurate or adequate. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
 
 
Table of Contents
 
SUMMARY SECTION
 
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Back Cover
Voya Retirement Conservative Portfolio 
Investment Objective
The Portfolio seeks a high level of total return (consisting of capital appreciation and income) consistent with a conservative level of risk relative to the other Voya Retirement Portfolios.
Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio
The table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees and expenses such as fees and expenses imposed under your variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies (“Variable Contract”) or a qualified pension or retirement plan (“Qualified Plan”), which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. If these fees or expenses were included in the table, the Portfolio’s expenses would be higher. For more information on these charges, please refer to the documents governing your Variable Contract or consult your plan administrator.
Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses
Expenses you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment
 
Class
 
ADV
I
Management Fees
%
0.25
0.25
Distribution and/or Shareholder Services (12b-1) Fees
%
0.50
None
Other Expenses
%
0.04
0.04
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses
%
0.33
0.33
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses1
%
1.12
0.62
Waivers and Reimbursements2
%
(0.25)
None
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses After Waivers and
Reimbursements
%
0.87
0.62
1
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses shown may be higher than the Portfolio's ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights, which reflect the operating expenses of the Portfolio and do not include Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.
2
Voya Investments, LLC (the “Investment Adviser”) is contractually obligated to limit expenses to 0.92% and 0.67% for Class ADV and Class I shares, respectively, through May 1, 2025 . The limitation does not extend to interest, taxes, investment-related costs, leverage expenses, and extraordinary expenses. This limitation is subject to possible recoupment by the Investment Adviser within 36 months of the waiver or reimbursement. The amount of the recoupment is limited to the lesser of the amounts that would be recoupable under: (i) the expense limitation in effect at the time of the waiver or reimbursement; or (ii) the expense limitation in effect at the time of recoupment. The distributor is contractually obligated to waive 0.2480% of the distribution fee for Class ADV shares through May 1, 2025. Termination or modification of these obligations requires approval by the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”).
Expense Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Portfolio with the costs of investing in other mutual funds. The Example does not reflect expenses and charges which are, or may be, imposed under your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment had a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio's operating expenses remain the same. The Example reflects applicable expense limitation agreements and/or waivers in effect, if any, for the one-year period and the first year of the three-, five-, and ten-year periods. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
 
Class
 
1 Yr
3 Yrs
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
ADV
$
89
331
593
1,341
I
$
63
199
346
774
Portfolio Turnover
The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses or in the Expense Example, affect the Portfolio's performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 22% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal market conditions, the Portfolio invests in a combination of other funds (collectively, the “Underlying Funds”) according to a model that is intended to reflect an allocation of approximately 22% of the Portfolio's assets in equity securities and 78% of the Portfolio's assets in debt instruments. The actual amount of Portfolio assets invested in equity securities
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Voya Retirement Conservative Portfolio
may vary at any time and may range from 15% to 45% of its assets in equity securities and from 55% to 85% of its assets in debt instruments. The amount of Portfolio assets invested in equity securities and debt instruments are measured with reference to the principal investment strategies of the Underlying Funds; actual exposure to these asset classes will vary from these amounts if an Underlying Fund is not substantially invested in accordance with its principal investment strategy. Generally, most of the Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio invests will be passively managed index funds. The Underlying Funds may or may not be affiliated with the Investment Adviser.
Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio may invest for its exposure to equity securities hold a wide range of equity type securities which may include stocks of companies of any market capitalization and domestic and foreign (non-U.S.) securities, including emerging market securities. Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio may invest for its exposure to debt instruments hold such instruments of varying maturities which may include corporate debt instruments of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers; securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or governmental-sponsored enterprises; and inflation-indexed bonds issued both by governments and corporations.
The Portfolio may also invest in derivative instruments including futures and swaps (including interest rate swaps, total return swaps, and credit default swaps) to make tactical allocations and to assist in managing cash.
The Portfolio may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder, and under the terms of applicable no-action relief or exemptive orders granted thereunder.
In seeking the Portfolio's investment objective, the sub-adviser (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a proprietary investment model to determine the Portfolio's asset allocation between equity securities and debt instruments. The investment model generally seeks to manage the risk of the Portfolio's returns and may consider such factors as: (i) the investment objective of the Portfolio and each of the Underlying Funds; (ii) economic and market forecasts; (iii) proprietary and third-party reports and analysis; (iv) the risk/return characteristics and volatility of the Underlying Funds; (v) the correlation and covariance among the Underlying Funds; and (vi) Voya affiliated insurance companies' ability to hedge their risk in issuing guarantees on products offering guaranteed lifetime income or death benefits. The Portfolio's shares are offered to, among others, separate accounts of Voya insurance company subsidiaries as an investment option under variable annuity contracts which contain certain financial guarantees by those subsidiaries. The investment model will take into account the effect of the investment risk of the Portfolio on the Voya affiliated insurance companies' guarantee obligations and the companies’ ability to hedge their risks under those guarantees.
The Sub-Adviser may change the Portfolio's asset allocations, investments in particular Underlying Funds (including any Underlying Funds organized in the future), target allocations or other investment policies without prior approval of shareholders as it determines necessary to pursue the Portfolio's investment objective.
Principal Risks
You could lose money on an investment in the Portfolio. The value of your investment in the Portfolio changes with the values of the Underlying Funds and their investments. The Portfolio is subject to the following principal risks (either directly or indirectly through investments in one or more Underlying Funds). Any of these risks, among others, could affect the Portfolio's or an Underlying Fund's performance or cause the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund to lose money or to underperform market averages of other funds. The Portfolio is exposed to most of the principal risks indirectly through investments by the Underlying Funds, and in some cases only through such investments. Unless stated otherwise, in the risk disclosures below, descriptions of investments or activities by “the Portfolio” and related risks refer to investments or activities by the Portfolio or by an Underlying Fund, as the case may be. Similarly, a reference to “Investment Adviser” or to “Sub-Adviser” is to the entity responsible for the investments in question, whether by the Portfolio or by an Underlying Fund. The principal risks are presented in alphabetical order to facilitate readability, and their order does not imply that the realization of one risk is more likely to occur or have a greater adverse impact than another risk.
Affiliated Underlying Funds: The Sub-Adviser’s selection of Underlying Funds presents conflicts of interest. The net management fee revenue received or costs incurred by the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates will vary depending on the Underlying Funds it selects for the Portfolio, and the Sub-Adviser will have an incentive to select the Underlying Funds (whether or not affiliated with the Sub-Adviser) that will result in the greatest net management fee revenue or lowest costs to the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates, even if that results in increased expenses and potentially less favorable investment performance for the Portfolio. The Sub-Adviser may prefer to invest in an affiliated Underlying Fund over an unaffiliated Underlying Fund because the investment may be beneficial to the Sub-Adviser in managing the affiliated Underlying Fund by helping the affiliated Underlying Fund achieve economies of scale or by enhancing cash flows to the affiliated Underlying Fund. For similar reasons, the Sub-Adviser may have an incentive to delay or decide against the sale of interests held by the Portfolio in affiliated Underlying Funds, and the Sub-Adviser may implement Underlying Fund changes in a manner intended to minimize the disruptive effects and added
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costs of those changes to affiliated Underlying Funds. Although the Portfolio may invest a portion of its assets in unaffiliated Underlying Funds, there is no assurance that it will do so even in cases where the unaffiliated Underlying Funds incur lower fees or have achieved better historical investment performance than the comparable affiliated Underlying Funds.
Asset Allocation: Investment performance depends on the manager’s skill in allocating assets among the asset classes in which the Portfolio invests and in choosing investments within those asset classes. There is a risk that the manager may allocate assets or investments to or within an asset class that underperforms compared to other asset classes or investments. The Portfolio may underperform funds that allocate their assets differently than the Portfolio, due to differences in the relative performance of asset classes and subsets of asset classes.
China Investing Risks: The Chinese economy is generally considered an emerging and volatile market. Although China has experienced a relatively stable political environment in recent years, there is no guarantee that such stability will be maintained in the future. Significant portions of the Chinese securities markets may become rapidly illiquid because Chinese issuers have the ability to suspend the trading of their equity securities under certain circumstances, and have shown a willingness to exercise that option in response to market volatility, epidemics, pandemics, adverse economic, market or political events, and other events. Political, regulatory and diplomatic events, such as the U.S.-China “trade war” that intensified in 2018, could have an adverse effect on the Chinese or Hong Kong economies and on related investments. In addition, U.S. or foreign government restrictions on investments in Chinese companies or other intervention could negatively affect the implementation of the Portfolio’s investment strategies, such as by precluding the Portfolio from making certain investments or causing the Portfolio to sell investments at disadvantageous times.
•
Investing through Stock Connect: Shares in mainland China-based companies that trade on Chinese stock exchanges such as the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (“China A-Shares”) may be purchased directly or indirectly through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (“Stock Connect”), a mutual market access program designed to, among other things, enable foreign investment in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) via brokers in Hong Kong. There are significant risks inherent in investing in China A-Shares through Stock Connect. The underdeveloped state of PRC’s investment and banking systems subjects the settlement, clearing, and registration of China A-Shares transactions to heightened risks. Stock Connect can only operate when both PRC and Hong Kong markets are open for trading and when banking services are available in both markets on the corresponding settlement days. As such, if either or both markets are closed on a U.S. trading day, the Portfolio may not be able to dispose of its China A-Shares in a timely manner, which could adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance.
Company: The price of a company’s stock could decline or underperform for many reasons, including, among others, poor management, financial problems, reduced demand for the company’s goods or services, regulatory fines and judgments, or business challenges. If a company is unable to meet its financial obligations, declares bankruptcy, or becomes insolvent, its stock could become worthless.
Credit: The Portfolio could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a debt instrument in which the Portfolio invests, or the counterparty to a derivative contract the Portfolio entered into, is unable or unwilling, or is perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services, or otherwise) as unable or unwilling, to meet its financial obligations.
Credit Default Swaps: The Portfolio may enter into credit default swaps, either as a buyer or a seller of the swap. A buyer of a credit default swap is generally obligated to pay the seller an upfront or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract until a credit event, such as a default, on a reference obligation has occurred. If a credit event occurs, the seller generally must pay the buyer the “par value” (full notional value) of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity described in the swap, or the seller may be required to deliver the related net cash amount if the swap is cash settled. As a seller of a credit default swap, the Portfolio would effectively add leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, the Portfolio would be subject to investment exposure on the full notional value of the swap. Credit default swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, credit, valuation, liquidity, and leveraging risks, and the risk that the swap may not correlate with its reference obligation as expected. Certain standardized credit default swaps are subject to mandatory central clearing. Central clearing is expected to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity; however, there is no assurance that it will achieve that result, and in the meantime, central clearing and related requirements expose the Portfolio to different kinds of costs and risks. In addition, credit default swaps expose the Portfolio to the risk of improper valuation.
Currency: To the extent that the Portfolio invests directly or indirectly in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities denominated in, or that trade in, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, it is subject to the risk that those foreign (non-U.S.) currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged by the Portfolio through foreign currency exchange transactions.
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Deflation: Deflation occurs when prices throughout the economy decline over time — the opposite of inflation. Unless repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed, when there is deflation, the principal and income of an inflation-protected bond will decline and could result in losses.
Derivative Instruments: Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including the risk of changes in the market price of the underlying asset, reference rate, or index credit risk with respect to the counterparty, risk of loss due to changes in market interest rates, liquidity risk, valuation risk, and volatility risk. The amounts required to purchase certain derivatives may be small relative to the magnitude of exposure assumed by the Portfolio. Therefore, the purchase of certain derivatives may have an economic leveraging effect on the Portfolio and exaggerate any increase or decrease in the net asset value. Derivatives may not perform as expected, so the Portfolio may not realize the intended benefits. When used for hedging purposes, the change in value of a derivative may not correlate as expected with the asset, reference rate, or index being hedged. When used as an alternative or substitute for direct cash investment, the return provided by the derivative may not provide the same return as direct cash investment.
Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investments/Developing and Emerging Markets: Investing in foreign (non-U.S.) securities may result in the Portfolio experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S. companies due, in part, to: smaller markets; differing reporting, accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and practices; nationalization, expropriation, or confiscatory taxation; foreign currency fluctuations, currency blockage, or replacement; potential for default on sovereign debt; and political changes or diplomatic developments, which may include the imposition of economic sanctions (or the threat of new or modified sanctions) or other measures by the U.S. or other governments and supranational organizations. Markets and economies throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions or events in one market, country or region may adversely impact investments or issuers in another market, country or region. Foreign (non-U.S.) investment risks may be greater in developing and emerging markets than in developed markets.
Index Strategy (Funds-of-Funds): An Underlying Fund (or a portion of the Underlying Fund) that seeks to track an index’s performance and does not use defensive positions or attempt to reduce its exposure to poor performing securities in an index may underperform the overall market (each, an “Underlying Index Fund”). To the extent an Underlying Index Fund’s investments track its target index, such Underlying Index Fund may underperform other funds that invest more broadly. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Portfolio. The correlation between an Underlying Index Fund’s performance and index performance may be affected by the timing of purchases and redemptions of the Underlying Index Fund's shares. The correlation between an Underlying Index Fund’s performance and index performance will be reduced by the Underlying Index Fund’s expenses and could be reduced by the timing of purchases and redemptions of the Underlying Index Fund’s shares. In addition, an Underlying Index Fund’s actual holdings might not match the index and an Underlying Index Fund’s effective exposure to index securities at any given time may not precisely correlate. When deciding between Underlying Index Funds benchmarked to the same index, the manager may not select the Underlying Index Fund with the lowest expenses. In particular, when deciding between Underlying Index Funds benchmarked to the same index, the manager will generally select an affiliated Underlying Index Fund, even when the affiliated Underlying Index Fund has higher expenses than an unaffiliated Underlying Index Fund. When the Portfolio invests in an affiliated Underlying Index Fund with higher expenses, the Portfolio’s performance will be lower than if the Portfolio had invested in an Underlying Index Fund with comparable performance but lower expenses (although any expense limitation arrangements in place at the time might have the effect of limiting or eliminating the amount of that underperformance). The manager may select an unaffiliated Underlying Index Fund, including an ETF, over an affiliated Underlying Index Fund benchmarked to the same index when the manager believes making an investment in the affiliated Underlying Index Fund would be disadvantageous to the affiliated Underlying Index Fund, such as when the Portfolio is investing on a short-term basis.
Inflation-Indexed Bonds: If the index measuring inflation falls, the principal value of inflation-indexed bonds will be adjusted downward, and consequently, the interest payable on these bonds (calculated with respect to a smaller principal amount) will be reduced. In addition, inflation-indexed bonds are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate and credit risk. Repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed in the case of U.S. Treasury inflation-indexed bonds. For bonds that do not provide a similar guarantee, the adjusted principal value of the bond repaid at maturity may be less than the original principal.
Interest Rate: A rise in market interest rates generally results in a fall in the value of bonds and other debt instruments; conversely, values generally rise as market interest rates fall. Interest rate risk is generally greater for debt instruments than floating-rate instruments. The higher the credit quality of the instrument, and the longer its maturity or duration, the more sensitive it is to changes in market interest rates. Duration is a measure of sensitivity of the price of a debt instrument to a change in interest rate. As of the date of this Prospectus, the U.S. has recently experienced a rising market interest rate environment, which may increase the Portfolio’s exposure to risks associated with rising market interest rates. Rising market
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interest rates have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility. To the extent that the Portfolio invests in debt instruments, an increase in market interest rates may lead to increased redemptions and increased portfolio turnover, which could reduce liquidity for certain investments, adversely affect values, and increase costs. Increased redemptions may cause the Portfolio to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so and may lower returns. If dealer capacity in debt markets is insufficient for market conditions, it may further inhibit liquidity and increase volatility in debt markets. Further, recent and potential future changes in government policy may affect interest rates. Negative or very low interest rates could magnify the risks associated with changes in interest rates. In general, changing interest rates, including rates that fall below zero, could have unpredictable effects on markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility. Changes to monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board or other regulatory actions could expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility, interest rate sensitivity, and reduced liquidity, which may impact the Portfolio’s operations and return potential.
Investment Model: The Sub-Adviser’s proprietary investment model may not adequately take into account existing or unforeseen market factors or the interplay between such factors, and there is no guarantee that the use of a proprietary investment model will result in effective investment decisions for the Portfolio. Portfolios that are actively managed, in whole or in part, according to a quantitative investment model (including models that utilize artificial intelligence) can perform differently from the market, based on the investment model and the factors used in the analysis, the weight placed on each factor, and changes from the factors’ historical trends. Mistakes in the construction and implementation of the investment models (including, for example, data problems and/or software issues) may create errors or limitations that might go undetected or are discovered only after the errors or limitations have negatively impacted performance.
Liquidity: If a security is illiquid, the Portfolio might be unable to sell the security at a time when the Portfolio’s manager might wish to sell, or at all. Further, the lack of an established secondary market may make it more difficult to value illiquid securities, exposing the Portfolio to the risk that the prices at which it sells illiquid securities will be less than the prices at which they were valued when held by the Portfolio, which could cause the Portfolio to lose money. The prices of illiquid securities may be more volatile than more liquid securities, and the risks associated with illiquid securities may be greater in times of financial stress.
Market: The market values of securities will fluctuate, sometimes sharply and unpredictably, based on overall economic conditions, governmental actions or intervention, market disruptions caused by trade disputes or other factors, political developments, and other factors. Prices of equity securities tend to rise and fall more dramatically than those of debt instruments. Additionally, legislative, regulatory or tax policies or developments may adversely impact the investment techniques available to a manager, add to costs, and impair the ability of the Portfolio to achieve its investment objectives.
Market Capitalization: Stocks fall into three broad market capitalization categories: large, mid, and small. Investing primarily in one category carries the risk that, due to current market conditions, that category may be out of favor with investors. If valuations of large-capitalization companies appear to be greatly out of proportion to the valuations of mid- or small-capitalization companies, investors may migrate to the stocks of mid- and small-capitalization companies causing a fund that invests in these companies to increase in value more rapidly than a fund that invests in large-capitalization companies. Investing in mid- and small-capitalization companies may be subject to special risks associated with narrower product lines, more limited financial resources, smaller management groups, more limited publicly available information, and a more limited trading market for their stocks as compared with large-capitalization companies. As a result, stocks of mid- and small-capitalization companies may be more volatile and may decline significantly in market downturns.
Market Disruption and Geopolitical: The Portfolio is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Due to the increasing interdependence among global economies and markets, conditions in one country, market, or region might adversely impact markets, issuers and/or foreign exchange rates in other countries, including the United States. Wars, terrorism, global health crises and pandemics, and other geopolitical events that have led, and may continue to lead, to increased market volatility and may have adverse short- or long-term effects on U.S. and global economies and markets, generally. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant market volatility, exchange suspensions and closures, declines in global financial markets, higher default rates, supply chain disruptions, and a substantial economic downturn in economies throughout the world. The economic impacts of COVID-19 have created a unique challenge for real estate markets. Many businesses have either partially or fully transitioned to a remote-working environment and this transition may negatively impact the occupancy rates of commercial real estate over time. Natural and environmental disasters and systemic market dislocations are also highly disruptive to economies and markets. In addition, military action by Russia in Ukraine has, and may continue to, adversely affect global energy and financial markets and therefore could affect the value of the Portfolio’s investments, including beyond the Portfolio’s direct exposure to Russian issuers or nearby geographic regions. The extent and duration of the military action, sanctions, and resulting market disruptions are impossible to predict and could be substantial. A number of U.S. domestic banks and foreign (non-U.S.) banks have recently experienced financial difficulties and, in some cases, failures. There can be no certainty that the actions taken by regulators
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to limit the effect of those financial difficulties and failures on other banks or other financial institutions or on the U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) economies generally will be successful. It is possible that more banks or other financial institutions will experience financial difficulties or fail, which may affect adversely other U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) financial institutions and economies. These events as well as other changes in foreign (non-U.S.) and domestic economic, social, and political conditions also could adversely affect individual issuers or related groups of issuers, securities markets, interest rates, credit ratings, inflation, investor sentiment, and other factors affecting the value of the Portfolio’s investments. Any of these occurrences could disrupt the operations of the Portfolio and of the Portfolio’s service providers.
Prepayment and Extension: Many types of debt instruments are subject to prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal earlier than expected. This risk is heightened in a falling market interest rate environment. Prepayment may expose the Portfolio to a lower rate of return upon reinvestment of principal. Also, if a debt instrument subject to prepayment has been purchased at a premium, the value of the premium would be lost in the event of prepayment. Extension risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal later than expected. This risk is heightened in a rising market interest rate environment. This may negatively affect performance, as the value of the debt instrument decreases when principal payments are made later than expected. Additionally, the Portfolio may be prevented from investing proceeds it would have received at a given time at the higher prevailing interest rates.
Underlying Funds: Because the Portfolio invests primarily in Underlying Funds, the investment performance of the Portfolio is directly related to the investment performance of the Underlying Funds in which it invests. When the Portfolio invests in an Underlying Fund, it is exposed indirectly to the risks of a direct investment in the Underlying Fund. If the Portfolio invests a significant portion of its assets in a single Underlying Fund, it may be more susceptible to risks associated with that Underlying Fund and its investments than if it invested in a broader range of Underlying Funds. It is possible that more than one Underlying Fund will hold securities of the same issuers, thereby increasing the Portfolio’s indirect exposure to those issuers. It also is possible that one Underlying Fund may be selling a particular security when another is buying it, producing little or no change in exposure but generating transaction costs and/or resulting in realization of gains with no economic benefit. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of any Underlying Fund will be achieved. In addition, the Portfolio’s shareholders will indirectly bear their proportionate share of the Underlying Funds’ fees and expenses, in addition to the fees and expenses of the Portfolio itself.
U.S. Government Securities and Obligations: U.S. government securities are obligations of, or guaranteed by, the U.S. government, its agencies, or government-sponsored enterprises. U.S. government securities are subject to market risk and interest rate risk, and may be subject to varying degrees of credit risk.
An investment in the Portfolio is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency.
Performance Information
The following information is intended to help you understand the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The following bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio's performance from year to year, and the table compares the Portfolio's performance to the performance of a broad-based securities market index/indices with investment characteristics similar to those of the Portfolio for the same period. The Portfolio's performance information reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the period presented. Absent such fee waivers/expense limitations, if any, performance would have been lower. The bar chart shows the performance of the Portfolio's Class ADV shares. Performance for other share classes would differ to the extent they have differences in their fees and expenses.
Performance shown in the bar chart and in the Average Annual Total Returns table does not include insurance-related charges imposed under a Variable Contract or expenses related to a Qualified Plan. If these charges or expenses were included, performance would be lower. Thus, you should not compare the Portfolio's performance directly with the performance information of other investment products without taking into account all insurance-related charges and expenses payable under your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan. The Portfolio's past performance is no guarantee of future results.
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Calendar Year Total Returns Class ADV 
(as of December 31 of each year)
 
 
Best quarter:
2nd Quarter 2020
7.78%
Worst quarter:
2nd Quarter 2022
-7.51%
Average Annual Total Returns %
(for the periods ended December 31, 2023)
 
 
 
1 Yr
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
Since
Inception
Inception
Date
Class ADV
%
8.79
4.19
3.53
N/A
10/31/2007
S&P Target Risk® Conservative Index1
%
10.94
4.60
3.76
N/A
Class I
%
9.06
4.48
3.76
N/A
10/31/2007
S&P Target Risk® Conservative Index1
%
10.94
4.60
3.76
N/A
1
The index returns include the reinvestment of dividends and distributions net of withholding taxes, but do not reflect fees, brokerage commissions, or other expenses.
Portfolio Management
 
Investment Adviser
Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser
Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
 
Portfolio Managers
Lanyon Blair, CFA, CAIA
Portfolio Manager (since 05/23)
Barbara Reinhard, CFA
Portfolio Manager (since 05/18)
Purchase and Sale of Portfolio Shares
Shares of the Portfolio are not offered directly to the public. Purchase and sale of shares may be made only by separate accounts of insurance companies serving as investment options under Variable Contracts or by Qualified Plans, custodian accounts, and certain investment advisers and their affiliates, other investment companies, or permitted investors. Please refer to the prospectus for the appropriate insurance company separate account, investment company, or your plan documents for information on how to direct investments in, or sale from, an investment option corresponding to the Portfolio and any fees that may apply. Participating insurance companies and certain other designated organizations are authorized to receive purchase orders on the Portfolio's behalf.
Tax Information
Distributions made by the Portfolio to a Variable Contract or Qualified Plan, and exchanges and redemptions of Portfolio shares made by a Variable Contract or Qualified Plan, ordinarily do not cause the corresponding contract holder or plan participant to recognize income or gain for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See the Variable Contract prospectus or the governing documents of your Qualified Plan for information regarding the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the distributions to your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan and the holders of the contracts or plan participants.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you invest in the Portfolio through a Variable Contract issued by an insurance company or through a Qualified Plan that, in turn, was purchased or serviced through an insurance company, broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Portfolio and its Investment Adviser or distributor or their affiliates may: (1) make payments to the insurance company issuer of the Variable Contract or to the company servicing the Qualified Plan and (2) make payments to the insurance company, broker-dealer, or other financial intermediary. These payments may create a conflict of interest by: (1) influencing the insurance company or the company servicing the Qualified Plan to make the Portfolio available as an investment option for the Variable Contract or the Qualified Plan or (2) by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Variable Contract or the pension servicing agent and/or the Portfolio over other options. Ask your salesperson or Qualified Plan administrator or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
Voya Retirement Conservative Portfolio
7
Voya Retirement Growth Portfolio 
Investment Objective
The Portfolio seeks a high level of total return (consisting of capital appreciation and income) consistent with a level of risk that can be expected to be greater than that of Voya Retirement Moderate Growth Portfolio.
Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio
The table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees and expenses such as fees and expenses imposed under your variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies (“Variable Contract”) or a qualified pension or retirement plan (“Qualified Plan”), which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. If these fees or expenses were included in the table, the Portfolio’s expenses would be higher. For more information on these charges, please refer to the documents governing your Variable Contract or consult your plan administrator.
Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses
Expenses you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment
 
Class
 
ADV
I
Management Fees
%
0.24
0.24
Distribution and/or Shareholder Services (12b-1) Fees
%
0.50
None
Other Expenses
%
0.02
0.02
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses
%
0.33
0.33
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses1
%
1.09
0.59
Waivers and Reimbursements2
%
(0.08)
None
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses After Waivers and
Reimbursements
%
1.01
0.59
1
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses shown may be higher than the Portfolio's ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights, which reflect the operating expenses of the Portfolio and do not include Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.
2
Voya Investments, LLC (the “Investment Adviser”) is contractually obligated to limit expenses to 1.07% and 0.82% for Class ADV and Class I shares, respectively, through May 1, 2025. The limitation does not extend to interest, taxes, investment-related costs, leverage expenses, and extraordinary expenses. This limitation is subject to possible recoupment by the Investment Adviser within 36 months of the waiver or reimbursement. The amount of the recoupment is limited to the lesser of the amounts that would be recoupable under: (i) the expense limitation in effect at the time of the waiver or reimbursement; or (ii) the expense limitation in effect at the time of recoupment. The distributor is contractually obligated to waive 0.0751% of the distribution fee for Class ADV shares through May 1, 2025. Termination or modification of these obligations requires approval by the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”).
Expense Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Portfolio with the costs of investing in other mutual funds. The Example does not reflect expenses and charges which are, or may be, imposed under your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment had a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio's operating expenses remain the same. The Example reflects applicable expense limitation agreements and/or waivers in effect, if any, for the one-year period and the first year of the three-, five-, and ten-year periods. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
 
Class
 
1 Yr
3 Yrs
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
ADV
$
103
339
593
1,322
I
$
60
189
329
738
Portfolio Turnover
The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses or in the Expense Example, affect the Portfolio's performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 21% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal market conditions, the Portfolio invests in a combination of other funds (collectively, the “Underlying Funds”) according to a model that is intended to reflect an allocation of approximately 77% of the Portfolio's assets in equity securities and 23% of the Portfolio's assets in debt instruments. The actual amount of Portfolio assets invested in equity securities
8
Voya Retirement Growth Portfolio
may vary at any time and may range from 60% to 90% of its assets in equity securities and from 10% to 40% of its assets in debt instruments. The amount of Portfolio assets invested in equity securities and debt instruments are measured with reference to the principal investment strategies of the Underlying Funds; actual exposure to these asset classes will vary from these amounts if an Underlying Fund is not substantially invested in accordance with its principal investment strategy. Generally, most of the Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio invests will be passively managed index funds. The Underlying Funds may or may not be affiliated with the Investment Adviser.
Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio may invest for its exposure to equity securities hold a wide range of equity type securities which may include stocks of companies of any market capitalization and domestic and foreign (non-U.S.) securities, including emerging market securities. Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio may invest for its exposure to debt instruments hold such instruments of varying maturities which may include corporate debt instruments of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers; securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or governmental-sponsored enterprises; and inflation-indexed bonds issued both by governments and corporations.
The Portfolio may also invest in derivative instruments including futures and swaps (including interest rate swaps, total return swaps, and credit default swaps) to make tactical allocations and to assist in managing cash.
The Portfolio may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder, and under the terms of applicable no-action relief or exemptive orders granted thereunder.
In seeking the Portfolio's investment objective, the sub-adviser (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a proprietary investment model to determine the Portfolio's asset allocation between equity securities and debt instruments. The investment model generally seeks to manage the risk of the Portfolio's returns and may consider such factors as: (i) the investment objective of the Portfolio and each of the Underlying Funds; (ii) economic and market forecasts; (iii) proprietary and third-party reports and analysis; (iv) the risk/return characteristics and volatility of the Underlying Funds; (v) the correlation and covariance among the Underlying Funds; and (vi) Voya affiliated insurance companies' ability to hedge their risk in issuing guarantees on products offering guaranteed lifetime income or death benefits. The Portfolio's shares are offered to, among others, separate accounts of Voya insurance company subsidiaries as an investment option under variable annuity contracts which contain certain financial guarantees by those subsidiaries. The investment model will take into account the effect of the investment risk of the Portfolio on the Voya affiliated insurance companies' guarantee obligations and the companies’ ability to hedge their risks under those guarantees.
The Sub-Adviser may change the Portfolio's asset allocations, investments in particular Underlying Funds (including any Underlying Funds organized in the future), target allocations or other investment policies without prior approval of shareholders as it determines necessary to pursue the Portfolio's investment objective.
Principal Risks
You could lose money on an investment in the Portfolio. The value of your investment in the Portfolio changes with the values of the Underlying Funds and their investments. The Portfolio is subject to the following principal risks (either directly or indirectly through investments in one or more Underlying Funds). Any of these risks, among others, could affect the Portfolio's or an Underlying Fund's performance or cause the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund to lose money or to underperform market averages of other funds. The Portfolio is exposed to most of the principal risks indirectly through investments by the Underlying Funds, and in some cases only through such investments. Unless stated otherwise, in the risk disclosures below, descriptions of investments or activities by “the Portfolio” and related risks refer to investments or activities by the Portfolio or by an Underlying Fund, as the case may be. Similarly, a reference to “Investment Adviser” or to “Sub-Adviser” is to the entity responsible for the investments in question, whether by the Portfolio or by an Underlying Fund. The principal risks are presented in alphabetical order to facilitate readability, and their order does not imply that the realization of one risk is more likely to occur or have a greater adverse impact than another risk.
Affiliated Underlying Funds: The Sub-Adviser’s selection of Underlying Funds presents conflicts of interest. The net management fee revenue received or costs incurred by the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates will vary depending on the Underlying Funds it selects for the Portfolio, and the Sub-Adviser will have an incentive to select the Underlying Funds (whether or not affiliated with the Sub-Adviser) that will result in the greatest net management fee revenue or lowest costs to the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates, even if that results in increased expenses and potentially less favorable investment performance for the Portfolio. The Sub-Adviser may prefer to invest in an affiliated Underlying Fund over an unaffiliated Underlying Fund because the investment may be beneficial to the Sub-Adviser in managing the affiliated Underlying Fund by helping the affiliated Underlying Fund achieve economies of scale or by enhancing cash flows to the affiliated Underlying Fund. For similar reasons, the Sub-Adviser may have an incentive to delay or decide against the sale of interests held by the Portfolio in affiliated Underlying Funds, and the Sub-Adviser may implement Underlying Fund changes in a manner intended to minimize the disruptive effects and added
Voya Retirement Growth Portfolio
9
costs of those changes to affiliated Underlying Funds. Although the Portfolio may invest a portion of its assets in unaffiliated Underlying Funds, there is no assurance that it will do so even in cases where the unaffiliated Underlying Funds incur lower fees or have achieved better historical investment performance than the comparable affiliated Underlying Funds.
Asset Allocation: Investment performance depends on the manager’s skill in allocating assets among the asset classes in which the Portfolio invests and in choosing investments within those asset classes. There is a risk that the manager may allocate assets or investments to or within an asset class that underperforms compared to other asset classes or investments. The Portfolio may underperform funds that allocate their assets differently than the Portfolio, due to differences in the relative performance of asset classes and subsets of asset classes.
China Investing Risks: The Chinese economy is generally considered an emerging and volatile market. Although China has experienced a relatively stable political environment in recent years, there is no guarantee that such stability will be maintained in the future. Significant portions of the Chinese securities markets may become rapidly illiquid because Chinese issuers have the ability to suspend the trading of their equity securities under certain circumstances, and have shown a willingness to exercise that option in response to market volatility, epidemics, pandemics, adverse economic, market or political events, and other events. Political, regulatory and diplomatic events, such as the U.S.-China “trade war” that intensified in 2018, could have an adverse effect on the Chinese or Hong Kong economies and on related investments. In addition, U.S. or foreign government restrictions on investments in Chinese companies or other intervention could negatively affect the implementation of the Portfolio’s investment strategies, such as by precluding the Portfolio from making certain investments or causing the Portfolio to sell investments at disadvantageous times.
•
Investing through Stock Connect: Shares in mainland China-based companies that trade on Chinese stock exchanges such as the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (“China A-Shares”) may be purchased directly or indirectly through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (“Stock Connect”), a mutual market access program designed to, among other things, enable foreign investment in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) via brokers in Hong Kong. There are significant risks inherent in investing in China A-Shares through Stock Connect. The underdeveloped state of PRC’s investment and banking systems subjects the settlement, clearing, and registration of China A-Shares transactions to heightened risks. Stock Connect can only operate when both PRC and Hong Kong markets are open for trading and when banking services are available in both markets on the corresponding settlement days. As such, if either or both markets are closed on a U.S. trading day, the Portfolio may not be able to dispose of its China A-Shares in a timely manner, which could adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance.
Company: The price of a company’s stock could decline or underperform for many reasons, including, among others, poor management, financial problems, reduced demand for the company’s goods or services, regulatory fines and judgments, or business challenges. If a company is unable to meet its financial obligations, declares bankruptcy, or becomes insolvent, its stock could become worthless.
Credit: The Portfolio could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a debt instrument in which the Portfolio invests, or the counterparty to a derivative contract the Portfolio entered into, is unable or unwilling, or is perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services, or otherwise) as unable or unwilling, to meet its financial obligations.
Credit Default Swaps: The Portfolio may enter into credit default swaps, either as a buyer or a seller of the swap. A buyer of a credit default swap is generally obligated to pay the seller an upfront or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract until a credit event, such as a default, on a reference obligation has occurred. If a credit event occurs, the seller generally must pay the buyer the “par value” (full notional value) of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity described in the swap, or the seller may be required to deliver the related net cash amount if the swap is cash settled. As a seller of a credit default swap, the Portfolio would effectively add leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, the Portfolio would be subject to investment exposure on the full notional value of the swap. Credit default swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, credit, valuation, liquidity, and leveraging risks, and the risk that the swap may not correlate with its reference obligation as expected. Certain standardized credit default swaps are subject to mandatory central clearing. Central clearing is expected to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity; however, there is no assurance that it will achieve that result, and in the meantime, central clearing and related requirements expose the Portfolio to different kinds of costs and risks. In addition, credit default swaps expose the Portfolio to the risk of improper valuation.
Currency: To the extent that the Portfolio invests directly or indirectly in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities denominated in, or that trade in, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, it is subject to the risk that those foreign (non-U.S.) currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged by the Portfolio through foreign currency exchange transactions.
Voya Retirement Growth Portfolio
10
Deflation: Deflation occurs when prices throughout the economy decline over time — the opposite of inflation. Unless repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed, when there is deflation, the principal and income of an inflation-protected bond will decline and could result in losses.
Derivative Instruments: Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including the risk of changes in the market price of the underlying asset, reference rate, or index credit risk with respect to the counterparty, risk of loss due to changes in market interest rates, liquidity risk, valuation risk, and volatility risk. The amounts required to purchase certain derivatives may be small relative to the magnitude of exposure assumed by the Portfolio. Therefore, the purchase of certain derivatives may have an economic leveraging effect on the Portfolio and exaggerate any increase or decrease in the net asset value. Derivatives may not perform as expected, so the Portfolio may not realize the intended benefits. When used for hedging purposes, the change in value of a derivative may not correlate as expected with the asset, reference rate, or index being hedged. When used as an alternative or substitute for direct cash investment, the return provided by the derivative may not provide the same return as direct cash investment.
Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investments/Developing and Emerging Markets: Investing in foreign (non-U.S.) securities may result in the Portfolio experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S. companies due, in part, to: smaller markets; differing reporting, accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and practices; nationalization, expropriation, or confiscatory taxation; foreign currency fluctuations, currency blockage, or replacement; potential for default on sovereign debt; and political changes or diplomatic developments, which may include the imposition of economic sanctions (or the threat of new or modified sanctions) or other measures by the U.S. or other governments and supranational organizations. Markets and economies throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions or events in one market, country or region may adversely impact investments or issuers in another market, country or region. Foreign (non-U.S.) investment risks may be greater in developing and emerging markets than in developed markets.
Growth Investing: Prices of growth-oriented stocks are more sensitive to investor perceptions of the issuer’s growth potential and may fall quickly and significantly if investors suspect that actual growth may be less than expected. There is a risk that funds that invest in growth-oriented stocks may underperform other funds that invest more broadly. Growth-oriented stocks tend to be more volatile than value-oriented stocks, and may underperform the market as a whole over any given time period.
Index Strategy (Funds-of-Funds): An Underlying Fund (or a portion of the Underlying Fund) that seeks to track an index’s performance and does not use defensive positions or attempt to reduce its exposure to poor performing securities in an index may underperform the overall market (each, an “Underlying Index Fund”). To the extent an Underlying Index Fund’s investments track its target index, such Underlying Index Fund may underperform other funds that invest more broadly. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Portfolio. The correlation between an Underlying Index Fund’s performance and index performance may be affected by the timing of purchases and redemptions of the Underlying Index Fund's shares. The correlation between an Underlying Index Fund’s performance and index performance will be reduced by the Underlying Index Fund’s expenses and could be reduced by the timing of purchases and redemptions of the Underlying Index Fund’s shares. In addition, an Underlying Index Fund’s actual holdings might not match the index and an Underlying Index Fund’s effective exposure to index securities at any given time may not precisely correlate. When deciding between Underlying Index Funds benchmarked to the same index, the manager may not select the Underlying Index Fund with the lowest expenses. In particular, when deciding between Underlying Index Funds benchmarked to the same index, the manager will generally select an affiliated Underlying Index Fund, even when the affiliated Underlying Index Fund has higher expenses than an unaffiliated Underlying Index Fund. When the Portfolio invests in an affiliated Underlying Index Fund with higher expenses, the Portfolio’s performance will be lower than if the Portfolio had invested in an Underlying Index Fund with comparable performance but lower expenses (although any expense limitation arrangements in place at the time might have the effect of limiting or eliminating the amount of that underperformance). The manager may select an unaffiliated Underlying Index Fund, including an ETF, over an affiliated Underlying Index Fund benchmarked to the same index when the manager believes making an investment in the affiliated Underlying Index Fund would be disadvantageous to the affiliated Underlying Index Fund, such as when the Portfolio is investing on a short-term basis.
Inflation-Indexed Bonds: If the index measuring inflation falls, the principal value of inflation-indexed bonds will be adjusted downward, and consequently, the interest payable on these bonds (calculated with respect to a smaller principal amount) will be reduced. In addition, inflation-indexed bonds are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate and credit risk. Repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed in the case of U.S. Treasury inflation-indexed bonds. For bonds that do not provide a similar guarantee, the adjusted principal value of the bond repaid at maturity may be less than the original principal.
Voya Retirement Growth Portfolio
11
Interest Rate: A rise in market interest rates generally results in a fall in the value of bonds and other debt instruments; conversely, values generally rise as market interest rates fall. Interest rate risk is generally greater for debt instruments than floating-rate instruments. The higher the credit quality of the instrument, and the longer its maturity or duration, the more sensitive it is to changes in market interest rates. Duration is a measure of sensitivity of the price of a debt instrument to a change in interest rate. As of the date of this Prospectus, the U.S. has recently experienced a rising market interest rate environment, which may increase the Portfolio’s exposure to risks associated with rising market interest rates. Rising market interest rates have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility. To the extent that the Portfolio invests in debt instruments, an increase in market interest rates may lead to increased redemptions and increased portfolio turnover, which could reduce liquidity for certain investments, adversely affect values, and increase costs. Increased redemptions may cause the Portfolio to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so and may lower returns. If dealer capacity in debt markets is insufficient for market conditions, it may further inhibit liquidity and increase volatility in debt markets. Further, recent and potential future changes in government policy may affect interest rates. Negative or very low interest rates could magnify the risks associated with changes in interest rates. In general, changing interest rates, including rates that fall below zero, could have unpredictable effects on markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility. Changes to monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board or other regulatory actions could expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility, interest rate sensitivity, and reduced liquidity, which may impact the Portfolio’s operations and return potential.
Investment Model: The Sub-Adviser’s proprietary investment model may not adequately take into account existing or unforeseen market factors or the interplay between such factors, and there is no guarantee that the use of a proprietary investment model will result in effective investment decisions for the Portfolio. Portfolios that are actively managed, in whole or in part, according to a quantitative investment model (including models that utilize artificial intelligence) can perform differently from the market, based on the investment model and the factors used in the analysis, the weight placed on each factor, and changes from the factors’ historical trends. Mistakes in the construction and implementation of the investment models (including, for example, data problems and/or software issues) may create errors or limitations that might go undetected or are discovered only after the errors or limitations have negatively impacted performance.
Liquidity: If a security is illiquid, the Portfolio might be unable to sell the security at a time when the Portfolio’s manager might wish to sell, or at all. Further, the lack of an established secondary market may make it more difficult to value illiquid securities, exposing the Portfolio to the risk that the prices at which it sells illiquid securities will be less than the prices at which they were valued when held by the Portfolio, which could cause the Portfolio to lose money. The prices of illiquid securities may be more volatile than more liquid securities, and the risks associated with illiquid securities may be greater in times of financial stress.
Market: The market values of securities will fluctuate, sometimes sharply and unpredictably, based on overall economic conditions, governmental actions or intervention, market disruptions caused by trade disputes or other factors, political developments, and other factors. Prices of equity securities tend to rise and fall more dramatically than those of debt instruments. Additionally, legislative, regulatory or tax policies or developments may adversely impact the investment techniques available to a manager, add to costs, and impair the ability of the Portfolio to achieve its investment objectives.
Market Capitalization: Stocks fall into three broad market capitalization categories: large, mid, and small. Investing primarily in one category carries the risk that, due to current market conditions, that category may be out of favor with investors. If valuations of large-capitalization companies appear to be greatly out of proportion to the valuations of mid- or small-capitalization companies, investors may migrate to the stocks of mid- and small-capitalization companies causing a fund that invests in these companies to increase in value more rapidly than a fund that invests in large-capitalization companies. Investing in mid- and small-capitalization companies may be subject to special risks associated with narrower product lines, more limited financial resources, smaller management groups, more limited publicly available information, and a more limited trading market for their stocks as compared with large-capitalization companies. As a result, stocks of mid- and small-capitalization companies may be more volatile and may decline significantly in market downturns.
Market Disruption and Geopolitical: The Portfolio is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Due to the increasing interdependence among global economies and markets, conditions in one country, market, or region might adversely impact markets, issuers and/or foreign exchange rates in other countries, including the United States. Wars, terrorism, global health crises and pandemics, and other geopolitical events that have led, and may continue to lead, to increased market volatility and may have adverse short- or long-term effects on U.S. and global economies and markets, generally. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant market volatility, exchange suspensions and closures, declines in global financial markets, higher default rates, supply chain disruptions, and a substantial economic downturn in economies throughout the world. The economic impacts of COVID-19 have created a unique challenge for real estate markets. Many businesses have either partially or fully transitioned to a remote-working environment and this transition may negatively impact the occupancy rates of commercial real estate over time. Natural and
Voya Retirement Growth Portfolio
12
environmental disasters and systemic market dislocations are also highly disruptive to economies and markets. In addition, military action by Russia in Ukraine has, and may continue to, adversely affect global energy and financial markets and therefore could affect the value of the Portfolio’s investments, including beyond the Portfolio’s direct exposure to Russian issuers or nearby geographic regions. The extent and duration of the military action, sanctions, and resulting market disruptions are impossible to predict and could be substantial. A number of U.S. domestic banks and foreign (non-U.S.) banks have recently experienced financial difficulties and, in some cases, failures. There can be no certainty that the actions taken by regulators to limit the effect of those financial difficulties and failures on other banks or other financial institutions or on the U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) economies generally will be successful. It is possible that more banks or other financial institutions will experience financial difficulties or fail, which may affect adversely other U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) financial institutions and economies. These events as well as other changes in foreign (non-U.S.) and domestic economic, social, and political conditions also could adversely affect individual issuers or related groups of issuers, securities markets, interest rates, credit ratings, inflation, investor sentiment, and other factors affecting the value of the Portfolio’s investments. Any of these occurrences could disrupt the operations of the Portfolio and of the Portfolio’s service providers.
Prepayment and Extension: Many types of debt instruments are subject to prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal earlier than expected. This risk is heightened in a falling market interest rate environment. Prepayment may expose the Portfolio to a lower rate of return upon reinvestment of principal. Also, if a debt instrument subject to prepayment has been purchased at a premium, the value of the premium would be lost in the event of prepayment. Extension risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal later than expected. This risk is heightened in a rising market interest rate environment. This may negatively affect performance, as the value of the debt instrument decreases when principal payments are made later than expected. Additionally, the Portfolio may be prevented from investing proceeds it would have received at a given time at the higher prevailing interest rates.
Underlying Funds: Because the Portfolio invests primarily in Underlying Funds, the investment performance of the Portfolio is directly related to the investment performance of the Underlying Funds in which it invests. When the Portfolio invests in an Underlying Fund, it is exposed indirectly to the risks of a direct investment in the Underlying Fund. If the Portfolio invests a significant portion of its assets in a single Underlying Fund, it may be more susceptible to risks associated with that Underlying Fund and its investments than if it invested in a broader range of Underlying Funds. It is possible that more than one Underlying Fund will hold securities of the same issuers, thereby increasing the Portfolio’s indirect exposure to those issuers. It also is possible that one Underlying Fund may be selling a particular security when another is buying it, producing little or no change in exposure but generating transaction costs and/or resulting in realization of gains with no economic benefit. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of any Underlying Fund will be achieved. In addition, the Portfolio’s shareholders will indirectly bear their proportionate share of the Underlying Funds’ fees and expenses, in addition to the fees and expenses of the Portfolio itself.
U.S. Government Securities and Obligations: U.S. government securities are obligations of, or guaranteed by, the U.S. government, its agencies, or government-sponsored enterprises. U.S. government securities are subject to market risk and interest rate risk, and may be subject to varying degrees of credit risk.
An investment in the Portfolio is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency.
Performance Information
The following information is intended to help you understand the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The following bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio's performance from year to year, and the table compares the Portfolio's performance to the performance of a broad-based securities market index/indices with investment characteristics similar to those of the Portfolio for the same period. The Portfolio's performance information reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the period presented. Absent such fee waivers/expense limitations, if any, performance would have been lower. The bar chart shows the performance of the Portfolio's Class ADV shares. Performance for other share classes would differ to the extent they have differences in their fees and expenses.
Performance shown in the bar chart and in the Average Annual Total Returns table does not include insurance-related charges imposed under a Variable Contract or expenses related to a Qualified Plan. If these charges or expenses were included, performance would be lower. Thus, you should not compare the Portfolio's performance directly with the performance information of other investment products without taking into account all insurance-related charges and expenses payable under your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan. The Portfolio's past performance is no guarantee of future results.
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13
Calendar Year Total Returns Class ADV 
(as of December 31 of each year)
 
 
Best quarter:
2nd Quarter 2020
15.63%
Worst quarter:
1st Quarter 2020
-16.31%
Average Annual Total Returns %
(for the periods ended December 31, 2023)
 
 
 
1 Yr
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
Since
Inception
Inception
Date
Class ADV
%
17.82
9.38
6.47
N/A
4/28/2006
S&P Target Risk Aggressive® Index1
%
18.40
9.78
7.20
N/A
Russell 3000® Index2
%
25.96
15.16
11.48
N/A
MSCI EAFE® Index1
%
18.24
8.16
4.28
N/A
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index2
%
5.53
1.10
1.81
N/A
Class I
%
18.38
9.86
6.92
N/A
4/28/2006
S&P Target Risk Aggressive® Index1
%
18.40
9.78
7.20
N/A
Russell 3000® Index2
%
25.96
15.16
11.48
N/A
MSCI EAFE® Index1
%
18.24
8.16
4.28
N/A
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index2
%
5.53
1.10
1.81
N/A
1
The index returns include the reinvestment of dividends and distributions net of withholding taxes, but do not reflect fees, brokerage commissions, or other expenses.
2
The index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses, or taxes.
Portfolio Management
 
Investment Adviser
Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser
Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
 
Portfolio Managers
Lanyon Blair, CFA, CAIA
Portfolio Manager (since 05/23)
Barbara Reinhard, CFA
Portfolio Manager (since 05/18)
Purchase and Sale of Portfolio Shares
Shares of the Portfolio are not offered directly to the public. Purchase and sale of shares may be made only by separate accounts of insurance companies serving as investment options under Variable Contracts or by Qualified Plans, custodian accounts, and certain investment advisers and their affiliates, other investment companies, or permitted investors. Please refer to the prospectus for the appropriate insurance company separate account, investment company, or your plan documents for information on how to direct investments in, or sale from, an investment option corresponding to the Portfolio and any fees that may apply. Participating insurance companies and certain other designated organizations are authorized to receive purchase orders on the Portfolio's behalf.
Tax Information
Distributions made by the Portfolio to a Variable Contract or Qualified Plan, and exchanges and redemptions of Portfolio shares made by a Variable Contract or Qualified Plan, ordinarily do not cause the corresponding contract holder or plan participant to recognize income or gain for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See the Variable Contract prospectus or the governing documents of your Qualified Plan for information regarding the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the distributions to your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan and the holders of the contracts or plan participants.
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Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you invest in the Portfolio through a Variable Contract issued by an insurance company or through a Qualified Plan that, in turn, was purchased or serviced through an insurance company, broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Portfolio and its Investment Adviser or distributor or their affiliates may: (1) make payments to the insurance company issuer of the Variable Contract or to the company servicing the Qualified Plan and (2) make payments to the insurance company, broker-dealer, or other financial intermediary. These payments may create a conflict of interest by: (1) influencing the insurance company or the company servicing the Qualified Plan to make the Portfolio available as an investment option for the Variable Contract or the Qualified Plan or (2) by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Variable Contract or the pension servicing agent and/or the Portfolio over other options. Ask your salesperson or Qualified Plan administrator or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
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Voya Retirement Moderate Growth Portfolio 
Investment Objective
The Portfolio seeks a high level of total return (consisting of capital appreciation and income) consistent with a level of risk that can be expected to be greater than that of Voya Retirement Moderate Portfolio but less than that of Voya Retirement Growth Portfolio.
Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio
The table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees and expenses such as fees and expenses imposed under your variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies (“Variable Contract”) or a qualified pension or retirement plan (“Qualified Plan”), which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. If these fees or expenses were included in the table, the Portfolio’s expenses would be higher. For more information on these charges, please refer to the documents governing your Variable Contract or consult your plan administrator.
Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses
Expenses you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment
 
Class
 
ADV
I
Management Fees
%
0.24
0.24
Distribution and/or Shareholder Services (12b-1) Fees
%
0.50
None
Other Expenses
%
0.03
0.03
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses
%
0.33
0.33
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses1
%
1.10
0.60
Waivers and Reimbursements2
%
(0.11)
None
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses After Waivers and
Reimbursements
%
0.99
0.60
1
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses shown may be higher than the Portfolio's ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights, which reflect the operating expenses of the Portfolio and do not include Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.
2
Voya Investments, LLC (the “Investment Adviser”) is contractually obligated to limit expenses to 1.04% and 0.79% for Class ADV and Class I shares, respectively, through May 1, 2025. The limitation does not extend to interest, taxes, investment-related costs, leverage expenses, and extraordinary expenses. This limitation is subject to possible recoupment by the Investment Adviser within 36 months of the waiver or reimbursement. The amount of the recoupment is limited to the lesser of the amounts that would be recoupable under: (i) the expense limitation in effect at the time of the waiver or reimbursement; or (ii) the expense limitation in effect at the time of recoupment. The distributor is contractually obligated to waive 0.1106% of the distribution fee for Class ADV shares through May 1, 2025. Termination or modification of these obligations requires approval by the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”).
Expense Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Portfolio with the costs of investing in other mutual funds. The Example does not reflect expenses and charges which are, or may be, imposed under your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment had a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio's operating expenses remain the same. The Example reflects applicable expense limitation agreements and/or waivers in effect, if any, for the one-year period and the first year of the three-, five-, and ten-year periods. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
 
Class
 
1 Yr
3 Yrs
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
ADV
$
101
339
596
1,330
I
$
61
192
335
750
Portfolio Turnover
The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses or in the Expense Example, affect the Portfolio's performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 17% of the average value of its portfolio.
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Voya Retirement Moderate Growth Portfolio
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal market conditions, the Portfolio invests in a combination of other funds (collectively, the “Underlying Funds”) according to a model that is intended to reflect an allocation of approximately 60% of the Portfolio’s assets in equity securities and 40% of the Portfolio’s assets in debt instruments. The actual amount of Portfolio assets invested in equity securities may vary at any time and may range from 50% to 80% of its assets in equity securities and from 20% to 50% of its assets in debt instruments. The amount of Portfolio assets invested in equity securities and debt instruments are measured with reference to the principal investment strategies of the Underlying Funds; actual exposure to these asset classes will vary from these amounts if an Underlying Fund is not substantially invested in accordance with its principal investment strategy. Generally, most of the Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio invests will be passively managed index funds. The Underlying Funds may or may not be affiliated with the Investment Adviser.
Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio may invest for its exposure to equity securities hold a wide range of equity type securities which may include stocks of companies of any market capitalization and domestic and foreign (non-U.S.) securities, including emerging market securities. Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio may invest for its exposure to debt instruments hold such instruments of varying maturities which may include corporate debt instruments of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers; securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or governmental-sponsored enterprises; and inflation-indexed bonds issued both by governments and corporations.
The Portfolio may also invest in derivative instruments including futures and swaps (including interest rate swaps, total return swaps, and credit default swaps) to make tactical allocations and to assist in managing cash.
The Portfolio may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder, and under the terms of applicable no-action relief or exemptive orders granted thereunder.
In seeking the Portfolio's investment objective, the sub-adviser (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a proprietary investment model to determine the Portfolio's asset allocation between equity securities and debt instruments. The investment model generally seeks to manage the risk of the Portfolio's returns and may consider such factors as: (i) the investment objective of the Portfolio and each of the Underlying Funds; (ii) economic and market forecasts; (iii) proprietary and third-party reports and analysis; (iv) the risk/return characteristics and volatility of the Underlying Funds; (v) the correlation and covariance among the Underlying Funds; and (vi) Voya affiliated insurance companies' ability to hedge their risk in issuing guarantees on products offering guaranteed lifetime income or death benefits. The Portfolio's shares are offered to, among others, separate accounts of Voya insurance company subsidiaries as an investment option under variable annuity contracts which contain certain financial guarantees by those subsidiaries. The investment model will take into account the effect of the investment risk of the Portfolio on the Voya affiliated insurance companies' guarantee obligations and the companies’ ability to hedge their risks under those guarantees.
The Sub-Adviser may change the Portfolio's asset allocations, investments in particular Underlying Funds (including any Underlying Funds organized in the future), target allocations or other investment policies without prior approval of shareholders as it determines necessary to pursue the Portfolio's investment objective.
Principal Risks
You could lose money on an investment in the Portfolio. The value of your investment in the Portfolio changes with the values of the Underlying Funds and their investments. The Portfolio is subject to the following principal risks (either directly or indirectly through investments in one or more Underlying Funds). Any of these risks, among others, could affect the Portfolio's or an Underlying Fund's performance or cause the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund to lose money or to underperform market averages of other funds. The Portfolio is exposed to most of the principal risks indirectly through investments by the Underlying Funds, and in some cases only through such investments. Unless stated otherwise, in the risk disclosures below, descriptions of investments or activities by “the Portfolio” and related risks refer to investments or activities by the Portfolio or by an Underlying Fund, as the case may be. Similarly, a reference to “Investment Adviser” or to “Sub-Adviser” is to the entity responsible for the investments in question, whether by the Portfolio or by an Underlying Fund. The principal risks are presented in alphabetical order to facilitate readability, and their order does not imply that the realization of one risk is more likely to occur or have a greater adverse impact than another risk.
Affiliated Underlying Funds: The Sub-Adviser’s selection of Underlying Funds presents conflicts of interest. The net management fee revenue received or costs incurred by the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates will vary depending on the Underlying Funds it selects for the Portfolio, and the Sub-Adviser will have an incentive to select the Underlying Funds (whether or not affiliated with the Sub-Adviser) that will result in the greatest net management fee revenue or lowest costs to the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates, even if that results in increased expenses and potentially less favorable investment performance for the Portfolio. The Sub-Adviser may prefer to invest in an affiliated Underlying Fund over an unaffiliated Underlying Fund because the investment may be beneficial to the Sub-Adviser in managing the affiliated Underlying Fund by helping the affiliated Underlying Fund achieve economies of scale or by enhancing cash flows to the affiliated Underlying Fund. For similar reasons, the Sub-Adviser may
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have an incentive to delay or decide against the sale of interests held by the Portfolio in affiliated Underlying Funds, and the Sub-Adviser may implement Underlying Fund changes in a manner intended to minimize the disruptive effects and added costs of those changes to affiliated Underlying Funds. Although the Portfolio may invest a portion of its assets in unaffiliated Underlying Funds, there is no assurance that it will do so even in cases where the unaffiliated Underlying Funds incur lower fees or have achieved better historical investment performance than the comparable affiliated Underlying Funds.
Asset Allocation: Investment performance depends on the manager’s skill in allocating assets among the asset classes in which the Portfolio invests and in choosing investments within those asset classes. There is a risk that the manager may allocate assets or investments to or within an asset class that underperforms compared to other asset classes or investments. The Portfolio may underperform funds that allocate their assets differently than the Portfolio, due to differences in the relative performance of asset classes and subsets of asset classes.
China Investing Risks: The Chinese economy is generally considered an emerging and volatile market. Although China has experienced a relatively stable political environment in recent years, there is no guarantee that such stability will be maintained in the future. Significant portions of the Chinese securities markets may become rapidly illiquid because Chinese issuers have the ability to suspend the trading of their equity securities under certain circumstances, and have shown a willingness to exercise that option in response to market volatility, epidemics, pandemics, adverse economic, market or political events, and other events. Political, regulatory and diplomatic events, such as the U.S.-China “trade war” that intensified in 2018, could have an adverse effect on the Chinese or Hong Kong economies and on related investments. In addition, U.S. or foreign government restrictions on investments in Chinese companies or other intervention could negatively affect the implementation of the Portfolio’s investment strategies, such as by precluding the Portfolio from making certain investments or causing the Portfolio to sell investments at disadvantageous times.
•
Investing through Stock Connect: Shares in mainland China-based companies that trade on Chinese stock exchanges such as the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (“China A-Shares”) may be purchased directly or indirectly through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (“Stock Connect”), a mutual market access program designed to, among other things, enable foreign investment in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) via brokers in Hong Kong. There are significant risks inherent in investing in China A-Shares through Stock Connect. The underdeveloped state of PRC’s investment and banking systems subjects the settlement, clearing, and registration of China A-Shares transactions to heightened risks. Stock Connect can only operate when both PRC and Hong Kong markets are open for trading and when banking services are available in both markets on the corresponding settlement days. As such, if either or both markets are closed on a U.S. trading day, the Portfolio may not be able to dispose of its China A-Shares in a timely manner, which could adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance.
Company: The price of a company’s stock could decline or underperform for many reasons, including, among others, poor management, financial problems, reduced demand for the company’s goods or services, regulatory fines and judgments, or business challenges. If a company is unable to meet its financial obligations, declares bankruptcy, or becomes insolvent, its stock could become worthless.
Credit: The Portfolio could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a debt instrument in which the Portfolio invests, or the counterparty to a derivative contract the Portfolio entered into, is unable or unwilling, or is perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services, or otherwise) as unable or unwilling, to meet its financial obligations.
Credit Default Swaps: The Portfolio may enter into credit default swaps, either as a buyer or a seller of the swap. A buyer of a credit default swap is generally obligated to pay the seller an upfront or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract until a credit event, such as a default, on a reference obligation has occurred. If a credit event occurs, the seller generally must pay the buyer the “par value” (full notional value) of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity described in the swap, or the seller may be required to deliver the related net cash amount if the swap is cash settled. As a seller of a credit default swap, the Portfolio would effectively add leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, the Portfolio would be subject to investment exposure on the full notional value of the swap. Credit default swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, credit, valuation, liquidity, and leveraging risks, and the risk that the swap may not correlate with its reference obligation as expected. Certain standardized credit default swaps are subject to mandatory central clearing. Central clearing is expected to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity; however, there is no assurance that it will achieve that result, and in the meantime, central clearing and related requirements expose the Portfolio to different kinds of costs and risks. In addition, credit default swaps expose the Portfolio to the risk of improper valuation.
Currency: To the extent that the Portfolio invests directly or indirectly in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities denominated in, or that trade in, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, it is subject to the risk that those foreign (non-U.S.) currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged by the Portfolio through foreign currency exchange transactions.
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Deflation: Deflation occurs when prices throughout the economy decline over time — the opposite of inflation. Unless repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed, when there is deflation, the principal and income of an inflation-protected bond will decline and could result in losses.
Derivative Instruments: Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including the risk of changes in the market price of the underlying asset, reference rate, or index credit risk with respect to the counterparty, risk of loss due to changes in market interest rates, liquidity risk, valuation risk, and volatility risk. The amounts required to purchase certain derivatives may be small relative to the magnitude of exposure assumed by the Portfolio. Therefore, the purchase of certain derivatives may have an economic leveraging effect on the Portfolio and exaggerate any increase or decrease in the net asset value. Derivatives may not perform as expected, so the Portfolio may not realize the intended benefits. When used for hedging purposes, the change in value of a derivative may not correlate as expected with the asset, reference rate, or index being hedged. When used as an alternative or substitute for direct cash investment, the return provided by the derivative may not provide the same return as direct cash investment.
Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investments/Developing and Emerging Markets: Investing in foreign (non-U.S.) securities may result in the Portfolio experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S. companies due, in part, to: smaller markets; differing reporting, accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and practices; nationalization, expropriation, or confiscatory taxation; foreign currency fluctuations, currency blockage, or replacement; potential for default on sovereign debt; and political changes or diplomatic developments, which may include the imposition of economic sanctions (or the threat of new or modified sanctions) or other measures by the U.S. or other governments and supranational organizations. Markets and economies throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions or events in one market, country or region may adversely impact investments or issuers in another market, country or region. Foreign (non-U.S.) investment risks may be greater in developing and emerging markets than in developed markets.
Growth Investing: Prices of growth-oriented stocks are more sensitive to investor perceptions of the issuer’s growth potential and may fall quickly and significantly if investors suspect that actual growth may be less than expected. There is a risk that funds that invest in growth-oriented stocks may underperform other funds that invest more broadly. Growth-oriented stocks tend to be more volatile than value-oriented stocks, and may underperform the market as a whole over any given time period.
Index Strategy (Funds-of-Funds): An Underlying Fund (or a portion of the Underlying Fund) that seeks to track an index’s performance and does not use defensive positions or attempt to reduce its exposure to poor performing securities in an index may underperform the overall market (each, an “Underlying Index Fund”). To the extent an Underlying Index Fund’s investments track its target index, such Underlying Index Fund may underperform other funds that invest more broadly. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Portfolio. The correlation between an Underlying Index Fund’s performance and index performance may be affected by the timing of purchases and redemptions of the Underlying Index Fund's shares. The correlation between an Underlying Index Fund’s performance and index performance will be reduced by the Underlying Index Fund’s expenses and could be reduced by the timing of purchases and redemptions of the Underlying Index Fund’s shares. In addition, an Underlying Index Fund’s actual holdings might not match the index and an Underlying Index Fund’s effective exposure to index securities at any given time may not precisely correlate. When deciding between Underlying Index Funds benchmarked to the same index, the manager may not select the Underlying Index Fund with the lowest expenses. In particular, when deciding between Underlying Index Funds benchmarked to the same index, the manager will generally select an affiliated Underlying Index Fund, even when the affiliated Underlying Index Fund has higher expenses than an unaffiliated Underlying Index Fund. When the Portfolio invests in an affiliated Underlying Index Fund with higher expenses, the Portfolio’s performance will be lower than if the Portfolio had invested in an Underlying Index Fund with comparable performance but lower expenses (although any expense limitation arrangements in place at the time might have the effect of limiting or eliminating the amount of that underperformance). The manager may select an unaffiliated Underlying Index Fund, including an ETF, over an affiliated Underlying Index Fund benchmarked to the same index when the manager believes making an investment in the affiliated Underlying Index Fund would be disadvantageous to the affiliated Underlying Index Fund, such as when the Portfolio is investing on a short-term basis.
Inflation-Indexed Bonds: If the index measuring inflation falls, the principal value of inflation-indexed bonds will be adjusted downward, and consequently, the interest payable on these bonds (calculated with respect to a smaller principal amount) will be reduced. In addition, inflation-indexed bonds are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate and credit risk. Repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed in the case of U.S. Treasury inflation-indexed bonds. For bonds that do not provide a similar guarantee, the adjusted principal value of the bond repaid at maturity may be less than the original principal.
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Interest Rate: A rise in market interest rates generally results in a fall in the value of bonds and other debt instruments; conversely, values generally rise as market interest rates fall. Interest rate risk is generally greater for debt instruments than floating-rate instruments. The higher the credit quality of the instrument, and the longer its maturity or duration, the more sensitive it is to changes in market interest rates. Duration is a measure of sensitivity of the price of a debt instrument to a change in interest rate. As of the date of this Prospectus, the U.S. has recently experienced a rising market interest rate environment, which may increase the Portfolio’s exposure to risks associated with rising market interest rates. Rising market interest rates have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility. To the extent that the Portfolio invests in debt instruments, an increase in market interest rates may lead to increased redemptions and increased portfolio turnover, which could reduce liquidity for certain investments, adversely affect values, and increase costs. Increased redemptions may cause the Portfolio to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so and may lower returns. If dealer capacity in debt markets is insufficient for market conditions, it may further inhibit liquidity and increase volatility in debt markets. Further, recent and potential future changes in government policy may affect interest rates. Negative or very low interest rates could magnify the risks associated with changes in interest rates. In general, changing interest rates, including rates that fall below zero, could have unpredictable effects on markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility. Changes to monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board or other regulatory actions could expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility, interest rate sensitivity, and reduced liquidity, which may impact the Portfolio’s operations and return potential.
Investment Model: The Sub-Adviser’s proprietary investment model may not adequately take into account existing or unforeseen market factors or the interplay between such factors, and there is no guarantee that the use of a proprietary investment model will result in effective investment decisions for the Portfolio. Portfolios that are actively managed, in whole or in part, according to a quantitative investment model (including models that utilize artificial intelligence) can perform differently from the market, based on the investment model and the factors used in the analysis, the weight placed on each factor, and changes from the factors’ historical trends. Mistakes in the construction and implementation of the investment models (including, for example, data problems and/or software issues) may create errors or limitations that might go undetected or are discovered only after the errors or limitations have negatively impacted performance.
Liquidity: If a security is illiquid, the Portfolio might be unable to sell the security at a time when the Portfolio’s manager might wish to sell, or at all. Further, the lack of an established secondary market may make it more difficult to value illiquid securities, exposing the Portfolio to the risk that the prices at which it sells illiquid securities will be less than the prices at which they were valued when held by the Portfolio, which could cause the Portfolio to lose money. The prices of illiquid securities may be more volatile than more liquid securities, and the risks associated with illiquid securities may be greater in times of financial stress.
Market: The market values of securities will fluctuate, sometimes sharply and unpredictably, based on overall economic conditions, governmental actions or intervention, market disruptions caused by trade disputes or other factors, political developments, and other factors. Prices of equity securities tend to rise and fall more dramatically than those of debt instruments. Additionally, legislative, regulatory or tax policies or developments may adversely impact the investment techniques available to a manager, add to costs, and impair the ability of the Portfolio to achieve its investment objectives.
Market Capitalization: Stocks fall into three broad market capitalization categories: large, mid, and small. Investing primarily in one category carries the risk that, due to current market conditions, that category may be out of favor with investors. If valuations of large-capitalization companies appear to be greatly out of proportion to the valuations of mid- or small-capitalization companies, investors may migrate to the stocks of mid- and small-capitalization companies causing a fund that invests in these companies to increase in value more rapidly than a fund that invests in large-capitalization companies. Investing in mid- and small-capitalization companies may be subject to special risks associated with narrower product lines, more limited financial resources, smaller management groups, more limited publicly available information, and a more limited trading market for their stocks as compared with large-capitalization companies. As a result, stocks of mid- and small-capitalization companies may be more volatile and may decline significantly in market downturns.
Market Disruption and Geopolitical: The Portfolio is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Due to the increasing interdependence among global economies and markets, conditions in one country, market, or region might adversely impact markets, issuers and/or foreign exchange rates in other countries, including the United States. Wars, terrorism, global health crises and pandemics, and other geopolitical events that have led, and may continue to lead, to increased market volatility and may have adverse short- or long-term effects on U.S. and global economies and markets, generally. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant market volatility, exchange suspensions and closures, declines in global financial markets, higher default rates, supply chain disruptions, and a substantial economic downturn in economies throughout the world. The economic impacts of COVID-19 have created a unique challenge for real estate markets. Many businesses have either partially or fully transitioned to a remote-working environment and this transition may negatively impact the occupancy rates of commercial real estate over time. Natural and
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environmental disasters and systemic market dislocations are also highly disruptive to economies and markets. In addition, military action by Russia in Ukraine has, and may continue to, adversely affect global energy and financial markets and therefore could affect the value of the Portfolio’s investments, including beyond the Portfolio’s direct exposure to Russian issuers or nearby geographic regions. The extent and duration of the military action, sanctions, and resulting market disruptions are impossible to predict and could be substantial. A number of U.S. domestic banks and foreign (non-U.S.) banks have recently experienced financial difficulties and, in some cases, failures. There can be no certainty that the actions taken by regulators to limit the effect of those financial difficulties and failures on other banks or other financial institutions or on the U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) economies generally will be successful. It is possible that more banks or other financial institutions will experience financial difficulties or fail, which may affect adversely other U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) financial institutions and economies. These events as well as other changes in foreign (non-U.S.) and domestic economic, social, and political conditions also could adversely affect individual issuers or related groups of issuers, securities markets, interest rates, credit ratings, inflation, investor sentiment, and other factors affecting the value of the Portfolio’s investments. Any of these occurrences could disrupt the operations of the Portfolio and of the Portfolio’s service providers.
Prepayment and Extension: Many types of debt instruments are subject to prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal earlier than expected. This risk is heightened in a falling market interest rate environment. Prepayment may expose the Portfolio to a lower rate of return upon reinvestment of principal. Also, if a debt instrument subject to prepayment has been purchased at a premium, the value of the premium would be lost in the event of prepayment. Extension risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal later than expected. This risk is heightened in a rising market interest rate environment. This may negatively affect performance, as the value of the debt instrument decreases when principal payments are made later than expected. Additionally, the Portfolio may be prevented from investing proceeds it would have received at a given time at the higher prevailing interest rates.
Underlying Funds: Because the Portfolio invests primarily in Underlying Funds, the investment performance of the Portfolio is directly related to the investment performance of the Underlying Funds in which it invests. When the Portfolio invests in an Underlying Fund, it is exposed indirectly to the risks of a direct investment in the Underlying Fund. If the Portfolio invests a significant portion of its assets in a single Underlying Fund, it may be more susceptible to risks associated with that Underlying Fund and its investments than if it invested in a broader range of Underlying Funds. It is possible that more than one Underlying Fund will hold securities of the same issuers, thereby increasing the Portfolio’s indirect exposure to those issuers. It also is possible that one Underlying Fund may be selling a particular security when another is buying it, producing little or no change in exposure but generating transaction costs and/or resulting in realization of gains with no economic benefit. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of any Underlying Fund will be achieved. In addition, the Portfolio’s shareholders will indirectly bear their proportionate share of the Underlying Funds’ fees and expenses, in addition to the fees and expenses of the Portfolio itself.
U.S. Government Securities and Obligations: U.S. government securities are obligations of, or guaranteed by, the U.S. government, its agencies, or government-sponsored enterprises. U.S. government securities are subject to market risk and interest rate risk, and may be subject to varying degrees of credit risk.
An investment in the Portfolio is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency.
Performance Information
The following information is intended to help you understand the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The following bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio's performance from year to year, and the table compares the Portfolio's performance to the performance of a broad-based securities market index/indices with investment characteristics similar to those of the Portfolio for the same period. The Portfolio's performance information reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the period presented. Absent such fee waivers/expense limitations, if any, performance would have been lower. The bar chart shows the performance of the Portfolio's Class ADV shares. Performance for other share classes would differ to the extent they have differences in their fees and expenses.
Performance shown in the bar chart and in the Average Annual Total Returns table does not include insurance-related charges imposed under a Variable Contract or expenses related to a Qualified Plan. If these charges or expenses were included, performance would be lower. Thus, you should not compare the Portfolio's performance directly with the performance information of other investment products without taking into account all insurance-related charges and expenses payable under your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan. The Portfolio's past performance is no guarantee of future results.
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Calendar Year Total Returns Class ADV 
(as of December 31 of each year)
 
 
Best quarter:
2nd Quarter 2020
13.85%
Worst quarter:
1st Quarter 2020
-13.47%
Average Annual Total Returns %
(for the periods ended December 31, 2023)
 
 
 
1 Yr
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
Since
Inception
Inception
Date
Class ADV
%
15.37
8.36
5.94
N/A
4/28/2006
S&P Target Risk® Growth Index1
%
15.38
7.73
5.96
N/A
Russell 3000® Index2
%
25.96
15.16
11.48
N/A
MSCI EAFE® Index1
%
18.24
8.16
4.28
N/A
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index2
%
5.53
1.10
1.81
N/A
Class I
%
15.79
8.76
6.35
N/A
4/28/2006
S&P Target Risk® Growth Index1
%
15.38
7.73
5.96
N/A
Russell 3000® Index2
%
25.96
15.16
11.48
N/A
MSCI EAFE® Index1
%
18.24
8.16
4.28
N/A
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index2
%
5.53
1.10
1.81
N/A
1
The index returns include the reinvestment of dividends and distributions net of withholding taxes, but do not reflect fees, brokerage commissions, or other expenses.
2
The index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses, or taxes.
Portfolio Management
 
Investment Adviser
Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser
Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
 
Portfolio Managers
Lanyon Blair, CFA, CAIA
Portfolio Manager (since 05/23)
Barbara Reinhard, CFA
Portfolio Manager (since 05/18)
Purchase and Sale of Portfolio Shares
Shares of the Portfolio are not offered directly to the public. Purchase and sale of shares may be made only by separate accounts of insurance companies serving as investment options under Variable Contracts or by Qualified Plans, custodian accounts, and certain investment advisers and their affiliates, other investment companies, or permitted investors. Please refer to the prospectus for the appropriate insurance company separate account, investment company, or your plan documents for information on how to direct investments in, or sale from, an investment option corresponding to the Portfolio and any fees that may apply. Participating insurance companies and certain other designated organizations are authorized to receive purchase orders on the Portfolio's behalf.
Tax Information
Distributions made by the Portfolio to a Variable Contract or Qualified Plan, and exchanges and redemptions of Portfolio shares made by a Variable Contract or Qualified Plan, ordinarily do not cause the corresponding contract holder or plan participant to recognize income or gain for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See the Variable Contract prospectus or the governing documents of your Qualified Plan for information regarding the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the distributions to your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan and the holders of the contracts or plan participants.
Voya Retirement Moderate Growth Portfolio
22
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you invest in the Portfolio through a Variable Contract issued by an insurance company or through a Qualified Plan that, in turn, was purchased or serviced through an insurance company, broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Portfolio and its Investment Adviser or distributor or their affiliates may: (1) make payments to the insurance company issuer of the Variable Contract or to the company servicing the Qualified Plan and (2) make payments to the insurance company, broker-dealer, or other financial intermediary. These payments may create a conflict of interest by: (1) influencing the insurance company or the company servicing the Qualified Plan to make the Portfolio available as an investment option for the Variable Contract or the Qualified Plan or (2) by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Variable Contract or the pension servicing agent and/or the Portfolio over other options. Ask your salesperson or Qualified Plan administrator or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
Voya Retirement Moderate Growth Portfolio
23
Voya Retirement Moderate Portfolio 
Investment Objective
The Portfolio seeks a high level of total return (consisting of capital appreciation and income) consistent with a level of risk that can be expected to be greater than that of Voya Retirement Conservative Portfolio but less than that of Voya Retirement Moderate Growth Portfolio.
Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio
The table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Portfolio. You may pay other fees and expenses such as fees and expenses imposed under your variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies (“Variable Contract”) or a qualified pension or retirement plan (“Qualified Plan”), which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. If these fees or expenses were included in the table, the Portfolio’s expenses would be higher. For more information on these charges, please refer to the documents governing your Variable Contract or consult your plan administrator.
Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses
Expenses you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment
 
Class
 
ADV
I
Management Fees
%
0.24
0.24
Distribution and/or Shareholder Services (12b-1) Fees
%
0.50
None
Other Expenses
%
0.03
0.03
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses
%
0.33
0.33
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses1
%
1.10
0.60
Waivers and Reimbursements2
%
(0.16)
None
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses After Waivers and
Reimbursements
%
0.94
0.60
1
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses shown may be higher than the Portfolio's ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights, which reflect the operating expenses of the Portfolio and do not include Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.
2
Voya Investments, LLC (the “Investment Adviser”) is contractually obligated to limit expenses to 1.00% and 0.75% for Class ADV and Class I shares, respectively, through May 1, 2025. The limitation does not extend to interest, taxes, investment-related costs, leverage expenses, and extraordinary expenses. This limitation is subject to possible recoupment by the Investment Adviser within 36 months of the waiver or reimbursement. The amount of the recoupment is limited to the lesser of the amounts that would be recoupable under: (i) the expense limitation in effect at the time of the waiver or reimbursement; or (ii) the expense limitation in effect at the time of recoupment. The distributor is contractually obligated to waive 0.1587% of the distribution fee for Class ADV shares through May 1, 2025. Termination or modification of these obligations requires approval by the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”).
Expense Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Portfolio with the costs of investing in other mutual funds. The Example does not reflect expenses and charges which are, or may be, imposed under your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment had a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio's operating expenses remain the same. The Example reflects applicable expense limitation agreements and/or waivers in effect, if any, for the one-year period and the first year of the three-, five-, and ten-year periods. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
 
Class
 
1 Yr
3 Yrs
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
ADV
$
96
334
591
1,326
I
$
61
192
335
750
Portfolio Turnover
The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses or in the Expense Example, affect the Portfolio's performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 19% of the average value of its portfolio.
24
Voya Retirement Moderate Portfolio
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal market conditions, the Portfolio invests in a combination of other funds (collectively, the “Underlying Funds”) according to a model that is intended to reflect an allocation of approximately 38% of the Portfolio's assets in equity securities and 62% of the Portfolio's assets in debt instruments. The actual amount of Portfolio assets invested in equity securities may vary at any time and may range from 35% to 65% of its assets in equity securities and from 35% to 65% of its assets in debt instruments. The amount of Portfolio assets invested in equity securities and debt instruments are measured with reference to the principal investment strategies of the Underlying Funds; actual exposure to these asset classes will vary from these amounts if an Underlying Fund is not substantially invested in accordance with its principal investment strategy. Generally, most of the Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio invests will be passively managed index funds. The Underlying Funds may or may not be affiliated with the Investment Adviser.
Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio may invest for its exposure to equity securities hold a wide range of equity type securities which may include stocks of companies of any market capitalization and domestic and foreign (non-U.S.) securities, including emerging market securities. Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio may invest for its exposure to debt instruments hold such instruments of varying maturities which may include corporate debt instruments of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers; securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or governmental-sponsored enterprises; and inflation-indexed bonds issued both by governments and corporations.
The Portfolio may also invest in derivative instruments including futures and swaps (including interest rate swaps, total return swaps, and credit default swaps) to make tactical allocations and to assist in managing cash.
The Portfolio may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) to the extent permitted under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder, and under the terms of applicable no-action relief or exemptive orders granted thereunder.
In seeking the Portfolio's investment objective, the sub-adviser (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a proprietary investment model to determine the Portfolio's asset allocation between equity securities and debt instruments. The investment model generally seeks to manage the risk of the Portfolio's returns and may consider such factors as: (i) the investment objective of the Portfolio and each of the Underlying Funds; (ii) economic and market forecasts; (iii) proprietary and third-party reports and analysis; (iv) the risk/return characteristics and volatility of the Underlying Funds; (v) the correlation and covariance among the Underlying Funds; and (vi) Voya affiliated insurance companies' ability to hedge their risk in issuing guarantees on products offering guaranteed lifetime income or death benefits. The Portfolio's shares are offered to, among others, separate accounts of Voya insurance company subsidiaries as an investment option under variable annuity contracts which contain certain financial guarantees by those subsidiaries. The investment model will take into account the effect of the investment risk of the Portfolio on the Voya affiliated insurance companies' guarantee obligations and the companies’ ability to hedge their risks under those guarantees.
The Sub-Adviser may change the Portfolio's asset allocations, investments in particular Underlying Funds (including any Underlying Funds organized in the future), target allocations or other investment policies without prior approval of shareholders as it determines necessary to pursue the Portfolio's investment objective.
Principal Risks
You could lose money on an investment in the Portfolio. The value of your investment in the Portfolio changes with the values of the Underlying Funds and their investments. The Portfolio is subject to the following principal risks (either directly or indirectly through investments in one or more Underlying Funds). Any of these risks, among others, could affect the Portfolio's or an Underlying Fund's performance or cause the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund to lose money or to underperform market averages of other funds. The Portfolio is exposed to most of the principal risks indirectly through investments by the Underlying Funds, and in some cases only through such investments. Unless stated otherwise, in the risk disclosures below, descriptions of investments or activities by “the Portfolio” and related risks refer to investments or activities by the Portfolio or by an Underlying Fund, as the case may be. Similarly, a reference to “Investment Adviser” or to “Sub-Adviser” is to the entity responsible for the investments in question, whether by the Portfolio or by an Underlying Fund. The principal risks are presented in alphabetical order to facilitate readability, and their order does not imply that the realization of one risk is more likely to occur or have a greater adverse impact than another risk.
Affiliated Underlying Funds: The Sub-Adviser’s selection of Underlying Funds presents conflicts of interest. The net management fee revenue received or costs incurred by the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates will vary depending on the Underlying Funds it selects for the Portfolio, and the Sub-Adviser will have an incentive to select the Underlying Funds (whether or not affiliated with the Sub-Adviser) that will result in the greatest net management fee revenue or lowest costs to the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates, even if that results in increased expenses and potentially less favorable investment performance for the Portfolio. The Sub-Adviser may prefer to invest in an affiliated Underlying Fund over an unaffiliated Underlying Fund because the investment may be beneficial to the Sub-Adviser in managing the affiliated Underlying Fund by helping the affiliated Underlying Fund achieve economies of scale or by enhancing cash flows to the affiliated Underlying Fund. For similar reasons, the Sub-Adviser may
Voya Retirement Moderate Portfolio
25
have an incentive to delay or decide against the sale of interests held by the Portfolio in affiliated Underlying Funds, and the Sub-Adviser may implement Underlying Fund changes in a manner intended to minimize the disruptive effects and added costs of those changes to affiliated Underlying Funds. Although the Portfolio may invest a portion of its assets in unaffiliated Underlying Funds, there is no assurance that it will do so even in cases where the unaffiliated Underlying Funds incur lower fees or have achieved better historical investment performance than the comparable affiliated Underlying Funds.
Asset Allocation: Investment performance depends on the manager’s skill in allocating assets among the asset classes in which the Portfolio invests and in choosing investments within those asset classes. There is a risk that the manager may allocate assets or investments to or within an asset class that underperforms compared to other asset classes or investments. The Portfolio may underperform funds that allocate their assets differently than the Portfolio, due to differences in the relative performance of asset classes and subsets of asset classes.
China Investing Risks: The Chinese economy is generally considered an emerging and volatile market. Although China has experienced a relatively stable political environment in recent years, there is no guarantee that such stability will be maintained in the future. Significant portions of the Chinese securities markets may become rapidly illiquid because Chinese issuers have the ability to suspend the trading of their equity securities under certain circumstances, and have shown a willingness to exercise that option in response to market volatility, epidemics, pandemics, adverse economic, market or political events, and other events. Political, regulatory and diplomatic events, such as the U.S.-China “trade war” that intensified in 2018, could have an adverse effect on the Chinese or Hong Kong economies and on related investments. In addition, U.S. or foreign government restrictions on investments in Chinese companies or other intervention could negatively affect the implementation of the Portfolio’s investment strategies, such as by precluding the Portfolio from making certain investments or causing the Portfolio to sell investments at disadvantageous times.
•
Investing through Stock Connect: Shares in mainland China-based companies that trade on Chinese stock exchanges such as the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (“China A-Shares”) may be purchased directly or indirectly through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (“Stock Connect”), a mutual market access program designed to, among other things, enable foreign investment in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) via brokers in Hong Kong. There are significant risks inherent in investing in China A-Shares through Stock Connect. The underdeveloped state of PRC’s investment and banking systems subjects the settlement, clearing, and registration of China A-Shares transactions to heightened risks. Stock Connect can only operate when both PRC and Hong Kong markets are open for trading and when banking services are available in both markets on the corresponding settlement days. As such, if either or both markets are closed on a U.S. trading day, the Portfolio may not be able to dispose of its China A-Shares in a timely manner, which could adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance.
Company: The price of a company’s stock could decline or underperform for many reasons, including, among others, poor management, financial problems, reduced demand for the company’s goods or services, regulatory fines and judgments, or business challenges. If a company is unable to meet its financial obligations, declares bankruptcy, or becomes insolvent, its stock could become worthless.
Credit: The Portfolio could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a debt instrument in which the Portfolio invests, or the counterparty to a derivative contract the Portfolio entered into, is unable or unwilling, or is perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services, or otherwise) as unable or unwilling, to meet its financial obligations.
Credit Default Swaps: The Portfolio may enter into credit default swaps, either as a buyer or a seller of the swap. A buyer of a credit default swap is generally obligated to pay the seller an upfront or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract until a credit event, such as a default, on a reference obligation has occurred. If a credit event occurs, the seller generally must pay the buyer the “par value” (full notional value) of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity described in the swap, or the seller may be required to deliver the related net cash amount if the swap is cash settled. As a seller of a credit default swap, the Portfolio would effectively add leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, the Portfolio would be subject to investment exposure on the full notional value of the swap. Credit default swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, credit, valuation, liquidity, and leveraging risks, and the risk that the swap may not correlate with its reference obligation as expected. Certain standardized credit default swaps are subject to mandatory central clearing. Central clearing is expected to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity; however, there is no assurance that it will achieve that result, and in the meantime, central clearing and related requirements expose the Portfolio to different kinds of costs and risks. In addition, credit default swaps expose the Portfolio to the risk of improper valuation.
Currency: To the extent that the Portfolio invests directly or indirectly in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities denominated in, or that trade in, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, it is subject to the risk that those foreign (non-U.S.) currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged by the Portfolio through foreign currency exchange transactions.
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Deflation: Deflation occurs when prices throughout the economy decline over time — the opposite of inflation. Unless repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed, when there is deflation, the principal and income of an inflation-protected bond will decline and could result in losses.
Derivative Instruments: Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including the risk of changes in the market price of the underlying asset, reference rate, or index credit risk with respect to the counterparty, risk of loss due to changes in market interest rates, liquidity risk, valuation risk, and volatility risk. The amounts required to purchase certain derivatives may be small relative to the magnitude of exposure assumed by the Portfolio. Therefore, the purchase of certain derivatives may have an economic leveraging effect on the Portfolio and exaggerate any increase or decrease in the net asset value. Derivatives may not perform as expected, so the Portfolio may not realize the intended benefits. When used for hedging purposes, the change in value of a derivative may not correlate as expected with the asset, reference rate, or index being hedged. When used as an alternative or substitute for direct cash investment, the return provided by the derivative may not provide the same return as direct cash investment.
Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investments/Developing and Emerging Markets: Investing in foreign (non-U.S.) securities may result in the Portfolio experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S. companies due, in part, to: smaller markets; differing reporting, accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and practices; nationalization, expropriation, or confiscatory taxation; foreign currency fluctuations, currency blockage, or replacement; potential for default on sovereign debt; and political changes or diplomatic developments, which may include the imposition of economic sanctions (or the threat of new or modified sanctions) or other measures by the U.S. or other governments and supranational organizations. Markets and economies throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions or events in one market, country or region may adversely impact investments or issuers in another market, country or region. Foreign (non-U.S.) investment risks may be greater in developing and emerging markets than in developed markets.
Index Strategy (Funds-of-Funds): An Underlying Fund (or a portion of the Underlying Fund) that seeks to track an index’s performance and does not use defensive positions or attempt to reduce its exposure to poor performing securities in an index may underperform the overall market (each, an “Underlying Index Fund”). To the extent an Underlying Index Fund’s investments track its target index, such Underlying Index Fund may underperform other funds that invest more broadly. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Portfolio. The correlation between an Underlying Index Fund’s performance and index performance may be affected by the timing of purchases and redemptions of the Underlying Index Fund's shares. The correlation between an Underlying Index Fund’s performance and index performance will be reduced by the Underlying Index Fund’s expenses and could be reduced by the timing of purchases and redemptions of the Underlying Index Fund’s shares. In addition, an Underlying Index Fund’s actual holdings might not match the index and an Underlying Index Fund’s effective exposure to index securities at any given time may not precisely correlate. When deciding between Underlying Index Funds benchmarked to the same index, the manager may not select the Underlying Index Fund with the lowest expenses. In particular, when deciding between Underlying Index Funds benchmarked to the same index, the manager will generally select an affiliated Underlying Index Fund, even when the affiliated Underlying Index Fund has higher expenses than an unaffiliated Underlying Index Fund. When the Portfolio invests in an affiliated Underlying Index Fund with higher expenses, the Portfolio’s performance will be lower than if the Portfolio had invested in an Underlying Index Fund with comparable performance but lower expenses (although any expense limitation arrangements in place at the time might have the effect of limiting or eliminating the amount of that underperformance). The manager may select an unaffiliated Underlying Index Fund, including an ETF, over an affiliated Underlying Index Fund benchmarked to the same index when the manager believes making an investment in the affiliated Underlying Index Fund would be disadvantageous to the affiliated Underlying Index Fund, such as when the Portfolio is investing on a short-term basis.
Inflation-Indexed Bonds: If the index measuring inflation falls, the principal value of inflation-indexed bonds will be adjusted downward, and consequently, the interest payable on these bonds (calculated with respect to a smaller principal amount) will be reduced. In addition, inflation-indexed bonds are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate and credit risk. Repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed in the case of U.S. Treasury inflation-indexed bonds. For bonds that do not provide a similar guarantee, the adjusted principal value of the bond repaid at maturity may be less than the original principal.
Interest Rate: A rise in market interest rates generally results in a fall in the value of bonds and other debt instruments; conversely, values generally rise as market interest rates fall. Interest rate risk is generally greater for debt instruments than floating-rate instruments. The higher the credit quality of the instrument, and the longer its maturity or duration, the more sensitive it is to changes in market interest rates. Duration is a measure of sensitivity of the price of a debt instrument to a change in interest rate. As of the date of this Prospectus, the U.S. has recently experienced a rising market interest rate environment, which may increase the Portfolio’s exposure to risks associated with rising market interest rates. Rising market
Voya Retirement Moderate Portfolio
27
interest rates have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility. To the extent that the Portfolio invests in debt instruments, an increase in market interest rates may lead to increased redemptions and increased portfolio turnover, which could reduce liquidity for certain investments, adversely affect values, and increase costs. Increased redemptions may cause the Portfolio to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so and may lower returns. If dealer capacity in debt markets is insufficient for market conditions, it may further inhibit liquidity and increase volatility in debt markets. Further, recent and potential future changes in government policy may affect interest rates. Negative or very low interest rates could magnify the risks associated with changes in interest rates. In general, changing interest rates, including rates that fall below zero, could have unpredictable effects on markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility. Changes to monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board or other regulatory actions could expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility, interest rate sensitivity, and reduced liquidity, which may impact the Portfolio’s operations and return potential.
Investment Model: The Sub-Adviser’s proprietary investment model may not adequately take into account existing or unforeseen market factors or the interplay between such factors, and there is no guarantee that the use of a proprietary investment model will result in effective investment decisions for the Portfolio. Portfolios that are actively managed, in whole or in part, according to a quantitative investment model (including models that utilize artificial intelligence) can perform differently from the market, based on the investment model and the factors used in the analysis, the weight placed on each factor, and changes from the factors’ historical trends. Mistakes in the construction and implementation of the investment models (including, for example, data problems and/or software issues) may create errors or limitations that might go undetected or are discovered only after the errors or limitations have negatively impacted performance.
Liquidity: If a security is illiquid, the Portfolio might be unable to sell the security at a time when the Portfolio’s manager might wish to sell, or at all. Further, the lack of an established secondary market may make it more difficult to value illiquid securities, exposing the Portfolio to the risk that the prices at which it sells illiquid securities will be less than the prices at which they were valued when held by the Portfolio, which could cause the Portfolio to lose money. The prices of illiquid securities may be more volatile than more liquid securities, and the risks associated with illiquid securities may be greater in times of financial stress.
Market: The market values of securities will fluctuate, sometimes sharply and unpredictably, based on overall economic conditions, governmental actions or intervention, market disruptions caused by trade disputes or other factors, political developments, and other factors. Prices of equity securities tend to rise and fall more dramatically than those of debt instruments. Additionally, legislative, regulatory or tax policies or developments may adversely impact the investment techniques available to a manager, add to costs, and impair the ability of the Portfolio to achieve its investment objectives.
Market Capitalization: Stocks fall into three broad market capitalization categories: large, mid, and small. Investing primarily in one category carries the risk that, due to current market conditions, that category may be out of favor with investors. If valuations of large-capitalization companies appear to be greatly out of proportion to the valuations of mid- or small-capitalization companies, investors may migrate to the stocks of mid- and small-capitalization companies causing a fund that invests in these companies to increase in value more rapidly than a fund that invests in large-capitalization companies. Investing in mid- and small-capitalization companies may be subject to special risks associated with narrower product lines, more limited financial resources, smaller management groups, more limited publicly available information, and a more limited trading market for their stocks as compared with large-capitalization companies. As a result, stocks of mid- and small-capitalization companies may be more volatile and may decline significantly in market downturns.
Market Disruption and Geopolitical: The Portfolio is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Due to the increasing interdependence among global economies and markets, conditions in one country, market, or region might adversely impact markets, issuers and/or foreign exchange rates in other countries, including the United States. Wars, terrorism, global health crises and pandemics, and other geopolitical events that have led, and may continue to lead, to increased market volatility and may have adverse short- or long-term effects on U.S. and global economies and markets, generally. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant market volatility, exchange suspensions and closures, declines in global financial markets, higher default rates, supply chain disruptions, and a substantial economic downturn in economies throughout the world. The economic impacts of COVID-19 have created a unique challenge for real estate markets. Many businesses have either partially or fully transitioned to a remote-working environment and this transition may negatively impact the occupancy rates of commercial real estate over time. Natural and environmental disasters and systemic market dislocations are also highly disruptive to economies and markets. In addition, military action by Russia in Ukraine has, and may continue to, adversely affect global energy and financial markets and therefore could affect the value of the Portfolio’s investments, including beyond the Portfolio’s direct exposure to Russian issuers or nearby geographic regions. The extent and duration of the military action, sanctions, and resulting market disruptions are impossible to predict and could be substantial. A number of U.S. domestic banks and foreign (non-U.S.) banks have recently experienced financial difficulties and, in some cases, failures. There can be no certainty that the actions taken by regulators
Voya Retirement Moderate Portfolio
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to limit the effect of those financial difficulties and failures on other banks or other financial institutions or on the U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) economies generally will be successful. It is possible that more banks or other financial institutions will experience financial difficulties or fail, which may affect adversely other U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) financial institutions and economies. These events as well as other changes in foreign (non-U.S.) and domestic economic, social, and political conditions also could adversely affect individual issuers or related groups of issuers, securities markets, interest rates, credit ratings, inflation, investor sentiment, and other factors affecting the value of the Portfolio’s investments. Any of these occurrences could disrupt the operations of the Portfolio and of the Portfolio’s service providers.
Prepayment and Extension: Many types of debt instruments are subject to prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal earlier than expected. This risk is heightened in a falling market interest rate environment. Prepayment may expose the Portfolio to a lower rate of return upon reinvestment of principal. Also, if a debt instrument subject to prepayment has been purchased at a premium, the value of the premium would be lost in the event of prepayment. Extension risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal later than expected. This risk is heightened in a rising market interest rate environment. This may negatively affect performance, as the value of the debt instrument decreases when principal payments are made later than expected. Additionally, the Portfolio may be prevented from investing proceeds it would have received at a given time at the higher prevailing interest rates.
Underlying Funds: Because the Portfolio invests primarily in Underlying Funds, the investment performance of the Portfolio is directly related to the investment performance of the Underlying Funds in which it invests. When the Portfolio invests in an Underlying Fund, it is exposed indirectly to the risks of a direct investment in the Underlying Fund. If the Portfolio invests a significant portion of its assets in a single Underlying Fund, it may be more susceptible to risks associated with that Underlying Fund and its investments than if it invested in a broader range of Underlying Funds. It is possible that more than one Underlying Fund will hold securities of the same issuers, thereby increasing the Portfolio’s indirect exposure to those issuers. It also is possible that one Underlying Fund may be selling a particular security when another is buying it, producing little or no change in exposure but generating transaction costs and/or resulting in realization of gains with no economic benefit. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of any Underlying Fund will be achieved. In addition, the Portfolio’s shareholders will indirectly bear their proportionate share of the Underlying Funds’ fees and expenses, in addition to the fees and expenses of the Portfolio itself.
U.S. Government Securities and Obligations: U.S. government securities are obligations of, or guaranteed by, the U.S. government, its agencies, or government-sponsored enterprises. U.S. government securities are subject to market risk and interest rate risk, and may be subject to varying degrees of credit risk.
An investment in the Portfolio is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency.
Performance Information
The following information is intended to help you understand the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The following bar chart shows the changes in the Portfolio's performance from year to year, and the table compares the Portfolio's performance to the performance of a broad-based securities market index/indices with investment characteristics similar to those of the Portfolio for the same period. The Portfolio's performance information reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the period presented. Absent such fee waivers/expense limitations, if any, performance would have been lower. The bar chart shows the performance of the Portfolio's Class ADV shares. Performance for other share classes would differ to the extent they have differences in their fees and expenses.
Performance shown in the bar chart and in the Average Annual Total Returns table does not include insurance-related charges imposed under a Variable Contract or expenses related to a Qualified Plan. If these charges or expenses were included, performance would be lower. Thus, you should not compare the Portfolio's performance directly with the performance information of other investment products without taking into account all insurance-related charges and expenses payable under your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan. The Portfolio's past performance is no guarantee of future results.
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Calendar Year Total Returns Class ADV 
(as of December 31 of each year)
 
 
Best quarter:
2nd Quarter 2020
11.23%
Worst quarter:
1st Quarter 2020
-9.78%
Average Annual Total Returns %
(for the periods ended December 31, 2023)
 
 
 
1 Yr
5 Yrs
10 Yrs
Since
Inception
Inception
Date
Class ADV
%
11.24
6.34
4.69
N/A
4/28/2006
S&P Target Risk® Moderate Index1
%
12.41
5.66
4.48
N/A
Russell 3000® Index2
%
25.96
15.16
11.48
N/A
MSCI EAFE® Index1
%
18.24
8.16
4.28
N/A
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index2
%
5.53
1.10
1.81
N/A
Class I
%
11.61
6.70
5.05
N/A
4/28/2006
S&P Target Risk® Moderate Index1
%
12.41
5.66
4.48
N/A
Russell 3000® Index2
%
25.96
15.16
11.48
N/A
MSCI EAFE® Index1
%
18.24
8.16
4.28
N/A
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index2
%
5.53
1.10
1.81
N/A
1
The index returns include the reinvestment of dividends and distributions net of withholding taxes, but do not reflect fees, brokerage commissions, or other expenses.
2
The index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses, or taxes.
Portfolio Management
 
Investment Adviser
Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser
Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
 
Portfolio Managers
Lanyon Blair, CFA, CAIA
Portfolio Manager (since 05/23)
Barbara Reinhard, CFA
Portfolio Manager (since 05/18)
Purchase and Sale of Portfolio Shares
Shares of the Portfolio are not offered directly to the public. Purchase and sale of shares may be made only by separate accounts of insurance companies serving as investment options under Variable Contracts or by Qualified Plans, custodian accounts, and certain investment advisers and their affiliates, other investment companies, or permitted investors. Please refer to the prospectus for the appropriate insurance company separate account, investment company, or your plan documents for information on how to direct investments in, or sale from, an investment option corresponding to the Portfolio and any fees that may apply. Participating insurance companies and certain other designated organizations are authorized to receive purchase orders on the Portfolio's behalf.
Tax Information
Distributions made by the Portfolio to a Variable Contract or Qualified Plan, and exchanges and redemptions of Portfolio shares made by a Variable Contract or Qualified Plan, ordinarily do not cause the corresponding contract holder or plan participant to recognize income or gain for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See the Variable Contract prospectus or the governing documents of your Qualified Plan for information regarding the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the distributions to your Variable Contract or Qualified Plan and the holders of the contracts or plan participants.
Voya Retirement Moderate Portfolio
30
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you invest in the Portfolio through a Variable Contract issued by an insurance company or through a Qualified Plan that, in turn, was purchased or serviced through an insurance company, broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Portfolio and its Investment Adviser or distributor or their affiliates may: (1) make payments to the insurance company issuer of the Variable Contract or to the company servicing the Qualified Plan and (2) make payments to the insurance company, broker-dealer, or other financial intermediary. These payments may create a conflict of interest by: (1) influencing the insurance company or the company servicing the Qualified Plan to make the Portfolio available as an investment option for the Variable Contract or the Qualified Plan or (2) by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Variable Contract or the pension servicing agent and/or the Portfolio over other options. Ask your salesperson or Qualified Plan administrator or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
Voya Retirement Moderate Portfolio
31
KEY PORTFOLIO INFORMATION
This Prospectus contains information about each Portfolio and is designed to provide you with important information to help you with your investment decisions. Please read it carefully and keep it for future reference.
Each Portfolio's Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”) is incorporated by reference into (legally made a part of) this Prospectus. It identifies investment restrictions, more detailed risk descriptions, a description of how the bond rating system works, and other information that may be helpful to you in your decision to invest. You may obtain a copy, without charge, from each Portfolio.
Neither this Prospectus, nor the related SAI, nor other communications to shareholders, such as proxy statements, is intended, or should be read, to be or give rise to an agreement or contract between Voya Investors Trust (the “Trust”), the Board of Trustees (the “Board”), or each Portfolio and any investor, or to give rise to any rights to any shareholder or other person other than any rights under U.S. federal or state law.
Other Voya mutual funds may also be offered to the public that have similar names, investment objectives, and principal investment strategies as those of a Portfolio. You should be aware that each Portfolio is likely to differ from these other Voya mutual funds in size and cash flow pattern, as well as other factors. Accordingly, the performance of each Portfolio can be expected to vary from the performance of other Voya mutual funds.
Each Portfolio is a series of the Trust, a Massachusetts business trust. Each Portfolio is managed by Voya Investments, LLC (“Voya Investments” or the “Investment Adviser”).
Portfolio shares may be classified into different classes of shares. The classes of shares of a Portfolio would be substantially the same except for different expenses, certain related rights, and certain shareholder services. All share classes of a Portfolio have a common investment objective and investment portfolio.
Fundamental Investment Policies
Fundamental investment policies contained in the SAI may not be changed without shareholder approval. Other policies and investment strategies may be changed without a shareholder vote.
Portfolio Diversification
Each Portfolio is diversified, as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder, and under the terms of applicable no-action relief or exemptive orders granted thereunder (the “1940 Act”). A diversified fund may not, as to 75% of its total assets, invest more than 5% of its total assets in any one issuer and may not purchase more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or any of its agencies or instrumentalities, or other investment companies). A non-diversified fund is not limited by the 1940 Act in the percentage of its assets that it may invest in the obligations of a single issuer.
Investor Diversification
Although each Portfolio is designed to serve as a component of a diversified investment portfolio of securities, no single mutual fund can provide an appropriate investment program for all investors. You should evaluate a Portfolio in the context of your personal financial situation, investment objectives, and other investments.
Although an investor may achieve the same level of diversification by investing directly in a variety of mutual funds, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) (collectively, the “Underlying Funds”), a Portfolio provides investors with a means to simplify their investment decisions by investing in a single diversified portfolio. For more information about the Underlying Funds, please see “Key Information About the Underlying Funds” later in this Prospectus.
Temporary Defensive Positions
When the Investment Adviser or the sub-adviser (the “Sub-Adviser”) (if applicable) to a Portfolio or an Underlying Fund anticipates adverse or unusual market, economic, political, or other conditions, the Portfolio or Underlying Fund may temporarily depart from its principal investment strategies as a defensive measure. In such circumstances, a Portfolio or Underlying Fund may make investments believed to present less risk, such as cash, cash equivalents, money market fund shares and other money market instruments, higher quality debt instruments, more liquid securities, or others. While a Portfolio or Underlying Fund invests defensively, it may not achieve its investment objective. A Portfolio's or Underlying Fund's defensive investment position may not be effective in protecting its value. It is impossible to predict accurately how long such defensive position may be utilized.
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KEY PORTFOLIO INFORMATION (continued)
Percentage and Rating Limitations
The percentage and rating limitations on Portfolio investments listed in this Prospectus apply at the time of investment. If such a limitation is complied with at the time of an investment, any subsequent change in percentage resulting from a change in values or assets or a change in market capitalization of a company, or any subsequent change in rating, will generally not constitute a violation of that limitation.
Investment Not Guaranteed
Please note your investment is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other government agency.
Shareholder Reports
Each Portfolio's fiscal year ends December 31. Currently, copies of each Portfolio's annual and semi-annual shareholder reports are not sent by mail or e-mail, unless you specifically request copies of the reports. Instead, the reports are available on the Voya funds’ website (https://individuals.voya.com/literature), and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report. Effective July 24, 2024, shareholders will receive revised forms of annual and semi-annual shareholder reports in accordance with recently adopted SEC rule and form amendments requiring each Portfolio to transmit streamlined annual and semi-annual shareholder reports that highlight key information to shareholders. These annual and semi-annual shareholder reports will be sent to shareholders directly by mail. Other information, including financial statements, will no longer appear in each Portfolio’s shareholder reports but will be available on the Voya funds’ website (https://individuals.voya.com/literature), delivered free of charge upon request, and filed with the SEC on a semi-annual basis on Form N-CSR. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from a fund electronically anytime by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, if you are a direct investor, by calling 1-800-992-0180 or by sending an e-mail request to [email protected].
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MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PORTFOLIOS
Additional Information About the Investment Objective
Each Portfolio's investment objective is non-fundamental and may be changed by a vote of the Board, without shareholder approval. A Portfolio will provide 60 days' prior written notice of any change in a non-fundamental investment objective. There is no guarantee a Portfolio will achieve its investment objective.
Additional Information About Principal Investment Strategies
The Portfolios are designed to meet the needs of investors who prefer a single diversified investment that has an investment objective that is consistent with their risk tolerance and the anticipated length of time until they will need access to their funds. Depending on the Portfolio you choose, your investment will be subject to varying degrees of potential investment risks and rewards.
The Portfolios invest in a combination of Underlying Funds that are passively managed index funds that, in turn, invest directly in a wide range of portfolio securities (like stocks and bonds). Although an investor may achieve the same level of diversification by investing directly in a variety of the Underlying Funds, each Portfolio provides investors with a means to simplify their investment decisions by investing in a single diversified portfolio. For more information about the Underlying Funds, please see “Key Information About the Underlying Funds.”
Shares of the Portfolios are offered to separate asset accounts of insurance companies as investment options under variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies (“Variable Contracts”). Shares may also be offered to qualified pension and retirement plans (“Qualified Plans”) outside the Variable Contracts and to certain investment advisers and their affiliates in connection with the creation or management of a Portfolio.
Asset Allocation Process
The Sub-Adviser uses an asset allocation process to determine each Portfolio's investment mix. This asset allocation process can be described in two stages.
In the first stage, the mix of asset classes (i.e., stocks and debt instruments of various types) that the Sub-Adviser believes is likely to produce the optimal return for each Portfolio is estimated. These estimates are made with reference to an investment model that incorporates historical and expected returns, standard deviations and correlation coefficients of various asset classes as well as other financial variables.
In the second stage, the historical returns or hypothetical returns of an Underlying Fund are examined to estimate which asset classes the Underlying Fund represents and how the Underlying Fund would fit the Asset Allocation Model. Possible combinations of Underlying Funds are then tested for closeness of fit to the Asset Allocation Model. For each Portfolio, the combination of Underlying Funds that seems to provide the most favorable trade-off between closeness of fit and the target level of risk is estimated. Adjustments are made to avoid a large number of small positions in the Underlying Funds and to ensure that the combination of Underlying Funds in any Portfolio does not seem inconsistent with the combination in any other Portfolio. The final combinations of Underlying Funds arrived at for the Portfolios are called the target allocations (the “Target Allocation”).
Periodically, based upon a variety of quantitative and qualitative factors, the Sub-Adviser uses economic and statistical methods to recommend the optimal Target Allocation and ranges for the Portfolios, the resulting allocations to the Underlying Funds, and whether any Underlying Funds should be added or removed from the mix.
The factors considered may include the following: (i) the investment objective of each Portfolio and each of the Underlying Funds; (ii) economic and market forecasts; (iii) proprietary and third-party reports and analysis; (iv) the risk/return characteristics, relative performance, and volatility of the Underlying Funds; (v) the correlation and covariance among Underlying Funds; and (vi) consideration of Voya affiliated insurance companies' ability to hedge their risk in issuing guarantees on products offering guaranteed lifetime income or death benefits.
As market prices of the Underlying Funds' portfolio securities change, each Portfolio's actual allocations will vary somewhat from the Target Allocation, although the percentages generally will remain within an acceptable range of the Target Allocation percentages. If changes are made as described above, those changes will be reflected in the Prospectus. However, it may take some time to fully implement the changes. The Sub-Adviser may implement the changes over a reasonable period of time while seeking to minimize disruptive effects and added costs to the Portfolios and the Underlying Funds.
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MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PORTFOLIOS (continued)
The Sub-Adviser intends to rebalance the Portfolios on at least a quarterly basis, but may rebalance more or less frequently as deemed appropriate to attain the Target Allocation for each Portfolio. These allocations, however, are targets and each Portfolio's allocations could change substantially as the Underlying Funds' asset values change due to market movements and portfolio management decisions. If the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Portfolio and its shareholders, it may limit the degree of rebalancing or avoid rebalancing altogether, pending further analysis and more favorable market conditions. Underlying Funds may be added or subtracted from the targeted mix of Underlying Funds.
Asset Allocation is No Guarantee Against Loss
Although asset allocation seeks to optimize returns given various levels of risk tolerance, you still may lose money and experience volatility. Market and asset class performance may differ in the future from the historical performance and the assumptions used to form the asset allocations for each Portfolio. Furthermore, the Sub-Adviser's allocation of each Portfolio's assets may not anticipate market trends successfully. For example, weighting Underlying Funds that invest in equity securities too heavily during a stock market decline may result in a failure to preserve capital. Conversely, investing too heavily in Underlying Funds that invest in debt instruments during a period of stock market appreciation may result in lower total return.
There is a risk that you could achieve better returns by investing in an Underlying Fund or other mutual funds representing a single asset class than in a Portfolio.
Assets will be allocated to asset classes and markets based on judgments made by the Sub-Adviser. There is a risk that a Portfolio may allocate assets to an asset class or market that underperforms other funds. For example, a Portfolio may be underweighted in an asset class or market that is experiencing significant returns or overweighted in an asset class or market with significant declines.
Performance of the Underlying Funds Will Vary
The performance of each Portfolio depends upon the performance of the Underlying Funds, which are affected by changes in the economy and financial markets. The value of a Portfolio changes as the asset values of the Underlying Funds go up or down. The value of your shares will fluctuate and may be worth more or less than the original cost. The timing of your investment may also affect performance.
Additional Information About the Principal Risks
All mutual funds involve risk—some more than others—and there is always the chance that you could lose money or not earn as much as you hope. Each Portfolio's risk profile is largely a factor of the principal securities in which it invests and investment techniques that it uses. Below is a discussion of the principal risks associated with investments in certain types of securities and the use of certain of these investment practices. The principal risks are presented in alphabetical order to facilitate readability, and their order does not imply that the realization of one risk is more likely to occur or have a greater adverse impact than another risk. A Portfolio may be exposed to these risks directly or indirectly through investments in one or more Underlying Fund(s). A Portfolio is exposed to most of the principal risks indirectly through investments by the Underlying Funds, and in some cases only through such investments. Unless stated otherwise, in the risk disclosures below, descriptions of investments or activities by “a Portfolio” and related risks refer to investments or activities by a Portfolio or by an Underlying Fund, as the case may be. Similarly, a reference to “the Investment Adviser” or to “the Sub-Adviser” is to the entity responsible for the investments in question, whether by the Portfolio or by an Underlying Fund.
Many of the investment techniques and strategies discussed in this Prospectus and in the SAI are discretionary, which means that the Investment Adviser or Sub-Adviser, as the case may be, can decide whether to use them. A Portfolio or an Underlying Fund may invest in these securities or use these techniques as part of its principal investment strategies. However, the Investment Adviser or Sub-Adviser may also use these investment techniques or make investments in securities that are not a part of a Portfolio’s or an Underlying Fund’s principal investment strategies.
For more information about these and other types of securities and investment techniques that may be used by each Portfolio, see the SAI, and for more information about the Underlying Funds, please see “Key Information About the Underlying Funds” or refer to the Underlying Fund’s current prospectus as of this date.
Affiliated Underlying Funds: The Sub-Adviser’s selection of Underlying Funds presents conflicts of interest. The net management fee revenue received or costs incurred by the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates will vary depending on the Underlying Funds it selects for a Portfolio, and the Sub-Adviser will have an incentive to select the Underlying Funds
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MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PORTFOLIOS (continued)
(whether or not affiliated with the Sub-Adviser) that will result in the greatest net management fee revenue or lowest costs to the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates, even if that results in increased expenses and potentially less favorable investment performance for the Portfolio. The Sub-Adviser may prefer to invest in an affiliated Underlying Fund over an unaffiliated Underlying Fund because the investment may be beneficial to the Sub-Adviser in managing the affiliated Underlying Fund by helping the affiliated Underlying Fund achieve economies of scale or by enhancing cash flows to the affiliated Underlying Fund. For similar reasons, the Sub-Adviser may have an incentive to delay or decide against the sale of interests held by a Portfolio in affiliated Underlying Funds, and the Sub-Adviser may implement Underlying Fund changes in a manner intended to minimize the disruptive effects and added costs of those changes to affiliated Underlying Funds. Although a Portfolio may invest a portion of its assets in unaffiliated Underlying Funds, there is no assurance that it will do so even in cases where the unaffiliated Underlying Funds incur lower fees or have achieved better historical investment performance than the comparable affiliated Underlying Funds.
Asset Allocation: Investment performance depends on the manager’s skill in allocating assets among the asset classes in which a Portfolio invests and in choosing investments within those asset classes. There is a risk that the manager may allocate assets or investments to or within an asset class that underperforms compared to other asset classes or investments. A Portfolio may underperform funds that allocate their assets differently than the Portfolio, due to differences in the relative performance of asset classes and subsets of asset classes.
Bank Instruments: Bank instruments include certificates of deposit, fixed time deposits, bankers’ acceptances, and other debt and deposit-type obligations issued by banks. Changes in economic, regulatory, or political conditions, or other events that affect the banking industry may have an adverse effect on bank instruments or banking institutions that serve as counterparties in transactions with a Portfolio. In the event of a bank insolvency or failure, a Portfolio may be considered a general creditor of the bank, and it might lose some or all of the funds deposited with the bank. Even where it is recognized that a bank might be in danger of insolvency or failure, a Portfolio might not be able to withdraw or transfer its money from the bank in time to avoid any adverse effects of the insolvency or failure.
Borrowing: Borrowing creates leverage, which may increase expenses and increase the impact of a Portfolio’s other risks. Borrowing may exaggerate any increase or decrease in a Portfolio’s net asset value causing a Portfolio to be more volatile than a fund that does not borrow. Borrowing for investment purposes is considered to be speculative and may result in losses to a Portfolio.
Cash/Cash Equivalents: Investments in cash or cash equivalents may lower returns and result in potential lost opportunities to participate in market appreciation which could negatively impact a Portfolio’s performance and ability to achieve its investment objective.
China Investing Risks: The Chinese economy is generally considered an emerging and volatile market. Although China has experienced a relatively stable political environment in recent years, there is no guarantee that such stability will be maintained in the future. Significant portions of the Chinese securities markets may become rapidly illiquid because Chinese issuers have the ability to suspend the trading of their equity securities under certain circumstances, and have shown a willingness to exercise that option in response to market volatility, epidemics, pandemics, adverse economic, market or political events, and other events. Political, regulatory and diplomatic events, such as the U.S.-China “trade war” that intensified in 2018, could have an adverse effect on the Chinese or Hong Kong economies and on related investments. In addition, U.S. or foreign government restrictions on investments in Chinese companies or other intervention could negatively affect the implementation of a Portfolio’s investment strategies, such as by precluding the Portfolio from making certain investments or causing the Portfolio to sell investments at disadvantageous times .
•
Investing through Stock Connect: Shares in mainland China-based companies that trade on Chinese stock exchanges such as the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (“China A-Shares”) may be purchased directly or indirectly through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (“Stock Connect”), a mutual market access program designed to, among other things, enable foreign investment in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) via brokers in Hong Kong. There are significant risks inherent in investing in China A-Shares through Stock Connect. The underdeveloped state of PRC’s investment and banking systems subjects the settlement, clearing, and registration of China A-Shares transactions to heightened risks. Stock Connect can only operate when both PRC and Hong Kong markets are open for trading and when banking services are available in both markets on the corresponding settlement days. As such, if either or both markets are closed on a U.S. trading day, a Portfolio may not be able to dispose of its China A-Shares in a timely manner, which could adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance.
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MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PORTFOLIOS (continued)
•
Variable Interest Entities: Many Chinese companies use a structure known as a variable interest entity (a “VIE”) to address Chinese restrictions on direct foreign investment in Chinese companies operating in certain sectors. A Portfolio’s investment exposure to VIEs may pose additional risks because the Portfolio’s investment is not made directly in the VIE (the actual Chinese operating company), but rather in a holding company domiciled outside of China (a “Holding Company”) whose interests in the business of the underlying Chinese operating company (the VIE) are established through contracts rather than through equity ownership. The VIE (which a Portfolio is restricted from owning under Chinese law) is generally owned by Chinese nationals, and the Holding Company (in which a Portfolio invests) holds only contractual rights (rather than equity ownership) relating to the VIE, typically including a contractual claim on the VIE’s profits. Shares of the Holding Company, in turn, are traded on exchanges outside of China and are available to non-Chinese investors such as a Portfolio. While the VIE structure is a longstanding practice in China, until recently, such arrangements had not been formally recognized under Chinese law. However, in late 2021, the Chinese government signaled its interest in implementing filing requirement rules that would both affirm the legality of VIE structures and regulate them. How these filing requirements will operate in practice, and what will be required for approval, remains unclear. While there is optimism that these actions will reduce uncertainty over Chinese actions on VIEs, there is also caution given how unresolved the process is. Until these rules are finalized, and potentially afterwards depending on how they are implemented, there remains significant uncertainty associated with VIE investments.
There is a risk that the Chinese government may cease to tolerate VIE structures at any time or impose new restrictions on the structure, in each case either generally or with respect to specific issuers. In such a scenario, the Chinese operating company could be subject to penalties, including revocation of its business and operating license, or the Holding Company could forfeit its interest in the business of the Chinese operating company. Further, in case of a dispute between the Holding Company investors and the Chinese owners of the VIE, the Holding Company’s contractual claims with respect to the VIE may be unenforceable in China, thus limiting the remedies and rights of Holding Company investors such as a Portfolio. Control over a VIE may also be jeopardized if a natural person who holds the equity interest in the VIE breaches the terms of the contractual arrangements, is subject to legal proceedings, or if any physical instruments or property of the VIE, such as seals, business registration certificates, financial data and licensing arrangements (sometimes referred to as “chops”), are used without authorization. In the event of such an occurrence, a Portfolio, as a foreign investor, may have little or no legal recourse. Such legal uncertainty may be exploited against the interests of the Holding Company investors such as a Portfolio.
A Portfolio will typically have little or no ability to influence the VIE through proxy voting or other means because it is not a VIE owner/shareholder. Foreign (non-U.S.) companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges, including companies using the VIE structure, could also face delisting or other ramifications for failure to meet the expectations and/or requirements of the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or other U.S. regulators. Any of these risks could reduce the liquidity and value of a Portfolio’s investments in Holding Companies or render them valueless.
Collateralized Loan Obligations and Other Collateralized Obligations: A collateralized loan obligation ( “ CLO ” ) is an obligation of a trust or other special purpose vehicle typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include senior secured and unsecured loans and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade, or equivalent unrated loans. CLOs may incur management fees and administration fees. The risks of investing in a CLO depend largely on the type of the collateral held in the CLO portfolio and the tranche of securities in which a Portfolio, and can generally be summarized as a combination of economic risks of the underlying loans combined with the risks associated with the CLO structure governing the priority of payments, and include interest rate risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, prepayment and extension risk, and the risk of default of the underlying asset, among others.
Company: The price of a company’s stock could decline or underperform for many reasons, including, among others, poor management, financial problems, reduced demand for the company’s goods or services, regulatory fines and judgments, or business challenges. If a company is unable to meet its financial obligations, declares bankruptcy, or becomes insolvent, its stock could become worthless.
Concentration (Index): To the extent that an Underlying Fund’s index “ concentrates, ” as that term is defined in the 1940 Act, in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries, the Underlying Fund may allocate its investments to approximately the same extent as the index. As a result, an Underlying Fund may be more sensitive to financial,
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MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PORTFOLIOS (continued)
economic, business, political, regulatory, and other developments and conditions, including natural or other disasters, affecting issuers in a particular industry or group of industries, and if securities of such industry or group of industries fall out of favor, the Underlying Fund could underperform, or be more volatile than, a fund that is more broadly invested across industries.
•
Financial Services Sector: Investments in the financial services sector may be subject to credit risk, interest rate risk, and regulatory risk, among others. Banks and other financial institutions can be affected by such factors as downturns in the U.S. and foreign economies and general economic cycles, fiscal and monetary policy (including the effects of changes in interest rates), adverse developments in the real estate market, the deterioration or failure of other financial institutions, and changes in banking or securities regulations.
•
Technology Sector: Investments in companies involved in the technology sector are subject to significant competitive pressures, such as aggressive pricing of products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share, short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments, evolving industry standards, changing customer demands, and the potential for limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. The failure of a company to adapt to such changes could have a material adverse effect on the company’s business, results of operations, and financial condition. These companies also face the risks that new services, equipment, or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. These factors can affect the profitability of these companies and, as a result, the values of their securities. Many companies involved in the technology sector have limited operating histories, and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than those of many other companies’ securities, especially over the short term.
Convertible Securities: Convertible securities are securities that are convertible into or exercisable for common stocks at a stated price or rate. Convertible securities are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. In addition, because convertible securities react to changes in the value of the underlying stock, they are subject to market risk. The value of a convertible security will normally fluctuate in some proportion to changes in the value of the underlying stock because of the conversion or exercise feature. However, the value of a convertible security may not increase or decrease as rapidly as the underlying stock. Convertible securities may be rated below investment grade and therefore may be subject to greater levels of credit risk and liquidity risk. In the event the issuer of a convertible security is unable to meet its financial obligations, declares bankruptcy, or becomes insolvent, a Portfolio could lose money; such events may also have the effect of reducing a Portfolio's distributable income. There is a risk that a Portfolio may convert a convertible security at an inopportune time, which may decrease the Portfolio’s returns.
Covenant-Lite Loans: Loans in which a Portfolio may invest or to which a Portfolio may gain exposure indirectly through its investments in collateralized debt obligations, CLOs or other types of structured securities may be considered “covenant-lite” loans. Covenant-lite refers to loans which do not incorporate traditional performance-based financial maintenance covenants. Covenant-lite does not refer to a loan’s seniority in a borrower’s capital structure nor to a lack of the benefit from a legal pledge of the borrower’s assets and does not necessarily correlate to the overall credit quality of the borrower. Covenant-lite loans generally do not include terms which allow a lender to take action based on a borrower’s performance relative to its covenants. Such actions may include the ability to renegotiate and/or re-set the credit spread on the loan with a borrower, and even to declare a default or force the borrower into bankruptcy restructuring if certain criteria are breached. Covenant-lite loans typically still provide lenders with other covenants that restrict a borrower from incurring additional debt or engaging in certain actions. Such covenants can only be breached by an affirmative action of the borrower, rather than by a deterioration in the borrower’s financial condition. Accordingly, a Portfolio may have fewer rights against a borrower when it invests in, or has exposure to, covenant-lite loans and, accordingly, may have a greater risk of loss on such investments as compared to investments in, or exposure to, loans with additional or more conventional covenants.
Credit: A Portfolio could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a debt instrument in which the Portfolio invests, or the counterparty to a derivative contract the Portfolio entered into, is unable or unwilling, or is perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services, or otherwise) as unable or unwilling, to meet its financial obligations. Asset-backed (including mortgage-backed) securities that are not issued by U.S. government agencies may have a greater risk of default because they are not guaranteed by either the U.S. government or an agency or instrumentality of the U.S. government. The credit quality of typical asset-backed securities depends primarily on the credit quality of the underlying assets and the structural support (if any) provided to the securities.
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Credit Default Swaps: A Portfolio may enter into credit default swaps, either as a buyer or a seller of the swap. A buyer of a credit default swap is generally obligated to pay the seller an upfront or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract until a credit event, such as a default, on a reference obligation has occurred. If a credit event occurs, the seller generally must pay the buyer the “par value” (full notional value) of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity described in the swap, or the seller may be required to deliver the related net cash amount if the swap is cash settled. As a seller of a credit default swap, a Portfolio would effectively add leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, the Portfolio would be subject to investment exposure on the full notional value of the swap. Credit default swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, credit, valuation, liquidity, and leveraging risks, and the risk that the swap may not correlate with its reference obligation as expected. Certain standardized credit default swaps are subject to mandatory central clearing. Central clearing is expected to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity; however, there is no assurance that it will achieve that result, and in the meantime, central clearing and related requirements expose a Portfolio to different kinds of costs and risks. In addition, credit default swaps expose a Portfolio to the risk of improper valuation.
Currency: To the extent that a Portfolio invests directly or indirectly in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities denominated in, or that trade in, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, it is subject to the risk that those foreign (non-U.S.) currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged by the Portfolio through foreign currency exchange transactions. Currency rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. Currency rates may be affected by changes in market interest rates, intervention (or the failure to intervene) by the U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) governments, central banks or supranational entities such as the International Monetary Fund, by the imposition of currency controls, or other political or economic developments in the U.S. or abroad.
Deflation: Deflation occurs when prices throughout the economy decline over time — the opposite of inflation. Unless repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed, when there is deflation, the principal and income of an inflation-protected bond will decline and could result in losses.
Derivative Instruments: Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including the risk of changes in the market price of the underlying asset, reference rate, or index credit risk with respect to the counterparty, risk of loss due to changes in market interest rates, liquidity risk, valuation risk, and volatility risk. The amounts required to purchase certain derivatives may be small relative to the magnitude of exposure assumed by a Portfolio. Therefore, the purchase of certain derivatives may have an economic leveraging effect on a Portfolio and exaggerate any increase or decrease in the net asset value. Derivatives may not perform as expected, so a Portfolio may not realize the intended benefits. When used for hedging purposes, the change in value of a derivative may not correlate as expected with the asset, reference rate, or index being hedged. When used as an alternative or substitute for direct cash investment, the return provided by the derivative may not provide the same return as direct cash investment. Generally, derivatives are sophisticated financial instruments whose performance is derived, at least in part, from the performance of an underlying asset, reference rate, or index. Derivatives include, among other things, swap agreements, options, forward foreign currency exchange contracts, and futures. Certain derivatives in which a Portfolio may invest may be negotiated over-the-counter with a single counterparty and as a result are subject to credit risks related to the counterparty’s ability or willingness to perform its obligations; any deterioration in the counterparty’s creditworthiness could adversely affect the value of the derivative. In addition, derivatives and their underlying instruments may experience periods of illiquidity which could cause a Portfolio to hold a position it might otherwise sell, or to sell a position it otherwise might hold at an inopportune time or price. A manager might imperfectly judge the direction of the market. For instance, if a derivative is used as a hedge to offset investment risk in another security, the hedge might not correlate to the market’s movements and may have unexpected or undesired results such as a loss or a reduction in gains. The U.S. government has enacted legislation that provides for regulation of the derivatives market, including clearing, margin, reporting, and registration requirements. The European Union (and other jurisdictions outside of the European Union, including the United Kingdom) has implemented or is in the process of implementing similar requirements, which may affect a Portfolio when it enters into a derivatives transaction with a counterparty organized in that jurisdiction or otherwise subject to that jurisdiction’s derivatives regulations. Because these requirements are relatively new and evolving (and some of the rules are not yet final), their ultimate impact remains unclear. Central clearing is expected to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity; however, there is no assurance that it will achieve that result, and, in the meantime, central clearing and related requirements expose a Portfolio to different kinds of costs and risks.
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Environmental, Social, and Governance (Fixed Income): A Sub-Adviser’s consideration of ESG factors in selecting investments for a Portfolio is based on information that is not standardized, some of which can be qualitative and subjective by nature. A Sub-Adviser’s assessment of ESG factors in respect of obligations of an issuer may rely on third-party data that might be incorrect or based on incomplete or inaccurate information. There is no minimum percentage of a Portfolio’s assets that will be invested in obligations of issuers that a Sub-Adviser views favorably in light of ESG factors, and the Sub-Adviser may choose not to invest in obligations of issuers that compare favorably to obligations of other issuers on the basis of ESG factors. It is possible that a Portfolio will have less exposure to obligations of certain issuers due to a Sub-Adviser’s assessment of ESG factors than other comparable mutual funds. There can be no assurance that an investment selected by a Sub-Adviser, which includes its consideration of ESG factors, will provide more favorable investment performance than another potential investment, and such an investment may, in fact, underperform other potential investments.
Floating Rate Loans: In the event a borrower fails to pay scheduled interest or principal payments on a floating rate loan (which can include certain bank loans), a Portfolio will experience a reduction in its income and a decline in the market value of such floating rate loan. If a floating rate loan is held by a Portfolio through another financial institution, or the Portfolio relies upon another financial institution to administer the loan, the receipt of scheduled interest or principal payments may be subject to the credit risk of such financial institution. Investors in floating rate loans may not be afforded the protections of the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, because loans may not be considered “securities” under such laws. Additionally, the value of collateral, if any, securing a floating rate loan can decline or may be insufficient to meet the borrower’s obligations under the loan, and such collateral may be difficult to liquidate. No active trading market may exist for many floating rate loans and many floating rate loans are subject to restrictions on resale. Transactions in loans typically settle on a delayed basis and may take longer than 7 days to settle. As a result, a Portfolio may not receive the proceeds from a sale of a floating rate loan for a significant period of time. Delay in the receipts of settlement proceeds may impair the ability of a Portfolio to meet its redemption obligations, and may limit the ability of the Portfolio to repay debt, pay dividends, or to take advantage of new investment opportunities.
Focused Investing (Index): To the extent that an Underlying Fund’s benchmark or other index is substantially composed of securities in a particular industry, sector, market segment, or geographic area, the Underlying Fund may allocate its investments to approximately the same extent as the index as part of its investment strategy. As a result, an Underlying Fund may be more sensitive to financial, economic, business, political, regulatory, and other developments and conditions, including natural or other disasters, affecting issuers in a particular industry, sector, market segment, or geographic area in which the Underlying Fund focuses its investments, and if securities of such industry, sector, market segment, or geographic area fall out of favor, the Underlying Fund could underperform, or be more volatile than, a fund that has greater diversification.
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Consumer Sectors: Investments in companies involved in the consumer sectors may be affected by changes in the domestic and international economies, exchange rates, competition, consumers’ disposable income, and consumer preferences.
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Financial Services Sector: Investments in the financial services sector may be subject to credit risk, interest rate risk, and regulatory risk, among others. Banks and other financial institutions can be affected by such factors as downturns in the U.S. and foreign economies and general economic cycles, fiscal and monetary policy (including the effects of changes in interest rates), adverse developments in the real estate market, the deterioration or failure of other financial institutions, and changes in banking or securities regulations.
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Health Care Sector: Investments in companies involved in the health care sector are strongly affected by worldwide scientific or technological developments. Products sold by companies in the health care sector may rapidly become obsolete and are also often dependent on access to resources and the company’s ability to receive patents from regulatory agencies. Many health care companies also are subject to significant government regulation and may be affected by changes in governmental policies. As a result, investments in health care companies include the risk that the economic prospects, and the share prices, of such companies can fluctuate dramatically.
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Industrials Sector: Companies involved in the industrials sector include those whose businesses are dominated by one of the following activities: the manufacture and distribution of capital goods, including aerospace and defense, construction, engineering and building products, electrical equipment, and industrial machinery; the provision of commercial services and supplies, including printing, employment, environmental, and office services; and the provision of transportation services, including airlines, couriers, marine, road and rail, and transportation infrastructure. Companies involved in the industrials sector are affected by changes in the supply and demand for products and services, product obsolescence, claims for environmental damage or product liability, and general economic conditions, among other factors.
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Technology Sector: Investments in companies involved in the technology sector are subject to significant competitive pressures, such as aggressive pricing of products or services, new market entrants, competition for market share, short product cycles due to an accelerated rate of technological developments, evolving industry standards, changing customer demands, and the potential for limited earnings and/or falling profit margins. The failure of a company to adapt to such changes could have a material adverse effect on the company’s business, results of operations, and financial condition. These companies also face the risks that new services, equipment, or technologies will not be accepted by consumers and businesses or will become rapidly obsolete. These factors can affect the profitability of these companies and, as a result, the values of their securities. Many companies involved in the technology sector have limited operating histories, and prices of these companies’ securities historically have been more volatile than those of many other companies’ securities, especially over the short term.
Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investments/Developing and Emerging Markets: To the extent a Portfolio invests in securities of issuers in markets outside the U.S., its share price may be more volatile than if it invested in securities of issuers in the U.S. market due to, among other things, the following factors: comparatively unstable political, social and economic conditions and limited or ineffectual judicial systems; wars; comparatively small market sizes, making securities less liquid and securities prices more sensitive to the movements of large investors and more vulnerable to manipulation; governmental policies or actions, such as high taxes, restrictions on currency movements, replacement of currency, potential for default on sovereign debt, trade or diplomatic disputes, which may include the imposition of economic sanctions (or the threat of new or modified sanctions) or other measures by the U.S. or other governments and supranational organizations, creation of monopolies, and seizure of private property through confiscatory taxation and expropriation or nationalization of company assets; incomplete, outdated, or unreliable information about securities issuers due to less stringent market regulation and accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and practices; comparatively undeveloped markets and weak banking and financial systems; market inefficiencies, such as higher transaction costs, and administrative difficulties, such as delays in processing transactions; and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, which could reduce gains or widen losses.
Economic or other sanctions imposed on a foreign (non-U.S.) country or issuer by the U.S. or on the U.S. by a foreign (non-U.S.) country, could impair a Portfolio's ability to buy, sell, hold, receive, deliver, or otherwise transact in certain securities. In addition, foreign withholding or other taxes could reduce the income available to distribute to shareholders, and special U.S. tax considerations could apply to foreign (non-U.S.) investments. Depositary receipts are subject to risks of foreign (non-U.S.) investments and might not always track the price of the underlying foreign (non-U.S.) security. Markets and economies throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions or events in one market, country or region may adversely impact investments or issuers in another market, country or region.
The United Kingdom (the “UK”) left the European Union (the “EU”) on January 31, 2020 (commonly known as “Brexit”) and entered into an 11-month transition period during which the UK remained part of the EU single market and customs union, the laws of which govern the economic, trade, and security relations between the UK and EU. The transition period concluded on December 31, 2020 and the UK left the EU single market and customs union under the terms of a new trade agreement. The agreement governs the relationship between the UK and the EU with respect to trading goods and services, but critical aspects of the relationship remain unresolved and subject to further negotiation and agreement. Brexit has resulted in volatility in European and global markets and could have negative long-term impacts on financial markets in the UK and throughout Europe. There is considerable uncertainty about the potential consequences of Brexit and how the financial markets will be affected. As this process unfolds, markets may be further disrupted. Given the size and importance of the UK’s economy, uncertainty about its legal, political, and economic relationship with the remaining member states of the EU may continue to be a source of instability.
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Foreign (non-U.S.) investment risks may be greater in developing and emerging markets than in developed markets, for such reasons as social or political unrest, heavy economic dependence on international aid, agriculture or exports (particularly commodities), undeveloped or overburdened infrastructures and legal systems, vulnerability to natural disasters, significant and unpredictable government intervention in markets or the economy, volatile currency exchange rates, currency devaluations, runaway inflation, business practices that depart from norms for developed countries, and generally less developed or liquid markets. In certain emerging market countries, governments participate to a significant degree, through ownership or regulation, in their respective economies. Action by these governments could have a significant adverse effect on market prices of securities and payments of dividends. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which regulates auditors of U.S. public companies, is unable to inspect audit work papers in certain foreign (non-U.S.) countries. Investors in foreign (non-U.S.) countries often have limited rights and few practical remedies to pursue shareholder claims, including class actions or fraud claims, and the ability of the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities to bring and enforce actions against foreign (non-U.S.) issuers or persons is limited. Settlement and asset custody practices for transactions in emerging markets may differ from those in developed markets. Such differences may include possible delays in settlement and certain settlement practices, such as delivery of securities prior to receipt of payment, which increases the likelihood of a “failed settlement.” Failed settlements can result in losses.
In addition, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “HFCAA”) could cause securities of a foreign (non-U.S.) company, including American Depositary Receipts, to be delisted from U.S. stock exchanges if the company does not allow the U.S. government to oversee the auditing of its financial information. Although the requirements of the HFCAA apply to securities of all foreign (non-U.S.) issuers, the SEC has thus far limited its enforcement efforts to securities of Chinese companies. If securities are delisted, a Portfolio’s ability to transact in such securities will be impaired, and the liquidity and market price of the securities may decline. A Portfolio may also need to seek other markets in which to transact in such securities, which could increase the Portfolio’s costs.
Growth Investing: Prices of growth-oriented stocks are more sensitive to investor perceptions of the issuer’s growth potential and may fall quickly and significantly if investors suspect that actual growth may be less than expected. There is a risk that funds that invest in growth-oriented stocks may underperform other funds that invest more broadly. Growth-oriented stocks tend to be more volatile than value-oriented stocks, and may underperform the market as a whole over any given time period. Growth-oriented stocks typically sell at relatively high valuations as compared to other types of securities. Securities of growth companies may be more volatile than other stocks because they usually invest a high portion of earnings in their business, and they may lack the dividends of value-oriented stocks that can cushion stock prices in a falling market. The market may not favor growth-oriented stocks or may not favor equities at all. In addition, earnings disappointments may lead to sharply falling prices because investors buy growth-oriented stocks in anticipation of superior earnings growth. Historically, growth-oriented stocks have been more volatile than value-oriented stocks.
High-Yield Securities: Lower-quality securities (including securities that are or have fallen below investment grade and are classified as “junk bonds” or “high-yield securities”) have greater credit risk and liquidity risk than higher-quality (investment grade) securities, and their issuers' long-term ability to make payments is considered speculative. Prices of lower-quality bonds or other debt instruments are also more volatile, are more sensitive to negative news about the economy or the issuer, and have greater liquidity risk and price volatility.
Index Strategy (Funds-of-Funds): An Underlying Fund (or a portion of the Underlying Fund) that seeks to track an index’s performance and does not use defensive positions or attempt to reduce its exposure to poor performing securities in an index may underperform the overall market (each, an “Underlying Index Fund”). To the extent an Underlying Index Fund’s investments track its target index, such Underlying Index Fund may underperform other funds that invest more broadly. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on a Portfolio. The correlation between an Underlying Index Fund’s performance and index performance may be affected by the timing of purchases and redemptions of the Underlying Index Fund's shares. The correlation between an Underlying Index Fund’s performance and index performance will be reduced by the Underlying Index Fund’s expenses and could be reduced by the timing of purchases and redemptions of the Underlying Index Fund’s shares. In addition, an Underlying Index Fund’s actual holdings might not match the index and an Underlying Index Fund’s effective exposure to index securities at any given time may not precisely correlate. When deciding between Underlying Index Funds benchmarked to the same index, the manager may not select the Underlying Index Fund with
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the lowest expenses. In particular, when deciding between Underlying Index Funds benchmarked to the same index, the manager will generally select an affiliated Underlying Index Fund, even when the affiliated Underlying Index Fund has higher expenses than an unaffiliated Underlying Index Fund. When a Portfolio invests in an affiliated Underlying Index Fund with higher expenses, the Portfolio’s performance will be lower than if the Portfolio had invested in an Underlying Index Fund with comparable performance but lower expenses (although any expense limitation arrangements in place at the time might have the effect of limiting or eliminating the amount of that underperformance). The manager may select an unaffiliated Underlying Index Fund, including an ETF, over an affiliated Underlying Index Fund benchmarked to the same index when the manager believes making an investment in the affiliated Underlying Index Fund would be disadvantageous to the affiliated Underlying Index Fund, such as when a Portfolio is investing on a short-term basis.
Index Strategy for Voya Emerging Markets Index Portfolio: The index selected may underperform the overall market. To the extent a Portfolio (or a portion of the Portfolio) seeks to track an index’s performance, the Portfolio will not use defensive positions or attempt to reduce its exposure to poor performing securities in the index. To the extent a Portfolio’s investments track its target index, the Portfolio may underperform other funds that invest more broadly. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on a Portfolio. The correlation between a Portfolio’s performance and index performance may be affected by the Portfolio’s expenses and the timing of purchases and redemptions of the Portfolio’s shares. In addition, a Portfolio’s actual holdings might not match the index and the Portfolio’s effective exposure to index securities at any given time may not precisely correlate. In addition, compliance with sanctions imposed by the U.S. or other governments against certain Russian issuers whose securities are included in the Portfolio’s index may impair the Portfolio’s ability to purchase, sell, receive, deliver or obtain exposure to those securities, and may interfere with the Portfolio’s ability to track its index.
Inflation-Indexed Bonds: If the index measuring inflation falls, the principal value of inflation-indexed bonds will be adjusted downward, and consequently, the interest payable on these bonds (calculated with respect to a smaller principal amount) will be reduced. In addition, inflation-indexed bonds are subject to the usual risks associated with debt instruments, such as interest rate and credit risk. Repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed in the case of U.S. Treasury inflation-indexed bonds. For bonds that do not provide a similar guarantee, the adjusted principal value of the bond repaid at maturity may be less than the original principal.
Interest in Loans: The value and the income streams of interests in loans (including participation interests in lease financings and assignments in secured variable or floating rate loans) will decline if borrowers delay payments or fail to pay altogether. A significant rise in market interest rates could increase this risk. Although loans may be fully collateralized when purchased, such collateral may become illiquid or decline in value.
Interest Rate: A rise in market interest rates generally results in a fall in the value of bonds and other debt instruments; conversely, values generally rise as market interest rates fall. Interest rate risk is generally greater for debt instruments than floating-rate instruments. The higher the credit quality of the instrument, and the longer its maturity or duration, the more sensitive it is to changes in market interest rates. Duration is a measure of sensitivity of the price of a debt instrument to a change in interest rate. As of the date of this Prospectus, the U.S. has recently experienced a rising market interest rate environment, which may increase a Portfolio’s exposure to risks associated with rising market interest rates. Rising market interest rates have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility. To the extent that a Portfolio invests in debt instruments, an increase in market interest rates may lead to increased redemptions and increased portfolio turnover, which could reduce liquidity for certain investments, adversely affect values, and increase costs. Increased redemptions may cause a Portfolio to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so and may lower returns. If dealer capacity in debt markets is insufficient for market conditions, it may further inhibit liquidity and increase volatility in debt markets. Further, recent and potential future changes in government policy may affect interest rates. Negative or very low interest rates could magnify the risks associated with changes in interest rates. In general, changing interest rates, including rates that fall below zero, could have unpredictable effects on markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility. Changes to monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board or other regulatory actions could expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility, interest rate sensitivity, and reduced liquidity, which may impact a Portfolio’s operations and return potential.
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Investment Model: A Sub-Adviser’s proprietary investment model may not adequately take into account existing or unforeseen market factors or the interplay between such factors, and there is no guarantee that the use of a proprietary investment model will result in effective investment decisions for a Portfolio. Proprietary investment models used by a Sub-Adviser to evaluate securities or securities markets are based on the Sub-Adviser’s understanding of the interplay of market factors and do not assure successful investment. The markets, or the price of individual securities, may be affected by factors not foreseen in the construction of the proprietary investment models. Portfolios that are actively managed, in whole or in part, according to a quantitative investment model (including models that utilize artificial intelligence) can perform differently from the market, based on the investment model and the factors used in the analysis, the weight placed on each factor, and changes from the factors’ historical trends. Mistakes in the construction and implementation of the investment models (including, for example, data problems and/or software issues) may create errors or limitations that might go undetected or are discovered only after the errors or limitations have negatively impacted performance.
LIBOR Transition and Reference Benchmarks: The London Interbank Offered Rate ( “ LIBOR ” ) was the offered rate for short-term Eurodollar deposits between major international banks. The terms of investments, financings or other transactions (including certain derivatives transactions) to which a Portfolio may be a party have historically been tied to LIBOR. In connection with the global transition away from LIBOR led by regulators and market participants, LIBOR was last published on a representative basis at the end of June 2023. Alternative reference rates to LIBOR have been established in most major currencies and markets in these new rates are continuing to develop. The transition away from LIBOR to the use of replacement rates has gone relatively smoothly but the full impact of the transition on a Portfolio or the financial instruments in which the Portfolio invests cannot yet be fully determined.
In addition, interest rates or other types of rates and indices which are classed as “benchmarks” have been the subject of ongoing national and international regulatory reform, including under the European Union regulation on indices used as benchmarks in financial instruments and financial contracts (known as the “Benchmarks Regulation”). The Benchmarks Regulation has been enacted into United Kingdom law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended), subject to amendments made by the Benchmarks (Amendment and Transitional Provision) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/657) and other statutory instruments. Following the implementation of these reforms, the manner of administration of benchmarks has changed and may further change in the future, with the result that relevant benchmarks may perform differently than in the past, the use of benchmarks that are not compliant with the new standards by certain supervised entities may be restricted, and certain benchmarks may be eliminated entirely. Such changes could cause increased market volatility and disruptions in liquidity for instruments that rely on or are impacted by such benchmarks. Additionally, there could be other consequences which cannot be predicted.
Liquidity: If a security is illiquid, a Portfolio might be unable to sell the security at a time when the Portfolio’s manager might wish to sell, or at all. Further, the lack of an established secondary market may make it more difficult to value illiquid securities, exposing a Portfolio to the risk that the prices at which it sells illiquid securities will be less than the prices at which they were valued when held by a Portfolio, which could cause the Portfolio to lose money. The prices of illiquid securities may be more volatile than more liquid securities, and the risks associated with illiquid securities may be greater in times of financial stress.
Market: The market values of securities will fluctuate, sometimes sharply and unpredictably, based on overall economic conditions, governmental actions or intervention, market disruptions caused by trade disputes or other factors, political developments, and other factors. Prices of equity securities tend to rise and fall more dramatically than those of debt instruments. Additionally, legislative, regulatory or tax policies or developments may adversely impact the investment techniques available to a manager, add to costs, and impair the ability of a Portfolio to achieve its investment objectives.
Market Capitalization: Stocks fall into three broad market capitalization categories: large, mid, and small. Investing primarily in one category carries the risk that, due to current market conditions, that category may be out of favor with investors. If valuations of large-capitalization companies appear to be greatly out of proportion to the valuations of mid- or small-capitalization companies, investors may migrate to the stocks of mid- and small-capitalization companies causing a fund that invests in these companies to increase in value more rapidly than a fund that invests in large-capitalization companies. Investing in mid- and small-capitalization companies may be subject to special risks associated with narrower product lines, more limited financial resources, smaller management groups, more limited publicly available information, and a more limited trading market for their stocks as compared with large-capitalization companies. As a result, stocks of mid- and small-capitalization companies may be more volatile and may decline significantly in market downturns.
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Market Disruption and Geopolitical: A Portfolio is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Due to the increasing interdependence among global economies and markets, conditions in one country, market, or region might adversely impact markets, issuers and/or foreign exchange rates in other countries, including the United States. Wars, terrorism, global health crises and pandemics, and other geopolitical events that have led, and may continue to lead, to increased market volatility and may have adverse short- or long-term effects on U.S. and global economies and markets, generally. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant market volatility, exchange suspensions and closures, declines in global financial markets, higher default rates, supply chain disruptions, and a substantial economic downturn in economies throughout the world. The economic impacts of COVID-19 have created a unique challenge for real estate markets. Many businesses have either partially or fully transitioned to a remote-working environment and this transition may negatively impact the occupancy rates of commercial real estate over time. Natural and environmental disasters and systemic market dislocations are also highly disruptive to economies and markets. In addition, military action by Russia in Ukraine has, and may continue to, adversely affect global energy and financial markets and therefore could affect the value of a Portfolio’s investments, including beyond the Portfolio’s direct exposure to Russian issuers or nearby geographic regions. The extent and duration of the military action, sanctions, and resulting market disruptions are impossible to predict and could be substantial. A number of U.S. domestic banks and foreign (non-U.S.) banks have recently experienced financial difficulties and, in some cases, failures. There can be no certainty that the actions taken by regulators to limit the effect of those financial difficulties and failures on other banks or other financial institutions or on the U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) economies generally will be successful. It is possible that more banks or other financial institutions will experience financial difficulties or fail, which may affect adversely other U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) financial institutions and economies. These events as well as other changes in foreign (non-U.S.) and domestic economic, social, and political conditions also could adversely affect individual issuers or related groups of issuers, securities markets, interest rates, credit ratings, inflation, investor sentiment, and other factors affecting the value of a Portfolio’s investments. Any of these occurrences could disrupt the operations of a Portfolio and of the Portfolio’s service providers.
Mid-Capitalization Company: Investments in mid-capitalization companies may involve greater risk than is customarily associated with larger, more established companies due to the greater business risks of a limited operating history, smaller size, limited markets, and financial resources, narrow product lines, less management depth, and more reliance on key personnel. Consequently, the securities of mid-capitalization companies may have limited market stability and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements than securities of larger, more established growth companies or the market averages in general.
Money Market Regulatory: Changes in government regulations may adversely affect the value of a security held by a Portfolio. The SEC has adopted amendments to money market fund regulation that permit the Portfolio to impose discretionary liquidity fees, increase the Portfolio’s daily and weekly liquid asset minimum requirements and eliminate the ability of the Portfolio to temporarily suspend redemptions due to declines in the Portfolio's weekly liquid assets, among other changes. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Board has elected not to subject the Portfolio to such discretionary liquidity fees. These changes may result in reduced yields for money market funds, including the Portfolio, which may invest in other money market funds. The SEC or other regulators may adopt additional money market fund reforms, which may impact the structure and operation or performance of the Portfolio.
Mortgage- and/or Asset-Backed Securities: Defaults on, or low credit quality or liquidity of, the underlying assets of the asset-backed (including mortgage-backed) securities may impair the value of these securities and result in losses. There may be limitations on the enforceability of any security interest or collateral granted with respect to those underlying assets, and the value of collateral may not satisfy the obligation upon default. These securities also present a higher degree of prepayment and extension risk and interest rate risk than do other types of debt instruments. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain asset-backed securities. The value of longer-term securities generally changes more in response to changes in market interest rates than shorter-term securities.
These securities may be affected significantly by government regulation, market interest rates, market perception of the creditworthiness of an issuer servicer, and loan-to-value ratio of the underlying assets. During an economic downturn, the mortgages, commercial or consumer loans, trade or credit card receivables, installment purchase obligations, leases, or other debt obligations underlying an asset-backed security may experience an increase in defaults as borrowers experience difficulties in repaying their loans which may cause the valuation of such securities to be more volatile and may reduce the value of such securities. These risks are particularly heightened for investments in asset-backed
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securities that contain sub-prime loans, which are loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories and often have higher default rates. In addition, certain types of real estate may be adversely affected by changing usage trends, such as office buildings as a result of work-from-home practices and commercial facilities as a result of an increase in online shopping, which could in turn result in defaults and declines in value of mortgage-backed securities secured by such properties.
Municipal Obligations: The municipal securities market is volatile and can be affected significantly by adverse tax, legislative, or political changes and the financial condition of the issuers of municipal securities. Among other risks, investments in municipal securities are subject to the risk that an issuer may delay payment, restructure its debt, or refuse to pay interest or repay principal on its debt. Municipal revenue obligations may be backed by the revenues generated from a specific project or facility and include industrial development bonds and private activity bonds. Private activity and industrial development bonds are dependent on the ability of the facility’s user to meet its financial obligations and the value of any real or personal property pledged as security for such payment. Many municipal securities are issued to finance projects relating to education, health care, transportation, and utilities. Conditions in those sectors may affect the overall municipal securities market. In addition, municipal securities backed by current or anticipated revenues from a specific project or specific asset may be adversely affected by the discontinuance of the taxation supporting the project or asset or the inability to collect revenues from the project or asset. If an issuer of a municipal security does not comply with applicable tax requirements for tax-exempt status, interest from the security may become taxable, and the security could decline in value.
Non-Diversification (Index): Depending on the composition of the Index, a Portfolio may at any time, with respect to 75% of a Portfolio’s total assets, invest more than 5% of the value of its total assets in the securities of any one issuer. As a result, a Portfolio would at that time be non-diversified, as defined in the 1940 Act. A non-diversified investment company may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer than may a diversified investment company. A non-diversified investment company is subject to the risks of focusing investments in a small number of issuers, including being more susceptible to risks associated with a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence than a more diversified portfolio might be. A Portfolio may significantly underperform other mutual funds or investments due to the poor performance of relatively few securities, or even a single security, and a Portfolio’s shares may experience significant fluctuations in value.
Other Investment Companies: The main risk of investing in other investment companies, including ETFs, is the risk that the value of an investment company’s underlying investments might decrease. Shares of investment companies that are listed on an exchange may trade at a discount or premium from their net asset value. You will pay a proportionate share of the expenses of those other investment companies (including management fees, administration fees, and custodial fees) in addition to a Portfolio’s expenses. The investment policies of the other investment companies may not be the same as those of a Portfolio; as a result, an investment in the other investment companies may be subject to additional or different risks than those to which a Portfolio is typically subject.
ETFs are exchange -traded investment companies that are, in many cases, designed to provide investment results corresponding to an index. Additional risks of investments in ETFs include that: (i) an active trading market for an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained; or (ii) trading may be halted if the listing exchanges’ officials deem such action appropriate, the shares are delisted from an exchange, or the activation of market-wide “circuit breakers” (which are tied to large decreases in stock prices) halts trading of an ETF’s shares. Other investment companies include Holding Company Depositary Receipts (“HOLDRs”). Because HOLDRs concentrate in the stocks of a particular industry, trends in that industry may have a dramatic impact on their value. In addition, shares of ETFs may trade at a premium or discount to net asset value and are subject to secondary market trading risks. Secondary markets may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads, and extended trade settlement periods in times of market stress because market makers and authorized participants may step away from making a market in an ETF’s shares, which could cause a material decline in the ETF’s net asset value.
Other Investment Companies (Money Market Funds): A money market fund may only invest in other investment companies that qualify as money market funds under Rule 2a-7 of the 1940 Act, and there is a risk that such money market funds may not comply with Rule 2a-7. You will pay a proportionate share of the expenses of those other investment companies (including management fees, administration fees, and custodial fees) in addition to the expenses of a Portfolio. The investment policies of the other investment companies may not be the same as those of a Portfolio; as a result, an investment in the other investment companies may be subject to additional or different risks than those to which a Portfolio is typically subject.
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Portfolio Turnover: A Portfolio may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities to carry out its investment strategies, which may result in high portfolio turnover. A high portfolio turnover rate may increase transaction costs, which may lower a Portfolio’s performance and may increase the likelihood of capital gains distributions.
Preferred Stocks: Preferred stocks represent an equity interest in a company that generally entitles the holder to receive, in preference to the holders of other securities such as common stocks, dividends, and a fixed share of the proceeds resulting from a liquidation of the company. Some preferred stocks also entitle their holders to receive additional liquidation proceeds on the same basis as holders of a company’s common stock, and thus also represent an ownership interest in that company.
Preferred stock may pay fixed or adjustable rates of return. Preferred stock is subject to issuer-specific and market risks applicable generally to equity securities. In addition, a company’s preferred stock generally pays dividends only after the company makes required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt. For this reason, the value of preferred stock will usually react more strongly than bonds and other debt to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects.
Preferred stock of smaller companies may be more vulnerable to adverse developments than preferred stock of larger companies.
Preferred stock includes certain hybrid securities and other types of preferred stock with different features from those of traditional preferred stock described above. Preferred stocks that are hybrid securities possess various features of both debt and traditional preferred stock and as such, they may constitute senior debt, junior debt, or preferred shares in an issuer’s capital structure. Therefore, unlike traditional preferred stock, hybrid securities may not be subordinate to a company’s debt instruments.
Preferred stock may include features permitting or requiring the issuer to defer or omit distributions. Among other things, such deferral or omission may result in adverse tax consequences for a Portfolio. Preferred stock generally does not have voting rights with respect to the issuer unless dividends have been in arrears for certain specified periods of time. Preferred stock may be less liquid than other securities. As a result, preferred stock is subject to the risk that they may be unable to be sold at the time desired by a Portfolio or at prices approximating the values at which the Portfolio is carrying the stock on its books. In addition, over longer periods of time, certain types of preferred stock may become more scarce or less liquid as a result of legislative changes. Such events may negatively affect the prices of stock held by a Portfolio, which may result in losses to the Portfolio. In addition, an issuer of preferred stock may redeem the stock prior to a specified date, which may occur due to changes in tax or securities laws or corporate actions. A redemption by the issuer may negatively impact the return of the preferred stock.
Prepayment and Extension: Many types of debt instruments are subject to prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal earlier than expected. This risk is heightened in a falling market interest rate environment. Prepayment may expose a Portfolio to a lower rate of return upon reinvestment of principal. Also, if a debt instrument subject to prepayment has been purchased at a premium, the value of the premium would be lost in the event of prepayment. Extension risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt instrument will pay back the principal later than expected. This risk is heightened in a rising market interest rate environment. This may negatively affect performance, as the value of the debt instrument decreases when principal payments are made later than expected. Additionally, a Portfolio may be prevented from investing proceeds it would have received at a given time at the higher prevailing interest rates.
Real Estate Companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts: Investing in real estate companies and REITs may subject a Portfolio to risks similar to those associated with the direct ownership of real estate, including losses from casualty or condemnation, changes in local and general economic conditions, supply and demand, market interest rates, zoning laws, regulatory limitations on rents, property taxes, overbuilding, high foreclosure rates, and operating expenses in addition to terrorist attacks, wars, or other acts that destroy real property. Some REITs may invest in a limited number of properties, in a narrow geographic area or in a single property type, which increases the risk that a Portfolio could be unfavorably affected by the poor performance of a single investment or investment type. These companies are also sensitive to factors such as changes in real estate values and property taxes, market interest rates, cash flow of underlying real estate assets, supply and demand, and the management skill and creditworthiness of the issuer. Borrowers could default on or sell investments the REIT holds, which could reduce the cash flow needed to make distributions to investors. In addition, REITs may also be affected by tax and regulatory requirements in that a REIT
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may not qualify for favorable tax treatment or regulatory exemptions. Investments in REITs are affected by the management skill of the REIT’s sponsor. A Portfolio will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management fees, paid by each REIT in which it invests.
Repurchase Agreements: In the event that the other party to a repurchase agreement defaults on its obligations, a Portfolio would generally seek to sell the underlying security serving as collateral for the repurchase agreement. However, the value of collateral may be insufficient to satisfy the counterparty's obligation and/or a Portfolio may encounter delay and incur costs before being able to sell the security. Such a delay may involve loss of interest or a decline in price of the security, which could result in a loss. In addition, if a Portfolio is characterized by a court as an unsecured creditor, it would be at risk of losing some or all of the principal and interest involved in the transaction.
Restricted Securities: Securities that are not registered for sale to the public under the Securities Act of 1933 are referred to as “restricted securities.” These securities may be sold in private placement transactions between issuers and their purchasers and may be neither listed on an exchange nor traded in other established markets, and often, these securities are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale. As a result of the absence of a public trading market, the prices of these securities may be more volatile, less liquid and more difficult to value than publicly traded securities. The price realized from the sale of these securities could be less than the amount originally paid or less than their fair value if they are resold in privately negotiated transactions. In addition, these securities may not be subject to disclosure and other investment protection requirements that are afforded to publicly traded securities. Certain restricted securities represent investments in smaller, less seasoned issuers, which may involve greater risk.
Securities Lending: Securities lending involves two primary risks: “ investment risk ” and “ borrower default risk. ” When lending securities, a Portfolio will receive cash or U.S. government securities as collateral. Investment risk is the risk that a Portfolio will lose money from the investment of the cash collateral received from the borrower. Borrower default risk is the risk that a Portfolio will lose money due to the failure of a borrower to return a borrowed security. Securities lending may result in leverage. The use of leverage may exaggerate any increase or decrease in the net asset value, causing a Portfolio to be more volatile. The use of leverage may increase expenses and increase the impact of a Portfolio’s other risks.
A Portfolio seeks to minimize investment risk by limiting the investment of cash collateral to high-quality instruments of short maturity. In the event of a borrower default, a Portfolio will be protected to the extent the Portfolio is able to exercise its rights in the collateral promptly and the value of such collateral is sufficient to purchase replacement securities. A Portfolio is protected by its securities lending agent, which has agreed to indemnify the Portfolio from losses resulting from borrower default.
Small-Capitalization Company: Investments in small-capitalization companies may involve greater risk than is customarily associated with larger, more established companies due to the greater business risks of a limited operating history, small size, limited markets and financial resources, narrow product lines, less management depth and more reliance on key personnel. The securities of small-capitalization companies are subject to liquidity risk as they are often traded over-the-counter and may not be traded in volumes typically seen on national securities exchanges.
Sovereign Debt: Sovereign debt is issued or guaranteed by foreign (non-U.S.) government entities. Investments in sovereign debt are subject to the risk that a government entity may delay payment, restructure its debt, or refuse to pay interest or repay principal on its sovereign debt due to cash flow problems, insufficient foreign currency reserves, political considerations, social changes, the relative size of its debt position to its economy, or its failure to put in place economic reforms required by the International Monetary Fund or other multilateral agencies. If a government entity defaults, it may ask for more time in which to pay or for further loans. There is no legal process for collecting amounts owed on sovereign debt, such as bankruptcy proceedings, that a government does not pay.
Underlying Funds: Because a Portfolio invests primarily in Underlying Funds, the investment performance of a Portfolio is directly related to the investment performance of the Underlying Funds in which it invests. When a Portfolio invests in an Underlying Fund, it is exposed indirectly to the risks of a direct investment in the Underlying Fund. If a Portfolio invests a significant portion of its assets in a single Underlying Fund, it may be more susceptible to risks associated with that Underlying Fund and its investments than if it invested in a broader range of Underlying Funds. It is possible that more than one Underlying Fund will hold securities of the same issuers, thereby increasing a Portfolio’s indirect exposure to those issuers. It also is possible that one Underlying Fund may be selling a particular security when another is buying it, producing little or no change in exposure but generating transaction costs and/or resulting in realization
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of gains with no economic benefit. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of any Underlying Fund will be achieved. In addition, a Portfolio’s shareholders will indirectly bear their proportionate share of the Underlying Funds’ fees and expenses, in addition to the fees and expenses of a Portfolio itself.
To the extent an Underlying Fund is an ETF, such investment would be subject to additional risks, which include that: (i) an active trading market for an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained; or (ii) trading may be halted if the listing exchanges’ officials deem such action appropriate, the shares are delisted from an exchange, or the activation of market-wide “circuit breakers” (which are tied to large decreases in stock prices) halts trading of an ETF’s shares. In addition, shares of ETFs may trade at a premium or discount to net asset value and are subject to secondary market trading risks. Secondary markets may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads, and extended trade settlement periods in times of market stress because market makers and authorized participants may step away from making a market in an ETF’s shares, which could cause a material decline in the ETF’s net asset value.
U.S. Government Securities and Obligations: U.S. government securities are obligations of, or guaranteed by, the U.S. government, its agencies, or government-sponsored enterprises. U.S. government securities are subject to market risk and interest rate risk, and may be subject to varying degrees of credit risk. Some U.S. government securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and are guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the U.S. Treasury. These include direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury such as U.S. Treasury notes, bills, and bonds, as well as indirect obligations including certain securities of the Government National Mortgage Association, the Small Business Administration, and the Farmers Home Administration, among others. Other U.S. government securities are not direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury, but rather are backed by the ability to borrow directly from the U.S. Treasury, including certain securities of the Federal Financing Bank, the Federal Home Loan Bank, and the U.S. Postal Service. Other U.S. government securities are backed solely by the credit of the agency or instrumentality itself and are neither guaranteed nor insured by the U.S. government and, therefore, involve greater risk. These include securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Bank, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and the Federal Farm Credit Bank, among others. Consequently, the investor must look principally to the agency issuing or guaranteeing the obligation for ultimate repayment. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government would provide financial support to such agencies if it is not obligated to do so by law. The impact of greater governmental scrutiny into the operations of certain agencies and government-sponsored enterprises may adversely affect the value of securities issued by these entities. U.S. government securities may be subject to price declines due to changing market interest rates. From time to time, uncertainty regarding the status of negotiations in the U.S. government to increase the statutory debt ceiling could increase the risk that the U.S. government may default on payments on certain U.S. government securities, cause the credit rating of the U.S. government to be downgraded, increase volatility in the stock and bond markets, result in higher interest rates, reduce prices of U.S. Treasury securities, and/or increase the costs of various kinds of debt. If a U.S. government-sponsored entity is negatively impacted by legislative or regulatory action (or lack thereof), is unable to meet its obligations, or its creditworthiness declines, the performance of a Portfolio that holds securities of the entity will be adversely impacted.
Value Investing: Securities that appear to be undervalued may never appreciate to the extent expected. Further, because the prices of value-oriented securities tend to correlate more closely with economic cycles than growth-oriented securities, they generally are more sensitive to changing economic conditions, such as changes in market interest rates, corporate earnings and industrial production. The manager may be wrong in its assessment of a company’s value and the securities a Portfolio holds may not reach their full values. Risks associated with value investing include that a security that is perceived by the manager to be undervalued may actually be appropriately priced and, thus, may not appreciate and provide anticipated capital growth. The market may not favor value-oriented securities and may not favor equities at all. During those periods, a Portfolio’s relative performance may suffer. There is a risk that funds that invest in value-oriented securities may underperform other funds that invest more broadly.
When-Issued, Delayed Delivery, and Forward Commitment Transactions: When-issued, delayed delivery , and forward commitment transactions involve the risk that the security a Portfolio buys will lose value prior to its delivery. These transactions may result in leverage. The use of leverage may exaggerate any increase or decrease in the net asset value, causing a Portfolio to be more volatile. The use of leverage may increase expenses and increase the impact of a Portfolio’s other risks. There also is the risk that the security will not be issued or that the other party will not meet its obligation. If this occurs, a Portfolio loses both the investment opportunity for the assets it set aside to pay for the security and any gain in the security’s price.
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Zero-Coupon Bonds and Pay-in-Kind Securities: Zero-coupon bonds and pay-in-kind securities may be subject to greater fluctuations in price due to market interest rate changes than conventional interest-bearing securities. A Portfolio may have to pay out the imputed income on zero-coupon bonds without receiving the actual cash currency, resulting in a loss.
Further Information About Principal Risks
The following provides additional information about certain aspects of the principal risks described above.
Counterparty: The entity with which a Portfolio conducts portfolio-related business (such as trading or securities lending), or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees investments or agreements that the Portfolio owns or is otherwise exposed to, may refuse or may become unable to honor its obligations under the terms of a transaction or agreement. As a result, the Portfolio may sustain losses and be less likely to achieve its investment objective. These risks may be greater when engaging in over-the-counter transactions or when a Portfolio conducts business with a limited number of counterparties.
Duration: One measure of risk for debt instruments is duration. Duration measures the sensitivity of a bond’s price to market interest rate movements and is one of the tools used by a portfolio manager in selecting debt instruments. Duration measures the average life of a bond on a present value basis by incorporating into one measure a bond’s yield, coupons, final maturity and call features. As a point of reference, the duration of a non-callable 7% coupon bond with a remaining maturity of 5 years is approximately 4.5 years and the duration of a non-callable 7% coupon bond with a remaining maturity of 10 years is approximately 8 years. Material changes in market interest rates may impact the duration calculation. For example, the price of a bond with an average duration of 5 years would be expected to fall approximately 5% if market interest rates rose by 1%. Conversely, the price of a bond with an average duration of 5 years would be expected to rise approximately 5% if market interest rates dropped by 1%.
Inflation: Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from a Portfolio's investments will be worth less in the future as inflation decreases the value of payments at future dates. As inflation increases, the value of a Portfolio could decline. Inflation rates may change frequently and drastically as a result of various factors and a Portfolio's investments may not keep pace with inflation, which may result in losses to the Portfolio’s investors or adversely affect the value of shareholders' investments in the Portfolio.
Investment by Other Funds: Certain funds-of-funds, including some Voya mutual funds, may be allowed to invest in the Underlying Funds. In some cases, an Underlying Fund may serve as a primary or significant investment vehicle for a fund-of-funds. If investments by these other funds result in large inflows of cash to or outflows of cash from the Underlying Fund, the Underlying Fund could be required to sell securities or invest cash at times, or in ways, that could, among other things, negatively impact its performance, speed the realization of capital gains, increase its portfolio turnover, affect the liquidity of its portfolio, or increase transaction costs. Certain investments by funds-of-funds in an Underlying Fund may limit the ability of the Underlying Fund to invest in other investment companies, including private funds. The risks described above will be greater to the extent that one or a few shareholders own a significant portion of the Underlying Fund.
Leverage: Certain transactions and investment strategies may give rise to leverage. Such transactions and investment strategies include, but are not limited to: borrowing, dollar rolls, reverse repurchase agreements, loans of portfolio securities, short sales, and the use of when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment transactions. The use of certain derivatives may also increase leveraging risk and, in some cases, adverse changes in the value or level of a derivative’s underlying asset, rate, or index may result in potentially unlimited losses. The use of leverage may exaggerate any increase or decrease in the net asset value, causing a Portfolio to be more volatile than if the Portfolio had not been leveraged. The use of leverage may increase expenses and increase the impact of a Portfolio’s other risks. The use of leverage may cause a Portfolio to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet regulatory requirements resulting in increased volatility of returns. There can be no guarantee that a leveraging strategy will be successful.
Manager: A Portfolio is subject to manager risk because it is an actively managed investment portfolio. The Investment Adviser, a Sub-Adviser, or each individual portfolio manager will make judgments and apply investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions, but there can be no guarantee that these decisions will produce the desired results. A Portfolio’s portfolio may fail to produce the intended results, and a Portfolio ’s portfolio may underperform other comparable funds because of portfolio management decisions related to, among other things,
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the selection of investments, portfolio construction, risk assessments, and/or the outlook on market trends and opportunities. Many managers of equity funds employ styles that are characterized as “value” or “growth.” However, these terms can have different applications by different managers. One manager’s value approach may be different from that of another, and one manager’s growth approach may be different from that of another. For example, some value managers employ a style in which they seek to identify companies that they believe are valued at a more substantial or “deeper discount” to a company’s net worth than other value managers. Therefore, some funds that are characterized as growth or value can have greater volatility than other funds managed by other managers in a growth or value style.
Operational: A Portfolio, its service providers, and other market participants increasingly depend on complex information technology and communications systems to conduct business functions. These systems are subject to a number of different threats or risks that could adversely affect a Portfolio and its shareholders, despite the efforts of a Portfolio and its service providers to adopt technologies, processes, and practices intended to mitigate these risks. Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect a Portfolio’s service providers, counterparties, market participants, or issuers of securities held by a Portfolio may adversely affect a Portfolio and its shareholders, including by causing losses or impairing the Portfolio’s operations. Information relating to a Portfolio’s investments has been and will in the future be delivered electronically, which can give rise to a number of risks, including, but not limited to, the risks that such communications may not be secure and may contain computer viruses or other defects, may not be accurately replicated on other systems, or may be intercepted, deleted or interfered with, without the knowledge of the sender or the intended recipient.
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KEY INFORMATION ABOUT THE UNDERLYING FUNDS
Each Portfolio seeks to meet its investment objectives by allocating its assets among Underlying Funds. The information set out below is excerpted from an Underlying Fund's current prospectus as of this date and provides a brief description of the Underlying Fund. It is intended to provide investors some idea of the types of Underlying Funds in which a Portfolio invests.
A Portfolio may or may not invest in each of the Underlying Funds listed below, and a Portfolio may invest in Underlying Funds not listed below. The amount of a Portfolio’s assets invested in any particular Underlying Fund will change from time to time, and it is impossible to predict the extent to which the Portfolio may be invested in any particular Underlying Fund or Underlying Funds at any time.
Other Voya funds-of-funds may invest in different underlying funds that are advised or sponsored by the Investment Adviser or its affiliates and that incur lower fees and expenses than the comparable Underlying Funds, or that incur no fees and expenses. In any such case, the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses of those other funds-of-funds will be lower than those of each applicable Portfolio.
Affiliated Underlying Funds
Underlying Fund: Voya Emerging Markets Index Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The portfolio seeks investment results (before fees and expenses) that correspond to the total return (which includes capital appreciation and income) of an index that measures the investment return of emerging markets securities. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies, which are at the time of purchase, included in the MSCI Emerging Markets IndexSM; depositary receipts representing securities in the MSCI Emerging Markets IndexSM; convertible securities that are convertible into stocks included in the MSCI Emerging Markets IndexSM; other derivatives whose economic returns are, by design, closely equivalent to the returns of the MSCI Emerging Markets IndexSM or its components; and exchange-traded funds that track the MSCI Emerging Markets IndexSM.
Underlying Fund: Voya Government Liquid Assets Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The portfolio seeks high level of current income consistent with the preservation of capital and liquidity. The portfolio invests at least 99.5% of its total assets in government securities, cash and repurchase agreements collateralized fully by government securities or cash. In addition, under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in government securities and repurchase agreements that are collateralized by government securities.
Underlying Fund: Voya High Yield Bond Fund
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The fund seeks to provide investors with a high level of current income and total return. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in a diversified portfolio of high-yield (high risk) bonds commonly known as “junk bonds.”
Underlying Fund: Voya International Index Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
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The portfolio seeks investment results (before fees and expenses) that correspond to the total return (which includes capital appreciation and income) of the MSCI EAFE® Index . Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies, which are at the time of purchase, included in the MSCI EAFE® Index; convertible securities that are convertible into stocks included in the MSCI EAFE® Index; other derivatives whose economic returns are, by design, closely equivalent to the returns of the MSCI EAFE® Index or its components; and exchange-traded funds that track the MSCI EAFE® Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests all, or substantially all of its assets in these securities.
Underlying Fund: Voya Limited Maturity Bond Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The portfolio seeks highest current income consistent with low risk to principal and liquidity. As a secondary objective, the portfolio seeks to enhance its total return through capital appreciation when market factors, such as falling interest rates and rising bond prices, indicate that capital appreciation may be available without significant risk to principal. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in a diversified portfolio of bonds that are limited maturity debt instruments.
Underlying Fund: Voya RussellTM Large Cap Growth Index Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The portfolio seeks investment results (before fees and expenses) that correspond to the total return (which includes capital appreciation and income) of the Russell Top 200® Growth Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies, which are at the time of purchase, included in the Russell Top 200® Growth Index; convertible securities that are convertible into stocks included in the Russell Top 200® Growth Index; other derivatives whose economic returns are, by design, closely equivalent to the returns of the Russell Top 200® Growth Index or its components; and exchange-traded funds that track the Russell Top 200® Growth Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests all, or substantially all of its assets in these securities.
Underlying Fund: Voya RussellTM Large Cap Index Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The portfolio seeks investment results (before fees and expenses) that correspond to the total return (which includes capital appreciation and income) of the Russell Top 200® Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies, which are at the time of purchase, included in the Russell Top 200® Index; convertible securities that are convertible into stocks included in the Russell Top 200® Index; other derivatives whose economic returns are, by design, closely equivalent to the returns of the Russell Top 200® Index or its components; and exchange-traded funds that track the Russell Top 200® Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests all, or substantially all of its assets in these securities.
Underlying Fund: Voya RussellTM Large Cap Value Index Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The portfolio seeks investment results (before fees and expenses) that correspond to the total return (which includes capital appreciation and income) of the Russell Top 200® Value Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies, which are at the time of purchase, included in the Russell Top 200® Value Index; convertible securities that are convertible
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into stocks included in the Russell Top 200® Value Index; other derivatives whose economic returns are, by design, closely equivalent to the returns of the Russell Top 200® Value Index or its components; and exchange-traded funds that track the Russell Top 200® Value Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests all, or substantially all of its assets in these securities.
Underlying Fund: Voya RussellTM Mid Cap Growth Index Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The portfolio seeks investment results (before fees and expenses) that correspond to the total return (which includes capital appreciation and income) of the Russell Midcap® Growth Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies, which are at the time of purchase, included in the Russell Midcap® Growth Index; convertible securities that are convertible into stocks included in the Russell Midcap® Growth Index; other derivatives whose economic returns are, by design, closely equivalent to the returns of the Russell Midcap® Growth Index or its components; and exchange-traded funds that track the Russell Midcap® Growth Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests all, or substantially all of its assets in these securities.
Underlying Fund: Voya RussellTM Mid Cap Index Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The portfolio seeks investment results (before fees and expenses) that correspond to the total return (which includes capital appreciation and income) of the Russell Midcap® Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies, which are at the time of purchase, included in the Russell Midcap® Index; convertible securities that are convertible into stocks included in the Russell Midcap® Index; other derivatives whose economic returns are, by design, closely equivalent to the returns of the Russell Midcap® Index or its components; and exchange-traded funds that track the Russell Midcap® Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests all, or substantially all of its assets in these securities.
Underlying Fund: Voya RussellTM Small Cap Index Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The portfolio seeks investment results (before fees and expenses) that correspond to the total return (which includes capital appreciation and income) of the Russell 2000® Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies, which are at the time of purchase, included in the Russell 2000® Index; convertible securities that are convertible into stocks included in the Russell 2000® Index; other derivatives whose economic returns are, by design, closely equivalent to the returns of the Russell 2000® Index or its components; and exchange-traded funds that track the Russell 2000® Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests all, or substantially all of its assets in these securities.
Underlying Fund: Voya Short Term Bond Fund
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The fund seeks maximum total return. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowing for investment purposes) in a diversified portfolio of bonds or derivative instruments having economic characteristics similar to bonds. The average dollar-weighted maturity of the Fund will not exceed five years.
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KEY INFORMATION ABOUT THE UNDERLYING FUNDS (continued)
Underlying Fund: Voya U.S. Bond Index Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The portfolio seeks investment results (before fees and expenses) that correspond to the total return (which includes capital appreciation and income) of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in investment grade debt instruments rated at least A by Moody's Investors Service, Inc., at least A by S&P Global Ratings, or are of comparable quality if unrated, which are at the time of purchase, included in the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index; derivatives whose economic returns are, by design, closely equivalent to the returns of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index or its components; and exchange-traded funds that track the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests all, or substantially all of its assets in these securities.
Underlying Fund: Voya U.S. Stock Index Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): Voya Investment Management Co. LLC
The Portfolio seeks total return. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of companies included in the S&P 500® Index or equity securities of companies that are representative of the S&P 500® Index (including derivatives).
Underlying Fund: VY® BlackRock Inflation Protected Bond Portfolio
Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser(s): BlackRock Financial Management, Inc.
Sub-Sub-Adviser(s): BlackRock International Limited
The portfolio seeks to maximize real return, consistent with preservation of real capital and prudent investment management. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in inflation-indexed bonds of varying maturities issued by the U.S. and non-U.S. governments, their agencies or instrumentalities, and U.S. and non-U.S. corporations. Inflation-indexed bonds are fixed-income instruments that are structured to provide protection against inflation.
Unaffiliated Underlying Funds
Underlying Fund: iShares® 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF
Investment Adviser: BlackRock Fund Advisors
Sub-Adviser(s): N/A
The fund seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. Treasury bonds with remaining maturities between one and three years. The fund seeks to track the investment results of the ICE® U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index, which measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year and less than three years.
Underlying Fund: iShares® 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF
Investment Adviser: BlackRock Fund Advisors
Sub-Adviser(s): N/A
The fund seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade corporate bonds with remaining maturities between one and five years. The fund seeks to track the investment results of the ICE® BofA® 1-5 Year US Corporate Index, which measures the performance of investment-grade corporate bonds of both U.S. and non-U.S. issuers that are U.S. dollar-denominated and publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market and have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year and less than five years.
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KEY INFORMATION ABOUT THE UNDERLYING FUNDS (continued)
Underlying Fund: iShares® MSCI Australia ETF
Investment Adviser: BlackRock Fund Advisors
Sub-Adviser(s): N/A
The fund seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of Australian equities. The fund seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI Australia Index, which is designed to measure the performance of large- and mid-capitalization segments of the Australian equity market. The fund is classified as “non-diversified.”
Underlying Fund: iShares® MSCI EAFE ETF
Investment Adviser: BlackRock Fund Advisors
Sub-Adviser(s): N/A
The fund seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of large- and mid-capitalization developed market equities, excluding the U.S. and Canada. The fund seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI EAFE Index, which has been developed by MSCI Inc.
Underlying Fund: iShares® MSCI Emerging Markets ETF
Investment Adviser: BlackRock Fund Advisors
Sub-Adviser(s): N/A
The fund seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of large- and mid-capitalization emerging market equities. The fund seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is designed to measure equity market performance in the global emerging markets.
Underlying Fund: iShares® Russell 2000 Growth ETF
Investment Adviser: BlackRock Fund Advisors
Sub-Adviser(s): N/A
The fund seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of small-capitalization U.S. equities that exhibit growth characteristics. The fund seeks to track the investment results of the Russell 2000 Growth Index, which measures the performance of the small-capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market, as defined by FTSE Russell.
Underlying Fund: iShares® Russell 2000 Value ETF
Investment Adviser: BlackRock Fund Advisors
Sub-Adviser(s): N/A
The fund seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of small-capitalization U.S. equities that exhibit value characteristics. The fund seeks to track the investment results of the Russell 2000 Value Index, which measures the performance of the small-capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market, as defined by FTSE Russell.
Underlying Fund: iShares® Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF
Investment Adviser: BlackRock Fund Advisors
Sub-Adviser(s): N/A
The fund seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of mid-capitalization U.S. equities that exhibit value characteristics. The fund seeks to track the investment results of the Russell Midcap Value Index, which measures the performance of the mid-capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market, as defined by FTSE Russell.
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KEY INFORMATION ABOUT THE UNDERLYING FUNDS (continued)
Underlying Fund: Schwab® U.S. TIPS ETF
Investment Adviser: Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc.
Sub-Adviser(s): N/A
The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index composed of inflation-protected U.S. Treasury securities. To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in securities that are included in the Bloomberg US Treasury Inflation-Linked Bond Index (Series-L)SM. The Bloomberg US Treasury Inflation-Linked Bond Index (Series-L)SM includes all publicly-issued U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) that have at least one year remaining to maturity, are rated investment grade and have $500 million or more of outstanding face value.
Underlying Fund: Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF
Investment Adviser: The Vanguard Group, Inc.
Sub-Adviser(s): N/A
The fund seeks to track the performance of a market-weighted bond index with a short-term dollar-weighted average maturity. The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Bloomberg U.S. 1–5 Year Government/Credit Float Adjusted Index.
Underlying Fund: Vanguard Value ETF
Investment Adviser: The Vanguard Group, Inc.
Sub-Adviser(s): N/A
The fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of large-capitalization value stocks. The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the CRSP US Large Cap Value Index, a broadly diversified index predominantly made up of value stocks of large U.S. companies.
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PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS INFORMATION
A description of each Portfolio's policies and procedures regarding the release of portfolio holdings information is available in the SAI. Portfolio holdings information can be reviewed online at https://individuals.voya.com/product/variable-portfolio/prospectuses-reports.
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MANAGEMENT OF THE PORTFOLIOS
Investment Adviser
Voya Investments, an Arizona limited liability company, is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser. Voya Investments serves as the investment adviser to, and has overall responsibility for the management of, each Portfolio. Voya Investments oversees all investment advisory and portfolio management services and assists in managing and supervising all aspects of the general day-to-day business activities and operations of each Portfolio, including, but not limited to, the following: custodial, transfer agency, dividend disbursing, accounting, auditing, compliance, and related services.
Voya Investments began business as an investment adviser in 1994 and currently serves as investment adviser to certain registered investment companies, consisting of open- and closed-end registered investment companies and collateralized loan obligations. Voya Investments is an indirect subsidiary of Voya Financial, Inc. Voya Financial, Inc. is a U.S.-based financial institution whose subsidiaries operate in the retirement, investment, and insurance industries.
Voya Investments' principal business address is 7337 East Doubletree Ranch Road, Suite 100, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258. As of December 31, 2023, Voya Investments managed approximately $78.9 billion in assets.
Management Fee
The Investment Adviser receives an annual fee for its services to each Portfolio. The fee is payable in monthly installments based on the average daily net assets of each Portfolio.
The Investment Adviser is responsible for all of its own costs, including costs of the personnel required to carry out its duties.
The following table shows the aggregate annual management fee paid by each Portfolio for the most recent fiscal year as a percentage of the Portfolio’s average daily net assets.
 
 
Management Fees
Voya Retirement Conservative Portfolio
0.25%
Voya Retirement Growth Portfolio
0.24%
Voya Retirement Moderate Growth Portfolio
0.24%
Voya Retirement Moderate Portfolio
0.24%
For information regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of th